METALOPHEMIA.COM

MASTODON Tour Dates and Nomination for Revolver's Golden Gods Award

2010-02-20T03:56:00Z

Mastodon begins touring North America on April 16, 2010. Tickets went on sale February 12th. Cities and dates are listed below. On another note, Mastodon's Crack the Skye has been nominated for Best Album, as well as their own, Brann Dailor, for Best Drummer. For more information and to cast your vote visit: http://www.goldengodsawards.com/vote.html

I'll see you all at the Pittsburgh show on April 26th!!!

4/16/2010 Charleston, SC Music Farm
4/17/2010 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theater
4/18/2010 Richmond, VA The National
4/20/2010 Baltimore, MD Rams Head
4/21/2010 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
4/22/2010 Hartford, CT Webster
4/23/2010 Worcester, MA Palladium - NEW ENGLAND METAL FEST
4/24/2010 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
4/26/2010 Pittsburgh, PA Palace Theater
4/27/2010 Rochester, NY Water Street
4/29/2010 Grand Rapids, MI Orbit Room
4/30/2010 Indianapolis, IN Vogue
5/1/2010 Columbia, MO Blue Note
5/3/2010 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
5/4/2010 Tucson, AZ Rialto
5/5/2010 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
5/7/2010 Pomona, CA Fox
5/9/2010 Reno, NV Knitting Factory
5/10/2010 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater
5/11/2010 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
5/13/2010 Billings, MT The Shrine
5/14/2010 Fargo, ND The Venue
5/15/2010 Omaha, NE Sokol Hall
5/16/2010 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
5/18/2010 Madison, WI Orpheum
5/19/2010 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
5/20/2010 Memphis, TN Minglewood
5/21/2010 Knoxville, TN Valarium
5/22/2010 Lexington, KY Busters

Mastodon will also be playing Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH on May 23rd at the end of their North American headline tour!

The Birth of Heavy Metal: Black Sabbath released forty years ago today

2010-02-13T05:00:00Z

Friday, February 13th, 1970...The day that metal was truly born. The self-titled debut was released by Birmingham, England's Black Sabbath. While it could be argued that metal in it's earliest form was around for a few years by the likes of Blue Cheer and Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath was the first TRUE metal band. Sabbath put it all together into a dark, loud, and beautiful piece of work that stands as one of the greatest discs of the genre. Due to poor management the album was released on a variety of labels and there was also a different track listing for the US and English versions. The Iconic cover itself hints at what awaits you before you put it on for the first time. It just looks creepy. If you ever get a chance to hear this (or any Sabbath album) on vinyl, I recommend it. It is much more atmospheric, but I love vinyl so I might be a little biased! Rain, a tolling church bell, and thunder open the album with the track "Black Sabbath". Legend has it that the lyrics are about Geezer's one time fascination with black magic. A rare black book was given to him as a birthday present. It was not in written in English and was supposedly an ancient spellbook. The story goes one night he sees a black cat in his room that alerts him to a dark cloaked figure at the foot of his bed that points at him. Abruptly, the figure and cat is gone as well as the book. None are seen again. One of Ozzy's finest vocal performances and heavy as hell riffing by Tony and Geezer. The tribal drumming of Bill really drives the verses. The galloping riff that closes the song is one of the finest Tony has ever laid down. This song becomes even more incredible live. "The Wizard" follows opening with some harmonica played by Ozzy. This is my favorite Bill Ward drum performance ever...Heavy and Pulsing and another Iommi doom fest. One of my favorite tracks ever. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" is next with its plodding tempo and killer bass line. Awesome solo from Iommi that is simple, but so perfect. "N.I.B." commonly mistaken to mean Nativity In Black, but in reality is making fun of Bill Ward's beard. It looked like the nib of a pen starts off with a Geezer bass solo. Another live staple that never gets old. This ends the first side.

