See Ya In The Pit

Janitor From Mars 7/11/10: DOOM

humblejanitor — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:00:45 +0000

After a short posting hiatus, I’m back. I covered for Willie Strausser today so look for both Native Metal and Janitor From Mars. 6 hours of mainly doom metal and styles spawned from doom with some psychedelic hard rock thrown in.

www.wruv.org/schedule

Janitor From Mars 5/30/10- 1st Anniversary Show

humblejanitor — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:39:16 +0000

Apologies for the late post as I just started a one-week vacation yesterday. Sunday was my 1st anniversary show, having started this show on 5/30/09. Not much really has changed but I put a bigger emphasis on metal and hardcore than punk/ska because the dearth of new releases for the latter has encouraged me to get more into the former. This has been going on for a year.

As for the lack of new reviews, my metal reviews are now posted on Mind Over Metal and when I get a batch of new punk/hardcore/ska releases, those reviews will be added here. This arrangement works better and allows Mind Over Metal to showcase more metal reviews and to continue to offer original content to a broader audience.

I am hoping that the next year of programming will continue what I set out to do with this show and that is to showcase the best punk/hardcore/metal that is out there today. With the help of Matt Longo and Willie Strausser, I have been working to expand my metal palate to include a diversity of interests, mainly focused on doom, progressive and thrash metal.

I hope you enjoyed the special 4 hour show on Sunday (Willie was unable to do Native Metal so I subbed his slot) and there is one more 2 hour show for the semester coming up this Sunday before the WRUV summer semester starts, reverting back to a 3 hour show schedule (as opposed to the spring schedule).

Also, if you’ll notice, I did not post for last week’s show. By now, I am sure you have bookmarked both the WRUV website and Radioactivity. If not, let me know and I’ll send you the links personally.

Janitor From Mars 5/16/10- R.I.P Ronnie James Dio

humblejanitor — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:09:57 +0000

Ronnie James Dio left this world at 7:45am yesterday. He will certainly be missed and I decided to do an extended show from 4-5pm with a few Dio, Heaven and Hell and Black Sabbath songs. He was also part of Rainbow and Elf as well. Rest in peace, Ronnie.

Changed my show theme this week to that of the A-Team theme. I just love the way it sounds and it fits the image I’m trying to project.

http://www.wruv.org/schedule/sunday
(Janitor From Mars only available in archives for one week! Also, check out the 4-6pm show for the extended 1 hour set)

Playlist for this show on Radioactivity:
http://tinyurl.com/janitorfrommars051610

REVIEW: THE KANDIDATE- “Until We Are Outnumbered”

humblejanitor — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:43:51 +0000

The Kandidate- Until We Are Outnumbered
released Feburary 9, 2010 on Napalm Records Added to WRUV 5/7/10

The Kandidate is a thrash metal band originally started as a two man project, evolving over the years into its’ present form. First impressions are a strong album full of thrash metal riffs and drumming. Delving deeper, Strength Through Diversity starts off this album with the vocals of Jacob Bredahl cutting through the music like a knife. Brutal, uncompromising thrash metal is the style here with fast drumming, etc. It does have a slight black metal tinge in the way the drums are structured and also a bit of hardcore. The pacing of the drums in Shut ‘Em Up has a very hardcore feel to it. Distress And Decay is the shortest song on this album and I really like the beginning of it. I’m not sure what else I could say to add to this album but I like how they build upon their sound from track to track. It’s certainly not enough to label this as thrash metal when you can see the obvious hardcore and black metal influences. Certainly worth checking out if you love thrash.

FCC: Check for profanity
Try: 1,3,4,6

01. Strength Through Diversity
02. Give Up All Hope
03. Shut ‘Em Up
04. Distress And Decay
05. In Hell
06. We Conform To The Unrighteous
07. Live A Lie
08. The Kill
09. Enemy
10. Yours Truly

4/5

REVIEW: ONE BRICK DOWN- “Tribalcore Leader”

humblejanitor — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:55:36 +0000

One Brick Down- Tribalcore Leader
released July 29, 2008 added to WRUV May 7, 2010

From NJ, One Brick Down’s overall sound has a strong hardcore influence but the title of this album seems to point to a variation of hardcore. A Letter To The Devil Within has a good mix of hardcore guitars and what seems to be tribal-like drumming. Sludgy and distorted as well. Certainly an interesting mix. Rebirth continues much of the same theme and is reminiscent of Earth Crisis and similar bands in style. Karma Teeth offers the most variation in their sound and is a cleaner track with less distortion/sludge and lots of tribal drumming in the background. Interesting concept from an interesting band. I can’t really say if it’s anything I’d listen to often but it’s worth checking out once or twice.

FCC: 1,8,13
Try: 2,4,5

01. Diehard
02. A Letter To The Devil Within
03. Oath
04. Rebirth
05. Karma Teeth
06. The Walls Collapse
07. Means To An End
08. Against The Grain

3/5

Janitor From Mars 5/2/10- Continuation of Doom

humblejanitor — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:45:08 +0000

Once again this week, I was called to sub for Willie Strausser of Native Metal. I decided to check out some bands that Willie recommended for the Doom metal genres and spin them on today’s show. I also explored a bit of thrash, hardcore and punk but overall, mainly doom. I really enjoyed this 4 hour show and it was physically exhausting on less than 8 hours of sleep. Luckily for me, there are so many other doom bands out there that I may end up showcasing them in the near future. For now, I hope to return to playing more punk and hardcore starting with next week’s show.

http://www.wruv.org/schedule/sunday
(Native Metal and Janitor From Mars only available in archives for one week!)

