Above is the new artwork for the reissue of Sleep's paramount album, Dopesmoker, the 60+ minute heaviest opus, ever. Those familiar, or well versed in Sleep-ology know that the album was originally released as a four part album called Jerusalem on Lodon Records in 1999, which was not how band wanted it to be released. TeePee Records rereleased the album in 2003 as it was intended to be released, as one track.
Dopesmoker is a very personal album for myself and most likely anyone whose smoked weed or listen to heavy music. Much like smoking weed for the first time, listening to this album was a gateway to the path of all things heavy. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I foolishly bought Jerusalem first and was annoyed with how the album was broken up (then again, the vinyl version of Dopesmoker was broken up into four sides, so should it have really mattered?). My point is, this is the THIRD release of this album. I can understand redoing it once. They remastered it as the band 'originally intended' for the 2003 release, and the world rejoiced.
Who decided that the Dopesmoker reissue wasn't suffice enough, and that something which I (and plenty of others) felt was pretty damn alright? Has a line been crossed on Southern Lord's behalf? Dare I, or anyone else, shout blasphomey or bullshit?
In this age of reuinions, and most noteably Sleep's, I understand the reemergence of this album and it's relavence. I'm more than stoked that people are getting first and second chances to see the mighty Sleep live. And for those who may have not come across Dopesmoker, yet, I'm pleased that a version will be readily available. Minds will be blown. I'm just suggesting that something smells funny about this. I mean, this is better than some kids purchasing the vinyl for $300 on ebay, but still. The band revisioned the album when they released it as Dopesmoker 1.0. Dare I say that the band had their chance? Or is it just another label's chance to get their hands on the holy grail of heavy and make a few bucks off of it?
As some of you may have heard, Michael K. Williams will be playing Ol' Dirty Bastard in an upcoming documentary about the late ODB and his manager, Jarred Weisfeld. Those who may not know Williams by his real name will know him by Omar from HBO's The Wire. This should be exciting as anything involving either of these guys is always good.
To celebrate, here are two Wu-Tang Clan free-style sessions.
It's funny but not surprising that these two bands made a split. Dale Crover and Lori S were married at the time (!), and both bands shared drummer Joey Osbourne. Why they just didn't create a whole new band is beyond me. Back in high school I thought that Joey was Buzz's brother, or some kind of relative. After doing actual research, my dumb theory was proven wrong. Wouldn't that have been cool though?
If Dead As Dreams left you wanting more, here are come recordings from a 1998 practice. I know there's another 1998 demo/practice tape floating around. This version has a slightly alternate, shorter take of 'This Entire Fucking Battlefield'. The recording quality on these three songs are a bit sharper than the other demo. Based on how iTunes files these songs, there's suppose to be five songs total, but I was only given three. Regardless, this is a great demo to have handy.
The music output of Finland is a funny one. Their metal exports vary from booze-fueled 'folk' metal, funeral doom and any kind of metal death/thrash/power metal. In short, they're all over the board when it comes to metal. But back in the 90s while Amorphis (and eventually Children of Bodom) was running the show for the most part, there was a band called Stone. Stone was probably Finland's sole 'thrash' export, and quite a head of their time.
No Anaethsia, the band's second effort, came during a particular time, when thrash was on the way out, and Death Metal and the whole melodic thing was slowly taking over Europe, and eventually turning in the Gothenburg sound. Looking back at this album played a major role in the melodic death and 'thrash' sounds that would come from the Norther European bands during the 90s (namely the Gothenburg sound) and early 2000s. And why not? It's the speed, finesse and technical prowess that has been the staple of Northern European Metal for over 20 years now. They seem more concerned with song writing than speed and pure agression. Which isn't to say this album lacks any of that. Calling this album Thrash would be walking the grey line. Finns, Swedes for that matter, are definitely good at place melodic elements into anything and making it sound good. The late 80s and 90s were a good time for music like this.
