The 20 Words or Less Review - LAMB OF GOD’s Resolution
Better than Wrath. Not as good as Ashes or Palace. Fine for what it is. Lamb of God remain consistent.
- MTS
King’s X performs “Complain” and “Pretend” on MTV’s Headbangers Ball
It seems that King’s X was in all the right places in 1994 and should have been on the brink of stardom. They had reinvented their sound on their fourth album Dogman, which was produced by big-time knob-turner…
If you like funny, articulate blogs written by people with too much time on their hands, check out this blog right away.
- MTS
Video of the Day, 3/14/2012
King’s X - “Over My Head”
I searched out Gretchen Goes to Nebraska on Spotify the other day. I’d always heard it’s a great hard rock concept album, and holy shit, is it ever. My prior exposure to King’s X was fairly limited, something I regret now. The entire album is awesome and I’m currently digging further into the King’s X back catalogue (Dogman is another new favorite of mine). Hence, my video of the day, “Over My Head”.
- MTS
(Source: youtube.com)
The 20 Words or Less Review - OPETH’s Heritage
Opeth minus death metal plus more prog equals Heritage. How is it?
It’s pretty good, not great. Slight disappointment.
- MTS
Wow. Is there a worse-looking vegan than Karl Buechner from Earth Crisis? The dude has been a straight-edge vegan since he was in his teens, and he looks like THAT? What can a vegan eat that much of to make himself look that bad? Ouch. (I’m all for veganism, but I thought vegans were supposed to look… healthy?)
I loved Earth Crisis back in the day, but these guys had it right when they broke up the first time. This song is bad. It’s not as bad as “Slither,” but it’s certainly not good.
- MTS
(Video courtesy of Blabbermouth)
(Source: blabbermouth.net)
Anthrax - “Madhouse”
While we’re on the subject of Anthrax, here’s my Video of the Day!
(Source: youtube.com)
ANTHRAX: I Was Wrong
I started listening to heavy metal almost exclusively when I was 14-years-old. One of the first few thrash metal bands I got into around this time (1998) was Anthrax. The release of their 8th album, Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, just happened to coincide with my dive into heavy metal. That album, while not great, was the first Anthrax album I owned, mainly due to seeing the video for “Inside Out” a few times on TV and loving the Twilight Zone homage. The song – and the album really – was not thrash metal, but it was heavy, and I liked it a great deal. The rest of the album had some great songs, “P & V,” “Stealing From a Thief,” “Killing Box” (which featured two guys from another band I was just getting into, Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell from Pantera) and “Crush” were all winners. One thing I really grew to appreciate was the soulfulness and sincerity I got from listening to John Bush’s vocals. The guy didn’t have the highest or most operatic voice, but you could tell he felt every note he sang.
I started to work my way backwards through their catalogue, and I discovered that, hey, these guys really were thrash metal, once I heard their 80s output, featuring vocalists Neil Turbin and, more famously, Joey Belladonna. One thing I noticed was that, musically, they were incredible. Charlie Benante’s drumming was unlike most thrash guys, as his feet sounded out of control on the double-bass. Scott Ian’s riffing sounded like razorblades, but had a punky edge that Metallica and Megadeth didn’t get across with their playing. The thing I could not get past, initially, were the vocals. Maybe I was too used to the deeper, soulful vocals of John Bush, but the high-pitched, operatic style did not seem to fit this band at all. I thought to myself often, I wish Bush had sang on these albums. The band must have felt that same thing, as they released a compilation of Bush singing the older songs in 2004, titled The Greater of Two Evils. (Honestly, I didn’t think it was that great. The production was a little stale, and you could tell they didn’t spend that much time on it. Plus, the song “Time” definitely should have been included, if you ask me. That song is BUILT for a guy like Bush.)
To me, he was THE voice of Anthrax.
Iced Earth Re-records and Releases “Dante’s Inferno”
Iced Earth has re-recorded fan-favorite song, Burnt Offerings’ “Dante’s Inferno,” and released it for free via their website. Perhaps what’s most noteworthy about this is it’s the first time new vocalist, Stu Block, can be heard singing with the band.
Learn more about the release from Block and IE frontman, Jon Schaffer, here, and read the original Facebook announcement here.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET revealed the tracklisting and album artwork for Megadeth’s new album, TH1RT3EN, today. Among the titles to appear on the album are “Black Swan,” “Whose Life (Is It Anyways?),” “Deadly Nightshade,” and “Guns, Drugs & Money.” Now, I’ve never really listened to Megadeth for their lyrical content, but if these songtitles — not to mention the album name itself — are any indication, the lyrics on TH1RT3EN are sure to be horrendous. Maybe not “Motopsycho” horrendous, but close. I know a lot of people thought their last record, Endgame, was a real ripper, but aside from the song “Headcrusher,” I wasn’t that impressed. I’ll be seeing Megadeth next Wednesday at the Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium, but I probably won’t be checking out the new album unless I’m impressed with the new songs I hear live.
- MTS
(Source: blabbermouth.net)
