James Murphy - Metal Extraordinaire

James Murphy first assaulted my virgin ears at the young age of 13 in 1990 when Death’s Spiritual Healing came out. I was just getting into the death metal scene after already being a life long fan of heavy metal. I was entering new territory and this was a completely new experience for me. Heavier technical guitar playing and nasty guttural vocals. Spiritual Healing obviously being my first death metal album, it was also the first time I was exposed to the brutal riffage of James Murphy and Chuck Schuldiner. Little did I know that James Murphy would be crossing my path many more times through my wondrous death metal journey.

The Bands

James Murphy is responsible for swinging an axe in many death metal acts over the years and the mastermind behind many recordings as well. Here are a few albums that have made an impact on me personally.

Death – Spiritual Healing 1990

With this album being my first experience in death metal I was blown away by the technical musicianship and sheer brutality of this album. I had no idea what Death would mean to me in the years to come or nor did I know that James Murphy’s style would have such an impact on me. Its been years since I have listened to this album, but I am sure if I played it again I would remember most of the riffs and solos throughout this album. Years ago I can remember sitting in my bedroom with my guitar in hand trying to learn just a couple of riffs off of the title track. Chuck Schuldiner would be responsible for most of the guitar work on this album, but James brought a lot to the table as well. You can clearly hear his style of playing mixed along with Schuldiner’s masterful work.

Obituary – Cause of Death 1990

Obituary’s Cause of Death came out the same year as Spiritual Healing, so I got a double dose of Murphy’s commanding guitar style. As I sat in my bedroom drawing god knows what, I was listening to a freshly bought cassette tape of Obituary’s Cause of Death. Little did I know that this album would be the staple of my death metal experience.  I had no idea that music could be so goddamn heavy and so fucking brutal. Just the lyrics alone were enough to make the faint hearted weak in the knees. This album is chock-full of memorable riffs and blistering solos thanks to Murphy’s brilliant style of guitar playing.

Disincarnate – Dreams of the Carrion Kind 1993

In 1993 we were blessed with the first full on release of James Murphy’s own band Disincarnate. Dreams of the Carrion Kind is a phenomenal album! It contained such great tracks as Soul Erosion and The Stench of Paradise Burning. The entire album is such a masterpiece and still stands the test of time. James didn’t pull any punches on Dreams of the Carrion Kind and pleased us all with one hell of an illustrious release. By now I was very acquainted with James Murphy’s style of playing and was aware of his ability to show everyone he could play guitar and bass and also write insanely technical and memorable music.

TestAmenT – Low 1994

I don’t know about you, but I have always thought very highly of Testament and the thrashy shred worthy playing of Alex Skolnick. After the release of The Ritual I was kind of let down, but their next release, Low would completely make up for everything. James Murphy jumped on board after Alex Skolnick left the band. I had no idea how fucking epic this album was going to be. James did an out standing job of revitalizing the band and bringing an entirely different perspective to Testament. Don’t get me wrong, I love the other Testament albums just as much, but this album stands out the most. James didn’t pull any punches when he was laying down the guitar tracks for this album. All of the tracks on this album have that signature Murphy sound and recognizable guitar tone. Just an overall outstanding album!

James Murphy – Convergence 1996

James Murphy’s first solo album was released by Shrapnel Records in 1996 and also included the likes of several different artists to lend a helping hand in the development of Convergence. Such acts include Devin Townsend, Chuck Billy and Greg Howe. James did an impressive job of writing great material for this album. Every song is filled with marvelous leads and solos that would make any guitarist want to put down his axe. It did me anyway. On Convergence James really shows everyone that he his an amazing musician and that he is also very diverse when it comes to writing and recording.

These five albums are just a few that James put tons of blood, sweat and thought into. He is also responsible for playing guitar in other bands such as Cancer and has also supplied several guest solos for such great bands as Gorguts, Nevermore, Solstice and Malevolent Creation. Thanks to James Murphy my death metal experience was that much better. I will always look forward to hearing what he has in store for us next. Rumor has it James is working on a Death tribute album. I hope he succeeds in his journey and shows the world what a great guitarist and songwriter Chuck Schuldiner was.

