Ozzy's book provides few surprises, some insight

I just finished reading Ozzy Osbourne's book "I am Ozzy". In a nutshell it's an entertaining read. Especially from the perspective of a 60 year old British addict. To say Ozzy has lived a charmed life is an understatement. There really isn't any rational reason why a dyslexic and ADD diagnosed guy from a industrial town in England that ingested so much drugs and booze in 40 years could become so famous, rich,and still be alive. He should have been a victim of the early 80's list of casualties honestly.

Ozzy can't type nor write very well so he enlisted the aid of Chris Ayres to basically take dictation on everything Ozzy could remember or remembers being told. And that's how the book reads. It's like sitting across an old man that regales you with tales of "Back in my day" stories. The words are laid out like an overlong 12 year old's essay just with naughty words.

And the British slang is in full force. You might have to look at urban dictionary U.K. to get some of the references. Apparently pissed means drunk instead of being angry. Fag means cigarettes obviously. And fuck off is casually used to just mean leave.

It is a pretty in depth story from Ozzy's perspective but there are a few omissions of note. Jake E. Lee is barely referenced other then to say he was a new guitarist and then that he had left. Even Zakk Wylde is barely mentioned other then a couple of stories. Also the feud between Sharon Osbourne and Iron Maiden is not mentioned in here.

Ozzy stripped bare is pretty unremarkable. My impression is of a unintelligent,lovable, ordinary man put in extraordinary situations and ingesting tons of substances to cope with those situations. And survived.Getting mad at Ozzy for anything as I did in one of my earlier columns is useless because whatever situation it is it's usually out of his control. From the Black Sabbath days to now it's always been someone else handling the affairs because Ozzy has never had the capacity to handle anything on his own.

I'll leave this by saying that I recommend picking up the book. It's a must for any hard rock and metal fan. What ever preconceived notion you have had about Ozzy (or Sharon for that matter)may or not be changed by this book.It's definitely an entertaining read and I'll be extremely surprised if it's not made into a feature film down the road.

An Open Letter to Robb Flynn

Dear Robb,

I recently read an article on Blabbermouth where you fired the fans of San Diego because they weren't rowdy enough for you during your sets.I can see why you'd be pissed at San Diego.
1. It's got the best climate on the West Coast.
2. It's clean with nice sandy beaches.
3. Tijuana is less then an hour away for debauchery.
4. It's not considered the gayest city in America.
5. It doesn't have piss stunk demented transients roaming the streets.
6. You don't want to rip your eyes out trying to navigate it's streets.
7. It's got Seaworld.
Now here is why San Diego should tell you to go fuck yourself.

1.You've been the bridesmaid and never the bride for years. When have you headlined when it meant a shit?
2. You have a member of the band through no fault of his own is liable to collapse on stage at any moment cancelling the set.
3. You've been touring for three godamn years for this album. You just start to get new fans and then you make them wait. Meanwhile you play the same places with the same set every fucking time.Haven't you milked this as much as you can by now?Metallica toured for over 2 years in support of the Black album and sold millions of copies. Have you even gone gold with the Blackening?

I'm sorry you missed the boat and got your first break when metal was back in the underground and had to rip off other bands and trends until you found your niche 15 years later but ripping into a city because you think they're just not that into you is not their fault. San Diego is a laid back town. Duh. How many successful metal bands came from that city? There's not alot to get all metal about down there.

Maybe it's not San Diego you should be pissed at. After all their portion of the ticket price went into your pockets. Maybe you should be pissed at yourself for your lack of business sense, unoriginal stage presence, and ungrateful attitude.Or maybe your band is just not good enough and never has been.

As for me I've never liked your band except for this last album. It's pretty good thrash but nothing amazing. Certainly not enough to make me want to go a show with you on the bill and pit like no one has pitted before. And I think I'm not alone in this. Your stage presence consisting of telling me to get the fuck up over and over again and calling me a motherfucker constantly sure as hell is not going to make me love you any more either.

Time to reevaluate yourself my friend. You're not young anymore and time is running out even faster if you don't keep your shit in check.

I hear Epica put on a good show

So I must have pissed off the metal gods somehow this year because I can't seem to make a concert yet. Febuarary 17th was no exception as I had tickets for the show but thanks to the flu bug I couldn't make it. Well luckily for all of you my friend Draeden did make it and was kind enough to do a review on the show. With pictorial evidence of course.Enjoy.

On February 17th I attended the Epica concert with Blackguard and Threat Signal as openers at Slim’s in San Francisco.

