Thursday, May 31, 2018

Metallica - Reload (1997)

If it is something that I really dislike about the summer, it is that there is nothing to watch on TV. Sure, you are supposed to be outside and enjoy life, but when it rains (which it does quite often here in Sweden), the TV will not be of any use since every channel just show re-runs all the time (unless there is some sporting event going on). What does this have to do with "Reload"? Just check the first syllable of the album title, it explains close to everything.

"Reload" is exactly what it say it is, a re-run of its predecessor "Load", with the same style of music, around the same play length, and even the album cover is more or less identical. And with each album being released just a year apart from each other, it is easy to get a deja vu feeling over the two records. Sure, there are differences between the twins, but they are so minimal that you need a magnifying glass to spot them. So let us bring out our inner Sherlock Holmes and find them.

On the musical side of things, "Reload" still has some country influences, but not as much as "Load", instead we have more of the straight out rock that was some of the better parts of the predecessor. While it does not take over the album, it does make "Reload" a little more dynamic in its approach, even if there is a lot of slow, uneventful songs that makes the long run time even longer. Another thing "Reload" has over its brother is that it has a better highlight in the speedy opener "Fuel", a song that blows fellow opener "Ain't My Bitch" over the water with its furious riffs and solo, and also a James Hetfield that is having a little too much fun. It also has a great chorus to scare the crap out of Drive-In cashiers (Give me food, give me fries, give me salad on the side!).

I do also think that the extra year of work that was put into this record only benefited it, because it sounds overall more crisp. Fine songs as "Devil's Dance", "Prince Charming", and "Where The Wild Things Are" got an extra pop to them, so even if they are no show stoppers, they do gather some attention here at least with a neat production, and some good performances from the entire crew.

Although, it does not salvage the overall bleak aura that surrounds "Reload", because as previously stated, there are simply too many songs in here that are either boring, uninteresting, meaningless, or all of the above. We got "Slither", which feels like a strange Alice In Chains cover, the overly corny "Bad Seed" and "Attitude" does not help things either, and while "Low Man's Lyric" might have had some good potential, it is thwarted by its 7 and a half minute length. Also, while "The Unforgiven II" is one of the main highlights of this record, why the hell did the band feel like they needed a sequel for one of the singles of "The Black Album"? You just had to squeeze in yet another track in here, didn't you?

Now, while I do think that both "Load" and "Reload" are both over bloated and bland, I do admire the band and their urge to push themselves musically, because there is some genuine good music to be found. The problem is that they felt like everything had to be included, so the gold is easily lost among the dirt. If Metallica just had some restraints, taking a couple of songs from each album and fuse them into a 50 minute album, then you would have a great record. Sadly, we are left with a lot of fillers, and while "Reload" is a slight step forward, it is not nearly enough to make it acceptable. So stop wasting my time and bring me something... angrier. Oh wait...

Songs worthy of recognition: Fuel, The Unforgiven II, Where The Wild Things Are, Prince Charming

Rating: 5,5/10 Bad Seeds

metallica.com/
twitter.com/metallica

More reviews of Metallica
Kill 'em All
Ride The Lightning
Master of Puppets
...And Justice For All
S/T
Load
St. Anger
Death Magnetic
Hardwired... To Self-Destruct

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Amorphis - Queen of Time (2018)

I do not know if I am beginning to get old and grumpy, but I have not found many records of high quality this year. 2018 so far has been disappointment after disappointment, with very few real highlights. Hopefully, it all might change now, since last week's releases did at least spark some interesting albums. No, I am not talking about the new 5FDP album, instead I want to focus on two other giants that just keeps on giving us some great music, one being death metal legends At The Gates delivering another face crusher in "To Drink The Night Away", and the other being the Finnish juggernaut Amorphis.

While Amorphis has never been one of my all time favourites, these lads have still produced quality work with each new record, and "Queen of Time", lucky number 13 for the band, is of course no exception. It is yet another Amorphis release that takes their patented brand of melodic folk death metal to new territories. Sure, it is not that much different from its predecessor, 2015's "Under The Red Cloud", but everything here feels more refined, perfected just a tad bit more to elevate it further.

