And Hell Followed With interview

This is an interview I conducted with murder city's own deathcore heroes And Hell Followed With, well, actually with one of their guitar players, Kyle McIlmurray. Hope you enjoy...

RD: Introduce yourselves...
KM: We're And Hell Followed With.. Cunt yeah!

RD: Now tell us what makes AHFW stand out from other Deathcore bands around the globe?
KM: We like to think we bring a little of everything to the table.. Crushing heaviness, intricacy, and angelic melodies.

RD: Do you guys consider today's metal scene to be stagnant as of lately?
KM: Honestly todays scene is everything but stagnant. Seven kids out of ten are a part of the tough guy "mob" and usually have little care for anything but the bands they already listen to.

RD: What inspires AHFW to push the band into new and challenging directions with your music?
KM: Listening to stuff outside of metal.. Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, miscellaneous jazz artists.. Any style of music that involves immense musical abilities.

RD: Tell us about the upcoming 28 Days LaTour...what can we expect from "the most pissed off band live"?
KM: Expect exactly what it says.. Straight piss and fucking vinegar.

RD: Heard you guys ran into a lady that ate her own lipstick and still kept talking to you guys as if nothing had happened...gotta any other favorite moments from the maniacs at your shows...any rim job offers from hermaphrodites?
KM: I think some of our favorites are the bums we meet at just about every venue.. Those are the best dudes to kick it with.. Kids.. Pay attention to your local homeless dude!

RD: What metal band (dead or alive) would you guys want to play at your funeral?
KM: SlipKnot.. Hands down.

RD: Any last words...
KM: Get ready! Get stoked! AHFW is coming to a venue near you!

Happiness Is Only Six Feet Away

How many times will I have to touch a cold body
and look at its lifeless grin?
How many more times must I see the ones I love
join the eternal bliss?

I feel trapped
in this nightmare,
reality,
so called life.
Escape,
escape,
I must break away.

The thought of life,
of death,
repels us all.
Our existence is a sickness
that cannot be cured.
We can only hope to subdue it,
with drugs,
with fantasies,
with faith.

It's only the dead that live in peace.
The funerals we attend
are to remorse the living,
the suffering,
the ones that bleed everyday
and never
die.

The Hallucination of a Phantom

The perfect day came
with all of its glory.

I bathed in its pleasant silence,
danced with its ghosts,
leered up at its dirt.

Over my body turned,
face down,
back to the illumination,
descending into the void.

Dragged by
rusty chains,
closer than skin,
down to life,
back to reality.

Review: Infinitum Obscure "Sub Artis Caelis"

Tijuana’s own, Infinitum Obscure, has finally released their aggressive, unrelenting sophomore album “Sub Atris Caelis” on DeathGasm Records. This album definitely sparks the inner burning chaotic flame within and it is in special thanks, not only to the band, but also to the production done by the legendary Bill Metoyer (early Slayer, Morbid Angel). And it shows, especially when it comes to the drums. On their previous outing, the production was lacking. This cannot be said this time around.

The album starts off as if you were watching the mouth of a never ending night swallow all of humanity. Then, the “Death Metal Darkness” unfolds bleak and haunting solos, riffs, and tempo changes that are perfect for the soundtrack of the end of all times. “Seeding Darkness,” the opening track, wounds your mortal soul and Roberto Lizarraga’s vocals, reminiscent of a Mexican Chuck Schuldine’s, punishes what remains of your hearing. “Towards the Eternal Dark,” the next track, shines on the drums and the double bass sounds as if there is no stopping this ever closing mouth from swallowing the rest of your family and friends.

The album ends on a dismal, yet serene note, like it’s the last breath of a dying and forgotten God. It will give you the chills or an erection, especially if you are a fan of nihilism or the bands Death and Dissection. This is old school Death Metal at its finest. Worship and obey Infinitum Obscure.