Through the course of the evening I got to partake in a lot of random events. Members of Epica came to and from the bus to the doors and stopped and signed and took pictures. The first was new guitarist Isaac Delahaye, then Arien Van Weesenbeck, Mark Janson, Yves Huts and finally Simone Simmons. Oliver Palotai, covering for Coen (who they had said was taking time to get married) also made the rounds. They were all really humble and thankful that so many people were hanging out front for HOURS before the show. They talked it up, thanked everyone, told us about the bus crash and it sounded like Simone even spent time in a Canadian jail, though I can’t be sure of what that was about, and I didn’t ask.





I’ve been here at Slims before, I’ve seen quite a few shows here (Epica being one of them) but nothing is like being one of the first people in and making it to the front of the stage. Normally, people get squished together as people try to force their way to the front, but this crowd was really respectful of each other’s space, and no one was pushing too hard (for the majority of the show).



First up was Blackguard, and I’ve been listening to their cd, Profugus Mortis, quite a bit for the month before the show actually arrived and I’ve been loving the Celtic sounds and beer guzzling romps pounding against my eardrums.. Their set was great, but WAY too short. I could see from the setlist taped to one of the speakers there would only be five songs, NOT long enough. Here they are:

1. The Sword
2. Scarlet to Snow
3. Farewell
4. Allegiance
5. This Round





All I can say is that they’ve found a new fan. Their cd, which I’ve been cranking often lately is amazing, their show was full of energy and they definitely know how to rock and entertain the crowd. I can’t wait to see them when they come back in September in support of Kamelot.

Threat Signal was up next. I’ve never heard of them and I didn’t know anything about them. They took the stage, riding the wave of Blackguard’s energy, but they soon lost it. From what I could see, the lead singer didn’t have anywhere near the crowd-commanding chops that Paul Ablaze has. They performed a couple more songs than the opening act and did a decent job of trying to entertain the crowd, but I didn’t get as musically aroused as I did before. Here’s their set list:

1. Afterlife
2. Through My Eyes
3. A New Beginning
4. Beginning of the End
5. Counterbalance
6. Severed
7. Rational Eyes



Finally, Epica is back in the Bay. I’ve seen them before with Amanda Sommerville performing lead vocals due to Simone being ill, and was anxious to see Epica with Simone more than anything. Coen Janssen was not there, covered by Kamelot’s Oliver Palotai, due to his planning his upcoming wedding. I was also anxious to see new guitarist Isaac Delahaye, who replaced Ad Sluijter.



The stage was full of their power, and nothing looked like it was missing or out of place. They sounded amazing. The show was incredible and there were so many aspects of a great show involved. Lots of chatting with the crowd, throwing of picks, sweat raining all over the front of the stage.

The Set List was a mixture of songs from the Divine Conspiracy, sprinkled with a couple oldies and, of course, the new one; Design Your Universe. I think my favorite performance of the evening was Tides of Time; an incredibly beautiful song highlighting Oliver’s amazing ability to play ANYTHING along with his beautiful consort, Simone. It was a sweet moment between them on stage that we were all lucky enough to watch.

Here’s the setlist:

1. Samadhi
2. Resign to Surrender
3. Sensorium
4. Unleashed
5. Martyr
6. Fools of Damnation
7. Sancta Terra
8. Imperial March
9. Piano Solo
10. Tides of Time
11. Seif al Din
12. The Obsessive Devotion
13. Design Your Universe
14. Cry For the Moon (encore)
15. *** (encore)
16. Consign to Oblivion (encore)

Some interesting notes on their set list. My favorite, as I mentioned, was Tides of Time but by a close second was Star Wars’ “Imperial March”. That was so fucking bad-ass, words cannot describe how hyped up the crowd got when they heard that, because, for lack of a better term, Star Wars is universal. I really loved hearing Cry for the Moon too... There’s nothing like hearing Simone singing that song. I, unfortunately, can’t remember the second song from the encore, but I’ll look around for it.

Well, that’s it. It was one of my favourite shows with the only real downside being the addition of Threat Signal to the bill, and that Rob couldn’t make it as well. He would have enjoyed it.

So there you have it. A firsthand account of Epica's appearance in San Francisco. Some notables on this is that Threat Signal was not the originally intended band to be second bill. They were added last minute for the tour as Daath had to pull out. I'm not sure if Draeden would have enjoyed them anymore then Threat Signal but there you go.
Thanks to Draeden for being my man on the street and providing this for us.

Minor tweek to the posts

I've done a minor tweek to the site. As I was reading over some of my longer posts I got annoyed at how much scrolling I had to do on the front page. So I added a Read More function to each post. If the post is going to be a long one from here on out you can click the Read More link to get the rest of the text. When I get time I'll fix the long archived posts.

