Friday, October 31, 2014

Guest Post: Chapel - Alcoholocaust


Chapel are a Black n' Roll band from Vancouver Canada, whose sound can best be summed up as a combination of Venom and Motorhead. They formed in 2008 and released their first full-length album, titled "Satan's Rock 'n Roll", in 2012.

You may not have heard of Black n' Roll, so I'll fill you in on that, it's a pretty straightforward combination of Black Metal and Rock n' Roll.

Lyrically, Chapel tend to keep the focus on the important things in life; Rock n' Roll, Alcohol and Satan.

Today's song is Alcoholocaust, which is my favorite song from Satan's Rock n' Roll, not just because it's about booze and genocide, but because it's got a pretty cool bass solo in the intro, and I cannot resist a good bass intro. I mean, listen to it and tell me that's not awesome.




-Jeff

Note: At the end of every month Jeff will make a guest post like this.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Marilyn Manson - Arma-goddamn-motherf**kin-geddon



So here it is, the next to last day of the week.  I'm almost bummed that this is over, cause I really have enjoyed it so far.  I'll have to do another themed week some other time, don't ya think?

I feel like I hit a lot of bands that, either you haven't heard of, or you think are "a bit tame for a so called 'week of evil'"  (people who say that probably don't read this blog anyway though.)  So just to slow things down again I'm hitting up song good old Manson.

If you don't know at least a tiny bit of trivia about this guy, I'm actually almost disappointed.  He has stirred up quite a bit of controversy through the years, and he has also managed to get in fights with basically everyone he has ever worked with.  For instance, on a tour about a year ago, he and Rob Zombie had a very public fight.  Neither of them handled it well, and it made the rest of the tour a little awkward till they patched things up.

Manson has a really interesting sound to his music.  Other than the very raw sounding vocals the music itself has a sort of stripped down sound that not too many other bands can pull off.  This song for example seems to use the guitar as an accent, rather than a song carrier.  The Beautiful People however used that atrocious sounding guitar as the main selling point.  To each their own though, ya know?



Now I don't care who you are, this guy is more than a bit of a freak.  Some pretty good music and all, and some really killer covers, but a real freak none the less.

Fun fact, Manson is an honorary minister in The Church Of Satan, but he has done nothing with this power.  Think of the PR Manson...

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Fleshgod Apocalypse - Thru Our Scars


Arguably the band that should be called "The Kings Of Blast Beats", Fleshgod Apocalypse is an Italian Tech Death band signed to Nuclear Blast Records.  See?  I told you they have good bands.

Now this whole album is really good, and there's not too much cooler than listening to metal with symphonic elements (have you all figured out my favorite genre yet?).  I only discovered these guys in the area of 2 months ago, so I don't have too much to say about them other than that I haven't heard a bad song from them yet.  Seriously, these guys are tight.



Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Portal - Glumurphonel


Portal.  Such an interesting group really.  I will start by letting you see the singer.

"Look at this clock on my head" - The Curator.

Any band that hires a clock headed man to lead a band of executioners is ok in my book, that's for sure.

So Portal is a band that is really heavy on endless riffs in a lot of songs.  The lead guitarist, going by the interesting name of "Horror Illogium" has said in the past that Portal's intent is "To capture a cinematic horror scope."  Basically, this guys further prove the point that anything from Australia is both badass and terrifying.  I mean, can you show me a borderline grind band that plays in suits?  I don't think so.  (Fleshgod Apocalypse doesn't count because they're Symphonic Death)

Here's a bonus, it's a live video.  The main difference is that in the studio mix it starts a lot more like a dark ambient song.  The more I listen to it, the more I think I need to obtain a physical copy of an album.


I don't think Glumurphonel is a real word, but that just fits what my brother said before, "Any band that has to make up words to sound scarier is probably a little evil."

Also that's a totally legit quote for anybody who was wondering.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Sunn O))) - My Wall


Formed by Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson in 1998, this is possibly the heaviest band you will ever listen to.

Noted for their extremely loud shows filled with so much fog you can barely see, the music seems to resonate more from within you than from the speakers in front of you.  This guy has a very good video about his experience actually, and it's worth a watch.

Playing in the excessively low tuning of Drop A on average and with Attila Csihar of Mayhem as their primary vocalist since 2003, I would say there's possibly no one who is quite the same.

Though not exactly "evil", they are certainly dark and foreboding.  This 25 minute song for example, deals with a great many things.  Though it should be noted that Attila is not the vocalist on this track.

Honestly, there's not too much to say about these guys.  Other than being the loudest thing around and wearing robes all the time of course.  I personally can't wait to see them someday.



This album was also named the 18th heaviest album ever by Q Magazine.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Behemoth - Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel



Now I'm gonna throw this out there.  This is a horrible song.  This is dark, vulgar, and the video has satanic imagery and mild nudity.  Ok then, here goes.  You have been warned.

Behemoth is the band.  They are considered to be the most evil band out there right now by a good many people, and for good reason.

Forming in 1991, their themes ranged mostly on paganism, though in recent years they have turned toward satanic content (as that is what's "in" right now).

They were also one of the first (or the first) band(s) to be banned from Russia.

The lead singer and guitarist Nergal did almost die of leukemia in 2010, but did manage to make a full recovery though his doctors told him he was beyond healing.  A bone marrow transplant and many other such procedures later, Nergal went home in January of 2011, and by summer was up and going again.

One actually funny thing about the bad is that their corpse paint is just toothpaste.  That is all that the base of it is.  There is some black around the edges as well, but seriously, who is ingenious enough to use toothpaste?  It's literally everywhere too, so it's not like their gonna run out.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I really like the sound these guys have.  They have good solid musical talent and a really good sound.  Still, It's just a little too much for me to take a lot of the time.


On a side note, Nuclear Blast records has some of the best bands I've heard in a while.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Album)



So there is actually quite a story behind this.  Mayhem was meant to be the most extreme band that ever existed when it was originally formed, which is quite a bold statement to make really.

The lineup on this album has quite a list of people.  With Hellhammer on Drums, Euronymous on Guitar, Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh) on bass, and Attila Csihar as vocalist, the band recorded what is considered by many to be one of the best black metal albums ever.

Funny thing though, the band has quite an issue with death in it's early years with their longest lasting vocalist (at the time) named Dead killing himself before the recording of this album, and Varg stabbing Euronymous to death after the recording.

Though Euronymous' family requested that the bass tracks be re-recorded on the album, Hellhammer thought it would be appropriate to keep the killer and the victim together forever.  Though originally telling the family that it was changed, he kept it on and only revealed it at a later date.

With the exception of one other band, these guys are probably the most "evil" band I can think of.  Not due to the killing or anything, but the content.  The albums name literally translates as "Lord Satan's Secret Rites" as a prime example.


Having listened to it, this is actually one of my favorite metal albums I've heard in a while.  Remember though, don't worship the devil kids.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast


In the week leading up to Halloween I figured I'd post some more kinds of music that would be considered evil by some.  Should be a good time, right?  Here we go.

With a verse like "666, the number of the beast" in it, this song is probably the song that got Iron Maiden labeled satanic by a good deal of people.  Also their kinda gruesome mascot Eddie.

To be fair, he looks pretty wicked.

Now I'm not gonna lie, these guys are all stage show.  Nothing legitimately evil about them.  Still, they seemed like a good tame opener to start the week of evil with.  Like really, this is the tamest song this week.  Hope you have fun with it.




And so it begins.....

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Gorillaz - Feel Good inc

I'm gonna be that guy that only posts the most popular song a band has for a moment, but I do really like this one.

I had listened to this song maybe once or twice, but I accidentally learned the bass line once and started listening to it again after that.

One cool thing about this band is that it's not a real group.  It's a project done by mostly one guy with a cartoon band to back it up.  Kinda like Dethklok, but not metal.  And Dethklok has more than one guy.


Big things starting tomorrow by the way.  Hope you enjoy the coming storm!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Still Waiting - Ever Haunting

So I'm gonna plug some of my friends today and show you Still Waiting.

