Blashpemy! Exposing the Satanic Illuminati of Metal Music!

July 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

No, I didn’t misspell that.

In this first part of a planned 3-part series, youtuber AprilandWayneShow “expose” the hidden truths of metal music, such as demonic possession, the hidden symbolism, and mind-controlling messages leading youth to drugs, promiscuity, bisexuality, suicide, violence, and worst of all, “BLASHPEMY!”

Yep. Apprently my favorite form of music is evil? I was unaware. Gosh, I guess I better repent.

Watch the video below and be saved:

I sincerely hope this is a troll. Plus, the bands featured are pretty tame, and rather big names in the mainstream metal community(oxymoron). If this is honest, I sincerely, SINCERELY hope they never hear about bands like Dragged Into Sunlight, Leviathan, Mayhem, Burzum, or Deathspell Omega… Or worse. 

Anyway, hope you all have a good day. And remember: Smoke Crack and Worship Satan! :)

About these ads
Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , ,

More awesome videogame remixes: Metroid Metal

July 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So last week I featured Cory Johnson’s post-rock Legend of Zelda remixes, and I hope you guys enjoyed it! This week, I’d like to share with you another of my favorite videogame remixes, Metroid Metal.

Metroid Metal is a group of musicians and popular remixers(is that a word?) who take the iconic spacey tunes of the Metroid franchise and rework them into awesome instru-prog metal. If you’re a fan of Metroid and like to rock out to bands like Animals As Leaders, Scale The Summit, or Electro Quarterstaff, then you’ll dig Metroid Metal. These are some of the most listenable renditions of videogame music I’ve ever heard, and even though I discovered these guys a few years ago, their 2009 album Varia Suite is still in constant rotation, and their 2010 EP Expansion Pack is equally good.

Give ‘em a listen and be sure to support the band!

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Guest Blog: My Biased Review of Periphery 2: This Time Its Personal

July 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

In our first ever Power Cords guest blog, metalhead, playstation fan, and full-time Thor impersonator, Jordan Kessler give his totally biased review of Periphery’s latest auditory assault, Perphery II: This Time it’s Personal. Enjoy!

I have to first start this review off by saying that Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb and I are very close. In 2004 I had the prestigious honor of being Marks roommate in college, which completely rocked. I was moderately into heavy metal at the time, skimming the surface with gateway bands like Metallica, Motorhead, and Iron Maiden. We instantly clicked (Really on anything; ethnic food, video games, movies) and before you knew it we were seeing Children of Bodom live, grieving over the death of Dimebag Darrell, and casually meeting our new god Devin Townsend backstage.

Mark and metal had a profound effect on me and while you’re probably saying to yourself, “they formed a band right?” you’d be wrong. I possess zero musical talent. I mean, I look good in corpse paint and I can carry a tune, but instruments fall to ruin in my hands. Now Mark on the other hand, here is a guy who can wail on a guitar and I don’t just mean play Stairway to Heaven and call it good, this guy is creative. I rarely ever heard the same thing twice and if I did it was because the riff was beyond catchy (Periphery 2’s Scarlet comes to mind, a Mark Holcomb original). With this skill Mark put together Haunted Shores, which certainly had it ups and downs but was definitely a worthwhile endeavor. It certainly caught Periphery’s leader Misha Monsoor’s ear.

And well, the rest is Periphstory.

Now I guess I should talk about the album, years in the making by a band that in my opinion has had more stops and starts than my bike. I was there for all the band member changes, the potential label deals, and of course the announcement of Spencer Sotelo as their new singer and some time after that, Mark as their new guitarist.

With all my Periphery knowledge in mind I am happy to say that this album is a triumph for this group. I know I only get to say this once for a band, but I mean it. It is a triumph. The guitars are tight, the riffs are phenomenal, the production is on point, but the star of the show is the before mentioned Spencer Sotelo. Spencer roars like a beast on this album adding his incredible range to the Periphery onslaught. Compared to the first album, an album that had forced Sotelo to sing songs written for a different vocalist (Casey Sabol), he now sings under his own power, unhindered by what came before. He is own man now and while we will always love this band for the riffery, the soul of this group has become Sotelo.

I don’t have much else to say really except this and it’s going to sound really sappy. You have to fight for your dreams. I literally watched Mark scratch and claw to his now success. He wanted to be a professional musician and HE IS DOING IT. I am immensely proud and inspired by him and his band mates. They have put together an incredible album and I strongly encourage you to listen to it.

