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sinceileftyoublog · 1 year

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Carcass, Municipal Waste, Sacred Reich, & Creeping Death Live Show Review: 4/18, Metro, Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

These days, new Carcass albums--and subsequently, tours and live shows--are rare enough to warrant must-see status. Their 2013 comeback, Surgical Steel, ranked among their best ever albums, and 2021′s Torn Arteries (Nuclear Blast) at the very least stood up to their classic material, a feat considering only two albums ago was the disappointment that was their original Swansong. Immediately into the band’s headlining set Tuesday at Metro, it was apparent they’d chug along and smash in as many songs as possible. His bass pointed to the sky like a scepter, Jeff Walker alternated between icy conjuring and guttural growling, tossing seemingly infinite picks into the crowd, while guitarist Bill Steer was his usual understated, but mighty self. And whether soloing or navigating the band through complex time signatures, drummer Daniel Wilding, the band’s drummer since 2012, propelled new and old songs with ease and force. Carcass’s set was, simply, professional, minimally laden with stage banter, maximally laden with enveloping heaviness.

That Carcass is touring with the party-hard thrashing of Municipal Waste and righteous riffage of Sacred Reich is mildly surprising, given that the bands occupy different subgenres of metal. The latter’s lead singer, Phil Rind, even admitted to not being super familiar with the music of the Liverpool death metal legends, also remarking that the last time Sacred Reich played Metro was in the early 90′s with Obituary, who sang “no words, just growls.” But the clear crossover fandom in the crowd was, if not evidence of the decreasing importance of genre purity, certainly a refreshing reminder that heavy music occupies different moods and states of mind that can take place in the same night, or even at once. Municipal Waste conquered first-track sound troubles to deliver a breakneck set of beer-chugging anthems spanning their entire discography. “Shoutout to security,” declared lead vocalist Tony Foresta as they deal with crowd surfers and broken down boxes thrown on stage during “Breathe Grease”. “This is not a Built to Spill show,” he smirked. Celebrating lead guitarist Nick Poulous’s birthday, the Richmond band built their setlist around chant-heavy material, from “You’re Cut Off” and “Sadistic Magician” to band theme song “Born to Party”. As the crowd chanted back, “Municipal Waste is gonna fuck you up,” it felt like they were paying the highest compliment to the people on stage.

Sacred Reich was, as expected, a bit more politically outspoken, or at least unafraid to expose the earnestness behind their songs. Really, anybody who has heard “The American Way” knows the band’s socially conscious, anti-capitalistic stance; these days, their songs look inward to imagine a better world outward. “Manifest Reality”, from the band’s most recent record Awakening (Metal Blade), which was released in 2019 a full 23 years after its predecessor, is a “be the change you want to see in the world” type of song. “Salvation” is, simply, an ode to music. And Awakening’s title track is proof that you can still sound like a mammoth when being compassionate. Like Municipal Waste, Rind has a sense of humor, too: When he announced that the band almost had a new record done to sparse applause, he joked, “We’re thankful for all 7 of you.” But at the end of the day, every Rind wail, every Wiley Arnett guitar solo and Dave McClain snare hit and Joey Radziwill power chord led up to their performance of “Death Squad”, dedicated to founding member Jason Rainey who died of a heart attack in 2020. Sacred Reich's looking forward as long as they can occasionally reflect on their past.

The band most faithful to the spirit of the night’s headliner was the first band who played given the least amount of time. Dallas death metal group Creeping Death combined nimble lead guitars and rhythms that bounced between stomps and barnburners. Their stage setup was remarkably democratic, roaring vocalist Reese Alavi sandwiched between leg-kicking guitarist Trey Pemberton, guitarist A.J. Ross, III, and bassist Eric “Rico” Mejia, tight in both their playing and synchronized hair spinning. Though they played mostly older material, including the blistering title track to their 2021 EP The Edge of Existence, they thankfully performed “Intestinal Wrap”, the single from their upcoming album Boundless Domain (MNRK Heavy). Alavi’s a dynamic vocalist, to the point where you didn’t even feel the absence of Cannibal Corpse’s George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher from the studio version of the song. Creeping Death was certainly the least known among other bands on the bill who have been at it for decades, but they were anything but green.

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daydadahlias · 15 days

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i want to hear the glee thoughts and feelings

ok ur so gonna regret u asked this

So, I watched glee way back when in middle school (before I knew what a lot of the words they said meant <3 I remember watching the first time episode and having no fucking idea what was going on <3) and I really loved it!! who doesn't love a jam yknow?? and, obviously, i attached myself to Blaine very quickly because his voice is just my favorite and he puts out nothing but bangers. this last week, I've gone back and rewatched seasons 2 and 3 (because that was peak Blaine Anderson) and - because I'm the world's most needlessly passionate person - I'm getting a little fucking worked up about it !!

It will never fail to bewilder me how much of a literal SHIT HEAD Kurt Hummel was. Like, I know that we as audience members are supposed to align ourselves with him because he's an OG character and he's a queer kid just trying to be himself or whatever, but frankly it doesn't pay that much to "just be yourself" when yourself SUCKS! kurt fucking SUCKS dude. He is so whiney and so selfish and blatantly rude. and he is a shitty ass boyfriend to Blaine!

this is also rooted in my absolute maniacal frustration that Blaine never gets to be a character of his own. His character is always (throughout the entirety of the show) written within the context of Kurt and Klaine. It's very much Ken and Barbie-esque with the whole "Ken only has a good day when Barbie looks at him." Like we never get to know anything about Blaine's personal life except for ?? a throwaway line that his dad (who we never meet) is homophobic? and also that he was gay bashed when he was 15. And, just to bitch about that, it will never not piss me off to insane lengths that Kurt wanted to go to prom so he made Blaine go with him even though Blaine was blatantly triggered by it. The literal dialogue exchange in the episode (S2E20) is Blaine detailing this very traumatic experience and saying "this is just a bit of a sore spot for me" and Kurt replies "this is perfect." LIKE WHAT?? WHATTTT?? what do you mean it's PERFECT?? your boyfriend is clearly uncomfortable and triggered by this!! do not make this man go to prom with you!! And then, in that same episode, Kurt very blatantly outs Blaine's secret trauma to his family without any fucking care whatsoever for what Blaine actually went through (which is crazy considering Kurt was bullied too and should have some goddamn sympathy for the situation??). and look at my boy!! he's CLEARLY UNCOMFORTABLE!! does Kurt give a fuck?? no he does not! and he literally never apologizes for this!!

gif credit (love this set and creator btw)

This is after they're dating and there are MANY more instances when they're dating that Kurt blatantly bulldozed over Blaine's boundaries with reckless fucking abandon. And any single time they ever get into an argument, Blaine has to be the one to apologize to KURT? like even when Kurt is the one who cheats on him in Season 3?? Blaine has to apologize to him for being insecure?? Or in Season 5 when Blaine is experiencing a lot of insecurity (which was also a crazy arc considering how attractive his actor, Darren, is?? and I always loathe when shows add unnecessary fatphobia plotlines for literal skinny characters but that's a different tangent) and he told Kurt and Kurt's response was quite literally "I'm not going to apologize for being better than you." Like that's a fucking insane thing to say to your boyfriend who is standing in your kitchen crying, saying he's scared you're "going to wake up one day and realize [you] don't love him anymore" (S5E16). AND THEN?? IN AN EVEN MORE INSANE TURN OF EVENTS?? literally a handful of episodes later that's EXACTLY what happens!! Just out of the blue, Kurt decides he doesn't love Blaine anymore and breaks up with him?? Which was an absurd plotline?? (as most plotlines from season 4 and on are).

I'm also just going to add that Ryan Murphy does not know Blaine Anderson like I do, clearly, because there is nothing at all in his character that insinuates he'd be a cheater especially considering his ENTIRE PERSONALITY REVOLVES AROUND KURT. which is some fucking lazy ass writing, I'm just gonna say.

Also, further defending Blaine and calling Kurt out for being a SHITHEAD! there's that whole episode "Blame it on the Alchohol" where Blaine and Kurt go over to Rachel's house for a party and Blaine gets literally blackout drunk and kisses Rachel during a spin the bottle game. Immediately, the fact that Kurt gets so upset over them kissing says a lot about how self-involved and psychotically jealous he is (considering he and Blaine were NOT together at this point and Blaine had literally actively said he did not want to be in a relationship with Kurt).

And then this will also always bother me?? Blaine was blackout?? So Kurt drove him home?? and let Blaine sleep in his bed??? with him??? which, based on the way Kurt was acting and how possessive he always was over Blaine, this was Weird. Like if you can drive your drunk friend somewhere, why aren't you driving them back to their OWN home?? especially when Blaine wakes up in the episode (looking very cute, I will say) and his immediate reaction is "Where am I?" Like that's fucked up???? And then, later, in the same episode, Blaine says he thinks he might be bi and Kurt goes off his fucking ROCKER. and is so blatantly biphobic !! and it's gross !! and the only reason he is is because he wants Blaine to himself even though Blaine literally said he wasn't interested!!!

including gifs of drunk!blaine bc he's cute <3

And to talk down to your supposed best friend?? And act like you know him better than he knows himself?? yeah it was fucked up and biphobia is never cute. and, also, all Kurt ever did was pretty much blatantly pressure Blaine into dating him?? Like he was constantly all over him and then, the second they got together, the writers were like "ok and now blaine's only personality trait is loving Kurt." Which never made any sense to me considering that Kurt is constantly talking down to him? He constantly (multiple times in multiple episodes) complains about how talented Blaine is. Which is just not something you fucking do to someone you supposedly love and respect??

Before they were even dating, Kurt complained to Blaine that he "always has solos" and "right now, it feels like we're Blaine and the pips" and also a very underhanded comment about how "I know we're all supposed to be do-whopping behind Blaine while he sings every Katy Perry song" (S2E16). All of these things are just blatantly belittling? Also, tea time, but Kurt's ass was not fucking talented enough to be making bold ass claims about how he should be singing lead vocals.

Once they're dating, Blaine and Kurt both try out for the musical. When Kurt finds out that Blaine is trying for the lead, he immediately becomes standoffish and Blaine clearly panics, making a comment about how seniors should get the leads, not juniors. And Kurt goes "yeah that's usually how it works!" So then Blaine completely fucking forfeits the part! He auditions for a side role so that Kurt can get it and Kurt won't see him as a "threat" but then, because Blaine is so fucking good (and better than Kurt cough cough), he gets cast and Kurt is fucking pissed about it !!! (S3E02).

Once they are dating, Kurt literally cheats on Blaine, then claims that it's "okay" because it's "just texting" and, when Blaine says he's hurt, Kurt calls him crazy?? (S3E17) He never once apologizes to Blaine for what he did, only saying "I'm sorry if this upsets you but it's okay" which is not a fucking apology!! And Blaine ends up being the one apologizing to Kurt at the end of the episode, saying that he's insecure!! But Kurt does about fuck all to actually care for him!! And, during that scene, he says "Do you know how many times I've had to sit on a stool and watch you perform?" Like how fucking shitty is that to say to someone you love? Literally All Kurt does the entire series is make Blaine feel bad about how good he is??

there's a lot of other moments where Kurt is really just blatantly fucking mean to Blaine but I'm going to stop there because this is getting <3 really long <3 and I'm going to take a deep breath.

ANYWAY CONTINUING ON!

Blaine literally transferred schools to be with Kurt because Kurt pressured him into it?? Like there were literally scenes where Kurt was like "you should change schools" and Blaine went "aww no I don't wanna :(" and then Kurt continued to pressure him into it?? it's not something he ever should have even proposed in the first place?? But then when Blaine actually did transfer - and made it blatantly clear to Kurt that he did it for him - all of a sudden Kurt was like "aw noo u shouldn't have done this for lil ol mee!" (S3E01). Which was some BULLSHIT! but i am gonna include a gif of new kid blaine because look at this fucking cutie !!!

gif credit (i luv u klainegifs)

ok so, after Kurt pressures Blaine into going to his school and all of Kurt's friends are blatantly fucking mEAN to Blaine (despite him being the most talented member of the club cough cough), there's the scene where they all go to prom. Now this one.... oh this one makes me mad. And this makes me mad because it's just clearly rooted in the outright racism of Glee. And here's the reasons I'm mad:

Darren Criss (Blaine's actor) is Asian-American but Glee pretends like Blaine Anderson is a white character.

A fun fact for you about Glee is that Darren Criss auditioned for Glee's first season with his natural hair (big, fluffy, curly, beautiful) and he did not get a part. However, he auditioned again for the second season with his hair short and gelled back and he did get the part. Notice anything fucking weird about that???? he was just as fucking talented with the curly hair !!

Glee gels Blaine's hair so fucking much in later seasons that he literally develops helmet head. Look at the difference between season 2 and season 6:

LOOK AT HIS FLAT ASS HEAD !! ITS LIKE THEY PAINTED HIS FUCKING HAIR ON !!! RELEASE HIS CURLS RIGHT THIS INSTANCE!!!!!!!!!!

4. There was one episode (a different prom episode in season 3) where they did release the curls. and they pretended like my boy was UGLY!?! LOOK AT HIM

he's literally precious. But also, the producers of Glee went out of their way to try and make his curls look bad?? like they purposefully tried to give him bad hair?? and make fun of his natural curls?? and this was kurt's actual fucking reaction to seeing his boyfriend's natural hair for the first time:

he says "oh my dear god" in horror. like kurt literally go fuck yourself. Everyone is so fucking mean to Blaine when he ungels his hair!! and it's because they're RACIST!!!! name one curly-haired character in Glee. I'll wait.

I never liked Kurt but him reacting so cruelly to blaine's natural hair (and then Blaine never ungelling his hair again) is one of my biggest problems with him.

in conclusion, I will never fucking forgive the way that Glee treated Blaine. My beautiful baby boy and his bowties deserved better.

the end.

#pigeon #anon #you shouldnt have asked bro #anyway <3 that's my jessay of the day <3 #it's 12:30 i should sleep #goodnight!#also blaine was and will always be the best singer the show ever had #so it was a fucking waste to not give him his own plot lines outside of kurt !!!#ryan murphy give me ur show right now i need to fix this.

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