End of the Year Nonsense

It’s that time of the year kiddies! Time to look back on the year and see how we did, or didn’t. Let us commemorate 2011 with subjective best-of lists and various retrospect; not because we enjoy looking back on the memories, because we like disagreeing with memories magazines and TV shows chose as the best and worst of the year. It’s a sick and daunting pleasure we all partake in whether we know it or not.

This year I am compiling a list worthy of some outrage or conversation at the very least. I will attempt to fight subjectivity, beat around the proverbial bush. However, my scope of interest in exclusive and plenty of things will go unmentioned. If anything, I hope my ‘list’ makes you rethink 2011, or even turn you on to some things you may have missed.

Comeback of the Year
Mike Watt/ Hyphenated-Man. Who doesn’t love seeing punk’s greatest mind favorite bass player revisit the sounds that made him the musician he is today? Watt did what many have failed to do: return to his roots without sounding too cheesy.

Decapitated/Carinvale is Forever. Death Metal took a huge blow when the band lost Vitek in 2007 in an icy car crash. And while Vogg took time to mourn and regroup, countless tech-death-core bands sprung up from the bands influence. Decapitated’s return couldn’t have come at a better time, when Death Metal needs it the most. It’s time to show the kids how it’s done.

Heavy of the Year
Yob/Atma; Dark Castle/Surrender to All Life: These guys both took heaviness back from the Nuerisis bands and took the meaning of heavy to great bounds. The fact that they’ve been touring buddies for most of the past two years makes it even sweeter. These albums crush everything their path.

Bi-Polar Award: Metallica
If there’s one band that knows how to push buttons and somehow still reign in equal amount of praise it’s Metallica. The last months of 2011 have been tough for their fans. Lulu has further upset fans waiting for the band to crawl out of the hole they dug with St. Anger. And while sides have been made on the issue, the collaboration with Lou Reed has no doubt gotten people talking about Metallica, again.

However, they have seemed to somewhat made up for the most challenging album of the year with a trip down memory lane. The band took residency at San Francisco’s Fillmore music venue to celebrate sticking around for 30 years. With a cast of influences, past members and various tributes Metallica has reminded their fans why they’re still around. From appearances by past members (David Mustaine and Ron McGovney on the same stage. Can I get a hallelujah?) members of bands whose songs they've covered, Metallica haven't forgotten their roots. Now if only those roots would make another good album.

Rad Demos
Lycus (demo)/Anhedonist (The Drear)
Funeral Doom has been picking up more steam in the last year or so. I've found myself reading about Loss and Mournful Congregation, amongst the handful of bands. However, the demos for Oakland's Lycus and Seattle's Anhedonist have been in constant play in my iPod/stereo/whatever. Both bring out my favorite aspects of old school Death Metal (not the fast stuff, if you can imagine that) and Asunder style dirges, without sounding boring. With Doom in general getting more and more press, I would not be surprised to see full lengths from either bands in 2012.

Up and Coming
Vastum’s 2011 release, Carnal Law, got me excited about Death Metal again. There’s a good share of Metal bands in the Bay Area playing perfectly acceptable and awesome music, but when was the last straight-up Death Metal album you heard? This isn’t fused with grind, doom, any kind of ambience (which is all good and fun, and actually what makes the Bay Are scene good. Just straight up Death Metal ala old school. Not a single blast beat to be found. Total Bolt Thrower meets crust worship. While their one pager in Decibel was a small triumph, they deserve more press. With a roster that bodes members of Hammers of Misfortune and Acephalx, everyone will be talking about these guys in no time. I hope.

Obligatory Thank You Award: Mastodon
Say what you want when a legitimately good metal band gets really big. And how can you blame a band like Mastodon? A band who's mission statement has been to progress with each album? How can you point the finger at them for bringing new, good music to the masses who's idea of metal is still Slipknot and System of a Down? The Hunter was a great second album in the band's journey to explore new sounds. The bands official break from concept writing has been a huge success. It's not only one of the more challenging albums of the year but highly refreshing to hear such a caliber of songwriting. We should be thankful that a band like Mastodon, who's approach to metal's progressive side has been welcomed with open arms (although I'm pretty sure opening for Slayer countless times didn't hurt either). I know that a lot of people would rather see John Gossard be raking in the big bucks with his return to Black Metal glory. It could be a lot worse.

The Minutemen: Live in San Francisco (1984)

Live set from the Minutemen at the Stone in San Francisco. Pretty awesome set, they even do a Creedence tune. Some of the track titles aren't matched with their proper song. Feel free to correct that. Nonetheless, enjoy!

Here

Mike Watt: Hyphenated-Man

Sometimes it takes a 15-Century masterpiece to bring it all back. In this case it was Heironymus Bosch's Final Judgement which Mike Watt dove into to create his third opera, Hyphenated-Man.

If there's one thing I took away from Tim Irwin's We Jam Econo is that the Minutemen believed that anything can influence music, and vise versa. As each song serves as an allegory or contemplation to a part of Bosch's greater work. But that's not all. It wasn't until the 2005 documentary that Watt began to revisit the music of his first love, The Minutemen. Written on D. Boon's old Telecaster Watt's latest effort sounds like a man returning home, not that he was ever lost.

You won't be able to escape the Minutemen comparisons. It's almost half the point of this album. What makes this not a total trip down memory lane is Watt's presence on the album. Watt is able to conjure and conduct a spectrum of sounds that varies from curious and playful to gruff and tense in a way that is unmistakably Watt. It only feels a little less brutish than D. Boon. Raul Morales and Tom Watson keep up with Watt bringing the energy that the music demands. If you close your eyes for a moment, you'd think your back in 1980s San Pedro.

30 songs broken down into 'econo-sized' bites can at first be a hard pill to swallow, but you got through Double Nickels on the Dime, right? If this does anything it demands your attention from start to finish, as a true album should. This is Watt treading grounds he knows best. A path he paved years ago. This time around he's picking up the pieces he may have missed the first time around. Most old rockers trying to revisit their roots won't sound half as good as Watt.

Kimo's to close 12/31/11 RIP

Kimo's is closing its doors December 31, 2011. This is a bitter sweet ordeal. It's been a go-to venue longer than I can remember. While not particularly as notable as Annie's Social Club (or it's many incarnations), Bottom of the Hill or the Elbo Room; it still served its purpose.

"That place was a shit hole!" Matt, a former bandmate recalled from his days in Artificium Sanguis, who in his older age, remembers an entirely different, much filthier Kimo's than the Kimo's I knew for several years.

They way I knew it was the punk bar upstairs and the Chicken-Hawk bar downstair. While waiting for shows I would see countless older gay men and young men walk off together, apparently to make some kind of exchange involving drugs or sex. I could be totally wrong, but that's what I remember being explained to me. Sitting at the bar of one of the Polk Gulch's last strong holds was certain a treat in itself. Watching the mix of old timey gay dudes and young adults trying attend a rock show in the same place was always interesting. While neither crowds tended to interact with each other it was always a funny sight.

I remember being excited to play this venue with my band, Flood. This excitement was shortly lived as I changed my attitude after lifting heavy, heavy gear up their narrow stairs. Once the gear was loaded in, things got much better.

At the time a guy named Chad was booking shows there. He treated every band well. Who can complain about extra drink tickets? I think the first time we played their, with the Ovens, Chad smoked us out big time. No other promoter ever did that.

I got to know Kimo's very well as Flood would accept almost every show Chad offered for a year so two. At one point we felt like the house band. To an extent, it did feel like home sometimes. Having the same guy host the show with virtually the same bands every time.

I think the last time I ever played their was in Church of Flipper; Flood's Flipper cover band. I wore a giant whoopee cushion costumer and drank A LOT of beer. It was probably one of the most remarkable shows I've ever played there. My parents even showed up to watch the debauchery.

