Mono - "Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra" CD/DVD

Among their post-rock brethren, Japanese loud-soft rockers Mono are perhaps the most disciplined and symphonic of all. Their devastatingly intense live shows are consistently among the very best concerts I've ever seen, and it seems I'm not alone in that sentiment. So, joining up with a full orchestra to perform for 2 consecutive nights in New York doesn't seem much of a stretch for this band.

Building with the string section in the opener, "Ashes In The Snow", Mono and the Wordless Music Orchestra lead into the swarming crescendos of "Burial At Sea", as the band rides a cascade of swirling noise and bombastic percussion. "Pure As Snow" is epic -- with mop-haired guitarist Taka Goto kicking over his chair and attacking his guitar and effects boxes with reckless abandon. My favorite, "Halcyon (Beautiful Days)" is as beautiful and majestic as it gets, with the orchestra enhancing the band's gorgeous melodies and crushing finale.

Mono's strength lies in their mastery of juxtaposing gentle, soft guitar lullabies with powerful waves of amped-up noise. Their music is simultaneously energetic, lilting, monolithic, gentle, cathartic, peaceful, savage, and sorrowful...yet it always finishes with unquestionable hopefulness and humble humanity. "Holy Ground" is possibly the group at it's pinnacle. Mixing by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Soundgarden) brings the live experience up to par with the studio recordings, while the DVD is a no-frills (but multi-camera) affair that more accurately represents the live experience than their 2007 tour documentary, "The Sky Remains The Same As Ever". "Holy Ground: NYC Live" is a splendid package, and priced more than reasonably. It's a must-see for fans as well as those curious about Mono's blindingly evocative and gorgeous experimental rock. (Temporary Residence)

Mono's website

East Of The Wall - "Ressentiment" CD

Couldn't get into this one, being all prog-metalcore with the requisite dual lung-shred vs. melodic vocals. To the band's credit, there are some really intense and technically-impressive passages here, mixing math-rock and hardcore, with almost jazzy precision. Instrumentally, EOTW are powerful and intense, and for that, I give them props. However, the lighter breakdowns remind me somehow of lame shite like P.O.D., though, and that's just not a good thing. It's those vocals, really. "Fleshmaker", for example, mixes the harsh/soft vox and displays the band's potent chops, but it all seems forced somehow. Like they're trying too much to cram it all into one song. Don't get me wrong, I adore beauty and melody as much as I require thorny aggression, but EOTW's collision of sounds and moods aren't fluid nor subtle to these ears. And the vocal stylings are stereotypical and just plain awful. No, thanks. Ditch the singing and you've got a superb album next time! (Translation Loss)

East Of The Wall site

East Of The Wallspace

D.I.S. - "Critical Failure" CD

Solid and punchy aggro punk-metal from some scene veterans, the debut from D.I.S. delivers 10 hard and heavy gems on this brief 10-song, 26-minute assault. There are definitely signposts of genre-mashing here -- the urgency and raw, declarative vocals of hardcore, and the metallic guitar chug of Swedish "D-beat". Tracks like "Extend This Misery" are just crushing beatdowns, with pile-driving fists flying across the dirty club. "Bleed Forward" is punk on 'roid-rage, ending the melee with blood and shards of bone.
Most hardcore (as in NYHC) bores me with it's meathead jock mentality, but these guys synthesize it well with darker metal here. The lightning tempos don't step down, so the album's brevity is a strength. And, the production here is top-notch, capturing the band with crisp highs and punchy lows (didn't get any album credits, sorry, so I can't congratulate the producer). Smashes the shit out of most of their metalcore brethren. Unquestionably. (Deep Six Records)

DISspace

Locusta - "Locusta" CD

This American act's full-length debut is a clean and precise battering ram of prog-speed metal riffs, double-kick drumming, and wicked complexity, all wrapped up alongside belchy, gutteral death metal vocals. It's an appealing mix, harkening back to the older days of technical speed/death metal. There is some masterful guitarwork here, too, as the dual battery of Peter Hughes and Dru Silver gel together into a daunting beast of epic soloing and consistently crunchy rhythms. "Mutiny" shows a moment of melodicism before launching itself back into a maelstrom of melodic thrash, whereas "Death Or Devotion" chugs along at the velocity of a bullet, all the while sustaining a melodic precision with rapidfire progressive changes. "2012" is a chaotic blast, and "Dusk At The Mausoleum" is an atmospheric slowdown point, veering a bit into doom territory. The proggy-metal returns with "Into The Tomb" and "Vlad Tepes" before it all closes out with the title cut. Quite a strong showing from this Columbus, Ohio band, and one that should garner them a slew of new fans. (Pragmatic Records)

