Dirty Little Rabbits -- 'Simon' [review]

Dirty Little Rabbits - Simon [EP]
The End Records (1/20/09)
Alternative rock

This album is a real trip...

On first spin, Simon has this almost psychedelic, classic-rock air about it. But with each new listen—and let’s face it, at six tracks clocking in at just over 20 minutes, you’re sure to listen to this one a lot—the listener is, pardon the pun, pulled further and further down the rabbit hole.

It seems Dirty Little Rabbits has crafted quite the little musical voyage. The band, as a whole, produces an eerie, foreboding backdrop that makes the listener feel like they just wandered under the big top at an evil circus. And the ringmaster—in this case, singer Stella Katsoudas—acts as emcee, seething with drama and emotion. And her far-from-nuanced approach creates this situation where her vocals are either the driving force behind the song, or it appears as though she’s being pulled along by the rest of the band while trapped, presenting some sort of evil lullaby (intentional and for effect).

This EP kicks off with the instrumental “Poor Poor Woman With Her Head in the Oven”, but it’s clear, when “You Say” kicks in, that Katsoudas is the star of this show.

The band can create a mood, that’s for sure, but it can also craft a catchy, infectious song. Case in point: “Hello”. From the chugging guitars to the scene-setting organ and keyboards, Katsoudas’ voice dances and mingles over the notes (to the point where you could almost imagine her twirling around through a forest of dead trees). And the whole, beautiful mess is propelled by thunderous drumming (courtesy of Shawn Crahan of Slipknot fame).

But this wasn’t lightning striking once. While a song like “I’m So Beautiful” could almost be dismissed by its simplistic opening, it manages to pull you in like a trap and snaps shut with its hook-laden chorus. The same could be said, to some extent, of the slower-tempo “Happy".

This album is a nice taste of what the band can do, and the lo-fi production adds to its charm. Unfortunately, it over-achieves in its goal of leaving the listener wanting more than the six tracks. So to that end, you might be left wanting more from a full-length the band is (hopefully) working on.

Top Albums of 2008 [column]

It’s hard to complain when, this year, there were pretty good releases almost every month. And as the year came to a close, I was actually surprised to find that as I tried to cull a best-of list down to ten, I was left with about 20 fantastic albums from which to chose. I did manage to come up with what I saw as the best of the best, but before we get to the main attraction, let's take a look at some of the year's near-misses...

"***"

Firewind - The Premonition
Basically, this is a classic power-metal album—soaring vocals, nothing too loud with plenty of melody, and enough riffs, solos and other various guitar mastery to satiate any metal lover's appetite.

Cradle to Grave - Texas Medicine
Chock-full of thick, meaty riffs, explosive drumming and antagonistic bass licks—not to mention some absolutely crushing groove—the band grabs the listener by the throat with the opening track and proceeds to toss them down eleven flights of stairs.

Seven Mary Three - Day&Nightdriving
The songwriting skills are exemplary: the lyrics are smart, the stories are captivating and the music casually drifts between solid rock and melodic dirges, all with a slight Southern twist.

Kate Voegele - Don‘t Look Away
This album shoots out of the gate with melody and catchy hooks, and never seems to let up. With a voice that betrays her 22 years, Voegele commands attention from the album opener and carries the rest of the album with authority through to the end.

Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
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.

In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
Working within the confines of melodic metal, the band takes more than enough chances and manages to craft such hook-laden tracks that it's almost impossible to resist.

Marie Digby - Unfold
The singer/songwriter incorporates a variety of influences into her songs. There's the usual smattering of pop-rock throughout, but Digby takes a chance or two over the course of the album's journey.

With Dead Hands Rising - Expect Hell
The band sounds tight as hell, tearing through each track with a vengeance; drums and bass shake the listener to the core like a depth charge with a dueling guitar attack taking out anything left moving.

So, without further ado...

Best albums of 2008...

10.

Kingdom of Sorrow
Kingdom of Sorrow
(Relapse Records)

"I turned to stone, once I saw the reflection was my own."

Each track off this self-titled effort spills forth like a avalanche of sludgy, thick sonic turmoil. Jamie Jasta's (Hatebreed) guttural wails merge perfectly with Kirk Windstein's (Crowbar, Down) more mournful howls. From "Free the Fallen" to the one-two opening of "Hear This Prayer for Her" and "Grieve a Lifetime", whether the band tears through the songs or they unfold in a dirge, everything is a perfect melding of metal and mood, anger and harmony, and when they shift gears to a slower, more methodical and melodic approach, the results are equally as good.

