And the winners are...

Hard Rock Performance: AC/DC won for War Machine. Soo much fail here. Was Alice in Chains "Check My Brain" too much to understand? Was it too much of a quality song? Was it not catchy enough? Because heaven forbid AC/DC ever change their formula all these years. Might as well give an award to ever song they ever wrote.This really sucks as I would have loved AIC cap a triumphant return with this statue.

Metal Performance: Judas Priest "Dissident Aggressor" from Touch of Evil Live. Seriously. This won. Ok Grammys you can stop now. Just take these categories or even this one out. I'd rather it not be there then endure these uneducated nominations and even worse choices as winners. You fuckers aren't even trying at this point.

Acrassicauda hard to pronounce, Easy to love

I saw the documentary on these guys last year and it was pretty damn good. In fact after watching it I felt a bit more disdain for the hardcore screamo scene kids that have been coming out and trying to act all metal like. These guys are truly metal.To have to grow up in Iraq under the Sadam Hussein regime through multiple wars,repressive theological enviroments,and huge amounts of poverty while trying to play music they knew they'd either be imprisoned or worse for is about as extreme as it gets.
And happily it looks like their on the way to making it all finally pay off. On March 9th their debut EP "Only the Dead See the End of War" comes out. Here is their first vid off that album.



They have really improved since that documentary was filmed and they actually bring a refreshing unique sound to the scene. Mainly because they were learning to play and had very little to go off of for influence as anything western was banned. Good for them. I wish them much success as they move forward.

If you haven't seen the documentary go here for more information.
Here is their Myspace.

Brainstorm is not a brainfart

File this under "Change your friggin name and you'd probably get somewhere" is a band out of Germany called Brainstorm. Apparently these guys have been around for over 20 years. They're labeled as power metal. I guess I can kind of see that but their material is of a darker nature then other power metal bands. I'd equate them closer to Zak Stevens era Savatage but heavier. Their rythmn section crushes with some cool riffs.

Check out this vid off their latest album "Material Root" to see what I mean.



That Youtube clip doesn't do the actual recording justice as it's more tinny sounding but you get the idea. Man I've missed just straight up metal like this.

Check out more of their stuff at their Myspace page. I just wish they'd brainstorm and come up with a better name.

Farewell Scorpions

Wow. I don't know where I've been but apparently this year will be the last in the existance of the Scorpions.

Go here to see the announcement.

I have a sentimental soft spot for the Scorpions. They were one of the first hard rock/metal bands I ever heard. From Lovedrive to Savage Amusement they were one of my favorite bands. While they were never the heaviest band around their melodic approach to the genre was fantastic during that stretch. Nobody could do ballads like the Scorpions could.

I had finally got to see them in concert in 2002 and it was a pretty good show though most of the original band members were gone. While I'm sad to see them go I had not payed attention to too much of their stuff since Face the Heat. This was mainly due to the fact that for me the songwriting had started to drop off plus the 90's were pretty bad for me to keep up with things. I'd rather see them go out with a good legacy behind them then continue to struggle along in todays climate. But for the love of god do not pull an Accept 5 years from now.

Here is a montage of Scorpions vids to see them out from us at That Devil Music after the jump.

Auf Wiedersehen Scorpions you will be missed.

In Trance with Uli Jon Roth


Sails of Charon


Coast to Coast


No One Like You


Rock You Like a Hurricane


Rythmn of Love


Winds of Change

Nikki Sixx and Kat Von D split up. Oh noez!

And I was hoping to see a tatooed baby. Oh well.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.

Maybe now we can stop equating her to being metal in all of the reader polls...hmmm?

I could get to like Paramore now.

I dedicate this to my buddy Draeden.The audio might be slightly off.

Shuffled Playlist Random Thought 01-22-10

I haven't had much to write about of late and it's been a pretty busy month to boot. But I hadn't posted anything in a long time so what the hell, let's do one of these for the new year eh?
As always I get nervous because I never know what's going to pop up and I'd hate for it to be a guilty pleasure. For those that don't know what this feature is this is where I bust out with the winamp put it on shuffle and whatever song comes up when I hit the next button I write about it or the band or something. Alright let's do this.

