Music Review: Ebonix – Killer On The Loose

By HIMANSHU SINGH RATHOR

It took three listens for me to get sucked into Killer On The Loose, the new song by Ebonix. Moving towards an even more mature sound, Ebonix are getting themselves into a place where they could stand still in this groovy progressive space they own. Supported by grungy vocals and a well-chosen tone, everything seems to be going right throughout the song. I feel the utilization of the keyboards has almost disappeared and in its place appear acoustic guitar pieces. I also think that by releasing singles, Ebonix are selling themselves short. The whole band is filled with fine amounts of creativity and writing more often should do the needful. Once again, it was a pleasure listening to Ebonix. Keep it coming, boys.

Single Reviews: Ebonix – Alive | Ebonix – The Struggle Within

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20 Unmetal Releases Coming Your Way In 2013

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Concert Review: Guns N’ Roses (Mumbai, India)

Not loud enough, but still the coolest band on the planet.

Pic taken from the Internet.

Slash would have looked great standing next to Axl Rose on that stage, but the world isn’t always perfect, and the chain-smoking guitarist whose face is always partially hidden by his curly hair wasn’t missed for more than a couple of minutes. The three guitarists who now wield the axes for GN’R are fabulous showmen, and all of the gentlemen backing Mr. Rose at MMRDA Grounds, Bandra-Kurla Complex last night displayed at every given opportunity why they belong to the legendary rock band. Axl Rose – the highlight and the delight of the evening – went through over a dozen costume changes (what a collection of hats!) and yowled his way through the three-hour set from the band’s fantastic discography. Most of the people were mighty pleased (and got their money’s worth) as Guns N’ Roses played all the hits. I was thrilled to see (hear) William Axl Rose hit the high notes and sway to the music in his typical way, and to watch the rest of the band seriously rocking it out on their “Appetite For Democracy” tour. The best thing about GN’R‘s show was that it was unhurried; the band was relaxed and seemed genuinely happy to be there: Guns N’ Roses – the coolest band on earth – performed in Mumbai (Bombay!) last night and enjoyed it greatly. The sound should have been much louder and should have engulfed us, but it could be that we were standing in the wrong places in our efforts to get a clear view of the band. The setlist is the wrong thing to discuss, because even though GN’R played most of the hits, there are at least five eight twelve fifteen other songs I would have loved to hear them play. But I saw the rock star of rock stars last night; the frontman of the band that made me fall in love with heavy, guitar-driven music; a band so effortlessly cool that I took up smoking and drinking only because they made it look that good. And I’ll even say that after more than a decade of attending shows and watching countless performances, the Guns N’ Roses show in my city was the first ‘rock concert’ I experienced.

Music Review: Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

Music Review: Slash – Apocalyptic Love (2012)

Concert Review: Slayer (Bangalore, India)

Concert Review: Metallica (Bengaluru, India)

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Music Review: Ebonix – Alive (Single)

By HIMANSHU SINGH RATHOR

Ebonix keep themselves Alive with their new song. Months ago I reviewed The Struggle Within, which was a delight. It looks like Ebonix did their homework pretty well before coming out with a new song that has a very calm and progressive start carried on by a soothing tone. I like how the track has variations throughout, but missed solos – I think they would have gone very well with the crazy keys. As one can expect from Ebonix (those who haven’t heard them yet, please give the band a listen), their latest single Alive is keeping them flowing, and as I’d said in my earlier review – they need to hit the studio and come out with an EP at least. Singles won’t do justice to what they’ve got in their kit.

