So Circuit City is apparently going out of business. Was never really a huge fan, generally always found myself at Best Buy and more recently Microcenter for my PC/electronics needs. BUT I do love a good deal. Everything at the local circuit city by me in fabulous Saugus Massachusetts on the glamorous Route One North is 80% off. SOOOO. I purchased a bunch of CDs.
There they are lined up on my desk. It is probably a good idea that this is my first post for the site because it will show the apparent differences between myself and the other two gentlemen who are currently running this site. I called both of them and told them the CD’s I had purchased, and was greeted with confused silence from and what can only be described as the sound of someone throwing up in their mouth (except when I mentioned the Fast and Furious Soundtrack, which one of these people, guess, had downloaded on Itunes about a year ago). Soooo how about some quick reviews/thoughts.
Bullet for my Valentine "Hand of Blood" Regularly $10.99 Circuit City going out of business price $2.99
I am kind of torn on whether or not I actually like this band. They sound a lot like the new metal hardcore + melody bands that have been popping up recently (Lamb of God. Killswicth Engage. As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wear's Prada etc.) This is becoming a trend where all bands are starting to sound kind of like all the new WWF entrance music for WWF, with really technical guitars, loud double bass drums and screaming vocals, but then BIG SOARING CHEESY LYRICS that are SUNG not screamed. I kind of really got into this a few years ago, especially with Killswitch and As I Lay Dying, but I am nervous that it is becoming the dominant trend in metal to the extent that it makes Avenged Sevenfold (a band full of assholes and shit dicks that plays garbaggge music) look to the outsider or general public like as the premier sound for metal. That worry aside, these guys really do the metal/harmony thing pretty well. They got a solid dark vibe to all their songs and I even kind of dig the anime inspired cover art. The best song off the album is probably Track 1, "Words to Choke Upon" starts out with a great guitar lead solo and opens up with some really hard vocals, and it retains the type of anthemic (anthem - like is this a word?) quality that is so great about this brand of melody/hardcore. MY RECCOMENDATION (download 4 Words to Choke On off the album P.S. watching the video with all the younguns makes me feel old)
Dillinger Escape Plan "Ire Works" Regular Price $13.99 Circuit City Going out of Business Price $5.00
I have been a fan of this band for a while, ever since I was a skateboard kid in high school. My buddy had their original EP in 97 "Calculating Infinity." I bought their later self-titled album and I think I still have "Irony is a Dead Scene from 2001. I kind of fell off with this band. It’s hard to describe what genre they fall into, they really are a genre defying band, the sound is heavy and fast and the focus is heavy guitar, but often they will cleverly sacrifice consistent sound for crazy experimentation, random dissonant piano notes, feedback and I think a lot of circuit - bent sounds appear on this CD, sometimes it works and feels chillingly jarring, sometimes it sounds just like noise. For instance, in the track "Dead as History" is full of eerie sound effects from an old cowboy movie, accompanied by haunting and soft vocals as opposed to the screaming vocals of the first tracks. The album is really a great example of letting a CD wash over, as opposed to skipping through the tracks to get to the hits as each song builds upon the last becoming more complex and intense. The first track "Fix your Face" is the exact way the hardcore punk scene that this band defined should sound, screaming vocals and machine gun fast double bass BUT by the time you get to the last track "Mouth of Ghosts" you really hear a band that’s growing up and developing, complex vocal arrangements and a softer sound with an almost blues groove to it.
I feel like the CD is going to grow on me. Actual music critics really seem to like it. SOOO If you you like a little progressive experimentation in you hard core then buy this CD. Its one of those CDS that goes really great with video games. The crazy experimental sounds in conjunction with genuinely driving metal riffs and screaming vocals (no melody hear) really seem to make everything in a game seem more frantic. I have had it going playing SF4 for the last few minutes and its becoming a hair - raising experience. MY RECCOMENDATIOn (Show your hardcore metal friends and the hot pretentious/artsy chick that you have a deep and eclectic taste in music and appreciate progressive ideals BUY. Especially listen to "Milk Lizard" The video is below, try to spot Mike Patton, Metal legend lead singer of course Faith No More, Tomahawk, Fantomas and Mr. Bungle who took these guys under his wing years ago. Also look for Mike Patton as the voice of monsters in my favorite games "The Darkness" and “Left Four Dead” [he's the voice of the zombies and seemingly can do anything with his voice]
LAST ALBUM
GRAB Your ANKLES
and KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE
Fast And the Furious Tokyo Drift Sound Track Regularly Priced: Respect Circuit City Going Out fo Business Price: Mad Respect
If you don't like this CD or Films then you have no soul and must leave this site.
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