Depending on which version you have the English, US, or remaster (I am going off of the US one), the second side opens with "Wicked World". After a weird and kind of awkward jazz intro, it settles into a doomy thump. Great song that is often forgotten. "Sleeping Village" follows with fantastic riffs. Heavy and doom as it gets. The jazziness shows up again, but this time it kicks off some double-tracked Iommi soloing so it works. There is a different guitar solo in each speaker during this part which makes it trippy. The next song is a cover!!! Warning, originally done by "Ansley Dunbar's Retaliation", closes the record. I have never heard the original, so I don't how it stacks up, but Sabbath made it their own. The track "Evil Woman" was the side two opener on the original English version taking the place of "Wicked World". This song is also a cover, originally done by a band named Crow. Cool song, but not great and a little out of place. In fact my only issue is that I would have liked the two cover songs omitted and a couple of originals put in their place. You can tell they are not Sabbath tunes. The practice on North American versions of naming sections of certain songs their own titles gives the impression of more tracks starts here and continues through Volume 4. I think it is cool as the titles are pretty killer.

Overall, this album has always been special to me as it was the first proper Sabbath album I ever got excluding greatest hits type stuff. This record made them my favorite band that still lasts to this day and I don't ever really see them unseated. Seeing the Reunion tour was amazing and hearing this stuff live just solidified it. I don't think Ozzy ever sang better than on this record, as he seemed to have known his range and not pushed it. The original lineup would last for seven more albums until 1979 when Ozzy was fired. The best was yet to come and it all started here.

Original European edition

"Black Sabbath
"The Wizard
"Behind the Wall of Sleep"
"N.I.B.
"Evil Woman
"Sleeping Village"
"Warning"

Original North American edition

"Black Sabbath"
"The Wizard"
"Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Basically/N.I.B."
"Wicked World"
"A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning"

Zyklon Officially Calls It Quits

2010-01-17T22:48:00Z

Zyklon has officially called it a day. The blackened/death metal band that consisted of two former Emperor members is no more. Guitarist Samoth has released the following statement:

"After taking an official break over two years ago, it has now become the reality that Zyklon is no longer a functional band, and thus the decision is made to formally split up the band, instead of just letting it descend into nothingness."

As a final release from the band, Candlelight Records will later this year put out a boxed set, entitled The Storm Manifesto, including all three full-length albums with various bonus material. Zyklon played its final show in Tokyo, Japan on September 28th, 2007.

All members of Zyklon are still active on various fronts. Samoth is currently in the studio working on the debut album for his new project, The Wretched End. Destructhor is still touring with Morbid Angel, and is still planning to complete a new Myrkskog album with Secthdamon. Trym is mainly working in his tattoo shop, but is scheduled to appear in a new music project soon.

No, I don't think this means Emperor is reforming. I hope that all the guys know that their legacy should remain untarnished as they went out the right way, in a final burst of glory.

New High On Fire!!! Snakes for the Divine

2010-01-06T01:36:00Z

The new High On Fire album entitled Snakes For the Divine will be released on Febuary 23rd. This will be their fifth album and the first since 2007's excellent Death Is This Communion. I expect it to be as killer as the rest of their stuff, so I am really looking forward to hearing it.

Here is the track listing:

1. Snakes for the Divine
2. Frost Hammer
3. Bastard Samurai
4. Ghost Neck
5. Fire, Flood & Plague
6. How Dark We Pray
7. Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter
8. Mystery of Helm

My Top Five Albums of 2009

2010-01-03T00:31:00Z

2009 was a strong year for metal. In my opinion, veteran groups seemed to dominate with solid albums. The top three are very close and it took me awhile to decide which album truly was the best release of 2009. Here they are...my picks for the top five metal albums of 2009:

1.) Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague

I loved their previous album Kill. As a fan since their first release, I thought these guys put out their masterpiece with that one. It was easily one of their best records in every aspect. Well, they surpassed Kill with Evisceration Plague. The title track is a creeping riff-fest that devours entire city blocks one at a time. The production is amazing and the guitars are beyond heavy. Everyone is on top of their game with this one. I can't think of any band this far into their career that has ever put out two of their best releases back to back like Cannibal Corpse has. The bar is set extremely high for their next one. Good luck and I can't wait.

