Aside from the fact that self-recording doesn’t cost you money (so to speak), are there any other motivations behind releasing & distributing your music for free?

Nah, it just seems like a logical thing to do. Why would I make music just to keep it on my computer?

That being said… do you have any specific thoughts on the state of the music industry?

I don’t really pay attention to it. Despite all the complaining from people about how terrible music is “these days”, I’m still able to consistently find rad things to listen to.

It’s no surprise that you’ve listed Meshuggah as somewhat of an influence. What are some other bands/artists that inspire you as a musician (specifically outside of the metal genre)?

I would say that most of my influences come from outside metal. Clarity by Jimmy Eat World is a huge one for me, Low Level Owl by The Appleseed Cast, anything that Jeremy Enigk has ever done, Radiohead here and there, The Books, Sufjan Stevens, Tycho, Death Cab for Cutie, Glassjaw, uhh… this is going to end up with me listing every band I’ve ever heard but those are some of the main ones that I can consistently come back to and find something new to appreciate. Obviously though there is that metal influence–yesterday I listened to every Botch song I have and it was sweet.

Describe your process… do you sit down to record with the songs already competed, or is it more of an organic approach while tracking?

I write the songs as I record them, so all I need is a catalyst in the form of an opening riff or idea to play with and it goes from there. Usually that happens one of two ways; either I doodle around on guitar and happen to play something that sounds cool, or I’m in the shower and I think of a nifty drum beat and program it while wearing a towel after I get out. So I guess it’s the latter.

Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist when it comes to writing and/or recording?

Well I try not to make things that sound shitty, and I have been known to record a riff a few dozen times until I’m satisfied. Other than that I have a whole bunch of riffs and half-songs sitting on my hard drive that I decided weren’t good enough to make the cut. In that sense I would say I’m sort of a perfectionist, but I just consider it not wanting to make anything that I think is uninteresting or uninspired.

What are your thoughts on Cloudkicker’s recent boost in publicity and popularity?

It’s funny that when I stopped caring about who listened to music I made, people started listening to music I made. I’m really flattered and appreciative that people seem to connect so personally with the music for some reason.

Is Cloudkicker a goal-oriented project for you, or do you just take it day by day?

I think the goal is “how long can I keep making stuff that isn’t the same exact thing as the last thing I made but also isn’t a piece of shit?” So it’s a day-to-day goal.

What’s next for Cloudkicker?

World tour with non-union musicians being paid barely-livable wages so I can cash in while not being inconvenienced.

Cloudkicker released their latest EP “]]][[[” this past February. If you haven’t checked out Cloudkicker as of yet, do yourself a favor… point. click. rock.

Have A Listen:

Cloudkicker – #:

Download audio file (Cloudkicker.mp3)

If you’re a metalhead and looking to do some serious cooking (or eating), you can purchase Hellbent For Cooking over at Amazon.com

PS: In case you were wondering… yes… we did make our own aprons. King of the Kitchen!

Chris’ Review:

If you were worried (like me) about the world’s supply of cover albums running low, give thanks to Six Feet Under and Metal Blade for issuing their third (third!!) edition of death metal versions of “Graveyard Classics.” I know I’ve been railing for years to anyone that would listen, “There is so much great metal and punk from the 1980’s, and nobody knows about it! Nobody’s marketing it! There’s a gold mine waiting to be discovered and respectfully elevated to its honorable status, and you’re all walking around like zombies controlled by the “new music” piping through you ear buds. Wake up!” Finally we have friends at Metal Blade that ‘get it’ and assigned a talented, young group of death metal musicians to show today’s metal fans what they’re missing.

Ok, I just listened to Graveyard Classics III, and I need retract everything written above. As a collection, the album is a sack of crap. A couple tracks are interesting, but have no chance at redeeming the rotting, audio turds that should have never been unearthed from the cesspit in which they festered. (Hey, writing death metal is fun!)

There’s almost no theme to the album, so I’m going to have to break it down for you track-by-track:

The opening cover of Mercyful Fate’s “A Dangerous Meeting” reminds you of how good Mercyful Fate’s songs are, but does not make you want to listen to Six Feet Under any more. Most decent 80’s metal songs sound tougher when recorded in a modern production style, but that’s a tribute to affordable studio electronics, not the band. The same could be said about most the tracks on here.

The first Canadian import comes from the re-discovered Anvil. “Metal on Metal” sucked then, sucks now.

The next two tracks are from Slayer and Metallica. These tracks are decent, but how could a death metal band of any skill screw up a classic thrash track? It’s like congratulating an asshole on being an asshole. It should just come natural.

Our next Canadian clunker comes via Bachman Turner Overdrive. Seriously? See “Metal on Metal,” above.

Now honestly, without sarcasm, I did kind of dig this version of Van Halen’s “On Fire.” VH albums are barely listenable to me, but a competent, metallic version of one of their faster songs will make you nod your head. Barnes’ ‘grandma’ vocals ruin it, though.

This Exciter song sure sucks. Something about it sucks extra hard, but I can’t put my finger on it. What could it be? Oh, here it is! Exciter is Canadian. See above. If they move the Buffalo Bills to Toronto, one of the conditions should be that Toronto also has to take Chris Barnes.

Nothing says ‘eighties’ like Twisted Sister. And nothing says “Six Feet Under is fucking with us,” like Chris Barnes growling, “He’s gonna kick your ass!” at the end of this track.

This cover of the Ramones’ “Psychotherapy” makes it really hard to convince non-metal fans that death metal is not a joke.

Finally we have the album closer, a closet classic from the 90’s, actually, Prong’s “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck.” Any fan of Headbanger’s Ball of a certain era remembers this song (I’m one of them.) Checking back to Prong’s Cleansing album, these guys sound like nu metal before it was nu. I’m not sure Prong ever received the respect that a band on the bleeding edge of a new style deserves, and I’m not sure this shitty cover is going to help with that.

In summary, this cover album goes as most cover albums go. It feels more like an attempt to milk some extra dollars from the fans, and doesn’t do the covered or the coverers much justice. I have an album of Black Sabbath songs played on sitars that’s just about the same thing; I’ve listened to it once.

Crirs’ Rating:

King says: “I’ve got to start being more careful about who I give my publishing rights to. And what the hell is wrong with Canada?”

Matt’s Review:

I remember it well – about 16 years ago – when I first heard Cannibal Corpse’s cover of Black Sabbath’s “Zero The Hero.”  Even though I had been a Sabbath fan for quite some time (yes, even Ian Gillian-era), I had just started venturing into death and grindcore territory, as far as expanding my metal horizons was concerned. Regardless, I was still a green teenage musical whore and it didn’t take much for something to seduce my inner ear canals at that point, as long as it was heavy.  Needless to say, what can potentially be a very good thing can also be a very baaaaaad thing.  How else would you explain my brief love for Nuclear Assault?  Anyways, back to the point… I loved the first minute of the song.  It was heavier and doomier than the original.  Then the vocals came in.  That’s it.  That’s the end of my story.

Oh, I’ll just cut the crap already – I’ve never cared much for Chris Barnes as a vocalist (or as a musician for that matter).  Don’t get me wrong.  I know that his vocal style inspired a lot of other tone-deaf dude-bros with no sense of melody to start gutter-growling into a microphone, and for that I have to at least give him SOME form of props.  But like I said earlier, what can potentially be a good thing can actually be a giant shit sandwich exploding like an atomic bomb on a small country, radiating all sorts of shit-like deformities on everything and everyone it touches along the way.  Oh wait, that was the long version.  Sorry dude-bros, my bad…

After hearing the first two Graveyard Classics albums, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect on this one – heavier, down-tuned, unimaginative, pointlessly inferior versions of the originals with the same damn gutter-growling from start to finish.  Regardless, I was determined to keep an open mind and give the ole’ Six Feet boys a completely unbiased critique… assuming that I would be able to make it through the entire album without pulling all of my pubes out one-by-one, that is… turns out my will was strong, so my pubes stayed intact.

The first track, Mercyful Fate’s “A Dangerous Meeting,” brought back the same memories of when I first heard “Zero The Hero.”  I mean, what did I actually expect?  Chris Barnes to start singing falsetto?  Well maybe, but is it really that wrong for me to ask him to at least try not to sound like a total dipshit while singing someone else’s songs?  Weh-hell-hell, apparently it is…

I got much of the same vibe on the second track, which is Anvil’s “Metal On Metal.”  You know, there’s a reason why Anvil never ‘made it.’  They are simply a terrible band… and this is a terrible cover.

Now that brings us to track 3, Metallica’s “The Frayed Ends Of Sanity,” which also happens to be one of my favorite Met songs ever.  I must say, the rhythm tracks are pretty solid, but the solo is pretty damn sloppy and ruins it all for me.  This doesn’t make much sense since, well, the solo IS overdubbed and it IS possible to re-record it if it’s played shitty.  On the brighter side, Gall is a better drummer than Lars.

Slayer’s “At Dawn They Sleep” is actually one of the better covers on the album, in my opinion.  Sure, it’s nowhere near as good as the original, but it somehow suits them well.  Don’t ask me why.  Oh, and Gall’s fill at the end isn’t bad either.

BTO’s “Not Fragile” just plain sucks.  Bad choice.  Very bad choice.

Oh yeah, the same goes for Van Halen’s “On Fire” and Exciter’s “Pounding Metal.“  On a roll, boys.  On a roll.

Until now… they actually redeem themselves with Twisted Sister’s “Destroyer.“  It might be the only song on the album that actually sounds like it could be an original.  For me, it translates pretty well… although I’m not totally convinced that J.J. French (or even Dee for that matter) would be proud to hear this.

“Psychotherapy” by the Ramones is pretty hard to butcher completely since, well, it is punk after all.  As someone I played it for told me, it “sounds like Cookie Monster does the Ramones.”  I can just picture that Sesame Street episode right now -  a bunch of little kids are dancing around like idiots while the Cookie Monster hardcore dances and growls into a microphone… where were these episodes when I was a kid???

I can’t really say that they end with a bang, but “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” isn’t too bad.  They do a decent job with the music, I think.  However, it’s another one of those songs where it doesn’t really matter how the vocals sound because the original ones weren’t that great to begin with (sorry Tommy, I didn’t mean to bring you into this).

All in all, that makes about 3 somewhat listenable covers on this entire album, which isn’t exactly good since that also means they’ve managed to successfully botch the other 7 songs, in my opinion. At this rate, there’s no reason to believe that this shit storm will stop, especially since this is already their third installment.  Hmmm… something tells me that they enjoy pissing on amputated legs.

Matt’s Rating:

King says: “Fuck these guys… they broke the oath.”

Have A Listen:

Six Feet Under – A Dangerous Meeting:

Download audio file (SFU_A_Dangerous_Meeting.mp3)

Ed’s Review:

When Mark first posted a note on Facebook regarding this show back in the fall, I have to admit I nearly shat myself while simultaneously letting out a massive spew of deranged and uncontrollable laughter into the calm air in front of me. Was this really true? Could all of these amazing musicians really be teaming up for one of the most rocking prog tours ever to grace the highways of our broken and depressed nation? Indeed… and after confirming with various other online metal sources that this tour was really happening, I made the decision that only a really sexy case of the swine flu (or some other poxy microbacterial agent) was the only possible thing that could derail me from witnessing this amazing night of rock in Chicago, and fortunately I was fit as a fiddle come showtime.

We warmed up early at Rock Bottom microbrewery (which is now becoming a ritual before most HOB shows, since it’s only two blocks away)… I started off with a martini and then moved on to a few glasses of their delicious 10% abv Russian Imperial Stout. We cleared out around 5pm to catch Scale the Summit, but in typical House of Blues fashion (and the Metro does this also) Scale the Summit were forced to begin playing right as the doors opened, and the line of kids was still all the way around the damn block. We were at the end of the line, so by the time we got in the door Scale the Summit only had about three songs left in their short half hour set. Fortunately we were able to catch “Dunes” which sounded amazing, as did “The Great Plains” – a fantastic song in which the glorious dueling guitars of Chris Letchford and Travis Levrier cut through the club in perfect synchronicity. STS is a great band, and they sounded great this evening.

I don’t know if anything could have prepared me for what was coming up next.

Devin Townsend has not performed live in almost three years, and the busiest man in metal is currently smack in the middle of recording and releasing not one but FOUR new studio albums (the latest being #2, Addicted featuring the extremely talented Anneke Van Giersbergen on vocals, formerly of Dutch metal-turned-gazer arena outfit The Gathering), so one could only wonder what this live performance was about to consist of. Sure enough, Devin stormed on stage and blasted into his set armed with a clean, stripped down 4-piece rock band and sounded more intense than I’ve ever heard in the past. Perhaps his new found sobriety has actually strengthened his focus and notoriously powerful stage presence (Metallica could learn a thing or two from Devin these days) or perhaps his mind-blowing vocal range and excellent songs are just that great to begin with, but this was one of the most striking performances I’ve seen from anyone in years, let alone Devin himself. “Supercrush!” sounded great, as did “Kingdom“… his vocals soaring over the huge guitar tones and spot-on drumming that brought about a whirlwind of crushing epic space metal clarity, almost as if a parallel universe were temporarily created inside the club. I found myself simply busting into random spurts of laughter and amazement throughout this set, which hasn’t really happened since seeing Slayer or Helmet back when I was a wee lad in diapers. Thank you Devin for the best live performance of the evening, and one that will most likely be placed in my favorites for a long, long time to come.

Cynic took the stage and sounded good, although vocalist/guitarist Paul Masvidal appeared a bit tired and the songs seemed to be performed at a slightly slower tempo than on the recordings, which was interesting but didn’t exactly serve the songs very well. The set consisted almost entirely of Traced In Air material, and it was very nice to hear “King of Those Who Know” which they did not play during their last visit on tour with Meshuggah a year ago. They also performed a brand new song which sounded great and had some very spaced-out, delayed-guitar licks with lots of interesting melodic vocals from Masvidal as well. Overall Cynic played a tight set, but I thought last year’s performance opening for Meshuggah was far more dynamic.

Between The Buried and Me finally came on last, and considering about 85% of the all ages crowd showed up to see this band, we decided to head for the bar in the very back of HOB and watch a few songs from there in order to avoid the amped up and hormonal adolescent crowd. Of course, this overly-talented band sounded and performed at the top of their game, busting out plenty of material from their newest opus The Great Misdirect and sending almost the entire HOB floor into a huge moshing frenzy. However, my mind was already charred from the opening acts… and I still couldn’t help but think about how much Devin Townsend simply blew everyone else off the stage.

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “With this much PROG in the air, there’s a decent chance I could resurrect Melissa by night’s end!”

Mark’s Review:

People will tell you that becoming a new parent is one of the best things ever.  They say it will make you a better person and strengthen the bonds you’ve made with your spouse.  For the most part this is true, but what they don’t tell you is that for the first year, you’re trapped in the house, worrying about money and craving sleep.  You also try to be there more for your significant other, because now more than ever, you’re a team and you need that emotional support.  But, I’m still learning on how to do this “Dad” thing, so when I learned of this tour, I gleefully left my wife and our 3-month old daughter for a late night of beer drinking and progressive metal at the House of Blues.

You’ve heard me rave about Scale the Summit before, but seeing them play live was absolutely awesome.  They only played five songs, and we missed the first two because we were standing in line waiting to get inside the House of Blues (succumbing to their completely asinine policy of starting the show exactly when the doors are opened).  Luckily, we pushed our way past some girls and teenagers and were planted center-stage when they fired up one of my faves from Carving Desert Canyons: Dunes.  The song is huge, with harmony guitar tapping weaving it’s way through the final minutes, and the band nailed ever nuance effortlessly.  Flanked by scrolling LED amplifier-marquees, their performance of City in the Sky made me realize how much I sucked playing an instrument at their age… and how much I still suck now.  I liked them so much, I bought one of their t-shirts after the show, which is something I haven’t done in at least 10 years.

The man of the night was Devin Townsend.  I’ve seen him lead Strapping Young Lad a few times, but I’ve been anticipating seeing him play his solo material for years.  Once this show was announced, I made sure my calendar was cleared, because there was no way I was missing it.  The last time I saw Devin at the first Sounds of the Underground tour, he was “under the influence” and apathetic as he signed my ticket stub at a meet-and-greet.  Now, he’s freshly bald, clean and sober, and seemingly more focused and driven than ever.  Showing how powerful modern music technology can be in the hands of someone with a real dangerous knowledge of it, he used a MacBook Pro to trigger the chorus effects and keyboard accents and made his band of four members sound like ten.  His voice soared and slayed during Kingdom, and his rendition of Supercrush! made me forget the Anneke Van Giersbergen vocals featured on the album version.  The set ended with Ziltoid’s By Your Command, which completely crushed the audience full of Devin geeks and new converts who stood wanting more from the Canadian metal genius.  A note to Devin: I could’ve dealt with at least 2 more hours, 30 minutes was way too short.

Cynic was solid, but after witnessing the grandness of DTB, they seemed like a letdown.  Although still amazing, the band seemed to be on cruise control and lacked the same intensity they displayed last February when they opened for Meshuggah.  Sticking mostly to Traced in Air material wasn’t a bad thing, because King of Those Who Know was the highlight of their set, but I kept holding out for a rendition of Uroboric Forms that unfortunately never came.  They also debuted a new song Wheels Within Wheels which displayed a heavy Porcupine Tree influence, while remaining distinctly Cynic.  One thing is true, I’d like to subscribe to Paul Masvidal’s newsletter on leading a balanced life, because that guy really seems to get it.  I’ve seen them twice in about a year at House of Blues, and am beginning to feel that they deserve a headlining show at a venue like the Park West that caters to their fans and their sound.

After all this, Between the Buried and Me was an afterthought.  I like these guys, but I really can’t get into their “cramming as many complex and irrational musical themes together into one song” style of songwriting.  I want to get into them, but it’s hard when they keep interrupting awesome metal riffs with polka interludes.  We stayed for a couple of songs, then left to see the end of the Vikings-Saints NFC title game.  We had perfect timing, we saw Favre throw the interception, the final field goal in overtime, and an over-served, 50-year old man fall down the stairs.  The truly amazing thing is that my bill for parking ($33 for 7 hours) and one, 24oz Miller Lite at the House of Blues ($10+ $1 tip) was more than the cost of the ticket ($20 with fees) and my Scale the Summit t-shirt ($15)!  There I go… worrying about money like a true old man.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “I was going to make it to this show, but was too busy cutting some tracks for the new Usurper!”

Ah, Dementox. The name alone brings a smile to my face.

I’m not sure where it originated, but for some reason my friends and I were aware of a dance called The Dementox (something of a cross between the pinwheel spin and plunging the toilet). Whether or not this originated with the band or in our imagination remains to be seen, but as a kid (and as a grown man) I thought it was awesome.

What I didn’t realize at the time, was how great the band was. Amazing riffs, sick vocals, and a classic thrash approach… not bad for a bunch of dudes who were between 17 – 20 at the time:

Dementox was founded in 1989 by brothers Roderick (bass, vox) and John (guitar, vox) Valdez, who were at the time barely even teenagers. The original lineup was rounded out by Chris DelaRosa (guitar), and James Kowalski (drums). This lineup played numerous basements, parties, and talent shows, earning the boys some well-deserved recognition and respect in their local scene. After some serious shaking-up of the band in 1991, the lead guitar position was filled by a ‘new kid in town’, Markus Launsburry, and the drum throne was taken over by Rob Pauly. The new blood allowed the D-TOX crew to escalate their audio-violence with increased speed, ferocity, and absurdity. Rehearsing intensely, throwing out-of-control parties, drinking cheap beer and expensive booze, throwing eggs at innocent pedestrians, and beating the shit out of neo-nazi skins were the ‘way of the walk’ for Dementox (AKA The Screaming Chicken Neck Posse, or SCN).

