I am even now more so looking forward to this.

I cant wait for this record. OM is my favorite record of all time.. holding steady for over a decade.

Just don't want to waste YSI's
Dog Fasion Disco -9 to 5 at the morge and Children of Bodom=Needled 24/7

Just got the new Sonata Arctica live album. Extremely tight, the vocals dead-on. Amazingly so.

Opeth's Chronology setlist from NYC tonight.

excellent, I very much enjoy this band.

Yeah, I had no idea they were that good live.

However, I just cannot get past this dude:

He's obviously related to this chick:

http://www.belindabedekovic.com/video_fl_en.htm

Uh, wow.

Over the last 22 years, I've learned to accept synths in metal, but the keytar is beyond ridiculous. That said, the way the Sonata guy does shredding duels with the guitarist is pretty amazing.

I'm a bit late to getting to the new Amorphis album, but this thing is very good. The new singer's a massive improvement over the previous singer Pasi, and "House of Sleep" (which recently went to #1 in Finland) is probably their best single ever.

I wish that had a timer on it. Too long. At least now I know how Nintendo game music is made.

Another second-tier 80s classic revisited:



We all know Restless & Wild and Balls to the Wall are Accept's two greatest, most influential albums, but this 1985 album is not without its merits. It's interesting how this record was panned by so many when it came out, yet over time it's risen in stature. Scorps producer Dieter Dierks was brought in, and there's a definite mid-80s sheen to the band's sound, as "Midnight Mover", "Screaming For a Love Bite", Living for Tonite", and "Too High to Get it Rite" all resemble the Scorpions' edgier post-Uli material (Dierks kept calling Udo "Klaus" during the sessions, according to Udo), but as much as the band was raked over the coals for sounding too commercial (with Udo's voice? Hardly...), this album still holds up extremely well a couple of decades later, those hooks still extremely memorable. It's all about the title track, as good a song as the band had ever recorded in the years prior, and stuff like "Up to the Limit" and "Wrong is Right" provide sufficient punch. "Teach us to Survive" is a decidedly strange exercise in Teutonic Van Halen-goes-jazz, but aside from that, it's superb stuff (dig the Manowar theatrics on "Bound to Fall"!). Sadly for the band, it was all downhill after that.

Oh, and for those who have never seen it, here's the motion sickness-inducing video for "Midnight Mover" that was a bit, erm, too high tech for its own good:
http://www.youtube.com/?v=glzFSnpQfns

That pains me.

Maybe Pasi wasn't the greatest for Amorphis (I personally thought he was outstanding, but I can maybe see how some would say he doesn't fit) but what about his work in other bands like Shape of Despair?

His vocals are absolutely stunning for that group.



Listening to OMII tracks uploaded on YSI.

Hostage, I think it is. It's alright. Doesn't have half the majesty that Operation: Mindcrime really should, I think, but then again, who am I to say.


And what about Jet City Woman ruining the mood? That's a great song.

I like his work with Amorphis, but as much as I liked the previous album, it felt like there was a touch of malaise running through it. The new guy has the band sounding energized.


The band lost me at that point. Somethnig about it rubbed me the wrong way. Too MOR for them.

Just "because," here are the first two albums from one of my all-time favorite bands, Thought Industry. More metal fans should have heard this band, especially these first two albums. They were way, way out there, and way, way ahead of their time. The first album is a bit too old school metal in places, but Mods Carve the Pig is just a stunning album. Any other fans?

Songs For Insects:

http://s59.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CN0RNG...NA1K4M4ZZT8ELRJ


Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads, and God's Flesh:

http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0DRIIGS...G5141R85QL87LKY

Never heard this band but that sounds like a good thing to me. DL'ing these now.

I don't really mean it in a bad way, just with this band, it kinda detracts a bit from the obvious progressive/wacked-out element to their music.

This is a band that was constantly changing, so much so that by the time they released their last album on Metal Blade, they weren't even a metal band anymore. These first two albums are the heaviest/thrashiest stuff they did. Once Dustin Donaldson, the drummer, left, the took a turn toward the less wacky, alt-metal side of stuff.

