Review: Call of the Void - Dragged Down a Dead End Path

Call of the Void

 Dragged Down a Dead End Path

Relapse Records

Relapse Records has always been my favourite place to go for one-step-above-indie metal.  That kind of metal that isn’t going to fill arenas, but that also wasn’t recorded on someone’s four-track and then distributed on a cassette-only label out of Denmark.  This in-between level is by far my favourite, with the likes of Pig Destroyer and Fuck the Facts confidently leading the Relapse line-up (on that note, why the hell is Fuck the Facts so criminally underrated? ...I’m sure I’ll write a separate post about that some day).

So when I caught an animated banner on some metal forum promoting Call of the Void’s Dragged Down a Dead End Path I took notice because Relapse was putting it out.  Now, I don’t love everything I hear coming from Relapse, but I always feel that I owe each band at least one listen, and it’s times like this that it completely pays off to do so.  Previously known as Iron Horse (a band name that I like more, but I’m sure they had to change it because of some other band threatening a law suit or some such shit), Colorado's Call of the Void delivers an impressive mix of metal/hardcore/crusty d-beat that bands like Rise and Fall have popularized. What makes this group stand out are the riffs that they use throughout this record.  A lot of bands playing this style of metal/hardcore always seem to favour a barrage of sound over distinctive riffs and an element of groove and dynamics.  Call of the Void recognizes the need for a little variety and it really helps shape each track and gives the entire album a more diverse and less monotonous feel.

This album is dirty, mean, crushingly heavy, and impressive from start to finish.  Songs like “The Liar’s Heart” and “Bottom Feeder” stand out as particularly great songs, but there really isn’t a significant low point on this album.

In short, you should buy it here.

Movie Review: Red Dawn

Red Dawn

A Movie Review

Let me start this off bluntly: Somehow Red Dawn is one of the more subversive and surprising movies of the last 12 months. 

In a year where slavery (Lincolon), terrorism/torture (Zero Dark Thirty), Scientology (The Master), and East/West clashes (Argo) dominate the discussion of film critics, a plucky little action remake somehow became more honest and politically representative than any one of these soon-to-be-Oscar-winners.  I don’t know how it happened, and I have no idea why this wasn’t discussed elsewhere, but Red Dawn makes one of the most convincing arguments for Guerrilla warfare, insurgency, and ‘terrorist’ tactics that I’ve ever seen in a big-budget American film....or even small budget American film....or play....or news report.

Before I get into what the film actually says, let’s remember the source material they are working from.  In 1984, at the height of Reagan’s ‘Morning in America’, the original Red Dawn was released.   Capitalizing on the Red Scare, this film took viewers on a nationalistic romp that thinly masked its xenophobic message in exploding cars and bullet-ridden Soviets.....and Nicaraguans (if I remember correctly there were also Nicaraguans in this movie....as it was made during a brief window when America was supposed to be afraid of a Sandinista invasion....which no one was.)

When I sat down to watch the remake I expected exactly the same movie, but substantially worse as it was a cheap remake.  What I was presented with was anything but!  Ok, they did have a totally unbelievable enemy (in reality, Americans are as afraid of a North Korean invasion now as they were of a Nicaraguan invasion in 1984), and there were plenty of schlocky action sequences and over-wrought emotional breaks (and yes, there was xenophobia, but it wasn’t the point this time).  So it’s not like I’m saying this movie is perfect, but what I am saying is that the message of the movie was as follows:

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   1. ‘Terrorist’ and Guerrilla warfare tactics (car bombs, attacks in civilian locations, small attacks followed by quick retreats in an effort to gain supplies and ammo, etc.) work.  In fact, they work VERY well.

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      2. In the long run, large conventional armies really don’t stand a chance against dedicated home-grown insurgents.

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   3. The invasion of someone’s homeland will never be seen as just by those being invaded.

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    4. Any group that is facing an invasion has a moral imperative to resist the invaders.  Collaborators should be treated the same as enemy soldiers.

Now, if these messages were constantly accompanied by some message of American exceptionalism then my review would be different, but they weren’t.  There really wasn’t much flag waving at all (unlike the original), but instead there was a message that guerrilla tactics and small, coordinated attacks against an invading army were the moral imperative of civilians facing an invading army, regardless of their motivations.

And no, I’m not reading into things.  These are similar to statements made in the movie.  In the REMAKE OF RED DAWN.  What the hell?!  

Either way, it’s great and worth watching....and arguably says something more fundamentally important about war and human nature than anything that will win an Oscar this year.  Go figure.

Podcast: Ep. 21 - Black Friday and Shit Gets Out of Hand

Lost Tribe Podcast

EP. 21 - Black Friday and Shit Gets Out of Hand

This episode the boys discuss the shameful ridiculousness that is black friday.  I mean really people, do you actually NEED to buy a leaf blower that's 8% off on Thanksgiving?  You Americans are crazy.  There is also lots of lamenting about shitty show venues, but tons of praise for adults-only movie theatres (not that kind of theatre, sicko).  Finally, the consule vs. Computers debate begins to rage!

Get it on iTunes or here.