2.) Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest

As soon as you hit play on this album it rips your head off. Opening with one of the best Nile songs ever, Those Whom the Gods Detest is a monster. The chops are incredible and the songwriting has a groove to it that hasn't been seen much by these guys previously. This cements the legacy they have created for themselves and solidifies them as the best death metal band of the last decade.

3.) Mastodon - Crack the Skye

Obviously not as heavy as the first two bands on this list, Mastodon is still pretty heavy. Heavy enough to be included on my list. This band continues to evolve and amaze me. They get better with every record they put out and seem to push themselves out of a comfort zone that appears on their previous work, which is something a lot of metal bands don't do.

4.) Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know

While the band themselves go by the name "Heaven and Hell" to me they are and always will be Black Sabbath. The Mob Rules era line up is back together and still proving why they ARE metal. Great record and a worthy successor to the criminally underrated Dehumanizer from 1992. "Bible Black" is pure classic Sabbath. I wish these guys would have gotten along better in the 80's so we could have more stuff like this rather than the "Sabbath" albums that were really Iommi solo records. Get well soon Ronnie!!!

5.Old Man's Child - Slaves of the World

Galder's side "band" continues to impress me. Much better stuff than his day job with Dimmu Borgir. The playing is always great and the songs are catchy and well written, especially for black metal.

And there you have it...my top 5 and must have albums of 2009. Feel free to share your top picks for 2009.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honorable mentions go to:
Katatonia - Night Is the New Day
Hypocrisy - A Taste of Extreme Divinity
Vader - Necropolis
Dying Fetus - Descend into Depravity
Suffocation - Blood Oath

An Examination of Being - Order of Ennead

2009-12-15T01:19:00Z

It is close to Christmas so my attention has been elsewhere. I have chained myself to the computer to make sure I get this post written. One thing that has caught my eye is that Steve Asheim' s other band, Order of Ennead, has finished recording their second album. The album is called An Examination of Being and will be out sometime in April. Their previous album was good and I think Steve is an underrated drummer in death metal. He is only one of the originaters in the field and his work in Deicide speaks for itself. Speaking of Deicide, I want a new album this year!! Do you hear me Benton!!! New Record!!!!

Here is something that is awesome, so enjoy! Laser Lobotomy by Blotted Science. Sick players. Enough said!

New MESHUGGAH DVD...Alive!!!

2009-12-09T01:50:00Z

The Masters of Swedish Deviant Audio are releasing a live dvd/cd entitled Alive on February 9th in the U.S. Original title, huh? I will let it go because it is the amazing Meshuggah. The artwork is killer, as it is a takeoff on the movie Alien which is awesome.

Here is the track listing so you can start bitching ahead of time on which of your favorite songs they left off. I will start it off. No obZen!?!?

Perpetual Black Second (Tokyo)
Electric Red
Rational Gaze
Pravus
Lethargica
Combustion
Straws Pulled At Random
New Millenium Cyanide Christ
Stengah
The Mouth Licking What You’ve Bled
Humiliative
Bleed

DVD

Begin
Perpetual Black Second (Tokyo)
Twenty Two Hours
Pravus (Tokyo)
Dissemination
Bleed (NYC)
Ritual
New Millenium Cyanide Christ (Montreal)
Cleanse
Stengah (Montreal)
The Mouth Licking What You’ve Bled (Montreal)
Machine
Electric Red (Tokyo)
Solidarius
Rational Gaze (Tokyo)
Moment
Lethargica (Toronto)
Communicate
Combustion (Toronto)
Humiliative (Montreal)
Infinitum
Straws Pulled At Random (Toronto)
End

DVD Bonus Features

“Bleed” Music Video
The Making Of “Bleed”
Micha Guitar Tour
Tomas Drum Tour

Choosing Death!!! Spanish Version Release

2009-12-08T01:49:00Z

Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore by Albert Mudrian has been out in the U.S. since about 2003. If you are a true fan of either DM or Grind then hopefully you have read it. If not, go get it and learn your history. I am pretty well versed in death metal, but there were still some things I did not know. While Grind had to grow on me, I found its evolution pretty interesting and this book made me even more interested in it. I just recently got it out again and am reading it for the fourth time, as it is very entertaining and reminds me of the days when these bands first came out.

