Halloweekends: Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?

now playing: Picture Me Broken - Devil on My Shoulder

Saturdays in October (I'm sorry, ROCKTOBER) are going to operate a bit differently. I'll still be doing reviews, of course, but they'll be focusing on the most frightening of bands and their terrifying songs to help set the mood for Halloween. This feature is called Halloweekends, and I look forward to having a little fun with it. The inaugural Halloweekends album is also a reader recommendation (though he may not know it). It comes from my buddy Doug, who has previously introduced me to Anamanaguchi and EAR PWR, and previously criticized me for not calling Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica the best album ever.

Murder By Death's 2003 album Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? is a fine choice to get this ball rolling. As most good things are, it is a concept album. Musically, it's a calm, sinister ride through Mexico as a plan for revenge unfolds. With titles like "That Crown Don't Make You a Prince" and "Master's in Reverse Psychology", aided by atmospheric piano and cello from Vincent Edwards and Sarah Balliet, the music on its own can be enough to send chills down the spine and hooks into the brain. However, the music itself isn't the entire reason this album has been nominated for this feature.

Why is this album terrifying? I mentioned it's a concept album about revenge. That's true enough. The Devil is the one looking for revenge after getting shot in a small Mexican town and having his blood (crude oil) stolen to be sold by greedy citizens. The Devil proceeds to curse a local elementary school with a plague of zombies, then watches his evil grow as the townspeople begin killing themselves out of fear and despair. The Devil draws nearer to the town as both sides prepare for war, and all the townspeople who made deals with him begin rotting and falling apart. Finally, the Devil reaches the town with his army and starts laying waste. After wallowing in their sadness and several of them drinking themselves to death, the citizens gather up their arms and start fighting back, even amidst all this hopelessness. And that's where the album ends.

I don't really think I need to go further than that.

Murder By Death has three other albums with some incredibly inventive song titles ("Intergalactic Menopause", "You Are the Last Dragon (You Possess the Power of the Glow)"), but I don't think it gets more frightening than Who Will Survive. You can pick up the album on iTunes or Amazon. While you're at it, check out the website for the album, where frontman Adam Turla provides the lyrics and a more detailed description of each song.

Ombrophilia will return on Monday with reviews of Lucky Boys Confusion and Ra.

Reader Recommendations: Orion Way

now playing: Queen - Somebody to Love

What do you get if you blend Fall Out Boy, Ben Folds, the Beach Boys, and a little bit of Britpop? The first track off Orion Way, the 2007 album from Orange County's Cavil at Rest. I say just the first track because it's impossible to pigeonhole these guys into one specific genre. They strike me as the west coast's version of The Sterns, but even a band as eclectic as that one doesn't quite capture the spirit of Cavil at Rest. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where to begin.

I suppose the beginning of the album would be a good place. "Who's There", the first track, I've already described as a mix of several different artists that don't really seem like they would work together but do anyway. "Let Down Your Guard / A Quick Drive" is the first song that made me think of the Sterns: A prominent, melodic bass line and the subtle use of Hammond organs both make the comparison clear. "It's Still Not As Bad" opens with an odd drum beat that leaves me wondering just what's to come next, but I think this is the only song that actually sounds like the one before it. This is not a bad thing, mind. Following that is "Sun Hands", which mixes it up even more. The introduction reminds me very slightly of southern rock, but then vocals from Ryan Hahn turn it into what might pass as one of Silversun Pickups' slower songs, and then a guitar solo kicks in that brings it straight back to rock before closing on the gentle vocals again.

"We Could Love" has sparse instrumentation until about halfway through, when the piano, drums, and guitar get a little more intense without detracting from the overall feel. After that is "The Flower of Rhodes", which is another mid-tempo track that reminds me of something I can't quite place my finger on. I want to say it's something from The Cab's Whisper War, with electric guitar and piano weaving together with vocal harmonies to create one big ball of sound, for lack of a better word. The heavier guitar in the chorus, unfortunately, detracts from the experience for me. "Tidal Killer" is a bouncy, folksy little tune that makes extensive and expert use of vocal harmonies. There are a few moments where the listener can hear Hahn's voice cracking or straining (only slightly, and never enough to ruin the recording), which adds a sense of realism that I appreciate endlessly.

The album draws to a close with "All is Well and Good", which brings back the earlier comparison to The Cab, but this time the guitar sounds spacier, almost more ambient. The drums make up for this with bass blasts that would fit perfectly in a metal song; they're used sparingly and only for effect, and it's never obtrusive. The bridge melds from studio chatter to piano and drums with accompaniment from bells before bringing it back around to the chorus. A closing clap track segues seamlessly into "House on Stilts", the final song. It wraps up the album neatly by showing that same Ben Folds influence from "Who's There" and throwing in a little bit of everything from the rest of the album in a culmination of everything Cavil at Rest stands for.

In the past, I've criticized albums for being too mercurial, for not conforming to a specific genre. Orion Way does exactly that, but for a band like this, I have no complaints. I'm not sure if they're still trying to explore their style or if this is exactly how they plan to approach music, but either way, it works. Orion Way is available on iTunes and I'm not entirely sure I can recommend it enough. A

This recommendation came to me from Kia at Typo Away.

100-Word Reviews: New Era (Pt. 1)

now playing: Heavenly - Lust for Life

When I first discovered a few tracks by Derdian in 2006, I was excited because I'd never heard Italian power metal before. I'm sad to say that the rest of their 2005 debut New Era (Pt. 1) almost makes me wish I'd kept on not hearing it. The entire thing suffers from lack of production value. The keyboard sounds like an 8-bit MIDI, and not in the cool Anamanaguchi way. The choirs lack power. "Eternal Light" is a pretty solid track, but it still sounds weak. You can check out their MySpace, but I would recommend against buying the album.