There is a possibility you've heard of these guys before because they actually have been featured on the Ellen Show.  Not in person mind you, but because of this guitar flip.  If you watch at 1:18, you'll notice that, not only are they a meh sounding band, but they also have a very very famous mess up.  Like, this has been circulating on the interwebs pretty strongly since it happened.

I am happy to say however, that the band has improved very much since then.  Both in talent and in not throwing their guitars 40ft onto pavement.

Ever Haunting was released in the summer of 2013 and, while the band is still a smaller act, they did almost sell out during the cd release party.

Personally, I like some of the other tracks on the album a little better, but they don't have any of them on YouTube for my to show you.  They are on Spotify though if you want to look them up.



Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Album Review: Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter

We're gonna do this a little differently than when I did Cannibal Corpse, because since the cd literally was released today I can't put up a bunch of links to it, seeing as I wrote this while streaming the album yesterday.  Here's where I listened though.

Update 5/7/15


Ok, here goes.

Slipknot has gone through another sound change with this album with Corey changing his singing style again, and with the surprising comeback of Sid and his turntables.

I know everybody is thinking that the drums are gonna take a hit due to Joey being gone, or that the bass is doing poorly because of Paul's death, but I feel that both held up reasonably well.  All that Paul did was play the guitar lines anyway, and the new drummer seems to have filled into the slot that joey left very smoothly.

While I understand that the whole point of the album was really talking about how they felt about Paul's death, I do feel like it wasn't the best direction they could have gone it.  Seriously though, the song Skeptic is exclusively about this, and it really just comes off as almost pathetic feeling.  I get that losing your best friend is horrible, but it's been 4 years.

Following is a no particular order list of my opinions on the songs.


Favorite Tracks:
The Devil In I - Other than some pretty sub-par lyrical work by Corey, I do really enjoy this song.  It has a lot of the "new Slipknot" feeling that I expect another of their albums to have while still being a solid track.

AOV - at first, I didn't care for this song, but as it went on I started to enjoy it more.  Kind of a mix between old Slipknot and new Slipknot

Lech - Like The Devil In I, this feels like a natural progression of Slipknots style in their music.

Nomadic - Heck yeah, this is a good one.  This is another bit of what you'd expect to hear after All Hope Is Gone came out, with good solos and some good rhythm to it.

The One That Kills The Least - So it seems like all of my favorite songs on the album are the songs that fit into what I thought the next album should sound like.

Custer - Sike!  This song sounds so much like the first album it could have been a rejected track.  Just listen to that chorus and picture them playing it live.  People are gonna go absolutely insane and it'll be awesome.  I see this song joining the unholy trinity of crowd participation that are "Spit It Out", "Surfacing", and "People = Shit" as the heavy hitters of the show.  What does one call a 4 part trinity though....

The Negative One - Much like Custer, this song is a throwback to old Slipknot.  Not quite feeling the same as the first album, I would place this as a mix between the self titled and Iowa.



Neutral Tracks:
XIX - It's an intro track.  Eh.

Killpop- It's not too bad, but it's not to great either.  I feel like this is one of the tracks that I'm gonna like more later though.

Sarcastrophe - Not bad, but not amazing.  I don't want to draw the Stone Sour analogy, but it does seem really similar to one of their songs more than Slipknot.

Goodbye - So this song is about what you'd expect.  It's one of the slower ones, and it's really only eh.

Be Prepared For Hell - This is actually a pretty good track.  It feels like an intermission that fits in the flow of everything pretty well.

If Rain Is What You Want - Corey.  Stop singing.  This is Slipknot, not some pansy ass singing band.  Actually I do enjoy this song as a closer, but that is all it really is.  A closer.


Least Favorites:
Sleptic - It's a shame, cause I really like the music on this track, but I can't get over the fact that lyrically this song sounds like some emo metalcore song.



So I suppose that my initial disappointment with this album has been put on hold, since there are some killer tracks on here.  At the same time though, I'm probably not buying it for a while either.  I do look forward to seeing what Slipknot will do in the future with the new lineup.

