House of Flesh Mannequins

House of Flesh Mannequins is a film about a loner photographer/filmmaker named Sebastian whom obsesses on the darker things in life.  He films and take pictures of death and violent acts.  He basically makes snuff movies.  His life is consumed with watching his homemade sadistic films, which are pretty disturbing at times, to get off.  The films take you into his sorted past, which includes child abuse and other dark secrets.  Things really get interesting when his neighbor (Sarah) takes an interest in him and his films.   It is just a matter of time, that he brings her into his web of evil.

House of Flesh Mannequins has a total 70's Italian horror vibe to it; from the cinematography, to the storyline, its apparent.  It also evokes the greatness of Lynch and Cronenberg, at times, because of it's odd twists and turns, but does not quite reach the heights of these legendary filmmaker's.  Warning the movie starts off a little slow, but then it engulfs you, once the odd shit begins.  Unfortunately, it gets difficult to follow at times, because of the randomness in the story line.  Another issue is the volume of the dialog.  It got very difficult to hear what the actors were saying at several spots in the movie.  The acting is okay, but nothing spectacular.  Not a bad film, but not a great one either.

Bottom Line: A demented film about a disturbed human being, who draws others into his madness.  This one jumps around abit, so make sure your focused when getting ready to view.  Also, if you have a weak stomach, this one probably isn't for you.

-Ragman is wondering how much realism was in this film.

Dirtbags

As always Bill Zebub goes out of his way to offend as many people as possible, but isn't that why we love his movies?  Whether it be race, gender or religion, nothing is sacred - no pun intended.  The latest is actually a limited re-release of his classic Dirtbags.  Dirtbags is a tale of a group of misfit dirtbags, with one thing on their mind - scoring.  The movie is mixed with slapstick and some mild gore, which will keep you entertained. As with most Bill Zebub flicks, the soundtrack is pure black/death metal.  I'm not sure, but assume most of the actors are metal heads and some may actually be musicians.

Also another major selling point is the cameo by Type-O-Negative vocalist/bassist Peter Steele (RIP).  Peter has a small role, but included as a bonus is a 41 minute interview with the Goth/Metal rocker.   There is also an entertaining blooper reel included on this one as well.  All in all an entertaining view.  Yeah, it stupid, but it's funny.

Bottom Line: Bill Zebub doing what he does best, offending as many people as he can within a couple of hours.  A slapstick B-rated comedy about a bunch of losers. 

-Ragman chuckled out loud more than a few times whilst viewing this one.

Freak Kitchen - Land of the Freaks

Holy shit, guitar lovers, Matthias Eklundh is a monster. Or should I have said "freak"?You never quite get used to the idea that there are some really amazing musicians in the world that most people will never hear of, simply because they're not in some high profile gig with a major pop star or tearing up the charts of some country's music industry. Of course, this is a terrible injustice, because I am a huge fan of amazing guitar and the kind of music that only the most talented artists are capable of creating outside the confines of the kind of musical supercomputer that substitutes for actual talent in the music business these days.

Such is the case with Swedish prodigies Matthias Eklundh, Christer Örtefors and Björn Fryklund, who collectively form Freak Kitchen. Relatively unknown outside of Europe, they have made some truly impressive music in the last few years. Their album Land of the Freaks was actually released in 2009, but has gotten re-released in late May this year so that others Americans may discover their talent.

The real star is Matthias, whose boyish looks and mannerisms onstage belie his musical sophistication. The man's a fucking monster on guitar, folks. And Land of the Freaks is a great showcase for these guys and their tongue in cheek metal. Matthias sings as well, ably delivering subversive lyrics over the satisfying metallic crunch with a Dave Mustaine growl - the album as a whole reminds me of Chris Poland's work on Damn the Machine or Return to Metalopolis only with the guitar taken to a higher level.

The Bottom Line: Matthias and company deliver a great metal album that comes a bit across as Frank Zappa meets Megadeth; virtuosic guitar driven metal that kicks ass without taking itself too seriously.

Tracks to Make You Start Searching YouTube for Live Freak Kitchen Footage: God Save the Spleen, Teargass Jazz, Honey, You're A Nazi, The Smell of Time

- Genghis just wishes there was any chance of this band playing here in Houston...

Trioscapes - Separate Realities

Not all jazz metal is good, but Trioscapes is really good jazz metal. Can you dig it? I knew that you could.I can't tell you how good it feels to know that no matter what the musical climate is globally, there are always crazy-talented guys like Dan Briggs (bass), Walter Fancourt (tenor sax/flute), and Matt Lynch (drums) out there who approach their art with fearlessness and - most importantly - a sense of wry self-awareness. Especially when it leads to amazing albums like [their band] Trioscapes' Separate Realities.

Apparently, the lads got together to polish up their rendition of a Mahavishnu Orchestra tune and had so much fun with it, they felt that there was an album's worth of tunes in them that came together quickly later that year; their mutual love of 70s fusion and the psychedelic extended jams that it often entails (the title track is 11 and a half minutes) is apparent to fans of the genre throughout the album's half a dozen tracks. This stuff smokes, man. I just love that there are young musicians out there carrying the torch who were probably in diapers when this kind of music first came out - and they're kicking ass at it.

God bless music.

The Bottom Line: Dan, Walt, and Matt come together to celebrate their mutual admiration for 70s fusion with a healthy dose of modern aggression and self-awareness - to great musical success.

Tracks to Make You Consider Going Vinyl: Blast Off, Separate Realities, Curse of the Ninth, Celestial Terrestrial Commuters

- Genghis loves him some old school jams with modern sensibility...

Mirrormaze - Walkabout

Yes, it's another progmetal band that sounds familiar, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to lay down some good music.Okay, I'm not going to tell you that this progressive metal band, Mirrormaze, has redefined the subgenre with their debut album, Walkabout. Everything you'd expect from this well-established portion of the metal spectrum is here, all the tropes progmetal fans should know and love (shifting time signatures, impressive displays of virtuosity on everyone's instruments, and esoteric lyrics vaguely about the doubts, fears and desires of all humans), and it's totally satisfying.

And therein lies the only criticism. This album suffices. They've managed to cover all of the bases that the proto-progmetallers laid down so well, they perhaps forgot to add their own touch to it. Please, don't get me wrong, this is really good progmetal album; these guys do pretty much everything right, I mean the riffs are heavy, groove really well, everybody rips and shreds in perfect sync. It just sounds like so many other progmetal albums before it.

The Bottom Line: If you're a fan of bands like Fates Warning (Ray Alder guests on Deeper Signs, by the way) and Dream Theater, you'll probably dig this album pretty well - and you should, cuz it rocks. But if you're looking for a band to shake things up the way the aforementioned bands did when they came on the scene, keep looking.

Tracks to Help You Understand My Review: Earn Your Answers, Deeper Signs, Walkabout & Broken Soul

- Genghis hopes it came across that he really liked the album...