ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY, RONALD FRANGIPANE, DON CHERRY "The Holy Mountain Soundtrack"

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY, RONALD FRANGIPANE, DON CHERRY "The Holy Mountain Soundtrack" - (the soundtrack for the classic movie was recorded in 1973 but was never released until recently as part of the box set of Jodorowsky flicks. like the film, the score is dynamic, going through a wide range of styles, from the weird chanting drones of "Trance Mutation" and "Cast Out and Pissed" to the electronic on "Fuck Machine", as well as the proggy and melodic folk of "Mistresses, Masks and Pearls" and "Starfish", which are purdy like the smile of a toothless cowgirl. you get the pompous, epic 70s finale with "Pantheon Bar (Bees Make Honey…), but my favorite is the acid rocking ""Psychedelic Weapons". this is a tripped out soundscape to the movie and suits the visionary Zen film well, though it is easier to absorb once you have seen the movie…) Click to Buy from FYE!

DRAGON HEAT (2005)

DRAGON HEAT ( * * * ) - Hong Kong makes the best action movies. U.S ones star some wuss who can't do his own stunts and looks like he has probably never fired a TOY gun in his life, let alone a real one, and any violence or effects are animated on some fool's laptop. so, movies like this one from 2005 are the real deal. this balls out and brutal shoot 'em up pits cops against mercenaries who are out to get a low-level drug czar whom the cops are seeking to protect, so that they can put him on trial. the result is plenty of gunplay, a fair amount of gore and a fair dose of bodily dismemberment, and like the 1995 "Heat", you find yourself rooting for the villains as much as the heroes. it is directed by Daniel Lee of "Black Mask" fame, and features a sick cast, that includes Michael Biehn from "The Terminator", Sammo Hung from "Eastern Condors" and TV'S "Martial Law" and Maggie Q from "Balls of Fury". Maggie Q plays a sniper and I like her much cause her first name is longer than her last. check this out, as it is fast paced and violent. not Takashi Miike violent, but violent enough to impress the whole family… Click to Buy From FYE!

ISIS "In the Absence of Truth"

ISIS "In the Absence of Truth" - (back in the late 90s, Isis created some dense, droning soundscapes that were Godzilla heavy. heck, "Celestial" crushes! but, they started to mellow out on "Oceanic" and I did not pick up "Panopticon", as I heard they got even mellower. well, I heard this one and I just don't get it. all I can think of is that they had a big band meeting and collectively decided to go boring. or maybe their indy rock girlfriends made them turn down their amps and made them trade in their Neurosis disc for some Mogwai ones. if you never heard Mogwai, they should put some warning on their disc warning you not to operate heavy machinery as their brand of elevator music will induce comas. but back to Isis. this disc sucks! what the hell is wrong with these peoples? they need to lay off the anti-depressants and make some noise cause this crap is so monotonously dull, it makes most adult contemporary seem as brutal as most gore-grind. should have called this "In the Absence of Rock" or "in the Absence of Metal" or "In the Absence of Stuff that Does Not Suck". shame on you, Isis. I hope you get a leak in the roof of your rehearsal space…) Isis Discography is a Click Away!

MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE (1986)

MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE ( * * ) - likely the most banal slasher flick ever made. this 1986 flick starts out promising but quickly loses it after the opening scene. it is not that the movie sucks, as the gore scenes, albeit brief, are well done, it is just that this story about a mad motel owner offing her guests with a hand-sickle is slow and lazy. it is way too serious to be campy, but also way too predictable to generate any suspense. if you stay awake, things get weird and nonsensical towards the end. but this is basically the "Elektra" of slasher flicks and the three of you that saw that dull comic book adaptation know exactly what I mean. too much dull and not enough massacre. Click to Buy From FYE!

IMPIOUS "Holy Murder Masquerade"

IMPIOUS "Holy Murder Masquerade" - (sure, they just put out a new record, but I am still jamming this one. this disc is a conceptual piece about a serial killer with a Jesus mask who is killing the sinful. what makes things even more trippy, is that the lyrics are illustrated in graphic novel form, making this one of the coolest layouts in who knows when. the band is Swedish so musically they cannot escape comparisons to the likes of the Everdawn or even Entombed on some of the tracks, though there is also some melody that will remind of the likes of God Dethroned in that it does not weaken just because they play something tuneful. hard to pick favorites since the tracks run together and are boosted by killer skits and narration of evilness, but standout deathrashers are "The Confession", "T.P.S.", "Death on Floor 44", "Three of One" and "Purified by Fire". though the bestest song that just kills the most is "Everlasting Punishment". that track is sick as plague. worth seeking out, as this is REAL death metal!) Click to Buy From FYE!!!

IRON MAIDEN "Flight 666 - The Original Soundtrack"

IRON MAIDEN "Flight 666 - The Original Soundtrack" - (Hey, once again another live album from Iron Maiden, who lately have been putting out live albums at the rate the Grateful Dead used to. the soundtrack to the movie is a solid "best of" set, and it is great to see the likes of "Aces High", "Moonchild", "Revelations", "Wasted Years", "Heaven Can Wait", "The Clairvoyant", "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Powerslave" back in the set, amid all the standards. the sound quality is perfect, as is the musicianship, and Bruce Dickinson still has the pipes. they do pay it "safe" with the set-list and do not bust out with anything that you did not half expect anyway. so that means no "Alexander the Great" or "Stranger in a Strange Land", but it is a solid set. and now that the band is firmly living in the past, maybe their next record will absolutely crush…) Click to Buy From FYE!

DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)

DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE ( * * 1/2 ) - seems like vampires and all things that suck are the rage right now, but when it comes to Dracula, it is all about Christopher Lee! Unfortunately, this 4th entry in the Hammer series circa 1968 is slow and surprisingly formulaic. the first three - "Horror of Dracula", "The Brides of Dracula" and "Dracula - Prince of Darkness" were classic, even if the second one didn't have Dracula in it, but this one just seems routine. Dracula rises from the grave and seeks revenge on the monsignor who consecrated his house. Lee is menacing as Dracula, as usual, but his presence is surprisingly downplayed with way less screen time than you would expect. still, it has its moments and is better than most of the vampire crap out currently. did like how it was rated "G", despite having women being attacked, blood and impalements. the movie industry had a lot more respect for kids back in them days, nowadays the little gore they showed in this films would likely garnish an "NC-17" cause movies nowadays suck way more than Dracula ever did or will… Click to Buy From FYE!

GENGHIS TRON "Board Up the House"

GENGHIS TRON "Board Up the House" - (somebody complained on the site that there were not any negative music reviews, like I want to go out and intentionally spend money on something that sucks. that is just silly. but I did hear this disc and it is awful. it's another one of those throw everything into the mix to make it sound weird, but instead of sounding brilliant, like Naked City of the Locust, it sounds all retarded like Syndrome of a Down or Horse the Band. I don't even want to dwell on how irritatingly stupid this album is, as it is raising my blood pressure. so, to keep it simple, avoid this like refugee cancer patients with AIDS.)

IMPALED "The Last Gasp"

IMPALED "The Last Gasp" - (now that Impaled is back together, it is a good time to look back on what was supposed to be their last album - "The Last Gasp". although Impaled has always been in the upper echelon of the countess General Surgery tribute acts, seems like they were always plagued with one problem or another, but luckily the music has not suffered. this disc shreds something fierce, but the hilarious samples that we come to expect from these grinders are conspicuously minimal. and the sick symphonic elements are gone, but that allows the guitars to shred more. choicest cuts from this slab are the opener "G.O.R.E.", the sludgy then speedy "All Gut, No Glory", "You Are the Dead", "Torture of Duty" and "Right to Die". the lyrics are pretty hilarious, as it should be. lucky for us all that it looks like Obama's health care is about to collapse, as Impaled would likely be practicing medicine instead of giving us the metal health that we all really need. good stuff..)
Click to Buy Now!

IMMOLATION "Hope and Horror"

IMMOLATION "Hope and Horror" - (this EP was released before their last disc "Shadows in the Light" but was not released Stateside until much later, for reasons that must be deemed silly. this EP features three non-album tracks that crush. heck, Immolation is one of the very few bands in death metal that has it's own sound and these three songs represent it well all the heaviness, the dense atmosphere, the ethereal guitar work on the instrumental "The Struggle of Hope and Horror", it has it all. and "The Condemned" is one of their most crushing songs to date. just sick. the bonus DVD is a concert from 2006 that features ten songs, five of which are from "Harnessing Ruin", including the epic title track but not the uber-brutal "Son of Iniquity". they do two from "Unholy Cult" and one apiece from "Close to a World below", "Failures For Gods" and "Dawn of Possession", which means that they did not do anything off "Here in After", so before you start asking about "Under the Supreme" or "Nailed to Gold" or whatever. they did not play anything off that record! sound quality is a bit rough but not so raw that you cannot hear everything. definitely worth picking up cause IMMOLATION RULES!!!!!!) CLICK TO BUY NOW

