Album Review: Parkway Drive-Atlas

A recurring theme of surprise has been occurring for the past weeks while I've been checking out new records. I have had lowered or no expectations for each of the past few records I've checked out and each and every one of them has stunned with me the quality. The most recent record to do this is the new Parkway Drive album Atlas, which I expected to be decent at best, but ended up being a very worthwhile release.

Atlas doesn't radically change Parkway Drive's sound, it just adds some more experimentation and improves upon the elements that were already present in their sound. There is a bit more of a focus on melody on this  record and less of a focus on bombarding the listener with breakdown after breakdown ("Old Ghosts/New Regrets and "Snake Oil and Holy Water" are the lone exceptions to that and those are easily the two worst tracks on this record) which I found to be a good decision. The breakdowns are still present, they are just used more sparingly compared to their previous record Deep Blue, which I felt was the first Parkway Drive album to abuse breakdowns. The build-up and use of Luke Killpatrick's excellent melodic riffing makes the breakdowns much more effective when they are used (The breakdown at the end of "Wild Eyes" is a prime example). The new-found experimentation adds up to some of the most exciting and ambitious material Parkway Drive has made to date. "The River" shines with it's clean female vocal parts, spoken word sections, almost bluesy guitarwork at times, and beautifully melodic tone throughout. The heavy use of gang vocals in the aforementioned "Wild Eyes", the presence of violin in "Atlas", and the piano and acoustic guitar driven intro "Sparks" caught me by surprise and were pretty much the last thing I expected to hear on a Parkway Drive album. Don't worry Parkway Drive fans this isn't an entirely new band, the same elements that gained them popularity as a band are still very much in play. Most importantly, Winston McCall is still one of the best vocalists in the genre and probably the strongest asset Parkway Drive has as a band. His vocals are very much rooted in old-school hardcore and metalcore and it's always cool to see someone still doing those type of vocals in a scene that has very much moved away from that style. As I said earlier, Luke Kilpatrick still knows how to write some damn good riffs. There is just as many good chug/groove riffs on here as there is melodic riffs. One of the few issues I have with this record actually is that there is too few solos from him. He writes great solos and the few that are on here are quite solid, but I felt his skilled solowork was underutilized just a bit on this record.

The quality of Atlas is still a bit shocking to me. I thought they at peaked at Horizons and weren't going to come anywhere close again. While not quite on the level of Horizons, Atlas is way closer than I thought they would get for the rest of their career. They improved on the flaws of Deep Blue and added some more depth to their sound while simultaneously staying true to their roots. I haven't been this high on Parkway Drive in years and hopefully Atlas is a sign that Parkway Drive isn't going to fade away from the metalcore world anytime soon.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.The River
2.Wild Eyes
3.Dream Run

Album Review: Sylosis-Monolith

Every year has one album from a band I've never listened to before that comes out of nowhere and blows my mind. 2010 it was The Farthest Reaches by Son of Aurelius, 2011 it was The Harvest Wombs by Fallujah and this year it's Monolith by Sylosis.

While listening to Monolith, I couldn't believe it took me this long to listen to Sylosis. This is their third record and their unique sound is right up my alley. I can not think of another band that combines thrash, melodic death, and progressive metal. The minute album opener "Out From Below" started, I knew I was in for a special ride. The melodic intro lasts about a minute before blasting into a killer vintage 80's thrash riff will more than likely cause a frenzy in a live setting. I was immediately impressed by how well Josh Middleton's vocals fit the style. Just like the music, his vocals are heavily influenced from both thrash and melodic death metal with occasional well-used clean vocals thrown in for good measure (It kind reminded me of In Flames's Andres Friden circa 2000 and a more aggressive thrash vocalist like Testament's Chuck Billy) and it creates a really original and awesome vocal style. Besides being a great vocalist, the guy also shreds on lead guitar as first demonstrated  at about the halfway point of "Out From Below". "Out From Below" might be the standout track, but the rest of the album doesn't let up on intensity or quality. There is no shortage of excellent riffs, tempo changes, and Middleton's brilliant solowork that ranges from lightning fast to atmospheric and melodic. "What Dwells Within" is another monster of a track with  Metallica-esque riffing that descends into a beautiful progressive section before it comes roaring back to balls-out thrash, while slower tracks like "The River" and "A Dying Vine" show more of the melodic death/progressive side while still keeping the intensity of the heavier and faster material.