This music was so different and created such extreme reactions in people that people in the industry and record execs at the time did not know how to handle it. This book also contains a lot of cool pictures. A variation on the infamous Obituary "hanging" photo is included, which is probably the most killer promo pic of all time. Highlights for me include; various Carcass members discussing the making of their controversial Swansong album, the origin of the blast beat, and Glenn Benton's way of introducing Deicide's, then known as Amon, demo to Roadrunner. The book is now being released in Spanish with a way cooler cover than the English version, so go pick it up and learn something.

Twenty Years of Symphonies of Sickness

2009-12-04T05:01:00Z

Carcass is a band that immediately grabs your attention. The early days had sick album covers, crazy medical song titles and lyrics, and a sound that floored you on first listen. You either hated or loved this band. They were extreme in the ultimate sense.

I remember the first time I saw a Carcass tape...9th grade, Business class. A skater kid leans over and asks me if I've ever heard of Carcass before. I said "no" and then he proceeded to hand me the tape. HOLY SHIT!!! The cover had real pictures of body parts and dead people. He then tells me that they are medical students and they play in a band for fun...which turned out was an untrue rumor. This album is Reek of Putrefaction, the very first Carcass album. Upon taking it home and first listening to it, I was totally turned off by the horrible production. There were some cool riffs, but overall it was unimpressive. About a year later Carcass has a new album out. I read some positive reviews, but kept passing on it...having not forgotten my first impressions of Reek of Putrefaction.

Finally, Symphonies of Sickness crosses my path after being goaded into listening to it by some friends. As soon as I saw the cover and the song titles I told them it was going to be the same shit as the first one. Wrong...totally wrong. The band that made Symphonies of Sickness was a death metal machine. The production was clear, so you could pick out the individual instruments. The guitars sounded awesome and the songs were not two and a half minutes of shit. It was like everyone in this band learned how to play. Jeff Walker's bass is killer, Bill Steer big time improved as a guitarist and Ken Owen started playing double bass. The pitch shifted vocals are not overdone and the whole thing is just brutal as hell. My favorite track is "Ruptured in Purulence". Awesome drum intro and when the bass kicks in the whole thing is as heavy as heavy can get. This was the last record with the band as a trio. Micheal Amott would join the band halfway through the tour and stay on for two albums.

Symphonies of Sickness, released 20 years ago today on December 4, 1989, is a classic album and essential to any true metal collection.

Ronnie James Dio Diagnosed with Stomach Cancer

2009-12-03T01:36:00Z

I had to post something about RJD being diagnosed with cancer, as he has been a part of the soundtrack of my life. The best metal singer EVER. Yes, Halford and Geoff Tate were awesome at one time, but Dio has always been the King of Metal. Starting with Rainbow then helping to reinvent Sabbath and on to his solo work. How many essential metal tunes has this guy been on? It seems like almost all of them.

So, to the King of Metal I say, "Hurry up and get well...to a fast recovery!" - from one of your biggest fans of the past 25 years. In honor of His Majesty following is a list I've put together of my favorite Dio fronted albums.

All three Dio era Rainbow albums are good, but I have to put Rising at the top of my list. The line up was really solidified with the additions of Cozy Powell and Jimmy Bain. One of my all time favorite songs is featured on here, the incredible "Stargazer". This song is amazing and one of Dio's best performances.

The Dio era Sabbath never put out a bad record. The 1992 "reunion" album Dehumanizer is vastly underrated largely due to paper thin production, but it all started with this one,1980's Heaven and Hell. This album is epic and sweeping in its vision. It has atmosphere that sucks you in and envelopes you. Every track is killer and when played live the material soars to even greater heights.

After leaving Sabbath RJD puts together the band Dio. Made up of former Rainbow bassist, Jimmy Bain, former Sabbath drummer, Vinny Appice, and ex-Sweet Savage guitarist, Vivian Campbell, the band released Holy Diver in 1983. This album is legendary and everything about it is perfect.

