“Iron Maiden were chosen for the Ozzfest tour because the Ozzfest committee felt they were a good band, plus the fact that they had not done shows in the U.S. for some time. From day one, Bruce Dickinson started berating Ozzy and belittling the Ozzfest audience. … I understand he hasn’t toured in the U.S. in these size venues in a while and no longer understands the political structure of things. … Might I say, the rest of the band are gentlemen and have a great professional attitude. The crew are absolutely great. But how sad it was, after 10 years, that this little man tried to ruin it for everyone. The bands of Ozzfest don’t even look at Ozzfest as touring, but as its heavy metal summer camp. Bruce is in fact a jealous prick and very envious…..”
— Sharon Osbourne commenting on the Iron Maiden/Ozzfest incident.
This week’s most listened to CDs by yours truly were Trivium’s “Ascendancy” and Soilwork’s “Stabbing the Drama.”
To expand on this Iron Maiden situation: for those who don’t know, Iron Maiden was pelted with eggs, beer and cups, suffered numerous PA problems and had people rush the stage during its final set on the Ozzfest tour in California. Rumor has it people connected with the show were the ones throwing things on stage. Sharon Osbourne has since talked about the incident (see above).
While I’m not overly concerned or interested in this news item, some of my views are echoed in this pretty interesting post from an anonymous manager affiliated with the Ozzfest tour. People paid good money to go to the show. If the Ozzfest camp was looking for revenge, throw the eggs, have some malicious fun, attempt to screw with the band if you so desire. But I really think attempts to sabotage the show (read: cutting the power to the PA multiple times) went too far. At that point, the fans were the only ones to suffer. I think fans would’ve been fine with the other stuff. But Sharon was apparently booed off-stage during her tirade and Black Sabbath closed the night to half the house (everyone else left).
Drama …
This week we take a closer look at:
New Dead Radio
“Avalon Bridge Will Burn”
Mediaskare Records
LA’s New Dead Radio do a pretty good job at melding elements from thrash, punk and metal and spewing it out into a seething aural assault. The group sounds like a metallic hybrid of older Amen material, maybe a little Helmet and a hint of Static X.
While the vocals on “New Dead Radio” perfectly compliment the tight, chaotic nature of the band, seething anger and sounding like Filter’s Richard Patrick imitating Amen’s Casey Chaos, at times they are a little repetitive. And while the album’s sound dips into this repetitiveness every so often, the band is able to pull back and continue the onslaught.
The opener “Revolution Blues” is catchy enough to pull you in, but it’s the interesting, sometimes unexpected twists that make “Avalon Bridge Will Burn” shine: the spoken word moments on “Belage 723” and “Gift Horse”; the crazy guitar work on “Sepia”; the bass on “Deported.”
Overall, New Dead Radio hasn’t put together anything new on this release. I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement and tweaking here, but it’s a solid debut and lays a nice foundation for the future. With some modifications and a high-profile producer, the sky is the limit …
..:..Drummer lost..:.. Former drummer for Vader Krzysztof “Docent” Raczkowski (a.k.a. Doc) recently passed away at 35. The drummer had left the band earlier this year due to problems with alcohol. While not a huge name on the metal scene, it’s always sad to see someone who did contribute to the metal machine pass away far too young.
..:..Blood banned..:.. The cover art for New York hardcore legends Most Precious Blood has landed the group in hot water. The artwork for the group’s upcoming album, “Merciless,” has U.S. and UK distributors ready to shelve the album. The cover features an authentic looking corpse in an apartment with the mail stacking up. To make sure the album can be stocked, it will now be released with a reversible cover – the new image will be toned down, but fans will be able to flip over for the original picture once they’ve purchased it. Check out the controversial cover art here. Banned cover art is nothing new … personally, I can’t see why people are so up in arms about this, though I assume it’s the realistic nature of the image. This will surely boost sales for people that enjoy controversy.
..:..Guns N’ Lawyers..:.. According to MTV.com, former Guns N’ Roses members Slash and Duff McKagan have filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against Axl Rose, accusing the GN’R front man of changing the publisher of the group’s copyrighted songs without their consent and pocketing the royalties. Rose’s put together a new publishing deal earlier this year with Sanctuary at which time he sold the publishing rights to the GN’R back catalog. MTV.com reports, “Though the Sanctuary deal was reported on by the press, Slash and Duff claim they weren’t aware of the scope of Rose’s dealings – which they say he ‘omitted and concealed’ – until their expected royalty payments for the first quarter of 2005 didn’t arrive in the mail. ‘When the ASCAP check didn’t come, we called and they looked into it,’ McKagan’s lawyer, Glen Miskel, said. ‘We didn’t know all the facts at first.'” I’m not sure how this will affect the upcoming “Chinese Democracy” release …. *pause for chuckle*
..:..Scum update..:.. A while back I mentioned the new band Scum, which features an impressive line-up of Norwegian and American musicians — Samoth (Zyklon, ex-Emperor), Faust (ex-Emperor), Happy Tom (Turbonegro), Casey Chaos (Amen) and Cosmocrator (Mindgrinder). During an interview with Terrorizer magazine last year, Chaos referred to the band’s sound as something that “doesn’t sound like anything, that’s the best thing. It doesn’t even sound like what I thought it was gonna sound like. The original blueprint was Norwegian black metal with hooky, punk rock choruses, something along those vibes … It’s a total freedom album and the band’s bigger than all of us.” The band’s debut album, “Gospels for the Sick”, will hit shelves Oct. 4. Like I said before, this sounds like it’ll turn out pretty interesting and creative. I haven’t had a chance to watch/listen to it yet, but you can check out a video from the band here. Keep an eye out …
..:..Daylight Dies update..:.. North Carolina-based Daylight Dies has added Charlie Shackelford to the band as a full-time guitarist. The band entered Volume 11 studios July 9 to begin recording its sophomore full-length album. The band plans on having everything completed the first week of October. It’s been three years since the band’s “No Reply” hits shelves. The album was melodic and brutal, drawing comparisons to everything from In Flames to Opeth. This will be something to look forward to …
Similar in theory to my pick of the week, here’s where I try to turn you on to a band you might have heard of but haven’t checked out … yet.
This week’s choice: Soilwork’s “Stabbing the Drama.”
Soilwork snuck up on me as one of those bands I was constantly hearing about but never actually hearing. Leave it to digital music (metal) channels to finally open the door to Soilwork. On “Stabbing the Drama,” the band mixes European metal with melody and crafts an album that has spent a lot of time in my stereos this year. But don’t take my word for it …
From Chronicles of Chaos: “Instantly heavier and rougher around the edges than any of its recent predecessors, one of the most notable alterations to the band’s formula this time around is the implementation of melody. … That this record has tremendous cross-over appeal is certainly beyond any doubt, but as far as convincing their current nay-sayers — I just don’t see that happening.”
From The Metal Observer: “This is another good release. It has its moments and the CD is split with half melodic material and half heavy. This is more for the open minded and newer fans obviously. I think what hurts this a bit is that it’s the slickest recording to date and there isn’t enough raw power.”
From Inside Pulse’s own Gloomchen: “However, with Stabbing the Drama, it almost appears that the Swedes have taken a step back from the “need to please” and instead have focused more on giving themselves their own distinct style. While it’s not entirely original to say the least — and actually sounds quite a bit like the current US scene (Lamb of God and Shadows Fall in particular) — they seem to have thrown themselves into a niche and created a cohesive album that showcases the incredible vocal strengths of the band as well as their tight rhythm section.”
From Uraniummusic: “There are also miniature leads present everywhere, which I particularly don’t appreciate, because it’s typical of most radio-rock, and as a personal preference, I despised those watered-down, half-assed attempts at keeping a verse, chorus, or bridge interesting. … If you’re expecting a return to form, so to speak, then “Stabbing the Drama” is going to leave you angered. However, if you’re open to any form of metal, regardless of an absence of anger or not, then you’ll find something in this CD.”
30 Seconds to Mars:“A Beautiful Lie” ..:.. Some of us are still wondering why Jordan can’t read. Seriously though, the first album was surprisingly good, so check this one out …
Cold:“A Different Kind of Pain” ..:.. Is the Cold fan base still strong? This is the group’s first effort with a new line-up …
From Autumn to Ashes:“Abandon Your Friends” ..:.. With break up rumors in full effect, FATA release a new album. Seriously, I’ve yet to hear something from these guys that didn’t completely kick ass …
Opeth:“Ghost Reveries” ..:.. A promising Roadrunner debut from a sick metal band …
Biohazard:“Means to An End” ..:.. The end of a legend? Talk is this is Biohazard’s last album … those who haven’t heard the band owe it to themselves to check out the back catalogue …
Man … next week looks sick for new releases. I’ll go out of my way to pick up the From Autumn to Ashes and Biohazard discs … and probably the latest Fear Factory too. See, that’s what happens when real life becomes too hectic, you start falling behind.
I’m almost done with the Motley Crue book “The Dirt.” Man, what a great read! I honestly haven’t been able to put it down lately. It’s interesting to get a perspective from each band member on certain events or on the band in general. I did feel like each guys voice didn’t really shine through too much, but that might be because I’m just flying through it. Some stuff that I wish wasn’t just glossed over was, but there’s a bunch of other good stuff in there from the band starting out to the time with Corabi (which I might have liked a little more detail on) to the heartbreaking stuff with Vince’s daughter and Tommy’s time in jail. This is a must-read for fans or non-fans. Check it out!
This was in last week’s column but I’ll keep it up until thing s quite down in my personal life: I’m in the process of relocating to the other side of the state. I’ll do my best to keep the column regular until I’m situated, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up in case I disappear for a week or two. (What with moving, finding a new job and so on, things might get hectic.) NOTE: this might be the week I disappear … I’ll be back as soon as possible.
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…