Kimo's was a reliable, go-to venue. Maybe it wasn't at the top of many people's list, but it always worked out. Flood had their first record release there; and what turned out to be one of the bar's busiest Monday nights.

Everyone had a great time their, even if they don't admit it. A lot of people probably won't care, or even say 'good riddance'. But just remember, it's one less venue in the City.

MinuteFlag

In attempt to further their agenda of what it meant to be punk SST big guns and cohorts Black Flag and the Minutemen got together and made a baby, kinda. For well read Black Flag fans, it should be no secret that Greg Ginn was a huge fan of the Greatful Dead. It should also be no surprise that the Minutemen were into jazz and other experimental stuff. While most bands on SST pushed the envelope in a scene that slowly became less accepting and more militant (dare I say 'cookie cutter'), the Flag and Pedro's finest seem to take it as far as they could. The MinuteFlag EP can be describe as a celebration of the two bands' love for the extreme, the obscure, and their friendship. I couldn't imagine any other bands of the time collaborating like this. I think this musical outcry is what Black Flag was thinking all along the Minutemen were probably going to do anyway (think of it almost as a precursor to Watt and Kira's Dos). If any album from SSt's 80s catalogue could turn punks on their heads (as they often would) this is a tour de force.

Fetch The Water

Orchid: Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow!

Orchid is one of those bands that I would have never discovered in my youth if it weren't for mix tapes. My friend Miles used to make me mix tapes of screamo and 90s hardcore bands. This guy turned me on to bands like Converge, Jeromes Dream, Seven Angels Seven Plagues and Creation is Crucifixion. It felt like once a month I'd be asking for more music. I'm pretty sure at one point I had his entire collection of vinyl crammed into an overflowing shoe box full of Maxell and TDK cassettes. Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow was a game changer.

Orchid was considered a pioneer of the 'screamo' sound. Today most people probably associate that term with a bunch of dyed black hair mall goth kids, or something equally obnoxious. Orchid was far from that. They were the real deal. I'd like to think Orchid was some kind of evolution of the raw power that the hardcore bands from the 80s created. They took the energy of bands like Converge and wrapped it in a tornado of fury. It never once sounded like some kid screaming, but a youthful rage that seems unparallel to anything I had heard at that point. Sure, death metal has its guttural vocals and its technically proficient brutality, which still serves a purpose, but there seems to lack a person bond. Orchids sound was seemed more personal. Their music was a direct reflection of what was in their heads. There sound was more wild, not so much driven by skill, but a boiling rage with in. In some sense listening to Orchid provided some kind of existential adolescent. The lyrics always seemed thought provoking as a 16 year old trying to figure it out, while trying to evoke deep thoughts about the world around me.

Here Ya Go

Lulu... the final showdown

After weeks of negativity. After the weeks of wondering how bad the new album featuring Metallica and Lou Reed would sound, I have news. Much like the famous Pizza Hut commerical (or was or Dominos?); I can say that I have been to the edge and back. I have sat through Lulu, and I survived. The entire album can be heard on streaming audio here.

While 'The View' may not have been a great choice to give listeners as a sneak peak Lulu definitely doesn't get worse than that song. I mean, that song is beyond horrible. What the track does showcase is the general confusion and mismatch the two rock icons appear to be. I was hoping that Mettali-Lou (as I will now call the collaboration from now on) released the single to lower the bar of expectations, or perhaps a sneak attack to blow our minds later on. While Lulu definitely isn't mind blowing, it's actually not half bad, but not even a quarter good.

Much of this album is Metallica playing at half mass while Lou trying to read or sing poetry over the music. What appears to be the biggest challenge for Metallica here is not so much the song writing, but getting Mr. Reed to sing with the music, rather than against it. It makes anything worthwhile somewhat hard to listen to.

'Pumping Blood' is the first track that provides Metallica fans with some hard hitting riffs that seem to bob 'n' weave over atmospheric sections that dominate the track. It's laughable to think that this might be Metallica's first attempt at avant garde. Lars seems to think so. His drums are falsely improvised and seem predictable.

It's the following two tracks, 'Mistress Dread' and 'Iced Honey' that provide listeners some relief. 'Mistress Dread' kicks off with some pummeling thrash with a violin, or something, droning in the back, while Mr. Reed moans his lyrics through the tornado of sound. This track is not what I expected months ago when this project was first announced, but it's surprisingly effective. However, you wish that Metallica would save the riff for their next album. You know, the one where they again go back to their roots and actually kick ass.

'Iced Honey' sounds more like what I imagined Metalli-Lou sounding like, based off their performance at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies some years ago. It's Metallica when they're rockin' out, something they've been know it do. It makes you wonder what would have happened if this collaboration happened when Load and Reload came out.

I don't want you to think that I've drank to punch and I've been convinced that this album isn't as bad as you'd think. Over all it's mediocre at best, but definitely worth listening to. It show a side of Metallica you'd never expect. As mentioned before, there's a handful of riffs Metallica could have saved for their next album. They chose to blend it in with a bunch of rubbish, perhaps in an effort to save this album and make it appeal to their more traditional fans. The outcome sounds like Metalli-Lou couldn't make up their minds. It has direction, but doesn't. That depends on how you choose to approach the album. With the amount of violins and cellos and avant garde nonsense, it would have seemed more fitting if Godspeed You Black Emperor would Lou. I don't know. I'm glad I got this nugget of curiosity out of my system. Maybe this will be the album Metallica fans will get their parents to listen to.

Spray Paint The Walls: The Story of Black Flag

I'm not going to lie. I haven't read Our Band Could Be Your Lives, yet. I've only seen clips of The Decline of Western Civilization Pt. 1. So reading Stevie Chick's take on the world of Black Flag was my first literary experience with the mighty Black Flag. Spray Paint The Walls easily takes the cake for one of the best books on music history. While Please Kill Me: The Oral History of Punk remains a crucial punk rock read to some, I can say Chick's book trumps it.

Chick's take on the history on one of punk/hardcore's most famous and notorious bands reaches even beyond the band itself. While the narrative focuses on the Greg Ginn's brainchild, the history weaves through the history of many bands, creating a parallel narrative of the history of SST Records and its bands.

Most fans of the growing cache of punk documentaries (books and movies) will not only have an easy time reading this book (as many stories in this book have been well documented elsewhere) but will mostly enjoy what the book seems to try and celebrate: Going against the grain. It tells a story of a group of outcasts that want to remain that way. By the time Henry Rollins joins the band, the Flag has become to writing party anthems that their early EPs made them famous for. The band starts out as a means to rebel against the populous, but eventually creates something popular themselves. And what do they do? They pave a new road, pissing of their fans, but that's what they want. While the first half of the book depicts Ginn and company trying to create something different, the second half of the book shows the band almost trying to destroy it, and eventually destroying themselves.

Some people have questioned the image of frontman Henry Rollins on the cover. Some have argued that while Rollins may have been the most tenured of the bands howlers, he was not the best. Fame SST producer Spot has even been quoted as saying Rollins ruined the band. Chick's portrayal of Rollins would seem quite the contrary. Rollins was not of the bands inner circle. Growing up with Ian Mckeye in the D.C. scene, he was an observer, a fan. Who Henry Rollins was and became was the product of being a fan, first. It's almost as if Rollins is punk rock's Tim Owens.

If anything, Rollins' addition to the band only perpetuated the band's agenda of steering away from. He was a willing soldier to fight Greg Ginn's war to the point that he almost seemed to be the target of the fans' hostility, which only fed Rollins the adrenaline he needed to move on.

The other great part about this book is the story of SST Records, the record label that celebrates band who want to be different. The bands on SST celebrate the concept of punk without the uniform appearance or sound. Chick celebrates bands like the Minutemen, Husker Dü and the Meat Puppets all as bands who share Black Flags need to be different. It's these bands that Black Flag would bring on tour as further means to show down their fans who only want to hear 'Six Pack' and 'TV Party'. Chick manages to tell the story of these unsung heros as a testament to Black Flags work ethic and ideology.