Locustaspace

Aluk Todolo - "Finsternis" LP

This is a limited (500 copies) vinyl re-release of a 2009 CD that was also limited, so grab a copy soon if this kind of antisocial noise is up your alley. Finsternis hail from France, and inhabit a conceptual gray area between doom, drone, noise, and black metal that elevates them far and above what the terms "metal" or "noise" may imply. The opener here (and actually the whole of Side A) introduces the group with a plodding, simplistic, even monotonous drum rhythm that gives the track a creepy, automated "zombie" feel. A dubby, almost Krautrock bassline, and guitar feedback gradually build on the crawling aspects, and are unmistakably bleak and trance-inducing.

The first part of Side B, "Totalite", is a rumbling mass of single-minded drums, lo-fi rumbling noise, and distant guitar feedback. Effective, and wholly evocative of a ritual performance. No surprise, then, that Aluk Todolo, which means "the way of ancestors", refers to an ancient religion in Indonesia, reflecting the group's interest in matters spiritual and hidden. "Troisieme Contact" is a clot of stately drumming and monotone feedback. Think early SWANS meets early Skullflower and you'd not be too far off the mark. The finale, "Quatrieme Contact", is basically part of the same track, and continues the deep, psychedelic pummel and drone of it's predecessor. Strong, bold, and unclassifiable darkness abounds here, and it's a release that begs for multiple listenings to fully grasp the scope and depth of the abyss. (Public Guilt)

Aluk Todolo site

Roswell Six - "Terra Incognita - A Line In The Sand" CD

A curious project spearheaded by author Kevin J. Anderson, who has chosen to accompany & illustrate his series of novels with heavy progressive-rock soundtracks. This installment features all music by multi-instrumentalist Henning Pauly, and a variety of guest vocalists from bands like Kansas, Saga, Dream Theater, Shadow's Mignon, and plenty more I'm altogether unfamiliar with. The music is a bluesy (witness "The Crown", with spectacular vocals by the dynamic Sass Jordan), metallic in spots ("My Father's Son"), and alternately symphonic in places. This is large-scale prog-rock that works more as a theatrical experience. It's large, bombastic ("Loyalty" is as sappy as Styx), and truly an epic rock experience, though the slickness and overproduction lean more to the commercial side of the fence. (Progrock Records)

Roswellspace

U2 - "Let Them Be - The Second Chapter" 2xDVD

Compiling 2 originally-separately-released DVD releases, this unauthorized boxset proves to be indispensable for serious U2 devotees. Beginning with the individual DVD release "Achtung Baby - A Classic Album Under Review", this set heads into examining U2's rather spectacular comeback from critical derision back in 1991, and the album that spawned the unmistakable jewel in U2's crown, the single "One". "Achtung Baby" reinvented the Irish legends and placed them back at the top of the rock heap, and this DVD wisely refers to the band's inspirations at that time -- Bowie's Berlin trilogy with mutual friend Brian Eno, the German experimental 'Krautrock' scene of the 60s/70s, and the Manchester dance/rock melding of the 90s. Oddly (and noticeably, for this scribe) absent is any reference to U2's industrial inspirations...where's KMFDM or Einsturzende Neubauten or Insekt? Regardless, "Achtung" is rightly one of U2's pinnacles, and individual tracks are examined by a panel of expert journalists. It's an enlightening look at an album that, as each year passes, becomes even more remarkable. It's even convinced me to fire up my tattered copy of the CD.

Second in this set is a DVD entitled "The Rebirth Of Cool - U2 In The Third Millennium". This 68-minute documentary looks closer at the band's last couple of albums, and shows Bono and company's comeback after the admittedly subpar "Pop" album. Starting with 2000's "All That You Can't Leave Behind", which led off with the triumphant return to form that is "Beautiful Day", U2's legacy was rekindled, and the line of smash singles bore witness to just that. The other album to receive attention here, "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", is similarly praised as a typically strong entry in the band's (almost) impeccable back catalog.

As with all of Chrome Dreams' releases, this unauthorized disc includes remarks and commentary from a host of journalists and collaborators, but never the band themselves, though there are several TV interviews with Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen that are included alongside plenty of live and promo footage. It's a solid work here, and one that has inspired me to revisit the band's later-period releases. U2 remain one of the world's most popular bands, and despite widespread commercial success, they emerge with integrity intact. They are as relevant and idealistic now as they ever were, and that is a testament to them as much as any accolades I can think of. (Chrome Dreams via MVD Visual)