Music Review: Mutiny In March – Till We Last

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Movie Review: ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur 2’ is a major disappointment

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

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Music Review: Harsha Iyer – When It’s Time (Part One)

Harsha Iyer has already set himself up as one of the most unique artists around. With a nearly perfect debut behind him, the 19-year-old from Chennai has major expectations to live up to, and he is taking on them the only way he knows: with a multitude of instruments and a versatile voice, Harsha Iyer tirelessly weaves seamless songs that take unexpected turns throughout the course of the album. This part of When It’s Time could be one big piece of music separated by song titles, as everything goes with everything else. It’s seriously likable psychedelic pop-rock, with the only downside being that no song really grabs you, except No Easy Answer (easily my pick from the album). It may be no trouble at all to get tunes from Curious Toys playing in your head, but most of the ditties here just don’t stay with you even though the whole affair is grand and elaborate, but unlike the previous album, the fine detailing here works only as a whole, which isn’t a bad thing at all because you’re supposed to listen to it from start to end. It would be fair to expect catchier songwriting from Harsha Iyer on the second part of When It’s Time though, considering the young man has proved more than once that he can rustle up an atmosphere for a dream.

LISTEN/DOWLOAD: Harsha Iyer’s When It’s Time (Part One) | Harsha Iyer’s Curious Toys

 

Music Review: Steven Wilson – Grace For Drowning

By Karan Patel (Simple Complex Continuity)

Steven Wilson, the primary creative force behind progressive rock’s most iconic band, Porcupine Tree, recently came out with a solo effort called Grace For Drowning. To be more precise, it was out in September, 2011. I only heard it in April, 2012. I had heard about such a solo album to be out by one of favorite musicians and he had a show in LA in the House of Blues, Sunset Strip. I decided not to hear a single song and just go for the show. Here’s the reason: I went for a Porcupine Tree show some time ago when they were touring for “The Incident”. The band literally played each and every song that was on the album. It was the best concert I had ever been too. Yes, I am super biased because you just possibly cannot find flaws with the music they have made.

The live performance was better than expected. Like every progressive band, they utilized a lot of arts/visuals which were more than mesmerizing and perfectly synchronized with the songs in a way that there indeed was another band member playing an instrument to go along with the songs. The solo effort is more than incredible. Steven Wilson already has a reputation of contributing his talents in many a pool. Whether its Opeth/Storm Corrosion or Blackfield, he has only written good music. Period.

Grace For Drowning is definitely a masterpiece and well, bonus points for solo. A very big applause to all his band members. They all did more than a brilliant job. My favorite one being Raider II, an epic 23 minute song which takes me back to days when I was and still obsessed with Dream Theater‘s “Change Of Seasons”. As a writer myself, I am totally obsessed with his style of writing lyrics. It never ceases to amaze me. Be it Porcupine Tree, or his solo, he has a phenomenal talent with words and there is just no escape from it.

I am not sure if he was always a multi instrumentalist, but in the concert he was mostly on the keyboards and of course the guitar. It was definitely fun to see him on the keyboards. The album has all the Porcupine Tree elements embedded with electronica, ambient, psychedelic rock. Most interestingly, it has a lot of jazz elements (something I do not understand, and probably don’t want to, at least at this stage of my life). However, it was very interesting to hear a mix of all these sounds under the general progressive sound which I am completely nuts about.

The album is such a trip. The production is way beyond spectacular. The writing is incredible and the music is just so evolved in today’s times with the whole mix of genres, old and new, that it has had me listening to it since I went for the show. A must listen, especially if you have a taste for the progressive sound.

MORE POSTS BY KARAN PATEL: The Best Guitarist in the World | Film Review: Road, Movie | The Adventures of Tintin | Music Review: The Rosewood Thieves – From The Decker House

Music Review: Serj Tankian – Harakiri

Artists who think people should give their music a chance because it supports a cause should listen to System Of A Down. A band like that or Rage Against The Machine or artists like Michael Jackson are the best examples that teach us that great music that can help a cause, that clutching a cause does not make music great or even good, and that the cause should never become greater than the music. Serj Tankian drives his points straight home with superbly crafted songs that are as accessible as Linkin Park tunes, but don’t run away, because Harakiri is high on the intelligence scale. Very easy on the ears, and a lot of fun, the album makes you sit up and think. If you don’t know what Serj Tankian is singing about, it will make you find out. The music is energetic, and at times, poignant. Harakiri has none of the lunacy that System Of A Down‘s debut was possessed by, but the eccentricities that set Serj Tankian apart from every other artist are here. Harakiri is a thoughtful and serious work of art from an amazing vocalist who is awake to the world around him and also knows how to sing about what he sees and thinks about it.