This book tells the story of people who paved the road for the next phase of the underground movement in the purest sense. With no one watching their backs, they created a world, a community to watch their own. This book can easily serve as a manual for any budding musician with the DIY spirit. Anyone who's ever been in a band or had to facilitate their own fun will truly enjoy this book.

Metallica and Lou Reed: End Times

Dear Metallica,
Just Because you made albums such as Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightening doesn't mean that you're infallible.

Gene Simmons once said that there is no such thing as bad press, or maybe any press is good press. Same idea. If this holds true then Metallica must love all kinds of press. Their upcoming album, a collaboration with rock icon/poet Lou Reed, has been stirring up quite the storm. This alliance was originally formed during Metallica's stint as the 'house band' for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary festivities. What fans of either camp didn't expect was the two to make music. Several years later LuLu is ready to hit the shelves. Or is it ready to collect dust on the shelves?

This project's worst enemy has seem to have been the Internet. While not even released, press releases of lyrics and sound clips of the upcoming album have already been causing quite an outrage. While metal fans can be fairly open minded, they do not seem to be welcoming this album from the metal demi-gods with open arms. To put it mildly, the album sounds like it's going to suck.

The initial outrage came from a 30 second clip of the song 'The View' was released. (Below is a full length version of the song along with footage from the Hall of Fame performance) From the sound of the brief sample one could say that Metallica has another Saint Anger on their hands. It's not wonder why anyone would think that. Putting aside the fact that lyrics from the LuLu album have made James Hetfield cry, the music is horrible.

Death Magnetic may have hushed critics still jabbering over past follies, but 30 seconds of LuLu tells listeners that the band has lost their momentum, or better, their minds. Allow me to sum up what I feel this album will sound like: very shitty garage metal (likely played by teenagers trying to write 90s/2000s era Metallica jams) while one of their stoner uncles recites poetry over the music. Two separate entities forced to cooperate.

Now many of you are saying, "but you're basing this of just one song." It's sad to say that sometimes one song is all you need.

My theory is that Metallica's collaboration with Lou Reed is part of a giant ploy to be remain edgy and cool at the same time. All though Metallica somehow seems to be loved and praised after all the harsh things they've put fans through in the last 10+ years I don't think they'll be able to sneak by with this album. Bringing cool 'underground' bands on tour; playing shows with Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth (all bands whom are successful, but not like Metallica) and now collaborating with Lou Reed; are all good press and perhaps good for their image. I give them points for giving themselves a challenge, but releasing it as an album? Although this is a collaborative effort and not the new Metallica album, this would serve much better if it were some long lost B-side released in 30 years. Maybe I'm paranoid, or over analyzing. Maybe I'm not. Maybe the band is part desperate to show their fans that they can keep it real while trying new things. You're not stupid, I'm not stupid. So Metallica, don't be stupid, too.

Metallica seems to love putting themselves on the chopping block again and again. While metal fans are always judging, criticizing bands; they seem to always have a feast when it comes to Metallica. Perhaps Metallica doesn't care. Maybe they know that they're so big that they can do whatever they want. They don't need permission from their fans. But seriously. What was the last good batch of songs Metallica put out? The second disc of Garage Inc. is fucking amazing, but it's all covers.

Perhaps the image of the coffin on the cover of Death Magnetic was an act of foresight by the band. They are digging their grave, one album at a time. Hopefully we can collectively stop caring and then they'll go away.

8 Wired Brewing Co.: iStout

New Zealand, while it sits in the southern hemisphere, its summer (our winter) yields a mighty hop harvest that allows brewers in the northern hemisphere to make fresh, wet hopped beers year round. (Although the common wet hop beer season is around now) While I definitely think of this country's hop output I rarely think of their beer scene. Thanks to a trip to Oakland's Beer Revolution (and a bit of curiosity) I have in my hands the iStout: A 10% Russian Imperial Stout, brewed by a "nomadic Danish brewer, who has finally found permanent ground in Marlborough, New Zealand," according the the bottle's label.

Upon the first pour, the pitch black beer begins to form a golden bronze head that dissipates shortly after I place my glass on the table. After letting this brew sit for a moment I dip my nose into the glass. (What? Like you don't?) Because the beer is still frosty, and without a foamy head, I'm having a hard time getting big aromas. Dark, roasted malts make their way to my nasal pallet. Additional notes of dark, strong coffee begin to show up to the party. Nothing entirely out of the ordinary, but not bad.

The first sip can only be describe as BIG. This beer is not a toy, it's for the big boys. Big notes of dark chocolate, sweeter malts and something acidic. For those familiar with the style, there are definitely a lot of familiar flavors, but not in the same combination that you'd expect with an American variety. The texture is viscous, and somewhat dry. Each sip leaves a chalky, roasted flavor in the finish.

I'm definitely glad to know that the nomadic Danish brewer was not just someone from Mikkeller. (a A Danish brewery known for occasionally renting facilities around the world) That shit would be 10 times more wild! This is definitely a good effort by the Kiwis. I'm curious to try more of there stuff. This beer definitely stands up to standards. Definitely worth aging to see what changes.

Why a classic era Sepultura reunion shouldn't happen (more thoughts on reunions)

There has been a lot of talk in recent months regarding a possible reunion of Sepultura's classic line up. You know, the one with both Max and Igor Cavalera. Hopes were high when Igor not only quit the band (and being the last very original member) to join forces with his brother in the Cavalera Conspiracy, but quashed any hopes of a reunion. There continues to be talk about the never ending possibility of a reunion (which as been documented ad nauseum on the Internet), with different thoughts from all sides, but nothing close to conclusive.

For whatever reason, the departure of Max began Sepultura's downward spiral towards irrelevance. While their earlier catalogue can still be held with high pantheon-like regards, their music has arguably taken a nosedive while Max's bread and butter, Soulfly, has cruised on along nicely. (Even though a considerable number of Sepultura songs have made it into the band's live set) It would be dangerous to say that the band has shared a similar fall from grace as Metallica, but the later still manages to bask in some kind of glory. It wasn't until I came across THIS ARTICLE that I found a solution to the great Sepultura Reunion questions: Don't do it!

"SOULFLY has had so many different formations," says Sepultura axeman Adreas Kisser, "so you lose kind of a characteristic sound there. Of course, Max and his vocals is what it is. I mean, he's been writing the same stuff over and over again. And in that sense, I don't think he has really evolved too much."

And this is where we say, "Hey! That sounds hypocritical!" As I wrote in my review for Sepultura's latest folly, Kairos, Sepultura hasn't written anything new, exciting or otherwise in quite a long time either. Dare I say that they haven't put out a solid album since Roots? An album which could also arguably serve as the foundation and jump-off point for Soulfly.

Derrick Green, Max's replacement in the band, has not gotten his due justice. Although he's been a member of Brazil's famed metal export longer than Max, he has not helped the band's efforts. While there may be a movement of fans that side with Green and support his efforts, it's very clear that the band relies on pre-Green efforts to keep a float. For the past 14 years the band has not been able to make a musical impact.

Go on Youtube; search through your music collection; listen to post-Max Sepultura, and then go listen to Soulfly. Both bands are lost. They are both riding on the success of what once was, when Sepultura wrote classic, ground breaking jams.

"When working with different musicians all the time, it's kind of hard to have a characteristic sound or try to do something original." Says Kisser. While Soulfly may have a rotating door of musical support it has been made clear from day one that Soulfly is Max's band. And at least there seems to bee some kind of effort in the Soulfly camp to do something different. Kisser's point may be valid, but it seems rather contradictory. Sepultura, with a different frontman and now a different drummer, have failed to do anything with a lasting impact (and for whatever I feel as if I hold my breath with each new release, hoping to exhale in celebration). With the release of each new album, Sepultura sounds more and more tired, playing through a dirge of uninspired riffs. Soulfly (whose music I haven't been a fan of since I was 16, when it at least sounded like a good Sepultura knockoff) sounds like rehashed nümetal and -core riffs. How either have managed to succeed is beyond me. Mr. Kisser, what you have said is true for both bands, and you're in denial.

