Wormrot - Abuse - (Nickoli)

Genre(s): Grindcore
Origin: Singapore
Current Label: Earache Records
Status: Active

"Here's your Patriot Act! Here's your fucking abuse of power!". If this sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen the video on youtube and everywhere else. Wormrot's Abuse opens with this sample from the cell phone video that captures Iranian-American student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, being tasered in the UCLA library after refusing to show his ID to officers during a "random" ID check. If you didn't know where these grind phenom's were from, you probably wouldn't guess Singapore, considering it's not the worlds jackpot for grind bands. After a few listens to this album you get the feel of Brutal Truth and an older Napalm Death with a splash of modern act Magrudergrind.

Many people praise this album and it does deserve it but when it comes to grind albums as a whole, it's not the best I've heard nor is it in the top 5, it is an amazing album though for modern times. This being Wormrot's only full-length, I am ready to see what else they can do, what kind of switches they can hit on the next LP. Far from original, Wormrot does throw in some different stuff that not many people would expect to hear from a grind project. The track "Fuck......I'm Drunk" has a very groovy melodic riff to it which is rather uncharacteristic for any grind band to have, shit, that one song is totally different then the rest of the album, honestly. Another track that stands out is a cover track from a more popular MTV act called the "Yeah Yeah Yeah's", Wormrot covers their song "Rich" but not the exact version of the song. If you don't look at the track-listings then you most likely won't see that they even cover it, it's super unorganized and sloppy but we are listening to grindcore here, aren't we?

Most grind albums clock in around the 25 minute or less, "Abuse" is no different, with 23 tracks and only lasting 21 minutes and 46 seconds, it's a trill ride all the way down to the last track, properly named "Scum Infestation and Last Song". It may not be the best grind album of all-time but it is one of the better grind albums in recent years, hands down.

Check out all the other stuff Wormrot has to offer, including a demo, two EP's and 2 splits, one with Diseptic and another with I Abhor. Amazing splits, great EP's and a decent demo, so get on that shit, quick, fast and in a hurry.

In the words of Wormrot: SO FIERCE FOR FUCK!

Download Album Here

Evil Dead - (Nickoli)

One word can cover this film: classic. Bruce Campbell is a truly talented actor with anything he has been apart of but this film and the trilogy shows what he can really do. The film might start a bit slow but it is a 1981 film and we all know that most movies in that era took a bit to warm up before the real action started. Evil Dead is one of the very very few films that can combine horror and dark comedy and make it work so perfectly. If you watch this as a horror film, you may miss little stabs of humor, keep your mind open a bit and you'll fall in love with the little stitches of funny they throw at you.

Starting off in the woods of bum-fucked Tennessee, you follow 5 young people that are on a form of vacation it seems (don't ask me why anyone would vacation way out in the middle of nowhere with shitty bridges). After reaching the cabin, they are settling in and hear some strange noises coming from the basement. They discover Necronomicon, or the Sumerian Book of the Dead, wrapped in flesh and written in blood. Along with the book, they find a tape recorder, of course, they play the tape and things take a turn for the worse from that moment forward, awaking evil spirits is the last thing they through they would do. Welcome to the forest of the damned!

The best thing about Evil Dead is the camera angles, oh, how I love the camera work in this film. They brought new light to a dying genre that desperately was in need of CPR, one part I'm really trying to point out is the "chase" scenes through the woods and the house at the end. The cabin was also a very nice touch, it was small yet it always seemed to be a lot larger than what it looked like on the outside. As amazing as this film is it does have flaws and I hate to admit that more than anything. Without Campbell in this film, this project would of never taken off, he's the only one that actually show's charisma, the others seems spiteful, annoying and just out of it, honestly. Another thing that is considered one of the more "nastier" parts of the film is the "rape" scene in the film. I won't consider it a full blown rape scene but it is rather awkward seeing a tree rape an annoying woman that thinks it's perfectly okay to walk in the woods alone on a foggy night.

Overall, this film will always stand alone as hall of fame greatness, defining the way "...Living Dead" and "Chainsaw" horror/dark comedy movies are made for the modern times. If you haven't seen this film, you'd probably been living under a rock for the last couple decades and deserve to keep living under that shitty rock.

Overall Rating: 94% out of 100%

Zihard - War of Fantasy (Nickoli)

Genre(s): Neoclassical Heavy Metal
Lyrical Theme(s): Life, Love, Fantasy
Origin: South Korea (Seoul)
Current Label: Doremi Media
Status: Active

Let it be known that I am not the biggest fan of Neoclassical, Heavy Metal or Power Metal so take this review with a grain of salt. Forming in the capital of South Korea, Seoul, this band has formed into a beast in every sense of the word. 12 million people live in Seoul and not many bands from that place can do what they have done so they get major props with that alone.

