War Ensemble

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So, I went to see Ironman last night, having heard very little of the “hype” surrounding the movie. I saw the trailers, and they got me all worked up and excited like they should, so I figured I should throw my money at them.  I sat down, expecting to see your standard comic-book-hero-turned-into-a-movie film that’s been so prevalent recently.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Ironman does feel long in parts, but I believe each part is crucial.  While it’s a plot-based action film, the level of character development is phenominal.  Very rarely do I stop at the end of the movie and say “Oh man, I can’t wait for the sequel!”  Sometimes I’ll sit there and go “That’s it?”  But not this time. The movie was complete. It told what needed to be told, and it left the door open for more, as any movie now days must do.

The special effects in Ironman were phenominal.  They do exactly what special effects are supposed to do and make the film believable. I can’t think of a single time where I saw some flashy special effect that didn’t enhance the film rather than just show off the effects workshop’s “mad skills”.

I really can’t say enough good things about Ironman. The rest of the movies that come out this summer sure have a lot to live up to.

Rating: 93%

Man, I’m off to a great start here. A day late on the review, but I had to recover. I’m just not used to standing up for that long considering I’m usually confined to an office chair in front of my computer.

Anyways, we got to the show a bit late due to rain/snow on the way to Milwaukee, but we managed to catch the last bit of Straight Line Stitch (we missed Invitro, but that was no big loss from what I’ve heard).  The lead singer (Alexis Brown) is no Angela Gossow, but she can sure growl when she needs to!. I was actually quite impressed and it takes a lot to do that to a bitter old death metal fan like me.   The sound from the band was good, and I’m actually looking forward to their new album coming out.

Next up was 36 Crazy Fists, a band I’d heard of but never really listened to.  The band hails from Alaska, and they look every bit the part with their lumberjack beards.  However, they’re really just your standard metalcore band. They’re not terrible, but what I heard wasn’t anything real special. I’m not rushing out to buy their album. However they do get mad props for hauling their own gear off stage when their set was finished!

At this point, my back was hurting pretty bad because, as I’ve mentioned, I’m used to sitting on my ass all day. I was really looking forward to Napalm Death, as I’ve been a fan for many, many years. The lights finally went out, and the crowd went a medicore version of nuts. You could tell most of the people there were young, and only interested in Devildriver. Fuck that, while I think Devildriver is quite awesome, they don’t hold a candle to the legend that is Napalm Death.

And legendary they were. Barney rocked the stage as only he can, business haircut and all, jumping around like a kid with down’s syndrome.  Man, I love brits.  They played quite a  few songs spanning their  history, and each one was perfect. I may be a bit biased, but they’re just as fucking awesome now as they were 27 years ago, if not more-so.

Napalm Death was a hard act to follow, but Devildriver did their best when the time came.  They set up extra lights on the crowd, and the mosh pit in the center really got moving. The extra lights were obnoxious, blinding me more than a few times, but that mosh pit was fucking amazing, taking up about 2/3 of the floor.  There were some cameras on stage filming both the band and the crowd, so we’ll see if I wind up on a DVD or something.  I’m doubting it, as there weren’t that many people there, and Devildriver had some pretty bad audio problems. Speakers were cutting out, and the mics were feeding back to an obnoxious level.  I think the sound guys were as tired as I was.

We bailed right as Devildriver left the stage, knowing they’d come back on to play an encore. The rain was turning into snow, and I had a 2 hour drive in front of me. The roads didn’t get really bad until I got to Neenah, at which point they were nothing but ice and slush. I’m quite glad I didn’t have to drive all the way home in that.

Overall the show was awesome. Napalm Death really made it worthwhile for me.  I’m hoping to head back down to The Rave in May to see Megadeth, In Flames, and Children of Bodom.

Edit: Added some photos I took with my iPhone on my flickr page.

Welcome to both the new and old.  It’s been nearly 7 years since War Ensemble was formed as a Counter-Strike clan, and the site has gone through many changes since then. One thing we haven’t lost focus on is our love of video games and entertainment in general.  This iteration of the site should be no different.

That said, I’ll be heading to The Rave to see Devildriver and Napalm Death tonight. I’ll make an attempt at getting some sort of review posted after the show.  I figure it’ll be a fitting beginning to the new War Ensemble!