Under the Scalpel 08.20.09: Slayer, Porcupine Tree

Posted by Mark Ingoldsby on 08.20.2009

Slayer's horror show gets old, Porcupine Tree writes a 55 minute song after passing a road sign, and take a look at the scorecard of this year's best reviewed songs so far. These heavily biased reviews are brought to you by the sometimes humorous, always heartless guitarist of the hard rock band A Simple Complex.

"Under the Scalpel: Dissecting Pop Culture One Song at a Time" is a weekly column written by Mark Ingoldsby, songwriter and guitarist for the hard rock band A Simple Complex. Download three free tracks that will rock your panties off at www.asimplecomplex.com

Slayer – Psychopathy Red
Horror Show Gets Old



Tom Araya is a family man who loves his "two beautiful kids," listens to Garth Brooks and Paul Simon, and believes in a supreme being, whom he describes as an "all-loving God." He says that Christ came to teach mankind to "accept each other for who we are, live peacefully, and love one another."

Yet when he goes to work, touring the world as bass player and vocalist for the thrash-metal band Slayer, he sings about raping the dead, dismembering infants, and mastering the powers of Satan. While reciting one song's lyrics, Araya hollers that not only did Christ never exist, but if He did, he would nail Him to the crucifix personally.

Araya insists that the members of Slayer are not Satanists and do not endorse violence. They are simply "trying to create an image" and "scare people on purpose." When asked if people realized that the band was "wallowing in parody," Araya replied, "No. People thought we were serious!"

Yes. Yes, they did.

In 1995, three avid Slayer fans strangled and stabbed to death 15-year-old Elyse Pahler, later returning to rape her corpse. When one of the perpetrators later confessed to the crime, he claimed that the murder was a virgin sacrifice made to Satan, inspired by Slayer's lyrics. In Slayer's song "Necrophiliac", Araya shouts, "Virgin child now drained of life... I feel the urge, the growing need, to fuck this sinful corpse. My tasks complete, the bitch's soul lies raped in demonic lust."

When Pahler's parents sued (twice) in an attempt to make Slayer's sadistic lyrics responsible for their daughter's death, the second judge ruled, "I do not consider Slayer's music obscene, indecent or harmful to minors." Even still, one would think a tragedy like this (and its two related lawsuits) would dissuade a band from writing more songs that enthusiastically aggrandize murder and rape.

Not Slayer. "Psychopathy Red", the first single from their upcoming album, details the supposed ecstasy a psychotic killer feels while violating and slaughtering the innocent.

Body count, laid out mutilated, it's your time to die,
Desolate, lurk, kill, satisfaction, climax with your death,
All alone, my prey intimidated, feed my lust for fear,
Dehumanize, cry out, stimulated, your screams fill my soul...
Graphic dreams played out, fucking sick, can't control the urge...
Violate, force down, penetrate, eyes reflecting horror.

This graphic depiction of a molestation and homicide as seen through the eyes of the blissfully insane blurs the line between dark art and nauseating sensationalism.

One could simply take the point of view that this song explores and tries to understand the mind of the sick, and therefore contains literary and artistic value like the film The Silence Of The Lambs.

I feel, however, that "Psychopathy Red" aims only for shock-value. I believe the band is intentionally feeding into the fascination with the morbid that, in the opinion of some, many teenaged and 20-something males innately possess. I found no soul-searching or deep meaning in the lyrics to this song, just over-the-top horror and gore.

Personally, I appreciate the art of bands like Tool or Katatonia who write dark poetry to convey the harsh realities of human existence in the way a film such as Schindler's List does. Slayer's lyrics, however, are the Night Of The Living Dead of the music world – a disgusting bloodbath intended to make normal people squirm and to allow the macho-yet-immature boast about how mutilation of the innocent is "cool" and "awesome," simply to enjoy the shocked looks they think they will get in return.

"Psychopathy Red" isn't only juvenile in its lyrical content. Slayer still writes songs like it was 1983. The song's tempo is a blistering 200 beats-per-minute, just like 99 percent of their previous material. The guitar tracks feature the band's outdated style of endless, mindless tremolo picking. Guitarist Kerry King relentlessly hammers away at his open sixth string, tossing in notes from the octave above to achieve the same old timeworn sound they forged decades ago. And Araya still doesn't "sing," he shouts like a raging drunk who's just been told that his car keys were accidentally flushed down the commode.

The band's formula has barely changed in more than 25 years: Play as fast as you can and shout about killing and screwing everything that walks on two legs, usually to satisfy the Devil. While I acknowledge that Slayer is full of talented musicians, this song, like many of their others, is repulsive, irresponsible and outdated.