But this way I'll be able to fit more posts on the front page because I've got a feeling some people are missing stuff I've done in the past.Feel free to leave me feedback on this little tweek.

Frisco and rain and Ozzy,oh my!

Gather 'round kiddies. It's storytime. It's the story of a quest to meet a legendary vocalist in the metal world and the trials and tribulations along this journey. And there will be a moral of sorts at the end. Everybody got their Snuggies on and ready? Good coz here we go.

So everybody by now should know that Ozzy Osbourne had written an autobiography not too long back. Well he rambled and someone wrote it all down would be more accurate but I digress Ozzy had a book out called "I am Ozzy". So with any book of this magnitude there was the inevitable book signing tour. Lo and behold there was a date for a San Francisco signing. Was I going to pass up on this? Surely you jest.So I called up my friend Draeden and he agreed we'd be stupid to pass this up. So we ordered our books for pick up and waited for the day to come to go and meet the famous Ozzman.



So the day arrives and mind you that both Blabbermouth and the book store's information said that he would be appearing from 1-3 p.m. So we arrived at around 10 in the morning figuring that a line would be starting. When we get there we noticed the sign you see there stating that he would be appearing at 3 o' clock. What the fuck? The guy behind the counter tells us that there was an error in the information and that he would indeed be appearing at 3. I then ask him the important questions like"When will the line start forming and from where?". I don't think this douchebag had ever been involved in a book signing like this because he acted like we can come back to the store whenever and pop the book in Ozzy's face to have him sign it. Uh, no jackass he's not going to be sitting all lonely for 2 hours while pople just wander by and ask him to sign a book.


Great,so what do we do for 5 hours in increasingly wet and rainy conditions in the middle of San Francisco? I guess we walk down to Fisherman's Wharf and putz around for a few hours. And it's raining on us. Luckily there was a street vendor there selling 5 dollar umbrellas. These guys know their tourists. So we end up at Pier 39 and are messing around some of the shops. I forgot to get some pics of some cool t-shirts but hey, here's some pics of related material at another shop.





So then it was time to grab a bite to eat before trudged back to stand in where ever the fuck the line was going to be at. Oh look!



Now I've been in a few Hard Rock Cafe's in my day and they're ok depending on which one. This one was pretty basic in comparisons but there were a few things of note on the walls.

Eddie Van Halen guitar signed that was given to Jason Becker.


Kerry King Flying V


Slayer Flyer for a concert on a wall


And a No One like You video by the Scorps on Hard Rock Cafe TV.


So we said our goodbyes to Hard Rock and journeyed back to the ferry terminal. By now the wind had also kicked up along with the rain so not only did we have to get umbrellas but also pick up 5 dollar ponchos from the Alcatraz Cruise shop. When we get back to the signing area look at what we find.





Not so cavalier about this now are we Mr. Bookstore salesguy? So after trudging around and then getting into this line at around 1 we were in for another 2 hours of standing and waiting.Then at last almost on time Ozzy arrives.



Draeden tried to get pics of him exiting the SUV and going in but you'd think it was a high profile witness for the Mafia being ushered in. No luck with pics.



Now comes the interesting part. We knew the rules going in or so we thought.

No memorablia to be signed.
No posed pics however you could take pictures as he's signing your books.
No personalized autographs

That's fine let's just get in there and get this done.Well as it turned out they first had a guy assigned to go along the line reminding people that memorablia was not going to be signed. Then as you got close to the door to get in the building they had another guy telling you what page he will be signing and to make sure you have it opened at that spot ready to go. Ok fuckwad, let's be even more anal about this,k? Then as you got close to the door of the bookstore you had another guy taking your ticket and repeating the part of having the book ready to go.

And there is.


Keep in mind this was the only good picture we could get between two cameras. People were being hustled along and the book taken out of your hand and placed on the table and as he signed was then folded back up and shoved back at you with the words "You need to move sir, we need to keep the line going". The woman on the left was the condescending bitch telling me good job for taking the picture as my friend gets his signed. So in short Ozzy never looked up, no time to even say hello, and ended up with this after 6 hours of grueling bullshit.



I'm ecstatic, can't you tell?



Overall they should really have had him to do a private signing and then just shipped them to customers because I know for a fact that most of those people in line went well out of their way to make it there to see him and all they got was a glimpse or two, rained on,aching feet and legs and a signed book for all of their trouble.I was hoping to make amends for some of my harsh words about Ozzy in the past and this did nothing to fix that.

