Blind Guardian gives unicorns bad-assery

Ok, I'm sure you've all seen the commercials here and there, especially if you watch Adult Swim. They have a game called Robot Unicorn Attack, which I've pretty much scoffed at since I first saw the trailer for the game; plus with it being a free game on the internet, I couldn't imagine it could be that entertaining. Well my friends, that was then and this is now.

Apparently, if you add flames and skulls, upside down pentagrams and ask German metallers Blind Guardian for a song for the soundtrack, you get evil incarnate at its best and hours of fun in the palm of your hands. Here's a sample of the game-play.





At least when I bought it for my iTouch, it was only a buck so what the hell, right? I've spent over ten times that on shitty CD's. Needless to say, it was money well spent. This may not be a game you could ever beat, hell, it's basically a game that lasts about 5 minutes per play for me, but it's fun. There's no real strategy or heavy thinking.. just a sharp eye and quick as ninja reactions. It's pure fun and nothing more, nothing less. You're just a Robot Unicorn and you speed through the pits of Hades jumping and double jumping over cliffs and torpedoing through Pentagrams, while Blind Guardians "Battlefield" gives that little bit of flavor to make this a really enjoyable experience.

If you don't believe me, play the game for yourself.. There's a link below. You can also check iTunes to see if it's sill on sale.. :)



Here's a link to play the game for yourself; Warning: This game is really addictive. :)







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and
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Jim Bruer and Rob Halford together

Honestly I'm just testing out this RSS Graffiti app for Facebook but instead of just doing a testing 1 2 3 I figured I'd post this video of Jim Bruer imitating Rob Halford only to have the real thing come walking into the studio and join in singing Devil's Child.

In the meantime you can still fan up That Devil Music if you haven't done so on Facebook that way you don't miss a post:)

Susperia to Enter a Battle of the Bands of Sorts

This is a pretty cool little tidbit of news. Apparently Susperia is entering into the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. Now for those unfamiliar, this is a contest held in Finland every year that pits singers and bands against each other and the fans vote for the best song. Famously Lordi of all groups won this thing I think in 2006.

For this endeavor the guys in Susperia are also bringing along Mustis, formerly of Dimmu Borgir, to play the keys.
I wish them luck because anything to get this excellent thrash band from Norway some exposure is a good thing. They've been around for a long time and have good friends in the community but never have been able to breakthrough like they should. You can read the full article here.
Video for the song Character Flaw off of their last album Attitude after the jump.

Ozzy's Ouija Board Makes a great Stocking Stuffer.

File this under the WTF department.So in order to get people to pay even more ridiculous prices to attend a concert Ozzy is including a Hasbro Ouija board with the purchase of a VIP ticket to any future shows.

So for between 300 and 1000 dollars depending on what VIP package you purchase you can watch Ozzy sweat, clap like a monkey, yell "Come on, I can't fucking hear you!", and get water dumped on you while listening to an hour and a half of hits and then get some cool stuff including a Ouija board game. Personally for that amount of money and something as stupid as an Ouija board game it damn well better play 'See you on the other side' as the piece is moving around the board.

Gene Simmons must be pissed he didn't think to get this trademarked.

Crikey! The Fevered Wants You to Check out their debut EP.

We got an e-mail this morning from Nick McKeon of Australia's The Fevered informing us of....well I'll let him speak.

Hi TDM dudes,

We're an Australian melodic death metal band called The Fevered.

We have just released our debut EP, titled Vestige. We're distributing it free, or for an optional donation through bandcamp, and we'd love it if you guys could have a listen, and if you like what we are doing, share our music on the blog.

The EP with art/tracklisting etc is available here: http://thefevered.bandcamp.com/

To download it for free, just click "Buy It Now" and enter in $0.00.

Thanks for your time, and thanks for providing us with sweet music over the years.

Nick McKeon
The Fevered

So there you have it. After the jump is the player if you want a quick listen.




It's pretty decent for a debut. There are definately elements of Amon Amarth and maybe even some Edge of Sanity in these tunes. I wasn't to enamored with the clean vocals but that will get better with time I'm sure. Besides how many melodeath bands do you hear from Australia anyways? So give these guys a listen and if you like what you hear support them by making a purchase or two.

Want to see Vince Neil fall on his ass ice skating? Of course you do.

I posted a Then and Now the other day showing Vince in his FABULOUS! ice skating outfit for Skating with the D-listers. Well here is video evidence of what's been happening with Vince Neil on the show so far.Because reaally, anybody who actively watches the show is not going to come to this site.



I keep waiting to hear if he falls does booze erupt from his liver like a geyser but that's just ridiculous.All I know is that any rock cred old Vince ever had is quickly eroding with every episode of this crap he's on.

Amon Amarth's Announces new Album info. Declines to cleave your Skull.

