Apatoff for Destruction

Schoolhouse Rock

2012-01-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent hours interviewing, training and testing for a teaching program. Clearly I needed music for the occasion.

In hard rock, teachers are always depicted as the bad guys, which is particularly flattering. We must be doing something right if guys like Alice Cooper are inspired to rage against us. Besides, who really wants to hear a song about how great it is to go to school?

The All-Time Top Five Songs About School:

Alice Cooper, "School's Out"

The former Vincent Furnier once observed that the happiest minutes of a kid's life are on Christmas morning and the last day of school. Thankfully, he chose to immortalize the latter with his best-ever lyrics ("We've got no class, and we've got no prinicpals...") That malevolent chorus, the universal subject and the unforgettable hook made this not only Alice's signature song, but GWAR's as well--their cover is by far the best thing they've ever recorded. Still my favorite performance might be this one from The Muppet Show. It always reminds me of Max in Where the Wild Things Are.

Nirvana, "School"

There's no greater example of Nirvana's ability to say a lot with a little than this song from Bleach. Over two chords and fifteen words, Kurt Cobain expressed the angst of nearly every high schooler on an album that was recorded for $606.17. A couple of years later, he was headlining at Reading.

Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

School shootings are much more vivid in America's consciousness than they were when Pearl Jam dropped "Jeremy" on us, but nothing will ever stop this song from giving me chills. Eddie Vedder voiced the song's antagonist ("Clearly I remember picking on the boy") and came up with the scariest depiction of ostracized kids in modern music. Pearl Jam rarely make music videos, and reportedly fought the final cut of this one for being too sanitized. I don't know if I want to see what they really had in mind.

Ramones, "Rock n' Roll High School"

In the best two minutes of Roger Corman's Rock 'n' Roll High School, the Ramones breeze through an ode to ditching school in favor of more enjoyable pastimes. It looks downright innocent now--the Ramones sound as sunny as the Beach Boys, and all-American sweetheart P.J. Soles climaxes the scene by blowing up the school. That moment alone will probably keep this movie safe from remakes.

Van Halen, "Hot for Teacher"

Nothing has ever made school as much fun as this song and video. That awesome drum intro? The catchiest riffs in entire the Eddie Van Halen oeuvre? Synchronized dancing in pink suits? The instantly singable chorus? Yes sir!

By the way, as long as we keep hearing about the bee girl and the Nevermind baby, can anybody tell us what really happened to Waldo?

Almost too cute

2012-01-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

Click Here To Watch The Video

Sympathy for Devil Without a Cause

2012-01-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

Unsurprisingly, some of the music I enjoyed in high school hasn't aged well. The Dead Kennedys have lost most of their charm, Pink Floyd's grandiosity sounds self-important, and the Black Crowes are irrelevant once you've immersed in the Stones. However, in compiling a recent birthday mix CD, I rediscovered a high school hero who overcame all my attempts to resist him.

Judging by his terrible hit Skynyrd/Zevon mashup and the fact that he licensed a song to Mitt Romney's campaign (in fairness, Rock stated that any candidate could use his music, sans permission,) I should be ashamed for promoting this schmuck. But no artistic or personal disappointment can swallow the fact that Devil Without a Cause rocks all over.

I'm kind of amazed that Kid Rock was lumped in with the nu metal fad when Devil broke. The one-note angst of Korn, Staind etc. is nowhere to be heard in this vigorous, 14-song blend of classic rock and old school hip-hop. The country touches, MC delivery and deftness with samples all remind me of Beck, albeit with no hipster pretenses. Kid Rock isn't trying to get on any Pazz & Jop lists, and if these are the results, we should be grateful.

"Bawitdaba" and "Cowboy" are the party-starting hits, so ingratiating that it's almost impossible to foresee the the rest of Devil keeping up. But the Kid and his Detroit band, Twisted Brown Trucker, do more than deliver, offering some of the freshest post-grunge of the '90s ("I am the Bullgod," "Somebody's Gotta Feel This,") and surprisingly authentic tributes to hip-hop's pioneers ("Wasting Time," Welcome 2 the Party.") The riffs are infectious, the band oozes with character (chops less so, but that's part of the charm) and the album flows as seamlessly as one of Rick Rubin's '80s triumphs.

There's plenty of range here. The slow jam is far better than it has any right to be ("I Got One For Ya,") and "Only God Knows Why" is a lovely cowboy ballad, in spite of the auto-tune. The Kid is a cocky narrator, with Devil's themes revolving entirely around Robert James Ritchie, but he's self-aware enough to be a likable rogue. The title track is a rousing statement of purpose from a still-hungry artist, and the Kid is affecting, even poignant, when he closes with a Bill Withers interpolation on the autobiographical "Black Chick, White Guy."

Of course, Kid Rock hasn't been able to deflect the inevitable artistic decline. More recently, he's been releasing mediocre heartland rock with none of the bourbon-soaked swagger that made Devil Without a Cause definitive. Still, nothing will change the fact that he made some of the best rock of the late '90s. Kid Rock will probably never make an album this good again, and he doesn't have to.

Robert Christgau, who usually hates metal, might agree. "Not since great Motörhead has there been a hard rock album with so many laugh lines," Christgau wrote of Devil. "Belatedly fulfilling the rap-metal promise of Licensed To Ill, he makes the competition sound clownish, limp, and corny, respectively."

He still does.

Speechless.

2012-01-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

How did I miss this?

2012-01-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

Well Red

2012-01-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

For almost as long as I can remember, my friend Ellen has been teaching me new things. Recently she informed me, over beers, that David Lowery of Cracker is a redhead. This led to all sorts of conversation.

How does one make a redheads mix CD? Do authentic gingers get preference over impostors like David Bowie? Does the redhead need to be the bandleader? What if it's Ginger Baker? How many of Josh Homme's bands can I include?

This is all arbitrary of course, but it was fun to think about. Here's the result:

Well Red

Gillian Welch, "My First Lover"
Florence and the Machine, "Kiss with a Fist"
Queens of the Stone Age, "No One Knows"
Heart, "Crazy on You"
Neko Case, "I Missed the Point"
Julie Christmas, "If You Go Away"
Cream, "I Feel Fine"
Megadeth, "Sweating Bullets"
Mastodon, "Just Got Paid"
David Bowie, "Sound and Vision"
Bonnie Raitt, "I Feel the Same"
Camper Van Beethoven, "Take the Skinheads Bowling"
Juliana Hatfield Three, "My Sister"
Tori Amos, "Crucify"
Portishead, "Machine Gun"
Phish, "Bouncing Around the Room"
Willie Nelson, "City of New Orleans"
Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, "Rise Up with Fists!!!
The Sex Pistols, "EMI"
Guns N' Roses, "Paradise City"

One thing I like about theme mixes is that they prompt me to investigate new music. Gillian Welch was a gift from my buddy Ian, and a perfect tone-setter for a mix that ended up with a good dose of country. Ellen herself once gave me an excellent mix called Countryish, which is represented with the Bonnie Raitt and Neko Case tracks here.

Ellen is not a headbanger, although she's a good sport about my inability to compile 20 songs without a blast beat. Clearly I couldn't make a redhead mix that didn't include Dave Mustaine and Brent Hinds, so I tried to pick songs that she'd enjoy. I settled on Megadeth's unforgettably theatrical "Sweating Bullets" and Mastodon's rollicking ZZ Top cover.

This mix actually ended up with more female singers (10) than almost any other that I've made. "Kiss with a Fist" mildly terrified me when I first heard it, but now I like it enough to stash it next to Queens of the Stone Age. I also found a new appreciation for Tori Amos (who usually gives me the creeps) and Portishead (who sound less dated out of context.) On the other hand, Julie Christmas always takes my breath away, and the only problem with Jenny Lewis was picking just one project of hers to for Well Red.

With much respect to all these redheads, my all-time favorite was saved for last. Axl has probably appeared on nearly all of my mixes, and "Paradise City" has made it to at least half of them. I still can't start it unless I have the next seven minutes free.

What about David Lowery, who sparked the whole discourse? If you can find him here, I'll hook you up with a copy of Well Red.

King's X: "King"

2012-01-16T05:24:00.000-08:00

Why isn't King's X more popular? Why aren't they as big as Alice in Chains or Soundgarden? I understand why most great metal bands don't sell millions of records, and I'm fine with that, but King's X write undeniably tight, tuneful and catchy songs that could be on any "Best of the '90s" comp. I'm baffled that they're not.

Their first album, Out of the Silent Planet, took its name from C.S. Lewis and has the best ever hard rock tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. "King" was released as a single and had a very earnest, very stupid video that opened with a Dr. King quote quote and depicted the band as children dealing with school racism by picking up instruments. Best to discover the song through its urgent riff and the band's signature vocal harmonies. There's even a sitar mixed in there.

Doug Pinnick, the band's gangly bassist/singer, turned 13 the week of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech and was undoubtedly affected. Sadly, oppression did not end for him with the Civil Rights Movement. Raised in strict Baptist family, Pinnick brought his spirituality to many of King's X's lyrics until 1998, when he confirmed his homosexuality to a Christian publication. King's X were promptly dropped from distributors, removed from Christian retail stores and widely shunned by the community that Pinnick had embraced for nearly 50 years.

Since then, King's X have soldiered on with almost no media support or commercial success. The fact that they're still touring, playing "King" in the face of bigotry gives me a smile on MLK Day.

Spiderman at Metal Shows

2012-01-15T20:12:00.000-08:00

Mom

2012-01-15T19:47:00.000-08:00

Every year I ask my mom what she wants for her birthday, and every year she says a mix CD. I'm never sure if that's just because she knows how much I like to make them, but she insists, and after all that she's done for me, how can I say no?

Mom:

Faith No More, "Midnight Cowboy"
Bill Withers, "Lovely Day"
Foo Fighters, "Learn to Fly"
U2, "Even Better than the Real Thing"
Run-D.M.C., "It's Tricky"
The Cure, "Boys Don't Cry"
Sinead O'Connor, "No Man's Woman"
Eddie Vedder & Cat Power, "Tonight You Belong to Me"
Queen, "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy"
Tom Petty, "Runnin' Down a Dream"
The Smiths, "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"
Eels, "Going to Your Funeral, Part II"
A Tribe Called Quest, "Award Tour"
Patti Smith, "Because the Night"
Green Day, "Jesus of Suburbia"
AC/DC, "Back in Black"
Metallica, "Nothing Else Matters"
Madonna, "Don't Tell Me"
Stevie Wonder, "Happy Birthday"
Tom Waits, "Young at Heart"

Mom loves movies more than anyone I've ever met in my life. I always try to make her mixes cinematic. First choices would be Faith No More's stirring take on "Midnight Cowboy," and a Cure song that someone named a movie after (although "Just Like Heaven" and "Charlotte Sometimes" would also suffice.) I also picked a selection from last year's fabulous A Tribe Called Quest documentary, plus a couple of tracks to ready her for the in-the-works Patti Smith and Green Day adaptations. The Smiths tune can be heard in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and of course "Tonight You Belong to Me" was revived by The Jerk, performed here by Eddie Vedder and Cat Power.

I recently heard Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" at a six-year-old's birthday party, where the parents sang it after the traditional birthday song. A closer listen shows that Stevie's version is not entirely universal (the verses, written in 1981, campaign for giving Martin Luther King a holiday,) but it is Mom's birthday, and Stevie Wonder is good for just about anything. Mom is also a fan of Queen and Madonna, both of whom are represented by underloved hits, and a more recent convert to the Dave Grohl fan club. Factoring out his Virginia roots, Muppet movie cameo and unimpeachable persona, "Learn to Fly" still holds up.

One thing that mom likes in movies (which I constantly give her a hard time about) is the idea of tough guys who turn out to be sensitive on the inside. With that in mind, I've included Metallica's most tender moment, placed next to one of AC/DC's staples for full effect. Over winter break, she asked me if I preferred AC/DC to Aerosmith, because she's that kind of mom. Here's my answer.

Happy birthday, Mom! For someone who raised me, you turned out OK.

Who wants to make a David Lee Roth screensaver?

2012-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Oh, Van Halen. Your new song is terrible and I still can't wait to see you.

Jendy

2012-01-13T16:53:00.000-08:00

Surprise! My buddies Jenny and Bendy are gracing Brooklyn with a spontaneous visit. Just in time for me to hand them early birthday mix CDs.

Arch Madness

Prince & the Revolution, "Let's Go Crazy"
Local H, "High-Fivin' MF"
Titus Andronicus, "A More Perfect Union"
Patti Smith, "Because the Night"
Hüsker Dü, "Makes No Sense at All"
King's X, "It's Love"
Jane's Addiction, "Been Caught Stealing"
The Who, "The Seeker"
Fishbone, "Bonin' in the Boneyard"
Paul Westerberg, "Waiting for Somebody"
The Specials, "Ghost Town"
Little Richard, "Jenny, Jenny"
Suicidal Tendencies, "Institutionalized"
Liz Phair, "Stratford-On Guy"
The Verve, "Lucky Man"
Neil Young, "Rockin' in the Free World"
Wild Flag, "Romance"
Iggy Pop & Debbie Harry, "Well Did You Evah!"
The Rolling Stones, "Connection"
Joni Mitchell, "All I Want"

Discussing music and literature with Jenny is a pleasure that everyone should have--imagine a contagiously charming, female Nick Hornby. Thus, Arch Madness stars some of my favorite artists to talk and write about. "Let's Go Crazy" sets the bar impossibly high, so I followed up by whetting our appreciation for '90s rock. Middle schools favorites from Jane's Addiction and Local H are balanced by neo-altrock heroes like Titus Andronicus and Wild Flag. Knowing Jenny, I also had to include Paul Westerberg and Keith Richards, represented by Paul's less appreciated track from Singles and one of Keith's finest singing moments in the greatest band of all time.

Jenny has the heart of an old school punk and ska fanatic. I tend to be picky about horn sections in my rock n' roll, but there's nothing I could do to resist the best of Fishbone or the Specials.

Couple of questions, for all three of you readers:

Jenny is a librarian, so of course I had to include Patti Smith. All of her songs that aren't on Horses sound better on mix CDs, right?
Has anyone else ever been a Hüsker Dü fan for at least ten years without ever hearing Flip Your Wig? What was I thinking?

Achtung, Bendy:

My Music and Still Your Fault

Devin Townsend, "ZTO"
Strapping Young Lad, "You Suck"
Ol' Dirty Bastard & Macy Gray, "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"
Weird Al Yankovic, "Dare to be Stupid"
Butthole Surfers, "Lady Sniff"
Body Count, "KKK Bitch"
Cypress Hill, "Dr. Greenthumb"
Dead Kennedys, "Viva Las Vegas"
Rush, "Tom Sawyer"
Wu-Tang Clan, "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"
Jerry Lee Lewis, "Meat Man"
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, "Skunk"
Prince, "Sexy MF"
Kid Rock, "Bawitdaba"
Mötley Crüe, "Kickstart My Heart"
Body Count, "Evil Dick"
AC/DC, "Big Balls"
Whitesnake, "Here I Go Again"
Lard, "They're Coming to Take Me Away"
The Meters, "They All Ask'd for You"

Bendy once bestowed upon me a mix entitled It's Not My Music but it is My Fault. I still don't know if the music was really his or not (he may have been trying to cover his ass--he did hand me a disc that included the Glee rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart") but in any case most of his mix had me in stitches. Here's where I get my revenge--this time, my music and his fault.

As you can probably guess, Bendy is one of the funniest people I know. His birthday mix is a blast to make, and is usually comprised of songs I wouldn't put on anyone else's mixes. ODB and Macy Gray dementing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart?"* Al Jourgensen and Jello Biafra making the already interminable "They're Coming to Take Me Away" four times as long? The grossest Butthole Surfers song of all time? Whitesnake?