If you're vision of Finnish metal has been tainted by recent exports, give this album a chance and you'll be rethinking things.
With the current political climate; apes trying to gain control of the United Sates, this album seemed more than appropriate. The San Pedro trio's debut. This album says more in under 7 minutes than most albums with any kind of message. It's shaky and agressive. It's the truest musical personification of paranoia that I could ever think of. Easily one of my favorite albums.
I edited the album so that it's all one track so the albums effect would seem more relentless. If you cannot listen to six and half minutes of music in one sitting, then this is not for you.
Those familiar with some of my rants at the Fried Chicken Cadillac are aware of my views on reunions; and especially the ongoing, never-ending-never-going-to-happen reunion of the classic Sepultura lineup. The amount of back and forth is beyond nauseating. It's as if a animal has been shot, refuses to die but continues to bleed. I thought the end was near when Max and Igor Cavalera reunited under their own flag, the Cavalera Conspiracy. This band would either pave the way to a reunion, or, what actually happened: nothing. I'm fine with nothing. I can settle for nothing. My thoughts on a Sepultura reunion are said and done.
So why am I bringing this up again? New light has been shed. An epiphany, if you will. During my mindless searching across the Internet for heavy metal gossip and factoids, I came across a post on Blabbermouth containing footage of Soulfly, Max Cavalera's main project, preforming two Sepultura classics in Sao Paulo, Brazil. What's special about the two videos (posted below) is that his son, Zyon (who's the drummer for this particular tour), and brother and former Sepultura drummer, Igor, as the guys playing the drums in the videos. Max is quite fortunate to have his son sit behind the kit and I'm sure fans who attend the show appreciate the novelty of family sharing the stage (even Lemmy has shared the stage with his son). Where I draw the line, however, is bringing your brother on stage to play the music of another band. It actually would have been really cool to see Igor play 'Eye For An Eye', but to jump in during Soulfly's set, a band he's not even in, and play a Sepultura song? Enough is enough.
Max Cavalera, you are in denial! Quit reaching the tentacles of your past legacy into everything you do.
It's impossible to go on Youtube and look up live Soulfly footage without coming across countless videos of the band covering Sepultura songs to the point where it outnumbers footage of Soulfly playing their own songs.
It's gone way to damn far. I understand musicians playing the music of their former bands. Both Ozzy and Dio would play Black Sabbath songs, respectively, during their solo careers. Max, however, is taking it to a whole new level. Max thrives on nostalgia to the point of excess. I understand playing 'Roots' and 'Troops of Doom' during Soulfly's infancy stages, perhaps to fill up an hour set list, but it's been several albums later and things haven't changed. Why are you making room for another band's music (even if you wrote the songs) when you have an abundance of new material?
Andreas Kisser was spot-on when he commented on Soulfly's rotating door of musicians. But does it matter? Soulfly doubles as Sepultura cover band anyways. It's kinda like that episode of Metalocalypse where the band finds out that Toki is in a Dethklok cover band. The difference here is that Max never stopped being the star. He's the key to Soulfly's success. It seems belittling to the members of Max's current bands to play someone else's songs night after night.
I honestly don't think Max is over Sepultura. Yet he basks in his past glory while thriving in his present day success. Having Igor thrown into the mix only perpetuates the nostalgia.
It's been well documented that Max is willing to burry the hatchet and give the fans a reunion. Any kind of insight on that matter can be read here. In the article Max says the blame lies with Andreas Kisser, who is also down for a reunion, but allegedly has a list of demands. Cavalera can wait for Kisser to come around. Things are going well for Soulfly and the Cavalera Conspiracy (a band's success I believe leans solely on the nostalgia of a Max-Igor reunion) that a Sepultura reunion would be just one more thing on his plate. Cavalera's response maks a reunion seem like an afterthought. 'Yeah, I'm down for a reunion. Lemme see if I got some free time in between tours.' If Max's current projects are doing so well, why lean on past efforts?