Idiosyncracy Review soon to be published in Lynt Magazine

Have you ever felt like you were lost in a demented playground set in the fifties? Or have you ever taken a tab of acid in a graveyard just to see what happens? Or have you ever felt like going hellbent down highway 46 in a silver Porsche 550 Spyder? If you have, it would have been none other than the Central Coast’s own Idiosyncracy providing the soundtrack to your demise, with their eerie guitars, pummeling bass lines, and fast paced drums, as you crash head on into a diesel truck.

Formed in early 2007, Idiosyncracy has had their fair share of troubles, as every band has, but this progressive Psychobilly band continues to get better and better with time and the occasional lineup change. Lynt Magazine recently sat in on a practice session with the band, as they were cranking out new tunes to go into the studio with, to find out what their music is all about.

The leader of the band is Nick Darway. He has unusually tall, blonde hair that sticks straight up over the top of his stand up bass. He not only has a good look going for him, he can also slap the shit out of his bass as he belts out the lead vocals. The rest of the current lineup is rounded out by the finger picking, killer guitar player and backup vocalist, Eric Swason, and Ryan Nickell, who is a phenomenal and incredibly young drummer. Together they form a new band that is, as Nick told Lynt, “trying to do something different.” They are doing so by incorporating different musical styles and genres into a genre that has, according to Eric, “gotten kind of stagnant.”

The band blends influences of post punk, dark new wave, psychedelic elements, and country music with obscure lyrics that are as Nick, who is the primary writer, states, “are more so about life and life experiences.” Some examples include his anxiety problems, problems with drug addiction, slight nudges at Christianity, relationships gone sour, and also Norse paganism. If these topics don’t appeal to you, well, that’s tough shit. The real reasons why these talented musicians make music in the first place is to make what they want to hear because, as Nick put it, “I’m tired of hearing what I don’t like.”

If you are a fan of other Psychobilly bands such as The Quakes and Batmobile, or an old Alternative Punk band like The Gun Club, then Lynt Magazine definitely recommends you to check out Idiosyncracy immediately. It would only make you ears have an orgasm to give these down to earth musicians a listen. They will not disappoint, especially if you get a chance to see them live. Eric told us they love playing live shows and “will play anywhere, it doesn’t matter.” Now if that is not any indication to book them to play your bris milah or quinceanera or grandmother’s 103rd birthday, then it will be the drugs, alcohol, pools of blood, and good times, which are a standard at their shows, that will have them at the top of your list to perform for your next celebration. So do yourself and your community a favor and support local musical acts like Idiosyncracy and purchase their music. You can check them out on their Myspace page.

www.myspace.com/idiosyncracy1

The Murder of Death

Is it worth it?
To have Death
walk beside you
every waking moment?
To have him talk to you
in your dreams,
in your nightmares,
and steal your breath away?
Is it?

Where is the hunger in your eyes?
The hunger for life?

It makes me vomit at the heart
to think that only a few want to take a chance
to get hurt,
to feel pain,
to fall in love
and grow old
and psychotic,
but I can't lie
to myself
like I have so many times before.

My bones have felt this same way.

My hands have been too weak
to fight this everlasting war with Death.
My dreams, my life accepted
and embraced his black lungs
sucking the breath out of mine,
but over time
what felt like a never ending darkness
soon faded
and the dawn began to radiate my world.

And as the light swallowed the dark,
the strength in my hands grew.
Death became weaker and weaker.
My hunger grew more and more.
The war carried on.

My lucid wrath,
filled with rage,
void of remorse,
was the cause of Death's demise.
My hands murdered him
with the beauties of life.

After the darkness was swallowed whole,
I became as free as a child dreaming,
and there is no greater feeling,
no greater joy
than to embrace
every waking moment,
every dream and nightmare,
every second of well rested sleep.

Her Mountain

They buried her
in a mountain
of pills
and one by one,
she swallowed
each and every bitter tablet
until her mountain
vanished.
When she finished
she no longer had to worry
about
being happy
or healthy
or sane
because
she was
a bloated corpse.