Favorite Tracks: Muramasa, Have a Blast, Scarlet, MAKE TOTAL DESTROY, Erised

Check out more Periphery here.

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , ,

Brendan Recommends #1: Prog Metal

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Welcome to the first installment of “Brendan Recommends!”

Just to get a sense of what this is all about, for the next few weeks I’ll be posting weekly articles recommending you all bands/artists I enjoy from a multitude of genres. Now, if you’ve followed the music section of Power Cords at all, you know I’m the resident metal nerd ’round these parts. So of course, the majority of stuff I post will be concerning extreme music in some way.

But fear not! I have several non-metal/hardcore themed posts coming as well, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. However, the whole reason I’m doing these is to give you a jumping off point to discover new music. Everything I post here has my 100% stamp of approval — these are my favorite bands of their respective genres, and I want to share them with you.

So without further ado, let’s get started with my prog metal recommendations!

1. Gojira – Full disclosure, I’m still getting familiar with this band. I’ve only recently begun to really delve into the discography of this fantastic French quartet, and I’m blown away by the music they produce.

Gojira are somewhat of an enigma. They play highly progressive and experimental death metal about saving the environment – not necessarily a common formula for success in any genre of extreme music. And yet, they’ve gained immense popularity and garnered near-universal praise from critics. Why? Because the music they make is not only unique, it’s damn good. I highly recommend jumping on board with Gojira.

Check them out here, and be on watch for their new album due out June 26, via Roadrunner Records.

2. Between the Buried and Me – For a long, long time, BTBAM were my absolute favorite band. In many ways they still are — I know every song note by note, and every time I spin Colors I’m hit by a flood of nostalgic memories. But at the same time, in my opinion, BTBAM haven’t produced anything quite as spectacular as Colors and Colors Live. Now, I don’t want to sell the band short — nearly every album they’ve released easily makes my favorite albums of all time list, but they have yet to out-doColors. While the sound may not change much between releases, BTBAM are still leauges above their peers in terms of musicianship and songwriting.

BTBAM have a new album in the works, and you can find out more on them here. They’ll be on tour with a boatload of awesome bands this summer, co-headlining Summer Slaughter with death metal legends Cannibal Corpse.

3. Isis – One of the most influential post-metal bands ever, Isis were in a league all their own. Isis wrote beautiful music that combined the passion of hardcore punk with the creativity and complexity of prog rock. They were heavily influenced by Neurosis, creating a similar massive sonic atmosphere that could be felt at even their quietest moments.

Unfortunately, Isis broke up in 2010. While the members of the band still play in several other post-metal and prog projects — often with each other — nothing quite captures the atmosphere of Isis. Their catalogue stands as some of the most influential music in the metal scene.

Check out the band here. And while they may be done, the group are still releasing posthumous live albums, as well as a rumored album of unreleased material spanning the band’s career that may soon surface.

4. Mastodon – Often grouped into the southern sludge metal scene, Mastodon always had a more progressive tone about them than bands they were compared to. And ever since 2009′s Crack the Skye, Mastodon set themselves apart from the pack. After the release of Crack the Skye, Mastodon have been regarded not only as one of the best prog metal bands around, but also as one of the hardest working bands period. After non-stop touring, and finally releasing their fifth studio album The Hunter last year, Mastodon have become a household name. But don’t let all that fame and recognition fool you — these guys are just as good as they used to be, if not better.

Check out Mastodon here.

5. Protest the Hero – Coming from a strong punk rock and hardcore background, Protest the Hero approach their brand of Prog metal differently than most of the bands on this list. Protest the Hero pump out riffs and licks, writing spastic and fast music that’s still catchy and fun to listen to. Instead of writing long, instrumental passages to show off each musician’s skill, they display their talents seamlessly, each member playing alongside one another. They condense the notoriously long prog metal song into 3 to 5 minutes, widening their appeal past progressive music fans, into other genres of metal and punk. Highly energetic and extremely fun live, Protest the Hero prove that Prog doesn’t have to be longwinded or “boring.”

For more Protest, go here.

