Static-X - The Cult of Static

Never, in all my years of listening to music, has an album EVER made me hate a band that I love.

I've seen bands evolve and grow, and I've heard albums and songs that made me recoil in horror. Sometimes the proper warning can make even a bad album sound good. Case in point? Megadeth "Risk" is, in and of itself, not a bad album, just not a good album for Megadeth but for a pop-rock band. But sometimes an album will make you annoyed at a band, and the best example is In Flames "Soundtrack to Your Escape".

This time... this time I can honestly say I hate what Static-X has become, and Wayne Static is largely to blame.

While many panned 2003's "Shadow Zone", I wound up falling in love with the album. It was different than anything they had done up to that point, and in the end, it was a very interesting and eclectic mix of metal and dance, and to me was the ultimate "dance-metal" album that Wayne and company wanted to make. 2007's "Cannibal" was promising to me, mixing elements of the dance with a much heavier sound.

This album... Cult of Static is the result of a band that's been around in the mainstream for 12 years and has simply given up. This band has stopped caring. They released one of the best and most promising albums of their careers and instead of rising to the challenge and writing an album that meets the demands that were given, we instead get a shitty collection of half-assed metal songs that, LITERALLY, FOLLOW THE SAME SHITTY BEAT?!

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!

Instead of creating 12 songs of varying speeds and tempos, mixing their style of industrial metal with everything, they instead got for a 45+ minute long drive of repetitive beats (was this a fucking drum machine?!) that NEVER CHANGES! IT! NEVER! FUCKING! CHANGES! That! More than anything, THAT kills this album!

On top of that, you happy sloppy songwriting, sloppy lyrics (even, or especially, for Static-X, depending on your viewpoint!), and most annoying of all, random guitar solos! Not ONE guitar solo seems to fit anywhere in any of the songs,!

And insult to injury? This has nothing to do with the album in and of itself. NOTHING.

Wayne Static has done every interview since the album with his porn star wife Tera Wray. Look, awesome, you married a porn star, and awesome, you can get in a threesome with another woman with her. That's great. So, in return, you write a shitty album, release it, and claim time-and-time again that its the best thing in the world?! I haven't seen Wayne Static do this many interviews for ANYTHING in my life! And it's ALWAYS with his fucking wife!

Wayne, man, I love ya! You are a hero of mine, and even though I've gotten hell for it, I've been a fan for years. This?! Taking a musical shit, selling it to me on a CD for $15, and then parading around with your pornstar wife and telling me its gold?! THIS?! THIS IS WHAT YOU GIVE THE FANS?!

No. This album is an abomination to all things Static-X. Most reviews I've seen have been FAR too kind. "This is just standard-issue Static-X to please the 'Cult of Static'". Well, I'm a Static-X fan, and I still am. This does not please me. It is shit. It is crap. Its one of the worst CD's I've ever heard in my life.

Wayne, stop with the wife for a while and decide if you want to keep the porn star wife or be a rockstar. After that album, I think you need to make a choice.

My raiting? Dave Mustaine's solo is lost in "Lunatic" and save one song, this album is just hell. Fuck it. I'd rather listen to mentally retarded dogs fuck. I'd rather hear Stephen Hawking try to explain Quantum Physics using his own voice word-for-word in pain. Hell, I'd even rather listen to Kobra Starship, and they... no, I won't go there.

Fuck this album, and for the time being, fuck you, Wayne Static!

0! 0 out of 10 stars!

If you find this album, burn it with a lighter or toss it into a fireplace! Hell, if you get the chance, try skeet shooting one of them!

The Best Metal and Punk Albums of 2008!

The Best Metal and Punk Albums of 2008!

EDITORS NOTE: I wrote this originally for my other blog, Angry Young And Poor, and never posted it here for some odd reason.

1. Amon Amarth - Twilight of The Thundergod
Album of the year. Period. Back in 2006, I bought "With Oden At Our Side" after hearing a lot of hype and I wasn't very impressed. Nevertheless, I decided to give them another go. and I'm glad I did! Twilight of the Thundergod is a viking/melodic death metal epic. The album is melodic and heavy, and becomes an epitome of what extreme and heavy music should be.







2. Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted
I didn't get a chance to buy this album until recently, but it was well worth the wait! The album sees, for the first time in 12 years, the Cavalera brothers are together again to give you an album that rocks where Chaos AD left off. Gone is the failed experimentation with an overt use of Brazilian tribal music and instead we get a return of a great combination of thrash, extreme metal, and the same Brazilian tribal music sound is there, this time is great moderation. A brilliant album by two incredible musicians.





3.Wednesday 12 - Skeletons
This album was sold only at Hot Topic and on his tour, as well as available for download only. This may discredit it in the eyes of many a cynical metal head, but they are missing out on something brilliant. Consider Wednesday 13 this generations Alice Cooper and, to a degree, Marilyn Manson. He uses horror-punk to create a more rock-and-roll combination that adds incredible hooks to an album that mixes personal skeletons with real ones. "Great American Massacre", "Not Another Teenage Anthem", "Scream Baby Scream", and "With Friends Like These" are the highlights on an incredible album that will make you think twice about the man and the band.



4. Metallica - Death Magnetic
There is one, and only one, reason why this album isn't #1 and didn't score higher: The production. The production on this album killed it. the fact that they decided to try in vain to make it "louder" instead of sound "good" shows a lack of quality control on the part of the band. But the writing on this album still shines through, showing a level of toughness and refreshed sense of purpose that make it worthy of being a great album in the Metallica canon.






