Howling With Disappointment

Above is the album cover from an upcoming release by a band called Howl that I came across on Friday on Metal Sucks. It is an awesome album cover: there's a hooded skull, it's on fire with some sweet stylized flames, there are hordes of floating eyeballs, and that geared circle supporting the band's logo ties the whole thing together really well.

This link goes to a post written by Reign in Blonde's Julia reviewing Howl open for Skeletonwitch (who know a thing or two about sweet album covers). It reads like Howl is a pretty sweet-sounding band - a bit of post-hardcore, a bit of prog, a bit of thrash, a bit of doom - so I checked out their MySpace page and, well...the stuff from the new album isn't up yet, but I hope it's more interesting than the stuff from their last release. Maybe they're a better band live, but right now Full of Hell is shaping up to be a waste of some sweet art.

Top 10 Metal Albums of 2009

In no particular order:

1. Kreator - Hordes of Chaos
2. Absu - Absu
3. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
4. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
5. Týr - By the Light of the Northern Star
6. Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
7. Megadeth - Endgame
8. Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
9. Skeletonwitch - Breathing the Fire
10. Swallow the Sun - New Moon

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what came out this year (like American Soldier - I had blocked that abomination out of my mind), so I cheated, looked up this year's releases on Wikipedia, and wrote down eighteen possibilities before culling the list. Here are the runners up, again in no particular order:

1. Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave
2. Suidakra - Crógacht
3. Anaal Nathrakh - In the Constellation of the Black Widow
4. 3 Inches of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom
5. Immortal - All Shall Fall
6. Baroness - Blue Record
7. Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Actually, that "no particular order" thing is a lie: Black Clouds and Silver Linings is on there because I feel guilty that I haven't given that album enough of a chance after my initial rejection of a third of the material and Dream Theater gets a pass for past service. Let's just say that Black Clouds is the kid with the average grades who gets into the Ivy League school because his siblings are successful (and generous) alumni.

Longing for Shelter, Domination

Have I hung on Skeletonwitch's nuts yet? Apparently not.

Why not start now: as much I enjoy Breathing the Fire as an album, I find that I'm now giving it regular spins just because I've developed an unnatural love for one of the lyrics from "Longing for Domination": "You are the helpless, the sheep in the snow/Longing for shelter, domination"

I'm not sure what exactly is at the roots of my intense admiration, but if I had to pick, I think I'd say that it's because I'm imagining the singer as the fire-breathing horned skeleton guy (maybe that's what a skeletonwitch looks like?) on the album cover and I'm pretty sure that if I saw him on the road, I'd feel like a sheep in the snow, too.

Hot Fucking Lanta

The best ad for Scion since Frisky Dingo, the Scion rock fest is rolling into Atlanta on 2/28.

Although my geographically challenged mind decided Atlanta must only be about 6 hours away, not 16, the BB&B crew may roll down for this. It is every band I like!

Hopefully Andre 3000 will have a stripper pole up by the stage so my fantasy of watching hos from the dirty souf shake their booty to Boris can finally be fulfilled. Sexxy.

THE SCION ROCK FEST Lineup:
Mastodon
Neurosis
High on Fire
Boris
1349
Cryptopsy
Torche
Nachtmystium
Wolves in the Throne Room
Baroness
Harvey Milk
Kylesa
Zoroaster
Withered
Krallice
Toxic Holocaust
Skeletonwitch
Rwake
A Storm of Light
Warbringer
Salome
Suidakra
Tyr
Alestorm
Converge
Pig Destroyer
Septic Flesh
Coalesce
Trash Talk
Evil Army
US Christmas
Gaylord
Apocalyptic Visions