Anaal Nathrakh: Sitting on the Proper Side of Intensity

I'm listening to Anaal Nathrakh right now for the first time (after reading a review snippet that sold the band enough to catch my attention) and it's intense. The first song went from a nice black metal texture to grindcore to a passage with "Thus Spake the Nightspirit"-type vocals and back again in a matter of minutes and the next few songs have had the same level of agility. It's rare that an album is so effectively brutal and evil-sounding that it makes me feel physically uncomfortable, but these guys have done the trick. Hats off to them: I'm loving it.

Video Review: Tyr - Hold the Heathen Hammer High

I have to give Tyr a lot of credit: despite what was no doubt a small budget and a bit of self-conscious acting, when they decide to make a video, they pretty much go all out. Never mind that the video is full of more rock god poses than a mid-80s Motley Crue video, that their drummer looks like he could be a replacement from any one of a 1,000 generic death metal bands, or that their bassist is using an instrument done up in a sparkly finish: these guys know how to make a fun video. Here they bring you such visual delights as four guys in armor with swords and axes, rocking out on board a Viking longship, and - no doubt for the benefit of anyone looking to piss off conservative friends or family - hacking down and burning a cross, all to the delightful soundtrack that is "Hold the Heathen Hammer High." Watch it: as over the top as it is, this video is a great part of why it's great to love metal.

Song Review: Ravage - Grapes of Wrath

The cover of Ravage's new album caught my eye because it's so over the top. It's done by the same guy - Ed Repka - who did the covers of Hangar 18, Peace Sells..., and Total Brutal, among many others, so the style was familiar, but I think it's the cover's over the top feel that I really enjoy. The freak out of the guy in the front is a touch of pure genius. Having a soft spot for things Boston - Ravage comes from Boston suburb Malden - and spurred on by their description of being "traditional, no-bullshit, American heavy metal," I decided to check them out, pulling up a song called "Grapes of Wrath" on their MySpace page.

I was in for a surprise: "traditional, no-bullshit American heavy metal" does not mean what I thought it meant. Perhaps I've become an unconscious victim of metal from the 90s, but I was under the impression that so many American bands had claimed either death or groove as their source of inspiration that traditional American metal meant something, on the very least, on the more brutal side of thrash. Instead, Ravage sound like a group of guys who loved NWOBHM so much they decided to be metal's version of the Amish and write their music like the following 30 years had never happened. It's as traditional as promised, but the "American" moniker might be a bit of a misnomer: if Ravage were around in the very early 80s and from the UK, we might be hearing their music on the first disc of Garage Inc.

That said, if you felt that the trend of bands ripping of DRI and S.O.D. was played out and were hoping for a new trend of bands ripping off Sweet Savage and Diamond Head instead, Ravage definitely gets the job done in an enjoyable if unoriginal style.

Via SMN News

Mid-Week Video Fun

Because it's Wednesday, no metal news has yet caught my eye, and unlikely mashups are funny. Presenting: Sesame Street playing Slayer's "Dittohead."

Song Review: Megadeth - Headcrusher

Remember your favorite parts of The System Has Failed and United Abominations? I'm thinking "Tears in a Vial," "Kick the Chair," "Sleepwalker," "Burnt Ice;" the songs with that desperate energy that pervades those selections of Mustaine's modern work where he's actively writing good music and not clearing the disease-infested phlegm from the lungs of his still-recovering composing body. I've listened to "Headcrusher" (available for the next 24 hours or so at this location) five times in the last hour and I'm happy to report that the first track from Endgame is firmly in the tradition of Megadeth's better tracks. The lyrics are a little on the cartoonish side of violence - a bit like the tales of sleep-borne murder in "Sleepwalker" - and the riffage bears more than a passing resemblance to other Megadeth songs, but that's never really the point with Megadeth: their best work moves quickly, shuffles riffs like magician, and puts enough twists on metal idioms to have mass appeal without becoming repetitive and be innovative without abandoning the core value of rocking out. "Headcrusher" moves in this proud tradition; if its fellow tracks follow in its wake, I'll be very excited to hear the results.

