Hatriot - Heroes Of Origin Review

Hatriot - Heroes Of Virtue 2013


In this review I'll be talking a little bit about Hatriot's new album Heroes Of Origin. I'll add here that I wasn't the first kid on the block to know about Steve 'Zetro' Souza of then Exodus fame but lets not detract from the point, I'm very glad to at least be aware of his work at this stage.

Hatriot is a family affair, in tow are his sons, bass player Cody, and drummer Nick. I can say confidently they do a great job of keeping the foundation tight and organized. It's very cool, I am curious how this will translate into a live setting.

From what I could surmise the vocals are vintage, lyrics tend to straddle on familiarity. As with my review of Tenet I always feel Steve's vocal style sells the overall package, no one sounds like this and I'm definitely okay with it. With his final work with Exodus Temple Of The Damned, Heroes Of Origin ranks up there.

On the flip side, my review of Voivod's release I am growing on the idea that less is more. Full lengths are kind of a yesteryear construction, and though there is enough material to gain or elicit some foundation I think future groups need to give a little bit along the way due the online construct.

It isn't a major undertaking these days because production is cheaper, and most artists can recoup those expenses. With the 21st century web construction this really can be used in a novel way without giving an inclination of music release overload.

Since I have Hatriot's demo released in 2010, that is a great starting off point, I think this would work as an 6 song EP rather than a full length (if that is even the term we want to use now) rather than a full length album (due to shorter time frames, and distances between releases).

Heroes Of Origin feels like it could be an EP to me. Its short, but at the same time the modified demoed tracks seem to break up the flow of this, but I'm not going to be so picky that I'm ungrateful either. Either you like it as it is, or not, I'm leaning on the smaller is better mantra.

I know I'm in the minority here, I feel as though artists could do better by serving a little bit here and there. Since there really isn't a means to transmit the new material without giving away the material for free. Otherwise give it a spin. For fans of late 80's early 90's Exodus, or fans of Steve Souza. Thanks for reading.

B.

My Music Journey Part 3

My Music Journey Part III: The 90's Era


My exposure to radio had me excited meeting my favorite personalities. Voice is often much different than what a person imagines the DJ to be. Radio is a voice speaking from an ether talking to anyone who is a dedicated listener can imagine what the voice would look like. Having heard that there was an expectation with imagination versus real often is a unnerving experience to behold.

What was curious to me with radio is there is a mixing board, and with each section whether it be tape, compact disc, or record there are presets in which a DJ will tinker with to get the right tonality. I didn't know that commercials were recorded on old 8 track tapes, and I also didn't know at that time what broadcast frequencies were. I just wanted to be where the action was.

My first exposure was meeting Bill Alred a radio personality of (then) KJQ at a jewelery store gig. At first I was thrown off by it, as I was not prepared in how radio involves a type of personality (like a job) whereas I was under the guise it was make belief. Little did I know that I was in for a complete shock! When I moved on to another radio station, that experience prepared me, I was better equipped to learn and observe how two DJ's Greg and Ron at KBER 101 made DJing work. I met those cats in the summer of 1992/93.

As quickly as I was introduced to radio, a change was coming. Like KJQ, which became X96, KBER also would see a shift in its on air personalities, and format change within a couple years. This article though written later in the decade explains what was happening to radio stations throughout the 90's with terrestrial radio.

Subsequently KBER changed their format again to a more contemporary alternative style (mid 90's), as the station introduced a quaint discussion show called Ground Zero hosted by Clyde Lewis. From recollection this was really weird, and I remember calling into the show a couple times to talk about Michael Diana (Artist from Florida), and the Heaven's Gate suicide. In 1997 the writing was pretty much sealing my radio foray. Though it was a brief entrance, I got to be a fly somewhat to the cog of the machinations of broadcast.

My next introduction was being a concert goer. Though I've not had the luxury to see shows like some, I felt that I could be there in spirit. Yet it was never the same, in any capacity because I felt cheated. I still feel robbed of not seeing bands when I could, and there are a great many.

