Hardware Review: Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller

I was a little worried about buying this because Mad Catz doesn’t exactly have a wonderful history in my experience with them. I gave this a shot because I really like the idea of mapping the L3 and R3 buttons to the back of the controller and I read a few favorable reviews on it.

First off, it’s a super comfortable controller with rubber grips on the sides that keep the controller in your hand. It’s much lighter than a dual shock as it does not have rumble (which I prefer, rumble is annoying) and it’s also slightly larger than a dual shock which I like as well. The buttons on the face of the controller work just like a first part controller. The D-Pad is larger and is slightly mushy. Don’t take that as “not responsive”, it works fine, it just isn’t as firm as the Dual Shock. The analog sticks feel very similar to Sony’s as far as texture goes, but they are much more stiff than Sony’s. That means using them is a slight adjustment because you have to press harder than you would with the first party controller. Not a negative in my book, just an adjustment. The R2/L2 triggers are probably the biggest improvement over the Dual Shock. They are wider and have an actual trigger feel to them. They are also super snappy, they snap back to place instantly.

I need to mention the additional buttons on the back of the controllers as that is the main reason I purchased this. The default is to have the buttons replace the R3/L3 (which replaces pushing down on the analog sticks) but you can customize that to other buttons as well. The buttons sit on the back of the controller right where my index fingers rest. The buttons are responsive and actually turn out to be a nice advantage over the Dual Shock. Instead of trying to press down an analog stick (which lead me to aim incorrectly or run in a wrong direction) I can just press the buttons on the back and keep my view/aim/direction correct with no issue. If you find the analog stick button press annoying, this is a great controller for you.

The R1/L1 triggers are my only real complaint. They are mushy, similar to the D-Pad, and need to be pressed a certain way to get them to work. It’s just an adjustment as to where I need to put my fingers instead of how I was used to using them before. After an hour of using the controller, I was fine.

The last thing to touch on is the look of the controller. I love the digital camo (I got white) and the LED’s under the analog sticks are a nice touch to give the controller a unique, custom look. In the box you get a USB dongle (sorry, it’s not bluetooth), charge cable and carrying case. The case is a throw away, but it’s nice to get an extra charge cable.

Overall, this is a great controller, probably the best Mad Catz product I have used. Is it as good as Sony’s Dual Shock? No, but it’s very close. For me the controller was worth it for the comfort (love those grips), re-mapping of the R3/L3 buttons and the aesthetics of a nice design. It might not be for everyone and it might not be as useful to other types of games, but it works very well with FPS games, which are my favorite. I’d gladly recommend this if you just want something other than a Dual Shock.

Music Review: Wintersleep – Self Titled

Wintersleep are a band that are not well-known to many American’s, but have quite the following in their home country of Canada.  This is their first disc, which was released as a side project to Kary, a harder progressive rock band with which Wintersleep shared several members of.  The project was formed so that Paul Murphy could explore some of the softer elements that were part of Kary and expand on them as best they could.  It turned out well enough that Kary released one more album and then were retired so that the shared members could focus on Wintersleep alone.

To differentiate between Kary, Wintersleep went full on acoustic for this, their debut album.  The tone of the album actually comes out to be extreme on the melancholy, but it’s dripping with emotion and feeling.  That might sound a little pretentious but Wintersleep has to be heard to understand this element.  Paul’s vocals over the (sometimes) drab music creates this gentle feeling of depression that is hard to avoid.  While “depressing” or “melancholy” are seen as a bad thing in today’s world, listening to music that is depressive somehow takes that feeling away from me.  One thing that I have learned about music is that I’d much rather feel something, rather than nothing.  Wintersleep makes you feel.

The album opens up with Sore.  Light acoustic guitars start off the song for a few seconds before Paul comes in with a gentle tone in his voice.  This song is probably one of the more “cheerful” songs that the group have recorded and it’s probably the closest thing to a love song we will get out of them.  When the chorus kicks in, the vocals are amped and go from gentle to pained.  Not painful in a bad way, but painful in a fashion that gives us the feeling that the vocalist is sharing while singing the lyrics.

I know that I am going on an on about the “feeling” or the “emotion” that comes across, but that is this albums strongest asset.  We are able to connect to this album because we can understand the emotion behind it and the lyrics are also made up of realities that we face every day.  Assembly Lines is a song that everyone can understand.  The verses talk about things like “The Wife, The kids are starting to get in the way of the important thins/Like cars, like ours, like customers just keep smiling” which leads right into the chorus of “I’ll try harder”.  This is a song that can easily have a connection with just about everyone on earth who feels the need to try harder to be what other people expect them to be.  The music backing the song is a repetitive acoustic guitar riff and layered backing vocals of “oh’s” and “ah’s”  which give the song depth it might not have other wise.

