Cogito, · Ergo · Domitor · Vestri · Sum

Almost immediately upon reading the front page newspost about the possibility of erecting a statue of Black Hawk on the east side of Utah’s State Capitol, I saw a blue link around the phrase “good Indian.” My interest piqued, I clicked the link, to be taken to a page that extensively catalogues the archetype in television, film, comic books, novels, and even currency.  The initial response posits Tonto himself as a direct descendant of the “corn-bearing Red Man” of Thanksgiving pageants; a topic particularly timely and personal for my current Native American lit class- our professor has run into all manner of trouble (up to and including death threats) when she requested less generic "Indian" costumes than the stereotyped brown paper vests and randomized facepaint for her five year old's class. Seriously. Death threats.

           
People often fail to see the harm in what they view as beneficial stereotypes, whether “Asians are smart,” “Blacks are athletic,” or “Indians are helpful.” Tonto seems to be a particularly gross characterization of the last, a member of a tradition extending all the way back to Robinson Crusoe and “Friday,” the native Carribean he names after the day Crusoe saved his life, thus binding him as Crusoe’s slave forever.  With even a bare bones knowledge of the stereotype, then, it is clear how harmful it can be. If Indians are naturally compliant, what harm in enslaving them, taking their land, murdering them by the millions?

           
The page goes on to describe various other examples of “good Indians,” all of whom in some way were complicit (generally unwittingly) in the brutal conquest of their own lands by European whites, and who are therefore lionized and immortalized in statue by the culture of their oppressors, alongside martyrs like George Armstrong Custer.

           
Perhaps it’s because I’ve studied military history, but I never had the notion of Custer as anything but a completely incompetent, vainglorious, murderous ass. He was so bloodthirsty, so arrogantly certain of some kind of racialized military superiority, that he willfully attacked a massive force which included thousands of noncombatants with a handful of men. That the handful perished to a man in this instance instead of the multitude is the expected outcome to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, and from the point of view of any human being worthy of the name, the preferable outcome. Military casualties, inflicted upon people who have willingly chosen the sword, are a regrettable necessity of war. Civilian casualties are an increasingly common abomination, a throwback to Assyrian-level brutality. Thus, the brave and noble boys in blue who emancipated an oppressed people in the 1860s turned right around and virtually eradicated another oppressed people over the next fifty years.

           
Having studied the time period, I was aware of the level of grief and outrage that met Custer’s death, and have developed a particularly pessimistic view of the “battle” of the Little Big Horn. It seems very likely that General Sheridan, a known genocidal psychopath transcending even his old superior and mentor William Tecumseh Sherman, and an all-around cold-hearted son of a bitch, knew Custer’s propensity for hard-charging bravery  dementia all too well and dispatched him with a handful of men deep into “enemy” territory, knowing full well that the media darling would get his fool self killed. With the subsequent outrage, Sheridan got all the money and troops and materiel he could ever need to pursue his personal, groundless grudge against the native peoples of the plains.

           
So, every time I see a statue of a “good Indian,” I’m going to raise a little hell with whoever’s responsible, and donate money to the slowly growing Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota. May it dwarf Mount Rushmore.

Current Mood:	annoyed
Current Music:	"American Jesus," Bad Religion

So today I picked up the new Disturbed album, "Indestructible." Anyone reading this probably knows I essentially love the crap out of Disturbed already, so it probably won't surprise anyone when I say that I have a positive review.

Actually, my initial reaction can be best summed up in three words, the three words I uttered in the car when I was about halfway through the album.

"Oh, FUCK yeah!"

Anyhow, I'm going to give the album a 10/10 rating and say it's probably about as good as Ten Thousand Fists, their last album. In general, it's more guitar and drum heavy than previous Disturbed albums. I suspect this is due to two factors- the guitarist and the drummer are awesome and getting better, and singer David Draiman had throat surgery not too long ago (his voice is largely the same, perhaps a touch more gravelly here and there, but its essential unearthly and haunting quality remains undamaged, thankfully). So, to the production and mixing team, awesome work dudes.

