Kataklysm Release First Track from New Album

Canadian death metal veterans Kataklysm released the lyric video for the song 'Guillotine' off of their upcoming album today. The new album, titled "Meditations", will be out on June 1st. Kataklysm are always a good bet to release a heavy, well done album and I doubt their thirteenth effort will be any different.

Nervosa to Release 'Downfall of Mankind'

Nervosa will be releasing their third album on June 1st. If it's anything like the Brazilian thrash trio's first two albums, it will be solid!



Preorder packages can be found here:
http://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/store/nervosa

Horror Review: Baskin (2015)

Baskin is a Turkish film, so if you can’t stand reading subtitles, it might not be for you. If subtitles don’t bother you, well, you’re in luck. It’s always interesting to see a non-North American take on horror films; in fact, most of my favourite horror movies are from European countries.

While Baskin has been criticized by some for lacking a solid plot, it doesn’t really need one. It’s interesting enough in it’s own regard to worry about being completely plot driven. The introduction feels a bit long and tedious. For a film that doesn’t turn out to be character-centric, it feels as though a little bit of time was wasted in the first half of the story relaying the conversations between the team of police officers. That is my biggest criticism of the film; although the idea of drawn out conversation itself is a bit banal, this conversation is probably not one you’d find in a North American produced film.

Once you get into the meaty parts of the film, you realize that the atmosphere is very different from most horror movies. The scenes in the basement of the abandoned basement are quite suspenseful and tense without relying on the anticipation of jump scares. The visuals in this film are interesting and the shooting techniques definitely add to the disturbing nature of the characters of the ‘cult’. The main antagonist, Baba, is incredibly creepy. Everything from his appearance, to his movements, to his voice.

Without giving away too much, I found Baskin to be a bit of a mind-fuck. It’s a Hellraiser-esque questioning of dreams and reality that makes the viewer not want to sleep. (If you were to compare it to a well-known horror film). Overall, I enjoyed Baskin; it was something truly different from mainstream horror while still managing to be worth watching.

Worth Watching: Definitely 

Necrophobic - 'Pesta' Video

Necrophobic have very recently released the official video for the track titled 'Pesta', from this year's Mark of The Necrogram album. This band represents some of the best aspects of a blackened approach to death metal, and this video is worth watching. 

Kalmah: New Songs from Upcoming 'Palo' Album

The date is fast approaching when Kalmah is set to release 'Palo' upon the world. It's been a long wait since 'Seventh Swamphony'. With a band as proficient at melodic death as these Finns, I'm excited to see what's in store on this one. I wasn't overly enthused after hearing the first release, "Evil Kin", but the second song released, "Blood Ran Cold", has upped the ante.

Pre-Made Patch Vests: What The Fuck?

(Excuse the expletive title, but it truly is an appropriate representation of my feelings.)

           

The battle vest, patch vest, jacket… Whatever you refer to it as, it’s an essential piece in the closet of many metalheads. Once upon a time, a post appeared on a local store’s social media page suggesting that they should sell pre-made or pre-assembled battle jackets. My first reaction was an immediate, resounding exclamation of “what the fuck? Seriously?”. Followed by laughter, followed by a slight feeling of offense. Surprising how such an offhand comment could elicit such an emotional response and still leave me discussing it, and frankly, still shaking my head in bewilderment countless weeks later.

            Battle vests are such an integral piece of clothing within the metal community. They are an expression of individuality and a symbol of comradery. All in the form of a seemingly simple piece of outerwear covered in a multitude of band patches. Go to any metal show or festival and you’ll see a variety of battle jackets. Each one is somewhat unique, showcasing the wearer’s individual style and some of the bands that they enjoy. So, the question becomes one of how a pre-made battle jacket fits into the picture. In my opinion, the answer is pretty simple. It doesn’t. Which leads to another question: why doesn’t it work, and why would a long-time metalhead have such strong feelings about it?

            Consider the battle jackets you’ve seen. They’re all different. Some follow specific themes, containing all thrash bands, following a colour theme such as exclusively black and white patches, some with a random splattering of bands from numerous sub-genres. Some are denim, usually either black or dark blue. Leather is another popular choice, particularly amongst black metal listeners. Pins and spikes are other common adornments. Some jackets are pristine, others look like they’ve seen their fair share of mosh pits and spilled beer. Battle vests can become a conversation point. Many conversations are started with “hey, sick ‘insert band name here’ patch!”.

