Albums I Happened To Listen To In 2012: The Review

Lamb of God - Resolution (January 24)

 

Lamb Of God is essentially over at this point. Disregarding the fact that frontman Randy Blythe will likely be returning to the Czech Republic to stand trial on charges of manslaughter, Resolution happens to be their most boring release yet. Accusations of recycling old material stand true in this case, but at least Sacrament and Wrath had a few solid songs to add to their repertoire. I can't find a single song on here that stands out, let alone compares to their oldies. Lamb Of God may have been the face of true metal back in the dark ages of nu metal and metalcore, but like many others, their time is up. Now it's time for them to pass the torch.

Angel Witch - As Above, So Below (March 12)

Meh. Not sure what I expected from a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band that broke up twice in 1983 and 1999, and took nearly 14 years just to release this album. But their title song in the game Brutal Legend kicked ass!

Cannibal Corpse - Torture (March 13)

It sounds just like you would expect Cannibal Corpse to sound. They don't break from their trademark sound so much that they lose their core fanbase, but they aren't exactly exploring uncharted terrain either. I preferred Evisceration Plague myself.

Soulfly - Enslaved (March 13)

Now THIS I liked! Both Soulfly's Omen and Cavalera Conspiracy's Blunt Force Trauma were equally disappointing, and sounded like Soulfly in their uninspired nu-metal era. But Enslaved is essentially the continuation of the badass streak they started with Dark Ages and Conquer. Hopefully the next album that Max Cavalera is involved in is just as brutal.

Meshuggah - Koloss (March 23)

Meshuggah is one of those bands that I will never not love what they do. But even though this album stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of their catalogue, it's still overshadowed by their previous work: Obzen, my personal favorite of theirs. Both the songwriting and production quality are down on Koloss, but I would still put it on equal grounds with their older classics. Perhaps Obzen was jut too good. Either that, or Meshuggah didn't care to repeat themselves, which they never have. That's more than I can say for the countless djent bands out there, who did nothing but ape Meshuggah when they started out, and ended up regurgitating the same boring formula when the time came for follow-up albums. So good on the Swedes for having the balls to distance themselves from what was arguably their best work, and showing their copycats how it's done with a body work that easily qualifies for Metal Album of the Year.

Ministry - Relapse (March 23)

It's mostly dogshit, like the majority of Al Jourgensen's post-Psalm 69 work. But I'm a sucker for covers of S.O.D. I'm still surprised he would fake a hiatus just to come back and push yet another mediocre album, only to tour himself into personal illness.

Black Breath - Sentenced To Life (March 27)

Black Breath is one of the few modern metal-ish bands I pay attention to, and they breathe new life into an over-saturated genre. But, as good as this is, it still doesn't stand up to their debut Heavy Breathing. I would hope they don't slowly slip into irrelevance, as they are one of the few Cascadian hardcore bands with any balls in the whole region. Maybe they can give one to Wolves In The Throne Room.

Pantera - Piss [Single] (April 11)

Surprisingly good for a unreleased b-side released in the post-mortem Dimebag era.

Prong - Carved Into Stone (April 24)

One of my favorite albums to play this last year. It continues, if not surpasses, the level of quality inherit in their last release, Power Of The Damager. I hope they never break up (again).

Brendon Small - Galaktikon (April 29)

Proof that Brendon Small's destiny lies in music, as opposed to animation. The Dethalbums get better and better, and Galaktikon helps to show his range. It is, however, a lot more sentimental and even melodramatic that the typical Metalocalypse fare, but in certain situations it's just what the doctor ordered.

Godsmack - Live & Inspired (May 15)

I can't believe I spent money on this.

Tenacious D - Rize Of The Fenix (May 15)

I can't believe I pre-ordered this.

Comedy Rock is dead.

Havok - Point Of Return (May 22)

YES. YES. YES.

I mean, Havok are also pretty good, and one of the few bands that can save modern metal...

...by playing re-hashed 80's thrash metal. Who am I kidding? I'm a sucker for classic thrash, and as far as I'm concerned, Havok is the only one that does it well, and they do it VERY well.