This time of year is slow to pretty much a crawl on new music but on the flip side we start getting information on bands that don't suck and their new album release dates.In this case Amon Amarth have announced the new album name to be Surtur's Rising and it's set to be released on March 29th,2011.

I am excite about this because Amon Amarth for the last 4 albums have consistently gotten better with each one and I really can't see being disappointed about this one. At least I hope not but I'm not going to say otherwise because look at those dudes. Would you want to give them the bad news?

For those unaware on who Surtur is, he is the king of giants and basically ushers in Ragnarok or the apocalypse if you will by engulfing the world in flames. I know this because I used to read Thor comics therefore I'm an expert.
Anyone else excited about this news?

Brent Petrie's Album is what prog should be. And it's free.

Every once in awhile somebody cool pops into TNOTB's Skype chat. This time we had the pleasure of Brent A. Petrie's company last night and I promised to do a little promo for his one man masterpiece Vary Us, Artist(Get it?).Brent hails from Mesa, Az and his album is as the title suggests what prog music of any type should be. It offers unique sounds and fusions of different styles to be it's own entity. There are a couple of heavy tunes but mostly there is quite a bit of ambient post rock present.

You can download the album for free here and since it's the holidays if you want to donate money for the purchase of the album, half the proceeds also goes to the ASPCA because this is the time of year that stray animals need homes and love the most.Anyways check it out and leave feedback on what you think.

That Devil Music makes even more sweet love to Last.FM

A couple of additions to the site have been made in regards to Last.FM. For a long time I've had the embedded radio player which I hope people can and have used. Well I've also included a chart to show what bands I'm scrobbling. I've also created a That Devil Music group to further enhance discussions and get people to share music on. You can go here and check it out.My hope is this will get the networking in the metal community to broaden just a little bit.

System of a Down makes good on returning from hiatus

Everyones favorite Armenians have decided to come back and do some touring in 2011. Which means that for once a band not only took a hiatus but did exactly as they said they would and come back after a set period of time. I'm not a huge SOAD fan but I like some tracks and I did see them live once earlier in their career and it was actually a pretty good show. These guys put together some pretty unique and original music so it'll be interesting to see what happens on the next album. Especially on the heels of Serj's two solo records. Here are the dates so far from the coming tour.This is great news if you live in Europe by the way.

Jun. 02 - Milan, Italy - Milan Fiera Arena
Jun. 04 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock im Park
Jun. 05 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock am Ring
Jun. 06 - Paris, France - Omnisports de Bercy
Jun. 09 - Interlaken, Switzerland - Greenfield
Jun. 11 - Castle Donington, UK - Download
Jun. 13 - Nickelsdorf, Austria - Novarock
Jun. 15 - Berlin, Germany - Wuhlheide
Jun. 17 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Metaltown
Jun. 19 - Seinäjoki, Finland - Provinssirock

There will be more dates I'm sure and they'll probably hit the U.S. because lets face it, as much as they hate America's politics this is where they make the most money.

Within Temptation tempted by sex. More children ensue.

I get that Sharon Den Adel is a fantastic looking woman. I would probably want to do the vertical tango with her myself on those cold Danish nights.But her girl parts must be like a Venus flytrap that shirks the notion of wearing protection and just getting right down to business. To the detriment of the band. According to Blabbermouth this morning,Sharon and Robert are expecting a 3rd child. Shocking, this was unplanned,however good news kiddies the new album is still scheduled to be released in March. Just don't expect a tour because, well, she's going to be pregnant.
I would bolt so far from this band if I wasn't Robert.In this day and age how are you supposed to make any money when two band members are nailing each other all the time and your replacement is being born?Not to mention the gothic symphonic scene has come and gone since the Heart of Everything was released......in 2007. Well I hope the sex was good because I predict a who gives a fuck when the album gets released next year. The good news is when Within Temptation eventually breaks up, Robert can be the stay at home Daddy while Sharon brings home the bacon with this type of music(After the jump)



By the way, she was pregnant with the 2nd kid during the filming of this video.Just saying.

Happy Turkey Day

This video says it all

Devil Music A-Z:Thanksgiving Edition:Psychostick

Yes I'm jumping ahead in the letters but Thanksgiving is a special day. Since the two themes of Thanksgiving is to give thanks for whatever you have and eating, what better band to celebrate the eating part then Psychostick?Why? Because their last album 'Sandwich' was almost totally dedicated to food.Observe after the jump.



Now not all of their songs are so angry such as this one. Here is a behind the scenes track on the album.



And of course you can't wash your meal down with just egg nog and cider. Psychostick's most famous song extols the virtues of beer.



What's that? You say the music is not very festive or holiday-ish in nature? Well the guys also put put out a holiday EP entitled the 'Flesh Eating Roller Skate Holiday Joyride'.Here is a song to kick your holidays off with.Enjoy.



