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Putrefaction In Progress: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Posts Tagged ‘2012
04
Jan
13
Putrefaction In Progress 10
A track-by-track review of the latest offering from the doom metal kings
Aaron Stainthorpe said in an interview that his lyrical themes revolve around sex, death and religion, and My Dying Bride‘s magnificent discography is proof that it those three topics have been enough for the rest of the band to wrap their powerful music around. On A Map Of All Our Failures, the singer begins his whining much before you expect him to, sorrowful as ever on ‘Kneel Till Doomsday’, a song unmistakably MDB. The mournful riffs plod on till the band moves unexpectedly into death-doom territory with harsh growling, showing they are as at home with extreme metal as they were on As The Flower Withers.
If there ever can be a doom-metal version of Metallica‘s musical style, it is ‘The Poorest Waltz’. My Dying Bride have since their debut held their place in my life as the masters of melancholy, and most of the sections on this track are what could be passages the ‘Tallica couldn’t come up with on Load or Reload. ‘The Poorest Waltz’ could well be the sequel to ‘Low Man’s Lyric’, and that’s as soul-stirring as music gets.
At no point does A Map Of All Our Failures attempt to create new anthems; My Dying Bride have enough of those. It becomes clear as the album progresses that the band is helplessly occupied thought, either dragging the listener deeper into sorrow or very engrossed in telling stories. ‘A Tapestry Scorned’ is storytelling with music and Aaron singing, growling and talking, and the song is nicely done filler. The doyens of doom get back to their bereavement with ‘Like A Perpetual Funeral’, a beautiful track which has only the guitars coating Aaron’s crooning for more than three minutes, till the slow drum beats and bass get the song moving, only to stop soon again. ‘Like A Perpetual Funeral’ does sound nice, but the most fitting music to play at a loved one’s death is ‘For My Fallen Angel’, that heartrending song from MDB‘s Like Gods Of The Sun.
From here the album goes fully into storytelling mode, and it gets very boring unless you’re getting drunk, except the parts without any vocals, because from ‘Hail Odysseus’ onwards it is the music that is the highlight of My Dying Bride‘s latest work. This song should have been instrumental, because the vocals aren’t doing anything they haven’t done before and are instead being a distraction. ‘Abandoned As Christ’ could have been enjoyable if it didn’t have Aaron – I love his voice and singing style, but it gets too much at times – because this way it’s as boring as Jesus. The song drags on and on and I’m wondering how I’ll survive the last two songs. ‘A Map Of All Our Failures’ and ‘Within The Presence Of Absence’ are more interesting though, and the vocals belong with the music to the songs the way they should. No band has sounded as great with violins and keys the way My Dying Bride has; they use both to maximum effect even when they’re using very little of them. Craving as I was for doom metal/death-doom/funeral doom, the 2012 offering from these greats has left me exhausted.
A Map Of All Our Failures doesn’t surpass or even come close to My Dying Bride‘s previous works, but it is an album the band of this stature can take the liberty of making to release creative energy. Evinta seemed pointless to me even though I’m a big fan of MDB, and The Barghest O’ Whitby was quite interesting, but a few listens of this and I’m done. A Map Of All Our Failures isn’t an album I want to give my attention to again except for that one song ‘The Poorest Waltz’, unless I get back to drinking, but then there’s so much other music that’ll go so much better with that state.
RATING: 2.5/5
Black Metal 2012: Solar Deity’s In The Name Of Satan | Solar Deity’s Snowless | Solar Deity’s The Darkness Of Being
Amongst a lot of things lying on the beach, we found idols immersed on the earlier days lying exposed due to the low tide. Worshipers pitied, expressed shock on seeing the idols stuck on the beach and then went on to immerse the idols they brought with them, which they worshiped during the nine days of the festival. I feel it has all boiled down to ‘this is my idol and has no association whatsoever with your idol’.
By no means am I undermining their devotion. This has been going on for decades and is increasing every year with the politicizing of the festival.
