Month: October 2016

Album Review: The Dillinger Escape Plan- Dissociation

58874-dissociation.jpg
The Dillinger Escape Plan have really done it this time. Their latest and last album Dissociation, is a summation of everything they have ever done and then some. Never a band to stray from taking chances, the album is quite possibly their most ambitious. From their signature spastic songs, to the more melodic songs, and their experimental side, Dissociation is an album that is ferocious and unrelenting.

Kicking off with the rager “Limerent Death,” then flowing into the melodic “Symptom of Terminal Illness,” the first two songs really set the mood for how the rest of the album will be. “Wanting Not So Much As To,” brings out a different side of singer Greg Puciato. His spoken word segment of the song, allows the song to breathe for a moment while he waxes poetic. Other stand out songs on the album include “Low Feels Blvd,” “Honey Suckle,” “Dissociation,” Surrogate,” and my favorite as of this writing ” Nothing To Forget,” which has a beautiful transition to a string arrangement that further expands upon the albums already dramatic themes of loss, and the end.

As a music fan, I have a really affinity for the process it takes to make an album. Musically this album is in the top three of all their albums. There is a real sense of “leaving it all out on the table.” Guitarist Ben Weinman has really developed his own style over the years, and on this album in particularly. Drummer Billy Rymer and bassist Liam Wilson have never sounded tighter. Vocally and lyrically singer Greg Puciato, has really gone deep and delivered one of his best performances on this album among all the albums he’s ever been on or guested on.

I will say this about the band, they have always done it how they wanted to. Their career is one that most underground bands strive to have. To be able to be influential and inspirational for over 20 years is astounding. Between their albums and live shows, The Dillinger Escape Plan have cemented a legacy that will live on in infamy.

Overall Rating= A
The Dillinger Escape Plan- Dissociation:

 

Cover Song: Gojira (Metallica)- Escape

Gojira is one of my favorite heavy bands in the world. They are fantastic. I was thinking the other day it would be awesome to see them tour the states with a band like Metallica. They already did in Europe. Anyways, I found this cover Gojira did of Metallica’s “Escape.” I always thought this song was underrated and deserved more attention. Enjoy!

Gojira- Escape:

 

Metallica- Escape:

Top Ten Bands A-Z: K

The journey continues to find the top ten bands/artists in the alphabet. K is here and like H, I, and J, K  is another difficult one to complete. As usual your suggestions are wanted in completing this list.

01) The Kinks
02) Korn
03) King Crimson
04) Kyuss
05) Killswitch Engage
06) Kiss
07) Lenny Kravitz
08)
09)
10)

Live Review: Gojira at The Wiltern

IMG_0804.JPG

There truly is something beautiful about heavy music in a live setting. The excitement, chaos, and dedication really comes through in a way that I don’t think any other genre of music can compare to. Last night at the Wiltern, Gojira decimated the audience with a set of forceful magnitude that left me in total awe and sore as all hell from headbanging and moshing.

The opener for the evening was Tesseract. This 5 piece U.K. based band, wasn’t really what I had in mind for the warm up band. Their set was pretty drab and boring. As musicians these guys can play with the best of them, but after a while it all just started to sound the same. At one point I looked over to my friend and he was saying that parts of their songs, especially the vocals, sounded a bit like Incubus. And naturally the more I thought about it, the songs did have that vibe. I don’t remember the song but, if you were to sing the Incubus song “Pardon Me,” over the music, it fit perfectly. Needless to say, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Before Gojira even took the stage, the loud chants of their name permeated through the venue, and when they appeared the roar of the crowd was near deafening. Their new album Magma is a tremendous piece of music and the songs live were like a volcano exploding. Their set consisted of songs from all their albums, with a focus on playing songs off Magma. Singer/guitarist Joe Duplantier, his brother drummer Mario Duplantier, guitarist Christian Andreu, and bassist Jean-Michael Labadie, play with so much fury. The lyrics of Joe Duplantier are heavy and poetic. Throughout the night I kept thinking the set list was great. Songs like “Stranded,” “Silvera,” “The Cell,” “Only Pain,” “Flying Whales,” “Explosia,” “Oroborus,” “Vacuity,” sounded amazing. Mario Duplatier’s drum solo was something spectacular and intense. By the end of their set, it was very clear that Gojira are a force to be reckoned with and not just in the heavy music circles.

What a great night. I don’t even mind the horrible neck pain I have. When a show like this is that good, it’s all worth every ounce of pain. This was my third time seeing Gojira and each time they keep bringing it more and more. If you haven’t seen them or heard them, I strongly recommend you do!

Review and Photo By: Brian Lacy

 

Anticipated Albums: Planes Mistaken For Stars- Prey

14021644_1104018729676345_1237208614655846262_n.png

Planes Mistaken For Stars are returning after a decade long hiatus. Their new album Prey, comes out October 21 on Deathwish (The label is owned by Converge frontman Jacob Bannon), is their first since Mercy, which came out in 2006. This new album is surely what you’d expect from Planes. The three songs released so far have a sense of growth and maturity to them. I for one am excited for this. The last time I saw them live was at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood with These Arms Are Snakes, and that was about 11 or 12 years ago. Looking forward to this album and the shows!!

 

Clean Up Mean:

 

Riot Season:

 

Fucking Tenderness:

 

https://www.facebook.com/planes666/

 

 

Cover Song: Nine Inch Nails (Joy Division)- Atmosphere

A couple weeks back I saw Peter Hook of Joy Division at the Wiltern. It was a really great show. His Joy Division set was pretty spectacular. One of my all time favorite Joy Division songs is “Atmosphere.” Peter did a good job of singing it but, I’ve always thought that Trent Reznor did it the most justice (other than Ian Curtis obviously). If you’ve never heard this version before, you are in for a treat.

Nine Inch Nails-Atmosphere (Live: P.S. I was at this show):

 

Joy Division- Atmosphere:

Against The Grain: Scour

13174078_1731432720464116_5692688053123460728_n.jpg

There are certain genres of heavy music that most people just don’t get. In fact most people would give you “the look” if they heard what you were listening to. One of the best things about being into heavy music is the matter of not caring what people think about what you listen to. Which brings me to Scour. This band is a “supergroup” consisting of Philip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Superjoint, etc) – vocals, Derek Engemann (CATTLE DECAPITATION) -Guitar, Chase Fraser (ANIMOSITY) – Guitar, John Jarvis (PIG DESTROYER) – Bass, and Jesse Schobel (STRONG INTENTION) – Drums. Their debut E.P. sounds nothing like their main projects. Their sound can be derived from influences of the  ’90s Scandinavian black metal movement. The six songs that appear on the E.P. are nothing short of heavy, dark, and pummeling. The songs “Dispatched,” “Clot,” “Codes,” and “Tear Gas,” all exemplify what modern day black metal with a bit of thrash should sound like.

For all his faults and tendencies to put his foot in his mouth, Philip Anselmo, has delivered one of his best vocal performances on an album in some time. His ferocious growls and screams are right in line with how black metal vocals should sound. Musically this band is top notch. I for one would love to see them have time to really work together and create a full length album.

So if you are looking for something different and heavy, then Scour is what you need.

 

Scour- The Grey EP:

Album Rank: The Dillinger Escape Plan

dillinger-escape-plan-header.png

The Dillinger Escape Plan are calling it a day with their upcoming album Dissociation. So before their swan song album comes out, how about an album rank.

Under the Running Board:

Ire Works:

Miss Machine:


Option Paralysis:

Irony Is A Dead Scene:


Dissociation:

One Of Us Is The Killer:

Calculating Infinity: