Repossession: A Christmas Album (2014)

Christmas music is one of those things that you either love or hate, there's generally no middle ground.  Some people, like my boss, can't wait for the day after Thanksgiving, because they can break out the vast array of Christmas-themed CD's and play them to their heart's content without anyone thinking they're strange because of it.  Playing those CD's in the middle of June, however, will usually elicit strange looks.  But for those who love Christmas music, there are hundreds of albums and compilations to choose from to whet the appetite.  For the metal fan, however, there's very little Christmas-themed metal, aside from the occasional single, some Trans-Siberia Orchestra, or the occasional full album of metal by an artist, like Rob Halford's "Winter Songs".

I'm a bit picky when it comes to Christmas music.  If I'm in the mood for it, I really like it and enjoy listening to it, even if it's kind of cheesy.  But I gravitate toward either classics like Mannheim Steamroller's 1st 2 albums, some good old Bing Crosby, or some of the other Christmas-themed music I grew up with.  The idea of hard rock and metal Christmas music is one that I like, but very few bands have done much with the idea, other than a few modern acts like Theocracy or August Burns Red.  There have been some attempts at gathering this material together in the past, like the 2002 Sound of the Dead Records' "A Brutal Christmas - The Season In Chaos" compilation.  That was a good collection of songs, but this new collection takes things to the next level by further diversifying the mix of genres and bands, as well as offering two full-length, long CD's chock full of fun tunes.  We have Metal Blessing Radio to thank for bringing all this goodness together.

This compilation brings together a number of familiar metal Christmas songs, as well as a handful of relatively obscure tracks.  In part, a large percentage of the tracks from "A Brutal Christmas" appear here, as well as tracks previously released as free downloads or EP/album tracks like Theocracy, Grave Robber, Paramaecium, Frost Like Ashes, and Deliverance.  Then there are some bands/artists I've never heard of, like Derek Close, Jonathan Simpson (who gets to open and close the album), Anschluss Amor, and Forfeit Thee Untrue.  Stylistically, this is fairly diverse.  We have everything from shredding hard rock/metal like Pastor Brad or Derek Close, to the gothic rock of Leper, the horror punk of Grave Robber, and the grooving sounds of Faithbomb, to the more extreme, such as the doom death metal of Paramaecium, the melodic death metal of Immortal Souls, the brutal death metal sound of Tortured Conscience, the metalcore of Second Thief, or the black metal of Erlosung or Flaskavsae, or the grindcore of The Right Wing Conspiracy.  There's some more experimental stuff here as well, like Kekal's awesome take on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", Amelioration's "Redirection Christmas", Anschluss Amor's industrial "Christ's Mass", or the always bizarro Frank's Enemy with "Coventry Carol".  You certainly won't be bored listening to this release.

One thing I noticed immediately is that the volume level is quite low.  That's probably due to the various volume levels these tracks were recorded and mastered at from various sources, so it was a smart decision to "normalize" the songs to a lower volume to accommodate that divergence, and make the listening experience a bit more even across the board.  If you want to crank it, just turn he volume up a little higher and jam out.  One thing I'd suggest to anyone thinking about assembling a compilation of this type in the future - mix up the tracks a bit more if you have multiple tracks by a single band.  It's a bit distracting to hear all 6 Erlosung tracks all in order, even though I know they're all quite short and similarly constructed.  It would have been more interesting to hear those songs interspersed throughout the entirety of the compilation.  Same goes for Second Thief or Pastor Brad - they only had 2 tracks, but it might have been nice to have 1 of each from both respective bands on each disc, just to help improve the flow and keep things interesting.  It's a minor complaint, however.  Also, I have to mention the packaging for the limited first edition digipak - it's a quality double-fold digi with nice hard cardstock as its base, and a nice matte finish.  The cover artwork, as you can see above, is a nice parody of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, and doesn't overwhelm the original work with changes, just subtly gives it a humorous Christmas theme.  The first pressing is hand-numbered, and limited to 300 copies.

