Video: Mastadon "Cut you up with a Linoleum Knife"

 Not really sure if "Cut you up with a Linoleum Knife" is the proper title for this, but it makes sense.
This is part of the intro to the movie 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters', as a metal spoof of the normal movie jingle "Let's go out to the lobby". The only reason I put it up is because it is awesome, and it is Mastodon playing it (as I just found out).
Now you all know I'm not a huge fan of Mastodon, in fact the only other mention of them I have on this blog is another video, but this piece is short, funny, and the music isn't bad.

Enjoy

Current Trend: NWOBHM

So because I am trying to begin again with the Current Trends, I have been attempting to segment my listening styles into one or two set genres, with varying levels of success. And because of my lack of wanting to sit and write, this Trend is not so Current. But oh well, here we go.

This time my focus was on music from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM), the direct precursor to power metal, and indirect host of hair/glam metal and thereby (as an anti-theses) thrash. These bands were among the first to introduce the dueling guitar style, and often had early operatic-style vocals and fantasy stories with the songs. Many of these bands had large live shows as well, and were claimed to be the silver age of metal (the golden age being the founders of metal, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc, from the decades before). The majority of these bands took hold in the late 70's/early 80's and were lead by such greats as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Motorhead. These bands dominated the airways and charts for the better part of a decade, until the likes of glam became popular and more straight-forward rock acts like Guns 'N Roses and Van Halen began to flourish.

Ronnie James Dio Is Dead

I'm joining the masses of bloggers and mourners; Ronnie James Dio, leader of such amazing bands as Elf, Black Sabbath (for a time), Dio (solo), and Heaven and Hell, has passed away from stomach cancer. His wife, Wendy, released this message a few short minutes ago:

“Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

New Band: End of Level Boss

Yet another band that tempted me because of a catchy name (hint hint to you new bands out there), End of Level Boss is another stoner rock/metal band (it's so hard to make the distinction nowadays), also with a hint of doom, to come out within the past decade. So far they've released two albums, Prologue and Inside The Difference Engine, but honestly both releases are pretty dull.

Awesome Website: StonerRock.comp

So I was looking for some bands info (bands I had hear on Last.fm, and wanted to see their release history) and I came upon (once of many times) StonerRock.com. Well if you haven't heard, this website is a great resource to anyone who loves stoner/doom/sludge metal. Something for any true fan to frequent.

Well because StonerRock.com doesn't have a search function (at least one that I can find), I googled some more, coming upon StonerRock.comp (officially at StonerRock.org). This .comp version of StonerRock is a website dedicated to the hosting of a compilation of unsigned stoner bands that frequent the site's forum. There are 9 volumes (so far), some are one disc some are two, but it is all stoner. I assume that at the time of the various compilations, the bands debuted were unsigned, but as I downloaded it all I recognized some names. Whether this means the band has gotten more exposed, or that my knowledge is far-reaching, I don't know. What I do know is that I now have over 100 tracks from a wide array of artists to enjoy.

Anyone who wants to hear some truly underground metal, check out StonerRock.comp for 9 volumes of stoney-goodness.

Albums Listened To In April (92)

April is over....finally. A new month means a new position at work and the ever closer date of me moving across town. Looking forward to all that (which is sad that's all I have to look forward to in life).

Anyway onto the music.

Started the month with a lot of older music re-listened. Moving towards classic rock/NWOBHM by the end. A nice variety throughout. But with that heavy influence of music I've already heard, this comparison of the good, bad and the dull will be pretty short. I'm sure there are some people who view that very positively, and for all those people... eat me.

Video: Judas Priest "Breaking The Law"

Well right now I am finishing up the Iron Maiden discography and moving into Judas Priest's, and so I figured what better way to mark this transition then with a video?
This is "Breaking The Law" off of Priest's best album (regarded by many), British Steel. I grew up listening to this album, and as such, I know every song very well.

So here it is, one of the best songs, off of one of the best albums to come from the heavy metal/NWOBHM gods - Judas Priest.

New Band: Droids Attack

Droids Attack is a stoner rock/metal group that I recently discovered. What enticed me to the group (and moved them to the head of my listening schedule) was the name ans album art. In my mind the robot revolution is a sure thing that we march towards day after day, so a group named such pops out to my eye.

