Summer Recap 2021

 I’ve toyed with the idea of bringing back full reviews. Honestly, though, I quite like the “round up” format. It lets me review music but not have to stick to any schedule and not have to stress out over it. It also lets me sit with albums for longer so I can really figure out how I feel about them. So… I think round ups is how I’m going to do things from now on. Buckle your seat belts…there’s a lot. Guess I’m going to have to stop calling these quarantine posts.

 Music

Trytan, Celestial Messenger – This is Trytan’s first album. It’s definitely the most Rush-like of their discography. It’s definitely not a bad album, but it’s not my favorite of the three, either.

Barren Cross, Rattle Your Cage – By the time this album came out (1994), I don’t think anyone cared if Barren Cross had a new album out. I know I didn’t. I missed out, though, as I am confident in saying this is the band’s best album. They’ve modernized their sound just enough to not sound dated but not so much that they don’t sound like the same band. It also makes the album their heaviest. Great stuff. Wish I would have caught this the first time.

Xalt, Under the Ruins – File this one under “really cool album covers.” The music is great too. I mean, it’s traditional heavy metal without any bells and whistles but the songs are strong, and the hooks are good. The production hurts it, though. This is a remaster, which does help – but there’s only so much you can do if the recording was flawed. Glad this one got reissued.

The Choir, Deep Cuts – I was kind of ambivalent about this one. I wasn’t wild about the lyric samples Steve posted on You Tube and I was kind of afraid that without a marriage to write about we’d get another Loudest Sound. Well… it’s not so bad as that. There are some really great tracks on here. Unfortunately, there’s also several “fluffy” love songs that just don’t seem to have much weight to them. Happy Choir is not the best Choir, methinks. Not their worst by a long shot, but I’m not sure I’ll be reaching for this one first when I want my Choir fix.

Plank Eye, Spill – Sometimes my “awesome oldies” aren’t quite as awesome as I once thought. Such is the case with Spill. I wore out my tape of this back in the day. Now, however, it sounds kind of repetitive. Doesn’t quite speak to middle aged me like it did teenage me. Oh well.

Rage of Angels, Rage of Angels – Hey kids! Do you like Poison and Motely Crue? Do you want them to sing about Jesus? Then Rage of Angels is for you! Okay, I’m bagging on them, but this album isn’t bad for what it is. I think they had some potential, but this album has a lot of “rockin’ for the rock” type stuff. I think this band got really screwed by the record label and it’s one of the reasons they only made one disc. Some of the guys went on to play in the secular band Steelheart.

Veni Domine, Light – Oh wow. Like…I enjoyed their first album years ago (Fall Babylon Fall) but didn’t keep up with them after that. Don’t know why – this is amazing. It’s their final album and now I want to get all the albums in between. The ten-minute epic “In Memoriam” was like…just the tune I needed. The whole album slaps.

Royal Anguish, Mysterion – Royal Anguish was a band I was only familiar with because I’d heard their name in various Christian metal zines from back in the day. They had (and still have) a really cool logo. They put out a few demos but never got on any of the big labels. This album is sort of a mix of gothic metal, death metal, and progressive metal. It’s got a lot of growls but also clean female and male vocals. Overall pretty compelling. Quite enjoy this one.

The Jelly Jam, The Jelly Jam – This is a side project of King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor, Dream Theater bassist John Myung and…some drummer. Who I am too lazy to look up. It sounds pretty King’s X-ey which is right up my alley. Now if only King’s X would release their new album at some point…

Mangled Carpenter, Under the Shadow – I think this ties with Revulsed for the most intense music I’ve listened to. Like… this is just not for beginners or the faint of heart. The label says there’s only three guys in this band, but I’m convinced there’s at least four drummers alone. This is the apex of death metal. I love it it. Give me more.

Horde, Hellig Usvart – So I skipped this one back in the day because I thought it’d be too heavy for me. Well, now that I’m all about death and unblack metal in my old age I gave it a shot. Turns out, it’s just as awesome as I’ve heard it was. Completely written and recorded by Jayson Sherlock (ex-Mortification, Revulsed) it actually caused a stir in the Norwegian Black metal scene back in the day.

Hortor, Dios De Dioses – Hortor is a Mexican unblack metal band in the tradition of Horde. So, it probably goes without saying that I pretty much love this. Everything is in Spanish but since it’s all growled, I guess it doesn’t really matter. These guys even do the whole face paint thing – which I find ridiculous. Unless you’re KISS or King Diamond you need to put down the face paint.