Swingin' Utters Review

Upon entering Downtown Brew, the aroma of perfume and fruity cocktails grabbed me by the nose as if these surprisingly odd scents were a fisherman's hook pulling me into a brick dungeon. I say these scents are odd because coming to a punk show, most would expect to smell the raw stench of vomit and sweat from the groins of blue collar workers blowing off some steam. This was not the case, but the Swingin' Utters were in town providing the aggressive soundtrack for the punks and workers in the tornado of swinging fists, dancing on the floor below those unusual smells and big bouncing beach balls.

A couple of times, those big balls would hit lead singer, Johnny Bonnel, in the face. These minor distractions didn't faze him. He was a man possessed. He looked as if he was the striker who threw the bomb at the Chicago Police Department, the one that started the Haymarket Square Riot back in 1886. Over a century later, this bay area punk band is still fighting for the workers of America and do it in their own no nonsense way. I am not too sure if Johnny making jerking motions to the microphone has anything to do with that, but his voice, reminiscent of Mike Ness’ from Social Distortion, was getting everyone in the crowd amped up. His rebellious voice was ringing all throughout the dungeon and blasting throughout the amplifiers. His performance was contagious. Everyone could not help, but join him on his rampage.

The rest of the band was on point. The guitars and especially, the bass playing by Spike Slawson, were shaking my bowels loose, but it was their drummer that really dropped the load. Greg McEntee played the drums with the strength of Superman on steroids. It was hard to believe that he didn't put his drumsticks right through his snare down into the stage floor. This monster wouldn't let up. He was pounding the hell out of the skins all through the Swingin' Utters classics and into the two encores they performed.

The Swingin' Utters have been around for over 20 years and with their unrelenting, highly energetic performance, it's a damn shame more don't know about these punk legends. Next time they bring their show into town, there better be more concert goers joining their diehard fans and more vomit and more drunks pumping their fists into the ceiling of the brick dungeon, scaring the yuppies upstairs. Cheers to the Utters for a kick ass show and to all of the punks in the mosh pit, especially to the bold ladies that weren't afraid of smashing their heads into that damned pole in the middle of Downtown Brew.

The Loved One in My Dream

I had a dream about you last night.
I've never seen you so pleased
outside of your casket.
I wish I could say
the same
goes for the rest of us.

In my dream,
I could see your unforgettable face
shinning in the sun,
you were
playing,
laughing,
and just enjoying life
as we did
when we were young
and fearless.

As we grew up together,
you were constantly on my tail.
I hated your annoyance with a passion,
but the sound of your small footsteps
will never be behind me
ever again.

I wish you were with me,
right here,
every second,
every moment,
of every day,
going to the beach in the rain,
going to Chalk Mountain,
going to the bar to drink off our last fight,
going nowhere,
does not make a difference,
your footsteps are no longer around.

I can't talk to the dead,
I can't talk to my brother,
prayers can't make up for the loss,
words can't explain my undying sorrow,
only my dreams can bring you to life.

I want to stay forever in my dream,
watching you play
and roll around,
but no,
no dream will ever bring you back,
nothing will.

All I have left is memories,
some good,
some bad,
some no longer come to mind,
all
will stay in my aching heart
for eternity.

And one day
we will meet again,
I will be by your side,
only dead and buried
as you are
now.

