I still love you…..

January 27th, 2010 by reliant6

Forgive Me

There is no definitive version of the Montauk Project narrative, but the most common accounts describe it as an extension or a continuation of the Philadelphia Experiment, alleged to have taken place in 1943. According to proponents, the Philadelphia Experiment supposedly aimed to render the USS Eldridge invisible to radar detection with disastrous results. Surviving researchers from the Philadelphia Experiment met in 1952-1953 with the aim of continuing their earlier work on manipulating the “electromagnetic shielding” that had been used to make the USS Eldridge invisible to radar and to the naked eye, and they wished to investigate the possible military applications of magnetic field manipulation as a means of psychological warfare.

Common versions of the tale have the researchers’ initial proposals rebuffed by the United States Congress due to fears over the potential dangers of the research. Instead, the researchers bypass Congress and receive support from the Department of Defense, after promising the development of a weapon that could instantly trigger psychotic symptoms. The conspiracy theory relates that the funding came from a large cache of Nazi gold found in a train by U.S. soldiers near the Swiss border in France. Proponents allege that the train was destroyed, and all the soldiers involved in the discovery were killed as part of a coverup.

Various conspiracy theorists claim that experiments began in earnest from 1982 through to 1987-1988. They claim that during this time one, some or all of the following occurred at the site. The following claims are entirely unverified:

  • Experiments were conducted in teleportation, parallel dimensions and time travel.
  • On or about on August 12, 1983 the time travel project at Camp Hero interlocked in hyperspace with the original Project Rainbow back in 1943. The USS Eldridge was drawn into hyperspace and trapped there. Two men, Al Bielek and Duncan Cameron both claim to have leaped from the deck of the USS Eldridge while it was in hyperspace and ended up after a period of severe disorientation at Camp Hero in the year 1983 at Montauk Point. Here they claim to have met John von Neumann, a famous physicist and mathematician, even though he died in 1957. John Von Neumann had supposedly worked on the original Philadelphia Experiment, but the United States Navy denies this.
  • A “porthole (portal) in time” was created which allowed researchers to travel anywhere in time or space. This was developed into a stable “Time Tunnel.” Underground tunnels with abandoned cultural archives were explored on Mars using this technique where apparently some kind of “Martians” had once lived many thousands and thousands of years earlier.
  • Contact was made with alien extraterrestrials through the Time Tunnel and advanced kinds of ‘etheric technology’ was exchanged with them which enhanced the Montauk Project. This allowed broader access to hyperspace. Stewart Swerdlow also developed the “language of hyperspace”, utilizing archetypes and glyphs as well as colour and tone, in other words, a “non-linguistic language”, the language of the Creator, that is God itself. However many researchers have questioned the validity of Swerdlow and what he actually did within the Montauk Project.
  • Enrico Chekov, a Spanish-Russian dissident, reported in 1988, after defecting to America, that satellite surveillance captured during the 1970s showed the formation of a large bubble of space-time centered on the site, lending further support to the D1 Base Time Tunnel research. After Chekov shared photographs with a reporter from the The New York Times, his apartment in Manhattan was burgled and the photos were all that was taken.
  • People had their psychic abilities enhanced to the point where they could materialize objects out of thin air. Stewart Swerdlow claims to have been involved in the Montauk Project, and as a result, he says, his “psionic” faculties were boosted, but at the cost of emotional and psychological instability, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other issues, including being programmed with microchips, and also through the use of “psychotronic mind control”. An alien supposedly designed a chair, which an individual could sit in to boost his mental and precipatory powers. A prototype duplicate was given to Britain and put in a facility on the River Thames.
  • The facility was expanded to as many as twelve levels and several hundred workers. Some reports have the facility extending under the town of Montauk itself and interconnected with vast maglev tunnel networks to other “Deep Underground Military Bases”, also known as “D1 Bases”.
  • Nikola Tesla, whose death was faked in a conspiracy, was the chief director of operations at the base (which if they started in the 80s would make him 120+).
  • Mass psychological experiments, such as the use of enormous subliminal messages projects and the creation of a “Men in Black” corps to confuse and frighten the public, were invented there.

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Veruca Salt – So Weird

January 2nd, 2010 by phefner

VS150[1] 
(image courtesy of VerucaSalt.com)

So Weird (Right Click/Save As)
(this track is provided by VerucaSalt.com)

Veruca Salt was formed in 1992 in Chicago, Illinois by Louise Post and Nina Gordon. The two had been introduced by a mutual friend and decided to form a band.

In 1994, they signed with a local indie label before being snapped up by Geffen Records (home to Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Weezer, etc.) where their debut album American Thighs was re-released. The first single off of the album was the song Seether, and it quickly became a hit.

The band then released (the now out of print) “Blow It Out Your Ass, It’s Veruca Salt” E.P., as a hold-over until their next album was to be released.

In 1997 the band released Eight Arms To Hold You to much fan-fare and acclaim (it quickly went Gold), and spawned a few singles. The first was Volcano Girls which was then followed by the heavy rocker Shutterbug. Videos were made for both singles.