So if you ever happen to go to one of these things make sure you call the location and get as much information as possible including correct times and exact rules of engagement otherwise you to could end up with 6 hours of your life you won't get back.

I was asked if it was worth it. In the immediate no, but Ozzy is a living legend and in his sixties so in the long run I'll probably look back on this and be glad I did it. But I won't do this for anybody else again, I don't care who it is.

So there you go, a book signing day in pictures. Hope you enjoyed reading it more then I had living it.

*Update*
I saw these people going around filming and I guess we were not awesome enough to appear in the final cut. But here is the vid that was recorded for this signing.



I love the editing on this thing to make it look like it was the greatest day ever. So based on this if you're a child under the age of 12 and/or a woman at the front of the line, you had a fantastic time.

2nd Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards has potential for fail with a dash of success

Last year Revolver did it's first ever Golden Gods Award show and it appears that they decided to mature it up a bit based on most of the category names. True, hottest chick in metal is still there and wasting space but the retarded category names like Most Awesome Drummer have at least been reduced to Best Drummer.
But for the life of me I can't figure out where in the hell they get the nominees for each category from.
Come on people we're used to the Grammys being a bunch of clueless douchebags but this is where we as knowledgeable metalheads get it right. Right?
Apparently not.
Here are the nominees for this year with my comments sprinkled in.

Best Guitarist:

* Kirk Hammett (METALLICA)
* Tony Iommi (HEAVEN & HELL)
* Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB)
* Dave Mustaine (MEGADETH)
* Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES)
* Zakk Wylde (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)

Obviously this has nothing to do with the past year as most of these guys haven't released anything for at least two years. I've got respect for some of the nominees but honestly none of them are my favorites.

Best Drummer:

* Chris Adler (LAMB OF GOD)
* Brann Dailor (MASTODON)
* Dave Grohl (THEM CROOKED VULTURES)
* Gene Hoglan (DETHKLOK, FEAR FACTORY)
* Dave Lombardo (SLAYER)
* Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (AVENGED SEVENFOLD)

Some pretty good talent listed here. But come on, would the Rev honestly be listed here if he hadn't died? I'm so tired of the pity votes.

Best Vocalist:

* Jonathan Davis (KORN)
* Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL)
* Neil Fallon (CLUTCH)
* Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM)
* Serj Tankian (SYSTEM OF A DOWN)
* Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR)

With all of the vocalist in the world this is what comes up for nominees? Dio is a given and unlike the Rev would have probably been nominated regardless of the cancer story. But Clutch? What the hell have they done since 1995? Halestorm? They just got a record deal. Korn's been on hiatus and Serj isn't really metal without SOAD.How about Chuck Billy,Mikael Akerfeldt,Blitz Ellsworth? Be consistent please.

Album Of The Year:

* ALICE IN CHAINS - Black Gives Way to Blue
* HEAVEN & HELL - The Devil You Know
* MASTODON - Crack the Skye
* MEGADETH - Endgame
* SLAYER - World Painted Blood
* THEM CROOKED VULTURES - Them Crooked Vultures

Some strong nominees here.Hopefully Alice in Chains won't get screwed here.Heaven & Hell's album kind of bored me sadly.Slayer's album was an improvement over past releases and is a toss up with Endgame.I can't get into Mastodon and believe me I've tried and I haven't listened to Them Crooked Vultures yet though I should.

Best Live Band:

* THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
* LAMB OF GOD
* METALLICA
* MOTÖRHEAD
* ROB ZOMBIE
* SLAYER

I saw Metallica in their heyday and they were pretty awesome. I understand their show is still pretty good though I don't want to hear Hetfield's vocals on the old stuff now.I've seen Rob Zombie and his show is pretty good too though he forgets the words to his own silly songs.I've seen concert vids of LoG and they look like a cookie cutter live hardcore band.Same goes for Prada.I'd have an opinion on Slayer if I could have seem them on time this year.And I've never seen Motorhead.
Best Underground Band:

* BEHEMOTH
* BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
* THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
* CONVERGE
* THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
* OBITUARY

Again like I said last year. Metal for the most part is underground so this is kind of redundant from the redundancy department. I'm not a fan of any of these bands but if I had to pick it'd be Behemoth.