One of the most unfortunate situations to befall me was in 1991 I had the opportunity to see Living Colour touring in support of Time's Up. I had the money to get tickets but I was in the deep throes of personal adversity. I finally was able to see these guys in May 2001 which more than made up for the long wait.

My first concert was Metallica's The Black Album tour in (02/10/1992). I wasn't sure what to expect, and because of the largeness, I was thrown off by the whole affair. I wasn't uncomfortable, I was intrigued, but little did I know this would be last time I would see or listen to this band in a long time.

My second concert of that year was Suicidal Tendencies/Megadeth (11/28/92)at the Salt Palace before it closed down in 1994. At this concert I got to see two of my favorite bands play. But, I was more taken aback with the whole thing because of my vantage point, technically nose bleed section. I also couldn't stay the full show because of a commitment to my education. I was also able to see Dave Mustaine completely give rise to some jackass who got up on stage. Hair flung all over, and quickly the individual was taken off stage. Just as quick as I was into the show experience, it was over.

When I couldn't afford the tickets to shows, I reserved myself to the notion of complete portability (Sony Walkman), and at that time I was pretty much into anything that was off the radar or extreme as possible. This means of portability was often met with stop gaps with gaining and losing what I was collecting. At that time the idea of cloud for music storage was not even in the lexicon.

Collector wise my first cassette tape was Crowded House Temple Of Lowmen. My first Compact Disc was Front Line Assembly Gashed Senses and Crossfire. My first LP was DEVO Freedom Of Choice. Each one in their own place in my journey, were lost along the way.

By 1994 I acquired my 'second' official boombox, a JVC single CD, dual cassette deck stereo system. That JVC just blew the doors off the other units, and I was happy.  That unit was my constant companion until 1998 when sadly I had to give it away.

A lot of the 90's was a decade of shape shifting, and portability with entertainment. Like today there are correlations with taking music with you, in a portable way. Though I don't entirely agree with the mechanism of which is used now, the point remains life creates change and listeners and supporters of music have to adapt along the way.

But for me the 90's was a lost decade. I missed a great many shows from bands whom lost singers, guitar players, and the such. The painful realization of lost chances and the fact I can't change them. For most it was a decade of risks, starting families, and profitability.

I was lost because I had nothing to connect with as a listener. Bands I listened to in the late 80's and early 90's had grown out of the rough and unpolished into an established sound. It was hard for me to really get into. I began to take my music journey into darker recesses of extreme music because I felt alienated, and disenfranchised with the whole thing. I connected with the extreme sound because it guided my intense love for independence.

I suppose for the most part that I was seen by many to be extreme in my rigidity or inflexibility. Some would view it snobbish, brute, and ogrish. I was determined to find the next more advanced sound out in the world. I was dedicated to finding anything different and off the path. Because I had no connection to the alternative scene, I was an outsider that didn't quite fit the mold of what was out at the time.

Though I've tempered in my assessment of sorts, I still have retained my intensity and love for new music. I have to say its jarring to look back at this time and remember vividly everything, new release Tuesdays, bands whom were prominent, and when they fell, etc. Next is the 2000's decade and how the internet rekindled my interest. Thanks for reading.

B.

My Music Journey Part 2

My Music Journey Part II: The 80's


It wouldn’t be until 1983, where I received for Christmas from my grandfather a small blue colored Radio Shack AM/FM pocket radio.  Using two AA batteries (which would often drain quickly), I would parlay across the radio dial checking out whatever I could get my curious ears around. Big band swing, mutterings of old classic radio broadcasts, AM talk radio, old easy listening jams, classic country music, 60's pop, and local news.

My world changed with intermittent reception (when I could get it) of pop songs from artists like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Ah-Ha, Wham!, and many, many others. What was often disorienting was having the modern sound while my father was still holding onto his music collection, while also adopting the next iteration of the music evolution: the double cassette tape deck,  housed inside a modernized stereo receiver, and the old standby record player. I vividly remember the smell of cassette tapes, and the odor of a freshly unpacked stereo.

My father gradually made his adjustment into country music, whilst moving away from the 60's and 70's music. I must confess here that I wasn't as interested in country. I felt it was extremely pretentious. In fact it grated upon my growing curiosity, of which is why I'm hardened from that exposure.

