Darklight Corporation – S/T

You know, the undead like to dance just as much as the rest of us.

They just need something hideously special to get those gangrenous limbs and rigamortis-locked joints to move.  Here it is, Darklight Corporation's stunning debut of horror-scope industrial speed metal.

Industrial speed metal may not sound like something you’d expect the ‘ol Racer to be digging right now.  Those who know me know that I have a low tolerance for metal who's goal is to assault me like a bazooka blast to my temple.  Rather than excite me, it has a bizarre paradoxical effect – it puts me to sleep.  I mean mouth-open, drool-spilling-asleep.  The louder and more bombastic in my face it is, the quicker I nod off.

Not the case with this tremor-inducing slab of depth-charge bass, grinding guitar, and non-stop beat that is the debut from New Zealanders, Darklight Corporation.  Destroying all hardcore dancefloors with a combined assault of equal parts Rammstein, White Zombie, Metallica, enough melody to make it all hang together and some serious fucking groove.  Sometimes the industrial grind of metal can get a little repetitive, but Darklight Corporation throw in enough twists and turns, maniacal choruses, and just flat-out-good songwriting to make the album a burner from start to end.  Like some graveyard spawned combination of Helltrain's death-and-roll and Ministry.  It's what Slayer would sound like if they were set up on a blind date with a zombie and decided to go clubbing.  Imagine that, let your brain lock that down, then prepare yourself and put on the disc

“One Man’s Revolution,” kicks it right off the bat, battering my inner ear like a prize fighter going to town on an opponents face.   Give me some crushing guitar that rages like two pieces of machinery scraping against each other. Tie it together with some percolating synth, bringing in the electronica flavor, and then hit me with that colon-shaking bass and groove.  Oh yeah!   I’m not a fan of larynx-shredding vocals, but they work here.  Big time.  Rough and sputum-filled, this is aggressive, angry, assailant dance music.  Industrial madness.  Electronica for the criminally insane.

Every track here pulverizes with the same homicidal intensity, aiming for full on listener-dancefloor-evisceration, but the standout tracks are so fucking good you don’t even mind that they're splitting your belly opening and stealing something vital.  “Sweet Sickness,” starts off with some mutated guitar, quickly launching into that all-important groove.  Adding enough space and time, melody and synths, to make the song stand out from the previous two tracks, it’s like a breath of fresh air.  Granted its fresh air laced with the stench of the recent dead.   And it could only be the dead who don’t dance to this song.  More fucking infectious than the black plague.  You just wanna get infected with this one.  Never thought someone could come up with a chorus “Your presence makes me sick/I don’t believe your sickness,” that could become a crowd-chanter.  But there I was, screaming the words right along with the band in my best (worst) throat-shredding vocals.  Yeah, my wife left the room, but I didn’t care.  I had my groove on.

“Lockdown,” is about as much a commercial metal song as you’ll ever find that has the lyrics “Eat my blood/eat my body.”  Complete with a massive air-guitar riff and damn-singable chorus, this song will get even the most dead of the undead to crawl out of their earthen tombs and crawl off to the dancefloor.  “Propaganda,” ups the ante with the most Rammstein-esque blitz on the album.  Synths stutter and strut, guitars wail, scream, cry and howl.  Dancebeats swirl in orgasmic frenzies.   This intensity rages with fury all the way to the amalgam of electronica beats and slicing industrial guitar that is the closer “Ramrod 69.” 

Darklight Corporation’s debut isn’t a pretty album.  It’s one horrific, demented, seriously-in-need-of-therapy mess of rotting corpses and anger.  It’s an album of life-pounding intensity, anguish, and ire.  And it’s all served up hot and steaming with some of the best industrial beats I’ve heard in ages.  Not for the faint of heart, but not one to miss either. 

Now leave me alone, my zombie-bride dancing partner’s got her groove on and I ain’t missing it.


