From the category archives:

American Culture

Theocracy’s As the World Bleeds offers an exciting blend of Christianity and epic melodic heavy metal

23 November 2011 American Culture

Another three years has passed and so Atlanta’s Theocracy returns with their third album As the World Bleeds. Considering the strength of its predecessor, Mirror of Souls, this album was born with certain expectations already in place. Fret not fans as you will not be disappointed.

0 comments Read more →

This new chili recipe hits all the right hot spots

5 November 2011 American Culture

Revised:  January 24, 2012; change below in italics. I found an interesting recipe for chili with beans in, of all places, a calender from Classic Rock magazine. The use of tomato paste, parsley, and spices other than a quick dose of straight generic chili powder was appealing. After several experiments with this recipe, I came [...]

Read more →

A Moment in Chiros: Lance King’s solo debut a tour de force of melodic progressive power metal

30 October 2011 American Culture

Okay, so here’s the short review: Buy this album. If you dig well-composed and entertaining melodic progressive power metal with powerful and versatile vocals, then Lance King’s first solo project, A Moment in Chiros is simply primo material. So head on over to Nightmare Records and order the album; otherwise read on if you want [...]

Read more →

Knight Area’s Nine Paths: simply great melodic progressive rock!

10 October 2011 American Culture

Knight Area’s fourth release, Nine Paths, is simply a great sounding album of melodic progressive rock. Earlier works were likely gathered under the symphonic rock genre also. But Nine Paths seems to find Knight Area upping the rock ante just a bit. With that said, don’t think that founder, composer, and keyboardist Gerben Klazinga is [...]

Read more →

Cole slaw with cilantro and sauteed garlic, a fresh and delicious alternative to the traditional mayo slaw

6 October 2011 American Culture

I stumbled across this ‘different’ recipe for slaw salad in a grocery store flyer. There’s no mayonnaise, traditional white vinegar, paprika, celery seed or some combination of these ingredients. The garlic gives the salad some bite, and a smoky flavor. The cilantro brightens the whole salad for a fresh feeling. After several tries, I discovered [...]

Read more →

With Kingdom of Ruin, Vangough returns with another massive and entertaining opus of progressive metal

2 October 2011 American Culture

Unexpected and challenging are apt words to describe the latest project, Kingdom of Ruin, from Oklahoma’s Vangough. But that’s certainly ‘expected’ from this talented band. It’s nearly odd to say, but one might call Kingdom of Ruin ‘thinking man’s’ prog. It certainly offers a high degree of creativity and ingenuity, yet without sacrificing immense entertainment.

1 comment Read more →

Delicious, bold, and easy, black bean and corn salsa

1 October 2011 American Culture

I discovered some prepared Texas black bean and corn salsa at my local grocer over the summer. It was a tasty diversion, even with its simple ingredients in an Italian dressing base. Yet, with that latter ingredient, I suspected that it was not really authentic. Rather, it appeared to depend on the simplicity of ingredients [...]

Read more →

Voyager’s Meaning of I: clever and intriguing, catchy and entertaining progressive rock

27 September 2011 American Culture

There’s something about Voyager’s sound on their fourth LP The Meaning of I that I can’t put my finger on, that I can’t quite describe. With their interesting polyrhythmic sensations, illustrative, sometimes quirky, keyboards, and Danny Estrin’s both consistent and mercurial vocals, this work sounds like a collision of 80′s electronic new wave with more [...]

Read more →

On Comm, The Tangent explores the impact of communication technology on our world

20 September 2011 American Culture

Never to be underestimated, The Tangent arrives with another prog rock tour-de-force, perhaps their best to date, in Comm. The concept of the album is both enigmatically simple and profound: to consider the advancement of communication (comm) technology in the last hundred years and it’s effect upon us. The Tangent visits early significance with the [...]

Read more →

A Dramatic Turn of Events is classic Dream Theater, so forget the controversy of Portnoy leaving the band

11 September 2011 American Culture

One would think that the hype of drummer Mike Portnoy leaving Dream Theater would have subsided by now. But on the eve of the release of their eleventh album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, remaining members are still taking swipes at him. It’s a shame really as the title of this album declares this simple [...]

Read more →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →