2011 January « Three Paper Reviews

The Three Paper Music Awards – 2010

2010 was a year. And like all years, some good shit happened and some bad shit happened.

Some of the bad shit that happened included the breakup of one of my favourite bands, and a favourite of intellectual metal heads worldwide (yes, there is such a thing) – Isis, who played their last ever gig in Montreal in June.

Australia’s Cog broke up too – a band that toured relentlessly and always gave their all whether live or in the studio. Their legacy includes some great albums, beautiful songs (Bitter Pills is my personal favourite) and lasting memories of their live performances.

Ronnie James Dio died in May, and a big chunk of metal died with him. He owned a mighty set of lungs that fella. Maybe they can put them in a display case somewhere (like Phar Lap’s heart) and metal heads can travel from far and wide to see them and marvel at them.

2010 also saw the demise of StonerRock.com – a web site that helped define and promote an entire genre. Thanks go out to all at the site and the contributors who kept it going for so long. There are so many great CDs in my collection that I would never have heard of without it.

January 2010 also saw the closure of the Tote Hotel – the cornerstone of Melbourne’s live music scene for decades. This led to some of the most passionate mass protests we’ve seen in Melbourne for some time as thousands of crusty punters took to the streets to voice their displeasure. It was heartening stuff, and led to a change in the government regulations that had shut the pub in the first place, and a glorious reopening, albeit with new carpet. It’s great to have it back.

But there were plenty of good things too, and to highlight just how good it got, and to clear the decks for what should be a pearler of a 2011, let me take you through my list of favourite musical releases for MMXAD:

5. High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine (E1 Music)

Review here.

Pike’s muscular riffage and Kensel’s tribal drumming assault are an astonishing combination. They bring a couple of new twists – a touch of Mastodon here, a touch of Slayer there – but High On Fire are essentially an old school metal band, and this album continues the tradition of the grandest old metal bands like Iron Maiden and Motorhead.

4. Torche – Songs For Singles (Hydra Head)

An eight track E.P. from these pop-doomsters from Florida. A further refinement of the innovative sounds we heard on Meanderthal, Torche served us a reminder of why they are one of the most exciting and listenable heavy music prospects on the planet. Hopefully we’ll get a full length from them soon, but this is a great little taster to keep us going until then. A slight muddiness in the production stops it sneaking up higher on the list, but the songwriting is first rate. The droning final song Out Again is a cracker.

Category	Rating
Production:	7
Songwriting:	9
Creativity:	9
Overall:	9

3. Entrails – Tales From The Morgue (FDA Rekotz)

It’s amazing that this release ever saw the light of day. I own a magnificent 400+ page tome called ‘Swedish Death Metal’ (great gift, Withers!), and these guys were little more than a footnote to the scene. “They did one demo and a few memorable gigs”.

And now, twenty years later, they’ve got together and re-recorded their old demo songs and a few new ones as well. And hail Satan, it’s fantastic!

That old school Sunlight Studio sound has never sounded better. It’s got that ‘planets crashing together’ guitar sound of Entombed’s Left Hand Path, a kick drum sound that could pound a hole in your chest, and some absolutely rocking riffs. There’s some occasional nods to Metallica in the slower sections and lead breaks too, just in case you needed it.

This album is a testament to all – never let go of your dreams, you’re never too old, and SWEDISH DEATH METAL FUCKING RULES. Good luck tracking it down, but if you liked Swedish death the first time around you owe it to yourself to try.

Category	Rating
Production:	9
Songwriting:	9
Creativity:	6
Overall:	9

2. Solace – A.D. (Small Stone)

Reviewed here.

Look we all wish Black Sabbath stayed together and never stopped releasing great albums, but they didn’t, OK? And while there have been countless imitators over the years (in fact every heavy band that has ever existed was influenced by them), I don’t think any band has gotten this close to recreating their greatness. The lumbering riffs, the soaring vocals, the groove and the outright heaviness are all here. Thank you Solace for keeping the fire alive.

1. Deftones – Diamond Eyes (Reprise)

Album of the Year 2010

Reviewed here.

Arguably the strongest album yet from this world class band. Complexity and simplicity have somehow become two sides of the same coin for these guys, and there is a beauty and sadness at play in these songs – understandable given the tragic 2008 accident of their bass player Chi Cheng, who is still recovering today. It is an outstanding work of art from a great band at their peak.

Gig of The Year – Isis @ The Corner

Reviewed here.

I’ve seen these guys twice before, but this was the first time I’ve been sober (hey, I was sick, OK?). But this time I actually got to concentrate on what they were DOING, rather than just getting overwhelmed by their wall of noise. The energy and emotion invested in every song left me feeling drained but uplifted. I can understand why they broke up – playing this kind of music would be like performing a complex symphony every night – but they will be sorely missed all the same.

Shout Outs for 2010

And a couple of quick shouts out: Dozer’s stoner rock classics In the Tail of a Comet and Madre de Dios were finally re-released and sounded as good as ever, and the awesome songs on the soundtrack to Hazizi’s computer game of the year, NBA 2K11, rocked my world throughout the second half of 2010.

A shout out too to my favourite online record store AllThatIsHeavy.com. Their service is quick and reliable, they have a great catalogue of new and old releases, and they often chuck in a cool sticker or demo CD with their orders. Chances are if you read about it here, you can get it from there.

I want to leave you with a film clip, and I think it’s only fitting that it’s from one of the bands that called it quits during 2010. So long, Cog, and congratulations on a great career!

- Hazizi

January 25, 2011 Posted by Hazizi | Music - CDs, Music - Gigs | Leave a Comment

Felix Threepaper’s Top 5 Games of 2010 (PS3 and PC)

2010 was a great year for … ahh, fuck it. Let’s just get straight into it, shall we? You don’t need a self-serving opening paragraph justifying another lazy list article on the Net.

I have been to the mountain top, and on my way down I swung by the Cave of Assessment to reckon the top 5 games of 2010.

The rules are the same as last year. Once again, I’ve made my job easier by playing and not finishing a lot of games. This rules out possible contenders such as Darksiders, Bayonetta and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. It also rules out impossible non-contenders like 3D Dot Game Heroes, Shank and Yakuza 3. That’s not to mention the games I didn’t even play. Why would I mention them? Sheesh.

5. Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian Entertainment)

This was my most anticipated game of the year. A sequel to Fallout 3 made by some of the same guys who made the classic PC Fallout games? You betcha.

Obsidian tweaked the mechanics of Fallout 3 and made it into a better RPG. Tougher critters and stingier rewards for levelling up kept the game more challenging for longer. Finally being powerful enough to headshot Deathclaws from 200 metres away with a .50 cal using incendiary ammo was a personal highlight.

Fallout: New Vegas has a flexibility that puts most other RPGs to shame. Do I speak to this bloke and persuade him to give me the password to his computer, or do I sneak up on him, drop a land mine into his David Mundies and try to hack the computer? Some player out there even managed to finish the game without killing anything — that’s a testament both to the game’s robust RPG mechanics and to that player’s patience.

Obsidian did a better overall story, building up the anticipation before you get to New Vegas. Once you get there, the reputation system really kicks in, providing a host of difficult choices that put simplistic, binary good/evil karma systems to shame. Some of the best content is tucked away outside the main story — I appreciated it all the more for finding it myself.

If only the game weren’t so damned buggy and prone to freeze up, it may have made it higher up the list. Nothing kills the mood deader than having to get up off the couch and restart your console. However, for being a true RPG, Fallout: New Vegas jingle-jangle-jingles in at #5.

Category	Rating
Game mechanics:	9
Atmosphere:	7
Addictiveness:	8
Overall:	8

4. Just Cause 2 (Eidos Interactive)

Review here.

This was my surprise hit of the year and the only game on this list in which I thought the main story was too short.

Just Cause 2 doesn’t take itself too seriously and nails what’s important in a sandbox game: combat, exploration and variety. The grapple and parachute are the standout features but let’s not forget the vehicle hijacking, gunplay (with dual wielding) and explosive canisters.

The tropical island setting gave it a relaxing air instead of recreating the big city stresses of traffic, tollbooths and relentless cop chases. I’ve never enjoyed simply moving around a world as much before without having a wicked soundtrack to distract me from the commuting.

Since the game’s release there’s been lots of tasty nibbles of DLC — cheap little weapon packs, vehicles and other stuff like jets for your parachute. I feel I should be more upset about this and rail about being milked for content that should have been in the game, but the fact is they were cheap and they are fun to try out, especially the parachute jets.

This is the perfect game to play when you don’t know what you want to play and for that it base jumps into #4.

3. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)

Review here.

This is another wicked sandbox game where the world is the star of the show. As opposed to Just Cause 2, it did take itself too seriously, but almost pulled it off. I’m not a huge rap for stories in games, but I appreciated Rockstar’s attempt to tug on the ol’heartstrings with its ending. The story missions got repetitive, but amongst the flab there were some great set pieces that were like re-enacting your favourite shoot-outs from Western movies.

As for the controls, I had a few grumbles with shooting and walking, but they came up with the best horse riding I’ve experienced in a game. I actually felt a bond with my steeds, more so than any car I stole in GTAIV.