The other nice thing here is that the proceeds from the sale of these CD's will go to benefit an organization called MPact Events.  They will be using the money (100% of it, according to the press release I received) to purchase Christmas gifts for kids via the CASA program (Court Appointed Special Advocate) - so these gifts will be going to foster kids who may not get any gifts from their birth parents.  Being that my wife and I spent several years doing foster care and have a heart for kids, I'm on board with this, and this worthy cause is dear to our hearts.  I was blessed to get a review copy of this compilation, but I would encourage anyone out there who is a metal fan and wants some Christmas-themed metal to jump on this, because it's a good cause, and a great deal.  You get 37 tracks of awesome Christmas music for $13 in a stunning digipak that will no doubt become a collectible in the years to come.  I'm not one to push my readers into buying stuff, I just try to give my opinion on a band when I review their CD.  But this is the exception to the rule - fans of metal should be checking this out post haste, and anyone else looking to support a good cause and/or for a Christmas music curiosity for their collection, go buy a copy from the Metal Blessing Radio website.  Highly recommended!

The Gamut - music giveaways tonight!!!

The Gamut is back again, and also back are the giveaways!  I've got a CD copy of Rehumanize's "Resident Apostasy" album, a furious collection of grindcore!  Also in the giveaway tonight is a fun little cassette-only EP by Swine Suicide!  You don't want to miss out on the giveaways, so tune in at 9 PM EST and listen in via http://www.sanctusgladius.com !

Tonight's playlist!
A Hill To Die Upon - Adept In Divinity (Black/Death Metal)
Angelica - Walkin' In Faith (Commercial Metal)
Terraphobia - Soldiers of the New Millennium (Extreme Thrash Metal)
AD - Progress (Progressive Rock)
One-21 - Individuals (Punk)
GeistkrieG - Spiral of War (Black Metal)
Docile - Closed Eyes, Opened Arms (Melodic Death Metal)
Teramaze - Once Lost (Progressive Metal)
Forsaken - Dominaeon (Doom Metal)
Nothing's Sacred - The Price Paid In Blood (Grindcore)
Hero - Gasoline (Metal)
Once Nothing - Gunfire Is the Sound Of Freedom (Southern Metalcore)
Swine Suicide - Abolishing the Foundations of Hell (Black Metal) - Cassette Giveaway!!!
Hundredth - Caving (Hardcore/Metalcore)
Havitance - Burial (Thrash Metal)
Circle of Dust - Course Of Ruin (Industrial)
The Throes - Grieve (Alternative Rock)
Our Fathers Were Blind - Banner Bedsheets (Screamo)
Magdalen - Sad Sister Alchemy (Bluesy Hard Rock)
Discern - Grace (Death Metal)
Zaxas - Revolving Door (Power Metal)
The Prayer Chain - Sky High (Alternative)
Trytan - Genesis (Progressive Metal)
Rehumanize - Psychopharmacologist (Grindcore) - CD Giveaway!!!
Audiovision - You Are the Reason (Melodic Metal)
Wrench In the Works - Project AK-47 (Metalcore)
Halcyon Way - Revolution Is Now (Progressive Metal)
Arnion - Obtenetration (Thrash MEtal)
Eowyn - Crashing (Female-fronted Modern Heavy Rock)
Mirror of Dead Faces - The Horde of Swine (Death Metal)
Reflescent Tide - Gluepot (Alternative Rock)
Thresher - Raptor (Thrash Metal)
How To Avoid Art - Control (Industrial)
XT - Carry On (Commercial Metal)
Seventy Sevens - Flowers In the Sand (Alternative Rock)
Oh, Sleeper - To Flagship (Metalcore)
Inevitable End - Dreamsight Synopsis (Technical Death Metal)

Don't forget to visit http://www.sanctusgladius.com during the show to login for station chat
(you can sign in with your Twitter or Facebook account!) and chat with me and other listeners
during the show!