So there ya have it. Run out and get Psychostick's Cd's. There's something I think for everyone. Comedy,metal,and food. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Ever wanted to know how to play an 8 string guitar? Tre Watson will show you

Tre Watson of Baltimore,Maryland's Carthage has put together a cool 4 camera rig showing the wankery that is djent from different angles. Tre is a friend to many bloggers and can routinely be seen in our Skype chats.Here is the video showcasing the talents of Tre.



If you are awe inspired and amazed at the fretwork or the stylish way Tre wears his hat you can check more of his stuff here.

Pigskin Destroyer 666 Week Who Cares? Update

I haven't really updated this much because I didn't want to be that guy that talks about fantasy football all the time when no else gives a shit. But the regular season ends next week which means that if I have any hope of defeating the other blogsites and reign supreme I must win next week.

It's going to be tough going because my team has been decimated over the past few weeks with injuries. In fact last week I had the lowest point total I've had all year long with 78 points. But I snapped a two game losing streak due to my opponent having given up weeks ago and only scoring 58.

So as it stands That Devil Music's record is 6-5 and with 6 spots for playoffs I'm ranked 5th.My opponent next week has a strong team so I just have to hope that at least this next week will get me back to form to advance. Wish me luck!

The trailer for Lemmy's Documentary needs more mole.

How cool do you have to be to warrant a documentary about yourself? Apparently as cool as Lemmy. Other then Dio I can't think of a more beloved character in the heavy music scene then Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. And so far on the other spectrum is Lemmy, with his penchant for collecting old German war artifacts,buzzsaw bass tone,and a singing voice that sounds like someone gargling fiberglass with whiskey. No one is sure beyond screenings when this movie is coming out but here is the trailer for it.



You can go here for more details. Even if you're not a fan of Motorhead this is a must view because though I sometimes don't agree with Lemmy's perspective on things there is no denying that his perspective is always unique and funny.And this documentary is essential to any rock historian's collection. Hey, Behind the Music, this may very well be how you're supposed to do a documentary. Pay Attention.

In Need of a Bass Player? Hire this Guy

I love videos like these where kids or 'disabled' folks actually outshine the rest of the world in one aspect. In this case music. The fact that this guy not only plays the bass with one arm but can play Steve Harris basslines is absolutely fantastic. So since it's Monday and Thanksgiving is coming soon, have a cup of inspiration and enjoy.



Thanks to Metalsucks for posting this.

Vince Neil Now and Then

1983


2010


Make of this what you will.

Devil Music Podcast:: Episode 2 Tattoos and Turkeys

Yes dear friends, here is our second attempt at podcasting. In this episode instead of dogs barking there is phones ringing and the fail attempt to reposition the microphone to minimize the sounds of my heavy breathing. What you get instead is the effect like I'm walking away from the computer as I'm talking in spots. But I feel like we covered some good topics and name dropped a lot of people both in music and in the blogosphere. Also keep an ear out for an actual soundbyte I figured out how to insert.So sit back and enjoy the ramblings of two bored guys as we talk about metal and Thanksgiving.



Here is the download link if you want to save it to listen to later. Let me know if you can download it without registering for the site.

Death Metal Parrot!

Saw this video on the Gates of Babylon Myspace, had to share. The video pretty much speaks for itself. Enjoy.

The True Story of Metalliball with Video evidence

A week or so ago this video went viral of Kirk Hammett inadvertantly punting a kid from the stage. Observe.

Now rumors ran rampant that this was Hetfield's kid. Well that is apparently not true. The metal community also wondered why a child was even on the stage during the set in the first place.More importantly, what the fuck was up with the Snow White costume 2 weeks after Halloween? Here is another angle to see what we mean.

After the jump is the complete explanation by the Metallica camp and a bonus video courtesy of Metal Injection.

Some of you will have seen on YouTube (or read in some reports) that Kirk knocked a small child offstage by kicking a beachball at her. That little lady is the daughter of the stage manager and dressing coordinator, who are fortunate to travel as a family on this tour. She was thoroughly enjoying watching the beachballs drop from the rafters, Kirk was thoroughly enjoying kicking the beachballs off the stage and back into the crowd as has been done every night on the tour, and neither of them saw the other. The poor wee one happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She wasn't hurt. She didn't go 'flying several feet into the audience.' And Kirk and she remain good buddies.

That may be all well and good but she looks like a spoiled brat that had no business being up there.


Just like Metallica has no business playing with balloons while playing 'metal'. Though it is funny that Seek and Destroy was being performed at the time of the incident. So as promised, because this is a retarded story here is the bonus video.