I wanted to make special note of the latest release from the Dio era Sabbath, known as Heaven and Hell. The Devil You Know was released in April of this year and is great. This IS a Black Sabbath album. It stacks up with everything else this line up did before and seemed to go under the radar a bit for whatever reason. The tune "Bible Black" is awesome and stacks up there as one of the best songs these guys have done. I saw them live on this tour and they did not disappoint. Live they are awesome and Dio is far and away the better singer/frontman for Sabbath. I have seen them with Ozzy as well and there is a night and day difference.

GET WELL SOON!!!!

Richard Christy's new project, CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED

2009-12-01T02:08:00Z

Richard Christy, drummer on Death's final studio album The Sound of Perseverance, is releasing the debut album from his new project called CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED. Also in the band is bass legend Steve DiGiorgio and Tim "Ripper" Owens. It will be out February 2, 2010 on Metal Blade Records. It is great to see Richard Christy back in metal because he is such an amazing drummer and should be known for his drumming instead of a Howard Stern stooge. Looking forward to checking out his new project.

Morbid Angel has new label AND Obituary's new DVD

2009-11-24T02:17:00Z

Alright, I am back! No updates for almost a week, but sometimes life intrudes. First up the mighty Morbid Angel have a new record label. Season of Mist which is from France. The as yet untitled disc will be their ninth and should be out in early 2010. It will be the first release to feature bassist/vocalist, David Vincent, since 1995's very excellent Domination. If you haven't heard the new song "Nevermore", which they have been doing live since the last tour, check it out. Added to their live line up is the new touring guitarist, Destructhor from Zyklon. Good fit since Zyklon was heavily influence by Morbid Angel. No word yet if the album title will start with the letter I!

Another Tampa Death Metal great, Obituary, will release a new DVD in January 2010 titled, Live Xecution - Party.San 2008. The footage was filmed at last year's Party.San Open Air festival, which was held August 7-9, 2008 in Bad Berka, Germany.

Setlist is as follows:
01. Find The Arise
02. On The Floor
03. Chopped In Half
04. Turned Inside Out
05. Forces Realign
06. Insane
07. Face Your God
08. Dethroned Emperor
09. Evil Ways
10. Drop Dead
11. Contrast The Dead
12. Second Chance
13. Stand Alone
14. Slow Death
15. Slowly We Rot

I love Obituary, but some of my favorite tunes aren't on here!!! Where is "Don't Care", "World Demise", and "The End Complete"?! Seriously though these guys are awesome and are always a good contrast with their groove and sheer heaviness to the blast DM bands.

SIX FEET UNDER - Graveyard Classics 3

2009-11-18T02:34:00Z

Six Feet Under will be releasing the third installment of their Graveyard Classics on January 19th, 2010.

The track listing is as follows:

1. A Dangerous Meeting- Mercyful Fate
2. Metal On Metal- Anvil
3. The Frayed Ends Of Sanity- Metallica
4. At Dawn They Sleep- Slayer
5. Not Fragile- BTO
6. On Fire-Van Halen
7. Pounding Metal- Exciter
8. Destroyer- Twisted Sister
9. Psychotherapy- The Ramones
10. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck- Prong

This is pretty cool, but I must question two tracks here. As cool as Chris Barnes is as a death metal growler he is not a singer. Why would they even attempt to cover "A Dangerous Meeting"? King Diamond is one of the greatest metal singers ever so this could be a total disaster. Psychotherapy is the other questionable track. The Ramones equals great music when you are drunk and want to be loud, but they were pretty boring and inept as players. I would have liked to have seen something else in it's place. Some classic Possessed would've been awesome. The Metallica and Slayer covers should be good. "At Dawn They Sleep" is one of my favorite Slayer songs and "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" is a surprise. I would love to hear SFU do "Jump In the Fire".

This will be a good addition to the series and is already looking to be better than Graveyard Classics 2.

Dee Snider's Mission to Take Back the Horns?!?!?!

2009-11-17T03:13:00Z

I feel a full on RANT coming...

