With so many concept albums being so crappy last year (i.e. Judas Priest Nostradamus and Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Douchebag Friends), Sepultura take a stab at it again with their new album A-Lex. Their previous album was also a concept album based on The Divine Comedy and called Dante XXI, so this is not uncharted territory for them (and yes I still love that video and song “Territory”). This album is one heavy mother fucking album. With only one original member (bassist Paulo Jr. ), most fans have not followed Sepultura’s career without the Cavalera’s but they are sadly mistaken.
The album is lyrically based on the novel and Stanley Kubrick adaptation to film A Clockwork Orange. A-Lex literally translates to “without law” and it is also the protagonist of the novel. In the novel and film, Alex leads a life of crime and violence. He ends up being brainwashed by the State using a technique called Ludovico’s which is very similar to the Pavlov’s dog experiment with the added drug injection. That is it is used to associate things and for Alex they associate two of his favorite things classical music and violence. However, he ends up being defenseless, as well as harmless and ends up getting his ass kicked. He tries to kill himself after trying to being manipulated and the technique is reversed so that he can revert to his violent ways. Then he ends up being bored with the whole violence concept, thinks about settling down and starting a family. At the same time, he realizes if he were to have children of his own that they would lead a life of destruction and violence like his own. The whole concept is that violence may be part of our nature, but more importantly is our ability to decide at free-will. Now can you tell what this album is about, no way.
But this is some of the best metal I’ve heard in a while. Just like the book, the album starts off with some heavy violent thrash metal. As soon as the guitar kicks in, you know that you will have your ass handed to you on a platter. The mid range has enough to hair to it that you will start headbanging right away. On “A-Lex 1” it sounds like he is getting his gang together and then on “Moloko Mesto” is where the violence begins. Some of the most intense metal I’ve heard similar to Slayer and Pantera, but not as predictable as most of the metal today.
Bon Iver new EP Blood Bank changes direction and puts out this weak EP. The follow up to his masterpiece For Emma, Forever Ago is still in the works, but this EP shows the potential of what it will sound like. With only 4 tracks (one of which he experiments a little too much), this EP is suppose to wet your appetite on what may sadly come; a crummy experimental record.
Daniel Martin Moore had no idea that he would be signed to Sub Pop when he submitted his demos to them the old fashioned way, via mail. Kentucky is not a place where many great songwriters come from, but we now have one to add. Being a nomad, he was contacted while working in Costa Rica in a bed and breakfast. If he had regrettably not submitted his work, we would not have this masterpiece we have today.
Antony & The Johnsons new album The Crying Light is a somber set of songs. With such a unique vocal style, you will find an interesting sound. The albums theme revolves around the theme of mother nature and mortality. Antony delivers a beautiful, yet annoying album at the same time. The music is very atmospheric and seems to be the strongest thing the album has to offer.
He seems to draw from a lot of sounds for his vocals. Some people claim he sounds like Jeff Buckley, but he sounds more like a Tiny Tim, T. Rex, Nick Drake and Nina Simone and not as good as any of them. If you like Nick Cave, then imagine that sound with a more lispy singer. His vibrato sounds so flamboyant you can’t but help laugh. Ali-G would call this guy a “batty boy”. He does draw influence from his musical influence Boy George and Culture Club, but doesn’t come away with it as cheeky. It sounds like he’s trying to be serious, but that’s the same as imagining Saddam Hussein as a comedian. Looking at this picture to the right, it looks as if he’s pretending to be a rooster (he must’ve got picked on as a child). The album is dedicated to a dancer called Kazuo Ohno.