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Welp, 2008 is putting out so much s**t I'm running out of stuff to actually be hyped for! But yeah, I gots lots of reviews to push out of my system, so shall we begin?

Note - All reviews from hereon are rated on a 1-7 scale. It just feels real good that way, y'know.

OM - LIVE AT JERUSALEM

Okay, where do we start? The name is exactly what it implies. Om played live in Jerusalem. The kicker? They played for SIX ******** HOURS. Their entire discography put together only makes TWO. AMAZING. The worst part? This LP only covers 30 minutes of it, in the most muffled, shitty audio quality imaginable.

Of course I'm not joking. I put the LP in my player and I hear nothing.I crank it to max and I like to believe I hear soemthing. I put on headphones and crank it to max, I hear it somewhat decently now. This alone tells me I've heard bootlegs with better quality. Hell, when I saw them LIVE they sounded better than this.

Yeah, the performace is only decent. Flight of the Eagle, at 23 minutes, is super-slow with the shakiest vocals. As awesome as it is to have the singer from Sleep in a new band, and the band just happens to be hit-or-miss live. It sounds WRONG.

Bhima's Theme, mercifully, sounds RIGHT. The song is so much better live, the chanting Al Cisneros does with the song at the end is nice, and the crowd is going nuts for this band. Even if the rest of the concert was horrible or if they played the entire SLEEP discography with their OM discography, or if they jammed the other five-point-five hours, you can't say these people didn't get the best concert of their entire lives.

And that's about it. It cost me 22 bucks for this. It cost me ten to see them live and play three songs for an hour. You decide if it's really worth it. I decide this.

3/7

KEIJI HAINO & YOSHIDA TATSUYA - HAUENFIOMIUME

Hauenfiomiume, in a basic word, is the last album I reviewed of these guys, but without John Zorn on production.

Insead, Yoshida produces it, so it's loud, clear, and in your FACE. It's also completely different save for a handful of tracks, which can also be found on Uhrfasudhasdd.

One example to be said is Ryufoispjekkossd, which is now louder and Haino's wailing is more apparent. And Lokskooidgiifj, which is louder but the singing during the rhythmic part outside of all the mayhem isn't to be found there.

There's still weird a** song titles too! Looky!

1 Yeudhujiuasich (1:27)
2 Ryufoispjekkossd (5:3 cool
3 Wacqdhiepdhii (3:5 cool
4 Vjndoiphllkaudo (2:4 cool
5 Tyusijuffuchio (3:30)
6 Podsjigpormg (2:07)
7 Lokskooidgiifj (3:41)
8 Jaiduioqofjomb (2:59)
9 Xhuddggoipps (3:11)
10 Biufjioodjasdk (2:40)
11 Mdjofollswufph (2:24)
12 Lakdddffkouwwe (3:09)
13 Hgasdeyohweijk (3:22)
14 Chizdaafgeiiuuh (2:31)
15 Mkdoijadihffo (4:35)
16 Uhrfasudhasdd (1:40)

And yes, there's still lots of weird loops, warbling insteumentation, scientific drumming madness, Yoshida's bizarre singing, and even a duet called Jaiduiqofjomb (I think they actually say that in the song too!). That song is really ******** good. Almost worth the entire admission alone. Real upbeat sounding and slappingly coherent from two guys who like to create madness and insane music.

A handful of songs sound even more like leftover Ruins track but with extra instruments. And in-between, bizarre melding of genres with their avant-garde tastes. But the gimmick and themese here are obvious and almost distrubingly coincedental.

Yes, just like Boris' Smile, Yoshida and Haino put out two similar, yet different albums in one year. Except these albums are more different. A good way to make some extra cash for collectors obviously. But I do say, this and Uhrfasudhasdd are fine albums, and fun to listen to to make comparisons.

But if you only had to buy one, which would be the better buy? Well, this one's harder to find (Not to mention limited) but the production is better, meanwhile Uhr is a Tzadik album therefore you can snag it at indie stores without trouble. But they both have merits.

Lastly, it's Haino and Yoshida....again. Can you go wrong?

6/7

BRANT BJORK - PUNK ROCK GUILT

This album has taken me for quite an adventure, so to say! When I first heard this album on promo with all the song titles wrong, I felt confused, but the music was nice. Then I seen the tracklisting and since the songs themselves were out-of-whack, I still felt awkward. But now I have a physical copy of the album and it feels like the whole thing's come together. The tracks are in order, the songs are flowing right. This album went from awkward to amazing overnight, it seems! How the hell!?

The album begins with the ten-minute "Lion One", a total retro adventure with a purely 70s styled-intro. Swirling notes and just a killer flow. Folowing with Dr. Special, the short groove with the fast-talkin' lyrics. Brant Bjork's music dosen't necisarrily "roll"....it "glides".

