Tourniquet - "Gazing At Medusa"

Tourniquet - Gazing At Medusa
2018, Pathogenic

1. Sinister Scherzo
2. Longing For Gondwanaland
3. Memento Mori
4. All Good Things Died Here
5. The Crushing Weight of Eternity
6. The Peaceful Beauty of Brutal Justice
7. Can't Make Me Hate You
8. One Foot In Forever
9. Gazing At Medusa

Gazing At Medusa hearkens back to the early days of Tourniquet. Not so much in the sound (though we will get to that in a minute) but more in concept I guess. Someone on a Facebook group described it as "nine metal tunes." He wasn't being disparaging. This was evidenced after the title track released and it's simple structure and melodic vocals gave me major Stop the Bleeding vibes (especially the album having snake-themed cover art). After years of Tourniquet playing up the whole progressive thing, it's nice to go back to just having nine metal tunes. The progressiveness is scaled back a bit as is the overall run time. This is another case where brevity helps the album. With the departure of Luke Easter, Tim "Ripper" Owens (of Judas Priest and Iced Earth fame) steps in for vocals. Owens has a bit more range and can do those high registers that Guy Ritter used to do on the older albums. This is no offense to Luke, of course - I really like Luke! But Owen's increased range is another factor that makes this album feel a little old school. Also - no medical terms. The over-arching theme seems to be mortality, eternity, and making the most of one's time on earth. I'm not sure Gazing At Medusa will be remembered as a landmark album or anything, but it doesn't need to be. It's nine solid metal tunes and it's well worth your time.

Useless Fact: Owens does not sing the title track. Those vocal duties are handled by Dean Castronovo. Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth) handles guitar leads. Aaron Guerra is still on rhythm guitar.

Tourniquet/Ted Kirkpatrick - "Onward to Freedom"

Tourniquet/Ted Kirkpatrick - Onward To Freedom
2014, Pathogenic

1. Onward to Freedom Prelude
2. Onward to Freedom
3. The Slave Ring
4. The Noble Case For Mercy
5. Let the Wild Just Be Wild
6. No Soul
7. If I Had To Do the Killing
8. Virtual Embryo
9. Stereotaxic Atrocities
10. Animal Crossing at the Rainbow Bridge
11. Drowning in Air
12. Cage 23

Oh gosh... I'm almost hesitant to write this review. Why? Because Onward to Freedom just doesn't sit well with me. I can't tell if it's the rather overt and insistent vegan message or the fact that it seems like the songs just don't come together for me. Granted, the last Tourniquet disc took a few spins to really register but so far this one hasn't. It's sort of a mash-up of a Ted Kirkpatrick solo album and Tourniquet. Thankfully, it's not six minutes of an ape bellowing over doom metal chords. No, it's more in line with an actual Tourniquet release except it's got a lot of guest vocalists. These (the guest vocalists) were actually pretty enjoyable. It's always good to hear Dug Pinnick sing no matter the subject matter. Michael Sweet also turns in a fine performance. I'm not sure who Gabbie Rae is but her voice is melodic and sweet and very enjoyable.

Though... I don't know... it's not really progressive enough to be a real Tourniquet record. That's okay, by the way. But the fact that after several spins I still wasn't really captivated by any particular tune on here is very disappointing. I loved Antiseptic Bloodbath but Onward just... I don't know...

And about that message. I'm all for more compassion toward animals and what not. My family tends toward free range organic whatever. However, I get the distinct impression that if you found yourself lost in the woods and had to feed off the land, Mr. Kirkpatrick would just rather you go ahead and die instead of harming an innocent chipmunk or something. Should we just... like... never have anything to do with animals ever? That's kind of the vibe I get here. I guess that's my issue, I just get irritated when I listen to this and it gets in the way of the music... and the music didn't wow me enough to get me to listen more.

Useless Fact: This album used to be referred to as The Tourniquet Ark project. Then it was just Tourniquet. they had a really cool Noah's Ark cover for it until they changed it. The new cover was a big fat rhino running out of a tunnel. I'm glad they added the raven cover because I like that a lot better.