Most people would probably stop talking to me if I gave them this mix, but that's part of what makes Bendy special. As crazy as I am for Body Count and everything Devin Townsend touches, I couldn't put either of them on a mix for just anyone. It's almost like the Island of Misfit Toys for sick, abrasive and funny-as-hell music, with a few classics thrown in for flavor.

Looking over the tracklist, many of these artists are represented by their most shameful, least exemplary music. Between "Sexy MF," "Dr. Greenthumb," "Big Balls" and "They All Ask'd For You," I may as well have thrown in "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry with them. All I can think of is Charles Bukowski's The Best Love Poem I Can Write at the Moment, wherein he asserts that if you can't love someone's bowels as much as you love the good parts, "that ain't complete love."

Anyway, many happy returns, Bendy and Jenny! Thank you for making time for your New York Fan Club.

*A treat from my sister.

Phil? Phil Connors?

2012-01-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

There are few things I enjoy as much as making mix CDs for my friend Kate. Her skyscraping standards always make it a challenge, and our shared fervor for Sound Opinions inspires me to revisit my preferred rock n' roll podcast. Plus, she lives in England, so it's a fine excuse to send her some fan mail.

Thus, her birthday (Groundhog Day) is one of my favorite mix CD holidays. I sculpted Phil? Phil Connors? in my final workdays at the job I've toiled over for two and a half years. The result is a little self-centered--something I needed to listen to as much as I needed to put it together.

Phil? Phil Connors?

The Smashing Pumpkins, "Cherub Rock"
Nine Inch Nails, "Wish"
The Go-Go's, "Our Lips Are Sealed"
Hüsker Dü, "Makes No Sense at All"
Kylesa, "Don't Look Back"
Sam Cooke, "Twistin' the Night Away"
Big Freedia, "Ya'll Get Back Now"
Guided by Voices, "Game of Pricks"
TV on the Radio, "Second Song"
Marsha Hunt, "(Oh No! Not) The Beast Day"
Lou Reed, "The Blue Mask"
Metallica, "Hit the Lights"
Das Racist, "Rainbow in the Dark"
Wild Flag, "Romance"
Bill Withers, "Grandma's Hands"
Patti Smith, "Dancing Barefoot"
Elliott Smith, "Angel in the Snow"
Prince & the Revolution, "Mountains"
Estelle feat. Kanye West, "American Boy"
The Chemical Brothers, "The Private Psychedelic Reel"

The Sound Opinions influence can be heard in Wild Flag (a band I immediately thought she'd like,) TV on the Radio (a band we saw together) and Das Racist (a band she enjoyed from my last birthday mix,) all three of which made Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot's Best of 2011 lists. Another thing that the two of them agreed on (this does not happen often, so I always pay close attention when it does) was the year's worst--Lou Reed & Metallica's Lulu. Thus, in honor of Kate and Sound Opinions, I am including both Lou and Metallica on this mix. "The Blue Mask" and "Hit the Lights" showcase two of my all time favorite artists at their very fiercest, and prove that Lou Reed can sit next to Metallica with less-than-castrophic results.

I had to include some dance tracks, so this year Kate gets Big Freedia (a fantastic recommendation from my friend Jess) and Sam Cooke. Picking one Sam Cooke song is harder than Chinese algebra, so I took some input from my coworker Daniel, an actor/singer/rabid fan who would be ideal for the lead in a King of Soul biopic*. More thanks goes to my friend Jenny, who was so appreciative of getting "Game of Pricks" on her last birthday mix that I'm inspired to give it another go here.

Of course, the primary inspiration for Phil? Phil Connors? is Kate herself. The spellbinding mix she sent me for my past birthday kicked off with some of my top alternative rock artists, so I'm reciprocating with the Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails. A good mix needs a healthy balance of familiar material and new songs, so I was careful to choose songs that I can't imagine anyone getting sick of. Kate also beautifully ended her mix with an electronica instrumental from Lemon Jelly, an effect I liked so much that I'm swindling it for this mix. Topping things off are the Chemical Brothers with "The Private Psychedelic Reel," a song that I hadn't listened to in years, but now sounds like something for my Desert Island Jukebox.

Happy birthday, Kate! The United Kingdom is very lucky to have you.

*If you are working on said movie, GET IN TOUCH WITH ME NOW.

Lucky 13 Saloon

2012-01-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T01:39:00.000-08:00

If you're going to get slaughtered, it might as well be a) by Jason Voorhees and b) set to Alice Cooper's music.

Wishing everyone a safe trip to Camp Crystal Lake today. Oh yeah, NSFW.

Enough already with the White Stripes

2011-02-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

You could be forgiven for reading the title of this post and assuming that tonight's rant is directed at some hipster-driven alternablog. But sadly, this is a complaint to be filed against my fellow headbangers.

Recently my day job required me to get a work-related Twitter account. In attempting to overcome my aversion to social networking, I have discovered two things.

1.) Twitter is a hotbed for moronic discourse.
2.) I can connect to metal bands and blogs, which makes me feel less lame about twatting.

That was until this week, when the critically and commercially huge White Stripes called it a day. Before I had time to form an opinion, it seemed as if all my Twitter connections had expressed one. One compared the band to "a fart in a spacesuit." Another declared that the duo "exemplify douche (sic) in audio form."

These decrees were not from anonymous metalheads. These were from respected metal bloggers whose writing I usually enjoy.

In general, metalheads are the friendliest music fans that I know. Jim DeRogatis was correct to observe (to the best of my memory) that the best place to have a flat tire is outside of a metal concert. Headbangers have minimal pretenses, are almost always open-minded and usually respect each other's tastes and ideas. The next time you're at a metal bar, observe the Metallica fans buying shots for the Goatwhore devotees, and vice versa. It's almost unfathomable to find the same sort of cordiality in any of Williamsburg's scenester hideouts.

So why are some of the best metal bloggers ragging on the White Stripes? Do they feel threatened by hipster exclusivity? Or are they just being jerks? Pitchfork's editors might celebrate if Lamb of God broke up, but that's no reason for us to stoop to their level.

It's fine to dislike the White Stripes' music, and of course it's fine to express that opinion. I can't wait for people to go back to doing that in an intelligent, non-elitist way.

For John Barry

2011-01-31T15:37:00.000-08:00

"Midnight Cowboy," performed by Faith No More:

Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir

2010-08-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

Even if his leering mug didn't greet you on the cover, any headbanger worth his horns could tell who wrote this book from the first sentence of its first real paragraph: "James Hetfield, who used to be one of my best friends, as close as a brother, once observed with some incredulity that I must have been born with a horseshoe up my ass."

The irascible Dave Mustaine never forgot that he was expelled from Metallica years ago, and he won't let anyone else forget, seemingly unable to get through an interview without mentioning his former bandmates. It's also the tip of the iceberg for Mustaine, whose brashness, ego, insecurity and flat-out craziness makes him one of metal's most fascinating figures, and makes his memoir a blast to read. "Meet the real me," indeed.

Calling Dave Mustaine a drama magnet would be an understatement. From growing up under an abusive father in California to a nearly-fatal amount of drug use to an arm injury that nearly ended his career, he's had anything but a smooth ride. He fires musicians the way that George Steinbrenner fired coaches, seems to get in at least two fistfights per chapter, tags groupies like he's competing with Mötley Crüe and stands by his refusal to play with Satanic bands. Somehow he finds time to lead one of the greatest metal bands in history and reshape modern music with albums like Rust in Peace, but music is secondary here. Mustaine focuses more on debauchery and an almost comical amount of trash talk.

Few characters make it to the end of the book unscathed. Aerosmith, Howard Stern, Billy Ray Cyrus (!?) and scores of bandmates, girls, producers and music biz folks are subjected to Mustaine's venom. Poor Dave Ellefson is labeled "a pathetic, ungrateful asshole." Some of Mustaine's rants seem fair (imagine Jello Biafra being a long-winded moonbat!) and some of them probably aren't, but it never stops being entertaining.

Of course, there's plenty of bitterness about the other "M" word. Mustaine can't resist calling "Enter Sandman" a ripoff, enlightening us that he banged Kirk Hammet's "semiserious" squeeze, reminding us that he wrote the best songs on Kill 'Em All and going out of his way to detail more unflattering James and Lars stories than necessary. Maybe he needs to let go, but remind yourself that his desperate need to compete with Metallica resulted some astonishingly great music. Could there be a Rust in Peace if he weren't trying to outplay ...And Justice for All, or a Countdown to Extinction is he weren't trying to outsell the Black Album?

Unlike The Dirt or I am Ozzy, Mustaine isn't revelatory enough hold much interest to anyone who isn't already a fan. But for those of us who grew up in awe of MegaDave's talent and embarrassed by his tactlessness, Mustaine is a perfect summer read.

Why is this song different from all other songs?

2010-03-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

As a boy, I dreaded strapping on a blazer, being driven up to the synagogue and hearing the congregation struggle to sing Debbie Friedman songs in key. I probably would've enjoyed services more had the cantor ever performed "Creeping Death" by Metallica. Check out the lyrics below:

Blood running down the Nile? Darkness three days long? Sent here by the chosen one to kill the first born Pharaoh's son? "Creeping Death?" Sign me up!

One of the best songs off a record that every metalhead should own (Ride the Lightning,) "Creeping Death" was allegedly inspired by the film The Ten Commandments. Today's death metal bands usually express disdain for anything remotely biblical, but Metallica realized that the story of the Ten Plagues was even more brutal than anything that Tobe Hooper, Clive Barker or Stephen King could dream of.

"Creeping Death" is a great example of how Metallica works best as a band. Contrast the James and Lars-dominated years with something like this. Hetfield unleashes an alarming main riff under a vocal melody that has almost no resemblance to it. The sound of Cliff Burton driving his Rickenbacker into the war zone at the :27 mark still thrills me. Lars sounds discontent in a good way--whoever sets up his crash cymbal every night must pray to Lemmy that Metallica don't play this song. But despite James' riff and narration, the star here is Mr. Kirk Hammett.

Having replaced a future metal icon on lead guitar just a year before, Hammett was leaving his mark on a band that still had Dave Mustaine's fingerprints all over its songwriting. The harmonies and solo near the end put to rest any wonder of who would be the best lead guitarist for Metallica. The unforgettable bridge (known to Metallifreaks as the "audience participation" part) was originally written by Hammett for his previous band, underground metal heroes Exodus. With all respect to Gary Holt, the Phrygian segment and "Die by my hand" chant deserve to be performed by Metallica and a room (or arena) full of maniacs. With or without a Haggadah.

Of course, I can't post anything Metallica-related without posting a live version:

From I am Ozzy

2010-02-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

"They just wouldn't fuck off, those Satanists. I'd walk out of my hotel room in the morning, and they'd be right outside my door, sitting in a circle on the carpet, all dressed in black hooded capes, surrounded by candles. Eventually I couldn't take it any more. So, one morning, instead of brushing past them as I usually did, I went up to them, sat down, took a deep breath, blew out their candles and sang 'Happy Birthday.'
They weren't too fucking happy about that, believe me."

A Bad Song That I Enjoy

2010-01-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

"Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche.

The lyrics are embarrassing. The music video is so awful that I won't post it here. OK, fine.

This is the kind of song that I hope my favorite metal bands never write. A toothless, glitzy and overproduced power ballad aimed at the airwaves. It entirely shuns the intensity of their earlier songs (although those were also a little goofy.)

My guess is that a lot of Queensryche fans can't stand "Silent Lucidity" either. They probably feel that "Silent Lucidity" fans are like people who claim to like Andy Kaufman just because they saw him on Taxi. I can kind of relate, but it's hard because I also really, really like this song.

Why? Maybe because it testifies to the intangible forces of music. Despite the Geoff Tate's portentous talking/singing performance, the shameless Pink Floyd-ripping chorus and bridge, those ridiculous lyrics, that horrible music video and all my best taste and judgment, I could listen to this song again and again. Chris DeGarmo's solo, the ham-fisted orchestra and yes, even that what-are-you-smoking voice montage in the bridge all move me. I almost can't even bring myself to laugh when it ends with a few measures of "Brahms' Lullaby."

With "Silent Lucidity," Queensryche may have alienated their metal fanbase, earned an unfortunate "wuss-rock" reputation and blown any chances they'd have of being taken as seriously as Iron Maiden, but they somehow came up with something pretty special in the process. Just don't try to explain it.

For Rowland S. Howard

2009-12-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

The Birthday Party are usually remembered as Nick Cave's first band. But had the Bad Seeds never recorded an album, The Birthday Party would still be a vital part of the post-punk explosion. As a funny, frightening and unpredictable gang of noise-rockers, they closed out the '70s much in the way that the Stooges opened them, by bringing rock music to its primal basics as well as a new level of intensity. However, unlike the Stooges, much of the music media hasn't caught up to The Birthday Party yet.

"Deep in the Woods"

"Junkyard"

Much of The Birthday Party's success stemmed from Rowland S. Howard, an idiosyncratic axeman with a heavy blues influence and a use of feedback that preceded Sonic Youth, The Jesus and Mary Chain and several other noted alternative experimentalists. Howard, who also performed with Lydia Lunch, These Immortal Souls and his own solo project, died from cancer this morning, and left behind one of the greatest legacies in modern Australian music. Rest in peace, Mr. Howard.

Former musicians

2009-10-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

The latest update in the ongoing story of Slash defiling his legacy is that he’s re-recording “Paradise City.” Covering an indisputable rock classic is unwise, and re-recording your own hits is even worse. However, enlisting the most unbearable Black Eyed Pea (which is like picking the worst Chevy Chase movie) to partake in the slaughter is really unforgivable.

A Wikipedia entry on Slash's upcoming solo album lists under "confirmed artists" a Pussycat Doll, Maroon 5's lead singer, Travis Barker, some clown from Avenged Sevenfold and former talents Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Cornell. As much as I can't tolerate any of Barker's bands, his appearance here is probably the most appropriate. Like Slash, he's a former musician who decided that he'd rather be a rock star. There's nothing wrong with being a rock star--David Lee Roth is no musician, but he's perfect for his role in Van Halen. But who'd want to see someone like Angus Young act like that?

Angus is charismatic, for sure. He's got a look and mannerisms that are all well known and often imitated. But for as long as he's been dressing like a U.K. public school troublemaker, he's always been Angus Young the guitarist. For all his style, Angus has stayed foremost a musician, much like the charismatic, instantly recognizable Slash during his years in Guns N' Roses.

Sadly, in the 21st century Slash has appeared on more TV shows than I can count and written fewer good songs than I can remember. He's become a cool name with great hair and a top hat who happens to play guitar. Like Dave Navarro and Tommy Lee, he comes across as a formerly great musician who'd rather play up his reputation on game shows and reality TV than apply himself artistically.

Of course this does nothing to deface the incredible music he made with Guns N' Roses, but it's sad to think that someone who could write the riff to "Sweet Child o' Mine" would rather be on American Idol than working with the musicians he deserves. Besides, we all know that there's really only one "Paradise City."

"Get Off My Phone"

2009-10-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck has more potential in metal than he does in broadcasting:

The music is "Internet Era Alienation" by Insect Warfare.

Found at the always-classy Metalsucks.

Sonic boo

2009-10-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Forget that you're sick of Gene Simmons. Forget that there are two new guys in the band with faces painted to look like the original members. Forget that they put on one of the best rock shows in history, that they're music legends and that this reviewer is a Gene-for-Halloween KISStian who still wears a KISS tie to weddings. Focusing solely on the music, Sonic Boom is still a worthless waste of Wal-Mart space.

