MUSIC NEWS: Prog-Metal Fusion Group PAINTED IN EXILE Reveals Keyboard Playthrough Track Sampler Video

Watch Now via MusicRadar.com

 

New Full-Length Album The Ordeal is Out Now, Order Here

 

Produced by Jamie King (Between the Buried And Me, The Contortionist, Scale The Summit)

 

Artwork by Aaron Marsh

 

Two weeks ago, PAINTED IN EXILE dropped their long-awaited full length album, The Ordeal. The reviews are in, and the critics have deemed that the wait was worth it. Heavy Blog is Heavy calls it, "endearing and moving", while MetalSucks hails it as "a complex beast", further claiming, "PAINTED IN EXILE have found their own voice". Featuring PAINTED IN EXILE's signature sound that further melds classic rock, jazz, classical and even hip-hop influences, The Ordeal transcends far beyond what PAINTED IN EXILE has released to date, fully showcasing the band's gifted and refreshed line-up.

 

If you haven't picked up your copy of The Ordeal yet, you can sample some new tracks featuring accompanying performances by PAINTED IN EXILE keyboardist Alan Hankers via a new playthrough video. Music Radar has an exclusive look at the video - watch here: http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/this-crushingly-heavy-keyboard-playthrough-is-the-classical-metal-fusion-youve-been-waiting-for-644498

 

Hankers states, "A lot of what I write as a keyboardist is influenced by my background as a classically trained pianist. While writing the album, my goal was to create a unique synthesized sound that from time to time would subtly allude to my influences of the past. In this excerpt video, you'll hear everything from 19^th century style harmony, to dissonant clusters and "dirty" synths that double guitar riffs."

 

Want more PIE? Who doesn't! Check out PAINTED IN EXILE's new music video for their single "House of Cards" here, and then watch bassist Jacob Umansky play through the track via Bass Player.

 

The Ordeal was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jamie King - recognized for his work with bands such as Between the Buried And Me, The Contortionist, Scale The Summit and other modern progressive metal mainstays. The album was recorded at both Basement Recording Studios in Winston-Salem, NC and The Fidelitorium in Kernersville, NC. Orchestral arrangements on the album were written by Alan Hankers. Additional production and engineering support was provided by PAINTED IN EXILE guitarist Ivan Chopik.

 

After unquestionably solidifying themselves as a band-to-watch in the progressive metal scene with 2008's 3.14 demo and 2009's Revitalized EP - the latter of which NoCleanSinging.com called, "a creative fireball of attention-grabbing music," and TeethOfTheDivine.com touted as "mind-blowing" - fans have been eagerly awaiting a full-fledged comeback. After dropping a track here (specifically 2014's "DM") and a hint there for the last few years, PAINTED IN EXILE fully crowd-funded The Ordeal this year with massive fan support via Indiegogo campaign (the band actually surpassed their goal of $15,000).

 

PAINTED IN EXILE is:

Robert Richards - Vocals

Ivan Chopik - Guitars

Marc Lambert - Guitars

Alan Hankers - Piano & Keyboard

Jacob Umansky - Bass & Backing Vocals

Eddie DeCesare - Drums & Percussion

 

PAINTED IN EXILE online:

www.facebook.com/paintedinexile

www.twitter.com/paintedinexile

www.instagram.com/paintedinexile

www.youtube.com/paintedinexile

www.paintedinexile.bigcartel.com

www.paintedinexile.bandcamp.com

IFC Midnight Presents: EVOLUTION

NOW PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS & ON DEMAND

This eerily seductive mind-bender is a dark, dreamlike descent into the depths of the unknown. Ten-year-old Nicolas (Max Brebant) lives in a remote seaside village populated only by boys his age and adult women. But when he makes a disturbing discovery beneath the ocean waves – a dead boy with a red starfish on his stomach – Nicolas begins to question everything about his existence. What are the half-remembered images he recalls, as if from another life? If the woman he lives with is not his mother, then who is she? And what awaits the boys when they are all suddenly confined to a hospital? The highly anticipated new film from the acclaimed director of Innocence is awash in the haunting, otherworldly images of a nightmare.

IFC Midnight Presents: BEYOND THE GATES

In Theaters & On Demand Now

Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father's video store to liquidate the property and sell off his assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game dubbed 'Beyond The Gates' that holds a connection to their father's disappearance and deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.

Krampus: The Christmas Devil (2013) Review Revisted

Facebook, YouTube

“Jeremy, a local police officer, leads a life of a confusing past, spending his current time searching for his kidnapper as a child. After other children begin missing, Jeremy pieces together the truth and realizes that his childhood kidnapper could be a creature of ancient yuletide lore, Krampus, who is the brother of St. Nick, and punisher of children who perform acts of unspeakable evil without repercussion. Can Jeremy kill Krampus and prevent more missing children?” (IMDB)

Director/Writer: Jason Hull; Starring: Jay Dobyns, Paul Ferm, Andrew Ferrick, Bill Oberst Jr.,et. al.