Traxter, Rock N’ Race – Yes, that’s Traxter – not Trixter. There’s a difference. I think my cousin brought this to youth group ages ago and we all kind of made fun of it because of the Traxter/Trixter thing. Truth be told it’s not a bad album at all. I think if these guys would have been on Intense or REX or something they probably could have gotten farther.

Lightforce, Mystical Thieves – Lightforce is basically what Mortification was before they were Mortification. I saw the tape at a Christian bookstore back in the day but passed it up for Bride’s Live to Die. A correct decision, I feel. Though this album isn’t bad. A lot of people complain about the vocals but I kind of like them. The guy’s Australian accent comes through pretty clearly and I think it gives them a little bit of a punk feel. It’s also good to hear Steve Rowe’s bass just right out front.

Day of Atonement, Cremation of the Guilty – Speaking of Mortification, Day of Atonement features two former Mortification alums in a more intense version of their former band. Like…if Mortification went more death metal after Scrolls of the Megilloth. That’s kind of the vibe here. Good stuff. Too bad they only did one album.

Sacrificium, Cold Black Piece of Flesh – Another technical death metal band a la Crimson Thorn. Nice thick, chunky riffs. Feeds the soul, it does.

Undercover, Balance of Power – A lot of people cite this particular album as their favorite of the band’s catalogue. I can see why. I missed out on it the first time but went ahead and snagged the reissue. It’s brilliant. A classic for sure. And I can see why people prefer this one over Devotion or Forum. Might actually end up being my favorite as well.

Demoniciduth, Enemy of Satan – Unblack metal again. Good stuff. Just sort of stumbled on it on You Tube and then had to have the album. I don’t know what happened and why I’m so ravenous for super intense music, but here we are.

Kekal, Acidity – I’ve been aware of this band for a while. Never really gave them a shot though. They used to be death/black metal but I guess they’ve gotten a lot more progressive. I would classify this album as progressive metal with death/black influences. Heavy on the prog. I’ve only listened to it twice but am looking forward to listening to it more.

Video Games

Bravely Default II – I wasn’t wild about the original Bravely Default. It was decent but the super-repetitive endgame definitely put me off. I never played Bravely Second for that very reason. I’m happy to say that Bravely Default II avoids that pitfall and ends up being really fun. The boss battles seem more like puzzle battles because it’s usually more about experimenting with abilities and jobs than power leveling. I played for about 75 hours and reached the very final for reals boss. Can’t seem to beat her though. I’ll probably pick it up again and try at some point.

Double Dragon/Kunio Kun Collection – I had some online credit and this was on sale so I got it for three bucks or something. It’s a collection of all the Double Dragon and River City Ransom type games. I’ve mostly played the first Double Dragon because I’ve been trying for thirty years to get past that part on Mission 3 with the two Abobos. I can finally do it pretty reliably but still haven’t actually finished the mission.

Star Wars Squadrons – Ugh. I heard a lot of good things about this one, so I picked it up on sale. It’s definitely not for me. Way to heavy on the simulation part and not the shooty laser part. I never really got the hang of the controls. I also was made at my AI teammates because it seemed like I had to do everything. You guys can’t handle that one shuttle? C’mon. I rage quit this one.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition – I freaking love Mass Effect. Love It. Replaying these three games has been an absolute joy. Here’s some thoughts on each game:

Mass Effect: The remaster looks fantastic. The reworked HUD is nice. This game was so good at world building and character building right off the jump. The story is still as engrossing as it was. The Mako hasn’t improved any, though. And the actual combat is still light and floaty. I’m also kind of miffed that they didn’t add a galaxy tracker or something to mark off what systems you’ve explored. Despite those complaints this still remains a gem of a game and worth playing. Seems a bit easier than I remember.

Mass Effect 2: This one is just about perfect. The combat has weight to it and feels really good. It’s easy to use a mix of powers and guns. The cast is beyond stellar. The writing is superb. The side quests are fun. Tali is ultimate waifu. Seems harder than I remember.

Mass Effect 3: Honestly, I think this one is great too. I think a lot of the flaws are due to EA meddling and wanting this to be out by a certain time so they could make their first quarter numbers. As a result, a lot of corners got cut originally. This version includes all the DLC which alleviates some of those flaws. But the ending still boils down to a choice of three colors. And the Reapers motivations still really don’t make any sense. The combat is exquisite and probably the most fun to engage in. I think that it’s still amazing even with its flaws. Tali is still ultimate waifu. Also, should have had the option to have a Shepard wins and retires with his love interest ending. Seems way easier than I remember.