It's got the musical simplicity of their classics with none of the hooks. First single "Modern Day Delilah" is even more forgettable than "Psycho Circus," "Never Enough" sums up the KISS philosophy over music that rips off both Ozzy and Poison, and "When Lightning Strikes" confirms Tommy Thayer as a perfectly competent studio musician who can't fill the shoes of Space-Ace. Oh yeah, it's also one of the most tolerable songs on the album.

Live, KISS may be the greatest nostalgia band in the world, and that's partly because they don't play songs like "Danger Us." Wal-Mart is going to push this record to gold sales, but completists are advised to wait. You'll have the rest of your life to find copies of Sonic Boom in used CD store bargain boxes.

Chuck it.

"Jennifer's Body"

2009-09-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

I'm surprised at how few people seem to remember that "Jennifer's Body" was a Hole song before it was a Megan Fox vehicle. In hindsight, I'd forgotten that Courtney Love's fame has almost nothing to do with her music.

Before she was the world's most publicized music-world trainwreck outside of the Jackson family, Courtney Love was in a sometimes-incredible band named Hole. They were usually incredible with a little help--by far Hole's most enduring albums are the ones Kurt Cobain (Live Through This) and Billy Corgan (Celebrity Skin) contributed to. But it's hard to imagine lyrics like "Found pieces of Jennifer's body/Just relax, just relax, just go to sleep" growled by anyone other than Frances Bean's unfortunate mother. Like Live Through This and Ms. Love herself, the unsettling lyrics and effortless melody of "Jennifer's Body" is impossible to ignore. Hole weren't as consistent as their greatest grunge contemporaries, but Live Through This is a better listen than any full-length by Mudhoney, L7 or Stone Temple Pilots.

Screenwriter Diablo Cody is clearly invested in Live Through This, having written a performance of "Doll Parts" into Juno before nabbing the title of "Jennifer's Body" for her latest flick. For all I know, Jennifer's Body could be even worse than it looks, but hopefully it'll remind viewers that Courtney Love used to have some artistic worth.

Black Dahlia's in my head

2009-09-14T19:20:00.001-07:00

The Black Dahlia Murder always seem like they want to do to your eardrums what that guy they never caught did to Elizabeth Short. On Deflorate, they've honed their ambitions a bit, zeroing in on their ability to craft a tune that sounds more like it crept out of Sweden than Detroit. Anybody who made up their mind about BDM on Nocturnal isn't going to leave Deflorate with a different point of view, but for those who've never figured out where to the start with this band, songs like first single "Necropolis" and opener "Black Valor" are worthy, if not quite up to the hype.

The players are all incredible. Ex-Aris guitarist Ryan Knight can suffocate most bands with his chops but seams nicely here, drummer Shannon Lucas is better utilized than he ever was in All That Remains and singer Trevor Strnad's distinct shriek that will impress your older brother who thinks death growls are the demise of metal. These performances mostly pay off, with "Christ Deformed" being catchy enough (but still too fierce) to be metalcore and the aforementioned "Necropolis" taking the band's usual minor scales to a more brutal dimension. There's not much diversity, although "A Selection Unnatural" pulls off a better hardcore track than anything Hatebreed ever managed.

Like too many death metal albums, Deflorate is unfortunately frontloaded, and the album's second half blurs into proficient death sameness until "I Will Return," which follows a thrashy guitar line into a whiplash-inducing conclusion. BDM still aren't death metal savior that the suffering genre desperately needs, but it's fun to hear them try.

Burn it.

Summer bummer

2009-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

At the first-ever Summer Slaughter tour, I enthused that it was "as great a metal tour package as you're going to get." However, as with Ozzfest and Lollapalooza, Summer Slaughter has become more expensive, more corporate and less exciting with the passing years.

Priced at nearly twice the tour's 2007 admission cost, Summer Slaughter mach three offered a fairly uniform lineup of death metal bands that contrasted from the previous two years' inclusion of grindcore and progressive death metal. A backdrop bared tour sponsor Affliction's name for nearly the entire set, which was a far cry from the tour's previous alliances with guitar manufacturers and metal magazines. Still, none of this would matter had the festival offered a lineup worthy of its name.

On the second night of its two-day New York stand, Summer Slaughter offered death metal ranging from decent (Born of Osiris, After the Burial) to unbearable (the enthusiastically terrible Winds of Plague) before the headliners struggled to leave the half-filled room with a better impression of death metal.

Washington, D.C.-based Darkest Hour performed a generic form of melodic death metal that was enjoyable for about two songs before they exhausted the formula. Their energy and occasional hooks weren't enough to justify Darkest Hour's recent commercial successes, although their music was still noticeably better than the opening acts'.

Perpetual SS headliners Necrophagist should've provided relief, but their performance fell short of the band's usual potency. Still unable to produce a new album that was due years ago, the band seemed a little bored working through the same songs from Epitaph that they've been playing since 2004, especially without drum monster Marco Minneman breathing down Muhammed Suiçmez's neck. One new song briefly shook up the set, although it didn't offer much distance from the band's classical-inspired death metal. For the final night of this year's Summer Slaughter tour, Necrophagist played as if they couldn't wait to leave the stage.

Only Ensiferum, who incorporate medieval-sounding tunes into death metal arrangements, brought both quality music and a quality performance to the show. Ensiferum provided stage energy and stylistic diversity that the rest of the evening lacked, bridging Amon Amarth with Blind Guardian in some sweeping, heavy epics. Ending with their tradition of audience participation on "Iron," Ensiferum showed up every other band on the bill, and hopefully will encourage Summer Slaughter's promoters to do better next year.

Metal Jackson

2009-06-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

Watching Michael Jackson unravel emotionally and physically over the past 15 years is not something I want to dwell on, but it sometimes made me wonder what kind of a metal record he'd make. I'd imagine him pulling off industrial hard rock like a rhythmically perfect, more authentically disturbed Marilyn Manson, which would be a blast to hear. While he never had the chance to make a metal album, Michael Jackson deserves some credit for metal's mainstream acceptance. It's one of his few artistic accomplishment that hasn't been universally acknowledged, so let's give it a shot.

Years before Run-DMC invited Aerosmith to make crossover music history, Michael Jackson roped in Eddie Van Halen to provide the ripping solo on "Beat It."

Van Halen's distortion was allegedly toned down in production to make it more palatable to 47 million record buyers. Still, not even Quincy Jones' polish is enough to numb the ferocity of an Eddie solo. This was also years before hard rock and glam metal dominated the top 40, and for better or worse, "Beat It" may have significantly expanded pop metal's audience.

Nowadays, Slash will lend his guitar-playing and persona to anyone with a buck and no credibility. But in 1991, it wasn't just anyone who could get the world's most well-paid functioning alcoholic to perform.

Skip the video's overlong, unfunny intro, and you get a simple but effective riff from the most recognizable biracial guitarist since Jimi Hendrix. Between being in the world's biggest rock band and providing living proof of "Black or White's" chorus, Slash would've been a natural choice to appear in the video, although I imagine that the Use Your Illusion tour was pretty incapacitating.

At an MTV Awards show in 2003, Metallica performed a medley of rock riffs that included songs from Nirvana and the White Stripes. At the 1:22 mark, Kirk Hammett launches into "Beat It."

It's nothing too special, other than a great metal band unironically playing a few measures of a great pop song. Still, the ease at which the two artists blend accentuates the aggressive edge to Michael Jackson's music. So what if he was the biggest star in the world--doesn't belligerence often help sell records?

Axl from Metalsucks may have made the best point--who didn't own Thriller before owning Reign in Blood?

"Metal Up Your Ass"

2009-06-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

"Metal Up Your Ass" is a popular headbanger chant from the early '80s and an annual death metal fest in Fort Worth. It was also the original name of Metallica's debut album.
Almost out of their teens, the four members of Metallica were writing, raw, relentlessly fast and aggressive thrash metal that was about to change a lot of lives. Independent metal label Megaforce picked them up, and Metallica recorded ten amazing songs for their debut album. However, before they unleashed the greatest parent-offender of 1983, Megaforce's executives balked at the album's title and cover art.

Metallica were not happy about this. "We should just kill 'em all," suggested bassist Cliff Burton in response to the label's concerns. His idea was never carried out, but it did serve the band with a new album title.

Artistic freedom is dangerous. Bands should be allowed to make the music that they want to make, but Metal Up Your Ass is a good argument against Metallica's autonomy. I laugh inside whenever I hear the phrase or see that picture of a dagger in a toilet bowl, but that's not the sort of reaction I want from hearing Metallica. The music on Kill 'Em All speaks volumes, but it would be difficult to take any of it seriously under a name like Metal Up Your Ass.

Such a title is more in line with metal bands that Metallica were distinguishing themselves from. Thanks to their musical proficiency, reality-inspired lyrics and punk rock sensibilities, Metallica were translating metal into something to be taken much more seriously than Venom or Mötley Crüe. This is not a process that would've been aided by naming their first album Metal Up Your Ass. They may as well have been wearing makeup and teasing their hair.

Officially releasing Metal Up Your Ass would not have prevented Metallica from being one of American music's greatest claims. But they may not have changed rock music as effectively as they did. I'm staunchly pro-artist when it comes to creative freedom and censorship issues, but I'm also very glad that I don't have to defend my favorite metal band for introducing themselves with Metal Up Your Ass.

KISS vs. AC/DC

2009-06-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Infamously shrewd businessman Gene Simmons recently confirmed that the upcoming KISS studio album is in talks to be a Wal-Mart exclusive. Gene has obviously seen the success of the Eagles' and AC/DC's retailer exclusives, and I'm guessing he knows that an album by a nostalgia act carrying only two of its original members will need a lot of promotion to keep from tanking.

I don't know anything else about this story because I don't care. Wal-Mart is practically anti-rock; their abuse of wage and labor laws being even more offensive than their refusal to stock albums with parental warnings, birth control pills and books by George Carlin. I refuse to patronize them and urge others to do the same, but Gene's latest move doesn't bother me because he has no integrity.

As a KISS fanatic, I've watched the band embarrass themselves through lineup changes, commercial appearances, song doctors and studio musicians struggling to save the band's awful studio albums, Paul's terrible paintings, Gene's terrible magazine and reality show, and of course more chotchke merchandise than any other band in history. None of this bothers me because KISS released some of the best rock albums of the '70s and put on one of the best live shows ever. I don't count on KISS for integrity, just for rocking my socks off once the greasepaint and spikes are donned.

AC/DC is a different story. They never license their music for sampling, commercials or even iTunes, refuse to release "greatest hits" albums, never wrote a sappy commercial ballad, never hired song doctors and have maintained a more or less consistent record of great music. Thus, I was heartbroken to hear that their excellent new album Black Ice would be a Wal-Mart exclusive.

Maybe this is unfair. Integrity is something I don't expect or hope for from KISS, but seeing AC/DC cave into a deal that made them richer at the expense of fans is a letdown. But all rock stars shouldn't be held to the same standards. Imagine how disappointing it would be to see Ian McKaye act like David Lee Roth or to see Roth imitating McKaye. In the end, we should just be glad they they're all making music, but I'm still burning a copy of Black Ice and pretending that KISS aren't releasing new music.

Video of the Year

2009-06-07T20:26:00.001-07:00

The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years

2009-05-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

The "orange juice" scene is staged, but I don't think much else is.

Five + songs that are sicker than swine flu

2009-05-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

Black Sabbath, "War Pigs"
To heap praise upon one of the first and best metal songs ever would be hugely redundant, but it'd be impossible to make a list like this without "War Pigs."

The Dillinger Escape Plan, "Pig Latin"
The best live avant-metal band ever teams up with the best avant-metal singer ever for a far-too-short EP, highlighted by Mr. Bungle-echoing math-metal like this song.

Jane's Addiction, "Pigs in Zen"
Jane's Addiction closed out their first masterpiece album with some of Perry Farrell's wackiest vocal stylings ever on record, a perfect Dave Navarro performance and a much better "Zen" pun than Robert Plant's.

Nine Inch Nails, "March of the Pigs"
"Closer" had all the controversy and "Hurt" had the universality, but "March of the Pigs" is probably the strongest single off The Downward Spiral. 7/8 has never been more effective, and the lounge piano segment in the chorus somehow manages to be even more surprising the second time it plays.

Suicidal Tendencies, "Fascist Pig"
Years away from becoming a funk-metal powerhourse, Suicidal Tendencies started by writing catchier and funnier hardcore than any band outside of the DC area. Hear them rage harder than countless punk albums, band names and t-shirts targeting the Reagan Administration, in a little over a minute.

Anything by Pig Destroyer ("Loathsome," for example)
One of Virginia's finest has probably destroyed more eardrums than they have pigs, but who's keeping score?

Spoiler-free thoughts on Iron Maiden: Flight 666

2009-04-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

1. Maiden fans are insane. Of course they're passionate, devoted and knowledgeable, but I'd never truly realized that metal fandom reaches the kind of fervor usually associated with boy bands, Deadheads and juggalos.

2. Unless you've never experienced Iron Maiden in the flesh, you're not going to leave the theater knowing much more than you knew coming in. There's nothing in Flight 666 to gossip over, and Bruce Dickinson's famous assertion that "Everything you need to know about Iron Maiden is onstage" holds true. Anyone with at least a passing interest in metal should see this, but anyone hoping for Spinal Tap, Some Kind of Monster or Behind the Music will be disappointed.

3. 2008's "Somewhere Back in Time" tour, as documented in Flight 666, was not a nostalgia tour. This isn't KISS performing their hits exactly as they sound on record, with the same stage show they had in the Love Gun era. Iron Maiden sound even stronger, tighter and heavier today than they did in the '80s. Now that they're dedicating their peak showmanship to their prime songwriting years, Flight 666 captures perhaps the greatest Maiden tour to date.

4. Seeing Iron Maiden perform live is as thrilling as anything you can do inside an arena, and if you never get such a privilege, watching Flight 666 on a big screen is as close as you'll get. Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey) have created the concert movie to beat this year, and what will likely stand as the best-ever movie on one of the most extraordinary bands in rock history.

Earth Day

2009-04-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Five essential Gojira songs about saving the planet:

1. "Ocean Planet" (from From Mars to Sirius)

2. "World to Come" (from From Mars to Sirius)

3. "Global Warming" (from From Mars to Sirius)

4. "Toxic Garbage Island" (from The Way of All Flesh)

5. "A Sight to Behold" (from The Way of All Flesh)

"Ice Cream Man"

2009-04-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

It's free cone day, but that doesn't make me crave frozen dairy products nearly as much as a song by Van Halen:

Van Halen, "Ice Cream Man" (live)

Written by Chicago bluesman John Brim, "Ice Cream Man" was a dirty little ditty that became immortalized on Van Halen's irreplaceable first album. David Lee Roth showcased his limited guitar playing abilities in the song's first quarter, while boasting (in as hushed a tone as he ever could get) of all his flavors that were "guaranteed to satisfy." At about the 1:10 mark, "Ice Cream Man" breaks into the kind of exuberance that catapulted Van Halen to the top of the arena rock heap. Eddie lets out a mind-boggling blues-metal solo, proving that a) this isn't Roth's show, and b) even when performing a simple blues song, Eddie Van Halen was reinventing the way people played guitar. The product is as irresistible as pralines & cream.

"Sweet Leaf"

2009-04-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

There's no end to the amount of great songs about weed, but the first one I always think of is "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath. Recent takes on "Sweet Leaf" by John Darnielle (in his terrific book on Master of Reality) and Jim DeRogatis (on Sound Opinions' excellent show on "unconventional love songs") are more profound than anything I could write, but the strongest case for "Sweet Leaf" is in the main riff.