With that said, what good would a reunion do for anyone? Between Soulfly and the Cavalera Conspiracy Max has gone in a direction far from anything resembling Sepultura past or present. What good would reuniting to play some old jams and recreating something that hasn't existed for quite some time? And judging by the caliber of songwriting of either band, would anyone really want a reunited Sepultura to make new music?

Putting aside the gossip, hearsay and ill will; a reunion of the classic lineup of Sepultura would hardly provide salvation for anyone. Dwelling on the same things for 14 years, or merely having to live with the fact that fans will never be happy, is an uphill battle of Sisyphus-like proportions. Even if there was a reunion, they'd probably just play songs off Roots and Chaos A.D. anyway.

New Belgian Brewing Co.: CLUTCH (Lips of Faith)

I've always thought it a bit odd for a brewery and a band to collaborate. Lagunitas named a series of beers after Frank Zappa albums, but that was done in celebration of the 40th anniversary of each album. And while I have heard of breweries naming beers after the spirit of certain genre's (and of course Decibel Magazine's inaugural edition of Brewtal Truth, in which styles of beer were compared to sub-genre's of metal), this seems new to me.

The maker's of the some of the most medicore beer in the USA has continued to surprise me with their Lips of Faith Series. How can the makers of Fat Tire simultaneous produce fine, well crafted Belgian styled beers is beyond me. Whatever it is, it's working.

While on a recent excursion to Portland, Oregon I picked up the gem at the famed Belmont Station. Lips of Faith has collaborated Maryland's Clutch on a new beer, a dark sour ale to be exact. They had me at the logo. You may be asking how does such a collaboration occur? It's not uncommon for a band to be fueled by beer, and maybe fans with a good ear for booze can detect the elixir's influence on the band. So perhaps the inverse can happen to the beer.

This beer pours a viscous black with some tan head scatters shortly after its arrival. Big notes of coffee, toffe, some caramel malts and dare I throw in chocolate, for the hell of it. There is also just a hint of wild yeast.

I haven't had many sour dark beers, not this dark, but the good ones are top notch. Allow me to add Clutch (the beer) to this exclusive group. This drinks like a stout and a sour. Dry start, nice smooth sour finish. Some subtle wood notes in the middle. Towards the end the sour notes begin to wash over what little stout flavors survive. I suppose I could describe the this beer as a battle between bass and treble, in which J.P. (the band's drummer) on the skins comes out the victor. There's some sweet notes that linger, but the wood and the sour seem to really dominate this palate. No complaints, though. The bitterness of the hops and chocolate notes seem to really help carry the sour flavors, which are dominant, but not overpowering. After letting this beer sit a bit the roasted malts make themselves known, but still cannot compete.

I don't know how they do it, but the guys at New Belgian Brewing know how to make a good sour. And not just a good sour, an accessible sour. Trying to match a beer to a band's personality is definitely challenging, if not interesting task, but most of all a fun one. I'd be interesting in seeing how the Minutemen get translated into beer.

Daly City: The Movie

Part inside joke, part awesome, part shout out. Be sold on this.

Dark Castle: Surrender to All Life

Ever since Yob resurfaced doom has gotten a mighty second wind. That's not to say that quality, sludgy, grimy awesomeness hasn't come out, but there's been several bumps in the road (coughs NEURISIS!). Dark Castle is, I think, the shining beacon in new doom. Somehow they rub me the right way, and they just get it. I'm not dissing the efforts of the Neurisis movement. In fact, I think it was a great pause for heavy bands to regroup and create something newer, better.

Their full length, Spirited Migration, was a great launching pad for the band because it combined so many good things in metal and brought it over to the doom world. Their latest work, Surrend to All Life is a journey through the abyss. Think Times of Grace 2.0. Now this is no way equal in worth as my favorite Neurosis album, but it hits you just has hard. The Floridian duo has managed to take the Isis out Neurisis and bring something quite pummeling to the table. Their secret seems to be that they waste no time noodling through aimless sections. The album is only 34 minutes; and while it ends a bit too soon in one sense you never feel as if the songs are dragged out. Sometimes slow 'n' heavy can be achieved in shorter spans. Stevie Floyd's guitar work is uncanny, blending uptempo doom with some grinding black metal touches. This album at its best seems to represent the crossroads of several sub-genres. Imagine if Yob played faster, kinda. The song writing takes you through eb and flows: crushing blackened doom dirges to cacophonous landscapes of treacherous proportions. You feel as if you're carrying the weight of the album's heaviness, and it's crushing you. Every sound, especially the vocals make sure you cannot escape. This album even during its calmer moments (Spanish guitar styled 'Create and Impulse' still has an intensity to it) does not let you take a breather. You can only think of one word: Apocalyptic.

Sepultura: Kairos

Often, I am faced with the question, "If a newer band wrote this album, would it be considered good, better, or just as bad?" This question I ask of myself when listening to the new Sepultura album, Kairos. To be honest, I've given the now lengthy 'Post-Max' Sepultura enough of my time. For the most part, it's not good. There's certainly enough good songs sprinkled through the lengthy stint, but not enough to keep my interested. According to Wikipedia, the title the band chose for this album is the greek word for the right, supreme, or opportune moment. Perhaps this title was chose for a reason, but maybe not the one the band was looking for.

The whole reason I even gave this album the time of day was I saw live footage of their cover of Ministry's 'Just One Fix'. That alone should be the flag to raise caution. As you'd expect the band's cover of the Ministry classic comes off as predictable as you'd expect. Tribal drums after the first chorus to shake things up. Sure, it's a nice twist to the song, but I wouldn't really call it a change. The band makes the attempt to put their touch on a track that makes it more distracting than original.

As I first mentioned, above, I ask myself how good would I consider this album if someone else wrote it. This is what you'd expect from the band. It's their mid-tempo groove thrash. You've heard it before, and you don't have to hear it again. Perhaps 'Mask' provides a little change. There are blast beats and the riffs keep you interested, even through the solo, but it ultimately sounds like everything else you've heard from somewhere else.

Okay. I get it. You're not going to try anything new, but c'mon. Give it a rest already. This band hasn't put out anything unpredictable in a while. If you're expecting something new and exciting, look elsewhere. Sepultura provides the predictable, but is it good enough these days? It's not that this album is horrible, it's not interesting. As the album title suggests, this might be a opportune time to stop. They are stuck in time. A band with a tenure such as yours shouldn't be writing these riffs anymore.

Decapitated: Carnival is Forever

Seeing as how this is Decapitated 2.0, I don't feel bad for not having heard Organic Hallucinosis. With that said I'm very excited to have acquired a new batch of Decapitated songs. Carnival is Forever is the band's post Vitek offering, as it might as well be post-'anything resembling the original lineup'. Much like Vader, it has become sole original member Vogg's one man show with all brand new faces (hopefully not the first of a rotating door of hired guns). Fortunately, like Vader, Vogg has maintained a consistency in the bands sound. So while tere are a bunch of new faces, it still sounds like Decapitated.

The album's opener, 'The Knife', has an angular, Meshuggah circa Chaosphere feel. Think the more thrashy parts from The Negotiation, just more jagged. It shows Vogg's desire to try something new but stay within some kind of familiar boundary. Nonetheless it's a welcome opener.

Any doubt fans would have about new drummer, Krimh, should rest easy. While the new guy brings a slightly more straight ahead style, Vogg's song writing prowess keeps him in check. Much like Les Claypool, you can't play around Vogg. He forces you to react to his axe shredding without cutting corners. You have to keep up with him, you have no choice.

