Sawyer's Shred Spotlight: Compilations Pt 2 - Guitars That Ate My Brain

Hello again shredders, welcome to Sawyer's Shred Spotlight. This week's post is the second part of the mini-series on shred compilations! Last week I showed you a classic shred compilation, and this week I'm going to bring you a more modern compilation with some of the best guitar players up & coming in metal today. This album is appropriately entitled: Guitars That Ate My Brain!! We dive into this compilation, right after the jump.

As mentioned above, this album features original compositions from some big name guitar players, of (or formerly of) bands like Between the Buried & Me, Death, Darkest Hour, and even Hevy Devy himself. Its really about as good of a shred album as you could possibly want. I'll get us started with a track by Dave Martone (of solo fame) , "Hybrid Angels". If the first few riffs in the song don't kick you in the nuts, then I don't know what the hell you want. Throw in some unique Eastern tonalities and a handful of spaced-out solos (2:30 always blows my mind), and you've got a great shred song.



Next up is a really interesting track from Devin Townsend (Devin Townsend Project, Strapping Young Lad), called "Nerd Alert". The song weaves through smooth, dreamy, "left brain" melodies and then to spastic, some times violent "right brain" carnage. Plus, you get a good dose of Townsend's trade mark humor, with little bits of narration like: "You can't stop me, I was born to rock!" (Sometimes I use the "Greetings fellow guitar nerds" to start off my radio show.)



And my last expose from this compilation is a more straight forward heavy rocker, "L.D.E." from ex-Megadeth guitar player Chris Poland. I really dig the bluesy/sabbath-esque riffs in the song, mixed with the wahed-out leads. Poland actually does a great job of making his lines feel like vocals.



Here is the full track listing for the album, as well as what band each dude is from:

1. Paul Waggoner (Between the Buried & Me) - "Boot Dagger Boogie"
2. Kris Norris (Ex-Darkest Hour) - "The Life and Times of Sir Walter Sickert
3. Dave Martone (Solo) - "Hybrid Angels"
4. Bumblefoot (Solo, G'N'R) - "Disengaged"
5. Eyal Levi/Emil Werstler (Dååth) - "The Unwavering Collapse"
6. Shane Gibson (Solo, Korn) - "Artichoke Samurai"
7. Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) - "Nerd Alert"
8. Chris Poland (Ex-Megadeth, Ohm, Solo) - "L.D.E."
9. Ola Frenning (Ex-Soilwork)/Chris Mälmstrom (Darkane) - "Hydra"
10. Mike Orlando (Solo) - "Stomped"
11. James Murphy (Death, Testament) - "Maiden Voyage"
12. Hugues Lefebvre/Yann Mouhad (Anthropia) - "Schrodinger's Cat Paradox"

Try pronouncing those last two. Damn. Anyway, that's all for this week's SSS! Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out next week's post where I get to a pretty obscure compilation!!! And as always, I'll be on air tonight at 9 Central/10 Eastern so check it out at WSUM.org!

Lastly, I've entered the blogosphere, so if you'd like to get more shred throughout the week visit Night of the Living Shred!

Testament to Reissue a Live Album. Reminds Me of what I missed.

Testament Live at the Fillmore. Any long time fan of Testament should remember either the recording or the show itself. Recorded in 1995 it was for the Low tour and was the first tour to not feature Alex Skolnick or Louie Clemente. Instead for this show they had John Dette on drums and the legendary guitarist on the extreme music scene, James Murphy. When I saw Testament last year it was at the Fillmore and what a great place to see a show.

Prosthetic Records will now be reissuing this remastered live cd on January 18,2011 and after hearing it what a great live cd to have. The sound is punishing and fantastic and Chuck Billy sounds great at a time when he was developing his more brutal vocal style that would carry him through the remainder of the 90's. James Murphy does a fantastic job filling in for Skolnick. Greg Christian's punishing bass riffs are coherent and great here as well as Eric Peterson's riffs.

What was I doing in 1995 to make me miss this the first time? I have no idea. It was a long time ago and I was probably going through a life shift or something. So if you had the first edition of this cd and lost it or couldn't find it after it went out of print you're in luck. This will tide every Testament fan over until the new album gets released. Take it from someone who normally doesn't listen to live cd's. Track listing after the jump.

1. The Preacher
2. Alone in the Dark
3. Burnt Offerings
4. A Dirge
5. Eerie Inhabitants
6. The New Order
7. Low
8. Urotsukidoji
9. Into the Pit
10.Souls of Black
11.Practice What You Preach
12.Apocalyptic City
13.Hail Mary
14.Dog Faced Gods
15.Return to Serenity
16.The Legacy
17.Trail of Tears

The last three tracks are acoustic renditions of those songs and they sound great.Especially the Legacy funny enough. Get this album when it comes out.