Trocadero - Flying By Wire (July 7)

Not so much boring as it is depressing, as was their previous work, Ghosts That Linger. I don't think they'll ever make an album that compares to Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, nor do I think they want to. More power to them, but I'm going to be paying closer attention to their former bandmate Jeff Williams, if they don't mind.

Baroness - Yellow & Green (July 17)

Can't really nominate this for Metal Album of the Year; there isn't a shred of heavy on here. And that's okay! They expanded on the progressive rock of Blue Record and stripped it of any hint of sludge metal, effectively divorcing them from the genre. Mastodon did the same thing, but Baroness was more successful in my opinion. Mastodon wasn't particularly good at either heavy metal or soft rock, but Baroness excels at both. Unfortunately, Baroness ended up in a particularly bad bus accident earlier this year, thus putting them in an indefinite hiatus. I guess that makes the more sullen tone of the new album a bit more appropriate at this time.

Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth (July 31)

Pretty good, but I preferred their "comeback" record The Formation Of Damnation. I should have figured they wouldn't keep that renewed energy up for long.

Dethklok - Dethalbum III (October 16)

Though it lacks the comedy elements of Dethklok's first release, Dethalbum I, III surpasses it and II in every way imaginable. The best songs of Metalocalypse's last three seasons are featured here, and they kick their old songs' asses. Hopefully now they won't kill me.

Deftones - Koi No Yokan (November 12)

I can't say much about an album that I haven't had the chance to listen to in full and absorb yet. But I will say that it was the step in the right direction from Diamond Eyes that I hoped it would be. It's still dark and moody as Deftones have been since White Pony, but it's not as sensitive as D.E. or Saturday Night Wrist, and it doesn't skimp on the rock either. Now I just have to find a favorite song off of the record.

Jeff Williams - Red Vs Blue: Season 10 Soundtrack (November 16)

Jeff Williams does it again with his third contribution to the music of Red Vs. Blue. It was released shortly after the finale episode of the online show's latest season, and it holds up in comparison to the soundtracks of both Season 8 and 9. However, the strongest songs on here still aren't as memorable or downright hilarious as those of it predecessors. Oh well, maybe next year when Season 11 rolls around. Also, can you believe there will be eleven seasons of this?

The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land [The Added Fat Reissue] (December 4)

Disappointment. And by that, I don't mean that this album or the Prodigy suck, because the Prodigy are among my favorite electronic musicians and the original Fat Of The Land is easily their best work. I mean there was no point in purchasing this album again, especially considering the tracks are in the exact same condition as they were in 1997 without any remastering. And the remixes? Dubstep. That's all I'm going to say about that. Their new album better come out sooner than planned to make up for this.

See you in 2013: The Search For More Music.

Webcomic Review #2

HELVETICA

"Helvetica is  a young man who has recently died! When you die, you don’t remember anything in life, and your first word(s) is your name. This story follows Helvetica’s desire to uncover who he was in life, his existential crises, and his struggle to make death worth living."

This comic, Helvetica, begins where one man's life ends, only for him to discover that the afterlife consists of (a) being a skeleton, and (b) hanging out with other skeletons. The story follows the young protagonist as he tries in vain to get answers to his innumerable questions about his previous life and his new one. Some of the residents of Farwolaeth City are nice, some are not so nice. It doesn't get much more complicated than that, but the plot hasn't gotten sidetracked so far. What the comic lacks in distinct character designs (they're all skeletons) it makes up for with an undeniably appealing art style. However, the characters themselves seem to fit neatly into the categories of either hapless, effervescent, or contentious.

Helvetica is illustrated by a fellow SCAD alumni, Jones N. Wiedle, but he has put his comic on hiatus since his graduation earlier this year. He promises, however, that updates will continue very soon. Stay tuned!

MONSTERKIND

"Wallace Foster is a human who has just been transferred into District C of Fairway City. He has never lived among monsters until now, but he's quickly realizing that they aren't as bad as everyone has made them out to be."

Monsterkind is a comic about...well, actually, the same thing that Helvetica is about. Pathetic guy moves into a new town, only to be completely unnerved by its strange inhabitants. Some have no concept of personal space, the others are eerily reclusive. The art is more cute than charming, but the color palette could stand to lose a few hues, and lower its saturation overall. It also doesn't help that the protagonist, Wallace, is quickly forgotten after the first few pages so that the secondary characters, arguably the author's favorites, can have extended conversations about nothing. Hopefully, there aren't too many otherwise well-drawn comics that have essentially the same plot devices.
  