Black Sabbath, "Sweet Leaf"

The unforgettable coughing intro and endlessly-copied riff are Tony Iommi's, but it's Ozzy who ensured that this would be metal's reigning 4/20 anthem. Check out some of his lyrics:

"You introduced me, to my mind
And left me wanting, you and your kind"

"I love you!
Oh you know it!"

"My life is free now, my life is clear
I love you sweet leaf, though you can't hear"

"You gave to me, a new belief
And soon the world, will love you sweet leaf"

Somehow, Black Sabbath are often perceived as humorless and foreboding. They may have been a musical alternative to the hippie bands of the late '60s, but when called to task, Sabbath could write a funnier, goofier ode to marijuana than anything this side of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."

"Sweet Leaf"'s contribution to the stoner music canon is undeniable. It was later reworked and renamed by the Butthole Surfers (as "Sweat Loaf") for Locust Abortion Technician. The result may be the greatest song that Gibby Haynes ever put his name on.

Butthole Surfers, "Sweat Loaf"

As if that weren't enough, the Beastie Boys introduced themselves to middle America by kicking off Licensed to Ill with a "Sweet Leaf" sample:

Beastie Boys, "Rhymin' & Stealin"

And listen closely to the riff at about 3:55 in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' signature hit:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Give it Away"

Not bad for some British kids singing about a plant.

Steel Panther

2009-04-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

"Death to all but Metal"

This looks promising

2009-03-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Slayer, Satan and Hell

2009-03-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

"Hit the Lights"

2009-03-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

How incredible would it be to hear "Hit the Lights" back in 1982? The first ever Metal Massacre album, a sampler of unknown bands compiled by Metal Blade records, featured Steeler, Pandemonium, Mallice, then-unknown Ratt and several other long-forgotten bands that strove to stand out in the dawn of American metal's breakthrough. As with most record label promo compilations, it's a pretty boring album that could barely qualify as a free handout. Until a smattering of heavily distorted picking introduced the album's last song.

The drummer struggled keep time, the singers were too intimidated by the NWOBHM to try sounding like anything else, and it all sounded like it was recorded in a closet that was caving in on the band. It was as raw as anything the Stooges ever released, faster than any Motörhead and heavier than anything by Iron Maiden. World, meet Metallica.

Long before they had a worldly and introspective view, Metallica wrote about what they knew best--playing faster and louder than anyone else. "We're going to kick some ass tonight," barks James Hetfield in the first verse, introducing his band with perhaps the most understated comment ever on a Metallica record. Barely through their teens, Metallica sounded like they would self-destruct by the end of the tape. They almost did--a violent altercation between guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney led to McGovney's exit, and Mustaine's alcoholism led to his firing shortly after "Hit the Lights" was recorded. Overcoming the most drastic lineup change in their career, Metallica recruited Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett and future bass icon Cliff Burton for the version of "Hit the Lights" that would open their first album.

In answer to my first question--it was probably as amazing as it is to hear it today.

Ben and Greg from The Dillinger Escape Plan join Nine Inch Nails

2009-03-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Update, 3/8/09: All of DEP joins NIN:

Jens Kidman's angry samurai face

2009-03-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Faith No More

2009-03-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Whether or not Faith No More's just-announced upcoming tour actually hits America, the thought of one of the weirdest, catchiest and most innovative metal bands in history getting back together has me howling at the moon. Here's a brief playlist for us non-Europeans, while we refresh Blabbermouth every five minutes awaiting news of more tour dates.

"Falling to Pieces" (from The Real Thing)
Even after I had picked up The Real Thing and Album of the Year, my middle-school self was certain that Faith No More had three guys singing for them. Listen to "Falling to Pieces" and see if you can blame me, but be sure to also watch the video, which is perhaps the pinnacle of '80s music video special effects. "Epic" was the far bigger hit, but "Falling to Pieces" has a stronger melody and a more idiosyncratic sound. Although in hindsight, it's strangely basic for something with Mike Patton's name on it.

"A Small Victory" (from Angel Dust)
Far too eccentric for the audience that "Epic" brought them, FNM followed up with their masterpiece, Angel Dust, and head-scratchers like "A Small Victory." Any one of this song's elements--Roddy Bottum's ascending keyboard line, Patton's soaring vocals and Michael Jackson whoops, the hip-hop-flavored breakdown--could probably have made this a hit, but the band preferred to blend them all into something that sounds like an early '90s pop dream gone horribly awry. Or an avant-metal must-hear. Be sure to check out their MTV performance of this song, which proves too much for the VJ.

"Midlife Crisis" (from Angel Dust)
As with many iconoclasts, Faith No More are probably most unsettling at their accessible and straight-forward moments. The furthest they got in that area was probably their cover of the Commodores' "Easy," but the original "Midlife Crisis" is up there. Mike Patton has stated that he's more concerned with the sounds of the words he sings than his actual lyrical content, but this is a relatively candid song. "Midlife Crisis" sounds like it's building up to something abrasive, but it ends with the hook and bridge blending into an almost pretty crescendo.

"Everything's Ruined" (from Angel Dust)
A tuneful, almost danceable Angel Dust highlight that's unfortunately remembered for possibly the worst dance moves and use of a blue screen in music video history. And yet, it's more watchable than most good music videos, few of which have such awesome soundtracks.

"Epic" (from The Real Thing)
The one song from Mike Patton's illustrious, unwieldy career that everybody knows. Rapping over a hard rock riff may not be as groundbreaking as it was 20 years ago, but I defy you to find someone who can match Mike Patton's howls and Jim Martin's chugging, modestly-titled composition. Allegedly the video's starring goldfish belonged to Björk.

"Memories Can't Wait"

2009-03-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

David Byrne just played a terrific show in NYC. His tremendous influence on music and performance doesn't extend too far into hard rock and metal, although his use of two drummers and self-declared Alice Cooper fandom definitely warrant a few headbangs. Still, Byrne's strongest contribution to the metal world may be Living Colour's cover of his Talking Heads song "Memories Can't Wait."

Were any hard rock band to cover Talking Heads, Living Colour has the funk rhythms and diverse musicianship and rhythms to pull it off. Guitar maestro Vernon Reid and drum god Will Calhoun give Byrne's tune a shellacking, but they still can't match the original's bite. Perhaps a frantic, noisy and chaotic song sounds more dangerous when it comes from a band that's famous for "Once in a Lifetime" and not "Cult of Personality." Still, when one great band covers another, it's more than adequate for the new rendition to add a a distinct flavor (in LC's case, a hard rock edge) while maintaining the original's merits. Both versions are worthy of your ears.

Meshuggah owns all

2009-02-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

It could be years before the NYC area gets another month as exciting for metal as February 2009. Metallica, the Dillinger Escape Plan, Soilwork and Meshuggah all headlined bills that exemplified the range capacity of modern metal. Deciding the best of all shows was a matter of taste, but band-for-band, there was no better bill than the Faceless and Cynic opening for the mighty Meshuggah at Irving Plaza.

Relative newcomers the Faceless luckily won a spot before two of the most worshiped bands in technical/death metal history, and even more amazingly, the California-based band nearly showed up the legends. Playing to an already-packed club that confirmed the band's much-warranted buzz, the Faceless compacted much of music theorist-favorite Planetary Duality into their 30-minute set, including "The Ancient Covenant" and "Coldly Calculated Design," after opening with their debut Alkadama's instrumetal (sic) centerpiece. Now minus a keyboardist, the band's new arrangement benefited guitarist Michael Keene, who riffed and shredded through a garishly neon green Washburn. By their last song, it was clear that the Faceless deserve some headlining sets in the near future.

Cynic, performing their first US shows in 15 years, also spent most of the set on their newest album, Traced in Air. Although the band owes its legacy to Focus, the seemingly one-off prog-metal watershed that's been bewildering headbangers since 1993, Traced in Air is arguably just as strong, and it was as much fun to experience new songs like "Integral Birth" and "Evolutionary Sleeper" as it was to hear heavier, more distorted Focus tracks, including "Veil of Maya" and "Celestial Voyage."

For all the thrills Cynic warranted in musical and historical contexts, their performance was mostly listless. Drummer Sean Reinart controlled every song with powerhouse drumming, but guitarist/processed singer Paul Masvidal competently performed every technically-exhausting song without any extra flavor, as did the studio hand rhythm guitarist and bassist. Had Cynic just stood in place and played recordings, their music would still be exciting enough to hold interest. But for a band that put so much effort into recording, seeing them go through the motions onstage was a little disheartening.

Still, there was no questioning Meshuggah's ability to provide the live show that their songs deserve. As with the two openers, Meshuggah's most recent album is one of their best, and wallop-packing new songs like "Pravus," "Combustion" and especially "Bleed" were as memorable as anything played that evening. Relatively less mathy and avant-garde than their previous albums, obZen's songs are fast and heavy even for Meshuggah, and it was hard to keep up with the band more for their pace than their experiments. Despite Meshuggah's inarguable talents and versatility, there was no change in pace during their set. Guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström's riffs and solos steamrolled out of songs like "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" and "Suffer in Truth," while singer Jens Kidman, whose face might be frozen in "angry samurai" mode, barked out a guttural yell that never hinted that clean vocals even existed in him.

Meshuggah's main selling point might still be polyrhythmic monster Thomas Haake, whose varied, brutal drumming may trounce any other metal percussionist. Injuries have sidelined him over the past few years, but seeing him nail Meshuggah tracks that had been completed with samples and drum machines testified for the power of man over machine, albeit in a way that contrasted with some of Haake's sci-fi inspired lyrics. Meshuggah closed with "Future Breed Machine," probably their best-known song, and prompted a floor-encompassing mosh pit to break out for the show's last few minutes. There was no encore, so we never found out if Irving Plaza would be able to survive one.

Sitar Heroes

2009-02-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

From "Paint it, Black" and George Harrison laying the basic groundwork, up to A.R. Rahman's recent American success, nothing stirs up rock n' roll quite like a sitar.

Alice in Chains, "What the Hell Have I" (from the Last Action Hero soundtrack)

Someone forgot to tell Alice in Chains that soundtracks are meant for songs that weren't good enough to make it to studio albums. "What the Hell Have I" stood out among solid tunes from giants like AC/DC by showcasing Sean Kinney's unpredictable drum phrasing, Jerry Cantrell's haunting, understated guitar solos and previously unheard sitar chops, plus the late Layne Staley expressing his drug-addled torment with a voice that could shudder William S. Burroughs.

Guns N' Roses, "Pretty Tied Up" (from Use Your Illusion II)

Izzy Stradlin's dominatrix fable is one of G n' R's most underrated numbers, throwing a barrelhouse piano, a propulsive bassline and one of the band's best choruses under Axl's fantastically twisted narration. The live version unfortunately omits the sitar, which is propels "Pretty Tied Up's" intro and spices up the verses on record, but the song doesn't need it to sound depraved.

King's X, "Out of the Silent Planet" (from Gretchen Goes to Nebraska)

King's X's full-length masterpiece opens with perhaps its most subtle number, which is like saying Warwick Davis was the tallest Ewok. Biting it's title from C.S. Lewis, and barely indicating where King's X's soaring melodies, layered harmonies and impeccable musicianship would take the listener during Gretchen's adventure, "Out of the Silent Planet" is a fine example of how King's X's, as catchy as they are, never sound like any other metal band.

Metallica, "Wherever I May Roam" (from "The Black Album")

James Hetfield's self-empowering anthem depicts a vagabond entirely unbound by commitment, material possessions or any authority: Invictus as a headbanger. Employing an electric sitar and twelve-string bass over an undeniable hook, Metallica's unconventional arrangement still sounds like a single entity, and it emphasized the idea that Metallica could streamline their music without conforming to anyone else's standards.

Queensryche, "I am I" (from Promised Land)

Always the metal band that would rather be Pink Floyd or U2, Queensryche were releasing bombastic and ambitious hard rock up to their last few listenable songs. One such track was "I am I," a grinding, sitar-laden slice of proto-Ænima prog that doesn't say much but sounds incredible. Geoff Tate's stereophonic vocals makes "I am I" ideal for headphones listening, and fist-pumping isn't far behind.

Iron Maiden videos

2009-02-24T06:32:00.000-08:00

Iron Maiden's last run through the states was easily one of the most exciting shows I've ever seen. The setlist couldn't have been better, the band sounded better than I'd ever heard on CD or DVD, and the only thing that came close to matching the energy of the 50somethings onstage was the rabidly appreciative crowd. It's fair to say that I'm thrilled about the upcoming theatrical release of Flight 666, a documentary of the tour.

Also, this Brazilian cartoon of Bruce Dickinson and Eddie flying a plane together doesn't make much sense, but it's worth a post.

Go see the Dillinger Escape Plan

2009-02-21T13:54:00.000-08:00

How to endorse a Dillinger Escape Plan show? Their bellicose and abrupt math-metal requires particularly adventuresome ears, and their stage shows are violent and loud enough to send many concertgoers home early. But they're also the best live metal band playing clubs right now, as proven by their recent show at Webster Hall's studio.

After solid opening performances from alt-metal instrumentalists Caverns and Knife the Glitter, a smattering of chords from 10-year-old EP track "The Mullet Burden" signaled Dillinger's slowest moment of night, seconds before half of the band was in the audience. Like four Iggy Pops with a drummer (noob Billy Rymer, who nailed every song,) the band violently flung themselves into the crowd, destroyed equipment and somehow never missed a note of their exhilarating compositions. Racing through some of their earliest noisecore tracks, Dillinger showed up fans who complained about the melodic tracks on the recent Ire Works by playing their most aggressive math-metal with a pace and fierceness that early records like Calculating Infinity couldn't come close to. Still, the wildly infectious "Milk Lizard" and the rarely-played "Horse Hunter" were more than antagonistic enough to hold their own with early thrashers like "43% Burnt" and "Sugar Coated Sour."

The most traditional-rock moment came with a surprise cover of Living Colour's signature "Cult of Personality." Fans closer to the bandmembers' ages screamed along every word (although missing the cue for the JFK quote) while everyone got possibly the only Living Colour cover that could match the hooky aggression of the original. Haw all you want about Greg Puciato being unable to match Corey Glover's range, I'll take Puciato's ability to carry a tune over Glover's need to show off his chops any night. This avowed Living Colour fan wonders if the original band could pull off such a powerful rendition today.

Sweating profusely, heaving cymbal stands at the crowd and swinging (sometimes upside down) from fragile-looking ceiling lighting, Dillinger's performance was only matched by their music. Profusely sweating guitarist Ben Weinman played behind the back and crowd-surfed while emitting the agile and deafening assaults of "Fix Your Face" and "Panasonic Youth," and recent addition Jeff Tuttle is now a vital part of the chaos, living up to his GG Allin t-shirt with by creating as much of a din as any of his bandmates, between slamming into speakers and diving through the crowd. Other than Andrew W.K., no headbangers obliterate the band/fans barrier as the Dillinger Escape Plan do.

Provoked into a rare encore by the sold-out crowd, Dillinger capped the night with Miss Machine standout "Sunshine the Werewolf" before going beyond all expectations by seizing Nine Inch Nails' "Wish." By then shirtless, Weinman destroyed his guitar by crashing it down several times a few inches away from the crowd, ending the set about 80 minutes in. It was a short night for a non-Dillinger metal show, but a full-length set from the second-best underground metal band in the world couldn't have topped the five guys in Dillinger that evening.

The trouble with Chuck Klosterman readers

2009-02-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to understand why Chuck Klosterman is such a polarizing figure. Sure, disagreeing with his opinions, having no interest in late '80s/early '90s pop culture and lacking patience for his quips are understandable. But whatever the case, Klosterman offers a fresh set of beliefs from the general Rolling Stone/Pitchfork-dominated media, provides relatively ego-free narration and can be funny without getting off topic. His columns are almost always worth checking out, and I'll defend him at length from his detractors, but I'm also a little bothered by the positive reception he gets.