Interesting, looks like we have "Billy's got a Gun" by Def Leppard. Not my favorite off the Pyromania album but still a decent tune. This album was the first cassette I ever bought. Yes I'm that old. In fact Rock Rock till you Drop might have been the first hard rock/metal song I ever heard on the radio. The thing that annoyed me about this track was the ending that seems to go on forever with the synthesized clanging. I haven't liked much from these guys since this record but somehow they've been able to stay alive in the public's conscience. Oh thats right,they crossed over into country for a new market. Nice touch guys.

Metal can be fun again

The past month or so I've kind of been on another mission to check out new bands or at least new to me. And by god I've found a couple. Both of these bands are sort of a throwback to the glory days of 80's underground metal. Back when it was fun,evil,and not too thought provoking. Let the eye rolling begin as I share my discoveries.

First up is 3 Inches of Blood out of Canada. Thanks to my buddy Randy over at the Official Metal Show for turning me onto these guys. This is sword and sorcery falsetto metal at it's finest. I love me some cheese if it's done well and these guys deliver.Take Rob Halford Painkiller era vocals,Accept like riffs, and Manowar style lyrics and you got a whole ball of fun.Check it out on their latest vid off Here Waits Thy Doom cd.



They had a screaming second vocalist for previous releases but he left before this release. Check them out if you're not a snob and just want to scream along to some old timey metal.

Next up we have Toxic Holocaust from Portland Oregon. This guys are part of the ret thrash movement along with Munincipal Waste and to some extent Skeletonwitch. You can tell this because all of their logos have this graffiti style font. Anyways....this band is what you would get if you had sleaze rock looks, Kill em all riffs,and Bathory vocals. I see alot of negative comments made about these guys but they hit my G spot so whatever. Here is the Wild Dogs video off their latest cd "An Overdose of Death".



Both of these bands are a breath of fresh air for me from all the serious no fun stuff I've been hearing lately.Or maybe I'm just trying to recapture my youth.

3 Inches of Blood can can be checked out here

Toxic Holocaust can be checked out here

That Devil Music on Facebook

I've been struggling with trying to see how best to link this site up with Facebook. I would have preferred to have a Facebook logo to just link and send someone to the TDM Facebook page but this will have to do. If anyone knows how I can do that by all means share the info.

For now at the bottom I've set up a fan box so people can be a fan and suggest this page to any of their friends who might be metalheads and want to kill sometime reading my crap.

I've also added a share button so if there are any articles of interest to be shared among your Facebook bretheren fel free to do so:)Word of caution. The share button on the main page seems to want to just share the top article. For any other articles you'll need to click the title and then share that out.I'll get it sorted out eventually but hope this helps in the meantime.

A little something something about Accept

I've been following this story for months now from Blabbermouth.

Here is my question. Does anybody REALLY think this is a good idea?

Don't get me wrong I loved me some Accept decades ago. I had the triad of popular albums and Metal Heart is still my favorite. This is why it bugs me when bands do stuf like this. But lets be honest,Metal Heart was the last success they had even with UDO at vocalist. He went on to his own band which did ok, the rest of the band replaced him to poor sales. Then in the 90's he came back and those albums weren't bad but not great either and again the world didn't care because it was the 90's and many bands died a slow death that decade. So Wolf Hoffman says that the band is defunct for good and he wanted to pursue other music ventures. End of story right?

Wrong.

Just like an aging boxer these guys don't know when to pack it in for good. Now they have this guy Mark Tornillo as a new vocalist for a reformed Accept.Why? No one has cared since 1986 so why would they care now with Udo not at the helm? I have no idea if this lineup will be any good. Maybe it will be but it's not going to sell especially with the lack of marketing these days. I'm just trying to understand why guys who've been around for 35 years and went away would want to in essence start from scratch all over again playing in bars and being middle bill on European festivals. Udo is probably the most level headed by this in my opinion. Go to 3:30 minutes into this clip to hear his comments on it from last year.



