Cave In

White Silence



So I promised a review of the new Cave In album... not that anyone really gives a shit. But I figure since I promised I should write one.

Okay so I'm just gonna throw it out there. I think that Cave In gets a lot more props and respect then most bands because of where they came from and what they have been through. Which they should, I admire the band for being able to transition genres in the beginning from some serious and influential hardcore on Until Your Heart Stops to experimental space rock on Jupiter and the major label adventure Antenna, which kinda screwed them because when they turned in a heavier follow up to RCA they were dropped. But that is the reason that I respect them the most, they continue to write the music they want regardless of what everyone expects from them. Check the wiki for more of detailed history.

So all that being considered I really like the musical path the band has taken since leaving the majors and going back to Hydrahead. White Silence is a continuance of that path, the song structures are original and interesting and the vibe of the album does this kind of cool progression from being super heavy and screamed out to a more proged out psychedelic atmosphere towards the end (its like a hardcore version of Pink Floyd). The biggest indicator of the progression is the vocals which are all screams for the first two songs and slowly those screams morph into clean vocals until towards the end of the album the yelps hardly show up at all. It makes me wonder if the band was genius enough to have planned this or if it just happened by coincidence when they ordered the tracks... the world may never now.

But, the album is not as perfect and glorious as many a reviewer on the Internet is saying. I feel like listening through the album there are times when it is missing it's intensity and emotion. I was hoping for more shnazzier rhythms and a lot more bounce. So all that considered while the album doesn't tear my pants off and throw me in the sack it's still good enough to talk me into coming in for a night cap. It's definitely worth your ears and so far is the only heavy release besides Glassjaw's   Coloring Book worth listening to in 2011. The state of heavy music sucks this year... Lame

U2 - Live

Rice Eccles Stadium - Salt Lake City, UT 05/24/11

Finally Bono, The Edge and two dudes that look like my drunk uncles came back to Utah after a delay caused by Jesus himself... oh wait... Bono throwing his back out after fondling some taters while originally rehearsing for the U2360° tour in Salt Lake 18 months ago.

Tuesday morning I was so excited to drive up to Rice Eccles stadium, spend an hour trying to park, watch Mormons make out and listen to Bono talk about himself that I could hardly stand it. The night unfolded exactly how I expected.

It is insane to me that people go this ape shit over U2. While the stage set up known as "The Claw" was really cool looking and the 360° video board made the show visible from every spot in the stadium, it was not enough to make up for the contrived self righteousness that U2 has become. Bono at one point literally spent five minutes of the show talking about himself and the band. But the clincher for me was when he pulled three women on stage and read some ridiculous poem about how Utah was so great. That's all I could handle and even though I got into the show for free I had to leave.

Now, the day after the show there are several reviews confessing their undying love for the band, preaching about how amazing the show was last night and how it was such a religious experience. Are you kidding me?! If your idea of a religious experience is watching a pre-rehearsed calculated narcissistic commercial you are clearly a brain washed sheep. Strong work Salt Lake Tribune and David Burger. You Dildos.

Here's some crappy pictures and a video:

Isis - R.I.P.

A must read retrospective from the band published by Decibel. I miss the band greatly. I always made it a point to shake their hands after their show and they were always extremely nice about it. I gave them my bands CD a couple of times to listen to. Never heard from them. Guess they didn't like it. Hahaha

Click the pics for parts 1 & 2





(Photos by Mark Dawursk)

Review of the new Cave In album coming soon...

Face To Face

I'm not a huge Face to Face fan. But just saw this video for their new jam "It's Not All About You". Click the pic for the link yo!!

Chad VanGaalen

I'm really diggin this new Chad VanGallen video for his song "Peace On The Rise". It reminds of this creepy animated movie that I used to watch when I was all stoned in Junior High called Light Years.
Check it!

Beastie Boys

 Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

The new Beastie Boys album is out and it's all raw and gritty. Imagine if you cross pollinated One Day As A Lion with some heavy dubstep like Starkey all the while marinating it in a big ol' pot of Ill Communication and you would have this bad ass new B Boys album. I was a lil' worried about the group when MCA was diagnosed with cancer. But he's back and sounding gruffer then ever. The only thing more entertaining then this album right now is the insane yet hilarious short film sequel to the "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" video.



Watch it a few times and see if you can spot all the cameos. It has to be some sort of record.

Stream the new album and hear all the pimpity action for yourself here.

Danzig - Live

The Great Saltair - Salt Lake City, UT 05/02/11

Back in the day I always found it a little strange when people were into Danzig. I never could quite understand how you could buy into this little barrel chested dude that looks like Vigo from Ghostbusters 2.

But as I've grown a little older I pretty much like any kind of music and after meeting my wife and finding out she was obsessed with him I accepted Mr. Glen Danzig into my life.

When his performance at Saltair was announced I had to go because, I knew somehow it was going to be hilarious yet awesome. Partly because of the crowd that would attend and partly because watching a goth metal version of Elvis / Morrisey's love child running around in a fishnet shirt sounded like a hell of a way to spend a Monday night.

Sadly though, only half of what I imagined actually came through. The crowd was awesome, there's nothing like watching a bunch of metal heads and drunk assholes rock out, they should make a reality show that consists of trashed people at shows doing their thing, it would be so amazingly entertaining. But, the worst part was watching the crowd bug out to two of the blandest metal core bands I have heard in a while in 2Cents and Devildriver (for some reason the lead singer of 2Cents kept referring to his penis and insulting the crowd). Then waiting patiently for Danzig only to have them sound like a busted ass blues rock cover band coming out of an old beer can with an extremely loud old dude shrieking randomly over the top. I was honestly amazed at how horrible it sounded. Then it occurred to me... on the way into the show security was making an extremely huge deal about not taking any pictures or videos. The reason must be because if any pics or video clips surfaced of a bald and chubby Danzig yelping incoherently and consistently running out of breath mid lyric no one would go to his concerts

It's was kind of sad to see that someone so strangely badass and ridiculous has now just become old and ridiculous. I guess when you need a paycheck for you're Viagra you gotta go play them shows. I managed to sneak a couple of crappy unfocused pics before being almost thrown out by security. Check em out.