6. Periphery – Similar to Protest the Hero, Periphery write music that is easy to take in and still marvel at the ability of the musicians. Periphery are probably the band most responsible for bringing “djent” to a new generation. Not only that, but they took that Meshuggah-crafted sound and instead of continuing down the path of percussive, abrasive music, took a different path towards melody and catchy riffs. Again, this doesn’t mean they don’t have chops or can’t write complex songs – far from it in fact. They just know how to write songs that are fun to listen to and crazy technical.

Check ‘em out here. They, too, have new maetrial in the works, and you can catch them alongside Between the Buried and Me on this year’s Summer Slaughter tour.

7. The Dillinger Escape Plan – And here we are at the final band on the list. some could say I saved the best for last, and I’d be lying if I said otherwise. It’s hard to put the music of DEP into words, so bare with me. Playing, fast, spastic, complex, schizophrenia-inducing music known as “mathcore,” DEP know how to fuck with your head. At times, they combine this insanity with electronic and and industrial music, and even break out into funk and rock ballads. It’s truly fascinating music, and it always sounds as if it comes naturally to them.

Beyond that, their live show is notoriously ferocious and high energy, and must be seen to be believed.

Of all the new records currently being worked on, DEP’s is the one I’m most excited for. It might be jarring or at times near-unlistenable upon first listen, but stick with it and you’ll find their music to be some of the most addicting and powerful tunes to have ever graced ruptured your ear drums. More Dillinger here.

That’s all for now folks, hope you enjoyed it! It certanly doesn’t cover the entirety of the genre, nor all my favorites, but I feel it’s a good list to get started with. I’ll be back next week with more recommendations. Feel free to suggest genres you’d like to see me cover, as well as offer your own recommendations in the comments!

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just who is this Kurt Ballou fella, anyway?

March 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you’re paying attention, you’re probably aware that a large majority of the great metal albums released in the past few years have been produced by Kurt Ballou. If you’ve unfamiliar, Kurt is the mastermind behind Godcity Studios, as well as the guitarist for the legendary band Converge. He’s now become one of the biggest names in metal and extreme music, recording and producing albums for some of the biggest and freshest names in metal and hardcore. In fact, in this past month alone a handful of albums he produced debuted, including the most recent records from Black Breath, and High on Fire.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about this guy — be it as a person, his work with converge, or his Godcity engineering and producing — you should really watch the interview Scion A/V did with him recently. Actually, watch it regardless. It’s long, but it’s a very interesting and in-depth look at Burt Ballou and how he works. And after you check that out, scroll down and watch another rad video, this time a guided of a tour Godcity Studios (again brought to you Scion A/V. Can I just say, Scion’s support for the metal scene and culture is extremely cool).

Personally, Mr. Ballou is probably the biggest reason I listen to extreme music these days. To be honest, my interest in Converge isn’t as deep as others, but I find the music he writes to be inspiring and powerful. It’s his producorial and sound engineering work is what I am so passionate about. In fact, if it wasn’t for bands like Trap Them and Kvelertak and Kurt’s amazing work with these types of bands, I probably wouldn’t be listening to the bands I am today. In addition to the aforementioned Trap Them, Kvelertak, High on Fire, and Black Breath, his work with other groups like Doomriders, The Secret, and All Pigs Must Die are still some of my favorite pieces of music.

It’s come to the point now to where I see the words “Godcity Studio” or “Kurt Ballou” attached to a project, I become immediately interested. I am extremely thankful the underground extreme music scene has Kurt and people like him to define and refine the sound of metal and hardcore for our generation. Any fan of heavy music owes quite a bit to this man.

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

High on Fire “De Vermis Mysteriis” Album Review

March 30, 2012 By 1 Comment

What if Jesus had a twin who died at birth to give Jesus his life? And then what if the twin became a time traveler right then? He lives his life only going forward in time until he finds this scroll from an ancient Chinese alchemist who derived a serum out of the black lotus, and then starts traveling back. He can see the past through his ancestors’ eyes, but his enemies can kill him if they kill the ancestor that he’s seeing through at the time.

– Matt Pike, on the  concept for De Vermis Mysteriis

If there’s one thing you should take away from High on Fire’s latest album, De Vermis Mysteriis, is that at age 40, frontman Matt Pike hasn’t slowed one bit. In fact, in many ways this latest album shows a refreshed and focused High on Fire, able to mix things up even 7 albums and 24 years deep into their career.