'Homo Sum' comes as the first real standout track as the band dives into more melodic waters while trying to somewhat recreated a rhythm pattern similar to 'Spheres of Madness'. 'View From a Hole' showcases the bands more blatant attempts with spacey/prog parts, but promptly pulls you back into the pummeling death.

The album's closer, 'Silence', serves as a calm from the ensuing madness. An homage to Vogg's fallen bandmate. Very touching, a bit out of place, but a good song for closure.

Vocalist Rafal Piotrowski seems to stand out the most as he does not possess a traditional growl but a more Piotr Wiwczarek/Vader rasp that, when played over the music, almost changes to outcome of the music. While not horrible, the vocals are a slight deterrent to the music's higher caliber.

Overall Decapitated's return is a relative success. While Vogg and crew seem to play it safe with the new ideas, it could suggest new sounds to come.

Wanted: A Publicist for Lars Ulrich

I feel bad for spreading gossip. I feel bad for going out of my way to talk shit or make fun of public figures, sometimes. Sometimes, however, people are just begging for it. Let's take Lars Ulrich of Metallica, for example. Since the Napster days Ulrich has become more of a punching bag the more he makes public appearances on behalf of himself or the band. Everyone loves to make a jab at him for reasons good and bad. I won't defend nor feast on his P.R. decisions, but sometimes things come along and you merely want to ask, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"


In A recent interview posted on Blabbermouth.net (which can be read here) Lars talks with Classic Rock magazine about the band and what could be their most controversial release, St. Anger. The album serves as enigma to most fans. Why? is a commonly asked question in regards to this period in the band's career. A movie, Some Kind Of Monster, was released and could possibly give fans some leads, along with countless interviews.

What puzzles me the most about the interview is this particular passage:

Classic Rock: Is it fair to say "St. Anger" is your worst album?

Lars: I think it's fair to say that some people think that.

Classic Rock: Would you agree with them?

Lars: I can't. The way I view the world, I can't rank them from best to worst. That kind of simplicity just doesn't exist for me. If I was 14, I could probably do it. Now, the way I see the world is nothing but greys, mainly.

According to Lars, he has no favorites. His age, his wisdom has allowed an inability to rank Metallica albums. Now I understand that bands remember their albums much differently than their fans, and his comment does not regard the importance of individual albums, per se. It would appear as if Mr. Ulrich's grey vision levels the playing field for all his musical efforts. That is to say, by using the logic from the afore mentioned passage, Mr. Ulrich sees no difference betwen St. Anger and Master of Puppets. Of couse I'm sure he could refute that easily and say his words were taken out of context. It's not juvenile to ranks albums if there are clear examples of a band's best efforts, and we can all agree, experiment or not, that Metallica has made better albums than St. Anger. The above comments come off as condescending than a diss to the mob of '14 yeard olds'. It's potentially immature and juvenile to rank things, but in the case Metallica's catalogue, it's pretty clear that there is a hierarchy in regards to quality. Your earlier material brought you fame and fortune. Your later material brought you fortune due to your longevity and established fan base. (I even bought St. Anger, and promptly traded it in for store credit)

Now I know Mr. Ulrich will not come across my writings anytime soon (unless he turns out to be a totally über-narcissist who google searches his name ever day to see what people think of him), but I have this one piece of advice, which you probably know already. Being in Metallica, you will likely come out victorious as even your biggest critics are some of your biggest fans. But as your albums, your achievements, are displays of your personal experiences, those albums do the same for us.

To further prove my point, I conclude a viral video making fun of St. Anger. The snare drum is replaced with a steel folding chair.

Origin: Entity

Origin's musical ability has been top tier since day one. Every album has managed to outdo it's predecessor. To make an album better than Antithesis is no mere task. So how does a band that has set the bar for tech-death achieve new heights? The band's answer to this question is rather interesting.

Origin almost takes a "two steps forward, one step back" approach to their new album, and Nuclear Blast debut, Entity. Allow me to put an emphasis on the "one step back" part. To question how a sound so unique, so high caliber could advance, evolve could reach further limits. How Paul Ryan came up with the music that Origin plays alone sometimes is an anomolly. On Entity, Origin decends from the heavens and takes on the kind of death metal that other people play. Yes, they wrote parts that almost (gasp) sound like more 'straight forward' bands (But can Origin ever truly be considered straight forward). Instead of shredding in a way the band only knows how, they incorporate parts they seem to have passed through during, maybe, the first Origin practice ever. I'm talking break downs (that still sound better than any core band to date), Nile-esque guitar solos (what? No raking arpeggios?). But doubters, do not fret. Anything seemingly 'less than Origin' caliber has their sound dancing all over it. C'mon, do you really expect the band play anything normal? While this album in large parts more straight forward, the band's technical prowess still dominates. The band's decision to bring it down (to earth) works really well. Hearing human drum-machine John Longstrength play anything other than mind bending blast beats and otherwise (one trick pony?) makes this not just another Origin album, and potentially menoutenous but more diverse. There's still plenty of the band's signature sound all over this album, but trying new things has definitely paid off for this band. This is a band that has been relatively so ahead of the curve for them to retrace their steps and put their mark on the things other bands have been doing for a while now is amazing. And the fact that this album is going to be played live as a four piece (only one guitar) will surely be nothing short of mind boggling.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine (2009 batch)

So when I first started this blog my intent was to provide a variety of literature, but ya know, shit happens. So here's part of that variety I was talking about. Hey, we all love beer and we should all love this beer!

2009 was the year I believe that Sierra Nevada made a tweak or two to Bigfoot's recipe. Up until this batch Bigfoot was a hop bomb. It was one of the beers that established a West Coast style. There was a presence of malt, but not enough to keep up with the hop overload. Polar opposites, but the hops always came out on top. In 2009 they boosted up the malt to mellow out the hop bite. Still big, still unforgiving to the pallet. It's 2011, let's see how this vintage holds up.

It pours a copper-reddish hue with a creamy, tan head. The head fades away after letting the beer sit for a few minutes, but leaves a nice dirty line of lacing around glass. Heavy hop aroma. Lots of grapefruit and citrus rind. Hints of vanilla frosting. A little, tiny bit of earthy notes. Lots of alcohol warmth. I don't find many beers at 9.6% alcohol to be this hot from alcohol.

The first sip is smooth, almost creamy, until the hops break down the door. Two and a years aged and this beer still puts up a fight! These's hops don't die, they just mellow out a bunch. Thick texture. No real intense opening notes. This beer lets you slide into the flavor before the hoppy finish kicks you on the way out, and leaves you with a bitter feeling in your mouth. Any really presence of malt is certainly not sweet. Letting this baby get some air brings some sweet flavors (hints of honey) to the front, but they don't seem to last long. The hops engulf anything that isn't hopped already. I could be easily mistaking this flavor for the hops. Maybe they didn't even change the recipe and my hop tolerance (more distinctly my West Coast style hop tolerance) has gone up and I just didn't think it was too hoppy. Bigfoot is a hop beast. This 2009 vintage as shown signs of significant mellowing, but it won't go down quiety.

Morbid Angel: Illud Divinum Insanus

Morbid Angel's new album, Illud Divinum Insanus, comes to us after a eight years. While Trey and David Vincent have been reunited for quite a few years, and playing shows, we're only now hearing new offerings. It's not safe to say that an album eight years in the making will blow minds and be perfect. A rejoining of one of the best duos in death metal also doesn't mean that the album will be perfect. The new Morbid Angel album is, well, um, it's new.