Most Metal Athlete:

* Josh Barnett (MMA fighting)
* Marc Colombo, Cory Procter, and Leonard Davis (NFL football)
* Chris Jericho (WWE wrestling)
* Mike Piazza (MLB baseball)
* Jason Ellis (Pro skateboarding)
* Jolene Van Vugt (Pro motocrosser)

What is the criteria for this? Seriously.I'm a Cowboys fan and since Colombo and the boys actually do have a metal band I'll go with them.Oh wait I forgot about Fozzy. Which was a joke band incorporated into a WWE storyline years ago when Jericho had long hair and now they're trying to be legit. (Yes I'm a recovering douchebag that watched wrestling on and off again for years)

Hottest Chick(s) In Metal:

* Pearl Aday (PEARL)
* Maria Brink (IN THIS MOMENT)
* Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM)
* Lacey Mosley (FLYLEAF)
* Alexia & Anissa Rodriguez (EYES SET TO KILL)
* Cristina Scabbia (LACUNA COIL)

Not bad on the categories so far until now. They kept this on here. For Christ sakes, these girls shouldn't really be proud of this. How is the acceptance speech going to go? "Uh thanks guys for thinking I'm hot, but I'm in a band and so ...what do you think of our music...hey...eyes up here please". And Flyleaf isn't even metal.Lacuna Coil barely is. Utter fail here.

Comeback Of The Year:

* AC/DC
* ALICE IN CHAINS
* ANVIL
* FEAR FACTORY
* HEAVEN & HELL
* KISS

AC/DC gets points for being gone for 8 years then making millions of dollars from really strong cd sales and concert tour. Anvil's documentary made the world go..."Oh yeah ..I remember those guys" and the new cd's sales still stink.Fear Factory would be a dark horse here. Heaven & Hell? That should have been last year. If there is a God don't let it be Kiss. Alice in Chains should get this hands down.

Alice in Chains at the Fox Theater 2-11-10

Sadly I was not able to attend the AIC concert this month at the Fox Theater in Oakland but lucky for us all I know someone who did. My good friend Martin from Malastrana and his wife attended and brought back a report.

Martin wrote:

Alice in Chains - Thursday Feb 11, 2010 - 8pm - Fox Theater - Oakland, CA.

One note about the Fox Theater: AMAZING VENUE for a show! Great sound! Great layout.

AiC played 19 songs over two hours. And I got a pick! (Not sure if it's Jerry's, Mike's or William's though, they tossed them at the same time).
The show was amazing. Laurie and I were on the floor about 10 people back from the stage, just left of center. The band was 110% on! They were all very humble and cool on the stage. Jerry, Mike, and William each moved around the stage so that everyone could see what they were doing. So we all got a closeup.

Jerry's playing and singing was fantastic. He doesn't think of himself as a shredder, but the guy has major chops and he showed them off. Mike had a huge smile on his face the entire show. He is a badass bassist. Sean was phenomenal behind the kit. The guy plays some of the craziest-grooviest rhythms with such ease. At times he'd add some double-bass fills and death metal beats. And last but not least, William was great! He is a great singer. In fact, I was surprised to see him singing a lot of songs I thought were Jerry (such as "Last Of My Kind"). His stage presence was pretty good. He was calm and collected and able to get the crowd to sing, chant, clap, jump, etc. He too had a huge smile on his face. The crowd was very supportive as well.

I can see why Jerry wants him in the band. He is not Layne, nor does he pretend to be. He is a good addition to AiC that can compliment Jerry's voice. One must remember the power of AiC was in the complimentary vocal style of both Layne and Jerry. Now it's William and Jerry, and it still works. William sung all the Layne songs perfectly. For instance, William sang "Nutshell" and "Love, Hate, Love" (where Layne really let out his soul) in such a way, that if you closed your eyes, you thought it was Layne. To clarify, William really gets into the emotional feeling of the lyrics and music and interprets it in such a way that he pays tribute to Layne's abilities. In addition, William plays solid guitar and even does some of the solos.

I was impressed by the entire band. I am happy they found a singer that can compliment AiC, do Layne justice, and resurrect the best band to come out of Seattle from that era. Their new stuff is just as good as their old stuff. It's like meeting up with an old friend you have not seen in many years. Some things have changed, some things are new and different. But, the original qualities that you admire are still there. Welcome William! And welcome back Alice in Chains!!!

The set list was composed of the following songs (although not in this order). The only way I could remember was to look over my AiC collection.

All Secrets Known (opening song)
Check My Brain
Last of My Kind
Your Decision
Got Me Wrong
Them Bones
Dam That River
Rain When I Die
Sickman
Angry Chair
Nutshell (fitting tribute to Layne)
Acid Bubble
No Excuses
Grind
Again
We Die Young
Man In The Box
Love, Hate, Love (encore 1)
Would? (encore 2)
Rooster (encore 3)

So there you have it. Not only was Black gives Way to Blue a great album but they still put on an outstanding show. Thank you Martin for being my first ever guest writer and Man on the Street:)Please click on the Malastrana link under Devilish Friends and show Martin support for his project.