5. Meshuggah - Obzen
Meshuggah? Accessible? Could those two words be put into the same sentence and still make sense? Could they be combined and yet still make it a Top 10 album? YES! Meshuggah's latest album, Obzen, may be their most accessible piece yet, but the heaviness and brilliance is still there in leaps and spades. Tracks such as "Combustion" and "Bleed" are heavy yet catchy, even in a disjointed sort of way. The math-metallers strike again!







6. In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
This one is high on my list because the cover booklet for this album helped A LOT. The album is basically what it's called, "A Sense of Purpose". From the first note to the last, your put in a mysterious ride that takes you all over the mind of Anders, lead singer of In Flames, and shows you the nightmarish world it is. The album is a journey, and to listen to it is pure bliss.








7. Motorhead - Motorizer
I'm convinced that if Lemmy wrote an album that was better than The Beatles "White Album", it would still be rubber-stamped "Another classic Motorhead release that doesn't vary much from Lemmy's formula!" Oye. "Kiss of Death" was Lemmy's best album since Bastards, something I've said about all his albums since 2002's "Hammered", and this was the first time I actually stopped that. "Motorizer" doesn't try to be a metal release; instead, it's a hard rocker of an album with tracks such as "Runaround Man" and "Teach You How To Play the Blues". "Rock Out" is the lone single on here and, really, it's a damn good solid album that kicks ass. Better than 99% of the crap out there and if your put next to a Coldplay album, it'll melt it!



8. Hanzle Und Gretyl - 2012: Zwanzig Zwolf
If there was ever a band that I would consider "The greatest band you never heard of that's still around", Hanzle Und Gretyl is IT! Their combination of industrial and thrash metal is incredible, and Gretyl is none-other than a former member of The Cycle sluts From Hell, a little-known-group famous for "I Wish You Were a Beer". After releasing "Oktonfest" late last year, my hopes were high for this album; sadly, the two best songs on here are on that EP. Or are they? After some time, and as an album itself, thsi disc holds up pretty damn well! "Fukken Uber Death Party" will bring down the house, "Number 1 In Deutcschland" will say "Heil!" to the homeland, and "Heil Hizzle Mein Nizzle" is enough to make you laugh your lederhosen off!


9. Deicide - Till Death Do Us Part
This is a bit of a departure for Glen Benton; Instead of writing a blackened death metal album or a death black metal album or whatever, he instead.... did both? Well, what can I say, getting divorced can do things to a guys mind, and in response, Glen has released a fairly straight-forward death metal album that simply destroys and demolishes everything in it's way.








10. Zimmers Hole - While You Were Shouting At The Devil... We Were in League With Satan
When Strapping Young Lad dissolved last year, there was a collective sense of both anger and understanding as to why. Devin Townsend decided that that period of his life was over and decided to end the band on a high note. At the same time, the rest of the band weren't. Enter a band created in 1991, Zimmers Hole. The band was, and is, a sort of "joke-band"; in a sense, Dethklok from Metalocalypse before they existed. This self-awareness works; The title track rips and tears at the posers, "Devils Mouth", and "The Vowel Song" all help to seal the deal. Now, this was a last-minute addition to my list because I forgot it came out this year and it was a OK disc. At the same time, this is an album made, really, for metal heads. It's a sort of "in-joke", as it were, and it's worthy on being on a Top 10, if not Top 20.

WORST:

Slipknot - All Hope is Gone
All hope is gone? Yes, for you. After releasing Volume 3 in 2006, showing that they could do more than their nu-metal shtick with the help of Rick Rubin, they went back to their roots to release a disappointing album.

Judas Preist - Nostradomous
Rob Halford: OK, we've got 2-discs worth of material here! What do you suppose we do with it? Release it all?
K.K. Downing: No, Rob, I say we only release the best stuff! Give the people the best Priest album ever!
Rob Halford: ....no, let's release all of it. We can charge more for it.


Disappointment:

Venom - Hell
Yes, I was disappointed by a Venom release. After "Metal Black" came out in 2006, I wanted to see what the bad boys from the UK could come up with as a follow-up. Sadly, we got a few good songs and a lot of "Meh".

Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown
After kicking so much ass with "Inhumane Rampage" and taking the world by storm, can you blame me for expecting them to step up to the plate and dominating their next album? Can you? You can? Damn... I owe you a coke.

Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
These guys are incredibly talented and good. Being able to write death metal vocals for the masses while still writing catchy melodies isn't easy, and after hearing "Hand of Doom" and "The Poison", I wanted them to go far. While it's still a good album (The title track ia amazing, so is "Eye of the Storm") and borrows from the modern extrme metal movement, it fails when it does a song like "Forever and Always".

Not Reviewed:
Opeth - Watershed
Gojia - The Way of the Flesh
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy

Will This Blog Return?! Maybe...

Well, I've gotten a lot of comments lately and even interest in reviving this idea, and I'm glad to see it!

So what happened? Well, life. I started this blog when I didn't have a full-time job and I was freelancing. I'm working full-time now and I don't have the time to write for this blog, draw, and have a life, so I doubt it will be daily, but it will be more frequent.