9.

Taylor Swift
Fearless
(Big Machine Records)

"And we know it's never simple, never easy. / Never a clean break / No one here to save me You're the only thing I know, like the back of my hand."

Part country, part pop, and catchy as hell. Taylor Swift followed up her smash debut album with the best-selling country album of the year. Sure, the songs still reflect Swift's young mindset, but there's a certain timeless element to them, too. It's all the more impressive that Swift wrote more than half of the album, and co-wrote the rest, which not only puts her in a certain league in the country scene, but well above most of her teen brethren in the pop genre. Mostly love songs, or songs of lost love, there's a song to suit any mood on this album, which makes it one of my favorite on this list.

8.

Candlebox
Into the Sun
(Silent Majority)

"I‘m in the need, of someone to confide. / Surrendering / 'Cause I'm not as strong as you think."

Into the Sun reminds listeners how missed frontman Kevin Martin's soulful vocals have been in the rock scene. The album is immediately comfortable, and Candlebox manages to string together a collection of songs to rival its best effort. The band shifts from louder material ("Stand") to a more laid-back rock-blues approach ("Bitches Brewin'") but really shines the brightest when it gets melancholic ("Surrendering", "Miss You" and the title-track). Managing to channel the ghost of Mother Love Bone, the band just rocks out in every way imaginable. The best part of this entire album is that Candlebox never sounds dated, and the band was never so huge that the effort might reek of a nostalgia trip. Instead, the group puts forth one of this year’s strongest rock releases.

7.

Eyes Set to Kill
Reach
(Break Silence Records)

"Don‘t mind me, I'm only dying."

Eyes Set to Kill could easily draw comparisons to early Atreyu, From Autumn to Ashes or Avenged Sevenfold—but instead of hardcore vocals, the lead vocals are melodic and haunting. The band's dual guitars offer a thick wall of riffs to pull everything together with hooks galore. The drumming is thunderous without being overpowering. The piano or synthesizer pops up at the most unexpected times for a welcome, added dimension of melody. There's no screwing around on Reach, with the blistering metallic numbers ("Violent Kiss"), some epic tracks ("Young Blood Spills Tonight" and "Darling") with plenty of style shifts, and some catchy songs, too (the title track or "Song 2"). Nothing comes across as filler. A fantastic debut full-length from a band on the rise.

6.

Guns N' Roses
Chinese Democracy
(Geffen)

"So now I wander through my days / And try to find my ways / To the feelings that I felt / I saved for you and no one else / And though as long as this road seems / I know it's called the street of dreams / But that's not stardust on my feet / It leaves a taste that's bittersweet / That's called the blues."

Chinese Democracy isn’t a head-banger like Appetite for Destruction, but was that really what fans were expecting? Instead, the album plays out like a compendium of modern-rock, pulling in elements from all corners of the rock/metal genre and really turning everything on its end. The harder material—the title-track, "Riad N’ the Bedouins", "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "Shackler’s Revenge"—is all heavy on the guitar. And there's plenty of slower, more mood-oriented material to juxtapose those songs ("This I Love", "Madagascar", "Sorry"). Everything is beautifully over-produced, but in a good way; from the slick, layered guitar attack, to the layers upon layers of vocals, it all just seems to work. In the end, Chinese Democracy is one hell of a journey, with musical peaks and valleys that I doubt anyone was expecting. The guitars sound great, and Axl's voice sounds fantastic; he truly has been one of rock's most-missed vocalists. This album becomes more impressive with each spin. Maybe it will never quite live up to the hype, but it doesn't have to.

5.

Trivium
Shogun
(Roadrunner Records)

"I will never be what they / Want me to / I live by my own path in life / No turning / Back now, I won't be held down / Forced into a shallow grave built upon their empty ways / There's no turning back."

It seems like any album by Trivium will find a place on one of my year-end lists. What's even more refreshing is that the band continues to grow and mature with each release. The band kicked off its career with a solid, straight-forward metal effort, followed it up with an even more intense release, then somehow managed to craft a follow-up to ...And Justice for All (even though the band wasn't named Metallica). With Shogun, Trivium crawled out from under the Metallica-wannabe label and crafted one hell of an epic. The songs are crushing and expansive, the lyrics and vocals stronger than any of the group's previous efforts. And the melody infused throughout is so punishing that you can’t help but bang your head and then shake it as the solos spill from your speakers.

