About them females. Yes it can be beautiful melody, but it's often so overstated that there's really nothing else to the music. It's so monophonic that my incentive to listen is based solely on what that one lady is doing, and it's generally nothing that 7 others haven't done before.

The Gathering - Mandylion
hxxps://s22.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1MFSU3368V80E061ZG707FGAHS

My recent review of the deluxe edition is here.

Melvins Expand Lineup, Ready Live Album

Like Spinal Tap's bad luck with drummers, the Melvins have similar problems holding on to bassists. Their latest four-string casualty was Kevin Rutmanis, but the group -- led by longtime members Buzz Osborne (vocals, guitar) and Dale Crover (drums) -- has beefed up its line-up considerably. Now expanded to a quartet, the Melvins have been joined by Hydra Head recording artists Big Business.

“Now we're going to be four piece,” Crover tells Billboard.com. “Two drums -- just like the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead!” "We've known [the Big Business] guys for a long time. It's not like they're going to quit Big Business or anything like that. When we tour, we're hoping that they'll open."

Crover sees no problem sharing the time-keeping with drummer Coady Willis. "It's great,” he says. “He's left handed, so we want to do this 'mirror image' type of thing. We've kind of fused our two drum sets together, and we're going to try and do some crazy thing with it. We're sharing these big toms in between us."

The new lineup plans to tour at some point later this year and eventually hit the studio. But the next Melvins release will be a live CD comprised of a a recent performance of the 1993 album “Houdini.”

"A bunch of those songs we'd never played live before,” Crover reports. “It's going to be on Ipecac -- it will be out in the spring. The warm-up show we did was actually better than the official show, so we did another [in Los Angeles], and that's the one that we recorded for the record."

Some cool Melvins news (because they're the best band ever)

Big Business are great. I can't wait to see this lineup live, the fused drum kit thing sounds pretty cool.

This is the cover for the live Houdini album

Not sure if this really belongs in the metal thread, but doesn't really deserve a thread of it's own. Seen a few reviews for Cave In's Perfect Pitch Black appear online. Until Your Heart Stops is still one of my all time favourite metal records, and Jupiter was an amazing record as well. Antenna however, while still strong thoughout, felt a bit compromised and half-hearted. They snuck out Pitch Perfect Black at the end of last year with no fan fair at all.



I've had this for months and thought it was just a B-Side/Rarities collection, but now they're promoting it as an actual album... It sounds like a B-Side/Rarities collection though. It basically just treads around the same alt-metal ground that the band has been covering since Jupiter, with the exception of adding bassist Caleb Scofield's shredded hardcore vocals in liberal doses. While delivering a really varied album stylistically there is a lack of cohesion and a lot of the songs seem like uncompleted musical ideas that tend to meander rather than take off. Paranormal and Ataraxia being the worst examples of this habit - completely missing the exhilarating direction changes of Cave-In's earlier work. At least they're back on Hydrahead now and back touring with bands like Pelican and Converge rather than the Foo Fighters. So hopefully this album is just a stop-gap before a proper return to form.

Here's some of the album highlights (IMO)

Edguy is always a blast.

Don't think it's been discussed here, but Boris "Pink" has been kicking my ass.
It might still be available in the Japanese music thread.

Don't think it's been discussed here, but Boris "Pink" has been kicking my ass.
It might still be available in the Japanese music thread.

Except for that vocalist . He just sounds so "LA."

This year's Sounds of the Underground is shaping up to be a good one again. Confirmed so far:

As I Lay Dying
In Flames
Trivium
Cannibal Corpse
GWAR
Terror
Black Dahlia Murder
Behemoth
The Chariot
Through the Eyes of the Dead

I'm just not completely sold on As I Lay Dying as headliners...

And I now am absolutely certain that I will never ever go to a SOTU tour, as if last year didn't prove it enough for me.

Did anyone (I'm looking at you, Sask) upload a mix last year entitled "2005 midyear," containing 17 tracks with "Untitled - 16-06-05" in the album name field? It's sort of like Christmas in February, but I have no clue who the bands are or track names. Any help identifying these tunes would be appreciated...I'd be happy to upload them if it'd help w/ identification. Thanks.

Yeah, I think that was me.

1. High on Fire – Cometh Down Hessian
2. Candlemass – Black Dwarf
3. Brand New Sin – Black & Blue
4. Kreator – Impossible Brutality
5. Samael – Telepath
6. Behemoth – Conquer All
7. Nile – Burning Pits of the Duat
8. Strapping Young Lad – Shitstorm
9. Darkest Hour – Sound the Surrender
10. Dark Tranquillity – Lost to Apathy
11. Mercenary – 11 Dreams
12. Soilwork – Blind Eye Halo
13. Clutch – Burning Beard
14. Torche - Mentor
15. Judas Priest – Hellrider
16. Corrosion of Conformity – In the Arms of God
17. Primordial – The Song of the Tomb

Yikes! Finally gave these a listen and I'm loving them, thanks!! Will have to track down the rest of their catalog--I'll use your comments above as a guide.