Anticipated Releases to kick next year off

Sirenia's new album the enigma of Life is due out January 21,2011. Here is the tracklist.
01. The End Of It All
02. Fallen Angel
03. All My Dreams
04. This Darkness
05. The Twilight In Your Eyes
06. Winter Land
07. A Seaside Serenade
08. Darkened Days To Come
09. Coming Down
10. This Lonely Lake
11. Fading Star
12. The Enigma Of Life
13. Oscura Realidad (bonus track)
14. The Enigma Of Life (acoustic version; bonus track)

I'm mostly over the gothic symphonic bands but Morten Vederland still puts together some solid compositions that I've yet to get tired of. Hopefully the current singer sticks around longer then the previous girls have.



Also on tap is the new Devildriver cd "Beast" which is due on Febuarary 22,2011. Each album has been a decrease in my enjoyment factor since Last Kind words but hopefully I'll enjoy this one. I'm also still working on a Mike Spreitzer interview so we'll see how that goes.

Therion is too good for the U.S. Uses excuses for not touring here.

For the sake of not misquoting here is the excerpt of Christopher Johannsen's interview with Blistering.com

Blistering.com: Indeed. Speaking of which, I read on the Net that you are never touring the United States again. Is that still true?

Johnsson: Oh yeah, we're never going to tour the U.S. again. It would be a miracle for us to do that again, like an offer we couldn't refuse. I knew we'd do OK there, but the tours we did [both in support of "Gothic Kabbalah"] had total shithead booking. It was pretty miserable, never too posh. There were about 150-200 people a show and in this economy, it's tough. Hard to get anywhere with this economy. I'm 40 years old. We do well in Europe, great in Latin America. Some people think the United States is essential, but we're not big in Africa either. [laughs] Not touring there takes away a lot of the legwork, and when you do all of that work to tour the States, it's not worth it. Not when you're 40. I have to cut down because I have a kid at home. We can go anywhere, it's totally possible, but we're doing it when we need to.

My reaction after the jump.



You know, it's not the America's fault that you decided to take an already huge entourage, fire them, and then add even more people to your metal show spectacular.



Look at that shit. That's just the choir and strings section. That doesn't include the actual band itself and the gear. How fucking full of yourself do you have to be to cut out the U.S. because your 'project' is too ambitious to fit into clubs?I've got a news flash for you Chris, can I call you Chris? You're not big over here because you overdid it on the last two albums and created a bombastic mess that no one fucking likes.
Isn't one of a bands goals to introduce their music to markets that may or may not otherwise have known about it before? How do you propose to do that if you don't tour over here? The U.S. is actually starting to wake up and be more accepting of metal that isn't of the 'core' variety and now would be a good time to tour over here. You don't need to bring the whole damn entourage. Just use prerecorded orchestral parts and have the core band play. But that's not good enough is it? You think your creation monstrosity is too good for what you consider shithead booking. Why is it every other godamn band from your region of the world tours over here. Epica plays Slim's all the time. Dimmu Borgir plays here. Why the fuck are you so special that you can't? Mikael Akerfeldt has kids and he can come out here and do a big tour.Oh that's right, I'm listing bands with much better compostions and music then you.

So fuck off with the economy excuse. You are not the London Philharmonic Orchestra. You are a metal band that incorporates opera and classical music. And based off of my review of your last album you do it badly.So don't blame the U.S entirely for 'shithead' bookings. The U.S. has not fully embraced intelligent classically themed metal yet but your material and your business choices have also fucked it up for you. Have nice time touring Europe and Latin America and ignoring the U.S. Meanwhile I will continue to listen to and write about much more interesting and talented bands then you that aren't too good to play in smaller clubs and continue to ignore you.

Dick.

For those that think I might be too harsh on old Christopher listen to this song and tell me that this deserves arena status in the States.

Devil Music A-Z: Circle II Circle

Zak Stevens was the primary vocalist for Savatage for most of the 90's. After the disbanding of the band in 2001 he started his own project called Circle II Circle. I'm not too big a fan of the name but the early albums were definitely a continuation from his stint with the 'tage and that makes it ok. Circle II Circle is one of those rare bands that while they have power metal tendencies they focus more on songwriting and riffs. It's not overly cheesy as you'd might expect but does incorporate concepts in some of the albums like alot of prog or power metal bands do.
Apparently the latest album 'Consequence of Power' was released in September and I somehow missed it. Probably because this group gets real no press or love even in the blogosphere. I'm listening to it right now and it's not bad. There are more hard rock elements this time around and Zak seems to be oversinging in places but it's still stronger material then what Jon Oliva has done on his Pain project. So if you want no frills, thought provoking, hard rock music check out this band. You might be pleasantly surprised. Or you could tell me what I tell others that some bands never make it big for a reason.
After the jump is one of my favorite tracks by them. Probably because of the heavy Savatage influence.