Santa's evil brother is a sick twisted dude. Almost as bad as accused child killer Brian Hatt. Both of which are reasons why you should always be good, for goodness sakes!

Krampus: The Christmas Devil is a many faceted little Christmas tale that pits a former bad boy that should have been drowned by Krampus against not only Santa's evil twin but a brilliantly played accused child rapist bent on revenge against the cop that busted him (gloriously played by Bill Oberst Jr.). Jeremy's obsession is a lot less tangible than the Brian's but their outcome is pretty much the same and added an interesting duality to the child punishing duo. That much said, this was a great story with amazing potential. Admittedly I became much less interested in Jeremy wrestling his demons with an insane monster like Brian Hatt running around (is there anyway he could get his own movie?). But this was a fun movie that did a great job blowing the concept of Krampus out of proportions and comparing it to the true horror of reality. By the way, Santa Clause is no angel, this movie makes it totally clear he expects his evil brother to do his job and rid the world of all the bad kids. Sorry kids, Santa is a bastard, deal with it.

There were a few really good twists, including the cops taking care of their own. The soundtrack is dead on awesome, adding to the 80's slasher cinematic feel and texture. A few of these actors should look familiar, especially the old cops and bartender. All in all, though it may be unfair to compare to it to Santa's Slay or Rare Exports, its nice to see an actual Krampus story!

Farewell from the beasts and I,

J.P.

Got any thoughts/questions/concerns for J.P.? Leave a comment below, send him an E-mail, shoot him a message on Facebook and/or Twitter, or visit the Creepercast for more!

my thoughts on.... what i consider the most solid horror franchise (what's yours?)

As with all of my reviews of films for The Creepercast, I fully recommend that you check each and every one of them out. I am one man and this is my opinion. I've seen plenty of movies that received reviews that were the complete opposite of how I saw the film. These writers, directors, producers and actors all put a lot of time and love into these projects. They deserve to be seen and appreciated for what they are. Everyone has a dream and I fully support the people that take the time to make theirs a reality. With that being said....

What makes a franchise maintain the test of time? What makes each film consistently enjoyable and something you want to go back and watch it again? What about the rare instances, where the franchise jumps mediums and ends up as a television show? So, the question I put before you all is, what is the most solid franchise in horror right now or ever? The qualifications for this honor are simple:

1) The series must contain, at least, 3 films.

2) It doesn't have to be a box office success to be considered a great film. As long as the fans support it and consider it a worthy installment in the franchise, it will qualify.

3) There can be no weak links in the chain. If one of the three or more films is looked on as a throw away movie, then the entire series is no longer eligible to compete or if it spawned and inferior television show.

Of course, this is as much my own opinion as it is yours, but the idea here is to spark some in depth thought into the question and to create your own argument for which series you feel deserves this title. There's always room for more than one franchise in this category. It's just something fun that I'd been thinking about and wondered if anyone else would find this as interesting of a thing to ponder as I do!

When I first had this idea, I proposed it to some of my most trusted horror friends and got different answers from each of them. It not only showed me that everyone's personal taste would affect their decision, but that their definition of what a horror film is, would differ too. At the time when I asked the question, I didn't have an answer of my own. It took me quite a while to decide what met all of the qualifications, because the more films I came up with, the more I found flaws in with the varying sequels. One of my runner ups in this category, I ultimately disqualified. Not because it didn't deserve a mention, but because I felt like it fell just a bit outside of what I would consider a horror film. Granted, it has all the earmarks of what horror is or should be, but it also had a lot of elements of an action film and a dystopian drama. The series that I'm talking about is, 'The Purge'. I know that the first film may not have paid off in all of the promises that it made in the premise. However, upon repeated viewings, it held up as an allegory for modern society and where we could be headed in the near future. The sequel, 'The Purge: Anarchy' cashed the check that the first film wrote and paid some interest for making us wait for the payoff. It was well worth the wait, in my opinion and made the first film a stronger piece of cinema. 'The Purge: Election Year' took the elements of the first two films and pushed it to it's logical conclusion. On the whole, the trilogy is a very satisfying watch and there's talk of a 4th installment, that will be a prequel, telling about how The Purge began. James DeMonaco has built a complete world and mythos that sparks the imagination of the viewer. Those who would participate in The Purge and those would would be opposed to it. The films have proven to have a strong cult following and will stick with you long after the credits roll. Sadly, for me, they're not horror. So, they are disqualified for this specific distinction, but are still impressive in their own right.