It was too good to be true. Anurag Kashyap has bitten off more than he can chew. Part One of his revenge saga is a superbly crafted film worth quite a few watches, and it deserves a hell of a follow-up that should explode in your face. Several new characters are introduced in Part Two, and each has his unique style that’s supposed to set him apart from the rest and earn him a place in your memory. Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is supposed to be a lot of things: a mind-blowing continuation of GoW 1; a movie powerful enough to stand on its own; the thunderous conclusion to a riveting tale of vengeance.
Gangs of Wassepur 2 is Anurag Kashyap losing the plot. Kashyap juggles with too many objects to impress, and all fall down. GoW 2 is a botched collage in which everyone has a bone to pick with someone. You don’t need to have a brass band performing at death ceremonies because that kind of contrast (it’s so… RGV) doesn’t impress you anymore. It’s a mockery of a very serious situation, and the same can be said about Gangs of Wasseypur 2. Even the wacky music and the attempts at humour start to feel excessive, and the less said about the tributes to the Hindi film industry, the better. Bollywood is seeping out of every pore of GoW 2. If you want to go filmy, take a break from the offbeat filmmaking and just go filmy – don’t use Bollywood to evoke laughter throughout the movie only because you’re secretly dying to be all that and are too embarrassed to do it openly.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2 is a bloody mess of a movie that doesn’t let itself be taken seriously.
RATING: 2.5/5
Movie Review: Gangs Of Wasseypur 1
17
Jun
12
Music Review: Whitechapel (2012)
A track-by-track review of the deathcore band’s self-titled album from our new writer
“I am hate you are hated, I’ve created you’ve created
Now get it through your fucking head, we create hate.”
Whitechapel have come up with another stupefying album which reaffirms their position as one of the best bands this genre has to offer. This album is fierce, utterly ruthless, and should have been titled “Hate Creation” due to the sheer amount of hate in the lyrics. The entire album has an extent of antipathy in it, especially the phrases “I won’t be the one to fall, I will kill you all…”, “Take me away and I just want out..” and “You’ll never wake up again”, which will keep drifting through your head after you’ve listened to the entire album several times. The forbidden ‘progressive’ part of Whitechapel is a gratifying change and one can observe minor changes in songwriting as compared to their previous records – the acoustic transitions, piano-intro and more technicality. On the whole, most songs are standard Whitechapel material with groovy breakdowns and catchy core riffs. The charming solos in a few of the songs really shows the mature switch of the band. I liked it, as the songs demanded them, and the band fulfilled that very neatly.
‘Make it Bleed’ is a perfect start to the album – a very tight song, with amazing progression and Phil Bozeman (vocals) killing it as always. ‘Hate Creation’ sounds like Whitechapel‘s usual deathcore number – a bit groovy, and very effective with its words (if you are observant enough). Phil truly has majestic control over his vocals. ‘(Cult)uralist’ is one of my favourite songs in the album with double kicks, amazing vocal phrasing and its spooky-solo finish. This song is repeat mode stuff, a head-slamming example of what Whitechapel can do to you, if only you let them.
Though catchy rhythmically, ‘I, Dementia’ gets fucked up because of its repetitive core riffs. The song is about how ‘reality is fabricated’ and how Phil ‘refuses to see it’. Ending with a slow breakdown coupled with a short solo, this is an effective song but doesn’t fit into the album because of how its structure differs from the other material. ‘Section 8’ came out before as a single in ’11 and I liked the song back then and still do. A notable part is the end where Phil gives a vigorous vocal break. Very sick. ‘Faces’ is a nice track, talking about hypocrisy. A good chorus with a breakdown over it, followed by blast beats. Nice, catchy deathcore.
‘Dead Silence’ and ‘The Night Remains’ are songs that really live up to what one would expect from Whitechapel. With low-fi guitaring and fast deathcore breakdowns, these are very bouncy tracks which make them my favorite picks from the album. ‘Devoid’ is an instrumental with great riffing. In fact, being in this instrumental doesn’t do the riffs justice. I didn’t think the piano intro was needed either.