Tourniquet - "Antiseptic Bloodbath"

Tourniquet - Antiseptic Bloodbath
2012, Pathogenic

1. Chart of the Elements (Lincchostbllis)
2. Antiseptic Bloodbath
3. The Maiden Who Slept in the Glass Coffin
4. Chamunda Temple Stampede
5. Flowering Cadaver
6. 86 Bullets
7. Duplicitous Endeavor
8. Lost Language of the Andamans
9. Carried Away on Uncertain Wings
10. Fed By Ravens, Eaten By Vultures

You know that saying that goes "something is more than the sum of its parts?" What's the inverse of that? The sum is less than each of its parts? That's how I felt about the new Tourniquet album at first. It seemed like, much like Telescopic Realm the songs were sort of stitched together. However, unlike that album, the parts are a lot more compelling. As a result I listened to this album over and over until I could finally see the "big picture" and the songs came together. The songs are filled with killer riffs, classical parts, odd time signatures, and some off-the-wall bizarre stuff like the cheer-leading intro on the first track. I think having a good producer helped smooth all the parts together. All in all - I'm really impressed. It's been nine years since Where Moth and Rust Destroy but Antiseptic Bloodbath feels more vibrant and certainly heavier than the band has been in quite a while. Ted Kirkpatrick is still using that dirty, fuzzy tone from that Orange amp he loves so much but the production cleans it up and gives it some weight. The result is an awesome fat tone that is good and heavy with a nice crunch. Speaking of the production - it is stellar. Especially considering this is a Kickstarter funded release. There was a little bit of controversy surrounding the actual amount asked for ($30,000 I believe). I don't know how much money it actually takes to make an album but the money wasn't wasted, that's for sure. Everything from the sound quality to the CD packaging is top notch. This is seriously a great album and will be jockeying for a spot on my picks of the year!

Oh, one quick complaint. I don't like the name "Antiseptic Bloodbath." Yes, I know what the band is trying to say and I respect that. It's really the words themselves seem kind of silly. I can picture a group of young teenagers listening to Metallica and trying to think up a name for their band. "Yeah, man, how about ANTISEPTIC BLOODBATH!" "Oh, that's so rad!" So yeah... I think it's kind of cheesy, but that's just me. Like I said, though, awesome album!

Useless Fact: The album features several guest guitarists including ex-Megadeth shredder Marty Friedman who returns to whip up a few face-melters.

Tourniquet - "Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm"

Tourniquet - Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm
2000, Metal Blade

1. Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror
2. Drinking From the Poisoned Well
3. Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm
4. The Tomb of Gilgamesh
5. Servant of the Bones
6. Erratic Palpitations of the Human Spirit
7. Martyr's Pose
8. Immunity Vector
9. Indulgence By Proxy
10. Caixa De Raiva
11. The Skeezix Dilemma, Part II (The Improbable Testimony of the Pipsisewah)

I have a little history with this disc. I originally downloaded "Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror" a long, long time ago and absolutely loved it. However, I never bought the album until five or so years ago. I listened to it several times and never really got into it. After a commenter's suggestion I decided to check it out again.

Microscopic View was a return to the band's thrash roots after the commercial Crawl to China. It is thrash - good and heavy with a lot of cool interesting riffs. It's also fairly progressive with long songs and lots of influences. My main problem with this album has always been that a lot of songs sound sort of disjointed to me. The songs don't flow as well as they do on their other releases. Almost like they pulled some riffs out of a hat and put them together for a song. "Erratic Palpitations..." and "Indulgence By Proxy" are particularly guilty of this. There are a couple songs that reflect some of the groove of Vanishing Lessons, like "Martyr's Pose" and "Caixa De Raiva." Also present - a sequel to "The Skeezix Dilemma" which is an alright song but nowhere near as cool as the original. There are some songs that I just love besides "Besprinkled...". Namely, "The Tomb of Gilgamesh," "Servant of the Bones," and the aforementioned "Martyr's Pose." So the good news? I like Microscopic View a great deal more than I did previously and could appreciate a lot of what is going on here. The bad news? It still didn't "wow" me and probably won't replace the older stuff when I need a Tourniquet fix.

Useless Fact: Legend has it "Caixa De Raiva" was written by vocalist Luke Easter about former Tourniquet vocalist Guy Ritter. One of the lines says something like, "I bet you'd relish the chance at another swing at me." So... was there an actual fistfight between these two?! The mind boggles!