Stay down or call it something else and keep your dignity guys, don't be another Anvil.

Here is the vid with Accepts side of it so people can make up their own minds. The song featured rips pretty good as old school stuff but I digress.


Here is Accept back in the day for those unfamiliar.

Phil Collins secretly kicks ass...ssshhh

I had totally forgotten that this happened a few years back. And no you're not in some alternate reality. Ozzy forgot he was chewing gum and Phil Collins sat in for Bill Ward on the skins.Enjoy.

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.

Clear some space for 40 cd's

Hellbound is giving away 40 cd's or more in a pretty nifty contest to kick off 2010.All you have to do is tell them what your top 5 metal albums of 2009 were.

Some of these are autographed, some of them look cool and some probably suck but hey....it's 40 cd's of legal and free music so quit ya bitchin and go enter here.

I'm basically selfish and telling everyone this because I get an extra entry for blogging about it. Ha Ha! I'm like Dr. Evil or something. Anyways it is a pretty sweet deal for whoever wins it.

Christopher Lee the new Pat Boone?!?!

According to Blabbermouth Christopher Lee is going to be involved in a symphonic power metal album about Charlemagne. I can't decide if this is going to be bad ass or not. It certainly can't be worse then Pat Boone's abortion of an album covering metal tunes however I can't help thinking that Mr. Lee's vocals will make this better then the crapfest that was Judas Priest's Nostradamus.

Imagine that. Christopher Lee who has appeared in almost 300 movies and never known for singing just might put out a concept album better then a band that has been at this metal thing for 40 years.

Nevermind, I just listened to the samples and yes....this will be better. It helps that Saruman's ancestors served under Charlemagne so it's got that going for it as well.

Go to the MySpace page for samples and see what you think. I think Count Dooku has officially become the coolest man on earth.

Wishes for a new year and decade

Holy shit where did the time go? 2010....the year...2010.Seems like yesterday when we all thought that year was going to be full of high tech advances and meetings with other life forms. Well there are other life forms but sadly people like Lady Gaga and Perez Hilton were born on earth. So though our ideas of what was supposed to be in this decade didn't happen here are some things I can hope for in the new year and the next decade.

1. European and Scandinavian metal becoming more prominent in the States.There have been some awesome bands over the past two decades that have only marginally broken through over here. We need to get out of this pop music haze and really start to appreciate some real technical and songwriting ability.

2. Less screamcore/emo/MMA/Pantera ripoffs. Kind of in the same vein as number 1 the States seemed fixated with meathead music. If it's not angsty or aggressive(as in I'm going to beat your ass aggressive)it's crap with us.

3. Continue the thrash revival. There is a segment though of young bands that are bringing the thrash back and it's cool. As the old guard starts slipping bands like Warbringer and Lazarus A.D. are injecting some new life into it.

4. The record industry figuring out a post cd era. CD's can't last forever in a ipod age. Figure out a standard for marketing and distributing music that everyone can agree upon so some of these bands can actual sustain themselves.

5. More acceptance of metal music. It's been 40 years and with the exception of a few years in the 80's and early 90's metal still gets a bad rap as being violent,satanic,and talentless.Just ask the Grammys and Rock Hall of Fame. While it's true bands do touch on all three of those things metal is the only genre that can incorporate all other genres and be heavy as hell or just plain be diversified.Most metal musicians especially ones that have been around for awhile have other influences such as jazz or classical. Can anyone in rap or country say the same?

So there ya go, I enjoyed the 00's only because the revitilization of metal music began in this decade.

Everyone have a Happy and safe New Years.

Happy Holidays Everyone

This is for sure my last post until after this weekend. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy holidays across all faiths and here's to a great 2010. Here's the one track I could find from Rob Halford's Christmas album to see me out.

Take it away Rob.