YOU SUCK

Girly, Josh Lesnick's flagship comic, had its final page posted on September 16, 2010, marking the end of one of the most significant stories in webcomic history. Many wondered what Lesnick would move on to, besides selling his adult artwork through vendors such as SlipShine. Then, on July of this year, a new masterpiece was born: You Suck.

You Suck follows the wacky adventures of the incurably lascivious Anna as she fails to arouse her oblivious boyfriend, opting instead to fantasize about her college professor. She comes across a real-life succubus, who speaks her own language and has been having her way with random pedestrians throughout the city. In an act of complete misunderstanding, the demon girl delivers her professor to Anna's apartment naked and blindfolded. I won't spoil what happens next.

ZEN PENCILS

"It’s a website where inspirational quotes from famous people are adapted into cartoons."

Zen Pencils is less a webcomic than it is an ongoing illustration project dedicated to immortalizing historical figures and motivating its readers with their inspirational quotes. I would say that it's become one of my favorite comics as of late, if it weren't for a few strips that had messages that I strongly disagreed with, like the anti-bullying pages. Regardless, the artist has a knack for pairing powerful imagery with equally powerful words, no matter the intent of the speech or the background of the speaker.



Part 2 of this blog will be posted tomorrow. 

The U.S. Presidential Election 2012: The Candidates

I guess it would be appropriate if I left such a polarizing topic as politics out of a blog dedicated to art and music, but the election is a mere week-and-a-half away, and I feel that I need to inform my friends and colleague of their choices on the ballot. Just in case they feel unsure or uninformed about the next Commander In Chief.

I'll list the candidates alphabetically by last name:

Rocky Anderson

Affiliation: Justice Party

Ideology: Social Democracy

Career: Former mayor of S.L.C., UT.

VP Nominee: Luis J. Rodriguez

Platform:

• End of the wars in the Middle East
• Campaign finance reform
• Abolition of corporate personhood 
• Overrule of Citizens United decision
• Financial transaction tax
• End of the Bush-Era tax cuts
• Opposition to the Canadian oil pipeline
• Ban on mountaintop coal mining
• Single-payer healthcare
• "Green jobs" and environmental protection
• Labor rights
• Medical treatment, rather than punishment, for drug abuse

Virgil Goode

Affiliation: Constitution Party
Ideology: Paleoconservatism
Career: Former U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia 
VP Nominee: Jim Clymer













Platform:

• Abolition of the income tax
• View that federal spending on education, healthcare, and welfare is unconsitutional
• Opposition to foreign aid
• Economic protectionism
• Anti-globalization
• Non-interventionist foreign policy
• No amnesty for illegal immigrants
• Opposition to euthanasia and abortion in all cases
• Capital punishment
• Opposition to marriage equality
• Support for War on Drugs
• Second Amendment rights
• Opposition to Patriot Act
• English fluency as precondition to citizenship
• Voluntary state membership in the Union

Gary Johnson

Affiliation: Libertarian Party
Ideology: Libertarianism
Career: Former Governor of New Mexico
VP Nominee: Jim Gray













Platform:

• Military non-interventionism
• Cut military budget
• End of the wars in the Middle East
• Opposition to Israel vs. Iran conflict
• Simplification of tax code
• Cut federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
• Opposition to federal bailouts
• Elimination of the Federal Reserve
• Drug decriminalization
• Pro-choice
• Network neutrality
• Opposition to Patriot Act, TSA, and indefinite detention of prisoners
• Marriage equality

Jill Stein

Affiliation: Green Party
Ideology: Social Democracy
Career: Physician, Massachusetts
VP Nominee: Cheri Honkala

Platform:

• "Green New Deal"
• Renewable energy
• Intra-city mass transit, inter-city railroads
• Organic agriculture
• Cut military budget
• Non-interventionism
• Tax on capital gains, offshore havens, real estate
• Pro-choice
• Campaign finance reform
• Marriage Equality
• Universal healthcare
• Drug decriminalization
• Gun control

Now I could have sworn there were two other candidates...candidates from two big, corporate, sell-out Parties...