The world was so much fun to mosey around in and get up to random hijinks. Did anyone else NOT hogtie a nun to the railroad tracks, at least just once? And Poker is so much more fun when you can cheat! As for the wildlife, it could almost have sold me just as a hunting simulator.

Anyhoo, just like when Mongo punched out a horse, Red Dead Redemption does the unexpected and delivers a good cowboy video game. For that, it saddles up at #3.

2. Civilization V (Firaxis)

Review here.

You think you don’t want to play Civilization V … until you start a game.

It’s almost impossible to summarise a game that purports to deal with the entirety of human history, so I won’t even try. This is a game so big in scope, it took two of us to review it. I gave it a 10 back in October 2010, and patches since then have fixed some of the complaints, most notably smartening up the enemy AI. So now Civ V is technically an 11 (no it isn’t –stop trying to break our rating system! – Hazizi)

Firaxis could have just tweaked Civ IV and updated the graphics but they went one bolder and overhauled many key features. Overall it worked. Perhaps it hasn’t completely superseded Civ IV but it has made combat more strategic, culture more understandable and the all-important population happiness mechanics more transparent. The design changes have made the game just as engrossing but friendlier to beginners, which means no one has an excuse not to play.

So for having the cojones to look afresh at an already successful timesink, Civilization V slowly builds its way to #2.

1. God of War III (Sony Santa Monica)

Game of the Year 2010

Review here.

Other games lasted longer. Other games had bigger worlds, better stories, more side activities. But no other game made me punch the air and bellow at the sky.

For no other game is the word “beat” a more appropriate expression for completion. In order to get to the end of God of War III you have to destroy an entire pantheon of enemies in a bloodcurdlingly vicious (and satisfying) way.

The game is possibly the best looking game on PS3, but that’s not why it’s my #1. The boss fights are among the best in the business but that isn’t it either. The scale of the enterprise — fighting enemies on the arm of a giant titan, while the titan is doing the truffle shuffle to try and shake you off — would boggle you if you had more time to think about it. The combat controls are the single smoothest thing I’ve experienced in gaming all year, and now we’re getting close. They’re so tight you almost forget that you are using a controller. The enemy design is varied enough to force you to master all Kratos’ moves, not just a few favourite combos. You never feel that the game is being unfair or cheap, instead you feel that you should man up and improve your fighting technique.

As for Kratos, well he may be a surly coot, but he is the conduit for an astonishing piece of doublethink: he makes me feel tough while I am playing a videogame. This is why God of War III is my best videogame of 2010. Beating it made me feel pride and mastery. Sony Santa Monica tricked me into believing that I had achieved something worthwhile; that my hobby was valid. And because of that, God of War III rips the head off my top 5 list and smears #1 all over the walls. Happy 2011, bitches.

Honourable mentions:

Mass Effect 2 (Bioware): Everyone loved it but I felt it wasn’t as good as Mass Effect 1. The much-touted story contradicted a lot of the lore set down in ME 1. Switching the enemies from Reapers to the Collectors was anticlimactic, like in season 2 in Star Trek: Next Generation, where they learn about the Borg then in the next episode get hoodwinked by some shitty Pakleds. Most of the vaunted big “choices” were left until the last mission. Whoopty-do.

ME2 ultimately missed out on the Top 5 because of the tedious planet-scanning minigame. I actually liked driving the Mako in ME1 — at least it made me feel like I was exploring planets. Planet scanning was just a yawnfest and worse, it was compulsory if you wanted to upgrade your stuff. Plus I can’t understand why they don’t put spaceship battles into Mass Effect. C’mon Bioware, it’s a space opera, give me my shippy pew-pew!!

What else can I say about Mass Effect 2, for an RPG it makes a pretty decent third person shooter.

Greed Corp (W!Games): a well-balanced downloadable strategy game than adds a twist to the whole “exploit, expand, exterminate” model by making you destroy your own territory to get resources. It’s great fun to play single player or couch co-op with a friend and games are relatively quick. Indie game of the year, for mine.

Enslaved (Ninja Theory): They hired a proper scriptwriter to help with the story and it showed. The mo-capped interactions between Monkey and Trip are a cut above most videogame cutscenes. Unfortunately the combat and platforming didn’t meet the same standard, but a reasonably good ride nonetheless.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready at Dawn): It’s handheld God of War. It looks better than the PS2 games. The story is better than God of War III. It’s awesome. Unfortunately, no one will play it because it’s on the PSP.

Alpha Protocol (Obsidian Entertainment): Reviewed here. I don’t see why Bioware gets the raps for implementing choice and consequence in its games when even a B-side like this game does it better. Too unbalanced to put in the top 5, but still an interesting game.

- Felix