I'm sure Max is content doing what he's doing. I'm just calling it into question. I'd understand it more if Sepultura wasn't an active band, but they are. You don't see Queens of the Stoneage covering Kyuss songs, do you? You don't see Megadeth playing early Metallica songs simply because Mustaine has the rights to a few of them. Continually playing Sepultura songs is like a passive agressive way of trying to say that Max is Sepultura. Is Max doing Kisser and Co. a favor by letting letting the band keep the Sepultura name while they slowly destroy the band's once good name? I think Max needs Sepultura, and the current Sepultura could sure use a boost from his presence.
I think instead of criticising Soulfly for it's rotating door of musicians, why doesn't Andreas Kisser talk about how Max cannot let go of his past. If it's not denial, it's an obsession. If Max can put off a reunion, why can't he put off playing Sepultura songs?
In honor of Adrian Smith's birthday I bring you an offering of Smith's pre-Iron Maiden material. It's funny to think that Smith had a musical career before forming such a legendary band. Urchin was Smith's band before Maiden. This band rules. This 7" came out in 1978 and could definitely fit into Maidens early catalogue. 'Black Leather Fantasy' even has moments where it sounds a bit like early Priest, before going into the classic Maiden hyperdrive we all love.
This is a recording of The Jesus Lizard's last show in Umeå, Sweden, which was released in 1998. The album's opening soundbite captures a speculative David Yow saying that this could be it. With that information the album has somewhat of a disparaging feel, even though it's still the band at full force. Yow's vocals, which are notoriously muffled, seem quite clear. He does seem, however, as whimsical as he can be. They wound up reformed and toured in 2008-2009. So I guess this is just a live album. The band plays a good balance of classic and newer, post Touch-And-Go, songs. If anything, this serves a good look into a band's temporary demise.
Asva never got the respect they deserved. When their second full length, What You Don't Know is Frontier came out, the publicity was a brief blip. I think I read an article in Terrorizer and that was about it. When the whole 'drone thing' first started, there was Earth and Sunn0))), but there was also Asva. I used to called these guys 'Sunn0))) with drums'. Their first album, Futurists Against the Ocean, was pretty damn good, but What You Don't Know... shows a more evolved band. It's not as rough around the edges as, but still very crushing. This was the album that convinced me drone music had lots of potential. Keyboards, vocals, RHYTHM! Oh my sweet fancy jesus on a pogo-stick! I used this as a jumping point and staple in my journey across new sounds. Where this band triumphs is that the depth was far more vast that anything Sunn0))) or Earth was doing at the time. Sunn0))) would eventual layer and develop their ritual (I cite Dømkirke as that particular moment) while Earth's progress has been minimal. In 21st a century nutshell I think this album was a year or two ahead of the pack. These guys seemed to be doing just the right amount of different.
Crushing sluge from Oakland. Killer keyboard undertones, giving it a shoegaze feel at times. Similar to Brooklyn's Batillus. Heavy on the Neurosis (later era) influence, but it seems like they not only get Neurosis in ways I havent' heard too often, but they manage to carve out their out sound from something familiar. HERE
I knew Zappa had a strange fascination with 50's rock n roll and doo wop. Zappa's career in the mid-70s and beyond were spattered with his cynical twist soda shop hits, while his earlier material with the Mothers of Invention took a jab at the conservatism Red Scare era United States on a lyrical level. It always amazed me how someone with so much musical genius wanted to play something so seemingly simple. Upon rediscovering the Mothers' 1966 debut, Freak Out!, it would appear that Zappa had this obsession from the get go. While the band's earlier stuff is a bombardment of sarcasm and an absurd take on the popular and alternative music of the day, Freak Out! lures you in with some familiar sounds then takes you in a literal freak out. What makes this album so special is the accessibility, which is perhaps why Zappa chose such popular music as the base for his lyrics, which largely mock the teen culture of the 50s and 60s, which Zappa grew up in. Intellectually these guys were far more threatening than the drug crazed San Francisco scene of the time, among others. Instead of joining the counter culture craze to combat the straight laced conservatism of the day, their mission was to tackle it head on, and disguise it as something hip, but still way more weird. The Fugs may be the only band that comes close to how weird these guys were.
