FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
With Stuck Mojo still churning out the nu-metal and Chris Jericho enjoying a second wind with the wrestling gig, it took Fozzy five years to put a proper follow-up together, but the resulting Chasing the Grail doesn’t miss a beat whatsoever. In fact, it turns out to be a surprisingly good record that should prove the band’s legitimacy once and for all.
Welcome to the second installment of the snarky, irreverent world of Rimshots, reconstituted for the online world that is Hellbound.ca. Enjoy them, because I know I didn’t. After suffering through this crop of crap, all I have to ask is: Sean, dude, what did I ever do to you?!
Adam Wiills photo gallery of Joe Perry Project live at Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Thursday, February 4th, 2010.
Absolutely one of the best death metal albums this year, Majesty and Decay has set the standard to beat.
Like the rodents they are named after, The White Mice are an elusive target. Here are the known facts; the band is from Providence, R.I. They released the wonderfully twisted Ganjahovadose via 20 Buck Spin last year. They’ve recorded a slew of splits and EPs with titles like Mouse of Mendes and Do They Know It’s Christmice? Their symbol is a rodent’s face scrawled on a pentagram. The music? Bass, distortion pedal and drums with liberal electronic effects and samples where applicable. They’ve been categorized as industrial, noise, art rock and noisegrind. Perhaps a better description would be unclassifiable.
Time to Burn is stuck shamelessly in 1984: it was a time when melodic heavy metal and hard rock boasted über-slick production and massive, massive hooks, but most importantly, the guitars still retained a metallic bite, unlike the gaudy, thinner sounds of the post-1986 glam metal era. More Spencer Proffer, less Bruce Fairbairn. Simply put, if you grew up with bands like Ratt, Dokken, Kick Axe, and Y&T, you will dig this sucker, without a doubt.
This is the band’s fourth full length studio album, which is technically a three-year-old release that came out in Brazil in June, 2007, and it brings fifteen tracks packed with early Vader, Carcass and Possessed influences mixed with Dimmu Borgir style vocals (very throaty and rough aggressive roars). Headhunter D.C. is based on killer riffs, fast and angry tracks and Anti-Christian lyrics.
On first listen, this album gave me visions of using it as a soundtrack to a documentary about people who are into epic fantasy role-playing. I can see the hordes of costumed Lord of the Rings fans clashing their replica swords on a battlefield to win the princesses hand
While instability is familiar territory for Trouble, the changes of the last few years are of an order of magnitude beyond anything it has experienced previously. The reissue of Unplugged, featuring outgoing vocalist Eric Wagner, and Live in Los Angeles, featuring the debut of replacement Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul), jointly symbolize the end of one era and the start of a new era.
Tate Bengston reviews these two new releases by Chicago doom metal legends Trouble.
The problems I have with this record can be summed up in a few simple words: I’ve heard this all before.