...nah, I think I covered them all. Get out and vote!

Webcomic Review #1

SON OF SAM

"Walter Cohen hates his school, but in the words of the great Dee Snider: He's not gonna take it anymore!"

Son of Sam, by Zach Cox, is a light comedy comic about two outcast prep-school students where the timid male protagonist, Walt, is led into mischief by the heedless female lead, Avery, at the cost of what little reputation he has. The story is pretty straightforward, but the artwork is refreshingly simple and there's a punchline on every page. The aesthetic itself has progressed recently, and there's a distinct lack of dick jokes that heralded the introductory chapter, but I have high hopes for this one.

SHADOWEYES

"In the city of Dranac in the year 200X, aspiring vigilante Scout Montana is knocked unconscious by a brick in her first crime-fighting attempt. Upon recovering, she gains the ability to transform into a superhuman blue creature, which she quickly takes advantage of and becomes the antihero Shadoweyes."

I had first discovered the work of Ross Campbell through his printed short, The Abandoned, thanks to my good friend Boper9. The Abandoned was a tragic story about the survivors of a zombie apocalypse that took place in the South. The only thing more intriguing than his intricately detailed worlds were the charmingly designed characters. The tradition continues in Shadoweyes, where the only tragedy is the dystopian world that the characters live in.

I vaguely remember coming across this comic some time ago, but I probably glossed it over thinking that it was nothing too special. Boy was I wrong. I highly recommend this comic to everyone, and I myself will be paying close attention to this and anything else that Ross creates in the future.

BEARMAGEDDON

"Bearmageddon is a story about a few every-day twenty-somethings getting caught up in an all-out war on mankind by grizzly bears"

You probably know Ethan Nicolle better by his wildly popular comic, Axe Cop, a project illustrated by himself but written by his much younger brother. Bearmageddon is one of his other projects, and it's just as outlandish and zany as the other. Unfortunately, it has been put on hold while he helps develop the official Axe Cop animated television show (I'm serious). The archive is thankfully still online, and I urge you all to indulge yourselves in his terrific art that's married to a disturbingly funny scenario. I warn you, however, that it gets fairly gory on a few pages. As they say, you can't make a webcomic without a few college kids getting mauled by mutant bears. (I'm still serious).

JESUS CHRIST: In The Name Of The Gun

"Jesus Christ has grown fed up of watching humanity struggle without the aid of their Divine Father, so he resolves to do something about it... and so begins a mad journey through time with various historical figures, beating up villains of the past and generally kicking ass" 

Here's yet another comic that Ethan had his hands in, Jesus Christ: In The Name Of The Gun. This one is written by Eric Peterson, and the first chapter was illustrated by the aforementioned. Jesus Christ ITNOTG is an ongoing comic, but Ethan's contribution ends after Jesus assassinates...I'm not going to spoil it. Go read it! I apologize in advance to anyone who is sensitive towards religious blasphemy. It's damned funny, though.

Webcomic Funding: Ads vs. Crowds

When most people start out in webcomics, they're quietly thinking about the piles of cash they're going to make off of their cheap cartoons through ad revenue and merchandise sales. Little do they know that most webcomics are a money-hole; with the author either making just enough money to pay for the comic itself, or not making any at all. But if the cost is cheap, then there's really no loss anyway. Only the cream of the crop can dare to say that they "live" off of their comics, and not only do these creators employ quality art and/or writing, they make sure to update more than once a week without breaking their schedule. Most small-time guys have to take on commissions or beg for money like tramps, which could mean that they put new pages of their comic on hold, which means loss of fans, which means loss of money anyway. Regardless, the lifeblood of the webcomics world has always been and will continue to be advertising.

But something has happened on the Internet in the last few years. A development that could shatter what has been built up so delicately in the last few decades: crowd-funding. In 2008, both the popular Kickstarter and IndieGoGo were launched, and the first and so far only project I ever backed was the Boxer Hockey and Diesel Print Project. I, like many fans, was excited to support such a project, and the 6-thousand dollar goal was exceeded by over 20-thousand dollars in less than a week. I had never seen that much money raised in so little time, and for such a less-than-noble cause. Of course, problems arose with the printing of both the books and the t-shirts, and not only were the surplus funds exhausted, shipments would be late. I received my package last week, and I pledged my support last September. Tyson Hesse, the author, ended up breaking even after the ordeal and taking up freelance work instead, which cost him the time to ship the packages and to update the comic. This event, and witnessing countless other, more insipid causes reaching out for funding, made me callous towards crowd-funding in general, and I pledged instead to never support a Kickstarter project ever again, no matter what the cause.