‘Possibilities Of An Impossible Existence’ is a perfect inclusion in the Whitechapel album and they’ve always had thing thing about ending their album with a perfect song. Singing about a ‘Dehumanization’ and ‘Messiahbolical’ theme seems like a fitting end. All the elements are mixed in the last song. Verses ending with a cool vibe, standard heavy breakdowns (which make posers go ‘whoa fuck’) and the song finally laying off with a piano outro, a piece like the one at the start of the album.
Whitechapel couldn’t have come with anything tighter than this. The album is a solid masterpiece from one of the finest deathcore bands that fans of the genre will surely dig. With Whitechapel, the band has added another encounter to their killing spree. Perfection achieved.
OPINION: Vishal Dadlani is an idiot
FILM: Shanghai is an incredibly dull movie
MOVIE REVIEW: Rock Of Ages is worth a watch
13
Jan
12
Movie Review: Ghost (2012)
Director: Puja Jatinder Bedi
Actors: Shiney Ahuja, Sayali Bhagat, Tej Sapru
“Don’t call me sister, Saxena” says the nurse, “Call me Lea.” Any guy who has sex with a nurse in a hospital toilet or anywhere else would say liya. But Saxena, zipping his trousers, says, “Don’t call me Saxena, Lea, call me doctor.”
A few minutes later, still in the loo, Lea is looking at her reflection in the mirror, when she sees the ghost.
Now we have a church scene. Sayali Bhagat (Dr. Suhani) in a tight dress prays to god. She’s off to her first day at the new workplace, and there’s where Dr. Saxena hits on her till she gets up and walks out of his office.
Three days later, the nurse goes over to the doctor’s house and, while making out with the doc, after a hilarious item number (she’s an Oriental chick lip syncing to a Hindi song), she disfigures his face and rips out his heart. But not just like that. She walks on her hands with her feet in the air, and crawls on walls and rests on the ceiling. Jesus is right next to her and all her victims. For what, we don’t know yet. But he’s got the crown of thorns, and he’s got an owl on his left shoulder and a pigeon on the right. Coo.
Turns out that Suhani, after some eerie happenings – like a morbidly silent ward boy bringing her a cup of coffee without her having asked for it, the door opening and closing without him having even touched it, and the cup falling off her desk just like that – walks towards a dusty room in the hospital. She reaches there after hearing strange sounds which include the bleating of a goat. Goats bleat, right? Or is it lambs? Anyway, she finds the corpse of nurse Lea at 3 am, which is exactly when Lea was dancing and ripping Saxena’s heart out. After which Jesus said, “I am evil, and I’m going to take you to hell.” And then there were the worst special effects on earth trying to show us hell by showing a skull and fake fire, and I thought it was a screensaver.
Shiney Ahuja, the best detective around, is given this case to solve. Shiney cruises in a fancy car, rides a high-end sports bike, grabs a bite while reading a novel, drinks coca cola on a holiday, has fun on his personal watercraft, and then, finally arriving at the hospital in his flashy car, is hugged by a spirit.
He then meets Sayali Bhagat, who should just become a porn star if she wants another shot at acting, and they decide to solve the mystery together. They bond by spending time with each other, making coffee together, going on a holiday, dining at swanky restaurants etc.
Now this ghost is getting predictable. She has killed four employees. All at 3 am, each left with a screwed-up face and without a heart. Shiney Ahuja, after a lot of investigating, finds out that he suffers from retrograde amnesia. He doesn’t remember a certain phase of his life, and that phase happens to be the one in which he married a firangi girl. Convenient.
His dad (Tej Sapru) got the girl killed right after their Christian wedding, and told the ones hired for the job to “crucify her like Christ.” So they whipped her with chains of nails and crucified her and she was brought to the hospital with her heart beating but she was butchered alive anyway. By the staff members Shiney’s father had stuffed with cash. So it was this bunch who got killed and Tej Sapru dies in the end, after running here and there from the dozens of ghosts that plague him. With Jesus standing right there. After Tej Sapru dies, Jesus says, “Satan is defeated.” The ghost goes to embrace Jesus.
