Heavier than Hell's Top Ten Anticipated Albums of 2014

10. Anthrax

Anthrax have always been the least of the Big Four to me, owing primarily to my disinterest in the John Bush years (which coincide with when I was getting into metal). 2011's Worship Music was the best of the recent works from those major thrash bands though, and with Megadeth and Slayer each having, well, poor years in 2013 (you'll notice Slayer does not make this list), now might be Anthrax's moment to really shine.

 

9. Fear Factory

I have a feeling that Fear Factory's on the way out. It pains me to say, because they were one of my favorite bands in high school, and Soul of a New Machine or Demanufacture would probably earn a place on a top ten or twenty all time albums list. But all of the acrimonious lineup changes and a decreased profile are, in my opinion, likely signs of an end to their days as a national touring outfit. They're still putting out good albums though, so they'll have my ears as long as possible. Especially if Matt DeVries is laying bass tracks down on this one.

 

8. Testament

Another thrash band I didn't grow up loving, but it's been hard to ignore just how great they've been lately. Dark Roots of Earth is a great album, and I can't wait to see what they follow that up with. Based on the upward swing they've been on from The Gathering to The Formation of Damnation to now, it has the potential to be a hell of a thing.

 

7. In Flames

Opinions on In Flames's last album, Sounds of a Playground Fading, seem to vary. I like it, but given how far they went off the rails after Reroute to Remain (or Soundtrack to Your Escape), it's only one small step in the right direction. Here's hoping the next album's the giant leap for Jesterkind.

 

6. Mastodon

As I said in my review of their Live at Brixton release (located here: http://jakespeare88.blogspot.com/2013/12/another-trinity-for-christmas-three.html), this is one that I've been anticipating for quite a while. They may not thrill me on the road, but in the studio there's few bands I find as compelling as Mastodon. The Hunter wasn't my favorite of theirs, but the advance press I've seen make it sound like they're headed in a more conceptual direction again. Maybe not Crack the Skye 2.0, but something closer.

 

5. Foo Fighters

Had to figure I wasn't going to get through a list without one non-metal album. Sorry. Site might be called Heavier than Hell but even I mellow out on occasion. Wasting Light was probably the best album the Fighters have produced to date, definitely their best since Colour and the Shape, and this newest work is supposedly another more experimental recording, so hopefully similar processes will yield similar results. Whatever the quality, I'm sure it'll be catchy.

 

4. Down

The second EP is done at last. I remain unsure whether Kirk Windstein or Bobby Landgraf recorded the guitar tracks alongside Pepper Keenan, but regardless I am pumped to hear new Down. Perhaps even moreso if it's the first with a new lineup.

 

3. Lamb of God

This one feels like a bit of a question mark, considering the only official word has been that they're looking to enter the studio soon and hopefully have an album out by the end of the year, but I'm fairly confident that it'll happen, and it'll be spectacular when it does. Seeing Randy's energy onstage is unreal enough, but to have him finally write about and express his feelings about what occurred in Prague is going to be...well, rough, but cathartic and powerful.

 

2. Machine Head

I suppose it isn't that much longer than the usual two year cycle between albums, but it's been three long years since Unto the Locust and I am dying for some new Machine Head. Curious to hear what Jared MacEachern brings to the table, curious to see if the publicized focus on shorter songs comes to pass, just give it to me now please. There's no uncertainties or second thoughts in the back of my head on this one. I just want new Machine Head.

 

1. Slipknot

This one, however, I am full of mixed emotions about. Few bands are more important to me than Slipknot, and I've been hoping and hoping for them to record again for years. But the loss of Joey Jordison is pretty significant for me, and I can't determine at this point what Slipknot would sound like without his distinctive style on the drums. So we'll wait and see I guess. It'll certainly be a unique experience, that much I'm sure of.

Heavier than Hell's Top Ten Albums of 2013

10. Skillet-Rise

 

Number ten was a hard record to pin down this year. Amon Amarth was here. Nine Inch Nails was here for the longest time. It wasn't until the last week or two that I found myself listening to this album pretty much front to back yet again, getting all the words, and humming all the little parts, and at that point I realized it was the number ten that I'd been looking around for. Lead guitar isn't a position with a constant member in the Skillet lineup, but I really hope Seth Morrison is in the band to stay. A lot of the "little parts" that I was mentioning are his guitar work, like the solo at the beginning of Circus for a Psycho for instance.

 

9. Carcass-Surgical Steel

 

The metal album du jour for the last part of 2013. For all the complaining about Tool taking eight years between albums, Carcass producing another work after seventeen years must've led to some crazy hype. Being unfamiliar with them before this, the results are strong enough to me that I'm not surprised at the ecstatic reactions from those who have been waiting patiently for it. I'm still not a death metal guy, but I start to understand it listening to this.

 

8. Palms-Palms

 

An otherworldly soundtrack to a Michael Mann film that doesn't exist. Chino Moreno has a voice like no other, and combined with the experimental, post metal stylings of most of Isis, the results are idiosyncratic and oddly soothing. This is an album I love to fall asleep to, and I mean that in the best possible way. The trance it puts you in is a pleasurable one.

 

7. Korn-The Paradigm Shift

 

The straw that broke the butthurt camel's back. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm as happy as anybody to have a great Korn album in my ears, but I'm absolutely overjoyed that this album seems to have placated my fellow fans, so at last I may wander onto fan sites for news about the band without being greeted by pages of comments about how they're "THIS CLOZE I SWEARZ" to giving up on the band.

 

6. Gemini Syndrome-Lux

 

I can't remember the last debut record that had the kind of effect on me that Lux has had. I put it on because they were the one name on a concert bill that I didn't know, and quickly they became my reason to be there that night. A potent alt metal effort along the lines of 10 Years and the Deftones, this is the rare band that I hope to hear myself saying "I knew about them before they were big" about one day.

 

 5. Protest the Hero-Volition

 

 

A rare album that lives up to an absolutely crushing amount of hype. I had never heard Protest the Hero's music before this album, and it turned me into an instant fan. I've been listening to them constantly since the release, and this is still the album I come back to the most. Now is Protest the Hero's time, either jump on board or don't.

