Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: November 2017

Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – OST (1992)
jazz rock

Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – OST (1992)

A colleague once said to me that regardless of your view on the David Lynch prequel movie Fire Walk With Me, there could be no arguing that the soundtrack for it is just simply incredible. I’m inclined to agree, as an avid Twin Peaks fan, my opinion on the jarringly bleak (and sans Mark Frost!) film seems to change daily. I cannot however, find fault with the hauntingly brilliant soundtrack, which was mainly composed by the legendary Angelo Badalamenti and features the usual collaborators such as Lynch himself, Julee Cruise and for one particularly poignant track, the late Jimmy Scott. First off, please don’t think that the entire score of the film appears on this record. Like the records released for Twin Peaks seasons 1 & 2, there are quite a number of omissions here (in fact there are hours upon hours of tracks recorded for Twin Peaks which were released online by David Lynch long after the demise of the show). Confusingly, the beautiful “Sycamore Trees”, which featured in the Twin Peaks TV show, not the movie, appears here on this soundtrack album. Similarly, the track “Deer Meadow Shuffle”, which is from the movie Fire Walk With Me, doesn’t appear here but ends up on the season 3 soundtrack album released this year (25 years later!). What the hell? The bizarre irregularities aside, the Fire Walk With Me soundtrack as a whole is a morose trip through both moody and swinging jazz, dotted with intense synthesizer soundscape passages and incredible guest vocal appearances. It is something, that despite being out of my usual field of listening, gets a lot of plays from me. The title track itself is simply unforgettable. On a final note, be wary of the recent vinyl represses of this soundtrack. Various reports on sites such as Discogs or in the Amazon comments section reveal a whole host of problems with the coloured discs.

Xasthur ‎– To Violate The Oblivious (2004)
black metal

Xasthur ‎– To Violate The Oblivious (2004)

What I love most about black metal, asides from the ability to create intense cacophonous textures out of lo-fi hiss, is that is can really conjure up a dense and beautiful atmosphere, all the while being abrasive and “heavy”, if not in the traditional sense of the word. This approach to black metal is taken further in the wave of 2000s-era one man bands, and one of the best of the whole bunch simply has to be Xasthur. To Violate The Oblivious is a journey through a dark and twisted world, where misery seeps from every minute, and a soothing melancholy edge compliments the harsh metal perfectly. The riffs, especially in moments where the rest of the instrumentation drops out, are expertly weaved into a tapestry of interesting melody, being stark and somewhat drab whilst at the same time being uplifting and dually poignant. If you don’t like black metal then this is probably not a good place to start, but like many other recordings by Xasthur, this is an under-rated masterpiece.

A Serbian Film (2010)
exploitation

A Serbian Film (2010)

This has been on the back-burner for me for quite some time; the film’s sordid reputation initially drew me to it, but its fans pushed me away. “Man, some guy totally rapes a baby, hurr hurr hurr, sick, bro”. A Serbian Film has become a piece of work that has become known for its graphic content, and not for its “artistic” vision or even for its plot, which is fine if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve and create a gory, depraved movie, but if you are – like the creators of this film – hiding behind some paper thin meta / political message to justify your motivation to depict such heinous acts as “entertainment”, then I’m sure that this legacy must be pretty infuriating, no? Anyway, all that artsy shit aside, A Serbian Film also fails on the face value of it being a shocking exploitation film. It draws out all the stops – and then some – yet fails to be entertaining, or repulsive, or even hilarious in its own failure. The film is cold and completely devoid of atmosphere or dread; even the flat-out exploitative moments fail due to them being re-cast in a harsh, “artistic” light that pretends to have a message. Cap that off with the half baked ending, and I would classify this as the worst – and most over-rated – “horror” film that I have seen so far. So, to clarify: A Serbian Film is 100% shock value tripe for plebs who think the Saw movies are the pinnacle of horror cinema, and is completely undeserving of its rancid reputation. Avoid. 