            Battle vests should tell a story. And not just a story about walking into a store, grabbing one off a hanger and ending there. While some choose to acquire all of their chosen patches before constructing a vest, others build their vests over time, adding patches as they’re acquired. They often represent years of investment in time, planning and money. At least on the surface. Talk to many owners of a battle vest and they’ll probably relay a story about acquiring those patches. Some acquisitions involve scouring the internet for hours in search of that specific, perfect find. Depending on personal opinions (and maybe ethics), sometimes that perfect find isn’t even officially licensed or endorsed, but usually represents something rare. (Case in point: one of the Morbid patches on my own jacket).

            Many other patches are acquired online through the individual webshops of bands. Sometimes contacting a smaller band directly will result in new additions to the battle jacket as well. These finds always feel a bit more satisfying than buying from a wholesaler or big record label website, but it all depends on what a particular metalhead listens to. For example, you’d be pretty likely to find an Iron Maiden patch almost anywhere that sells patches but you’d have a more difficult time finding a patch from a small folk metal band. Either way, opening the mail is always exciting when you’re waiting for new patches to arrive.

            Other times it becomes a mission to hunt down patches at shops that sell band merch and music. With these becoming fewer and farer between, it’s a small victory to actually find something good. Sometimes the best shops are in other cities and it becomes an excuse for a road trip, or a hunt to find other neat local stores when venturing away from home. Usually it’s a good excuse to do something with friends and hopefully snag that unique patch before your friend notices.

            Of course some of the best stories behind patches come from the ones acquired at shows. They’re a reminder forever after of that particular concert, brining back memories and points to reminisce over. It’s always a bonus when bands bring patches as part of their touring merch, especially considering they’re usually fairly priced and there’s no shipping costs or wait times to contend with.

            As previously mentioned, creating an individual vest is a major investment of time and money. If you hand-sew your patches, you know exactly how much time it takes. And the amount of times you inevitably stab your fingers. Even with a sewing machine, it’s pretty time-consuming unless you’re very adept at sewing. Plus, that comes with it’s own challenges of broken needles, re-threading bobbins and having sewing machines ‘explode’ in the process, taking hours and endless frustration to put back together without an instruction manual. (That one is from personal experience). Admittedly, I’ve also lost a few patches along the way that I still can’t find, despite ripping my house apart in pursuit of them. I doubt I’m the only one who has experienced this frustration.

            Looking strictly at the money aspect, it would be, quite frankly, stupid for any store to sell a pre-assembled battle jacket. To start with, a new vest or jacket (not thrifted, up-cycled etc) is going to likely be a minimum of fifty bucks. Start adding the cost of patches, and you’re talking a good chunk of money. A back patch probably runs somewhere in the realm of twenty dollars, give or take. Looking at my own vest as an example, the average cost of smaller individual patches is between seven and eight dollars, factoring in differing prices and shipping costs paid on some of them. Currently, I have fifty-one patches and a back patch, some of which aren’t even sewn onto my vest yet. Using seven dollars and fifty cents as an average price, and adding in another twenty for the back patch, that’s slightly over four hundred dollars worth of patches. Granted, that has been spread over many years, but it’s still a staggering amount of money for something that seems pretty simple. And I didn’t add the cost of the vest itself, as it was a gift.

 Considering this, plus the labour involved, there is no way that any store is going to be able to add their profit margin into the mix and have a product sitting on a shelf that someone is willing to pay the asking price for.  (This immediately comes to mind concerning the particular store in which the original social media comment was directed toward as they tend to charge some pretty outrageous markups). There are some very talented individuals willing to do custom orders for jackets and vests, perhaps adding some patches or some hand-painted design, but this is a specialty, niche market and the price of these items reflects that. If you go this route, you will get quality and a one of a kind item, which, again, is definitely reflected in the price. But you don’t see these custom designs sitting on store shelves; they’re typically only offered through the designer’s webstore or perhaps at the designer’s booth if they vend at events. And honestly, when factoring the materials cost and the time that these creators have put into their work, they probably aren’t charging enough to account for the retail mark-up that many stores like to charge.  They aren’t exactly the kind of items that you’d be likely to find collecting dust in the racks of a retail store.

After all of that rambling, it boils down to the battle vest being a collection of stories and adventures, tied together by a love of music. If you were to walk in and grab a fully adorned battle vest off a hanger, you lose all of the stories and authenticity that goes hand in hand. You are no longer getting a ‘custom’ product.  You haven’t invested the time that everyone else with a battle jacket has. You haven’t put in the work yourself. You’ve failed to understand that a battle jacket is truly more than just an item of clothing and in the opinion of this metal head, you’ve defeated the purpose of owning one.

Belphegor - The Devil's Son Video

There's something about the imagery that Belphegor conjures that most bands struggle to match...