Here's a great excerpt from a review of their third album by Glen from The War Against Silence, which I still love reading from time to time. I think it describes them perfectly:

"Musically, Thought Industry occupy a small corner of the universe all their own. On their first album, Songs for Insects, they had the exoskeleton of a conventional speed metal band, but songs had a disconcerting habit of slowing down every once in a while for no easily discernible reason, and machine-gun power-chord riffs would sometimes spontaneously wander off in odd directions, and a folk melody would drift in from an alternate universe. They'd sound like Judas Priest for three seconds, and then they'd be off again on some unhinged digression whose internal logic was pretty clearly as rigorous as it was impossible to apprehend from the other side of the CD.

The second album, Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God's Flesh, made the first one sound like Balls to the Wall. It may well be the strangest, least accessible album ever made with conventional musical instruments and Western tonal systems. Songs mutate at a dizzying speed, so that you rarely get to listen to the same thing for more than about ten seconds. It's as if the band took a film-studies course, and was particularly struck by the revelation that a movie is composed of individual frames whose subject matter only relates to that of the adjacent frames by convention. There's no theoretical reason why individually intelligible frames with no inherent common subject couldn't be spliced together to make a film whose overall substance was totally a construct of the whole, independent from any will of the parts, and which would be holistically abstract without ever actually involving an abstract image. And if that principle, arising out of the time-sliced mechanical nature of film, could translate into the human experience of the film, which is continuous, then why couldn't music be made with transitions just as arbitrary? Treating Mods Carve the Pig as if it were ordinary music is something like being pelted with random tornado ejecta and calling it an especially resource-intensive form of massage."

I love that last line...

Reviving the Testament thread:

I love this band. The New Order is certainly a high point, though I really like their 90's output as well. Low and Demonic are both solid, but The Gathering is a stright Juggernaut. Don't be fooled by Etiam's likewarm response...this is solid. It's not really "thrash" per se anymore...has more heavy and even grindcore elements (leftover from Demonic, perhaps). Absolutely clinical drumming from Dave Lombardo is a highlight.

Did anyone go to any of those incredible fundraisers for Chuck Billy when he was diagnosed with cancer a few years back? There was one in the central valley that put Sounds of the Underground and Ozzfest to shame. The lineup included Death Angel, Dark Angel, Exodus, Testament, Slayer, and a who's who of thrash metal so comprehensive I thought I would kill myself when I realized I was gonna be in Europe.

Thanks to Particle Hustler for the Thought Industry...I'll give Mods Carve the Pig a listen the first chance I get.

Much to my extreme annoyance, I accidentally deleted PH's zip of Testament's The Gathering. I was cleaning a folder and mistook it for a mix I'd made of the band The Gathering.

Holy crap, Opeth's cover of Celtic Frost's "Circle of the Tyrants" is spectacular in a raw, Sepultura-does'Orgasmatron kind of way.

I'm assuming you've heard Sepultura's 'Procreation Of The Wicked'?

I'd sure like to.

Here's the new Katatonia album, without the voice-overs:

hxxps://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=285CPX85ZMEJM2CMGGT8O2JEPG

Sask...you MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!

Uh, I mean, thanks!

It sounds like the origin of the Katatonia mp3s is dicey (might be re-encoded...Oink yanked the torrent hours after it appeared, and the tracks lack the punch heard on the promo), but it'll do for now. I was so sick of those voice-overs.

hxxp://s60.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07XLQQQKMMOT826LAGKNM5TODG

Your wish = my command. Roots-era Seps add some bludgeon to the 80s classic.

Time for bed now, methinks.

Second that.

Sask if I ever manage to get my hands on a metal album before you I'll one day return the favor.

Speaking of Sepultura (if we can still call them that since Max moved on to Soulfly)- new album is due out March 14th, titled Dante XXI, and is apparently a song cycle based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Ouch.

People are saying it's the best post-Max album, for what it's worth.

I was tooling around Amazon and found this on the page for The Sword / Age of Winters:

Customers who bought this also bought
Closing In ~ Early Man
Metalized ~ Sword
Synchestra ~ Devin Townsend Band
Indian Tower ~ Pearls & Brass
Origo ~ Burst
We Are Night Sky ~ Deadboy & The Elephantmen
Their Rock Is Not Our Rock ~ Fireball Ministry
Blessed Black Wings ~ High on Fire



"Sales of the defunct Canadian band's 1986 album Metalized shot up an unbelievable 1,695% in 2006. People close to former members of Sword believe it to be a testament to the album's ability to still sound fresh 20 years later."

And then there was this farther down the page:

Customers who viewed this also viewed
Sweet Dreams ~ Sword
Call of the Mastodon ~ Mastodon
Early Man ~ Early Man
Sky High ~ Bad Wizard
Wolfmother ~ Wolfmother
Witch ~ Witch

Oh man, that's amazing. Some people are in for a bit of a shock.

Probably as much shock as the fans of some new band called Europe back in the late 80s, when Camelot Music all of a sudden started stocking an album by some 70s Italian band called Europe. To distinguish them from The Final Countdown guys, they put a "disclaimer" sticker on the album that looked like this:

Not to be confused with
the best-selling hard rock band Europe!

Finally got around to give the new Head Control System album a spin, and am mightily impressed, but then again, anything featuring Garm from Ulver has to be good. he's such a great singer, and while this album is more groove than, say, Ulver's brilliantly wacky Blood Inside (which should have made my 2005 top 20, darnit), this still has his distinct touch.

Here's a sample track that I know plenty of you will dig:

"Skin Flick"

RIYL: Tool, Fear Factory, Katatonia

Even better, I just searched on BestBuy.com for The Sword and found nothing. A searchfor Sword, though, netted this:



Sword

MUSIC TITLE GENRE RELEASED

Age Of Winters Pop 2/14/2006

Metalized Rock 9/29/1998

Sweet Dreams Pop 9/15/1998


I assume those are re-releases, which makes it look theoretically possible that they are all from the same band. I'm telling you, the members of Sword are going to hit the jackpot!

Just returned from the Opeth show at HOB in Chicago.

The first 10 minutes were absolutely the most miserable experience of my concert going existence. The band started on time, but the whole "seated show" conceit was a complete clusterfuck in this particular venue. Those of you who've been there will know what I'm talking about, but for those who haven't, there's a smallish (maybe 25 by 20 foot or so) main floor in front of the stage, surrounded by four big pillars and railings and steps leading to the bar areas. There were maybe 150 seats...all taken well before my wife and I made our way into the venue. We've seen other shows there, and while its always fairly crowded and tight in there, this was absolutely intolerable. Basically, the entire crowd was pushed to the back of the house because of the seats...WHICH WEREN'T EVEN USED, BECAUSE EVERYONE FUCKING STOOD UP. When there's no seats, its easier to breathe and just hang back while everyone crowds up in front, but that wasn't happening. Add people continually pushing their way through when you have no space to move, and it was a recipe for disaster. My wife was miserable, and I couldn't stand it for very long. During the second song, we left.

When we made our way downstairs, a few security folks asked us why we were leaving, and we explained the hellish crowding. My wife asked to talk to a manager...we lodged our complaint, and he let us sit in an empty box seating balcony for the rest of the show with our first round of drinks FREE. Incredibly nice manager...great service in the box, too. We were very pleased. I couldn't imagine getting this kind of treatment anywhere else.

Now, maybe we were wussies for not wanting to risk the crowd, but I swear, it was horrible. We've been in big crowds before but never this bad...the people standing in the seating area were lucky, but the rest of us (about 1200 people, at least) were like sardines. I know this sort of thing should be par for the course, and we should just accept it as rock fans and showgoers, but WHY? I think we deserve better than being herded together like human cattle. There's no reason why we should accept this sort of horseshit just because "it's rock and roll." I literally COULD NOT MOVE in that crowd.

Anyway...Opeth were damn good. Akerfeldt is hilariously funny in a deadpan/dry humor sort of way. Once we got our space, we were perfectly fine. Kudos to the HOB for listening to us and making the rest of our evening pleasurable.

I'm sure set lists will be posted elsewhere (and we missed a few songs), but they played at least one song from every album, and THREE from "Ghost Reveries" at the end. ("Ghost of Perdition," "The Baying of the Hounds," and "The Grand Conjuration.")

Sorry to hear about the hassles, Diesel. Nice to see the staff were accomodating when you complained...seems they really botched the planning of what should have been a very cool event for everyone.

I'm the same way, I can't stand being squished like that. I normally hang around back, but if the venue's crappy, I have no choice but to join the fray. Metal shows out where I live, infrequent as they are, are rarely packed.

Opeth's in my city in four days, and I'll be doing a post-show post on Tuesday night.

I had an experience like that once, but in a place that wasn't so accomodating. It was at a little band box on South Miami Beach where I saw Tad/Primus in the early 90s. I was near the front, and I got crushed between some people and the small metal security fence they had rigged during Tad's show. Between that and the stifling South Florida heat/humidity and the fact that the place was the size of a large garage, I nearly passed out. I ended up forcing my way to the back of the crowd just so I could breathe and stick around for Primus. That was one of the most miserable concert experiences of my life.

I'm floored by the new Krisiun album. I was expecting some solid, good death metal, but what I wound up hearing was something quite exceptional. Brilliantly produced, and very accessible for an extreme album.

It usually takes me several listens to get into old school death metal, but this grabbed me instantly. I so did not see this coming. Here's a track:

"Vicious Wrath"

Is this their 2005 album, or a new one? If it's the former, I had no time for it personally. Just seemed a bit devoid of any real verve or originality. I guess 'originality' might be the wrong word when it comes to DM, but bands like early Nile or Mithras did something a bit different. Krisiun left me cold.

I prefered Antigama. Again, nothing that original, but they had a blistering line in Grindcore. Here's the shortsharpshock of their last album's opener, 'Seed':

hxxp://s52.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0ULHCB5WAGTQX2L0FTFELQES1N

Sorry to hear the crowd sucked Diesel, but I agree in that it happens too often at metal shows. At least you got the great comp. I wish I had that night free so I could have gone, but I probably wouldn't have had the good sense to talk to a manager.

Alright...last night on WWE Smackdown, they changed Randy Orton's theme song.

The new song is apparently by Killswitch Engage, of all bands.

Sask or anyone else...have you heard this or do you know if its available anywhere (a forthcoming Killswitch album, perhaps...or maybe another WWE comp?)

My wife and I are seeking it out. Thanks in advance. (I guess WWE is changing the themes of many of the wrestlers and putting out a record. I've heard HHH's theme will change from Motorhead to fucking DISTURBED...talk about the downgrade to end all downgrades. I hear Brand New Sin is doing Big Show's theme, though.)

I can't believe HHH would allow that. As much as I hate what he has become, he at least has always been a huge motorhead fan and it always brightens my day to hear them on national tv with a wrestler who tried to even imitate the band in his facial hair.

And...the Opeth setlist was the same as the NYC show.

To wit:

under the weeping moon
the night and the silent water
the amen corner
white cluster
the leper affinity
a fair judgment
deliverence
windowpane
closure
ghost of perdition
the baying of the hounds
the grand conjuration
demon of the fall(encore)

From my vantage point, the show began with "White Cluster." We were fucking miserable during "Under The Weeping Moon," and missed "Night And The Silent Water" and most of "The Amen Corner" because we were downstairs talking to the security and manager. We left toward the end of "Conjuration" so as to avoid the exiting crowd rush. "White Cluster" was a definite highlight, as were "The Leper Affinity" (the one Blackwater Park song I wanted to hear the most), "Windowpane," "Deliverance," and the Ghost Reveries tracks.

No, I mean the brand new one, AssassiNation. It's straightforward, but very well done.

Diesel, I don't know which Killswitch song Orton's using yet. That's pretty cool. I actually like Brand New Sin doing one for Big Show. Seems appropriate. He's needed a new song for ages.

Hey everyone, remeber Atheist?


I picked up the reissues of these 2 today. I forgot how great these guys were, I hadn't heard them in 10 years probably. This stuff holds up really well. Here's an excerpt of the AMG bio for the unaware:


I'll YSI these if there's any interest.

Pleeease.

Sask, I'm digging the Skin Flick and Krisiun--thanks. My shopping list keeps getting longer...great to have so much metal to look forward to.

Here's the first album, Piece Of Time



The reissue has a bunch of bonus tracks but I left them off for a quicker upload. They're all just demos of album tracks anyway. I'm headed out now, but I'll up Unquestionable Presence later tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks! Looking forward to the other one, too...

I was really impressed by Head Control System when I first read about them a while back. Looking forward to liking it more the more I hear, which is bound to happen.

I've always been on the edge about Krisiun. I think they have a good album out, but I'm not sure which it is. This new song is pretty damn powerful. I like it, thank you.


As for KSE-- do we need any more proof as to how much of a commercial enterprise metalcore has become?