By: Jude F. - MSTv: Korea

ALIENS, PUNK-ROCK, KOREA, TRUMP!
These are certainly things you wouldn’t imagine being in the same heading together however Digou makes it so. Make your way to the Far East to feast your eyes on a one of a kind experience that you won’t see anywhere else. The only way to understand it is to experience it for yourself.

By: Jude Falcon - MSTv Korea EIC

Get ready for a gut punch in the throat and a thrill ride of "in-your-face BAD ASS" hard southern rock music! If you like thunderous drums, thumping bass, ripping guitar solos and sick-ass vocal harmonies, Scattered Hamlet are the band for you. If those attributes are not your cup of tea, you probably won’t make through the first song.

Start up with the song “Battle Hymn;” which bursts open with a drum beat, then just escalates from the opening into pure metal magic. Second song “Whip Poor Will” rockets into the stratosphere with a pulsing fury and touts the best guitar solo on the album; right before a tasty-as-hell breakdown.

The other song that got my attention was the title track “Swamp Rebel Machine,” which opens up with a Legend of Wooley Swamp feel to it, while offering a welcomed but not necessary tempo change to really set the groove and tone of what these guys seem to be about.

Group vocals remind me of Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot) and White Zombie mixed with the drumming of Bonham (Led Zeppelin), coupled with the guitar licks of Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) and the bass thuds of Joe Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult).

Producer, Jason Donaghy has crafted a great overall album with a great sound mix and deep grunting edge. Donaghy, known for producing Rob Zombie and John 5, holds production credits to include Pantera, Slayer and White Zombie.

Scattered Hamlet definitely are no slouches in the metal and rock department.  The sounds they put out on this LP evoke feelings of buzz cutting your hair with a flame thrower while snorting a line. The style is new, edgy and reminds me of the first time I heard Mountain through my dad’s stereo.

And while their tunes have way less pop than Black Stone Cherry, Scattered Hamlet are harder than anything Lynrd Skynyrd or The Kentucky Headhunters ever put out.

So pull up the truck, drop the tailgate, get a fire going with a jar of Uncle Jim’s shine and crank it to 11. Scattered Hamlet will sound right at home, I promise.

By: Jude Falcon - MSTv Korea EIC
 
If you are among the Metallica haters and are looking for another review taking a shit upon the thrash metal masters, this is not it.  If so, get lost and read someone else’s review of resentment.

Becoming a Metallica fan in 1993, after a few high school-ers were rockin’ out to them in our school band room, I have never been a hater of anything they put out. Disappointed yes, but never a hater.

It has been eight very long years since we have heard any new music from The Four Horsemen and I’m here to tell you it was well worth the wait. If you have been following them, then you know that the guys have been busy with their “Through The Never” movie as well as starting up their “Orion” music festival. So it would seem that Metallica have been doing everything but recording an album. That is, until now..

With that being said, their new offering, "Hardwired.. To Self Destruct" is now available to the public.

Although this is their tenth album, I find that Metallica has gotten in touch with an original sound, which is something that many purists feel has been lacking since the release of "The Black Album" in 1991. "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct" is quite possibly the most versatile album they've ever put out mixing thrash, melo-death and classic metal to make an ambiguous brew that is guaranteed to please the most discerning of fans.

James Hetfield’s vocal performance may be at the most superlative level I have ever heard it. Kirk Hammet is an absolute monster with the tastiest riffs, while Robert Trujillo sets some truly awe-inspiring and thunderous grooves. Lars is on fire with bad ass fills while even throwing some double kick in there for good measure.

On the whole, we are left with almost eighty minutes of FIST PUMPING, BAD ASS METAL, comprised of speed, power and precision from the elder statesmen of metal. While the mix of the album is marvelous and crystal clear; it sounds crisp and punchy with razor sharp guitar tones, thick-aggressive low end bass, and a killer drum sound with snappy snare notes, a fat bass drum and bright cymbals.

Disc One:

“Hard Wired : The title-track chugs into oblivion on the low E string and it is a furious attack of nonstop shredding guitar riffs and pulsing drum beats that doesn’t let up for a second.
“Atlas Rise”: is a bit slower paced which sets the tone for most of the remainder of the first disc.

“Now That We’re Dead”: is reminiscent of an 80’s throwback rocker with great vocal hooks that have you sold at the pre-chorus and its chugging guitars. It also has a breakdown starting around 4:00 with an epic build back into the chorus at 5:50 that is sure to catch the attention of many.

“Moth Into Flame”: This may be one of my favorite songs on the disc because it has a fantastic hook coupled with a perfect head bangin’ rhythm. It also has a sweet-ass breakdown at around 4:15 after a blazing solo that I’m in love with.

