Oni - Ironshore

When you go to fam's house and he's all like "Check out my water feature, bro!"Looks like Ontario is coming up in the metal world. Metal bad-asses Oni are poised to take shit by storm with the release of their full-length debut Ironshore. Rooted in modern progressive metal à la Between The Buried And Me or Protest The Hero, Jake Oni (vocals) and company strive to rise above the genre conventions by making each song individual and meaningful apart from the others, and this is one impressive debut, let me tell you.

The first single off the album, Eternal Recurrence, provides a handy snapshot of the band's skill set. Thrilling unison runs, a thunderous backbeat (courtesy of Oni's bassist, Chase Bryant, and drummer, Joe Greulich), and even the addition of a Xylo-synth player in Johnny D - something you may have to see to believe. Meanwhile tracks like Spawn And Feed provide a salient example of the band's penchant for mixing sophisticated phrasing with brutal riffs. It's like prog for black metalheads. Thankfully, tracks like The Science give singer Jake Oni the chance showcase his skillz.

Producer Josh Wilbur (Gojira and Lamb Of God) pulls the strings behind the scenes to pull it all together, even bringing Randy Blythe along for some guest vocalizations on The Only Cure. It all comes together in the most satisfying way, marrying progmetal's erudite pyrotechnics with black metal's visceral energy. This is some good shit.

The Bottom Line: Having only been around as a band for about 3 years, Oni is a force to be reckoned with in terms of technique and chunk™, amirite? Get out there and see this band. NOW!

- Genghis is crossing his fingers these cats come rock Houston's collective ass...

Ancient Ascendant - Raise The Torch

I must say, I do enjoy some hand-drawn album cover art. Yessir.You don't often think of Britain when you think of black or death metal, but you're in for a pleasant (?) surprise with the lads in Ancient Ascendant, whose third album Raise The Torch is an impressive mix of many different metal styles in a cohesive new hybrid. Blimey.

After a brooding intro (Reawakening), things kick into full gear with Our Way. The gutteral vocalizations of death metal are prominent, but over the 70s style guitar riffs in the chorus it takes on a cool vibe rather than the usual menace that pervades the genre; imagine a Scandanavian Black Sabbath, not bent on scowling through corpse paint, but drinking and smoking weed. It's perhaps a little confusing at first. I mean the album's [John] Baizley-esque cover art and the band's medeval logo say death or doom metal, but then you hear the hand claps in the chorus of Scaling The Gods like it's a lost Monkees tune.

Don't get me wrong; I love it. The future of metal at this point is largely based on new bands and their artful blending of seemingly disparate styles into new and entertaining hybrids - something much easier said than done. But these blokes pull it off quite handily without becoming self-parody. Don't expect the blazing solos of melodeath, but the groove here is genuine and highly enjoyable.

The Bottom Line: Ancient Ascendant may not be a household name, but their music is authentically heavy metal, going back to its British roots, while incorporating the aggression and energy of the Scandanavian innovations of black and death metal. Good stuff that.

- Genghis can dig some groovy tunes, 'specially now that summer's arriving...

Plasmatics - Live (Rod Swenson's Lost Tapes 1978-81)

Rarely, do the Plasmatics get the credit they deserve for their influence on Punk and Heavy Metal.  Yeah, there were bands that were pushing the envelope, back in the day, but not like the Plasmatics.  Imagine a punk version of Alice Cooper with a female vocalist, and you'd be pretty close.  Wendy O Williams, pushed the genre further than any other female vocalist before her.  That said, MVD Visual has recently released Plasmatics Live! (Rod Swenson's Lost Tapes 1978-81), so you can witness it for yourself. 

This release is from Rod Swenson's archive, which had thought to be lost.  If you're unaware, Swenson was the visionary behind the Plasmatics shows as well as their manager.  Apparently, Swenson filmed many of their shows, back in the day, and now we, the fans, get to enjoy the archived footage.  The DVD is made up of 5 different shows spanning from 1978 through 1981.  The footage in most of these shows looks good, but the audio suffers in parts.  The footage looks like it was restored off old video tapes, but who cares, because this is some rare shit.

If you are not sure who the Plasmatics are, or if you didn't get them back in the day, then this is something you should check out.  This band was innovative and really pushed the bar, when it came to live performances.  A cool aspect of the video is seeing how the band changes their look from tour to tour, as well as their stage show.  This one's a keeper.

Bottom Line: A DVD that shows a band pushing the limits live.  They may not be the most talented musicians, but they sure could put on a show.  If you ever wondered if there was a female Alice Cooper, then look no further and check out this DVD.

-Ragman is thinking it is time to finally pick up Coup D'Etat. 

Brain Damage

Well Arrow Films has done it again.  They have brought another lost horror classic back to life, with the BluRay treatment.  The latest movie to get a facelift, is the somewhat horror classic, Brain Dead.  Unfortunately, I never caught this one back in the day, but if you remember, in the mid to late 80's horror flicks were coming out in an abundance, so films like this got lost in the shuffle.  Brain Dead is about a guy named Brian that becomes obsessed with a parasite, named Elmer, that gets him high.  Well that sort of sums it up.  Haha....  No really, this parasite injects a fluid in the back of Brian's head, which sends him on some sort of LSD trip.  The only thing that Brian has to do to keep the rush going is give the parasite brains.

In theory, your thinking cheese, and you would be right, but this one brings alot to the table.  There is some nice special effects, especially for this one being produced in the 80's.  The clay-mation of the parasite, could use a little work, but still comes off fun.  That is the thing with this movie, it mixes in some comedy with the horror.  Again, the special effects are done well, and for those with weak stomachs, you might get a little queezy.  All in all a very fun watch, so grab a 12 pack and a bucket of popcorn.

Bottom Line: A lost gem, that stands the test if time.  The restoration on this film looks amazing.  This one is fun and freaky all at the same time.  If you're looking to be scared, then you don't have the right movie, but if you're looking for a laugh and some good gore, then you got it.

-Ragman is trying to erase the memory of the club scene out of mind.  Yikes!

Podcast Interview - Marcie Free

The boys recently caught up with Marcie Free to discuss the new Unruly Child album Can't Go Home.  Marcie discussed how the album came together, as well as some of the meanings behind the lyrics.  She also gave a state of the union on Unruly Child as well as the possibility of some live shows.  Lastly, Marcie takes us down memory lane with her thoughts on her previous bands King Kobra and Signal.

And if you dig Unruly Child's music as much as we do, show the band some love by purchasing their latest album, Can't Go Home, from your favorite online store, won't you? HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Unruly Child - Who Cries Now, Point of View, The Only Ones, Ice Cold Sunshine, When World's Collide.

-Ragman wants to see this band live, or at least on BluRay.

Podcast Interview - Marcie Free