Okay, with all of that being said, what IS the franchise that I think has earned this title? For me, there is only one that has met all three of the requirements I laid out and that series would be: 'The Evil Dead'. From the mind of Sam Raimi, came one of the more iconic characters in horror, Ashley J. Williams. In the original film, 'The Evil Dead', it played as straight up horror movie. Produced on a shoestring budget and mainly relying on the help of friends, this original installment proved to be an effective horror film, but one that never could have been seen as a virtual juggernaut of a franchise. However, with the release of 'Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn', we saw Bruce Campbell step forward as a force to be reckoned. We also saw a more fleshed out (almost) re-telling of the original film and the true definition of a 'cult classic'. It quickly became a staple of the genre and held the promise of what was to come. When 'Army of Darkness' was released, it took the whole series in another direction and despite being entirely different from the first two installments, it felt like a logical progression of the franchise. It spun off into a line of toys, comic books and a whole lot of merchandising. At the time, none of us could have predicted where it would end up today. With a solid remake/retelling/possible sequel being made by Fede Alvarez, we saw 'Evil Dead' brought into the modern day and proved that everything old can be new again. From there, Sam Raimi turned his eye to television. There was a question how this franchise would translate onto the small screen, but with season 2 firmly underway, we've seen that not only does it work on television.... but it's pretty damn amazing. Entertaining, frightening and incredibly well done, 'Ash Vs Evil Dead' solidified this series' place on the top of the heap. Having spanned 35 years now, what started as a little indie film that could, proved itself to be a force to be reckoned with. Ash will always hold a place in the genre as a fixture of modern day reluctant hero and one that continues to have his legend grow with each passing year. As long as the Deadites keep coming back for more, the audience will keep watching.



What say you to all of this? Do you agree or would you have another contender to throw their hat into the ring? Only time will tell if 'The Evil Dead' series will continue to reign supreme, but with new horror films being made every year, only time will tell what the future holds. Hail to the king, baby!

A Terror Time Out: Still from 'Elves' (1989)

Grizzly Adams takes on evil elves, how can this not be glorious!

Uber Spencer reviews The Conjuring (2013)

Wow I was blown away by the intensity of "The Conjuring." I remember watching the trailer on TV and thought it looked pretty fricken cool, and I was right. Now this is a film directed by James Wan who directed Insidious 1, Chapter 2, Saw, and the upcoming 2015 film Fast and Furious 7. I personally do not like James Wan, but The Conjuring and Insidious are my favorite films by him but I think the others are garbage. I have yet to see if he can match Justin Lin's directing style of Fast 3,4,5, and 6 as he directs 7.

Positives: I really found myself cringing at the sight of several scenes including the scene with Lorraine and Ed below the tree and Lorraine see's the feet of a hanged women who SPOILER is or was a witch in the Salem witch trials who hanged herself is the one haunting this family. Now Christine, one of the girls, I knew her face but not the name and I went on Wikipedia and it was Joey King and I slapped myself on the head. The use of special effects in this film are really good even for James Wan because you got 1. A chair levitating 2. the dark presence of the demonic entity haunting the family who we figure out is the woman named Bathsheba, and finally the final possession scene. Wan said he didn't waste time showing the possession take place HINT by placing the sheet over the women. I texted my cousin and asked her, is Lorraine a psychic? She said no, she can see and hear things that no one else can and we figure out from Ed that when that happens it takes a toll on her and I like that. Now Patrick Wilson, I want to talk about him because this isn't his first collaboration with Wan and in Insidious he was actually pretty good and in 2, even though 2 sucked, I loved him in 2 and he doesn't disappoint for this film. I also love the amount of respect Roger (the father) has for Ed and Lorraine. What I mean is that once the activity got increasingly bad he states and says thank you to Ed and Lorraine for coming out. I am surprised he didn't tell them to get out because Ed tells them that this entity doesn't like him and Lorraine cause they're the enemy.

Negatives: I really don't have anything bad about this film

Closing: I love the film even though its directed by James Wan. It is a great horror/supernatural film with a spin-off with the doll Annabelle in the works if you love haunting films. There is also a hint to Amityville Horror where the priest gives Ed and Lorraine word on a house back in Long Island which is really cool. I have to give The Conjuring a 4.5/5 stabs, check this film out and read my next review of "You're Next" released in 2013 but it was filming of the film started and ended in 2011.

Uber Spencer is a Creepercast Cast member who has become quiet a contributor to the Creepercast network. For a home school kid from the Mid-west we think he's pretty cool. But his mom is definitely the coolest for letting him hang out with us!