“Dream No More”: This one has the absolute best groove on the entire album, that only gets heavier on the chorus. It’s also an adept set-up for the final song on disc one…

“Halo On Fire”: It is definitely a closer or middle of the record song in this case and is along the lines of “The Unforgiven” or “The Day That Never Comes”, as it is on the softer side of the previous five songs. It has climactic guitar solos and the best bass tone on the entire album which finally places a spotlight on Trujillo to give us a prime example of what we have come to expect on our Metallica albums.

Disc Two:

“Confusion”: Not the strongest song on the album because it just sounds like the same old Metallica, which is not the worst thing in the world. However, it loses the originality that you find on the first disc. It does have some cool riffs so it’s not a total loss, so don’t lose hope friends…it does get better.

“Man UNkind”: Doesn’t really possess any more flavor than track one did for me.

“Here Comes Revenge”: Now things begins to get good again. It’s got a similar rhythm to “Moth Into Flame”, so it is a welcomed change of pace from what we heard previously. Sweet riffs of thrash coupled with a melodic chorus.

“Am I Savage”:  I’m sorry to report but sadly, it isn’t as good as the other songs on the disc, but they all can’t be number one singles right?

“Murder One”:  Guess what, they are back! It’s a tribute to Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead which is apparent from the lyric “Aces high”. The vocals on this one may also be the best on the entire album. A fresh track with melodic exultation and somber lows set the stage precisely for the last track. The payoff is…

“Spit Out The Bone”: You had better strap in because it will be a wild ride. An absolutely incredible way to finish an album with it returning to the roots of the opening thrash explosion of “Hardwired”. It’s made even more memorable because of the rarity of songs like this on the album. This song is a marvelous closer and is utterly astonishing. The album ends on an exhilarating note and leaves listeners satisfied.

"Hardwired-TSD" isn’t a perfect album, but it only has a few faults which is why I feel it will not be forgotten quickly and will wet the palette for The Metal Militia to relish Blitzer’s next Ecstasy of Gold.

By: Jude Falcon - EIC MSTv Korea

I'm a Louisiana boy, through and through.  But, I've been living in the Southern Korean peninsula for several years now and never cease to be amazed by the differences/similarities in our lifestyles.

Take Halloween, for example..

I love celebrating this "one last blast" of naughty fun, before the family friendly holiday season, steamrolls in!  In ole Baton Rouge,  I was used to haunted houses (like the 13th Gate), haunted corn mazes, awesome parties and Halloween concerts.  But here in Daejeon, S Korea, most everything is up for grabs -- but, you can cross the spooky houses off that list.  Damn!!!

Koreans don't typically ever dress up for Halloween. It isn't really something they're into, or taught unless they attended an American style public school when they were kids.  However, this year was the largest amount of Koreans that I'd ever seen dressed up!  Thank you, globalization!

"Trick or Treating" exists on some college campuses, but its generally put on by university professors and colleges for their kids to take part in.  However, these are still just small pockets, not wide spread just yet.

I can say that the spooky fun interest is growing; however I highly doubt it'll ever catch on like it has in the U.S.


The parties of colorful costumed people litter the streets, going from this bar to that party.  Yet, the familiar wailing sounds of a large, metropolis haunted house is very absence - and very missed.  But, we do party and rock out to great bands; as part of the overall celebration.  All in all, it is lots of fun.

So, just what is Halloween in South Korea??  Simply put: its a big costume party without the real frights.

And for a Halloween loving Louisianan in the far East, its just something more to tug at the homesick strings.

By: Jude Falcon - MSTv Korea

The Past, Present, and Future of Craft Beer in
South Korea
The Dark Days……….

We that have been in Korea for some time know all too well the terrible beer options, made available to us, prior to Craft Beer being mostly accepted by everyone today. We’ve had beer in Korea, however the main corporation known as Hite opened its doors in 1933; with Oriental Brewery (OB) entering the market in 1952. These two companies would tower over the beer market, and remain there thanks to government restrictions on licenses -- based on brewing capacity and taxes that favored large-scale production.

Cass, created by Jinro-Coors, was established in 1994, only to be absorbed into OB shortly after in 1999. To this very day, Hite (who merged with Jinro in 2006) and Oriental Brewery continue to dominate the beer industry in Korea. All hope wasn’t lost, because slow trickles of new craft beers were making their appearance in certain local shops by 2002, with Korea planning for the World Cup. This allowed for the domestic liquor tax to be amended and the government began administering licenses to micro breweries; however production capacity was limited because the “Brew-pubs” could only brew beer in the bars they were served in.

Baby Steps………….

