Promote the Logic
Gunther Haagendazs | Up High in the Trees | 09/11/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Prior to the release of Dry Kill Logic's third album and after they went through two bassists before finally settling on Brendan Kane Duff (Casey Mahoney followed by Danny Horboychuck played Bass during the tour for The Dead and Dreaming), they decided to release this small EP/DVD set for the fans in order to prepare them for the new album Of Vengeance And Violence. I was excited to hear the news that Dry Kill Logic was going to be releasing now one, but two CDs and a DVD this year. Upon purchasing and listening and watching the EP/DVD set, I was surprised. The EP only features 3 songs. Nowadays most EPs have 5 songs or even 7 sometimes.
Nether the less, I waited impatiently for its release as I am a huge fan of DKL's work on The Darker Side of Nonsense, The Dead and Dreaming as well as their first two EPs from back when they were a band called Hinge. I wasn't able to find The Magellan Complex until just before the release of Of Vengence And Violence because nearby stores simply didn't carry it (Best Buy). But I was able to find a copy eventually. I bought it, went home and gave each the CD and DVD a spin.
The new songs are great. Two of them are covers while one is a Rough Mix that was later finalized and released on Of Vengeance and Violence. The two covers follow the originals by Guns N' Roses (It's So Easy) and Danzig (Dirty Black Summer) pretty closely and don't experiment too much but they are still really enjoyable songs. The Rough Mix of From Victim To Killer is awesome, just as I expected it to be.
The DVD portion of the release features 3 videos. One is called The Magellan Complex and basically features some live footage (though you don't get to hear the live audio, just some studio tracks), the band doing stupid things like lighting off fireworks, footage of the fans and Cliff introducing songs and some more stupid things. The second portion is their Music Video for the song Paper Tiger off The Dead And Dreaming. It's a good video but I personally find nothing too special about it. The Third and final portion of the DVD is something called DKL in N.O.L.A. The video is interesting because vocalist Cliff Rigano, talks for about seven minutes about what it's like to be in the band and how it can be difficult to stay together for so long, nearly 14 years. Now this is all good footage but it's not something that you will find yourself watching very frequently. I was actually expecting to see a few live songs in their entirety and able to hear the audio from the concert instead of the studio recordings played during the footage.
The Magellan Complex serves more as a small promotion item for Of Vengeance And Violence than a normal EP. It does a good job in getting the listener excited and eager for the next release, but if you are new to DKL, then avoid this and go get their full-length releases first. You simply won't feel like you got your money's worth though it is only 9 bucks at most stores. If you are a big fan of DKL such as myself, then yes track this down and enjoy it, I know I did.
I give The Magellan Complex the three star rating because while it has 3 good songs and some interesting footage, it still doesn't seem to have enough content
Helpful tip:
Upon opening it for the first time, I was angered to see the plastic pieces that hold the CD and DVD in were all broken, meaning they just slid around inside the case and got slightly scratched. If you find a copy in the store, shake it a little to make sure you can't hear anything so that it is not damaged and sliding around."
Track Listings (3) - Disc #1