Rating: * (1 out of 5)
If You Like: Exodus (1985-1987), Metallica (1983), Overkill (1985), Sepultura (1989-1991)

Porcupine Tree – Time Flies
A Chip Off The New Block



In the 1970s, several progressive rock bands wrote songs that filled (or almost filled) an entire album side. These epic works would often exceed 20 minutes and were sometimes broken into separate movements like a symphony.

Over the last two decades, Porcupine Tree has been carrying the "prog rock" torch. The band has amassed a collection of songs that easily surpass the 10-minute mark. It seems that this year, however, they've decided not only to keep the torch lit – they're covering it in napalm.

The band's latest radio single, "Time Flies," is a 5-minute edit of an 11-minute segment of a 14-part song called "The Incident" that clocks in at 55 minutes. It was inspired by a road sign frontman Steve Wilson spotted while driving past a car accident on the highway.

"There was a sign saying ‘Police – Incident' and everyone was slowing down to rubber neck to see what had happened," Wilson explained. "Afterwards, it struck me that ‘incident' is a very detached word for something so destructive and traumatic for the people involved... The irony of such a cold expression for such seismic events appealed to me."

"And then," he continued, "I had the sensation that the spirit of someone that had died in the accident entered into my car and was sitting next to me."

Whoa. Uh, paging Cole Sear.

Wilson describes "Time Flies" as the "optimistic" "centerpiece" of an otherwise "dark" and "grim" (and LONG) song. Its lyrics are nostalgic and picturesque as they detail the carefree bliss of the protagonist's childhood, focusing largely on advice given him by an unspecified female from his past.

"She said nothing ever happens if you don't make it happen,
And if you can't laugh and smile,
But after a while you realize time flies,
And the best thing that you can do is take whatever comes to you,
[Because] time flies,
And laughing in the summer showers, that's still the way I see you now."

Wilson explained, "When we're young, days and years and months seem to go on forever… My life since my twenties seems to have passed ‘like that' (snaps)... So, there is this sense that as you get older time starts to speed up, which of course is an illusion."

Musically, the song is very similar to Opeth's folksy "Harvest" with its dominating acoustic guitar strummed heavily over waltzy 3/4 percussion. It also brings to mind late-1980s Yes ("Final Eyes," "Holy Lamb") and early-1990s Rush ("Nobody's Hero").

The more I listened to the song, the more I started to like it – and the more curious I've become to hear the 55-minute song from which it was extracted.

I do have one concern however. While not a complete departure from the band's established sound, "Time Flies" is more mainstream than most of the band's previous material. I fear that if this song does well on radio, the band could end up taking the Extreme or Plain White T's path to mega-stardom. I will be very disappointed if, in a few years, Porcupine Tree starts releasing songs like "More Than Words" and "Hey There Delilah."

So although I will be keeping my fingers crossed that the band dynamic is unaffected by any mainstream success this song may generate, I do recommend it. This song will appeal to both the connoisseur of fine progressive rock and to those who simply enjoy a good sentimental acoustic jam.

Rating: **** (4 out of 5)
If You Like: Opeth (folksy stuff only), Rush (1987-1996), Yes (1983-1990)

2009 Scorecard Update - This Year's Best Songs So Far

5 star reviews:

10 Years – Actions And Motives
Atmosphere – Your Glass House
Depeche Mode - Peace
Depeche Mode – Wrong
Eminem – 3am
Eminem - Insane
Eminem - The Warning
One Day As A Lion – One Day As A Lion
Tech N9ne featuring Chino XL & Crooked I – Sickology 101
The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Everything With You
Weird Al - CNR
Weird Al - Craigslist

4 star reviews:

Anouk – If I Go
Anouk – Modern World
Atlas Plug – 2 Days Or Die
Bell X1 - The Ribs Of A Broken Umbrella
Blue October – Dirt Room
Brad Paisley – Then
Cage The Elephant – Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
Crooked X – Adrenaline
Earshot – Missunderstood
Five Finger Death Punch – Stranger Than Fiction
Halestorm – I Get Off
K'Naan – Wavin' Flag
Lamb Of God – Set To Fail
Madcon – Beggin
Mike Jones featuring Nae Nae – Next To You
Moby – Pale Horses
NASA – The People Tree
Nine Inch Nails – Not So Pretty Now
Pink – Sober
Prince – Crimson And Clover
Slipknot – Sulfur
That 1 Guy – Mash
Veer Union – Seasons