The album's opener, Omni Potens, serves as an intro, but can easily be thrown away. The first real track, Too Extreme, is too extreme. Lets forget for a moment that Morbid Angel is the band that brought you such classics as Alters of Madness and Blessed are the Sick. The opening lines to this song are, "This is a warning." No shit. It's not secret that Trey Azagthoth has an affinity of electronic music, and it shows on this album, a little too much (sometimes you shouldn't bring you hobbies to the office). It sounds like Morbid Angel was listening to Ministry, a lot. The drums sound like they were sampled from a Berzerker album. Before this track is over you're scratching you head wondering why after eight years of waiting you get this. You feel like you've been wronged.

Don't fret, the next four songs will reassure you that the Florida deathsters haven't ran off the deep end. These are the tracks remind you of who this band is. Think Domination era, Vincent's vocals are as good as ever. However this moment of rejoicing is then broken up again by the song Destructos Vs. The Earth - Attack, an even worse attempt at industrial music. Radikult is even worse, take the lyrics from Body Count's Cop Killer and place it over really, really bad industrial rock. Hearing Vincent scream 'Kill a Cop' makes me uncomfortable, not that he'd kill cop, but a Morbid Angel album is the last place you'd hear something like this.

Nevermore has been well heard for the past few years, and should have been the album's opening. Vincent's roar is like a lion who has just reclaimed his throne. It's as if he never left. While videos of this song have been all over the web, hearing the studio version is welcomed with open ears. It served as insurance to the fans that we'd see another album. Unfortunately, Tim Yeung's fill in spot is not as exciting. As amazing as this Yeung is (winner of the fastest feet award), this guy was born and raised on Florida death metal. He does a great job sounding exactly like Pete 'The Feet' Sandoval'. He was hired because he could replicated Sandoval's work

I'm sorry to say it, but this album shows why musicians should start side projects. The industrial tracks are completely misplaced. If he has released them under another moniker, then we'd all be happy. This album is a mixed bag, the good tracks are good and what you'd expect. The problem is, it's a new album. Hearing this album is like seeing a friend who'd been away for years and is the same, but with a few new quirks from their travels. Why Trey and the gang decided the infused what should have been a good return with confusion is beyond me. This is not to be confused with the a fan's demand for the familiar and same old. Perhaps this was the only way These new sounds would get heard, and quickly ignored.


The video below was taken from Metalsucks.net
"A few years ago there was this popular internet meme in which people took a scene from Downfall, a movie about Hitler’s final days, and re-did the subtitles so that, instead of reacting to the news that he was losing the war, The Führer seemed to be freaking out about some horribly insignificant bit of nerdery (e.g., that the end of The Watchmen movie wasn’t exactly the same as the end of The Watchmen graphic novel, etc.).

Like most memes, it got old after awhile. But our friend Mark sent us the below one over the weekend, and, well… I don’t think I have ever typed these words before, nor am I likely to ever type them again:

Skulls sell

Bad ass poster by clint, shameless self promotion for a rad show.

Struck By Lightning: Serpents

From time to time there comes along an album that manages to find a happy medium. Too often are bands described using a shopping list of adjectives that really just covers up that fact that either a band lacks a focus (not always a bad thing) or are just beyond description. Too often are genere's mashed together to create something unique but still fall short of allure ( Folk metal and deathcore). The comes along a band that just gets it. Struck By Lightning does just that.

The debut album from these Ohio crushers, lead by former Mouth of the Architect Axeman Gregory Lahm, takes progressive sludge ala early Mastodon and adds 90s hardcore to conceive a post NeurIsis masterpiece (see what I did with that sentence? Hahahaha!). Serpents came to me shortly after its release. It took me to see them opening for Weedeater to witness their magic. Lahm's departure from MOTA only helped him. The sticker on the wrapper said something along the lines of "the soundtrack to a Blues Brothers style chase scene." Sold. This album has teeth. Heavy and complex. Lots of d-beat style hardcore, some melodic parts, lots of heavy crushing sludge. The complexity of Converge with the power of Tragedy and His Hero is Gone. Struck By Lightning seem to be more focused on writing fast and heavy rather than slow thick. You can't tell whether the hardcore is influencing the sludge or the other way around, but you don't care. You're too busy enjoying the music. This album comes at a time where a lot bands of a similar nature seemed rather lost. These guys have a good ear for what works and what doesn't. 'Becoming Earth', while on the sludgier side of the coin, opens with probably one of the coolest riffs I've heard in years, and displays some great rhythmic parts. They could have easily sped this jam up, but let it soak in the gravy just for a little longer. Having come up with music from the late 90s and the early 00s, this brings a lot to the table that I haven't heard in a while. You can tell why a lot of hardcore kids started listening to Neurosis and all that stuff.

May 21st, 2011... can I get my money back?

It's May 21st we're all going to die, maybe. According the Family Radio grand poo-bah Harold Camping we will. I won't go into the exact details, the Internet and other forms of media will provide everything you need to know. What you essentially need to know is that by using passages from the Bible an mathematical equation was created to pin point the exact day in which the rapture will happen. Math. It should be noted that Camping tried to scare us with this 'Biblical Math' back in 1994, and failed.

While I do appreciate one's love for math to the point where one can pluck passages, numbers, etc. from a BOOK and say this is when EVENT X will happen, let's be real. Didn't they try and do something similar in the movie Pi? Oh wait, they tried to find the 'true' name of god. I appreciate the dedication to math and god, but c'mon. From reading all the recent hype, there's no place in the Bible that states the date and time of the rapture. So what makes these equations right?

I was living in Eugene, OR when 6/6/06 came around. Mind you, this was small town and it happened to be the season religious loonies preaching the good word at the University of Oregon's Student Union. I remember reading articles which sited religious figures claiming that the devil would ascend to earth and bring his wrath, blah blah. On that day nothing happened. Deicide was to release two exclusive songs on iTunes, but that's as close to the rise of the devil as it got. I read the online papers that night and the next day, nothing. There's no devil, there's no god to stop the devil.

I'm Jewish, by birth (not choice), we don't have an end of days or rapture. We don't even have a hell. We don't live in constant fear of god's wrath. No confession, just a day of repentance and then we get on with our lives. The mere fact that I don't believe in the Christian god or Jesus means nothing will happen to me. I'm a believer of non-absolutes, ie, no one true god. I believe that God, Allah, Odin, Ganesh, the Giant Turtle in the sky all exist, at least in our minds. The sheer fact that there are so many possible, conflicting views of what god is, means that there's not one god, no right or wrong god, if there even is a god at all.

As I write this, this whole '6pm' time frame has already failed in New Zealand, where a big ass Earthquake would hit. That already happened a few months ago. I guess Camping got the math wrong, again.

I strongly suggest for everyone to go to your closest church and remind people that the rapture isn't coming. They fucked up. Bask in this momentous 'I Told You So' moment. It's 10:30am in San Francisco, it's a sunny day outside. Go have a No Rapture Party.

Kyuss Lives... not Kyuss: Thoughts on Reunions

In a 2007 interview with Music Mart's Joel McIve Josh Homme(Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, founding member of Kyuss) stated:

"The offers come in all the time. They're getting more and more expensive, and more and more elaborate. The money is crazy, but I've never been tempted - I don't really care about the money, I never have. That's not what Kyuss was about, so to punctuate the end of our sentence with that would be blasphemy. Kyuss fans are so fuckin' rad, they're fuckin' badass but to me, reunions are just not necessary. It's not what it was, it's what it is, and Kyuss was a really magical thing and if you weren't there, well, you weren't. That's just the luck of the draw. I don't feel the urge to do it for somebody who didn't have the opportunity to see us, or just didn't take the opportunity to see us. I'll let other bands alter their great legacies. Kyuss has such a great history that it would be a total error. I like that nobody saw Kyuss, and that it was largely misunderstood. That sounds like a legend forming to me. I'm too proud of it to rub my dick on it." (The whole interview can be read HERE)

The Kyuss reformation all started at 2010's Hellfest festival in France. Kyuss vocalist John Garcia was playing essentialy under the guise of a Kyuss cover band, Garcia Plays Kyuss, and Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri happened to be playing the same day with their respective bands, The Bros and Mondo Generator. As luck would have it they decided to join Mr. Garcia on stage to jam a few of the old tunes for the fans. A very touching and unexpected moment for kyuss fans. I even got a little excited and basked in the crappy cellphone/iphone/etc footage.

