The Real Cavalera Conspiracy: Max's Denial

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?

Urchin

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.

Here

(Special thanks to the Cosmic Hearse for turning me on to this gem)

Jesus Lizard: Gong

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.

                                                                        Here

What You Don't Know is Frontier

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.

                                                                                    HERE

The Burial Tide

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

Zappa Freaks Out!

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.)

RIAA Hypocrisy

Giant companies caught with their pants down... ENJOY!

Bacon Blasphemy: Rogue's Maple Bacon Ale

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).

Lubricated Goat: The Devil's Music

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.

HERE