Destination Time Tomorrow (Level Plane, 2007) has the most interesting, disgusting album packaging I’ve ever seen. Sure, CD’s have come with fragrances, feces, and even friggin’ rocks and dirt. But none compare to the Aliens-inspired brilliance of DTT. First, no jewel case. The CD resides in a transparent metallic static shield bag, the kind that holds sensitive electronic equipment.
A Shocking InterrogationCorpserate Greed
Cut it open, and the CD sits, not in a tray, but in the horrifying grasp of a model facehugger. A facehugger, to refresh your memory, is the baby lifeform in Aliens that’s basically a combination of vagina and spider crab (every time I look at this CD, I shudder a little). The 10″ for this album has similarly-themed “chestburster” packaging, complete with 3-D alien popping out of the sleeve. For pictures, see Graf Orlock’s MySpace.
Killwhitneydead probably preceded Graf Orlock in so-called “cinema-core,” i.e., metal riddled with movie samples. But while KWD’s lyrics (and choice of quotes) slant towards emo, Graf Orlock use only action and sci-fi movies. This album has soundbites from Aliens, Lethal Weapon, True Lies, Bad Boys II, Alien: Resurrection, Demolition Man, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park. Each song samples only one movie, and centers its lyrics around the clips.
Thus, there’s some cheese factor, in a good way. Who else could write a song about John Connor’s foster parents (“Todd and Janelle”)? But like these movies, the songs have political commentary. Amid samples from True Lies, “A Misappropriation of Sector Resources” says, “You have killed our women and children / Bombed our cities from afar like cowards / And you dare to call us terrorists?”
Despite the cinematic focus, the music stands on its own. It’s vein-popping, blastbeat-clattering grindcore with touches of melody and Southern swing. The recording is strong and natural-sounding. DTT’s eight tracks add up to only 16 minutes, but they say more than records three times as long. From music to lyrics to samples to packaging, this is a work of incredible cohesion.
Destination Time Tomorrow is available from Graf Orlock’s MySpace.
This is one undeniably great little CD. When I first got it, I couldn’t believe my eyes…incredible packaging. Though it requires a bit of work taking the CD in and out.
>Each song samples only one movie, and centers its lyrics around the clips.
Oh boy, the new Mortician!
Heh, this is a bit more sophisticated, I think.
Man, thanks for shining light on this. It actually reminds me of old screamo/emo violence, like Pg. 99 sort of stuff. That last track where they play along to the Jurassic Park theme is so cool.
And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with Mortician
Just out of curiosity, how much do you think it costs to do custom cd packaging like that? In this case, I guess the extra expense was worth it for the coolness factor.
I don’t know, Mr. Bonzai. I bet it’s expensive. Surely no major label would shell out for such packaging. Knowing the band’s proclivities, they probably approached the release as an “art project.”