Moods - Choose my own adventure

A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt dangerous. - Alfred Adler

Fill your big black boots

Nile is a band that I can only take in small doses. Mostly because they're just so damned overwhelming. So if you're someone who takes Nile in zero doses it's only fair that I attempt to at least expose you to George Kollias; a drummer from Greece who I can only assume began playing when the Acropolis was constructed and probably failed several times to have extreme drumming made an olympic event.

Things to watch for in the video:

- George, similarly to Shannon Lucas, for some ridiculous reason plays the kick with one foot during blast beats. You'll notice this at the 10 second mark. I'm sure he has good reason for this but as far as I'm concerned he's just trying to make things harder for himself (for the hell of it).

- At the 17 second mark you'll see both his left and right feet prove that big black high top boots have no effect on turning his feet into high performance pistons of fury. Again, i know there are more appropriate footwear for this but feel free to refer to the last sentence of my previous point. It's possible he went drum shoe shopping with Gene Hoglan.

- At the 1:02 and 1:59 marks you'll see him employ a second snare that's placed to the left of his high-hat. I'm sure it all has to do with ease as far as freeing up his right hand to do things that would otherwise be too difficult with the standard snare placement, but let's not concern ourselves with these details. What's important is that it looks REALLY NEAT.

- The 1:37 mark is a nice reminder that he's the kind of metal drummer who doesn't neglect his high-hat pedal. You'd be surprised at how important that actually is.

- Again at the 1:59 mark if you pay attention to his right hand you'll notice him using a technique created by civil war musician Sanford Moeller, aptly called the Moeller Technique. Essentially the hand and wrist perform a snake-like whipping motion when playing with speed that allows for accents. I'm no drummer, but apparently it's pretty tough to master so it's only fitting that our pal George here is having at it with inhuman speed.

The rest is just a blur of fills and cross-over cymbal smashing that is nothing short of exhausting to watch.

The Essential Salts:

Everybody loves Metallica…

…the old stuff.

Everybody has to qualify their love for Metallica with that additional sidenote. It’s the definitive post-script of my generation.

I used to be slightly annoyed with the over-justification because I felt as though there was no need. They were a great great metal band who reached their technical limitations and then became a solid hard-rock band. To compare the two incarnations is unfair, albeit inescapable.

The obvious backlash occurred but what many failed to realize is that the band simply could not progress any further than what they had done on …And Justice for all. And fortunately for them, Bob Rock, in his snakeskin-cowboy-booted and goldie-locked glory, recognized this. The band slowed things down, simplified, and sold millions of records. Good for them, but considering the fact that the Black album was released twenty years ago and they’ve continued to release records, they’re on pretty shaky ground.

Nirvana and Green Day killed mainstream metal in the early 90’s and Lars Ulrich, in his insatiable thirst to remain trendy cut his hair (and Hetfield’s, most likely), slapped on a blue fur coat, some eyeliner, and the band cranked out Load and Re-load. [They] remained relevant by continuing to disappoint fans that just wanted the nimble music [they] had stopped played 6 years prior. The thing is, I didn’t dislike Load. I didn’t really care that it wasn’t Ride the Lightning part 2. The songs were still catchy and well recorded, and at that time I didn’t need more of what they used to be. I just didn’t care.

But now I do care. Kind of.

The band works very hard and no one can take that away from them, but they’re victims of their own development (of lack thereof). They were successful in a time where they had fewer peers and were creating a standard which has long since been surpassed. Slayer was more gifted but too controversial. Hetfield had melody and the band crossed over into the punk community through wardrobe and cover song choices. They were the perfect heavy band of that time.

The fortunate reality for the band is that angst-fueled teenagers and jean short wearing 30-40 somethings still want to hear the old material, which is why they’re still the one of maybe two heavy bands that can tour the world and play the largest venues available (incl. Maiden). Truthfully, having never seen them I would as well if it didn’t mean spending so much money to do so. Sadly I know that I’d find myself cringing through most of the performance because with age and musicianship my ears would find it impossible to ignore Hammett’s slightly out of tune, amateur hour vibrato, and Lars only hitting the kick on the 1 of every 4 beats (during the brisk songs). Not to mention leaping off his drum stool and keeling over, crippled from playing a song like “Nothing else matters”.

One could argue that the main reason people still believe in Metallica is a result of craving; the constant want and hope for the band to suddenly release a record that would hearken back to their glory years. Ironically it’s this hope that in some ways keeps the band alive. Or conversely, keeps fans interested. Yes they still put the odd thrashy number on their newer albums, but for every Frantic there’s a Sweet Amber. Or for every My Apocalypse, there’s a SWEET AMBER. The riffs just aren’t there, the songs are too long and repetitive, and they don’t have that “fly by the seat of your pants” fury that a song like “Fight fire with fire” had.

The foolish thing is that I do feel guilty about writing this. It’s as though I’m convinced that somehow, someone from the band will read this and feel insulted. They’re a critical band and one that is inarguably important in my developments as both a listener and performer of music.

Am I hiding behind a keyboard? Of course I am, because I’d never say any of these things to any of their faces. Am I envious of their achievements in the world of recorded music? Anyone who has held an instrument onstage would be lying if they said ‘no’.

Because I do love Metallica…

…especially when Meshuggah released Contradictions Collapse in 1991(ahem, NINETEEN NINETY-ONE!): the record that Metallica would have recorded had they had the technical proficiency to continue in the progressive realm they began to explore on Justice.