Hearing people applaud Klosterman's analyses (which range from the Boston Celtics to Saved by the Bell, but are rooted in bands like Van Halen and Mötley Crüe) is a little like hearing people fawn over Joyce Carol Oates for writing about boxing. Once a noted intellectual takes a look at a supposedly lowbrow subject, critics gush about how such a great mind can find depth in something like metal, comic books, sports or horror movies. In truth, all of those subjects have thoughtful, intelligent fanbases, including people like Klosterman who understand why David Lee Roth and Axl Rose are important. Not all of such fans are given the sort of public forum that Klosterman gets, but in general people's reasons for enjoying Guns N' Roses are as smart as those for liking Radiohead. I'm guessing that it wasn't Klosterman's idea to subtitle one of his books A Low Culture Manifesto, but that title reflects the way that most people seem to view his subject matter.

Self-important critics who don't get metal assume that they're too enlightened to enjoy it, or worse, that they appreciate it ironically for its camp value. This is clearly and unreasonably elitist--as much as I don't get why Kenny Chesney sells out arenas, I'm sure that his fans have perfectly good reasons for supporting him, as do folks who enjoy T-Pain or Sufjan Stevens. None of those artists are "low culture," just different options for music lovers.

On the opposite end are those who assume that Klosterman likes stuff because it's lowbrow. A few years ago, fuming bloggers chastised Klosterman for being unenthusiastic about the buildup for Snakes on a Plane (before anyone had seen it.) Perhaps most scathing was the Gawker piece Asshole Whose Entire Career Based On Appreciating The Lowbrow Wants To Pull Up The Ladder, which was aghast that a guy who enjoyed some mediocre art didn't appreciate all mediocre art. But assuming that Klosterman likes stuff because it's bad is just as fallacious as assuming that he's the only smart guy to like this stuff. Is it inconceivable that he's an individual who likes art that specifically appeals to him? Apparently so.

Is this really as funny as I think it is?

2009-02-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

Because Creed is fish in a barrel.

St. Valentine's Day Megadeth

2009-02-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

One of the few things that metal isn't particularly great for is love songs. However, it does give us "In My Darkest Hour," a perfect break-up song courtesy of Megadeth.

Said to be the only song that Dave Mustaine ever composed in one sitting, "In My Darkest Hour" was inspired by the bus accident death of his former bandmate in Metallica, Cliff Burton. Over an mournful, uncharacteristically slow progression, Megadeth seethed over a former lover who, "Though I reached out for you...wouldn't lend a hand." But no matter how much Mustaine talks about "needing love" and "finding space," it's hard to see the song's target as anyone other than Dave himself, who had cut off ties from Burton after being kicked out of Metallica.

This song reached a mass audience in Penelope Spheeris' film The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years, a film that documented the mostly-idiotic behavior of '80s hair metal bands and their detractors.

But at the film's conclusion, an American thrash metal quintet with an itch to reinvent rock music, push their musical capabilities and douse their metal with more thoughtful messages than their contemporaries, showed up to perform "In My Darkest Hour."

For any metalhead's darkest hour, it's good to know that Megadeth are there.

Acrassicauda

2009-02-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

One of the best music documentaries in recent years is easily Heavy Metal in Baghdad, about an Iraqi metal band called Acrassicauda. Set in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, the bandmates struggle with nationwide crises, oppression and everyday bloodshed while taking refuge in playing and listening to metal (which they advertise as "rock," since anything heavier is forbidden.)

Fast forward to February 1, 2009, when members of Acrassicauda get to meet James Hetfield backstage...

Read more about it in the New York Times article here.

Lux Interior

2009-02-04T22:43:00.001-08:00

The Cramps won't be on any metal best-of lists, but one listen to White Zombie, Eagles of Death Metal or (unfortunately) Nashville Pussy exclaims the influence of Lux Interior, Poison Ivy and the band's ever-rotating rhythm section. Like the Misfits, the Cramps wrote simple, sleazy tunes about sex, sci-fi, sex, horror, sex, drugs, sex, white trash and sex. This inspired legions of psychobilly bands to learn two chords and got countless metal bands to schlock up their image.

But unlike the Misfits, the Cramps really sounded like they really could've dragged themselves from the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance, maybe if John Waters had directed Back to the Future. Lux Interior, who passed away this week at an uncertain age, reinvented '50s prom music into something Sex Pistols fans could get behind. He emphasized early rock's seedy side, turned up the volume and hyperventilated through every performance until even the most self-serious punk could crack a smile.

"Goo Goo Muck"

"She Said"

"Garbage Man"

"Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs"

Performance at Napa Mental Hospital

Lux Interior wasn't the kind of guy you'd bring home to Mom, but if he were, we'd never have Bad Music for Bad People. Rest in peace, sicko.

Death of Metallica

2009-02-04T03:29:00.000-08:00

Bill O'Reilly vs. Dragonforce

2009-01-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

Mötley Crüe

2009-01-26T09:20:00.000-08:00

Three things that Mötley Crüe are great for:

1. Co-writing The Dirt, which one of the best books ever, fiction or truth.
2. Comparing their band unfavorably to Nirvana, Guns N' Roses and Metallica.
3. Listening to their awesome music.

I picked up a cassette of Dr. Feelgood around the time that I thought '90s-era Michael Jackson was cutting-edge. After discovering GG Allin I gave it away, only to purchase a used CD copy years later while pining for "Sticky Sweet." The Crüe knew what it was all about--it would be much cooler to say I've spent more time listening to Mayhem and Obituary, but it would also be a bald-faced lie.

On the almost nonexistent event that Mötley Crüe gets any respect in ink, it's usually for being more metal than those poseurs in Bon Jovi. But the Crüe are best appreciated not as a metal band, but as edgy pop artists. They're louder, crazier and more decadent than George Michael or Billy Idol, but they have a similar knack for hooks, melodies and those classic rock n' roll topics. Any time you want to rock out but need a break from blast beats and death grunts, you could do a lot worse.

"Kickstart My Heart"
Robert Rodriguez once named this as the greatest rock n' roll song ever. Debate amongst yourselves, but "Kickstart My Heart" would make a great auditory companion to Desperado or From Dusk 'Til Dawn. Written about Nikki Sixx's heroin OD (he was pronounced dead before two adrenaline shots revived him,) Sixx gave himself the appropriate tribute--a hard-rockin', Zeppelin-biting party anthem that sounds downright deadly on any bar jukebox. Yes, that's Sam Kinison in the video.

"Shout at the Devil"
What the PMRC found objectionable about this one is a mystery--isn't shouting at someone supposed to be a reprimanding? No matter, "Shout at the Devil" is carried by the instant riff and its much-imitated chorus. Whether you're shouting Satan's praises or telling him off, it's hard to imagine anyone with a pulse being unable to enjoy this song.

"Dr. Feelgood"
The Beatles had Dr. Robert, Mayfield had the Pusherman and Mötley Crüe made Dr. Feelgood a household name. In return, "Dr. Feelgood" rocketed the Crüe into megastardom, introducing millions of fans to a band that was high on low life, chock full of catchy songs and entirely remorseless for everything they'd done in the past decade. Strip club tune, meet the stadium anthem.

"Looks that Kill"
Near the start of their career, the Crüe couldn't decide if they wanted to be a party band that wrote about girls or a satanic band that wrote about girls. But no one looks to Mötley Crüe for good decision-making--just for songs like "Looks that Kill," with a sunny yet heavy melody that hinted at their future status. The music video is kind of crap, but it's also the sort of honestly-delivered camp that legions of ironic t-shirt proponents wish they were cool enough to be a part of.

"Rattlesnake Shake"
This is where you fall off the treadmill.

Pretty brewtal

2009-01-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

"Beer Run," by Absolute Steel:

"Murders in the Rue Morgue"

2009-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Iron Maiden, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (from Killers)

Few writers are more suited for headbanger interpretation than Edgar Allan Poe, who would've turned 200 today. Supposedly both Seattle prog-power metal band Nevermore and NWOBHM also-rans Raven took their names from Poe's best-known narrative, but Poe's most undeniable influence on metal lies in "Murders in the Rue Morgue," an awesome track on Iron Maiden's second album.

At a time when metal was seen as even less literary than it is today, bassist/writer Steve Harris reassigned the narrative voice of the original Murders in the Rue Morgue to the culprit. Thankfully, Harris managed to retell the story without giving away the ending to those of us who might want to read it, and he also threw in some meaty riffs for Adrian Harris and Dave Murray to chew on.

Paul Di'Anno, the singer on Maiden's underrated first two albums, is an expert interpreter who gives "Murders in the Rue Morgue," a garagey edge that the band never reached again. However, Bruce Dickinson is unquestionably the greatest singer to ever front Iron Maiden. Di'Anno owns "Murders in the Rue Morgue," but it's hard to resist the urge to post a live version with Dickinson singing.

Just as EC Comics adapted The Tell Tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado to emphasize the drawing talents and storytelling skills of the Tales from the Crypt staff (and to scare the crap out of the rest of us,) Iron Maiden retold Poe's pioneering foray into detective fiction because they could do a great job with it. Whether or not they also intended to get thrill-seeking adolescents to check out a great writer, it was a welcome side effect.

The greatest werewolves in metal

2009-01-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

The Dillinger Escape Plan, "Sunshine the Werewolf" (from Miss Machine)

On his first album with DEP, Greg Puciato screamed his lungs out, fighting every fractured time signature to be as dangerously noisy as possible. Yet his versatility helped the band slide into surprisingly melodic territory, completing a werewolf-like transformation into something a little more "sunshine." If the first part doesn't scare you away, there are some tuneful interludes that accentuate the rest of the song's combativeness (and vice versa.)

High On Fire, "Speedwolf" (from Surrounded by Thieves)

Before signing with Relapse and working with Steve Albini, Matt Pike was the guy from Sleep who had a louder and faster new band. "Speedwolf" marked the moment that High on Fire became Pike's definitive project. Surrounded by Thieves sounds like it was recorded in Cerberus' doghouse, but that's never enough to extinguish the hooks and drum rolls that spill out of songs like this one.

Mastodon, "The Wolf is Loose" (from Blood Mountain)

Mastodon obliterated notions that they'd water down their prog-thrash fury for Warner Bros, kicking off their major label debut with a bloodthirsty hymn to a rampant shapeshifter. Like it's protagonist, the song mutates several times at a frantic pace before returning to its original form. "The Wolf is Loose" also introduced listeners to a theme that Mastodon would expand on further down the album.

Metallica, "Of Wolf and Man" (from "The Black Album")

Metal's greatest lyricist voices a night-prowler who evolves into his surroundings ("We shift/Pulsing with the earth.") Evoking his predatory instincts, James Hetfield becomes increasingly feral in the verses after howling out each call-and-response chorus. "The hair stands on the back of my neck," he intones in the bridge, but it's a few more measures before you realize what really just happened to him.

Ozzy Osbourne, "Bark at the Moon" (from Bark at the Moon)

It's no surprise that Ozzy would relate to the Wolfman. Whether exposing his private life on a TV show, giving cordial, myth-crushing interviews or recording relentlessly sappy ballads throughout his solo career, Ozzy has been trying to convince us of his harmlessness for almost as long as he's been famous. But somehow, ant-snorting, bat-devouring, Alamo-desecrating Ozzy keeps breaking out of John Michael Osbourne...

Queens Of The Stone Age, "Someone's in the Wolf" (from Lullabies to Paralyze)

Josh Homme answered critics who thought his band couldn't be as creepy without Nick Oliveri by plunging into the darkest corners of his already pitch black being. On "Someone's in the Wolf," Homme unearthed the riff that Tony Iommi's been searching for since Mob Rules, applied a hypnotic chorus and invented stoner metal video game music. Easily the Queens' most underrated song.

Christmas morning

2009-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

Music: "Slit Your Guts" by Cryptopsy

Badass Dave Mustaine video of the month

2009-01-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

In the 24½th century, a crew of Martians devised a plot to usher earth's inhabitants into slavery under a totalitarian dictator.

Three brave space explorers fought back by enlisting one of the great metal guitar superheroes of our time, plus the 2005 lineup of Megadeth.

"You want loud? Nobody rocks louder, faster and harder than Dave Mustaine."
-Duck Dodgers

Start your morning right

2009-01-11T02:36:00.000-08:00

With hockey players beating each other up to the music of At the Gates:

"Take off Your T-Shirt (if You Can't Name a Song by the Band that's on it)"

2009-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

By Watt White, (and found on the consistently amazing Metalsucks)

Ron Asheton

2009-01-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

If there were only three guitarists to shape the sound of heavy metal before Rolling Stone adopted the term as a way to describe the bands they were trashing, Ron Asheton of the Stooges is right up there with Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi. Sure, Richie Blackmore was more "metal" by some standards, but any thrash, stoner, sludge, grindcore or doom metal band is basically living in a world that Asheton created.

Terrible news this morning as Ron Asheton has passed away in his Ann Arbor home. This will no doubt shock anybody who saw the Stooges on their most recent tour, where they were a raging, raw and demented blast of nihilistic rock n' roll. Without question one of the best shows I've ever been lucky enough to attend, the Stooges embodied the attitude and innovation that even the strongest imitators have been struggling to catch up with ever since. The band's equipment had been stolen days before the show, and Terminal 5's acoustics were typically stifling, but I was still moved to gush that Asheton's guitar playing "exploded through the PA with grimy, distorted riffage...a torrential noise hurricane, filled out by revered Minutemen bassist Mike Watt and original saxophonist Steve MacKay. The guitar was mixed way below the vocals and (Ron's brother Scott's) drums, but it still sounded lethal." From the blues of "1969" to the free jazz of "L.A. Blues" to the pre-punk "TV Eye" to the pre-stoner "We Will Fall," there aren't enough subgenres to fit into a review that will do justice to Asheton's playing.

Asheton had both the luck and misfortune of performing with one of the wildest, most charismatic frontmen in history. Spontaneous, uncontrollable and virile, Iggy Pop has enjoyed more time in the spotlight than ever other Stooge combined, but his yelps, contortions and stage dives were all anchored by Asheton's blistering, feedback-driven hooks and solos. Even Iggy's Berlin sessions with David Bowie can't quite match the Asheton/Pop compositions.

Not many could: Even the Slayer's take on "I Wanna be Your Dog," Guns n' Roses' "Raw Power" and Rage Against the Machine's "Down on the Street." can't match the excitement of the originals. Slash, Hanneman, King and Morello are are among the most brilliant life forms to ever play a chord, but still none of them could sound like Ron Asheton.

It's hard to find footage that will capture the excitement of seeing Ron playing with the Stooges. But there's clearly something amazing going on in all these videos.

"No Fun"

"TV Eye"

"I Wanna be Your Dog"

"Dirt"

"1969/Down on the Street"

Nine reasons why 2009 rules already

2009-01-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Slayer's new song, "Psychopathy Red:"

Lamb of God's new song, "Contractor:"

Cattle Decapitation's new song, "A Body Farm:"

Morbid Angel's new song, "Nevermore:"

Isis' new song, "20 Minutes/40 Years:"

Napalm Death's new song, "Diktat:"

Anthrax's new song, "Fight 'em 'til You Can't:"

God Forbid's new song, "War of Attrition:"

Suicidal Tendencies' new song, "Come Alive"

The saddest music in the world

2009-01-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

A friend recently asked me to "explain Kurt Cobain." While condensing my case to a few minutes was an almost unbearable exercise in self-restraint, it got me to reconsider "Something in the Way."

