Archive | July, 2011
Headbanger’s Brawl is a weekly column where Metal Insider’sBram and Zach take a moment to debate and analyze two opposing sides of a topical issue occurring in the world of metal and/or the music industry.
This past week, we got to hear new music from not one but TWO of the most anticipated albums coming out in the Fall. Mastodon’s “Black Tongue” and Opeth’s “The Devil’s Orchid” show both bands trying something a tad different, and are also good indicators that their new albums won’t follow the same patterns as their past catalog. Yet these songs still kick major ass. With that in mind, Bram and Zach pick which of the two new songs they like the best in this week’s Headbangers’ Brawl.
Zach: Both songs are great and really show why Mastodon and Opeth are loved so much by fans and critics alike. However, I’m going to go with Opeth’s “The Devil’s Orchid.” It may be a bit jazzier than their previous stuff , but it’s still a heavy ass tune. The guitar riffs are sick, and Mikael Åkerfeldt are amazing, even if they are clean (god forbid the song doesn’t feature any growls). I haven’t been able to get his vocal melody out of my head since first hearing the song. It really makes me excited to hear the rest of Heritage.
Bram: This is a win-win situation. I really like “The Devil’s Orchid” too, but I’m going to go with Mastodon. The band have progressed and done something different with every album, and “Black Tongue” is a mash-up of the riffiness of their first two albums with the more psychedelic guitar tones of their last two. And freed from the trappings of having to make an album about a concept (as their first four did) or an actual concept album (Crack the Skye), it’s going to be awesome to see what they come up with on The Hunter, and “Black Tongue” is a nice start.
So those are Bram and Zach’s picks. Which song do you like the best? Wait, you haven’t listened to either “Black Tongue” or “The Devil’s Orchid”?! Well stop waiting around and listen to both songs, and then let us know what you think in the section below.
What’s not to love about video game metallers Powerglove? The group’s latest release Saturday Morning Apocalypse is a collection of instrumental metal covers of movie and cartoon theme songs. Our favorite cover, though, is of the Batman movie theme. So that’s why we’re so pleased that the new video for the song is as awesome as the cover itself.
Guitarist Chris Marchiel gave a little insight into the Mortal Kombat video game inspire video for “Batman”:
“David Brodsky and I just finished our music video for “Batman”. In typical Powerglove fashion we did things a little differently. After shooting our green screen performance footage we captured tons of “sprite” images of ourselves in the style of Mortal Kombat then processed those into full sets of 16 bit action moves. Then, instead of just animating those, I programmed several video game fight scenarios with the band as playable characters and recorded takes of me playing through the mini games. The result is a combination of green screen performance in original 16 bit environments, traditional sprite based animation and recorded gaming sequences and the end result is silly, unique and just plain fun.”
Watch the video for yourself up top. Make sure to catch Powerglove’s special “half time performance” at this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour.
GWAR will be holding the second annual GWAR-B-Q this coming September in Richmond, VA. The day promises to be filled with two stages of music, crap loads of grilled meat, necrotic filth, and most likely a crap load of jizz (both human and non-human we expect). In other words, everything you’d hope for from a GWAR festival.
As if the all day festival wasn’t special enough (seriously, name us one other festival that has the Spew-O-Lympic’s or a bloody t-shirt contest?), the band announced that they will be joined onstage by former bassist Mike Bishop. The original Beefcake The Mighty will join GWAR for a special set of songs from the Scumdogs era before the current incarnation of the band finishes the set. Bishop played the role from 1987 to 1993, and again briefly from 1998 to 1999. Currently playing the role of Beefcake is Casey Orr, who has also been in and out of the band since first replacing Bishop.
The 2nd annual GWAR-B-Q will be held on September 17 at Hadad’s Lake in Richmond, VA. You can check out the lineup, which also includes Darkest Hour, down below. More information about the festival and about purchasing tickets can be read over at GWAR.net. And if you still aren’t convinced that the GWAR-B-Q will be an event you don’t want to miss, check out the commercial after the jump. Read more »
Unless you were at their debut show in NYC, fans still haven’t gotten the chance to hear full material from Adrenaline Mob. Well thanks to Tama Drums, at least we have an idea of what the drums will sound like in one of Mike Portnoy’s new groups.
Tama Drums have posted a video of the former Dream Theater drummer testing out their new Silverstar kits. The video features drum-cam footage of Portnoy playing on the kit during soundcheck and during the debut show. Though we probably get a better idea of what the new material sounds like through the Facebook sampler posted a while back, the drum-cam video still gives us more of a taste for the material (unless you think their cover of “Mob Rules” is an indicator for what the band will sound like).
You can watch the video for yourself up top. Adrenaline Mob, which also features Symphony X’s Russell Allen and Stuck Mojo/Fozzy’s Rich Ward, will be releasing an EP just in time for their opening stint on Godsmack’s tour and their own headlining club shows. A full length album isn’t expected to be released until early 2012.
You may remember that a few weeks ago, we announced that we were giving away a Suicide Silence customized guitar to one lucky fan. Well the contest technically ended yesterday. However, because the reaction has been enormous, we’re extending this contest till the end of Mayhem Fest!