On an unrelated note,

If you’re into good music that I know absolutely nothing about, please go HERE where you can download a mix of good music that I know absolutely nothing about, compiled by someone who knows way more about it than I do..

Home at last

The first time the Purdie Shuffle was splained to me was about ten years ago by the man himself. Well, not directly but when the focus of the Classic Albums special on "Aja" shifted towards his contributions I was easily drawn in.

If you're not familiar with the drummer skip ahead to the 2:25 mark of this video. You'll get a bit of his background from the person who loves talking about him the most. Himself. Don't be put off, though, as the man has earned his right to brag.

COME ON. How could anyone resist that man?! For a more isolated breakdown check out the next video and try not get too hypnotized by his shoulder movements. You'd be hard pressed to find another drummer who lays down a more solid, ghost-noted, confident groove.

Due to the beat being so unique it really jumps out if I hear someone else interpret it. One example is Toto's Jeff Porcarro who used it for the song "Rosana". He explains his method in the next video:

I'm not about to pretend that I'm a Toto aficionado and my knowledge of them goes no further than listening to the cut Africa from their record "IV", which my parent's owned on cassette. However what really gives me a jolt is when I notice the Purdie Shuffle in metal songs.

Check out Martin Axenrot's use of the pattern in the Opeth song Hessian Peel. He introduces it at the 2:12 mark so don't be a lazy bimbo and just start the video from the beginning, instead of skipping ahead.

Pretty great, oui?

I wish I had a bunch of examples of the shuffle in metal but I only have two and the next one is the reason I bothered writing this post, because it's a new song. Abe Cunningham of the Deftones uses the beat pretty sparingly in the first single Rocket Skates from their new record but it's in there enough to have caught my attention.

Give it up for Mr Purdie.

Twennehten

Everyone wants to have something to say and frustratingly for the most part the web gives them the opportunity to have their own platform. The result? Dead blogs everywhere. The information super-highway is littered with rotted out web-journal roadkill.
Not that this is much of a concern as the majority of what has passed as creativity lately is to simply copy and paste links to embed videos:



...or to add not-funny to semi-funny captions to not-funny, semi-funny, or already funny pictures.

Combine all of these things with the trend of 200+ blurry and repeating pictures in a vacation album posted on facebook and we’re left with sympathy for bandwidth and a bad aftertaste from “I couldn’t care less about what the hell is online anymore” sandwiches.

Not like I’m remotely better as this page, aside from a few scattered jabs to its pretzel fueled heart, has been Chaosdeadandburied for years. In fact, I don’t even know if this post is worthwhile considering my unwillingness to commit to a follow-up, and I’m not quite ready to lazily switch over to twitter.com/chaoslame yet.

So to what purpose do I owe this sudden inspiration? I have NO IDEA. Do I have anything remotely new and interesting to say about heavy music and what I like about it? MAYBE?

Let’s see what kind of run-down I can provide.

- Favourite record of 2009: Addicted by Devin Townsend.
Not even really a metal album but the heaviness is there. The guy just delivers some of the most satisfying cuts I’ve ever known. Never one to hold back on vocal and six-stringed inyourfaces he once again proves himself to be arguably the greatest talent in the country although criminally unrecognized by the ones he likely doesn’t care to be recognized by. Even after listening to the song “Numbered” countless times I still almost barf a rabbit when what’s her name starts belting it out at the 3:49 mark.



- Converge
I’m not much of a fan but the first song on the new album can only be compared to taking a hit of Incredible Hulk. I’ve never grocery shopped with so much non-visual tension in my entire life. I was SLAMMING those bagels into my basket (In my mind. Totally normal in real life).
Outstanding production.



- Impious, Death Domination:
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR (Read this like each “R” is a snare hit) RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Fine, I get it, blast beats have been appropriated by everyone and has become the new qualifier for crap bands who write “we’re metal…right?” songs, but it’s becoming too much. Impious isn’t one of those bands and in their defense the album is savagely insane, but after 3 songs I can’t get passed the lack of memorable guitar riffage.



- Shannon Lucas:
Is still the new American metronome. I can’t say that I fell for the newest BDM record much but golly does he really let loose. A drummer this consistent is a rare thing and I've watched enough footage of him online to at least get a basic impression that he seems to be a pretty down to earth, overall nice-guy. The video below is nothing short of intimidating.

This:


There you have it. Maybe I’ll be back in a week to a few years or so. Chaosbeard isn’t dead yet.

If you're going to cut records that clearly ape the sounds of Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Sabbath and the Beatles you'd better be doing something interesting.

If you can take that interesting and knowingly quote parts directly from those bands you'd better be doing something really interesting.

Bigelf.
They're really really good. Like, i've heard this song before no I haven't and it's catchy and rolling.
You can't fault a band for showing this much ambition and truly 'going for it'.
Both the new record and the one before it are pretty awesome. Get passed the influences and you'll be rewarded.
At least buy them for your dad.

ps, that new Beyonce single is pretty killer. The "Single Ladies" one.