Perhaps the biggest and most apparent shift is in the album’s production. Certainly High on fire have always been well-regarded in the metal scene, building upon their trademark fuzzed-out sound with skillful and memorable guitar work — a sound they established on Art of Self Defense and refined on Surrounded by Theives and On Blessed Black Wings. But on their 2007 release Death is this Communion, that heavy low end was mix-out some, allowing for experimentation to take center stage. That new sound was continued on 2010′s Snakes for the Divine, though the experimental moments were traded for passages of shredding and riff worship.

But here, on their latest record, a new sound emerges. It shouldn’t be any surprise at this point, but once again Kurt Ballou (Black Breath, Every Time I Die, Kvelertak, Trap Them) takes the producer helm on this album. Mr. Ballou is certainly making quite a name for himself, especially now that he is working with long-established bands like High on Fire. De Vermis Mysteriis proves he has an ear for much more than metallic-hardcore or mathcore; now applying his skills to stoner-metal, High on Fire’s sound has been taken to new heights. Instead of rehashing or recapturing the tone of past albums, here the band feels more refined. Each element is present and clear — drums punch, bass roars, and guitar rips. It’s wonderful to hear and feel the bass mixed so perfectly. It’s classic Ballou, creating a mix where every instrument rings through, yet the raw, dirty tones of each create heaviness without excess distortion or fuzz. Put simply, the production is excellent, and a standout aspect of the record.

That clear-yet-heavy production gives the band the freedom to display just how great of songwriters and musicians they are. We always new Matt Pike could melt faces with even the simplest of riffs, but here he gifts us with melodies and vocal harmonies heretofore unheard of on their previous albums. But don’t fret, those grooves and riffs that define High on Fire’s song writing are here in full force (as on “Madness of an Architect” and “King of Days”). His vocal delivery is perhaps is most passionate and aggressive. Quite often, his harsh vocals are the sharpest they’ve ever been, reaching violent new heights(“De Vermis Myteriis’), and his “cleans” create powerful harmonies that elevate the melodic passages of the record (like in the opening track, “Serums of Liao”). Lyrically, the record is classic High on Fire, but the concept behind them is something else entirely (see above quote). All I can say is that Pike’s creativity shows no sign of slowing.

The rest of the band bring just as much to the table. Jeff Matz’s grooving bass lines have never been quite as audible as on this album, and it’s a shame to think  we’ve missed out on so much all this time. It was always apparent Matz was a great bass player and could support Matt Pike’s guitar work well, but now we can hear the personality and power he can put into those four strings. Metal is rather notorious for mixing out the bass, but between Kurt Ballou’s production and Jeff Matz’s skill, every note is heard, adding layers to the High on Fire dynamic.

Completing this holy trinity is Des Kensel behind the drum kit. His snare hits are tight and stab through the production cleanly; his symbols are clear and crisp, never tinny or muffled. Many metal records suffer from having the drums mixed either too quiet or too over bearing, or, which is most often the case, just sitting behind the other instruments, providing a beat and occasional fill, but never really impressing. De vermis Mysteriis is not one of these albums. Kensel’s offering is just as important to the song structure as the riffs, and (once again) the production creates such a perfect interplay between the three musicians; no one dominates, and every element feels important.

It’s hard to find much wrong with De Vermis Mysteriis. There are certainly points where the album simply “sounds like High on Fire.” Which, to be fair, isn’t a bad thing, but it bears mentioning for those who want something radically different. There’s some predictability, but this is probably the band’s most unique and well-crafted album, while still remaining true to their legacy. It’s the first High on Fire record I feel compelled to listen to in its entirety every single time I spin it, something I can’t say about any of their past releases, with the possible exception of On Blessed Black Wings. I had my reservations and apprehensions about this record. I thought it would just be Death is this Communion pt. III. But instead, we’re gifted with a refreshing, refined High on Fire; a downright amazing metal album in every right. I have no reason not to recommend this. I you like High on Fire at all, you’ll love this. And if you don’t, give it a shot, you may be surprised. There’s something here for any metal fan, even if doom or stoner metal aren’t your normal genres of choice.

De Vermis Mysteriis drops April 3rd, via E1 Records. You can stream it in its entirety for free at NPR, and be sure to order it here, and check out High on Fire’s official page.

Genre: Stoner/Doom Metal

For fans of: Sleep, Mastodon, The Sword, Yob, Red Fang, Black Sabbath, etc.