Lords of Chaos Becomes a Parady of Itself

How have I not written anything about the upcoming Lords of Chaos movie? Maybe I was just waiting for the idea to cross over from horrible to actually laugh-out-loud funny...and I think that time may have come. Some quotes from one of the movie's producers:

"It is a fascinating topic, a great visual world to depict, and a fun portrayal of Norway. Black metal is possibly the largest cultural export of Norway in the past twenty years."

Dude, you're totally going to piss off the Viking metal guys. They claimed the cultural export of Norway crown five years ago! Seriously, though: how is a movie about a group of alienated teenagers who took their subculture way too seriously going to be a fun portrayal of a whole country? Wouldn't that be like saying that Bowling for Columbine is a fun portrayal of the United States?

"It will be a story of youth and youthful energy, said Pollok, but he emphasized that the film will fall under the teen film category, and that it will be a psychological horror film."

Hence the casting of the lead from Twilight as Varg Vikernes. Not that I had any expectations about or desire to see this film, but my first thought after reading that sentence was that they should just turn the whole thing into a cartoon, Pixar style. Upon further reflection, however, that idea is ridiculous: why not exploit this whole thing to its fullest, take the horror idea to its fullest and make it a slasher film, replete with gore and the exposed flesh of the legions of mythical female black metal fans? It'll totally be a box office smash.

Song Review: Alice in Chains - A Looking in View

I've listened to the new Alice in Chains track a few times now since the band announced yesterday it was available on their website. Alice in Chains has always been a very hit or miss band for me, their inconsistency due, no doubt, to having a partnership built on creative tension where one of the partners was on some pretty serious drugs, but I have felt enough of a connection in the past to give their new incarnation a shot.

The new song, a seven minute track called "A Looking in View" has a lot of the pieces of a Dirt-era track: a heavy, almost doomy riff that would fit in with songs like "Rain When I Die" while evoking some of metal's more recent developments; vocal harmonies that have more than a hint of Layne without completely disguising new vocalist DuVall's more nasal tones; a sense of desperation to the lyrics and the melodies that sharpens to a hook for the chorus. It's a good track, but while listening I find myself wondering it "A Looking in View" would stand out if it didn't have the band's famous name to back it up...until I get to the end of the song. For the last minute and a half or so, the guitar, drums, and bass shamble forward like a dying man one step into the grave and Cantrell and DuVall's voices tune to dissonant harmonies that moan like spirits of the damned, calling the dead man home. It's a ear grabbing dark place that Alice in Chains have only managed to really channel into their music on a few occasions in their career, but if they've found a way to do so consistently on their upcoming album, the results should be extraordinary.

Album Review: Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God

The first time I put on "Apocalyptic Havoc," the first track of Goatwhore's latest release, I felt something magical: that sonic kick in the head, sought by many, achieved by few, that denotes a truly heavy piece of music. The production on that track is a relentless pummeling of thrashy riffage that sits like a fat band choking the sonic spectrum, carrying rhythm section and Slayer-vintage guitar solos in its wake, while the dry crust of singer L. Ben Falgoust II's voice floats on the top like a dessicated leaf on a sea of blood. Even better, the effect is no one time wonder: junkie-like, I've returned to get additional fixes on a daily basis and continue to reap the reward of a Goatwhore-induced rush.

With a couple of breaks - the midtempo "Provoking the Ritual of Death" and the much slower, doom-laden "To Mourn and Forever Wander Through Forgotten Doorways" - the beating continues on through the album's remaining nine tracks, varying just enough to keep the ear interested without violating the basic layout of a slab of hard-hitting evil music. With such a consistently enjoyable result, I'm pegging Carving Out the Eyes of God as a likely inclusion on my year's best-of list.