Here is the best video clip I was able to get from that show and it looks to be approximately in the same location Martin was at for the night. Here is the opening number "All Secrets Known". Enjoy.

Greatest mashup band ever? Greatest mashup band ever.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Rock Sugar!



You have to go the Official Rock Sugar page.The amount of effort these guys are putting into this thing is pretty freaking cool.Especially pay attention to the Bios on the band and the history. Hilarious.

Happenin' Harry wants you!

If you happen to be down in L.A. and are in the need for some hard rock, be sure to try and catch Happenin' Harry and the Haptones All Star Band at either the Cat Club, the Joint, or the Aqua Lounge. Harry's All Star band usually has some of the top names and legendary figures from the hard rock and heavy metal scene come up and do jam sessions and from what I hear it's a pretty damn good show.

Currently the lineup of the Haptones is Harry on vocals, Billy Sheehan(Mr. Big,Steve Vai)on bass,Bumblefoot(Guns n' Roses)on guitar, and Ray Luzier(Korn) on drums.

Artists that have jammed with them on All Star nights include members of Poison, Iron Maiden,Type O Negative,Alice in Chains...etc.

For more information go to these sites on what's coming up:
MySpace
Facebook

Here is a vid of them performing live in Cleveland Ohio after the jump.

Happy Birthday Heavy Metal

Unofficially yesterday was Heavy Metal's birthday with the release of Black Sabbath's self titled debut. I don't know how I would have survived the 80's specifically high school without it. The power of the genre is so great that I'm now 40 and love it as much as ever maybe even moreso when by rights I should be listening to Coldplay by now.
While metal has never truly been respected overall it has never mattered as it has survived through four decades of change both musically and socially thanks in part to the fans that have understood it and embraced it and kept it going through tough times.
Here's to another 40 years and beyond to the greatest music genre on the planet.

A Hellbilly Real Time Review

I haven't done a real time review for a while and I can't think of a better victim then Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Noble Jackals,Penny Dreadfuls, and the Dehumnanization of Cool. Holy crap that's a mouthful. I'm going to keep my expectations low because not only was Educated Horses my least favorite album but it seemed that Rob Zombie kept hinting he wanted to get away from this aspect of his career. I hope it's not a half assed endeavor. Alright let's do this.

1.Jesus Frankenstein: Well already the song titles are back to form. If I were a Christian I'd take offense I think. Spooky intro. Wow this is a bass heavy intro. Ack! Rob Zombie just yelled "All Hail!". Scary. Lot's of buildup in this song.It better be good. Oh yeah this is the Rob Zombie I remember. "All Hail Jesus Frankenstein!". This song has some groove. I like it. 8 of 10.

2.Sick Bubblegum: I'd seen the video for this. Best acting job by Shari Moon Zombie imo. This one has the first of the soundbyte intros and the anthemic "Rock Motherfucker Rock!". You know I've hardly ever caught on to any of the sound byte references. I guess I don't watch enough shitty horror flicks. This song has a good groove as well. And as usual the lyrics make no damn sense but if you care about lyrical meaning with Rob Zombie you're in for disappointment. 8 of 10.

3.What?: As if on queue this song title sums it up with all of Rob Zombie's vocals.
Old timey keyboard intro.Buzzsaw guitars and a voicebox vocals. This song is catchy as hell. The kind of song that will probably stick in my head the rest of the day and aggravate the shit out of me.Uh huh Uh huh Uh huh. 7 of 10 just for that fact.

4.Mars Needs Women: There was a freestyle group in the 80's with a song of this title. Oh lord I hope this isn't the same thing. Nope. It's got a bluesy acoustic intro. Interesting. Am I listening to Rob Zombie? Oh hello Rob there you are. Apparently Mars Needs Women , angry red women in fact. I don't know how he knows that but oh well. No doubt this song is an homage to the crappy 50's sci flick of the same name about a Amazon like tribe of women on Mars. Song is pretty repetitive.I actually think I liked the intro better then the meat of the song. Oooo....sounds like a Martian woman is getting laid in that soundbyte. Still not enough to save the song. Sounds like filler from earlier albums. 6 of 10.

5.Werewolf,Baby!:Another soundbyte intro. Apparently they can sense the rythmn of my blood. Whoever they are. Maybe it's werewolves.I R smart.Slide guitar intro. Oh it's a song about Rob Zombie turning into a werewolf and looking to mate. Fantastic.Stay away from my leg. A bit better then the previous track. 7 of 10.