From 1983 to 84, there was so much material I had hard time keeping tabs on bands, or scenes. I wasn't quite ready to delve into it as I was still too young to understand the meaning or inflection. What I do remember were subtle differences, the exoticism of material so completely removed from the motif of a previous decade.  During this brief moment I was just getting into The Stray Cats, and then poof, it was gone.

By 1986, my introduction to a Sanyo M-4440 portable Walkman (borrowed from a friend) gave me unfettered access to radio, and when I could get them tapes. One of the coolest memories I had was the intense feeling of first hearing Peter Gabriel's Big Time, and the booming "Hi there!" with headphones was exciting. From other bands like The Georgia Satellites, Genesis, Yes, Simply Red, U2, Adrian Belew, and The Beastie Boys.

After thumbing through the dial, I zeroed in on a strange radio station called KJQ. Hailing from Ogden, Utah, KJQ was atypical radio station playing top 40 music, but late in 1986/87 the station would later change its format to a ‘Modern Music’ aspect, and I would be along for the ride up until early spring of 1991 when the station folded, then moved to Provo, and was reborn as X96.

By winter of 1987 I received a Panasonic RX-C36 AM/FM stereo, with a single cassette tape boom box, with two blank TDK tapes from my father. Using what I learned from radio broadcasts, I learned how to make mix tapes. I learned how to perfect the stop start format when a DJ would speak, the timing of commercial breaks, or cutting into or out of a song. It was like fine precision, I was an eager student of instinct i.e knowing when, and where to edit. Sometimes I would miss horribly, but when I was on, I couldn’t be stopped!

Since I lacked funds, or a feasible allowance, I’d set about using one of the two cassette tapes to make a Boingo Alive cassette. This was around mid 1988,  I created the artwork, and made liner notes. Though I didn’t quite have 30 songs like the actual cassette version which was released, this still didn’t take away from my first attempt at a close resemblance to owning one.

By 1991, the Panasonic finally gave up, it serviced my ability to make many mix tapes that I would give to my schoolmate Stefano, whom would send tapes back and forth via school. This was a way for me to be creative during my more rough and somewhat often difficult teenage years.

I then went portable owning two Sony Walkmans in the early 90s, and then I would return to the boombox system in 1994 with a JVC CD player. I had moved into a new area of my life, I was knee deep in the throes of extreme music, which I'll explain more of in part III. Thanks for reading.

B.

Nuclear Assault - Game Over (Classic Thrash)

Nuclear Assault - Game Over 1986

Nuclear Assault were a band I didn't really get into until a couple of years ago. Most of what I did know of them was their Handle With Care record, and even then I wasn't ready to understand. In the last decade I have been fortunate to go back and check out material I've missed, Nuclear Assault being one of many.

My first foray is Game Over, an album accentuated by full on in your face east coast thrash. Because I was late to Nuclear Assault I have no frame of reference to pull from, but lets not kid here, I'm glad to have a fresh unbiased ear to a now classic record. In my research.

I liked this record for a couple of reasons. It's the right mix of tempo changes, full on throttle adrenaline, interspersed with humor. The subject matter often carries tongue in cheek element, but what I truly like is the craft of which Game Over elicits. The other is the way this record starts strong, and finishes aptly, and confidently.

My feeling with this record is it can't exist out of the format of its creation, it also creates a very good foundation where Nuclear Assault builds upon with each successive release. I've felt between 1986-89 period was their best work. By the 1990's the thrash style took a major shift, they couldn't really adapt and I felt they didn't need to, but what was released is a curious affair. No matter, Game Over is a record I'm happy to have heard. Thanks for reading.

B.

My Music Journey Part 1

Part I: My beginnings the 70's

With the way things are today with digital technology permeating the landscape, as portability has made music as a always connected, and dedicated construct. There was a time when one could sit down, pop open a record, read the liner notes, marvel at the artwork, and listen. In this post I write about my foray into music. As we all are accustomed to with time, things have changed considerably. Gone are the 8 track tape players, cassette tapes, laser discs, mini discs, and soon Compact Discs and DVD’s. Through all the changes, where we are currently with file formats MP3, OGG, M4a, Flac, and streaming, LP’s still stick around. Now before I get all teary eyed, and reminisce I must set the stage of where my introduction to music came from.