Hands - Give Me Rest (2011)

When I listen to hardcore, I am usually listening for one of two reasons.  One, I am listening for the primal energy and heart that comes from more old-school hardcore, where it's early punk rock made angrier and heavier because they just needed it to be more in-your-face due to whatever it was they were trying to express.  Two, I am listening for the simplistic heaviness and "oomph" of modern hardcore with its down-tuned guitar sound, overly bassy tones, intense group shouts, and powerful presentation.  And while there are certainly crossovers between early hardcore and what is considered hardcore in today's world, the aesthetics are still often separate between the two.  Hardcore bands of today are often striving to be faster, heavier, and more "brutal" than their hardcore brethren of yore, sometimes neglecting one of the elements that makes hardcore so vital, so intense: unbridled passion.


Now, hardcore isn't the only form of music teeming the passion.  No, there is plenty of passion to go around in nearly all forms of music.  The difference, though, is that sometimes hardcore music can be almost entirely carried by the passion injected in and through it.  Not that hardcore musicians are limited musicians, because many of them create catchy, interesting riffs and songs that stay with you, not just content to simply pummel you with loud audio.  But there are hardcore bands whose musical aesthetic is faceless and nameless, and their acclaim is solely based upon their chosen "platform" or lyrical bent, and the copious amounts of passion they put forth in their work.


Hands 3rd full-length release doesn't suffer from this disease of indistinguishable (or passionless) hardcore, for a myriad of reasons.  First and foremost, while the band started off as a reasonably melodic, passion-filled hardcore band, their earliest material was devoid of any defined personality or lasting impact.  Indeed, "The Everlasting EP", while being a good listen from beginning to end, is hardly memorable.  Its songs are too "samey" and often go on far longer than they need to.  By all accounts, though I don't yet own it myself, "The Sounds of Earth" was a major step up for the band, with a more muscular sounds that retained the melodicism of the EP and brought more atmosphere along with it, as well as more succinct songs.  "Creator" was another step in the right direction, offering better riffs and a more honest, gut-level take on the proto-progressive hardcore the band was attempting to play on their debut.  With "Give Me Rest", the band has thrown away the "hardcore handbook" entirely, creating an altogether unique and engaging listening experience.  While traces of the hardcore-infused sludge/metal are still present, they are tempered with loads of atmosphere and feeling.


Immediately noticeable is the fact that the music presented is so spare.  This is not to be taken as a bad thing following how "Creator" made ample use of guitar riffing and melodic playing.  Rather, it is a seemingly deliberate attempt at making more out of less, as if the simple melodies and instrumental passages were meticulously constructed.  No drum hit or cymbal crash, no bass string pluck or guitar strum is wasted in any way.  Each note is purposeful, doing its job in constructing the bare minimum necessary to propel the song.  That's not to say there aren't a few more complex riffs, because there are.  But those riffs seem to be specifically placed every 2-3 songs to build momentum, only to allow the atmosphere of the surrounding tracks to be the dominant theme.  All instrumental performances here reflect that minimalist ethos, and the album is stronger for it overall.  Of particular note is the drum work by Josh Silbernagel - his rhythms and playing here may seem overly simplistic at first, but it's deceptively so - it makes sense in context of the material and makes for the perfect accompaniment to the bass and guitar, as well as the vocals.


Lyrically, the album is very personal, but not so much that it's difficult to glean meaning or purpose from the songs.  This album appears to reflect a spiritual journey that seemingly starts during a crisis of faith, a point at which the narrator is both wrestling with his own faith and questioning the moral center of the world around him.  The story shifts into a mode of recognizing one's own "filthy rags", then repentance for said indiscretions, then into a somewhat militant view of the world (typical with young Christians judging the world through what they perceive as the eyes of their Creator), and then a more softened perspective at the end, much more at peace and harmony with their faith and their environment.  It's a fantastic journey that is at times tense, other times quite subtle and serene.  Vocalist Shane Ochsner is in fine form here, with both emotive and accurate clean singing, as well as a combination of more hardcore vocal sounds, from a higher pitched scream to a lower toned, more "throaty" growl, reminiscent of the heavier material from "Creator".  His performance on this album is impeccable.