 

Like a band of hilariously sociopathic brothers, these four pissed off teenagers raged like true metal hellions, and this second incarnation proved to be productive, intense, and volatile. For the next two years, this lineup played shows throughout the region, sharing the stage with acts such as Demented Ted, Broken Hope, Agamas, Num Skull, Prisoner, Jungle Rot, Left Path, Morbid Corpses, Gainsay, Sarcophagus, Jeckyll (NOT Jackyll), Suspiria,Fleshold, Sarcoma, and many others. In 1993, Markus left the band to pursue other musical ventures, and was replaced by John Camella, a shredder from the NYDM scene. While Tom’s playing was exceptional, the band never really gelled again, and despite another year or two of effort, Dementox was essentially inactive by 1994.”

According to guitarist Markus Launsburry:

The demo was recorded on 8-track tape at Curved Air Studio in Crystal Lake, Illinois in December of ‘92 by some dude who’s name I don’t remember. Too bad, ‘cuz he was definitely proficient. All tracks, with the exception of vocals and one or two solos, were recorded live in one take. The super-sick cover art was done long after the fact by one of my best bro’s Putrid… he just loves Dementox so much he insisted on drawing an ‘old school’ cover for it. Hard to say ‘no’ to a wicked talent and yer best bud – and it pretty much sums up the D-TOX vibe – hellish metal and beating the living shit out of the neo-nazi scum who used to plague our turf!”

Markus has gone on to play in a variety of notable bands, including Tub Ring, Nachtmystium & his current project, Avantgarde/Black Metalers Blood of Martyrs (featuring Chris Wozniak (Lair of the Minotaur) on drums, Isamu Sato (Yob) on bass, and Jarboe (of Swans) on vocals).

For more Dementox info and tunes, be sure and check out their myspace page. THRASH ON!

Have A Listen:

Dementox – Playing With Skulls:

Download audio file (Dementox_Playing_With_Skulls.mp3)

I had high hopes after seeing the preview for Until the Light Takes Us.  Unfortunately, the movie seemed to be a bit too awkward and disjointed to really resonate, and I felt there was more to be told with the story.  The film loosely follows the divergent paths of Varg “Count Grishnackh” Vikernes and Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell, two Black Metal pioneers with different agendas for the genre.  It takes a while, but near the end, we understand that the goal of Black Metal in Norway was always meant to be more of a sociological movement than a “scene”.  It was never meant to attack people, but rather attack and challenge authority and societal norms, but this message and it’s delivery in the movie is very soft.  Along the way we see lots of beautiful shots of Scandinavia, but learn little about the music and it’s growth.

The thing is, most people seeing this movie will be fans of Black Metal, so they will have the basic historical knowledge of the events that led to its infamy in the early 90’s.  So seeing this movie really adds nothing for them.  There is too much focus on these events and not enough connecting them to the music, or explaining the atmosphere that all of this was made possible.  I feel that there was a lot that was left unsaid, and the sudden jump from “creating a new underground movement” to “burning churches and murdering homosexuals” left me saying, “OK, I know that, but why?”  Anyone watching this movie without this background knowledge will be confused and will probably fall back to blaming the usual heavy-metal stereotypes.  There’s no narrative to the movie, and this becomes a problem when we are subjected to some rambling manifestos of people using English as a second language.  It’s not their fault, but in trying to get their point across to the viewer, they stumble for the right terms quite a bit.  In the end, I wanted to know more about Vikernes, a fascinating character that I’m not sure is a genius or insane.

Overall Until the Light Takes Us was a disappointment.  Directors/Producers Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell stylistically attempt to paint Fenriz and Vikernes as romantic leaders of a misunderstood revolution, but they come off more as metal caricatures from an episode of Metalocalypse (especially Frost from Satyricon, who looks like a fool wearing makeup and walking around in the dark).  Anyone who’s looking to learn more about Black Metal’s rise and fall is probably better off reading Lords of Chaos or even see the bonus material for Sam Dunn’s Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Ummm… nice makeup?”

Justin’s Review:

If Black Metal is a rebellion against Death Metal, then Until the Light Takes Us could easily be considered the Black Metal equivalent to the modern metal documentary. Lo-Fi, often aimless, yet at times… strangely compelling. Unfortunately, much like the genre it’s trying to uncover, Until the Light Takes Us gets lost in its own gratuitousness.

Now I certainly wasn’t expecting to walk into another rehashing of Black Metal’s most famous cultural documentation, but based solely off the trailer and an interesting article (care of the Onion’s A/V Club), I was excited to see what directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell had came up with. From the looks of things… candid interviews with two of BM’s progenitors, a smattering of historical footage, and in the director’s own words:

Not specifically the evolution of black metal, but the re-creation and re-contextualization of media and art and everything in modern culture. We’re really interested in a lot of postmodern theory and ideas, and we see a lot of parallels with black metal and the story of black metal.”

As promising as that sounds, UtLTU ultimately ends up combining fascinating interviews (Varg and Fenriz), with sophomoric commentary (Abbath and Hellhammer), idiotic “happenings” (Frost and supposed “visual artist” Bjarne Melgaard), and a solid 45 minutes of shaky footage of Fenriz walking around and chain smoking. While there certainly is a story to tell, it gets lost somewhere in the shuffle. Or should I say somewheres? Where the film excels in unraveling the mysteries behind Varg and Fenriz (and their diverse perspectives on the the scene itself), it severely lacks in a focused approach. The presentation of random footage and insufficient narrative will easily confuse anyone who isn’t partial to BM’s sordid history; and those who are, will find themselves waiting for the “meat and potatoes” of the film to be served. It’s evident enough that the film tries to make the sad connection between a reactionary genre that was distorted by the media (and its own minions), and the full-blown parody that it’s become today; but it never really drives the point home for either side. While some might argue that’s the whole purpose of a documentary, I tend to prefer documentaries that have purpose to begin with. UtLTU left me unsatisfied, but not clamoring for more.

Though I applaud Aites and Ewell’s commitment to the genre and their film (they did, in fact, move to Norway for several years to shoot this footage), I can’t help but feel that by taking the “artistic” approach with metal’s most infamous scene, they fall into the exact same parody they were attempting to document.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Is there anything more annoying than a heavy metal music critic who demands inspired, creative and intelligent cinema? Yes… and his name is Frost.”

“Until the Light Takes Us” Official Trailer:

Justin’s Review:

Man, what a night for metal in Chicago. I found myself double-dipping this evening, as this also happened to be the same week that Until the Light Takes Us (review to come) was playing in our fair city, so I knew it’d be a tight squeeze trying to make the concert on time. Sure enough, I walked in right as The Binary Code was moving their gear offstage. Bummer… cause after picking up their album a few weeks ago, I was actually looking forward to seeing how they pulled off their spazzy/melodic hybrid live. Word has it that they were pretty rockin’, so I guess I’ll be checking them out next time they head through.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve become somewhat of a Revocation fanboy, so I was pretty stoked on finally getting the chance to check them out in person. Just as I expected, they slayed. Taking the stage as a four-piece (!), Revocation blasted through a set of new and old alike, showing us Chicagoans that Boston has more to offer than just Converge and clam chowder. The folks at the Empty Bottle took their sweet-ass-time pulling the sound together, but by the time Dave Davidson ripped the solo for Pestilence Reigns, the sonic assault was full-on.

One unfortunate side effect of such sheer awesomeness, is what I like to refer to as the “Bro-Pit.” Your typical Bro-Pit features roughly 5-10 dudes (usually above 250lbs) who love moshing and hate respecting other people’s space. The basic ritual involves a series of bull-rushes, followed by a smattering of drunken hugs. While at times, mildly entertaining to watch, this evening’s Bro-Pit became problematic for anyone within a 20′ radius of the stage. Now I realize that metal + beer = sheer testosterone, but come on guys… if I wanted to know what it felt like to have someone fat and hairy constantly slamming into me, I’d have stayed home and dry-humped a mirror. Regardless of minor annoyances, Revocation definitely brought their A-Game, and I’d highly recommend checking them out when they head through your area next. Believe the hype!

Last up this evening was Hypno5e, who I really knew nothing about, other than that they take a long-ass time setting up their shit. When they finally did hit the stage, the crowd (myself included) was waning. Two songs into Hypno5e’s Soulfly-meets-Isis impression and I was ready to head out. Sorry guys… time to hit Control+Alt+Delete on that Pro Tools rig of yours.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Metal as Art indeed… as Revocation are the Michelangelo of the Thrash Renaissance!”

Ed’s Review:

I happened to be checking the Empty Bottle website a few weeks ago and became instantly excited to see that Boston’s Revocation were planning on stopping by our city to play one of EB’s infamous free Mondays! Of course, I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of shape I would be in coming off a two-day annual party thrown by friends and local rockers American Draft known as The Fried Chicken Social (from which I regrettably suffered from some scary spots of memory loss and other mild drunken idiocy… my apologies to those who bore witness to this). But fortunately by Monday I was in top shape and even got a half hour in on the treadmill prior to the show (go me!). This Metalsucks.net sponsored tour also featured another up and coming metal band from New Jersey called The Binary Code, who I was equally excited to see after purchasing their incredible debut album “Suspension of Disbelief“.

The Binary Code took the stage a little after 9:30 and kicked things off nicely with an energetic set of progressive thrash/death metal. For being a relatively new band, these guys definitely know what the hell they are doing. Excellent guitar interplay kind of reminded me of Meshuggah (tech-wise) and Necrophagist (velocity-wise), with a decent and not too overbearing vocalist adding to the heavy and often quite complex vibe going on. The mellow breakdowns are very reminiscent of Cynic for sure, but well written and executed. I can definitely see these guys coming into their own style in the future and blowing plenty of minds along the way…

I really didn’t know what to expect from Revocation, since we’ve all heard some extremely polished records coming out of the thrash revival lately, and sometimes it’s a bit difficult to tell if this type of aggro-thrash can be replicated decently in a live setting or not. Well? This band was AMAZING, mainly due to the very charismatic and hugely entertaining antics of vocalist/guitarist David Davidson. Not only is this guy a complete shredder both in rhythm guitar precision and lead playing, he does it in such an effortless manner that even heavyweights like Gary Holt of Exodus would be more than impressed. The album kick off track “Pestilence Reigns” sounded great, as did the killer “Dismantle The Dictator” which may have given me a bit of temporary but tolerable whiplash. “Anthem of the Betrayed“, probably my favorite track off the new record, sounded even better live… causing an eruption of ridiculous dancing across the floor of the club (I actually got hit square in the chest at one point by the singer of The Binary Code… it’s alright brother, you are forgiven). Most importantly? This band genuinely seemed to be having a good time on stage – which is exactly what thrash metal is all about, right?

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “While the rest of city was watching CSI, I got my brain scrambled by REVOCATION!”

Take a Look:

It’s not Fear Factory’s fault.  It’s not their fault that they perfected a sound and a style that would sweep through metal.  It’s not their fault that heavy music with triggered kicks, gated guitar riffs, a combination of singing and screaming with an overall gloss of keyboard sheen could be easily duplicated and copied by an endless number of bands.  It’s not their fault that Roadrunner Records tried to push them into a more mainstream avenue, and that the popularity of tech, keyboard and sample-based metal gave us Spineshank, Static-X, Disturbed, Sevendust and Coal Chamber.  Demanufacture and Obsolete were revolutionary albums that expertly combined an image, a message and a sound with great song-writing that was aggressive, dark, powerful and punishing.  It’s not their fault that we’ve been inundated with an onslaught of watered-down and poor imitations ever since.  So when you listen to Fear Factory’s 2010 offering, Mechanize, you quickly realize that you’ve heard this all before, and that it’s nothing new or exciting.

Although it shouldn’t matter, the band’s off-stage drama over the past few years has done quite a bit to sour my perception of them.  After shifting through lineups and reading almost monthly of the childish bickering between Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell, it reeks of desperation that the two have “patched things up” for this new release.  While Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud are more than capable in filling the shoes of Raymond Herrera and Christian Wolbers, you just feel like you’re listening to a band that is going through the motions or trying a bit too hard to recapture some sort of past magic.  Hearing about potential lawsuits from Herrera about the use of the band’s name and the constant deluge of Blabbermouth jawing and press releases casts quite a bit of doubt on their legitimacy.  The band could have righted all their past wrongs with an inspired new album full of great songs, but alas, they did not.

Listening to Mechanize, you realize how boring of an album it is.  The songs are very formulaic and because of all the imitators the band has unwillingly spawned, the production sounds extremely dated.  Despite this, most tracks are interchangeable and gone are the hooks of Demanufacture or Obsolete.  It seems as if the band came up with song titles that expressed the “Fear Factory techno-image” first, then wrote the music to accompany them later.  Mechanize, Powershifter and Oxidizer may sound like X-Men characters, but they are just a sample of the pedestrian tracks that litter this album.  The last track Final Exit, it excruciatingly bad, featuring a collection of forced samples and anticlimactic drama.  I feel like the album is just an excuse to tour, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard of more problems between the founding members once they hit the road.  Maybe I’m jaded, and maybe there’s just no where else to go with this genre of metal.  It’s not Fear Factory’s fault.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Ugh, and I thought their “remix” albums were bad…”

Justin’s Review:

Ahh… band politics. If you’ve ever been in or around a band for any length of time, you surely know of the unique dichotomy that exists. Somewhere between a business partnership and a relationship resides the typical band structure. In that regard, Fear Factory are no different from most bands… just a higher profile and a few more pubic spats than they probably care to remember. That’s all shit for the lawyers to sort out.

As it stands, we seem to have one Fear Factory (henceforth to be referred to as Arkaea) that controls one of the Fear Factory websites and myspace pages, and another Fear Factory (hence forth to be referred to as Fear Factory) that writes music that some people actually give a shit about. And it’s that Fear Factory that we’ve come to discuss today.

Yes folks… Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares have put aside their differences, and Fear Factory are back with their “heaviest” lineup to date. Candlelight Records has stepped up to the plate this time around, and according to their press release, Mechanize is “a full-fisted blast of passion and innovation that sounds like the missing link between’s 1995’s caustic, groundbreaking Demanufacture and 1998’s more texturally nuanced Obsolete.” Wow… sweet! If only that were true!

What we have on our hands here, is arguably the most middle-of-the-road album of the band’s career (which is a real shame, because after listening to Transgression, I was ready for a good Fear Factory album) [Editor's Note: To clarify... I'm not a fan of Transgression]. I’ve been through Mechanize four times now, hoping for something to jump out at me, and I can honestly say… nothing has. Not riff, nor vocal melody; not song title nor structure; not lyric nor artwork. Absolutely nothing.

I hate to say it, but…

Fear Factory

is

Obsolete.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Nice try guys. Hey… at least you’ve got the 80s covers to fall back on… I hear there’s good money in that.”

Have A Listen:

Fear Factory – Powershifter:

Download audio file (Powershifter.mp3)

Despite mainstream television distancing themselves ever further from what’s cool, and a handful of other disappointing “metal” ventures, 2009 surely showed us a good time.

First and foremost, this was a killer year for releases from both veterans and young-bloods alike. Quality albums seemed to be dropping on a weekly basis (including some great re-releases), and the fall release schedule was unlike anything I’d ever seen… chock full of outstanding records from the likes of likes of Baroness, Immortal, Skeletonwitch, Slayer and more. There was barely enough time to keep track of everything, and I’m certain I’ll still be listening with fresh ears well into the new year.

This year also presented us with some amazingly well-crafted documentaries in Flight 666 and Anvil! The Story of Anvil. In addition to being extremely enjoyable, both films have received critical acclaim, and hopefully, helped dispel some of the bias towards metalheads worldwide (we’re not all dip-shit losers after all).

2009 has also given us a variety of cool things to spend our money on, including but not limited to: Mercyful Fate shoes, heavy metal cookbooks, Enslaved vinyl box sets, Precious Metal, and plenty of challenging tracks for the little plastic baby guitars we all own.

From the looks of it, 2010 will continue to ride the wave of awesomeness with new releases from Dillinger, High on Fire, Meshuggah, Nachtmystium, Torche (and more); as well as fantastic tours and another promising documentary for us to enjoy. Here’s to hoping we all continue to deliver. Happy New Year y’all.

Stay Heavy.

Anyways… we made a valiant attempt to get Chris to give us his top 10 picks, but he kept saying something about the Saw 6 soundtrack, so we bumped him down to five. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Mark’s List:

There were so many huge releases in 2009, it was hard to pick a top 10.  The year saw new music from metal’s heaviest hitters (Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Megadeth, Mastodon, Anthrax) as well as comebacks from Alice in Chains and Immortal.  But ultimately, I believe 2009 will be remembered as when the new generation firmly took hold of the metal scene, as demonstrated by the outstanding releases from Skeletonwitch, Scale the Summit and Baroness.

10. Megadeth – Endgame (Roadrunner)
It’s no Rust in Peace Part-2, but with Endgame, Mustaine continues to prove that he can still crank out some great headbangers.
Check Out: This Day We Fight!

9. Slayer – World Painted Blood (American/Sony)
The second album since the return of Lombardo offers a new sound, but the same intensity.  One of the best album jackets/concepts of the year.
Check Out: Snuff

8. Devin Townsend Project – Addicted (Hevy Devy)
In a banner year for Devin, it’s the pop-metal soundtrack to a Anime-dream sequence (most likely depicting flight through a post-apocalyptic Japan).
Check Out: Hyperdrive!

7. Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plauge (Metal Blade)
Never ones to disappoint, Alex Webster and Corpsegrinder deliver the year’s most brutal offering.
Check Out: Carnivorous Swarm

6. Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin/EMI)
Seattle’s finest create a comeback record worthy of the memory of Layne.
Check Out: Private Hell

5. Behemoth – Evangelion (Metal Blade/Nuclear Blast)
Negral conjures a maelstrom of demonic chaos that could easily convert anyone into a heretic.
Check Out: Ov Fire and the Void

4. Immortal – All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
The Blizzard Beasts return with an incredible album that captures their focused and raw power.
Check Out: Arctic Swarm

3. Scale the Summit – Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic)
An instrumental masterpiece so rich in textures, tones and mood that it gets better with each listen.
Check Out: Dunes

2. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
A dominating statement from the Ohio thrash-masters.  An album that defines the term “thrash metal”.
Check Out: Submit to the Suffering

1. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
Heavily layered with advanced concepts and dynamic playing.  Baroness once again delivers the album of the year.
Check Out: Jake Leg

Chris’ List:

Is a Top 5 acceptable?

5. Converge – Axe To Fall (Epitaph/Deathwish)
A somewhat fresh album from a familiar band that refuses to turn bad.
Check Out: Dark Horse

4. Cave In – Planets of Old (Hydrahead)
A four-song reunion works fine for me. Especially when the four songs kick tall ass.
Check Out: Retina Sees Rewind

3. Mastodon – Crack the Skye (Warner Bros.)
Bringing progress to Progressive Metal.
Check Out: Divinations

2. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
The soundtrack that plays as my brothers and I descend to battle from snowy foothills astride armored polar bears, the perpetual winter sun smoldering unaware on a frozen, indifferent horizon.
Check Out: The Sweetest Curse

1. Propagandhi – Supporting Caste (Smallman)
Fast, angry, complicated. Even more so than before. The band affirms their category-defying musical identity, perhaps at the peak of their powers.
Check Out: Supporting Caste

Justin’s List:

Wow. What a fantastic year for metal. Narrowing this list down was quite a challenge… especially when I knew my top spot was reserved for a non-metal album. GASP! Yes folks… it’s true… my choice for album of the year goes to an indie rock band. But don’t worry… I’m not planning on wearing tight pants or reading Pitchfork anytime soon. In fact, I think I’ll carve “SLAYER” into my arm right now just to prove my self-worth. Eh… nevermind. That shit hurts.