6.Virgin Witch: Hope she's hotter then American Witch. Church Bells ring in the intro.Slow Doomy intro.Ooooh I like this riff. Reminds me of Corrosion of Comformity.Pretty heavy song. Not as catchy as American Witch but alot heavier. I'm noticing the electronica is not as prevalent on here. Sounds like John 5 is getting alot of free reign to actual play the guitar here. I'm digging this track . 8 of 10.

7. Death And Destiny Inside The Dream Factory: No soundbytes in here it just goes straight to the rockin.That voicebox is back on this track and with the pace of this song it's like an annoying buzz throughout. So far the least favorite track for me. Next! 5 of 10.

8. Burn: A one word song title? That's rare.Soundbyte intro. Sounds like a cult leader speaking. Groove laden intro. This song reminds me of Ironhead from the Sinister Urge. No Ozzy in sight though. Pappa omm mow mow? Somebodies been listening to golden oldies. Songs interesting and has a good groove. 7 of 10.

9. Cease to Exist: Soundbyte intro again from a faux newscast mixed with something else. Heavy intro. Pretty slow paced for a Rob Zombie song. Catchy riff though.It's an ok song. 7 of 10.

10. Werewolf Women of the SS: I know this reference! I was just reading an interview with the actress that played in this movie years ago on (shameless blog plug)Retrocrush.com. Sorry, back to the song. Soundbyte is the trailer for this film.Riff is like a demented Pipeline. 60's surf film vibe.Go Go dancers are being envisioned. "Howl baby Howl". I like this track. It's a fun tune. 8 of 10.

11.The Man Who Laughs. A secret agent song? Sounds like it with the strings mimicing a secret agent flick. Whoa, crushing riff in the midst of a symphonic song by Rob Zombie? Trippy. Groove laden riff. This song is bad ass so far. Holy crap the track is almost 10 minutes long.Halfway through it's a drum solo like you'd hear at a live show. Hope it doesn't go the rest of the way.Or have dead air like he's done in the past. Still going with the drums.It's like watching a parody comedy and waiting for something to happen when the credits roll. Still drumming. Ah there we go back to the main riff.Cool way to close out the album. This might be my favorite track. 9 of 10.

Overall that was a pretty fun listen and a nice return to form by Rob Zombie. If you've liked any White Zombie or any solo stuff previous to Educated Horses you should get this. If you're tired of the schticks probably not so much. Don't get me wrong about Horses I did like it...eventually. It just took a few listens because it was so different.
If you want to hear some of this stuff for yourself go to their Myspace page and check out What? and here is the video for Sick Bubblegum.Enjoy.

Just how far is Queensryche going to fall?

Have you ever wanted to hear Silent Lucidity with jugglers? How about about The Thin Line with Go Go dancers? Well too bad because you missed it. According to Blabbermouth Queensryche played a couple of shows at a casino in Washington with family and friends onstage but the kicker was it was all done in a cabaret style.

Now normally I'd wonder if this was going to end up being the direction these guys take and shudder but honestly would it be too far fetched? Let's go back shall we?

1983

Queensryche - Queen Of The Reich
by barbarius_76600

1985


I really don't know where I'm going with this other then I guess this...



may just have been a better show then the one I saw them in 2000. I just don't see it as a career revitalizer if they choose to turn into juggalos.

Devil's Review: Overkill - Ironbound

Overkill's career is an interesting one. They formed before any of the Big 4 did yet didn't catch on until the second wave of thrash. Then for a long time went with a streetwise style of just straight metal instead of thrash. Well 30 years after their formation they have come back to the thrash they technically created in the form of the album Ironbound.

For all of those people that incessantly have to let the world know they've hated Overkill since Horrorscope or Years of Decay here you go. Go back and pick this album up because you've finally got your wish.

There is no doubt the 2 or 3 year rest(really long for Overkill)between this and Immortalis left them refreshed and recharged. I went back to previous releases and Blitz's vocals sound tired compared to this. The shrieks are back and just the vocals in general are better then they've been in a long time.

If there is any negatives I have to this album it has to be the at times uninspired soloing of Dave Linsk and D.D. Verni's bass tone. That incessant plunking sound from the bass is noticeable on every track. While not nearly mixed as bad as W.F.O it still is a bit of distraction on some tracks.

Overall though this is an ass kicking, neck wrecking good time. My favorite track is The Head and the Heart as it is reminiscent of Years of Decay which is what got me into these guys in the first place. Support Overkill this year and buy this album. New and old fans should love it.