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Black Breath “Sentenced to Life” Album Review

March 26, 2012 By 4 Comments

Of all the big releases, all the hyped-up metal records so many fans are eagerly awaiting, nothing will be able to match the flat-out metalness of Black Breath’s newest album Sentenced to Life.

Sentenced to Life is a bloody-fisted 32-minute-and-change rampager of an album, filled from end to end with ripping heavy metal. These songs so seamlessly channel the sounds of metal’s past, while delivering the speed and rage of the modern scene. It’s blackened-death-thrash with a shot of rock’n'roll adrenalin, caked in crust and sludge, but at the very core this is pure heavy metal. There are no frills, just raw music that forces your head to bang, throw up the horns and grip your invisible oranges.

And for those of you wondering how it sizes up to the band’s previous outputs, 2010′s Heavy Breathing and 2009′s Razor to Oblivion, you will not be disappointed; these songs scream with influences from Entombed and Motorhead, as well as acts like Napalm Death and Black Flag. This sounds, all things considered, like Black Breath, make no bones about it. But Sentenced to Life is faster and angrier than anything these Seattle musicians have put forth yet (thanks in part to producer — no surprise here — Kurt Ballou). Barring a few slower passages, and even a clean-guitar intro on the song “Endless Corpse” (below), the album throws you into a sonic pit of blood, fire, leather, steal, and hair, and doesn’t spit you out for 32 ear-shattering minutes.

Not only have Black Breath crafted another stellar album, but they did so without resorting to repeating or retreading over their previous releases or diminishing them, something that deserve praise. Now, just keep in mind, this doesn’t break any walls or reinvent the metal genre — but that’s not what Black Breath are about anyway. This album just rocks, and if you enjoy metal or heavy music at all, give this beast a listen. I’ll be linking a couple tracks off the album below, be sure to listen!

Genre: Death’n'Roll/Crossover/Hardcore

For fans of: Kvelertak; Entombed; Repulsion; Trap Them; Exodus

Filed Under: Music, Other Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

10 Flash Games Worth Checking Out

March 26, 2012 By 53 Comments

Being a college student I am getting pretty used to being broke. As much as I would love to go out and buy every new big release it is simply unrealistic on my budget. Because of this I often turn to free content on the web, specifically free flash games. Here is a list of ten of my personal favorites that I have come across browsing free games over the years. While they are nowhere near as impressive as Mass Effect 3 or other big releases of the year they are totally worth spending half an hour to check them out.

Pandemic 2

Let me start with the game I have probably spent the most time with: Pandemic 2. In the Pandemic series you play the role of new-born pathogen trying to eliminate the human race. You start out by choosing whether you would like to play as a bacteria, virus, or parasite and from there you build on your disease by “evolving” or enhancing your resistance to particular elements and building up symptoms that will be seen in the infected. This RPG will have you spending hours trying to infect and effectively destroy the entirety of the world time and time again. Both the original Pandemic and the sequel are worth checking out but the sequel ultimately smoothed out several aspects of game play and streamlined several features. Just a heads up, try to infect Madagascar as quickly as you can. They have the tendency to close up there borders rather quickly making it impossible to eliminate humanity in its entirety.

One Chance

One chance is a another take on pandemics, but this game focuses more on decisions and the resulting consequences. Out of all the flash games I have played this one by far has the strongest story. You play the role of a scientist who has recently discovered a cure for cancer which unfortunately turns deadly and starts to kill off the human race. You are then given six days to do what you see fit whether that be fight this pandemic you have created or spend your last days with your family and many other things in-between. The game has a strong I Am Legend vibe and is structurally very reminiscent of Every Day the Same Dream, another flash game worth checking out that was almost on this list. The title of the game is One Chance because you literally have only one chance to save humanity; there is no replay button upon completion of the game and upon reloading the page you will simply be staring at the last thing you saw in your first play through. The developers of the game wanted to explore the concept of permanency in this game to give more weight to your actions and make the consequences that much more real which is why you aren’t able to go back through a second time (unless of course you go back and delete your cookies and what not, which should do the trick if you wanted to start a new).

Don’t Look Back

Don’t Look Back is a minimalist style action platformer with excellent flavor. While the game doesn’t directly address it, the story is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus in search of his recently departed and beloved Eurydice and his journey to the Underworld to reclaim her. This game is able to maintain that perfect balance of being challenging but not frustrating to the point of rage quitting (a tendency I admittedly am prone to). While most games like this have the tendency to for game play to get stale this game stays fresh from the beginning to the end while telling a fantastic and classic story. it’s a quick play definitely worth your time.