Top Ten Albums of 2009

10) Animal Collective: "Merriweather Post Pavilion" This album is futuristic, trippy, and catchy as all hell. At first, I was skeptical, but soon realized I was playing the fool again. The vibes coming out of this album are hypnotizing. They put you in trance with soulful sounds and a Beach Boys like harmony. No wonder why so many of friends cannot get enough of this magical band. Take shrooms and ecstasy and listen.
9) 3 Inches of Blood: "Here Waits Thy Doom" When I first heard this album, I was in a state of complete drunkenness and that is a great feeling when it comes to listening to metal. I was shaking my fist and screaming along with the lead singer, Cam Pipes. Holy fuck he does have some amazing pipes. He sounds a lot what I would imagine Rob Halford would sound like after he got kicked in his dongles and got extremely fucking pissed. They have an epic sound that is unmatched, but at the same time the album sounds like it is coming straight from a London dungeon. Worship these Canadian bastards.
8) Immortal: "All Shall Fall" Another fucking epic black metal album by one of the greatest black metal bands to ever chop off the heads of nuns and priests alike. It's about goddamn time, too, because these fucks haven't blessed us with an album for over seven fucking years. And the atmosphere on this album, although a bit toned down from "At the Heart of Winter," they create with the guitars alone is unmatched and it leaves me hanging by a noose in an icey funeral home. This shit is catchy and that is damn near an impossible achievement for most black metal bands. One last thing, I love you Immortal. Don't ever keep me waiting that long again.
7)Skeletonwitch: "Breathing the Fire" I reviewed this album on one of my earlier posts, so fucking read it and get your mammy rammer on to the next album.
6) Royce Da 5'9: "Street Hop" Reviewed this fucking album too, so read it or you can as Royce put it "swallow everything that's coming through this dick."
5) ABSU: "ABSU" Holy shit! This is hands down the best black/thrash metal band the US has to offer. I cannot say enough about this band or this album. This is some of the fastest drumming I have ever heard in my life and some of the weirdest shit ever compiled on a album by a metal band. Can somebody tell me what the hell "Nunsbarshegunu" means? Anyways by the far the best song to break your neck to on their first c.d. in over eight years is "those of the void will re-enter." That is pure fucking metal that no one else in this country has the balls to stand up to.
4)Raekwon: "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II" The Wu tang is back. Raekwon made another classic. This album is five mics, no doubt. Every song has the dopest beats and rhymes ever compiled on wax. If the Chef doesn't make another album, it won't matter because he is a legend with a perfect record. This is the hip hop album of the year. There is no question about that. Of course, it helps when you have RZA and Dr. Dre behind the scenes making me jizz in my pants with each and every listen.
3) Them Crooked Vultures: "Them Crooked Vultures" They have the song of the year for me, "Bandoliers." I can listen to this song over and over and over again. Besides that, it's part Queens of the Stone Age, part Dave Grohl, part Led Zepplin, nuff said.
2) Devildriver: "Pray for Villains" I listened to this album more than any other album to come out this year. I had to, plus how can you go wrong when you are worshiper of villains yourself. This album is groovy, catchy, and addicting. They incorporate all the sub genres of metal and make it work. Devildriver is just getting better and better and I am becoming more and more of a fan. How can I not? Listen to "I've Been Sober," or "Waiting for November," or "any fucking song on the album" and tell me I'm wrong.
1) Alice in Chains: "Black Gives Way to Blue" Alice is back with a black singer and, thankfully, as depressing as ever. It's a fucking pity that Layne Staley died, but they moved on and even did a tribute song to him with non other than Elton John. This guys can do no wrong. If it's acoustic, then it's beautiful in every sense of the word and makes you want to cry and if it's loud, then you'll want to rip your hair out and bang your head against the walls until they are covered with blood. I cannot get enough of Alice in Chains. They are timeless. They are classic. Everyone should be listening to the best rock band to come out of the 90s until everyone finally sinks into their grave.

An Unusual Proposal

The moon was above,
white fire burning in the midnight sky
and I was down,
beneath the flames,
walking and thinking,
thinking way too much for comfort.

I had an endless list of tragedies,
they circled and circled,
I was their prey.
They stalked my every step,
they controlled my every thought.

Lost,
I eventually gave up
and soon there was nothing,
just the white fire
lighting my way home.

A leaf blew past me on the ground,
or what I thought resembled a leaf.
I walked over to it.
The leaf talked to me, "Hello there,"
it said.

Traumatized,
I could not believe my eyes.
The time had finally come,
I had truly lost my mind,
I was trapped, suffocating in a body bag of hallucinations,
there was no other explanation.
Why did I ever think it was a leaf?
The leaf was never a leaf,
all along I knew it was the severed head of a woman.

