Music
Album Review: Ceremony ‘Rohnert Park’
Growing up every few years a new a band would come around and slap me in the face. Bands such as Converge and American Nightmare a.k.a. Give up The Ghost are prime examples of this. In a way they would save music for me and give me hope that it wasn’t going straight to hell. Ceremony has joined the ranks of these legendary hardcore acts with their new full length “Rohnert Park”. Read past the break for my review!
“Rohnert Park” is going to become one of those albums that belongs in every punk/hardcore kid’s record collection. Upon my first listen of the album I wasn’t sure what to expect. Earlier this year lead singer Ross Farrar said that it sounded nothing like their last album “Still Nothing Moves You” which is an amazing record. So going into this I was hoping for the best. Well that’s what this band did. In my opinion they just gave their best. This album is their “Shape Of Punk To Come” or their “We’re Down Til We’re Underground”.
The album opens with “Into The Wayside Part I/Sick”. Now while the first half is a guitar intro the second half of the song “Sick” comes in with with an awesome build up of drums and little by little bass and guitar come in. Needless to say this song has been the song that wakes me up in the morning since I’ve heard it. It’s filled with exhaustion, angst and contempt. With that being said “Into The Wayside Part I/Sick” really sets the tone for the album.
From here on out the record is sort of the blur. You don’t really know what has just hit you until the end of the album. The biggest thing I noticed on the album is how well written it is. Ross’s writing has grown so much since their earlier EPs and it really shows on this album through such songs as “Don’t Touch Me” which sounds like a love letter to the Circle Jerks as well as “M.C.D.F.” which is the abbreviation of the prison the lead singer has frequented.
To be honest “Rohnert Park” is a severely important album and I couldn’t be more impressed with it. It’s honest, angry, catchy and dangerous. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air for the hardcore/punk community and shouldn’t be overlooked. I could write nice things about this record all day but instead I’ll encourage you to spend your hard earned money on a fantastic record.
4.5 out of 5 skulls
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.