Author Archives: Cosmin

A not-so-new newcomer

Coincidentally, today seems to be Norway day here on DoM.

I’ve superficially searched our archives and haven’t encountered the following name: Leprous.

Three albums already, starting with 2006 (their 2004 EP notwithstanding), with the latest, called Bilateral, released earlier this year. I have only recently stumbled upon them, and I think they’re interesting enough to grant them a spot on a massively popular metal site such as ours. They are currently touring Europe supporting Amorphis, so maybe after hitting the jump and hearing an example of what they do you’ll be tempted to check’em out.

Lulu vs. Thirteen

Well, since Lulu and Thirteen (sorry, I couldn’t spell it the way Dave wants if I tried) have the same release date, I thought that the clip below, which is a radio rip and I hope it won’t go down in 2 days time, should help settle the score.

Of course, I’m fully aware that:

1) Lulu is going to sell heaps better than Thirteen
2) “Shut the fuck up already, faggot, Lulu is not even a Metallica album”
3) I’m a lobotomized ape who couldn’t understand intellectual music and profound lyrical meaning to save his life. Nonetheless, in my extremely biased book, Dave wins hands down this time.

In fact, there’s no contest at all. Yes, I’m self absorbed, pompous, thickheaded, a simpleton and all that… But however hard I tried, I am not a table.

Dave appreciation rant

Hiya folks,

I’ve been on quite a break now, due to all but good reasons, and I felt I should chime in. The subject? Good ol’ Dave. No. Not the Grohl one. The other one. Yeah, that’s right, ginger Dave.

I’m perfectly aware that Alex has posted news bits about Dave’s health. Yeah, he’s recovering after a neck surgery that involved three vertebral discs (read the details on Blabbermouth. Or, better still, don’t, because that’s already old news). The point is that the man himself blamed his injury on headbanging. Now, remember that Dave has just turned 50 recently. Put “50” and “headbanging” in the same sentence and… you get something that Papa Het has forgotten to do for a good 23 years. Metal, that is.

(Pictured above: Metal. Not by numbers)

If you didn’t hear yet the measly alternative that Dave counters Lulu with, hit the jump, but be prepared for a non-intellectual borefest that cannot hold a candle to the deep-thinking behemoth that “The View” is.

Mindful of metal

Sometimes I take a break from whatever middle aged man activities I’m engaged in and… (wait for it… waaaaait for it)… I think. And sometimes, when I’m in this state of grace, I think metal. To be more precise, I think about the rise and fall of metal.

I remember a time when many young talented guys released album after album of pure awesomeness, inventing new stuff every time they entered a studio, when I would listen over and over again to this and that tune wondering how the hell did they manage to put in it exactly what I wanted to hear before I even knew I wanted to hear something like that. Then, I quickly take a reality check, looking for present time equivalents of that. Granted, there still are talented bands around, and I still find new music to rock to, but it seems to me they are fewer and far between. And, to top that, I notice that the assault wave is still led by The Big Four (judging by the concert sales), Iron Maiden and other bands that pack around thirty years of music under their belts. So, decades after the initial storm, things kinda look the same… only with some gray hairs, bald spots and beer guts added.

Maybe it’s just me, my thrashier (mind the extra “h”) background could hamper my judgment, but I still don’t react to new tunes like I do to older ones. And almost every time when I listen to new stuff I get to the point where I feel like “Ummm… Everything’s been going great but why did they have to do that funny riff or that oddball drum break at this precise point?” Not to mention 27/51 time signatures, which I can enjoy for a while, until some damn solo breaks my concentration, I stop counting and get totally lost in the middle of the track… I must confess I wanted to see another Metallica, going from the gutter to the glory with some strong straightforward music (and, if applicable, without flip flops and Armani bags, thank you), but so far I haven’t, and I fear the chances of someone ever repeating that are slim at best.

I am definitely getting old. This has to be the explanation. But so are these guys, and I think I can safely say they have a bit more authority in this matter than I do. You can judge for yourself after hitting the jump.

Mike replaces Mike?

Since two days ago, rumor has it that Mike Mangini is the new drummer for Dream Theater, but the band hasn’t confirmed it yet. The man packs quite a punch and has played some pretty significant gigs (Steve Vai, Annihilator, to mention but a few), but… I can’t imagine who, besides die-hard “take DT albums to bed and make sweet sweet love to them” fans, is interested in this anymore.

I mean, come on, all this bitchy drama queen “we know the drummer but won’t tell” attitude has long since overstayed its welcome. Dream Theater, Charlie Sheen you’re not.

Make the jump for a video of Portnoy doing his thing.