Southern Harm
Remember five years ago when Kings of Leon released a record and everyone claimed them to be the return of Southern Rock? Maybe you don’t, but I do. And do you know what else I remember? Them not being Southern Rock at all. Well, not in the Southern Rock sense that I know. Fine, they play some form of rock, and they’re from the South, but that’s as far as that comparison will go. Go ahead pal, give yourself a Robin Hood haircut and a little moustache as long as you keep in mind that Duane Allman had the facial hair of a walrus when he was born and is still considered to be one of the greatest slide guitar players of all time (despite having died at 25.)
Whether or not you feel as though that comparison is justified is completely irrelevant but here are some guidelines that will help you understand how something can be qualified as Southern Rock (yes, this is my opinion but fortunately for me you don’t have one on this subject. Or at least one that matters. To me).
1. Good songs
2. Good musicians
That’s it. There are your guidelines. If you’re confused I’ll provide some explanation using the band first mentioned in this post.
If you think the members of Kings of Leon are good musicians you have a very different definition of the word ‘good’ and how it applies to music. To be fair, the members of Kings of Leon are capable musicians. They get the job done. And their job has it’s place as far as satisfying an audience who loves (loved?) the Strokes and claimed to like whichever country artist had most recently died, and really would have really dug a combination of the two.
“Duuude, Johnny Cash ruuules”
“Yeah man, STRRRRROKES!!”
both in unison, “DUUUDE…imaaagine??”
These would be the same guys that would makes claims as ignorant as Kings of Leon being the new Lynyrd Skynyrd. A claim that made me want to stab myself in the butt with a desk just for typing it. Those who make quick comparisons such as that are generally those who are only familiar with Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird yet somehow are completely incapable of distinguishing between ‘good’ musicianship (or great, or shoot your face off great musicianship) for ‘capable’ playing. Have you heard Freebird? Surely you and your jean short wearing bro-skees have fumbled through guitar hero with it enough to know that it’s no run of the mill pop tune.
I’m exhausted with this post already and I haven’t even gotten to the point.

For those of you who care about the Southern Rock that I care about and have been unsuccessful in finding an updated version of it KEEP READING. It does exist, and it’s heavy.
Seeing as Southern Rock is performed by good musicians it is easily comparable to metal because both genres consist of people who wasted most of their youths working toward being a good musician. That’s not to say that all Metal and Southern Rock musicians are great with their instruments but it’s a generalization that I’m comfortable with. Sure, David Muse of the Marshall Tucker Band may not be the best flautist in the world but I don’t have any issues with claiming him to be more talented than Caleb Followill. And despite the fact that the individual members of Trivium may be able to shred to a certain degree, they still suck. But they don’t suck as hard as Caleb effing Followill.
And both Kings of Leon and Trivium don’t even come close to being as interesting and powerful and Georgia’s Baroness.
Up until recently I knew very little of this band and the small amount I'd heard left me with the impression that the music was ‘kind of slow’.
They were very good live. Huge tone and very strong vocals with a powerful delivery. Long held words with solid backups. They have elements of their Atlanta, and former Relapse compatriots Mastodon in the sense that the songs generally contain harmonized hammered on and pulled off guitar lines and a drummer content on carrying a fill over 200 bars. I was really enjoying it. Then it got better. Every time John Baizley, the frontman, performed a guitar break I got a nice big fresh breeze of twang. After that point it became more enjoyable as I could then not only put it through my doom filter but also the meshed goodness that is my love for the down-home. Apparently the Midnight Rider has added tight black jeans and a bullet belt to his wardrobe.
I’m not saying that it was as though Gary Rossington and Dickey Betts were on stage doing hair whips but the inspiration was clearly genuine and coming from the right place.
Go see this band if you can, and do yourself a favour and pick up some of their merch cause it’s some of the best stuff out there. Not only can Mr. Baizley belt out some solid vocals and tasty twang but he also designs their, and many other bands’ artwork.

Yeah right


Not fair



Pig Destroyer!

Main Entry:
sur·gery
Pronunciation:
\'serj-rē, 'ser-je-\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural sur·ger·ies
Etymology:
Middle English surgerie, from Anglo-French cirurgerie, surgerie, from
Latin chirurgia, from Greek cheirourgia, from cheirourgos surgeon, from
cheirourgos doing by hand, from cheir hand + ergon work — more at
chir-, work
Date:
14th century
1: a clinical act performed with precision and extreme technicality.
- to be done manually in a sterile environment.
- a room or place of surgical operations.
- executed with various instruments, typically of the metallic variety.
- may sometimes result in death.

Usage;
Doctor Malone,
“I’ve trained for years and years to perform my job with
the most proficient and technical expertise. On the whole
though, I’d say that being subject to my job would be
either boring and or painful.”

or

Jill, “I’m going into surgery tomorrow”
Paul, “Oh yeah? Wow that sucks”
Jill, “No way, I TOTALLY love it”
Paul, “You wouldn’t if you were awake”

Synonyms:
Ultimate frisbee, Arsis

These guys update daily. Apparently that's how you get readers.

7:24 to Awesome-ville

If you’re currently hearing the screams of your favourite bands or musicians it’s because they’ve likely heard what I heard today. If you can’t hear those screams, it’s because you’re not listening closely enough. That or you heard what I heard today and can no longer process the feeble attempts at recorded music your favourite bands or musicians have made in comparison to the new Meshuggah song available to be heard on bravewords.com.
Main page, top left hand-side. Brave Tunes.
Meshuggah – Bleed

This band has consistently evolved and mutated despite maintaining a signature sound that cannot be forged.
Chaosphere to Nothing informed listeners that speed was not a necessary tool in the creation of uneven jackhammer riffage. That slower tempos could open the doors for more complicated polyrhythms and place more focus on the impact of tone, both instrumentally and vocally.
Nothing to I was a trip through the history of the band which transitioned from the violent punishment of their early tendencies to their newer, more patient grinds. They also expanded on the flowing singular characteristics of free jazz and composed rhythms which became increasingly difficult to predict. On previous records, a pattern could have repeated itself several times throughout the course of the 4 count however with “I”, the band would carry a sequence over 8 or more bars.
I to Catch 33 continued with the latter elements of “I” in the sense that things remained slow, heavy, and unpredictable. People made the obvious complaints that the band “wasn’t what they used to be”, that they “lost the focus they had presented on Destroy Erase Improve” and that “they were turning their backs on their fans”. What those people didn’t know was that they were complete idiots who had no concept of why Meshuggah is what it is. Why they have moved beyond the limitations of the Metal genre and are without question one of the most significant recording groups of the last twenty years.

