Moving Right Along . . .

So, in between finally listening to the latest Dredg album (kind of weird and very unexpected, but not really as bad as everyone says, as long as you're in the right frame of mind) and completely geeking out over the newly-released single from Dream Theater (it can be heard here, and it's really good), I figured I was about due for another post, if only to get a bit closer to being caught up to the present day in releases.


Korn - Korn III: Remember Who You Are (July 6, 2010)

Love 'em or hate 'em - and there are plenty of people in either camp - Korn has never been a band to make the same album twice.  Throughout their career, the band has flip-flopped between slick, highly-produced, highbrow albums chock full of left-field musical flourishes and the opposite extreme of raw, unrefined, visceral nu-metal simplicity.  Both approaches have yielded a range of results, but Korn III: Remember Who You Are (the Roman numeral in the title seems to reflect yet another lineup change: the addition of drummer Ray Luzier) falls squarely and unquestionably in the latter category, adding an intentionally low-fi, almost St. Anger-like coat of paint to the band's chugging, simplistic brand of heaviness.  It's a loose, even sloppy record, but in places, this aesthetic actually complements Korn's sound nicely. The trouble with this record, as on a good deal of their other records, is that the songs tend to run together with little to distinguish any of them from one another.  Jonathan Davis's limited emotional range and unsophisticated - to put it quite nicely - lyrical approach tends to get overbearing, and James "Munky" Shaffer's guitar parts walk a thin line between refreshingly uncluttered and simply unremarkable; Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu's signature bass sound is as grating as ever, and Luzier's drumming is sadly under-utilized - the guy's a fantastic drummer, but he doesn't seem to be a good fit for a band like Korn.  Aside from a few tracks where the formula seems to click, the majority of Remember Who You Are tends to simply run together into a formless mass of average low-IQ-metal - slightly grittier than normal on the surface, but with the same uninspired content underneath.


Rating: 2.5/5


Standout Tracks: "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)," "Are You Ready To Live?," "Move On"


Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare (July 27, 2010)

Anytime a band loses a member to a tragic and untimely death, one of two things tend to happen: either the band continues on with renewed inspiration in honor of their fallen comrade and produces some of the best material of their career, or the remaining members find themselves unable to continue as more than a shadow of their former musical selves.  When Avenged Sevenfold's drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan passed away during the writing process for Nightmare, all eyes were on the band to see which one of these scenarios would play out.  Thankfully, the remaining band members were up to the challenge, and produced one of the best albums of their career.  A7X had finely tuned their unique mix of punk-metal energy, hard-rock attitude, considerable songwriting ability, and virtuosic playing over the course of their previous two albums (2005's City Of Evil and 2007's self-titled release), and it appears again here in top form.  Nightmare is overflowing with enough satisfyingly chunky riffs and anthemic choruses to silence anyone who ever doubted the band's talent.  Much ado has been made of the fact that none other than Mike Portnoy (formerly of Dream Theater) handled the drum tracks in The Rev's absence and briefly toured with the band in support of the album; many have gone so far as to cite Portnoy's involvement with A7X as the reason he left DT.  But all that drama is neither here nor there - Portnoy's performance on Nightmare is as fantastic as you'd expect, and complements the band's sound very well while staying true to The Rev's drumming style.  Put simply, Nightmare's a damn good album, especially considering the situation the band overcame to make it.


Rating: 4/5


Standout Tracks: "Nightmare," "Save Me," "God Hates Us"


Paul Gilbert - Fuzz Universe (August 3, 2010)

In my mind, what sets Paul Gilbert apart from the rest of the top-tier virtuoso guitarists operating today (your Joe Satrianis and Steve Vais and Yngwie Malmsteens) is that he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously.  While everyone else is deadly serious about creating intricate art, Gilbert is in it just to have fun and shred his ass off - and, as evidenced more than ever by Fuzz Universe, his music is all the better for it.  The songs here are by turns epic (see "Blowtorch" and the title track), quick and snappy ("Count Juan Chutrifo" and "Don't Rain On My Firewood"), and tongue-in-cheek ("Batter Up" and "Propeller"), and every track simply exudes enjoyment.  Gilbert's skill as a guitarist has always been absolutely beyond question, and there are plenty of jaw-dropping displays of talent here to back that up - aside from being an incredible lead and rhythm player, he's an expert at coaxing all kinds of delicious tone from his instruments.  There's more than enough musical range covered here to keep things interesting, too, from headbanging, horns-throwing hard rock to jangly pop to retro shuffles and even classical (a performance of J. S. Bach's Partita In D Minor translates surprisingly well to electric guitar).  But the one overall feature pulling the album together is that it's just so much fun.  You can tell that Gilbert and all the rest of the musicians involved had a joyful experience making this album, and that joy is infectious - just try listening to Fuzz Universe without feeling some of that joy, I dare you.


Rating: 4.5/5

Standout Tracks: "Fuzz Universe," "Don't Rain On My Firewood," "Blowtorch," "Will My Screen Door Stop Neptune"