The Heist 2

While I understand that Dane Cook annoys more people than he makes laugh he was right about one thing: all guys want to be part of a heist and The Heist 2 lets you live out that fantasy. The Heist 2 is technically a car or driving game but it has so much more built into it that it feels like something else. You start out by hiring a team member and then robbing a convenience store. From there you are able to upgrade your escape vehicle and weapons as well as hire more people for your team (all of the NPCs you can hire have awesome facial hair by the way) and start working up towards bigger and more impressive jobs. Each job starts out with you robbing said establishment and completing a series of tests. The skills of your team will determine how well each test goes. And depending on how each of these tests go determine how many cops will arrive. Once you leave the establishment you shoot your way through the cops and make your way to the get away vehicle. For this section of each job you only really control when you leave the job site and everything else kind of happens automatically. Once you get into your escape vehicle though you are in complete control of your getaway. While the format of the game can seem repetitive especially with the lack of variety during the driving sequences the RPG aspects between each mission allow for enough variety to keep the game fresh through out your play through. While I am not a big fan of browser driving games this one is definitely able shine through my bias.

Motherload

Who knew digging up dirt could be so awesome? Motherload is a Dig Dug inspired arcade game having you play as a miner on Mars mining for resources. As you get deeper and deeper under the Martian surface you are faced with more and more dangers ranging from earthquakes to explosive gas pockets to hellish supervisors ; ) forcing you upgrade your vessel to be able to withstand such hardships. Motherload has a fun and intriguing story that will have you pursuing the many secrets that lie beneath the surface. While an apparently simple and straightforward game, game play is addicting, fun, and exhilarating. There is something so satisfying about making it back up to the surface with a giant load and only seconds left before your fuel runs out. Also don’t stop exploring until you know you have beaten the game. It will be pretty clear once you do.

Coma

Coma is by far one of the best looking flash games I have ever played. Developer Thomas Brush was able to give the game a really cool dream-like style not only with the astounding visuals but with a strong soundtrack as well. In Coma you play as a Pete, a boy exploring this strange world in search of a means to rescue his sister from the basement. While the game might start out feeling a bit fetchy in the sense that you keep running back and forth between two points it quickly expands out of this and starts incorporating puzzles and more intricate mechanics. The story is original but a little bizarre with many interpretations including some rather strange and unsavory views but all in all it is strong and drives you to the end. After playing all the way through it becomes rather apparent that it was a strong inspiration for Playdead’s Limbo both visually and in a narrative sense.

Coma screenshot

Sonny

Anyone who has been to a free online game site knows there is a vast abundance of zombie games. Most of these games have you hacking and blasting the brains out of zombies but one of my favorites from the genre has the roles reversed and you are the one playing the zombie. Sonny is a turn based RPG with surprisingly high production values. The story starts with you on a boat where you were supposed to have died but instead came back as a zombie. In all honesty it is the same plot as Wolverine’s or Alex Mercer’s where you are trying to figure out who made you the way you are and your quest for revenge. The story is adequate but it’s the addictive game play that has me loving this game. Out of all the games on this list I believe it has the longest play time, the story taking me somewhere between three to four hours to complete. There is also apparently an awesome sequel to Sonny which I have yet to check out which can be found here.

The Majesty of Color

The Majesty of Color is one of the more philosophical games on this list. In the game you take on the perspective a recently awoken and now self-aware giant squid or kraken type leviathan. While the antagonist of the game is a giant monster the game is much more about choices and consequences than about mass destruction (which is still an option) than most other monster games. It’s hard to go into too much detail about the story without giving things away but you are presented with several situations and your response to each situation dictates what happens next. A single play through takes at the most five minutes, but at the menu screen it tracks and tells you how many of the five endings you have discovered thus encouraging you to go back through and find them all. The Majesty of Color is a game that stands out to me from the rest due to its unique style and story progression, presenting a genre and style of game that I would love to see more of in the future.

