“Now you’ve got all these rock and roll guys, they don’t even the balls to even say what they want because they’re so afraid of their careers – that’s not real rock and roll, man.”
— System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian talking about SNL’s f-bomb.
This week’s most listened to CDs by yours truly were Still Remains “Of Love and Lunacy” (review forthcoming), Wester’s “Danger Music” and Divide By Zero’s “Answer to No One.” I also pulled out the first Godsmack album…
I’ve been thinking … there really aren’t any metal (FM) radio stations … at least in my neck of the woods. But I’ve never really come across one in my travels. Sure, some college stations with feature a metal show here or there; I’ve heard plenty of those. Hell, I’ve hosted plenty of those.
And I know there’s satellite radio … but I’m talking about a good, old-fashioned metal radio station. One with a playlist just like my digital music metal station. The rock stations around here rarely touch the metal genre … there’s a little Sabbath, maybe Slayer, the commercial stuff like Godsmack or Seether. But I don’t think I’ve even heard Killswitch Engage or Shadows Fall (though I’m sure they do play that too…
Too bad, a station like that is bound to find an audience somewhere.
….
And from that to my pick for album of the week: Still Remains’ “Of Love and Lunacy.” Upon first listen, the disc didn’t blow me away like I had hoped … but after a couple of spins I realize just how good it is. The band’s sound is more polished than the EP, a fact that is glaring on the re-recorded versions of “Recovery” and “I Can Revive Him With My Own Hands.” Still, the subtle keyboards and toned-down vocals work well and lead to a fuller, more encompassing sound overall.
I love the album just as I thought I would. Stay tuned for a review…
..:..Zombie rises..:.. Rob Zombie has been working on a new album for a while, but got side-lined by work on his second movie, “The Devil’s Rejects” (in theaters July 22) and his second stage headlining stint on Ozzfest. Word is now surfacing that Zombie hopes to finish the disc after this year’s Ozzfest trek. The new album looks to be a star-studded affair, with Wes Borland (guitarist for Limp Bizkit), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue drummer) and Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle drummer) contributing to the new material. Zombie rarely disappoints, so this should be a good album…
..:..Reloaded Coil..:.. Only with success … Century Media is the latest label to take advantage of having a successful band under contract. The label will be re-releasing the entire Lacuna Coil back catalog in July: the band’s first two full-length albums, “In a Reverie” (1999) and “Unleashed Memories” (2001), plus a combined release of the band’s two EPs, “Lacuna Coil” (1998) and “Halflife” (2000). This is good news for fans that don’t already have the material. I do, but I might pick up that EP set just for the hell of it. “In a Reverie” is a fantastic album, and anyone that liked “Comalies” (there must be a few out there, the album sold over 200,000 copies) will love “Unleashed Memories,” the better of the two albums in my opinion. Lacuna Coil is currently working on new material, which vocalist Cristina Scabbia has described as “definitely killer! We are really proud of the new songs and we are still composing new material. We plan on presenting some of the new tracks this summer at festivals around Europe.”
..:..Hate Project at work..:.. Swedish band The Project Hate is mixing its new album with a producer in Sweden. The follow-up to 2003’s “Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate” will feature a special guest appearance by Evergrey bassist Michael Hakansson. According to a post over at the band’s Web site, “We have now completed the mixing of four out of the eight songs for the coming album and it all sounds massive … If everything goes as planned, we will have this album completed by the end of next week or something.”
..:..’Ryche works on a sequel..:.. Queensryche is working with Jason Slater (of Snake River Conspiracy) on the band’s new album, the next chapter to the 1988 concept album, “Operation: Mindcrime,” tentatively titled “Operation: Mindcrime II.” For the upcoming U.S. tour, the band will concentrate on its early, pre-“Operation: Mindcrime” material for the setlist … I assume to get in the mindset to finish crafting a solid album. Seriously, Queensryche’s sound really has developed and changed over the years, so a return-to-form would be welcomed by longtime fans.
