The Noobhammer With Paul Masvidal of Cynic

Noobhammer here again with another discussion of the table that is round. This week I have four topics to touch with the mighty Excalibur. Two of those topics are reviews of concerts I have been to recently—Boris and Cynic; the other two topics are album reviews. One, for me at least, is the long awaited Blind Guardian album At The Edge of Time, and the new Iron Maiden album, The Final Frontier. However, due to the length of these subjects, I will be dividing it into 3 segments, which will span this entire week, so look for the other two later this week.  So once again, let us delve deep into my brain, which is littered with Magic: The Gathering cards, D20s, and of course dragons I wish I could train and ride. First, I’m going to give you guys a look at the least power-metal item in this entry, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t powerful. This is of course Boris at the Cat’s Cradle.

From the moment I walked through the doors of Cat’s Cradle and took up my usual spot at the front-center of the stage, I knew that I was about to witness something special. The stage was giving off a vibe as the Sunn (O))) amps stood there gleaming in light, lowly humming, barely audible over the talking of the crowd. Soon the lights dimmed, darkening the stage, and the opening band took the stage. For the life of me, I can’t remember their name. Maybe at the old age of 22, my memory is finally starting to fade from me, but what I can remember is that they put on a great show. Two guys  from the Czech Republic just rocking out, enjoying their tour.

As soon as they finished playing, no one moved from their spots as the lights came back up, and the stage techs feverishly worked to set up Boris’ drum kit and tune their instruments. The tension inside of me started to build as the workers one by one left the stage, the last one blinking a flashlight towards the back of the venue, signaling that they were ready. Almost instantly the lights dimmed, and the crowd rose as one in a roar of excitement as fog began to cover the stage. The members of Boris walked through the clouds, like the Japanese monsters they are. As they took their positions on the stage, I felt my excitement begin to boil over as I watched with anticipation.

Suddenly from out of nowhere, I felt as if I had been struck by a 747. After the initial wave of shock had passed over me, I realized that feeling was the first note of Boris playing. A low, driving hum, echoing from amps signaled the start of my journey. The high guitars notes slowly crescendoed, mixing with the bass to form a haunting melody that stirs the deepest recesses of your soul. I didn’t have time to even comprehend what was happening as Takeshia began to wail mournfully into the mike, his voice barely audible over the drone of guitars and drumming.

My mind was lost in a trance as they band continued to play. I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me. There are only five instances I can think of in which I have been truly blown away, and left speechless by a band: Isis, Jesu, Pelican, Nine Inch Nails, and now, Boris. I have listened to many of their studio albums, Smile and Pink being two of my favorites, but they never prepared me for the live show. Not even the live albums prepared me enough for the audio onslaught against my ears and even my soul. Watching them live had me rooted to the spot, my mouth agape in wonder at the beauty and chaos in front of me. The guitars washed over one another, forming melodies within their layers.

Even their faster paced songs didn’t cause the crowd to break into a ruckus and mosh. We banged our heads, but we couldn’t move from where we were standing. Boris seemed to have cast a spell over everyone in the venue. As they played through all their songs, not once did I lose focus, become distracted, or even wish for them to end. In fact, I wanted them to continue playing well into the night. It wasn’t until they finished playing the Black Sabbath-esque “1970″ and said goodnight to us all that the spell was broken. I looked around in confusion, like so many others around me, trying to explain what I had just witnessed. When I turned back to the stage, the band had left as mysteriously as they came. Luckily I got to meet them after the show and talk to them, but when asked about the seemingly magical and entrancing effect of their show, all I got from them was a smile.

-Noobhammer

Takeshi and Michio Kurihara rocking out

A song off the album Pink

Emprace the Light

The light at the end of the tunnel is not always peaceful

Sublime Beauty

There are many great metal albums that were released in the decade known as the 1990s. However when you ask many metal heads to name some of their favorite albums, and what they think some of the best ones are, you generally hear the same albums listed. Generally the albums mentioned are Death’s Human, Sepultura’s Arise, Carcass’ Heartwork, Megadeth’s Rust In Peace, Cannibal Corpse’s Tomb of the Mutilated, Slayer’s South of Heaven, Blind Guardian’s Nightfall In Middle-Earth, Iced Earth’s Burnt Offerings and many many more. Now don’t get me wrong, these are all great albums and I enjoy them every time I listen to them. However everyone I talk to about this always seems to leave out one album, and not even mention it. Or if I do mention it, will say that they have not listened to it. This album is Strapping Young Lad’s City.

This is one hell of an album, and quite possibly one of the best albums of the 90s. Every song on this album flows perfectly, and Devin’s rage is controlled, but at the same time wild and untamed. From the opening bells of “Velvet Kevorkian”, we are set up to some of the most intense 40 minutes I have ever listened to. As soon as Devin kicks in screaming “HEY! I WANT TO BE WHERE THE ACTION IS!!”, we get a picture of the rage that Devin has pent up and he wants to release on us. With his tirade on how fucked up we are, and how much our society is pissing him off, we then get sucked into the vortex of “All Hail The New Flesh” with swirling guitars falling out as he wails into our ears with a piercing scream before telling us to go fuck ourselves.  With blistering guitars and drums just pelting us sonically we are then thrown to the ground to be kicked in the stomach by “Oh My Fucking God”.

This song adds to the one-two punch that goes with the song before it.  With the sound byte saying how they can’t fail, the drums suddenly kick in with a brutal solo, until Devin screams and his wall of sound comes in and blows us away with his guitars.  A nonsensical tirade of words that are nigh untelligable until he gets to the chorus screaming “OH MY FUCKING GOD!!” Until it suddenly cuts off and leaves us with “Detox” and quite possibly the catchiest song on the album. This song showcases perfectly all of Devin’s abilities. From his brutality to his ability to express his pain while still being heavy as hell. A catchy riff, and catchy lyrics make this a catchily brutal song.

As soon as the song quietly goes away, “Home Nucleonics” blows you away with a wail and blistering guitar wall. Belting to us about how we have failed as a society. With stop and go riffs, the song feels like it is picking you up and slamming you on the ground with its sonic assault. Constantly beating you until it dissolves into all the members of the bands screaming madly, fading into to “AAA” which is a catchy song about Devin’s various addictions, slowly building up intensity until it hits you square in the face with its chorus screaming “NO ONE! NO ONE FUCKS WITH ME!!”. “Underneath The Waves” then blasts us in the face with double bass pedals and Devin taunting us with his voice repeating “on and on”. Until kicking in with the signature wall of sound and Devin singing about how he’s tired of the shit of world, making this not only intense sonically, but also vocally. After this song, the album begins to slow down it’s sonic intensity for a more brooding intensity.

“Room 429″ is a cover of a Cop Shoot Cop song. It’s very dark and very mid tempo, but it still has all the intensity of the earlier tracks.  How dark and empty the city is, how we go through the motions of life. “Spirituality” is the final track of the album, with layers and layers of guitars stacked upon each other. This sheer heaviness of the stacked guitar tracks just seem to pile up on you, putting all the wait of city on you, making you feel overwhelmed. Which is the purpose of this album, to make you feel insignificant and tiny. That you are really nothing in this world, an insignificant speck in the grand scheme of things.

All these songs are catchy and instantly memorable. As soon as you hear one of these songs, you will be humming along with it, singing along with it, or just going buck wild. It is a classic album, and it should be remembered as one of the best albums of the 90s, if not one of the best metal albums ever made.

-Noobhammer