Monday, October 20, 2014

TheTaskmaster - Take My Breath Straight Outta Compton - NWA Feat. Berlin

So something you might not know about me is that I love cover songs.  And one thing that I love more than cover songs would be mashups.  I freaking love mashups.  I have this one that is a mix of Tic Toc by Ke$ha and Redneck by Lamb of God, but I'll tell you about that one later.

This song is almost as good, but it's really different.  I mean, 80s slow rock combined with NWA?  Really you can't beat that.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Run D.M.C. - Rock Box

So Run D.M.C. was one of the original rap-rock groups.  They are also absolute classics in the early Hip Hop scene too, so there are a lot of ways you might have heard of them.  They've even done a song with Aerosmith before.

Not having been alive during their beginnings and heyday, I can't vouch for some of the Wiki info I looked at, but checking dates it kinda adds up that this was one of those game changing songs.  Much like when Public Enemy played with Anthrax, or when Jimi Hendrix helped change the guitar game for people, Rock Box helped people realize that rock and rap could coexist.

Later in their career they did drift from their rap rock roots, but it's still good music and worth checking out.


Saturday, October 18, 2014

Cannibal Corpse - Hammer Smashed Face

So in honor of my band recording this song yesterday I decided to repost a band this soon.

At least I have a new fun fact for ya, right?

In Germany, Cannibal Corpse cannot play anything off of their first 3 albums (this song included) because a teacher saw one of their shirts and freaked out, managing to get the first albums banned.  Ironically, this means they cannot play their song "Born in a Casket" but can still play "Dismembered and Molested" live.  Of the irony.


I hope you enjoy this.  The song is seriously fun to sing and my brother said the guitars were both a joy and a pain.  Just in case you ever decide to play it.

Friday, October 17, 2014

NWA - Straight Outta Compton

So yeah.  I only got into rap music recently, and by rap I mean I listened to Eminem.  Then some of my friends started making fun of me for only listening to Eminem and claiming I enjoyed rap so I turned to the only other rap group I knew.  NWA.

Not to be honest, this was probably one of the less smart ideas I've had, considering this is gangster rap that is really questionable.  Eh, whatever.  I really like it.



I have been informed that I am far too white to enjoy this music, but I don't even care.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Train - Save Me San Francisco

So funny thing about Train.  The singer, Pat Monahan, used to live in my city.  Yep, crazy.

He actually was in a band called Rogues Gallery that my dad ran sound for that my mom sang in from time to time.  Don't believe me?  I have a picture.

On the left is my mom singing Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar, and on the right is Pat Monahan in 1991

This is but one of my many tiny claims to fame.  Ah who am I kidding, I wasn't even born for another 2 years after this was taken.



Fun fact, Pat used to be really good at singing Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses.  So much so that the bands final set of the night was almost all Led Zeppelin songs.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Slipknot - People = Shit

Slipknot is one of those bands that the metal community really are split in their opinions on.  Yet another band to come out of the Nu-Metal wave, their sound has evolved to a much more metal tone than it used to be.

With having lost their bassist Paul Gray in 2010 and the sacking of their drummer Joey Jordison in 2014 I decided I should look back at some of my favorite songs.

After the release of their first album which was really pretty good for the most part, people seemed to expect an album full of singles for their second album.  Instead they got Iowa.

Iowa is one of the most hateful albums I've ever listened to, with such tracks as Skin Ticket, The Heretic's Anthem, Everything Ends, and People = Shit.  There is so much raw anger behind this album it's not even funny, but it makes it sound so strong and powerful that I am ok with it.


Out of the small list I gave you, this is probably my favorite track off of the album.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Impending Doom - Baptized In Filth

Quick clarification, this is the American Impending Doom, not the German one.

So these guys started out as a Death Grind band and while they weren't bad (as Death Grind goes) I wasn't really a huge fan of them.  Still though, they have really evolved at this point to one of the better Deathcore bands I've heard.

With each album their sound has gotten more refined and heavier and lyrically they're really solid.