--Racer

buy here: Darklight Corporation
or mp3: Darklight Corporation [Explicit]

Rage - Unity

There was a time in the late 80’s that I thought that these guys would have been mentioned in the same breath as Metallica, but alas, Metallica have climbed to the top of the social conscious for better or for worse, and Rage . . . well, I’m willing to bet that the smallest percentage of our readers even know who these guys are. Since the 90’s, I couldn’t mention their name without people confusing them with Rage Against the Machine, even though the music isn’t even in the same realm of reality. So, what happened to Rage? Why didn’t they become the household name that they so seemingly deserved to be? Eh, I could climb on top of my soapbox and wax on and off about the injustices of the music industry and the fickleness of the music fans, but I’m just too tired to fight today. It is what it is, and Rage has spent the past two decades toiling in their unobtrusive fashion throughout the European metal scene. I tried to keep tabs on them through the 90’s, lost their scent and ultimately forgot about the band except for those random days when I went on my Rage benders, spinning Perfect Man and Secrets in a Weird World to the point that I was whipped into a heavy metal frenzy. Then I saw it. In 2002, I found a copy of Unity at the record store.

On one hand, I was excited that the band had dug itself back to the glaring light of the sun for one more metallic display of technical wizardry for my benefit only. On the other hand, I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be the same Rage that I had spent the previous ten years cheering in my own private arena. Spoiler alert: I’m writing about it, right? The album is pure, unadulterated German technical power metal without all of the dreamy imagery of storming castles or battling an evil warlord on blood soaked fields. Rage play their brand of metal unlike any band that I’ve heard, incorporating elements of thrash, composing great four and five minute ditties that are musically dynamic making them feel a lot longer than they actually are, and pumping the choruses with so much melody that the songs remain memorable. Imagine the musical proficiency of a band like Rush, mix that with the melodic songwriting abilities of a band like, say Journey, for instance; and then add the aggressive distorted bombast of a band like Metallica. Combine all of this with some sleek production and you have the progressive power metal leanings of Rage.

Rage is as complete a band as they come, particularly when hoisting them up against their metal peers.  The rhythm section of Peavy on bass and vocals and Mike Terrana on drums is an unnatural force of thunder and groove, but Unity is made most dynamic by the guitar virtuosity of Victor Smolski. In fact, this entire album is a clinic on six string mastery, as this Russian string bender not only provides excellent moments of shred, but provides beautiful passages of melody, and then stomps effect pedals in a way that would make Tom Morello embarrassed. Case in point, fast forward the disc to the eighth track, “Living My Dream.” The tune kicks off with Smolski grinding a palm muted riff filled with squeals and nuance, throws in some alternate picking, letting his left hand flow across the neck of the guitar, and then showers us with sparks of dexterous brilliance at the solo. Though, the solo isn’t just a lesson in fret hand dexterity, it’s also a lesson in pedal board footwork. The effects that this guy whips out are mind blowing, but maybe even more amazing is how he melds one sound into the next without it sounding like overkill. “Living My Dream” also highlights the bands stylistic range by hitting the song hard and heavy, full of aggression and paranoid tension, then they open the song up to huge and sweeping melodies, almost to the point of operatic. In essence, you’ll be banging your head, waving the horns, and singing like a bird . . . all at the same time!

For more on the heavy side of the coin, “Down” is about as good as it gets. Grinding and up tempo, reminiscent of Painkiller-era Priest, the song opens with more palm muted guitar riffery and flurried of double bass drums pitter-pattering their way in the background. Peavy’s vocals, always a mixed bag, are uber-melodic through the verses before working hard to get guttural for the choruses. Smolski’s guitar work at the solo is another head spinner, mixing in great combinations of scales and bar chords, hitting the effects board just enough to shake things up, injecting serious flavor in the smorgasbord of sound. Much of the same can be said about songs like “Insanity” and album opener, “All I Want.” Infectious melodies make it hard to forget the songs and it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be humming these songs during all of the quiet moments in the day.

