Author Archives: Mark
Head spreads the word…
Ex Korn guitarist, Brian ‘Head’ Welch (the one that left because the voices inside his head told him to) was recently interviewed for Iowa based radio station, Lazer 103.3.
The guitarist turned solo-artist turned writer, is once again spreading the word of God and Christianity, by releasing another much needed book about Christianity (and by much needed, I mean not needed at all).
Of course, he’s not doing this for free, that wouldn’t be the Christian way. If you fancy changing your life around and submitting yourself to God, simply send your money Head’s way, and he’ll “cure” you. Head will release his new book, “Stronger: Forty Days Of Rock, Jesus, And Salvation”, on November 30 via HarperOne.
Check out the interview here if you want to hear more religious propaganda.
Review: Shirukume – Speaking in Colours
For fans of: Sikth / The Dillinger Escape Plan / Protest the Hero
The debut EP, Speaking in Colours by incoming UK band, Shirukume is a fantastic introduction to their unique take on the Metalcore genre. To be frank, pigeonholing Shirukume to a single genre is both unfair and nonsensical, as shown by their willingness to experiment with a great amount of proficiency on this EP. Speaking in Colours is both heavy and melodic, with a great use of experimentation used. Despite Shirukume being a relatively young band, they wield their instruments with great skill and display an immense talent for song writing. Now defunct, Shirukume have ended and the remaining members have moved onto a new band, known as Chronographs.
Read on to see my review of Shirukume’s debut EP.
John 5 answers fan-submitted questions
Do you enjoy being trapped in a guitar shop on a late afternoon listening to to someone indulging in a 43 minute fretboard wank? Do you like listening to a man in lipstick showing off? Then you’re probably one of the few John 5 fans out there.
The Rob Zombie and ex-Marilyn Manson guitarist recently answered fan-submitted questions for Fret 12.
Apparently no one thought to ask why he only joins shit bands if he’s such a good guitarist. Shame.
Check out all the info and videos here.
Blast From The Past: Khoma – The Second Wave (2006)
For fans of: Cult of Luna / A Perfect Circle / Muse / Radiohead
‘Supergroups’ often fall deep into the trap of being overhyped by the media and fans and thus, at times, fail to reach the heights expected once the music is actually released. Khoma managed to escape any real hype and ended up releasing one of my favourite albums of 2006. The Second Wave is an album that passed by without even a blink from the mainstream. It always seemed bizarre to me that an album that fits so well into the Indie trend (yeah don’t stop reading here. Trust me) that was big at the time would not receive any of the recognition that it deserves. It suddenly hit me one day though; unlike other bands in that genre, Khoma are heavy. They are very heavy and experimental. This definitely helps them stand out from their contemporaries. It’s almost a crime that Khoma have never got the attention they deserve, but to those that open their eyes to their music, Khoma provide something really special.
Khoma was formed from members of Cult of Luna, The Perishers and Deportees coming together in order to experiment with complete musical freedom, creating music different from their own perspective bands. Whereas remnants from those bands can be heard in The Second Wave (in particular Cult of Luna), the music is different enough to not fall into the trap of being too similar to the members’ other bands; another trap which a lot of ‘supergroups’ fall into.
Read on to see what I make of their first album, The Second Wave, released back in 2006.
Steven Tyler loves his song a lot
According to Tokyograph, the wide mouthed (speculated to be caused by giving one too many blowjobs) Aerosmith singer, Steven Tyler will sing the theme song to some movie no one’s waiting for, Space Battleship Yamato (although geeks will probably love this crap).
The track, entitled “Love Lives”, will be part of Tyler‘s first solo project, and the frontman loves it so much, he’s releasing 4 different versions! Yes you heard that correctly, 4. So if you love the song, and wonder what it’ll sound like acoustically, or played on piano, now you can find out. Wow such lucky fans, Steven sure does love you.
The amazing “Love Lives” single track listing:
01. Love Lives
02. Love Lives (acoustic version)
03. Love Lives (piano version)
04. Love Lives (instrumental)
Can’t get much more diverse and orginal than that; the same song, but tracked 4 times.
Check out a clip from the song here.