Metallica - Death Magnetic

Well, there's no way to review this without an intro, so here it is: I hate reviews that have little to nothing to do with the album itself and, instead, recants the history of a band you already know and love and have your opinions on. All you care about is the album, not what some nerd knows are cares about the band. But, really, it's METALLICA. Your stuck with me saying things like "Best in 20 years" and "Better than St. Anger". Or, in this case we're going to pretend the last 20 years never happened.

Death Magnetic is Metallica's latest album. Starting off with the incredible "That Was Just Your Life", a song that rips and tears like the last 20 years never happened! Kirk dominates the entire album, and really, other than that, there isn't much to say, the album does all the talking. You have band that had a mission: Go back to the days of Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All and TRY to recapture the magic, try to find the drive that made Metalllica METALLICA!

The result is the only thing you can expect; FUCK YOU!

Metallica went into the studio a wounded band and came out screaming and tearing at anything in it's way! Yes, they went back to that time, but they're a different band now (and, yes, I felt cheesy and fucking lame for writing that.. I need a shower) and the old drive isn't there. But, fuck, that's life! You take your tools and make something great with it! And, damn it, that's what
we have here!

This is the culmination, the end result of mixing the epic levels of songwriting and endurance that they wanted with "...And Justice For All" and mixed it with the more melodic and to the point writing of "Metallica". It is dynamic, raw, but also polished and melodic at times.

"The Day That Never Comes" is, without a doubt, THE best song on this album and the best example of everything I've said. Combining the same senses we saw on "Load" and "Re-Load", but the second-half of the song is dominated by Kirk's incredible guitar solos and a return to, dare I say it, "Ride The Lighting"-style Metallica.

The band has come a long way this decade and, yes, the metal kings have returned.

The ONLY rants and problems have are as follows: "Cyanide", while good, just dies by the 3rd Chorus. The song ends at a really good point... and then goes on to the third chorus. Kills it, just kills it! Also, the production... Man, it's bad at times! "The Day That Never Comes" is almost hurt because the distortion on the entire album just saturates everything.

All and all... 9 out of 10.

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell

The year is 2002.

I'm in Atlantic City with my then-girlfriend (me 17, her 18) with her parents and a bunch of people from Kensington waiting to head back to Philadelphia after they had a day of gambling while me and her hung out on the beach and went to the mall and had a meal at Planet Hollywood. Earlier that day, I had bought a copy of the earliest Pantera album I could find, a 1991 disc called "Cowboys from Hell". It's March, and we're going to graduate from high school in 2 months and I've just spent the last 4 years learning what bands like Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, and now Slayer had to offer me. Now I'm ready to find out, finally, what all the fuss is over these guys from Texas.

Now, I've told you all of that so you know just how fresh this album was to me. In 2002, despite having this album out for 11 years, despite bands like Korn and Slipknot dominating the metal landscape, I rejected them all and was listening to what anyone else in 1991 would. And, lo and behold, my reaction must have been the same as anyone's 11 years earlier if they had a Walkman on them and bought that album and was waiting for a bus for 40 minutes.

I started to headbang. A lot. A WHOLE lot! I practically started a moshpit listening to this album the first two times!

While my soon-to-be ex was listening to Puddle of Mudd (which I made fun of her for, relentlessly), I was learning "The Art of Shredding" and learning of the beauty and majesy of the Cemetery Gates. The very second that opening guitar riff was scanned by that laser eye, transmitted into electrical currents, and beamed right into my god-damn brain, I knew this was THE greatest metal album I had ever heard! Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" beats this disc in terms of personal listens 2-to-1, but I think I listened to this album at least once a day for a month and then at least once a week.

The album is an undipsuited masterpiece, and really, a review of this album is pointless. It's like trying to explain why a cake tastes so damn sweet, or why a nice, wet pussy on a hot young blond is paradise.

But I'll give you a good idea why; This album fuses the hair-metal styling with the thrash metal and punk sensibilities of Megadeth, Metallica, and DRI. Toss in a heavy dose of Texas and New Orleans attitude and bam, Pantera! The most important tracks are the title track, "Primal Concrete Sledge", and "Cemetery Gates". The most underrated are "Shattered" and "The Art of Shredding".

Anyone who says Phil Anselmo can't sing has never heard this album. Anyone who wonders why Vinnie Paul is a hell of a drummer hasn't heard this album. Anyone who thinks Dimebag "squandered his gift" playing the guitar has never heard this album. Rex is one hell of a bassist, too!

This album is sheer metal perfection, up there with more legendary albums than I can name. Only complaint? It ain't longer!

10 out of 10! Buy it or get an ass kicking!

Motley Crue - Music to Crash Your Car To Vol 1 & 2

Considering the vast, vast, vast majority of posts and reviews on this blog, it should come as somewhat of a surprise that I'm going to actually review not just Motley Crue, not just 1 box set, bout BOTH of them at the same time. The fact is, to paraphrase Zimmer's Hole, "While I was shouting at the devil, I was still in league with Satan!" I grew up listening to a lot of hair metal, and this was, get this, back in1998-2002! I'm not kidding you! While everyone around me was listening to rap, Britney Spears, boy bands, and my fellow metal heads were "enjoying" nu-metal groups like Korn and Slipknot, I said no to them all (Well, except Korn "Issues", which I still like) and instead was headbanging to comps of hair metal that included Twisted Sister, Winger, White Lion, and countless others. In essence, "While You were Rapping About Bling, I Was Getting Sleazy with The Crue!"