All in all, this is my contender for hardcore album of the year, even though truth be told, it's probably more post-hardcore in aesthetic and execution.  Still, when I have the CD in constant rotation in my van for 2 weeks straight, including a day trip 2.5 hours away from home where I ended up listening to the CD 5 or 6 times in a row on the way home, it's fair to say that once you "get" what this band is serving up, you'll be addicted to this album like I have the last few weeks.  The one caveat I would have is, purchasing the album on CD or digitally is probably the best choice.  I am a vinyl enthusiast and will definitely be purchasing the vinyl version when I get a chance, because the songs here flow so well together and so seamlessly at times, listening to the album from start to finish, uninterrupted is the primo way to experience this opus.  Highly recommended to all fans of hardcore - this is what hardcore music can be when you think outside the box and allow creativity to rule versus merely "following the script".


90/100

RetCon Ruminations – Modern Extreme Metal

Musical elitism bothers me.  With a form of expression and entertainment such as music, as wide-ranging as music is and can be, there are “genre elitists” or purists that feel their particular chosen style, genre, or sub-genre is somehow “sacred” and should be exempt from tampering or cross-pollination with other styles or forms.  Unfortunately, this attitude is pervasive in the heavy metal community, with purists thinking that anything not meeting their arbitrary set of criterion cannot be considered a part of the heavy metal musical “family”.  Traditional metal fans despise what is referred to as “nu-metal”, and extreme metal fans don’t like too much melody or other musical styles influences their beloved death and black metal.  Black metal can’t have lyrics that don’t concern themselves with satan, the “Old Ones”, or some other mythical “evil” figureheads.  Otherwise it has to be “post-black metal” or some other description.  Heaven forbid (or hell, perhaps?) that this musical style have anything to do with Christianity or any other religious form of expression.  Same for death metal, which apparently is supposed to be all about death and cannibalism and horror, even though the tech-metal band Cynic is revered for their overtly technical death metal and purposely obtuse lyrics.  It’s all arbitrary, and as far as I’m concerned, this practice just STINKS of elitism and hypocrisy.

I don't think Korgul cares what constitues metal, as long as he can crush, kill, destroy.

But I digress – I myself have been guilty of some form of musical elitism over the years, though markedly less blatant or purposeful.  Most of my guilt comes from occasionally slagging on a band or album for mixing musical styles together that either don’t make sense, or usually for bands that try to do something along those lines but just fail miserably because they don’t have enough musical know-how to pull it off.  I don’t see this as a bad thing, since a band should have more than a working knowledge of the styles they’re trying to marry before trying to sell their recorded works to the public.  In the grand scheme of things, this is a relatively small issue, compared with the more widespread genre elitism that takes place in the rock and metal world daily.

With that in mind, I have considered the idea of a “Musical RetCon”.  In effect, this would look at a modern style of music and then turn back the clock 20 years to see if the responses to this genre or style would be the same.  Not that we can accurately determine that now; that’s simply not the point.  Rather, I just posit the idea that if said style had originated alongside some of the more revered styles, would they have been accepted in their infancy just as their parent styles were, or would they have been as reviled then as they are (by elitists) today?  I submit before the court the question of metalcore and deathcore – would those styles have been as widely panned by metal purists had they been introduced during the height of thrash metal, the initial stages of death metal, and ultimately the first embers of what became black metal?

Firstly, let’s start with a couple definitions, just to clear the air.  Personally, I see metalcore as a melding of hardcore music (in a more modern form versus early hardcore like Minor Threat or early Agnostic Front) and heavier forms of music like thrash and death metal.  While the conventions of thrash and death metal are nearly always eschewed for a hardcore aesthetic, the music is generally heavier than hardcore music, resulting in something that retains a hardcore basis but is heavy enough to be considered metal music.  Likewise, deathcore is an extension of the metalcore sub-genre, itself taking on the characteristics of metalcore but leaning further in the direction of death metal with greater emphasis on downtuned guitars, guttural vocals, and overall “brutality” in the sound.  Just to make sure my own personal feelings aren’t on trial here, I have opted to link to the Wikipedia articles on both styles to ensure that their origins are understood.

