The Ocean
Anthropocentric
Metal Blade

As promised, here’s  Anthropocentric, released a mere eight months after its sister album, Heliocentric, and following in its thematic critique of Christianity and Creationism but without the post-rock emphasis on orchestration and ambiance. Instead, The Ocean take a more aggressive approach this time around, offering up a mostly straightforward dose of melodic metal complete with the customary interplay of growling and clean vocals. Despite its tendency to fall prey to predictable brutality at times, Anthropocentric does find occasion to deal a Big Bang’s worth of fresh, punishing riffs, most notably on the album’s best songs, “She Was the Universe” and “Sewers of the Soul.” And in keeping with the spirit of Heliocentric, they do provide moments of somber beauty courtesy of the songs “For He That Wavereth…,” “The Grand Inquisitor III: A Tiny Grain of Faith,” “Wille Zum Untergang,” and “The Almightiness Contradiction.” Not as good as Heliocentric, but there’s no doubting it’s been quite an ambitious and impressive year for The Ocean, that’s for sure.

Listen to “Sewers of the Soul” from Anthropocentric!

Bradley Cooper’s been a busy man the last few years. His profile is getting somewhat larger thanks to roles in such movies as New York, I Love You, He’s Just Not That Into You, All About Steve, Valentine’s Day, The A-Team, and everyone’s favourite boozy farce, The Hangover. However, just mere seconds before becoming one of those ‘it’ people housewives love so much, he starred in 2008′s The Midnight Meat Train, which, as you can already imagine, isn’t exactly a romantic comedy. In fact, The Midnight Meat Train is another Clive Barker adaptation taken from his collection of short stories, Books of Blood: Volume I. The film also stars British mute and all-around tough guy, Vinnie Jones, who, true to form, only says one word the entire movie. Anyway, The Midnight Meat Train is a lot better than Dread, another Barker adaptation we recently looked at, a wicked splatter flick that offers over-the-top scenes of gruesome violence and enough computer generated blood to fill an entire subway car. Which is exactly what happens, actually.

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Baroness
Blue Record
Relapse

Is it wrong that the thing I love most about a Baroness album is the artwork? I mean, just look at John Baizley’s latest creation for Blue Record (click the pic for full blue greatness). Killer! If Red Album taught us anything, it’s that the only way to enjoy a Baroness album is on vinyl, because then you get it ALL — the sound and the glory. And we mustn’t forget the sound. I know I said I love the art the most, but Baizley’s got another dimension and the Baroness sound is so devastatingly good, thick, and HEAVY, it’s nothing short of an impressive and throbbing aural extension of the visual boner that is Blue Record.

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