Tag Archives: 2015

Music

The Unravelling: Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision Review

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After a five year hiatus, battles with Cancer and a revolutionary new sound, Canada’s The Unravelling have returned with their striking sophomore release, “Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision.”

Ten tracks of beautiful, chaotic frustration make up the release, starting with “The Hydra’s Heart.” Gustavo de Beauville’s ambient, droning guitars over spacious synths, dancing drums and the agonized, rage-fueled vocals of Steve Moore fuel the album to life.

Weaving a morbid, raving web, the albums tempo picks up in the Powerman 5000-esque “Lucky Me,” then slows to a crawl in the title track and the gripping dirge “Out of the Depths.” Moore’s lyrics are of a man possessed, dissatisfied with society and the cards he has been given and willing to make a drastic change for better or worse. De Beauville’s scoring of Moore’s dwindling frustrations is timed immaculately, with each transfixed scream generating its own unique crescendo.

The remainder of the album continues with “The Fearless Seed,” the piss-and-vinegar ranting of “Enough is Enough, and ” “No One’s Song.” Also contained are the two singles (“Revolt” and “Master Drone“), and the albums ironic closer, “We Have No Problems.” What’s interesting is not only de Beauville’s sonic decoration of Moore’s chilling vocals, but the fact that both singles are the deeper cuts of the album rather than highlighted at the beginning. Placement is everything and if you read the lyrics, there is a damn good reason.

We very well may have a concept album on our hands.

While the album’s pace is of a slower pace than their previous effort “13 Arcane Hymns,” “Tear a Hole in the Collective Vision” (which can be downloaded here) is a more enraged horse of a different color. The Unravelling have gotten darker and angrier, emerging like a phoenix from the ashes out to solidify their place in musical history. Lyrically the album seems like there is a story element, especially when you think about the placement of the songs and the way they bleed into each other.

How’s that for a hole in your collective vision?

Podcast, Pro Wrestling

Manopera – Ep. 1: WWE SummerSlam 2015 Extravaganza

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manopera

Welcome to Manopera – A Wrestling Symposium. Join hosts Chris “Mr. Bonesaw” Butera and “Spaceman” Frank Hickey (aka Frank Lucci) as they discuss professional wrestling with brutal honesty.

In this premiere episode, the boys lay the SmackDown on WWE’s epic SummerSlam weekend in Brooklyn, NY. Witness Butera’s first-hand accounts of NXT Takeover and last week’s Monday Night Raw as well as Lucci’s commentarial thrills, spills and chills.

Music

Paul Bostaph Talks New Slayer Album, Jeff Hanneman, Mayhem Fest

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On July 21st 2015, Rockstar’s Mayhem Festival came to Holmdel, New Jersey. The fest had several big names, though the highlights were Jungle Rot, King Diamond and Slayer.

Jungle Rot put on a crushing death metal performance and got the pit going. Their setlist only contained six songs, but they made the most of their short set.

King Diamond was the most hyped act of the year and had the biggest crowd of any band that day. The theatrical set mostly consisted of songs from King’s classic albums. It got even better halfway through when he covered the Mercyful Fate classics “Evil” and “Come to the Sabbath” with Slayer’s Kerry King on guitar. The set then ended with three songs from King’s most popular album, Abigail. 

However, the final band of the night was none other than Slayer. Slayer started their set with several of their 2000’s songs including the three singles from their upcoming album Repentless. The second half of the set was all older songs including the popular tracks “Raining Blood”,”South Of Heaven”,”Hell Awaits” and “Angel of Death” as well as deep cuts like “Chemical Warfare”, and “Ghosts of War”. The band’s energy was great and the sound was spot on.

During the fest, Alternative Nation was able to catch drummer Paul Bostaph for an in person interview. We discussed the band’s upcoming album as well other topics related to his body of work.

Tell us a little about your upcoming album Repentless.

We all have different opinions on the album since we are all different people. It’s the first album we have done without Jeff as well as the first album I’ve been on since God Hates Us All in 2001. The whole time I was in the studio, Jeff was on my mind. He was a big part of the band and I feel I lost a friend. We still haven’t let things settle… that type of thing is not easy to deal with.

