The ranting of a couple of metal heads

Latest

Generations (A collaboration post)

*This introduction was written by Matt from A Metal State of Mind. Hope you all enjoy our first collaboration post!*

One could argue that the birth of heavy metal started when Black Sabbath struck the opening notes of their debut self titled album back in 1969.  The Diablos in Musica chords (or diminished fifths for you musicians out there) coupled with the iconic line “What is this that stands before me” ushered in one of the strongest movements in modern music history.  People were scared, they were confused, but most importantly they were intrigued.  With the initial heavy metal seed sown, it flourished oh so swiftly.  The more people heard heavy metal and enjoyed it, the more they took the ideas set forth by Black Sabbath and put their own twist letting this new genre branch out into a plethora of directions.  Over the generations, heavy metal grew and evolved unlike any previous form of music.  Often times seeds dropped from that initial Black Sabbath tree and led to the birth of another heavy metal tree complete with growing and evolving branches.  In time seeds from the new trees birthed others and so on and so forth.  In a short amount of time there grew a heavy metal forest where one end differed greatly from the other. Within this glorious forest we all have found a different branches and trees that birthed the seed to our own heavy metal forests.

What we bring you today is a collaboration effort between Reggie (Plantera7), me (Matt, aka Atleastimhousebroken), and our metal blog buddies Dan, Chris, and Melissa over at D.C. Metal Review and Metalosophy.  We are all different ages ranging from 38 to 20, grew up in diverse households, and have different branches of entry into the realm of metal.  What we are looking to show along with our own heavy metal story is how in just the 18 years between us how much impact heavy metal has had on our culture and personal lives and how much it has evolved and grew over the generations.  We will focus mainly on our high school years but also delve into the before and after a bit.  We hope you enjoy and check out the other blogs of our friends who took part in this with us.  We would also love to keep this going as long as possible and cover as many generations as possible, so don’t be shy and tell us your heavy metal story, no matter how long or short, down in the comments.  Peace Love and Metal!!!

Read the rest of this page »

New Allegaeon Track and Album Info!!!

One of Dan and I’s most anticipated albums of the year now has a release date! Allegaeon have set May 8th, 2012 as the release date for their second album on Metal Blade Records titled Formshifter. 

Metal Blade has released “”Tartessos: The Hidden Xenocryst” as the band’s first single and needless to say, it RIPS! Check it out below! The guys have also posted a behind the scenes video of the recording process, which has even more samples of newer music. This is going to be epic. Prepare yourselves accordingly.

We also have something else coming your way from these guys very soon, stay tuned!

-Chris

Fear Factory and Shadows Fall to tour + F.F. News

File this one in the “probably going to happen” folder.

Being that I have no life and wandered the internet for hours on end tonight, I found out a little news from the Fear Factory camp. On Dino Cazares’ official twitter page he “tweeted”:

just finished the mixes for the nee FF cd “The Indurtrialist” cd release and tour dates will be announced soon

In all due respect to Dino I’m pretty sure he meant to say “The Industrialist” unless Fear Factory made up a new word, which is possible…so be on the lookout for The Indurtrialist or The Industrialist sometime in the near future from the Fear Factory dudes!

The band also recently announced the addition of former Chimaira guitarist Matt DeVries on bass. The band now consists of Matt on bass, Burton C. Bell on vocals, Gene Hoglan on drums, and of course Dino Cazares on guitar.

So what about these tour dates to be announced soon!?

On their lovely facebook page, Summit Music Hall in Denver posted that Fear Factory will be in town May 20th with Shadows Fall, The Devastated, and The Browning. SCHWEEET! I’m assuming we will have a full tour itinerary within a day or two, but for now, just make room in your bank account for ANOTHER concert.

-Chris

Machine Head excel in the classroom.

It almost seems like a weekly thing; a random youtube video of Machine Head doing something awesome, and proving they are cooler than any other metal band out there. While everyone praised Dave Grohl for wearing a Slayer shirt under his jacket at the Grammy’s , Machine Head’s Rob Flynn and Adam Duce went to Booker T Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and spoke to a music class for almost an hour. You can watch the video below.

The only people that ever spoke to my high school were there to tell you not to do drugs, not to have sex, and not to drink and drive. Hour-long assemblies that almost made you wish you were actually in class. Hell, Dan and I even took    a guitar class or senior year and learned nothing except how to play “American Pie”. Not only is it cool to see teachers that want to spread knowledge and are fans of metal, but it’s really cool to see the Machine Head guys taking time out of their day to go talk with some kids. What will they do next?

-Chris

Meshuggah don’t like looking down (it’s a new Meshuggah song!).