Bleed – Early reports from the band indicated they were composing new material with a brisker edge. You know, the one they’d “lost”. This denseness is without a doubt evident on Bleed however being the band they are, and understanding that in order to satisfy their own creative needs they have been able to remain evolutionary. Yes, the primary riff contains more strikes than all of Nothing and Catch 33 combined and the rhythm stutters in ways of old but the drums (high hat / snare) remain for the most part patient and simplified (bass drums excluded – unreal). That being said I can’t predict what the rest of the record will sound like. It is entirely possible that it may in fact be in the tradition of DEI or Chaosphere. I do doubt it though as they are not a band that takes to being predictable.

Every time this band releases new material they amaze and this is no exception.

Top 10, or 8

1. Destruction – Thrash Anthems
What do you do when the quality of your early output gets overshadowed by poor production values and drumming that sounds like Stephen Hawking tap-dancing with bags of ping-pong balls on his feet? You take your new drummer into the studio (one of the most solid thrash drummers on the planet) and RE-RECORD THEM. An interesting route for a ‘best of’ but this record couldn’t possibly deliver any more than it already does. Not to take anything away from the quality and nostalgia of the original recordings from these Germans but the updated versions of these tunes really allows their greatness to be revealed. The drums and guitars are so loud and in your face that they might as well be in your mouth and Schmier "I'M SO PISSED UFF"'s vocals are proof that a ridiculously tall, leather clad man can still sound terrifying with shreaky vocals. I find it very difficult to not raise at least one arm in the air when listening to this record.
Hey guys, how do you want this thing mastered?
Um, louder zen anyssing ulse und zee planetz.

2. Mors Principium Est – Liberation = Termination
Not even the electric-circus, white-button-down-shirt, white-pants, white-leather-cockroach-killer shoe, gold-chain, guess-jeans-belt-buckle, bass-thumping intro to the ‘Animal Within’ from this record can deny how awesome this band is. To some it’s pretty standard melodo-death-thrash but these guys have more shred in them than something with a whole lot of shred in it. All three of their releases have had at least 5 to 6 ‘YES’ songs which, if ya don’t know, is a remarkably high average. The main guitar player / song-writer chappy has left to pursue the arena-ready stampeding success of solo instrumental music which is a crying shame but he did a hell of a job in releasing three great MPE records.

3. Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
Pig Destroyer? No thanks, I’ve heard they’re good but I’m not that into grind. HEY WAIT THIS ISN’T GRIND.
One guitar, one drumset, and a very talented lyricist. I’m embarrassed to have so quickly dismissed them in the past. This record kills from start to finish with flurried blasts and grooved out glory.

4. Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal
Zach Gibson / Drums: Hey guys, I’m like the only good member of this band and the only reason Miasma was any good was because of my drum performance eff you to the max I’m out of here.
Black Dahlia Murder: Hey cool man, you were sloppy live and did nothing but complain the entire time anyway. Oh apparently you’re an arrogant prick too. No worries though as we’ve since replaced you with Tony Laureano, oh wait, we mean Kevin Talley, nope, make that Pierre Langlois, haaaang on, no here we go, Yo Shannon Lucas, why don’t you leave All that Remains and come help us destroy the rest of the modern American Thrash scene on our new record.
Shannon Lucas: Sounds good.
You ever heard a heavy metal waltz? Track 2.
1 – 2 – 3, 1 – 2 – 3-, puh – nih – shing.

5. Iron and Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Finally an album to counter that weird uncle of yours and his fondness for ‘world music’. Guess what, Paul Simon’s Graceland came out a looong time ago and those Putumayo Kenyan Jambalaya collections aren’t going to add the flavour to your collection you seem to so desperately desire. Nice multi-coloured vest by the way. Dear Sam Beam, thank you so much for evolving in a way that came as a complete surprise yet seemed to make a shocking amount of sense at the same time. The melodies and terrifyingly strong and the instrumentation is awesome. Also, the cut on there about the Buzzard smothered my face with a smile instantly.

6. Between the Buried and Me – Colors
Haha yeah we were just kidding when we released that completely unnecessary tribute record ‘The Anatomy of’ last year. I mean, we couldn’t have made it any less interesting if we’d tried, considering every song pretty much sounded exactly like the original with the exception of good vocals. BUT YAY have fun with Colors because we’re still crazy nerds who will throw in Vaudevillian and Country & Western sections into 11+ minute metal / prog blends freshly pureed for you to probably not completely appreciate.