And now, I am going to review the tracks one at a time, as I listen to them. This will be somewhat stream-of-consciousness style, albeit (I hope) with punctuation and some sort of structure. I am not, and would never want to be, and would commit seppuku rather than submit anyone to myself if I ever became, Fitzgerald. I will also rate the songs on a scale of 1 to 10, but this is a special Disturbed scale, with 1 representing "Droppin' Plates" (i.e. still fun but oy) and 10 representing "Deify." (oh fuck yeah)

Track 1: Indestructible
The background war noises set the stage nicely before a seriously crunchy guitar riff overpowers everything. This track is particularly anthemic, with an insanely infectious drum and guitar hook (that's right, a drum hook) that comes right out and grabs you by the face. The vocals are stacatto and sharp, English at it's iambic catchiest. The chorus is quite possibly the most bad-ass thing I've heard in ages. It makes me want to go declare war upon absolutely everyone and destroy them all with my bare hands. Or beat the shit out of them at 40k, anyhow. The vocals are almost a chant, especially in the chorus. It's incredibly militaristic, primal, and visceral. God damn do I love the shit out of this song. I suspect it's going to shoot to the top of my workout music, the way KMFDM's "Risen"  and Rammstein's "Links 2, 3, 4"  did in years gone by. 10/10

Track 2: Inside the Fire
The sort of industrial/metal noise in the bacground gives way to evil laughter and heavy guitars. The vocals are very chant-like again, which is a good thing in this instance. The simplistic rhyme masks the deeper emotional tone of the chorus. The song is apparently about a dead loved one burning in hell, and the appeal of a demonic force to join her through suicide. "Release your life/ To begin another time with her/ End your grief with me/ There's another way/ Release your life/ Take your place inside the fire with me." I don't care to say much more about it at this time considering what I just found out about Megan and my own tendencies toward depression, but suffice to say the song itself is very good. 9/10

Track 3: Deceiver
The guitar riff opens the song, the vocals kicking in shortly therafter. Less of a chant and more melodic, Draiman showcases that there's certainly nothing wrong with his voice. The song is extremely well-composed and mixed, but sounds more like a track off of the album Believe than more recent endeavors, as the vocals are almost too smooth. At his best, Draiman can demonstrate incredible range ("Ten Thousand Fists" springs to mind) but this song is more consistent. While it would make great background music for a bleak dystopian awesome film and I'm sure it's great live, it's just not as good as the first two cuts. It would be difficult to match them, however. 7/10

Track 4: The Night
A more melodic guitar, almost reminscent of epic metal, morphs into a choppy modern sound. The vocals are noticably higher than the norm, almost Draiman's version of a heroic tenor. The effect is incredible. The music shifts often enough and is interesting enough that this song is quickly growing on me. The chorus is insanely catchy and every bit as emotionally stirring as the uber-heroic choruses (chori?) of a band like Dragonforce. The lyrics are above par for Disturbed as well, and whoever mixed the damn chorus is a genius. God damn that is sweeping me right up with it. Ooh, guitar solo over that crunchy rhythm section. Their guitarist (Dan Donegan, the booklet says) is amazing and just getting better. Oh, there's Draiman's range. It's kind of a relief to hear it again. Nothing as dramatic as "Ten Thousand Fists," but there it is, so he can still do it. The ending is a touch abrupt, but still, this song is amazing. 10/10

Track 5: Perfect Insanity
Opening with a fast guitar hook and ape noise, this promises to be vintage Disturbed fun. There's more of a wall of noise going on, appropriate to the contractually obligated song about being nucking futs (there is a reason I love this band, after all). This song makes me want to hop behind the wheel of a car and drive at extremely unsafe velocities. The guitar work reminds me of the best efforts of Marilyn Manson (the band, not the vocalist) from the Antichrist Superstar era. This song almost sounds like something off Disturbed's first album, The Sickness, although if it had been on that album I think I'd have been an even bigger Disturbed fan back when it came out. I haven't heard a loud/angry/fast metal song that made me want to launch a destruction derby half so much since Static-X and Fear Factory covered Ministry's "Burning Inside." 10/10

Track 6: Haunted
Man, I love the drums in this band. The distortion on the guitars reminds me of some of the best efforts of Gravity Kills back when they were cool for like five minutes. The vocals here are definitely harsher, with a pronounced growl despite the generally melodic quality. The effect is pretty awesome. The chorus is impressive and good, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the introduction. The chorus sounds very Believe, while the rest of it is all Indestructible- a new direction for the band, and a very good one. There are some neat studio effects/ Industrial noises/ etc. on this track. 8/10

Track 7: Enough
Oh shit that is a bad-ass drum track. The guitars are subdued, feel like they're building toward something. The vocals come in, but the guitars remain subdued. The drums continue to predominate for a while, then give way to a soaring set of vocals. Pretty cool. I don't know if it's the surgery that gave him access to the higher pitch, but he does some really cool things with it here. This song is very emotional, and despite blending together a little in the bridges, the machine-gun beat of the drums and the impassioned vocals save it from mediocrity (as compared to other Disturbed songs). I think the song could have benefitted from a clearer guitar hook to go with those vocals, but you just can't fault those drums. Hot damn. 8/10