That’s right, now you have until August 14 (the last date of Mayhem Fest) to enter for the chance this win this awesome Suicide Silence Epiphone guitar. As always, multiple entries will be disqualified and the contest is open to U.S. residents only (sorry, rest of world). Head over to the original post and fill out that form. So if you haven’t entered yet, stop waiting and do it now! We’re not going to give you another chance after this.
Suicide Silence is still killing it on Mayhem Fest while their new album The Black Crown is available in stores everywhere.
I went to college in the lovely hamlet of Chester, PA., and heard that long before my time, Cinderella cut a commercial for a place called Pat’s Chili’s Dogs in nearby Folsom, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. The then-local band thought nothing of cutting a bargain basement commercial for the now-defunct Pat’s, and while I’d heard rumors of the ad, I never saw it and gave up hope that I would. Thankfully, YouTube never forgets, and while you can catch Cinderella on the road this Summer, you can also see them shoving hot dogs in kids’ mouths before they were famous.
During their performances at France’s Hellfest on June 19, Israeli metal group Orphaned Land received quite a lot of attention for performing with Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhri. During the performance, Fakhri and Orphaned Land singer Kobi Fahri held their homeland’s national flags together before embracing each other with a hug. While some have applauded them for what they refer to as an “act of peace,” others have gone so far as to threaten Fakhri’s life.
Now for those who may not be caught up with their Middle East history, Israel and Lebanon are technically at war with each other. In fact, it is actually illegal under Lebanese law for any citizen to have public interactions with an Israeli. Because of the media attention this performance has received, Shi’a Muslim militant group Hezbollah has not only declared Fakhri a traitor, but has also issued her a death warrant.
In response, Fakhri, who has been hiding out in France, released the following statement:
“I know that politics, religion or other matters, moreover foreign ones, don’t hold an important place in a festival, but music is a tool for expression, and has to bring messages, history and legacy. This way, I wanted to take this opportunity so rare in history — seeing on stage an Israeli group and a Lebanese dancer — to say that beyond the artistic exchange and our collaboration for the love of art, we were willing to make it a symbol of peace. And these two flags that we held as high as the fist can rise transcend all these years of war and suffering.”
While we don’t want to start a debate about the Middle East(we are, after all a metal website), we will say that this is indeed scary, and we hope Fakhri remains safe. And here we thought metal was making a comeback in the Middle East. You can watch fan filmed video of Orphaned Land’s performance with Fakhri up top.
[via The Student Room and The Gauntlet]
Adrenaline Mob, Mike Portnoy and Russell Allen’s new super group, have announced club shows to coincide with their opening gig on Godsmack’s tour.
Earlier this week, we pointed out that this week in history, Metallica released Kill ‘Em All (on July 25, 1983) and Ride the Lightning (on July 27, 1984). While at the Rockstar Energy Mayhem fest yesterday, we ran into a few musicians and asked them which of the two albums they preferred.
Matt Heafy, Trivium: Ride the Lightning of the two is my favorite. Kill ‘Em All, I mean, they’re both incredible records. Kill ‘Em All I feel like they were still finding what they were about to become and I think Ride the Lightning still showed where they were going. I mean every single record they’ve ever done has been amazing but Ride for me was a good indication of where they were to go.
Mark Heylmun, Suicide Silence: I definitely think Ride the Lightning means more to me. I guess it’s got more of a metal feel and less of a punk feel. I might be wearing a Pennywise shirt right now but I come from a metal fucking background and Ride the Lightning kind of abandoned that thrash punky feel and it really embraced the fucking metal. I mean even the songs that nobody really listens to like “Escape” and like “Trapped Under Ice” you know what I mean, even those songs are fucking metal as shit.
Derek Boyer, Suffocation: I play bass for Suffocation, and… I’m very proud to play the instrument I play. I had a white jean jacket with a fucking Ride the Lightning fucking back patch, I did! Cliff Burton was like my fucking god. I had honorable mention in Cliff Burton’s book (To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton) [talking about the influence of Burton]. When this idea came up and we started talking about Kill ‘Em All versus Ride the Lightning I was like ‘Trapped Under Ice!’
So there you have it – three out of three musicians surveyed picked Ride the Lightning. Granted, this wasn’t a very scientific survey, but the craft of Ride the Lightning beats the raw energy of Kill ‘Em All.
Machine Head’s new album Unto The Locust is unarguably one of the most anticipated releases coming out this Fall. We’ve been anxiously awaiting the follow up to 2007′s The Blackening even before hearing the first single “Locust.” So that’s why even small updates like the album’s cover artwork and track listing is of high interest to us.
You can take a look at the cover artwork up top, while the track listing for the album’s standard and special edition versions can be seen after the jump. Unto The Locust will be released on September 27 (as if that day wasn’t already jammed packed with highly anticipated releases) via Roadrunner Records. Read more »
Headbanger’s Brawl is a weekly column where Metal Insider’sBram and Zach take a moment to debate and analyze two opposing sides of a topical issue occurring in the world of metal and/or the music industry.
Posted by Metal Insider on Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Headbangers Brawl