With its 57 minutes divided into 10 songs (all between 4:50 to 6:40 minutes), "Queen of Time" certainly is a meaty record, but the flow is just so god damn fluent, it never feels tiring or stale. Amorphis does a good job in balancing all of the tracks, giving each and every one of the songs something that the listener can connect to, whether it be a catchy melody line, or an Anneke Van Giersbergen who pops up in "Amongst Stars". It also helps a lot that each song is of good quality, each one holding up on its own without any problem.

The performances are crisp as well, with the dual guitar attack of Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari as the show stoppers. Some of these riffs that they line up here are so addictive, and kind of unreal as well, like they should not be coming from a guitar. The opening riff of the opening track "The Bee" sets the bar, and it just gets lifted higher in "The Golden Elk", and "Wrong Direction", there are so many fantastic riffs and licks in here. Obviously, singer Tomi Joutsen deserves a shout out as well, ever since he joined the band in 2004 he has been flat out brilliant.

So this is just a wall to wall fantastic album, with no filler, all killer. The only remark I might have against it is that they could have used Anneke in a more interesting way in "Amongst Stars", and maybe put in one or two songs that were more different, to diversify the album even further, but that is just petty remarks for an album that is sure to be one of the front runners in the race for the number one spot of the year end lists. There are so many epic moments in here to fill the listener up easily, and it leaves a lasting impression on you. But do not stare at the album artwork for too long, or you might be able to see time itself and its frightening sight.

Songs worthy of recognition: Wrong Direction, The Bee, Daughter of Hate, The Golden Elk, We Accursed

Rating: 9,5/10 Grains of Sand

http://www.amorphis.net/
https://twitter.com/amorphis

More reviews of Amorphis
Circle

Monday, May 21, 2018

Five Finger Death Punch - And Justice For None (2018)

So I am still sitting here wondering why the hell the immensely popular Five Finger Death Punch chose "And Justice For None" as the title for their 7th full length record. The band claims that they ended up with the title after the legal battle they have had with their previous record label Prospect Park, which sort of makes sense since that event did influence the album, but did they really have to be this close to the classic Metallica record "...And Justice For All"? Why not name it "Justice For The Blind", "Justice Inc.", or "Give Me Justice Or Give Me Death", just do not make people question your title!

Well, the title does serve one purpose at least, telling the listener what you should expect of this 13 song disc. It is more or less the exact opposite from the Metallica record, so instead of being a complex and innovative album with piss poor production, "And Justice For None" is a very straight forward album with very predictable 5FDP material, all presented with sparkling clean production. In other words, it is exactly what you would expect from the band, even with the chaos that has surrounded them in recent years.

Seriously, there is very little evolution here from last album, it is the same type of macho metal that we have gotten to know from the band, only that it is not as impactful as before. The impact is gone because the band is using the same techniques over and over again, without making any significant changes, which steers the mind to better, similar tracks from the guys. You will definitely not find anything in here that will match up to what songs like "Lift Me Up", "Hard To See", and "Under And Over It" achieved.

Now, I would not say that the entire album is under qualified, we got a couple of songs in here that certainly stand strong. "Will The Sun Ever Rise" and "When The Seasons Change" are two great tracks, with some real nice emotional performances that do show what the band is capable of at their best, and "Top of The World" show the other end of the spectrum, a heavy party track with some nice weight behind it. I would also recommend "Fake" in that latter category, but only if you ignore the extremely juvenile lyrics that uses the word motherfucker more often than Samuel L Jackson. It is one thing when a band like Strapping Young Lad, a very childish and angry band, does it, but these guys are supposed to be serious. God damn.

In some way, I almost wished that they would just go full "fun mode", because you never know how it will turn out when the band goes more serious in its expression. Some times it works, some times it does not, and some times it is all over the place, like in "Sham Pain" where they try to hit back at all their haters (including Prospect Park), but it has this rap aura over it that makes it kind of... interesting, to say the least. If they would just ease off a bit more, then it probably would be easier for us to swallow their music.