4. Black Sabbath-13

 

I'm tired of the Bill Ward debate at this point, from either side. I'm tired of people saying you can't have Black Sabbath without Bill Ward, and I'm tired of people saying he doesn't matter. Bill Ward was a founding member of one of the most important bands in metal or rock and roll in general, but Black Sabbath has become a much bigger thing than just those four original members. It's become a beast that encompasses and includes the contributions of dozens of members including, yes, a good number of drummers. Great drummers, like Vinny Appice and Eric Singer. Ozzy isn't the only vocalist that Sabbath ever had, Geezer isn't the only bassist that Sabbath ever had, and Bill Ward isn't the only drummer that Sabbath ever had. 13 may not represent the reunion that it was initially advertised as, but it represents a Black Sabbath album that can stand toe to toe with timeless works like Master of Reality and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and that should be enough for anybody.



3. Queens of the Stone Age-Like Clockwork

 The fact that Like Clockwork is the popular hit that it is, while not being a bad thing at all, is so weird. It's such a strange, hypnotic, bleak album. I mean, some of the first lyrics you hear include "If life is but a dream, wake me up" and "The view from Hell is blue skies". Those are the words the untrained masses want to hear? Alright. Well, then I'm among the majority. After two albums that just seemed to be quirky in service of nothing, something's brought the soul back to Queens of the Stone Age. It's a damn shame that it had to be Josh Homme nearly dying, but in the end from the outside looking in on this one, the end is really all we have, and in this case the horrible means led to a fantastic end.



2. Dream Theater-Dream Theater



I've been hoping for a, well, a metal album from Dream Theater for years, but it was coming to the point where I wasn't even taking it seriously when I said it anymore. At just about the last minute, my hopes and dreams came true and reignited my interest. With all the symphonic complexity that Dream Theater fans have come to expect, and all of the heaviness that I and many others had come to pine for, this is the new definitive Theater album, and I guess I can only hope a sign of things to come.

1. Killswitch Engage-Disarm the Descent

 

That's right. My album of the year has been my album of the year since April. That says little about the music of the following eight months and so much about just how good this album is. An intense return to form for Killswitch Engage, and in a much quieter way, one of the most spiritual and Godly records of the year which I appreciate. It was pretty clear that Killswitch needed a change by the end of the Howard Jones era, and there really wasn't anywhere else they could go but up, but just how far up they managed to reach with Disarm the Descent makes me a happy fan.

Heavier than Hell's Top Five Live Performances of 2013

5. Rob Zombie

 

When this list was first coming together, there was originally a "Special Mention" given to Five Finger Death Punch and In this Moment. Neither band would've made the list based on the quality of their music, but in terms of putting of showmanship both were top notch. Production design and showmanship aren't among the top qualities of the performances that made the rest of my list, so I felt I should highlight some who made it a top quality. I'm telling you this as a reminder to always give things a few passes before you post them, because if I'd highlighted those two for showmanship over music and not given Rob Zombie a slot on the list for living up to both categories simultaneously, I would've failed at my job.

Highlight: So many. John 5 playing a glowing guitar, Rob running around the arena during 5's solo, We're an American Band, on and on.

 

4. Korn

 

Korn's my favorite band, so to see them recapture the olden days, both in terms of lineups and crowd size, in November was a real treat. To see them do it well was no surprise.

 

3. Demon Hunter

 

Demon Hunter's one of those bands where I could stand to hear them perform all of their albums back to back to back and wouldn't complain. Unfortunately, they were only a support act to In Flames when I saw them in February. Fortunately, a little Demon Hunter goes a long way, and setlist debates aside, they managed to blow the other three acts that evening off the stage with their brutal, fast paced set.

 

2. Filter

 

The year's biggest surprise in terms of a live performance. Richard Patrick's played venues ten times the size of Bismarck's O.N.E., and I'm sure he would've loved to have been playing a venue ten times the size of the O.N.E. that evening. You couldn't tell though. In terms of sheer enthusiasm, there was no greater display this year.

 

1. Lamb of God

 

A show so anticipated I came home early from a family vacation to ensure I could be there, one which lived up to my expectations in every way. People literally hanging off of balconies, circle pits that took up the whole floor, the world has missed Randy Blythe and his homecoming tour proved one for the ages.

 

 

Heavier than Hell's Top Five Surprises and Disappointments of 2013

DISAPPOINTMENTS

5. Icon for Hire-Icon for Hire

 

Icon for Hire went from a promising pop rock debut to, well, something with all the trappings of pop but none of the catchiness or hooks, and certainly none of the rock. The sophomore slump is certainly all too common, but a group completely having this kind of reversal is disheartening.

 

4. Trivium-Vengeance Falls

Once again, I got all excited about a Trivium album and it got close, but no cigar. This one has me moreso to blame for its placement on the list than any other, because I probably, no, definitely should've known better.

3. Device-Device

When Disturbed went on hiatus, my only real interest was in David Draiman's next move. After finishing Device's debut album, I was reminded that a band is not just a frontman. As good a voice as his is, it's nothing without quality songwriting and performing around it.

2. Stone Sour-House of Gold and Bones Part 2

Last year's first part of the House of Gold and Bones saga wasn't just Stone Sour's best album to date, it was one of the best rock records in quite a while. A diverse effort that showcased the many different styles and techniques the band was capable of, it left me longing for more. Unfortunately, part two just isn't nearly as dynamic, in fact it ends up quite monotonous. The more universal lyrical concepts of the first part are left behind for a focus on the overarching story, and the compositions just don't standout, especially coming after songs like Tired and A Rumor of Skin.

 

1. Alice in Chains-The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

This isn't the first disappointing Alice in Chains album. The self-titled has its defenders, but I can't listen to it and not hear Layne and the band's spirits dying with every note. The disappointments of The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here are far more generic. The songs just aren't great. A lot of it is low key enough to put one to sleep. The title track and singles Hollow and Stone are enough to keep one going, but this still isn't quite worthy of the name Alice in Chains.

SURPRISES

5. Newsted-Heavy Metal Music

Jason Newsted is still obnoxious and tries way too hard, but the results at least somewhat justify the means. At the end of the day, that's really all we should ask for.