10. Coalesce – Ox (Relapse)
15 years in, Coalesce continue to be one of the freshest sounding bands in the hardcore and metal community.
Check Out: Wild Ox Moan

9. Slayer – World Painted Blood (American/Sony)
Fast and raw… just how you probably like it. I know I do.
Check Out: Psychopathy Red

8. Converge – Axe To Fall (Epitaph/Deathwish)
As dynamic as it is heavy, Converge’s latest offering kicks you in the teeth before tucking you into bed. Awesome.
Check Out: Axe to Fall

7. Scale the Summit – Carving Desert Canyons (Prosthetic)
Remember the kind of music you and your friends were churning out in your early 20s? Yeah… it sucked compared to this.
Check Out: Sargasso Sea

6. Goes Cube – Another Day Has Passed (The End Records)
The Campbell’s Chunky Soup of the metal world… hearty and damn tasty!
Check Out: The Only Daughter

5. Baroness – Blue Record (Relapse)
Blue Record is one of those rare “all-emcompassing” albums. Great artwork, great music, great everything.
Check Out: The Sweetest Curse

4. Mastodon – Crack the Skye (Warner Bros.)
Like your beard, Crake the Skye really grows on you. And it totally rules.
Check Out: Oblivion

3. Revocation – Existence is Futile (Relapse)
These guys made me fall in love with shred all over again. When are we going to see the Existence is Futile tab book? (or vinyl for that matter… nudge nudge wink wink Relapse).
Check Out: Dismantle the Dictator

2. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
I Can Has Metal?
Check Out: Repulsive Salvation

1. The Life and Times – Tragic Boogie (Arena Rock/Hawthorn Street)
A non-metal album was my top choice of the year? Damn straight. Call me what you will, but me and my cred stand behind this decision. This band and album are absolutely amazing.
Check Out: Tragic Boogie

Honorable Mention:

Cave In – Planets of Old (Hydrahead)
Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin/EMI)
Burnt By the Sun – Heart of Darkness (Relapse)
Buried Inside – Spoils of Failure (Relapse)
Propagandhi – Supporting Caste (Smallman)
Immortal – All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plauge (Metal Blade)

Ed’s Review:

I have to admit I was beyond psyched when I heard Baroness was coming to Chicago on Black Wednesday, mainly because (1) it’s the beginning of a four day weekend, (2) Reggie’s is a great rock club, and (3) this band has created, in my opinion, the best hard rock album of 2009. These three reasons combined with a slew of friends that were attending (I think I ran into ten or fifteen people I knew at this show) made for quite a spirited and festive kick off to the Yuletide season indeed.

I arrived early with a friend and managed to catch the entire sets from openers U.S. Christmas and Earthless. We had a bit of a rough time enjoying U.S. Christmas, mainly because the guitarist/vocalist (who bore a striking resemblance to Jesus) had an interesting vocal ailment going on. In fact, we couldn’t really tell if he had a throat problem or if this was his actual voice, which is never a good question to be asking when watching a band play live. Earthless pretty much rocked it, and although their set sounded like one long 45-minute song, I heard everything from Blue Cheer to Ozric Tentacles to Swervedriver within this band’s frenzied style – a very satisfying, pulsing, and ultimately aggressive psychedelic rock experience.

Baroness finally took the stage and tore into a heavy-weighted set that oozed with confidence, almost to the point that at times it sounded simultaneously heavy and mellow, the way you would picture a secret tribal ritual full of bonfire guitar acrobatics and miles of dancing intoxicated beardos. They ripped through most of “Blue Record” with the obvious standout tracks “Jake Leg” and “The Gnashing” being highlights for sure. The chemistry between guitarists John Dyer Baizley and Pete Adams has definitely grown to a telepathic level (which could have contributed to the sense of aforementioned clockwork perfection going on) combined with their dense yet matching tones – creating a wall of sound almost peaceful in it’s collective desire to be unleashed upon the sold out crowd. Gone are the ear-piercing rough & tumble antics and sheer intimidation of the band’s earlier gigs a year or two back, as they now seem to be favoring a much more controlled chaos in an effort to reach complete tonal perfection, as if they are gearing up for something much more monumental – or apocalyptic – than simply moving on to the next city or on to the next club. And whether or not Baroness is trying to signal the beginning of the end of the world in sonic terms, or simply conveying a fresh and very ass-kicking new thread of hard rock music, it’s obvious that this is a band who is at the top of their game right now.

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “A Bullheaded night of ROCK in Chicago, for sure!”

Mark’s Review:

About a year ago Baroness played in Chicago at Reggie’s Rock Room, and after they were surprisingly omitted from the Opeth show a few weeks earlier, I was very eager to see them.  Well, for some reason, financial or female, I ended up not attending and soon regretted my decision because Baroness put on an unbelievable live show.  To me, it was a missed opportunity to see probably the fasted-rising band in metal play a small club just as they break into the “next level”.  Well sometimes a little patience and perseverance pays off, because after the release of probably the best metal album of 2009, Blue Record, the band announced that it would be returning to Reggie’s on the supporting tour!  Adding to my good fortune and timing, the show date was on “Black Wednesday”, a notorious night for bar drinking that makes Thanksgiving even more awkward when you surprise your family with your brand new DUI.  The stars had aligned, and it was well worth the wait.

Unlike Ed, I skipped the two opening acts playing in the main room and treated myself to some $3 Stellas at the adjoining bar.  Unfortunately, I was also treated to a power trio playing CSNY’s Deja Vu in it’s entirety.  A ballsy endeavor for sure, but their accomplishment was cheapened by eliminating any challenges the complex vocal harmonies might pose by playing them on a 12-string guitar.  After wishing that they just get to the “doo-doo, doo-do-DOO” part (the only iconic CSNY refrain I could conjure), I grabbed a Foster’s Oilcan and headed back next door to get a spot for the show.

You know that Baroness is a band that is truly at a crossroads when in front of a packed house of fans, they lug their own gear on stage, set up, then slink off to wait for their intro music to begin.  Opening with The Sweetest Curse and then quickly jumping into Jake Leg, the band was in complete control of the crowd and the moment.  The new material was dialed-in from only a few months of fresh touring and driven by the strained vocals and frenetic guitar noodling of John Baizely and Pete Adams.  There was no stage banter in between songs, only ambient volume swells that seemed to be perfectly timed to mask “on-the-spot” guitar tuning and instrument switching.  All this noise would then build to a crescendo and come together perfectly into the intro notes of the next song of the setlist.  Isak and The Birthing were some highlights from the Red Album, but unfortunately there was no Rays on Pinion, even in the encore.  The whole night was seamless, and it really shows the unique power and versatility of this band.  At the end, Baroness thanked the crowd and the fans for making the show possible.  I would like to thank them for giving me the ultimate do-over.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Best thing about seeing Baroness the night before Thanksgiving? Afterwards, Grandma cuts the turkey…”

Take a Look:

This podcast picks up where our last one trailed off. We’re continuing our discussion on “lost” albums from the 90s… basically albums that we think went under the radar or have since been regulated to bargain bins worldwide. Now we’re certainly not in agreement on one another’s picks, but I do recommend checking out any and all of these records if you’re getting tired of listening to the Blue Record 24/7.

We also take a few minutes to discuss the travesty that are “metal remix albums”, and talk about the Kuma’s Corner December Burger of the Month… The Eyehategod. So sit back, grab your hot cocoa and warm your toes by the fireplace with Reviews/Resist Podcast #3.

We hope you enjoy, and be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and feel free to give us the old “you guys suck” in the comments section.

Download audio file (ReviewsResist_Podcast_3.mp3)

(31.4 mb / 40:43)

 

  We’re on iTunes… be sure and subscribe!

PS: I’m sad to report that the .mp3 of Mark’s band covering Life of Agony was not able to be procured in time for this post. Hopefully we’ll have that for your listening pleasure next time around.

Mark’s List:

20. Nile – In Their Darkened Shrines (Relapse)
Karl Sanders’ masterpiece is the perfect soundtrack to releasing spirits from a cursed Egyptian tomb.
Check Out: Execration Text

19. Iron Maiden – Brave New World (EMI/ Sony)
Bruce and Adrian are back… well, Jannick is still there, but still, this Maiden album makes us forget the previous four and brings us back to 1986.
Check Out: The Fallen Angel

18. Killswitch Engage – The End of the Heartache (Roadrunner)
Hello Howard Jones, pleased to meet you, your band rules… and so does this album.
Check Out: Rose of Sharyn

17. Strapping Young Lad – Alien (Century Media)
Devin and the boys melt faces on an album that stands up to the legendary City.
Check Out: Zen

16. Skeletonwitch – Beyond the Permafrost (Prosthetic)
Thrash came back in a big way in the 00’s, and these guys lead the way.
Check Out: Upon Wings of Black

15. Opeth – Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)
The proggiest of the Opeth releases was also one of the best.  Swedish metal meets George Harrison’s Maharishi.
Check Out: The Baying of the Hounds

14. Slayer – Christ Illusion (American)
Another return from some big names, this time it’s Lombardo and Rubin and voila!, Slayer makes their most inspired record in years.
Check Out: Skeleton Christ

13. Gojira – From Mars to Sirius (Prosthetic)
France’s metal titans give us one of the heaviest-sounding onslaughts in recent memory.  An open array of serenity and punishment.
Check Out: Flying Whales

12. Meshuggah – Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
The only album meant to be recorded with 8-string guitars. So heavy and hypnotic it’s made for the atmosphere of a different planet.
Check Out: Glints Collide

11. System of a Down – Toxicity (American)
An odd little metal band that turned into a huge, hard rock juggernaut after this combination of focused song writing, great production and heavy manic.
Check Out: Prison Song

10. Mastodon – Remission (Relapse)
Their first full-length release and the introduction for many to Mastodon.  The album that woke up the metal world in 2002.
Check Out: March of the Fire Ants

9. Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake (Epic)
The album catches Lamb of God and the Adler brothers at their hungriest, right on the cusp of becoming one of the biggest bands in heavy music.
Check Out: The Faded Line

8. Baroness – The Red Album (Relapse)
A genius mixture of metal’s fury and indie-rock’s fuzz dragged through the sludge of the Georgia swamplands. John Baizley becomes a new metal hero.
Check Out: Isak

7. Cynic – Traced in Air (Season of Mist)
We waited for 15 years after Focus, and Paul Masvidal did not disappoint us.  An incredible journey of musicianship, virtuosity and elite song-writing.
Check Out: The Space for This

6. Opeth – Deliverance (Music for Nations)
The title track contains one of the best riffs of all time.  Wreath and Master’s Apprentices provide some bone-chilling moments.
Check Out: Deliverance

5. The Sword – Age of Winters (Kemado)
A hipster delight, but also a headbanging, weed-smoking, stoner-metal classic.  The raw power of every riff conjures the ghost of Iommi (wait, he’s not dead!)
Check Out: Iron Swan

4. QOTSA – Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
Another popular release that includes perfect song after perfect song.  Dave Grohl leaves his mark, and his curse on future Josh Homme projects.
Check Out: Song for the Dead

3. Immortal – Sons of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast)
One of the best black metal albums of all time. Abbath creates an avalanche of riffs and mayhem.
Check Out: One By One

2. Opeth – Blackwater Park (Music for Nations)
Many consider this the breakout album for Opeth.  A collection of the band’s finest moments and some of the best metal songs of all time.
Check Out: The Drapery Falls

1. Mastodon – Leviathan (Relapse)
Mastodon’s perfect metal album and one of the best releases ever.  A true classic from the first notes of track 1.
Check Out: every song

Justin’s List:

20. Candiria – 300 Percent Density (Century Media)
Normally, shit this eclectic is reserved for prog snobs… it’s a shame they’re too busy sucking off Dream Theatre to appreciate the real deal.
Check Out: 300 Percent Density

19. Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache (Roadrunner)
This album raised the bar previously set by Alive or Just Breathing. A feat every other modern metalcore band (including Killswitch themselves) have yet to surpass.
Check Out: Rose of Sharyn

18. Starkweather – Croatoan (Candlelight/Hypertension)
Ready for something completely new and exciting? Check out these old-timers.
Check Out: Slither

17. Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic)
As I’ve said before… this is “Metal” personified.
Check Out: Repulsive Salvation

16. Immortal – Sons of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast)
Black Metal’s finest hour?
Check Out: One By One

15. Slayer – Christ Illusion (American)
Kerry King + Tom Araya + Jeff Hanneman – Paul Bostaph + Dave Lombardo = ‘Nuff Said.
Check Out: Flesh Storm

14. Baroness – The Red Album (Relapse)
Eclectic, yet cohesive. Heavy, yet poetic. Artsy, yet fucking awesome.
Check Out: Wanderlust

13. Type O Negative – Dead Again (SPV)
Absolutely epic songwriting from “The Drab Four”.
Check Out: The Profit of Doom

12. Craft – Fuck the Universe (Carnal/Southern Lord)
Black Metal’s finest hour.
Check Out: Thorn In the Planet’s Side

11. Mastodon – Remission (Relapse)
Riffs beyond your wettest dream. A game changer for sure.
Check Out: Mother Puncher

10. Torche – Meanderthal (Hydra Head/Robotic Empire)
The prefect blend of heavy and poppy. I assume this album is perfect for cruising for metal chicks on a hot summer evening.
Check Out: Healer

9. Cave In – Jupiter (Hydra Head)
The biggest 180 in the history of hardcore. But Cave In are certainly a better band for having taken the risk.
Check Out: Big Riff

8. Opeth – Deliverance (Music for Nations)
One listen to the title track and you’ll know why it’s on this list.
Check Out: Deliverance

7. Isis – Oceanic (Ipecac)
This album single-handidly turned the word “Neurosis” into “Neurisis”. Stock in metalgaze shoots through the roof.
Check Out: The Beginning and the End

6. Jesu – Jesu (Hydra Head)
Justin Broadrick shows the metal community there’s more to life than Godflesh. Much more.
Check Out: Friends are Evil

5. Converge – Jane Doe (Equal Vision/Deathwish)
Converge’s defining record… Jane Doe also happens to be the defining record for 98% of hardcore bands since.
Check Out: Concubine

4. Meshuggah – Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
Is there such a thing as “too heavy”? It turns out the answer is no.
Check Out: Straws Pulled at Random

3. Pelican – Australiasia (Hydra Head)
The perfect mix of skull-crushingly heavy and heart-breakingly emotional. The soundtrack to “flying” dreams.
Check Out: GW

2. Hopesfall – The Satellite Years (Trustkill)
An awesome post-hardcore band doing everything in their power to sound like Hum. Hey… it’s all green to me!
Check Out: A Man Exits

1. Mastodon – Leviathan (Relapse)
The metal equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon. Instant Classic. Period.
Check Out: every song

Though, I didn’t know Matt on a personal level, the few times I chatted with him at shows, he seemed like a stand-up guy… and one who certainly knew how to bring the riff. He will be missed.

R.I.P. Brother

We know you all listen to metal, which means more than likely, you’re broke as fuck. So what better than offer up a FREE one-year subscription to our favorite metal magazine (featuring actual writers!)

We tried contacting Circus, Hit Parader, RIP, and Metal Edge, but none of them seem to be returning our e-mails. Luckily, the fine folks at Decibel Magazine do.

So… In honor of Decibel’s generosity and 6th annual “Top 40 of the Year” issue, all that’s required is that you drop a comment below or on Twitter @reviewsresist letting us know your favorite metal album of 2009. Yes, it’s that easy (keep in mind, if you mention A-Lex, you’re officially out of the contest). We’ll be selecting a winner at random in a couple weeks, so get on with your commenting.

Good Luck!

Contest runs until 12-7-09.
One entry per person
Participants must have a valid email & mailing address.

Also, be sure and check out Decibel’s super-exclusive issue, The Top 100 Albums of the Decade to see where St. Anger falls in.

UPDATE: We have a winner! We’ll be sending out an e-mail shortly for confirmation and to get your mailing address. Thanks again to those who participated!

I always thought Diabolus in Musica was an underrated Slayer album. It contained a few great tracks, mixed with a bunch of others that had their moments but failed to really strike a chord. This was pretty typical pattern for the band during the early 90’s, sputtering to find their next breakout album after grunge had laid waste to the promise of metal. World Painted Blood reminds me of this time and of this album, because once again Slayer seems to be exploring new ways of expanding their sound. Ultimately this will bring controversy amongst the fanbase, but since Slayer’s killing spree is once again being driven by Dave Lombardo’s legendary drum work, the end result is definitely more raw and untamed. Tom Araya’s vocals and Jeff Hannemen’s guitars all sound great, but even though the sound and attitude exist, some songs seem to lack cohesion despite a collection of standout parts. World Painted Blood is a solid effort, but a majority of it feels a bit divided and struggles to live up to its potential.

The first three tracks off of World Painted Blood are outstanding, and the title track shows how Slayer successfully incorporates new sounds to create the insidious and demonic vibe. From the midpoint of the song, the band uses riffs that are a bit more open, accenting the space between the notes to paint the picture of a slowly stalking and impending doom. Snuff begins with a wild Kerry King solo reminiscent of Captor of Sin and blitzes through three and a half minutes of pure fury. Unfortunately, after this initial barrage, the album’s power and focus begin to waver. The long stretch of songs in the middle of the album are not necessarily bad, but they fail to capitalize on some positive, yet fleeting moments. Beauty Through Order seems to wander and jump through different tempos, not knowing if it wants to be Dead Skin Mask or not, and Americon features some promising riffs combined with stale, politically-charged lyrics that plague the song with their lack of imagination. Luckily the album ends with the already-released, new classic Psychopathy Red and another awesome track, Not of This God.

There are some people that don’t like Slayer, those people are obviously idiots, but there are a few people that will not like World Painted Blood. While I think the album has it’s share of problems, it’s annoyingly close to being a great body of work. The album contains several songs that will become new live staples guaranteed to start pits and break noses, as well as some questionable tracks with brilliant bits left unfulfilled. Slayer fans will be discussing the pros and cons of this album for awhile, so that definitely makes it worth a listen.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “World Painted Blood? Right after repainting the front door, thank you.”

Justin’s Review:

Let’s cut the crap. Much like the rest of the Big 4, Slayer spent a healthy part of the last 20 years adapting their trademark sound to match modern trends. Unlike the other three, Slayer never pulled a full-on Judas towards their fans, and when it comes to “returning to their roots” the band proved they were more than capable with the release of 2006’s Christ Illusion.

So where does Slayer go next? Dave Lombardo is comfortably back to the fold, the band has 2 Grammys collecting dust on the shelves, and at this point, would probably prefer golf and snake breeding to strapping on the leather pants and being drenched in stage blood. Well… this IS Slayer we’re talking about, so of course they collectively say “fuck that,” turn on the WABAC Machine and deliver us possibly their most well-rounded effort since Seasons in the Abyss. That’s not to say World Painted Blood is an instant classic. No… sadly, I think those days are behind them; but unlike their contemporaries, Slayer don’t pussyfoot around the issue either.

World Painted Blood embellishes on the “classic-era-Slayer” we all loved on Christ Illusion. The fast stuff is faster, the solos are ripping, and for the most part, that “late-90s-aggro-Stain-of-Mind-Slayer” is downplayed quite a bit (in favor of the “late-80s-try-to-be-creepy-but-end-up-sort-of-campy-Slayer”). All of which is fine by me. With the exception of a couple mediocre riffs and some cheese-dick lyrics (cough:Americon:cough:), the only real problem I have with this album is that it doesn’t quite sink in the way I wish it would. Positives aside, I don’t really see myself singing along to the chorus of Playing With Dolls 10 years from now, or trying to beat the solo from Snuff on Guitar Hero 18. Negatives aside, I do think World Painted Blood is a worthy addition to any metalhead’s collection (who the hell am I kidding… we all know you bought it the day it came out, right?)

Anyway, here’s to hoping Slayer continue to push themselves further (in this direction) before they move to Florida to retire. While you’re at it guys… be sure to give Larry Carroll a call next time around.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “The only thing I like more than painting the world with blood is painting my face with upside-down crosses.”

Have A Listen:

Slayer – Snuff:

Download audio file (Snuff.mp3)

Mark’s Review:

If you read my bio, you’ll find that I’m that metal guy that’s into prog. If it’s technical, complex and musically advanced, I’m a fan, and although I’m quite immersed with the new Transatlantic, if you add a heavy component to it, then I’m all in. So it’s a mystery to me why I’ve never been able to get into Between the Buried and Me. These guys are as technical as hell, and can pretty much dominate any style of music, but I’ve never really enjoyed any of their albums. Their last album, Colors, featured some good songs, but it took me many, many listens to wrap my head around it. This usually means two things: 1) This is the sign of something great and complex, or 2) This just isn’t very good to begin with. The Great Misdirect gives me that similar feeling, lots of great moments that are wasted in a song-writing style that seems to feature a public display of talent over anything else.