Album Review: Dream Theater - Black Holes and Silver Linings

According to iTunes, I've now listened to Black Clouds and Silver Linings eight times, so I finally have enough perspective to give the album a fair review. I'm completely serious: I love the band, but there's something so manisfestly undisgestable about every album Dream Theater has put out this decade that it takes some serious listening time to form a consistent opinion. With Black Clouds..., for example, I blasted the band's Queen covers after my first listen, but after a few more listens I had a change of heart. Clearly, either I found more to like as time went on, or I'm just a fanboy with a large capacity for second chances. Either way, my thoughts on each of Black Clouds and Silver Linings' six tracks:

1. A Nightmare to Remember: Petrucci's tale of the painful aftermath of a car crash channels a lot of the feel of the songs from the first disc of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance. There's the now-standard interplay of solos between Petrucci and Ruddess and an awkward use of sound effects to underscore the moment of the crash, but there are two memorable moments: the hospital scene where Petrucci rocks a very King Crimson arpeggio line and the bridge in the next scene where the tension explodes into some lovely soaring melodies and the vocal harmonies that the band has (unfortunately) generally eschewed in their more recent material.
   
   
2. A Rite of Passage: A catchy song with super-transparent lyrics (a common theme for this album). My feelings on this one haven't really changed since I first heard it in early May, except now I've heard a good 20 times and I'm a little sick of it.
   
   
3. Wither: One of those dark ballads that the band occasionally enjoys writing, with lyrics by Petrucci instead of usual suspects Myung or LaBrie. Based on the artwork in the album and the wording, it seems to be about struggling with writer's block. There's a nice constrast between the size of the chorus and the subdued, subterannean feel of the verses, but if you don't like Dream Theater ballads, you aren't going to like "Wither," either.
   
   
4. Shattered Fortress: The end of Mike Portnoy's Twelve-Step Suite, where Portnoy attempted to translate the Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program into music. The suite as a whole is full of the references that Dream Theater loves to use in their music, but as with "Forgiveness," the 12-step track from Systematic Chaos, "Shattered Fortress" is not a particularly inspired piece of song writing, stitching together harmonic lines from the previous tracks with an extended Portnoy voice over and - as has become the case far too often in Dream Theater's music - a reliance on the difference between Portnoy's barks and LaBrie's melodies to establish vocal contrast. I should note that even though I'm not a big fan of this track, it took me a good fifteen minutes to write this blurb and even now, I'm coming up with justifications: the song as a whole isn't that strong, but it has some nice component pieces (the riffs from the earlier tracks are among my favorites), the Portnoy barks might be there for consistency, as they're less prevalent on this album than they have been in the past, etc.
   
   
5. The Best of Times: Portnoy's other contribution to the album is a straightforward tribute to his late father that has about as much lyrical ambiguity as a child's picture book. Musically, it's a nice enough track - a combination of "I Walk Beside You" and "Octavarium" with a great coda solo by Petrucci - but by writing such naked lyrics, Portnoy seems to have missed the point of good song writing: ambiguity allows for individual interpretation, which, in the spirit of all good prog, allows the user to find their own way of relating to the song. "The Best of Times" could have been an anthem to anyone who grieves, as Petrucci did so effectively with "Another Day," but instead it's a cenotaph to one man's feelings that leaves me feeling cold.
   
   
6. The Count of Tuscany: By far the album's best track with a delicious mix of ingredients: Start with an introduction that mixes Rush, King Crimson, Dream Theater vintage 1992 and 1999 while building to a driving forte. Mix in lyrics that reprise Petrucci's brushes with the fantastic from Systematic Chaos, telling a story that could be cribbed from an Edgar Allan Poe notebook. Throw in one of those classic heavy Dream Theater verse riffs, a multipart solo section that transitions sections of the plot, and the kind of anthem-like ending that brings "Learning to Live" in mind and you have a great song that becomes this album's saving grace.

My Proud Moment for the Day...