I went through the bands discography - three albums - in two days, and I have varying views of the band, depending on which album is playing. Their first album, All Your Chicks Are Belong to Us, is a sonic blend between Clutch and Beaver. As some of you may know, Clutch is my favorite band, and I really don't like Beaver, so this was a confusing album. A couple of songs were decent, but there was too much hectic guitar work and growled vocals for my taste. If I had not already acquired the other two releases from the band, I might have stopped here. But I struggled on.

Favorite Albums: Blood Ceremony - Blood Ceremony

When I first listened to Blood Ceremony's self-titled release I knew I had something special. I had a friend over so I couldn't give it the full listen it deserved, but from the bits I heard I was very impressed. The group seemed to blend doom and progressive genres with some folkish elements with the instruments used. And the vocals, being as haunting as they were, could have been either female or male, it was hard to say. After my friend left, I made a note to listen to this whole album again, a note that got mixed in with the dozens of other notes I had/have about listening to different bands and albums. So this week I finally got to it.

Current Trend: Celtic Folk

Beginning on St. Patrick's Day (complete coincidence) I began getting heavily into Celtic Punk/Rock. Something about the time of year, and the style of music, spoke to my heritage, and pulled at my heart-strings. Bands like The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, and Flogging Molly all embody the (relativity) more mainstream of this genre, and all do it fairly well. But I was into more underground music, Jackdaw (which was pretty damn good), The Tossers, The Real McKenzies, Skids, Seven Nations, Young Dubliners, and Fiddler's Green (although they're... German?), put out more traditional sounds - less punk more folk - to much success.

Peter Steele Dead at 48

I woke up this morning to an email from a friend telling me Peter Steele, of the goth/doom metal band Type O Negative, was dead. I did not believe it until I googled it and saw the numerous news articles confirming the fact. This is a sad day for those who reside in the land of Metaldom. I love Type O Negative, both their albums and their live shows. I was really hoping to catch them live again, but now without the booming voice of Steele, there is really little point.

Video: Elton John "Oven Manual Improvisation"

Here's a stupid little video I found, but it made me laugh.
Elton John is on some sort of talkshow, and a member of the audience challenges him to create a song out of a manual for his new oven that he happened to bring.
It's a quick, silly video, but it does show off the mans ability to play.

Albums Listened To In March (97)

Sorry this has been delayed, I've been pulling 60+ hours as work every week and as such, when I get home all I want to do is relax. But today is my day off so I plan on getting caught up and writing some more posts. Several updates to be had in the near future.

Standouts
Artimus Pyledriver plays what seems to be AC/DC-inspired music with a southern twang to it. I was pleasantly surprised. Cloudkicker's EP, ]]][[[ (how do you pronounce that?) was something new, it's all instrumental, but it was an interesting beginning for a new band. I really liked a few songs from Giant Squid's second album, The Ichthyologist, quite a bit. Another band with a new sound, wouldn't mind hearing more.

Video: Iron Maiden "Run To The Hills"

Been listening to a lot of classic NWOBHM lately - most notably Iron Maiden. This is the music video for their best single (so say the charts), "Run To The Hills," off their best album (in my mind), The Number Of The Beast.

Current Trend: May To March

A long time ago, I was putting out a monthly article about what style was making up the majority of what I was listening to. During my shitty summer, I fell off that wagon, and I think it's time to get back with it. This one will be a short re-hashing of the past nine months, to get us back to the current age. Nothing too in-depth or long, just an overview:

Ok, so the trends I have been going through have been back-and-forth between Funk and Stoner, with the occasional Progressive strewn in. I have really been sticking with these three genres for the majority of the past year. Parliament, Funkadelic and Sly and The Family Stone are some of the best music from the 70's I've had the pleasure to bear witness.