“Dies Irae” flirts with epicness, opening with a choir chanting away in Latin while the band is dropping huge bursts of distortion in the background. As the choir fades out, the music encompasses all that is power metal; heavy grooves, up tempo drum beats, melodic vocals, awesome guitar riffs, and sweeping solos that will have you involuntarily playing air guitar in your office cubicle. This one features another stunning solo from Smolski. I love how he makes it sound so effortless, so fluid, so stream of conscious as his fingers do their lightning dance across the fret board. And even though, at times during the solo, it sounds like mere mindless noodling, on greater inspection of the work, it becomes readily apparent that this guy has more chops than your local butcher. Fucking incendiary approach to his playing, and now that I’ve come back to re-listen to Unity, I’m inspired to track down more of Rage’s later works. And speaking of Unity, the title track is a compositional game of chess, Risk, and Stratego . . . all wrapped into a seven plus minute instrumental epic, incorporating elements of jazz-fusion and classical within the realms of all that is heavy. Truly masterful!

I will probably always be a Rage fan because, unlike a lot of metalheads out there, I get them. At least, I think I get them. Peavy and company haven’t really changed their formula all that much. The level of musicianship has definitely increased since those earlier albums that I mentioned, and to listen to Unity after listening to something like Perfect Man or Execution Guaranteed is the equivalent of using a telephone in 1980 to using a cell phone today. It’s technically advanced, but basically does the same thing. In the case of Rage, their sound has become more full, more focused, more defined, and in some ways, easy to use. Fans of guitar driven music, especially metal, will love this album. How Victor Smolski isn’t mentioned in the same breath as all of the great virtuoso’s of the instrument is beyond me. Admittedly, getting used to Peavy’s voice will take some getting used to, but if you’re a Rush fan and it took you some time to get past Geddy’s voice, then this should be a cake walk. Alrighty . . . I’m off to track down Rage’s post-Unity material . . . I’ll catch up with y’all later.  -  Pope JTE

Buy here: Unity

http://www.rage-on.de/

Slayer - Diabolus In Musica

Woody inspired me with his review of the new Slayer album, and though it didn’t excite me the same way it did Woody, it still made me think that I, well . . . all of us at Ripple, owe Slayer a debt of gratitude. It was the music of Slayer, after all, that reaffirmed my love for all things metal and compelled me to approach Racer, way back in the day, and propose doing a music review fan zine. Much like our brother, Woody, I’ve been listening to Slayer since I was a wee lad . . . Haunting the Chapel was the first bit I heard from these guys. I remember sitting in a recliner as the neighborhood toughie that all us kids really wanted to be like dropped the needle on the record and I heard Tom Araya screaming out lyrics about the holy cross being the symbol of lies and crucifying the lives of Christian born. On one side, I completely freaked. Never had I heard such blasphemous words spoken. Then the other half reared its ugly head and I ran home, tore all of my Motley Crue pictures from my bedroom wall, and discovered the world of extreme metal.


Now, extreme metal is my sound of choice. It’s not an uncommon site to find me brandishing my battle axe to the subtle sounds of Bolt Thrower, or scrapping the barnacles from the hull of my Viking ship to the warring chants of Amon Amarth, or trekking through the barren deserts of Egypt to the haunting throes of Nile. But none of these scenarios would be possible without the diabolical devastation brought forth by Slayer. The band has become an institution. Hell Awaits opened the gates. Reign in Blood instantly became a classic. Seasons in the Abyss made them legends. Diabolus in Musica . . . did I just hear a needle go tragically scratching across the face of some vinyl? Yes, Diabolus in Musica is the Slayer album that reaffirmed to me that the band was still vital to heavy metal. I’m sure the die-hard Slayer fans never felt that they lost a step, but y’see, I did. I began to lose interest in the band around the time of Seasons because I started to feel that they’d been there and done that. Diabolus changed that for me.

