Daly City: The Movie

Part inside joke, part awesome, part shout out. Be sold on this.

Dark Castle: Surrender to All Life

Ever since Yob resurfaced doom has gotten a mighty second wind. That's not to say that quality, sludgy, grimy awesomeness hasn't come out, but there's been several bumps in the road (coughs NEURISIS!). Dark Castle is, I think, the shining beacon in new doom. Somehow they rub me the right way, and they just get it. I'm not dissing the efforts of the Neurisis movement. In fact, I think it was a great pause for heavy bands to regroup and create something newer, better.

Their full length, Spirited Migration, was a great launching pad for the band because it combined so many good things in metal and brought it over to the doom world. Their latest work, Surrend to All Life is a journey through the abyss. Think Times of Grace 2.0. Now this is no way equal in worth as my favorite Neurosis album, but it hits you just has hard. The Floridian duo has managed to take the Isis out Neurisis and bring something quite pummeling to the table. Their secret seems to be that they waste no time noodling through aimless sections. The album is only 34 minutes; and while it ends a bit too soon in one sense you never feel as if the songs are dragged out. Sometimes slow 'n' heavy can be achieved in shorter spans. Stevie Floyd's guitar work is uncanny, blending uptempo doom with some grinding black metal touches. This album at its best seems to represent the crossroads of several sub-genres. Imagine if Yob played faster, kinda. The song writing takes you through eb and flows: crushing blackened doom dirges to cacophonous landscapes of treacherous proportions. You feel as if you're carrying the weight of the album's heaviness, and it's crushing you. Every sound, especially the vocals make sure you cannot escape. This album even during its calmer moments (Spanish guitar styled 'Create and Impulse' still has an intensity to it) does not let you take a breather. You can only think of one word: Apocalyptic.

Sepultura: Kairos

Often, I am faced with the question, "If a newer band wrote this album, would it be considered good, better, or just as bad?" This question I ask of myself when listening to the new Sepultura album, Kairos. To be honest, I've given the now lengthy 'Post-Max' Sepultura enough of my time. For the most part, it's not good. There's certainly enough good songs sprinkled through the lengthy stint, but not enough to keep my interested. According to Wikipedia, the title the band chose for this album is the greek word for the right, supreme, or opportune moment. Perhaps this title was chose for a reason, but maybe not the one the band was looking for.

The whole reason I even gave this album the time of day was I saw live footage of their cover of Ministry's 'Just One Fix'. That alone should be the flag to raise caution. As you'd expect the band's cover of the Ministry classic comes off as predictable as you'd expect. Tribal drums after the first chorus to shake things up. Sure, it's a nice twist to the song, but I wouldn't really call it a change. The band makes the attempt to put their touch on a track that makes it more distracting than original.

As I first mentioned, above, I ask myself how good would I consider this album if someone else wrote it. This is what you'd expect from the band. It's their mid-tempo groove thrash. You've heard it before, and you don't have to hear it again. Perhaps 'Mask' provides a little change. There are blast beats and the riffs keep you interested, even through the solo, but it ultimately sounds like everything else you've heard from somewhere else.

Okay. I get it. You're not going to try anything new, but c'mon. Give it a rest already. This band hasn't put out anything unpredictable in a while. If you're expecting something new and exciting, look elsewhere. Sepultura provides the predictable, but is it good enough these days? It's not that this album is horrible, it's not interesting. As the album title suggests, this might be a opportune time to stop. They are stuck in time. A band with a tenure such as yours shouldn't be writing these riffs anymore.