Agalloch Streaming New album

I've only just heard of this band from Oregon a few weeks ago. They're being labeled as blackened folk music and I guess in parts that's true but there is more of a ambient feel to their music. They incorporate soundscapes into their sound that can be haunting and beautiful at the same time. While not the most prolific group(they've been around for years)but with the inclusion of the new album coming out soon they once again bring quality in a time where American metal of any form desperately needs it.
The new album is called Marrow of the Spirit and it is being streamed at this location. I'll probably do a review of it after I've had time to absorb it but in the meantime enjoy a band that rivals Scandinavia in terms of quality music from little old Oregon.

That Devil Music's first contest

So as I have either mentioned already or will eventually mention, I attended the Nonpoint/In This Moment show at the Boardwalk in Orangevale on November 13th. I was a part of the meet and greet they offered where I received some pretty sweet swag. Some of it, an autographed Nonpoint poster and autographed Nonpoint setlist of the
show that night is being donated by me for our first contest.

This ones real easy kids. All you have to do is email us at thatdevilmusic@yahoo.com with the subject line "I love That Devil Music" by November 30th and we'll randomly pick one person on December 1st to win the Nonpoint swag.

Many (hopefully) will enter, one will win.

Good luck!!!

Sully Erna has created perfection.

So I was at Borders in Sacramento over the weekend at the Kat Von D book signing and drool-fest. It was a pretty cool experience though Sac had one of the hottest November days in ages; which sucked. About the third hour I was finally in the store and weaving through the various aisles as the line made it's way to the tattoo master.

While I passed through the CD's I had the idea to check through the letter F for Firewind's "Allegiance": no luck. What I did see however took me by surprise. I had no idea Godsmack front-man Sully Erna put out a solo album.



Being that as of late, no matter how much I love Godsmack, their last few works have been less than stellar releases. I haven't heard "The Oracle" yet aside from a few singles but I gathered from reviews I've read about it that it wasn't that good. I did see the other day that you can buy it on amazon for less than five bucks so that was pretty telling.

To support them I did buy the 4.99 album and downloaded it last night though I haven't heard it yet. Reason being is that I was playing the iTunes samples for Sully's solo work Avalon over and over and looking around for the best price for the CD. I want to support these bands I love but I'm not made of money.

(Hindsight being 20/20 I think I would have paid any price to own this work of art.)

So I see that amazon is selling it for about nine dollars which is perfect because I wanted the physical copy. I've been listening to his CD, Avalon all day today and I'm totally loving it. It's not a complete departure from Godsmack's previous recordings when, for the most part the album is very similar to their songs "Serenity", "Voodoo", and "Hollow". If you enjoyed those tracks you're going to love these songs.

What makes this album different is the talent he chooses to surround himself with. Various instrumentalist and vocalist he utilizes here add to the already colorful palette he crafts these song with. They all just add another dimension to an ready incredible musician. The album include Lisa Guyer on vocals, classically trained Cellist Irina Chirkova of Bulgaria, and from Ireland, percussionist Niall Gregory of Dead Can Dance, Chris Lester and Tim Therriault.

Sully, also, definitely caters to the Pagan in me with the lyrics he uses and the primordial drum beats that run in sync with the beating of the warrior spirits that dwell within our essence. He runs the gambit of all that he is with these beautifully crafted songs: warrior, father, lover, God, son. You connect with all those intricate layers he's woven within the folds of his songs and I want nothing else than to run home, grab my Djembe and join in the drumming circle he's instigated. Something that seriously tripped me out was in reading on his website the lyrics for these songs, the first track "Avalon" was co-written by Laurie Cabot (one of the most famous modern day witch)

I haven't heard one song I dislike, I haven't heard one second of this amazingly gorgeous record that I would change. It's perfect. The only thing that bothers me about it is that I had no idea it was out. It's not getting any radio play as far ad I can tell, no advertising I have seen anywhere and that's just sad. Anyone and everyone who loves music, sublime musicianship and elegantly crafted lyrics and primitive rhythms pulsating through your veins - this album is for you.

So go on: grab your drums, get your smudge Wands, dance under the light of the moon and revel in the awesomeness of this music. But don't let your faith, or even lack of faith stop you from getting this little plastic disc of audible ecstasy - this music is for anyone who loves pure and perfectly crafted music. Do yourself a favor and don't let this one pass you by.

Hail Avalon indeed.

10 out of 10.

Here's iTunes!

Here's Amazon (Where I got mine)

Buy This CD!!!!!

Here's "The Making of Avalon"... enjoy:


Here is the song The Rise (Track 6). Most of the vocals are NOT Sully but it's still powerful.


Here's "Sinner's Prayer":

The Kat Von D Chronicles

So there's really not a lot to post about this so I'll make it quick.