4. Soulfly-Savages

Having now listened to the Soulfly records that I missed, this seems a weird one to end up making me a fan compared to better efforts like Conquer and Enslaved, but the timing ended up the way it was, and better late than never. 

3. A Day to Remember-Common Courtesy

Judging by the six digit sales figures of the opening week, I'm one of the last to jump onto the Day to Remember bandwagon, but I'm okay with that. Huge choruses, a beast of a drummer in Alex Shelnutt, I can see why people love these guys.

2. Battlecross-War of Will

 It's been a strange trip with Battlecross, going from finding them pretty sad on Trespass America, to enjoying them live in front of Demon Hunter and In Flames this year, and culminating in one of my favorite albums of the year. Guess that's a testament to the power of aggressive promotion.

1. Chimaira-Crown of Phantoms

Mark Hunter, in less than two years, found new band members to fill every single position in Chimaira other than vocalist, launched one of the most successful IndieGoGo campaigns in the history of metal crowdfunding, and put out one of the best albums of 2013. What have you done lately?

Another Trinity for Christmas: Three Recent Live Releases

By about mid-November, the flow of new albums has usually ground to a halt, which is great for those who are preparing end of the year stuff (stay tuned...), but leaves a bit of a gap for people looking for something to listen to. Luckily, a confluence of events has led to a number of live albums/DVDs coming out from some fairly big names. But are they all worth the time?

It'd be hard to argue that a free hour and a half of live music isn't worth a look, but when that free content is coming from Trent Reznor, any doubts can be safely erased. One of the great things about being a NIN fan in 2008 was watching Trent's bitterness at Interscope Records result in a four part instrumental album and a new studio record, all for no charge! Apparently, being in the middle of the honeymoon periods for two of his artistic endevours with Columbia Records hasn't stopped him, because with no warning at all a fully produced concert film documenting the Los Angeles stop of the band's Tension tour appeared on December 5th to once again reward us. There's a Blu-Ray release to follow next year, but watching the YouTube version on an HDTV put most of the professional releases I've seen this year to shame. As expected, the stage design and production values are high, with all sorts of cool interlocking screens and curtains illuminated by seemingly alien lighting rigs entertaining the eyes, but this is also, honestly, the most entertaining the music has been to at least these ears in a while. Back up singers Lisa Fischer and Sharlotte Gibson add a great flavor to many of these songs, and even manage to make the excerpts of Closer that pop up sound somewhat sultry and alluring. The set is probably still not heavy enough for those that are craving Downward Spiral 2.0, but March of the Pigs and the like are still played with plenty of power. People have been divided on the new album, but I think those who have positive memories of NIN live will find they've picked up where they left off, perhaps improving in the process.

Black Sabbath, on the other hand, have had a reputation for quite a while as an act that would be better off perhaps retiring from the road (or retiring completely depending on who you ask), a feeling built almost entirely on the fact that Ozzy, let's face it, has had better vocal days. With a little correction in studio, he's just fine. But live, at least in the last decade or so, it seems like every clip of him varies between out of tune with occasionally different lyrics at best, to incoherent mumbling and wailing at worst. So while the chart topping return of any other legacy act would of course be grounds for a big Blu-Ray/DVD appearance, Gathered in their Masses sounded like a bit of a risk, even to someone who liked 13 as much as I did (again, stay tuned...). Were the concerns justified?

Well, not entirely...

Putting aside Ozzy for a moment, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler really should be studied in terms of how to age gracefully as rock stars. Iommi's health has unfortunately become a question mark in the last year, but due to cancer, not damage from the years he's put on either from drugs or natural aging. These two can arguably still play just as well as they could in Sabbath's glory days. The set is heavier than hell, including the contributions of Tommy Clufetos, who isn't Bill Ward but fills the absence appropriately. Let's face it, if Ward's name hadn't occupied so many headlines, I don't think that many people would feel the void left. But these aren't the people I spent the whole introduction talking about. What about Ozzy? Well, he's better than he's sounded in a while, and the new songs in particular are sung with a fair bit of enthusiasm and power. It's when he loses the thread a bit or starts improvising during instrumental solos that he falls apart, and it takes a bit each time for him to find his way back to the pitch again. His crowd banter would be better off cut, people are just cheering at what they think he's trying to say at this point. Still, improvement is improvement. I wish he'd gotten to show that improvement on a few of the band's better songs, like Symptom of the Universe and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but they're inexplicably cut short. Into the Void can be played but no Sabbath Bloody Sabbath? Who made that decision? Regardless, this isn't a waste of money, and it certainly made me feel better about buying tickets for a performance I thought I'd be seeing moreso out of some inexplicable duty in the future. Realistic expectations will be met, and I don't think it will be hard to keep those in check at this point.

Another name band with an iffy live reputation are the devils that came out of Georgia (so sorry), Mastodon. The band's star has been on the rise since Leviathan with many people putting them with Lamb of God right at the forefront of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and chart success starting to match that reputation. But lots of places, such as MetalSucks most notably, have published editorials alongside their praise questioning in particular the vocal aspects of the live performance. When I saw them in 2010, they projected a mind alteringly hypnotic film to play behind them while they ran through Crack the Skye in its entirety, and as soon as the intro to Blood and Thunder began during the encore the place went nuts enough that it didn't really matter, but the lack of a real lyrical presence in the set was definitely noticeable. 2011's Live at the Aragon was frankly awful, with only a couple of hits to supplement the Crack the Skye run through and embarrassing vocals for a professional recording. My hopes were up for Live at Brixton, which features a much longer and varied setlist and is coming off of touring for The Hunter, where one of the bands' goals as stated in the press was to bring a certain spark back to the live performances.

Unfortunately, I'm going to end up echoing the previous Sabbath review. It ALMOST gets there.

The energy is certainly improved. Instead of creating an immaculate, immersive presentation like the Crack the Skye tour, the emphasis is definitely back on the heavy. The problem is that the course almost feels too corrected, and lots of little nuances are lost. The set is a breakneck race to the finish line, and even on albums like Blood Mountain and Remission part of the fun with Mastodon is finding that weird guitar tone or the crazy drum fill that few other bands seem to be bothered with. For every Curl of the Burl, which comes through in all of its stomping, headbanging glory, there's two other songs that doesn't quite get there. Also, while the vocals are certainly more audible than the mumbly, whispery attempts on Live at the Aragon, they're certainly not up to what should be considered a live standard yet. I mention my 2010 experience in the intro to say that in the moment, this is something that could be overlooked, but when removed from the experience, sitting in your room examining this release with a sense of detachment, they don't work. None of this affects my anticipation for next year's new studio album, but it certainly would've been nice to come into that disc with good memories in mind. 