Those are the touches that Wintersleep add to make what could potentially be very boring into something special.  They are the masters of droning on with what sometimes feels repetitive, but if you really listen subtle things get added on during the course of a song that end up in many layers by the end.  Maybe the guitar riff is the same for the whole song, but there might be a time shift in the background or some layered vocals.  The layered vocals are something that is seen on a lot of tracks.  Ambulance, a track about someone having a deadly medical issue in front of you.  The chorus constantly asks “If this is a joke/Please tell me so/So I’ll know”.  The verses have a layered vocals with a female singer in the background.  While the song does follow the verse, chorus verse formula,  the song ends with Paul going into a series of vocal riffs that give the feeling of someone who has been hurt.  Looking at another track, like Wind, we once agin see the repetitive nature of the band.  The same guitar line over and over again, but there is a subtle keyboard note in the background.  A female vocalist comes in and out of the song with Paul’s vocals building and building up to the end of the track.

This isn’t Wintersleep at their finest, but it’s still very good.  This album was a great start for the group and when listening to this now it’s easy to understand how they have grown since this has been release.  Their 2 LP’s after this one brought in electronic guitar, which brought back some of what people were missing with Kary being put on indefinite hold.  If you don’t mind music being a little on the depressing side and you like acoustic rock, this is something that needs to be heard.  For Winterlseep this release marks the start of something sadly beautiful, maybe you will find the same value in it as well.

The Shizit Release New Album… And It’s Free

This hit me out of nowhere yesterday while visiting SputnikMusic.com.  The Shizit has long been one of my favorite bands and probably the most overlooked band ever, at least in the metal/electronic genre.  They have been broken up forever, their last proper release was 2001’s Soundtrack For The Revolution.  When I saw that they had released a new album, and on top of that it was free, I flipped out.  You can download it here.  I’ve only had the chance to listen to it once, but it’s fantastic.  If you like any combination of Metal and Electronic music, get this right now and go get their entire catalog prior to this.  I plan to have a full review in the next few days.  Christmas came early for me…

Review: Katatonia – Night Is The New Day

It’s finally here… This is easily the album that I have been most looking forward to all year. I only discovered Katatonia within the last year or so do to a random listen of The Great Cold Distance. I have been hooked ever since and once I found out they were going to release a new album this year, I marked my calendar in big, black marker and circled the month of November. The thing that Katatonia does better than any band in the world is their adaptation of Doom Metal (or Depressive Doom Metal if you want to get specific). While most bands scream their way through tracks doing their best Cookie Monster impression, Katatonia has some of the best clean vocals that can be found anywhere within the Metal scene. And before every Doom nerd mails me to tell me how stupid I am, there are some bands that are great within the genre, even with all that screaming. But they all take a back seat to Katatonia as far as I am concerned.

Like most people, the first thing I heard off this album was Forsaker which is the albums opening track. It’s a track that is heavy as you can get with Jonas’ wonderful clean vocals over the top. The track shows why Katatonia are the Masters of Melancholy because the track has this heavy, depressing feel to it. Most of the album gives of that vibe and while people might think that listening to depressing music is, well, depressing… they are correct. The way I see it, however, is that it’s much better to feel something instead of nothing. So many bands have no feeling, no emotion. It’s all glossy, happy stuff. Or it’s just not from the heart. Night Is The New Day is from somewhere deep inside the members of Katatonia and it comes through on every track.

After Forsaker opens things up on a high note, the next 4 songs are equally as brilliant. Onward Into Battle is my favorite track off the disk. Something about the pacing and sound of Jonas’ voice just make me all warm and fuzzy inside. The albums latter half is not quite as good as the first half, but that doesn’t make it bad. The entire album doesn’t have a track worth skipping over.

The newer elements that help to push this disk forward (when compared to past releases from the band) is the addition of more prevalent sythns. They are used to supplement almost every track here and help to give them album more weight. If you had the privilege of hearing Unfrul (released on an EP after The Great Cold Distance) you will have a good idea of what I am talking about. They haven’t turned into an electronic metal band or anything, they just use small electronic accents here and there and they work perfectly within the style of music.

If you are scared off by the words “Doom” or “Depressive Doom” in front of your metal, don’t be. Katatonia takes what everyone thinks about the genre and flips it on its head. They have some of the best clean vocals in all of metal and some of the most talented musicians. The album is pretty dark and it is pretty depressing, but as I said before, I just like that it does such a wonderful job of conveying that emotion. This might not be for everyone, but I think it’s something all metal fans should give a chance.

Final Score:

• 4.0 out of 5

Listen If You Like:

• Katatonia: The Great Cold Distance
• Anathema: A Natural Disaster




Review: Caspian – Tertia

Post-rock isn’t dead, but it might be on life support. The genre’s life cycle thus far has been an interesting one. In the early 2000’s there were maybe 50 releases in the genre to pick from each year. This year, according to Rate Your Music’s database their are 108 release already. Over 200 releases last year. While those number sound small for a genre like rap or metal, for Post-rock that’s a lot of stuff that’s been released the past few years. A genre that used to flourish by having quality over quantity has now gone the other way with a lot of releases leading to a watered down selection of albums. With all of that said, there is still good stuff out there, it’s just not easy to find. It seems like this year the only bands really putting out post-rock worth listening to are some of the more famous acts from the genres recent past. Mono’s newest, Hymn To The Immortal Wind, is about as beautiful as you can get. Maybeshewill’s sophomore album is pretty good, but not of the quality their first release displayed. Overall, there hasn’t been enough good stuff to keep post-rock fans all that interested in the genre.

Fight to the Death: X-Box 360 vs. PS3

I did something similar to this for the Zune/iPod.  While it was fun, it was pretty far away from being a heated debate.  In that case either player is a fine choice, with pretty minimal differences (whether or not iPod fanyboys want to believe that or not, and I now own an iPod).  This discussion is different.  It’s huge in the gaming community.  Casual gamers might pass by and say “No big deal” but hardcore gamers across the web fight about this incessantly.  I’m hoping to look at the debate in the most numerical way possible.  I am a PS3 owner but the decision to purchase Sony’s console over Microsoft’s in April of ‘08 was extremely difficult to make.  So here we go, category buy category.  I will be using as many facts as possible.  When looking at the software I will use Metacrtic to give me an average of reviews across the web, not just what IGN or Gamespot thinks.  Opinion can’t be completely ignored, but I will try and leave it to a minimum.  Also keep in mind that I am comparing the consoles as they stand today.  I don’t care about what happened at launch or what happened with a software update in 2006 that changed something you didn’t even notice.  It’s both consoles as they operate today.  So here we go…

Throwback Review – Urban Species: Blanket

I came across this album, released in 1999, mostly due to a rather large infatuation withImogen Heap. She is featured here, on the track Blanket, which is a great, laid back hip-hop song. Because of that one track I decided to give the entire album a try. Can’t say I came away entirely impressed but what did surprise me is that there are 3 or 4 songs here that are really good.

Urban Species is really a solo venture, though the name might lead you to think otherwise. The style here is ultra laid back british hip-hop. The genre is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it’s great to be laid back and chill. Sometimes it’s nice to pick up the pace. Unfortunately, the one song he does pick up the pace in, turns out to be pretty awful. The vocal style is constantly slowed down and at times really drab. At times it does work well but after listening to an entire album with little to no change on the vocals, it becomes tedious. The production here feels very jazzy at times but for the most part I think this could be looked at as a trip-hop or downtempo disc. Some of the production reminds me of Lamb but comes across feeling very different because of the vocals present.

Music Review – Brand New: Daisy

Prior to getting into the actual review of this one, I feel like I need to preface it with this…. The more I float around the interweb, it seems like people are very divided on what they think about Brand New as a band. It’s not so much a “love it or hate it” thing as it is a you either kind of like it or you are in love with it. When I say love, you love it in the deepest, most real way possible. I know that comes across as cheesy, but for my fellow Brand New fans, they will understand. Everything this band has done, including and since Deja Entendu, has been golden in my book. The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is my album of the decade. That’s how much I love Brand New…. So if you aren’t ready for the gushing of a fan boy, stop reading now.

2009 Fall Releases – The Cup Overfloweth

I did a “Most Anticipated Music of 2009″ a while back and so far I have been pleased with most of the releases that I had been looking forward to. P.O.S.’s Never Better came out early in 09 and didn’t disappoint. Well, it disappointed me a little, it is his weakest release, but still has some great songs. Other release lived up to my expectations as well. Isis and dredg both had very strong releases. Then some disappointed, The new Prodigy was pretty terrible, don’t know why I get excited about their releases anymore, but I think that’s over with Invaders must die. So now we are almost into the fall (my favorite time of year) and there are tons of releases that have yet to surface. This is going to be a wonderful few months leading up to the end of the year. Here is what I cannot wait for:

Brand New - Daisy: Yes, I know they titled the album Daisy. I don’t care. Brand New has been a rare band in my opinion. They have gotten better and better with each release. 2006’s The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is my favorite album of the decade, hands down. For some reason people still love to label these guys “Emo” but they are the furthest thing from it. They are American rock to it’s fullest. They just happen to have an emotional front man (one of the best in the biz) in Jesse Lacey. I will always have high expectations for Brand New releases, they have never let me down. Releases 9/22/09 (it has recently leaked as well).

Katatonia - Night Is the New Day: This is a group that I randomly came across as 08 came to a close. I tried out The Great Cold Distance and was blown away. One of the best metal releases I have heard in forever. I’m not quite as enamored with their past work, but the song writing during TGCD was so fantastic, I cannot wait for new stuff. With this one I am slightly worried that expectations are too high as I just really can’t get into any of their early work. I’ll find out when this releases on 10/19/2009.

Thrice - Beggars: This one already leaked, which is way to early and might hurt (or help) with the final release. The same thing happened to Brand New with The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me and they scrapped almost everything they had and started over. Because of that experience I refuse to check this out early. I am going to wait for the release date and purchase it, because I want to support the bands I love. With the Brand New leak in 06 it kind of killed my excitement for the album because the leaked demos didn’t sound that good. Well, that’s because they were demos. From what I understand the Thrice leak might be more finalized than it’s Brand New counterpart, I don’t care. I’m getting this the day it comes out, in an actual store, which is 9/15/09. It is currently out on ITunes, but I feel like if I wait for the physical release I will be rewarded with something. Plus I want DRM free music.

Some honorable mentions to go over.

-A Wilhelm Scream is easily one of my favorite bands and I was really looking forward to their release this year. I’ve since found out that is a EP (5 songs I believe) so while I am still stoked for it, I want a full album.

-AFI are releasing their follow up to Decemberunderground this year and I am looking forward to it. I have cooled off on AFI the last few years and I’m not sure why. I think their last two releases have been their strongest (regardless of what others think) but I feel like I might be growing out of them. We shall see once Crash Love hits 9/29/09.

-30 Seconds to Mars is a guilty pleasure for me. They are kind of overly pretentious (seriously, that video for From Yesterday makes me want to gag) but I still enjoy listening to them. I’m not super stoked for this, but they are a decent band and always have 3 to 4 songs on each album that I think are great.  This Is War comes out in late October.

-CunninLynguists are set to release their second LP this year in the form of Strange Jourey Volume 2. The first one was better than I expected. It only had a handful of new songs and there are a few songs that weren’t even their own, but it was still a great listen. Hoping for more of the same.

Album Review – Chevelle: Sci-Fi Crimes

Not to start off with a “look how cool I am” item, but I have listened to Chevelle since their first disc, Point #1.  I first heard of them when I saw their video for Mia on MTV at some riduclous time early in the morning.  The song sounded like Tool, kind of.  The video looked like a Tool video, kind of.  At the time (and to this day) Tool was my favorite band.  I loved them.  I ate, drank and slept AEnima when it came out and because of that infatuation with Tool, I loved anything that reminded me of Tool.  Back then I was more forgiving, I listened to any crappy band that stole MJK’s vocal style or kind of sounded like Tool.  Almost none of those band stuck with me except for Chevelle.  I never really thought of Chevelle in the context of “on of my favs” but with the release of Sci-Fi Crimes, they are up there.

I have enjoyed every Chevelle album to a point.  They have all had a handful of songs that I thought were excellent, but then the rest of the tracks bored me.  With this release they have made an album that is good all the way through, front to back.  The album starts off with Sleep Apnea and the opening guitar is distinctly Chevelle.  The track is good, but the album gets better as it goes on.  The chorus of Mexican Sun is excellent and it becomes very infectious.  The further you get into the album, the stronger it gets.

For the first time I feel like Chevelle has their own identity here.  Maybe that’s what was always missing for me.  Something to make Chevelle strong on their own, not because they sound like someone else or have a heavy influence from another artist.  And that’s what this disc does.  The first single, Jars is a perfect song for radio play.  While that will be disappointing to some, it doesn’t really matter because we all know Chevelle doesn’t get a ton of radio time no matter how good they are.  The track has another awesome rif with a really catchy chorus, but it’s still heavy enough for Chevelle to keep that edge.  The album really gets better the further you go.  Letter From A Thief is by far my favorite track on the album.  There is a certain emotion in it that Chevelle hasn’t displayed before.  The last two tracks finish the album off in awesome fashion.  The last track, This Circus has some of the best percussion that I have heard in quite awhile and like so many of the tracks here, the chorus will stick in your head for days.

Will this album convert people who have hated Chevelle?  No.  Will it make long time Chevelle fans happy.  Hell yes.  I think it’s their strongest work and gets better with each listen.  I also feel like it’s brought me closer to Chevelle, as cheesy as that sounds.  I feel like I can call them one of my favorites now because their body of work over 5 discs is strong enough to do so.  I would be surprised if this didn’t get a spot on my top ten this year.

Rating:  4.0 out of 5.0

Listen if you like:

• 10 Years – Division
• 30 Seconds to Mars – A Beautiful Lie
• Tool – Lateralus