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Opeth: Watershed Review
Watershed is the ninth album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. Being only exposed to one Opeth album before, Still Life, I thought this album started off a bit soft. By soft, I don’t mean bad. The first track on Watershed is ‘Coil’. It is an acoustic song with two clear vocals. It’s a good track but I felt that it just didn’t have the Boom factor and the build-up suspense needed for an opening track like ‘The Moor.’
The singles on this album are ‘Porcelain Heart’ and ‘The Lotus Eater’. ‘Porcelain Heart’ sounds a lot like old Opeth stuff to me; lots of Tool-like melodies, lots of repeating riffs, not so much randomness. ‘The Lotus Eater’ offers much delight to my ears. It starts off as a quiet hum which suddenly shifts to a death metal song. The song also proceed to drift to Floyd ish solos and 70s funk jam. In fact, the song never stayed the same for more than a minute. Another song I like is ‘Burden’. It’s got clear singing vocals throughout the whole song and sounds really Lord of the Rings ish. Anyways, have a listen for youselves:
A New Metallica Album?
Metallica remains one of the most influential metal band of today. Being pioneers to the thrash metal genre more than 20 years ago, Metallica is still going with plans of releasing their ninth studio album later this year.
If you’re a Metallica fan, you probably know all about their downfall with the release of “Metallica” (AKA The Black Album). “Metallica” is the band’s best-selling album to date, with 14 million copies sold in the US and 22 million copies worldwide. It is number one on the 1991 UK Album Chart and Billboard 200 and features some of Metallica’s more popular tracks such as “Enter Sandman”, “The Unforgiven” ,”Nothing Else Matters” and “Wherever I May Roam”. With all this success, you’re probably wondering why some Metallica fans would turn away.
“Metallica” was the fifth Metallica album and the first to be produced by Bob Rock. Bob Rock, who has also worked with Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith, and Our Lady Peace, just to name a few, lead the band in a new direction by reducing the overall complexity and speed of the music. The result was a more radio-friendly, commercially accessible Metallica.
Without the fast staccato riffs during verses and throaty vocals of the first four albums, older fans quickly turned away, fearing their band has become a sell-out. As Metallica continues to get softer and mainstream with the release of 5 more albums with Bob Rock, more and more fans left them for the more aggressive thrash metal bands such as Slayer, Anthrax and ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth. To this day, many old-Metallica fans believe there is no hope left for the band.
Metallica’s ninth studio album is expected to be released in September. It will be the first to be produced by Rick Rubin. Hopefully, it’ll be a turn for the better as it has been referred to as the “missing link” between 1988’s “…And Justice for All” and 1991’s “Metallica”.
Anyways, here are some songs off my favorite Metallica album, “Ride The Lightening”.
Dethklok: Dethtour 2008 with Chimaira and Soilent Green
Dethklok is a virtual death metal band on the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse. The show basically follows the part-American/part-Scandinavian band around as they go on tours, endorse products, perform charitable acts to avoid paying taxes and other related businesses in the music industry.
Their ability to command worldwide attention and effortlessly persuade masses of people usually lead to disasters, severe weather phenomena, paranormal anomalies, and injuries and fatalities to pretty much the whole crowd. Despite this, die hard fans are willing to sign “pain waivers” at the entrance, releasing the band from legal liability in case they are killed or crippled.
Dethklok had their first and only album, The Dethalbum, out late last year. It debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200 chart making it the highest chart positioned death metal album to date, according to StylusMagazine.com. The vocals on a lot of these tracks are all growls, some more clear than others. Some lyrics are well written while others are just the song name repeated over and over again. Overall they’re pretty funny and I don’t think they’re meant to be taken seriously. The guitar work, however, is simply amazing and I think that’s what made Dethklok a real band rather than just being a part of a cartoon show. If you’re a Guitar Hero fan or played Guitar Hero II, you have probably heard “Thunderhorse” before.