The Rising – by Brian Keene

Several years ago I was scouting for a new horror author to check out and I just so happened to stumble across the name Brian Keene in a Rue-Morgue magazine. It had been years since I actually sat down and read a novel from cover to cover, so I was out of the loop as to who trust for a great read. For some reason I had the urge to get back into reading and start using my imagination a little more. This may be attributed to the lack of quality horror movies at that time. Sure there were a few good ones here and there, but maybe I just have high expectations anymore. It might have something to do with a combination of old age and Hollywood remakes that have run amok and soured my taste time and time again. Rue-Morgue had plenty of great things to say about Mr. Keene so I was determined to give The Rising a whirl. Man, am I glad I did!

The Rising is an epic zombie novel about a determined father, Jim, who is hell bent on finding his son and saving him from an onslaught of gut munching zombies. Jim’s son lives hundreds of miles away with his mother in New Jersey. Jim must set out into the world of the walking dead and do what he can to survive and find his way north to his son. On his way Jim encounters a couple of different characters that helps him on his journey, but not all living humans are willing to help and some will even stand in Jim’s way.

I don’t want to go into great detail about the story and give away too much information, but the way Brian Keene incorporates a modern scientific twist on how the zombie apocalypse gets kick started is by far one of the most ingenious scenarios to date. In most zombie books or movies the reader/watcher is left hanging wondering just how this situation came about. Usually the living dead are brought back to life by a chemical or worse, something unexplained, but Brian goes outside of the box and presents us with a new twist on how the dead return to Earth. The zombies themselves in the story are unique and stand out from any other zombie novel or movie. What is worse than a running zombie? How about one that can think!?!

The Rising is one outstanding read! This book truly got me back into reading and craving for more. So over the last 5 years I have spent numerous amounts of time reading outstanding horror novels from such great authors such as Keene, Smith and Wellington. Brian Keene has quite a back catalog of great books. After reading The Rising you must set your sights on City of the Dead. City of the Dead is the sequel to The Rising and it picks up right where The Rising leaves off. As for other great books from Brian Keene I highly recommend The Conqueror Worms, Ghoul, Dead Sea and Darkness on the Edge of Town. That is just to name a few of Brian Keene’s long list of amazing books. If you lust for the perverse and horrific tales of zombies and monsters then Brian Keene is definitely for you.

10 Vomit Inducing Moments in Cinema

Over the years I have witnessed some really nasty shit. Whether it be a real life situation or simply a scene from a horrific gross out movie. Luckily most have been the latter. I have always been quite queasy when it comes to certain things. Mainly anything to do with needles, broken or severed fingers and your occasional detached fingernail. Sounds pretty weak doesn’t it? Out of all the horror and brutality one can find in cinema or on the internet you would think there are a pant load of things to make me sick or uneasy. Now that I’m 34 maybe I have been desensitized of these things over the years. I didn’t start out immune to such gut wrenching horror, so here is a list of movie moments that grossed me out in one way or another.

 

10. Day of the Dead – Torso Tear

I watched Day of the Dead when I was around 11 or 12. I rented it from a local Ma & Pop video store not knowing what I was in for. After viewing this film I was completely blown away by the special effects and had to know who was responsible for such filth. Lets just say Tom Savini has been a hero of mine for many years now.

9. Planet Terror – PVT Tarantino Looses His Privates

(You will have to skip forward to about the 7 min mark to see the gooey mess)

8. Dead Alive – What?! No Pudding?!

I don’t know what it is about food mixed with blood, but I can’t stand it! Thanks to this little gem of a movie I was unable to eat my pudding cups that mom sent in my sack lunch.

7. Robocop – Toxic Waltz

Ahhh… don’t touch me!! This was truly sickening the first time I watched Robocop as a kid. Classic!