I am tired of stupid shit being presented as metal. All of these holiday albums and tours are as UN-METAL as you can be. Twisted Sister's pathetic Christmas album from a few years ago and the new Dee Snider website to "Take Back the Horns" makes me insane. First off, Twisted Sister was never metal. They were a hard rock band and for awhile a decent one, until they went for the cash grab. Anybody remember their cover and video for "Leader of the Pack"? It was one of the most embarrassing things I had ever seen in my life up to that point and the tour was actually canceled for poor attendance. Please, just stop making records. You re-recorded "Stay Hungry" as a cash grab and the aforementioned Christmas album is absolutely ghastly. How do you do this crap with a straight face? "Heavy Metal Christmas" are you kidding me?!? Of the five people that bought this dreck, who wasn't on the payroll?

We all know that Snider went to defend music against the PMRC in the 80's and did a pretty damn good job of it. He is to be commended for that, but the "Take Back the Horns" website that is trying to stop the "abuse" of the horns is so fucking stupid. Snider said "In the 80's, I went to Washington, D.C. to defend heavy metal and fight censorship. Now it's time for me to defend the music I love again and fight a very different enemy. I need headbangers the world over to join me in this important fight. Let's say to the purveyors of other music forms, the usurpers of our mark...get your own damn sign bee-otch! Let's take back the horns...dot com!"

Bee-otch??? Please go overdose on Vidal Sassoon. Metal is not defined by a stupid hand sign. I don't care who does it or why. Crawl back under your rock and leave music to real musicians and stop defaming metal by including yourself in it.

Then there's the baby clothes with band logos and spoofing band logos. Every time metal gets mainstreamed bad things happen. True metal is underground music. It should scare the shit out of people who aren't into it. It should be dangerous, confrontational, and non-conformist. You put your band name on baby clothes then you shit on everything metal stands for. You are a sell out...another corporate whore and definitely not metal.

In case you forgot how awful it was the first time around...

Twenty Years of World Downfall

2009-11-13T05:06:00Z

The legendary World Downfall was unleashed twenty years ago today, on November 13, 1989. It is so hard to believe it has been that long since some of the original death metal classics were released, like Beneath The Remains, Slowly We Rot, Altars of Madness, Symphonies of Sickness, and World Downfall. This was also the year of Fabulous Disaster, Handle With Care, Blessing In Disguise, and Tales of Creation. To say that 1989 was a great year for metal is an understatement. It was the beginning of an era and thrash was dying. It was getting too processed, and even MTV was taking notice of this once underground sound. Morbid Angel's first album Altars of Madness made everyone aware that something was coming. Death, Napalm Death, and Possessed were already out by then, so if you wanted something darker and faster than Slayer you had to check this stuff out.

I first listened to Terrorizer's World Downfall album because of their link to Morbid Angel. This was Pete Sandoval's band before Morbid Angel. David Vincent played bass and produced it as well, so this had to be good. Honestly, I wasn't into this album the very first time I heard it. It grew on me over time and now ranks up there with the best. This was considered grindcore and though I like Carcass, I always thought the term was just a euphemism for faster hardcore.

Hardcore meant "punk", so I was a little suspicious. D.R.I. was about as hardcore as I got. Punk always seemed to be a bunch of dudes who couldn't play just trying to play fast. There is a big time hardcore influence on World Downfall. You can hear the death metal influence on this album as well. It gets lumped into the death metal camp because former member, Jesse Pintado, went on to Napalm Death and of course, Pete Sandoval and David Vincent of Morbid Angel.

One thing that stands out is how well this album has aged. It is still brutal and better than a lot of the stuff that's out today. Its influence is pretty huge and regardless of your extreme musical leanings, it is an essential record.

R.I.P. Jesse Pintado (7/12/69 to 8/26/06)

Setlist for Planetary Depravity Tour

2009-11-12T02:24:00Z

The Planetary Depravity Tour with headliners The Faceless and Dying Fetus kicks off November 14 in Seattle. And one of the best parts...The Faceless will be playing their album, "Planetary Duality" in its entirety, as well as a few of their older songs.