Tourniquet - "Crawl to China"

Tourniquet - Crawl to China
1997, Benson

1. Claustrospelunker
2. Crawl to China
3. Enveloped in Python
4. White Knucklin' the Rosary
5. If I Was There
6. The Tell-Tale Heart
7. Bats
8. Proprioception: The Line Knives Syndrome
9. Tire Kicking
10. If Pigs Could Fly
11. Crank the Knife
12. Stumblefoot
13. Imaginary Friend
14. Going, Going...Gone
15. America

For me 1997 was one of the worst years in music. I honestly cannot think of one good album (in the Christian scene) that came out. Crawl to China is no exception. I'm not sure what was going on here only to say that they must have been trying to appeal to a wider audience. Problem is nothing here is really done well. There's a few cool songs like "Crawl to China" and I love the silly "Bats" but other than that I'm just in awe that a such a great band like Tourniquet could put out such an terrible album. I would have liked it better if they would have just sold out completely and done hookier-hard rock songs but man... there is nothing here to hold on to. Nothing's really metal, but nothing's really radio friendly either - except the ballad. The cover pictured is the new reissued one and I picked it because the original cover art is crap.

Useless Fact: As I understand it the band had no say in the original cover art. It was something that Benson dreamed up. Benson. Like... the label that Carman was on. Yeah... definitely a low point for the band.

Tourniquet - "Where Moth and Rust Destroy"

Tourniquet - Where Moth and Rust Destroy

2003, Metal Blade

1. Where Moth and Rust Destroy

2. Restoring the Locust Years

3. Drawn and Quartered

4. A Ghost at the Wheel

5. Architeuthis

6. Melting the Golden Calf

7. Convoluted Absolutes

8. Healing Waters of the Tigris

9. In Death We Rise

This disc is a return to form in my opinion. After some of the experimenting that went on with Crawl to China and Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm the band returns to what they do best: technical thrash. While I think I'll always miss Gary Lenaire's style and Guy Ritter's vocal charisma Where Moth and Rust Destroy is a fine example of a band moving on and continuing to put out quality music. My only complaint is "In Death We Rise" - a slow, doomy song in which the vocals are completely buried. If you'd just heard this song randomly you'd think it was the most boring instrumental you'd ever head. Everything else rocks. I was nervous about this one after not liking a lot of their "middle years" stuff but when I first heard the title track I was sold. Here's hoping we don't have to wait too long for another one.

Useless Fact: Contrary to what the cover art would have you believe, moths don't actually feed off metal. Everyone knows moths feed off appletinis.

Tourniquet - "Vanishing Lessons"

Tourniquet - Vanishing Lessons
1994/2004, Pathogenic


1. Bearing Gruesome Cargo
2. Pecking Order
3. Drowning Machine
4. Pushin' Broom
5. Vanishing Lessons
6. My Promise
7. Acidhead
8. K517
9. Twilight
10. Your Take
11. Sola Christus
Bonus Tracks:
12. HHS2
13. Acidhead (Live 2000)
14. Pecking Order (Live 2000)
15. Vanishing Lessons (Live 2000)
16. Drowning Machine (Demo)
17. Twilight (Demo)

Looks like Tourniquet went the direction Guy suggested anyway! The band eschews the technical, speed metal for a far more melodic and groove-oriented style. Truth be told... I like it. It's not a sellout or anything and Luke Easter, while not having the range of Guy, holds his own and has his own style. The band is still heavy too, just one listen to the amazing riff in "Pecking Order" will remind you of that. Even when the band slows things down in "My Promise" or "Twilight" it's still quality music. Instead of being a sellout Vanishing Lessons is a successful reinvention. I will also say that the rereleases cover art is much improved over the original.

Useless Fact: This would be the last studio disc with Gary Lenaire and Victor Macias, leaving only Ted Kirkpatrick as the sole original member.

