Post-punk laptop raper MC Lars has been very busy as of late.  After establishing Horris Records, releasing his latest album “Lars Attacks,” being on Warped Tour this past summer and now on a non-stop tour with fellow Nerdcore artist MC Chris through the end of October he is shows no signs of stopping.  Flash Flood Media was able to catch up with MC Lars after his show at the famous Troubadour in Los Angeles.

Lars has also been taking donations for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) on tour.   For more information and to donate visit http://afsp.org

The Grove in Anaheim fell under the spell of the Ultra-Heavy Beat this past weekend as KMFDM brought their tour to Orange County along with 16 Volt and Army of the Universe.

16 Volt were the first to take the stage on this night. They had a pretty significant amount of fans anticipating their performance. The band had a very hard/heavy guitar driven set of Industrial and Metal. It was a very solid and entertaining set from the group given their circumstances. Unfortunately the band had technical difficulties through their set, which really put a damper on their performance. You could sense the frustration on lead singer Eric Powell’s face. Throughout the set, the audience remained supportive and they were still entertained.

After 16 Volt, it was time for Army of the Universe to take the stage. The Milan, Italy based group had a more electronic offering for the audience. You could really cense the influences of bands like Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Sisters of Mercy and Julien-K. Their set felt kind of stagnant with the concentration on electronic loops. Even their cover of Bjork’s “Army of Me” fell kind of flat. It should be noted that when covering an artist like Bjork it is difficult to make her songs your own. Maybe in a smaller venue or club their performance would have a better feel to it.

Next it was time for KMFDM to assault the masses with, as they call it, the Ultra-Heavy Beat. “Heavy” would be the key word for this performance. With the band concentrating on their heavier songs (with the exception being “Megalomaniac”) and newer material putting members of the crowd into a headbanging and, at times, a moshing frenzy. The biggest reactions came when they played their classic “A Drug Against War” and “WWIII.”  There were also favorites such as “Hau Ruck” and “Attak/Reload” thrown in for good measure. Vocal duties were split between band founder Sascha Konietzko and keyboardist/vocalist Lucia Cifarelli switching off on songs. With the band playing a near 2 hour set, these German veterans are showing no signs of slowing down.

KMFDM will be touring the US and Canada through the end of August. Their latest CD “WTF?!” is also available now both in stores and online.-

Fans looking for their Birthday Massacre fix can find it in the new EP titled Imaginary Monsters.  With 3 new songs, 5 remixes and the music video for In the Dark, there is plenty for the Birthday Massacre to be satisfied with until the next full album.

The 3 new tracks are titled Forever, Burn Away, and Left Behind. The three tracks were not competed in time to be included on Pins and Needles, but don’t expect them to just be throw away tracks.They all have the dark/heavy/melodic vibe found on their critically acclaimed previous work. The band has always been able to keep that perfect balance of heavy and melodic, as well as keeping the listener immersed in a twisted world of dark fantasies and fairy tales. While Pins and Needles was a great album with all the right elements, these tracks really compliment it. In a way, they also give a sense of completion.

Some well known names in the world of Industrial music have contributed to the 5 remixes included on the Imaginary Monsters. Kevvy Mental and Dave Ogilvie (who also helped produce Walking With Strangers) of the band Jakalope give a more electronic twist on the song Pale. Following that is tweaker’s remix of Control that is indeed that, tweaked, with most of the guitars replaced with synth. SKOLD offers up a slowed down mix of Pins and Needles while Combichrist and Assemblage 23 offer their takes on Shallow Grave. While both mixes are catchy and easy to dance to (if that’s your thing), Assemblage 23’s mix really feels like an electronic heavy re-imagining where Combichrist’s mix takes what is there and adds a few things.

As mentioned before, there is plenty to keep Birthday Massacre fans satisfied until the next album is released. Be sure to catch The Birthday Massacre on tour with Dir En Grey in December and hopefully a headlining tour of their own will follow soon after that.

During Comic-Con weekend, Francis and I were able to talk to the voice over actors and creator of Adventure Time!

Check out our interviews with Hynden Walch who plays the Bubblegum Princess, Olivia Olson who plays Marceline the Vampire Queen and of course, Jeremy Shada, the voice of Finn the Human! These videos were originally posted on ShotGaming.com, but we are sharing with you.

And here is our interview with Pendelton Ward, the creator of the show

During Comic Con 2011 Flash Flood Media was able to conduct a one on one interview with author and creator Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) to discuss his part in the upcoming Vampires vs. Zombies episode of Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV.  Niles also discussed some upcoming projects.  Deadliest Warrior can be seen Wednesdays at 10/9 Central on Spike TV.

During Comic Con 2011 Flash Flood Media took part in a press round table with author Max Brooks (The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z) to discuss his part in the upcoming Vampires vs. Zombies episode of Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV.  Brooks also talked a bit about the upcoming film adaptation of World War Z.  Deadliest Warrior can be seen Wednesdays at 10/9 Central on Spike TV.

Saturday at Comic-Con 2011, MONOPOLY® unveiled their new Futurama Collector’s Edition game. Fans of the hit animated series got sneek peek of the game at Fox’s booth.

This marks the first time that Monopoly gets the Futurama treatment, thrusting the classic board game into the 31st century.

Game Description: Oh. Your. God! America’s most popular board game is getting a 31st century spin! In New New York, you’ll use your millions to buy, sell, and trade properties from the animated series. From Mom’s Friendly Robot Company to Planet Express Headquarters, you can also build Resi-domes and People Hives as you battle for control of the galaxy.

MONOPOLY®: Futurama Collector’s Edition will be available this fall.

Weeds returned last night with the season 7 premiere and I am intrigued to see where this season will go. When we last saw the beloved Botwin family, they were on the run from Mexican crime boss and political figure Esteban Reyes who is Nancy’s latest husband. Esteban was out for blood when the Botwins fled with their newborn son following the murder of Pilar, Esteban’s political advisor. Nancy ends up sending the rest of the family to Sweeden while she turns herself in for the murder she didn’t commit in an effort to cheat death. 3 years have now passed and Nancy is released from prison and sent to a halfway house in New York. When the rest of the family catches wind of this, they begin to plan their return to the states to be with her. Her 3 year old son is living in San Francisco with Nancy’s sister and refers to her as “Aunt Nancy” instead of “Mommy”.

Over the years, Nancy has become the character on the show that I love to hate. While the show circles around her and her numerous bad run ins while pursing the drug dealing trade, it’s the other characters that I have come to love and respect. Nancy sends them all through hell in every season, single handedly destroying every dream they have, while remaining rather oblivious to this fact. Yet they continually stand by her side through the bad and the worse

In the new season we find out that Esteban has been found dead in a prison yard, so we nolonger have to worry about him meddling with Nancy’s business, even though I think writing him off the show like that was a cop out. He deserved a much better death than that after everything that happened. Now it seems that Nancy is moving on from strictly dealing pot and getting into the illegal weapons business since her prison mate, and lesbian lover, gave her a key unlocking a trunk full of grenades and other weaponry. This strikes me as very hypocritical, seeing as weapons dealing is one of the things that outraged her about Guillermo and the tunnel to Mexico that she informed the DEA about. However, Nancy is well known for being a hypocrite so maybe she’s once again throwing morals out the window for the sake of a dollar.

Nancy and her cell mate

I just heard that Michelle Trachtenberg will be joining the cast this season as Nancy’s rival New York drug dealer. No, I don’t watch Gossip Girl but I loved her as the angsty little sister in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What do you think of the season premiere? Where do you think this season will take the Botwins?

Photo by Gene Page & Greg Nicotero © TWD Productions LLC. All rights reserved

AMC released today a ‘first look’ photo from season two of its critically acclaimed original drama, “The Walking Dead,” currently in production in the greater Atlanta area. The hit series’ second season includes 13 episodes, and premieres this fall.

Executive Producer/Writer/Director Frank Darabont says, “At this moment, I’m standing on a stretch of post-apocalypse interstate in Georgia, littered with abandoned cars and blessing my good luck to be reunited with our amazing cast, and our fantastic directors and crew. Across the board, there are none better. It’s great to be shooting again. I think we’ve embarked on a great season.”

For additional information and photos on “The Walking Dead” season two, visit www.amctv.com

Ogre and Mark Walk (both from Skinny Puppy) have once again come together for ohGr’s latest studio album “unDeveloped.”  While more a little lighter in terms of hard beats, there is still enough there for the Gothic gloom and doom for Skinny Puppy fans while being just enough for new fans and people looking for something unique to listen to.

The opening tracks “101” and “Crash” (which was written in reaction to the death Michael Jackson and the US healthcare debate) stand out as the most Gothic/Industrial-friendly.  Along with very eerie intros, they offer some very hard pulse-pounding  beats and will no doubt be heard at the local goth club.  While “Pissage” is a straight up catchy dark track that will have you listening to more than once.

“Comedown” is where Ogre and Walk being to take things down a bit.  Much like the rest of the album, it has more of an Electro-Pop influence rather than Industrial.  However, the songs are just as catchy and dark in tone.  Throughout “unDeveloped” the listener can definitely hear the influence Ogre has had on the many Gothic/Industrial bands that have followed bands like Skinny Puppy through the years.   Both old and new fans alike (even if they are not Skinny Puppy fans) will enjoy the album which offers both ends of the Gothic/Industrial spectrum.

Where to find ohGr on the web:

http://www.ohgr.org

http://www.myspace.com/bigohgr

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OHGR/212108804783