With that said, the context I got into Motley Crue is, most likely, 99% unlike how most people did. They either were into them when they started or got into now after the reunion. I was one of those rare people who got into during that horrible post-grunge/industrial era where they tried their Self Titled album (meh) and Generation Swine.

It's worth noting right from the start that, no, not EVERY Motley Crue album is here. The entire set is basically half cash grab/half honest attempt at pleasing old-school fans.

Vol 1 of this set (the entire thing, of course, being named after various members getting into various car crashes, including the one killing a member of Hanoi Rocks) is less of a buy then the second for this simple reason; If you already own the remastered versions of Motley Crue's "Too Fast For Love", "Shout At the Devil", "Theater of Pain", and "Girls, Girls, Girls", then just let this one go. The entire concept here was basically to re-release the entire discography at this point, complete with bonus tracks, and toss in one or two rare tracks. I got all my Crue albums in 1999, and I just want to say I didn't even realize they had re-released them at the time I got them. It wound up being about a month into it. Just kinda good timing, but it seems they re-re-released them again in 2002 or so with the tracks I didn't have.

If anything is worth it, and this is JUST for the ABSOLUTE die-hards, the original Leathur Records version of "Too Fast for Love" is on here. It really isn't that different than the one we all got to hear at first, but it's cool to have if you really care.

Vol 2, though, is the more interesting Volume of the set. Starting off with the "Dr. Feelgood" album (A personal favorite when I was younger; got it in 2000 when I was 16!), the second disc is various live tracks and remixes, some from Decade of Decadence. I had bought that cassette in 2003 (I'm not kidding) and hadn't heard it in a long time, so it was cool to have a shortened version of the CD. Tossing on a few rare and hard to find tracks, like their cover of "Anarchy in the U.K.", made this really cool. This volume even comes with a comic book that came out before they did Dr. Feelgood, and it's pretty cool.

Disc 3 is their attempt at a Self-Titled disc which, thanks to Metallica's "Black Album", has become an excuse for a band to release an album that is supposed to be more introspective than anything. Sadly, it fails miserably here. The entire album was basically "Hooligan's Holiday" played at various tempos and with different lyrics. While some may say it makes an album "solid", it doesn't always and in this case, it isn't one long piece of music broken into sections, it's 13 different songs that sound like shit. I loved "Hooligan's Holiday" and, who knows, maybe that's why I don't think it's a good disc. But it got boring and repetitive and didn't even sound like the guys from Los Angeles who wanted to have a good time anymore.

Now for Disc 4, you may be thinking, "OK, time for Generation Swine. Let's get to it!" Guess what? NOT HERE! Instead, we get the Quarternary E.P. which, as the name suggests, makes no sense and once you hear it, you wish you didn't. Tommy Lee basically says "bye" with a track that could easily have been for his terrible "Methods of Mayhem" project, and the entire thing is just spit-takes of the Crue having fun. Toss in the god-awfully pointless remixes of "Hooligan's Holiday", and really, your pissed.

At this point, if your a dedicated Crue fan, or even someone who had all their albums and thought this would be a good buy, your pissed you just spent about $100 - $120 to buy both Volumes and got 90 - 99% of all the material already. And even what you didn't have didn't seem all that great.

But if your still new to the Crue, or just wanted to understand how and why this group sold so many albums, made history, and why their last album, "Saints of Los Angeles", is doing so well, this is why.

In closing, I think your better off buying the albums than buying these box sets. The individual albums have so much going for them and are a lot of fun (packaging and all), it's a better time than the leather box. When you get to Volume 2, though, that's a different story. Disc 2 is, to me, worth the price of admission, and getting the "Motley Crue" album may be worth it for anyone looking to see how the Crue re-branded itself after Vince Neil left.

Or, in other words:

Buying these albums separately new on Amazon.com (The first 5): $100
Buying these box sets together new: $120
Rediscovering your love of 80's Hair and Glam Metal: Priceless

I've given you all the info I can, it really is going to boil down to you in the end this time. Myself? I may sell my copies, at least the first Volume since I don't need it at all. But Volume 2 may stay a little longer....

5 out of 10. The first Volume is all killer, no filler, but if you already own them, let it go. The second is more filler, less killer, but more interesting if you ignored anything by the Crue in the 90's.

Judas Priest - Nostradamus

Well, let me start by saying that there are a few things that hamper a review for an album: Initial hype, time after the release, and the legacy of the band. When Led Zeppelin's first 2 albums came out, Rolling Stone magazine basically called them uninspired crap. Today, they're on every Top 50 albums lists you ever see. Why? It's not entirely because they were good albums. Instead, the impact, or even perceived impact, is what propelled them to be legendary albums.

That said, I think this album sucks.

I love Judas Priest, and I even got to meet them briefly before the album was released. I was excited about this album after the incredibly disappointing Angel of Retribution after I heard the title track for this disc. The idea was pure Spinal Tap; a 2 Disc set about Nostradamus. It was the craziest idea I had heard in a long time and I was excited to see how they would pull it off.

Well, the result is an overly-bloated album that doesn't work half the time. Half of the album consists of musical interludes that exist to advance the story along, but instead hold it back from being a good album. A fake string section adds to a more hokey feel to the album, and the disc suffers from it.

On the flip side, if it was streamlined to one disc, this would have been a great Priest album.