Basement Torture Killings – There’s Something About Beryl (2017)
death metal

Basement Torture Killings – There’s Something About Beryl (2017)

Yesss here we fucking go; the long-awaited third album from gore/death metal maniacs Basement Torture Killings has finally dropped on Grindscene Records, and fuck me it’s a corker! I can honestly say, this has to be my favourite BTK album so far, I’m just sorry that the LIW downtime got in the way of me telling you all, not that my opinion really matters or anything. The production here is on point, literally. Everything is balanced perfectly, and those fucking drums sound absolutely amazing. This is the first record with new(ish) vocalist Beryl. She brings a nightmarish dynamic to the razor-sharp death metal sound; her lows are incredibly punishing, and act as the perfect foil to Tarquin’s Walker-esque growls. Check out the video for “Rat Catcher” below. Any death metal band that sings about Wensleydale is 10/10 in my books.

Cannabis Corpse – The Weeding (2009)
death metal

Cannabis Corpse – The Weeding (2009)

When I first heard of this weed-based tribute to Cannibal Corpse I was somewhat annoyed that I hadn’t come up with the idea myself. It is a funny twist that I actually prefer the music of Cannabis Corpse to Cannibal Corpse, and The Weeding EP is a perfect and concise sample as to why I love this band so much compared to the latter (and before I spark off any purists; I am aware that Cannibal Corpse’s early output is somewhat untouchable, but if we put Cannabis Corpse up against the majority of the stuff that Cannibal Corpse has churned out over the last decade or so, then I believe I have a valid case, not that this is about slating Cannibal Corpse at all). 420 Blaze it, etc. etc. etc.

Sukeban Boy (2006)
action & martial arts exploitation

Sukeban Boy (2006)

This has to be one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I love watching awful movies (that is the whole point of this venture!) but this just fails to entertain. I mean, in all rights it should; it’s a tale about a boy (?) called Sukeban who looks like a girl so he goes to a girls school, dressed – rather convincingly – as a girl. There he meets a whole array of bizarre characters that are have no hesitation getting naked and violent. It is verrry weird, up to the point where his friend Kanko gets her legs chopped off by a masked female, and then it gets even weirder. A topless villain starts shooting bullets out of her tits. Similarly, Kanko’s stumps turn into guns and she starts gunning people down too. Sukeban grows tits (2020 edit: I think the actor already has tits to begin with but still). Everyone else has their tits out too. A bunch of naked chicks tie everyone up in chains and then a bunch of people die. Did I mention there were tits involved? All of this happens in under an hour, and by all rights it should be massively entertaining, even with the lack of English subs. Unfortunately however, the entire thing is so drab and badly edited that it is almost excruciating to watch. The lighting is awful and the choice of locations (almost entirely within a school) is dark and musty, but in the worst, most amateur way possible. The acting is (unsurprisingly) beyond saving and the fight choreography looks like it was cobbled together by the type of people who wear fedoras, drink lots of Monster energy and enjoy playing with toy lightsabers. Even for exploitation filming, this is abysmal. All DVD copies of this should be fired into the fucking sun.

Head Noise – Special Effects Improves The Defects (2017)
electronic

Head Noise – Special Effects Improves The Defects (2017)

Head Noise are a 3 piece Electro Art-Punk band from South Wales, often using a keytar as a primary instrument as well as an array of nontraditional instruments. With no live drums or an actual drummer they are certainly a different act and stand out from the crowd with their less conventional, more experimental approach. So here we have the bands new 6 track mini-album “Special Effects Improves The Defects”, a very fun sounding release here; upbeat, with some wicked little electronic jingles and beats throughout, which wouldn’t sound out of place in an 80s disco or a soundtrack to a film set in such era, truth be told. Some highlights of the EP, for myself, are “Finally Snapped”, which may be my favourite of the bunch, with its dark and ambient sound – I’m getting some major A Flock Of Seagulls-esque vibes from this one – as well as “Diamond Planet”, with its perfect groove and a more alternative 80’s sound. Overall a nice little release her; its fun, its fresh, its different, and stands out. Nicely done.

Satan’s Satyrs – Wild Beyond Belief (2012)
doom metal punk & hardcore

Satan’s Satyrs – Wild Beyond Belief (2012)

Satan’s Satyrs play dirty, dingy rock and roll tinged with that punk attitude that everyone loves so much (amirite?). The guitar tone here is off the chart, transporting you right to the heart of Fuzz City USA. We lose a bit of clarity in the overall production sound, which is a bit muddy, and the drums have this strange treble-heavy density to them (which is rather intruding at first but you get used to it), almost as if they are being played in another room away from you, but if anything, this just adds to the charm of the record, which is a highly enjoyable, mirky romp through witch/doobie burning excellence. “Electric Witchwhipper” is probably my favourite track, and is just totally dripping in sleaze, making me want to dive into a swimming pool filled with 80s exploitation films (ouch!). Check it out below.