...is that I can now identify metalcore within five seconds of hearing a song. How I made this momentous discovery: I kept seeing items about August Runs Red on the metal news sites I frequent, so I decided to check out their MySpace page. The first track in their player loads and suddenly, as if delivered by lightning bolt, a formula for August Runs Red's all too formulaic sound seared itself on the surface of my mind:

Gothenburg Sound + Hardcore Vocals + Breakdowns = Metalcore

The shock was so much that I had to turn off the music immediately and apply Tombs' low-fi sludge as a cleanser, but for that kind of enlightenment, the knowledge gained was well-worth the pain.

Revelations of the Black Flame: Not a Good At-Work Album

I am fortunate enough to have a job where I can throw on a pair of headphones and listen while I work, so the majority of my music listening - and concequently, my music evaluating - takes place during the working hours. While this arrangement generally works to my advantage, there are a few things I just can't listen to, because I'm not in the right mindset. Monotheist, for example, is a great album that I can't listen to at work because I start comparing my cube to a dark pit of despair where I labor ceaselessly on a treadmill for a pitiful reward and the knowledge that my death is a few hours closer. The result is a testament to Celtic Frost's abilities, no doubt, but not a great way to go through the work day.

Having just put Revelations of the Black Flame through a second listen, I have come to the conclusion that 1349's follow up to Hellfire deserves to be put on the same pedestal of respect: I just can't get into the album's murky soundscapes when I'm writing emails and updating spreadsheets. Instead, it seems that I'd be best served by saving Revelations... for a trek through a swamp - or a walk in the next heavy NYC rainstorm - letting the evil seep into me in a habitat closer to its creators' mindsets.

Absu at BB King's

Eric: tell me about sunday
Seth: not that much fun
Seth: it was ok
Seth: turcotte and i got hammered first
Seth: get to bb's
Seth: sothis were astonishingly awful
Seth: LA Black Metal
Seth: all the members were wearing corpse paint
Seth: they had WAAAAAY too much gear
Seth: outboard rack gear, full 8x12 stacks
Seth: the singer had a custom mic stand made out of chains
Seth: they were almost like a hair metal band
Seth: from the 90s right before nirvana scorched the earth
Seth: late to the party, bringing nothing to the table, looking like idiots
Seth: and the drummer played V drums
Seth: disgusting
Seth: Rumpelstiltskin grinder were fun
Seth: but set a tone for the evening
Seth: completely uncharismatic live bands
Seth: the bassist sings and looks like a bit of a punk kid
Seth: and they had virtually no stage presence
Seth: which took a lot away from the show
Seth: but they sounded great
Seth: then there was absu..........
Seth: somehow it never hit me that Texas meant DALLAS
Seth: they all looked like they were auditioning to be in a TV movie about the life of Pantera
Eric: hahahaha
Seth: very meat and potatoes guys
Seth: except for the drummer
Seth: who had short hair and earrings
Seth: looked like he would be a solid auto mechanic when they are off tour
Seth: but his face was painted silver and he had a headset mic
Seth: he was not the lead singer but he was the only person to address the audience
Seth: and he did so in this really weird voice
Seth: which was so equally goofy and pretentious, especially since they were in front of about 100-150 people
Seth: at most
Seth: after the first song he says "are you ready for 78 more minutes of mystical occult metal?"
Seth: i think we were supposed to scream back "absu-lutely"
Seth: we left after about 40-45 minutes
Eric: damn
Eric: that sucks
Seth: a few songs after Amy which is of course pronounced ahhhh-mee
Eric: ah, of course
Seth: three of them sang, the bassist, one guitarist and the drummer
Seth: but none of them had any presence
Seth: or were worth watching for any period of time
Seth: there was just nothing to look at
Seth: which just exposed how awful the bb king sound system is
Seth: and made the night a bit of a bummer