It'd be absurd to argue about which artists pick the saddest subject matter, but it's also inarguable that no one can express sadness quite like Nirvana's lead singer, songwriter and guitarist. The chorus to "Scentless Apprentice," the climax to "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" and even the catchiest part of "Aneurysm" are as gut-wrenching as rock music gets, but "Something in the Way" might be the saddest song to ever find its way onto a Nirvana album.

The title, an apparent homage to Cobain's Liverpool-based heroes, characterizes the singer's look at his eight-year-old self during his parents' divorce. Unable to find a place for himself in the midst of a tumultuous break-up, Cobain cast himself as an inconvenience, something he beautifully expressed in a few minutes on the most famous album of the '90s.

Kurt Cobain sings in a hushed tone, almost burying his voice with a barely existent, two-chord melody on his acoustic. Like the narrator, the song itself is struggling to disappear, shrouding itself near the tale end of Nevermind while the protagonist (dubiously, but it doesn't matter) hides under a bridge near the Wishkah River.

Any hack emo songwriter can complain about being "nothing," but it takes a genius like Kurt Cobain to understand why being "something" can be so much worse.

Alice Cooper on The Muppet Show

2008-12-30T17:25:00.000-08:00

Kind of reminds me of Max in Where the Wild Things Are.

"Welcome to My Nightmare"

"School's Out"

"You and Me"

Watch the whole show, and find out what Statler and Waldorf think of Alice Cooper's sister:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Merry Kissmas

2008-12-25T03:21:00.000-08:00

Philip K. Dick that you can bang your head to

2008-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Outside of Kraftwerk, sci-fi may have no greater music ally than metal. Everyone from Rod Serling to Isaac Asimov has explored the concept of machine becoming man, but few have done so as effectively as Judas Priest, Meshuggah and White Zombie.

Judas Priest, "Metal Gods"
Set to a chugging riff and the original synchronized headbang, Rob Halford belts a fantastic tale (read the lyrics) of robots reaping their vengeance on mankind. Should the machines ever rage against us, I'd hope we'd get a soundtrack like this to fight them off with. There's also an obvious pun in the title, but the Priest should be commended for understating their status in the music world.

Meshuggah, "Future Breed Machine"
Jens Kidman's accent and death growl make the lyrics (read here) particularly indecipherable, but the music sounds like the A.I. creation it describes--unpredictable, heavy, fast and destructive. Pushing even the most proficient metal into a new arena (figuratively and literally,) "Future Breed Machine" is one of Meshuggah's best songs, and one that still sounds as brutal as any death metal you'll hear.

White Zombie, "More Human than Human"
The sci-fi stylings of Rob Zombie's first band are usually beyond campy, but for their greatest song Rob took inspiration from a line in Blade Runner, which is as unimpeachable as anything that sci-fi's ever offered. What the rest of the words mean is anybody's guess (check 'em out,) but it all sounds pretty beast over that killer slide guitar lick.

"Raining Blood" with Thor

2008-12-19T05:16:00.001-08:00

Five reasons to quit your job

2008-12-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

There's no end to the amount of great songs about working, quitting your job, getting fired, telling the boss off or struggling to stay on top of a 9-5. However, depending on your tolerance for high volume/awesomeness, here are a few that should be on any mix CD.

Monster Magnet, "Powertip"
An underrated band and absolutely killer live act, Monster Magnet are a filthy stoner metal band that verged on stardom in the late '90s. Best known for their infectious hit "Space Lord," they really struck gold with this song, perhaps the greatest ode to megalomania in existence. It's hard to beat the chorus, "I'm never gonna work another day in my life."

Rebel Meets Rebel, "Get Outta My Life"
While breaking from Pantera, Dimebag, Vinnie and Rex recorded an amazing barfight metal album with outlaw country legend David Allan Coe. Hank Williams III guests on "Get Outta My Life," perhaps the band's strongest track. It's a redneck superstar party that employs rock's oldest and greatest theme--sticking it to authority. Try not singing along by the second chorus. It doesn't work.

Dead Kennedys, "Take this Job and Shove it"
Another DAC composition, this one performed by the irrepressible Dead Kennedys (when they were still talking to each other.) "Take this Job" has been recorded by a slew of different artists, but no one, not even Coe, could sing it with the bite, roguishness and defiance of the eternally obnoxious Jello Biafra.

Bad Brains, "Sailin' On"
This is probably about a girl, but it's vague enough to be a perfect send-off song for any occasion. No one could drop a melody into a hardcore song the way that Bad Brains could, and "Sailin' On" is easily one of the best songs that HR & the gang ever offered. It alone is more than enough to justify the workplace, relationships and even punk rock as a whole.

Rage Against the Machine, "Maggie's Farm"
Of course the original's better, and Dylan fanatics that tell you to check out the Bootleg Series version aren't just being fanatics. But for a heavy rock band telling someone where to shove it, it doesn't get much better than Rage Against the Machine drastic rewrite of one of Dylan's masterpieces. By the time we reach the part about Maggie's brother, I already feel sorry for whoever hired Zack de la Rocha.

The Melvins on Pancake Mountain

2008-12-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

The Furious Five

2008-12-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

2008 has been an incredible year for music. A lot of it has been chronicled here. However, if you can own only five records this year:

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

It's official. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are longer peerless, having joined the upper, upper echelon of immortal musicmakers in their third straight decade of being awesome. "Fierce," "curious," "literate," "delightful," "rich" and "extraordinary" don't begin to describe the talents of ringmaster Cave and his distinct, prodigiously gifted band of miscreants, who created eleven individual worlds on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, and reported back to save the rest of us from visiting.

Gojira, The Way of All Flesh

No band sounded bigger, cooler and heavier than Gojira, metal's best-kept secret until October 13, 2008. Pulling off technically-baffling prog numbers, mega-hooky death metal stompers and tribal metal jams about global warming as if they were easy as pie, The Way of All Flesh would be heard as an experiment in destroying the boundaries of metal music if listeners weren't too busy getting their senses pummeled by the best metal album of the year.

The Melvins, Nude with Boots

Just when it looked like the rest of the world was catching up to the grungy, uninhibited sound of King Buzzo, Dale Crover & co., the Melvins distanced themselves from everyone by making a supremely weird, catchy, dark and skull-crushingly heavy album, easily a high point in their 25-year career. Extra credit goes to Big Business bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis for pushing these guys even further than Kurt Cobain did.

Torche, Meanderthal

Melodies soar, guitars pummel and stoner metal gets the startling reinvention its been deserving for all these years. For an album that's devoid of cliche, I'll borrow one to describe it--"Faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive." The recent departure of guitarist Juan Montoya exemplifies how painfully rare a great record like this is, but with Meanderthal, Torche have already made one for the history books.

Amon Amarth, Twilight of the Thunder God

Death metal isn't supposed to be this infectious and power metal never gets this heavy, but Amon Amarth don't bow to any rules or genre conventions on Twilight of the Thunder God. This awesome record channels Norse mythology in a speaker-busting compositional massacre that comes armed with lyrical odes to Thor. Cynic were more technical, Ihsahn took a further leap and Meshuggah were heavier, but it's the band that makes you feel like a Viking for the win every time.

Some other lists you should be checking out:

Those Who Know Music: My comrades at TWKM somehow came up with a top five that complements my own, five must-hear 2008 releases that you should have picked up by now, including Ihsahn, Cynic and Secret Chiefs 3.

Metalsucks: Looking for super generic lists that honor the same three bands? Well, first check yourself, then check out these guys, who offer top tens that'll push your buttons and introduce you to more great music than you can handle. Read the staff lists here.

Sound Opinions: Right, wrong or both, Sound Opinions has the sharpest reviews in the country. Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot both have reliably fantastic top ten lists this year.

Skullsnbones: Haven't heard most of these, but Iann Robinson has great taste in music, as evidenced by Enslaved, Made out of Babies and Harvey Milk.

About.com: Props for an excellent top ten--the rest is hit and miss, but anything in the first part should make your shortlist, particularly Metallica and Meshuggah.

AV Club: The Onion's spin-off posted a list of celebrity music choices, which gets a link solely for commenter "ZODIAC MOTHERFUCKER" and his endorsement of The Reawakening, the new album from Earache's death metal Aussies The Berzerker.

"FAVORITE ALBUM OF 2008 SHIT THATS EASY SON ITS THE REAWAKENING BY THE BERZERKER BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I SHOULDNT EVEN RECCOMMEND THIS SHIT BECAUSE THIS SHIT WILL JUST STEAMROLL YOUR ASS AND LEAVE YOU WONDERING WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED YOUR GONNA THINK THE FUCKING APOCOLYPSE IS GOING DOWN AND COMING RIGHT OUT OF YOUR SPEAKERS AND RIGHT THE FUCK DOWN YOUR THROAT OR LIKE SOMEBODY SPRAYING NAPALM IN YOUR EARS AND INCINIRATING YOUR FUCKING BRAIN SERIOUSLY THIS SHIT SHOULD COME WITH A FUCKING SURGEON GENERAL WARNING OR MAKE YOU SIGN WAIVERS OR SOME SHIT SAYING YOU WONT HOLD THE BERZERKER RESPONSIBLE FOR OWNING YOUR FUCKING ASS"

In hopes that we all convey music's awesomeness that well, check out some videos.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "We Call Upon the Author to Explain"

Gojira, "Vacuity"

The Melvins, "Suicide in Progress"/"Billy Fish"

Torche, "Healer"

Amon Amarth, "Twilight of the Thunder God"

What do Metallica and Snoop Dogg have in common?

2008-12-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

Metallica, "Enter Sandman"

Snoop Dogg, "Murder was the Case"

Hint: it's not this:

"A Tout le Monde"

2008-12-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

A friend's essay, wherein she contemplated several song lyrics sung outside of each singer's native tongue, inspired me to revisit one of my older favorites.

Megadeth, "A Tout le Monde"

First off, if you've never heard Megadeth before, ignore this and check out anything off Rust in Peace or Peace Sells...But Who's Buying. Then maybe some of their hits like "Symphony of Destruction," "Sweating Bullets" and "Skin o' My Teeth." Or the masterful "In My Darkest Hour" and the thrashterpiece "Set the World Afire." Or the most famous song Mustaine wrote in his Metallica stint, "Mechanix." Or the ferocious comeback "Kick the Chair." There are actually about 20 or so songs that are more representative of Megadeth than "A Tout le Monde," most of which don't have portentous videos and useless reprises.

Yet I can't get enough of this song. Against my conceived notions of Megadeth, my general dislike of power ballads and my better judgment, "A Tout le Monde" is a song I return to regularly. There's something intangible about it that makes it seem more like a brave artistic expression than a blatant stab at the airwaves.

Perhaps it's the show-stopping live version that won me over. I don't know what the fans are thinking when they all join in on the third chorus, but they really believe it.

For a guy who writes jazz-inspired thrash metal with political, personal and fantastic lyrics for a living, Dave Mustaine really hit one out of the park with a mournful ode to departed loved ones. Inspired to write "A Tout le Monde" by the loss of his French-speaking mother, Mustaine once said in an interview:

"It's when people have a loved one that dies and they end on a bad note, you know, they wish that they could say something to them. So this is an opportunity for the deceased to say something before they go. And it was my impression of what I would like to say to people...to all my friends, I love you all, and now I must go. These are the last words I'll ever speak, and they'll set me free. I don't need to say I'm sorry, I don't have to say I'm going to miss you, or I'll wait for ya. You know, I'll just say I loved you all, good, bad and different, I loved you all.

Mustaine had to spend a lot of time explaining the song's lyrics--released in the hypersensitive year that Kurt Cobain took his life, "A Tout le Monde" was interpreted as pro-suicide and initially banned from MTV (which played videos, even by metal bands, back then.) The controversy returned years later when a college student in Montreal mentioned the song on his blog, shortly before embarking on a shooting spree that ended with the gunman's suicide. Despite decrying the actions at a concert in Montreal that month, the damage had been done. It would go far in redeeming the term "power ballad" in anyone's mind, but "A Tout le Monde" still never gets the FM play or chart success that it deserves.

Angus Young's duck walk

2008-12-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Awesome.

"Fucking Hostile"

2008-12-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

Today is the fourth anniversary of "Dimebag Darrell" Abbott's death, and I've joined the many tributes that came up today (and have been coming up for the past four years) with a post on Metal Injection. Now, for the more self-indulgent post to go here.

One day in middle school, a friend brought in a copy of Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power. Pantera was a daunting listen, entirely forbidden from the local rock radio stations my friends and I listened to. The reputation of four hard-living, tougher-than-nails rednecks who played louder and faster than Metallica preceded the music, as did that awesome album cover art with a guy getting punched in the face.

Upon finding the music department's CD player, I did what any red-blooded American middle school boy would do when no teachers were looking. I skipped ahead to the track called "Fucking Hostile."

One!two!three!four!

I feigned toughness, unable to admit that my inner savage was jumping up and down at how awesome this song was. But I learned that extreme music was as thrilling as anything that guitars, bass, drums and vocals could emit. My boyhood hero, Billy Corgan, was certainly onto something when he cited Dimebag as his favorite guitarist.

"Fucking Hostile" is dripping with attitude. That onslaught of Vinnie Paul's double bass pedal. Phil Anselmo's gruff, tough yet tuneful bark. Dimebag's supersonic riffage and squealing, eardrum-burning solo. Rex Brown's groove-setting bass picking. No wonder these guys were called "The Cowboys from Hell."

"Fucking Hostile" is one of the fastest, loudest, loosest and dirtiest songs by one of the fastest, loudest, loosest and dirtiest bands in history. It contains just about everything that could ever offend a parent or teacher. It could provoke a mosh pit at a church or a funeral.

"Fucking Hostile" was never a single or a music video, but just about anybody who listened to metal in the '90s has been struck by it. Check out cover versions by Anthrax in Peru and In Flames in England--everyone in both crowds knows the words.

In Flames:

Anthrax:

Even better, revisit the original (live at Donnington:)

Rest in peace, Dimebag.

13 reasons to live in NYC, 2008

2008-12-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

AC/DC at Madison Square Garden: Angus Young duck walks, headbangs and ostensibly has a seizure while unleashing an ungodly blues-metal solo during his band's performance of "Let there be Rock."

Amon Amarth at Irving Plaza: Amon Amarth provoke the crowd into a rousing Viking chant for "Steve," the local roadie who pours beer for the band to drink out of Viking horns.

At the Gates at Irving Plaza: The opening riff of "Slaughter of the Soul" prompts the full capacity crowd to scream back the first lyric, zealously welcoming At the Gates back to New York City.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at the Theater at Madison Square Garden: Cave releases something that the word "scream" can't do justice during "Hard on for Love."

Dillinger Escape Plan at Irving Plaza: Dillinger play the loudest version of "Hot for Teacher" in history, winning over Cavalera Conspiracy's audience and stealing the show from the storied headliners.

The Giraffes at Le Poisson Rouge: Aaron Lazar is reprimanded by security for smoking a cigarette, which he promptly puts out--in the palm of his hand.

Iron Maiden at Izod Center: Maiden perform "The Trooper," "Wasted Years," "The Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills" all in a row at Izod Center, before topping four of the greatest songs in metal history with "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

Mastodon at Brooklyn Masonic Temple: The Georgian giants blow away respected headliners Neurosis by opening their set with the 14-minute "Hearts Alive."

Megadeth at Hammerstein Ballroom: Dave Mustaine throws the 25-year-old "Mechanix" in between the two movements of "Holy Wars" for Megadeth's encore.

The Melvins at Music Hall of Williamsburg: A faithful, earnest and a capella take on our National Anthem gets thrown into a fast, heavy, no-encore-or-stage-banter set that finds the Melvins at the top of their game.