Track 8: The Curse
The intro isn't particularly promising, sort of a minor key warbling and some consistent guitars, some ape noise, but the vocals are back to that chanting thing, and it works. Oh, hey, that's a catchy vocal chorus. Okay, it's growing on me. Wait a second. Okay, I just turned it way up (it was pretty loud, but now it's LOUD) and that improved it's quality like tenfold. I'm sort of doing a mild headbang thing at my desk here. Fuck yeah. Those are some seriously primal drums. I want to dance around in a circle making ape noise, maybe pick up a stick and bash another apes brains out for the Monolith. There's a solo/break, and when the chorus comes back in, it's with one hell of a kick. Oh, man, those guitars are HUDGE. 9/10

EDIT: Having listened to this song, it is increasingly awesome, and might become my favorite track on the album. Doesn't hurt that it's also my new fucking anti-depressant anthem of triumph. "I've held on too long just to let it go now / Will my inner strength get me through it somehow? / Defying the curse that has taken hold / Never surrender, I'll never be overcome." Fuckin-A. 10/10

Track 9: Torn
I will refrain from Natalie Imbruglia jokes. Another sort of uninspiring intro, the vocals are sort of subdued at first too. The chorus is definitely going for the more "haunting/otherworldly" vocal quality, sort of like A Perfect Circle's sound only more interesting. The chorus swells, and all that, but the most interesting thing about this song is the drums. Mike Werngren (drummer) is either a minor god of rock or these guys have a drum machine. I suspect the former. Still, this song is basically album filler as far as Disturbed goes. If this had been on Believe it would've been a stand out track, but they've moved on since then.  6/10

Track 10: Criminal
This intro seems like it's building toward something. The guitar and drums are higher and more... I don't know, almost like Sevendust (another band with an amazing vocalist who I also like a lot, just not as much as Disturbed- Sevendust's band is awesome and all, but not as awesome as the guys in Disturbed. Whether David Draiman's better than Lajon Witherspoon is debatable- both are amazing in different ways) This song sounds like a hybrid between something off of The Sickness and Ten Thousand Fists. The bulk of it is more the former, the chorus is very much the latter. Draiman's vocals are strangely hypnotic here, as elsewhere. It's a good thing he's not inserting subliminal messages (that we know of) or else even more Disturbed fans would likely develop highly antagonistic feelings toward religion and the Republican party.  7/10

Track 11: Divide
Catchy. The guitars and drums are more simplistic on this one- which can be a good thing sometimes, and is here. This sounds rather a lot like something from The Sickness but with the maturity and polish of their later work. Hell yeah. Also a touch of Gravity Kills in the opening riff there. Cool. The message is naturally sort of divisive (nurr) and reminds me of Marilyn Manson songs like "Use Your Fist and Not Your Mouth." This sort of song tends to appeal to my inner intellectual elitist. Hah, he says something about being the "last man standing." The 40k jokes will commence in my brain henceforth. This song is probably going to make its way onto my workout mix too. Any song in this vein generally does; KMFDM's "Godlike," nine inch nails' "big man with a gun," etc. You know, screaming the same thing over and over again shouldn't be this catchy, but when performed with the sincerity and intensity Draiman can muster, it's actually pretty damn good. Almost an egomaniacal song in the vein of KMFDM's more fun endeavors. "I'm one impresssive motherfucker now, wouldn't you say?" Actually yeah, you guys all are. 8/10

Track 12: Facade
Okay. The last track is rarely anything much special. Here goes. Ooh, a breakup/crush/stalker song- I've always got room in my heart for another one of those. Hey, that's some neat machine noise. Way to reference your industrial roots while maintaining the metal, guys, right on. The chorus could stick in my head pretty well if it were to apply better to my own life. Thanks for small favors, it's not really applicable at the moment at least. The guitar solo is pretty much wankery, which is too bad, considering how good the guitarist is. I mean, it's not particularly interesting wankery. All guitar solos are wankery. You know what I mean. Also, three cheers for the unsung hero, the bassist. John Moyer. Okay. Go you, John Moyer, you do your job well and provide (with Mr. Wengren, of course) a seriously awesome rhythm section. 7/10

So yeah. If you like Disturbed, or metal in general, or awesome metal vocals (I once described David Draiman's voice as what Rob Halford of Judas Priest would've sounded like if his balls had dropped- kind of unfair to poor Rob, who is awesome, but still) then you should pick this album up. It is teh rock.