Recently, a reader on MetalSucks.net stated that BTBAM is “the Lebron James of music“. I can see the correlation; James is an amazingly flexible athlete that can fine-tune his game between power and finesse to overpower anyone on the court. And just as he can seemingly perform anything humanly possible in order to win basketball games, BTBAM has the same level of talent in the musical realm, jumping through different genres and tempos with ease. The difference is that while James doesn’t feel like he has to use ALL the moves in his arsenal every time he touches the ball, every BTBAM song plows through riffs and song passages like a 2-year old does toilet paper. Almost every song on The Great Misdirect is jam-packed with a schizophrenic number of time changes, riffs, breakdowns and almost nothing resembling a song structure. While many will feel that this isn’t needed in the prog world, the songs get a bit tiresome and boring when you feel like they are just constantly changing themes for almost ten minutes with no payoff in sight. Tracks such as Obfuscation start off strong, but quickly degenerate into a chaotic and confusing pool of notes. It’s a shame, because that song, as well as Swim to the Moon and Fossil Genera feature some truly inspired and signature moments (although Fossil’s calliope-intro conjures a few chuckles and thoughts of bad Umphrey’s McGee). It doesn’t help when I’ve never been a fan of Tommy Rogers’ vocals, which I feel are forced when growling, and not technically sound when singing. Regardless, after sitting through four epic songs and two tracks that basically serve as intros, the album leaves me with feelings of both utter admiration and extreme confusion.

Maybe I’m the wrong type of prog fan to truly enjoy The Great Misdirect. As we’ve seen with the rise in popularity of other Victory bands as well as iwrestledabearonce and The Human Abstract, the current trend in technical music is to mash as many riffs and parts into a song as possible. You can say that this is a rebellion against standard song-writing structure, pushing the boundaries of what is “progressive”, or a commentary on the media over-saturation of American youth. No one denies that BTBAM are a group of very talented individuals, but after listening to almost an hour of attention-deficit inducing songs, I have a hard time really getting into their music.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Between the Buried and Meh”

Ed’s Review:

When a band advances so far into the expansive and sometimes flamboyant world of progressive metal, they’d better be damn good at it or else face a sea of snobbery from the mighty subculture of geeks that live & breathe this type of music (as Mark can confirm, just stand in line and eavesdrop a bit on your way in to a Dream Theater concert and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about). What’s interesting about Between The Buried and Me is that they didn’t always play material so diverse or detailed as on their new opus “The Great Misdirect” – their roots are actually based in precision-oriented thrash and grindcore music, which makes it an odd pleasure to see a band move so far outside of the hardcore box without getting completely hung out to dry by their old-school fanbase (that is, if you consider 2002 “old-school”).

“The Great Misdirect” is BTBAM’s latest effort to explain the cosmos in just under an hour, and they have pulled out every damn trick in the book and then some. The band has always favored marathon session song structures elevated to dizzying technical heights, often intentionally confusing the listener with several peaks and valleys, sometimes going as far as to expand a single riff to so many variations it could easily send the Dillinger Escape Plan running for the nearest box of tissues. So it should be no surprise the band has taken this formula one step further on “The Great Misdirect” for better or for worse. BTBAM have never necessarily been the sum of their parts – simply put… with this band, it’s actually the parts that either strike or don’t.

I absolutely adore the opening track “Mirrors” with it’s free gliding clean guitars, part jazz and part space rock, and I’m even hearing some mid-90’s indie/emo touches here – a hell of a way to draw in listeners during the first five minutes of an opus. Obviously things change immediately, taking a quick turn for the extreme and pretty much staying there for the rest of the album. “Obfuscation” features the band’s usual pummeling grind metal mixed with a chanting chorus that contains none other than a bit of Dragonforce-esque riffage (yikes) and a fantastic drum/bass/lead breakdown just after the five minute mark that sounds like a hyperactive King Crimson mixed with The Mars Volta back when they were on a lot of drugs. Thankfully the band avoids using the polka gimmick as much as on their previous album “Colors“, instead favoring more airy, layered, psychedelic passages during their mellower moments that have more in common with Porcupine Tree and Katatonia than Mr. Bungle. A great example of this is “Disease, Injury, Madness” where vocalist Tommy Rogers layers several clean vocal tracks to achieve a psychedelic wonderment that would make prog gurus like Adrian Belew and Steven Wilson quite proud. “Desert of Song” returns briefly to the swingy, carnival-style polka the band likes to experiment with (a bit useless in my opinion… Mike Patton did it a lot better 10-15 years ago) which leads the band directly into smashing out the final 18-minute epic “Swim to the Moon“.
Although I love the Don Caballero-style intro and the next few space metal sections, the track quickly falls into a plethora of jam sessions pieced together (smells like Dream Theater) and even going as far as to include a brief drum solo (???). So yeah, the band lost me there. With that being said, the guitarists do a phenomenal job throughout the album, and although I think vocalist Tommy Rogers has a slightly generic “death growl” voice, I think there is a lot to be admired about his clean vocals and I actually look forward to hearing more of them in the future.

The songs on “The Great Misdirect” are well-executed for sure, but could they be considered cohesive and genuinely well written? It’s debatable to say the least. I’d prefer to say there are several “sections” of these songs that are impressive, if not downright mind-blowing. But to call this an “album”, or anything other than a long string of brainy sections glued together, is probably an overstatement. But I think few could argue that this is a very enjoyable listen nonetheless.

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “Between the Buried and MORE COWBELL!!!”

Have A Listen:

Between the Buried and Me – Obfuscation:

Download audio file (Obfuscation.mp3)

Not many bands can say they’ve kept as high a standard as Converge for four albums over eight years. The kind of hype and worship that followed 2001’s Jane Doe threatened to doom any attempt at a follow up, but 2004’s You Fail Me revealed a band with an incredibly clear vision and ability to harness the power of sound. For all the noteworthiness of Jane Doe, to my ears it’s You Fail Me that will stand as a timeless album.

And so it was 2006’s No Heroes that failed me; but only in that it didn’t continue to raise the bar impossibly high. No Heroes is also a great album; its main problem is that it’s almost too similar to You Fail Me.

Thus we come to 2009 and Converge still hasn’t hung it up, but have they dried up? As far as writing absolutely blistering hardcore, no. Axe To Fall opens with songs on par with some of the band’s best speed tracks. I’m scared to drive while listening to the album because I’m sure to careen off a cliff while air-drumming to the breakdown of the title track. Kurt Ballou’s guitar sound is one of my favorites of all time, almost worth the price of admission alone.

In addition to those excellent qualities we expect from a Converge album, Axe To Fall comes with some guest appearances, and nothing says “low on ideas” like “guest artist.” Despite the heavy collaboration with other artists mentioned in interviews, the album comes out sounding pretty Convergey. The extra artists are integrated tastefully, perhaps the one exception being the piano ditty “Cruel Bloom” with Neurosis’ Steve von Till that reminds me too much of Tom Waits. It’s not awful, it just doesn’t fit very well.

As much as a Converge album could ever be described as ‘fun’, Axe To Fall comes close. Fans of Converge have nothing to fear, and those unfamiliar with the band have some catching up to do.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Did I not make it clear I was available for guest appearances? Does anyone read my memos?”

Justin’s Review:

Ah Converge… the fine wine of the hardcore world.

In honor of their 2009 vintage, I present you a vino review (minus the booze-talk) that pretty much sums things up…

The _____ is dark, viscous and complex, slowly revealing its richness.  The opening is intense with _____, _____ followed by _____.  Further _____ reveals pronounced _____ of _____, _____, and slightly _____ nuances.

 

Obviously very _____, the feel of this _____ is nevertheless rich, robust and created for longevity.  The _____ is full with well-structured _____ and balanced _____ leading to a long, firm finish.

 

Few pairings in the world are as utterly seamless as _____ and _____.  When paired with _____ in a _____, the _____ was little short of magical.  This impeccably made _____ should provide enjoyment over the next _____ years.”

Remember folks… don’t _____ and drive.

(…and respect the X)

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “I still prefer their 2004 vintage, but the 2001, 2006 & 2009 will satisfy most any palate.”

Converge – “Axe to Fall”

Right now is a revolutionary time for fans of thrash, because for the first time, a generation of metalheads raised fully on the thrash movement of the early 80’s are now forming bands and aiming to emulate or even top their idols. Experts point to bands such as Toxic Holocaust or Municipal Waste as purveyors of the thrash revival, but in my opinion, the leader of this movement is the Ohio-based band Skeletonwitch. If you’ve never heard these guys, but you’re into metal, you’re missing out on one of the best new bands out on the scene today. Their debut album, Beyond the Permafrost was tremendous, and their second effort: Breathing the Fire is even better. Now, with so many bands attempting to revive the style and feel of early thrash, what makes Skeletonwitch such an amazing band and Fire such an amazing album? Well, here are a few reasons that come to mind:

1) They play old-school thrash, but they do it with such ease. Skeletonwitch realizes that good thrash isn’t something complicated, they make sure when the snare’s tempo is under 200 bpm, the kick drums are over. The lyrics are dark and the riffs of Scott Hedrick and Nate Garnette arrive in an onslaught full of arpeggio sweeps and full-blast down-picking. These guys wear their influences on their sleeve, but they do a great job at blending them into a style and sound that’s heavy, extreme, and anything but dated. Seasoned metalheads can hear Dave Lombardo’s halftime drumbeat on Stand Fight and Die, as well as traces of old Death, Testament, Megadeth and even Diamond Head. Coupled with fantastic production from Jack Endino, they retain a raw, but clean sound you wish was around for Show No Mercy and Ride the Lightning.

2) The songs are short, and they fly by with such fury and precision that when they end, you’re left wanting more. Strangled by Unseen Hands and Submit to the Suffering just do not let up, packing so many memorable parts into a clenched fist aimed directly at your face. Skeletonwitch makes sure you get hooked early, and since there’s not a lot of fat to be trimmed, the songs are focused and don’t stray far from the goal. All in all, the album is 35 minutes of surprising moments and aggression that doesn’t have time to get old. It’s perfect for clicking “REPEAT” on your audio player of choice.

3) I mean, c’mon, just LOOK at these guys. These guys ARE metal! The band portrays a raw attitude insisting to keep pummeling you into the ground with speed and mayhem. There’s no radio single, no ballads, pretty much nothing that doesn’t deal with death, tormented souls, or war (aka “cool stuff”). These are the kids that sat in the back of high-school science class in a Nuclear Assault shirt drawing Dark Angel logos on their assignment notebook. I can’t picture Chance Garnette giving up his parsel-tongued delivery for something softer, and with a drummer that goes by “Mullet Chad”, you can tell these guys eat, sleep and breathe metal. Breathing the Fire indeed.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Skeletons?  Witches?  Fire?  What’s not to love??? ”

Justin’s Review:

Well folks, Mark’s gone ahead and pretty much covered every single point that I wanted to make here, so I’ve decided to borrow a quick snippet from Skeletonwitch’s somewhat dated (but surprisingly accurate) bio:

Imagine a young Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Exodus slamming beers and cranking up Immortal records at a rager in 1985. Just when you think the keg is killed, Judas Priest joins the party with a fresh case of beer.

If that doesn’t sound like “metal” personified, than I don’t know what does. And that’s precisely what you’ll get with Breathing the Fire… Metal Personified. And who in their right mind wouldn’t love that? (Besides “concerned” Bible thumpers that is).

Again, to borrow tried and true words… WORSHIP THE WITCH!

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Go directly the Prosthetic webstore… Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.”

Skeletonwitch – “Repulsive Salvation”

Because we didn’t want to talk your ears off like last time around, we’ve decided to split this month’s topic into a two-parter. We’re discussing “lost” albums from the 90s… basically albums that we think are under-appreciated or not as well-known as they deserve to be. Although we don’t necessarily share the same thoughts on each other’s picks, I do recommend checking any and all of these records out if you’re in the mood for some new (old) metal.

We also take a bit of time to review the new Dethklok album, Dethalbum II, and talk about the “tower of meat” that is the Kuma’s Corner October Burger of the Month… The Agenda of Swine.

Again… we hope you enjoy, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and feel free to give us the old “one-two” in the comments section.

Download audio file (ReviewsResist_Podcast_2.mp3)

(24.8 mb / 27:05)

 

  We’re on iTunes… be sure and subscribe!

As if that weren’t enough, we’re also throwing in a “Rust in Peace” license plate frame (supposedly looks great on Camaros), a Vic Rattlehead patch to cover the cigarette burns on your jean jacket, and last but not least, a copy of Rust in Peace on cassette. Vinyl might be all the rage, but let’s not forget… Megadeth probably wouldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for dudes my age and their Walkmans. Leave this bad-boy laying around your house or car, and you’ll be rounding second base in no time.

The rules of the contest are pretty simple… just comment or twitter @reviewsresist your favorite Megadeth lyric of all time. After two weeks, we’ll choose a winner at random and send you the big box-o-deth. Fine print below.

Good Luck!

Contest runs until 11-1-09.
Participants must live in the continental United States and have a valid email & residential address.
(P.O. Boxes are not acceptable).

www.megadeth.com
www.roadrunnerrecords.com

UPDATE: We have a winner! We’ll be sending out an e-mail shortly for confirmation and to get your mailing address. Thanks again to those who participated!

Can you feel the chill in the air? No… it’s not Jack Frost nipping at your nose (not yet at least). That tingling sensation you’re feeling is the icy-cold sting of Abbath, Horgh and Demonaz returning from their long hibernation and delivering Immortal’s latest frostbitten soundtrack to the apocalypse, All Shall Fall. It’s been nearly 18 years since the band broke the ice with their debut full length Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (featuring everyone’s favorite black metal video and animated .gif “The Call of the Wintermoon“), and while Abbath and Co. can still be found running through the Norwegian forests brandishing an axe, Immotral’s music has certainly matured over time.

As you probably know, the “black metal” genre covers a lot of ground, and has been known to spark plenty of controversy both in terms of the general public’s perception of it and the majority of die-hard fans’ insolent attitudes towards some of BM’s heavy-hitters. Immortal, being one of the pioneering bands (of the second wave), have dealt with their share of criticism over the years, but throughout it all, have remained at forefront of the scene. In 2002, they released what many (myself included) regard as the band’s milestone… Sons of Northern Darkness. By tr00 kvlt standards, SoND could be considered the band’s “sellout” album, as it featured vastly improved sound quality, and GASP! some actual “hits” (so to speak).

Well… I hate to brake it to the elitists out there, but All Shall Fall doesn’t stray too far from these standards. The unfortunate thing however, is that when held side by side with it’s predecessor, All Shall Fall doesn’t quite live up either. While the songs themselves are undeniably Immortal, they don’t have the lasting power of tracks like “Tyrants” or “One By One” (though I will admit, I’m enjoying them more with each subsequent listen). Arctic Swarm comes the closest, by featuring that classic Immortal groove underneath the album’s most outstandingly bleak lyrics.

Release the arctic swarm to drag us down
Spread its shivering wings, caught us by its cold
With haunting frosty eyes, it journeys fast
The cold will bring the fall

Album closer Unearthly Kingdom is also a welcome surprise with it’s transition from brooding to badass and back again. Peter Tägtgren has returned to his role as producer, and on that level, the album absolutely rules. All Shall Fall perfectly captures the Immortal grimness without ever coming across as shrill. In this day of rampant over-production, it’s always nice to hear (solid) recordings that actually fit the music. Hails to cover artist Pär Olofsson on his contribution as well… it’s nice to have something besides a photo of the band to look at for once.

Overall, All Shall Fall is a (frozen) solid effort, but knowing what the Immortal are capable of, it’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s hope the next one puts an end to Global Warming.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Good to have you back guys… let’s get together soon and trade makeup tips. You bring the axe, I’ll bring the wine.”

Mark’s Review:

The year was 2002, and by most standards, life was good. The Rock thrilled us all in The Scorpion King, Life with Bonnie taught America to laugh again, and Immortal released what I consider one of the greatest metal albums of all time, Sons of Northern Darkness. After I saw Immortal live, I became obsessed with what these guys would do next. For me, they defined what black metal should be: riff after god-crushing riff wrapped up in a ice-cold aura of corpse paint and wrist spikes. Unfortunately, they chose to break up shortly after touring for the album, leaving many fans such as myself high and dry. Then, as if my prayers to the Norse Gods of Snow and Ice had been answered, it was announced that Immortal would be returning to the stage at the 2007 Wacken Open Air, schedule some US dates as well and enter the studio to record new material. Although my first impression of the new album was that there was some frost that needed to thaw, I soon realized that All Shall Fall is definitely a triumphant return for the Blizzard Beasts.

With expectations running extremely high, I was a bit disappointed by what I first heard on All Shall Fall. I guess it’s unfair to compare the album to Northern Darkness, but it’s impossible not to. The title track and The Rise of Darkness are solid, but they seem to lack the bite and madness of One by One or Demonium. When track 3 began, I was wondering if maybe I had set my sights too high. I was expecting these guys to churn out another metal classic and I was starting to feel a little let down. Luckily, here is where the mood starts to shift and you can hear the band really begin to knock off the rust. Hordes of War brings the insane fury and trademark gallop while Norden on Fire features a mid-tempo march of doom and that atmospheric, echoing Immortal breakdown. Abbath definitely saves his best for last, as the album ends with two monsters: Arctic Swarm and the epic Unearthly Kingdom. Clocking in at over eight minutes, Kingdom is a classic, featuring all the wild tempo shifts, blazing-fast riffage and images of frigid warriors battling you can take.

When the album was over, I immediately began listening again because I could tell that my initial disappointment was based on unreal expectations. I’m glad I did, because it keeps getting better and better. It still might not be as good as their previous effort, but that doesn’t mean the songs don’t still rule. With increased exposure and production values, a different tone is to be expected, but in a live setting, these songs will still destroy just as much as anything off of At the Heart of Winter. Looks like Immortal is back, because All Shall Fall grows on you into one of the best metal offerings of the year.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Is it cold in here? or is it just you? ”

Once again, Nuclear Blast have outdone themselves with a wide variety of packaging options.

Have A Listen:

Immortal – All Shall Fall:

Download audio file (All_Shall_Fall.mp3)

In an autumn full of anticipated releases from some of metal’s heaviest hitters, it’s Baroness’s second major release that stands out.  When the “Red Album” splashed onto the scene; it was so great, it generated amazing buzz, was named Revolver’s album of the year, and declared Savannah’s Baroness as the new gods of sludge.  That album completely kicked my ass from the first time I heard the opening notes of “Rays on Pinion,” so I along with many others have been waiting two years in anticipation for their next offering.  I’m happy to report that “Blue Record” does not disappoint, in fact, it rules.

“Blue Record” begins with two instant classics: “The Sweetest Curse” and “Jake Leg“.  Both of these songs are sludgy anthems that epitomize that Baroness style by combining John Baizley’s throaty voice, over-buzzed guitars and pounding drums into a dynamic blend all their own.  The harmony guitars abound on the album and the fast, and out-of control runs are displayed once again on songs like “A Horse Called Golgotha“.  The unsung hero of Baroness is definitely drummer Alan Blickle, who’s barreling, single-kick pulse drives life into “O’er Hell and Hide” and lends some swing and balance to “Swollen and Halo“.  Instrumental interludes are back again, but stylistically, there is an intent to reincarnate the themes they introduce into similar melodies that project a new life and a new perspective.  You can hear the results as the chanted vocal melody of “Steel that Sleeps the Eye” returns as a driving rocker in “Swollen and Halo“, or when the stomping waltz of “Ogeechee Hymnal” changes into the dirgey “Bullhead’s Lament“.  Once again the production is top-notch, creating a sound that’s soulful and dirty, yet tight and composed.  And I don’t think I have to praise the artwork, because it continues to prove the worthlessness of .mp3s.  Do yourself a favor and buy this record on vinyl.