Get Freaked (Note: This is ripped from vinyl. Each track is an entire side of a record. I didn't separate the tracks out of laziness and to provide a somewhat authentic experience, no skipping tracks n what not.)
Pretty much anything bacon touches turns to gold. Such is the success story of Portland, Oregon doughnut pioneers Voodoo Doughnuts, who take credit for the creation of the simple yet amazing maple-bacon bar. A delight so simple, simply a strip of crisp bacon on top of a maple bar, yet achieves high levels of bliss.
But Voodoo is not the only one enjoying the bacon revolution. Rogue Brewery, another famed Oregon establishment, has gone to the extreme length to capture the greatness of the of Voodoo’s magical bacon bar and created its beer equivalent. Ladies and gents, I give you Rogue’s Bacon Maple Ale.
Bacon. Beer. Mouth drooling.
Rogue, known more for their traditional beers with that famous Northwest touch, seem almost late in the game for trying something so balls out. But it would seem as if they’ve brought their big guns to the fight and immediately go to the jugular.
Anyone who comes across this big, pink bottle will no dubitably gaze at the fact that they may have come across a holy grail of sorts, do not be fooled by this seemingly flawless marketing ploy.
Your nose quickly picks up huge notes of dough and maple, which come from the added maple flavoring (surprisingly not from the malts). Drinkers will be awed by the accuracy of the aromas the beer unleashes on your pallet. This far, you’ll be left thinking that this brew will be virtually identical in every sense. But that’s where it seems to end.
One your sense get past the overwhelming aroma, you’ll find yourself asking, “Where’s the bacon?”
The Maple Bacon Ale boasts a large portion of their grist (malt bill) to various smoked malts, which already tend to give off smoky, bacon-like aromas and flavors. Not in this case. The flavor is dominated by prickly and burnt flavors and a harsh hop finish. There are no signs of anything meaty or savory. In other words: No bacon. Whatever flavors are there fall flat and last for moments, forcing you to pour more of this questionable ale down the hatch.
My girlfriend, who was helping me finish the 750ml bottle, stopped drinking after the first sip.
"Interesting." She said. She works in the medical field, which means it's not good. "It's just not grooving with me." She’s pretty open to most kinds of beer and has a love for sours, but she could not even humor the idea of finishing her pint in sympathy.
While Rogue may have found the perfect combination of flavors, in theory; they have failed in their execution. You can’t advertise bacon and not provide. That’s just blasphemous. If anything, they will enjoy the press, as this beer is a marketing goldmine.
For those left unsatisfied and would like to search for bacon-flavored beers, I suggest trying Alaskan Brewing Companies Smoked Porter and Brauerei Heller-Trum’s Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (which is German for awesome smoked beer).
You ever listen to the Birthday Party, really dig it, but want just a little more? Lubricated Goat scratches that itch. Lubricated Goat is the Birthday Party's grimier, more sinister cousin. The Devil's Music is right up there with Junkyard as an enjoyably abrasive collection of tunes. It might also be the missing link between the Birthday Party and Scratch Acid and the Butthole Surfers, even though this came out in 1987, long after Nick Cave started the Bad Seeds and Scratch Acid collapse and began to reform as the Jesus Lizard. Try this album if you think those other bands are too sterile.
You know it's a good day when you show up to Steve Kerwin's front steps and he hands you a copy of Asada Messiah's new collection of jams. I've been waiting, dying for Cross Contamination to be release for well over 2 years, when the album was recorded. Anyone familiar with their debut effort, Grill 'Em All, will be glad to hear the San Francisco quartet has sharpened their sound, leaning more towards the thrashy elements of their first album. While Grill 'Em All was a fun mix of thrash, hardcore and stoner metal (and an album which I probably listened to every day for like 3 months when I first got it) this album sounds almost like another band in regards to songwriting. Their knack for trad-metal with some doomy elements makes for a great combo. You've heard it before, but not like this. Definitely blast 'Devil On A Cross'. I've been watching these guys rage on stage playing this new material for years and it's been a long time coming for these jams to drop.