SOTU is something of the same thing. I am very picky about what shows I go to, probably because I'm also sensitive to the audience, meaning that a mediocre group of people can really put a damper on a show for me.

I am jaded, it's true.

Even though I love Iron Maiden, I didn't go to Ozzfest on principle. I really don't want to support the majority of those bands, on the basis of them either propagating a genre that I find to be static and overly-money-driven, or having sold out to better sell their records while alienating their original sound and core fans.

Once the Sharon fiasco started at Ozzfest, I felt totally validated.

SOTU is something of the same thing. I am very picky about what shows I go to, probably because I'm also sensitive to the audience, meaning that a mediocre group of people can really put a damper on a show for me.

Revisiting an 80s classic...



From 87-89, this band could do no wrong, and this is the best of their first three albums, in my opinion. Extremely taut (39 minutes), with that crisp Perialas production that was so easy to identify, Skolnick shredding away like a madman. Lots of people prefer their faster early stuff, but damn, if "Trial By Fire" isn't one of the very best songs to ever come out of the American thrash era. And the cover of Aerosmith's "Nobody's Fault" is inspired.

What a year 1988 was, by metal standards. Not so much groundbreaking, than a bunch of bands hitting their strides all at once. Not unlike 2004/05...

Woah, I just downloaded the first 3 Testament albums the other day (to replace my long lost cassette copies). I actually was kind of dissapointed that they weren't as good as I remembered them being in high school. Not to say they're no good, just not as quite as great as Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, etc.

Yeah, I just have the cassettes, too.

I agree that Testament were just a rung below the Big Four, and they never fully realised their potential...Souls of Black was a disaster. Much too rushed, and they pretty much lost me after that. I'd like to hear The Gathering, though...that's supposed to be a fine comeback.

What haven't you heard from Testament? Low, Demonic, Live at Fillmore? I'll YSI The Gathering and try to get it posted tonight.

It's still likely a top 5 of the 80s for me.

Yeah, I just have the cassettes, too.

I agree that Testament were just a rung below the Big Four, and they never fully realised their potential...Souls of Black was a disaster. Much too rushed, and they pretty much lost me after that. I'd like to hear The Gathering, though...that's supposed to be a fine comeback.

On a completely different note, the new Godsmack single isn't bad, in a guilty pleasure kind of way. It's like Sevendust, just more of the same nu stuff, but for the most part, completely harmless. I've heard worse.

Thanks, PH.

I listened to Queensryche's highly anticipated Operation: Mindcrime II late last night. Highly anticipated, because, most people (including myself) have been expecting a trainwreck of epic proportions, but much to my surprise, the album is very good. Their heaviest in a good decade, Tate's best singing in a very long time...the album's more aggressive and punchy than I thought it would be.

Beware, though...it might be a better idea to wait until the album's officially in stores on April 4, because Tate's vocals are buried in the mix at times, and there are a handful of moments where it's hard to figure out what he's singing. From what I can gather, the plot is decidedly introspective, as Nikki returns to society after 18 years in prison, and sets out to find Dr. X, played by Ronnie James Dio in a brilliant cameo on "The Chase", one of the best songs. There's a plot twist...at least I think there is, but that's the most that I'll say. And the ending is decidedly enigmatic.

One thing the album lacks that the first Mindcrime had are the really catchy hooks. The songs are good, but there are no songs that can stand alone as singles (as "I Don't Believe in Love" and "Eyes of a Stranger" did), and nothing comes close to either "Suite: Sister Mary" or "The Mission", which I regard as the band's best song of all time (the absence of key songwriter Chris DeGarmo is very noticeable). That said, it's a fine comeback that is able to stand alongside the original. Disaster averted.

Just want a flavour of it - is there a standout track at this point?

Sask, do you think Tate's vocals are still pretty decent on MCII?

Two from Operation: Mindcrime II:

"Hostage"
hxxp://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36DNGWAUPBSCT054O5JQDDTQ6M

"The Hands"
hxxp://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=36DNGWAUPBSCT054O5JQDDTQ6M
(cool reference to "I Don't Believe in Love" in this one)

I've made it through track 12, and I'm very impressed. And yeah, the intro to Hands is a nice nod to the original MC. I am really, really digging this so far. The best Queensryche has sounded in a long time.