Concert Review: Night of the Living Dreads featuring Rob Zombie, Korn, and Scar the Martyr at the Bismarck Civic Center 11/09

A Rob Zombie performance is something I've wanted to experience since I was a teenager. Beginning in middle school, horror movies were an obsession, and as a penchant for the dark and scary began to carry over into musical choices, Rob Zombie was an early gateway drug to heavier and more brutal things. His lyrics peppered with references to the very movies that consumed most every thought in my head, he spoke my language for most of high school. The last couple of albums and films from him weren't quite up to snuff, but Hellbilly Deluxe is never far from the rotation here, and after watching hundreds of YouTube clips of the fire, quite possibly brimstone, and robots that decorate his stage shows, the desire to see that in person still remained.

Basically, they didn't need to sell it that hard, but pairing him on a co headlining tour with my favorite band, now reunited with the guitar player that hooked me into them in the first place, put the Night of the Living Dreads tour way over the top on the anticipation meter, and that was before they added Joey Jordison's Scar the Martyr as an opener. This seems an odd way to promote something, but this show was such an event that the anxiety attack I had while trying to negotiate uncooperative companies and timeframes for the two meet and greets beforehand was that much more unbearable. Didn't these people understand that adrenaline was coursing through my veins? Don't stress me out, I'm a live wire here!

In case the point hasn't been made yet, the day didn't start off well. We should all wish that our bad days could end with shows like this.

When reviewing Scar the Martyr's self titled debut album, I expressed concerns over how produced and enhanced Henry Derek's vocals sounded and wondered how they'd hold up in a live setting without Rhys Fulber nearby. I can now tell you from experience that he does a fine job, but I still find myself a bit ambivalent about Martyr as a whole. As fun as it is to listen to Joey Jordison on disc, watching him beat on the kit in person is a whole other ball game, and that's worth the price of admission, I just wish the material, which he produced ostensibly by himself, and the band he picked to perform it were a bit more compelling. The song choices were also a bit odd. Original single Blood Host was picked, but Soul Disintegration, the second and by far the best song on the album, was not. The "deep" cuts that they picked to fill out the setlist weren't particularly memorable, and all erred on the side of melodic as opposed to heavy, which doesn't exactly get a crowd pumped up. I was pleased to be able to see Joey play drums, because I'm skeptical that I'll ever get to see him play with Slipknot, but outside of that novelty at this point I'm not sure I'd be interested in some of the headlining tours I've seen advertised for them.

Evidentally, Korn and Rob Zombie switched spots back and forth on this tour, but on this particular evening it might've served Rob well to say "Y'know what? I'll just get it out of the way right now". From the opening notes of Blind, at least those that were audible above the screaming, it was clear who the crowd was here to see, and they did not seem to come out of the evening disappointed. When Korn came through Fargo last year, they put on a good enough performance that clearly demonstarted that they'd emerged from the dark times that followed Head's departure, and now with Head back in the band and a sold out arena in front of them, they successfully erased any memory of those times and brought us straight back to the nineties. If the fencing surrounding Ray Luzier's drum kit had been expanded to include a stage, one could have been forgiven for thinking we'd actually stepped through a time machine back to the original Family Values tour. The songs may be newer, but the energy is the same old school, youthful rage that a group of twenty something misfits brought out in the nineties. Even the appearance of a fan on stage, the now ominpresent security concern plaguing the entire industry after Randy Blythe's trial, couldn't stop Korn's momentum. As Head and Munky's guitars played off each other and Jonathan Davis raged and screamed, the captive audience in the Bismarck Civic Center witnessed that rarest of events, a band recapturing their moment in the sun. Korn's fifteen minutes just got extended to at least twenty, and judging by the screams of the six thousand, a further extension may be in order.

After weeks of proclaiming to my friend, a non Zombie fan, that the show would be worth it just for the fireworks, it was a little dismaying to discover there would in fact be none. In fact, there wouldn't be any dancers or robots either. While anticlimactic in these regards, the show that Mr. Zombie put on was still a memorable affair. I don't think the idea of shooting balloons into the crowd during the cover of Grand Funk Railroad's We're an American Band really paid off, unless Rob intended to spend the evening fending them off with his mic stand as the crowd merely sent them back towards the stage instead of dispersing them amongst themselves, but Zombie doing laps around the arena while John 5 played a furious solo on a glow in the dark guitar was the kind of memorable moment you just don't see at every show. The nostalgic glory vibe set by Korn continued into Mr. Zombie's set, which other than three songs off of the most recent album consisted only of material at least twelve years old and beyond, but given the reaction it appears that Dragula and Thunder Kiss '65 won't be going into retirement any time soon.

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State of the Slay-union

At this point, I'm pretty sure even people's mothers know that Slayer's not having a great year, but this is the Internet, where people are upset when movies from decades ago are spoiled, so for the sake of safety, let's start with a recap:

Up until recently, Slayer was a band who seemed to change their lineup about as often as they changed their sound, except when it came to the person sitting atop the drum throne. Dave Lombardo left the band twice before, once in 1986 and was replaced by Tony Scaglione on tour dates already booked, and again in 1992 when he was replaced on a more permanent basis by Forbidden's Paul Bostaph. When Bostaph left the group in 2001 due to either an elbow injury or musical differences depending on who you ask, Lombardo was brought back into the fold and remained in the band for a further ten years.

In 2011, in a first for the band, a non-drummer was forced to leave the fold when Jeff Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis from an apparent spider bite. The disease, while first sounding like the most metal of all illnesses and frankly, like the title of a Slayer song, proved to be no joke for long as it severely hampered Hanneman's ability to play the guitar, and the after effects of these events eventually led to Hanneman's death on May 2nd of this year.

This alone would prove to be enough for any band to contend with for one year, but events from that February had already caused quite a storm of controversy on their own, a storm which continues to rage until today.