Retrospective: Type O Negative (Part 1)

While Peter Steele's first band, Carnivore, was mostly thrash, and later ToN releases are mostly doom, these first couple of albums blend the two to become the center of the sub-sub(sub?)-genre: sludge metal. Sludge metal is characterized by having slow verses or other passages but having thrash-infused choruses or breaks. Basically it's two extremes being mashed together, to varying success


Discography - Part 1

• Slow, Deep And Hard (1991)

Coming off as more of a collection of Carnivore tracks with a new band, Slow, Deep And Hard is something else. While some elements from this album will be apparent in later releases (especially the humor), other then the next release, The Origin Of The Feces, this has very little of the sound that would become Type O Negative in future releases. One thing I love about this album are the track titles, they are so unnecessarily long and actually pretty funny. The opening track is titled "Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity," which all about a woman who cheats (gets pretty vulgar towards the end), and the equally impressive titled "The Misinterpretation Of Silence And Its Disastrous Consequences" which is nothing more then a minute of silence - that is it, silence and it gets a huge title. While the titles thing is funny, this album is pretty crap overall, the only good track off of it being its first, "Unsuccessfully Coping..." which is over twelve minutes long. This track fully embodies the sludge title, with the beginning seeming like a thrash song, some long droning bits, more thrash, and then just straight metal chanting. It is a funny song, filled with interesting lyrics, although it does get very vulgar at the end, while he describes what she is for being a cheater (alot of four-letter words). Other then track one, this is a throw-away album, not thrash enough for Carnivore, not doom enough to be truly Type O Negative.

Retrospective: Queen - Queen II (1974)

I know this has been a long time coming, but here it is, part 2 of the Queen retrospective.

While Queen II continues the progressive sound heard in their debut album, it also is a step towards the main-stream stadium-rock that they would become world renown for.Now I have listened to this album a lot less often then the first Queen album, and as such, I am not as familiar with the tracks. With the first part of the retrospective I wrote, I could complete the entire article without listening to a single song (except "Son and Daughter") and still pull off a decent description. For this one, I will need to work through every song, which is why I have taken forever to continue this project.

New Album: Airbourne - No Guts. No Glory.

I don't know what it is about Airbourne, but I love them. Their songs are simple, both in music and lyrics, most of it sounds the same, and the guy can't 'sing' worth a crap. But they wail! If this was the 80's these guys would be huge. They play a stadium-rock reminiscent of AC/DC or Kiss - simple sing-a-long lyrics for the working man. Their songs are about girls, fighting and booze, stuff you can stand behind. Their second release, No Guts. No Glory. follows suit.
There isn't a lot to say about this album that wasn't said above, like their first release, Runnin' Wild, songs are short and sweet, with a focus on the chorus and the guitar solos behind the lyrics. Reading this you'd think they were some cookie-cutter group, and if this was 1985 that might be the case, but it's 2010 and stadium-rock is in short supply, so Airbourne has found their niche. Listening to any of their albums, you can't help but bob your head along, and by the end of any song, odds are you've already memorized half of the lyrics (if you can understand what the singer is saying that is).
So I guess what I'm saying is, if you love the golden-era of Brian Johnson AC/DC (Back In Black era) they you will love Airbourne. And for anyone from my generation, who didn't grow up with this style (well I did, but not everyone has a father that blasts Bon Scott while driving his son to school), this is something new for you to sink your teeth into.

Awesome Album Art: Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

Album art is a fading... well art, in today's society of mp3s and digital downloads. But to me, a band is only good as it's name and it's album art. While perusing random albums, whether online or at an actual music store, what the album looks like often denotes how much time I'm going to hesitate at an unknown artist. And in today's thousands-of-bands world, a hesitation is what you want. And so for this I will give credence to whomever is out there designing art-work, beginning with Giant Squid's latest release The Ichthyologist.

Albums Listened To In February (83)

February, the shortest month. Unlike last year, when Feb held the most albums I'd listened to yet, this one is not so musically dominating. It's still a stellar month, with 83 albums (52 brand new) played - two better then last month - I hope to keep this trend alive. The number would have been more, but I began watching the complete series of the HBO show, Entourage, this week, and have done little else. I was hoping to get to 100 albums, but TV took it's hold over me. I still have 2 1/2 seasons left, and then it's onto the other HBO series, Oz, so next month might be a bit slow as well. Time will only tell.

I started the month with a hunt for the new, week 1 was almost entirely new bands - aside from the Led Zeppelin discography - and week 2 followed suit. Towards the end of the second week I had begun new discographies (Rush, Van Halen, Sum 41), which began to dominate my car listening selection. The trend of Van Halen/Rush continued into week 4, when I became bored with them both, instead moving back into funk, with Funkadelic taking the reins. This will probably continue, at least through the first week or two, into March.