Dog Fashion Disco -- 'Beating a Dead Horse to Death ... Again' [review]

Dog Fashion Disco - Beating a Dead Horse to Death... Again
Rotten Records (10/28/08)
Metal

Dog Fashion Disco was a band a little too eclectic for its own good. The group managed to form quite the devoted fanbase over its eight-year existence, but there was always the feeling that, given the right direction, they could have easily hit the big time.

Never is that point more apparent than on their new, posthumous release, Beating a Dead Horse to Death... Again, which somehow manages to be the band's best album. The collection of rarities and other tracks of interest shows the band in a light its proper albums never seemed to convey. Take the re-recorded Day of the Dead EP, whose four tracks open this set. Each song is a steamroller of heavy, foreboding metal, that manages to invoke comparisons to Ministry combined with any keyboard-heavy horror-metal outfit. Even the slower, more melancholic “Gardenia”, with its piano accompaniment, has a noticeable metallic edge just under the surface. And the reason these songs are so strong is because they weren't cluttered up by tempo-shifts and multiple genre change-ups.

Then there’s the flipside of what DFD could do: “Devil’s Wife” and “Barely Breathing”, recorded after the band called it quits. The two tracks were part of a pre-Polkadot Cadaver demo, which shows the band had the ability to record more commercial material when it set out to do so. The punk-influenced tracks could have easily found a home on modern-rock radio and are pretty catchy to boot.

The gem of the set is “Satan’s March”, a song recorded for the movie Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, which the band helped score. Also included on the set is a Melvins cover, “Anaconda”, which has a nice little DFD edge to it.

A set of live studio tracks are prototypical DFD material—that interesting blend of hardcore, metal, jazz and lounge fusion that fans grew to love over the years. Of particular note is the schizophrenic “Worm in a Dog’s Heart” and “9-5 at the Morgue”, both of which really capture the unique energy DFD could infuse into its music.

Rounding out the set are two “joke tracks” the band sent to its label rep during the recording sessions for the Adultery album to show off “a the new direction” the band wanted to take. “Turning Gay” sounds like a South Park outtake, and no words can really do justice to “Hank Steel the Real Queer Cowboy”.

This is a great collection of material that can appeal to diehards and non-fans alike. Even without the joke songs that you could take or leave, there are still 12 solid tracks that might not entirely represent the true DFD experience, but it's a nice representation of the best of what the band could accomplish. The only glaring omission would be more from the Dominion score (“Satan’s March” offers a nice taste, but only clocks in at 3:40). DFD was a band whose eccentricities made it stand out from the crowd, but on the other hand truly kept it from hitting the big time. Beating a Dead Horse... is a nice look back at one of the underground’s finest outfits.

Slipknot -- 'All Hope is Gone' [review]

Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
Roadrunner Records (8/26/08)
Metal

With each release, Slipknot seems content to push the limits of its cacophonous, metallic assault with moments of blistering rage juxtaposed against haunting melody. The band (vocalist Corey Taylor, guitarists Mick Thompson and James Root, drummer Joey Jordison, bassist Paul Gray, percussionists Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn along with Sid Wilson on turntables and sampler Craig Jones) continues to establish itself as a hard-hitting, anger-seething musical monstrosity with a thick, multi-layered sound courtesy of a nine-piece roster of talent.

Not quite as brutal as Iowa, not nearly as melodic as Vol. 3, with All Hope Is Gone the band still manages to push the envelope even further. There’s the pounding metal (“Gematria” with its chilling refrain of “what if God doesn’t care?”, “Sulfur” and “This Cold Black); there’s the haunting melodic (the epic “Gehenna” that chokes with melancholy … in a good way); there’s the threatening dirge (“Wherein Lies Continue” that incorporates more melody in the choruses); and the tracks that combine multiple elements (“Psychosocial” or the groove-laden “Dead Memories”). Even the album's slowest track, “Snuff,” manages to quietly unfold with this subtle urgency that lulls the listener in with acoustic guitar and Taylor’s vocals before it gradually expands as each member begins to add elements as the song progresses into this full-bore explosion of sound.

Much has been made of Taylor’s style in Stone Sour and how this has influenced Slipknot’s overall sound. As a singer, there’s not much you can do to change your voice except in style. Having Taylor doing clean melodies and softer material to mix in with the screams only adds to the overall Slipknot sound. Apart from the voice (only at times), this is by no means a Stone Sour album. Not only would the eight other members of the group never allow that, but the thick sound and various layers to every song … well, just scream Slipknot. From the meaty riffs to the thunderous drumming and accentuating added percussion, the turntable scratching to the gang vocals … just put the title track on and crank the volume to 10 to see all these various elements seamlessly merge together into something no other band on the metal scene has done.

All Hope Is Gone isn’t the best metal album of the year, but is easily one of Slipknot’s strongest outings. The band continues to grow and modify its sound with each album without completely turning into a new monster. It’s not clear how much longer the band will last, but it certainly manages to continuously surprise.

Alice Cooper -- 'Along Came a Spider' [review]

Alice Cooper - Along Came a Spider
SPV Records (7/29/08)
Rock

Thirty years into a career and Alice Cooper is still managing to crank out solid material. And much like his more metallic doppelganger, Ozzy Osbourne (if Ozzy’s the godfather of metal, there’s no reason Alice can’t hold the same title for rock), it’s as much about the talent you surround yourself with as it is about your own.

On Along Came a Spider, Cooper has his own little core (Kiss drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Danny Saber) for the most part, with a revolving door of musicians to fill in the missing pieces, most notably guitarist Slash adding an entire new dimension to “Vengeance is Mine.” Sharing songwriting credits is an equally eclectic bunch—from Keri Kelli to Jani Lane (Warrant) and Osbourne himself.

Musically, Cooper tries to take a page from the various touchstones in his career. The concept album, spinning a tale (no pun intended) of a serial killer named Spider that wraps his victims in silk and takes a leg, eventually killing eight to form his spider, features an interesting mix of material. “I Know Where You Live” and “I’m Hungry” harks back to 70s-era Cooper, with a low-key, garage-rock feel. “Catch Me If You Can” feels like an outtake from 1991’s Hey Stoopid, while “Wake the Dead” pulls from Cooper’s later experiments with industrial music (and ironically comes across like a cover of Beck covering Cooper). Cooper even goes for a Beatles homage with the ballad “Killed By Love” (probably one of the stronger ballads he’s crafted over a long career).

Cooper still sounds best when attempting balls-out rock, that’s why tracks like “Vengeance Is Mine” and “(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side” shine brightest. It doesn’t hurt that Singer puts forth such a strong outing behind the drum kit. And while the lyrics may be a little mundane or lacking most of the time, Cooper still manages to craft an engrossing tale (think of it like a horror comic brought to life through song). The lowest point on the album, “Salvation,” is being universally panned simply because is sounds out of place on the album (perhaps it could have been saved away for a Cooper attempt at musical theater instead).

In the end, you have a nice little concept album, which Cooper has proved he has a knack for, that ranks somewhere between Dragontown and Welcome to my Nightmare -- or, if you’re a diehard fan, much stronger than The Last Temptation. Speaking of diehard fans, you’ll probably want to stick around for the last couple of moments of Spider to catch up with an “old friend.”