The next track is the title track, that awesome re-make of "Right Time" from Tres Dias. I think even hearing the promo alone, the minute I heard this I was hooked. He just seems absolutely on fire on this! And don't get me started on the drumming, since this was 2005 and you know, he actually played drums! I miss that, because he's just so damn talented at slapping along to the rhythms he's composed here. It's almost a rare form, really.

This Place and Shocked By The Static (With a real trippy riff, very VERY 70s) keep the funky grooves and incredibly cheesy lyrics, but the cheesiness is what manages to hook me on Brant almost all the time. His music is overly simple and the words are just out there, but it feels right at home. You'll just be bopping your head to this s**t to lyrics like....

"We found our way, solar system where they freak all day, packed up and we're movin'
No matter what they say, got a ticket and we leave today, cos' this place just ain't our place!"

and...

Monte Carlo, but it's in my stars, yeah, good times.
And I'm watchin' all the chumps, walkin' all the bars , gonna see you later
And shined-up chicks, all done , babe I can help you feel alright!
And I swear to god, this ********' s**t is gonna change your world, cos' we got the ********' rock tonight!

If you're not laughing or at least smiling at this, you're reading the wrong review. Get the ******** out. I'm still talking here.

Following this is "Born To Rock", which sounds like something right out of Jalamanta, with it's light, somber guitars, loud rhythmic bass, and thundering drums. Brant's lyrics are in top form as well. And speakng of thunder, Plant Your Seed smacks in, copping feels with it's thunderous groove and preverse lyrics. An absolute ball-buster of a cruisin' groove.

Lastly, is the Vietnam-Rock-ish "Locked And Loaded", a ten-minute mellow groove. Again, really good, the sound of this particular tune is almost a mix of Jalamanta & The Operators. Really odd ending. Real, real mellow.....

This album is 45 minutes of groove and rock. Honestly, the only downer on this is they left out the bonus track "Chinarosa" (Actually, the 2LP has it but still), and the promo had people all ******** in the heads with the track-listing.

Aside from that, this is probably the only album I've heard all year that feels coherent, that feels right. Like every band isn't delivering and yet Brant stands up and pulls a hat trick on all the boys. Like he wanted to wait for the right time to drop this on the streets (Sadly, right after his label Duna fell throught.) It's ******** awesome. 'Nuff said. Go find it.

7/7
MELVINS - NUDE WITH BOOTS

OMG it's the new Melvins! YES! NEW MELVINS! YOU BUY! YOU LIKE!

Welp, safe to say, if you was aiming to buy an AMAZING album, this is NOT the album you should be looking for.

BUT if you're looking for good or okay, then this will suffice just fine. This album, continiung the trend of the Melvins & Big Business line-up, still has two drums, so they obviously like where they're going with two drummers and a bassist who is typically a guitarist. They also like all four members of the band singing in harmony of irreverant lyrics on songs like "THE SAVAGE HIPPY" and "DOG ISLAND".

Plus it's also really consistent, just like the last album! While most Melvins releases have a few tracks you'll be listening to more and more as you enjoy them, this album's just really consistent. Kinda like Senile Animal, though not as savage. Just a naked king with no clothes on except some boots. HA!

But the songs are fairly good, especially the first six! The Kicking Machine lulls in with a killer intro to a disturbingly upbeat song... "Any more lazy (NOTE: ALL musical uses of the word "lazy" are as copyrighted by Monster Magnet.), he won't even speak! Running raging headlessly..." are some of the lyrics to be hounded here. Billy Fish is more or less something all it's own, with a good drum intro. One thing is they do make good use of the fact they got two drummers, just no insane breakdowns or solos like on the last album.

Still, if I had to pick a favorite track, it'd be the aformentioned Dog Island. A slow trudger that kicks mean and ends with a long drum bit. It's almost a modern Boris (Not the band, you stupid ********. The song. THE SONG!) with harmony.

But that's about as favorite as it gets, as the album kinda just goes by. It's all good, but not necissarily memorable. It also has a cover of the theme from The Shining and a useless ambient bit called "FLUSH". But on the bright side? It's a GOOD useless ambient bit called "FLUSH".

The album kinda strews out with the last few tracks and a little more screaming in the harmonies (Haze XXL?) before it ends with the total madness entitled "It Tastes Better Than The Truth", where only a single lyric is shouted amongst indecipherable whaling and military-styled drums.

To be honest, if you didn't like Senile Animal, you shouldn't really bother with this. But if you're a fan or likes (a)SA, then there's no shame as it's consistently good, just not consistently amazing. I mean, if you're getting your hopes up that much, you should just hotwire jumper cables to your balls and call it a day.

5/7

What I'm looking forward to for the rest of the year:
Church of Misery - Houses of The Unholy
Electric Wizard/Reverend Bizarre
Motorhead - Motorizer

Reviews You Can Expect In The Next Journal Entry:
Kikuri - Pulverized Purple
Coffins - Buried Death
Grand Magus - Iron Will
Electric Wizard/Reverend Bizarre


That's it, really. 2008's been a ******** year, to be honest.