Click the banner below to get your tickets now!!!

WTF?!?! Seriously Slash???

2009-11-11T02:18:00Z

I am going to stray from the genre of metal for a moment because I heard something today that I can't help to comment on. Why do musicians do these type of things...is it the money? Is it to boost a low profile? Who knows, but they always result in a train wreck, and I can't help to rubber neck at them and shake my head.

I liked Appetite for Destruction when it came out. It was something different for the world of hard rock in 1987. Unless you've been in a cave for the past 20+ years then you've heard something from it. A few of the songs you still can't get away from. What turned me off though were the singles from that album that became popular and were the weakest songs. To me all of the hype about Guns 'N Roses being an anti-commercial band went right out the window with those singles. I HATED (and still hate) "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City"...they make me vomit. They suck ass, so you know they're going to end up being the most popular songs and you'd hear them everywhere you went. Stick with me...I am going somewhere with this.

Now Slash, who has kicked around with a few bands and musicians (Velvet Revolver and Slash's Snakepit to name a couple) after Guns 'N Roses, is now putting out a solo album. Slash is a good guitarist and while I feel his style is slightly dated, he does some enjoyable solos from time to time. He has the money, signature gear, and his place in rock history. So what could he possibly get from doing a solo album? How about one of the worst piles of crap ever released. Or how about making an already crap song into a giant pile of audio diarrhea that is as painful to listen to as it would be to actually shit out? The song I am referring to is a remake of "Paradise City" featuring CYPRESS HILL and Fergie. Play this at GitMo and the prisoners will tell you anything you want to know! His solo album will have guest vocalists to include; Ozzy, Avenged Sevenfold's, M. Shadows, and Chris Cornell. Funny that Chris Cornell is on this, as his last record was also God AWFUL. I guess if you have to go down you may as well take everyone you can with you. Thanks MetalSucks for posting this news and giving me a reason to vent today. If you want to check it out for yourself and regret you ever did, then click here.

The Return of Fear Factory

2009-11-10T02:00:00Z

Fear Factory on Myspace Music
Official Fear Factory Website

The new Fear Factory album, Mechanize, will be released in Europe on February 5, 2010 and in North America on February 9, 2010. Original members, Burton C Bell and Dino Cazares, will be joined by Byron Stroud and the legendary Gene Hoglan. Byron has played on the last two Fear Factory albums. The lineup of Burton C Bell, Christian Olde Wolbers, Byron Stroud, and Raymond Herrera made up Fear Factory on the Archetype and Transgression albums. Now there is an ongoing legal battle over who is actually Fear Factory. Despite this legal drama a tour has been planned, so we will have to wait and see what happens.

One track off the new album Mechanize has been made available for streaming entitled "Powershifter". After listening to this track I was not that impressed, a standard Fear Factory track. After the release of the excellent Demanufacture in June of 1995 they pretty much stagnated. The band hit its low point on the track "Back the Fuck Up" from the Digimortal album...total crap. At least Archetype and Transgression were fresher and not as predictable as previous records. Oh well, if the new album is a snooze fest, at least we will have the legal soap opera of who makes up Fear Factory to entertain us.

Those Whom The Gods Detest - Nile

2009-11-06T01:33:00Z

Nile on Myspace Music
Official Nile Website

The mighty Nile released their sixth full length album, Those Whom The Gods Detest, on November 3rd. Not nearly as hyped as Slayer's album release that came out on the same date, but more deserving of the attention that was focused on World Painted Blood.

Those Whom The Gods Detest was out on Youtube to listen to before it was released, so I heard most of it there. I dug it and planned to buy it anyway because I wanted the quality sound of the CD. Wow, what a difference. This album rips your head off and boots it into space.

This album has all of the classic Nile trademarks and is catchy as hell. Every song on here has something that will stick in your head for days after hearing it. I will go so far as to say, not only is Those Whom The Gods Detest their best album, but it is a masterpiece. The depth of the songs are infinite here. Every time I listen to this album I find more layers to it.

