Ray Dorsey's Chaos Realm: Ray Dorsey, founder of Chaos Realm, is a good friend of us here at Planet Peacedogman and for good reason. He founded the fanzine Chaos (also been known by different variations of said name) in 1983. After realizing that hosting a website was easier and had a wider audience than publication, he relocated to the int0rwebz where his base of operations has been ever since. He's also had quite an impressive history in music retail, and ran his own record store for the better part of a decade. As such, he has a long history with the underground scene and a multitude of knowledge, which he gladly passes along with the massive array of reviews found within the Chaos Realm.
The best thing about Chaos Realm is the wide range of music that's reviewed within. Basically, all one has to do is send him a CD and it's in, regardless of what the hell kind of music it is. As such, there's every rock style imaginable found within, plus stuff that goes beyond the spectrum of rock.
At the same time, he still gives voice to what's good and what's not among the better known bands, making sure his faithful don't waste their money. The other thing that really sets Chaos Realm apart is his quick witted and brutally honest writing style that's highly informative, yet makes younger, more inexperienced rock fans at home and doesn't try to make them feel inferior. But don't just take our word for it-here are some excerpts:
From his review of MASTODON - "Blood Mountain": "Go join the millions & buy this sucker at Wal-Mart along with your milk. Then, rip the bottle cap open with your teeth, mix in some wolf blood and drink the whole thing down while "Circle of Cysquatch" is blasting at 10."
From his review of CRUCIFIED BARBARA - "In Distortion We Trust": "We have done to death licks that Angus probably threw away even for the "Fly On the Wall" album […]; also, the Motörhead cover, "Killed By Death" sucks, maybe even more than these chicks ever have. Hey, I knew Lemmy & you 'ladies' are no Lemmy."
From his review of CELTIC FROST - "Monotheist": "If you liked what Tom & Co. were doing up to 'Into the Pandemonium,' you will be happy as hell to hear this album. I am. It washes away the "cold fake" and proves that these guys still have some hella-powerful irons in the fire."
Now what about some of the fancier bells and whistles of other rock sites, such as menu navigation, searchable reviews, animated GIFs and the like? Well, they're not here, so deal with it! The whole site is one long page with a plain sea green background and clumps of reviews (roughly in alphabetical order) divided with lines, with the newest reviews on the top. Trust us, though… the extra effort on the reader's part will be handsomely rewarded.
Yes, the digital age has made getting music much colder and less personable. However, Ray Dorsey is doing his part with Chaos Realm to preserve that relationship between the hungry music fan and the music store clerk whose brain can be picked for hours on end, if only in the virtual world of cyberspace. Rock on, Ray!
URL: www.raysrealm.blogspot.com
{Text}