Awesome split between two of Brooklyn's finest. Be sure to check out Batillus' recent jam, Furnace; and look forward to a full length from Mutilation Rites, which will hopefully drop soon.
I hate Rolling Stone Magazine. I don't even read it on a regular basis, much less ever. I somehow got sucked into issue #1145, which contains their '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time'. I was at Raley's with my girlfriend trying to buy stuff to make breakfast when I came across the cover of Eddie Van Halen doing his thing. I chose to open the magazine's pages only to become slightly consumed by how outrageous this list was. Not because I disagree with who's on the list and in what order but with the idea of ranking something so subjective. Well, the Humanities major in me bought a 6-pack and started writing an 'angry letter', which turned out to be a good writing exercise. I plan on snail mailing this letter to David Fricke, the guy who started the infamous list, in hopes that he might respond. Maybe it's kind of pointless to get into an intellectual debate with Rolling Stone, but who cares? Below is the cover letter to Mr. Fricke. The actual essay/letter is can be accessed HERE.
(yours truly at the Hendrix statue thing in Seattle, WA)
Dear Mr. Fricke,
I am here to contest the feature article in issue #1145 of Rolling Stone Magazine. The one about all those ‘great guitarists’. You may think that the timing is a bit off. This letter has been delayed only because I have been manifesting an essay challenging and discussing the idea of what makes something great. I chose to use the Great Guitarists Of All Time list as my impetus because I’m a music fanatic myself, as well as a musician.
I get it; we all talk about who’s the greatest and the Top 100 list idea is a somewhat necessary evil. It stirs up controversy. It creates conversation between peers. It’s a superficial way of looking back and dwelling on some kind of nostalgia that solves nothing. What’s worse is that at least twice the very magazine you work for has done this particular list! Something that’s described as transcending time would seem unwavering and concrete, but you’ve managed to rewrite it.
Behind this page is an essay that explores the idea of a list that tries to confine something entirely subjective. I agree with you and the panel, to a point, that Jimi Hendrix is pretty damn good. I’m just sick of hearing about it. And I’m not alone.
The next several pages are the introduction to what I hope will become a dialogue. Not just with me, but with the music community. Something as vast as the greatest anything of all time is worth more than just a few pages in magazine. The Humanities major in me craves more than just a superficial survey of something as definitive as the greatest of all time. It doesn’t do anyone justice. Obviously there’s not enough space in your magazine to do a list like this properly. Perhaps a book is in order. Something so expansive and in depth that it cannot be disputed.
I hope you take the time to read what I have to say and I encourage you to write back.
I saw these guys open for Wolves In The Throne Room and they blew me away. This self-titled full length comes somewhere between the atmospheric drone of Burzum and Wolves and a less noodly version of Krallice; OR a more developed Wigrid. The result is probably one of the few Black Metal releases to really catch my attention in the past year or two.
I've been trying to figure out how to present my thoughts on the recent SOPA/PIPA legislation and the current relationship between music and the Internet. It's about more than just piracy or theft of intellectual property. If these laws pass, and they won't, YoutTube, Blogspot and countless other websites could be taken down and our ability to express ourselves granted by the First Amendment will be further diminished. I'll let everyone else yammer on about that.
Former Guns 'n' Roses bassist and Seattle Weekly columnist, Duff McKagan suggest that we quit whining about SOPA and PIPA. I was intrigued at first to see what he meant. His main stance is that of anti-piracy, which I am sure hasn't changed since the days of Napster. You can read his editorial or just know that he's wildly against people getting music for free. (You should still read the article, which is provided in the hyperlink above) Is the music industry getting that hurt by piracy? Possibly. But maybe I'm coming at it from a different angle. (Part of what I say comes from personal experience from being in a band; from conversations with fellow musicians; good old fashioned reading; and certainly some educated speculation. So forgive me if I sound like a jack-ass. I don't know it all. Mmmkay?)