New Pokemon Snap – I only played the original on a kiosk at Toys R Us. I loved doing that one level though. I jumped at the chance to play a Snap game in its entirety. It’s very relaxing and fun to take pictures of all the different Pokemon and interact with them to get different photos. However, it can get a little boring when you have to just go through a track again to level up and unlock another track. Still want to see this one through to the end.

Mega Man 3 – Ran through this one last night. It’s probably one of my favorites even though I’m not super wild about the Doc Robot revisit stages. I even used the rewind feature because I’m old and don’t have anything to prove anymore.

 

 

 

 

Quarantine Bonus Post 3: Tokyo Drift

 Let’s see…when was the last time I did one of these? JULY?! Wow. Okay I guess it’s time to update a little. I never even did a year end favorites list. Life’s been kind of chaotic lately and I haven’t been that motivated to write much. Let’s change that today!

 Albums

Gama Bomb, Sea Savage – I love Gama Bomb. This album is no exception. While I don’t think it’s quite as good as their last two it’s still a pretty good one – and honestly, for me, any Gama Bomb is good Gama Bomb.

Bride, Here is Your God – Someone should really tell these Christian metal bands not to put images of God on their covers. Anyway, Here is Your God is better than their last effort, Snake Eyes. Partly because it’s allowed to be its own thing instead of a sequel to Snakes in the Playground and partly because the songs are just better. It’s decent, but like the last one, still feels like it’s missing something.

Warbringer, Weapons of Tomorrow – Dang. Now this is some thrash. Fast. Heavy. Lyrics about war and what not. Riffs galore. This was a fun one and I’m glad I found it. I think it was Scott Waters from No Life Til Metal that had it on one of his You Tube videos.

Michael Peace, Outta Control – I never heard this one the first time it came out because I think the Christian scene was kind of done with Michael Peace by 1994. At least I never saw it in any store at the time. It’s…okay. I mean you kind of know what you’re getting. I disagreed with a lot of the lyrics for various reason. One in particular where he’s arguing against the legalization of drugs and says something to the effect of “What if your surgeon was high on crack because it was legal?” My response is “I could probably sue him because jobs have regulations about what you can and can’t do on the job. That’s why you can’t work drunk.” But, whatever. It was nice hearing this but it won’t ever overtake Loud N’ Clear or Threat to Society that’s for sure.

Paramaecium, Echoes From the Ground – Paramaecium is one of those bands I’ve warmed up to over the last couple years and now absolutely adore. Echoes is a concept album about a man visiting the Holy Lands in order to find justification for his faith. Goes without saying that I like it. It’s not as deathy as the previous albums but that’s okay.

Corpse, From the Grave – An obscure Christian death metal band. They only put out one album and it’s pretty decent. Not groundbreaking or anything but a solid listen. The mastering is kind of crap though.

Imperial Triumphant, Alphaville – Usually this kind of thing wouldn’t be for me. Honestly, I’m not really sure it’s for anyone. It’s a combination of death metal/jazz/Avant Garde craziness. It’s discordant and chaotic. It’s weird and unsettling. It’s utterly compelling and I’ve been digging it way more than I thought I would. They lyrics are mostly about the how awful the rich are. Gives me total Bioshock vibes.

Detritus, Myths – I’m so glad these guys came back. I’m a huge fan of their first two albums. This new one is a lot less Metallica/UK thrash and a bit more experimental but still very heavy. They also seem to have some LGBTQ supporting lyrics here and there. It’s nice to see since that sort of thing is rare in Christian music and even more rare in Christian metal.

Taking the Head of Goliath, Self-titled – More death metal. Contains Luke Reno from Crimson Thorn and I loves me some Crimson Thorn. Not surprisingly I love this EP too. Can’t wait for a full length.

Trytan, Blood of Kings – Christian music has their own version of Rush, it’s Trytan. Well, that’s not fair. Trytan is a lot more on the metal/hard rock side than Rush is. It’s mostly the vocalist who is a dead ringer for Geddy Lee. However, the music is absolutely stunning. I think this is probably the most progressive album they’ve done, but also the heaviest. However, being the bleeding-heart liberal I am some of the lyrics didn’t sit well with me, but I’m kind of used to that by now.

The Prize Fighter Inferno, My Brother’s Blood Machine – This originally came out in 2006. How in the world did I not sit down and listen to it before now? This is a side project of Claudio Sanchez of Coheed & Cambria. It’s acoustic electronica and it’s just as catchy as Coheed stuff. So if you like Coheed you’ll probably like this too. I know I did.