And then Penny Arcade proposed the idea of abandoning their ads in favor of crowd-funding. As Mike describes here, PA has launched their own Kickstarter to run their site for one year without advertising, which was apparently a burden on their fans. I wouldn't know, I've been running psychological-warfare-free for a while now. What strikes me as odd is that Penny Arcade would even need a Kickstarter for such a goal. They are the only webcomic-business that I am aware of, complete with their own convention, children's charity, tie-in video games, and over a dozen employees that make it all happen. And yet, over 250,000 dollars were raised over the last week, so now the site will run exclusively on fan support instead of the advertising middle-man. Unless, of course, the whole project fails like it did with Boxer Hockey and they come crawling back to the safe-zone of ads. Mike and Jerry are no strangers to financial trouble, as early in the comic's history they had to fight for the rights to their own work and ended up begging for donations to keep the site running. However, considering their string of success in recent years that no other webcomic can compare to, I like to think that this experiment will work out in the end. I just wouldn't be surprised if it explodes in their face like it has for others.

Jamie Noguchi from Yellow Peril has his own criticisms here. Not only would I agree with him that only webcomics that are already a big deal could possibly benefit from crowd-funding, the cause itself and the prizes offered to backers should be serious. Regardless, many of my friends are excited about crowd-funding and think it's preferable to fund creative works online through the support of fans than through the support of extrinsic marketing. I on the other hand will continue to ignore all these witty and charming Kickstarter projects while I browse my favorite sites with Ad-Block turned on. Newgrounds seems to be the only site that hates me for that.

And Now For Some Webcomic News...

ALEXDS1 IS BACK!!!


Back in January earlier this year, it was announced that Alexds1, the author of The Meek, one of the premier webcomics of the last few years, would be putting said comic on hiatus. Many fans including myself were heartbroken, perhaps more-so than when Gone With The Blastwave or Perry Bible Fellowship stopped updating (kind of). She claimed in her post that not only had she found paying work, she had succumbed to undisclosed medical issues. As time went on, some wondered if she would ever return to the Meek at all.

I had first discovered Alex on DeviantArt, through her figure-drawing tutorials and Avatar: The Last Airbender fanart. I read her then-new comic, the Meek, from the beginning, and also discovered new and compelling webcomics thanks to her "pimping" them out in her description boxes for each new update. It's always sad to see a truly great comic come to an end, but there's a unique tragedy to when a project like hers stops in the middle of its enthralling story, and for reasons such as personal health.

Thankfully, it turns out that she had not abandoned her craft, but instead directed her energy towards a secret project: a collaboration with the great Doug TenNapel of Earthworm Jim and Ratfist fame. Apparently, this project, Cardboard, started as far back as Fall 2010, and that between now and January of this year was crunch time. Her efforts resulted in a bout with tendinitis and, of course, a break from the Meek. But she claims that the story of Cardboard is superior to that of Ratfist's and that the artwork matches. You can buy the printed version here at a super-low price. Hopefully, we can now return to regular updates of the Meek with little to no interruption from such trivial concerns such as physical pain or actually making a profit from hard work, but I support her in any endeavor she chooses and trusts that she wouldn't abandon her fans without good reason.

Oh, and please read ALL of the comics I linked in this post. You can thank me later.

Heavy Metal: The Satanic Illuminati

 

April and Wayne have obviously never heard of Stryper.

Hello!

And welcome to my blogspot. I am Kurt Smith, a recent graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design and amateur 2D animator. It's been five years since I shut down my MySpace account and ceased to blog as I knew it, but I've returned to the fold to express the opinions I have on my favorite topics.

I don't have much to say right now, considering that I just launched this thing, so here's something animation and heavy metal-related to christen the maiden voyage of this blog. This is the latest animated music video from Municipal Waste, "You're Cut Off."

(WARNING: NSFW)

Have fun! I know I will.