“(‘Roots’) is there, it’s classic. I’m sorry if you didn’t watch it if you were too young but I don’t feel like doing a reunion and ruining the magic. .”
— Soulfly front man Max Cavalera on a possible Sepultura reunion.
This week’s most listened to CDs by yours truly were Crowbar’s “Lifeblood for the Downtrodden” (wow!) and Pantera’s “Vulgar Display of Power” (old-school!)…
Man, it’s not often that you can pull out an album that’s over 10 years old and still be blown away by it. That’s what happened when I pulled out “Vulgar Display of Power” the other day. I still remember picking the disc up all those years ago, eager to hear the follow-up to “Cowbows from Hell.” I remember walking into a record store and asking the guy to “recommend some metal.” He showed me a couple of discs and then asked if I had heard of Pantera…
The store was sold out of “Vulgar Display…” that day, so I had to wait a couple more weeks. But then I got my hands on it.
I dug everything up to “This Love” and then, in retrospect, must have gotten bored with the sound. Maybe I had a short attention span at the time. Over the years I’d get into other later track … “Regular People,” of course “Hollow” … or “No Good.”
But the other day, when I pulled that disc out … man, I couldn’t get enough: the killer one-two punch of “Mouth for War” and “New Level” … giving away to the comfortable riffing of “Walk.” Then, one of the coolest anthems of rebellion ever (“Fucking Hostile”) and the sick lyrical content of “This Love.”
But the awesomeness never ends: the twisted riffs in “Rise,” the bombast of “Live in a Hole.” Some of my favorite lyrics of all time in “Regular People.” The onslaught of “By Demons Be Driven” and the haunting closer “Hollow,” which starts off slow but eventually explodes. Man, that album had it all.
“Vulgar Display” would always make my all-time favorite list, but it’s nice to re-discover that every once in a while.
So, there you go, my album of the week:
..:..Roadrunner All-Stars update ..:.. A while back I mentioned Roadrunner Records was putting out a special disc of all-new material to celebrate the label’s 25th anniversary. The disc’s four producers/composers have been lined-up: joining Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison is Robert Flynn of Machine Head, Dino Cazares (formerly of Fear Factory and Brujeria) and Matt Heafy from Trivium. Not only will all four musicians play on the songs they’ve written, but each will assemble a team of artists to record the tracks former and current members of the label roster). No musician will play for more than one writer/producer and each song will feature a different vocalist. To top it all off, mixing duties will be handled by legendary hard rock producer Colin Richardson. How can this album possibly miss? I, for one, am extremely hopeful of this album and really looking forward to it … not only for its unique nature, but the wealth of talent collaborating on the project. The album is tentatively scheduled for release in the fall of 2005.
..:..A collection of rants..:.. Ministry front man Al Jourgensen is putting together a band anthology, “Rantology,” for release before the end of the year. Jourgensen recently revealed he’s been working on some re-mixes (“NWO”, “Bad Blood”, “No W”, “Stigmata”, “Jesus Built My Hotrod”, “Unsung” and “Bloodlines”) for the album. I’m not sure how much he’s altering the tracks from the original, but this looks to be shaping up to a solid greatest hits collection focusing on the band’s later, more hard-hitting material. In other Ministry news, the band will team up with Revolting Cocks (which also features Jourgensen in its line-up) for a tour scheduled for next summer (that’s right, 2006).
..:..Mother nature can’t stop the System..:.. Hours before System of a Down were set to perform at a recent music festival in Spain, 60 mph winds tore through the area and destroyed the venue, including blowing the metal roof right off the outdoor stage. Promoters cleaned the area up but decided to cancel the rest of the event anyway. Well, the crowd got restless (reportedly chanting “We want System to play…”) and System of a Down took the stage to play its set … at 3:45 a.m.!!! The band didn’t stop until 5 a.m. Now, while I don’t see too much newsworthy-ness to this story, I just find it cool the band finally played for the die-hard fans in attendance (some figures estimate over 30,000 people).
