Age of Evil and the Dave Mustaine Doppelganger Conspiracy

I'm looking forward to seeing all-star metal cover act Hail! later this month, so I perked up when I saw a Blabber headline announcing an opening act: turns out a group of teenagers from Arizona sporting the moniker Age of Evil will be starting the festivities. Using the exact science known as "guessing what sort of music the band plays from its name," I determined that these guys must be playing some version of the early 80s throwback popular with the kids these days and sure enough...basically, if you took the first two Maiden albums, removed all of the soul in the music and substituted a singer who couldn't hold a candle to Di'Anno (let alone Bruce), you'd get Age of Evil. I see them as being a bit like the Black Tide of Iron Maiden rip-off bands.

Anyway, I bring all of this info up not just to bash Age of Evil's recording (because I kinda hope that with statements like, "But we give 150% every night we play," they have more energy on stage than they do on tape), but because in their video for "Living a Sick Dream," the band's guitarist bears more than a passing resemblance to Dave Mustaine...and Hail! features former Megadeth member (and on and off Mustaine feud target) Dave Ellefson on bass. A part of me likes to think the selection of Age of Evil as an opener was a really elaborate way for Ellefson to get a dig in on Mustaine and I will hold on to that hope if Age of Evil really does suck live.

Art of the Cover

I have a small obsession with the idea of the "correct" (and by "correct" I really mean "innovative") cover. Covering is an art that demands a combination of sensitivity and originality from its practitioners, requiring them to take a completed art form and reinterpret it so that it uncovers a new facet of the underlying structure in the original without destroying whatever made the song noteworthy in the first place. There are good covers that meet both criteria - Jimi Hendrix's handling of "All Along the Watchtower" might be the most famous, but props also to The Cure for "World Through My Eyes" and there are bad covers that miss on one - A Perfect Circle's version of "When the Levee Breaks" gets points for originality but obliterates the original - or the other - Black Tide's take on "Prowler," like pretty much everything else the band does, is completely derivative - or both - see: the pop punk fad covering 80s material - but rarely does the cover completely excel in both areas. A short list would already include Marilyn Manson doing "Down in the Park," Pig covering "1979," and Arch Enemy ripping through "The Oath," but after watching video above, I'm happy to add the Bare Egil Band joins this elite group for their treatment of "Umbrella." Somehow the band managed to make a fairly cheery song sound like the harbinger of the Apocalypse without destroying the hooks that originally made it a hit. My hat is off to you, sirs.

My One-Sided Vendetta With Black Tide Continues

Another sign that Black Tide isn't ready for the big time: the picture on this page. James Hetfield is 45. Black Tide's average age is fifteen (give or take a year). Hetfield may be a madman of long-standing reputation, but that shouldn't keep at least one of the Black Tide youngins from looking excited: goofy, fuzzed out grins and uncertain grimaces are not rock 'n roll, much less metal.

Rage Against the Machine, on the other hand: they're definitely big time. Fuck electricity...we'll beat the system a capella!