In 2006, a wonderful beer known as Alley Kat was imported from Canada, with the help of a local brewing company called Ka Brew that began their brewery in 2000. It was a huge hit among locals; however due to legal restrictions, it was still easier to import beer from halfway around the world, then selling and making it in your own bar.

In 2011, manufacturing laws lowered to allow breweries to manufacture a post fermentation requirement of 150,000 liters; as well as a new law allowing beer made in one brewery to be sold at another (Contract brewing). Craftworks were the first business to partner with KaBrew and soon after other breweries like Magpie got on board as well in 2012.

The Beer Explosion of 2014…………….

The beer revolution was in full swing,  when manufacturing requirements were lowered to 50,000 liters and taxes were slightly reduced. Breweries began to pop up more frequently due to the reinvigorated passion that breweries had to make Craft Beer work in South Korea. Some of the leaders were Hand & Malt and The Galmaegi brewing company and the two began really making things interesting by 2013. Not only are brewers working for a better, brighter future of beer but pubs and tap houses are making use of the contract brew system. This is extremely helpful since some of these businesses still don’t possess the resources to undertake this task themselves. 7brau and KaBrew are the two spearheads in the contract brewing market here on the peninsula at the moment.

The Future of Beer, 2016 and Beyond……

This last weekend we were at a beer festival in Gonju with seven different breweries offering over fifty different kinds of Craft Beer ranging from Vanilla Stouts, Pumpkin Ales, and an Apple Waffle Beer. I.P.A.’s, Ambers, Lagers, and Porters were also available at the ready which shows that Korea is definitely getting their game together and the lessened restrictions on the brewing laws are allowing the breweries to be more adventurous and creative with the types of beer they are making. This year has had 5 beer festivals so far and a sixth one is due to take place in Daejeon to showcase over eighteen different breweries with the largest craft beer variety we have seen to date. This trend has no signs of slowing down and we feel that there will be even more chances to wet your whistle with the elixir in 2017. If you happen to be in the neighborhood on October 15th 2016 come and get your Funk and Beer drinkin’ on. We as The Bump City Band have been lucky enough to experience these festivals over the past two years while being excited to see them progress over time we can’t wait to see what the future holds in 2017.T.B.C.B.

https://www.10mag.com/the-evolution-of-craft-beer-in-korea/
https://craftbeerasia.com/korea/beerinsouthkorea/

By: Jude Falcon - MSTv Korea

The Bump City band is back from our short break and will be hitting the road down to Gongju to play their Baekjae Cultural Festival(백제문화제) which lasts two full weeks beginning September 24th and ending October 2nd.

We’ll be headlining this weekend September 24th and 25th.  This is the 62nd annual celebration of the festival which is held to commemorate the three loyal subjects of the Baekje era, namely Seongchung, Heungsu, and Gyebaek through a Samchungje rite.

The festival is a tribute to the Baekje Dynasty, which occupied the region for nearly 700 years and engaged in active exchanges with China and Japan. Marking its 60th anniversary this 2014, the Baekje Cultural Festival will be held under the theme of “Baekje! Meets the World” and offer about 70 diverse programs embodying Baekje’s great culture.

The entire site was an accidental discovery while digging a water mane in 1971 and has unlocked an entire world of mysteries including royal tombs, golden artifacts and a fortress wall that spans 2, 660m long and 210,000㎡ wide which is named the Gongsanseong Fortress. It’s a beautiful place as well as a Unesco world heritage site. 

We hope to see you all there! Want more information?  Click the links below!

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=1057670
https://www.facebook.com/BumpCityDaejeon/

By: Jude Falcon - MSTv Korea contributor

While traveling and enjoying Korean bar-life, you find that all bars and local night establishments are filled to the brim with things you have seen everywhere else like Jack Daniels and Jagermeister.

However, you may spy a little green bottle with Korean writing on it and you may ask, "what is that?"  Well, it's called Soju, my friends or 소주 for the Hangil inclined (Korean Language).

Soju is a spirit primarily made from rice, barley, potatoes or tapioca and has an average alcohol content of 20% ABV however there are some brands of Andong Soju that are upward of 45% ABV.

None the less, either brand you choose will get the job done. Soju has a taste very similar to vodka but it is slightly sweeter and easier to consume by itself.

Now we get to the matter of cost and availability; however rest assured the answer will be quite positive. Soju is available all over South Korea from the local convenience store for 1,000 Won = roughly $1 or in a restaurant for 3,000 Won =$3.   So these adult treats certainly won't set you back any considerable amount.

It also mixes quite well with beer, cider, and energy drinks. Also, Soju has been around since the 13th century and remains quite popular; so have no worries that its going anywhere anytime soon.

So when you get the chance come on down to the Republic of South Korea and seek out this green bottle for a shot of deliciousness.