My introduction to music was through my father and his LP’s. Records like Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow brick Road, Jim Croce’s You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, Life and Times, The Animals, The Beatles, The Carpenters, and ABBA. With those records the warm timber resonated from an analog format long forgotten in today's world. My father was a huge audiophile. Nothing would skip past his attention, yet sadly he lost the drive to continue moving with the music in terms of change, he always had a fondness for those classic records.

Quadraphonic setups were all the rage of the 1970′s, I would sit in front of my dad’s Goliath speakers and feel the pops, tones, varied pitches, bass, and drumming of those analog records.  Through my father. my introduction to music was in my early youth (during mid 1970′s), some songs would stick in my head. Melodies from Jim Croce’s song Time In A Bottle for example, employs a note from the acoustic guitar, which is jarring as it is eerily haunting.

Whereas The Animal’s song House Of The Rising Sun uses a crescendo vocal style, and a side stepping guitar riff.  Then there is Elton John’s Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding a varied note which drags out into a monolithic progression inside an ever changing landscape of sound.  Some of those songs would stick around in my head.  Hearing other groups like The Carpenters, and ABBA would supplant more weird compositions, and would implant within me the typical cliche type song structures.

I was often left with this curious question: How could a person harness the ability to contain, wrangle, or throttle something one couldn’t see, but can feel and hear? Since I was really young I didn’t understand the inner workings of science, or the concepts of what sound is, I had to trust my lack of understanding of what I was hearing. At that time, I was supposed to be playing with other children,  and learning about being a kid. Why was I listening to these crazy records? Pure innate curiosity.

At an early age I didn’t have the ability to discern what was considered appropriate material, so anything I heard was without a filter. This meant I was exposed to records that were created under political motivations, storytelling, or altered states of being. Not that I could understand what the lyrics to some of The Doors songs. or trying to figure out what the hell the Beatles were yammering on with Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds. I had questions to what was I was listening to. I wanted answers, but I had no way to effectively convey the right question, or how to ask it. If I did ask it was often met with blank stares, and scolded.

This would start my eventual dislike of the era. I was bothered by the love movement, it irked me that the concept of sharing, peace, harmony, and altered states of consciousness. I disliked disco because of the spastic, redundant, and party time atmosphere. I was too young to understand the complexion, undertones, and motivations of the work. It was when I became older, more aware of the world around me to really get what was out there.

Next up part II...Thanks for reading.

B.

Sacred Reich - Ignorance (Classic Thrash)

Sacred Reich - Ignorance 1987

I figured on talking about Sacred Reich and where and how I came to find this diamond of a record. My real taste didn't begin until the 90's with Heal, and The American Way. I know they hail from Arizona United States, whereas the topics are very much about the era: Reaganomics, nuclear annihilation, and thinking for yourself. What I liked about Sacred Reich is they're not so palatable amongst the masses aspect; either you liked what they did or you didn't.


I found them as an oddity of sorts, but with their cover of Oingo Boingo's Who Do You Want To Be? off of Heal sold me instantaneously. I would even say these gents were off the beaten path like Oingo Boingo because they didn't fit in insomuch but rather carved out their own path.

Ignorance is a record that gave them a point to start from, as its crazy fast, ballsy, and grinds effortlessly. The fact this record still keeps my interest long after it was released is cool. I've always liked that I can understand the lyrics, and the tonality of the players.

It is a record of its time. I don't think there is much difference in the construction of its political message, because its about the same now with regards to more ardent and militant with polarized debates and the the such. If there is one thing that is always fluid is the need to make oneself acutely aware of their surroundings. Ignorance I think pelts the unaware just enough to pay close attention to the world one lives in.

Ignorance gives copious amounts of food for thought on human relations, an rift of silly paranoia, whilst adhering to personal ethics without compromising self intrepidity. I believe these are hallmarks of an era that is sadly been relegated to a niche or forgotten status.

I implore those who read this to check these guys out, thanks for reading.

B.