Putting a stop to my confusion,
She turned to me and smiled.

She was mesmerizing,
her eyes were overflowing with love,
her hair, as dark as the bottom of the ocean,

Danced in the wind,
her face was that of a goddess with a bloodless complexion.

I was overwhelmed,
concrete poured into my mouth.
For some sick, twisted reason
I was infatuated by the vulgar,
yet heavenly face.

"Hello there," she spoke again softly,
"My name is Jayne. What is your name brown sugar?"
"I'm not sure," I mumbled,
"I'm not sure of much of anything right now."
I closed my eyes.
I thought I must be dreaming,
none of this seemed real.

I opened my eyes again,
only to discover
she was using her teeth to crawl on the ground,
and with each bite
I could hear them grind on the pavement.

She stopped her hideous walk,
"I'm invisible," she said.
I responded with curiosity, "Really?"
She continued,
"Can you see me?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"How about later tonight? In your pants?"

What kind of a disgusting fantasy was this?
What kind of nightmare would come to me like this?
I was absolutely deranged.
There was no hope for me,
there never was.

Her advances weren't over,
"Well, how about a drink for starters?"
I had been craving one all day,
so I gave in,
"What the hell?" I said, "I have nothing to lose."

I picked up Jayne's decapitated head.
We were on our way,
beneath the flames,
two lovers
throwing caution to the wind.
"By the way," I asked,
"Do you piss out of your neck?"

Album Review: Royce Da 5'9" Street Hop

First and foremost, let me say this album is unfuckwitable. Royce Da 5'9"'s album "Street Hop" proves that this MC is about to take the entire hip hop community by storm and there ain't a damn thing Jay-Z, Eminem, Kangay or any one of them overpaid cocksuckers can do about it. This did not happen over night. Royce had to pay his dues over and over again.
After getting released from a DUI charge earlier this year and a series of flops, his talent had to be unleashed fully on all of its unsuspecting listeners. He went into the studio to chop heads off and he did it with ease. It certainly helped that the legendary DJ Premier was his executive producer. Primo definitely brought out his talent because this album is a classic from front to back.
There are too many reasons why "Street Hop" should be the top hip hop album of the year, but I will only tell you a few, for the sake of your time and mine. First, he's a lyrical mastermind and he proves it without a doubt on every track. Second, is the subject of his rhymes. He's fucking everywhere. He also has an amazing storytelling ability that would put most rappers on welfare. Then, he talks about the most ridiculous subjects other rappers wouldn't touch with a tazer. For example, he claims he's a rapist, a homicidal maniac, a headbanger, a terrorist, a trader, a role model, and a suicidal nudist, all in one song. Third, the self proclaimed, "biggest criminal in the world," has the beats to backup his lyrical prowess. His club bangers, which I am not a fan of normally, had my head bobbing as if I was sucking Ron Jeremy's dick and when Primo steps up to the production, especially on "Something 2 Ride 2," the results left my brains scattered against the project's brick wall. The only other comparison that would even come close to this reaction would be the first time I heard the Primo beats on Illmatic.
You want more?
Fourth is his guest appearances. Sure, most of the names don't ring a bell, but Slaughterhouse(his hip hop super group) is killing every MC in their path and eating their guts like hot, greasy bacon(this would not be the first time they were in deep shit with PETA). Slaughterhouse, represented by Royce, Crooked I, Joe Budden, and Joell Ortiz, is a lyrical massacre. No rap group out there, right now, can eat more pussy and destroy more mics than these four rappers. They are what help make this album damn near perfect. What does push this album past mics is the last track, "Hood Love," which features Bun B of UGK. It is as smooth as butter loaded with heroin. When I listen to the close of "Street Hop," I can't help, but push my seat back and let the music possess me, control my thoughts, hold onto the steering wheel, and drive.
I salute Royce for making a hood classic and recommend, or rather, command everyone to buy or download this shit. Regardless of whether or not you like hip hop, you do not want to miss out on listening to a hip hop legend in the making.