On February 21st, Dave Lombardo released a statement in which he indicated that due to disputes over pay (which, on an interesting note, was the reasoning for his first departure from the band), he would not be embarking on the band's Australian tour. Jon Dette, who previously subbed for Paul Bostaph in the nineties, ended up playing for both Slayer and Anthrax on those festival dates. Lombardo's departure from the band was announced that May. Outside of a brief statement issued by American Records and the band confirming there was a pay dispute, the band has issued very little in terms of concrete updates as to reasoning, and the band, now filled out by Paul Bostaph and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt filling in for Jeff Hanneman has seemed to be focusing on maintaining forward progress, with a new album supposedly in the works that may or may not include contributions from Holt.

As you can see, uncertainty seems to be plaguing a great deal of Slayer's endevours at this point.

Yesterday, Tom Araya gave an interview to Steppin' Out Magazine in which he laid out a very plain and simple explanation as to Lombardo's departure, the kind of plain and simple explanation that should seemingly end any conversation about the matter but has instead only fueled the fire. Araya's quote follows:

“That whole issue came down to this: Dave had been jamming with us for a while, as a working member of the band, but he wasn’t a partner,” 

“Like all things like that, you have to have agreements, so nobody feels cheated. We had ongoing issues and finally he put us in a position where we had to find someone to replace him. He wasn’t happy, so he decided to have his Facebook rant and told the world about a lot of issues going on within the band that are legally binding and private. I thought that was wrong and it was upsetting. A lot of the claims he made were untrue. Kerry, [the late] Jeff [Hanneman] and I got on the phone and made a collective decision and we let Dave go and gave Paul [Bostaph] a call.”

Okay, having recapped all the facts, my opinions can wait no longer.

Gee Tom, I can't imagine why Dave wasn't happy! I'd personally relish the chance to start a band, leave, and upon my return be greeted by waves of adulation from the press and fans and substandard treatment from my bandmates! Who wouldn't want to be a second class citizen in their own group?
Ahem.

Putting aside attitude and snark, I'm still somewhat amazed that Araya found himself in a position where he could give that quote and not see the problem with it. Frankly, wording it that way would come off poorly even if this was a band where the rate of drummer turnover was higher, let alone if any of them had an effect on the group's sound. But when that's being said of a man who is considered by many to be one of the genre's premier drummers, a man whose fierce and fast double bass playing is arguably as integral of a piece of the Slayer dynamic as Hanneman and King's guitars or Araya's bass and vocals, it goes past insulting and becomes borderline blasphemous. I mean, my God, members of this band have made it very clear in the past that they don't socialize much when not on the road or recording, but I would think that after thirty plus years Lombardo would have to be considered a friend. To relegate him to a mere working class drummer, not even a partner in the group he helped build, that's cold on a level few manage to reach.
This distinction between member and partner is really bothering me, in case that wasn't evident. I imagine to younger bands it doesn't so much matter, but who wants to enter into a working relationship with a band and wonder if they're essentially going to be spending the next however many years auditioning to become a "partner" instead of a "member". This is the kind of petty treatment that Jason Newsted had to contend with for a decade with Metallica, and we all know how that relationship turned out. Hearing this kind of stuff come out of the mouth of artists makes me reconsider my negative words in the past about people who scream "sell out". I really don't want to have another argument about what constitutes selling out and what constitutes attempting to reach a wider audience, but maybe we have to.
  And what does this bode for Slayer going forward? At this point, I imagine Lombardo's not going to return, and Bostaph is probably Slayer's drummer for at least the forseeable future. The man's always had multiple projects going at the same time, I feel safe imagining that he won't be without a gig for long. But what about the question mark that is the lead guitar position? Gary Holt has been playing with them on a temporary basis for almost three years at this point, and Kerry King's been downplaying his potential contributions to the band's new album to anybody and everybody who will interview him. The fact is though, the guys don't seem to be that interested in finding a true fourth member and second guitar player. They throw out phrases like "throwing someone to the wolves" and "it would be like starting over", and obviously we can't speak to their emotional or psychological states, but stuff like Araya's words about Lombardo seems to have the potential to either make that search more difficult. If I were Gary Holt or whoever this mythical future fourth member might be, I'd be giving some very careful consideration to my place in all of this. In Holt's case, he has Exodus, but they've never come close to the level of fame and fortune that Slayer is at. They do, in theory, offer potential for creative input, control, and frankly comfort. How long can one ride the gravy train before the kinds of concerns that Lombardo brought to light become a pressing matter? How long can he settle for being a "member", a temporary one at that, before he deserves to be considered as much of a "partner" as anybody else? Do you really want to be in a situation where it's a pressing concern to answer questions like this anyways?

Slayer's fanbase is rabid, and they are legion, and I imagine enough of them are still reeling from Hanneman's death that for now, they're just happy that they haven't lost the band completely. But those of us without a significant attachment to the band, those of us who are willing to ask these questions, may not be without the Slayer contingent for long. How long will Kerry King's stalling tactics hold out? What, if any, blowback will there be on Tom Araya and his cohorts from the Steppin' Out interview quotes? Who's going to risk both an apparently uncertain financial future as well as the uphill battle that will be stepping in for a legend like Hanneman? There's only so long questions like this can be left open, and in my opinion, Slayer's running out of time.

Album Review: Volition by Protest the Hero

Even with all the editorials published and industry opinions offered claiming that crowd funding is the way of the future, the science is still far from exact. For every Chimaira, who more than doubled their thirty thousand dollar goal for a "fan" CD/DVD edition of Crown of Phantoms, there's an Orgy, who with thirty one hours left at the time of this writing have only raised around eight grand of a hoped for hundred grand to start their own label and make a new record. Even with that caveat, the fact that Protest the Hero turned a hundred and twenty five thousand dollar goal into nearly three times that amount understandably generated a lot of press, and probably lent a fair bit of credence to pro-crowd funders. But, as a wise man once said, mo' money equals mo' problems. With the overwhelming amount of press attention and the heightened level of fan anticipation, it would be easy for Volition to end up a disappointment or perhaps inversely overrated. As someone with no expectations, in fact not even becoming familiar with the band until the campaign was launched, I just went in with the standard hope to come out with a positive experience.