Knowing that, based on these definitions, there is a healthy amount of metal influence in these sub-genres, it would seem on the surface that metalcore and deathcore would be welcomed into the metal fold with open arms.  That would be all too easy, however, as the so-called “metal elite” is often far too self-absorbed for that kind of open-ended thinking.  For a genre that rages against conformity and praises individualism, metal is often victim to its own set of arbitrary rules and regulations, with websites like Metal Archives (aka Encyclopaedia Metallum) leading the charge for metal conformity and uniformity.  When did heavy metal become a genre of rules and regulations?  When did the style of music that was supposed to shake the foundations of the world become old news and succumb to the weight of its own self-imposed law?  I thought metal WAS law?

Metal IS in fact law, case closed!

So while I say some of this in jest, sarcastic tongue planted firmly in cheek, it isn’t without some frustration that I call for this move toward sanity.  Metalcore and deathcore may both be trendy right now, but consider how long these styles have already been in play.  Metalcore has been around in some form since the mid-1990’s when bands like Earth Crisis and Living Sacrifice started blending hardcore elements together with crushing metal sounds.  And to me, the roots of deathcore stretch back more than 10 years with some of the more modern death metal bands at the time (like Embodyment, with their “Embrace the Eternal” album) beginning to incorporate elements that drove some of the deathcore sound, regardless of the presence or absence of hardcore-styled breakdowns.

Let’s look at another example closer to home.  Thrash metal started in the early 80’s and didn’t truly catch on outside the underground until the mid-late 80’s when Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament, Exodus, Overkill, etc. started to gain major fan-bases by touring and releasing solid albums.  So while the roots of the style can be traced back to late 70’s and early 80’s British metal and punk (Motorhead, anyone?), it took a few years before the style started to gain favor in the metal community.  By the late 1980’s, thrash bands from the San Francisco “bay area” were popping up left and right, with even more aggressive bands cropping up in Europe (i.e. Destruction & Kreator) and abroad.  From 1988 to about 1991, before the grunge explosion, one might have said thrash metal became trendy.  One might even say thrash has become trendy once again, with a lot of retro-thrash metal bands popping up, old bands re-uniting and making great records (Testament comes to mind with their latest album), and a lot of young, hungry metal bands making classically-styled thrash records that sound as if Overkill or Exodus were channeling their 1980’s output into a new generation with better production values.

We are NOT the babysitting service!

By the same token, death metal became “trendy” in the mid-late 1990’s when metal was in a more underground state, with tons of death metal bands popping up and emulating early output by Death, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Deicide and Cannibal Corpse.  Some bands did their own unique things (like Atheist, Pestilence or Gorguts), while some bands opted for a straight ahead, no-frills approach.  Likewise, black metal has in some way become trendy or fashionable.  Indeed, when college-age guys dressing like hipsters are playing (often quite well) their own take on the black metal aesthetic, it’s obvious that it’s not just a bunch of guys wearing corpse paint and burning churches any longer.  The gig is up, and while the large number of “bedroom black metal” bands won’t overtake Immortal any time soon, the age of “true” black metal which is all about Satanism (in whichever form you prefer) is pretty well over.  This brings to mind the subject of “the music is the message, the message is the music” which I also disagree with, though I will tackle that subject at another time.

Yes, I still live in my mom's basement.