"Prophecy" "Revelations", "Persecution", "Exiled", and "Nostradamus" are some of the best tracks on this disc, venturing from everywhere in the metal spectrum from traditional metal to sheer thrash.

If, over the 2 years they worked on this, they went the extra mile, the tracks I consider "filler" would have been worth it. Cradle of Filth for it's 2003 album "Damnation and a Day" told the story of creation "From Genesis to Nemesis" over the course of 1 disc and with the accompany of a 40-piece Budapest Film Orchestra and 32-piece Budapest Film Choir. Had Judas Priest gone the extra mile and done something similar, hiring an orchestra and a choir to put the finishing touches on this album, this would have been at least more interesting and, maybe, not as bloated.

In the end, this is something I'll rarely recommend: Go to I-Tunes and just download a few tracks instead.

4.5 Stars out of 10.

Ozzy Ozbourne - Black Rain

When I was thinking about the worst albums of 2007 and the biggest let downs, one album never came to mind, and it was Ozzy's album Black Rain.

That's because it was that damn forgettable.

About 10 years ago, to point out the flaws in Ozzy's musical reach was considered blasphemy in metal. That, despite the fact that we all knew a few facts; First, Ozzy rarely writes his own songs, reducing him to the level of most pop stars. Second, the material written either for him or by him tends to be radio-friendly hard rock than good 'ol fashioned metal. Third, Ozzy has a damn good voice and live show, and that's it.

That's not to say Ozzy sucks and doesn't deserve any credit; quite the contrary, he is an incredible singer who, much like Elton John, is more of a great performer than artist. That isn't to detract from Ozzy, just put him in a better context.

So, now that you can at least see what I mean, let's get to the review then, shall we?

After 5 years, we're left with the latest Ozzy record, Black Rain. Released before Ozzfest tickets went on sale, the album included a free code so you could get your tickets earlier than everyone else and score some better seats. Thus, this album sold incredibly well despite it's lack of being... well, good. Ozzy has been reduced to a mere shell of himself, and even the political and religious points he brings out are only sub-par.

Honest to god, this album just plain sucks. Yet, for some odd reason, I can't sell it. What can I say, I must have a soft spot for bad Ozzy albums.

2 out of 10. Ozzy, get with Lemmy again and write something brilliant.

HELLYEAH? More like HellNo!

You know, this is going to be the shortest review I've ever written.

Hands down, most disappointing metal album of 2007.

If you were wondering what the hell Vinnie Paul has been up to since Damageplan, he did Rebel Meets Rebel, a country-metal album with David Allan Cole which is... OK. But since they could never tour since the Dimebag played guitars on there, that was a one-time project anyway. So instead of resurrecting Damageplan, we are given HELLYEAH, a hard-drinking, down-and-dirty, southern-fried hard rock record.

The result is anything but a HELLYEAH.

It's almost blasphemous to say anything bad about Vinnie or his new bands, but screw it, this album was a stinker! Honest to god, how can a talented group of musicians release something like this? The songs are half-baked, resorting to tried-and-true techniques more commonly used by poser hard rock bands than someone with the background of Vinnie Paul.

Don't expect a challenging and though-provoking listen, and don't expect to get an album to just simply party to. The result is a non-noteworthy sound and a mix of mediocrity and the insane amount of talent these guys have.

On the flip-side, though, I can see where they're coming from. It's great to sit back sometimes and just release an album where you actually had some fun. Look at S.O.D.'s "Speak English or Die", for example. Three days in a studio and we got one of the greatest albums of all time! Or Devin Townsend's Punky Bruster project, which was written and recorded in a week, resulting in one of my favorite albums of all time and the most under-rated punk/metal album ever.

So as badly as I am trashing this album, I'm giving it a bit of a break as well. In essence, it's like Pavarotti releasing an album of hair metal covers; it's an incredibly talented artist having some fun.

When all is said and done, this is a 5 out of 10, with one massive *!

*If you guys make another album, PLEASE make it more interesting!

Shadows Fall - Threads of Life

2007 has been nothing short of a banner year for metal! With new releases from Megadeth, Overkill, Behemoth, Municipal Waste, Machine Head, and countless others, we've seen a year not matched since 1986 in it's sheer intensity, ferocity, and excellent metal albums!

So when all is said and done, and we look at what Shadows Fall has not only done this year, but in their 10+ years as a band, it is safe to say that they while they got the memo, they weren't able to fully deliver.

It is with a heavy heart that I must say "Threads of Life" was one of the disappointments of 2007, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good record!

Threads of Life marks the major-label debut of Massachusetts metal outfit Shadows Fall. After breaking through with The Art of Balance and a 2003 Ozzfest appearance that thrust them to the front of the blossoming Metalcore movement, they followed with The War Within and Fallout From the War. Like any respectable metal band, they wanted to assure everyone that they would not compromise their style with the new bucks and support that came with their new deal.

The result is a 20-Ton Hammer that simply will not relent and rests only once to let you breath. While normally this is a welcomed thing, we are left in a sea of little or no change in style, tempo, or riffs. While many will simply lampoon Slayer for writing the same song over and over again, it is Shadows Fall who have actually come very close to it.

The album opens with the track "Redemption", a hard-hitting track that riffs away with no remorse! By the time you get to "Venomous", its hard to say just how long you have been listening to this disc, save the incredible track "Stormwinds". In fact, Shadows Fall even includes a ballad with "Another Hero Lost". Oh say it isn't so? It is, but it is done quite well!