What makes me the most mad about this album though is not the macho style, not the uneven quality, not even the childish lyrics, but the two covers. 5FDP feels more and more like a cover band in the making, because they do make some great covers, but it starts to take over from their own music a little too much, and it is very telling when the two covers ("Blue On Black" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd and "Gone Away" by The Offspring) are arguably the best tracks of the record. They have passion, great instrumentality, everything you would love to see in any original material they make, which is just strange to think that they put all this heart and work for two useless covers. It would be one thing if they were a part of the deluxe version of the album, but nope, they sit nicely in the official release as well, taking up two spots that could have been used for something more original instead.

So yeah... this album is sort of a mess I am afraid, but it is a step forward at least from the really lack luster "Got Your Six". It feels more and more like the band's original style is being watered down more and more for each release that surges up to the surface. It probably will not affect the band's popularity, but they do secure their spot as the 10's perfect gateway band for young and hopeful metal heads, and that is not too bad at all. Another positive thing, President Knucklehead has a bigger button than Trump, and more muscles too.

Songs worthy of recognition: Will The Sun Ever Rise, Top of The World, Blue On Black

Rating: 5,5/10 Rock Bottoms

fivefingerdeathpunch.com/
twitter.com/FFDP

More reviews of Five Finger Death Punch
Wrong Side of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell - Volume 1
Wrong Side of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell - Volume 2
Got Your Six

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Metallica - Load (1996)

With half of the discography reviewed, we now step into the stranger part of Metallica's career, where the band started experimenting more and leaving their thrash roots. While the departure from thrash did sort of start in "The Black Album", it was fully realized in the middle of the 90's with the release of the double trouble known as "Load" and "Re-Load", a duo of records that today are seen as the two outliers of Metallica's discography, not even considered as metal records. It is a strange duo that we will now dive deep into, so let us start with the first of the twins.

So knowing how incredibly successful "The Black Album" was, Metallica probably knew that it was going to be hard to follow it up, so they opted for going all in, write a ton of songs, and put them all in two albums, a tactic that is really risky, because it is so easy to go for quantity over quality, and unfortunately, that is exactly what happened here. With a play time of 79 minutes, "Load" is the band's longest album to date (yes, even longer than "Hardwired..."), and it is very much notable, being very tough to get through in one sitting, not because it feels long, but because the setlist is filled with fluff.

With a total of 14 songs, "load" is simply just loaded (hehe), mostly with blanks though. This album is filled with songs that simply does not feel like Metallica songs. At times, you wonder if the group wrote this songs, or if they stole them from Guns 'n' Roses and slapped a Metallica sticker on top of it. Most of this album consists of hard rock and country rock, with only "King Nothing" having some type of metal element to it, and most of these songs are mediocre at best, confusing at worst.

Now, just because the band completely changed sound direction, it does not automatically have to be a bad thing, and I could have certainly enjoyed this experiment if the song quality was up to par. "Load" certainly has some neat tracks, like the possible "The Black Album" outcast "The House Jack Built" where the band creates a nice mood and uses Peter Frampton's guitar effects to some good use. Then we have "Bleeding Me", a mellow tune that sits just right in your ear. Finally, the two most stand out singles "King Nothing" and "Until It Sleeps" are a nice double header at the end of the first half.

But as previously stated, there are just too many fillers in here for one to muster through. There is not any song that makes me mad, or any song where the performance or song writing is embarrassing. It is just a bland mess of songs that does not really give you any reasons to be mad. I was kind of annoyed that James Hetfield had a couple of spots where he did not seem fully focused (Adoobalee adoobalee!), and "2 x 4" just baffled me in every sense of the word, but otherwise "Load" left me quite indifferent, or at least kind of bored.

So even if the album cover looks like the inside of a lava lamp, it does describe the album quite well actually, it is a gooey mess that one probably could stare (or in this case, listen) for hours and do not get anything significant from it. "Load" is definitely not a good album, it is way too long, does not have enough stand out tracks, and the experimentation is far from bulletproof. However, I do not think "Load" is a bad record more than it is a forgettable one. Close to nothing in here is memorable, and since nothing makes you mad either, I just suggest that we just let it slide by and do not care too much for it. Onto its brother it is.