6. Deadly Friend – Pass Me The Ball Bitch!

5. The Fly – Brundle Soup

I didn’t know which scene to pick from The Fly. Just about all of it is vomit inducing. Especially the medicine cabinet scene where Brundle is picking himself apart and saving it.

 

4. Alien – Its not heartburn!

3. Demons – Throat Rip

Just the thought of flesh being ripped by gnarly jagged fingernails makes my stomach turn!

2. City of the Living Dead – Gut Puke

I didn’t see City of the Living Dead until a little later in life and this particular scene still grossed me out.

1. Zombie – Eye Splinter

I don’t have to say much about this scene from Zombie. It speaks for itself.

Well, that sums up a few flicks that did their job of making me sick over the years. I hope you enjoyed the clips and I would also like to hear from anyone else. Tell me what movies make you want to vomit your soul. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be a horror movie. There could be a sex tape of Roseanne and Tom Arnold floating around somewhere.

Thulcandra – Fallen Angel’s Dominion

I have been a huge fan of Dissection for many years and I miss them terribly. Since the suicide of Jon Nödtveidt I thought I would never hear the sweet sound of that evil yet catchy Swedish, melodic, black death metal until now. Ah…. the wail of harmonized tremolo picking accompanied by blast beats so fast it makes your head spin. Man,  have I stumbled onto the next best thing, Thulcandra! (Thanks Scott) Thulcandra has given me my fix of sweet blasphemy! The twin guitar harmonies with precise blast beat drumming go hand in hand along with the vocals. The vocals do remind me a lot of Jon Nödtveidt’s raspy style. Is Thulcandra a rip off of Dissection? I think not! Are they similar in sound and technique? Well sure, but they put their own spin on things. I am super excited to hear someone actually put together something so vivid and well thought out, even down to the album artwork. Kristian Wählin (Necrolord) once again captured that bitter, cold, evil vibe that he did for Dissection’s Storm of the Light’s Bane and The Somberlain. There is even a cover of Dissection’s The Somberlain  which Thulcandra nailed! I am very pleased with this release and look forward to hearing more from Thulcandra.

Un-American

July 4th is upon us. A time for celebration, drinking, eating and blowing shit up. Personally, I couldn’t give a shit anymore. When I was a youngster it was fun to spend an ass load of money on fireworks, and even more fun to watch it all go up in smoke in a matter of minutes. There was always the thrill of “what are we going to blow up next”.  My brother and I would search for coffee cans, mailboxes, pop cans and whatever else we could find that just might give way under the concussion of a Black Cat firecracker. We would spend hours outside in 90 degree heat fulfilling our thirst for destruction. Both of us had enough sense to leave small animals alone and out of our destructive path. We were crazy, but not psycho's. When it comes to cook outs everyone always associates watermelon with their meal along with mass quantities of alcohol. That’s how my family rolls anyway. I love me some grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, but watermelon? Come on, that shit is nasty! I HATE watermelon just about as much as I have a dislike for The Rolling Stones. Now that is un-American according to my father! I guess as we get older we tend to loose interest in things that use to get us excited as a kid. So far this 4th I have managed not to spend a goddamn dime on fireworks and I plan to keep it that way!

Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast

For as far back as I can remember I have always had a love for heavy melodic music with great hooks. Soilwork is one of those bands out of many from Sweden. They have been delivering heart pounding, skull crushing, melodic Swedish Metal since the late 90’s. I remember picking up their sophomore release The Chainheart Machine and was blown away by their ability to produce such a smooth melodic twin guitar attack with a heavy bottom end.

The Panic Broadcast is Soilwork’s greatest effort out of their last couple of release’s. Sure Stabbing the Drama and Sworn to a Great Divide are good albums, but the latest effort is far superior. Sworn to a Great Divide was their first attempt with a new line-up and I think this album shows they have matured and learned to make things work flawlessly. I am very happy with the overall performance and production of this album. If you are a Soilwork fan or just a lover of all Swedish Metal then you won’t be disappointed.