The “Red Album” is a tough effort to top, because it’s pretty much perfect, but “Blue Record” comes close.  It’s definitely a logical step in the progression of the band, and it shows that they are here to dominate the metal scene for years to come.  The songs are a bit more streamlined, and a bit toned down, but they have a confidence and a grace underneath the rough exterior.  It’s scary to think what Baroness is capable of artistically, but I’m hoping for a long career, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Baroness, take my advice, just don’t release a “Black Album,” we’ve seen how that ruins credibility.”

Chris’ Review:

My main question for the new Baroness record was whether it would distinguish Baroness from the easy comparisons and classifications that the Red Album, enjoyable as it is from beginning to end, could not escape. To my great delight, the Blue Record defines Baroness clearly as their own band.

I wouldn’t say any part of the Red Album was disagreeable, but on the whole the album failed to grab me; it usually fades to the background as I’m listening. The Blue Record captivates throughout with a just-right amount of challenging sounds and passages instead of merely delivering one nice sound after another. What I’m getting at is, like most great albums, the Blue Record takes risks; it’s not homogeneous. Not everyone is going to like the acoustic sing-along “Steel That Sleeps The Eye.” The galloping beat of “Oer Hell and Hide” might be too dancey for you. Why the hell is that fuzz guitar solo on “A Horse Called Golgotha” so damn loud? Somehow Baroness makes these oddities enjoyable.

And the more conventional parts are plenty pleasurable as well: a treasure trove of guitar tones playing signature Baroness licks, layered vocals singing and yelling that signature melodic style. Musically I don’t know what you call it, but it sounds like the motivational melodies of the Seven Dwarves sung by Viking marauders.

Look closer at the art nouveau inspired cover art and you see more and more interesting details you might miss on your first glance: broken eggs spilling their embryonic goo, giant sperm wriggling in the sky. Listen to the Blue Record with a similar attention to detail and enjoy the revelations.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “The Baroness: my favorite G.I. Joe character and (now my) southern metal band.”

Have A Listen:

Baroness – The Sweetest Curse:

Download audio file (The_Sweetest_Curse.mp3)

Replacing a well-known, well-established, well-respected vocalist is one of the toughest challenges a band can face. AC/DC and Anthrax (and to a much lesser extent, Iron Maiden) have managed to pull it off, but more often than not, bands who are forced to take action in this regard are met with a largely unsupportive audience (including those who turn their backs completely). So I can only imagine what a long, winding road Alice in Chains have had to venture down with the decision to reform after a 10+ year hiatus and the death of renowned singer Layne Staley. Not only was Staley’s voice instantly recognizable, it (alongside his haunting lyrics and outstanding vocal harmonies with guitarist Jerry Cantrell) practically defined the band’s sound.

So here it is 13 years after their last record, 7 years after Layne’s passing… and Alice in Chains have returned with their new album Black Gives Way to Blue; featuring Cantrell’s former touring vocalist William DuVall; who’s stepping in to fill some very large shoes. While the obvious question at hand is does DuVall pull it off… I couldn’t help but also wonder if this could/should really even be considered an Alice in Chains record (as opposed to another bloated Cantrell “solo” album)? Thankfully, any questions/doubts I might’ve had, were answered with a resounding “fuck yeah” several months ago with the release of lead single “A Looking In View“… a track so dark, so heavy, and so catchy… it just screams Alice in Chains.

As a whole, Black Gives Way to Blue follows suit. The majority of the album is complete return to form… plenty of classic AiC riffing, brooding sing-alongs and outstanding songwriting… while still retaining a surprisingly modern touch and slightly more positive vibe than you’re probably accustomed to from the band. Vocally, I couldn’t have really asked for anything more. The harmonies are spot-on (and noticeably played up), and while Duvall isn’t (nor should be considered) a Layne clone, he’s a perfect fit for the band and definitely worthy of the role he’s been chosen to play. Overall, the songs themselves tend to be slightly less memorable than classic AiC, but tracks like “All Secrets Known“, “Lesson Learned” & “Take Her Out” (among others) certainly stick to your mouth like peanut butter on the brain.

If there’s one area where BGWtB tends to fall a little flat, it’s the acoustic tracks. Throughout their career, AiC have managed to seamlessly integrate the lighter fare into their repertoire, and when taking their back catalog into consideration, these three just don’t measure up. The title track; a moderately depressing tribute to Staley; is a touching number, but probably not something with widespread rock-radio appeal. But in all honesty, that’s okay… “A Looking in View” and followup single “Check My Brain” will do a bang-up job in that department.

It’s hard to believe “the 90s” are almost 10 years old now… but if you’re anything like me, you’ll be dusting off your flannels and putting Black Gives Way to Blue on repeat for a long time to come. Alice in Chains are most definitely back and ready to show Chris Cornell what the term “aging rocker” should really mean.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “I… believe… them bones… are Melissaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Mark’s Review:

“Seriously? Alice in Chains is going to record a new album with a new singer and just try to replace Layne Staley? This won’t fly, there’s no way this doesn’t destroy their legacy as one of the most dynamic and original bands to come out of the Seattle scene. Unless they found a guy in the Philippines on YouTube like Journey did, it will be impossible to recreate the characteristic harmonies and one of the most unique voices in the history of hard rock. Get ready for the “county-fair circuit”, fellas“.

Yep, like many fans, I had a lot of selfish concerns going into a new Alice in Chains record. I’ve been burned by new singers before, and I was certain this was going to be another case of “Sepultura Syndrome”, where I listen to new material from a band I love and wish that it was sung by the old singer. But it’s a slippery slope: get a singer that sounds different, and the fans want the old sound, or use someone that sounds similar and turn into a local-bar cover act like Judas Priest with Ripper Owens or Iron Maiden with Blaze Bailey. So after all this trepidation, I’ve been very surprised and relieved while listening to AiC’s latest, Black Gives Way to Blue. While I don’t think it will make anyone forget Layne anytime soon, the band definitely sounds like they are back and amazingly true to form.

The first thing that stands out when you listen to BGWtB, is how much new frontman William DuVall sounds like Staley. Duvall’s voice is a bit more sharp, but it blends effortlessly with Cantrell and can pierce through a haunting riff just like Layne used to. While Cantrell still handles most of the heavy lifting, both of them create harmonies with ease, and the signature eerie vocal crawl remains. While A Looking in View might be the best song on the album, All Secrets Known is definitely the blueprint on how the new guy is going to mix with the old sound. The song features all the fuzzy guitar runs and wide open vocal phrasing that lifelong fans come to expect. Acid Bubble and Private Hell both could easily fit onto the tracklist from Dirt and each feature that slow crunch and harmonies stretched to the limit. Although Check My Brain is sure to be a rock-radio hit, the chorus ode to California reeks of lazy songwriting. AiC still likes to add a few extra choruses when they don’t seem to be necessary and Sean Kinney’s drumming is pretty pedestrian compared to the band’s heyday, but my main beef with the album mostly revolves around a distinct change in tone and the lack of bleakness. Overall this is not an issue, but the edge it created is sorely missed on songs like Your Decision, which would shine without the addition of a drumbeat, and Take Her Out which seems annoyingly up-tempo.

Despite these very minor grievances, the album comes through as a very polished effort and the next logical step in the history of the band. I’m pretty happy to report that with Black Gives Way to Blue, AiC has not tarnished their legacy, and I am not experiencing any symptoms of Sepultura Syndrome. Sorry Derrick Green.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Layne was addicted to heroin?? Hmmm, no wonder he was starting to look like Grandma!”

Have A Listen:

Alice in Chains – A Looking in View:

Download audio file (A_Looking_In_View.mp3)

Describe Baroness’ songwriting style… is there a specific process you adhere to, or is it more organic?

We’ve always tried to allow the songs to come together as naturally as possible. We start with a direction, concept, or theme. We slowly add and develop instrumentation as the song takes shape; and we try to distance ourselves from too much high-falutin analysis until the song is close to being done. We need to get a gut level reaction before anything else. We are reactive players and limited musicians; we’ve been playing music together for so long now words are becoming less necessary, we try to keep the chit-chat to a minimum. Our best songs were written this way: less talk, more rock so-to-speak.

How and when do you approach vocals throughout the songs’ development?

As our band has gotten older, and we’ve spent more time considering composition, we have increasingly tried to accommodate more room for vocals. Since I am playing an instrument and I am not an especially gifted singer, there are strictures we’re faced with in terms of vocals and lyrics. Early in our career, we used vocals as the nasty instrument in our band, to add intensity accents to moments within the song. More recently, I have tried to to find the vocal middle ground between where I was 6-7 years ago and something more flexible and expressive. I am always working with my voice right at the edge of its capabilities.

Where do you pull your musical influences from, and do they inspire Baroness’ non-traditional song-structure?

More recently, my musical inspiration has been drawn most directly form the non-musical arts: literature, fine art, cinema, etc. Without sounding like I’m careening into pretense, we have been trying to sequence and approach our records like cinematic scores. This has more to do with flow and tenor than actual structure. I don’t think our song-structure is all that out there, at least not in my perspective. I both detest and admire remedial pop structure; so I’ve always resisted submitting to those rules. I think our songwriting is more classic in it format, perhaps a format that has been glazed over in recent years.

As a musician and visual artist, do you find any similarities between your approach to creating physical artwork and songwriting?

The visual and sonic arts are really the same at their core. Both are a type of communication, though different mediums. I apply much the same methodology when creating in both formats. Expression of ideas, themes or atmospheres start from the same place. I tend to start generally, and then refine and develop along a natural path until my message is defined. Creation is creation.

The Blue Record seems to incorporate reoccurring themes more so than your previous albums, was this a conscious decision, or just something that came about throughout the songwriting process?

As i mentioned earlier, I like to let themes develop at their own rate in their own way. Sometimes our albums have disparate themes and occasionally they become more focused, as with Blue Record. We aimed at writing something personal, and the most poignant and obvious themes in our lives ended up repeating themselves. As it turns out, we all had some very common experiences happening at similar times, with similar implications.

Describe how you feel the band has progressed stylistically or sonically since The Red Album…

Since Red Album’s release, we have toured extensively and we’ve all remained active listeners and students of music. We have progressed technically. We have grown sonically. I think the real development has been that we’ve been able to define ourselves more accurately within our music. We have tried to slough off some of the more external trappings of genre, style and influence in favor of a more private and idiosynchratic means of delivery. Whether or not we have achieved any of this has yet to be seen. Process is the most important focus of the band, not resolution.

You’ve just announced a headlining tour with a variety of bands… explain the prospect of playing alongside such diverse musical company.

We have diverse musical tastes. Simple as that. It is restricting for us and our audience to play with the same type of band over and over again. There are so many powerful bands playing unique music out there; its a treat for us to share the stage with all of them. If nothing else, the diverse talent of those bands will keep us on our toes.

Any particular bands you’d love to tour with, or are you open to playing alongside anyone/anyplace/anytime? (ie: Clutch’s mindset throughout their career)

We’ll continue tour with bands that exemplify strong musicianship, forward-thinking attitudes and boundary-pushing ideas. Ostensibly, we are open to anything, it just has to illustrate one of the aforementioned qualities. I am a lifelong music fan, and outwardly, I am stoked to see these bands every night.

Explain the amp configuration you guys utilize for live performances. Does it largely differ from your in-studio setup?

I use two amps onstage for my rig now. One is a 50-watt Bad Cat head attached to a 4 x 12 cabinet, which I use for my high gain sounds. The other is a 30-watt Bad Cat 2 x 12 combo amp. This is more for the clean sounds and boosts on stage. Its not too complicated, and using two heads allows for a little more onstage diversity. In the studio, all bets are off. I’ll make anything work. Recording Blue Record, we used everything form our typical rigs, to tiny, super-crappy amps with horribly unique sounds. everything but the kitchen sink so to speak. It would take all day to explain the gear we record with. Then there’s a massive pedal board filled with inexplicable effects. The whole system is constantly changing.

In the age of digital media overtaking the music industry, what role do you feel artwork plays? Do you think it will continue to be as important as in the past?

Artwork will always be important to bands visual identity. But those rules and standards are changing. I am not liable to be some old codger rattling on endlessly about the way things used to be. We have to be aware of changes in aesthetic the shift from physical to digital artwork. With that in mind, I will still be making art the same way I always have, painstakingly slowly and traditionally. There are still people out there who appreciate that. My job is to find a way to make what I do relevant in the face of change.

Do you have a preference as far as format goes (digital/cd/vinyl)? In addition, what do you think of Apple’s recent announcement of iTunes LP… is that something you could get behind?

I believe in the LP as the ultimate (if outdated) album art form. That is how I initially design everything I make for bands. I think most album artists would agree with me there. There is a certain beauty in the LPs physical size. I have no idea what the itunes LP is. it sounds like a gross misrepresentation of something beautiful.

At this point, you’ve done artwork for a number of bands outside of your own. Will this trend continue on into the foreseeable future? If so, (I’m going to assume the demand greatly exceeds the supply) what factors determine who you will or won’t do work for?

I have always had a policy of working with bands I respect, admire, love or have friendships with. Anyone I work with exemplifies one of these qualities. I love making album art, and I am not likely to abandon it soon.

Describe what the ultimate visual+musical package for Baroness would be…

It’s already in the works. We’ll all just have to wait and see.

The Blue Record hits the streets on October 13th. As you might’ve suspected… there are a nice variety of pre-order options available.

If you give even the slightest shit about video games, you’ve no doubt heard about Brutal Legend, and more than likely are as stoked as I am for its release on October 13th. While I’ve yet to experience gameplay firsthand; (Xbox Demo hits the streets this Thursday) everything I’ve seen and read up to this point looks extremely promising (including the opening cinematic).

I stumbled upon the above video over at Double Fine conceptual artist (and all-around great illustrator) Scott C’s blog and thought it would be worth sharing. Obviously, art direction is a crucial part of any video game, let alone one centered around metal, and thankfully, the folks at Double Fine opted for something a little different than the tried and true H.R Giger references.

However… this begs the question… would Hieronymus Bosch be cranking out better Slayer merch were he alive today?

Of course… review to come.

The last two Megadeth albums have shown that Mustaine does his best work when there’s a Bush in the White House. While “The System Has Failed” and “United Abominations” weren’t on the same level with “Rust in Peace” and “Countdown to Extinction“, they certainly were a step in the right direction, and were light-years ahead of the radio-rock oriented “Risk” and “Youthanasia“. Mustaine has resurrected the mad riffing of the early days, and realized that he’s at his best when the speed is turned up and his nasal whine is high-pitched. Now we have the third offering from Dave and Co. since he took time off due to that nerve condition in his wrist, and although there are flashes that make it feel like 1990 again, “Endgame” features a bit too many mediocre moments to be considered a new classic.

Will you enjoy “Endgame“? Well, that depends on what type of Megadeth fan you are. Picture the album as a revised version of “So Far, So Good, So What” with way better production. It has lots of great moments, plus its fair share of clunky ones, but the detailed comparisons between the two albums is pretty shocking. For instance, like “So Far, So Good…“, “Endgame” starts with an instrumental (one that actually sounds a little bit like “Into the Lungs of Hell“). Not a big deal, since they’re both good tunes that both bleed into a classic Megadeth thrash song. On “Endgame“, that second song is the awesome “This Day We Fight!“, which I’m sure will become a live staple on par with “Wake Up Dead” and “Hangar 18“. “1,320” is pretty much a new version of “502“, as both songs lyrically revolve around driving fast cars and feature great riffs and sound bites of squealing tires. After that, there’s highlights in the form of “Endgame” and “Head Crusher” and low-lights with “How the Story Ends” and “44 Minutes“. I’m not even going to discuss the cringe-worthy ballad, “The Hardest Part of Letting Go…” because every Megadeth album can’t seem to avoid that one shitstorm of a song that forces you to make a face like you just inadvertently discovered the fart in the room.

Out of 11 songs on “Endgame“, I’d say half of them are very good and the rest aren’t really terrible (besides the aforementioned ballad), they’re just kinda bland. These are the songs that although they feature some buzzsaw riffs, screaming solos and Dave growling… remain aimless. Overall, “Endgame” will add some killer songs to Megadeth’s live setlist, but I’d avoid putting it into their Pantheon.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “A valid attempt from Dave, but if you’re going “old-school”, I could have used more songs about witches and demons.”

Justin’s Review:

I’m going to generalize a little here, but up until now, you could get a pretty good read as to the quality of any given Megadeth album by simply taking a quick glance at the cover. Rust in Peace… fucking awesome. Peace Sells… pretty damn cool. Youthanasia… uh… yeah. So anyways, it comes as a bit of surprise that “Endgame“, which gets my vote for most boring album cover in the history of metal, actually isn’t half bad. Wait… I take that back.  It IS half bad.  But it’s also half bad-ass.

As Mark mentions, Dave and Co. (really… does anyone even know who plays in Megadeth these days?) are making a valiant attempt to recapture what made them a great band 19+ years ago… and man… when they are on, they are on. “Endgame” features plenty of pummeling riffs and classic Mustaine solos scattered throughout (Dialectic Chaos, Head Crusher, and Endgame to name a few), as well as the standout track “This Day We Fight!” which could possibly be the best ‘deth song since Rust in Peace… Polaris (although Mark did recently play Sleepwalker from 2007’s “United Abominations” for me, and that song is certainly in the running).

On the flipside, “Endgame” is also rife with classic Mustaine cheese-dick lyrics (“When it’s dog eat dog, you are what you eat; just like the mad dog… that bites the had that feeds.“), half-assed filler tracks (44 Minutes, Bite the Hand, How the Story Ends) and a laughably bad modern-metal ballad (The Hardest Part of Letting Go… Sealed With a Kiss). Like I said… when they are on, they are on. When they aren’t… well… (and is it me, or does the chorus to Bodies sounds an awful lot like the chorus to a certain other Megadeth hit circa 1992?)

As I sit here and try to hash out a few more things to say about “Endgame“, the thought crosses my mind… (and this is certainly something I now plan to discuss in a future podcast) who’s the shittier lyricist… post-1990 Hetfield or post-1990 Mustaine? (eg: “I’ve got nothing left to lose… but my mind. I’ve got nothing left to choose… so I think I’ll go insane.“) Eesh.

Anyways… considering my feelings towards Megadeth’s output near the past two decades, I see “Endgame” as a welcome improvement, and a definite step in the right direction. With a little less cheese and a little more Ed Repka, Megadeth just might earn themselves a solid 4 next time around.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “I checked the Megadeth e-store for a Vic Rattlehead NASCAR Shirt and couldn’t find one… I know it’s gotta be there somewhere… oh wait.”

Have A Listen:

Megadeth – Head Crusher:

Download audio file (Head_Crusher.mp3)

Speaking of commercials… please enjoy one before your video begins, courtesy of MTV… (I would’ve certainly posted a YouTube version, but the marketing department at camp BFMV apparently don’t like metal blogs making fun of their band, so they’ve disabled embedding).

Justin’s Review

Man… it’s been a long time since I graduated high school, but back then, dudes wearing Maiden and Slayer t-shirts weren’t the total pussies they seem to be nowadays. Good thing Bullet For My Valentine are around to show these wimps that all you need is a little patience, a remote wooded area, and 3 copies of Twilight on DVD to stand up to those jock fuckheads.

Wait a minute… don’t jock fuckheads listen to Bullet For My Valentine? OH SHIT… RUN!

Mark’s Review

If there’s one thing I hate more than TEACHERS and PARENTS, it’s fucking JOCKS! Everyone’s always telling me I need to change my ways, but fuck that, I’m true to MYSELF!!!. So when I watch this video, it’s like someone had a camera on my LIFE. Bullet for my Valentine is REAL, COMPRENDE??? They don’t follow trends like shitty Taylor Swift and Lifehouse (FAGS!! LOL!!). In fact, Matt Tuck once said he doesn’t give a SHIT about trends or “what his fucking hair looks like”, and I believe him, cause when I saw the band at the Mayhem Fest (sponsored by Hot Topic), they totally looked like they kicked ass!!! I hope this video inspires other kids like me that are total UNDERGROUND to change into werewolves and murder people who pick on them.