Tourniquet - "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance"

Tourniquet - Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

1992/2001, Pathogenic

1. Impending Embolism

2. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

3. Phantom Limb

4. Ruminating Virulence

5. Spectrophobic Dementia

6. Gelatinous Tubercles of Purulent Ossification

7. Incommensurate

8. Exoskeletons

9. Theodicy on Trial

10. Descent Into the Maelstrom

11. En Hakkore

12. The Skeezix Dilemma

Bonus Tracks:

13. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (Live 2000)

14. Bearing Gruesome Cargo/drum solo (Live 2000)

In Tourniquets first years the only place for them to go was up. Pathogenic is more technical than anything they had done before. It's also a bit darker thematically exploring issues such as Alzheimer's Disease, child abuse, and suicide. I think they also stopped using actual words for song titles at this point. This probably ranks as my favorite Tourniquet disc. Just about everyone gets a turn in front of the mic here too. Who knew Victor and Eric could do vocals? Well they can! Putting on this record is like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet. You'll leave full and satisfied....mmmm..... crunchy riffs......*drool*

Useless Fact: I think vocalist Guy Ritter left during the recording of this album because he doesn't do nearly as many vocals as he did. From what I heard the band wanted to go even heavier but Guy said they should mind the coming alt-rock trend. This is also the last disc with the "classic" lineup. You might be wondering why I have the original cover on here... it's simply because I like it better. I think the quicksilver version of the logo has always been my favorite.

Tourniquet - "Psychosurgery"

Tourniquet - Psychosurgery
1991/2001, Pathogenic

1. Psychosurgery
2. A Dog's Breakfast
3. Viento Borrascoco (Devastating Wind)
4. Vitals Fading
5. Spineless
6. Dysfunctional Domicile
7. Broken Chromosomes
8. Stereotaxic Atrocities
9. Officium Defunctorum
Bonus Tracks:
10. A Dog's Breakfast (Live 2000)
11. Broken Chromosomes (Live 2000)
12. Stereotaxic Atrocities (Demo)
13. A Dog's Breakfast (Demo)
14. Concert Intro (2000)

Is it possible to get better after Stop the Bleeding? Apparently so because Psychosurgery is a tour de force. We've also got the classic line up in place which included Eric Mendez and Victor Macias. I remember reading about their installation in one of Tourniquet's newsletters back in the day. I don't think there is a song on here that isn't excellent. "Stereotaxic Atrocities" explores the theme of animal cruelty again. People went gaga over "Broken Chromosomes" but I never understood why. I love that song, no doubt, I was just kind of perplexed by all the attention it got. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Pelvic Inflammatory Disease....er... I'm sorry P.I.D. did some guest rapping on "Spineless." It's also a textbook example of how to do a proper metal/rap mash-up - the song gels together quite nicely.

Useless Fact: Those dolts over at Intense Records never realized that "Psycho Surgery" is NOT supposed to be two words... duh! So now it's one word on the reissue. They never made any videos for any of the songs on here but they did make Video Biopsy which was sort of a "Making of..." video... I guess. I had it but I don't remember much about it. And again with the flippin' concert intro! And again AFTER the live tracks!

Tourniquet - "Stop the Bleeding"

Tourniquet - Stop the Bleeding

1990/2001, Pathogenic

1. The Test For Leprosy

2. Ready or Not

3. Ark of Suffering

4. Tears of Korah

5. The Threshing Floor

6. You Get What You Pray For

7. Swarming Spirits

8. Whitewashed Tomb

9. Somnambulism

10. The Harlot Widow and the Virgin Bride

Bonus Tracks:

11. Ark of Suffering (Live 2000)

12. The Test For Leprosy (Live 200)

13. Whitewashed Tomb (Demo)

14. Tears of Korah (Demo)

15. Ark of Suffering (Demo)

16. Concert Intro (1999)

Funny story: so I'd just gotten this on tape back in the day and my aunt and little cousin were in the car. "Go ahead, play your tape," my aunt said. "Um.... no, you won't like it." replied I with wisdom beyond my years. My aunt insisted. So reluctantly I put Stop the Bleeding in the tape deck and that cool chugging riff starts. Everything seems to be okay - no one's ears are bleeding. Then Guy Ritter starts singing. Faces are made. Tears flow. "Mommy, I'm scared!" says my little cousin. Out goes the tape. Then the ridicule. "I told you!" I said. "Yeah," says my aunt, "But I didn't know it was going to be like that!" Whatever.

I said all that to say this: Stop the Bleeding is just about as close to a metal masterpiece as you can get. Just about everything is perfect - perfect guitars, perfect drumming, perfect riffs, perfect hooks. It all comes together in a perfect storm of thrash, technical, and speed metal.

Useless Fact: My version is the reissue with the enhanced cover and extra tracks. Question: why did they put the concert intro after the live tracks? Also, who needs a concert intro?