Organ Trail

The Organ Trail combines two things together to make an awesome game: nostalgia and zombies. In all honesty the Organ plays identically to The Oregon Trail except with options about scavenging and fighting off zombies rather than fording rivers and whatnot. The game is well designed creating and putting you in realistic situations to be found in a zombie apocalypse compared to other bottomless clip, shoot em’ up zombie games. You aren’t able to just hang out in one spot shooting down all the zombie you would like, you have to conserve your limited ammo as well as keeping track of the remainder of your fuel and food. While the game might be a rip off it is still a fun and well designed game. Plus its really nostalgic since it feels so much like The Oregon Trail which really isn’t a bad thing.

Robot Unicorn Attack (Heavy Metal Version)

Most people by now have played and experienced the addicting game that is Robot Unicorn Attack and become temporarily obsessed with its simple game play and catchy and irritating theme song. For those who absolutely can’t stand to hear Erasure hum “harmony” one more time or simply are looking for a bit more intense version I recommend checking out the heavy metal version game. Game play is still exactly the same it just has tweaked visuals and audio for a “heavier” experience. While repetitive and not very deep, it is just so dang addicting!

This list is less about the ten best flash games on the web but rather ten games that I have found particularly entertaining or have stood out to me the most out of the hundreds I have played over the years. I would love to hear what other’s people’s lists would consist of and what some of your favorites are so feel free to post them in the comments below!

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Horrendous – The Chills Album Review

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Let’s get something out of the way here: I like death metal. A lot. It’s a genre of ferocity and passion few other forms of music can replicate.

But it’s also a genre of repetition and over-saturation. Certain cliches have formed out of once-revolutionary forms of expression and musical arrangement. In the past few years, I’ve become a bit bored with death metal. Every splinter of the genre — from tech death to the new rise in old-school death metal — has become a blurred mess. In turn, people like me have become numb to these tropes of the genre. It takes talent and vision for a band to create something in the genre that has impact, or at least separates itself sonically from the rest of the blood-soaked masses.

US band Horrendous are one such band. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Music, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bereft “Withered Efflorescence” track review

February 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

You guys remember that really rad vocalist for The Faceless, Derek Rydquist? Well guess what? He’s in a good band now!

All kidding aside, Bereft is something of an all-star band made up of Sacha Dunable (Intronaut, Graviton), Derek Donley (Graviton), Charles Elliot (Abysmal Dawn), and the aforementioned Derek Rydquist. The band plays super crushing doom metal, with death metal and post-metal elements.

Bereft has been something of an enigma of late. We knew they existed, and had heard smatterings of rumors that the super-group were meeting and writing. The band released the track “Withered Efflorescence” to the public back in September, and have just recently been picked up by The End Records. With that, Bereft have also released the name of their upcoming album, Leichenhaus, which means mortuary in German. The album is said to revolve around a theme of a mortuary. If the track “Withered Efflorescence” is any indication, the music most certainly fits that atmosphere.

The song kicks off with big, fuzzy riffs, and a plodding drum beat. A few seconds in, the distorted guitars give way to ominous clean guitar licks that drip with terror and darkness. Then, the heavy chords return and with it Charles Elliot’s extremely guttural grunts, with the rest of the band shouting back refrains between the verses (Sacha Dunable’s trademark shouts are clearly audible). At this point, the song’s more death metal-elements are a bit generic, but it’s the experimental and post-metal sections when they’re channeling bands like Intronaut, Isis, and Neurosis that really make it shine. Not saying the death metal influences are bad, just not that interesting. Thankfully, Bereft seems to be much more interested in creating interesting and experimental music than just straight up death-doom.

The production on “Withered Efflorescence” is spot on. The heaviness of the guitars is never hindered, despite having quite a bit of acoustic and clean guitar tones, and even those are never lost in the mix. The drums hit hard, and don’t come off as flat or tinny, but never take over the rest of the music. The guttural vocals, while being slightly generic, fit the music perfectly on this track, and I absolutely love the backing vocals from the rest of the band. The use of spacey sound effects doesn’t turn the music plastic or fake-feeling either, which is surprising given how raw and dirty the song is.

This track alone shows that Bereft has amazing talent, and that their sound will be crushing, dark, and infectious. With the exception of Intronaut, I like this single track better than any song these guys have written with their other bands. I certainly hope this becomes more than just a collaboration or supergroup, and instead a full-time outfit. There’s so much potential here, it’ll be very exciting to hear what this band can create.

Liechenhaus is due out April 24, via The End Records. You can check out the band and listen to their track here.

Filed Under: Music, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 854 other followers