It’s not Revocation’s fault, but when I received their new album, “Existence is Futile“, I was told that it was possibly the metal album of the year. That got me interested, but then I punched their name into Google, and found scores of websites proclaiming Revocation as “The Next Big Metal Band”. Now, usually this tag can be more of a curse than a blessing, but I was excited to hear these guys and made certain to reserve judgment until I could sit down and fully experience the album. Could this band possibly live up to the hype that had been built? The answer, unfortunately, is “no“, and while I think “Futile” is quality stuff, it doesn’t stand out as anything that I would term ground-breaking, or even more than slightly memorable.

Revocation doesn’t tip-toe around what it wants to accomplish. It’s technical-death metal of the highest order, and they do create some very unique and cool song structures. Guitarist/Vocalist David Davidson mixes boatloads of great riffs with some old-school soloing reminiscent of early Death and Carcass. Phil Dubois’s drumming is extremely impressive, but it lacks that memorable fill or beat that defines a song. The vocals are solid, but not very dynamic and their overall presentation could cause them to be confused for a number of other bands. The band’s guitar tone comes alive on the instrumental “Across Forests and Fjords“, and the sweeping riffs and melodies in “Tragedy of Modern Ages” have been stuck in my head since I heard them. But that’s two songs out of 11, and while the rest are a collection of very precise and technical musicianship, they just don’t grab you.

So I’m not sure if a bad review of the album is fair to the band, because Revocation is obviously very talented and I’m sure they slay live. Is it more of a comment on the current American metal scene that we think of these guys as pioneers? The band reminds me of a lot of technical-death outfits such as Cryptopsy, Origin, or even The Faceless. All of these guys have a great sound and just punish you with an onslaught of perfectly-played notes, but ultimately just don’t have that little “wow-factor” that sucks you in and makes you regularly fire up their music. I still have hope for Revocation, but I feel that “Existence is Futile” just cant live up to the hype.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “It’s tough to live up to what metal demands, we can’t all be The King…”

Justin’s Review:

While I may be slightly older than Mark, I think it’s safe to say I’m a tad less jaded… especially when it comes to buying into the hype that surrounds Revocation and their new album “Existence is Futile.” Granted… proclaiming a virtually unknown (at least in my book) band are potentially the “next great metal band” is a pretty tall order, but quite frankly, I doubt Revocation give two shits… and really, neither do I.

What I do care about… is a band that I’ve never even heard of cranked out one of the most riff-tastic (yet tasteful) metal albums in years. Before I dive into specifics, let me take a second to clarify my perception on “riff-tastic”. Mark mentioned The Faceless, and I think it’s a fair point of comparison (through not necessarily the same genre). The Faceless (who I will give props for their phenomenal technical skills) write riffs. Their songs are chock-full of them. In fact… that’s ALL their songs are. Just a shitload of riffs placed one after another in no discernible fashion (then played at warp speed). Extreme? Most Definitely. Memorable? Not a chance.

Which brings us to Revocation… yet another “technical” metal band in their mid 20s who (based solely on their logo and artwork) I probably wouldn’t even waste my time with. Well… you’ve all heard the old saying… “it’s best not to judge a book by its cover.” Truer words could not have been spoken. While Revocation too, feature songs chock-full of riffs (seriously some of the freshest I’ve heard in a looooonnnggg time), they also write killer songs. Despite Mark’s take on it, “Existence is Futile” is filled to the brim with songs that flow exceptionally well (Deathonomics, Leviathan Awaits), showcase astoundingly memorable riffs (Pestilence Reigns, The Brain Scramblers), and even feature a few welcome surprises (Dismantle the Dictator). To top it all off, closing track The Tragedy of Modern Ages features an outro that comes dangerously close (in terms of sheer awesomeness) to Opeth’s Deliverance or Meshuggah’s Straws Pulled at Random.

It’s tough to pin the band down to a specific sub-genre (there are elements of old-school, thrash, death metal, prog, and so on), but for fans of good old-fashion metal… Revocation delivers in spades. In addition to the fantastic riffs and songwriting, we’re treated to some formidable drumming, audible bass (hey… in metal that’s a definite plus!) and solos, Solos, SOLOS, SOLOS!!! (which of course, rule). The vocals are nothing to write home about, but for the most part, tend to be very well suited to the songs themselves (and the occasional gang vocals are a nice touch). All in all, if you’re looking for something to freshen up the old cd collection / ipod / record player (?) … look no further.

If Mastodon have taught the world of metal anything, it’s “screw the hype… we just do what we want.” Let’s hope Revocation follow suit.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Does it seem like I’m just giving out 5s like they were candy on Halloween? Possibly… but the one thing I know for sure is Existence is Futile is a real treat!”

Have A Listen:

Revocation – Pestilence Reigns:

Download audio file (Pestilence_Reigns.mp3)

We finally figured out what the hell we were doing (well… sort of) and recorded the first of many long-winded-blabber-fests to come. For our premiere (audio) episode, we tackle the Fall metal line-up, metal iPhone apps, and a few other goodies that you’ll be sure to enjoy while sitting in traffic on the way to work.

Our goal is to try and get in the habit of churning these things out once a month, but considering how long it took to edit this fucker, you’ll be lucky to have another one by the time the Fall 2010 preview is due up. Anyway… hope you enjoy, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and feel free to give us the old “one-two” in the comments section.

A big pat on the back to anyone who actually makes it through the entire thing!

Download audio file (ReviewsResist_Podcast_1.mp3)

  
(41.8 mb / 45:39)

 

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Man… it’s been awhile, but Burnt by the Sun are back (for a limited time only), and showing the metal/hardcore community how the fuck it’s done. If you haven’t followed the fluctuating career of these Jerseyites, Heart of Darkness is as great a place to start as it is absolute proof of their legacy to the genre we all hold dear.

In terms of sheer heaviness, Heart of Darkness easily trumps the band’s previous efforts, yet somehow doesn’t feel quite as aggressive… which I certainly don’t consider to be a bad thing. The songwriting on HoD is remarkably cohesive, and BBTS are able to deliver a rock-solid album as opposed to a collection of good songs (a feat that’s becoming all too rare these days, and one that will always win brownie-points with yours truly).

The album kicks off with Inner Station, a song that could easily be considered the exemplary BBTS track. It’s heavy, fast, aggressive, screamy, rifftastic, memorable, tough, rifftastic, spoken, screamy, heavy, galloping, heavy as fuck, and under 3 minutes long. Sound pretty awesome? It is. And there’s plenty more where that came from. The album also features a (thankfully) rerecorded version of Goliath, which was featured on the split 7″ with Car Bomb from a couple years back. Closer The Wolves are Running is another high point, with riffs on par with Spinner Dunn (God that song rules… I think I’m going to go back and listen to The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good as soon as I’m finished here). It’s also worth pointing out that fans of the band will truly appreciate the production values herein. There’s something about BBTS’s gruff ethos that simply would not work, were they being produced by Adam D or Zeuss. Instead, producer Eric Rachel delivers a fantastically coarse sound… the perfect compliment to the songs themselves.

An interesting side note (for those who are unaware)… drummer Dave Witte pulls double duty in BBTS and Municipal Waste (who also have a new… though somewhat disappointing… album out). Dave’s bands are a far-cry from one another, but the dude gets an “A for effort” when it comes to being rad (he’s like the metal Jose Freese).

Anyways… if you haven’t figured it out by now, Heart of Darkness is a must-own. And for you cheap bastards out there, a must-stream.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “I’ve never gotten Burnt by the Sun… namely because I use SPF 666! Wait… what? Ohhhh… you meant the band… yeah, those guys rule.”

Chris’ Review:

The overall feel of Heart of Darkness strikes a nice balance between modern metal and vintage industrial shred. With songs patched together in an almost grindcore fashion, a few sections are guilty of being unnatural (“Rust (Future Primitive))” or at worst, uninteresting (“F-unit”). More to my taste, some songs stay focused and highly effective (“There Will be Blood,” “The Wolves Are Running”). Deadly precise drums, blast beats and all, guitars and bass alternately huge and surgical, and vocals deceptively complex and varied, keep the theme of ‘well balanced’ going throughout the album.

If Burnt By the Sun wanted their final album to solidify the band’s status as a unique metal voice executed with precision, Heart of Darkness delivers.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Come on guys, “Last album?”   I tried that several times and it didn’t help sales at all, so cut the crap.”

Have A Listen:

Burnt by the Sun – Inner Station:

Download audio file (Inner_Station.mp3)

Mark’s Review:

When Black Metal first hit the scene, I laughed and figured it was some sort ov joke. After reading Lords ov Chaos and hearing the stories ov guys burning churches and members ov Mayhem eating pieces ov brain after finding their singer lying in a dead heap after a self-inflicted shotgun wound made me laugh. Are these guys serious? Is there really NOTHING to do in Norway? Wow, they must really LOVE Satan! Then, there were the endless amount ov ridiculous Black Metal photos showing fake wooden swords, smeared corpse paint and fake blood. I figured it was all just a lame attempt to scare parents and the establishment. Then I went to see Manowar at Riley’s Rock House (RIP), and Immortal opened. After laughing at the thought ov the three ov them ordering Blizzards at the nearby Dairy Queen, they soon took the stage, and I was absolutely blown away. I remember in the bathroom afterward, there was a guy at the urinal next to me just muttering to himself, “Immortal… Immortal…“, definitely the sign ov a good performance.

Since then, I’ve dabbled in mostly “commercial” Black Metal: Dimmu, Emperor, Gorgoroth and Behemoth. Behemoth’s music appealed to me immediately; their songs were great, and I really liked the unending sonic onslaught they created. And since I enjoyed, Demigod and The Apostasy, I was looking forward to hearing their new album. Evangelion is heavy and fast as hell, and it’s probably their most complete album yet.

Daimonos is the ultimate album starter. Taking its cues from Hell Awaits, screams from hell swirl around to a boil before Nergal and company begin to destroy you. When the chorus chants begin, you’ll find yourself looking around the room for something to sacrifice. The drumming and guitars are so fast and tight, it’s like a buzz-saw that only wants to tear your flesh from your bones. Inferno’s drumming is just ridiculous, with or without the help of triggers. And unlike most black metal releases, the production is fantastic. Daniel Bergstrand and Colin Richardson managed to create heavy and organic tones from guitars and drums which are obviously very processed. Songs such as Lucifer and Alas, the Lord is Upon Me, show that they can still bring the evil when the speed is slower, but Behemoth really shines when they ramp up the BPM. No where is this more apparent then on the song Ov Fire and the Void, quite possibly one ov the best metal songs I’ve heard this year. It’s simply awesome.

Because I’m saving my “5 Kings” for the new Baroness, I cant quite give the album a perfect review. But I have to say, if you’re into what makes metal great, get Evangelion. It has all the speed, power and heaviness you’d expect mixed with great songs and a satanic vibe that is sure to scare parents and give you goosebumps.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “If I’m ever in Poland and run out of chicken femurs, I’ll give these guys a call!”

Ed’s Review:

Poland has delivered a few amazing metal bands over the years without a doubt. After my soon-to-be wife turned me on to Decapitated (the infamous child prodigies of the Polish death metal underground) a few years back, I decided that I would give just about any band from this often ridiculed European region a chance. Enter BEHEMOTH who have apparently been placed in the “blackened death metal” category for quite some time now (huh?) much to my surprise. Perhaps I’ll get slapped by half of the message-board community (and probably be labeled a douche for saying this), but I didn’t even know this particular sub-genre existed. But I suppose I can understand it now – in Behemoth’s case, we are talking about a diabolically rich hybrid of black metal imagery and tone combined with the fierce and technical prowess of extremely brutal death metal, which is enough to make any weakling (or even reasonably upstanding citizen) squirm in his underwear indefinitely.

But seriously, no matter what sub-genre people are willing to toss around here, Behemoth have proven that they definitely have what it takes to match the metal with the face paint on their 9th studio album Evangelion. This is a very brutal slab of extreme metal that will probably have you reaching for the nearest pint of Żywiec the very minute it begins to thrash your head into a pulpy goiter.

Opening this ferocious riff-fest of an album are two blasting tracks of occult-laced mayhem sure to please anyone who can appreciate getting their face melted by this brand of metal. Particularly opener Daimonos slays with a magnificent velocity, then catches the ear with a breakdown solo eerily similar to the one in “Zero Tolerance” from Death’s Symbolic album (which I must say I almost busted a nut to). Shemhamforash is an all-out blast beat for the most part, ending with what sounds like a sitar (showing a possible Nile influence or maybe just an excuse to be weird and trippy – either way it works). Ov Fire and the Void, easily the album’s best track, is a grinding mid-tempo masterpiece with some classic textural guitar work overlapped with the speedy underbelly of Inferno’s kick-drumming, which brings to mind Decapitated at their best. And speaking of Inferno, this guy is a sick drummer. He’s so sick, he might need some extra face paint just to cover up how fucking talented he is, and in my opinion he may be the key to the quality of this record. My favorite guitar riff stands at the intro of Transmigrating Beyond Realms ov Amenti which is a loopy spiral of dischordant madness, down tuned and circling around Inferno’s impressive percussion. The album continues along this path consistently, with the top-notch production never taking away from the overall intensity (black metal “purists” please be forewarned: this is an absolute hi-fidelity production to the max, so if you are looking for 4-track white noise soaked in goats blood, be sure to look elsewhere). The only shortfall for me is the final track Lucifer, where the band tries their hand at doom metal, old-school style. The track seems a bit long and unnecessarily repetitive, although it could be far worse for a band of this caliber.

Ed’s Rating:

King says: “If I ever get a Polish scent hound, he shalleth be named BEHEMOTH!”

Behemoth – “Ov Fire And The Void”

(Warning… video NSFW)

God damn… getting old sucks.

Speaking of old, if Cave In still has any old fans left, I think they’ll enjoy this latest E.P. Perhaps “old” is not specific enough to date a Cave In fan, because the band is on at least its third career under the same name. So, let us say, fans that appreciated both the major label Cave In and the original hardcore Cave In should find something they like on Planets of Old. Speaking as one of those fans, I’m saying that honestly… and not as a promo for Perfect Pitch Black, which was neither perfect nor black. I’ve only had the Planets of Old songs less than a week, and I think I’ve listened to them more times than I’ve ever listened to that last album. The driving energy of these four songs is all I could hope for from Cave In.

A larger question looms… will Planets of Old win new fans for this deserving rock stalwart? No, not likely. However, I doubt Cave In cares, and the music is surely better for it. The uniqueness of Cave In’s style and sound sets them well above mediocre, but at the same time sets them firmly in the category of ‘acquired taste.’

The E.P.’s opener, “Cayman Tongue,” sets a fairly heavy mood but with that great, trademark, crystal-clear vocal of Stephen Brodsky. A balance of screamy vocals and noise-jam interlude is thrown into the song to remind you that this is the “new” new Cave In.

Second track “Retina Sees Rewind” is a little weirder to me; Stephen Brodsky goes full-on Geddy Lee over rapid-fire riffage for exactly two minutes flat (and I think the song is about the movie “Spaceballs!”). An added bonus from this song, and others on this E.P., is the sweet guitar tones that will have pedal-philes leaning into the speakers. Was that an Octavial-Mega-Muff through a Jerk-Store-Super-Chorus?

“The Red Trail” is the lackluster track of the bunch. It’s not that bad, it’s just that other bands, such as Cave In’s incestuous brethren Converge, have recorded better versions of this song over the years. Change the scream vocals back to the trademark Cave In sound referenced above, and I’d probably be loving this.

The driving tempo and riffs continue through “Air Escapes” which may be the least ‘fresh’ of all these songs, but didn’t I say I was an old Cave In fan? Cave In just sold me another record.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Singing three octaves higher could make this band a hit. But it’s a good listen nonetheless.”

Justin’s Review:

Unless you’ve been skipping out on paying your internet bill for the last few months, you’ve no doubt read that Boston’s most famous hardcore/indie/metal/space/prog/alternative/punk/pop/rock band are back from their two-and-a-half-year hiatus.

While their last effort (2005’s Perfect Pitch Black) was a far cry from the spacey-pop stylings of Antenna (which still ruled, despite it’s non-metalness), it found the band struggling a bit to come to terms their “newest” musical direction (a feat they somehow manage to do with each new recording). They wanted to be heavy again, but they weren’t quite ready to commit to a full-on return their old-school HxC days.

Fast forward 4 years, a couple of half-assed side projects (and one decent one) later, and BAM… Cave In are fucking back! Planets of Old is both everything I had hoped for, and nothing I expected at the same time. It’s heavy, aggressive, fast, and pummeling; but altogether different than any heavy, aggressive, fast, and pummeling Cave In songs you’ve heard before. Each one of the four tracks are unique in their own right… and considering the musical ground Cave In have already covered in their 11+ year career, that’s a pretty astonishing feat. Basically, Planets of Old comes in, kicks you in the balls for 15 minutes, and leaves you wanting more.

In another interesting turn of events, longtime drummer J.R. Conners, who left the band shortly after the release of PPB, (replaced by Converge’s Ben Koller… who offered up a noticeably more aggressive and looser approach), is back at the fold, and has surprisingly taken a bit of inspiration from Koller’s frantic style. Moreover, the complexity of the riffs and song structures are toned down from typical Cave In fare, but that just proves (once again) that the band doesn’t need to be playing Juggernaut to justify their position amongst metal’s elite.

In short… if you don’t like Planets of Old… you’re probably wasting your time reading this site.

In “classic” Hydra Head fashion, this one’s only available on vinyl format (for those of us who still listen to records once in a blue moon), but if you’re dying to hear it (and you certainly should be)… the entire E.P. is streaming here.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Yeah, this shit pretty much rules… that reminds me… I need to put in a call into my buds at Guitar Hero, and get “Big Riff” submitted for DLC.”

Cave In Live Teaser from Fuel TV:

“Win! A Pair of Mastodon Vans!”

What bearded, metal aficionado could possibly resist this sweet temptation?

Wait… What? SHOES?!?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Super Sweet UPDATE!  So the new issue of Decibel is out, and our (stern, yet) loving letter is in print. I highly suggest you pick it up, our better yet… subscribe. We have many more angry letters to write.

Think of it as a “live” playlist of songs and bands we feel you SHOULD be listening to, all in a platform that allows you to fire back with your own thoughts. The first list is the “Top 20 Metal Deep Cutz“. These songs are the “hidden gems”… the songs that aren’t quite “the hits”… they’re almost never played live, but still rule. These album tracks are at the heart of any great metal-argument, and so we’ve complied a list of the best. We wont be revealing the list in order until we get to the final 4, so you can follow along daily, or check in periodically.

So, without further ado…

We’d love to argue metal with you, so be sure to follow us and add your own thoughts and comments.

I did lots of embarrassing things in the late 90’s. This list includes wearing black jean shorts and listening to Coal Chamber. In 1997, I went to a Shorewood VFW hall and saw them and Sevendust play for $1.05. The low price it was sponsored by the now-defunct 105.1 The Kat FM, a metal radio station out of Wilmington that you had trouble picking up on a stereo even if you were standing next to the tower. I’ll admit, I thought this was one of the best shows ever, because at the time I loved Coal Chamber’s debut album and they had a real hot chick bassist. Looking back, I have no idea what I was thinking. When you listen to the band now, it’s so dated and lame. The songs are weak and boring, the lyrics are laughable, and the band’s look with the makeup and fishnets was comically goth. Also, Rayna Foss was not hot at all! What was i thinking? I blame my clouded vision at the time to an awkward period of late-teens rebellion coupled with the fact that Roadrunner Records brainwashed me that all their down-tuned, techno-metal bands were the apex of heavy.