7. Radiohead – In Rainbows
There was a time oh so many years ago when I lived and breathed Radiohead. You know, back in the mid 90’s when I actually bought cd’s. How interesting is it that now, over 10 years later I actually got this record legally but still didn’t pay anything for it. Sure, a generous move by the band but it wouldn’t have been possible if myself and a few other million people hadn’t shelled out for their previous releases. The ‘pay what you want’ thing was kind of like having a friend win the lottery and offer to take you out to dinner while giving you the option of covering the tip. The real thrill of this record was its announcement roughly 10 days before the release. I gave up on them after Kid A when Metal got all possessive, asking me tediously jealous questions about who else I had been hanging out with and why my clothes didn’t smell of greasy hair and ‘someone else’s Right Guard’. I’m not the devoted fan I once was but the song ‘All I need’ is almost enough for In Rainbows to make this list alone.

8. Neil Young – Live at Massey Hall 1971
Oh hi, I’m Neil Young and I’m on stage at Massey hall. I released After the Gold Rush last year and will be releasing Harvest next year. I’m currently 26 years old. Guess what, that pretty much makes me more talented than you’ll ever be at anything in your entire life. "This next one isn’t quite finished yet, it’s called ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’". Yeesh.


Honourable mentions
Coliseum – No Salvation
I can’t justifiably include this record in the numbered portion of this list because I don’t actually own it yet. I am including it simply because after seeing them live at Sneaky Dee’s this summer I fully expect this album to be a monster. The singer and sole guitar player had four Marshall cabinets on stage and the drummer was absolutely amazing. The songs ripped in their hardcore / metal way and it was great in every way possible. They also have the coolest merch designs this side of Missoura.

Meshuggah – Chaosphere
This record was released in 1998 but since no band has topped the battering turbine of clattery caustics that is Chaosphere it will remain on any top list I compose out of spite and obnoxiousness.

Post Organic

They released my favourite record of last year and
I've mentioned them several times.
Their bus crashed a few days ago while on tour in Russia severly injuring Covan (vocals) and Vitek (drums). Vitek passed away this morning.
He was remarkably talented and only 23 years old but despite his age and the ages of his bandmates, they, and he were already veterans of the scene. He was a young adult in death and they were a band of near children when they released their savage debut, Wings of Creation, in 2000.

One more time for Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka.

AAAllo

They’re back, which more importantly means he’s back. “He” of course being Dirk Verbeuren, or more popularly known around my headphones as Le French Fury.
The “they’re” also implies that a new Soilwork record is soon to be released. The entire record is currently streaming on their myspace, and based on my quick and unfair scan they seem to be continuing on into their happy-mid-tempo’d and keyboard smothered nice scream sundaes. If that sort of thing doesn’t sound appealing to you, and if you weren’t a huge fan of Stabbing the Drama (I was) you’ll probably just continue ignoring them in disappointment that they’re not just recycling Chainheart Machine. Whether or not you’re interested I would still recommend at least listening to The Pittsburgh Syndrome which is the apparent equivalent to STD’s Blind Eye Halo and Stalemate. In other words, the fast one, or, drum party yay.
If you follow these guys at all you may remember a studio video of Dirk once again proving why he’s one of the cleanest, fastest, and grooviest drummers in the biz. Turns out that that video was for this Pittsburgh song and it was a welcome change to actually hear the music behind the mashing (and the kicks for that matter). I’ve included that video below and if you’re as (pick your adjective) as me you can actually attempt to sync the video with the song. Think of it as a game. I did it, not as a game though, for seriousness. But then again, I’m super cool.
The video only lasts until midway through the lead which is a shame because the end of the song has a few arm storms. His right hand is typically frightening lightning fast and equally irate with his hi-hat and if you listen to the album version of the track you'll get to hear how impressive his feet are during the verse section. The beauty in Dirk’s playing is his subtlety and how flurried moments can slip by without a listener picking up on them. The songs aren’t showcases for his abilities but if you’re specifically listening for it you can’t help but be blown away. As far as I’m concerned he has some of the best feel and smoothest playing ever recorded.
Highlights (album version):
:00
:26
1:03
2:11
2:34
2:42

THREE FOR THREE

Some really unimportant things to mention are that Jori decided to leave the band after 7 years and 3 albums. This is a shame as shortly before that Jarkko also decided that he would no longer perform live with the band. Apparently things will be ok though as Karri and Tomy have been brought in to round out the lineup. Sadly though, after all that, Joona has also since decided to leave. I’m sure all of this is devastating news to someone but that someone is probably not you. What is important is that while Mors Principium Est doesn’t seem to have the ability to keep a steady lineup (or actually play live shows) they did release one of my favourite metal releases this year. Also, if you’re not from Finland, you may find Finnish names funny…feriously.

I’ve written about this band before but felt that seeing how I’m so inconsistent and pathetically lazy in finding things to post about I might as well just cover them again. To choose them isn’t a random decision though because as I said, their new release (Liberation = Termination) just kills.

The songs are still fluffed up with keyboards and the odd techno beat but I’ll gladly suck that up and trade it off for the absolute shred fest that comes with it. To be honest, after three albums from these guys I’ve come to accept the keyboards for their ability to set up tremendously heavy sections. There’s even a tune called Animal Within that opens with a straight up Honda Civic ready thumper and upon first listen I almost unknowingly threw on a pair of snakeskin pointed cockroach killers and puked in my hat but the guitar lead that Jarkko unleashes completely makes up for it. It’s peel-out fast and seemingly never-ending. This is most likely the reason he’s decided to stay with the group but not play live. One can only imagine that attempting to perform that solo on a nightly basis would likely result in death. Or severely cramped fingers.

As compared to the previous two albums the vocals are finally pushed up and thankfully uncompromised. The leads have also finally been turned up a bit as well which rules because these guys are some of the best as far as execution and composition goes.