4.

Byzantine
Oblivion Beckons
(Prosthetic Records)

"It’s a long road out of hell when you refuse to do the devil’s work."

With Oblivion Beckons, every aspect of Byzantine's sound has been ratcheted up a notch (or 10)—the riffs are thicker and more complex, the drumming more frenetic, the bass meatier and the vocals either grittier, more horrific or melodically haunting. Apart from the band's not-overly-progressive musical approach—there's a nice blend of metal and the nuances of prog without taking it to a limit that would alienate fans of either sub-genre—it's Chris "O.J." Ojeda's vocals that set Byzantine apart from similar acts in the metal scene. He can wail, he can sound like he's screaming from the bowels of hell, and he can also do some fantastic clean vocals (with just enough of a hint of a Southern accent) and somehow marry the two styles into a third monster. Heavy groove permeates every track, and the band’s straight-ahead metal approach harkens to Lamb of God’s delivery, albeit a little less abrasive. That the band is able to incorporate a variety of metal approaches (hints of thrash, an obvious nod to progressive material, the thunderous chug of speed and plenty of tech-inspired riffing) and work it into a cohesive piece, not to mention all of the other elements it throws in for good measure, is a true testament to the talent each member brought to the table.

3.

Children of Bodom
Blooddrunk
(Fontana Universal Records)

"In this shell of life you left me hanging dry / With a smile on my face I'll watch you cry."

This album spills out of the speakers like a wall of sound. Everything is thick, compact and foreboding. The band has incorporated more thrash elements to its repertoire, and it gives the material more of an edge than on its previous album. The rest is vintage Children of Bodom, with killer solos, mind-bending riffs, plenty of keyboards, choking double-bass drumming and a lot of melody to temper the breakneck pacing. With each subsequent spin, the various layers of each song expand before the listener. They like to blend these slower, more melodic elements with a crushing assault ("Tie My Rope" is a good example) to create soundscapes that border on the more accessible orchestrated metal genre.

2.

Metallica
Death Magnetic
(Warner Bros. Records)

"Cause we hunt you down without mercy / Hunt you down all nightmare long / Feel us breathe upon your face / Feel us shift, every move we trace."

This album has grown on me, spin after spin, since its release. Death Magnetic is a completely new monster, and die-hard fans can hear tiny elements from all of Metallica's previous efforts this time around. From the raw ("All Nightmare Long") to the thrash ("My Apocalypse") to the mid-tempo rocker ("The Judas Kiss"), each former album seems represented in some capacity this time out. When Metallica is able to pull pieces from its entire career into one song (like on "The Day That Never Comes") is not only a testament to the band and the album, but also producer Rick Rubin, who's made a name for himself for not only historically bringing the best out of bands, but also for pushing them to explore directions they might not regularly take. There are some really strong elements on Death Magnetic: Kirk Hammett unleashed for the entirety of the album; the crazy groove on the aforementioned "All Nightmare Long"; and check out the spotlight on Robert Trujillo with plenty of bass riffing taking center stage on "Cyanide". This is the "statement" album Metallica needed to make, and it shows why so many bands still point to them as a major influence. Sometimes there's nothing quite as good as a legend out to prove something.

1.

Amon Amarth
Twilight of the Thunder God
(Metal Blade)

"Standing firm against all odds / guarding the most sacred home / we protect the realm of gods / our destiny is carved in stone."

This album just came out of nowhere, grabbed me and just refused to let go. It's punishing metal at its finest; on this album Amon Amarth dialed down the death-metal edge and turned up the epic feel of each song. There's groove and melody and crushing solos... Sure, the title-track kills almost any other metal song to come out this year, but it's the fist-pounding nature of "Guardians of Asgaard" that really captured my attention. And then those moments of pure brilliance, most notably the cello-bridge on "Live for the Kill", that just blew my mind. Heavy metal detailing the life, trials and legends of the Vikings—it might sound ridiculous, but it results in my pick for album of the year.

Notable notables...

Most disappointing music news of the year: Marie Digby lays the foundation for her solo debut with a grassroots effort on YouTube, but after the album's release it is revealed that may have just been a clever marketing ploy by the record company, leaving a lot of fans feeling betrayed with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Most impressive debut album: She & Him's self-titled debut sees Zooey Deschanel's voice instantly capturing the listener as the band takes a musical journey inspired by pop music of the '50s and '60s.

