» 2026-03-13

Denzel Curry - Strictly 4 The Scythe

I didn't learn about this project until very close to the release date, so I didn't have a lot of time to build anticipation for it. I'm a die-hard fan of Denzel Curry; if he puts something out, I will listen to it.

Unfortunately, this is the first of Curry's releases that I'm just not feeling. The King of the Mischievous South took a little bit of time to grow on me, but I don't get nearly the same feeling from Strictly 4 the Scythe.

There are some good beats and I like a lot of pieces of individual tracks, but there's no big banger and Curry really outshines everyone. There's nothing terrible on this album, and it's absolutely worth checking out, but given the lineup, I did expect more memorable bars.

I'll be giving this a few more listens, but there is a very good chance this ends up being the first Denzel Curry record that doesn't make its way onto my Albums of the Year list. Now, if we could get an EP of material in the vein of his collaboration with Knocked Loose ("Hive Mind"), that would be killer.

» 2026-03-11

Why - WHY Does This Exist?

The continued existence of Six Feet Under as a recording band baffles me. People paid actual money to book studio time and a professional engineer to record, mix and master this stuff. Barnes can barely do C-tier death growls and when he tries to scream, his voice cracks like a teen mid-puberty.

This new song, from their forthcoming album is so bad. I need to know there's something going on here, like a tax scam — something of that nature. There's no way a major metal label hears this song and says "yeah, let's press a bunch of copies of this!"

I could make a really easy joke about how they called this track "Unmistakable Smell of Death" because it stinks, and that would still require more effort than the song exudes.

» 2026-03-07

The Wayne Static Graverobbing Continues

I truly thought that the well of unreleased Static-X material had finally been exhausted with the release of Project Renegeration: Volume 2. I actually liked the album, but it felt very evident that every scrap of leftover material had been polished and stitched together.

Or so I thought, as apparently Matt Zane has opted to pursue an unauthorized biography project on late frontman Wayne Static's final days. The documentary has drawn largely negative reaction, and has been disavowed by members of Static's family.

For anyone else who thought that Static's former bandmates dressing another guy up in a robotic zombie Wayne Static costume was the lower bound for shamelessness, we may have spoken too soon. And, yes, it does give me a little pause that the family is fine with this spectacle, but I do concede that "Xer0" at least has a façade of artistry that mining the last days of a tragic death does not.

I have no idea who this documentary is even for. The implosion of Static-X and Wayne's subsequent downward spiral was quite well documented in the media; what purpose does dredging all this up serve? You can use the man as a cautionary tale about the dangers of drugs without deliving into the depressing minutia of his passing.

On top of it, there's talk of even more unreleased material surfacing. At this rate, I'm expecting someone to dig up the body and auction off the fillings in his teeth.

Arnold Strongman Classic 2026

I wasn't able to watch this year's competition in real-time, as the Friday broadcast began right in the middle of my workday. Thankfully the Arnold organizers have always had a good quality stream that is immediately archived to YouTube. I'm not much of a brand cheerleader, but the money and attention Rogue have put into strongman events has done wonders for making competitions easier to follow and enjoy.

This is my favourite of the major strongman shows, although the line-up lost a lot of starpower this year. Even with last-minute replacements, the roster only had 9 athletes on the men's side. The loss of Tom Stoltman and Hafthor Bjornsson all but removed any serious competition for the three-time defending champion Mitchell Hooper.

The women's division continues to show a lot of growth. The rate at which deadlift records keep getting broken is a really good sign for the future. It's been fun watching long-time competitors like Olga Liaschuk, Hanah Linzay and Inez Carrasquillo continue to improve while newcomers like Lucy Underdown and Jessica Lyle continue to get better and better.

Event Notes

Mitchell Hooper's overall dominance was not surprising. He's tough to like but impossible to deny. It's really too bad he and Hafthor won't have one of those classic rivalries like Brian Shaw and Big Z, or Eddie Hall and Hafthor.

Lucas Hatton getting zero points in the Stone To Shoulder event wasn't something I saw coming. He was also massively disadvantaged in the Stone Drag, exhausting himself just getting the Dinnie stones onto the sled.

I also figured that Trey Mitchell would do a lot better this year, since the Frame Carry event — which seems to be an automatic zero, due to some kind of grip issue — wasn't in play. Unfortunately, the Elephant Bar Deadlift and Stone Drag events went terribly for him.

Martins Licis was nowhere near his former glory, but had some moments that showed he's also not completely washed either. His performance in the Stone To Shoulder event was reminiscent of his Arnold 2022 win, and he was one of only two athletes to complete the Stone Drag. He finished much better than he started.

The women's division was extremely competitive right up to the end, with Olga Liaschuk finally winning the contest after multiple second place finishes.

Overall, I felt the everything was still very fun to watch, even if the men's side was closer to a Giants Live lineup as opposed to one of the 3 major strongman shows of the year. The events were a fun mix and the pacing of the broadcast was excellent. I'm already looking forward to next year's installment.

» 2026-02-28

Rob Zombie - The Great Satan

I don't remember exactly which album made me give up on new Rob Zombie material, but I am certain it was released well over a decade ago. I probably would have passed on this one too, but Spotify kept hounding me about it and curiosity got the better of me. (We're also very early in the year, when the release schedule is a lot lighter.)

The first track sounds like a Dope song (derogatory) with better production — which I guess is just a modern Static-X song, but I disgress... The vocal processing effects are layered on thick, which isn't new but it makes Rob's vocals sound really generic. The same goes for the guitars and production; a lot of the instrumentals could have been lifted from any number of late 90s nu metal records.

I wasn't expecting a lot of progression from a guy who established his — admittedly very compelling — formula back in the early 90s. As much as I enjoyed Hellbilly Deluxe, The Sinister Urge and even Educated Horses, these were all very similar albums. A lot of 4-on-the-floor drums with Rob belting out seemingly random words in that very particularly cadence of his, interspersed with enough "yeah"s to make James Hetfield blush.

The only real change I've noticed over the years — aside from the ever-diminishing quality of Rob's vocals — is the material had become more of a 50/50 mix of sleazy rock and B-movie horror. Because of Rob's ... distinctive lyrical style, I honestly can't tell if these lyrics to "(I'm A) Rock N Roller" are in any way serious, or just a combination of syllables to fit neatly onto the grid in Pro Tools:

Whip it on out like telegram Sam
Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them, man?
Electric warrior, electric war
Double-o seven eatin' Pussy Galore, yeah

I don't want to belabour the point, since Rob's lyrics have always been vaguely coherent, but they were also slotted into much better songs. The problem with these seemingly place-holder lyrics is that pairing them with a collection of indistinguishable instrumentals just makes the whole thing feel like a band going through the motions. These are the same kinds of songs you've heard before, but with less fire behind them. It's a little weird that the more stripped down Rob's material has become, the more it leans on studio magic.

Sorry, I know I said I was done harping on the lyrics but then I got to the part of my notes about the track "Sir Lord Acid Wolfman." This thing is an abomination; I genuinely don't know what the fuck is going on here, but it's exceptionally bad. So bad, in fact, that I wonder if Rob was channeling Corey Feldman's avant garde stylings on "We Wanted Change" and / or just exploring the lower threshold of what people will tolerate.

There are a few fun moments on this record, but none of these songs stack up to Rob's better known work. I'm not sure I can say Rob is uninspired here; he seems to have a lot of ideas, but vanishingly few good ones these days.