Flash forward to this year and 'Kyuss' is back in the spotlight. Kinda. Garcia, Oliveri and Bjork are united once again under the banner Kyuss Lives. Having read Homme's comment above, it came as so surprise that he would not be attending. Aside from his moral conflict, Homme's music career is at full throttle and probably has no time to slow down for 'old times sake'. Bruno Fevery has stepped into Homme's shoes as the hired gun.

Homme's above mentioned quote definitely says something about reunions. I can't say for sure how many bands do it for the money or because, as Sleep once put it, there's something that feels unfinished. I can clearly get down with the later.

Homme, however brings up an interesting point. While current bands are either paying tribute to previous generations of music, or building upon it, many of these 'influences' have risen from the dead, so to speak. It's as if countless time capsules has been opened. Some of these bands never went away, they're riding on a second wind. Other bands never went away in that their members, even after a breakup, continued their careers with other bands. Although people like Homme are still turning out vasty different jams than before, he's still a living testament to what once was. Sometimes just being able to see members of your favorite bands in the flesh is enough. Matt Pike, Josh Homme, Wino, are all living reminders of glorious moments in music history. Sometimes basking in the memories is enough.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about many recent reunions. Recently I saw St. Vitus and Sleep. Both shows were amazing. But was it the real deal? No. For starters, both bands had different drummers. While I'm not complaining that having Neurosis' Jason Roeder bang on the skins to my favorite Sleep tunes, it just wasn't the same. Sure, it was Pike and Cicneros on the same stage, that alone was special; but the lack of Hakius left a void the experience, only in hindsite.

More importantly, reunited bands are like time capsules in that they're playing out of context. Like Homme said, "if you weren't there, you weren't there." At first I thought that was a shitty thing to say, but he's right. There's a certain magic, a certain element to being there, in the prime. What you're seeing on stage, at the reunion is a reenactment of the good ol' days. You're merely looking at a copy of an original. It's usually a more convincing copy when the musicians are the same ones on the album. Reunions exploit the hype around the band's legacy. Reunions kind of take a bands greatness for granted. Of course, most of the time bands that reunite are awesome, but it feels like their greatness only got bigger because they reunited. "I'm glad that nobody saw Kyuss," says Homme. So then how did they come to such legendary status? The point here is that there are those who help create a bands greatness and those who are told of a greatness, like lore.

The same, in a sense can be said for bands that haven't broken up, but have been playing for 30 years straight. Look at Slayer: In recent years vocalist Tom Araya has opened up about his Christian faith (Read that article here), yet continues to sing songs telling of certain blasphemy. Tom Araya is not the same guy he was when the band started, but that hasn't stopped him from doing business. Being open about your faith in a band that's known for its anti-faith shows a change in the rift. I still enjoy my Slayer, but knowing that for Araya Slayer is a really fun day job, has definitely changed the way I see the band. Slayer is not the same as it was before. The guys in Slayer are merely trying to keep up appearances working as the personality of Slayer.

Now while a small tid bit of information is not the same as a reunion, they both share the same idea. After a some time, what you see on stage is not the original product. Time and place is extremely important in music. While most people my age are going to grumble over the fact that they were old enough, or born, to see St. Vitus and Black Flag; or Kyuss and Metallica; we just have to deal with it and experience the scene currently surrounding us. When we're older, we can brag about all the cool shit we saw.

Ronnie James Dio: R.I.P. (One Year Later)

On May 16th, 2010 Ronnie James Dio passed away. This was a day beyond sad. Ronnie was one of the most positive guys in metal. His words touched my ears like magic. Dio never let me worry. I was too busy in a far away land. I saw him only one, opening for Iron Maiden. He was the smallest thing I've ever seen, especially from the lawn section of the Chronicle Pavilion. He'd prance around the stage like an elf or something of a mystical nature. When he sang, it was like he was telling you a story. His words and music were good medicine. He's been miss and will continue to be missed.

Here is a mix I made a year ago, after Dio passed way. Much Respect. Enjoy. \m/

Os Haxixins

Awesome garage rock/organ worship from Sao Palo, Brazil. Pretty fuzzy, totally gritty. If you're a fan of Brazilian music from the 60s and 70s or just a fan of rad garage rock, Os Haxixins will do you right.


Here

Candiria: 300 Percent Density

When this album came out, rap metal was dead, tech/core... whatever wasn't even a trend. This album was revolutionary. The musicianship was uncanny. It's like Fusion for the 21st Century. I remember running into the dudes from Animosity and hearing them jizz over this album. I finally got to see them open for Clutch on their Pure Rock Fury Tour (2001?). It was so good, little Leo Miller was tearing up the pit with a fucked up right hand, cast and all. Kenneth Schalk will kick your ass at the drums... 'Signs of Discontent' is the JAM!

You Want IT

Melvins vs. Killdozer: Covers Showdown

Perhaps a little known fact, maybe not: the Melvins and Killdozer have extensive experience playing covers. While the Melvins have sprinkled cover tunes throughout their albums, Killdozer went as far as releasing an entire album of covers, For Ladies Only. Went it comes to covering other people's music the Melvins and Killdozer probably do it the best. Below is a link to a Killdozer/Melvins covers mix tape.

Melvins vs. Killdozer Track List:
Love Canal (Melvins/Flipper)
Conquistador (Killdozer/Procol Harum)
Hush (Killdozer/Deep Purple)
Return of the Spiders (Melvins/Alice Cooper)
American Pie (Killdozer/Dan McLean)
Sweet Home Alabama (Killdozer/Lynyrd Skynyrd)
God of Thunder (Melvins/Kiss)
Youth of America (Melvins/Wipers)
Lexicon Devil (Melvins/The Germs)
Run Through the Jungle (Killzdozer/ Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Kowabunga

Ovens: Live At Kimo's

This was recored at the Church of Flipper concert in 2010 (with Dutch Crunch, Milbrae Brothers and Flood). If you love the Ovens, you'll love this. Pretty good sound quality and I believe there's a cover or two in their set. Now go buy their albums!

HERE

Owl: Shredding in the Family

Add Owl to Clint's list of band (He also plays in Genesis Climber, Hazard's Cure, Acts of Sedition and probably many more, he's a busy guy). Owl is metal's version of a family band. Consisting of Clint and his two younger brothers, you'd think these guys were from the early 80s. Think of early Iron Maiden, but stoned in a garage.

YOU WANT THIS

The Atomic Bitchwax: Power Trio Done Right

New Jersey's The Atomic Bitchwax are probably my favorite power trio. Sure, there are many trios out there that exude in power, but TAB harken back to the term's purest form. If these guess were playing 40 years ago, heads would explode. Ed Mundell and Hendrix would have a guitar fight of epic proportions. These guys aren't necessarily paying homage to the rock gods of yore, they reappropriate classic sounds for modern times . When I listen to these guys all I can think of is that "they got it right." These guys did their homework. Original guitarist Ed Mundell and replacement Finn Ryan deserve more props for their axe work and drummers Bob Pantella and (original drummer) Keith Ackerman posses a power and finess only seen by John Bonham and Mitch Mitchell. They should be right up there with the rock gods. I highly recommend picking up their first, self titled, album.

Enough ass kissing, here's a mix of jams by he mighty Bitchwax.