Seasons change, and so do opinions over time, but I am in awe at how vehemently the metal elite continues to enforce this ruling against metalcore and deathcore upon the metal community at large.  It would seem to me a much more fitting and “metal” thing to do is to leave the determination of what is and is not metal up to the metal fans themselves, rather than dictating that to us instead.  Given that metal is (supposedly) all about rebellion, non-conformity, and “doing your own thing”, it appears a major double-standard to decry the hardcore-influenced metal bands and deny them “metal status” when earlier crossover acts (MOD, SOD, DRI, etc) are generally considered as metal as the thrash bands that inspired part of that sound.  Why don’t we re-draft the definition of metal to be a little more expansive?  I say we go both ways – let the “glam metal” bands be metal, and let the metalcore and deathcore bands be metal.  You don’t have to like them all, and you don’t have to acknowledge them all with the same reverence or status, but they can all still be metal.  But at least this way metal can be a bit less exclusive and a bit more open minded, which is part of what metal is supposed to be all about.  At least, that’s what I’m told…

For the uninitiated, the term ‘RetCon’ is short for “Retroactive Continuity”.  In terms of television, movies, books, comics, etc. it is the practice by some writers or Intellectual Property holders to retroactively add storylines or modify things that happen either prior to or during an established timeline for that particular medium.  For example, a movie trilogy is established, then perhaps a later work of fiction or TV series related to that movie may retroactively insert details into the original trilogy storyline that were not present in the original medium.  It is a literary device used often to make what is happening now (in the current storyline) relevant or connected to the prior or existing story or events.

Vinyl Confessions - Grave Robber releases

I love vinyl albums.  I love the large-scale artwork, the spinning of the album on the platter, and the sound that emanates from my speakers when a record is playing.  I also love the collect-ability of vinyl and how limited edition releases can enhance an artist or band's discography beyond just standard CD's, digital releases, or even cassettes.  Vinyl is the traditional collector's choice of format, despite the arrival of the 21st century and the Internet Age.  While vinyl never went away (the underground rock, punk and hardcore scenes still thrive on this), the mainstream has now embraced vinyl once again.  The problem with this is that most current mainstream vinyl releases are of the "audiophile" variety, i.e. they are overly expensive 180-gram vinyl that costs 2-3 times as much as either a CD or digital release would cost.  Now, I'm all for high-fidelity audio, but I don't think most folks who listen to Nirvana or Metallica are the proud owners of $5,000+ audio systems with $2,000 turntables that contain diamond styli.  I'm certainly not in that camp, and I suspect I'm not alone by a long shot.


So it is with great joy that a vinyl lover like myself can find great deals on classic albums (via thrift stores or second-hand record shops), as well as when current artists release new music on vinyl, whether those releases are included in the original "run" of an album, or whether they are a special or limited edition situation that happens some time later.  Even more fun is when a band puts out a vinyl release that has that extra something special that makes it either more fun, more collectible, or just more desirable to own.  Hand numbering, free digital downloads included, CD-R copies of the release as a bonus, etc.  These are all great features of a modern vinyl release.  But at the end of the day, the vinyl lover has to be satisfied with the purchase of the vinyl album, since the amount of physical space that record takes up has to be worth sacrificing to own it.

Awesomesauce.

Thankfully, the recently issued triumvirate of Grave Robber albums are worth the space on your shelf.  Kudos to Vinyl Remains for flying the indie vinyl release flag, and for issuing these 3 beauties.  Grave Robber's debut album, "Be Afraid" checks in first with new cover art, as well as a delicious golden see-through vinyl.  The band's 2nd album "Inner Sanctum" is released as well, and despite having the same artwork as the CD release, looks great at that size and sports a snazzy see-through red platter.  And finally, the recent compilation "Exhumed" is here, also with original artwork, but in a wonderful bright green see-through record that ties in nicely with the green logo on the front.  In addition, each release includes a 2-sided semi-gloss print that has artwork and album credits printed on them.