That sound you hear? That's the hyperbole train a'comin'.

I've never quite been able to understand the "math metal" subgenre. All those unique time signatures and staccato patterns are great, but in the case of, say, The Dillinger Escape Plan, whose fans should be prepared for some possible blasphemy in a moment, they never seemed to add up to a cohesive whole. It essentially became a whole lot of white noise. White noise, mind you, that I'm sure would make for an intense and thrilling live experience, a supposition seemingly confirmed by the amount of blood, sweat, and tears the band has actually been recorded shedding during shows, but noise that also becomes frustrating on a record in my opinion. Protest the Hero's guitar players, Luke Hoskin and Tim Millar, conjure up memories of attempts at getting into math metal, but carry them through to the conclusion that was always the hope. Their dexterous fingers seem to leave no fret untouched, yet they never lose track of important building blocks like structure and technique. It would require a hell of a rhythm section to keep up with them, and luckily bass player Arif Mirabdolbaghi (I not only checked the spelling before typing that, but during the typing of it as well) and percussion legend Chris Adler of Lamb of God prove more than capable of providing the low end on this adventure. The MVP of this whole affair though is by far vocalist Rody Walker. Research has determined that in the past, Walker's vocal style has tended towards screams and growls, and the switch to clean vocals is a fairly new endeavor. Walker gives both camps what they want on this release though, and his fast paced switches from guttural screams to higher pitched clean melodies are never unconvincing. Either group stands to be very pleased. His lyrics occasionally leave something to be desired, as much as I'm behind the stance in theory I can't say his advocacy for pit bulls on "A Life Embossed" will be convincing anybody, but the delivery sells even the subpar lines.

The oddball artwork and promotional stills might put off some metal fans, probably the same people that appreciate Nolan's Batman films because they're "dark and real like Batman should be", but make no mistake, this is one of the best albums of the year, and one you absolutely cannot miss.

Album Review: The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart by Sepultura

 

 

Ordinarily, changes on Facebook pass with little to no reaction from me. Outside of a total overhaul of the interface, they rarely seem to be as big of a deal as people make them out to be. There is one though that has always bothered me: the switch from being able to put your favorite films, books, and music in your own words to having to link them to the pages for those works. Why? Because upon my joining the social network, I originally put Max Cavalera-era (rhyme totally intended) Sepultura in that list. From the original Bestial Devastation EP up through their best known work Roots, Sepultura during Max's tenure has to be included in any discussion of the greatest bands in the heavy metal genre. That is an insane streak of albums for any genre actually. Then, as a result of internal upheaval, Max left and created Soulfly, and both that group and Sepultura have been struggling, in my opinion, ever since. Soulfly has at least been interesting in the midst of that struggle though. Regardless of the resulting album, the experimentation that has been a major component of Soulfly is interesting enough to warrant listening through an album once, even if you never return to it. Sepultura, after a few attempts to retain the Roots vibe and magic, have seemingly just become more and more generic and fallen further and further down the totem pole, losing Igor Cavalera in the process. This latest effort, whose title I'm simply going to break down to Mediator because there's not a chance that I'm going to type out that whole title every time it comes up, is seemingly an attempt to do a hard about face back towards their previous, more celebrated works. Ross Robinson, nu-metal innovator and producer of Roots, has returned in an effort to, in his words, "smoke" his previous collaboration with the band. After a few albums without one, Mediator features a prominent guest appearance, that being ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. So, once again the angels of better nature are ignored, and a Sepultura album hits the player. Did the curiousity pay off, or is this a fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me scenario?

 

Well, performance wise, it paid off a bit more than I expected it to. This is a really solid slab of good old fashioned thrash/death metal. Faster than the last couple Sep albums I've heard (although, as previously mentioned, it has been a while), Andreas Kisser really rips it up on this album. He's given plenty of opportunities to both soar out on a solo or shred maniacally and make you wonder what kind of shape the guitar is left in when he's done. Paulo's bass is still there reliably rumbling away in the background as well, just like nothing ever changed. Derrick Green, who has never been the problem with the latter days of the band but became an easy scapegoat as his hiring marked the turning point, sounds properly demonic and horrifying, a better vocalist now that he's been given longer passages to stretch out screams over than the more Roots-inspired nu-metal on his first couple of efforts. New drummer Eloy Casagrande doesn't fare quite as well as his cohorts, and is especially outdone by the Lombardo cameo, but his performance rarely distracts. If anything distracts on this end, it's the mix unfortunately. Ross Robinson's mixes are characteristically dirtier, a bit more raw, but this one ends up suffering for it. Perhaps an issue of budget/equipment, or an artistic choice, it's hard to say. In either case, the album could stand to be a bit cleaner, and some of the instruments could stand to be a bit more balanced. You really have to listen for that Lombardo appearance with how low the drums are.

 

The biggest problem though, comes at the end of the experience. After all these great performances, what is it all in service of? What is this experience all about? Green-era Sepultura has been aiming for some big things as of late, with concept albums based on works as sacred as The Divine Comedy and as notorious as A Clockwork Orange. I can't speak to those albums' treatment of the source material, but Mediator is apparently "inspired" by Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, a film I am very familiar with, and I have to say, this album is about as linked to Metropolis as it is to Mallrats. Both have points to make about consumer culture, and so does Mediator, but the points made on the latter are so generic that they could've been inspired by either of the former choices. I can't say Max Cavalera is one of history's great thinkers, but under his reign there was at least a sense of identity and character to those records. There was an ethos behind it. The latter day works, perhaps inspired by the dismissive reactions to the early attempts to follow up and duplicate Roots, are aiming for a much wider array of topics and targets and successfully hitting very few of them. It's hard to get a sense of the ethos of the band at this point, unless they really are that generic without a few key members. Somewhat improbably, I still find myself hoping that there is more to modern Sepultura that they have for one reason or another failed at summing up or accessing. Whether I will be willing to listen to another attempt, I can't say at this point. I guess based on Mediator it wouldn't hurt though. It will at least be performed competently.

 





Concert Review: Eye Empire, Mindset Evolution, True Becoming, Danger Casanova, and False Advertisement at the O.N.E. in Mandan, ND 10/19/13

Apologies for the particularly fuzzy quality of the pictures in this review. I will make no bones about my amateur at best skills as a photographer, that much should be evident by now, but with all the lights and a smoke machine going off essentially right in front of my face it got particularly difficult to capture any good images.

Sometimes, all it takes is name recognition. Eye Empire is a name that has been floating around for a while, but without having gone out of the way to listen to them, and without any rock radio in my life I don't casually come across bands that often, all there was to the decision to see them was name recognition. Upon discovering at the show that the bass player is Corey Lowery, brother of Sevendust's Clint Lowery, the recognition made even more sense. As important as promotional materials can be to some, to others, all it takes is a simple name or two.

 

 

Apologies to False Advertisement (and Matt Damon), we ran out of time and were unable to make their set, but the first band of our evening was another familiar name. When I last caught Danger Casanova, I lamented the lack of an album to immediately fill my ears with more of their infectious throwback cock rock. Thankfully, in the interim they've released one, so another fantastic performance did not leave me wanting for too long. I remain impressed at the sheer level of charisma and attitude this band can project without sidelining or losing track of their instrumental chops. If anything, they were even tighter this time around. Having a drunk woman in the front row grabbing crotches might derail some bands, but for Danger Casanova, I'm sure it's just another bit of stage dressing.

 

 

While the business of national versus local acts is certainly well understood, if anything placing Danger Casanova that early on the bill sabotaged the next couple of acts. I had no problem at all with True Becoming's performance. The band made its blue collar, down home rock and roll style very evident immediately and the singer was rather impressive. But after the high energy of Casanova, there was a certain level of downturn to only giving a fine performance. There didn't seem to be any real attempts at flair, any effort to stand out. If they'd been placed lower on the bill, perhaps this wouldn't have stood out as much, but coming after a high energy opener, it creates a problem.

 

 

I can't say that Mindset Evolution were much more impressive in terms of energy, but that was the least of their problems. For some reason, after two acts that sounded just fine, the mix took a turn for the worse almost as soon as Mindset took the stage. For the first couple of songs there was all sorts of microphone feedback coming off the lead vocal mic. Once the feedback was fixed, every mic, four of the five members had vocal parts, became simply too quiet which made for a confusing, muddled sound.  The instrumental mix was never really adjusted, making for soft guitars and an overly loud bass that tended to degenerate to fuzz if played fast enough. The drums were about the only highpoint of the mix, which was fine by me because the drummer was easily the most standout performer on the stage. The lead guitarist attempted solos that probably would've come off as flashy and impressive if we could hear them, so points for the effort there. The vocalist filled a lot of the spaces between songs with what I assume were supposed to be inspirational speeches, but when we could barely hear him these long stretches really killed whatever momentum they were attempting to build up. Poor sound quality isn't a band's fault, but I find it hard to believe that they weren't picking up on any of the difficulties on the monitors and made no attempt to adjust. Whoever was at fault, it definitely wasn't what you wanted second from the top of the bill.

 

 

Thankfully, Eye Empire is apparently a band that is more than capable of coming back from the death momentum and flow and restarting a room. Over the course of a nineteen song set, Eye Empire played enough different styles and exhibited enough skill to qualify for a few different subgenres. One of their songs, closer to the end, more than qualified as full out metal. It's rare that I find the bass to be the highlight of a performance because I simply don't have much of an ear for it, but owing to a much better mix and a great performance Corey Lowery's bass lines were top notch. The guitars were a little on the soft side still but there were enough solos and chances to show off the pedalboard that their presence was made known regardless. Vocals were again soft, but the singer had stage presence to spare so it was if nothing else entertaining to see him stalk around the stage and flip what Mohawk he had around like a maniac. Aside from one instance when the band had to stop because the drummer began counting in the wrong song, it was really quite an impressive performance overall. Their second album comes out October 29th, and I will definitely be picking it up.





Album Review: Lightning Bolt by Pearl Jam

In the very first track on Lightning Bolt, entitled Getaway, vocalist Eddie Vedder says "Sometimes you find yourself being told to change your ways". Ironic coming from the frontman for Pearl Jam, a band which hasn't had to worry about pleasing people since, well, when was Ten released? Pearl Jam have long held a dominant place in the music industry, a place that has left them one of the few rock acts capable of selling records by the hundreds of thousands. They're perfectly capable of calling the shots, and yet evidentally there's some kind of pressure on the band, enough so at least that Vedder felt the need to sing about it. Well, as ridiculous as that concept might seem, Eddie Vedder could sing pages of the phonebook and make them seem like Biblical texts being sung by angels, so a few ridiculous sentiments won't hurt anyone, and judging by the content of Lightning Bolt the band hasn't caved to anyone. This tenth studio album fits right into the niche carved out by the stalwart Seattle songwriters, to the delight of their fans and to the irritation of whatever detractors they have left.

As someone who can fit into either camp depending on the specific album, I'm left torn in this specific case.

There's nothing really wrong with Lightning Bolt, but unfortunately there's not much that stands out about it either. The best song on the album, an early rocker entitled My Father's Son, feels like it would've ended up a B-side on just about any of the band's earlier albums. Eddie's voice shines on the usual ballads like Sirens and Yellow Moon, but none of the lyrics leave much of a lasting impression. What's worse about the ballads is, in a horrible decision in terms of the album's pacing, three of them are saved for a back to back to back closing of the album. Pearl Jam hasn't really rested on its laurels yet, although Lord knows it could've been. Their last album, 2009's Backspacer, was a somewhat unusually frenetic and energetic affair, so to find so much of this album leaving a general impression of lethargy is that much more disappointing. Undoubtedly, fans will rush out to buy this and cause a sensational opening number that will suggest a successful disc, but I really wonder what lasting effect any of these songs will have on the fanbase. Will people be clamoring to Let the Records Play in a few years, or will they let the majority of these tracks fall by the wayside in favor of more vintage numbers? While I can't say I would be offended to see any of these songs pop up on a setlist, it saddens me to ultimately come to a point where their inclusion would mean nothing to me, a sentiment that is rare for this band.