Monolith is a beyond pleasant surprise that has already made a lasting impression on me. I have never heard anything like this before and the combination of different styles come together flawlessly. This is a dynamic and deep record that rips from start to finish with no filler or bullshit. I am sucker for good riffs, solos, and transition changes and this album has all of those in droves. If this album is any indicator, Sylosis has an extremely promising future in the metal world and could rise to be one of my favorite bands. Monolith is one of the best records of 2012 and is a surefire lock for my year-end top 10, if not top 5.

4.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Out From Below
2.What Dwells Within
3.The River

Movie Review: The Five-Year Engagement

Can you imagine an engagement lasting five years? Well, the Judd Apatow-produced and Jason Segel/Nicolas Stoller (the team that brought us Forgetting Sarah Marshall) written/directed vehicle explores that topic in this romantic comedy. While failing to meet my pretty lofty expectations due to Segel and Stoller's presence, The Five-Year Engagement is still a charming and funny movie. The chemistry between Segel and Emily Blunt alone make this film a winner. They had a very realistic romantic connection with each other and they are one of the better on-screen couples to grace the big screen recently. The film also an absolutely excellent supporting cast. The supporting cast is deep with comedic talent including Chris Pratt, Allison Brie, Kevin Hart, Brian Poeshn, Randall Park, Mindy Kaling ,and Chris Parnell with Pratt and Brie as Segel's character's best friend and Blunt's character sister who get married after their one-night stand results in a pregnancy and Park as one of Blunt's eccentric co-workers being the standouts amidst the legions of talent in this movie. Really the only problem this movie has is that it's a little bit too dramatic at times (which has been kind of a problem for Judd Apatow films and it's a little bit too long. If the dramatic mid-section wasn't as overdone and 15 minutes was cut off the run time, This could've have easily been just as good as Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Although it slightly disappointed me, This is still a solid romantic comedy with a good amount of laughs and heart.

3.5/5 Stars  

Album Review: Kendrick Lamar-good kid, m.A.A.d city

Kendrick Lamar has been one of the most hyped MC's to come along in the past couple of years. He has made a lot of waves in the hip-hop community since his debut in 2010 mixtape (O)verly (D)edicated and made even more with his debut full-length Section.80 last year. The hype and accolades over the past couple of years landed him a deal with Aftermath Records. His Aftermath debut good kid, m.A.A.d city is going to keep the well-deserved hype about him going for a long time.

good kid, m.A.A.d city came out of nowhere for me at least. I assumed because he had done tours with Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller and was getting picked up by the ever-declining in quality Aftermath Records that he wasn't worth checking out, I was dead fucking wrong. Saying that good kid, m.A.A.d city is a special album would be an understatement. Kendrick Lamar poured everything he had into this album and it shows. It takes some balls and ambition to releases a concept album for your major label debut and he is able to pull it off flawlessly. This is a throwback to the old-school days of Nas and A Tribe Called Quest when hip-hop was about telling stories and let me just say, Kendrick Lamar is a hell of a storyteller. From the early tracks where is he is talking about being a stupid, horny teenager focusing on gaining money, girls and power to the deeper, more emotional tracks where he talks about losing some of his friends to the gangs and the street life of Compton, He proves that he can talk about anything with the same amount of skill and power. The honesty in his lyrics just bleeds through the entire album no matter how serious or childish the content of the song is.