When the end credits are rolling, the blonde who plays the ghost is dancing to the chinky girl’s item number. Since you won’t be going to watch Ghost, there are two more pics of Sayali Bhagat at the end of this post for you.
RATING: 1/5
Movie Review: Chaalis Chaurasi
Director: Hriday Shetty
Actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Ravi Kishan
Amidst card-playing, drinking rum-and-cola, conversations about buying a better television set and the end of the world, a police van decides to stop a car that has zipped past in the wrong lane. In the dead of the night, the policemen question the owners of the vehicle, and reprimand them for not consuming alcohol at the party they were returning from. The cops then go to a dance bar, eat and drink for free and also sing a song to entertain the other patrons. Soon after that, they are followed and stopped by a cop on a motorcycle, and it turns out that these gentlemen aren’t real cops.
Hriday Shetty’s Chaalis Chaurasi is a crime-thriller and comedy that knows when to be funny and when to get serious, a genuine rarity in the Hindi film industry. The four fake cops are actually an English professor, a car thief, a drug dealer and a pimp. Circumstances lead these guys to come to know of a fake-currency racket which could make them very rich, and ready for the good life, they hatch a plan which goes awry and falls back on them.
With the racketeers looking forward to decorate policemen with bullets and real cops on a mission to shoot dead a gangster, matters get really screwed for the four dudes. How the story shapes up is for you to watch at a movie hall near you, because it has four seriously good actors in a loaded-with-repartee film which allows them to act. That, and director Hriday Shetty can teach other filmmakers a few things about balancing comedy and drama and his commercial-shit-dropping brother a thing or two about wrecking cars.
RATING: 3/5
Movie Review: Ghost | Kay Kay kicks ass in Paanch
Horrendous enshroud all with cloudy bursts of simple-yet-powerful riffs, fat bass lines, and drums that batter. With numerous changes that come at the right times and ensure that you never stop head-banging, The Chills is high on dynamics and also has a lot of solos and vocals that go perfectly with the music. Highly infectious old-school death metal that must have been recorded in a cavern, The Chills is a borderline evil and downright creepy album from Horrendous, and a work that’ll remain fresh for long.
Music Review: Decaying’s Encirclement | Music Review: Alcest’s Les Voyages De Lame
The trio of Kailash Kher-Naresh Kamath-Paresh Kamath enters the chill-out zone with their latest album Kailasa Rangeele. The fourth album from Kailasa, Kailasa Rangeele doesn’t mesmerize like the previous three albums, but is still good to listen to, and way superior to the other Indipop-rock music out there. Kailasa Rangeele doesn’t disappoint because anyone will understand that it’s impossible for an artist to take the listener to crazy musical heights and fathomless emotional depths and keep repeating it with every album. Though that would be amazing, Kailasa are incorporating new sounds without moving away from what they’ve always been doing. Kailasa Rangeele is, like every other Kailasa album, nothing but Shiva worship. Every song (except a peppy ditty) is written for the mythological deity Shiva from a female lover’s perspective. In place of the feverishness that singed every note of Kailasa Chaandan Mein is the quiet calm of a lover who knows nothing but how to love the one she lives and breathes for, and knows that there is nothing else she wants to know, feel or understand. With not one dull moment from Kailasa, Kailasa Rangeele is another worthy album from the band that can do no wrong in my eyes.
Music Review: Kailasa Chaandan Mein | Book Review: Rudra – The Idea Of Shiva
The combination of regular growling and Obituary-style vocals works really well for Decaying, but Encirclement goes on for too long, and none of the songs leave a lasting impression. Old-school death metal that is catchy in places, Encirclement isn’t dark or imposing enough to keep you engaged for very long. The album has quite a few ideas which the band seemingly couldn’t develop. The songs are unnecessarily long, and even if it’s Bolt Thrower worship, especially because it’s Bolt Thrower worship, the songwriting should have been stronger. Overall, Decaying tries really hard on Encirclement but doesn’t do much on this album that could’ve been a lot shorter. So begins the year 2012 for death metal.
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