The opening track, "Kafir" is absolutely ferocious. A crescendo of tension builds into a punishing flurry of speed. The beauty of this song is the simple mid-tempo chug riff and interesting beat that George Kollias plays under the catchy sing along "THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD!". This has been stuck in my head since first hearing it. The shifts between the fast and slow sections really accent the overall heaviness of this track. The Muslim prayer gives it an overall strange vibe. One of their best tracks ever and a perfect album opener. Other stand out tracks are the title track, "Those Whom The Gods Detest", and the track, "4th Arra of Dagon". These are the longest tracks on the album, both clocking in at over eight minutes a piece. A lot of different instruments are used and they are both great songs that take you on a journey.

Not only is this the best death metal record of the year, it is in my opinion the best metal record of the year period. BUY IT NOW!

Attack of the God Squad!!!! Revisiting the 80's...

2009-11-05T02:16:00Z

I have been into hard rock/metal since I was around ten years old...which takes this blog entry back to 1984. My best friend at the time had an older sister that was into bands that were popular then. Through the two of them, I was exposed to Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken, and Van Halen in elementary school. He was really into Loudness, so I am very familiar with their Lightning Strikes album to this day. I fell in love with Motley Crue's music...now keep in mind this was 1984 when they were actually good. I bought Shout at the Devil on vinyl and was hooked. The album came with a fan club order form that had a bunch of pictures of their merchandise on it. I cut out a couple of the pictures and took them in to school where I proceeded to tape them to my desk. This was the moment I was introduced to the world of not liking what everybody else likes.

I realize I was into this music way early, but it was because of my environment. I thought everybody liked Motley Crue, how could they not? They were loud, dressed in leather, had fire in their videos, and were just all around badass. What a shit storm this created that would even last to this day. You will always have people that just don't get "it", even if they like a couple of "heavy" songs. Anybody that lives and breathes this music understands. It is a culture and the lengths that people will go to get you out of it is unreal...borderline fanatical. Some of these people are the group I like to call the God Squad. They were and are the church people. This could be taken as a broad generalization, but you know who I mean. The ones that have no life outside of the church and are so stunted by propaganda that they can't interact with every day people and are just outright strange.

I guess youth groups back then would go to church camp and be indoctrinated about devil music. They were told outlandish stories about bands and what their songs allegedly meant. I would hear this in school from these kids and was always extremely amused by the fact that these people actually believed this stuff!

For those of you that weren't around in the 80's or just don't remember...let me share of few of the stories. One was that God punished certain types of sinners by having them choke on their own puke. A girl at school was so terrified of this and said that the proof was in the fact that it happened to Jimi Hendrix, John Bonham and Bon Scott. WOW!!! I tried to argue the facts, but you can't argue facts to a fanatic. Some other stories (urban legends now) that were popular then are: Kiss stood for "Knights In Satan's Service"; W.A.S.P. stood for "We Are Satan's People"; and Rush stood for "Running Under Satan's House". Rush?!?! Are you kidding me...who thought that one up? Why would you get under satan's house and then run around? Another good one was that Ozzy would pass around a cup before the start of his shows and everyone would piss/spit in it, then give it to him onstage and he would drink it. Just the logistics of this is absolutely ridiculous. Another alleged ritual of Ozzy's was that he would not start a show until he killed a puppy on stage! How could any person think this shit is true? Well...

A lot of this crap came from a preacher named Bob Larson. This guy waged war against rock music up until the mid-nineties. He had books, cassettes, and VHS tapes that you could get from him for a small "donation". I got a hold of one these cassette tapes once and it was hysterical. He quoted wrong lyrics, took comments out of context from interviews, and basically made shit up. He had a show in the 90's that sometimes Glen Benton and Trey Azagthoth would call in to. Benton's calls were hilarious and he was obviously having a good time messing with Larson. Larson now travels as exorcist...coming to a hotel near you! The satanism special Geraldo had on television in the mid-80's was another source of similar amusement. No matter who or where it came from, this stuff was always funny and it's crazy how many people actually believe this kind of insanity.

Check out some audio below of Benton's calls in to Larsons show...absolutely hysterical.