There are two songs (The Opressed will Rise & Sinners Defeat) from the new record on their Myspace that are great examples of what these guys are all about.

DIE PIG

Ah, it’s good to be back. I’ve been itching to post for months but web access is non-existent when you’re rescuing endangered plants from the Mariana Trench. Oh of course I’m kidding. Who the hell would want to rescue anything?

Well I’m back from my hiatus of doing what I normally do in my day to day existence just minus my previous inconsistent postings, but I’ve been listening to something lately that I’m actually legitimately shocked I’m promoting.

I always build up to some lame reveal don’t I? Not like you couldn’t have figured it out by the picture anyways.

Pig Destroyer. Grindcore. What the hell am I doing listening to grindcore. The genre is alright but I never listen to it. Mostly because I can’t stand listening to it. Incessant blast beats, guitars that sound like they were amplified with laundry baskets and belch bucket vocals aren’t typically my thing but this record is really cool. You’ll have to go to their myspace if you really care to hear anything but it’s worth it. Also, don’t be fooled by the length of the two new tunes up there. For the most part the standard length on the record is, you know, a minute. What they’ve done to set themselves apart though is thankfully mix in solid double-kick grooves and what sound to my ears like some actual old-school riffage. The vocals are pretty ferocious too.

Check them out.

Whale Riffer

It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing for this site. I really do. I think the problem is that my enjoyment doesn’t necessarily reveal itself until I’m about halfway through a new post. I suppose I’ve also been having inspiration issues lately, pretty lame. Thus is the cycle of metal. I mean, I can’t keep writing about the same bands over and over and it’s pretty rare that a new one comes along that I feel the need to devote enough time to educating myself about to the point where I feel comfortable posting about them. I guess there’s nothing stopping me from posting daily stuff about current stories but there are enough sites devoted to that so it would seem kind of cheap.

What am I trying to say exactly?

I don’t know man, that you’re lazy?

Sure, probably. I’m not going to say that it’s hard but…

…but, just finish the post.

Fine. Remember my top 10?

Yeah.

Gojira, the French band. Remember them?

Yeah, From Mars to Sirius. Seriously, how awesome is that record.

Ridiculously awesome. Honestly, some of the best production I’ve ever heard. The drums are so huge and solid.

I know, and the vocals? Talk about a delivery. I mean, you notice when good vocals are good or the opposite, when you just can’t get into something, but this guy…

…unreal, so much conviction. Would have liked to have seen him record them, pretty amazing that he was able to put himself in that headspace in a vocal booth. It sounds like he wanted to eat the wood from the walls.

It’s conscious too which is refreshing. I guess if you think about it it wouldn’t be that hard to draw that much aggression from environmental subject matter. And let’s be honest, whales make for some heavy duty imagery.

That sounds dumb, I know what you mean though.

Whatever.

It’s also pretty cool that they pretty much cornered the market on that pick scrape across the strings thing. You know, when you rake your pick from the high E to the low E? Close to the bridge? SCREEEAAAAW.

Yeah, it’s wicked. Zakk Wylde does that thing too but these guys actually incorporate it into the riffage, it’s not just some trick, it’s really in there and part of the song.

Oh man, I know. Like that section 2 minutes into the tune “The Heaviest Matter in the Universe”? Where the riff falls into that bulldozer grind? And your ears keep getting tweaked by that, that SCREEEAAAW.

It rules.

Yep.

It’s funny too because since this record came out other bands are starting to use it more and when I hear it I just think, ‘man, they’re ripping off Gojira, from a record that’s less than 2 years old’. Talk about getting something right.

Yeah, like Chimaira.

Definitely, I mean, you know I think that last Chimaira record was pretty cool but that new song they have? Resurrection? They go into a big slow riff at the end and bring in what to me is already known as the Gojira scrape. It’s like, c’mon guys, people know.

You speak the truth.

Yes I do. I’m going to watch that live Gojira video of ‘The Heaviest Matter in the Universe’ now.

Good idea.

Thanks.

10

1. Decapitated - Organic Hallucinosis - Sauron finally ditched and his generic death grunts aren't missed at all. They bring in some new kid named Covan who sounds remarkably like Barney from Napalm Death. That implies that he’s also really good. This thing grooves the hell out of the shed and is heavier than Satan the Hutt.

2. Mastodon - Blood Mountain - They're the new Zeppelin.

3. Gojira - From Mars to Sirius - It might have been released last year but that was only in Europe and I don't live there. It came out here this year so I'm putting it on this list. These frenchies knocked it out of le parc with a load of greenpeace whale sludge and the production is incredible.

4. Enslaved - Ruun – Aside from a few exceptions Black metal may be pretty much dead seeing as the only reason most bands play it these days is to have an excuse to wear corpse paint. Thankfully these guys keep recreating the genre by completely avoiding everything that’s so lame about it.

5. Urkraft - Inhuman Aberration – This record can sometimes be pretty generic melodic thrash but the performances are perfect and the riffs are never predictable. They're almost always rolling over the fourth beat and ending up somewhere only Danish people seem to understand.

6. I - Between Two Worlds - Heavy fist pumping rock metal with Abbath on vocals? Duh.

7. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale - I used to dislike his voice on the wu-tang records, I thought it was too whiny. I was so much younger then and too stupid to realize how insanely good he was.

8. Lamb of God - Sacrament - We're not supposed to like them anymore. What did Sloan say? That's rhetorical as I know the answer. They said it's not the band I hate it's the fans. Meatheads across the land may love beating each other up while listening to them (aka looking for an excuse to grab at each other) but to be honest this record is still with me. There’s enough of an evolution to keep me interested, the songs are heavy and catchy and Chris Adler is always entertaining.