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Music Review: Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage

By Himanshu Singh Rathor

Gojira! It’s a Herculean name in itself, and this review is coming from a guy who has been listening to Gojira for four years now. They have their own territory in this ginormous metal scene. It’s a major and well-known stop for any metalhead. They sound fanfuckintastic in both forms i.e live and on record. The Flesh Alive DVD is an immense evidence of how fucking tight they are and can be! They sound awfully insane in the Flesh Alive CD. That was my first impulse before album could come out (leak). But then I got my hands on L’Enfant Sauvage where they sound like gods of their scene. They have their own sound, and it makes the progressive metal world go crazy. The Way Of All Flesh was a fucking win for every Gojira fan. They have what it takes to stand apart from any other mainstream band. Back then, I got blown away from their versatility. Now, this album is an extension of the Gojira sound, but not an expansion. I was hoping for the same amount of change which took place between Terra Incognita and The Way Of All Flesh. Nevertheless, I’m still saying L’Enfant Sauvage has what it takes to unquestionably be the album of the year.

On the current album, one would easily discover the use of two or more pitches turning out to be ‘reciting tones’, the use of which is perfect. I mean, it’s just flawless. The first song to notice this in is ‘The Axe’ – a mixture of death and black metal which only Gojira is capable of doing. The reason I call it “black metal” is because of its dark journey with the chanting in the background. It makes you close your eyes and feel the ambience through your head (on-a-loop kind of material). It’s one of my duckie picks from the album. ‘Liquid Fire’ is like a prolongation of the ‘The Axe’. That doesn’t mean anything bad – its a jaw-smashing beauty with one tempo carried throughout. ‘Mouth Of Kala’ has the pace that only Gojira can carry… such a groove throughout the song, with the gloomy pitch running in the background, and bassline is world-class. Such uniqueness, oh boy!

And here comes my favorite track for this year: Gojira takes it away with ‘The Gift Of Guilt’. A great idea of what Gojira can do to a song. Diversity!? Check. Groove!? Check. Heaviness!? Check. Perfection!? Check. It passes the entire test. I like the way it ends but if a solo could have been written for the end, ‘The Gift Of Guilt’ would have crossed all the limits to be Gojirasmic. Other tracks such as ‘Pain Is A Master’ is a deluding track as it starts with a slow ambient part and bashes away into the technicality of “death metal”.

I’m thoroughly impressed with what Gojira are offering here. This album is a huge transformation, more twisted towards the unique ‘progressive’ sound, which in itself is a massive thing to achieve, but it is not, as I stated earlier, an ‘expansion’. Buy or download L’Enfant Sauvage or do whatever you want. But listen to it!

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Music Review: Mutiny In March – Till We Last (Single)

By Himashu Singh Rathor

Another band from Gurgaon, Mutiny In March have come out with a new single named Till We Last. The song has been given a typical hardcore start, though the backing vocals could have been better, and the recording and mastering is okay. The bass line is tight and the drummer has done a nice job! Till We Last moves ahead with a catchy riff and wanders into an unneeded breakdown. This doesn’t seem to be enough, so they force another breakdown. Dudes! Why? There are so many of these bands who put breakdowns where they just don’t fit or do justice to the song structure. I mean, breakdowns should have their time to get installed in the song and should sync with the riff, but here in this song, it embarrasses the riff, and it’s a good riff! The solo in the end of the song is again accompanied by the breakdown. The ambient part at the end could have been utilized in the start. Till We Last is a nice song, but it’s standard stuff. The band should focus on their structures if they want to make their songs special. Mutiny In March call themselves hardcore, but they have solos, double bass and heavy breakdowns, which makes them metalcore.

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