The magnum opus of this album is "Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst". I can say without a doubt that is one of the best songs of 2012 and one of the best hip-hop songs of the past decade. This is just such a moving and emotionally powerful song and it doesn't let up for it's entire twelve-minute duration. The second part, "I'm Dying of Thirst", is especially impressive. Kendrick lets loose a three and a half-minute behemoth of a verse without coming up for air and it just absolutely floored me as a listener. There is plenty of other killer tracks besides "Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst". Cautionary tales "The Art of Peer Pressure" and "m.A.A.d city" show his personal experience with the dark realities of the streets of Compton. The anti-party party anthem "Swimming Pools (Drank)" is also a huge standout because of how effectively encrypted it is. To the oblivious listener, It sounds like a empty, frat-boy anthem about getting shitfaced with the chorus that contains the lyric "First you get a swimming pool of liquor, then you dive in". What the song actually is Kendrick Lamar talking about how the party lifestyle doesn't appeal to him at all after growing up in an alcoholic family and how many evils alcohol can hold. He made an absolutely brilliant decision releasing that as single because it's catchy as hell, but also has an important message behind it.

good kid, m.A.A.d city is hell of a way for Kendrick Lamar to make a name for himself in the hip-hop world. This is a record that deserves all the praise heaped upon it (I'm not even close to the most enthusiastic of the bunch) and be one of those rare albums that bridges the gap between mainstream and underground hip-hop. This is an ambitious, emotionally powerful, cohesive, intelligent, and just flat-out great album. Besides the brilliant story this album tells, He displays an impeccable flow and almost endless amounts of smart, clever lyrical wordplay. He states at the beginning of closing track "Compton" that he is the king and I couldn't agree more, This kid has limitless potential and good kid, m.A.A.d city is the type of throwback hip-hop album that will be remembered for generations.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Sing About Me/I'm Dying of Thirst
2.m.A.A.d city
3.The Art of Peer Pressure 

Album Review: Coheed and Cambria-The Afterman: Ascension

Coheed and Cambria has been one of my favorite bands since I was in middle school. Their earlier albums are amongst my all-time favorites, but their more recent material has been a bit disappointing and taken their sound into a less exciting direction. Their new release, The Afterman: Ascension, however is a very satisfying return to form for them.

The Afterman: Ascension is Coheed and Cambria's finest effort since From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness. They had struggled with consistency on their last two records. There are a decent number of standout songs on each, but there was a lot of filler that dragged the album down as a whole. Outside of the underwhelming album closer "Subtraction", This album is full of quality tracks throughout. Another key issue from the past two records that is addressed is the quality of the multi-part epic song suite which Coheed and Cambria has made an album staple throughout their career (with Year of the Black Rainbow being the exception). No World for Tomorrow's multi-part conclusion The End Complete was bloated and more than outstayed it's welcome after the first two sections. This album's long epic Key Entity: Extraction, contains most of the best moments of the whole record. This series of tracks shows that the old Coheed and Cambria that we know know and love is back. Their heavier side ("Domino the Destitute", "Holly Wood the Cracked") and their proggier side ("Vic the Butcher, "Evagira the Faithful") is equally on display and it's glorious. The riffs, the energy, the brilliant guitar solos, the twists and turns in the songwriting, this is exactly what most of No World for Tomorrow and Year of the Black Rainbow was missing. This record has plenty to note besides the grand scale Key Entity Extraction. "The Afterman" is a solid, subtle, slower track, "Mothers of Men" is a grand prog rock opus, and "Good Night, Fair Lady" is a Thin Lizzy-esque jam that would make Phil Lynott proud.

The Afterman: Ascension is a pleasant surprise and a definite turnaround album for Coheed and Cambria. They are finally back on track after two disappointing albums. The record isn't quite up to their classics In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, but it's in the same vein and a much-appreciated return to their classic sound. The Afterman: Ascension is a great, old-school Coheed and Cambria record and I can't wait for the second part The Afterman: Descension in 2013.
4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked
2.Key Entity Extraction III: Vic the Butcher
3.Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute  

