The Post-Hardcore band Eyes set to Kill was formed by twin sisters Alexia and Anissa and their friend and former vocalist Lindsey in '04.
My first impression of the band before I had researched them was very positive as the female singer was able to hold a tune without resorting to the tried and tested growling method (Many female metal singers fall victim to this instead of just using the amazing voices they have.) And the unclean vocalist added the perfect amount of contrast to the song.
After listening to all the albums there isn't a huge amount of variety between the tracks, with a few exceptions. They all have a very similar feel and sound, despite being completely different songs, different lyrics, etc. I know that this does not take away from how great the band is and I still think they are amazing but I know some people would find it to be repetitive and might not be able to hold their attention past a few tracks.
I do have two favourite tracks, the first one I heard was "Broken Frames" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRoY7zAXfcE)
and another one that has a bit of a special meaning for me "Violent Kiss"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEJAPQy00PE)
I would also like to add that Alexia and Anissa were both nominated for "Hottest chicks in metal" in 2010. They unfortunately lost out to Maria Brink of In This Moment (Though I don't begrudge her the win).
Monday, June 27, 2011
Muzaks! Neuroticfish
Neuroticfish is a solo project from Sascha Mario Klein. It was originally created so he could experiment with some music styles and it would not interfere with his other work.
Neuroticfish was originally brought to my attention by a cover of a song called "They are coming to take me away" (linked here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0QND_24DE) While I had not previously been a fan or interested in Synthpop/Futurepop the musical stylings of Sascha intrigued me and I started listening to more of his (and similar artists) songs.
The project was officially closed in May of 2008 due to achieving what was required from the project and also due to other commitments but the music is still in wide circulation and well worth a listen if Synthpop/Futurepop is your sort of thing.
Neuroticfish was originally brought to my attention by a cover of a song called "They are coming to take me away" (linked here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0QND_24DE) While I had not previously been a fan or interested in Synthpop/Futurepop the musical stylings of Sascha intrigued me and I started listening to more of his (and similar artists) songs.
The project was officially closed in May of 2008 due to achieving what was required from the project and also due to other commitments but the music is still in wide circulation and well worth a listen if Synthpop/Futurepop is your sort of thing.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Muzaks! The Suicide Machines
I discovered The Suicide Machines from a YouTube channel that I frequently watch, a compilation video was put up and TSM was playing a cover of REM's "Its the end of the world". It was very interesting to hear a punk-rock version of the song and I really liked the style. (I'll link it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yLtnNF6yM)
Very often covers can sound forced and bad quality but this was very good and remade in a level that suited the music. It was an interesting take on a well known track and immediately peaked my interest.
Having listened to several more tracks they have released in the past I must say I was very impressed. They have that very definite "punk-rock" style across all the tracks and it seems to me that the band had a lot of fun while recording them.
Unfortunately they disbanded in 2006, but in their short reign between '91 and '06 they released six full length albums. They are definitely worth a listen if you enjoy Punk-Rock type music.
Very often covers can sound forced and bad quality but this was very good and remade in a level that suited the music. It was an interesting take on a well known track and immediately peaked my interest.
Having listened to several more tracks they have released in the past I must say I was very impressed. They have that very definite "punk-rock" style across all the tracks and it seems to me that the band had a lot of fun while recording them.
Unfortunately they disbanded in 2006, but in their short reign between '91 and '06 they released six full length albums. They are definitely worth a listen if you enjoy Punk-Rock type music.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Devil Lives in London?
A game that is overlooked and often spoken ill of is Hellgate: London. It unfortunately fell flat mainly due to the lack of coverage and bad reviews, and the company folded along with the entire multiplayer section of the game.
It is a unique take on a Hack and Slash game as it is an FPS set in the post-apocalyptic future london. You can choose between six different classes, two melee (dual wield and tank) two casters (dps and summoner) and two ranged (gunner and gunner summoner). In my opinion the classes are not particularly varied or unique enough to have warranted so many but despite that they do play fairly differently.
The levels are randomly generated in five or six different environments well populated but all rather similar. The progression is balanced but fairly monotonous. You fight wave after wave of really similar enemies in these environments that after twenty or thirty iterations get rather boring. Unfortunately the game is very grindy, as is the case of most Hack and Slash games.
The saving grace of the game however is the special missions and the boss fights. Each boss is again randomly generated from a selection of powers and enemy types and are a lot tougher than their standard brethren. As you can encounter the bosses in any area it adds some great variety to the areas and an added amount of difficulty that is often needed.
Unfortunately the best part of this game was in fact the multiplayer, it had added special enemies and equipment, the ability to share equipment between characters and several other nice little options that improved the game massively.
One thing that always really bothers me about these type of games is the sense that your character "appears". All the NPCs speak to you as if you don't know what has been going on, you start off the game in some dead-end that leads only forwards and you have no gear to speak of. Is it too much to ask that a non-rpg puts a little back story on your character. Now it isn't just this game I am talking about but all Hack and Slash games.
Now while this might seem like a rather negative review of the game, every single hack and slash carries the same issues, even a great like Diablo suffers from these. I really enjoy playing Hellgate: London and keep coming back to it time and again. It is just as much fun as any other Hack and Slash and also covers an FPS element that makes it enjoyable. The game however is not in wide circulation due to the closure of the company but if you do see it in shops it will be very cheap. My vote; if you like Diablo this one is worth a play through.
It is a unique take on a Hack and Slash game as it is an FPS set in the post-apocalyptic future london. You can choose between six different classes, two melee (dual wield and tank) two casters (dps and summoner) and two ranged (gunner and gunner summoner). In my opinion the classes are not particularly varied or unique enough to have warranted so many but despite that they do play fairly differently.
