Now Playing #15

Metal Church - Metal Church

For a metalhead, I don't listen to a ton of West Coast thrash.  I dig the usual suspects (your Metallicas, your Testaments, etc.), but by and large, it seems that I wasn't born with the recessive Bay Area gene.  And yet, I'm all about some Metal Church.  More specifically, I'm all about the first two Metal Church albums that featured David Wayne on vocals.  Don't ask me why.  It's not that I dislike the material that came later, but in my estimation, the early stuff reigns supreme.  I recently picked up the 1984 debut on CD.  It has proven to make for superlative driving music.  The riffs slam, the leads slay, and the production is surprisingly robust for an old school metal platter.  I do prefer 1986's The Dark by a (very) slim margin, but I have yet to upgrade from my cassette tape.  In due time, in due time...by the way, does anyone know how much it would cost to install a tape deck in a custom van?

Black Sites - The Promised Land?

I feel like I've said this about other albums, but this baby is definitely going to wind up on my Top 10 year-end list.  As a matter of fact, it's currently sitting in pole position (sorry, I promise that will be the only Nascar reference I type today).  This is Black Sites' fourth long player.  They hail from Chicago, and if I had to quantify their sound, I'd say they play a beefy mix of thrash and traditional heavy metal.  Closest comparison?  Eh, I guess Spirit Adrift, but they have a unique flavor.  Vocalist/guitarist Mark Sugar can actually sing, which is refreshing for a band in 2024.  The solos are guaranteed to rip out your pubic hair.  I'm loving the dual harmonies in "Dread Tomorrow" and "World on Fire."  Those are probably my favorite songs, though the 11-minute title track is worth an honorable mention.

Overall, The Promised Land? (the question mark is optional) is freakishly good.  Out of everything I've listened to since writing the last edition of Now Playing, I've spun this record the most.  Figuratively.  Forget subgenres; this is just solid metal.

And the winner is...

By random drawing, the winner of the Super Cool, Super Random Giveaway is...Kanyon Bickel!  As is customary, the winner has 48 hours to respond.  If it's a no-go, I'll contact someone else.

Thanks to all who entered!

My thoughts on Terrifier 3...

How in the hell did this film secure a wide theatrical release?  Yeah, Terrifier 2 was a surprise success, but have you seen Terrifier 3?  I have, and...yeah.  Say what you want about brazen gore (Jesus Christ, the gore), but this has to be seen as a win for the horror genre.  Doesn't it?  Maybe I'm trying to convince myself.  I did like the movie.  There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best film in the series.  It has a tighter sense of pacing, and unlike its direct predecessor, you could actually tell that there was an editor on the payroll.  Terrifier 3 hits all of its beats in two hours flat.  Now, that's still too long, but the thing was easier to digest.

The special effects are insane (dig the Tom Savini cameo).  All of the violence is extremely well-staged, even if it left me ambivalent at the end of the day.  This movie made me realize - more than any other recent horror hit - that my tastes are uniformly innocuous by comparison.  I appreciate gore, but I doubt that I'll ever watch Terrifier 3 again.  To be clear, it's a fine achievement.  The acting is low-key incredible.  I don't think it's engaging in hyperbole to suggest that Lauren LaVera may very well be this generation's Jamie Lee Curtis.  I'll be interested to see where her career goes from here.  Likewise, David Howard Thornton is most definitely the modern day equivalent of Robert Englund.

Ah, but how will these flicks be remembered in thirty years?  No idea.  More power to 'em.  It's been too long since a horror film has truly pissed off white bread America.  Terrifier 3 fits the bill, although your mileage may vary.  Closing thoughts?  Clint Howard rules!

Embarrassment of Witches

I recently cracked open my Tales From the Darkside set.  First impressions after zooming through the first season...man, there were a lot of duds, weren't there?  Some episodes don't make any sense whatsoever.  But - and this is a weighty "but" - the pilot is killer.  Entitled "Trick or Treat," this episode focuses on a miserable miser who gets his comeuppance in the form of a cackling witch.  It's so good.  I don't even care if the rest of the series is pure cack, although I know it isn't.  I may need to revisit Tales From the Darkside: The Movie in the near future.

PS-The contest ends in a couple days.  Jump into the fray!

Album Cover of the Whatever

The band is Aethyrick.  The music is mystical black metal.  Dig those milky midnight blues.

Random Match Alert

Cora Jade recently made her return from injury.  She looks to be entering a feud with Giulia down in NXT, but you may not know that she wrestled in AEW as Elayna Black.  It was only a couple of matches during the pandemic era.  Here, she squares off against Red Velvet.  Remember her?  It's funny to think that Tony Khan had access to both Jade and Stephanie Vaquer before fumbling the ball.  Man, AEW's women's division is a mess.  Sorry, but it's true!

My thoughts on Oreo Coke...

One bottle.  There was one bottle of Oreo Coke (Zero) left at the grocery store, and since my mom knows me pretty well, she grabbed it.  I didn't know this product existed until recently.  Vanilla Coke is my favorite drink on the planet, so this seemed like a slam dunk.  The verdict?  It's...okay.  Honestly, it just tastes like really, really sweet Coke.  I do like sweet Coke, especially if it's streaming from a McDonald's soda fountain.  Take my comments with a cube of sugar, though.  Mom disagreed with me.  She tried it both with ice and straight from the bottle.  Without ice, she claims that the Oreo flavor is much stronger.  My tastebuds tell a different story.  Who knows?  I don't know how much longer we'll be seeing Oreo Coke on shelves, but I wouldn't be opposed to drinking more in the future.

At press time, I haven't eaten any of the Coke Oreos.  I have to assume that I would dig them, so it's probably a good thing that they aren't currently haunting our kitchen.

14 in 14!

Last Halloween, I did something called "7 in 7" where I posted seven Blood Capsule reviews in seven days.  This year, I'm doubling down on the madness.  That's right, folks.  Fourteen reviews in fourteen days!  Am I insane???  Yes!  If you're wondering, I won't actually have to write that many reviews because I'm pulling from my book.  Oh, you didn't know?  A few months back, I published my first book, which contains reviews that you won't find on this website - until now.  I will be writing some new ones, however (I'm using ten from the book).

14 in 14 begins October 18th!  I'll post plenty of other stuff until then, but be forewarned...I'm going to promote the hell out of this thing on social media.  It's a big deal, man.