Willie Nelson at Radio City Music Hall: Willie follows plausible closer "On the Road Again" with "City of New Orleans," before rocking out for about an hour longer than anyone had any right to hope or expect.

Nine Inch Nails at Izod Center: Each of Trent Reznor's bandmates bow individually and leave the stage, while Trent fades the final bars of "In this Twilight" and waves goodbye.

The Stooges at Terminal 5: Iggy Pop is Iggy Pop.

BoHeman Rhapsody (updated 12/5)

2008-12-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

The original:

Update 12/5/08: On a very similar but still amusing note--"you don't like Star Wars?"

For the record, both these videos were found on SkullsnBones, yet another better waste of time than Myspace or Facebook.

"Black Friday"

2008-11-28T19:12:00.000-08:00

"Black Friday" is usually associated with shopping and/or Steely Dan, but it's also a thoroughly spectacular song by Megadeth.

Megadeth, "Good Mourning/Black Friday"

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? is often simplified as the record where Megadeth ditched their obsessions with the occult, Satan, comic books and violence in favor of politics and realism. While it was the breakthrough of guitarist/songwriter Dave Mustaine's thrilling battle with current affairs and his own personal demons, songs like "The Conjuring," "Good Mourning/Black Friday" and an excellent Howlin' Wolf cover ("I Ain't Superstitious") enjoy the classic metal themes. All on the fine line between campy and scary.

Preceding Dimmu Borgir, Machine Head, Portishead and a quip on Dr. Katz with the "Good Mourning" pun, Mustaine serves us the album's sole pretty moment, a dual guitar intro that breaks into Mustaine's bizarre/goofy spoken word. While his range and tone are often mocked, I think it's pretty cool that he was the first metal god to talk/scream the horrors he depicted. Sort of like a headbanging Tom Waits.

The song slips into a jazz-like composition, with a speed and structure that was pivotal in establishing death metal and math metal. Uninhibited leads are hunted down by an authoritative rhythm section that pushes each player to their technical and creative limit. One can imagine Kerry King, Chuck Schuldiner and Ben Weinman all clasping their headphones closer to their ears when this song came on.

The lyrics are fantastic. A sadistic murderer who lands closer to Tobe Hooper than Alice Cooper gets a first-person narration, punctuated by a torrent of technical stunts and progression switch-ups. All of which build into to a mind-bending solo (courtesy of Chris Poland) and a climactic final chant (courtesy of the band.)

Perhaps the song's greatest endorsement comes from Mustaine. Now a born again Christian (who still writes good music,) Dave has expressed reservations about performing "Black Friday" in concert. "You know, I mean, I am sure if I wanted to I could do 'Black Friday' or 'The Conjuring,' because they don't really mean anything anymore," he once told a reporter. "'Black Friday,' you know, it's just gratuitous violence which, that's cool to a point, but there's so many death metal fans that do it better than I did."

"Good Mourning/Black Friday" could be considered Mustaine's exorcism, a release of demons that he can't bring himself to revisit. All the more reason for the rest of us to enjoy it.

Megadeth, "Good Mourning/Black Friday" (live)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T19:56:00.000-08:00

Ten reasons to pick up Chinese Democracy

2008-11-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

1. Between Appetite for Destruction, Use Your Illusion I and II and even G N' R Lies, Axl's got a pretty great track record. Sure, this album doesn't have Slash, Duff or Izzy. But even what's technically a solo album from the guy who sang and wrote "Welcome to the Jungle," "My Michelle," "November Rain," "Estranged" and a few more of the greatest songs ever is well worth checking out.

2. It's a grower. I was indifferent to "Shackler's Revenge" when it came out on Rock Band 2, but now can't get the chorus out of my head. "Catcher in the Rye's" melody has me singing along on the third listen. "Sorry" gives Wish You Were Here a Black Album twist that sounds like nothing attempted previously in Axl history, and I sincerely thought they tried everything on Use Your Illusion. The processed vocal that opens "Scraped" weirded me out at first, but now I enjoy hearing it and knowing that a mega-hooked rock n' roll song is about to kick in.

3. Stick it to the man.

4. The industrial-tinged, "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn"-tagged riff of the title track.

5. Sure, Chinese Democracy has its misfires, but even the melodramatic "This I Love" might be worth more in replay value than a lot of better songs. Hearing Motörhead, AC/DC and other metal gods reworking their reliably awesome respective formats this year aren't nearly as compelling as hearing Axl vent the sickest parts of his mind. The Third World tale of "Riad n' the Bedouins?" The bitter, spacey "Sorry?" The flamenco guitar-laden, plausible porn soundtrack "If the World?" Every single fucking thing about "Madagascar?" I'm shaping up my top five records for the year, and while Chinese Democracy won't likely be among them, it's a more fascinating listen than any of the top contenders.

6. It sounds incredible. Critics will haw that it's overblown and pieced together, but they're missing the gorgeous-sounding solos, the song-driving piano hooks and the rock-steady rhythm section. Axl's achingly versatile pipes will have you angry that he deprived us for so long, and not a note of all the orchestration, samples or sleigh-bell loops sound stifling or out of place. The mixers and sound engineers on the uber-raw new Metallica could've taken a lesson from this.

7. See how it holds up against older Guns N' Roses. Use Your Illusion I and II are some of the boldest, most challenging and flat-out best hard rock records ever released. Appetite for Destruction is as great as music gets. When was the last time you intentionally listened to "Patience?" It'll rule your morning in five minutes. Chinese Democracy is a worthy add to the legacy.

8. "Street of Dreams" has a stupid title, but the song pulls on my heartstrings just a tiny, little minuscule bit. Just a little. Just a little.

9. This matches anything you've heard for honesty and integrity. Casual fans will wish it were catchier or heavier, and others will gripe about its extravagance, but this is the record Axl wanted to make. There's nothing that latches onto the past, unlike those embarrassing David Lee Roth records. Nothing stands out as an obvious aim at MTV and radio, unlike the last 20 years of Aerosmith. For all the hype it's gotten, Axl has done nothing to promote this album. These are 14 diverse, painstakingly composed, arranged and recorded songs by one of the greatest singers in rock history. The closer, "Prostitute," is a little like Axl's "My Way" (Sid Vicious version,) and you won't be able to argue with him.

10. This album rocks. "I.R.S." will get your fist pumping, "Better" will have you banging your head and "Prostitute" will make you want to sit the whole thing through again. You may never hear a more exciting record. At least until the sequel.

Buy it.

Municipal Waste

2008-11-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

Municipal Waste are a retro-sounding thrash metal band from the greatest state in the world. They blend the best elements of Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies into something none too original but hugely enjoyable, and anyone who's ever wasted time on Blabbermouth should check out their sick sense of humor (see their Troma-produced video for "Headbanger Face Rip" below) and entirely awesome live show.

Anyhoo, a few years they wrote "I Want to Kill the President," a 17-second ode to slaughtering the leader of the alleged free world.

Five years later, the song becomes "I Want to Chill with the President."

Moral: Whoever thought that bad times inspired the best art was wrong.

"The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton"

2008-11-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

Having taken indie rock lyrics to task in my last post, it's time to say something good about the Mountain Goats.

Mountain Goats, "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" (from All Hail West Texas)

At first listen, I didn't like this song. A self-consciously lo-fi recording of a relatively unexciting guitar progression, the song initially struck me as a snarky hipster joke about metal. I knew songwriter John Darnielle has a genuine love for headbangers, as evidenced in his excellent novel about Black Sabbath fandom, but this song's precocious tale of two kids' confused attempts at starting a band seemed more in line with a pretentious college kid's idea of metal. I could already hear Williamsburg kids snickering along to the "Hail Satan" chorus in between PBR sips.

I was wrong. This song is a eulogy for a vibrant metal god dream.

The titular band's founders are two boyhood best friends named Cyrus and Jeff. They practice twice a week, stencil their names (with a pentagram) in each other's instruments and dream of living the world's greatest profession. Not content to be mere "rock stars," these guys want to be death metal gods. Sure, as rock stars they'd get myriad fans, publicity, dollars, groupies and chances to perform and record music. But Cyrus and Jeff also want to terrify parents and politicians, while confronting the darkest aspects of mankind in the loudest, fastest music imaginable. What could possibly be more audacious and appealing?

It doesn't matter that the duo doesn't really seem to get death metal. They can't agree on a band name, and their plausible choices--"Satan's Fingers," "the Killers" and "the Hospital Bombers," all sound even less metal than "Wyld Stallyns." The belief that their chosen path will earn them "stage lights and learjets and fortune and fame" is a little absurd, given that the highest-selling death metal album in history sold under 200,000 copies (and was issued by a cartoon.)

But no matter. These are best friends with a dream that's real enough to taste. Of course, just craving death metal stardom is still dangerous enough to send Jeff to reform school (or maybe worse--Darnielle doesn't elaborate.) In the most decidedly metal act in the whole song, Jeff plots revenge on his oppressors in a letter to Cyrus. "The best ever death metal band out of Denton/will in time both outpace and outlive you," concludes Darnielle.

If this song has a contemporary, it'd be Shel Silverstein's poem "Rock n' Roll Band."

If we were a rock 'n' roll band,
We'd travel all over the land
We'd play and we'd sing and wear spangly things,
If we were a rock 'n' roll band.

If we were a rock 'n' roll band,
And we were up there on the stand,
The people would hear us and love us and cheer us,
Hurray for that rock 'n' roll band.

If we were a rock 'n' roll band,
Then we'd have a million fans,
We'd giggle and laugh and sign autographs,
If we were a rock 'n' roll band.

If we were a rock 'n' roll band,
The people would all kiss our hands,
We'd be millionaires and have extra long hair,
If we were a rock 'n' roll band.

But we ain't no rock 'n' roll band,
We're just seven kids in the sand
With homemade guitars and pails and jars
And drums pf potato chip cans.

Just seven kids in the sand,
Talkin' and wavin' our hands,
And dreamin' and thinkin' oh wouldn't it be grand,
If we were a rock 'n' roll band.

Lamb of God vs. Saul Williams

2008-11-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

One major problem with critics is that they have a lyrical bias.

Being writers and not musicians, they appreciate the skills it takes for Lou Reed to describe and convey New York City over the past few decades. But they can't comprehend Frank Zappa's artistic reinventions of electric guitar playing for rock, jazz, orchestral and electronic music, unless he says something funny.

Similarly, movie critics fawn over Charlie Kaufman's screenplay-driven works and scratch their heads over Robert Rodriguez, while book reviews will reliably favor Joyce's stylistic innovations and literary allusions to a rock solid Lovecraft tale.

Lyrics are important, no doubt. As moving and amazing as they are musically, it's hard to imagine that bands like Nirvana and Metallica would be nearly as effective without the brave, cerebral and even literary verses of "Heart-Shaped Box" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Of course, this helps account for why both bands have landed Rolling Stone cover stories.

"Heart-Shaped Box"

"For Whom the Bell Tolls"

Few others have been so well-received--Pitchfork will lather praise on twee, stilted and ironic lyrics from Vampire Weekend and Belle and Sebastian. But a search for "Pantera" on the corporation's website will produce zero results. No reviews, and even Dimebag's murder, easily one of the most devastating music world events of the decade, is ignored. I'd argue that Pantera have much stronger lyrics than the aforementioned hipster darlings, but I guess not having lyrics about the Oxford comma is grounds for expulsion by major publications.

"The Oxford Comma"

"Mouth for War"

As far as great albums go, I'll take music over lyrics any day. Check out any number of brilliant literature, poetry or nonfiction for outstanding prose, but we're talking about musicians here. That's what they offer us--music, with the occasional bonus of great lyrics.

Consider the case of Lamb of God vs. Saul Williams. Two absolutely amazing live acts who also write some incredible songs.

Williams started as a poet and writer, and it shows. His verbose, literate and provocative lyrics are more astute than anything by M.I.A., Zack de la Rocha or Common, but he can't bust a rhyme or a hook as well as any of them. His music is usually a nondescript, relatively enjoyable soundtrack that never overwhelms his lyrics, which are always the focus of his compositions.

His most recent album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!, features his best music to date, thanks in big part to producer Trent Reznor.

"Convict Colony"

"DNA"

But still, the music here is just a platform for his poetry, which is all it needs to be. Niggy Tardust is a great album, but easily the best tune is the one written by Bono and the Edge.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"

On the other hand, we have Lamb of God. Musically, they've taken metal to a new level, fusing thrash metal leads and blast beats into hooks that landed them in the Billboard Top Ten. By reinventing extreme metal into something fans outside the metal cult can bang their heads to, Lamb of God took metal to the masses in a way that was previously unthinkable, while giving modern rock a set of balls in the process.

Lyrically, they rely on simple, effective chants that are easy enough for fans to scream along to. Basic, tried and true themes articulated in a way that's neither embarrassing nor poetic, just there to supplement the music.

"Redneck"

"Ruin"

"Now You've Got Something to Die For"

Like Williams, Lamb of God address politics, inner turmoil and social injustice in their lyrics, which never rise above adequacy. But if a writer of Williams' quality were to compose Lamb of God's lyrics, the messages and poetics in his words would get tangled in the music. Similarly, Lamb of God would sound convoluted with a long-winded orator like Williams at the helm. Thankfully, Lamb of God's lyrics are there to showcase the music, Williams' music is there to showcase his lyrics, and both parties continue to make the great music that they should make.

But I know which one I'll listen to more often.

Another reason why Slash rules

2008-11-17T13:27:00.000-08:00

November Rain

2008-11-15T07:01:00.001-08:00

For Veterans Day

2008-11-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

From Luke Lewis of NME:

"There is a US record label, To The Fallen, that specialises in releasing music recorded by war veterans and active service personnel. Proclaiming themselves "the world's only military record label", To The Fallen have issued folk, country and hip-hop albums – but the vast majority of their output is heavy metal. Which raises the question: is metal the only medium that can truly express the horrors of war?

Popular music is littered with anti-war protest songs, from the thrillingly direct (Edwin Starr's 'War') to the oblique (R.E.M.'s 'Orange Crush', inspired by the US army's use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War). But hardly any of them detail the visceral effects of warfare as experienced by soldiers themselves.

The shadow of nuclear Armageddon hung over much 80s pop – even Prince's party-fantasy '1999' imagined a populace "running everywhere" beneath a purple sky on the eve of destruction – yet only a very few songs, such as Kate Bush's 'Breathing' ("Chips of Plutonium are twinkling in every lung") dared examine the physical effects of nuclear war - radiation sickness, the voiding of blood, birth deformities.

I believe a truly great war song is one that offers an unblinking, soldier's-eye view of conflict. And by that criteria, Metallica's 'One' surely deserves the crown – especially when experienced in tandem with its harrowing video.

Released as a single in January 1989, 'One' is sung from the point of view of a World War 1 veteran who wakes up in hospital a prisoner in his own body, having lost all his limbs and senses in a mortar attack. Inspired by the novel 'Johnny Got His Gun', the lyrics paint a terrifying picture of living death ("Darness imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror").

The real master-stroke, though, came with the video, which used dialogue and footage from the film-of-the-book to ratchet up the despair even further:

By the end, as the guitars reach peak velocity and the narrator realises the helplessness of his situation ("Inside I'm screaming, nobody pays any attention"), you're left with, not just a peerless evocation of the human horror wrought by war, but also a profoundly disturbing metaphysical conundrum: without access to our senses, how do we know if we are alive or dead?

Admittedly, there are other songs that vividly capture war's effects – Dylan's 'A-Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' prophesises a world poisoned by nuclear fallout, while Eric B & Rakim's 'Casualties Of War' finds its narrator crouched in the hot sand of Kuwait as the bullets whistle overhead – but none does do with the unflinching potency of Metallica's 'One'."