Most underwhelming album: After such high hopes for Ultra Beatdown, Dragonforce somehow managed to craft a solid yet underwhelming retread of Inhuman Rampage.

Best song from a soundtrack (movie or television): The middle-eastern flavor of Guns N’ Roses' "If the World" was the perfect ending for Body of Lies.

Best cover song: Six Feet Under do a version of the Mötley Crüe classic "Bastard", that sounds like it was recorded at the gates of Hell.

Best guest appearance on a song: Colbie Caillat writes and sings with Taylor Swift on "Breathe".

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.

Slipknot -- 'Iowa' [classic review]

Slipknot
"Iowa"
(Roadrunner Records)


Much like Pantera and Skid Row, when Slipknot prepared for its sophomore album the band decided to turn the metal up to the extreme. It could have spelled career suicide, but the group didn't care. It set out to release an unrelenting metal assault and that's exactly what resulted. The band was interested in touring with Deicide to promote the release, that's how heavy it was. Taylor opened the album with a guttural, death metal wail; the three-piece percussion unit performed like a fine-tuned machine; the guitars and bass traded riffs back and forth at a sometimes breakneck pace. The nine-piece outfit pulled together and unleashed a metal assault like a precision bomb.

The metal anthems ("Left Behind," "My Plague") just gives way to heavier tracks ("New Abortion," "Heretic Anthem") to even heavier fare ("I Am Hated," "Disasterpiece").

Much like a death metal album, apart from a handful of tracks (that ultimately became singles anyway), there wasn't anything that immediately jumped out at you. The beauty of the album is that it begs to be taken as a whole. It's as heavy as an album can get without shifting into a different realm of the genre (think Pantera's "Great Southern Trendkill"). Nothing feels overproduced but everything avoids sounding underdeveloped.

As it turns out, "Iowa" ended up being a completely misunderstood album. It was far too extreme for the masses that had embraced the aggression of "Slipknot." And fans from the heavier side of the tracks chose to shun the album with the impression Slipknot was nothing more than a "Hot Topic" band of the month (read: overly commercialized). But what I see is a classic.

"Iowa" captured a moment in time for Slipknot. The band wanted to make a statement and it did. The album and subsequent tour were so brutal it almost turned out to be the group's swan song. Instead, the members scattered and spent time working on other projects (The Murderdolls, DJ Starscream, Stone Sour, To My Surprise) and were able to regroup with a new appreciation for what Slipknot could become.

"Vol. 3" sees the band more in a different direction with the band exploring other dimensions of its sound and drawing inspiration from various extremes (metal and melody). I don't see the band ever reaching into the depths (of hell) to create "Iowa" part 2, let alone match or further the extreme nature (like I said, you can't get much more heavy without shifting into the death realm). Slipknot is capable of creating another classic, but will never outdo "Iowa."

Slipknot -- 'Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)' [review]

Slipknot
"Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)"
Roadrunner Records


Boasting nine members in its ranks and three full-length albums under its belt, after a couple of years of inactivity Slipknot seem posed to retake the throne atop the heavy metal heap.

Exploding into the national consciousness in 1999 with a well-embraced self-titled debut on Roadrunner Records, Slipknot -- 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 -- established itself as a hard-hitting, anger-seething musical monstrosity with a thick, multi-layered sound courtesy of a nine-piece roster of talent.

The band already had a self-released album, "Mate, Feed, Kill, Repeat" under its belt. After stints on various national tours including multiple Ozzfests, along with the release of 2001's "Iowa," Slipknot established itself as a metal monolith to be reckoned with.

The metal foundation laid by "Slipknot" was torn down and expanded upon with "Iowa" which followed up the template with a hefty injection of death/thrash metal influences. But after a lengthy world tour in support of that album, the band members split apart to focus on various side projects (most notably Taylor and Root's venture with Stone Sour and Jordison's experiences as guitarist for The Murderdolls).

Despite the various members' distinct side projects, they pledged to regroup for one final album (though talk about this being the final release of Slipknot has since subsided).

Now, three years since a release, Slipknot has finally re-emerged with "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)," a change of direction or sorts for a band that, for the most part, is known exclusively for its metal styling.

First things first, there are a few fundamental changes that the band has incorporated.