In the end, you have a disc that you can tell was forged in raw steel, and the cooling period to set this metal to use did leave a few too many dents and dings, not leaving it pure enough. Nevertheless, this is a solid disc and a solid effort. I have said similar things about "Demigod" by Behemoth and "Among the Living" by Anthrax, and despite my opinion, I was either proven wrong or right on just how much is too much.

I give this disc a 7.5 out of 10!

Overkill - Immortalis

IMMORTALIS. The name is literately Latin for Immortal. It is safe to say that in the history of metal, few bands can claim that title as well as the Wrecking Crew themselves, Overkill, can!

It's rare to find an album review of Overkill that DOESN'T mention their past, and I think its due to both their legendary status and the pride one gets of telling their story that does it, mixed with the fact that too many "metal heads" out there ready to wear their Avenged Sevenfold shirts don't realize just where the hell that Bat REALLY came from!

Overkill can technically be called the worlds first Thrash Metal band, largely because of the fact that not only were they formed from a punk band in 1980, but wrote "Grave Robbers" (later called "Raise the Dead") before even Lars met James and Dave in LA. Since then, these New Jersey rats have pounded out album after album, with so far a grand total of 15 studio albums, 2 live albums, 2 EP's, a few greatest hits, and an album of covers.

OK, now that you've been Old Schooled, it's time to learn the Skull and Bones of this release!

To say this album is "business as usual" is a slap in the face to the band! After riding high in what I can only call a comeback, we see Overkill using the rise to fame from Gigantour and touring Europe to release an album that is pouring over with some incredible riffs! The album opens with the pounding track "Devils in the Mist", presenting full-force the writing ability that will dominate the rest of the album.

"Skull and Bones", my pick for the track of the album, features a duet from hell with none other than Randy Blyth of Lamb of God! The pairing of the two is simply amazing as the two trades verses and create one hell of a track!

"Walk Through Fire" borrows a riff or two from AC/DC's "Overdose" to great avail and the song simply delights and amazes, offering some groove metal moments. Tracks like "Hell Is" and "Shadow of a Doubt" offer some awesome moments as well.

All in all, it's a great, solid disc. It's one of the better albums they've done in the last 10 years, without question, and is part of the overall trend of increasing quality of metal albums recently.

8 out of 10!

Megadeth - United Abominations

In terms of overdue reviews, this takes the cake only because this album came out while I was keeping this blog and I've pretty much have held off since it first was released because I wanted to sit down one day and really write it. Now that the year is almost over and I want to start compiling my Best of 2007 list, it's time.

This album finally graced store shelves, as well as my CD collection, on May 15, 2007. Dave Mustaine and Company (The Drover Brothers and new and former Black Label Society bassist James Lomenzo) have formed what is, without a doubt, the single most solid and best line-up since the Rust In Peace era of Ellefson, Menza, and Friedman!

Left with the task of not only providing a great follow-up to 2004's The System has Failed, an album that, overall, was met with mixed reviews (even from me), but also to ensure that the title of Thrash Metal legends was held firmly in their grasps, the result is nothing short of incredible; The single greatest Megadeth album since Rust in Peace!

Many will find a statement like that blasphemous, but in reality, this album is the best Megadeth disc since 1990.

The album starts off with "Sleepwalker", a thrash-metal riff attack that sees Dave and Glen Drover trading guitar leads and squeezing every single insane riff they can create melting into one of the fastest and heaviest songs of 2007! Singing about what he would love to do to certain reporters in his sleep, "Sleepwalker" sets the stage for the album.

"Blessed are the Dead" focuses on the four horsemen of the apocalypse, giving way to a song that rises, builds, and releases a great solid song! The album closer, "Burnt Ice", discusses an addiction to crack and the horrors of the drug. There are some ghosts of the past; "Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms" opens with the same riff from "Vortex" and we there is an incredible re-recording of "A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)" with Cristina from Lacuna Coil! It is great to not only hear and have this version, but to also have Dave reclaim it after the tragic murder done in it's name.

Dave's political views, as well as his new religious outlook, dominate a large majority of this album.

"Washington is Next!" stands as one of the best songs written by Dave Mustaine in his career, taking a cue from jazz, the song rarely stops as the song flows, using the immortal lyrics "The quiet war has begun with silent weapons / And the new slavery is to keep the people / Poor and stupid, 'Novus Ordo Seclorus" and "How can there be any logic in biological war?" The song is a burning indictment at the current state of America and contemporary society, and tears away at everything from the war on the poor to the modern political landscape of today.

At the same time, I feel now I need to discuss my own political views and the reason this could, very easily, become an essay more than a review.

Dave Mustaine has shown more of a Republican leaning with this album. But, at the same time, his overall sense of political outrage is more potent than ever and the result is nothing short of amazing. It is safe to say that when most people here the words "President Bush" or "War in Iraq", we immediately feel repulsed, and simply wait to hear what failings and fault we are to hear next. Rarely is a positive opinion of either something we want to hear, or believe.

In "Washington is Next!", Dave mentions the "culture war". " Promote sex, and war, and violence in the kindergartens / Blame the parents and teachers; it’s their fault, 'Annuit Coeptis' / Attack the church dynamic, attack the family". When we get to the lyrics, "I am a King who had a dream with no idea / What it could mean and nobody could interpret", it's difficult to determine just what Dave is referring to. The song itself is about a nuclear war and a new world order simply taking over, but at the same time, it draws basis in real life to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the effect the U.S. Government has had on this fragile democracy of ours.