Also on this album they have a song that has Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter singing on it.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Sevendust - Seasons

Sevendust is a band that came out of the Nu-Metal wave that actually doesn't suck.  Once again, this is a band that I don't as much about as I would like, but I officially give them a thumbs up recommendation.

The album Seasons is a really solid record actually.  Enemy is possibly one of my favorite songs from them I've heard yet.


They also covered NIN's song Hurt, and it was good.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Pink Floyd - High Hopes

Everybody knows who Pink freaking Floyd is.  And if you're a music enthusiast even half worth his salt, you have a vinyl copy Dark Side Of The Moon in your collection probably.  It's actually kind of obnoxious how many people have that album to be honest, since while it's good, all it majorly did was bring them into the US eye.  They were already a kind of big deal in Britain before that.

Back when they formed they had a very different sound from back in 67 when they released their first album (you listen to that stuff and tell me that they weren't doing hard drugs) than they were at the release of DSotM in 73, but that can mostly be attributed to the change of singers and primary writers.  Syd Barrett was the original vocalist and one of the guitarists in Pink Floyd, but he left in 68, and was replaced by David Gilmour.

Now this song is from one of their newest albums, released in 1994 and remastered in 2011.  I would call this song more of a David Gilmour to be honest, and he plays in in his solo tours quite frequently with a very minimal group which plays very well for the song.  In general, Gilmour's material tended to favor a slower, more somber approach to the songs.  He could probably play the happiest sounding scale in the world, but still make it sound really sad.


Enjoy one of my more enjoyed Pink Floyd songs.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Nine Inch Nails - The Only Time

Trent Reznor is one of those guys that lives on in parental infamy with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Ozzy, and Alice Cooper for an awful lot of his material.  *see Closer*  Still though, you can't deny that in his angry years he made some pretty good music.

Basically refining and popularizing the genre of Industrial Rock, Nine Inch Nails has been around since 1988 spreading angst, anger, and such things.  Performing essentially all the instruments in the studio, Reznor is the only true member of NIN.  He cycles through touring musicians for live shows though, and they help to change how each song sounds just a little bit in ways that make each live show special.

This song is my favorite off of the album Pretty Hate Machine quite probably because the bass is so freaking catchy.  Interestingly enough, you can only find about 3 covers of this song on Youtube, and none of them with the bass, which I find surprising.


I hope you like this song as much as I do

Friday, October 10, 2014

Nightwish - Storytime

Nightwish is probably one of (or the) most well known Symphonic Metal bands.

Going through a series of 3 singers to date, Nightwish blends solid guitar work with beautiful harmonies and light orchestral backing.  In fact, on the special edition of the album that this very song is on, they have a second disc devoted entirely to the instrumental tracks, which helps you to realise how much pretty stuff is going on in the background underneath the metal.



It's a pretty cool video too, so there's always that.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster - Step Up (I'm On It)

Having also released 4 albums named I, II, III, and IV, these guys are a wonderful mix of banjo and metal.  Like, possibly the best thing ever if you think about it.

Looking the part, they have put out some pretty solid material over the years.  To be honest, I had forgotten about them till I wrote yesterdays post and had to write "southern metal" out like a million times, thus making me remember them.


Check them out, Spotify is a good way since it shows their top tracks right at the top.  And it's free, so that's a plus.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Showdown - The Man Named Hell

Around the same time I got into Demon Hunter I got into The Showdown.

These guys have managed to make 4 albums, but then unfortunately have been in hiatus since their last release, "Blood In The Gears".

A Southern Metal band reminiscent of Pantera in their earlier work and finally falling into more of their own sound later on, they really aren't to bad if that's the kind of thing you're into.  I know I like it a lot, so obviously ya'll should get into it.  Tune in for tomorrows Southern Metal group that is even better than this!



Ironically, the main guitar riff sounds a lot like Pantera's song "Cowboys From Hell".

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Demon Hunter - The Science Of Lies

Demon Hunter is straight up my favorite band.  When I first got into metal a friend of mine gave me a copy of their cd "The World Is A Thorn" and I wasn't too sure about it, but as I went on in my love affair with metal went on they quickly became my number one band.