Experience Mitch Mitchell

2008-11-12T13:41:00.001-08:00

In case Axl doesn't get enough press this month

2008-11-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

A friend confided with me (over Lucky 13s) that he can't stand Guns n' Roses.

Writing about G n' R this month is selling coals to Newcastle. Besides being one of the most obsessed over, stalked and written about rock bands in history, Chinese Democracy is allegedly really coming out now, commencing an inescapable whirlwind media frenzy that I'm not giving any more time to. Rather than debate whether Axl's band is really Guns n' Roses, or if Chinese Democracy's really coming out, or if it'll be any good or why Velvet Revolver sucks, re-visit (or appreciate) one of the greatest bands in American history.

As to not reiterate what everyone already knows, none of these songs came from the unauthorized and entirely useless Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits that came out a few years ago.

"Nightrain"

There's not a more badass song than this.

"Coma"

Buried on the final track of Use Your Illusion I, rarely played lived for its exhausting length and complicated structure, "Coma" remains one of the finest examples of G n' R's talents. Axl's internal crises are at the forefront, with Slash's monstrous playing pushing the entire band to their limits. It's a huge, frightening, stunning and beautiful mess, kind of like the band that plays it.

"Pretty Tied Up"

Axl, Slash and Duff are overflowing with attitude and charisma, but any G n' R fan worth his Jack Daniels could tell rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin' wrote some of the band's best tunes. Lots of bands write about being "Pretty Tied Up," but never as tunefully or as convincingly insane as these guys.

"Bad Obsession"

Another Stradlin' gem. If they'd stayed together, I'd like to think that the band would be tapping more into their Stones influence, the way that they do here.

"You're Crazy"

Really anything from Appetite for Destruction is as great as music gets, as is much from the Use Your Illusions. On the Lies EP, Axl and the boys recorded an acoustic shakedown of Appetite's "You're Crazy." More impressive than their drastic rearrangement of the original is the way that the stripped down, folksy and communal-sounding version still sounds fierce. I'd hate to meet the person that Axl would deem "crazy."

Encore:

Check out Elton John's performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Just watch it.

Did environmetalist (sic) Joe Duplantier just get even more awesome?

2008-11-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

I think so.

It's an honor to be a metalhead.

Sad Brains

2008-11-07T07:29:00.001-08:00

Bad Brains are irrefutably one of the smartest, catchiest, most inventive and best punk bands ever. They obliterated the "punk" label by genre-hopping more than any great hardcore band in history, and anyone with a passing interest in punk, reggae, funk, metal, hard rock, jazz, ska or rock n' roll should be exposed to H.R., Dr. Know, Darryl Jenifer and Earl Hudson. If only any of that was discernible at the Bad Brains post-Election Day show at Irving Plaza.

A wide-eyed, enthusiastic fan introduced the band, exhibiting energy and excitement that Bad Brains were unable to match. The songs were all there--from "Attitude" to "Sailin' On," from "Re-Ignition" to "Fearless Vampire Killers," and the band gave proper representation to their sound latest album, Build a Nation. But even a faultless setlist couldn't overpower the listless performance from the band, predominately singer H.R., who was content to stand planted behind the microphone and mumble half of each song's lyrics, sometimes out of sync with melody. He also sat down several times and wiped his brow fervently, but that came from his sweltering attire and not any on stage action.

Between a few gaps for tuning, the band raced through every song, dutifully adding backup vocals when necessary and playing their '80s repertoire like pros. The rush of hearing the intros to "At the Movies," "Soul Craft," "Big Takeover" and many more were genuinely thrilling, until blah performances muted the music's vibrancy. Save for a few seconds during the new "Give Thanks and Praises" when pulled off a Michael Stipe-ish dance move, H.R. stood in front of the microphone with an irremovable Cheshire grin, occasionally muttering indecipherable stage banter and looking down at lyrics sheets.

For a band playing some intensely political music ("Riot Squad," "The Regulator,") there was surprisingly no mention of the monumental American political event from the night before. It's well-known that reggae (like Bad Brains) can be belligerent, principled and socially conscious music. It can also be a beach party soundtrack, and it seemed as if H.R. finally was content for it to be the latter.

It's also possible that substance abuse and age have left H.R. semi-incapacitated. But consider the red-blooded performances that Nick Cave, Iggy Pop and other aged/shopworn rock vets consistently deliver, and H.R.'s appearance was just disappointing.

By the time Bad Brains rummaged through "Pay to Cum" and "Banned in D.C.," it was hard to tell how those songs made the band so dangerous in the '80s. Purists will ralph, but Rancid's performance last summer at the same venue was all-around a better punk show.

H.R. assured the crowd that there would be an encore, led the band offstage and trotted back moments later. A different enthusiastic fan was enlisted to introduce the final song, funk-rock prototype "I Against I." It was a move that would have seemed spontaneous and laid-back at another show, but here it seemed like H.R. just needed someone else to do his job for him. The house lights turned on an hour and ten minutes after they dimmed, but no one seemed too broken up about it.

"Hi boys and girls I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the Indian of the Group."

2008-11-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

Rest in peace.

"I Want Barack"

2008-11-05T04:55:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

I hoped to post a White/Rob Zombie video fest for All Hallow's Eve, but Universal won't let anyone post his videos. Maybe next year.

Instead, here are some Halloween-themed covers that everyone should listen to on the most metal of holidays.

Secret Chiefs 3--"Halloween"

One of the best avant-bands in the world occasionally throws their startling cover of John Carpenter's unforgettable theme to his best movie into their live shows. Go see them for their jazz/klezmer/surf rock/Bollywood score/metal jams, and maybe they'll treat you to this gem.

White Zombie--"I'm Your Boogieman"

KC and the Sunshine Band's original gained a bite and lost none of its danceability when White Zombie covered it for one of the Crow sequel soundtracks. Further proof that Rob Zombie has a tighter sense of rhythm than nearly any of his metal frontman peers, and makes some of the coolest-looking videos.

Marilyn Manson--"This is Halloween"

The mighty Danny Elfman's past few scores haven't done much for me, and Manson's pretty much a self-parody these days, but this cover of the opening number from Nightmare Before Christmas brings out the best in both parties. Special thanks to whoever dubbed it over the movie's intro.

Sleep with one eye open...

Update: Extra Halloween goody (albeit no surprise:) the new Slayer song is AWESOME!

Updated update: Metal Injection posted pictures of some awesome Halloween pumpkins, definitely check these out.

Updated updated update: Those Who Know Music posted an imaginative lineup for the ultimate monster metal band.

Appreciating Ted Nugent with an asterisk

2008-10-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

It's hard for any relatively well-informed music fan to say "I like Ted Nugent" and leave it at that. The kindest thing anyone seems able to say is, "He's a jackass but I still like his music." "That jackass made music?" is close behind, a distant third being, "Who?" For someone who's music's been inarguably irrelevant since the Carter administration, the Nuge can still spark quite a debate on the rare occasions that his name comes up.

Nugent is a despicable human being. He's entitled to be a right-winger, but the fact that he's also a chickenhawk who applauds sending troops into Iraq while boasting of his draft dodging antics in the '60s (don't look up how he did it, you'll be sorry) is inexcusable. Couple that with his tendency to eschew the "cowardly, irresponsible lifestyle of random sex and life-destroying drugs" from his bible-thumping high horse, while a court orders him to pay child support for his numerous illegitimate kids. Factor in his recent hate-comments regarding Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and even the late Dimebag Darrell, and this family values spokesman sounds like the most egregious creep to ever pick up a six-string. I can't really argue with that.

So why am I wasting your time with Ted Nugent? Because like many great musicians, writers, filmmakers and painters, Nugent is an awful person and a great artist. While not in the upper echelon of hard rock with AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Van Halen, Nugent has his share of awesome tunes. He's a monumentally gifted axeman with frontman chops to boot, like Brian Johnson and Angus Young, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy and Tony Iommi roled into one high voltage showman. Over the top, charismatic and cartoonish, the Motor City Madman backed it all up with licks that captured hard rock's blues sensibilities and virtuosity like few who came before him. His spontaneous, unhinged playing and songwriting don't make him the most consistent musician, but no hard rock enthusiast should be without a Ted Nugent Greatest Hits CD. Especially if it has the following:

"Stranglehold"

Never did hard rock have such a smooth, soulful groove until this 8-minute classic. A hypnotic progression with a climactic buildup into an epic proto-metal jam which, to this day, doesn't sound like much else you'll hear on classic rock radio.

"Journey to the Center of Your Mind"

Nugent is respected as a hard rock pioneer, but his work in '60s garage band the Amboy Dukes has also inspired generation upon generation of punks, hipsters, stoners and eccentrics to pick up vintage instruments and play stripped-down, blues-inspired rock n' roll. Fellow Detroit native Jack White was taking notes.

"Free-for-All"

This song just rocks without abandon. Nugent pulls hooks out of the filthiest part of his mind and peppers in a bawdy yarn about looking for action. Aerosmith would forfeit their Wayne's World 2 cameo to call this song their own.

"Cat Scratch Fever"

The crowning achievement of the Nuge. An indisputable hard rock staple that will get your parents to headbang inadvertently, cause your best friend to grudgingly overlook Nugent's politics and sound unbelievable when your kid brother plays it at full blast. Bonus: Check out Pantera's excellent cover, from the soundtrack to the greatest film ever made.

"Paralyzed"

On some days I might pick "Homebound" or "Motor City Madhouse," but "Paralyzed" sounds perfect right about now. The instant sing-a-long chorus ("The lights are on, but there's nooo-body hooome") nearly defines the man, and that solo sounds so dangerous that I can't believe it ever got played on the radio.

So what happened? While the artistic decline may have been inevitable, Nugent can only blame himself for his waned popularity. Nostalgia acts like KISS will still sell out arenas, but as long as Uncle Ted insists on being a vehement dipshit, most of his few remaining fans won't support his crackpot ideals by buying CDs or concert tickets. Thus the Nuge is doomed to reality TV appearances, occasional guest spots on Sean Hannity and performing to sparse crowds at county fairs.

At least we got some good tunes out of him.

Fun with McCain

2008-10-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Amon Amarth rules for serious

2008-10-23T12:31:00.001-07:00

If your friend needed to know what makes death metal great, there may be no better way to demonstrate then to lure said affiliate into an Amon Amarth show.

Coming off an awesome new album, Twilight of the Thunder God, and bringing a stronger mob of openers than anyone could've reasonably hoped, Amon Amarth took over Irving Plaza on their New York stop. Florida-based starters the Absence offered song-driven death metal and a solid cover of Testament's "Into the Pit," and Austrian followers Belphegor resembled a live-action Dethklok with their hooky death metal, campy attire and especially their tendency to pluralize random words in their stage banter ("Are yous readys fors the blast beats??")

Best of all openers were Ensiferum, probably the second-best Viking-themed metal band in existence. The Helsinki metal warriors incorporated medieval-sounding instrumentation and structure into their melodic death metal, spouting tales of vengeance, monstrous creatures, sorcery and epic battle. Suggesting troubadours from the middle ages who were dropped off in the era of blast beats, Ensiferum tore through a masterful set of metal that was both catchy and colorful, sounding like they could raise a kraken or entertain a king's court on "One More Magic Potion" and "Ahti." "This one is called 'I-ron!'" stated ethereal singer guitarist Petri Lindroos, phonetically pronouncing the song title and urging the crowd to sing the "da-dadada, da-dadada" part. With the conviction of Manowar devotees, we all obliged him.

Still, Sweden's Viking leaders ruled the evening. Twilight of the Thunder God's phenomenal title track was a perfect opener, blending a melodic riff with a death metal assault over prose seemingly culled from Edda. Sandwiched around the kind of Guitar Hero solo that Dragonforce would sacrifice Herman Li for, Amon Amarth came roaring into New York like the hammer of the gods. Come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow...

"New York City, you have shown us that you have true Viking spirit!" bellowed jolly, enormous frontman Johan Hegg. Lesser bands fall prey to bombast and gimmickry, but Amon Amarth's music is stripped down, song-driven and even subtle enough to defy any Lordi comparisons. Amon Amarth never turned being loud, fast or technical into a competition, it simply came with great songs like "Death in Fire," "Asator" and "Runes to My Memory." Plus, they're getting better--Thunder God's "Free Will Sacrifice" succeeded everywhere that Frank Miller's 300 failed, and the anthemic "Guardians of Asgaard" is sure to be a staple in future sets. Bringing Norse mythology to life with the same vigor that helped Metallica capture Dalton Trumbo, Amon Amarth created a soundtrack that was both self-empowering and apocalyptic.

Thankfully, Amon Amarth are also as non self-important as death metal gets. Their show-stopping tradition of drinking beer out of Viking horns remains worth the admission price, and the war cries they elicited for "Steve" the beer guy were also admirable. Most bands whose stage props include shields with the band's initials would be unable to engage in such everyman tactics, but, alongside death metal beasts like "Valhall Awaits Me," that's part of the magic of Amon Amarth.

Ending with "The Pursuit of Vikings," Amon Amarth left everyone feeling a little more like Thor. If your friend didn't like it, then chances are they'll never enjoy death metal. Which raises the question--why are you affiliating yourself with someone who doesn't get Amon Amarth?

The Way of All awesomeness

2008-10-16T09:36:00.001-07:00

At risk of waxing nostalgic, my very first post here was inspired by the incredible show headlined by Lamb of God at Roseland Ballroom in spring of 2007. Of the evening's awesome openers, I expressed admiration and hope for their success, "if there's any justice in the world." About 18 months, a few high-profile tours and a lot of buzz, Gojira's The Way of All Flesh is widely being regarded as one of the year's best metal albums. Rightfully so.

Following up From Mars to Sirius, an earth-shattering, death metal watershed, have taken their progressive edge even further, practically spewing out bizarrely infectious riffs in the hard-hitting "Toxic Garbage Island" and "All the Tears," while a nasty synthesizer loop somehow leads "A Sight to Behold" into a headbanger's dream. The band is still embracing the environmental consciousness that made From Mars to Sirius the best progressive metal concept album about whales since Mastodon's Leviathan, and environmentalist beliefs are prevalent on first single "Vacuity" and the seething, confrontational epic "Wolf Down the Earth." Vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier's lyrics are effective if not poetic, and no band has taken save-the-earth music further from misguided hippie stigma since the days Dave Mustaine was howling about "Dawn Patrol."

"Vacuity" is a wonder. As with "Walk," "Sad But True" or "Refuse/Resist," a technically overwhelming metal band throws all their power into a relatively simple progression, killing all radio prospects by sheer force. Still, it's too catchy to imagine that it won't expand Gojira's audience.

Vocal Gojira fan Randy Blythe's appearance on the monstrous-sounding "Adoration for None" is also sure to lure in new listeners. Blythe has been contributing to Gojira's fanbase constantly, from bringing them on tour with Lamb of God to raving about them in the press, and now he's aided them aesthetically by matching his growled vocals with Duplantier's barks on "Adoration." Lamb of God are unquestionably one of the best metal bands in the world, but hearing Blythe trade verses with Gojira had me wondering if The Way of All Flesh is the best album he's ever contributed to.

When a didgeridoo creeps into the percussive intro to "The Art of Dying," Gojira briefly recalls the experimental side that they indulged on earlier albums like The Link. It gives way to a clear example of how far they've come and how far they've taken metal with them. Rarely has any band made progressive metal sound so concise, and the jackhammer picking and blast beats of "Esoteric Surgery" and the aforementioned "Toxic Garbage Island." are awesomely hardcore. Even the relatively slow moments, like the closing title track, sound like they're pulling you light years ahead. But maybe that's just Gojira's innovation. Maybe it's the best metal album of the year.

Buy it.