9. In Flames - Come Clarity - Hell sometimes I like pop music.

10. Intronaut - Void – I’ve heard it enough to know that it’s top ten worthy. It will likely take many more listens to fully appreciate it’s denseness and weight. Next year I’d be disappointed with myself if I hadn’t included it.

ANOTHER LESSON IN VIO-LISTENING

When a supreme talent arises in the metal community it can often be ignored by even more seasoned listeners because at times with this talent comes the desire to create the most caustic racket possible. In cases such as these the average to even advanced music fans are unable to digest what has been laid to .wav. In this case we're going to focus on Necrophagist. A band who falls into the commonly known metal genre as one of the many with too many names to bother attempting to label. Death, tech-death, math-tech, death-math, pyro-tech, ok so I'm starting to make these up but everyone else does so it's not even important. What is important is that if you can get passed the destructive drumming and grunting you'll find, in Necrophagists case, a guy who instead of applying his advanced brain to building a space station decided to pick up a guitar and almost single-handidly recreate the blast-math-being set on fire and put out with rock salt genre.

The band was originally a one man operation helmed by Muhammed Suicmez. His first full length record was called Onset of Putrefaction and he recorded the entire thing alone. If you have any desire to create music like this you'll probably want to start honing your drum machine abilities as it's unlikely you'll find someone who'll ever be able to replicate it live. Unless of course you're Suicmez and your first record does well enough to give you access to the impenetrable fortress where they keep the drummers that aren't accessible to the public unless you've proven your worth.

Another example of a similar band I've endorsed before on here is Decapitated. If you like them at all they can be a good starting point for Necrophagist. Well, Decapitated and say, Eat 'em and Smile by David Lee Roth. I say this because if it wasn't for the vocals you could almost be convinced that this album was recorded by Vai and Sheehan. That being said he did actually manage to put a band together and the newest record, 2004's Epitaph, is a tight and clean shred-fest in every way.

Symbiotic in Theory is a good example of all that this band is. The fast parts rip, the slower sections grind and the instrumentation is mind-boggling.

NICE SNEAKERS

From the top to the very bottom, the biggest to smallest, there is no music more broadly scrutinized, dismissed or loved than metal. I know, I know, it’s a sweeping and arguably ignorant statement and one that could be argued by classical music and Steely Dan fans everywhere but I’m referring to music listeners of all ages and cultures. Let’s be honest, Classical music, like Criterion DVD’s or a good pen can only properly appreciated by people at least over the age of thirty and if someone younger claims otherwise they’re either lying to impress or have lost their entire youth locked in a room with a viola. As for Steely Dan, well, either you get it or you don’t and if you don’t I pity your unfortunate soul for you are not even remotely as ‘nerd cool’ as you think you are. Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, myself, my dad, my uncle, and other geniuses are laughing at you.

It’s a complicated world of genres, sub-genres, sub-sub genres and laughable styles that is both intimidating and for the most part a complete waste of time to even try to follow. This is of course the primary reason those who choose to follow it even bother. It’s like collecting hockey or baseball cards. It’s expensive, wastes space, is detailed oriented and all about the thrill of discovery. You are willing to sift through months of junk just for that one solid find. It’s a risky game, entering a room of cynical metal heads that have seen and heard it all. You throw in your tape or CD, or connect your mp3 player, it’s building inside, ‘they’ll love this’, you think to yourself, ‘I can’t believe they haven’t heard this band yet, they’re going to be so blown away’. Are they though? Was I tired when I heard it? Am I completely off? It’s a risk you take and a risk you love. Of course the pay-off is never instant. Like any metal head they won’t give you the immediate satisfaction. That usually comes a few weeks later when you’re in a car with all of them and they somehow now know the good parts. From there it’s air guitars, air drums, and winced eyed head-nodding all around. You’ve done it, time to start the search again.

The complications, though, arise from so many levels which is what makes the genre so difficult to crack into. As a metal head you are willing to listen to almost everything, for a few seconds. The reality is that that’s usually all it takes. If you’re seasoned enough, those two seconds aren’t even necessary and your seemingly closed-mindedness can be perfectly justified. Take a look at your current local metal scene; chances are the bands with the biggest draws are those with the tightest black pants and the biggest high-tops. If you’ve been to one of their shows you were most likely surrounded by a crowd full of people who wouldn’t know Alex Skolnick from Alex Van Halen while they feign interest in a below mediocre band playing songs that are less engaging than listening to a co-worker re-count the dream they had last night. There’s a reason why the most technically proficient musicians look like complete dorks and this reason is something I shouldn’t have to explain.

Here’s where it becomes difficult. Where the fine line blurs, fades, and hides. The local band wearing brand new 1990 Reebok Pumps would argue that they’re old-school, which is perfectly fair as long as you accept that your band will never go anywhere. The second you become that ‘old school band’ in town, that’s it. You’ve dug a stylistic hole that you’ll likely never recover from. The upside of course being that you at least had women at your shows which naturally meant that your audience was doubled, until you tried to evolve your sound. Then the quasi-interested metal heads forgot about you and moved on to some other old-school indulgence to party to in between Deicide binges, the girls left because they discovered some other band with tighter pants on Myspace and their boyfriends finally lost interest because their thirst to be the first to say that they found the new Wolf____ became too much for them to withstand. It’s ok though, shelling out all that extra cash to release a 7 inch was worth it in the end wasn’t it? At least that’s what Slayer would have done in ’84.