I remember that I was immediately sold on this one when the band breaks into the opening track, “Bitter Peace.” The tune kicks off with a huge intro, very reminiscent of the Slayer I grew up with . . . heavy, intricate, ominous . . . all wrapped up into one bubbling and bristling ball of energy. Once that intro rolls away at the wrists of Paul Bostaph, the riff that blasts through the speakers takes me back, way back, to the time I first heard “Angel of Death.” It was as if I was hearing Slayer for the first time. It sounded fresh, while retaining that element of familiarity. Then, the absolute high speed chaos assails the senses. Notes played at the speed of light, bass and snare drums popping and snapping, Tom Araya’s sinister vocals penetrating through the musical din, all conveying a crystal clear message that war is more than the television programs most Americans are used to watching. What I found most compelling about this track was how the band used dynamic shifts in tempo to drive this nitroglycerin truck through a block wall. They slow down the tempo at just the right time for maximum effect, and if that groove doesn’t get the body swaying in time, then there’s just no hope for the masses.

“Love to Hate” gave me new found respect for Slayer. Jeff Hanneman penned a dandy with this one as he incorporates some great elements that takes the traditional Slayer sound and adds some new wrinkles. Yeah, it’s still heavier than all get out, but what makes this track stand out is the up strokes on the guitar strings, creating an eerie, higher pitched shimmer that contrasts with the imposing low end groove. This little effect gives the song so much more character than if they had just plowed through the tune in their standard get-the-fuck-out-of-the-way approach. Also, check out the little break they throw in during the second verse. It kind of comes out of nowhere and harkens back to the classic creepy Slayer sound, but again, a nice dynamic shift that keeps the song from being pedantic. The groove to “Love to Hate” is powerful, just showing that this band doesn’t need to kick down 280bpm to deliver a hearty ass kicking.

Every song gets me moving on this album . . . “Stain of Mind,” “Perversions of Pain,” “In the Name of God,” all solid songs that encompass the Slayer attitude and sound. But it’s the album closer, “Point,” that acts as the cherry on top of this sundae, bloody sundae. Musically, much like the rest of the album, the band throw in some fresh ideas that help make the Slayer sound less one dimensional. Some Slayer fans don’t want that . . . I get it. But it’s my band, too, and I want to hear a little more diversity. Check out the killer riff at the thirty second mark . . . brutally heavy! Then, it’s all about the chaos of double bass drums and uber-fast drums beats, guitar riffs, and lyrics that depict more horrifying images of war. It’s actually the lyrics that captured my attention the most with this one as they vibrantly describe the fear of war, not just that there’s bloodshed and body counts, but the actual psychological trauma of coming under fire and having to face one’s own mortality. At one point, I can see with my mind’s eye, dew drops forming on the leaves of trees in a rain forest somewhere in Southeast Asia . . . movement in the foliage and feeling the eyes of the enemy on me . . . the soft squishing of my boots in the mud and the persistent buzz of mosquitoes in my ear . . . oh, that was a bullet whizzing by my head? Shit. I’m dead.

No doubt about it. Slayer is one of the finest metal bands of all time because they capture so many different elements in their music. There’s the speed, there’s the heaviness, there’s the creativity and vision, there’s the imagery and intelligence of the lyrical conveyance, and there’s the attitude. I read recently that Kerry King wasn’t a fan of this album because they were doing weird things in the music, but those are the exact reasons that this album is so important to me. Innovative ideas and approaches to playing made Slayer relevant again. My imagination and emotions were lit on fire for a second time in my life. I’ve heard some Slayer fans vilify this album, but they never explained why. I don’t hear it. I hear a band that has that same punk rock attitude and brutal metallic energy that they always had . . . they just created interesting nuances that will forever make Diabolus in Musica my favorite Slayer album . . . next to Reign in Blood, of course. - Pope JTE

http://www.slayer.net/
 
www.myspace.com/slayer