..:..And the drooling continues..:.. So, the other day Saliva guitarist Chris Dabaldo flipped out and posted that he was quitting the band stating, in part, that “I’ll be looking to forming or joining a new band that is dedicated to their fans and the band. I’m quitting for obvious reasons, as the band is not a unit anymore. I have been given no other choice in the matter. Only days later, the post was replaced and retracted and Dabaldo says the group is now “working through” their issues and will be recording a new album later this year. According to speculation, the problems arose after the band’s front man Josey Scott took a role in the new TV series “Wanted” (airing on TNT in July). I assume there was less time to devote to the band so … Hey, sometimes you can do both (sing and act) and sometimes you can’t. It depends on whether or not your bandmates want to wait around while you become a bigger star. Hey, that’s what side-projects are for… ***Since this writing, Dabaldo once again quit the band. Whatever!***
..:..Mustaine continues to vacillate on Megadeth future..:.. During a recent interview with Launch Radio Networks, Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine has said he’d keep the band together for this summer’s Gigantour, but doesn’t know what the future holds. He reiterated that the last Megadeth album was supposed to be his solo effort, but that that couldn’t happen due to contractual reasons. “I still was convinced that this was gonna be the last Megadeth record … Do I go out on top – because Megadeth certainly is at the top of its form right now – or do I throw the dice again?” So it seems to be “wait and see” with this one. Personally, I don’t think there’s any need for more Megadeth in the future … and that’s coming from a fan. I’m not sure I can see what else Mustaine and co. could come up with …
Brand New Sin: “Recipe for Disaster” … a straight-up metal band featuring three guitarists …
GWAR: “Live From Mt. Fuji” … Maybe not as great as actually seeing the band live, GWAR’s first live album is sure to be a hit with fans …
The Hurt Process: “A Heartbeart Behind” … One of those love ’em or hate ’em bands … alternative rock with alternating screamed and sung vocals …
Meshuggah: “Catch 33” … one long song split into 13 parts…
Avenged Sevenfold: “City of Evil” … will the move to a major label affect this (pretty solid) metal/hardcore/punk band? I’m hoping this one will be good …
Finch: “Say Hello to Sunshine” … more from a band that mixed alternative rock and screamo vocals … this could be good…
Dark New Day: “Twelve Year Silence” … featuring former members of Sevendust, Doubledrive, Creed, Stereomud and Skrape …
Dream Theater: “Octavarium” … the entire album from this tech-metal band has already been leaked online …
Europe: “Start From the Dark” … the return of the band that crafted one of the most notable synth riffs from the ’80s …
Then you also have re-releases from Roadrunner (as part of a 25th anniversary celebration):
Fear Factory: “Demanufacture” … some point to this as the band’s best effort. This re-release sees the album packaged with its remixed counterpart “Remanufacture” and some demo material …
Sepultura: “Roots” … this was the band’s finest hour; a must-have for metal fans …
Here’s a little mix I put together featuring the songs of Obituary. 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 …
“Threatening Skies” (off “Back From the Dead” )
“Buried Alive” (off “Anthology” )
“Don’t Care” (off “World Demise” )
“Body Bag” (off “Cause of Death” )
“Chopped in Half” (off “Cause of Death” )
“Cause of Death” live (off “Dead” )
“Killing Victims Found” (off “Don’t Care” EP )
“Immortal Visions” (off “Slowly We Rot” )
“Rotting Ways” (off “The End Complete” )
“Final Thoughts” (off “World Demise” )
Trust me … that doesn’t even scratch the surface …
I wasn’t sure how to work this “news” into the regular column, so I figured I’d end with it. It seems some Swedish pop/rock singer (Sofia) recently covered one of my favorite songs, Skid Row’s “Wasted Time,” on her upcoming debut album. Weird! You never hear about that song; I know the band tried to push it as a single but I don’t know if it was a hit. So, for someone to cover the track seems that much more arbitrary.
In a press release, the 23-year-old singer had stated “”I always had a soft spot for that song, so we did it more or less for fun, but it turned out so well that I wanted it to be on the album.”
Then, in a posting on his official Web site, Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach wrote, “WOW! That is very cool, I cannot wait to hear this version! I wrote the song ‘Wasted Time’ back in 1990 about a friend who was heading down the wrong path. Never did I think that 15 years after writing the song it would be remade into a pop track. I really want to hear this, maybe I can pick up a copy next week when we play Sweden!”
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…