ILLDISPOSED "The Prestige"

ILLDISPOSED "The Prestige" - (I was all stoked in the mid zeroes when these Danish deathsters signed to Roadrunner. I thought I would finally be able to track down their stuff with ease, instead of having to search for a couple discs here and there, but alas, for reasons retarded, their Roadrunner releases were never put out in the States, but this post Roadrunner release was. "The Prestige" still features the bizarro lyrics you expect but the music is much more mid-paced and groovy. heck, this disc is basically the Danish answer to Kataklysm with a bit of Gorefest thrown in the fray. though it lacks the brutality of the early releases, it still manages to rock and the lyrics are still weird, as in "Working Class Zero" where they close out the song with a bit of Current 93's "Lucifer Over London". and even though Current 93 are just a Death in June rip-off and there are vastly superior folksters out there, like John Denver, it somehow works. anyway, the best songs here are "The Tension", "Weak is Your God", "Like Cancer" and "Love is Tasted Bitter" and overall, pretty good stuff, with thankfully no attempts at clean singing, though fans of early stuff like "Four Depressive Seasons" may be thrown off guard at how they have changed…) Click to Buy it Here!

ABORTED "The Auricular Chronicles"

ABORTED "The Auricular Chronicles" - (sure, this DVD has been out for awhile, but it is hard to track down. the concert was recorded during their tour for their masterpiece "The Archaic Abattoir" in support of Suffocation and Cryptopsy, before the latter decided to go emo. hence, the crowds are large and the sound quality is pristine. they play six tracks from "The Archaic Abattoir" including their anthem "The Gangrenous Epitaph", as well as a few ones from "Goremageddon: The Saw and the Carnage Done", though "The Holocaust Incarnate" is the only track they cull from "Engineering the Dead". the set is short but brutal. they also have some interviews where they praise Europe and Batman and explain how they were heavily influenced by the likes of Suffocation and Carcass, as if you couldn't guess. this also contains the promo-clips for "Meticulous Invagination", "Dead Wreckoning" and "A Cold Logistic Slaughter", the latter is a trip cause I did not know they even made a clip for that one! pretty killer stuff as it perfectly captures this band at their brutalitarian peak…) Buy it here!

AVULSED "Nullo (The Pleasure of Self-Mutilation)"

AVULSED "Nullo (The Pleasure of Self-Mutilation)" - (dang, Avulsed has evolved over the years into one of the top ten best death metal bands in the WORLD!!! and this new one ups the ante of heaviness, brutality, sickness and humor! cannot begin to describe how brutal this is, as it is absolutely devastating! and since every song is so sick, it is hard as heck to pick favorites but standouts are "Killing After Death", "Maggotfilled", "Voracious Backpacker" and "Fair Flesh Obsession". the classics are "Chestblood" and "Nazino (Cannibal Hell)", the latter of which has a Fleshcrawl groove and is about people being shipped off to camps where they are forced to eat each other, a likely scenario for all of us if berry obama gets re-elected! the masterpieces on here are the title track, the Immolation heavy "Breaking Hymens", which is a lovely ditty about brutal defloration and the bestest song ever - "She's Hot Tonight (In My Oven)". now, before anyone gets upset about "She's Hot Tonight" being misogynistic or whatever, bear in mid that this is a song about a GUY WHO IS COOKING! and it does not seem to get any more progressive than that! the domestic version has a ton of bonus tracks, including classic covers of Gorefest, W.A.S.P. and Exodus tunes, but unfortunately, the track-listing is off. here is the correct tracking sequence for the bonus tracks -



12. MENTAL MISERY

13. I WANNA BE SOMEBODY

14. PIRANHA

15. FOETAL CONSOLATION

16. UNCONSCIOUS PLEASURE (2008 RE-DISSECTION)

17. RIVER RUNS RED



get this, as this is one of the best albums of the year!!!) CLICK TO BUY NOW

DEEP PURPLE "History, Hits & Highlights '68 - '76"

DEEP PURPLE "History, Hits & Highlights '68 - '76" - (this double DVD covers a ton of ground. sure, there has been plenty of archival footage readily available of the second and their third line-ups, but to see footage and even promo clips of the first and fourth line-ups, makes this absolutely essential. there are even some classic interviews with band members and management where they discuss everything from Ritchie Blackmore not smoking to fleeing police after Ritchie went nuts at the California Jam to Britain's high tax code and David Coverdale's take on Rainbow. and to see any footage of original singer Rod Evans, original bassist Nick Simper and late guitarist Tommy Bolin is just a trip. highlights are live versions of "Child in Time", "Fireball", "Speed King", "No No No", "Into the Fire" and "You Keep on Moving". but even crazier are the promo clips for tracks like "Help", "Black Night", "Wring that Neck", "Never Before" and "Strange Kind of Woman", the latter of which features a leather clad chick with a biker helmet and it rules. also has tons of photos and revealing liner notes which divulge that the plane that they chartered on their 1976 tour would tragically be the same one used by Lynyrd Skynyrd the following year. again, this is a must have from one of the greatest bands EVER!!!!)

IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION "Of Winter Born"

IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION "Of Winter Born" - (That's a mouth full of salted crackers. Ignominious Incarceration. say saying that real fast over and over after you drank a twelver. anyways, as we all know incarceration is bad enough as it is, but an ignominious incarceration is just plain rude. this is another new school death metal band that mixes a bit of the Arch Enemy melody with the likes of the Black Dahlia Murder, and though they are not breaking new ground, this is a solid slab of deathlike fun-ness. the vocals are gruff and thankfully, there ain't no singing. best tracks are the title track, "Tide of Pestilence", "In the Face of Absolution" and "Solitude". this also contains a bonus disc that is shaped like a wolf(!!!) and contains their demo. of the demo tracks an early working of "In the Face of Absolution" called "Condemned" is the best. the demo is heavier and rawer and I think that could benefit them greatly in the future, as a dirty production just sounds sicker. overall, a pretty decent debut, but this seems to be the kind of band that could evolve into a strong force on their next releases…)

HOLY MOSES "Agony of Death"

HOLY MOSES "Agony of Death" - (sure, it is cool that a bunch of teenagers are now carrying the torch of thrash but the veteran acts like Exodus, Testament, Sodom, Tankard, Kreator, Destruction and Holy Moses still crush them like bugs. and this latest slab from Holy Moses is revolutionary! mixing in some darkwave ambient soundscapes between tracks before ripping heads off with some of the meanest riffs this side of Exodus, Holy Moses have made a disc that should mark the blueprint for the future of the genre. Sabina Classen was already my favorite female singer but she outdoes herself this time with her death metallish growls, sounding like she is vomiting into the mic in Obituary fashion. it is beautiful. and the songs kill! heck, it is hard to pick favorites as every song devastates, like choosing which of your kids to feed and which to let starve in this recession, but will go with "Alienation", "Bloodbound of the Damned", "Angels in War", "Delusional Denial" and "The Retreat", with opener "imagination" being my favorite, if only cause it sets the tone for total thrash mayhem. the keyboard soundscapes in-between songs may throw some off but I find it the perfect segue to catch breath before you throw your neck out to the next track. hopefully, people will start giving these Teutonic thrashers their due as they still out-thrash most and Sabina may very well have the most brutal voice in the genre. get this now!)

HELLTRAIN "Rock 'N' Roll Devil"

HELLTRAIN "Rock 'N' Roll Devil" - (so the Bloodhound Gang hit pay dirt by signing HIM in the states and sure they expected more of the same with these rocking deathsters, but somehow it just ain't a-happened. the debut "Route 666" was a solid ball of melodic death rock, sounding like a cross between Furbowl and Gandalf, but Helltrain have tried branching out with this second one. at first I was taken aback as there is more melodicness, with some tracks being gothish in the HIM meets the 69 Eyes vein, but when I played it again, their stabs at catchy pop tunes sounded funny and the disc began to grow on me like an ingrown hair. Pierre still delivers raspy Carcass growls and sung over some up-tempo rock tracks somehow works. best track is the title track, but "Hear Them", "Heaven and Helltrain" and "Burning…" stand out, as well as the catchy "My Little Stars", which sounds like Foreigner gone black metal. not nearly as good as the debut and it will take a few spins to adjust to, and some will probably be more mad than amused. but sure you can find this and the first disc in the cut-out bin for a steal…)

HELMET "Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991-1997)"