Dethklok will be touring with Chimaira and Soilent Green. I have heard of neither of these bands but here’s the tour schedule:
6/2/08 Roseland Theatre Portland, OR
6/3/08 Showbox SODO Seattle, WA
6/5/08 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
6/6/08 Wiltern Theatre Los Angeles, CA
6/7/08 House of Blues – Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
6/8/08 House of Blues – San Diego San Diego, CA
6/10/08 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
6/11/08 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM
6/12/08 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO
6/14/08 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/15/08 Liberty Hall Lawrence, KS
6/16/08 House of Blues – Chicago Chicago, IL
6/17/08 Clutch Cargos Pontiac, MI
6/19/08 House of Blues – Cleveland Cleveland, OH
6/20/08 Kool Haus Toronto, ONT
6/21/08 MTL Festival Montreal, QC
6/22/08 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
6/24/08 The Palladium Worcester, MA
6/25/08 Nokia Theater Times Square New York, NY
6/26/08 Ram’s Head Live Baltimore, MD
6/27/08 Theater of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
6/29/08 House of Blues – South Carolina N. Myrtle Beach, SC
6/30/08 Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
7/1/08 Jannus Landing St. Petersburg, FL
7/2/08 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
7/4/08 Meridian Houston, TX
7/5/08 House of Blues – Texas Dallas, TX
7/6/08 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX
If you’re wondering how they will be performing on stage, Dethklok will be set up Gorillaz-style with the actual musicians, Brendon Small (creator) and his ensemble, playing at the side, according to UltimateGuitar.com
Get the CD at: Amazon
Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV Review
After listening to all 36 songs on NIN’s Ghosts I-IV, I would pigeonhole this album along with all NIN remix albums into an “experimental” category rather than include it in the NIN discography. If you bought this album expecting good new NIN materials, you’ll be very disappointed.
Ghosts I-IV consists of 36 instrumental tracks. Most of the songs aren’t very instrumental and there’s a lot of bass and static and distortion sounds. All the tracks on this album sounds basically like old NIN classics without the vocal, guitars, or energy. This is kind of disappointing because they did make the theme for Fight Club and it was so good.
There are some tracks that are quite nice and relaxing to listen to but the way they’re mixed together just sort of made everything a mess and nothing is very memorable. After the first couple of songs, everything actually start to sound kind of similar. I can group every track on this album into two categories: “hurt”-sounding and “closer”-sounding.
All in all, It would make a nice soundtrack to life and is something I would listen to while doing homework or working or maybe even sleeping if I take all the distortion noise tracks out but it’s nothing to rock out to.
Download Ghosts I here.
Buy the album at: Amazon
The 2008 Gigantour Experience
As many of you know by now, probably from me blabbering on and on about it over the past couple of posts, that the event happened last Wednesday at Arrow Hall in Toronto and I would like to share with you my unique Gigantour experience. First of all, the venue was like a football field sized aircraft hanger. It was so big and dark that I lost my friend Roman as soon as we got there and I never found two buddies that I was suppose to meet there. The place is said to have a capacity of over 8,000 and frankly I’m really glad that the show didn’t get sold-out (I’ll explain why later).
Roman and I arrived at the show two hours late just in time for Children of Bodom to start. I made my way into the pit and slowly pushed my way into the front. I was at front and center for the rest of Children of Bodom and the first half of In Flames. If you ever played rugby before or know rugby terminology, the whole crowd at the front of the concert was in a continuous ruck. There were people pushing you in every direction and I was getting the living hell squeezed out of me. While there, I got elbowed in the eye, was disconnected from my shoe three times, and got kicked in the head several times by crowd surfers.
By the time In Flames came on, I was so tired and thirsty from all the pushing and shoving (yes there were pushing and shoving during the SET-UP!) that I decided it was best if I went to get a drink and take a break so I can come back for Megadeth all refreshed. Little did I know that the crowd at the front was so dense that the only way out was to crowd surf to the front where you can walk around to the back. For a good 10 minutes, I was stuck at the front, not being able to breath or move until the mosh behind us slowly engulfed some of the crowds at the front.