In 1998, co-founder Nina Gordon left the group and the band was dissolved but reformed a year later (with Louise Post being the sole original member) and released the album “Resolver”, with the lead single “Born Entertainer” in 2000.

Over the next few years, band members rotated in and out (except for Post and guitarist Stephen Fitzpatrick) with the band releasing the Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things EP in 2004.

2006 saw the release of the bands latest album Veruca Salt IV, featuring the lead single So Weird.

This track is my favorite on the whole album. The album is really good, and is a worthy addition to any alternative music fan’s collection.

Pick up these albums in the Zune Marketplace, as well as AmazonMP3.

Check out the band’s official YouTube page, as well as their website for more info and content.

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Loganarchy’s favorite albums of 2009

December 28th, 2009 by Loganarchy

Last year was the inaugural edition of my year-end list. A wonderful idea, I know. I surely got the idea from the thousands of music blogs and publications worldwide. The list was flawed, though, and I’ll tell you why. I hadn’t listened to much music that year. About half of the albums on that list I actually listened to on a regular/semi-regular basis. The others, well… I stole from various year-end lists. I gave a brief listen, decided I liked it, then added it on. In essence, I was destroying the whole point of a list: I should have been narrowing my favorite albums down to ten.

This year’s list is much better. I listened to a crapload of music this year. Thus, I was able to narrow albums down. I haven’t gotten any better at ranking albums (I did have a top ten but I scrapped it at the last moment). I do have a #1, though.

My list follows. Read on.

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crack the skye
1. Mastodon- Crack the Skye

Some say a great album is one you love right away. I disagree; a great album is one you learn to appreciate and love over multiple listens. A truly great album cannot be fully loved on the first listen, due to the complexity of it all. There’s just too much to take in. A great album requires extreme focus and concentration to both appreciate and love, and honestly I don’t think most listeners are prepared to sacrifice that much focus and concentration on a first listen. This great album I am speaking of is, of course, Crack The Skye.

Mastodon went full-prog on Crack the Skye. They had always fooled around with progressive, ever since the sludgy behemoth known only as Remission, but on their latest masterpiece they ditched the sludge for good. Not only that, but much of the heaviness was gone, too. Now, don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a mellow prog-rock album. This is prog metal. There’s several heavy parts. But none of them really compare to their earlier work. Not that that’s a bad thing. Far from it.

The album opener, “Oblivion,” is emotional and powerful. It is very melodic and also catchy as fuck. It is a bit proggy, too. The highlight of this song is definitely the vocals. Three band members supply vocals: guitarist Brent Hinds, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor. Each member offers a different vocal style, but Sanders is for sure the standout, a truly great singer.

“Divinations” is a bit heavier, offering a different vibe than “Oblivion.” It is by far the shortest song on the album, at 3 ½ minutes long. The point of this, according to Mastodon, is so the song has more of an effect. It’s true: I couldn’t really imagine “Divinations” stretching 5 ½ minutes.

“Quintessence” is a highly progressive track with a hardcore-esque chorus, a sudden burst of heaviness known to ignite moshpits. There is a bit of a jam session, a brief but heavy supplement to a good song. “Ghost of Karelia” is the same way. It is very progressive and has a creepy vibe, more so than “Quintessence.” It does have a brief heavy part but honestly this song kinda bores me.

The title track contains the only screaming on the disc, ironically being supplied by the guitarist/vocalist of another band. The hoarse screams are followed by the most emotional singing I have ever heard. The transition from the screaming to singing may seem emo- but it’s not. The screaming is way too manly and angry to come from any of the losers in Escape the Fate, and the singing just has way too much emotion. I know, emo music is characterized by emotional singing (emo is short for emotional), but the difference is that the singing here isn’t whiny and doesn’t sound like it’s coming from a guy who has too many dicks in his ass.

Now for the two “epics.” “The Czar,” an 11-minute epic, is relatively straightforward, being divided into four parts and all. The first part is slow-moving with creepy lyrics and a weird vibe, followed by part 2 which is the heaviest 3 minutes on the whole album. The highlight of Part 3 is the solo, which just happens to be my favorite solo of all time. It is bursting with emotion (I know that’s kinda cliché and I’ve mentioned emotion too many times to count already) and makes me cry from time to time. Seriously.

“The Last Baron,” however, is not as well structured. This is not a bad thing, but it is much more crazy and experimental. Again, that is not bad. On record, however, I prefer “The Czar.” Live is a whole other concept, though. In a live setting, “The Last Baron” translates far better than “The Czar.” It ignites crazy-ass mosh pits throughout its 13 minutes of mindfuckery.

Crack the Skye is an album, if there was ever one. Just mind-blowingly spectacular, man.