Sunday we went to borders in Sacramento to meet Kat Von D and get a signed book, let me rephrase that. We had to buy the book to meet her and get it signed.

We go there at about a quarter to twelve noon and there already were more than a few hundred people there. She arrived in an Escalade with her co stars (of LA Ink) in tow Artist Dan Smith and her own Kato Kaelin, "Rooftop". Douche. We also heard from the girl in front of us that Jessie James was in there but just lurking and not a part of the event, but I never got a visual confirmation of that.

Over all it took about three hours of standing in line to get up there,say hi, get the book signed and then take a posed pic with her - which was super cool of her and highly unexpected. In the back behind her was Rooftop and Dan and you could say hi and get pics if you wanted; some people even asked them to sign their books as well though I couldn't understand why.

She was super sweet and extremely kind for standing there the whole time to sign books and smile for the camera. I honestly did not expect that. Ozzy sat behind a table and just signed books. No pics. No interaction. Granted she's not Ozzy but I think there was a lot more people here to see Kat than him. There was still a huge line past where I first started when we got our books and went out the door.

All in all I really enjoyed the day and though I'm not sure who all got their books signed I have a feeling everyone walked away happy.

Kat @ the book signing:


Me and Kat Von D:


Me with Dan Smith and Rooftop

More Podcast madness

Scott over at Hook in Mouth decided to dust off his podcast he'd been doing for awhile now before he managed the TNOTB podcasts. I'd like to think it was from listening to ours here on TDM(toot toot goes the horn). But I volunteered to sit in with him on his and it's a short 45 minute set basically going over memories of old music formats and the state of the music business today in terms of album releases and how idiotic the labels are in their approach.It was alot of fun and I'd like to think it was informative. So give a lesson or pop over to Hook in Mouth to download it and listen at your leisure.

Best Cover Ever!

Ok, so I'm gonna take a LOT of shit for this, I'm sure. A little while ago I immersed myself into Firewind. After tearing through their discography OVER AND OVER, and slowly getting my hands on ANY cd I could find at Rasputins (seriously, the only store that you can walk in and purchase a Firewind cd) I've decided to go searching through the covers and collaboration songs they've done through the years.

A while back, I had asked people what they thought was the best cover out there of any song. I believe I've discovered it. The problem is, I had recently discovered who did the original. Nevermore.

The song is called "Believe in Nothing". I seriously fell in love with this song the moment I heard it. The acoustic guitars on this just kill me. Apollo's voice is like butter.. Not to offend any Nevermore fans but I think that his soft touch and vocal control on the verses far surpass Warrel Dane's inability to sing this song as beautiful yet seething with melancholy as Apollo does. The guitar work is stunning. This song IS perfection, but it's only recently been perfected by Gus G and Firewind.

But don't take my word for it. You be the judge. Here's the original by Nevermore off their 2000 cd Dead Heart in a Dead World.



And here is Firewind's version, taken from the compilation cd; Century Media: Cover 20 Years Of Extremes:

Wisconsin is keeping the Virtuoso alive

Do you like instrumental guitars? Do you like instrumental guitars that shred? Do you wonder what ever happened to virtuosos besides Joe Satriani? Well look no further then Friday Nights on 91.7 FM WSUM for Night of the Living Shred. Your host is Sawyer Hildebrandt and it's one hour of everybody from Soul Cycle to George Lynch to Steve Vai. You can go here for show schedule and listen live on the internets if you're not in Wisconsin.

Satyr takes a page from Maynard, Wine is now Kvlt

See that happy picture? Two guys sharing a glass of wine and the one on the right looks like Juan Valdez. Or better yet Michael Corleone from Godfather II. That same guy is Satyr from Satyricon, one of the most infamous black metal bands and he's doing what Maynard of Tool does and getting into the wine business. What is more frostbitten and grim then enjoying a glass of wine over a sacrificial altar or just in front of a warm fireplace? How about a posh dinner with a date and conversations about the evils of Christianity? After the jump there will be a montage of videos highlighting why I find this news so hilarious.It is the evolution of Satyr and how not so black metal he's become over the years. *Warning NSFW due to nakedness*


Mother North. This was Satyricon at it's most black and evil.


Now we fast forward where Satyricon got sort of Trent Reznorish.


Now Satyr looks like the Fonz as he tries to be evil.


Which brings us back to the banner pic. It just goes to show that black metal cannot be taken seriously and people eventually grow up. Or do they? Blabbermouth has the full story

Pilot Episode for That Devil Music Podcast. New Career Move?