The opposite and likely adverse effect to this is a band like The Dillinger Escape Plan. These guys always seem to be ahead of the game, are remarkably proficient technically, and pretty much anti everything. Interestingly enough though is that if you go to a Dillinger show you’ll likely be surrounded by a crowd that wouldn’t know Jim Henson from Jim Martin (you see, I use Jim Martin because most people who would claim to follow Dillinger would be likely to name drop Mike Patton who is widely accepted in the ‘cool’ category as is Faith No More, but probably wouldn’t recognize the bespectacled wonder that was Mr. Martin – aka I’m pretentious). Anyway, I respect DEP but I’ll be damned if I can get through an entire record of theirs. If you haven’t heard them, imagine taking four Steely Dan albums, over-lapping them all, continually speeding up and then slowing down the music, and all this while putting a barking dog next to you while you listen to it. It’s pretty self indulgent stuff and I do encourage you to see them live as their performance is comparable to playing dodgeball with a bee-hive instead of a ball.

What all this could really be traced to is a potential personal indictment of all things power metal. Well, not all things, only things post 80’s. This is unfair of course…yeah, whatever. My point is when it comes to metal, if you have elements to your music that are references to something old and you are not making any attempts to mold or update it than you are likely wasting your time. If you can impress your friends with a wailing falsetto think twice before you put a band together for the sole purpose of making others listen to you sing like Rob Halford. The reality is that you probably suck and don’t sound remotely as good not to mention your lack of Tipton and Downing. It’s a combination of elements that make a great band, not one gimmick. On that note, my apologies to Dragonforce, you’ve got a lot of talent but let’s be honest, you’re robots making the soundtrack for the video game called life.

If you’ve made it this far here is your reward. A British band that I only discovered yesterday and was inspired enough to write about today (if you check for updates at all you can appreciate the meaning of this). They’re called Biomechanical and while they do contain elements previously discussed (mainly high vocals) they are without question taking these elements and processing them through a technical thrashing blender of full on fury and boulders to the face. It’s fast, riff riddled and aggressive. The vocals go from the gut to the top of your head with the high stuff executed very strongly. The worst thing about the fact that they’re touring with EXODUS is that they’re not playing in my living room.

Go HERE and listen to Enemy Within. If you don't like it you're definitely not ready for Aja.

TALLEY - HO

Here’s a bit of a sobering post for any aspiring musicians hoping to start a metal band. Not that I’m trying to discourage anyone but just keep this one important point in mind: A good metal drummer is VERY hard to find. I could give a few examples including the side projects and session work that some have done but it would be almost comical and quite frankly as boring as waiting for me to update this stinking site.

One specific example though is Kevin Talley, a drummer that has appeared on a few tracks that I’ve profiled here.
I’ve ripped off portions of his bio from Kevintalley.net and included them below. I did take the liberty of leaving out such highlights as 1991’s “Played 1st concert with classic country band at grandparents 50th wedding anniversary.” figuring that if you want to investigate some of his more substantial career moments you can do some homework of your own. What is also crucial is to keep in mind that he was born in 1979 so when you read that he joined Maryland’s underground Grind/Death metal favorites Dying Fetus in 1997, he was 18 years old.

1990 began playing drums.
1996 Joined San Antonio metal band DEITY and made -The Resurrected- demo.
1997 Joined DYING FETUS and re-located to the D.C. area.
1998 May/June filled in for a U.S. SUFFOCATION tour.
1999 FETUS side project KNUCKLE DEEP releases -Come Clean-.
2001 Mar Kevin departs DYING FETUS.
2001 Apr Forms and records w/MISERY INDEX -Overthrow-.
2001 June/July METHOD OF DESTRUCTION (MOD) Reunion tour with Billy Milano of S.O.D. (Charlie and Scott of ANTHRAX).
2001 Dec Session work for DARK DAYS in Cali.
2002 Feb travel to the -Warfield- in San Fran to audition w/ SLAYER.
2002 Apr Travel to SLAYER's rehearsal space and jam with them for 2 days.*
2002 Formed rock band GRAYSON MANOR.
2002 Sept/Oct Session work in SWEDEN for SOILS OF FATE.
2004 Jan/Feb departs GM and forms 5th Wheel, a rock/punk band with Atlanta musician Tyler Edwards.
2004 Rejoin MISERY INDEX and releases -Dissent- EP.
2004 June Departs M.I. and joins Chimaira.
2005 Feb Chimaira records self titled release.
2005 March Record songs for DAATH including -Ovum-.
2006 Jan/Feb Talley fills in for THE RED CHORD.
2006 Feb/Mar Talley fills in for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER.
2006 Apr/May Talley fills in for HATE ETERNAL.
2006 May session work for ASYLUM.
2006 Nov/Dec DAATH and Cattle Decapitation tour!

*Lombardo came back, he didn’t stand a chance.

It’s a sad reality that these guys are a rare breed. If you’re at all close to a local metal scene you’re likely already familiar with seeing the same guy planted behind the traps of a few bands. If you also have a young kid and they express any interest in playing a musical instrument put on your Earl Woods hat and get your kid some drums because I guarantee that if they end up being any good they’ll be in about 10 bands and one of those will surely make it big.

Talley with The Black Dahlia Murder


Talley auditioning for Slayer (note the walls of cabinets…in a rehearsal space. Hilarious)