Dave Mustaine has said that this song is based on the Bible as well as his own personal beliefs, stating that he feels that America is the 8th False Throne. He states that he feels that the world is in it's final days and that Armageddon is coming close, and in Revelations 17:10, There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. A Biblical Scholar posting on a message board wrote this:

It speaks here of seven kings. In the beginning of the Revelation, Jesus is speaking to the seven churches but as His revelation unfolds, He makes us that have ears to hear, understand that the churches are following the foreshadowing of Israel and going after other gods just as they did. The King of the church was Jesus and now they have set up and appointed their own “kings”, there are different christ's and gospel's than the one Truth given by Christ and His Apostles, it is a “king” and a “christ” that they follow after in the lust of their flesh and the imagination of their heart.

Just as God brought them out of Egypt to serve Him and they chose to serve another god by making an idol of gold and saying that it had brought them out of Egypt and out of bondage, today, they also set up a new king that they want to serve with the flesh in a way that pleases them and not in spirit and truth.

Read the full text here.

When we arrive at "United Abominations", a proverbial can of worms are opened in terms of this. Someone from the UN dissected it better than I ever could, but basically the song praised the war in Iraq and declares that the UN is, in essence, the One World government mentioned and warned about in the Book of Revelations. I don't agree with the snippy tone he used, but he did make a ton of good points. The song itself is nothing short of amazing, offering a mix of what "Washington is Next!" has to deliver, adding a dose of heavy riffing and a bit of mid-tempo that is followed up beautifully by "Gears of War", but more on that later.

"Amerikhastan", though, throws a wrench into any argument that Dave is now hell-bent on supporting Bush. The song starts with lyrics "Recruting the ill-fated for 'The War'", it serves as a background to either America as it is, or an America where the Terrorists have won. It also mentions the horror that Bush and Cheney has done to America, as the Statue of Liberty has been tattooed as "Property of the USA, A subsidiary of Halliburton". Musically, it is beautifully arranged and offers a wonderful piece of music.

When all is said and done, politics mean nothing for this album. The very fact that my own political leanings are so far against what he says, and that I can not only listen to this album, but love it, and listen to it nearly non-stop for 6 months is a testament to not only his craft as a musician, but to his ability to write simply incredible lyrics!

This album stands tall and is a triumph to the writing ability of this band! It is amazing to sit back and listen to this album and enjoy the incredible song writing skills that are on display here. The production is top notch, everything is perfectly cued, and it is tough to argue that this album is anything less than great!

9.8 out of 10!

Megadeth - Warchest

Dave Mustaine has been a very, very, VERY busy man since 2004! Not only has he released 2 new albums since then, but also a comprehensive DVD, a concert DVD, a live album, a greatest hits, founded Gigantour, hired me once (lol), and has been to parts of the world he and Megadeth have never been before!

With such a large body of work, the fact that a massive Box Set entitled Warchest has been released is short of amazing.

As a die-hard Megadeth fan, it is safe to say that I own a good 90% of everything Megadeth has released over it's career. At the same time, I know there is plenty I don't own, especially in terms of those pesky singles, and the very idea of having a box set is short of a godsend. The track listing pleased me due to the otherwise large amount of either rare or unreleased material.

All of the tracks from studio albums are the remixed and re-masted takes from the Capitol Records albums, and sound incredible! Dave has listened to the fans and the tracks represented are the best of the best!

Onto the greatness of the un-released material! I can only assume Mustaine used a bit of spit-and-polish on a few of the session takes, eliminating some of the dirt and scratches when he turned the volume up. Hearing the session take from the "So Far, So Good... So What?"-era Megadeth of "Anarchy/Problems" sent chills down my spine as I heard a spirited band take on the Sex Pistols two best songs. The Casey McMackin demo of "Holy Wars…The Punishment Due" sounded like an early incarnation of what "Washington is Next!" from United Abominations became, and the inclusion of "Go To Hell" from the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Soundtrack was a massive plus! Remastered audio was needed and it helped!

In terms of rare released tracks, finally having a copy of "Strange Ways" and "Duke Nukem" was worth the wait for an official copy.

In the end, the best part of this set is Disc 4, a 1991 show from London during the Rust in Peace tour. Hearing the band play live from that time... the only thing I can call that is heaven on CD! The "classic" Megadeth line-up shredding and ripping away at the very fabric that is speed metal, throwing in a cover of "Its Electric" by Diamond Head, proving that Dave did a better version than Metallica... AWESOME! Having decent live versions of "Take No Prisoners", "Lucretia", and "Rattlehead" are something that you really can't compare! The sound in impeccable and it has an air to it that would make you swear it was recorded just last night!

If you have heard tales of a band called Megadeth, of a skull with metal plates on his eyes on metal caps on his ears, a man with hooks through his mouth and a suit and a silk tie, then this is where the legend begins and lives! For those who have not only known of these feet's, but those of a large white rabbit, of wolves turning into women and others who cross the seas, for those who have also met the man behind mask. For the worshipers of the highest metal truth in the land.

My friends, you have arrived.

9.5 out of 10.

Otep - The Ascension

If you love Machine Head, Shadows Fall, Megadeth, Kittie, the Plasmatics, Arch Enemy, and more, then remember this:

Otep - The Ascension: The GREATEST Album You Won't Hear This Year!