I believe at the beginning of the year or maybe sometime last year I had entertained the idea of doing a podcast for the blog. As some of you may have seen I had been sitting in on the podcasts for The Number of the Blog. Upon realizing that it doesn't cost hundreds of dollars as previously researched, Draeden and I have worked on doing our own. Here is the fruits of our efforts. Funny story is this is a test of what we were going to do. But hearing the playback after all of the editing we both said that's actually pretty good so lets put it up there and see what people think. I'd like to thank Martin of Malastrana for the intro and outro music. If we get some postive feedback we will continue on with this and maybe expand it out more to make it more interesting. Give a listen and let us know how we did.

Pigskin Destroyer Update: Week 7

We're now getting in the time of the year where half the league decides to not bother anymore. People don't bother with bye weeks or to discard injured players. On one hand it's easy wins but at the same time it's cheap wins too.Well last week my opponent, Ineverwrestledabear, did actually try but thanks to my savvy pickup of LaGarrette Blount from Tampa Bay and dropping Cadillac Williams I actually won pretty handily 127-79. The standings did not change much as Angela's In flamers managed to squeek out a win to stay number one in the seeding and I remain number 2.

Record:5-3
MVP:Blount

Unless Metal On-sider fixes his 3 bye week slots it might be another win next week and if thats the case I'll forgo with an update and you can just assume That Devil Music is now 6-3 in this league.

Black Veil Brides - They're Goth-tastic!

So in the vein of Vampires Everywhere and similar bands who tap into the bleak blackness of all that goes bump in the night, I have discovered a band so epically dark and hardcore I'm afraid to listen to them by myself for fear that The Dark Prince himself could possibly be summoned up from the depths of Hades to take my soul.



No wait just kidding. These guys are twats.

Their name is Black Veil Brides, although not one of them is a girl as far as I can tell. They wear black leather and torn lace and paint their faces all dark and scary. That I can deal with, sadly it's their music I can do without.

For me, this has to be one of the worst bands I've ever seen or heard and I've heard a lot. The vocalist goes from a clean, almost boy band (without the talent) tone in the verses to a horrid, cat torture-sounding scream that just grates on the ears.

The music and song writing is sub par, and if memory serves one of them is playing a guitar that looks like Kirk Hammett's signature ESP which is a blasphemy in its own. Oh Kirk, the shame of it all.

I'm only going to post the one video, if you want to torture yourselves by wanting to hear more then more power to you.

I'm sure they have a myspace and website but I just don't feel it's worth my time to link them, if you want more: again - your ears not mine.

Here's their crappy video:

Henry Rollins is turning into an old man of epic proportions

I understand the importance Henry Rollins has in the hardcore and punk scene. I remember Black Flag and even recall listening to some songs. Henry is a very intelligent and articulate individual and I would totally love to sit down one and have a discussion with him. With that being said, here is a clip for a German show that was filmed in New York City where in my estimation he also showed a douche side to himself. Here is the clip.



So Henry gets recognized and though the girl yells out a couple of things he launches into an intelligent insult laden tirade masked over with the Iranian lady as a shield. While these girls had annoying piercings and armpit hair that clearly label them as hipsters there really wasn't any call to assume that because they were yelling things out that they were laughing at him for what he perceived to be a self conscious thing. I'm in my 40's too Henry and honestly I'm ok with that. We all morph. These girls may or may not get out of this stoner induced hipster phase just like you grew out of the violent face smashing phase. I just don't find it necessary to get into a battle of wits that may not have been necessary in the first place.
So what do you think? Do the damn dirty hipsters in this vid get exactly whats coming to them or was Henry just being a crotchety old man? Or was Henry just trying to impress the Iranian lady to get in her pants?

Creed Concert footage....or is it?

So during the last blogcast I was involved in we were going to do a skit that involved The Calling and Scott Stapp in honor of the spat between Sully Erna and Scott.Well the technological gods apparently didn't like that idea because the sound file got cut off during a computer crash.Well Draeden pointed me to this video of concert footage of Creed that is funnier then anything we would have put up on the blogcast anyway.We bring you Creed doing a performance of Here with me. But is it really Creed? enjoy.



Bonus video after the jump.

Iced Earth has discovered Facebook, Still Delusional

There are tons of bands that have Facebook fan pages. From the super popular to the newcomers. Facebook has been the place where bands can truly interact with fans unlike Myspace which became a clusterfuck of graphics and music samples.According to Blabbermouth today Jon Schaffer, the "mastermind" behind Iced Earth, just figured out Facebook's usage for his band this year. Here is the block quote from the article:

"When we launched Minions of the Wicked," Schaffer said, "the real power and usefulness of social-network sites like Facebook was unknown to us. Everyone knew about MySpace. Practically every band was already there. Twitter was more or less still in its infancy. Consequently, very few bands used it. Facebook existed, of course. But it was a big question mark. How could bands like ours use Facebook to keep in touch with fans?"

