6A - Wednesday, September 17, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam 6A - Wednesday, September17, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 0 A subtle mutiny. An outsider's guide to country music I METAL BLADE Long hurr, don't curr. Cannibal Corpse's new 'Domain' a brutal ride ByJOSHFRAZIER DailyArts Writer I grew up hating country music for no real reason. I was raised on a steady diet of clas- sic rock, and as I grew older, I began to love the wordplay of hip hop and the experimental nature of alternative music. When I came to the University, I gained a greater appreciation for the primal nature of stadi- um-ready EDM, and my expo- sure to people from different backgrounds has led me to love just about all types of music. Except for country. This summer, I moved down south to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where loving country music is as natural as breathing air. My experience there has led me to at least begrudgingly tolerate country music, and to come to like (and even love) a few songs. Here is an outsider's guide to learning to love country music - based on the music you already like: Classic Rock Essential Song: "Springsteen" - Eric Church Fans of guitar-based rock'n'roll should make a rela- tively easy transition to a coun- try radio station. Established acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young clearly influence many current southern musi- cians. Blues-influenced guitar licks and tales of Americana are prevalent throughout pop- ular acts like Joe Nichols, Eric Church and George Strait. Pop Essential Song: "Play It Again" - Luke Bryan Several mainstream country musicians have crossed-over to Top 40 chart in recent years. Taylor Swift and Carrie Under- wood are two female vocalists who have become undeniable superstars. Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" featured a half- sung, half-rapped style and a Nelly guest verse. The lines are blurred between these two seemingly very different genres due to the feel-good, party nature of many songs, and the ensuing fan-base made up of teenage girls. Rap Essential Song: "Praying Man" - Big K.R.I.T. and B.B. King Southern rappers like Lud- acris, Yelawolf and Big K.R.I.T. have touted their country roots for years, priding themselves on their unique Southern heri- tage. Seminal rap artists like UGK, Scarface and Three 6 Mafia have instantly recog- nizable voices influenced by Southern drawls. Rap fans may not find a lot to like in modern country hits but should enjoy the thumping basslines of blues legends. The go-to track is.the highlight of Big K.R.I.T.'s 2012 debut, Live from the Under- ground, which marries South- ern blues rock and lyrical hip hop on "Praying Man," featur- ing the legendary B.B. King. EDM Essential Song: "Drunk on a Plane" - Dierks Bentley Contemporary country radio hits often feature up-tempo, danceable beats, but many of these songs are derided by clas- sical country fans and objective listeners alike as shameless attempts to cash in on a popu- lar trend. Dance music fans should embrace the rhythmic nature of country hits, which often experiment with uncon- ventional time schemes. The stereotypical, party-driven nature that influences many popular electronic songs is prevalent in many country hits. Beer and women are two of the most common tropes found in country music, and there is no better example of that than Dierks Bentley's riotous ode to drinking, "Drunk on a Plane." And for electronic music pur- ists who can't tolerate music made with guitars, banjos and fiddles, well, at least coun- try makes for good pre-game music. ByKEN SELANDER DailyArts Writer Cannibal Corpse's 13th stu- dio album, A Skeletal Domain, combines brutality, evil, pure genius and more evil. Upon listen- ing to the A Skeletal record for the first time, I Domain felt that more Cannibal work went into creat- orpse ing diabolical Metal Blade titles for each track than the lyrics of the songs themselves, but upon a second listening I discovered I was dead wrong and brain-dead. As I listened to the first few songs on A Skeletal Domain, I began to feel there was a dis- tinct possibility that someone might barge into my room while I was lost amidst the music, not paying attention to my sur- roundings and brutally murder me with a chainsaw. Nowhere on the record did this seem like more of a reality then on the third track, "Kill or Become," which includes thoughtful lyr- ics like "Fire up the chainsaw / Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com INTERNSHIPS INTERN WANTED FOR Birmingham law office for 1-2 years. Mustthave at least BA or BS with strong grades/com- puter skills. Paid Position. Email resume & tscrptto: michlawofficeq4gmail.com HAVE YOU PURCHASED THE FOOTBALL' BOOK YET? Cut their fucking heads off." Musically speaking, "Kill or Become" starts off slowly, but quickly gains pace. The track consists of simple riffs that are made more complex by the ran- dom notes chosen in between mute-note strums. A very metallic-sounding twang on each note via the low B-string from the bass guitar drives the song behind the screams of their lead vocalist, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. A bouncy, growling bass riff also guides the chorus on the album's first song, "High Veloc- ity Impact Spatter." The track sets a tone of despair and evil for the rest of the record, with an eerie 40-second intro that forces the listener to imagine moving at a high velocity, soon to become impact spatter. The initial noise is then cut off by blast beats from the beast that is their drummer, Paul Mazurkie- wicz, and hard chuggingby lead guitarist Patrick O'Brien. "Vector of Cruelty" is a fan- tastic example of Cannibal Corpse's overall approach to music. While some metal bands decide to use more intricate, complex guitar solos and riffs to match grueling blast beats, Cannibal Corpse decides to go for a purely angry sound with mute-note strumming for almost the entirety of the song, with a 10 to 30 second burst of fast notes to compose "Vector of Cruelty's" solo. This way, they can much more easily focus on being angry and evil without having to worry about trying to make their music too difficult to play. "Vector of Cruelty" might be the most typical Canni- bal Corpse song on A Skeletal Domain, but "Funeral Crema- tion" is the record's best track. Mazurkiewicz flaunts his stam- ina by holding a constant blast beat on the bass drum for nearly the entire song, with slower beats on the crash and snare to offset the rapidity of the bass drum beats. "Funeral Cremation's" main falter lies in the fact that its solo is no longer than 30 seconds. Overall, Cannibal Corpse's sound would be significantly improved if the brief guitar solo was extended. This would fur- ther prove O'Brien's skills and thoughtfulness in his ability to play something other than chugging, and simultaneously give the listener a longer break to recover from Corpsegrind- er's mind-melting grunts. Many writers criticize death metal for lacking variety. To some extent, I agree: Corpseg- rinder's screams on A Skeletal Domain are highly monotonous. Consistencyin screaming might please some listeners, but it also makes the songs less interest- ing. Instead of constant soul- crushing, low pitch grunts, Corpsegrinder could expand his screaming range to higher screams so as to provide more emotional ties for listeners. Aside from the monotone screams,A SkeletalDomain eas- ily separates itself from other death-metal albums. "A Skel- etal Domain" and "Headlong into Carnage," for example, are the fourth and fifth tracks of the record, but pose a beauti- ful juxtaposition. The vocals in "Headlong into Carnage" are more distained and hateful, and express concern for the mas- sive amounts of blood and guts spurting out everywhere. Con- versely, the screams in "Skel- etal Domain" are more evil and sinful, providing imagery of people dying rather than what their remains might look like. If you haven't already impaled yourself with the larg- est knife in your kitchen before the final song of the album, then "Hollowed Bodies" is sure to be the final nail in your forehead. The song begs the listener for an answer to the question "will the truth ever be told," to which most prob- ably answer "I have no idea; that's the only vaguely audible line in the song." While this may be true, I think "Hollowed Bodies" offers far more insight than merely lyrics about dead bodies: it offers a window into the expression of a tortured being's soul. The song paints a portrait of the human condi- tion, making it so much more than the surface screams about blood and guts. At the conclusion of A Skel- etal Domain, the record still leaves many questions unan- swered for listeners; "Who were the parents who allowed 'Cannibal Corpse' to practice in their garage and/or base- ment?," "Who would pay money for this CD?" and many more. Despite the unanswered questions, this masterpiece of an album surely will go down in history as one of the more memorable death metal albums ... of this month. I'm sure the many lasting cover bands of Cannibal Corpse in the future will be inclined to add at least a few tracks from this album to their set. Los Angel Edi ACROSS 1 Expensive 5 GUM rival 10 Conference with UVAsandtUNC 13 Guthrie at Woodstock 14" Unchained": 2212 Tarantino film 15 Arctic explorer John 16 *Butcher's appliance 18 Not just some 19 Square peg, socially speaking 20 Sharp-eyed hunter 22 Timeforfools? 24 *Prankster's ballson 28 Ridethe wind 29 Lip applications 30 Perons 31 Ready tobe driven 33 "Cagney and_": '80scop show 35 Newspaperfiller 36 Fruit thatcan be the sore of the starts ofthe answers to starred clues 38"No more details, please!" 41 "Right?!" 42 Ruined, as hopes 44 Picture on a screen 47 Fastfood package deal 49 Sock part 50 *Allowance for the caetedia 52 "A Change Is Gonna Come" singer/songwriter Sam 53 Catch on the range 54 Timeto attack 56 Bass brew 57 *Monet work 63 Pewter component 64 Sings like Rudy Vallee 65 Biblical reformer 66 Hazardous curve 67 More than anpopular 998 Stadta hand 1# itl es Times Daily Crossword Puzzle ted by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis DOWN 38Formulate a 48 Manually 1 Amateur radio possible 51 Freeloader CAMPUS PARKING $70/MONTH, operator explanation 52 Put one over on near U of M bus. 734-418-2050 or 2 Fury 39 Oerly compliant 55' "Master's info@828greene.com 3 Nice duds 40 Doing nothang Voice" 4 Start the wrong 41 Cartoonist's 58 Nest egg item, way? supply forshort 5 'The Sing of 43 Called oat 59 Aaction unit _______________ Hiawatharibe 44 Behind-schedule 90 Mystery master 7 Openated i. comment 61 Piece corps, 7Yui s 45 Viagraaltemative briefly? reedamaging 46 "Full House" 62 Hoedown insecttwins participant ! NORTH CAMPUS 1-2 Bdrm. ! 10 Catherine's home AU Riverfront/Heat/Water/Parking. ! 11 "C hope to he ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: ! www.HRPAA.com ! fromyou" BRER PATSY S S T S 12 People peoyle A o N E A L 0 H A O L E O WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.- 14Dr.swithGrammys L I N N 0 R A D L A N D COM 17 Salon suspply 21 "Abot ": Hugh S K A T E G U A RD E T T A 734-332-6000 Granttflm AS C.A P E.A T M E ________ 22Omanlocale L A P A Z A N G R Y I 23Fishing spot F A Q S I C E M A N R 0 I _ .__ _ __ _. _ 25' e my O S U G E T B A C K A M P pleasure 26 Eliot Ness, e.g. W I I U 5 C R I D T Y P E 27Pre-euroIberian L A T K A A L C 0 A coin E LM ER M IR E S 29 Rodeo horse P A G E W H I T E G L O V E THESIS EDITING. LANGUAGE, 32 Comic strip cry S L O P 0 I L E D E EN organization, format. All Disciplines. 4Greekvowel P NEA734/996-0566 or writeon@iserv.net 37 Ring-tailed S P OT KN E AD N ER D scavenger,to T ODO S O R R Y D R Y S Crockett xwordeditor@aol.com 09/17/14 HELPWANTED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 11 12 16 17 18 19 20 1 AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM STAFF MEMBERS needed for local ele- 22 23 24 25 26 27 mentary school. 2:30-6:00pm 2-4 days a 28 29 1 3o week. Reliable transportation required. Email Rose rhacker@emerson-school.org 35 as a7 a39 TUTOR NEEDED for l-on-1 tutoring for math and sciences 41 4 43 call 734-434-1228 DON'T BE WEAK. 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 6a 5e4t @2 ribune Content Agency, LLC DO THE CROSSWORD, THEN ORDER ONE. 4 SUBSTITUTEAND POSSIBLE part- timeworkavailableatanAnnArborchild carecenter.Experienceinchildcareisre- qired. CoxtactNauocy at orosex- zweig(a stpuulaoourbor.org FOLLOW US @MICHIGANDAILY I A