Playlist for this show on Radioactivity:
http://tinyurl.com/nativemetaljanitor050210

REVIEW: THE GLOOMINOUS DOOM- “The Feature”

humblejanitor — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:44:26 +0000

The Gloominous Doom- The Feature
released May 2, 2010 on DRP Records

Press release describes this band as a genre-bending band and judging by the song titles, they seem to have a sense of humor, which I like. Urine Trouble reminds me of the opposite of a product Tommy Chong used to shill called Urine Luck. Regardless, the beginning has a bluesy feel to it that gives way to a classic hardcore punk feel mixed with a tad bit of thrash. Possible influences that come to mind include Econochrist, Municipal Waste and Metallica. It’s kind of all over the place and a chore to really listen to but a good attempt here. Most songs are in the 3-4 minute range with the exception of a few. The first part of this album seems to have a combination of the influences above and again, seems to be hard to follow along with. The White Mist Of Summer Mountain Road changes it up a bit as it’s the longest song on this album but it seems better fleshed out with a nearly psychedelic vibe to it. Tuned-down and full of distortion as well. At 3:30 into this song, it changes up and takes on a more frantic pace with the drums adding more of a distorted hardcore feel to it. White Worms From Hell and Thrashsphault sound a lot like lost Sublime tracks and throw in a good amount of thrash. Desolation of Smaug has a very bleak, slow start to it which doesn’t last long, developing into a song that I feel is equal parts Black Sabbath and black album-era Metallica. It seems to have the most depth out of all of the songs on this album. In fact, I think that The Gloominous Doom’s sound benefits the most when they are given more time to flesh it out. Short, loud bursts just don’t work well for this group. I’d love to see them develop this part of their sound more but for the most part, this is a solid album that attempts to capture the spirit of several genres.

FCC: 1, 4
Try: 2, 8, 11,12, *14*

01. Portal Potty
02. Urine Trouble
03. Deuces Wild
04. The Feature
05. Lager Jam ’87
06. Rigormortis
07. Old Bay, Old And Grey
08. White Worms From Hell
09. The Night Of The Scrappelizer
10. Extreme Glacical Movement
11. The White Mist of Summer Mountain Road
12. Thrashpault
13. JFKFC
14. Desolation Of Smaug
15. Midnight Murder Rampage

Janitor From Mars 4/25/10- All Metal

humblejanitor — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:31:38 +0000

Decided to do an all-metal show since I was subbing for Willie Strausser and Native Metal from 12pm-2pm in addition to my regular show. I did a showcase of the doom metal style and its’ various sub-styles. Was a bit late but otherwise, good show. It may very well spell the direction of Janitor From Mars in the future but I still have plans to continue spinning punk and hardcore whenever available. 3 hour shows are coming up with the Summer semester so there’s more time to explore punk sub-genres and make themed shows.

http://www.wruv.org/schedule/sunday
(show only available in archives for one week!)

Playlist for this show on Radioactivity:
http://tinyurl.com/janitorfrommars042510

REVIEW: DIE AMONG HEROES- “Self-Titled”

humblejanitor — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:37:17 +0000

Die Among Heroes- Self-Titled
originally released September 2009 Added 4/21/10

Metalcore band from TX and this is their first album. First impressions are reminiscent of Killswitch Engage and generic metalcore that seems to dominate the commercial radio stations in this area. Not a bad thing though but more exploration is needed. In the Event I Don’t Return has a very commercial metalcore sound with clean vocals and what appears to be solid, but unoriginal musicianship. They have the hardcore riffs down right along with the blast beats. Not much else to spark my interest with this track. Perish What Ignites The Flame and Under These Street Lights both have a very Trivium-like feel to them and again, aren’t quite what I’m looking for because of the emo-like harmonies married to generic blast beats/hardcore guitars. Not one to completely pan an album, I seek out a tolerable track and find it in, shit, who am I kidding? I just can’t get into this stuff. Check it out if mediocrity is up your alley but otherwise, you can do better and you know it. I’d suggest listening to KsE instead of an imitator. Perhaps I’ll send this to the Wire and they’d probably spin the hell out of it. Just not gonna happen here.

FCC:
Try: 2, 8

01. Sound Of Memory
02. In The Event I Don’t Return
03. Perish What Ignites The Flame
04. Forgive This Murder
05. Under The Street Lights
06. WIth All That Has Been Lost
07. Her Warm Embrace
08. My Failing Attempts

2.5/5

REVIEW: KAREN PAGE- “Self-Titled”

humblejanitor — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:03:17 +0000

Karen Page- Self-Titled
released February 16, 2010 on Rotten Records

From pouring through the press information, I get the impression that Karen Page is a band that exists solely to blow your eardrums out. For me, this shouldn’t be a problem but I worry for the rest of you who hear them for the first time. Out Of The Woodwork starts off this record with brutal blast beats mated to slow, moody hardcore riffs with a few breakdowns within. Interesting mix of styles. Your Body Is Like A Wasteland manages to differentiate itself with more of an old-school metal sound, in which I can detect a bit of Iommi/Butler influence. Morality As Home Entertainment seems is very listenable partly due to the strong hardcore influence full of sludgy guitars, timely breakdowns and even a slight amount of blast beats. Overall sound is appealing to anyone who enjoys hardcore. At 2:00, the tempo slows down to something more mellow in nature to finish off this song. The Beyond is another strong track to close off this album. In conclusion, this album is worth a few spins because of the way it attempts to deviate from the hardcore norm at the beginning and by the time you get to the middle, the band seems to settle into more of a hardcore state of mind. Worth checking out.

FCC: None
Try: 1,3,7,12

01. Out Of The Woodwork
02. The Icebox
03. Your Body Is Like a Wasteland
04. Snake Eyes
05. All Sixes
06. Interloper
07. Morality As Home Entertainment
08. Bag Of Nerves
09. Nailbiter
10. Monster
11. Dead Men Tell No Tales
12. The Beyond

3/5