..:..Album covers..:.. Well, if album art is your things, a handful of notable bands have released cover art for their upcoming albums. Audioslave’s “Out of Exile,” due out May 23, can be found here. Meanwhile, Clutch is already preparing a new album, titled “robot hive/exodus” … and the new Dream Theater disc, “Octavarium” (view cover here) is due out June 3. Out of the three, I like Dream Theater’s art most of all …
..:..Old Sabbath material surfaces..:.. I haven’t seen any concrete confirmation on this yet, but Robert Dwyer, Webmaster of the Black Sabbath Live Project Web site, was apparently recently contacted by someone claiming to have an old Black Sabbath gem. The gem in question is an audio recording of a Sabbath performance in Scotland from 1969. The band was said to have played a mixture of songs from the first upcoming LP, and fast ‘jazz-blues’ type songs. For more information on the exchange, as well as a link to a clip from one of the songs, go here. If this is real, it’s a pretty cool piece of history. I can’t imagine the quality is top notch and I bet the band sounded pretty raw, but it’s an awesome find for diehard fans. I’m actually looking to pick up some old Sabbath material, as my collection as it stands focuses on Ozzy’s solo years…
..:..NIN on top..:.. Nine Inch Nails landed at the top of the Billboard charts after selling over 270,000 copies of the new album, “With Teeth” (an album I still haven’t gone out of my way to pick up). Really, while I’m not overly impressed with the material, I’ll probably pick the disc up in a couple of weeks … when I’m in the mood to pick something up but don’t really have anything in mind. In other NIN news, the band will perform “The Hand That Feeds” at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards June 4 (the show will air June 9). I don’t know what the song has to do with movies, but I’m sure fans welcome a return of NIN to the MTV airwaves…
..:..Better Reznor news..:.. This is news regarding Trent Reznor that I find more interesting. He recently sat down with MTV.com to discuss some recent well-publicized collaborations. Reznor apparently worked with former Rage Against the Machine front man Zack de la Rocha on roughly 20 tracks, one of which showed up on last year’s “Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11” (“We Want it All”). “We got together for a number of sessions in New Orleans just working on some material that, personally, I thought turned out excellent,” Reznor said. “Over time, I think it was a matter of Zack not knowing what direction to go. I know the feeling of fear. He’s in a difficult position of leaving one of the best bands of the ’90s, and he wants to make an important statement when he makes it. And he will when he gets around to making it.” As for the Tapeworm project (a collaboration with Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle), Reznor said, “It just didn’t seem like it was that great to me. At the end of the day I figure, if we are going to work together, it’s got to be the greatest thing ever. It didn’t feel like that to me.” Of course, there are also rumors floating around that Reznor was less-than-thrilled one of the songs they had worked on showed up on a recent Perfect Circle release. Oh well, maybe it’ll show up online someday …
..:..Loss of a Church member..:.. And now for some sad news: original Metal Church front man, David Wayne, died on Tuesday due to complications from injuries he sustained in a head-on car accident several months ago. He was 47 years old. The band’s current “leader” released a statement which read in part, “This is a very sad, sad day. At this moment I’m in total shock about this tragedy. I feel the music world has lost a legendary and unique talent. He will be missed greatly by all.”
..:..Ripper talks solos..:.. Former Judas Priest front man and Iced Earth singer Tim “Ripper” Owens recently sat down with Blasting-Zone.com to talk about his upcoming solo album. Owens said the material is more similar to Priest material. “It’s more basic, it’s more verse, chorus, verse…people can sing along to choruses. It might have a little influence from some modern guitar riffs. Maybe a Pantera or a Godsmack riff or something, but I don’t think so. Personally, I think it’s more old school, more akin to Black Sabbath. …And the singin’ is just me…I’m not tryin’ to sing anything that isn’t…just normal, ya know? It’s just good old Heavy Metal…it’s what I miss. I miss albums like (Judas Priest’s) British Steel… …I don’t want another British Steel…I don’t want it to sound like that, but I do want it to sound like it’s from that era. …A simple Heavy Metal record…it’s kinda like what Godsmack brought back when they came about…basic singing and basic music…not trying to do anything too heavy. …It’s pretty basic and that’s what kinda attracted me to that whole style…it was basic like British Steel… I want it to sound like classic Heavy Metal…” Should be good stuff. The whole interview is a good read, as Owens touches on a lot of interesting topics, so check that out here.
Here’s a little mix I put together featuring the songs of GWAR. I wanted to spotlight a band to try and turn readers on to music they might not be aware of. Check one, some or all of them out … who knows, you might discover something you like or remember something you used to …
“Ham on the Bone” (off “America Must Be Destroyed” )
“Pure as the Ã…rctic Snow” (off “Hell-O” )
“Penguin Attack” (off “Carnival of Chaos” )
“We Kill Everything” (off “We Kill Everything” )
“Knife In Yer Guts” (off “RagNaRok” )
“Can You See Me?” (off “America Must Be Destroyed” )
“Jack the World” (off “This Toilet Earth” )
“Fistful of Teeth” (off “War Party” )
“Anti-Anti-Christ” (off “Violence Has Arrived” )
“Sick of You” (off “Scumdogs of the Universe” )
Trust me … that doesn’t even scratch the surface …
I can’t believe Gwar has released so many albums…
So, when I first heard the new System of a Down track “B.Y.O.B.” I wasn’t that impressed … but the song really grew on me. The problem is, you really need to listen to it in its entirety, otherwise all the tempo changing seems obscure and out of place. I can’t wait to hear what the rest of this album sounds like …
I’m taking off for North Carolina … until I return, check out these other stories around Inside Pulse:
Recently, I tackled the latest from Children of Bodom (the “Trashed, Lost & Strungout” EP) and the Limp Bizkit album that sneaked into stores (“The Unquestionable Truth [Part 1],” which was actually pretty good…
Gloomchen tackled Bon Jovi in her latest column … and in honor of my mix this week, check out her review from last year of Gwar’s “War Party.” Personally, I still can’t get over the greatness of “America Must Be Destroyed” … quite possibly one of the greatest albums of all time.
Then, Andy Campbell (?!?!) reviewed the new GZR album, “Ohmwork” (and hated it!).
And that’s that. As always, drop me a line. Until next time, I’ll be here at Inside Pulse making sure no metal news falls through the cracks.
Take it easy…