Putting Appealing to the Hardcore Into Practice

Thea Gilmore's music isn't typical BBB subject matter but she's recently written a blog post about a subject near and dear to my heart: changing how artists make a living through practical application. What makes her decision even more interesting is that, unlike the Trent Reznors and Radioheads of the world, Thea has a much smaller following and by choosing this path, she's blazing a trail for the thousands of independent musicians with small, rabid fanbases who make up this new world music business order that's supposedly just over the horizon. Her plan:

For £52 a year (about $85 at current exchange rates), you get:

• A new, original and unreleased track download delivered to your inbox every month, amount[ing] to a full, exclusive album every 12 months which will not be available anywhere else.
• A lyric sheet, handwritten and signed by [her] to a song of your choice.
• An entry into a 'Thea Gilmore Song Lottery' - all members can suggest a song they want to hear [her] cover and once during the year [she]'ll pull one out of the hat and record it!
• A namecheck on [her] albums. For the duration of your membership you will recieve a special thankyou on my albums
• Opportunities for exclusive live shows and backstage passes to gigs.
• A set of 4 exclusive badges, unavailable elsewhere
• Access to a members only website [, F]eaturing: video diaries, an ‘ask Thea’ forum, previews of new releases, merch and generally getting the news before anyone else.

If Bob Lefsetz is right, if the only way to succeed in music (succeed being "have enough money not to starve to death while you do what you love") is to pander to the hardcore, Gilmore's business plan will not only succeed, but give her a much better sense of who her audience is and why they love her music. She may not make changes to fit their tastes, but she might get inspiration for her songs and in the process, find new ways to connect to her fans. I hope it works. Even more, I hope it scales.

Dave Mustaine Tempts Us With "Best Since Rust in Peace"

Dave Mustaine has graced us with an announcement of the title of the next Megadeth album. Because it's Mustaine, it comes complete with a statement about the meaning behind the album's name that either borders on the lunatic fringe or lets us know this next one is going to be based on a concept: apparently there's some law/document out there called "Endgame" that details President Bush's legacy in terms on par with the Final Solution. Guess we'll have to hear it to see what's what. In any case, picking through Mustaine's odd verbiage aside, what caught my eye was the promo quote: "This new album is my proudest moment since the famous (or infamous) Rust in Peace album."

Now, I am normally happy to cast a jaundiced eye on anything so hype-heavy, but things have been building in a pretty steady progression in Megadeth land since Mustaine's nerve-damaged hiatus, and I see no reason why they shouldn't continue with the next release. Even if Endgame is nowhere near the career peak that is Rust in Peace, it should make for some good listening.

Via About.com Heavy Metal

Song Review: Dream Theater Covering Queen

I've now listened to Black Clouds & Silver Linings once through, which means that I'm nowhere near ready to give my thoughts on it. However, I do have some thoughts on the cover of the "Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wrist/Lily of the Valley" medley: I finally understand why people think that Dream Theater's covers are so soulless.

You see, Queen was my favorite band from around the time Wayne's World came out. I spent far more of my adolescence listening to A Night at the Opera, Sheer Heart Attack, A Day at the Races, and News of the World than I did pretty much anything else. I wanted to be able to sing like Freddy Mercury; I wanted to find a gigantic copy of the cover of Queen II and put it up on my wall; and I definitely gave Queen's music enough ear time that a lot of it became ingrained on a subconscious level.

When I listen to the original "Tenement Funster," I hear the essence of rock music: musicianship that's loose without being sloppy, a vocal line that sprouts sex appeal and attitude. When I listen to "Lily of the Valley," I hear one of Brian May and Freddie Mercury's most beautiful collaborations, a song that builds from a fragile beginning to a gorgeous bloom that crescendos with one of the best examples of Queen's multitracking vocal experiments. The Dream Theater covers seem pale in comparison, faithfully rendering the material without being able to execute the idiom that made the originals so powerful. As the song closest to a metal track, "Flick of the Wrist" is the best showing (which might be more indicative of either the limitations of the band's abilities as a cover band or their stylistic choices when arranging covers than anything else), but overall these recordings sound like Dream Theater covering Queen - if Queen sounded like Dream Theater.