Here is the first video from the album for the track "Bring me the Night". This song above all others is a huge ode to old school thrash.

Megadeth news that's actually worth a damn

Blabbermouth and just about every other major metal site are plotzing themselves over the news that Dave Ellefson is back with Megadeth.



Last year I posted about meeting Dave at a Con and that I wished Ellefson would get back with the band. Well there ya go, I guess some wishes do get granted. Though it's to be seen how long this is going to last with so much bad blood over recent years but man...talk about what the hell moments from Dave Mustaine. First he started playing gigs with one of his nemeses in Kerry King, then agreeing to play with Metallica at the Sonisphere shows and now bringing Ellefson back into the fold. This Christian bug is making him even more batshit crazy but in a good way.

I really can't way for the Carnage tour now.

*Deth Update*
Jeez they wasted no time in doing a promo pic did they?

Am I too old or does this just suck?

Look I'll be the first to admit I enjoy some rave type trance or techno from time to time. And I like some metal every once in a while. But mixing the two together? I'd rather stick my head in a vat of acid then see this genre grow any further.

Meet Mastodon's little brother Bison B.C.

A friend of mine has a buddy in a band called Bison B.C. and they're out of the Vancouver region. I checked out their myspace page and alot of Mastodon influences. Heavy riffs short on lyrical content. Pretty good stoner metal if you ask me. Check them out here.

Here is a live video of them performing Cancer Rats.



Look for them to open for High on Fire in the coming weeks if you're in the Canada area.

More mashup madness

Enjoy Van Beatles everyone! Honestly David Lee Roth wouldn't lasted a rehearsal with the Beatles but this is how it probably would have sounded had he ever joined.

Ozzy,Muppets,and Scandals

Before the Osbournes tv show shit all over Ozzy's legacy there was this little gem from 1995.



Apparently Jim Henson Productions made a cd called Kermit Unpigged. And this was one of the tracks from it. I think I like Ozzy better when he's mumbling and stuttering then this trainwreck. If you listen close to the end it sounds like a Miss Piggy sex tape on par with Paris Hilton's.

If this had been a live skit on t.v it could have been funnier but there is no way in hell I'm playing this track around my impressionable kids.

Content with Malcontent

Facebook is pretty awesome sometimes. You never know who you might run into from your past. I recently reconnected with someone I used to hang with in high school and on weekends back in the day. We lost touch after high school but his band would play at a mutual friend's keg parties in the garage a few years later. Then we totally lost touch until recently on Facebook. Turns out we have some mutual friends on there as well.

The person I'm referring to is Alan Roble and it turns out he's still active heavy into music and is the bass player in a band called Malcontent and I have to say I like what I hear. I asked him if there was any Tool influences and he says that yes some of the members listen to Tool but they all have such differing influences they just mix them together. I agree because from the tracks I've listened to there is definetly alot going on in each song.

So do me and Alan a favor and go to their Myspace and check out their tunes. They also made a video for the song Deja Vu which you can view here. This song is pretty progressive which I like with tempo changes and catchy riffs. Check it out.


Dejavu

Nelly! | MySpace Video

Malcontent will also be playing their first show of the year at Slim's in San Francisco on March 12th so if anyone is local and wants to go check them out there ya go.

We're all Doomed!

Well not really but I've been into a kind of a doom kick of late.Now normally I don't listen to too much doom because by and large it's sloooooow and repetitive and frankly boring. I always imagine Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh as a doom vocalist actually. But there are a few bands from time to time that have piqued my interest. I guess if I have to listen to doom I'm more inclined to listen to the gothic doom variety. I enjoyed early Theater of Tragedy and Katatonia so I set out to find similar artists. The jury is still out on My Dying Bride but I did find a real gem.

Ladies and Gentlemen I bring you.......



This band is from Sweden and they've been around a few years with technically 4 albums to date. Now what got me enjoying the music was what they brought to the table in terms of influences. Beauty and the Beast vocals but clearly enunciated,heavier more melodic riffs then Katatonia,and lyrics on par with Opeth makes for some damn fine down in the dumps listening.I couldn't find a legit video but this first track is what got me interested off their last album Turning Seasons Within.



I haven't seen any news of any work being done on a followup to this but I'll keep my eyes peeled.In the meantime if this is something up your alley click on the banner link to check out their Myspace page.

American Cartilage Tour rescheduled

So it's game on for this tour again. Things happen for a reason because I'd rather go to this show on these dates then right about now. Anybody who purchased their tickets for the postponed show can still use these. Check Blabbermouth to see if your venue is still valid. If it's not you can get a refund for your tickets.