Film Review: Metallica: Through the Never

Given some of the insane heights Metallica has reached and the kind of success they've had financially, it is a bit surprising that it took until 2013 for them to release a theatrical concert film. One would think somewhere in the middle of year three of touring for the Black Album it would've occurred to somebody. One of the biggest compliments that can be given to Through the Never is even if there had been some kind of big screen release for Binge and Purge back in the day or something along those lines, this still would have enough to it to make it a distinct, memorable experience, not just another Metalli-product that the fans will write off as either not as good as Master of Puppets or just as good as St. Anger. To put it another way, this is a bizarre film, but in the best possible way. Nimrod Antal and Metallica have crafted a surefire cult hit, a 3-D concert film in which the world is apparently ending around the venue, but the rock is so loud and so powerful that no one cares.

Powerful is an even more appropriate term than loud. The spectacle on display in Through the Never's concert scenes goes beyond the songs, the band has brought to the fore one of the most elaborate, massive stage setups I've ever seen. The Ride the Lightning chair lowers from the ceiling to break the fourth wall with arcs of (possibly fake) electricity. Lady Justice is assembled and then demolished within the span of a song. During Enter Sandman (another compliment that should be given to this film is that it represents the first time in years that I heard the intro to Sandman and got excited instead of groaning and walking away) the band stages some kind of malfunction that leads to a level of destruction on stage that could seemingly only be wreaked by a kaiju. It's hard to say if this will become the band's stage setup on a regular basis, suggestions have been made that given the cost it would be a wise move financially, but Nimrod Antal and his cinematographer do a very good job off shooting a beautiful film that will stand up even if these kind of events became a regular occurrence. As the coffin shaped light racks from the Death Magnetic tours close in and begin displaying images around the band, and lasers criss cross the stage, Antal's camera captures an image that is almost otherworldly, in perfect harmony with the bizarre events occurring outside. Admittedly, there is no dramatic weight at all to the "storyline" of Through the Never, and even as eclectic heavy metal inspired images it comes really close to not working. But when Dane DeHaan walks through the streets of Any City USA, past assorted corpses hung from light posts and flaming cop cars, intercut with the band playing the intro of Wherever I May Roam? Those guitar effects have never sounded eerier. By the time DeHaan is on fire and brawling to the thrashy goodness that is Battery, if you're not a captive audience member you were never going to be.

All of this, of course, would be moot if the music sucked. Limp Bizkit has had some elaborate stage sets in the past, but they prove hard to separate from the horror that is being forced to listen to "Nookie". Metallica take rightful knocks for producing...some music that is of a lesser quality. The arguments have gotten boring at this point, we all know St. Anger's not great, and at this point Metallica seems to have gotten that message too. The film's set focuses primarily on older material, even going as far as to start with three songs from Ride the Lightning almost consecutively, and what's more it is older material done well. For the first time possibly since he was hired, Rob Trujillo is a real presence in this film. His bass sounds great, and Cliff Burton would be proud of the work he does in Orion, which plays over the film's credits. Lars Ulrich has not become Dave Lombardo, but he handles himself well. His infamous stage faces provide an intriguing test of the IMAX cameras too. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett's guitars continue to be a force, and Hetfield's voice is in great shape. Metallica, as a unit, are a far cry for the sadness that characterized their last feature film. This is a well oiled machine, fake technical errors aside.

I'd like to think I will have the chance to see Metallica in person one day. There will be a very unhappy teenage boy's essence somewhere in my soul that will not be fulfilled until it gets to chant "DIE, DIE, DIE" during Creeping Death. But, if I don't, this is a very good approximation. There's a deeper fanboy level that could be gone to, one that would include setlist complaints that I try to avoid and nitpicks about changes that have been made to the songs in a live environment that don't work. But that's a rabbit hole that people don't come back from in one mental piece. Through the Never is a damn fine set of live music, a great visual experience, and a downright weird film that is not easily forgotten. At the end of the day, nothing else really matters.

Album Review: Vengeance Falls by Trivium

 

 

I've always wanted to like Trivium. Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu are undeniably very good guitar players, and they bring a level of musicianship that I find to be a cut above most other bands in this genre as of late. But there's always been a certain sense of overexertion to the music, a sense that the band is trying too damn hard to show off. During their set on the Trespass America festival in 2012, there were, if you can believe such a thing, too many solos. Just, too much in general. When David Draiman signed on to produce their sixth full length, most of the Internet metal press seemed to cry out in anguish but hopes were raised here. Draiman's instincts from years of producing Disturbed could refine and strip down Trivium a bit to a happy medium between their overly technical prior efforts and his discography.

 

Well, that much ended up being true, but the album's still not all it could've been, unfortunately.

Musically, my goals and hopes for the album were met. Heafy and Beaulieu still get plenty of chances to show off on their guitars, but not to an excessive degree, and never in a way that distracts or takes away from the overall song. The songs benefit greatly from the overall brevity, and the rhythm section of Paolo Gregoletto (there's a Mediterranean name for you) and the increasingly impressive Nick Augusto get even more of a chance to shine when attention isn't taken so far afield from their work.. Also, Heafy's gone back to his more melodic vocals from the much maligned album The Crusade, which readers will probably guess was a huge plus for me. The vocals were never the problem on The Crusade, the songs were. Heafy's much better off when he's not straining to scream in my opinion. The one downside of the vocals is that Draiman is clearly using some of the same filters and effects that he uses on his own voice which becomes a bit distracting at times. A producer always leaves his own stamp, his own sonic imprint on every album he makes, but Draiman's is visible to an unnecessary degree here. Some dialing back of his trademark sounds or a change might have helped things.

 

Before we get too far away from him though, Heafy's the recipient of the other primary criticism of the album. At best, the lyrics are decent and have enough parts to encourage crowd chanting and singing at concerts, at worst they come off as insipid and repetitive. For example, the last song, appropriately called The End is Nigh, eventually progresses into just repeating the title over and over again, and the rhyme scheme that dominated the lyrics before that wasn't exactly something to look back fondly on either. Trivium's lyrics have never exactly touched me, or affected me in any deep way, but they've also never distracted like this either.

 

Vengeance Falls is by no means terrible, it's just a shame that after six albums Trivium keeps coming back to the same phrase in my mind: close, but no cigar. Close enough that I'll probably keep listening in the hopes that they'll find it, but that begs the question at one point does one give up the fight?