After In Flames had their gig, a lot of the crowd left (most of whom were 13 year-olds) and I was able to get back in front for Megadeth. Once they began playing though, the crowd became quite dense again and there were mosh pits forming and conjoining everywhere. Megadeth put on a really good show and overall, the concert was mind-blowing. I was able to find Roman at the end of the show, only to learn that he lost his glasses but found someone else’s which were all bent and scratched. While walking back through the parking lot, we learned that some guys got the gas siphoned out of their car and that two people got carried out in stretchers. LOL.
Children of Bodom: Blooddrunk Review
The first time Allan saw this album, he thought it was called “Blooddrink”. LOL
“Blooddrunk” is Children of Bodom’s sixth album. This disk is really fast and aggressive, right from the beginning to the end. It is more technical than their previous releases, but other than that, there isn’t much deviance from their past stuff.
The album starts off quick and thrashy with “Hellbounds On My Trail”, which pretty much set the pace for the rest of the album. Two tracks that stands out for me right now are the title track, “Blooddrunk”, and “Tie My Rope”. “Blooddrunk” is the second song on the album and begins with the classic Bodom sounding gothic keyboard. “Tie My Rope” starts with some techno stuff which was catchy and I thought was a nice change.
The only thing I didn’t really dig about this album is that it is too complex and technical. It still got the same component, such as the thrashy riffs, the guitar shreddings, and the melodic hooks, but with a lot more complexities added into it. I figured out that a lot of great old Bodom songs have their main melodies right in the beginning and have simple/predictable song structures with the main riff repeating many times. The tracks on this album have a lot more intricate riffs and really good solos rather than sticking to a main riff. In general, I think it sounds a bit messy. On top of that, some of the melodies just aren’t as catchy.
Overall, “Blooddrunk” feels like a filler album to me. It’s got two or three songs that I really like but the rest are easily forgotten. Anyhow, I’ll be seeing these guys in two days and I’m hyped!
Buy this album at: Insound, cdUniverse, Amazon
In Flames’ A Sense Of Purpose Review and Gigantour 2008 Setlists
There have been a lot of mixed reactions to In Flames’ latest album, A Sense of Purpose. People either love it or hate it. The vocals have dramatically changed. It’s no longer growls and grunts, but singing. I find that the band has taken a turn for worse as it no longer holds the brutality and energy of the old classic In Flames records.
Although still melodic, the new guitar works and riffs don’t stand out as much and when heard, are easily forgotten. I find the experimental changes that the band has gone through have made their disk really progressive and metalcore-ish. Take a listen to The Chosen Pessimist. It’s so whiny and emo… I guess for a band formed in 1990, it’s just what some people call “natural progression”.
If this was a new band, I would have liked this CD much more. But for a band that was part of the Gothenburg metal scene and was a pioneer for the melodic death metal genre, I think there’s really no need for them to make such a change.
Buy This CD At: Insound, cdUniverse, Amazon
Anyways, here are the setlists for Gigantour 2008:
Megadeth:
01. Sleepwalker
02. Wake Up Dead
03. Take No Prisoners
04. Skin O’ My Teeth
05. Washington Is Next
06. Gears Of War
07. Kick The Chair
08. In My Darkest Hour
09. Hangar 18
10. Ashes In Your Mouth
11. Burnt Ice
12. Trust
13. Tornado Of Souls
14. Symphony Of Destruction
15. Peace Sells
16. Holy Wars
Children of Bodom:
01. Six Pounder
02. Living Dead Beat
03. In Your Face
04. Hate Me!
05. Hellhounds On My Trail
06. Angels Don’t Kill
07. Blooddrunk
08. Downfall
Sorry to disappoint, CoB fans…
In Flames:
01. Quiet Place
02. The Mirror’s Truth
03. Scorn
04. Take This Life
05. Bullet Ride
06. Graveland
07. Move Through Me
08. Cloud Connected
09. Leeches
10. Come Clarity
11. Sober And Irrelevant
12. My Sweet Shadow
Job For A Cowboy:
01. Coalescing
02. Embedded
03. Entities
04. Reduced
05. Entomb
06. Altered
07. Knee Deep
High On Fire:
01. Rumors of War
02. Turk
03. Death Is This Communion
04. Waste of Tiamat
05. Devolution
This was the setlist for the Denver show but I doubt it will change. I believe High On Fire will be opening.