Since then, Coal Chamber has disbanded, and lead singer Dez Fafara has gone on to form DevilDriver. I saw these guys at the first Sounds of the Underground tour, and although they were faster and heavier than Fafara’s previous band, all I heard was a wall of double bass, uninspired groove riffs and bad screaming. Nothing really inspiring, and nothing really original. The band seems like they’re more obsessed with portraying an over-the-top metal “image” that is meant to scare parents and seduce teenage-outsiders, and although they’d hardly be the first in the genre to attempt this, the way DevilDriver market themselves, it seems like they’re trying to follow a trend, and they’re a little behind. For instance, their Wikipedia entry says that they’ve attempted to break the record for the “World’s Largest Circle Pit” at the 2007 Download Festival, which is pitiful for a multitude of reasons. Ultimately, the fact that you’d have to organize or even ask your audience to start such an event shows that the band is a little too calculated and savvy to be a respected metal act.

Their new album, Pray for Villains is their 4th, and to me it seems like things haven’t changed much since I first heard them. The songs are still an endless stream of double bass, mindless noise and a creative and lyrical focus placed firmly on the attack against authority and the neanderthal violence that awaits them. Although the first two tracks on the album (the title track and Pure Sincerity) start strong, the album soon falls into a mundane pattern that appeals to a lowest-common denominator. The drumming and guitar work is very solid on Villains, but it’s the lyrics and vocals that kill the credibility of this band. Although I have nothing against Fafara’s style, more times than not, his words and phrasing leave me laughing. I’ve Been Sober contains a chorus that sounds like the Cookie Monster leading a sing-a-long, and Another Night in London is an unoriginal borefest that I’m sure will fire up the group of jocks in the pit with its tales of fighting and riots. Teach Me to Whisper and Forgiveness is a Six-Gun not only sound like cheese-fests just from their titles, they deliver with shockingly bad music and lyrics.

DevilDriver has a lot of fans, and I can see why, because it’s metal for people that don’t really like metal. The album is loud, fast and heavy, but lacks any real musical merit, and it’s an easy sell for anyone who wants to portray that image of rebellion toward their elders. In a few years, most of these people have moved on in their lives and in their musical tastes, and because DevilDriver’s music is largely forgettable, they’re easily cast aside. Now, I’m certain Fafara and Co. don’t set out to create something that appeals to the “overnight” metal fan, but I think it’s much easier to write and release an album that sounds this way, rather than break new ground. I’m sure Pray for Villains will appeal to a huge group of these people, and people like I was in 1997; I guess it just doesn’t have any appeal for me now.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Wow, these songs contain so many cheesy lyrics and lame references to “evil” things, even I’m embarrassed! ”

Justin’s Review:

At this point, I’m not sure what’s worse… the fact that 12 hours from now, I’ll be back at this very desk with a crapload of work to do, or the fact that it’s Sunday night and I’m here listening to the new DevilDriver for the second time through.

Either way, I’m thoroughly bored and depressed.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Good Lord… someone needs to show Dez Fafara a thing or three about dynamic vocals.”

Have A Listen:

DevilDriver – Pray For Villains:

Download audio file (Pray_For_Villains.mp3)

Sigh.

I’d like to know who the asshole is that’s going around lending some of my favorite bands a copy of “Surviving the Rock ‘N’ Roll Industry The Metallica Way: How to Transform Your Awesome Underground Band into a Boring, Half-Assed, Mainstream Version of Your Former Selves… and Get Away With It.”

Someone needs to find this fucker and give him an elbow to the face. Seriously, what the hell is going on out there? Sepultura, Earth Crisis, Killswitch Engage, Poison the Well, Obituary (yeah… I said it) have all seriously dropped the ball this year. Well go ahead and add Death By Stereo to the growing list of disappointments.

About a week ago, I stumbled upon the video for “Welcome to the Party“… the first single off the Death Is My Only Friend. Damn, was I impressed. Considering that their previous effort (Death For Life) was a garishly overproduced take on modern metalcore, I considered this new single to be a welcome return to form. The video is pretty awesome, the song kicks total ass, and shit… it even has a (ST-inspired) bass solo!

Translation: my expectations were high for the forthcoming album.

But are high expectations part of the problem? Sadly, I think not. To put things in perspective… 2 of the first 7 songs are ballads (one of which is a shitty reinterpretation of a shitty song off the last record). And both of them contain piano and orchestral arrangements. WHAT THE FUCK? Have I entered the Bizarro World here? DBS and orchestral arrangements? The last time I saw these guys live, Efrem Schulz was sporting an 8″ pink mohawk and screaming in people’s faces as he hurled his fat ass off the stage every 30 seconds. Now I have to sit and listen to him croon “I can’t face this world on my own… I keep on searching for your face. I promise that we’ll live forever… forever and a day” for a second straight album? Dude… where’s the spit? Where’s the fire? Even the band’s trademark “Woo-ooohh-ohhhs” seem lifeless this time around. Have DBS finally climbed aboard Desperation Train?

In all fairness, there are a few bright spots on the album… “We Sing Today For A Better Tomorrow” could easily be found on Into the Valley of Death, “The Ballad of Sid Dynamite” is a nice balance of old school DBS and modern hooks, and as previously mentioned, “Welcome to the Party” pretty much rules. But it’s simply not enough to overcome the rest of the lackluster (or downright shitty) songs here.

In conclusion… I’m considering Death is My Only Friend strike two. DBS had better stop pissing in my ear and telling me my brain is on fire.

*** Total side note: Is it me, or does the album cover (despite the fact the it does indeed have boobs on it) look awfully familiar? (Link NSFW) ***

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “The next album had better not be called “A Visit From the Dead” or you’ll be hearing from my lawyers!”

Mark’s Review:

“With each release, the goal of our label is to create an oasis of diversity and uniqueness within the industry where fans of all music can find sanctuary and solace from the drab, carbon-copy musical plagues that sweep through commercial culture.“

     - Serj Tankian, discussing his new label, Serjical Strike Records

I find this quote interesting because when prominent members of successful bands start their own labels, they’re never really their own. I’m sure when Universal heard that System of a Down was “taking a hiatus” after their massively successful Hypnotize / Mesmerize stretch, they realized that all those people that bought those records would be searching for a suitable alternative. What better alternative to System of a Down than the lead singer of System of a Down, who’s solo album sounds like System of a Down? And, oh yeah, we’ll give you your own label, so you can “promote it” and sign other bands you like… hopefully ones that also sound like System of a Down.

Which brings me to the new Death By Stereo, which is their first since being signed by Serjical Strike Records. I’ve been a casual fan of DBS since I saw them open for Mastodon and got into their anthem-style hardcore. One thing I liked about them, is that they’re a band that knows who they are, and what they want to present to the listener. Mash some hardcore riffs and punk drum beats with high-energy lyrics about teenage anger and rebellion against society, and everybody wins. So why does the band seem like its acting like a bad System of a Down cover band on Death is My Only Friend?

As Justin said, there’s quite a few ballads on the album, and that’s not the problem, it’s the sense that these songs don’t fit. Last Song and Forever and a Day are complete cheese-fests; so much so, that I had to hold back my snickering while listening. And while Opening Destruction, Welcome to the Party and The Ballad of Sid Dynamite remind me of the older stuff, overall, it seems like once again this is a sanitized version of DBS for the masses. I noticed the vocal lines and melodies for a majority of the songs sound eerily similar, which causes all the songs (and there are a lot of them) run together. Finally, the album ends with 2 of the laziest songs I’ve ever heard. It’s almost like DBS said, “Well, for maximum revenue with iTunes, Serj says we need to have 15 tracks“. Incredibly bad.

Overall, this is quite a disappointment. I’m sure the guys in DBS were flipping out at the chance to put out an album with the backing of Tankian’s label, but after toiling for years and building their underground fan base, it just sounds like they’re trying too hard to impress the cool kids. On Death is My Only Friend, DBS turns out to be what Tankian says he doesn’t want… a carbon-copy band looking to appeal to a commercial culture.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Hey Serj, King here… I need some cash and can sing falsetto… call me!”

Have A Listen:

Death By Stereo – Welcome to the Party:

Download audio file (Welcome_To_The_Party.mp3)

Mark’s Review:

Could Brendan O’Brien be the kryptonite for once-great, American metal bands? After Mastodon announced that the famous hard-rock producer would be working on their album Crack the Skye, I was worried. It was an ominous sign that Mastodon wanted to take their sound to a more “approachable” level, and they needed someone to hone this vision into an acceptable package for new fans and mainstream media. I can’t say I blame them. In a few short years, they had arguably become the best American metal band, secured a major label deal and garnered loads positive press. It was time for them to choose whether to take their careers to the next level, or keep pushing the metal scene they were now leading. Crack the Skye was released, and although it’s filled with quality songs, I felt it really lacked the intensity and memorable moments of their previous works. I keep trying to get into it, but in the end I feel that the album blends together with forgettable riffs, passages and vocals.   Editor’s note: Bullshit.

Killswitch Engage is at a similar crossroads. Once an underground band, the addition of Howard Jones turned them into American metalcore darlings, and for good reason. The End of the Heartache is a classic album filled with all the extreme riffage, guttural screams and soaring vocals that make metal great. I felt their next album, As Daylight Dies, was a quality effort, but with their increased popularity and exposure, the band was quickly becoming a soundtrack for MMA events and Hot Topic. When I heard a “nicer”, mainstream radio version of the song My Curse with all the screaming cut out, the line between “credibility” and “credit cards” had been crossed. Well, now enter O’Brien, and their latest release: the self-titled Killswitch Engage.

Amazingly similar to Skye, the album starts off with a group of punishing songs that show what makes Killswitch great. Never Again, Starting Over and Reckoning feature Jones’s incredible voice and the serpentine riffs of (co-producer and lead guitar) Adam Dutkiewicz. Unfortunately after these opening gems, things turn repetitive. The album quickly becomes a mundane “paint-by-numbers” release with the tracks using the same metalcore songwriting formula (opening riff-scream verse fast-sing chorus slow-breakdown-repeat). The vocals steer more toward singing than screaming and we lose that intense dynamic Jones is able to create. Every riff continues along the same path, with the heavy chugging always followed by a sweeping arpeggio tail. The end result is something that’s good, but not great; tolerable, but not memorable; solid, but safe. Much like I felt with Mastodon, it seems like the steam has been let out of Killswitch Engage, and in order to “ensure” that this album is easily digestible for the new metalcore fan, something has been produced that is very sound but not very ground-breaking. I’m sure with this release, Killswitch has found a place in the hearts of “Affliction”-wearing jocks and mall-metal followers everywhere, but in the end, it’s a very “common” record and its formulaic construction pales in comparison to their older, more-spirited releases.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “The “Brendan O’Brien Album Formula” needs more falsetto and more evil… with that, you can’t go wrong.”

Justin’s Review:

I’ve been following Killswitch Engage’s career for nearly a decade now (anyone remember their album Killswitch Engage? Anyone? Anyone?) and much like a number of their East-Coast brethren, it’s been exciting to watch the band seemingly pave the way for modern (American) metal. As I said, it’s been nearly 10 years, and despite their complete over-saturation, and what many describe as “turning metal gay”, KsE still dominate the airwaves and continue to turn a plethora of teenage girls on to metal. And what headbanger in their right mind would argue with that?

Well, it’s 2009 and KsE is back in the spotlight with their brand new album… Killswitch Engage.

Wait… What? Killswitch Engage? Yep… you heard me right. Killswitch Engage.

If there’s ever been a sign that a band has run out of fresh ideas, it’s naming an album after themselves. For the second time. (Or a third… :cough::cough:). I’m guessing you can probably figure where I’m headed with this.

Well, as Mark points out, Killswitch Engage (henceforth to be referred to as KsE09) starts of with everything that makes KsE great… solid riffs, great hooks, awesome solos and a healthy dose of Blood Has Been Shed (literally… Never Again lifts the verse riff directly from Greetings from the Gallows). Anyways, a few good tracks follow, but after about 10 minutes, and throughout the rest of the album, it’s nappy-nap time. Not to shit on the album entirely, but for the most part it’s everything you heard last time around (though I will admit… slightly more memorable than As the Daylight Dies… which isn’t saying a whole hell of a lot).

As Mark so eloquently discusses above, Brendan O’Brien was brought in to produce this one, which I found to be a strange and interesting decision. As most of you already know, guitarist/backup singer/attention whore Adam D has produced all of the band’s previous efforts (as well as 98% of metalcore records in general), so I’m not really sure what the motivation was to bring O’Brien onboard here. Is it just the trendy thing to do, or was Killswitch actually looking to the album’s production to push them in a much-needed new direction? Honestly, I have no idea… but what I AM certain of is that Roadrunner pissed away tens of thousands of dollars for the completely unnecessarily addition of O’Brien (good thing they’ve got Nickleback around to keep the cash flow in check). I’ve listened through this thing 4 times now, and I’ll be damned if the album sounds different or new in any way whatsoever. KsE09 features the same slick production that all of a sudden has become synonymous with “boring as hell”.

I’d hate to dissuade anyone who is an avid follower of the band, because KsE09 certainly does not suck, but unless they change it up and knock my socks off next time around, I think I’ll be limiting my diet strictly to BHBS.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “With Killswitch Engage, it’s pretty obvious that fresh ideas belong to ‘THEM’.”

Have A Listen:

Killswitch Engage – Starting Over:

Download audio file (Starting_Over.mp3)

It’s Friday night, and I’m sitting in the Music Box Theatre on Southport Ave. with giddy anticipation. I’m waiting to see Anvil! The Story of Anvil, a film critics have called the “next great rock documentary”, and to top it all off, the stars of the film will be in attendance to answer questions afterward. Over the past few weeks, I had definitely fallen victim to the whirlwind of critical acclaim given to the flick, and despite never being a fan of the band itself, I figured the heart-felt combination of characters, music and story would be a proven winner. I was right, Anvil! The Story of Anvil is worth the hype, it is a great movie that really shows the power of music and how people live when they won’t give up their dreams.

Having missed Iron Maiden: Flight 666 earlier in the week due to the laws of supply and demand, I was determined to see this heavy metal epic. We arrived at around 7:30pm… for a 9:40pm show. This turned out to be a little too early, as I secured tickets easily and had lots of time to kill. The Music Box Theatre is a fantastic place, filled with history and charm, and the crowd is filled with a nice mix of hipsters, film buffs and hard-core Anvil fans. With a box of Swedish Fish and a large Diet Coke in hand, I was ready to rock.

The movie begins rapidly, introducing us to the founding members of Anvil, their brief history at the top, and their pedestrian lives now. We soon realize that drummer Robb Reiner and singer/guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow are not the heavy metal megastars they should have been, but aging rockers combining a numb existence with a drive for success that seems fruitless and ridiculous. We learn about the guys from the people close to them, their family, friends and devoted fans that have supported them through the thick and the very, very thin. From there we follow the band through a depressing gauntlet as they refuse to give up their dream of rock-stardom. There’s a European tour filled with empty bars and empty promises, an album recording session that tries their patience and bank accounts, and finally an offer from Japan at a final shot at redemption. All the while hearing the doubts from others, and ultimately themselves. It’s all very Spinal Tap-ish, and if it wasn’t real, you’d think they scripted the whole thing.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is amazing and it deserves the credit it has received. I did feel the pace of the movie was a bit too fast, and that it hindered our need to understand Robb and Lips’ lifetime of frustration and failure. I really wanted to know more about where they have been, and more information on the blown and missed opportunities to make it big. You feel sympathetic toward Reiner and Lips, but since we do not know some of the struggles they’ve gone through, their characters at times border on parody. That being said, it is still a fantastic story and even if you’re not into metal, you can’t help but root for Anvil to succeed.

Mark’s Rating:

King says: “Unlike Anvil, my dreams are filled with foreboding visits from Grandma.”

Justin’s Review:

As an avid film fan and novice critic, I’m of the mindset that a solid docu/rocku/mocku should delve deep into the subject at hand, and present a well-rounded story or observation. While the story of Anvil appears to be a fascinating and invigorating Tragicomedy, the filmmakers of Anvil! The Story of Anvil have opted to present us with a “slice of the lives” of founding members Robb Reiner & Steve “Lips” Kudlow, rather than delving into the band’s (seemingly) rich 30-year history (which is thusly portrayed through 3 minutes of concert footage and a couple of half-assed interviews with Slash & Lars). Considering the film only clocks in at 90 minutes, I think there’s a whole lot more story to tell and room to tell it.

While it may sound like I’m being a little too particular, you have to realize that Anvil! The Story of Anvil is being touted as “A Masterpiece” and compared to the likes of “This is Spinal Tap“. I figure it’s my duty to give the film a little bit of shit that it probably deserves.

But for the most part, Anvil! The Story of Anvil largely succeeds in portraying the classic “band down on their luck” motif, inviting us into the compelling lives of two very charismatic individuals and their road to self-redemption. Pretty much everything Mark says above is spot on, and to rehash it any further would be wasting both of our time. Instead, I think I’ll head over to Best Buy, set up the tent and wait for the Flight 666 to hit the shelves (as well as put in my pre-order for Anvil! The Story of Anvil).

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “I know another band that influenced Metallica… and they too have a dvd in the works.”

“Anvil! The Story of Anvil” Official Trailer:

Man… there is a absolute shit-ton of Danzig videos on YouTube. So many, that I’m honestly having trouble determining the real videos from the impostures.

What ever is a Danzig fan to do?

Justin’s Review:

Combine ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Stir and enjoy loud.

The above recipe is one that the members of Goes Cube followed very closely when cooking up their debut full-length “Another Day Has Passed” (out now on The End Records). It is also one that will guarantee a spot on my “Top 10 of 2009” list.

Now excuse me while I go gorge myself.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Ah… Metal Stew… a recipe fit for a King!”

Chris’ Review:

Any extended listening to FM rock radio these days reminds me that I’m reaching that target market age for those stations that play a lot of Pink Zep and AC Halen because they’re mixing in more 90s ‘classics’ than ever. (Did Alice in Chains get this much airplay when they were still a band? Oh wait, they’re a band again! Hmmm, pay my mortgage this month or buy concert tickets… ) Well, that shit just annoys me and most music lovers I know. The best music of my good ol’ days couldn’t be found on the radio back then and I don’t want it to be now. If I’m going to take an indulgent dip in the mosh pits of yore, I gotta hear something fresh, but a throwback to my aggro roots will really get my head twitching. That’s kind of how I hear Goes Cube.

That throwback reference might come from the fact that Goes Cube does not reference any major trend in currently popular music that I can identify. They’re from Brooklyn, New York, and I’ve assumed all recent bands from Brooklyn sound like 80’s bands (such as Justin’s favorites, Vampire Weekend). But Goes Cube does not sound like an 80’s band. They don’t scream like a _____core band, but they don’t have cheesy vocals like the moose rock bands on aforementioned FM stations. And they’re not technical, just straightforward heavy. Maybe this is a new trend.

Another Day Has Passed opens with a ripping blast, “Bluest Sky,” and while such riffage is reprised at times throughout the album, the metallic opening assault is a bit of a mislead. The single, “Grinding the Knife Blade,” showcases more of the Cube’s conventional songwriting abilities while simplicity works on other tracks (“Back to Basics,” “I Hold Grudges”). Unfortunately, some songs seem a bit too tossed off (“Goes Cube Song 30,” “Restore”) and a couple tracks are just plain stinkers (“Saab Sonnet,” “Urbana-Champaign”).

While it may take some flavoring to your taste (i.e. skipping a few tracks) the basic broth of a hearty, heavy, aggressive stew is here. Goes Cube’s bio claims the band is a noteworthy live act and I can totally see that. Put a band like Goes Cube on a bill with a bunch of metros in tight pants or teenagers doing finger gymnastics and I guarantee this band will slay. And that’s not just the good ol’ days talking.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Not a flawless effort, but I could pump my scepter to this.”

Have A Listen:

Goes Cube – The Only Daughter:

Download audio file (The_Only_Daughter.mp3)

Well, it seems that I just can’t get enough of sold out shows lately. Yet another 3+ hours of standing butts-to-nuts with sweaty metal dudes who have absolutely no concept of the term “personal space”. Oh well, it’s Mastodon… I’ve done it before, and chances are, I’ll do it again next time around.