Video Games

Kingdom Hearts 3 – For some reason I got it in my head to play the Kingdom Hearts series again. The good thing was that I was able to enjoy KH2 in a way I hadn’t before. KH3 is kind of a mixed bag though. Like…they added a little too much to the combat. KH2’s was pretty much perfect. The environments are gorgeous, however. The story is… a story. I kind of resent that the series makes the player be familiar with twenty-some odd games across several platforms to be familiar with the story. Also, after a while, bopping around these worlds just wasn’t that fun anymore. I’m glad I played it but KH2 is still the best in a flawed series.

Neir: Automata – The concept of this one is cool. You’re an android in a post-apocalyptic world destroying machines for humans on the moon. There’s more too it, of course, but I never got to see it. See once you beat the game once it wants you to beat it again with only slight variations in the campaign. I think you have to do this three or four times to get all the story. I don’t have that kind of time and combat wasn’t fun enough to motivate me to care.

CTR: Nitro Fueled – I’ve owned this for awhile but haven’t given it much attention. I decided to beat the main campaign to unlock some racers. This version suffers from awful micro-transactiony stuff and some horrible rubber band AI. I don’t remember the original being so bad about that. I’d stick with the original if possible. Though the upgraded graphics are beautiful.

Resident Evil 3 – I never played the original but this version is awesome. Loved every minute of it. If they ever remake 4 with modern controls I will be there in a heartbeat.

The Legend of Zelda – This game is 35 years old! Nintendo didn’t feel like doing anything to celebrate so I did a vanilla run. After doing two swordless runs this was like playing on easy mode. It also inspired me to download a randomizer and do a randomizer run for You Tube which I still have to finish recording.

Super Metroid – I’d been watching a lot of one You Tube person’s Super Metroid runs and got inspired. I wanted to see if I could do some sequence-breaking tricks like he did. I’m proud to say I’ve figured out wall-jumping, mid-air morphing, and was even able to pull off the mock ball and skip Spore Spawn. I ended up with 91% of items collected which is my highest amount ever. May do a run of this for You Tube.

Mega Man X Collection – I’ve had this one for awhile but hadn’t given it much attention. I finally sat down and really dug in and learned some new things:

                Mega Man X: Still awesome and wonderful and pretty much perfect.

                Mega Man X2: Just as awesome. And if you have the skill you can really minimize                                  backtracking (I do not have the skill).

                Mega ManX3: Ugh. This was way worse than I remembered. Too hard and too much stuff to                  collect. You’ll have to revisit stages several times to get everything. The upgraded X-Buster                    sucks too.

                Mega ManX4: A nice return to form. You get to play as Zero if you want. Gorgeous graphics.                  Liked this one a lot more this time through.

Persona 5 Strikers – I loved both Persona 4 and 5 (even though I never finished 5). It was great to get to spend more time with these characters. I also enjoyed the action-oriented battle system. Honestly, it was nice to play Persona without the stress of the time crunch and worrying about building skills and confidants. Story was good too, serving as a direct sequel. No option to carry over your romance option from the original though. I had to settle for asking Ann on a chaste date to the Ferris wheel instead of a real romance. I spent about 45 hours with this one but if you really wanted to grind the post-game I could see someone putting in 60-70 hours.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Just started playing this one. I’d always heard about this series but never played it. Never really played any kind of “visual novel” game period. This one is pretty engaging – especially the trail scenes. It’s also fun to figure out the holes in the witnesses’ testimonies and see what you have on hand to disprove them. Looking forward to going through this one all the way.

 Books

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh – I really loved Hyperbole and a Half and have read it several times. This one, however…yeesh. It’s…depressing. I know she has struggled with depression so of course that’s going to come out in her writing. But man…this is just bordering on nihilistic at times. Which, honestly, wouldn’t be a problem if it was funny. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a lot of it funny – just really depressing.

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez – This one was interesting. If you’re like me and wonder how Christians could follow someone like Trump despite him being pretty much the opposite of what one would consider Christian, this book will give you some insight. Tracing misogyny and patriarchy throughout decades. And how conservative Christians have sought political power and allied themselves with anyone who could give that power whether or not they were Christlike. If you’re conservative, you’ll probably hate this book.

Star Trek, Voyager: To Lose the Earth by Kristen Beyer – Kristen Beyer’s run on the Voyager books has been nothing short of amazing. I would say that I almost like the book versions of the crew better than the show. Beyer knows exactly what makes all these characters tick and she’s got a knack for putting them in compelling situations to boot. I’m disappointed that this will probably be her last Voyager novel and that this continuity is invalidated by Picard. I mean, I’m glad we got Picard but still. She was also involved in that show and I hope she gets to do more in the future.