McKagan is of the idea that stealing music hurts the livelihood of those making money playing, producing and publishing music. Again, possibly. I'm pretty sure everyone's still stealing Metallica albums while they continue to make millions. In the current music climate there are waves of working class bands who don't make a living from playing music than those fortunate enough to make a suitable living from music.
The current state of music is spread so thin that piracy doesn't even begin to show how the music industry is fucked.
For starters the rise of the Independent Label has spread thin the possibilities for bands to get signed. It's also made it harder for bands to get signed. Big labels only want bands that can sell millions of albums and headline arenas and large theaters and clubs. Bands on indie labels are less likely to sell millions of records, depending on the label. But because there are so many labels the dispersal of money is spread thinner than before.
Also because there are so many bands (and I mean more than there should be) is almost impossible to keep track of them all, which is where magazines and BLOGS come in. Even if a band is considered good by a small group or scene they're not going to sell millions of albums even if there wasn't a means to get them for free. If anything the Internet has made people more aware of these smaller bands. And because of this fans can actually find out about shows and tours and give the bands money directly instead of handing to a record label who might only give the band a smaller percentage of each sale, if anything. Really, the Internet gives small bands, of which McKagan will never hear of, a fighting chance. And really, how man BLOGS boasting hoards of obscure and out of print music are diverting sales from record stores and companies?
The biggest culprit I feel are the record labels and their Internet savvy business plan. Once the labels embraced iTunes it was all over. Before iTunes you still have to buy entire albums. Singles weren't a popular product for quite some time and music fans would spend $15 just to hear a song. With iTunes you don't have to even buy an entire album. For 99cents a pop you can get exactly what you want. Just want the song you heard on the radio or that reality show you like? You can get exactly that and nothing else. iTunes has revived the concept of the single, in a way. But really they made it possible for fans to not spend $15 and instead spend even less to get exactly what they want. AND of that 99cents how much goes to Apple, the record label and then the band? I'm not math-whiz, and I have a hard time figuring out how 99cents vs $15 increases revenue. And even if you buy the entire album in mp3 form it's still pretty cheap. Although I'm pretty sure iTunes isn't the death toll of the record industry it still hurts more than it helps.
Also, a lot more smaller bands aren't even wasting time with record labels. Websites like BandCamp are cutting out the middle man and creating new ways for bands to put out their music and make a few bucks (so that they can release their album on vinyl. Duh!). It provides are more direct source of income for bands and really all they have to do is send mp3s to BLOGS and what not for promotion.
So, Mr. McKagan. While the abundance of music theft certain accounts for some of the hurt the music and movie industry is supposedly feeling, it's not about theft. While your point may hold ground, it's a bit out of touch.
So what did this have to do with SOPA/PIPA? Mostly nothing. But Duff McKagan still sucks.
The beauty of Musical Journalism is that a large chunk of it is subjective. But with the power and responsibility of opinion comes the dangerous habit of favoritism. As music continues to spread itself thin with countless genres and subgenres of minuscule proportions fans and ‘journalists’ alike equally take turns dissecting the sounds and intellectualize offerings to the point of no point at all.
This is extremely puzzling when I find the Metal community up in arms over a band’s rising popularity, especially when they’re compared to bands that only sound kinda/sorta the same. MetalSucks.net decided to gripe and qualm over the rising popularity of Christian Mistress, Olympia, Washington’s new ‘Retro NWOBHM’ hype. The website’s complaint is that they don’t get it.
“I’ve listened to their new album Possession and I think it’s pretty good.” States Vince Neilstein, the editorial’s author. And really, everything should stop there. In fact! this should be the introduction to a rave review of the bands new album, right? But that’s when they drop the ball:
“But it never ceases to amaze me how the hipster propaganda machine works, taking ordinary to decent bands and revving them up into a dizzying whirlwind of hype.”