Movie Review: Argo

The American-embassy hostage crisis in Iran in 1980 was a long and drawn-out affair. Until it was declassified in 1997 by Bill Clinton, No civilians knew that there were five hostages that escaped the embassy and stayed with the Canadian ambassador. The hostages were then saved by the CIA after an operative worked out an elaborate and daring scheme of pretending to make a sc-fi movie to get them out of the country. Argo goes about telling this story in very entertaining fashion. You can tell that this was a passion project for Ben Affleck who wanted to bring this incredible and for the most part unknown story to life. Affleck again proves himself as a highly skilled director. He has a really good feel for making movies and with this being his third film in the director's chair, He continues to grow more comfortable as a filmmaker (Not that he wasn't already with his brilliant first two movies) . Argo is a definite change of pace for Affleck as a director with this being based a on a true story government drama/thriller opposed to his first two films which were Boston crime dramas. Affleck, of course, is also in front of the camera in the lead role as CIA operative Tony Mendes who comes up with the sci-fi movie scheme to rescue the hostages. The same flair that he has behind the camera,Affleck brings in front of the camera and his performance here is definitely Oscar-worthy. Argo does have a lot more going for it than Affleck. The film has a surprising amount of humor and a very suspenseful finale. The majority of the laughs comes from Alan Arkin and John Goodman as the Hollywood producer and makeup artist the CIA uses to make their fake movie seem legitimate. Arkin is at the best he's been in years and you believe that he really is a smartass, Hollywood producer with a seemingly endless arsenal of wisecracking one-liners. I can also pretty much guarantee that the last half-hour will have you on the edge-of you seat. Even though you know what is going to happen since it's a true story, this film lets the events unfold with a lot of excitement, suspense, and tension.

Although I enjoyed Argo a lot, I found it to be the weakest of Affleck's three movies. Not because it's not well-made, acted, or entertaining, but because of the generational gap. To fully appreciate this movie, you had to have lived through and be fully in-tune with 80's culture. Since I wasn't born until tweleve years after the events of the film took place, I didn't feel the urgency or utter importance of that situation and I think that makes all the difference in the world when comes to fully enjoying it. If you were alive during the events of the film, You will more than likely think it's absolutely brilliant. (The A+ Cinemascore is a big indicator of that). My mom and my aunt, who are both in their 50's, were raving about it's authenticity and accuracy towards the times and I'm sure that's true. Still generation gap aside, I thought Argo was a great, engaging, funny, and important film that deserves some love come Oscar time.

4/5 Stars 

Movie Review: Here Comes the Boom

Well I can safely say that I didn't see this one coming at all. Saturday night I was put into a predicament when the showing of Argo I had planned on going (I ended up going to a later showing, there should be a review up in the next couple of days) was sold out and there wasn't another showing for two hours. Using my luxury of having multiple friends that work at my local movie theater, I went and saw Here Comes the Boom as a time-waster. To my surprise, Here Comes the Boom was actually pretty damn enjoyable and entertaining. I laughed more in the first five minutes in the theater (I arrived when the movie was about 10-15 minutes in) than I expected to for the entire movie. The humor was pretty low-brow, but it worked for this type of movie. It also pretty effortlessly combines silly jokes with the underdog story formula. Clearly It's predictable and you know exactly what is going to happen at every point of the movie, but you will find yourself rooting for James's character the whole time. The entire movie's success thrives on the likability of Kevin James. James is the type of actor that just has such a likable and winning charisma in everything he does and is absolutely perfect for this type of role. It was great to see him in a solid movie after his recent string of misfires including The Dillemma and Zookeeper (In which he tried his best to elevate the weak material given to him, but it didn't work). The rest of the cast is almost as likable as James especially Henry Winkler as the eccentric music teacher/best friend of James's character and former UFC fighter Bas Rutten as James's character's trainer. The whole cast was clearly having a lot of fun in their roles and it shows in the infectiously good nature of the film. Here Comes the Boom is a surefire crowdpleaser for all ages (I can't remember the last time I had heard such an enthusiastic applause at the end of a movie) that blends ridiculous humor with underdog sports story and uplifting teacher story effortlessly. This is the most pleasantly surprising movie that I've seen in 2012 by far.

3.5/5 Stars