Author Archives: Guido

New Machine Head album still in the works

What you see above, is the second video of Machine Head preparing to record the follow-up to the masterpiece that is The Blackening. “Preparing to record…”? Well, let’s call it “The Making of the New Album (Part 2)”, because that’s what Machine Head called this video.

As for rehashing old material, I still really hope that they’re not going to record The Blackening 2 and move forward. I don’t really know what I want from the band, nor what to expect, though. I just want them to kick ass, as they usually do, except for that period I’d like to forget.

As for the video, I really liked the slow motion part of Dave McClain playing the drums, especially with ‘Descend The Shades Of Night’ playing in the background. That’s one of the most epic songs the Head ever wrote.

Still, we don’t get to hear any new music and I’d like them to keep it that way until the album, whatever it may be called, is released. I just like to hear the finished product first and then maybe get a real “Making of” that includes sound with the album. We’ll just have to wait and see (and hear) what comes with the next video.

Atheist vs. Death?

So, I just woke up and read a couple of news posts on Blabbermouth and then I saw the headline “ATHEIST Frontman: CHUCK SCHULDINER Did Not Create Technical Metal“. Now, that sounds kind of interesting, doesn’t it?

So, I read the article which features an interview with Atheist singer Kelly Shaefer and he talks pretty respectfully about Chuck Shuldiner and Death. He does include the line that Schuldiner didn’t create Technical Metal, sure, but I felt like the headline of the article was pretty misleading. Just read the most important part of the interview yourself:

“Everybody has a branch on the tree, and Chuck was definitely a thicker branch on the tree, a very important part of what we all do. We owe him a great deal of gratitude for being the pioneer that he was. I have a lot of respect for what he’s done and accomplished. But truth and matter of fact is that technical metal was not created by Chuck Schuldiner.“

So to me it seems like Blabbermouth took that last line out of context to create a headline that makes people want to read the article. Don’t get me wrong, we do that as well at times but we usually set it straight when you start reading the article.

The issue I’m having with this headline is not that it’s putting Atheist in a bad light, which it does, or that it’s trying to set up a feud between two legendary bands, which it does as well. My issue is that Blabbermouth turned Metal news into ordinary gossip and that doesn’t sit well with me.

Maybe I’m just trying too hard to be an elitist here, but I still view metal as something that can make people bond, something absolutely positive. I don’t even remember how often I got into a conversation with people because of the band shirts I’ve been wearing. There’s just something about “Hey, that dude wears a shirt of a band I like as well” that makes people bond. It’s not like everyone around you is a metalhead so it’s cool to meet new ones and I kind of think we should stick together and Blabbermouth is doing the exact opposite of that.

Blabbermouth is trying to create a feud not just between Atheist and Death but also between Atheist fans and Death fans. Personally, I view both bands as almost equally important to the scene so this is no Metallica/Megadeth situation, it’s more like a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden situation, albeit in a much smaller way.

What I’m trying to say is that especially metal sites should try to be better than Perez Hilton and not follow his example. Let’s try to unite metal fans, not divide them.

Spotlight Reloaded: Best Of

As you probably noticed, I used to post a Spotlight review article every Monday for 8 editions. You can find them all here. Now, I’ve put the Spotlight reviews to death a while ago but that doesn’t mean that we won’t write about rather unknown bands anymore. You can still contact us and we’ll listen to your stuff. I just didn’t feel like short reviews like that do the bands/albums justice, so we’re going to review them as we do with more known bands/albums from now on aswell. Just seems more fair to me.

Now, there were some pretty awesome albums part of those reviews though, so I’d like to present you the best of Spotlight. Here are the three bands that got the most favorable reviews out of me:

1. Rival Sons – Rival Sons EP

Spotlight Review — MySpace — Facebook

2. The Lost Broadcast – Antennae

Spotlight Review — MySpace — Facebook

3. Titans Eve – The Divine Equal

Spotlight Review — MySpace — Facebook

Check them out because they’re all killer. And don’t forget to get in contact with us if you’re in a band and would like us to review your work.

Confession time: New Korn

It’s been a while since Korn debuted their new song ‘Get Up,’ a dubstep collaboration with Skrillex, a guy who used to sing for a terrible band called From First To Last, who once featured Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland. So this has Nu Metal written all over it.

I’ve got to admit, I grew up with that shit. So, yes, I was into Korn but lost interest after I found out about… well, better bands. I can see how Korn are appealing to younger audiences, because it was appealing to me when I was a teenager. I view Korn as gateway drug like marijuana. It’s fun when you’re young but the older you get, the more embarrasing it is to still use, or in this case listen to, it.

Back when ‘Get Up’ was released, I had no interest in listening to it whatsover, which was apparent from my post about it. But yesterday, I mixed two gateway drugs. Marijuana and Korn. And what can I say? I did listen to the song and… this is really hard for me to say… I enjoyed it.

Don’t get me wrong, the whole “Shut the fuck up! Get up!” part is stupid and the lyrics are horrible but that’s to be expected. The pre-chorus is catchy as hell though. Also, this is the first dubstep song I’ve ever heard. Honestly. I’ve heard of it but never heard it, if you catch my drift. The whole thing sounds like a poor man’s Aphex Twin with lots of bass to me but maybe that’s just me.

So yeah, I just had to get this out of my system. We all have guilty pleasures, don’t we? I don’t like, nor listen to, Korn anymore but I quite enjoyed ‘Get Up.’ But, in the end, I still view Korn as something that should have gone away ten years ago. One solid song just can’t change my view on that.

Weekly Dose of Metal: Bolt Thrower

Bolt Thrower are awesome. Their last album Those Once Loyal is a nearly perfect, groovy Death Metal album. It’s so good that the band didn’t record a new album yet because they don’t feel like, what they’ve written is good enough to be better than Those Once Loyal.

That’s pretty much what every band should do. If the stuff you’re writting is not on par with your previous work, don’t release it. Metallica, take notes.

So anyhow, your Weekly Dose of Metal today is a song off Those Once Loyal (oh, what a surprise), called ‘Salvo.’ Play the song below and, while you’re in the right mood, feel free to check out my interview with Karl Willetts (Bolt Thrower vocalist) from last February.