Believer

The Believer, Issue 61: March / April 09 - Film Issue
$10.00
The Believer monthly books and culture magazine is three-time finalist for National Magazine Awards in General Excellence and Design. An amiable yet rigorous forum for books and book criticism, The Believer provides an alternative to the plot summary that has increasingly become synonymous with "book review," extending the ever-shortening shelf life of new books, reviving interest in books long overlooked, and stressing the interconnectivity of books to pop culture, politics, art, and music. To that end, each issue includes essays on these topics, as well as lengthy interviews with philosophers, politicians, and poets. Nick Hornby has a widely celebrated monthly books column, and Amy Sedaris (and well-known guest-columnists) offers an advice column comprised of hilariously bad advice. The celebrated graphic novelist Charles Burns illustrates the cover each month, and the magazine is littered with illustrations by a wide range of established and emerging artists, with regulars like Tony Millionaire, Marcel Dzama, and others.

Extraction from Morality
$17.95
Believer is a band based out of Pennsylvania. "Extraction from Mortality" was released in 1989 by R.E.X. Music and produced by Doug Mann. I really like how "Extraction from Mortality" has a classical introduction of symphony style music that transitions nicely into thrash. From what I'm able to read on my original cassette insert, the lyrics are Scriptural with Scripture references included. The band also takes the time to thank "the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" in the comments contained on the insert. At the time of writing this review, Believer has some of the music from this album posted on one of their two "MySpace" pages, so you can potentially sample some of it (whole songs) before you buy it.

My only disappointment lies with the state of the band, today, as they appear to be attempting to distance themselves from their Christian roots. In an interview with Believer on 105.7, "The X", (available on their "MySpace" page) the band was asked, "What do you think of having always been branded a Christian band?" They answered, "Well we laugh it off but, the key thing is, we don't call ourselves a Christian band at all--everybody else does. So it's one of those unfortunate things where people have to put everything in a box. They have to put labels on stuff. I mean, we've been labeled death metal. We've been labeled things that we don't think we are--musically or whatever--and a bunch of different styles in there... And I think, you know, as far as putting labels on things, it's--ya know, to us it's kinda lame. You start shutting doors that way. So we've never been really happy with being labeled anything. [...] Society has their idea of what a quote/unquote Christian band is and, ya know what, I don't think we can live up to those standards, personally..." I'm disappointed that they don't identify themselves with Christ.

Gabriel
$13.98
Years ago, a friend of mind and I were in a band together, and we were both getting into more and more of the esoteric, prototypical prog/jazz metal hybrid bands (Cynic, Watchtower, Atheist, Death). One day while browsing in the local record store, we found an interesting cassette by a band called Believer, and I remember playing it pretty much solid in my car for about a week. "Dimensions" was a very intelligent, experimental, creative, and uber-heavy chunk of food for thought. One of the things I have always liked about metal as a genre is the fact that it is such a fertile ground for conceptual and musical experimentation and exploration, and Believer was one of the bands at that time out on the fringe setting new standards.

Years later, with the resurgence of metal's popularity, Believer is back, and the results are as good or better than expected. Crushing, off-kilter polyrhythmic metal riffs like the bastard child of Pantera and King Crimson, some classical elements (strings, operatic vocals), eerie clips and overdubs, and interesting philosophical lyrics with vocals somewhere in between death metal growling and the "old-school" Hetfield barking style. If you are into unusual and creative metal, you should check this out.

Believers (Unrated Edition)
$12.98
First of all if you have not yet read the review titled "A Bizarre Film About a Sinister Cult", don't read it if you don't want the story spoiled for you. That being said, I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it to most viewers who like creepy stories. It does not agree with my religious beliefs, but the story is well presented with good acting and realistic sets. Having watched it twice now, the movie kept me equally on the edge of my seat for both viewings. Some may find the pacing slow, but to me that helps to build the suspense. The ending is excellent -- I've watched just the end at least 6 times. I found the ideas presented in the film to thought-provoking and in some ways in line with some things that I believe. Google "Quanta group"-- there is a web site related to the movie that makes the group appear to be real and some other sites referencing the group portrayed in the movie.