Giving you just a little big of a tease with the opening track, "Prologue-Sarabande" is an instrumental track that will have you begging for more. As most bands from the any Asian country, you will get outrageous songs about random things, such as T-Rex. The second track blasts through your speakers with an amazing chorus and killer riffs, if this chorus doesn't get stuck in your head after a few listens, we've got some things to work on as a Metal fan. One of my favorite tracks on this record has to be "Rainbow of Hell", it brings me back to a time when Iron Maiden ruled the world and Ronnie James Dio was the reigning king of vocals. Memories just unleash inside my mind as I listen to this song, anything that brings back my childhood and classic 80's Heavy Metal is a great and wonderful thing. Of course, being a Neoclassical album, you'd think they'd have a beautiful masterpiece somewhere on the record, right? "Honestly" is that track, a breath of fresh air that after a long road down Heavy Metal-ville, you can sit back and listen to great soft vocals.

Extreme metal has recently taken over my life and I do miss just a good clean album every once in a while, I'll be coming back to this album most definitely for more listens and hopefully this album might get me into other Neoclassical stuff. That being said, it's an album that won't ever get old, it's also an album that most don't know of and if they seen it they might just overpass it as a "normal power metal album".

Since this album fills my heart with warmth and curiosity, I'm off to wonder in the forest and dance like a little Asian boy.

Download Album Here

A Serbian Film - (Nickoli)

Any film that opens up with a scene where a child is sitting in the living room watching a porn flick where his own father is fucking some broad, it's gonna be a great film with a ton of surprises. I'll say this right now, if you have a weak stomach at all, this film is not for you. I don't say it because of the blood or gore in it, I say this because of the subjects they touch on and how far they push those certain subjects. You can tell that director/co-writer Srdjan Spasojevic is looking for the most grotesque and shocking images ever existed and he has conquered it all.

Let's see if I can get you folks interested in the story at all. As said above, the film opens up with a child watching a hardcore porn film in the living room of his parents home. You later go on to learn that the male lead in the flick is his own father that used to be in the porn game but retired some time ago, yet he may be reconsidering joining back because he is having tough times and not making enough money to raise his family. A certain mysterious man contacts Milos (the lead character), he has a contract that Milos might be interested in with a large sum of dough attached to it. I won't ruin anything for you so watch the film and be just as disturbed as I was while watching in horror and disgust.

In a awkward and terrible way, I feel bad for director Srdjan Spasojevic, you see, with this being his debut film, how can he top this? Will he top this? Hell, can any film maker top this film as far as Srdjan pushed it? With so much anger and raw violence all thrown into one film, this has to be one of the most incredibly sick and twisted/raw films I've ever seen in my entire life. Not saying that's a bad thing though, I wouldn't take back one second I spent watching it for anything. Something sparks with you as you watch this film, something deep inside that you never knew existed inside you. Maybe it's a whole bundle of thoughts that you would of never guessed you had, maybe it's the fact that you're watching rape and decapitation on a film you may love. Whatever it may be, you can't deny this film is all about violence, violence, violence with a bit of an amazing story, very well written story, might I add.

If at any given moment during this film you stop breathing and quite possibly start to cry, the film has done it's job. If you question yourself about, "Why am I still watching this?", the film has done it's job. We've seen past snuff films be used in movies before but even if you've seen real snuff films, this is on a whole different level.

Be warned though, watching this movie after eating any form of food is just bad news, watch it on an empty stomach with a glass of water. The water is mainly to keep your mouth from being dry, trust me, it's going to be wide-open with your chin on the floor about half way into the film.

It's time for me to try to sleep but nightmares of rape and disfigured, badly beaten women will probably wake me up in the next 2 to 3 hours, fucking joy.

Unfortunaut - Of Here & Now - (Nickoli)

Genre(s): Stoner/Sludge/Instrumental
Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Label: Feast of the Unicorn Records
Status: Active

While most reviewers and metal fans love to compare this band to the likes of Isis, Neurosis, Pelican, Kyuss and even Minsk to a degree, I have to agree with all of those people. You simply can not go wrong with a 5 piece band with no vocals and 3 slamming guitars. This may not be a full-length and it is the only bands release to date but it's an EP that will get more plays then most full-length's from your favorite bands. Actually, I bet if you do listen to this EP, you'll love it from the first second till the last pound on the kickdrum.

Now, since the album is only 3 tracks long, that gives me the perfect amount of space to cover each song in this review. We start off with "Basil & Ginger", a very smooth, laid back tune that comes in at a nice 9 minutes an 28 seconds. Opening the track with a very catchy and fun melody, some drums here and there but nothing to much. Around the 2 minute mark is when gravity is lifted and everything picks up to a normal pace, it's just an overwhelming feeling you get from "Basil & Ginger" as it lets you float through the sky with no worries. Before you know it, the 9 and a half minutes is up and you are on board the ship we call "AMAZING".

"Lunarover" is a track that caught my ear from the very beginning, never letting me go and making sure to keep me on the edge of my chair. Melodies all over the place, rushing up-beat tempo's from the drums and even a little something different around the 5 minute mark. Only a gushing 6 minutes and 29 seconds, this is my favorite track on the EP, not only because it caught my attention but this track alone highlights the band doing what they do best and that's making my ears bleed orgasms all over the place.