Voivod challenging my faith.......

People that know me in my private life are aware that while packing and planning for the impending move-in with my girlfriend I have been giving away many of my material possessions. I have been trying very hard to go completely digital and free myself of the collector's mentality.

It has been going very well and becoming less of a pack rat has been liberating.

Then I saw a banner ad on Blabbermouth..........Worlds Away is actually coming out!

I have been wondering what was up with Away's long delayed book of art. I LOVE the artwork of Voivod and had planned on buying this. And now it is here and shipping in July.

So it is hardcover, limited edition and $50. I know I shouldn't buy it but one last collectible book purchase can't hurt. Right? Right?

Mike Alpert, this Google News Alert is for you.......

Ever since Eric put up his blog post about Blabbermouth hitting the bottom of the Megadeth posting barrel with their story on Mike Alpert's upcoming solo record the real Mike Alpert has been spamming our comments under the name "megadethfan." You only need to click his Google/Blogger profile to realize it is him.

It looks like his album came out today and he left another post on that ancient old story to let us know.

So Mike Alpert, while you are popping the champagne tonight with your special someone tracking Google News Alerts for your name, this hit is for you. Enjoy.

I'm going to go back to not holding up my end of writing posts for this blog by marveling at the obscure C list Metal celebrities who now follow my Twitter feed.............

Brütal Legend Studio Head Explains Why Dio Had to Go

I pretty much want to have sex with the concept of Brütal Legend: it's basically Jack Black using heavy metal technology to recreate Bruce Campbell's role in Army of Darkness in video game form and as such combines pretty much everything I love about pop culture in one form. However, I will still take this time to call shenanigans on the explanation given by Tim Schafer, the head of the studio creating Brütal Legend, on why they replaced Dio with Tim Curry as the voice of the main bad guy, Emperor Doviculus. Tim's explanation:

"Ronnie James Dio is an amazing singer and truly one of the great figures of metal, but as the character of Doviculus evolved, we realized that Tim Curry was a better fit for the part," Schafer told GameSpot. "Anyone who has seen his amazing performance as the Lord of Darkness in the movie 'Legend' knows why we cast him in the role of Doviculus, Emperor of the Tainted Coil."

Not that Tim Curry is a bad choice - while I haven't seen Legend, I have seen The Three Musketeers and he made a kick-ass Cardinal Richelieu - but it's not like Dio lacks experience in these areas: his portrayal of Doctor X in Mindcrime II was one of the highlights of the album. I suspect the real reason for the switch is either:

• It's all about work: Touring The Devil You Know with Heaven and Hell is taking up too much time and Dio can't fully commit to the voice-over project OR
• It's all about ego: Dio can't stand working on the same project as Ozzy Osbourne, or vice-versa, and one of them had to go.

What do you think?

I Bet Even Priest Would Be Sick of Their Music by Then

See this guy? He and I should totally get together: he's listened to Nostradamus so many times in a row the entire city of Cleveland is rallying around him, and I've never listened to the album because my friends has the decency to warn me off of it before I had a chance. I bet he and I would have lots to talk about, right?

Seriously, though: how bad are things in Cleveland right now that a bunch of people are throwing some dude a party because he'll have listened to a Judas Priest record 400 days in a row? Taking time to celebrate unilaterality in music choice: the ultimate sign of the failure of our economy.

I Kinda Wish Eluveitie Hadn't Made An Acoustic Album

Because on the first listen, it's not really that good. Part of the problem might be the concept: if you have a folk metal act and you take away the metal, you're left with...folk. Folk is fine and all, but the biggest portion of this band's appeal to me was how they rocked, and on this album the rock is gone. I'm already a little disappointed in Slania-precursor Spirit, and now hearing Evocation I... and its slightly toothless potterings, I'm starting to wonder if Eluveitie was just a one-album flash in the pan.