Over The Edge Page 8

And You will Know us by the
Trail Of Dead

Source Tags and Codes
2002 : .

...And You Will Know Us By
The Trail Of Dead are a four-
piece rock band originally
from Planoe, Texas, presently
based in Austin. Their third
and latest album, Source Tags
& Codes, has just become
available in stores. Their
somewhat implausible bio
describes the band as being
an experiment in musical
anthropology, linking rock
idioms with comparable con-
ventions in primitive folk music
from around the world.

The album features ener-
getic, engaging guitar playing
throughout, without any
noticeable wankery or musi-
cianship for its own sake.

The first flaw in this record-
ing to catch most listeners’
ears is the vocal delivery. It’s
a raw, punk-rock type of vocal
for which attitude is more
essential than perfect tune or
tone. The lyrics are fine if
unremarkable.

...And You Will Know Us By
The Trail Of Dead are certain-
ly a notch above most corpo-
rate record releases. They are
clearly a passionate and tal-
ented group with good ideas
and above-par execution. If
you are looking for punk that
thinks, feels, and moves (but
doesn’t ride a skateboard or
spit on the dance floor),
Source Tags & Codes is defi-
nitely worth checking out. It
probably won't be making any
big top ten lists this year, but it
will be rocking through the
hearts and minds of university
students everywhere.

—Jeremy

Immortal
Sons of Northern Darkness
Century Media 2002

From Norway, Immortal’s
current line up consists of
Abbath on vocals and guitar,
Iscariah on Bass and Horge
on Drums. At this time | can
neither confirm nor deny that
those are their real names.

Now for my review of this
CD: Immortal is the precise
opposite of totally sweet. |
have no idea how they man-
aged to get seven CDs pro-
duced. Every song opens
with and open E on guitar
and bass, developing into
very little else, power chords
at the most. This is accom-
panied by fast but sloppy
sounding double-bass drum-
ming that doesn’t offer much
but repetition. The musicians
are very fast at what they do,
but play limited, boring, sim-
ple songs. There are no
solos on any instrument, and
each song follows very basic
formats. The lyrics are sup-
posed to describe an epic
story in Immortal’s fantasy
world of Blashyrk, however,
Abbath’s vocals consist only
of heavily processed, indeci-
pherable growls that defeat
the purpose of the story
album concept.

—Mike

TievER cos Shae Ono waz £8 seseRp a mcasaes wit deer ese,

e +. : ‘
Men With Brooms
Original Soundtrack
2002

Soundscape

Featuring a 100%
Canadian collection, this is
one of the best all-Canadian
compilations yet produced.
Not only did the soundtrack
perfectly mesh with the pro-
duction of an absolutely excel-
lent film, but the cast and the
musicians also overlapped
somewhat. Paul Gross, who
portrayed the main character
(and also directed the movie),
performs a song on the track
that manages to successfully
redeem him for some of his
earlier musical recordings.
Similarly, the Tragically Hip,
who contribute two previously
unheard songs, as well as a
shared-track with Sarah
Harmer to the album, also put
in a short cameo in the film.
Overall, the soundtrack is a
raging success, and an excel-
lent tool to carry with you
whenever traveling abroad
and repeatedly have to

answer the question: ido all
Canadians listen to country
music?

Lisa Loeb
Cake and Pie
A&M 2002

From her days at Brown
University to her time on the
Manhattan club circuit to a
platinum CD, Lisa Loeb has
managed to get her cake and
her pie and eat them both.
She became a_ household
name where her single “Stay”
was put on the soundtrack of
the movie Reality Bites. Two
months after it was released,
“Stay” reached #1, making
Loeb the first artist to have a
#1 single, but no record con-
tract. That didn’t last long.
Loeb’s 1995 debut album,
Tails and 1997 follow-up
album, Firecracker gained her
one Grammy nomination

each.

Cake and Pie is a musically
diverse journey of self-realisa-
tion. “She’s Falling Apart,”
which tells the story of a
young woman with an eating
disorder, has almost a live
acoustic sound to it. On the
other end of the spectrum,
Loeb successfully brings rock
elements into songs such as
“We Could Still Belong
Together’ which appears in
the movie Legally Blond.
Somewhere between the two
is “Someone You Should
Know and “You Don’t Know
Me.’ They have the melodious
pop qualities that Loeb’s fans
have loved since the begin-
ning.

Cake and Pie solidifies
Loeb’s reputation as a master-
ful lyricist. The songs on this
album weave stories of self-
realisation and discovery that
touch us all on at least one
level. Overall, Cake and Pie is
an amazing album from both a
musical and lyrical point of
view that offers diversity and
depth.

—Steph

Sinergy

Suicide by my Side

Century Media 2002
Sinergy was

originally
founded by Dimmu Borgir’s

keyboard player, Kimberly
Goss, and guitarist, Jesper
Stromblad. After leaving
Dimmu Borgir, they moved to
Sweden, picked up Alexi
Laiho no guitar, then relocated
to Finland, completing the
band.

My first assumption was
that, with a female vocalist
and a metal band image,
Sinergy’s sound would be sim-
ilar to that of Theater of
Tragedy or Lacuna Coil; |
expected to hear an angelic

Apr 1 2002

female voice with thick, heavy,
simple guitar riffs. | couldn’t
have been further from the
truth.

Sinergy’s guitarists,
bassist, and drummer are fan-
tastic musicians. | would say
that the band’s only liability is
Kimberly, the founder and
vocalist. Her 80’s hair rock
singing assures that Sinergy
will never by popular in North
America. Aside from her
vocals, the band’s talent is
very refreshing, the guitar
work being an exceptional
point of interest. Alexi Laiho
and Roope Latvala produce
technically solid, very dynamic
solos that consistently catch
the unwary listener by sur-
prise with brilliantly executed
changes and unique pitch
shifting. If you can filter out
Kimberly's vocals, Sinergy is
excellent.

—Mike

Carnal Forge
Please...die!
Century Media 2001

This album has a furious
metal sound and the vocals
add to the fury with explosive
rage. The vocals themselves
are a little weak on some
tracks but make up for it by
being bold and strong and
convincing in their rage on
others. Their riffs are influ-
enced by legends like Slayer
and they have solos reminis-
cent of Metallica.

| can personally assure you
that Carnal Forge’s goal has
been successfully met. My
recommendation, listen to it
on a good day but other than
that metal, death and thrash
fans perk up your ears
because you're going to like
this album.

—Kristen