Lastly but definitely not least, the track called "Ursa". Without a doubt, this piece of art can stand alone with anything from Electric Wizard or Sleep, in my opinion. It's by far the heaviest track on the album and will blast you through the wall behind you if you turned up your speakers to max. With not as much melody as "Lunarover", it still pushes the heavy factor by how hard everything hits while they play. Remember children, just because you play fast doesn't not mean you play heavy, it's that simple.

As a whole, this EP will have me waiting for the next release from this Chicago based project but with only one EP out and none of them working on other projects, how soon will we hear about a full-length or at least another EP?

Do yourself a favor and download the EP, you won't be disappointed nor will you hate me for recommending it to you. Once you have it downloaded, hit play, lay back and close those eyes because you're about to go on one massive journey through the sky (you don't have to be on blow or acid to get the same satisfaction).

Enjoy and Welcome another flawless Stoner/Sludge band with open arms.

Download Album Here

Pete's Dragon - (Nickoli)

As most people in my generation grew up on Disney films, there were always certain Disney films that got overlooked because or most popular one were released or they just didn't "jump out at you". Pete's Dragon IS the most underrated Disney film they have ever released, a favorite of mine, this film is the best Disney release of all time. You can disagree all you want but you will never make me think different on the subject nor will I side with any other film that's against this masterpiece.

Let's get to the story, shall we? Pete's Dragon is a live-action/animated film about a very misfortune orphan boy that has had it very hard in the world, his sidekick is a very large dragon that speaks in a mumbling, click-clack tone but acts like a 10 year old school boy on a field trip, he also goes by the name of Elliot. Interested yet? After escaping the family that adopted Pete, they arrive in a town called Passamaquody, a small, everyone knows everyone type of town that isn't prepared for the havoc that Pete and Elliot are going to reign down upon them, on accident.

When I hear certain people talk about musicals and the likes, nobody ever mentions this film and that's a damn shame. For a film that was made in 1977, it has the catchiest songs I've ever heard in a musical in a very very long time, Annie is the closest thing that touches it, in my opinion. It's also one of those films where you get very attached to the characters, feeling then they hurt or any pain they feel inside their hearts. As for the picture and quality of the film, it does seem pretty dated for the year it was released. Remember though, at this time Disney was still using the same technology they used in the 60's while other companies were using much more high quality stuff (Star Wars and Encounters of the Third Kind). Fun little fact for you guys, the story for this film was actually written 40 years prior to filming it, S.S. Fields was a mastermind, period.

As for the cast in this film, it's one of a kind and really close to my heart. Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Sean Marshall, Walter Barnes & Charlie Callas does the voice of Elliot. It's the perfect cast for a film of this magnitude, I couldn't see anyone else being apart of it.

Truly a classic and a must-see if you are a Disney fan or even if you just wanna see a great picture that you might of missed in the hype of other films that were coming out at this time. Download it, buy it, hell, I don't care how you get your little fingers on it, just do it and enjoy a true masterpiece of film making.

Outbreak - Outbreak (Ocrd) - (Nickoli)

Genre(s): Hardcore Punk, Crust
Origin: Maine, USA
Current Label: Think Fast!
Status: Active

The newest record from a band that is without a shadow of a doubt one of the hardest working bands in the Hardcore/Punk scene today, Outbreak continue to blow me away with with another flawless album. With over half of the band leaving Outbreak to pursue a full-time passion in Cruel Hand (another great Hardcore project), they still get together when they can to work on new jams for Outbreak. On this particular record, Outbreak decided to go all in and produce a landmine that would simply bash your head against a gravel paved road. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes, this fifteen-song godsend has some of the elements that bring us all back to the days we loved in Hardcore, the 1980's & 1990's.

Lyrically, it's still the same ol' angry as fuck Outbreak, nothing has changed in that boat at all. With this album they seemed to keep a steady generic punk feel to it with a bit of hardcore vibes thrown in there for good measure. With most hardcore leaning towards this whole metalcore/deathcore era bullshit, I am very pleased that a band stays true to their roots and bangs out real tunes for real people. Now if anyone wants to tell me that production is a huge part of being "Hardcore" or "Punk" then you need to open those eyes. "Outbreak (ocrd) has production that's very well off yet it still has this raw and gritty feel to it, which I love, I can't get enough of it.

The album does have some low points overall but nothing that totally ruins the record. The biggest low of the album is a track called "Down Not Out", which is also the opening track on the album. It isn't a horrible track, I just personally feel that the whole album clouds that single track, it's easily the weakest song on the album but it's still a decent track, just not great.

Having listened to everything this band has put out, if you are looking for a more mediocre, new-user friendly album to start out with, this is the album for you guys and girls. Earlier work such as "Failure", "Eaten Alive" and "You Make Us Sick" are a lot heavier, faster and take more of the "long term" fan route. The self-titled album though is outstanding, damn near close to flawless in my eyes but most of you probably won't agree, all depends.

All I can say is that this record brings out the "rage" side of me and it'll quite possibly do the same to you, if you aren't careful. Give it a shot and if you hate it then just delete it from your HDD, pretty easy, right?

Download Album Here