Surprisingly, the band have continued to stick it out at The Metro (capacity 1,100) these past few tour cycles, rather than graduate to the larger (capacity 1,300) House of Blues (and by now, you should know that if/when Mastodon do graduate to the HoB, someone else will be ghostwriting my review).

Intronaut opened this evening’s performance with a solid set of (their unique brand of) progressive sludge. I’m a fan of these guys, and was happy to finally get a chance to watch bassist Joe Lester work his magic in person. Based on the few youtube clips of I’d seen of the band, I wasn’t really expecting much in the vocal department, but they actually turned it out. The duel-vocal approach served the songs well (as did the massive knob tweaks that happened midway through the first song… come on Metro, sound check should take care of that shit). Intronaut’s setlist was very heavy on Prehistoricisms, and though I would’ve loved to hear something off Null, their brief showing did a great job satisfying my Introneeds. One thing in particular that impressed me, was the general attitude the band conveyed while onstage. No bitching at the sound guy, no heckling the crowd… just honest sincerity. A rare thing indeed.

Kylesa was up next, and though I’d listened to Time Will Fuse Its Worth a few times, I wasn’t entirely familiar with their catalog. So, it’s safe to say, I (more specifically, my ears) was not prepared for the sonic onslaught that followed for the next 45+ minutes. Kylesa are heavy as hell. Two drummers, 3 full stacks, and guitars tuned down to “who-the-fuck-knows-how-low” (and yes… for all you horn-dogs out there… a hot chick with a guitar). Good, good stuff here. Vocals could use a bit of finesse, but it’s easy to look beyond the vocals when a song like Hollow Severer is ripping your face off. I’m definitely going to have to check out their new one soon.

As previously discussed, Mastodon have come a long way these past few years (certainly since I first saw them play a Remission-heavy set in front of about 50 people at the sorely missed Fireside Bowl), and this evening’s ridiculously ambitious set showcased what the band has been up to since. I (as it seemed most of the crowd) was unaware going in, that Mastodon was planning to perform Crack the Skye in its entirety. A pleasant surprise, as the band pulled out another 10 songs from their back catalog afterwards (though it made a long night even longer… hey… I’m old and my feet hurt). In addition, Mastodon took a page from the “Neurosis Book of Live Performance” by incorporating video and synths into their set. Both of which worked very well and made an enjoyable set even more so (I probably don’t need to mention the playing was spot-on). And guess what? They closed with Hearts Alive. Yep… it ruled. Don’t be jealous. Oh wait… maybe you should be.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Back in my day, we didn’t need no stinkin’ video screens to entertain a crowd. Just fog machines, gothic sets, upside down crosses, skeletons, fake blood, a cape and some hairspray.”

Chris’ Review:

My previous experiences seeing Mastodon live had me looking forward to another opportunity to enjoy them at this venue, one of Chicago’s best for its size, usually considered a treat for seeing a ‘big’ band. This long night almost didn’t live up to my high expectations, but Mastodon saved it in the end. Gosh, those guys are good.

Arriving early to see Intronaut allowed us to enjoy their proficient execution of a familiar style of [progressive sludge] (thanks, Justin), but with an aggressive edge to set it apart from the mediocre masses of this genre.

Intronaut’s just-right set was followed by some technical difficulties which was then followed by Kylesa’s set. By this time the main floor of Metro was filling in but still comfortable. Kylesa’s almost straight-ahead style and two-drummer attack provided a great contrast to Mastodon, however, the effect was diminished as Kylesa’s set stretched out a bit longer than necessary.

Even more unnecessary was the interminable set change to Mastodon. As soon as Kylesa finished, the main floor packed in as the rest of this sold-out crowd arrived for the headliner. Don’t accuse me of being old and crabby for saying this, because I’ve been saying it since I was young and crabby: long set changes are a disservice to everyone (except maybe the bar). Why are we punished for actually wanting to see all the bands on the bill? I could show up a couple hours after the show starts and hear the headliner with fresh ears, but as a music lover, a chance to see an evening of well organized, thoughtfully packaged live acts is a main reason I pay the ticket price and truck my ass downtown for a show. On a weeknight, mind you. Alright, that did sound pretty old. While I’m on the old-man rant, another problem at a sold out Metro show is the time spent standing in a butts-to-nuts stress position if you want to be out from under the balconies, where the sound is usually better.

Finally, with the opening notes of Oblivion, Mastodon started their highly anticipated performance. One’s opinion of the main set would probably depend mostly on one’s opinion of Crack the Skye because that’s what they played, from beginning to end. While I like Crack the Skye overall, I think its songs do wander a little bit without hooks, which gave this live show quite a prog-rock feel; enjoyed more intellectually than viscerally. About 3/4 into the set, I had the idea that if this were Mastodon’s debut, this crowd would have lost interest much earlier. The band delivered an almost technically perfect performance as usual (to my ears a couple vocal parts of the new material weren’t quite pulled off live), but the material set the energy level of the set at a fairly subdued feel. As noted in my rant above, my personal discomfort may have had as much cause for this as the music.

After Crack the Skye was completed, Mastodon took a short break and their ‘second set’ which featured material from Blood Mountain and Leviathan (and “March of the Fire Ants“) rocked more confidently. While I may be criticizing Mastodon for taking an indulgent turn with their material, I think the epic closer, “Hearts Alive,” and the fact that I’ve looked forward to hearing it each time I’ve had the chance to see them, tells me Mastodon has earned the devotion this crowd showed.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “Nice band, but seriously, these guys suck at concept albums. King is not impressed. And why am I not on Letterman?”

Have A Look:

Mastodon – Live at the Metro 4/30/09

Our favorite place to eat (or in Mark’s case… get in a fight) was recently featured on the Food Network. I have a feeling this is about as close as Lair of the Minotaur will ever get to superstardom.

To call the first leg of Maiden’s 2008 Somewhere Back in Time Tour a “big production” is a bit of an understatement. The logistics of transporting the band, 70 crew members, and 12 tons of gear over 5 continents in a month in a half is staggering. Now factor in a show every other day… and oh yeah… singer Bruce Dickinson is flying the custom-built 757 that gets them everywhere. A concept so ridiculously awesome, it just screams “documentary”. Thankfully Iron Maiden agreed, and had the foresight to ask along the metal community’s favorite film crew… Banger Productions.

So here we are… April 21st… Maiden Day… the theatrical world premiere of Flight 666, the feature-length rockumentary chronicling the most ambitious tour in history (23 concerts in 21 countries in 45 days… fuck!). Rowdy Maiden fans both young and old packed the house for the near 2-hour extravaganza, and thankfully, not a one of them had to be escorted out (though the eagle-eyed Kerasotes employees did manage to stifle a few beer-drinkers’ fun).

From the opening notes of Aces High, it was obvious that Flight 666 was going to be an instant classic (and real treat to witness on the big screen). Sam Dunn and company have outdone themselves yet again… with top-notch production, excellent camerawork and brilliant storytelling which documents both the ridiculously inspired tour, and the lengths that crazed Maiden fans are willing to go to appease their Metal Gods. And therein lies the heart of the film. While Maiden’s music and live show speak for themselves, it’s the glimpse into the devotion of Maiden fans from around the world that really speak volumes here. From the Japanese girl who wants to “become Steve Harris’ daughter” to “Father Iron Maiden” to the Columbian man who is shown weeping uncontrollably after catching one of Nicko McBrain’s drumsticks, Flight 666 does a fantastic job showcasing the reaction of metalheads who are exposed to something that most concertgoers take for granted.

As a stand-alone concert piece, Flight 666 soars as well. The high-definition footage is outstanding, and they manage to include most of the hits you’d hope for (including Rime of the Ancient Mariner for all you super-nerds). On the documentary side, the film leaves few stones unturned (though I’m still curious as to where they sat 10′ Eddie on the plane), and provides an in-depth look at both an extremely talented band, and the legacy they continue to carve into metal’s long, winding road.

If you weren’t celebrating MAIDEN DAY at the theater, shame on you for not buying your tickets sooner. (PWNED!) But have no fear (of the dark… sorry couldn’t resist), Flight 666 hits the shelves in Blu-ray & a 2-disc DVD set on June 9th. Run to the hills and buy the fuck out of this one.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “As a society, you know we’re heading in the right direction when Iron Maiden command more cinematic real estate than Jessica Simpson.”

Chris’ Review:

Although it is technically a documentary, Flight 666 is the best concert film I’ve seen. As a casual Iron Maiden fan, a straight-ahead movie of a concert would probably not keep my attention for long, but this documentary had me fascinated from beginning to end.

First, I was already aware that Bruce Dickinson was a pilot and could fly the Iron Maiden tour plane, but I always assumed it was one of those Lear jets that you’re used to seeing rock stars in. I had no idea he flew a 757 airliner, like the kind you fly around the world. Holy shit! Nobody flies airliners as a hobby. Or maybe singing in the definitive metal band is his hobby. Wait, nobody could do that as a hobby either. Similar profiles throughout the film of each band member paint a convincing picture of the confounding amount of talent in this band.

Such ‘behind the music’ material could easy slip into trite self-tribute but tasteful restraint keeps the narrative focused on Iron Maiden the band, and, like everything Maiden does, unapologetically true to Iron Maiden’s brand of music and Iron Maiden fans. For those fans, the film presents a number of songs performed almost in their entirety. Mostly the hits you’d expect, but filmed incredibly close and clear. If you’ve always wondered what it would be like to see Steve Harris’ armpit in high definition on a 20-foot tall screen, I’ve seen it. Suffice it to say, the footage of these middle-aged rockers is definitely “warts and all.”

And whether you’re a metalhead or not, Flight 666 gives you a unique look into the global subculture of Iron Maiden fans. The tour starts in Mumbai, and the footage of fans in India, Central America, or Australia are all incredibly similar. A sea of black t-shirts, mostly young males, all really excited to be here. (Seriously, how many Iron Maiden t-shirts are there?) In places like Bogota, Columbia and San Jose, Costa Rica, the excitement is intense; this really could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a band that basically laid the foundation of the metal culture that these young people use to define themselves.

I emphasize ‘young people’ because, as Bruce Dickinson ironically explains to the so-narrowly-target-marketed-that-he-is-culturally-irrelevant Eddie Trunk in the film, Maiden continues to draw new generations of fans in addition to the nostalgia crowd. The concept of the 2008 tour was to recreate an 80’s era Iron Maiden concert with the set from the Powerslave tour and a setlist from that era, not for the old farts to reminisce, but for the newer fans who would otherwise never have a chance to experience Maiden as fans in the 80’s did. Mercifully, the stage costumes were modern.

As befitting a band that traverses borders, cultures, and time, Flight 666 transcends beyond fan product to a view into the source of this global phenomenon. A view into the heart of the beast, if you will.

Chris’ Rating:

King says: “One time I piloted the Merciful Fate tour bus. Bad idea.”

Iron Maiden – “Flight 666: Official Trailer”

Andy’s Review:

Since 1980 with the arrival of Venom, black metal has found its throne at the forefront of a shifting metal scene. There has always been some sort of controversy with what black metal really is, and who supplies the “truest blackened sound”. Whether you’re a fan of the early years of Bathory & Hellhammer or the 2nd wave with Mayhem & Emperor, you have to admit, it’s gotten even more interesting at present day (I’m sure I’ll have my balls cut off, liquefied and placed in a chalice to devour along side a bloody lamb dinner for saying that). These days, black metal has broken the mold of satanic ideologies, corpse paint, and 6″ spikes to just some regular dudes with beards and shaggy hair who look like they should be playing in Eyehategod. Whatever it is about black metal that changes, it definitely isn’t the gargantuan atmosphere that permeates from its sickening pores.

After researching the black metal movement for some time now, I have yet to hear of an Irish black metal band. Excited? Hell yes! If I hadn’t known these lads were metal before seeing the artwork, I probably would’ve looked this over. With their new full length White Tomb, Altar of Plagues display a pummeling, emotional, aggression… taking primitive black metal and experimentation to new heights. The first track “Earth: As a Womb” reeks of Isis, with its subtle fade-in and delicately delayed guitars. This builds for 2+ minutes, at which point the black metal persona of AoP is unleashed like a kick to the junk that insults with its ugliness and excites with barbaric force. Unfortunately, from here on out, it’s much of the same stale formula. It’s exciting at first, don’t get me wrong, but I would’ve preferred longer bm passages to the noiseless, boring stuff. The songs on White Tomb teeter on mellow Isis-styled experimentation and strong black metal riffs, which at times, don’t seem to fit the same puzzle. Coming from a country that has been completely silent in the black metal scene, I was hoping for a little more of something I hadn’t heard before.

Overall, the production is pretty damn good. It has a nasty, overly-noisy distorted feel to it that sounds like a train about to derail. The guitars are the perfect blend of primitive Darkthrone-fuzz and that Wolves in the Throne Room “creepy cave” sound. The searing vocals (although your typical black metal screams) bleed through the speakers with intense sincerity and conviction. The rhythm section plows & crushes through the thick whirring of buzzing guitars and screams, capitalizing on total brutality and passion.

As White Tomb proceeds for almost 50 minutes, it expresses a lot of emotion, dragging and pulling to get its point across… these guys aren’t fucking around. If this is the direction that (one of the many) different sub genres of black metal will continue in, I can’t say I would be unhappy (even if it does in fact, become the “next sound” for the black metal hipster to indulge in). After all, music shouldn’t have a face to its sound.

Andy’s Rating:

King says: “If you’re curious to know what Isis skull fucking Wolves in the Throne Room sounds like, I’d recommended picking this one up.”

Justin’s Review:

Ireland isn’t exactly known for its stellar exports in the world of metal. In fact, when I think of Irish music in general, the bloated drunk-punk babbling of bands like The Tossers come to mind (or even worse, anything post-1987 by U2). So in that regard, discovering a band of New-Wave Black Metal Irishmen was a feckin’ delight.

Being that Altar of Plagues take a page (or two) from “Post-Rock for Dummies”, they will no doubt draw comparisons to their bm brethren Wolves in the Throne Room (giving Pitchfork readers yet another black metal band to get a boner over). A fair comparison, though though with White Tomb, AoP takes tree-hugging black metal to a much darker, more foreboding place. To quote guitarist/vocalist/synth player James O’Ceallaigh; “The sentiment of White Tomb goes beyond [the Apocalypse], it describes a mass disconnection with the Earth” (to note… this lyrical sampling: “A once sacred womb, now more akin to a furnace“). An interesting concept for sure, and one the AoP handles with a great deal of integrity as the album progresses.

Technically speaking, White Tomb is divided into two songs, (“Earth” and “Through the Collapse“) each comprised of two separate movements. While that’s perfect for your “black-metal-on-the-go” playlist, it doesn’t really do the material justice. Have you ever tried watching Goodfellas with commercial breaks? Yeah, same shit. Like any good cinematic endeavor, White Tomb works best when experienced as a whole. So, despite the bleak outlook, AoP certainly prove a good point… the end of the world will suck, but it’s going to sound pretty damn cool.

Whether you’re a bm n00b, a veteran corpse-painted snob, or simply wonder about the sonic qualities of our planet’s undoing, I’d recommend picking up this disc. Or maybe buy the mp3s… they’re greener. Just make sure to listen without distraction.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “Never seen An Inconvenient Truth? Don’t bother… listen to White Tomb instead.”

Have A Listen:

Altar of Plagues – Earth: As a Womb (Sample):

Download audio file (AOP_EarthSample.mp3)

It’s been a long time since Riki Rachtman went skydiving with Megadeth, and honestly, mainstream metal programming hasn’t fared well since (sorry Jamey… it just wasn’t the same). So in theory, the prospect of a new metal talk show (featuring guest interviews, trivia, round table discussions, heated debates, etc) sounds pretty badass. Well… leave it to VH1 to take that concept and water it down (ie: piss on it) to the point where watching even 5 minutes seems like a chore. To call That Metal Show trite is almost an understatement, as there’s basically nothing “metal” about it whatsoever. (Is it me, or does the set look like a smoking lounge at the Playboy Mansion with a few Motorhead albums laying around?)

TMS suffers from a plethora of issues, but to make a long story short (too late!), it’s just plain stale. Stale format, stale jokes, stale guests and worst of all… stale metal. I shit you not, I’ve watched (suffered) through at least 8 episodes, and the most modern band I’ve heard mentioned was Slipknot. Uh… what? Yep… that’s the kind of rip-roaring metal commentary you can expect to find on TMS. Now, forgive me… I understand that it is VH1 we’re talking about here, but unless you really give a flying fuck about what the former guitarist for U.F.O. is up to these days, you might be better off watching John & Kate Plus Eight; because that’s easily more riveting (and more metal).

Despite the lack of tr00 klvt being found in the same stratosphere as TMS, what makes it even more unbearable are co-hosts Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson. With such impeccably poor comic timing, it’s difficult to tell if they actually write their own jokes or just leave it up to the interns at VH1. The only original material these two losers can seem to come up with is some variation of the words “Eddie Trunk” and “pie” being used in the same sentence. Eesh. But that’s not all… a recent episode featured both Florentine and Jamieson committing the most blasphemous act imaginable in the world of metal… admitting to preferring “Nü-tallica” to “Old-tallica”. If that’s not cause for getting the show canceled outright, I don’t know what is.

As I’m sure you could’ve guessed by now, the interviews are pretty much a disgrace as well. At least half of the guests that I’ve seen on TMS (Lita Ford, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ace Frehley, Gary Cherone) make Ghaal seem more poignant than Barack Obama. “Tea with Lemmy?” Are you kidding me? Who comes up with this shit?

If TMS does have one redeeming quality, it’s that for 22 minutes a week, old dudes like me can feel young again.

If you’re a television sadist, TMS airs on VH1 Classic on Saturdays at 11/10C… right about the time that their target audience is hitting the local karaoke bar to belt out some Creed tunes.

Justin’s Rating:

King says: “This show stinks worse than the seat of Grandma’s rocking chair.”

Mark’s Review:

I’m going to cut to the chase: VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show isn’t just an insult to metalheads everywhere, but it’s pretty much an abomination of basic cable television programming. Watching the show is like enduring a Bataan Death March through some of the worst joke-writing, on-air banter, and canned comedy bits this side of Public Access. I’d rather suffer a good, longwater-boarding than watch comedians Jim Florentine, Don Jamieson and radio host Eddie Trunk, “talk metal”, but apparently, the brass at VH1 and Viacom think this is the cutting edge of underground culture. What results is a giant pile of shit that makes Heavy Metal and those who love it look incredibly stupid.

There’s so much wrong with this show, it’s hard to know where to start. Florentine and Jamieson shoehorn painfully lame jokes into every interview, and when they’re not doing that, they’re dropping worthless nuggets of information about old Accept or Kix records (ie: shit no one cares about). The interviews with metal stars such as Lemmy, Geoff Tate, Lita Ford and Mike Portnoy are hurried in order to awkwardly segue into the next pre-taped, cheesy bit. Even the editing is shitty! Every episode features several drawn-out shots of one of the hosts staring into space, chin-fucking the guest while they speak off-camera. The worst part of TMS is by far Trunk, who has somehow parlayed his gig as a sub-par DJ into this. (Editor’s note: Nice glamor shot Eddie… so totally Metal!!!)

Trunk acts as the “People’s Spokesperson for Heavy Metal”, but his lack of knowledge and disregard for preparation are an embarrassment to anyone who’s ever listened to Ride the Lightning. No where is this more apparent than the extremely awful segment “Stump the Trunk“, where the studio audience gets to ask “metal trivia” questions in an effort to win crappy grab-bag prizes brought out by what I assume is a tranny dressed as Tawny Kitaen . First off, Trunk is unable to answer probably more than half the questions asked, and the ones he does answer all have to do with Kiss, UFO or Scorpions. Second, the viewer is forced to watch Trunk’s sweaty, blotchy face stammering through his replies as Florentine drags out wave after wave of loser, each one uglier and more nervous to be on camera than the previous. These audience members seem to be hand-picked and outfitted by VH1 to look t