Give it up for Points North

A friend of mine from work and sometimes comment contributor on this site named Ken has been telling me for months that his brother has a band and I'm such a goof I never asked what their name is or what type of music do they play. Well thanks to a pic Ken sent me it's time I fixed that.

Ladies and gentlemen I give you Points North. Ken's brother Kevin is on drums.



Now Ken and I have our disagreements aplenty in regards to music but we're both metalheads and we also have our agreements and one thing we both agree on is there is a huge lack these days of straight forward rock music out there. I love me some Satriani and some Vai, hell instrumental rock period. And these guys deliver. In fact they're opening up for Michael Schenker on January 3rd in Concord Ca. I really should go check them out.

If the vid intrigues you go here to see more.

At least check them out for her. Seriously...it's almost Christmas.

Brothers in Katatonia leave the band

So I was up late and caught this on my Facebook from Katatonia's page.

"Sad but true, today’s announcement will be heavy hearted for us to bring to you. We can hereby confirm that the brothers Fredrik ‘North’ Norrman and Mattias ‘Krypt’ Norrman have decided to step off the ride and leave Katatonia. We respect their decision and would like to take the opportunity to collectively thank them both for all the years gone by, all the up’s and down’s we shared out on the road, in the studio and basically the memories and moments we shared of our 20’s growing up together. Fredrik was with us for 15 years and Mattias for 10 years and we were lucky to have the same intact line-up going since 1999, but it’s true what they say – all good things come to an end.

Here’s the official statements from the Norrman brothers:

“This is definitely the hardest decision I’ve ever made. It’s absolutely grievous to say the words “quit katatonia”, even worse to make it happen. It’s been 15 really good years and I would like to thank the guys in the band and all people that I’ve meet on the road. I’ll now watch katatonia from your side…..”

- Fredrik ‘North’ Norrman

“It’s with great sadness I have decided to leave Katatonia after 10 fantastic years. This decision was probably the toughest I have ever made. The reason for this is many small factors that makes it hard for me to be away from home this forthcoming year. It’s going to be a lot of touring in the future so the time for this desicion had to be done now. And I will point out that there is no personal argue between us in the band, just that the time for touring isn’t right for me… This is not what I wanted, but family always comes in the first place. I would like to thank Jonas, Anders, Daniel, Fred and our crew for all those years together. It has truly been the best in my life. And a big thanx to all fans and all good friends I have made out there. You are the best and you will be missed… I really hope that one day when the time is right be able to continue the journey with the band. I wish all the best to you guys!! I’m really gonna miss the life on the road with you!”

- Mattias ‘Krypt’ Norrman

We also know that out of the ashes of a setback new possibilities open up. We’ve already found temporary replacements for the upcoming tours and this will not affect any of our agenda or plans for 2010. Currently filling in for Fredrik on guitar will be long time guitar tech and also guitarist of Bloodbath, mr. Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson while we have Niklas ‘Nille’ Sandin filling Mattias shoes on bass until we decide how to move on with the replaceable positions on a permanent long term"

That has to really suck but I guess if they were going to leave now is the time before the tour starts. Time will tell how much of an impact this will have on future releases. I'm not sure how much of an influence these two had on the creative flow in the band though both were basically there during the transformation of Katatonia from the melodeath band it was to it's current incarnation.

On a selfish sidenote, I got the jump on Blabbermouth on this. Ha!.

Could it be? More acoustic Metallica covers?

Why yes it could. Here is The Four Horseman by Cable Zombie.



Seriously kiddo. Compile these things into a demo and see if you can get a record deal:)

Def Leppard iz serious bizness

From the you've got to be fucking kidding me pile, Blabbermouth is reporting that a cartoon show starring everyone's favorite British band Def Leppard is in the works.

Just when I thought there were no heights these blokes couldn't reach they've surprised me yet again. As I approach my fortieth birthday there's nothing more I could have wished for then to have me and my demographic thrill to the cartoon adventures of a band who haven't been truly worth a shit since 1983.