Songs worthy of recognition: Bleeding Me, Until It Sleeps, King Nothing

Rating: 4,5/10 Cures

metallica.com/
twitter.com/metallica

More reviews of Metallica
Kill 'em All
Ride The Lightning
Master of Puppets
...And Justice For All
S/T
Reload
St. Anger
Death Magnetic
Hardwired... To Self-Destruct

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Game review: South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Switch version)


The animated show South Park is the only show that I really follow with any sense of passion these days. The love child of Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been balls to the wall ever since its inception in 1997, and have stayed incredibly consistent during all 21 seasons, also morphing from a silly show with insane premises, to a more society criticizing juggernaut with insane premises. And with fame comes other medias, in this case video games, to reap even more gold from the franchise. The early N64 and PS1 games were... interesting to say the least, but far from any master pieces, something that Stone and Parker wanted to change, taking full responsibility to finally create the ultimate South Park game.

In 2014, that dream was finally realized in "South Park: The Stick of Truth", a simplified RPG game that worked just like a classic episode from the show, with visuals, jokes, and voice acting perfectly morphed into the gaming format. It was supposed to be the only game released, but Stone and Parker was just getting started, so they immediately started the development of its follow up, "South Park: The Fractured But Whole", released in October 2017 for PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One, and in April 2018 for the Nintendo Switch, which is also the version I played the game on.

"The Fractured But Whole" works as a direct continuation of "The Stick of Truth", with the player reprising its role as the new kid in town, leading its army as the king of Kupa Keep in a fantasy setting. Suddenly, out of nowhere comes a stranger from the future, it is none other than The Coon who tries to gather his forces of super heroes so that they can find a missing cat and claim the 100 dollar reward that will be crucial to start up their own franchise Universe (or Cooniverse as they call it). This means that every kid stops playing orcs and elves, and you are now back at the bottom of the totem pole, begging to even be a part of Coon And Friends. It is a great premise that obviously takes a lot of shots to both Marvel and DC, and I just find it great to be able to be a part of this fantastic super hero world that the show have built up in several episodes over the later seasons.

Don't you just hate it when someone text you while in the middle of a fight
In all honesty, even if I really adored the first game and its fantasy world, I just find the super hero approach to be more fun and fleshed out. It is mostly thanks to the fact that fans of the show already know and love all of the heroes that the kids are playing, and how incredibly creative they actually are, like Stan lending his father's power tools to become Toolshed, or Token becoming some sort of Iron Man clone with only Tupperware items, but even the more amateurish costumes are just brilliant, like Super Craig, who only has a S written on a sheet of paper that is taped onto him. It reminds us that these are kids playing, but acting like it is life or death, that this is their reality.

And just like you would expect from South Park, this game gets incredibly insane real fast. It all starts innocent enough with a bunch of kids searching for a cat, but it gets worse, a lot worse. It all leads to a bigger crime syndicate which forces you to face many assed mutations, an underground demon who only eats black meat, a gang of strippers, ninjas, Mexican henchmen, a Randy Marsh who is drunk out of his ass, and much more. There is a lot of jaw dropping moments in this game, just as many, if not more, as in the last game, and you will be laughing your way through it all. The writing is close to bulletproof, save from the ending in which it feels like Stone and Parker watched "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" recently.

Then we have the game play, which is very much alike its predecessor. It is a simple RPG game where you walk around South Park performing various quests, gathering followers for your Coonstagram page, solving puzzles, and shit on every toilet in town. There are though a couple of key differences that makes this game much deeper, one thing being Morgan Freeman talking you through the fine art of crafting, combining different objects to create various items. The upgrade system also gets a fine tune with the artifact slots, you use this slots to gain might so that you can take on tougher enemies and buff your attack or defence, depending on how you use them.

The biggest difference though is the combat system, which has changed from the Pokemon style in the last game to more of the one from "Final Fantasy Tactics". Instead of the combatants just standing there, we got a grid where they can move and use different attack patterns to hurt their opponent. This forces the player to use a lot more strategy this time around, especially since you also get to use up to three buddies in every fight and get a butt load of different classes to create your ultimate super hero, each with different useful attributions and super attacks that all have brilliant cutscenes. Add the various status effects like Gross Out, Bleeding, Burning, and many more, and you got a surprisingly deep combat mechanic that is much more fun and challenging.