Devil's Rating: 9 Sins out of 10.

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.

American Cartilage Tour postponed

Well this bites. I was looking forward to seeing this show on the 21st but it appears I might have to wait until after April. Seems Tom Araya's back problems that plagued him for months overseas and in Canada needs surgery to get fixed.

Unless it gets scrapped altogether. Dave Mustaine is fickle and the Testament guys are looking to finish up their new album between now and then so who knows if this tour is even going to happen though Blabbermouth reports that people are encouraged to hold onto their tickets.

Basically I wanted to go to see Slayer which I have yet to see in concert. I've seen Megadeth when they opened for Heaven and Hell but missed part of the set because the times got bumped up. I was still in line waiting to get patted down and in when they started playing and any time I can show Testament support I will. But yeah, I guess I'll have to wait again to see Slayer.

Anyways the procedure is supposed to be routine and all so here's to Tom Araya's speedy recovery.

An Evening with Testament

I can't think of too many better ways to spend a Friday night then going to see one of your favorite bands in concert. In this case Testament was playing the Fillmore on Friday night in San Francisco and overall it was alot of fun. Here's some interesting notes and such from that night.

1. Laaz Rockit was the unbilled first band up and it was a cool surprise. I remember those guys from the early to mid 80's as I believe one of the members was local to my hometown. I forgot they had reformed after breaking up in the early 90's. Anyways they looked their age but they were thrashing it up on stage and having fun. Here is a vid from their heyday brief as it was.



2. This was my first ever show at the Fillmore. It has only been recently that I've been hitting the smaller clubs to see the bands I like. During my heavy concert going in the 80's and 90's it was mainly arenas. There's definitely a different vibe being in close quarters.

3. For the first time ever I came away with a souvenir from the band. A guitar pick with Alex Skolnick's name and the band logo on it.

Ok on to the show itself. Let me first say that the Fillmore is a great place to go catch a concert. Parking is not that bad as there is alot of garages in the area. The hallways outside of the stage and floor are narrow but the floor itself is pretty spacious. And the sound is pretty good overall. It's loud but you can pick out every aspect of the band.

The bill itself had Lazarus A.D. officially opening then Unearth and Testament closing it out. Lazarus put on a great show. This band has put together some killer thrash tunes on their debut cd Onslaught and had some great energy up there. I actually look forward to the vocalist improving his vocal skills on future releases as there is definite room for improvement but the attitude is there.Here is the video off the debut album.



Then Unearth played their set and I give them an A for heaviness but otherwise I wasn't digging these guys too much. Not as much energy as Lazarus and frankly their songs all sounded the same and left me bored. Even when they tried to hit some groove riffs it was just lacking something for me. I was actually more entertained by my buddy Malastrana's friend actually going into the pit and tensing up for a couple of passes around then hitting the floor. The other thing that struck me at what an absolute clown the mohawk guitarist was being up there. Showmanship is constantly spitting your drink out of your mouth, spitting in the air and catching it in your hand to rub in your hair, and spitting in the air to catch it back in your mouth? Oh well they're somebodies cup of tea so to be fair here is a vid of them.



Testament then came out and it was a pretty good show. There were some sound problems throughout their set with Chuck Billy's mic but it was a solid set. Almost every track was the thrashiest track over the course of their career. There was a poll on Testament's myspace page to let fans vote on which set they should play at each stop. The choices were New Order + greatest hits,Practise what you preach plus greatest hits, or a compilation of songs including tracks from the latest album. With this being the 1st time I've ever seen them live I voted C and thankfully that is what won out. Here is the set list.

The Persecuted Won’t Forget
Practice What You Preach
Into the Pit
Dog Faced Gods
Raging Waters
More Than Meets The Eye
Demonic
True Believer
The Legacy
Over the Wall
The New Order
Souls of Black
First Strike Is Deadly
Disciples of the Watch
D.N.R.
Three Days in Darkness
The Formation of Damnation

Now here is one of the disappointing parts besides mic problems. I don't think the guys played this full set. I don't recall Demonic, Dog Faced Gods, or True Believer being played. Which is to bad because those are some of my favorite tracks post Skolnick in the 90's. But overall it a good show. Here is a vid for More then Meets the Eye off Formation of Damnation. If you haven't picked the cd yet do so. I ranked it as one of the best of last year. At this stage in the game Testament is the best thrash band of the old guard in my opinion. Check them out.

A look back on 2008

So 2008 was a pretty damn good year in the metal and hard rock scene. Alot of top name bands released material and while not all of it was good there was some solid stuff out there.

AC/DC(Black Ice):Nice to see them have huge success after all these years. The time was right for some straight forward rock it seems.

Ayreon(01011001)Another prog masterpiece that wraps up the story created way back in '96.

Battlelore(The Last Alliance)Good release from these guys(and gal) but not nearly their best.