While my favorite album is probably "Storm The Gates Of Hell", this album "The Triptych" has the sound that makes me think of their signature sound.  Specifically this track seems to sum up what to expect in all of their songs.

Something I really like about them is that the singer Ryan is really really good at transitioning between singing and screaming.  This isn't the best example of his transitions but in some he does a very smooth slide from singing to screaming that, if you are a metal vocalist, you know is very impressive.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Finntroll - Blodsvept

I'm not really sure where to start with these guys.  I found them by accident one day when looking up foreign metal bands and I fell in love right away.

Finntroll is a folk metal band that dresses as trolls.  Yes, trolls.  Among other things, they have accordion and upright bass in some songs and I feel it's a really catchy mix.  Also they sing in Swedish even though they're from Finland.


Gotta love bands with a theme, it somehow makes them better.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Day To Remember - Mr. Highway's Thinking About The End

I used to think A Day To Remember was just some stupid wannabe metal band.  Now I know they're just a metalcore band, which is almost as bad.

Still though, there's some aspects about what they do that is fun, I mean, there's a reason that they're so popular, ya know?

This song has one of my favorite lines of a song almost ever in it right before the breakdown.  It's probably the best thing ever really.




DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Fitz and the Tantrums - MoneyGrabber

While you may be more familiar with their song "The Walker", this is probably my favorite Fitz song.  One of the singles off of "Picking Up The Pieces", a friend of mine showed this a couple of years ago in an attempt to break up the "monotony" of metal that I listened to at the time.  Suffice it to say, it worked a little bit.

Like with a lot of artists that don't rank in my Top 10 list, I really don't know too much about these guys other than that I like their music a lot.  Every song I've heard from them has the right mix of catchy and competent to make me like them.


Friday, October 3, 2014

Hollywood Undead - Bullet

When I first heard these guy's song "Undead" I initially didn't like them.  I thought they were just another band of too many sub-par rappers who tried to be cool by adding electric guitar.  Later, I found that there's only like 3 singers and that the other guys actually play legitimate instruments.

Something I like about this song is that it sounds like some sort of jingle, even though it's about a guy trying very hard to kill himself.  The whole thing from start to finish sounds like it could be in a cereal commercial or something and not gonna lie, it makes me like it a lot.

Call me morbid if you want to, but I like a small amount of humor in my music sometimes and even though this is really freaking dark humor it's still amusing.
I feel like if I actually had people who read this I'd catch a lot of flak from people who have experienced suicide in their life.





Still, like I said.  I like catchy music a lot.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Frank Zappa - I'm The Slime

Frank Zappa is a weird guy.  Like really, he's messed up.

He made a style of music that nobody else has quite managed to duplicate.  He also managed to have some of the most vulgar lyrics of the era.

A little know fact here, the song "Smoke On The Water" is about a fire that burned up all of Zappa and The Mothers' (his band) equipment.

I'm thinking here, and I can't think I anything that I can tell you about this man.  His autobiography is truly a thing to read.  A very different insight into life than most people will give you.



Some of the best things about this music I'd say would be the fact that it changes up so much.  If you look up live versions of his music, it's always different than the album version.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)

I'm gonna preface this by saying I pure straight hater Limp Bizkit till about 2 or 3 weeks ago.  Not for any reason really then the fact that they represented an unbridled amount of Douchebaggery and such.  I was a music purist for a long time for reasons like this.

Seriously though, this guy.

I started liking them though, because I got into rapcore and these guys are, if anything, rapcore.

They got their name because the singer, Fred Durst (pictured) wanted a name that was as easy to say as "Led Zeppelin", other than that he was very not picky.  Google the names they considered.  They're horrible.

Coming in strong in the nu-metal/rapcore scene, these guys managed to alienate another band who was a major name with Durst's trash talk during one show.  Talking about how all of Slipknot's fans were "a bunch of fat kids" he got a whole pile of their own fans ticked at him since he had a mountain of mutual fans.  Basically, he's a moron.

Still though, their music can be kinda catchy, which is why I enjoy them at times.



Of course I would pick the one song that everybody knows to post though.  Ah well.