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.