He continued: "On September 1st of this year, we launched the official Iced Earth Facebook page. We had no idea what would happen. All we knew is that other bands were on Facebook, and hundreds of fans requested that we be on it as well. So we asked our publicist, Bill Murphy, to create the official ICED EARTH Facebook page for us with one stipulation: That he be as passionate about it as he is about our music. He was. And we were blown away by the response we got. In two months' time, we added over 6,400 followers. Over six thousand four hundred! And it grows by nearly 100 per day. In Facebook, we found the perfect way for us to talk to fans, and — more importantly — to hear from them. In real time. We were thrilled."

My reactions after the jump.

The pretty awesome

Ok, so I happened to finally pick up the recent issue of Revolver Magazine, looking for the calendar "Women of Hard Rock", because Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez (of Eyes Set to Kill) and Maria Brink (of In This Moment) are both featured in it. Much to my delighted surprise, Simone Simmons (of Epica) is also a featured calendar girl..





So as I mentioned I picked up the latest issue of Revolver with a skinny raccoon-eyed blond on the cover named Taylor Momson. I've heard the name before, somewhere, I just couldn't recall how or why.
More on that later.

So I'm scanning through, looking for the Hottest Women of Hard Rock calendar and not finding it: WTF?! I do, however, see an article called "scream queens" with hot female vocalists but no calendar. Somewhere inside I note that you have to buy the calendar separately from their website. Bummer.

My first mission a failure I decide to start reading, starting with the Scream Queens article, of course.

First featured is Taylor Momson, the cover girl from a band I've never heard of called The Pretty Reckless. I still know the name and still not sure where though I've never heard of that band. Reading on I find out that she's one of those teenie-bopper spoiled bitches who's on some popular angst-y show called The Hills, who thinks she can sing and ants to put out a club friendly cd full of spewed out recycled shit. Not the case.

So I do as I always do when checking out new music; get on YouTube and watch a couple videos. I sat there staring at my screen, waiting those minuscule first few seconds before it starts, knowing deep down i was going to be disappointed, setting myself up for another failed mission. I was so wrong.

The first one, "Make Me Wanna Die" started and right off the bat I was really enjoying the music. It's not very harsh as hard Rock goes but a great catchy tune it kinda sounds a little industrial and a bit gothic-y. As the vocals hit I realized how wrong I was about Taylor's voice. It wasn't singing as I expected it to be from someone who looks like her, it was smoky, it was haunting, it was delicious and angry: like cheesecake filled with razor blades.

Think Fiona Apple but without all the suck.

I couldn't believe my ears - I expected some annoying cum-guzzling Hannah Montana carbon copy and I get this sweet and sexy moaning coming out of my speakers. It also doesn't hurt that she spends the length of the video stripping off layer after layer of clothes til he's pretty much an undead looking Victoria's secrets model.

As far ad the article goes I get the impression she's rebelling against who people see her as and is trying to be an uber-badass: gothic make up, smoking and drinking, taking her clothes off and dressing like a prostitute, cussing like a sailor - all at the tender age of seventeen: I'm sure I could go to jail for the naughty things she's forcing me to think about her. Regardless, she has the potential to have a great music career, though I think she needs to chill with the attitude; the image she portrays that's the exact opposite of the character she portrays on some retarded TV show. Be who you want to be not the exact opposite of who they expect you to be.

All in all I'm really happy I picked that magazine up, The Pretty Reckless is a great find and though they only have an EP out, apparently they're going to have a full length cd out soon. If it's as good as the tunes they've put out so far then I'll definitely pick it up when it hits the shelves.

If you wanna hear more you can check out their other videos on YouTube, their Myspace and iTunes.

On a side note, if your significant other doesn't like your music, introduce her to this and tell her that one of her "Disney pop princess, MTV sweet sixteen crybaby bitches" is the lead singer, and you'll find that there IS music out there you can enjoy together instead of you pretending to enjoy Lady GaGa just to make her happy.

Here is their video for "Make Me Wanna Die"



Here is another one "Miss Nothing"



Last but not least, here's some "Just Tonight"

More blogcasting, Now with more structure

Yes, yours truly sat in on another blogcast hosted by TNOTB. This time things went a bit more smoothly,probably because GroverXIII (the leader of that group) was sitting in this time. It was an Halloween edition and we somewhat stuck to that format. Four of the 6 six songs were suggested by me. The downside is that Jimmy from HBIH had computer problems near the end so it had to be cut short as the recording was lost. But overall it was yet again another fun time and here is the spooky evidence. Enjoy.Again there is the disclaimer of NSFW topics and a warning to keep the volume low if you're around kidlets.

Here is the playlist:
Powerglove – This Is Halloween
King Diamond – Halloween
Chris Catharsis and Mark Hawkins – Tales From The Crypt
Alice Cooper – Feed My Frankenstein
Type O Negative – Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)
Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark