Straight in the eyehole
Yo, I'm working on something larger than has ever been published on this site. Expect to be reading for a while, if such a thing amuses you. But I also have lots to do other than type. I do have something of a life, you know. So excuse my inability to offer you more than a review of yesterday's Slayer show and the openings to some TV shows which I enjoyed during my childhood, but which sadly do not live on in reruns today. Let's begin with the most exciting movie-of-the-week intro ever devised:
The ABC Sunday Night Movie
"Blackstar"
"Manimal"
"Tales of the Gold Monkey"
"Spectreman"
"Tales from the Darkside"
"Misfits of Science"
"The Great Space Coaster"
"Riptide"
"Today's Special"
"Sledge Hammer!"
"Just the Ten of Us"
The ABC Sunday Night Movie
"Blackstar"
"Manimal"
"Tales of the Gold Monkey"
"Spectreman"
"Tales from the Darkside"
"Misfits of Science"
"The Great Space Coaster"
"Riptide"
"Today's Special"
"Sledge Hammer!"
"Just the Ten of Us"
posted by SoulReaper at 7:30 PM
3 Comments:
Slayer still shows no mercy
It has been suggested that Slayer's music can do something to human physiology. Anyone who doubts this plausible theory obviously missed the veteran California thrash metal band’s sold-out show at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom Tuesday night.
Though the quartet's brief set only lasted about an hour, it contained no filler and left the manic crowd more exhausted than a couple of hours with many of Slayer's 1980s contemporaries would have.
After 25 years, Slayer's popularity, influence and brand strength still lies in ominous chord progressions, tight control of velocities and lyrics examining the dark side of life. Of course, subject matter like war, murder and distrust of organized religion never goes out of style. But the genuine intensity these aging guys launched from the stage turned the already sweltering and stuffy room - everybody seemed to be ignoring the Aragon’s smoking ban - into a virtual inferno.
This August, Slayer releases Christ Illusion, its first album featuring the band's original line-up since 1990, even though drummer Dave Lombardo rejoined Slayer several years ago. The first single, entitled "Cult," was released on June 6, which, thanks to a tongue-in-cheek Internet site, became known as the "National Day of Slayer."
When pummeled out live on Tuesday night, "Cult" joined a set list that ignored all the songs Lombardo didn’t play on, save the restless, spiteful anthem "Disciple" from God Hates Us All (an album which was released on Sept. 11, 2001, adding to Slayer's mystique of prescient calamity).
"Cult" shares the lyrical venom of "Disciple," both tunes vehemently attacking religion as a tool of control. But "Cult" is much faster, closer to the "classic" Slayer speed metal sound, with a rhythmic twist in its verses that might have gotten them labeled "quirky" if they’d tried it in the '80s. With the punk/metal combo that engendered thrash in the midst of a comeback, it's promising that one of the genre’s most respected pioneers can deliver a new tune so true to its roots.
The foreboding lurch of opener "South of Heaven" set the tone, guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King plucking in evil harmony, swelling to a plateau of stomping menace that never wavered for the rest of the set. Bellowing his cruel bark on these tunes, not to mention diabolic early career chestnuts such as "Hell Awaits" and "The Antichrist," vocalist/bassist Tom Araya made it clear whose side he’s on. However, lest the religious right brand Slayer a total enemy, the band also pulled out "Silent Scream," their anti-abortion thrasher, which still kicked hard after 18 years.
Slayer's only tangible adversary on Tuesday was the Aragon's muddy sound, but they didn’t suffer as much as burly, Slayer-influenced openers Lamb of God. At times, the humming bass criminally overpowered their guitars, although it did nothing to dampen the audience's roaring reception for the Virginia metalcore heroes. However, Atlanta's Mastodon, who preceded Lamb of God, got a boost of heft from the bass overload that only gave their impressively nimble brand of progressive sludge more weight.
Tales from the Darkside super freaked me out, but not as much as Monsters. It was on Channel 9 Sunday nights at 10. There was this episode about the Vietnam War that scarred me for life. Either that or it was that episode of Just the Ten of Us.
Nothing starring Heather Langenkamp can possibly scar you. I'll bet it was the "Monsters," although I always that show was pretty hokey next to "Tales," which could be genuinely freaky when I was wee.
Wow, I'm not answering you on MySpace!
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