Dark Adrenaline - Lacuna Coil review

Dark Adrenaline is undoubtedly not my most anticipated album release of 2012 (that honor goes to Van Halen's upcoming A Different Kind Of Truth), but nevertheless i was still happy to see some new stuff from Cristina and the boys.

the first two songs released, Trip The Darkness and Kill The Light, were nice previews for the album. Trip The Darkness got its own music video, whereas Kill The Light was simply released as a song on YouTube.

(the video for Trip The Darkness)

the band also covered a song by REM, Losing My Religion. as far as covers go it's a pretty good one. honestly, i'm not sure what else to say here. the album itself is actually pretty good. however, since i'm not much of a fan of theirs, i have next to no knowledge of their past material to compare this new release to. i'd say if you're a fan at all of Lacuna Coil, get this one.

***RATING***- 3.5/5

Gears of War: The Board Game review

(i might as well do a quick review of this while i have this tab open, so here goes:)

i must admit, i was pretty skeptical when i first heard that Gears of War was being ported to the old school board game. so, i picked it up, unpacked it, and looked at the monstrous pile of bits and pieces the box held. the game comes with a bunch of map tiles (this is the board, which is randomly put together each game by a deck of cards that controls which pieces are put down in what order), a large bag of figurines (which are my personal favorite out of the whole thing, they're extremely detailed little pieces), about 5 or 6 separate decks of cards: one to control the Locust AI (this is a strictly co-op game, for 1-4 players), black and red die to figure up the attack and defense values (respectively), a small mountain of tokens (symbolizing ammunition and grenade counts), and a good sized instruction manual; among other things.

like i said before, the board is made up of individual tiles which vary according to the mission you choose to play (the missions are based off Gears 1 & 2, perhaps there will be an expansion pack to cover the recent third Gears game) and are put together randomly each game by what order you draw the cards in. after the board is assembled, Locust enemies are spawned in the right locations (the specific ones based off the number of players), cards are distributed (each player has a hand of 6 cards, except the one playing as Marcus; they get up to 7), and the game begins.

remember when i said this would be a quick review? here's why: i've only gotten to play this game twice so far, both times ending in defeat. (the second time we made it farther.) it all boils down to the roll of the dice and lucky drawing of cards. i haven't even thought of trying the "Insane mode" rules, because the first mission (supposedly the easiest one of all) still has yet to be beaten. Insane is supposed to be just as masochistic as the console games are on that difficulty.

from what i've played of the game, it's just as fun as playing it with a controller. Horde mode even made its way here, but that'll have to wait also until the first mission is won. sorry if this review is a little lacking, this game is just so massive compared to any other board game i've ever played.

***RATING***- 5/5

(here's a picture of what the game actually looks like when it's being played. not sure which mission this is.)

Beyond Magnetic EP - Metallica review

ah, Metallica. what hasn't been said about them: they're but one of the founders of the thrash metal genre, also they've been called one of the biggest sellout bands of all time. their 2008 album Death Magnetic (fun fact: this was the first Metallica album i ever bought) was a welcome return to their thrash metal roots after the discography stains that were Metallica, Load, ReLoad, and St. Anger. this EP is a collection of 4 songs that didn't make it onto the final release of Death Magnetic: Hate Train, Just A Bullet Away, Hell and Back, and Rebel of Babylon.

Hate Train is an excellent way to kick off the EP, the song honestly reminds me of Ride The Lightning. and yet, i cannot help but to think of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory (because of his love of trains). totally unmetal thought, but i digress.

(just think of an evil Sheldon here)

Just A Bullet Away keeps the metal flowing, but now it's reminiscent of Master of Puppets. actually, it's like if Master and ...And Justice For All had a baby, this song would be that baby. i don't think i've ever headbanged to a song about putting a gun in your mouth and pulling the trigger. first time for everything, i suppose. also; this song just stops about 4 minutes in, a second or so of silence, then a slow interlude-type sound. oh, wait. it goes back to the starting sound. nevermind.

Hell and Back starts slowly, like the break in Just A Bullet Away, but it steadily picks up as the song plays. this one i can't place a similarity to any of Metallica's previous works on. it just kinda does it's own thing, i guess. i don't even know what else to say about it.

Rebel of Babylon is a tease. i was expecting a smooth, oh-so-sweet Metallica ballad somewhat like The Unforgiven I and III. (nobody likes The Unforgiven II so it doesn't count.) Rebel is also the longest song on the EP (total time 8:02), if you're keeping track. this is another song that i just don't know what to say about.

overall, Beyond Magnetic is pretty good as far as EP's go. if this is anything like what Metallica's upcoming studio album will sound like i am eagerly awaiting it's release. 

***RATING***- 4/5

Lamb of God - Resolution review

starting with a solid 10-second scream that sounds like one ripped out of a song by The Devil Wears Prada, i was unsure i had actually gotten Lamb of God's newest offering. however, Randy Blythe's soothing voice came in soon enough.

speaking of Randy's voice, it sounds so different on this album compared to their last release, 2009's Wrath. it has a much deeper sound to it, which kicks so much ass. when i heard the first single released, Ghost Walking, i thought they replaced him with a new vocalist. (side note: Randy has decided to do a fundraiser show with Cannabis Corpse to raise money for Cory Smoot's family. don't know who Cory Smoot is? Google it.)

back to Resolution: simply put, i strongly believe it's their hardest-hitting album to date. it sounds like good old Lamb of God, but with death metal vocals. it sounds awesome, the album art looks awesome. what else do i need to say?

***RATING***- 5/5

a little help?

no review this time, instead a small plea for help. i found a signed and dedicated first edition book on the local bookstore's free table, and can find no information on the author (Wade Burkhart). the book is called No Tomorrow-No Yesterday, and the signature is dated 11/27/59. i'd like to know more about this item because it might be somewhat valuable and the internet is (surprisingly) not helping a bit. if you can help at all, it would be much appreciated. thank you.

Rebels EP - Black Veil Brides review

this new EP from Black Veil Brides consists of 3 songs: Coffin (an unreleased track from Set The World On Fire), Rebel Yell (most likely the song with the most covers recorded ever), and Unholy (covering a song from one of their biggest inspirations: KISS).

Coffin is a surprisingly good song. i sorta wish they'd have left it on Set The World On Fire and instead released another cover in its place. RATING - 4/5


Rebel Yell, it's just another cover -- this time done by Black Veil Brides. it sounds good, but they lose points for lack of originality. this is the third Rebel Yell cover in my iTunes library behind those of Dope and Children of Bodom. RATING - 3.5/5


Unholy is a superb cover of the KISS classic. Zakk Wylde playing on this track just adds to the awesomeness. it's slowly becoming my favorite compared to the original. RATING - 5/5


***OVERALL RATING***- 5/5

The Path Of Totality - Korn review

when Korn first teamed up with the dubstep artist Skrillex to produce the song "Get Up!", i was pretty impressed with how the song turned out. ordinarily, i can't stand dubstep by itself but when mixed with Korn it honestly sounds pretty good. this is honestly the only time i'll willingly listen to dubstep.

"Get Up!" finds its way onto The Path Of Totality, which is an entire album of dubstep artists collaborating with Korn. artists on the album include Skrillex, Noisia, Excision, Downlink, Kill The Noise, 12th Planet, Feed Me, and Datsik. the end product isn't overbearing on the dubstep elements, and not overbearing on Korn's side. it's a happy medium of electronic music and classic nu-metal from Korn. i'd say it's a pick-up for Korn fans as well as dubstep fans. just don't be expecting the Korn you know and love from previous albums.

***RATING*** - 3.5/5