The albums sound great in vinyl form, though I am biased because I already enjoy the music contained therein.  My audio setup I usually use (at my office) isn't high-end by any stretch - I have a table-top "retro" stereo unit w/ a top-side turntable and then have a nice set of Logitech speakers plugged into that with great frequency range and response, and a nice subwoofer included in the package.  So while a bit of the "vinyl hiss" is present due to my somewhat lacking configuration, it still sounds great while it's spinning.  The music comes across sufficiently loud like the original CDs do, with no additional mastering evident.  From a sound perspective, these things don't disappoint.  The see-through colored vinyl albums are a treat, and though most indie vinyl re-issues or special editions are released in either colored see-through or the sort of opaque "tie-dye" style nowadays, I am still giddy like a school boy when I see the bright colored records slide out of the sleeves.  The retro graphics styling on the vinyl center portion is also great, giving it that sort of late 50's, early 60's feel.

Don't they just look tasty?!

Here are the few (minor) negative things.  First, they're not numbered.  Yeah, that's a small quibble, but with the indie vinyl market being a specialized as it is, it's always a treat to have them numbered, even if they're not individually so by hand, but if the sleeve mentions how many copies were pressed.  Secondly, there are no lyrics.  Why include nice semi-gloss printout sheets if you're not going to include the lyrics?  It's true that Grave Robber's lyrics are pretty easy to hear and make out, but I still think including lyrics would have been a nice touch.  Third, there's no download option.  This is also a very small issue, but one that should be noted.  If you're going to purchase the full album in vinyl format, it's a good idea to provide a download of the item.  This doesn't affect me personally, because I already own all 3 of these on CD (the 1st and 3rd of which I own in multiple versions), but for vinyl lovers looking for their fix, in today's world, it's also a good idea to include something they can throw on their chosen media player.  I don't consider the exclusion of the band's cover of "Children of the Grave" to be an issue (available on the CD version of "Inner Sanctum") because the vinyl probably wouldn't have had enough space to include it.


Despite my minor complaints, these are a MUST for Grave Robber fans who are also fans of vinyl.  If you already have these albums in either digital or CD format, and you're not a collector or vinyl fan, they're probably not an essential purchase, especially if you don't own a turntable to play them on.  The exception to that rule is if you're purchasing them again to help support the band, to which I say bravo.  Vinyl needs to stay alive for more than just the collector's market (and nerds like me), and this band is too important not to support.  Their message is important, their approach is unique, and everything about their music is done right.  Highly recommended.

The Gamut - tonight's playlist!!!

Loads of awesome music in tonight's show - as always, a smorgasbord of great tunes to feast on!  After the technical difficulty at the end of last week's show I think I've got things ironed out now so that won't happen again, so tune in at 9 PM EST via http://www.untombed.com to listen in!


Tonight's playlist!
Sympathy - Lord of All Terrors (Death Metal)
House of Wires - Dead or Happy (Synthpop)
Tourniquet - Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror (Progressive Thrash Metal)
XT - The Rock In My Life (Commercial Metal)
Bloody Sunday - The Best Of Me (Hardcore)
Headnoise - They're Trying To Kill Me (Female-fronted Punk)
Winter's Dawn - The Victory: Rapturous Surrender (Black Metal)
Convalesce - Monsters (Metalcore)
Ashen Mortality - Cast the Last Stone (Doom Metal)
Take it Back! - Standing On the Edge Of Hope (Hardcore Punk)
Halcyon Way - Rise to Revise (Progressive Metal)
Loudflower - Can't Change Yesterday (Alternative Rock)
Joy Electric - The Cobbler (Synthpop)
Mad At The World - Dancing On Your Grave (Hard Rock/Alternative)
Lost Dogs - Jesus Loves You, Brian Wilson (Folk/Rock)
Sometime Sunday - Lie (Grunge)
Chicago Is Burning - Fall Into the Sun (Industrial Metalcore)
The Deal - Here Comes the Sword (Punk Rock)
Heaven's Force - Second Coming (Thrash Metal)
Sweet Comfort Band - Armed and Ready (80's Rock)
Disciple - Before You (Groove Metal)
Blenderhead - National Drug (Hardcore Punk)
Believer - D.O.S. (Desolation of Sodom) (Thrash Metal)
Rebelhead - Say It Loud (Groove Metal)
Jacobs Dream - Welcome To My World (Progressive Metal)
Juliana Theory - If I Told You This Is Killing Me, Would You Stop? (Emo/Rock)
Allies - Feather In Your Cap (Rock)
Deitiphobia - Have Mercy (Industrial)
Haven - The Witching Hour (Power Metal)
Bloodgood - Anguish and Pain (Classic Metal)
Danielson Famile - Fruitful Weekend (Indie Pop/Folk)
Titanic - Carnival of Souls (Classic Metal)
Hell Bovine - Why Are You Dancing? (Grindcore/Noise)
Ezra - Tantum Ergo (Death Metal)
Sacrament - Haunts of Violence (Technical Thrash Metal)
After the Order - Fuschia (Alternative Rock)
Savior - See Things (Progressive Rock)
Fall of Echoes - Red Tree (Progressive Hard Rock)
Crystavox - Sacrifice (Commercial Metal)
With Blood Comes Cleansing - Take Everything (Deathcore)
Random Eyes - For Your Love (Power Metal)
The Famine - Ascend (Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal)