Longtime producer Ross Robinson is gone; in his place is Rick Rubin. How big of a problem is this? Robinson seemed to have a firm grasp at fleshing out the three-piece percussion on "Slipknot" and "Iowa," but that sound feels more subtle this time around. Attention seems to fall more on the guitars here. However, musically, the band does sound tighter and more focused on this outing. Taylor's vocals sound as intense as ever. The acoustic guitars everyone was buzzing about prior to the release sound a little less out of place than they may have under the direction from a lesser producer.

Thematically, the band has again embraced new masks (as they have for each album). The familiar layout of album tracks has been abandoned -- the instrumental opener and lengthy, ambient closing track that bookend the first two Roadrunner releases are gone. (The lengthy closer was even more ingrained in the band's lore as this was how the group closed out "Mate, Kill..." as well.)

Clocking in at just over an hour, "Vol. 3" offers up a hodgepodge of music, with portions that seem all the more extreme when juxtaposed against one another -- acoustic guitar vs. drawn-out, screaming solos; hard-hitting drums or just a simple backbeat; vocals that range from screams and growls to melodic, heart-felt singing.

Kicking off the new album is "Prelude 3.0," a song which, at first, appears to be the usual instrumental/sample-laden opener, but what soon evolves into a full-blown song as Taylor sings over otherworldly samples and the drums and guitars kick in as he sings "Now it's over." Jordison's drumming sounds better than ever during the simple fills as Taylor progressively begins to scream harder and harder.

While "Prelude 3.0" could stand on its own as a solid track, it still feels like simple filler, with "The Blister Exists" coming off more as the album's first true, meaty song. "Blister" opens with the familiar heavy guitar riffs and full trio of percussion while Wilson scratches away on the turntables. Taylor tears through the verses before the pogo-inducing chug of the bridge ("Can you feel this!?"). Mid-way through, the song turns into a marching anthem of sorts as Jordison lays down a repetitive beat with the guitars joining in and Taylor and company chanting along.

"Duality," the album's first single, is the first real notice that the band is going for something different here. The vocals are reminiscent of the Butthole Surfers' 1996 offering "Pepper," sounding slightly distorted as though coming through a speaker presented so fast the words almost tumble over one another. Crahan's accentuation of the drumming is great during the chorus. "Duality" is obviously this release's "Left Behind" (off "Iowa"), a straight-forward hard-hitting song that showcases the band's many staples: the forced vocals, hefty guitar and bass, and triple-threat of percussion.

"Circle" is the first glaring example that the band is incorporating some new ideas into its tried and true method. The song opens with an acoustic guitar over a looped sample while Taylor gently sings with string-accompaniment following along in the background. But, as mellow as the song sounds, there's hints of extremity boiling just under the surface: intense guitar feedback following the chorus and the haunting violins in the background. The sample work is similar to Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" at times, which is the air surrounding the song until it devolves into a sample-heavy dirge towards its conclusion.

The biggest part of "Vol. 3" needed to be addressed is the two-piece "Vermilion" tracks. "Vermilion," the album's eighth track, unfolds like a newer, less-intense "Purity" (available on initial pressings of "Slipknot"), with seductive, low-key vocals spilling through verse after verse lulling the listener into a sense of forced-intimacy, making the track seem all the more intense. By the time the chorus of "I won't let this build up inside of me" breaks the song's tone, the melodic guitar and vocals hardly seem out of place. And Thompson and Root offer some amazing guitar work during the song's bridges. "Vermilion Pt. 2" (track 11), is the most shocking of "Vol. 3's" offerings: just Taylor's heartfelt vocals (with backup accompaniment by other members), acoustic guitars, violin (?!), piano and other ethereal sonics. The one and only word to describe the song was one I never thought could sum up a Slipknot track: beautiful.

Not one to let the listener become complacent however, the band quickly snaps the mood with "Vermilion Pt. 2's" follow-up, "The Nameless," which opens with fast-paced drumming and bass trade offs and Taylor trading vocals with himself, alternating between a growl and scream. But the chorus comes out of left-field with Taylor crooning "I've never wanted anybody more, than I've wanted you..."

The band hasn't sounded tighter and it shows on tracks like "Welcome" and "Before I Forget." Slipknot has grown and matured since its last release, and it shows through the willingness to incorporate nuances like acoustic guitars and string arrangements while still keeping the blistering guitar solos and double-bass drumming.

"Vol. 3" is a completely solid release end-to-end and would be a welcome addition to any fans' collection.