Circle II Circle (Delusions of Grandeur)Another solid release from Zak Stevens and crew.

Communic(Payment of Existence)Really good CD but not as good as Conspiracy.

Disturbed(Indestructible)One of the only nu metal bands I enjoy everything they've done.

Dragonforce(Ultra Beatdown)More of the same from these guys. Couldn't get past the fact it seems they stayed with the same formula to capitalize on the sales boost they got thanks to Guitar Hero.

Guns n'Roses(Chinese Democracy)What more could be said. Probably the biggest flop not of the year but ever. After all the rumors,changed release dates and just plain years of waiting on this, there were debut albums that were better then this mess.

Jon Oliva's Pain(Global Warming)Disappointed in this. The previous albums were dead ringers for Jon Oliva's days with Savatage but by the time this came out I was sick to death of preachy save the world, stop the war albums.The whole CD is just one big message that we've heard before over the last 8 years.

Judas Priest(Nostradamus)We get it Rob, this is an epic album. No need to sing each and every song like it is a 80's power metal song. Probably the most overrated release of the year to me.

Lordi(Deadache)Yeah I know I suck for liking these guys. But I do so tough shit. Nothing new here just good old fashioned hard rock with trick or treaters playing the music.

Metallica(Death Magnetic)The other big story of the year. The first few listens were refreshing compared to the last few releases but I know this will wear on me over time in fact it already has. Lars get rid of the crap kit you use and go back to the gear you had on Master or even the Black album. And mix the bass better. Five years Trujillo has been with you guys and you finally release something with him on it and I can barely hear the bass. Listen to your fans about the production and remaster or remix this thing and you will pull in more of the fans you guys lost over the past decade.

Opeth(Watershed)Excellent album. The perfect balance between heavy and mellow. In fact the mellow songs on here are the best since Damnation. The concert I went to for them was kick ass too.

Sabaton(The Art of War)Pretty meh album compared to Primo Victoria or Attero Dominatus.

Scar Symmetry(Holographic Universe)Superb release. Tainted because of the knowledge that Christian is no longer the vocalist. I don't get into too much growling but his is the perfect tone and pitch for me. Pretty sure the next release from them with two singers is going to be average at best.

Testament(Formation of Damnation)After 9 years what a comeback. This album is how thrash should be played and should be the template for all bands that play this genre of metal. They brought back alot of old crew and it showed as it's the best selling CD they have ever had.

Warrel Dane(Praise to the War Machine)Highly overlooked album. Some great great songs on here. It does take a few pages from Nevermore but that's a good thing. His singing on the cover of Lucretia gives me chills. Supposedly late 2009 will be the new Nevermore album. Can't wait.

I've been perusing some of my sites to try and get an idea of who is releasing stuff this year. I'm anticipating Megadeth, Dream Theater, and hopefully Nevermore coming out with stuff this year. I'm not expecting a big year but here's hoping it will be a good one nonetheless.

\m/ //. .\\ \m/

Rogues Gallery The Sequel

So I was going over my older posts and realized on the original Rogues Gallery post that there were a few groups that I have checked out since then that I need to add. So without further ado here's some more stuff. Click on the band name or banner if one is available to check them out.

Scar Symmetry : This band balances alot of cool elements such as death grunts, clean vocals, technical playing, and orchestration. They're being dubbed as a melodic death metal group though I really don't see it. Christian Alvestam is an amazing vocalist with a huge range. However he has since parted ways with them so it will be interesting to see who they pick up in his stead and if they can continue to be good.


Katatonia : Another Swedish band that began as a doom metal outfit with growling. Jonas Renske blew his voice out though and after recovering these guys changed their sound to a more atmospheric dark sound with clean vocals. Think Opeth's Damnation album but heavier. I really dig their stuff.


Lordi : Time for the token cheesy band. These guys are an old monster movie come to life. Think Gwar but with a bit more talent. If you take away the makeup and other stuff their sound is very reminiscent of the 80's gruff voiced bands like Accept and Krokus. I think they're great but yeah definitely cheesy:)


Testament : Damn...this is thrash at it's finest. These guys have been around a long time with the 90's seeing the bulk of their work. Every style they have tackled has been excellant whether it be thrash , death, melodic. Alex Skolnick is back with them and Chuck Billy survived a cancer scare and the results of these events of late translates into a powerful cd. Check it out.


Tool : These guys were what I hung onto in the 90's when it seemed metal was dying. Progressive without a doubt. Dark and atmospheric on every album with the distinct tone of down tuned guitars and the bass featured prominently. This is not fast food music, you really have to sit and digest everything with every song. I lost track of them after Aenima but went back and checked out what I missed and it was still good stuff.

So there ya go, just a few more bands I've been listening to alot of lately, some old school, some new school, and a bit of cheese.