That's fairly tongue-in-cheek. For all the "elite" bastards out there ready to dismiss this band, namely the singer, Otep, this album takes those notions, bends them over, and sodomizes them until all that is left is a bleeding anus and the question of "What just happened"?

Otep has been around since 2000. They have gone from a nu-metal group to becoming a leader in the Alternative Metal movement, mixing heavy guitars, poetry and the greatest front woman since Wendy O. Williams.

After 2004's "House of Secrets", the band re-defined their sound, adding more melodies and mixing it in with a healthy does of thrash metal and the then-blossoming Metalcore sound.

On this album, the band has finally come into their own.

As much as it may be blasphemy to some to say, if the Plasmatics had been founded today, this would be the result. The fierce vocal sensibilities of Otep Shamaya has not been seen since Wendy O. graced the stage in 1977, and she has brought the same sensibilities and attitudes that have been missing in the recent rash of female singers. Though it can be argued that Angela of Arch Enemy has one of the fiercest voices in metal, Otep makes her sound like Britney Spears in comparison.

Yes, my friends, she is THAT damn good!

The opening track, "Eet the Children", starts off with her trademark poetry, giving way to a massacre of insane guitars and one scorcher of a song. The album pounds away at your skull, delivering track after track of what I can only describe as the sound of aggression put to music. Not since Devin Townsend have I heard an album with songs infused with so much passion!

The band rips into an Otep-ified version of Nirvana's "Breed", adding a fierce anger and cry that was, after hearing this version, sorely missing from Kurt's otherwise tempered growl. It is enough to give a new generation of fans who may have never heard Nirvana before to simply stand in aw.

Adding a bit of spice to the album is "Perfectly Flawed", a mid-tempo song that nearly seems to be a ballad. Beautiful in it's simplicity, it shows another side of the band. While the snarls are there, the anger top-notch, they are a group of talented song writers. In a sense, it's Kelly Clarkson if she did metal, mixed with some Marilyn Manson, which produces a really strong result.

What more can I say about this album, this band, and this singer? This is an album that mixes the likes of Machine Head, Arch Enemy, even Megadeth, takes poetry, angst, puts it into a blender, and gives you this! It is an album that will leave you speechless and make you take a second-look at this band.

This is a 9.2 out of 10!

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!

Toxik - Think This

If you like Queensrych "Operation: Mindcrime", Megadeth, Joey Belladona-Era Anthrax, and decent metal, then you'll love:

TOXIK - THINK THIS

This album came out in 1989 for Peekskill, New York "Progressive Thrash" metal band Toxik. The band has the unfortunate distinction of coming out right at the peak (no pun intended) of the metal movement, and this album came out only a year after the like-minded progressive-metal opus that was Queensryche "Operation:Mindcrime". The band, though, has the distinct honor of truly defining "Progressive Thrash Metal", and after hearing this, I pray it comes back!

Right now, I have "Greed" on, and it's tough to focus outside of wanting to air guitar like crazy and headbang like a madman at the front row of a concert! For well over a few months now, this has been one of my favorite albums, and it's strange in large part of the fact that I despised this album at first. So before I go on, let me talk about that first.

Toxik's style is very strange. The album sometimes suffers from the vocals being a bit too high-flying, and the guitars are a bit out of place at times. The album, for the first listen, never sat well with me. At times, the disc seems to suffer from A.D.D., guitars and vocals not falling exactly in place. More than anything, the vocals will either make you love or hate this disc.

But now? It's tough not to love it! The guitar work on this album by Josh Christians is incredibly heavy, nearly even echoing the work of Dimebag's manic attacks that were to take the world by storm in the Pantera! The man shreds like a maniac, and it's a crime that not many people today have heard it! The album seems to tip it's hat to even death and black metal-style blast beats, throwing in an occasional bit of then-classic hair-metal vocal bliss. It is, without a doubt, the type of album that makes you wonder why it never caught on.

The production of the album is not to be dismissed; the entire album feels as if it was being performed in a massive arena. This is thanks largely to their songwriting skills; The band was aiming high and every song seems to be written with the goal of entertaining 10,000 screaming fans every night. A ballad like "There Stood the Fence" plays incredibly well! The various sounds of someone clicking through a television set add even more value to the album, adding to the general concept of the disc.

The concept of this disc? That the world is being controlled more and more by our TV's, and that we re all being brainwashed. Throw in some Regan-Bush era politics, a music scene peaking, and it is impossible not to see how this album is brilliant!

Honestly? I haven't blushed this much writing a review in a long time! Hearing the band rip away at songs like "Black and White", "Spontaneous", and "Shotgun Logic" is incredible! On the flip, "Machine Dream" and "There Stood the Fence" add a nice sense of melody and softness to the disc. "War NJN 8/In God" mixes gods with politics in a delightful stew! Throw in "Think This" and this disc is a masterpiece!

I can't recommend this album enough! It's powerful, it's epic, and for some, it will add a lot of nostalgia as well. The album was re-released by Roadrunner and MetalMind last year on Gold Discs, sold the sound is incredible!

This is a tough one to review, and I'm going to give it a fair rating. As much as I love this disc, the flaws of the vocals and the arrangement of a few songs border between sloppy and experimental, largely on "Technical Arrogance".

9.2 out of 10! The album is a treasure!