Suicidal Final Tour with At The Gates, Darkest Hour and Municipal Waste
At The Gates is a Swedish melodic death metal band. They belong to the Gothenburg metal scene with bands such as Dark Tranquillity and In Flames (whose upcoming album sucks). These guys made it big after the release of their last album, Slaughter of the Soul, in 1995. However, they broke up in 1996, after two of the members left.
Suicidal Final Tour is a North America reunion tour for At The Gates and features special guests, Darkest Hour and Municipal Waste. It is coming to Toronto on July 13th at the Opera House. This might as well be ATG’s last tour as they say they’re not coming out with any more albums. I saw Municipal Waste last summer at the Opera House. It was a pretty wild show. I actually found out about this show after searching for Municipal Waste concerts.
Anyways, for those of you who are At The Gates fans, I suggest checking out this concert because it is very likely that it will be their last tour. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with their music, these guys sound a lot like The Haunted, as it was formed by three of the At The Gates members after they broke up. They can also be compared to Dark Tranquillity. Listen for yourselves:
Meshuggah: obZen Review
Meshuggah means “crazy” in Yiddish. It describes their music well. Meshuggah is a thrash/death metal band out of Sweden. Their style consists of complex drum patterns, odd time signatures, and dissonant guitar riffs.
obZen is the latest album released by Meshuggah. It debuted at #16 in Sweden, #151 in the UK, and #59 in the USA with the first week sales at 11,384 copies. According to their drummer, Tomas Haake, obZen means the ‘zen’ within the obscure and obscene. I didn’t quite get that…
I find Meshuggah’s music fast, mathy, and angry. The vocals are quite harsh and hard to understand and has a doom metal feeling to them. It’s pretty hard to compare their music to another thrash or death metal band since their sound is so different. I guess the closest thing to them would be the Dillinger Escape Plan.
Overall, I liked the album. I find it hard to describe them, so your best bet would be to listen to these samples below.
Buy this product at:
Amazon.ca
InSound
CD Universe
Playlist for My St. Patrick’s Weekend Experience
My St. Patrick’s weekend started on Thursday night right after my Music and Popular Culture midterm…
Thursday Night
- Railed coupla lines. Dropped a hit of acid. Went wandering around in my school’s arboretum. Drug Ballad by Eminem
- Acid kicks in two hours later and made me realize my heart was beating really fast. Freaked out and thought I was gonna die from a heart attack. 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues by The White Stripes
Friday Night
- Friend’s birthday. Started drinking at 7. Super Orgy Porno Party by Planet Smashers
Saturday Night
- Another friend’s birthday. Went to the bars downtown. There were some drunk singing of Queen’s tune on the bus ride. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
- Hit it off with a chick who’s a friend of a friend of a friend. Make It Wit Chu by Queens of the Stone Age
- Ditched her at a club. Home For A Rest by Spirit Of The West
Sunday Night
- Drank four Lakeport Strong in half an hour. 500 Miles by The Proclaimers
- Got a massive headache that did not go away for the rest of the night. Brain Damage by Pink Floyd
Tonight
- Went downtown to get some $10 all-you-can-eat wings deal at an Irish pub downtown. Place was packed when we got there. Went around bar hopping and drinking pitchers of green beer instead. Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
- Went to a pool place and played some pool and got a chicken sandwich and fries. Steak For Chicken by The Moldy Peaches
… and that’s that for this year’s St. Patrick’s weekend.