Check out the Untombed website @ www.untombed.com !  You can tune in easily via the web-based player on the front page, link to the stream via your regular audio player, read album reviews, get music news, and link up to other great resources, including Divine Metal Distro, your one-stop source for all things Christian rock and metal!  Don't forget, station chat has moved to Untombed.com at the bottom of the site, so make sure you sign up or use a Facebook or Twitter account to sign in and chat w/ me and other listeners during the show!


Alternate links to listen to the stream in a separate player (Winamp recommended, though Real Player, VLC, iTunes and others work as well):
http://207.192.71.70:8000/listen.pls
http://radio.fuhell.com:8000/listen.pls


Here's the link for Windows Media Player:
http://207.192.71.70:8000


Also our stream can now be heard on Nintendo Wii! If you have a Wii, here is what you do:


1.go on the net via your Wii console
2. type "www.Wiihear.com" into your browser address box
3. type "207.192.71.70:8000" into the Search box
4. Click the play arrow


It can take 5-10 seconds to load up & buffer, so please be patient when using this feature :)


You can also stream the station via xyzmp3.com on your PSP, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or even your TiVo!  Plus you can stream the show via your Windows Mobile phone with the free GSPlayer application!  Listen in from your Android device via the "A Online Radio" or StreamFurious applications, as well as the new beta version of Winamp for the Android platform!

Album of the Moment - At the Drive-In's "Relationship of Command"

I generally dislike it when underground bands get thrust into the mainstream and all of a sudden get showered with popularity all at once. It's usually a sign that they will burn out as quickly as the so-called "music press" lifted them up. Of course, this viewpoint is sometimes one side of the coin, because without said exposure I may not always find out about them. Such is the case with At the Drive-In.


The band went from underground quiet notoriety to front and center on the rock stage when their video for "One Armed Scissor" suddenly fell into frequent rotation on MTV2 back in 2000. That seems to be how most who weren't already "in the know" discovered this band. Unfortunately their meteoric rise only lasted a short while before they came crashing back down to earth. I read a quote in a magazine at that time (Alternative Press, maybe) that described the band as "too punk to be metal and too metal to be punk." While that's not a wholly accurate description, it does capture some of the essence of what this band sounds like. This would best be described as "post-hardcore" but is far more layered than much music that fits that tag, and probably more rocking than most as well. Think of your favorite melodic shoegazer band playing at full speed with screams instead of breathy whispers and you get just a glimpse of what ATDI sounds like. Add the quirky, Cobain-esque nonsensical lyrics and you have a unique listening experience. Thankfully, the band did regroup later into quirky program-rock outfit The Mars Volta, so some of the insanity that was ATDI carried on. But this album is great, save for the possible exception to the lame, faux-creepy intro to "Enfilade" (provided by none other than punk forefather Iggy Pop). It is chock full of goofy imagery and metaphor, melodic yet driving music, and a fairly unique stamp on the scene. I pull this out from time to time and it is a fantastic listen every time.