HERE

Earth: Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1

It's been a little bit since the last Earth opus was bestowed upon us. The Bees Made Honey Out Of the Lion's Skull continued the bands challenging of what it means to be drone. You could not deny that album's power. Dylan Carlson's latest effort, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 continues Earth's journey into their drone 2.0. This album is very much the next phase in the bands 'new sound'.
Where the previous three albums were drawn out day dreaming soundscapes, this new album is a bit up tempo, for an Earth album. In previous albums, Adrienne Davies' drumming has provided more accents than a constant pulse. It's the drums that provide the 'faster' feel to this album. It actual sounds like someone playing the drums than someone coming to conscious once in a while. It makes the music feel more alive than someone nodding off. Carlson's guitar work sounds less like someone noodling around and more cohesive. 'Father Midnight' goes the extra mile and adds a swing feel and even a sense of danger. The addition of Lori Goldston on the cello also provides gritty and dark textures that fills in the back end nicely throughout the album. The last song, and title track, suggests that this could be part one of two, or more albums or songs. Who knows? It would seem that that '1' in the title would suggest the intention to continue where this album left off. Haven't they been kind of doing that with this batch of albums? Who knows? Who cares. I'm enjoying each chapter thus far.
Overall, this album shouldn't surprise those familiar with the band. It isn't anything drastically new, which isn't to say it's bad, it's great. If you're a fan of Earth's past few albums, this would appear to be the next logical step: adding new layers. By the band's standards they've dug deeper, expanded on their sound. In some ways I feel like this album is their sound finally realized.

here's a link to the opening track, 'Old Black', being preformed live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFryEj8wXLc&feature=related

Peter Steele: One Year Later

This month marks one year since Peter Steele died. He was the singer for Brooklyn's Type O Negative. I (regretfully) didn't start listening to the band until their last album, Dead Aagain. After a brief back peddle through the band's catalogue I immediately fell in love with the band, and especially Steele's lyrics and sense of humor. I remember going to a friend's house the night he passed, really bummed out. My friend thought someone close to me had died. His words and humor hit close to home and incited a lot of thought within. Safe to say, he left an impression on me, and I'm not the only one. I won't say more because it's worth exploring. Below is a mix commemorating the Grim Green Giant's death.


Remembering Peter Steele:
Dark Side of the Womb
I Don't Wanna Be Me
Less Than Zero
Prelude to Agony
Halloween in Heaven
Everything Dies
We Hate Everyone
Christian Woman (live w/ Black Sabbath intro)


Here you go

Greyceon: All That We Destroy

I've been a fan of Greyceon for a while now. The first time I played a show with them (with 100 Suns at the Rooster's Roadhouse) I was blown away. My band practices across the hall from them. For the past year or so I've heard samples and tid bits of this album, but never an entire song. It was the worst kind of tease you could imagine for a musician.

Over their first two albums the band has established a certain feel that had me always saying, 'They should beef this part up with some growls and more gallop.' By no means did these shortfalls keep me away from listening to their albums, but it definitely kept me hanging. With their Profound Lore debut, All That We Destroy rises the to occassion. This is the albums I've been waiting for.

This album has everything you love from the trio, just amped up. It feels as though they've been reenergized. Jackie's vocals are as ferocious as they are graceful. The songs are given a boost from the additions of layers of vocals, guitars and cellos, especially the mix between Max and Jackie. Much like your top notch stoner blend of fuzzed out bass and guitars, the guitar and cello on this album wrap around each other to create a new blend of low and heavy. It creates a grander soundscape. The album aslo benefits from the great production. It's heavy and doesn't leave anything behind. The band definitely succeeds at elaborating their sound. While their previous two albums were good, they were a little too mellow and at time predictable. This album just feels more alive. The complexity of Zack's drumming is subtle, but man does he have a good ear. He knows exactly what to play and when. This isn't so much a band that's blazing new trails, but they've solidified and mastered their sound. The cello is something that can be rather cheesy in most metal at the least. Jackie and Max have created a dynamic that is unmatched and works many times better than the next closest thing. The musicianship in this band uncanny.

Hearing this album now was certainly worth the wait.

Dutch Crunch: LIVE!

Dutch Crunch is a stoner/grind powerhouse 'super-group' from the Bay Area. They have a demo coming out, eventually. This next best thing is a live recording of their first show at Kimo's. It's short, it's sweet, it rules.

Get Crunched

Weedeater, Zoroaster, Kvelertak, Begotten: Thee Parkside (3/11/11)

How I didn't know about this show weeks in advance, opposed to an hour before, is beyond me. Thankfully, Kevin made this show known and I bolted out the door. I wouldn't miss a chance to see Dixie Dave, or Zoroaster, together

After scarfing down a tasty super al pastor, I drive up to Thee Parkside and I am met with one of the biggest lines I've seen at this venue. Whore's For Satan brings big bands to small venues, which rules, except dealing with the large crowd, which sucks. I hop in line and await my fate. Rumors amongst the waiting tell of the show being sold out. No fucking way, I tell myself and begin to block out the sounds of bearded children speculating this rumor, and their art gallery shows. Luckily, I was one of the 70-something without a ticket that was let inside.

By the time I got in, Begotten was half way through their set. Thank [insert preferred deity, or otherwise here]. I have never seen a band so undeserving of an opening slot for a national tour. For starters, the only person who looked like they were having any fun was the drummer, who merely smirked as he drummed. The singer stood their like he didn't want to be there. The music wasn't so bad (it wasn't much good either), just their attitude sucked.

Kvelertak place in the gig seemed to be a mystery to those attending. Word was getting around that on their way to the States, via Norway, they got screwed in customs, and that they were way behind on their tour. I wasn't sure if the tour in question was with Weedeater or otherwise. Turns out someone stole their passports, shitty. Luckily they made up for lost time by destroying the stage. Their mix of party/folk/punk metal was definitely a great pick-me-up. Everyone was having a lot of fun. I wouldn't rush to go but their album, but I'd be stoked to see them again.

Last time Zoroaster played Thee Parkside I had to scramble home to wake my ass up before the sun came. As I had previously mentioned, their last album, Matador, was probably one of my favorite albums of 2010, so needless to say, I was itching to see these Georgians blow my ear holes. After a rough first two songs they got rolling. While their last album kills, something definitely got lost in their live set. Matador, which song's made up most of the set, is a vast soundscape that benefited from extensive studio additions that lacked severely live. After they sorted out the kinks, they steamrolled through an hour of southern-fried by way of outter space tinged heavy. Although I got my hopes too high for these guys, it was still great to see them play in such an intimate setting.

Why Weedeater isn't playing at Slim's or any other bigger venue is beyond me. Maybe 10 years ago, when sludge wasn't so extremely popular, this venue may have worked out. I'm glad to see people are craving heavy music now, but goddamn, it was too packed. Before they took the stage, we were treated to what was supposed to be a set change, but turned into somewhat of a show. Apparently, Dixie's mic wasn't grounded, which resulted in a buzz whenever his mouth touched it. "I don't mind the shock," he said. "It ain't too good for my balls, though." Dixie soon gave up and retreated to the dressing room to grab a half drunk bottle whiskey, which he continued to drain while fixing the mic problem. Eventually he put a sock on the mic. "It fixed the grounding problem, but now the mic smells worse than shit." I assume the venue discarded the mic after its use. Or, at least cleaned it very well.
While Dixie was getting into his usual pre-show trance, I looked over to see Shep, their axe man, sporting a 'Save KUSF' hat. Thanks.

If the evening thus far had left any doubt, Weedeater changed minds immediately. Opening with a mix mostly new jams, they boys from Cape Fear showed the crowd what it mean to be heavy. Really heavy. Currently on tour supporting their new album, Jason... The Dragon (Perhaps a play on 'Chasing the Dragon'?), any reference Dixie made to playing 'old stuff' merely meant anything that's not on the new album. A new take on a commonly used phrase. Unlike their last visit to our beloved city Weedeater's set provided a good mix of all their work. No surprises in this set, just a good selection from each album.

Oh, I totally forgot: Melvins'manager/men of porn front man, Tim Moss, and Mike Patton were at the show too, talking about hockey.