The levels are randomly generated in five or six different environments well populated but all rather similar. The progression is balanced but fairly monotonous. You fight wave after wave of really similar enemies in these environments that after twenty or thirty iterations get rather boring. Unfortunately the game is very grindy, as is the case of most Hack and Slash games.
The saving grace of the game however is the special missions and the boss fights. Each boss is again randomly generated from a selection of powers and enemy types and are a lot tougher than their standard brethren. As you can encounter the bosses in any area it adds some great variety to the areas and an added amount of difficulty that is often needed.
Unfortunately the best part of this game was in fact the multiplayer, it had added special enemies and equipment, the ability to share equipment between characters and several other nice little options that improved the game massively.
One thing that always really bothers me about these type of games is the sense that your character "appears". All the NPCs speak to you as if you don't know what has been going on, you start off the game in some dead-end that leads only forwards and you have no gear to speak of. Is it too much to ask that a non-rpg puts a little back story on your character. Now it isn't just this game I am talking about but all Hack and Slash games.
Now while this might seem like a rather negative review of the game, every single hack and slash carries the same issues, even a great like Diablo suffers from these. I really enjoy playing Hellgate: London and keep coming back to it time and again. It is just as much fun as any other Hack and Slash and also covers an FPS element that makes it enjoyable. The game however is not in wide circulation due to the closure of the company but if you do see it in shops it will be very cheap. My vote; if you like Diablo this one is worth a play through.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Muzaks! Cult of Luna
In a rather strange turn of events my sister, an indie rock lover, contacted me with a band she had heard and thought I might enjoy. She had heard them on (I believe it was) Radio 6 one evening and despite her metal-misgivings thought it sounded good.
Cult of Luna are a post-metal band, Swedish in origin. They have aggressive, deep, guttural vocals on all their tracks. While guttural vocals are not usually my cup of tea, the music compliments them quite well. The instruments used are primarily standard metal style and sound, fairly heavy and giving the feeling of foreboding that a lot of post-metal music inspires. However later tracks are more orchestral in origin using atmospheric sounds to put a deeper feel in to the track, making it a lot less oppressive but still giving a heavy impact.
You can hear several tracks on their myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/cultofluna
or you can also YouTube them and find a whole lot more of their tracks with some sort of anime or photo slideshow going on in the background.
Cult of Luna are a post-metal band, Swedish in origin. They have aggressive, deep, guttural vocals on all their tracks. While guttural vocals are not usually my cup of tea, the music compliments them quite well. The instruments used are primarily standard metal style and sound, fairly heavy and giving the feeling of foreboding that a lot of post-metal music inspires. However later tracks are more orchestral in origin using atmospheric sounds to put a deeper feel in to the track, making it a lot less oppressive but still giving a heavy impact.
You can hear several tracks on their myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/cultofluna
or you can also YouTube them and find a whole lot more of their tracks with some sort of anime or photo slideshow going on in the background.
The Third of the Fables
The original Fable game was a masterful creation. The stylised cartoony look suited the game and environment perfectly. The storyline was somewhat unique for games of that time as it involved quite a lot of tragedy and difficult decisions that could turn out badly. The combat also flowed really well. You could swing your sword knocking back an enemy and immediately throw a fireball to follow it up. There was a huge amount of customisability as well in clothing choice, hairstyles and tattoos. The main hook to Fable 1 was the choices you had to make between good and evil and this was done really well. You had three alignment choices throughout the game; good, evil and neutral. These depended upon what actions you performed (and also on some foods you ate). There were also some very interesting quest chains you could complete, for instance the arena section.
Now in anticipation of another fantastic game I pre-ordered Fable 3. With the pre-order you got some unique weapons and clothing items. My immediate reaction was that the unique cartoony style was gone, it was still fairly stylised but looked more realistic now. This didn't necessarily take away from the game but it was not a welcome change for me at least. The storyline was fairly similar to the original game with the same sort of beginning and end goal, the interim was slightly different however. A lot of the quests were fairly limp and uninteresting and made you travel through many pointless areas as if to draw out the quest as much as it could. Another thing that bothered me was the lack of choice you had, most choices were black and white/good and evil with no sort of middle ground or any way to backtrack on your decision. You were fairly limited in all of your choices and even in your customising there were less options of clothes and tattoos that you could wear. The combat in Fable 3 was a lot less streamlined than the original and I found it very clunky trying to switch between different weapon styles, sticking mostly to the gun, and found I got hit a lot as the dodging system did not work as well as in the original.
Overall I enjoyed the game and feel I got my monies worth out of it but I do not see myself going back and playing it over again as I tend to with Fable 1. It is just too restricted and linear to make me want to redo the entire story.
Now in anticipation of another fantastic game I pre-ordered Fable 3. With the pre-order you got some unique weapons and clothing items. My immediate reaction was that the unique cartoony style was gone, it was still fairly stylised but looked more realistic now. This didn't necessarily take away from the game but it was not a welcome change for me at least. The storyline was fairly similar to the original game with the same sort of beginning and end goal, the interim was slightly different however. A lot of the quests were fairly limp and uninteresting and made you travel through many pointless areas as if to draw out the quest as much as it could. Another thing that bothered me was the lack of choice you had, most choices were black and white/good and evil with no sort of middle ground or any way to backtrack on your decision. You were fairly limited in all of your choices and even in your customising there were less options of clothes and tattoos that you could wear. The combat in Fable 3 was a lot less streamlined than the original and I found it very clunky trying to switch between different weapon styles, sticking mostly to the gun, and found I got hit a lot as the dodging system did not work as well as in the original.
Overall I enjoyed the game and feel I got my monies worth out of it but I do not see myself going back and playing it over again as I tend to with Fable 1. It is just too restricted and linear to make me want to redo the entire story.
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