The 9 (really 10) Honorable Mentions:

static tensions

Kylesa- Static Tensions
Shiiiit. Static Tensions is Kylesa’s magnum opus, no doubt about that. It’s actually only their fourth album, but it’s their best by far. Take a nice slab of sludge metal, don’t pepper it but soak it with psychedelica, add some killer hooks, and pump up the bass (there are two drummers, after all). You’ve got some static tensions on your hands, my friend!

the onslaught

Lazarus A.D.- The Onslaught

This is honestly the best “re-thrash” album I have ever heard. Re-thrash, for those that don’t know, is the genre in which modern thrash bands simply rip off Exodus, Testament, etc. and call it an album. Lazarus A.D. is special, though. Not only do they take the best elements of those bands, they make it their own. If this means making the mix sound a bit more modern rather than nostalgic, so be it. Whatever these guys do, they are doing it well. The hooks are great and the solos top-notch. “Last Breath” is one of my favorite songs of the year, without a doubt. Check this album if you want a thrash experience.

world painted blood

Slayer- World Painted Blood

This is also a thrash album but it is neither modern nor classic. World Painted Blood does bring to mind some of Slayer’s classic albums, mainly Seasons in the Abyss and at times, Reign in Blood and South of Heaven, but it sounds more modern than those masterpieces. But this is still just the latest album from the world’s greatest thrash band. Don’t overthink it.

“Beauty Through Order” is the best track, sounding like it could be on South of Heaven, even quality-wise. “Psychopathy Red” and “Public Display of Dismemberment” are probably the two fastest songs on the album, with some brutality to boot. “Americon” is one of the first Slayer songs to sound distinctly non-Slayer. If only mainstream rock radio knew about this song.. All in all, this is a great Slayer album, offering some diversity in terms of Slayer, anyway. My verdict: Best Slayer album since Seasons. That’s 18 years, buddy.

axe to fall

Converge- Axe to Fall

I haven’t been a Converge fan long enough to make judgments on direction/differences from earlier works, but I guess I am siding with most fans when I say this album rules. I guess there is some diversity on here. There’s some mellower tracks (see You Fail Me) and “Dark Horse” kinda reminds me of No Heroes. But again, I’m probably wrong. Anyways, if you’ve been digging some metallic hardcore (commonly known as metalcore, the good kind anyways) you NEED to listen to this. Converge are the gods of hardcore/metalcore.

new junk aesthetic

Every Time I Die- New Junk Aesthetic

I have been an ETID fan for a while so my judgments are probably better here. All of their three significant albums (excluding Last Night In Town because it has a much different sound and the band doesn’t play any songs from it live) are heavy and have some southern rock influence, though New Junk Aesthetic’s predecessor, The Big Dirty, had a much more noticable southern-rock influence. On this album the band kinda explores old territory, especially Hot Damn!, but doesn’t let go of The Big Dirty just yet. In other words, this album is diverse. It contains their heaviest material yet but there are still a number of a southern-rock sounding songs. They experiment with doom metal on opener “Roman Holiday.” Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy guest screams on “After One Quarter of a Revolution,” the most hardcore-heavy track and ironically my favorite from the album (ironic for the fact Pete Wentz is on it). Fans should love this album, though I know of many who don’t. Their loss. I also recommend non-fans to check this one out; it covers a bunch of different ground while staying heavy and awesome.

carving out the eyes of god

Goatwhore- Carving Out The Eyes of God

This was one of the first death metal albums I was able to get into. It’s actually blackened death metal, which means it takes reasonable influence from black metal in the songwriting. This is definitely more of a death metal sound, though. Opener “Apocalyptic Havoc” is relatively accessible and contains that famous line, “who needs a god when you’ve got Satan?” The standout on this album, for me, is the title track. It is unmercifully brutal but also strangely melodic when it needs to be. The solo near the end is the clincher for me. It is my 2nd favorite solo of all time, actually (1st is above). This album is an onslaught of brutality and melody.

agorapocalyspe evolution through revolution

Brutal Truth- Evolution through Revolution/Agoraphobic Nosebleed- Agorapocalypse

I cannot choose between two grindcore albums, so I cheated and did a tie. Brutal Truth specializes in political grind that is, well, brutal (but honestly not much more than most grindcore). Agoraphobic Nosebleed has always specialized in movie-sample grind: usually 25-minute albums with 100 tracks, a third of them being samples from old movies. On their latest, they include a reasonable number of 3-minute songs with a punky vibe. For a grind band, that’s huge. Their gimmick has always been a drum machine played by Scott Hull (also in Pig Destroyer), and on here there’s even a drum machine solo. Brutal Truth’s latest is a bit more experimental but is more memorable, that is I can remember some of the songs unlike Agorapocalypse. Both are excellent grindcore albums.

serpents

Struck by Lightning- Serpents

Not many metal fans are even aware of this. Struck by Lightning is a new group formed by one of the guys from Mouth of the Architect, a boring post-metal group. Fortunately this is NOT boring. Think of their debut as crusty stoner metal with a hardcore edge. “The Watchful Eye” will get stuck in your head, without a doubt. The potential of these guys is immense. Not a bad debut, either.

the concealers

Daath- the concealers

Probably my first death metal album. Real death metal fans will tell you that this sucks, as far as death metal goes (This is their first album where they go straight-up death). But, hey, you know what? This shit is awesome. Really catchy, memorable songs. Isn’t that what an album is really about? “Sharpen the Blades” has a sick chorus. No, this album isn’t tr00 death metal. This isn’t Cannibal Corpse. But if you want some “beginner” death metal with some nice hooks, this album’s for you.

Posted in Hardcore, Metal, Rock | No Comments »

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