What the fuck does that even mean? Aren’t all bands they get signed and get some kind of press start out as an ‘ordinary to decent’ band? And don’t bands that typically get signed and exposure earn these things because they’ve risen above ordinary? Isn’t that how it works? Clearly Mr. Neilstein is venting, but his comments thus far seem to contrast and confuse.
In the next paragraph Neilstein cries over the fact that both the bands Holy Grail and White Wizzard, who sound and look almost identical to eachother, are not getting their due props instead. In his mind both bands have the right sound, which is even more polished than the raw and rough sounds of Christian Mistress, whom he seems to compare to in music style as well. He then attacks their image: normal-ass flannel and a female for a singer. Judging from his reaction Neilstein has a problem with dudes not wearing denim jackets covered in Mercyful Fate patches and that having a female vocalist, despite admitting her singing as legit, is a marketing ploy.
Last time I saw videos and promo-photos for both Holy Grail and White Wizzard I thought I was back in the 1980s. These dudes look identical to the guys in Accept, Iron Maiden… every single metal band from 30 years ago; and their music sounds exactly the same too. Dude, Accept and Iron Maiden called, they want their music and image back. What’s wrong with looking normal and not sounded super produced? Christian Mistress are either not ‘popular’ enough to afford a polished sound, or more likely, they’re not trying to sound like everyone else.
Lastly, Neilstein furthers his theory on hipster propaganda by saying the Christian Mistresses’ label, Relapse Records, is a hipster safe haven. Um, Dude? Since when did Relapse become a ‘hipster label’? How man solid Death Metal, Grindcore and Stoner Metal albums did they put out before Mastodon came around, got kind of big and left for a bigger label and get nominated for two Grammys? How is that even 'hip'?
The point is that Mr. Neilstein, and possibly the entire staff at MetalSucks.net, really really like White Wizzard and Holy Grail, and are butt hurt that some other band, which they admittedly like, is getting more hype. Which is funny, because I don’t understand why they don’t just hype the bands they like even more instead of making whiny, sexist remarks about another band they like less, or don’t like at all.
What I’ve learned from Neilstein’s editorial is that he really likes Holy Grail and White Wizzard, and that you think having a woman as a singer will get a band more exposure, which shouldn’t even matter. His remarks are juvenile and trite I don’t like a lot of bands, too; and I don’t understand why John Gossard and Therapy? aren't widely acknowledged as the best thing since sliced bread, but I’m not loosing sleep and writing editorials about it. Although, maybe I should. I’m writing editorials about why people in positions like Mr. Neilstein’s need to shut the fuck up and stop hating or picking favorites. Heavy Metal and all that encompasses has come a long way for some jackass to split hairs.
The final caper to this trivial pursuit is when, through all the kicking and bitching, Neilstein closes with: “Maybe I’m totally off-base; I haven’t seen them live yet, after all.”
My love affair with Speedealer started when I first saw Speedealer at the Pound SF with an audience of about 10, excluding the bands. It was probably one of the best shows I've ever seen. However, the deal was sealed the next day when I went to the record store and picked up Here Comes Death.
This album came about the time when Stoner Rock bands like Clutch and C.O.C. were trying to take the more rockin' and blues elements of metal and adding groove into the mix. Speedealer went to opposite direction and added more Motorhead, the rage of hardcore and wildness of Ted Nugent. Half the album is filled with heavy, southern styled stoner riffs (think Eyehategod trying to play Southern Rock) while the other half of the album blurs past your ears with such a booze fueled fury that it almost falls appart on itself while Jeff Hirshberg snarls through his teeth because he'd pop a lung if he sang any more fiercely. This album possess a power and rage that is incomparable to a lot of it's contemporaries. It's Southern styled Punk/Metal at its best. GET IT HERE