I first encountered Meshuggah when they opened for Tool in 2001 on the Lateralus tour. While my friends and family who were with me didn’t appreciate the style, mostly vocally, I loved it. It would take a few more years before I really, really got into the band, but since that time I’ve eagerly been interested in what the band are doing next. So, with their new album Koloss getting ready to come out in a month, they’ve released another track off the album. The song, titled “Do Not Look Down,” is a catchy piece of groove tastic death metal, Meshuggah style. If that doesn’t excite you, you’re probably more apt to listen to this instead. For the rest of us with taste… read on!

Read the rest of this page »

New tunes for you: Oathbreaker want to tell you about their “Origin.”

You’ll have to forgive me, because I really don’t remember where I heard about Oathbreaker. That said, this band is awesome! I love the punk vibe, the metal intensity and the just sheer love of being aggressive in the music. I don’t think they are breaking any new ground, but this young band of Belgians has the chops to pull off some seriously fine, crunchy, dirty punk-metal. And yes, I would call it punk-metal and not metalcore/hardcore/herpaderpaderp. So, watch the video for the track “Origin” off their 2011 Deathwish released album Malestrom and bang your head.

-Dan

IRON MAIDEN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR THIS SUMMER!!!!!

Yeah. Those big letters means I’m yelling. I’m stoked. Super stoked. Seriously!

Well Iron Maiden are certainly staying busy. After completing The Final Frontier World Tour, the legends will return this summer for a full North American tour. The tour will feature Alice Cooper opening the first half of the tour and Coheed and Cambria opening the second half. In the press release Bruce Dickinson states:

“We have great fun playing the History of Maiden Tours because it gives us an opportunity between new albums to go out and play songs from our earlier catalogue. It’s always fantastic seeing the crowd reaction from a new generation of fans who have never experienced some of these tracks performed live before, and of course we know our longstanding fans will enjoy seeing the original Seventh Son Tourre-visited – with many other surprises! Our intention is to play about two thirds of the original track list of Maiden England (shown below*), including some songs we have not played live in a very,very long time, plus other favourites we just know the fans are going to want to hear! We always try to give our fans a great show musically, but we have always tried to make it as entertaining and memorable an experience as we can visually. And we all feel this show is going to do that splendidly! We can’t wait to get started in Charlotte”.

This is obviously AWESOME. The Final Frontier World Tour was amazing, but  many people had gripes with the set list. It was my first time seeing Maiden so I had no complaints, but it was a bit strange seeing them and NOT hearing “Run to the Hills”, “The Trooper”,  and a lot of the typical songs you’d expect them to play. Sounds like you’ll hear a lot of those this time around so HELL. YES.

Check out the official press release and tour dates at Maiden’s OFFICIAL SITE.

-Chris

 

In Flames and Trivium: Live in Denver

Seeing In Flames and Trivium live is nothing new for me. This was my 5th time seeing In Flames and my 8th time seeing Trivium. I’ve seen Veil of Maya before but not Kyng, and they were opening the bill. They’re style didn’t quite fit the rest of the bands, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of influences within their music, a lot of classic rock and stoner influence, as well as the grit of old Black Sabbath and other classic rock bands. They put on a decent show, a good way to warm people up. On a side note, we were near them during In Flames set, and those dudes were ROCKING OUT! It was cool seeing a band out with the crowd and loving every second of it, they seemed like really down to earth dudes.

After Kyng, the PA was buzzing with hip-hop. This continued until Veil of Maya hit the stage, and they hit it hard. The deathcore/djent dudes really have their live show down and the the crowd really erupted over the course of their set. The band played a few new tunes on their upcoming album and they sounded great. Their new album Eclipse is out February 28th on Sumerian Records.

Up next were Trivium. People can say what they want about these guys, but they put on a great live show. Opening with “In Waves” the guys really got the crowd into it. With how many people you see talking shit about them online, there wasn’t a hater to be seen at the show. They played five tracks off of In Waves which all sounded killer, as well as “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr”, “Departure”, “Down from the Sky”, and “Like Light to Flies”. Matt came out into the crowd for his solo on “Like Light to Flies” which ended up directly in front of me which was way cool! Bassist Paolo soon told the crowd in honor of Cliff Burton’s 50th birthday the band had a special song they wanted to play. They then broke into a cover of Metallica’s “Four Horsemen” which had the crowd in a frenzy. It was apparently a last minute thing, and Matt didn’t know it on guitar so they had their guitar tech come out and play the second guitar part. Matt was way cool and took that time to talk with some fans and take a couple pictures. The band closed with “Throes of Perdition” and really set the bar high for In Flames. This was the second time seeing the band with (not so new) drummer Nick Augusto, and I gotta say again how much tighter the band sounds with him. They are an absolute machine right now, and soooo much fun to watch.