Another thing that makes the combat so diverse is that not every battle is about pulverizing your opponent, sometimes you simply have to escape or catch up, or maybe you have to do another certain task, like burning a bunch of weed piles just to get Towelie high. We also have a brilliant touch that the battles can be interrupted by a car coming down the street, which forces everyone involved to move back to the curb, a brilliant detail that once again show that this is ultimately kids playing.

This is Shub Niggurath, he hates white meat because it is unhealthy
But for as much as I love the game and all its improved features, there are a couple of negative things that destroys the experience for me. First off, the loading screens are killing the momentum time and time again. For a game that looks like the show, in other words like crudely cut out pieces of cardboard, you would think that it would run smoothly, but no, the loading times are way too long, and even when it has loaded, the frame rate might shit its pants anyway.

Another huge problem is that this game got several glitches, no game breaking fortunately, but bad enough to make you really pissed. The most common I came across was that at times the game would just completely reset my character, get rid of all my experience and gear to make me as bare bone (and black) as possible. A quick reload of the game solves that problem, but it made me paranoid that it would happen again, and it did happen again, like 7 or 8 times during my 16 hour playthrough. Then we have the fact that I cannot complete this game, because somehow I cannot access a side quest where I help out Call Girl with her mobile service. Whenever I enter the store with here, the loading screen just keeps chugging without anything happening. That fortunately happened after the end game, but still, that should not happen for a game that is technically 6 months old, you would have thought that Ubisoft would have worked out the kinks by then, but nope.

So while I had a blast playing through this game, it did leave a sour taste in my mouth, and considering that this game was delayed a couple of times, the fact that there is still such long loading times and this amount of glitches is not okay. The writing is the saving grace here, it is classic South Park material that every fan of the show will love and appreciate. So all in all, it is fun as hell to play as a super hero with the ass as your greatest weapon, but I would have not minded at all if the developers had taken another year or two to really perfect the product. Then again, it is Ubisoft, so I am not surprised.

Rating: 7,5/10 Morgan Freeman Tacos

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Ihsahn - Ámr (2018)

Former Emperor frontman and professional man bun wearer Ihsahn is a man who is not afraid to challenge his listeners, to force them to take in a different kind of music that they normally would not be brave enough to try. His special blend of progressive black metal has certainly made some eyes turn, and he has delivered it in some really nice records as of late. He now seeks to continue that impressive streak with his seventh solo outing "Ámr", but strangely enough, he does not push the limits further this time, he actually takes a step back, admiring what he has accomplished in the past.

What I mean by that is that "Ámr" could be seen as sort of a retrospective of what Ihsahn has put out over the years, an album that takes small bits from its brethren to create something personal, and it comes out pretty... okay? Well, the start of the album ain't half bad, but it might be a little misleading though, with both "Lend Me The Eyes of Millennia" and "Arcana Imperii" being much more aggressive than the rest of the album. Shame, since both are terrific songs, especially "Lend Me..." with its epic climax and really cool use of electronic equipment.

After the opening duo, "Ámr" becomes a more soothing experience, still fairly heavy in its moments, but still pretty soft. It is not a full 180 from what the album started out with, but it is enough of a change to make you scratch your head. It just does not feel right to open up the album with two energetic songs, and let the rest of the tracks be more laid back. Not saying that it is a full on poor decision, but it feels like Ihsahn did not think this through completely.

Oh well, the remaining tracks are still easy to swallow, with all ranging between 4-5 minutes in length and are not too complex or too strange for a seasoned Ihsahn listener. What I lack though in most of these tracks is an impact, something to stun you. "Sámr" has this angelic chorus that is awe inspiring, and "In Rites of Passage" has some nice intense moments, but other than those, there just is not much to get hyped over.

And like the direction of the record was not confusing enough already, it ends with a heavy and epic track in "Wake", yet another track that is great, but does it really fit in here? Man, this album does not seem what it wants to do with its life, and even if there are a good amount of nice tracks in here, and another stellar performance from the man himself, it just does not matter if the album has little to no cohesion. Sure, you can enjoy the songs individually, but an album is supposed to be consumed as a whole piece,and in that regard, "Ámr" does not impress.

So all in all, Ihsahn delivers a decent album that probably will not stand the test of time, at least not as well as some of his previous outings. "Ámr" is not bad by any means, it just fails to paint a complete picture. There is certainly quality in here in individual songs, but there are also mediocre songs that lacks creativity and drive, dragging down the album quite a lot. It tries to take influence from earlier records, but cannot create a path of its own, spinning out of control to a middle ground that just does not satisfy anyone. So fans might certainly get something out of "Ámr", just do not expect another game changer.

Songs worthy of recognition: Lend Me The Eyes of Millennia, Sámr, In Rites of Passage

Rating: 6,5/10 Marble Souls

ihsahn.com/
twitter.com/Ihsahn_official

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Metallica - S/T (1991)

It seemed like every legendary metal band fell flat on their asses as soon as the 90's began, with one after another churning out mediocre records and losing popularity. Well, somehow Metallica only became more popular, at least amongst the more mainstream crowd, and most of that is thanks to their self titled fifth studio album (or as it is more commonly called, "The Black Album"). It saw a complete shift in the band's sound, from the progressive thrash that they have refined over the last three records, to a more direct, catchier, and slower heavy metal sound, a change that made this cheap rip off of Spinal Tap's "Smell The Glove" one of the most successful metal records of all time.

One reason to why "The Black Album" became so successful was that it had no less than five major hits in "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Sad But True", all of them becoming some of the band's most famous songs. Talking about them in an extensive way is pretty useless, so let me just put out my quick thoughts about them. "Wherever I May Roam" is hands down my favourite track of the entire record, with "Enter Sandman" right behind it. I can deal with the dark nature of "The Unforgiven", but for a band that has not written any ballads before, adding two is at least one too many. Also, "Sad But True", a sluggish boredom of a song, is one of the most overrated songs by Metallica ever.

Once you look past those spotlight stealers, you will realize that "The Black Album" does have some meat on its bones. Sure, it is not something you would want to brag to your thrash buddies, but there is certainly some serviceable metal in there. The heaviest of the bunch is "Holier Than Thou", one of few opportunities Hetfield and Hammett can go wild with their riffing, and also spark a fire under Lars' drums. A fun song that gets the blood pumping, for sure. I also like "Of Wolf And Man", it showed just how good this newer side of Metallica could be with a catchy beat, bone hard riffs, and a nice attitude. I do love the build up in the chorus as well, and I often replace the "shape shift" with "oh shit", it just sounds so much better.

The rest of the "forgotten" group are a mixed bag of sweet and sour. "Through The Never" is a fun little quick tune, and "My Friend of Misery" has some good moments too, but then we have "Don't Tread On Me", "The God That Failed", and "The Struggle Within", none of which really connected with me, being pretty forgettable. It is a trio of songs that I could live without, giving this album some mediocre moments that it does not need at all with its run time of just over an hour.

And that is probably my main problem with this record, there are simply too many songs in here. Metallica should have definitely dropped some songs to make "The Black Album" tighter, killing off the dead weight. So instead of going with several long songs that together made the run time too long, they went with a bigger quantity that also padded the run time a little too much. So in a strange way, that problem from "...And Justice For All" stuck around for "The Black Album", just in a different shape.

Now, it is easy to see why this album is so successful. The surprising amount of hits did give it a ton of buzz for a long time, and there are a bunch of nice songs to discover beyond them. Still, I feel like there is a little too much useless padding in this record, dragging it out a little more than it should.  Do I consider this as an all time classic? Absolutely not, but it is still an enjoyable record with some fantastic highs, but also some annoying lows. It is a reboot of the band that gave them millions of fans, but did not necessarily make them better, enough to get through the 90's.

Songs worthy of recognition: Wherever I May Roam, Enter Sandman, Holier Than Thou, The Unforgiven, Of Wolf And Man

Rating: 7,5/10 Gods That Failed

metallica.com/
twitter.com/metallica

More reviews of Metallica
Kill 'em All
Ride The Lightning
Master of Puppets
...And Justice For All
Load
Reload
St. Anger
Death Magnetic
Hardwired... To Self-Destruct