Hellbastard – Feral (2015)
Uncategorized

Hellbastard – Feral (2015)

One thing I will say about Hellbastard is that Hellbastard live is a different beast to Hellbastard on a record. Whilst the band have always stood apart from their peers (even when they wallowed in the crust scene), there is an undeniably experimental, forward-thinking edge to the band’s bizarre mix of metal, punk and other things in-between. Granted, this experimentation doesn’t always pay off, but on the Feral record, it pays off in spades. My only initial complaint is that the snare sound is pretty synthetic, but you can adjust to this fairly quickly. That aside, the production is solid and dense, and nothing is left fighting for breathing space. I remember checking out the video for “We Are Coven” when the single first dropped and was taken aback by the ambitiousness of it all. “Shame On Us” is super catchy in a chuggy way, and “And The Point Of Your Being Is…?” has a cracking guitar solo towards the end. All in all, the world is a better place with Hellbastard in it, and Feral is a solid addition to their repertoire.

RazorRape – Revenge Of The Hermaphrodite Whores (2012)
grindcore

RazorRape – Revenge Of The Hermaphrodite Whores (2012)

Can we at least get a round of applause in for that album title? And then a standing ovation for the album sleeve? Haha! Anyways, RazorRape play a bludgeoning, thick’n’creamy variety of goregrind that is more akin to shades of death metal than the primordial ooze of say, Last Days Of Humanity. This particular “cross-over” style is very popular at the moment, as it blends the lines with pornogrind, which all the metal kids seem to dig in lieu of shit like Haggus or Hyperemesis etc. etc., but irregardless of that fact, Revenge Of The Hermaphrodite Whores (it was surreal typing that out, even after 7 years of doing this shit) is a solid record in this style. The density of the drum production reminds me of the most recent Grunt album, whereas the rest of the music is very similar in the vein to 5 Stabbed 4 Corpses – which shares members with RazorRape, or so I’m told – give or take the odd jazzy passage, of course. All in all, this is a solid metal album, one which I’m sure you are probably already familiar with if you wallow in these decrepit circles of the underground.

Roxy Saint – Orphan Child (1994)
rock

Roxy Saint – Orphan Child (1994)

I have to admit, up until I recently Googled the movie “Zombie Strippers” (for err, personal reasons), I had completely forgotten that Roxy Saint existed. Recalling that the track “Firecracker” off her Personality Tapes DVD/Album (?) was a decent song, I downloaded this record onto my Spotify and gave it a spin. Honestly, I was surprised at what I found, and that it was pretty good. There will be no awards for originality here, but Roxy has an awesome voice which lends itself to this type of music fantastically. For better or worse, it reeks of that typical “we are young and/or crazy and we don’t care” Hollywood rock’n’roll attitude, but there are a few stand out tracks that poke through the swagger and rebellious whiskey-from-the-bottle world view; of which, “Bimbo on the Phone” is probably the best. Enjoy. (Excuse the crappy resolution art on today’s post – my humblest apologies to you, dear reader!)

Abscess – Urine Junkies (1995)
death metal

Abscess – Urine Junkies (1995)

Urine Junkies is a Relapse compilation CD featuring three of Abscess’ earliest releases and demos. It was put out in 1995 under the label’s Underground Series, and brought Abscess to a whole new level of exposure. One of the downsides of listening to a compilation is that the sound is all over place, but it is a small price to pay when you get to check out a cross-section of stuff that a band has to offer. Hey, this shit is nowhere near as fucking terrible as that Nunslaughter compilation I got last year. Abscess, thankfully, seem to lack in the nauseatingly bad live recordings department. My favourite thing about Abscess though has got to be the vocals; incredibly nasty gargles, shouts or even lows. Also, I get the feeling that a lot of this older stuff just got tarred with the grindcore brush at the time because it was, for some surreal and brief moment in history, the “in” thing to do; Abscess’ cheeky lullabies of filth are more akin to some bizarre world of punk mixed with death metal (I get a Pungent Stench vibe, if that is applicable?) than anything grinding. Regardless, this is fucking excellent.