I’ve seen some awesome In Flames shows, but the last headlining show I saw from them was very disappointing, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. They opened up with the first three tracks off last year’s album Sounds of a Playground Fading, which translated very well live. The band played seven tracks off their latest album, and was heavier towards their last three albums. Anders told the crowd “If you don’t know this next song, then you don’t know your metal” and the band went in to “Trigger”. They played a few other older tracks including  ”Swim”, “The Hive”, “Cloud Connected”, and “The Quiet Place”. The band was the polar opposite of the last time I saw them. They seem rejuvenated, excited, and genuinely happy to be performing, and they sounded dead on. While some of the newer material doesn’t have the same “ooomph” there older material does, they really breathe new life into it in their live show. Another must-see show if you get the chance!

-Chris

Children of Bodom 15th Anniversary Tour: Live in Denver

On a cold winter night, there’s never a better place to be than a metal show. Luckily there was plenty of entertainment to keep everyone warm at The Gothic Theatre last week. Children of Bodom‘s 15th Anniversary tour packed a strong, diverse lineup including Eluveitie, Revocation, and Threat Signal.

As much as I love the Gothic, their start times are never right. Apparently due to the weather the band’s wanted to start early so they could leave early (according to the security staff), so I heard the last song by Threat Signal and things began  to take shape for Revocation.

I’ve never seen Revocation before, but they have really blown up this last year with their album Chaos of Forms, and the ridiculous playing of guitarist/frontman David Davidson. The band opened with “Harlot” and delivered an aural onslaught that won’t soon be forgotten. If the crowd wasn’t moshing, everyone else’s eyes seemed to be fixated on Davidson. He plays with such passion and a certain flare that just makes it hard to take your eyes off the dude; you can definitely tell he loves what he does. They dedicated “Dismantle the Dictator” to Denver’s very own Havok, before Davidson delivered one of the best rants/speeches I’ve heard from a front man in a long time. In his best viking voice Davidson demanded everyone to “Raise your chalice high!” before playing the instrumental “Across Forests and Fjords”. In his rant of telling you to picture bloody battlefields of your fallen brothers, and your castle covered in blood he also shot out lines like “This song is like Skyrim, only all the dragons have tits!” It was a shame the band only got to play six songs, because they were really fun to watch. Davidson seems to get all the attention, but every one of those guys can really play!

Switzerland’s very own Eluveitie were up next. After seeing them headline almost a year ago, it was good to see them again. With eight members up on that stage, they are a really fun band to watch. Opening with “Everything Remains (As It Never Was)” the band played “Nil”, “Kingdom Come Undone”, “Tarvos”, and two new songs, “Havok” and “Meet the Enemy”. Not many bands combine there sheer amount of instruments they can all play and make them sound so good! They closed with “Quoth the Raven” and “Inis Mona”, another awesome performance from the Swiss folk-metallers!

I didn’t really get into Children of Bodom til 2003-2004, so it’s crazy to think they have been around for 15 years! The band opened with “Sixpounder” and tore through a set featuring songs mostly off their last three albums. When the majority of their older tracks in the set came in the medley form with “Children of Bodom”/”Deadnight Warrior”/”Hate Me”. Overall it would have been cool to hear more variety from the guys considering it’s an “anniversary” tour, but the set list was still decent. The drums and bass were way too heavy in the mix, so Alexi and Roopes solo’s were very hard to hear which was frustrating. Overall the showmanship was still there and the guys still managed to put on a good show. This lineup was awesome, definitely worth checking out of you get the chance!

Superskum posted two other videos of Eluveitie’s set as well as an interview. They also have dozens of other quality metal performances on their channel. Go check them out!

-Chris

Apparently, Taproot recruited Luigi to be their drummer.

I listened to one Taproot album. That one that had this song on it. Apparently, the band has a new album coming out (!) and have been together for 15 years (!?). So, this short, mostly worthless promo video is pretty much just about how everyone but the drummer fights and has lots of memories that don’t mesh well together. However, I think the bigger surprise is that Taproot have Luigi as their drummer. Seriously, you get a guy with a perfectly tailored ‘stash and a green hat to sit there and talk, and you’re going to tell me that’s not Mario’s broski Luigi?! He looks just like him (if maybe a little chunkier)! For shame, Taproot! For, shame.

thePrp, claimed the ‘stash is of the Selleck variety, but I think we all know the truth. Anywho… waste 1:30 of your day below.

-Dan

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 165 other followers