HELMET "Unsung: The Best of Helmet (1991-1997)" - this has been out for awhile but what the helmet. although this best of comp does not cover any of the early 7'' days of stuff like "Born Annoying", this is a solid slab of what their albums offered. heck, I remember when I first heard "Strap it On", I thought these guys were going to be huge, and their next one "Meantime" was huge and one of the rare and few examples of a band's best album also being their best selling opus. but instead of going from strength to strength, these noise rockers went off on a tangent with "Betty", which was good but too weird for most, before bowing out with "Aftertaste", which was good, but polished sounding. of course their recent comeback has been incredibly underwhelming as "Size Matters" and "Monochrome" have both sucked it off, but this disc came out before they went there. pretty happy about the track-listing, which includes "Iron Head", "FBLA", "Wilma's Rainbow", "Exactly What You Wanted" and of course, "Unsung". did wish they tacked on "Rude", "Blacktop", "Turned Out", "Biscuits For Smut", "Birth Defect" and "Insatiable", but what can you do? there are two rarities to make this worth purchasing - the House of Pain collaboration "Just Another Victim", which may not rock like Ronnie Dio but is on point and "Disagreeable", which is lifted from the soundtrack to the movie "Feeling Minnesota". I never saw that movie, but I assume it is not an Italian nunsploitation with cannibals, zombies and kung fu. overall, a pretty good reminder of how innovative and rocking Helmet once was…)

HELLOWEEN "Gambling With the Devil"

HELLOWEEN "Gambling With the Devil" - (so, SPV decides to put out yet another edition of this album and unlike the original "special" edition, which contained two bonus tracks, this new "tour" edition contains three bonus tracks that were not on the other versions. I hate it when labels do that, but this album rules so much that I don't mind having two copies of it. easily the best disc with Andy Deris on the mic and their best album since the 80s. this album is unexpectedly helluv heavy and fast and took everyone off guard by putting the power back in power metal. standouts are "Kill It", which has a Manowar vibe(!!!) as well as "Final Fortune" and "I.M.E." there are three songs on here, though that are so classic that they will give you shivers, like tracks like "March of Time", "Murderer", "I Want Out" and "How many tears" did way back when, and those be the brilliant "Dreambound", brutal "The Bells of the 7 Hells" and second single "Paint a New World", which is immaculate. the three bonus tracks are not as strong as the bonus tracks on the original special edition but still stronger than most of the material on Helloween's prior album "Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy" and the bestest of the batch is "Run". this is well worth picking up again as it is everything power metal is supposed to be … POWERFUL!!!)

HEAVEN & HELL "The Devil You Know" (2009)

HEAVEN & HELL "The Devil You Know" - (I was stoked when Black Sabbath reunited with Ozzy in 1997 but was quickly disenchanted when there ten year reunion yielded merely a live album, DVD and just two new songs, and the same old set-list for ten freaking years! in the meantime, Ozzy devolved into some kind of retarded version of Pauly Shore, so thank Dio that Dio stepped in to save the doom. again, it has taken a lot of resolve to accept the name change, but what we have here is an epic album of utter doom. this came out around the same time as "Death Magic Doom" from Candlemass and though "The Devil You Know" takes a few spins to absorb, it is actually better than the latest Candlemass, which is no easy feat. this disc picks up where the three new songs from "The Dio Years" collection left off, but you can hear some similarities to Dio's last disc "Master of the Moon" as well as the vintage Sabbath discs with Dio and heck, there are even a few parts that remind of 70s classics like "Sabotage", especially on the track "Neverwhere". oddly enough, the latter half of the disc is better than the first, but it is a well-balanced blend of speed, mid-tempo and sloth-slow doom. my favorite track is the speedier "Neverwhere" but the singles "Follow the Tears" and "Bible Black" are doom as hell, with the latter sounding like a modern version of the epic "Falling Off the Edge of the World". "Breaking into Heaven" rocks hard and the brilliant titled "Eating the Cannibals" is just the right speed of fast. the other stand-out is the doomy "Fear", which should be the next single, if they decide to do another one for this disc. be sure to get the best Buy version as it comes with an exclusive making of DVD where you get to see excerpts of them jamming "Neverwhere", "Breaking into Heaven" and "Rock and Roll Angel", the latter of which is the least best song on the new disc but still better than most folks bestest. you also get to see the typically infallible Dio make a mistake! definitely one of the best discs of the year and worth your clams. hopefully Dio will recover from the cancer soon, so we can get another Heaven & Hell disc and heck, another Dio disc!)

KARATE FOR LIFE (1977)

KARATE FOR LIFE ( * * * ) the 1977 finale in the "Karate Bull Fighter" trilogy has Masutatsu Oyama joining the pro-wrestling circuit in the early 1950s. but, unlike pro-wrestling in the States, the matches in Japan at this time were fixed, and that does not sit well with Oyama as he fights for real. this angers the mob and leads to an epic battle that seems like it is straight out of "Enter the Dragon", but since this was based on the life of a real person, one must assume that "Enter the Dragon" is a real story. not as much animal killing this time, but the fighting scenes are killer. a great finale to a classic series…