I noticed the three singles released for far,”Repentless”, “As Stillness Comes” and “Implode” are pretty different. Which one would you say represents the new album the most?

I wouldn’t say that one any of those songs represent the whole record at all. The different between the three represents diversity in the record. Each song on this record will have a different intensity. Some songs are darker then others. The three songs released show that it will not be the same thing on every track.

I see Mayhem Fest is going well so far…

Mayhem Fest is awesome! Unfortunately, I have not been able to see any of the bands on the second stage. The second stage is normally not very close to the main stage and we usually get here too late to catch those bands. I really enjoy sharing the stage with King Diamond. I’m a huge Mercyful Fate fan and love his solo stuff as well.

To continue reading on Alternative Nation, click here.

Music

Chelsea Wolfe Discusses ‘Abyss’, ‘Game Of Thrones’ Fandom, & Top Secret Upcoming Project

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Edited by Doug McCausland

Chelsea Wolfe, a California singer/songwriter, is one of the most eclectic artists on today’s scene. With her lo-fi sound self described as “doom-folk”, Wolfe has gained an underground following among metalheads, art kids, and goths alike while touring with major acts such as Queens of the Stone Age. She’s probably one of the youngest musicians to say that Mark Lanegan covered her!

Meanwhile, in the realm of television, major networks have taken notice of her cinematic potential: last year, her song “Feral Love” was featured in trailers for the hit HBO show Game of Thrones, while more recently Wolfe has been gaining even more exposure via ads for AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead.

Chelsea’s making critical waves with her ethereal new opus, “Abyss”, and I recently had the chance to interview her via email. We discussed her new album, rising fame, and other topics relating to her work.

On the heavier direction of Abyss: We’ve been touring a lot for the past few years so for the first time I kept the live show in mind while writing an album. I knew I wanted to have some heavy songs that would translate well live and be fun to play. I played Roadburn, I love that festival. I think our audience is really varied, actually.

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On the themes of sleep paralysis permeating Abyss: It’s just something I’ve had for years so it started creeping into my music, into my daily mindset. I’ve had sleep and dream issues since I was a kid, but as an adult I started getting this version of sleep paralysis where I wake up, and my body wakes up, but I can still see the figures from my dreams in the room, like shadows moving towards me. At times I’ve lashed out or tried to fight them off. While I was writing this album I started talking about my experiences of sleep paralysis with other people, and got some books on sleep, and it all just kind of happened naturally. Not every song is specifically about sleep or dreams, but every song has a nod to it, at least.

On visualizing Abyss‘s music: I think it would be really stylized with deep colors, lots of blue. It would be like the painted world in What Dreams May Come.

To continue reading on Alternative Nation, click here.

Podcast, Pro Wrestling

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 17: Chris and Frank Shoot on WWE Battleground 2015

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In the words of WWE Hall-of-Famer Pat Patterson, Chris and Frank “go banana” on WWE Battleground and the current state of affairs regarding Hulk Hogan and the untimely death of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (for whom this episode is dedicated to). The boys are also joined briefly by former college roommate Marques “Box” Younger for his thoughts on the subjects in this no-holds-barred podcast.

Graphic Novels, Movies

Mark Hamill To Reprise Joker Role for Animated Feature

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Mark Hamill’s Joker is coming out of retirement for one last laugh.

It was announced Monday the artist formerly known as Luke Skywalker will voice Mr. J once again for DC’s Animated version of “The Killing Joke.”

Plans to finally make an animated feature of Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel had been unvelied earlier this month at San Diego Comic Con.

While he had retired The Joker in 2011 after voicing the Clown Prince of Crime in the “Arkham City” video game, Hamill had reportedly expressed interest in returning to the role if “The Killing Joke” were to be made into an animated feature.

Not only did Hamill and fans alike get their wish, but according to Collider, Hamill has already recorded his voice for the feature.

The film will be released direct-to-video next year.

Who’d have thought something so awesome could come from a story revolving around one bad day?

Gaming

Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 Releases Early

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Contrary to popular belief, developer Scott Cawthon pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes Thursday when the long awaited Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 became available on Steam.

“Ok, so as many of you already know, I’m bad with release dates. The game is finished,” Cawthon said in a Steam Community group post

The survival/horror game was initially scheduled for a Halloween release, but was then pushed forward to August 8 several weeks ago upon the launch of the game’s trailer.

The restaurant based franchise has now taken a new form with not only moving the game location inside a house, but with “nightmare” incarnations of the beloved spine-tingling animatronics.

The game can be purchased here for $7.99.

An expansion is planned for a Halloween release, but it’s a safe bet that we’ll be getting that early as well.

After all, Cawthon is “bad with release dates.”

Graphic Novels, Music, Podcast

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 16: E. B. Phillips

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This time around we take a look at underground New York Rapper E. B. Phillips. Phillips is a humble, down to earth character who brings us into his world discussing his roots, love for comic books, and a whole lot more. The featured song is “Third Eye” from Phillip’s album “Visions” which can be streamed and purchased at ebphillipshiphop.bandcamp.com.

Pro Wrestling

WWE Battleground Predictions

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After a much needed five-week break, WWE starts up the second half of its calendar year this Sunday with Battleground.

Taking place at the Scottrade Center in Saint Louis, MO; the event looks promising. Here are our predictions for the evening.

Kickoff – King Barrett vs. R-Truth: Barrett started the year as Intercontinental Champion and became the first King of the Ring in years. To most people this meant big things were on the horizon for the Bare Knuckle Brawler. Creative on the other hand, had other plans. Barrett has become in a meaningless opening cared feud with R-Truth over R-Truth mocking his kingship. While we think Barrett is going over in a decent match, he deserves better.

WWE Tag Team Championships Match – The Prime Time Players (c) vs. The New Day: The two teams have a decent rivalry going and have the full attention of the WWE Universe. If the two teams get decent time they will put on a clinic. It would have been better to see The New Day lose their titles at SummerSlam, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. The Prime Time Players are a hot commodity and are going to successfully defend at Battleground.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus: Even though this match comes off as filler, Orton and Sheamus will push each other to the limits. Since winning the Money In The Bank Briefcase Sheamus has not really done a whole lot and a win over The Viper would elevate the Irish brawler. However benficial that may be, we think Orton is still going to walk away with the victory.

WWE United States Championship Match – John Cena (c) vs. Kevin Owens: This is the match we’ve all been waiting for. These two modern day gladiators have put on two classic matches and creative have carefully built this beautiful feud. The only concern everyone has is the payoff. If all this was is another Cena “defying the odds” angle, the Saint Louis crowd could riot. For the love of God, win Owens, win.

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt: The promo work has been better than expected between these two as the Eater of Worlds has chosen to make this feud personal for Reigns. Threatening family and friends, Wyatt is looking to torture Reigns. It would be interesting to see Wyatt walk away with the three count, but it’s a little more likely he will be doing the job after an exciting encounter.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match – Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar: Why couldn’t WWE wait for SummerSlam to pull the trigger on this one? The build has been incredible. Watching Lesnar destroying J and J Security’s car was priceless. Rollins is playing the excellent ass-kissing heel to a t. Paul Heyman has been visceral in his promos. It would have made more sense for this to take place at WWE’s number two show of the year, but we’re getting it a month early instead. Lesnar is going to dominate, but Rollins is going to pull all the stops a-la Ric Flair and win. It won’t be clean, but we don’t see Lesnar repeating his title reign of last year.

Gaming

Trailer Feedback: Five Nights at Freddy’s 4

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In a shocking turn of events, Five Nights at Freddy’s has taken the terror out of the restaurant and into your home.

Not only does the trailer feature horrific jumps and visuals, but it offers a glimpse at new gameplay mechanics. For instance, the player can explore their house rather than being confined to one room.

There is also the case of the animatronics. The nightmare versions from all the teasers on developer Scott Cawthon’s website are the monsters we will be dealing with, including the Freddy minions and the “Plush Trap,” which is another game mechanic all together.

The trailer also begins with several chilling questions: “What is it that you think you see? What game do you think you are playing? What have you brought home?”

Before we compliment Cawthon on a job well done, we have a few questions of our own that must be addressed.

Are we playing a nightmare or reality?

Where are Fredbear and the puppet?

How will this be linked to the franchise?

We’ll know all this and more when the game launches August 8.