Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise.

Patrick Devlin, singer and guitarist of Blaggards, grew up in Dublin, Ireland before moving to Houston in his early 20’s. After meeting bassist and singer Chad Smalley, the roots of a kick ass Irish rock group began to form. Rounded out by an amazing fiddler named Chris Buckley and the incredibly talented drummer Michael McAloon, Blaggards were ready to begin their goal of world domination. Blaggards have an intense show schedule this year, and head off to Ireland in March of 2010. Want to go with ‘em? Me too! We can.

Frequently compared to groups such as Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and the Pogues, Blaggards are much more than just a Irish rock band. With undertones of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, even Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, Blaggards bring a new and very satisfying sound to fans of all genres. There are elements of rock, folk, punk and yes, metal, in their on stage set. Their first CD, titled Standards, is so surprisingly good that I’ve yet to play it for someone that isn’t an instant fan… no matter what their favorite style of music happens to be.

I think that metal fans in general are fans of music that speaks to us, music that makes us sit up and take notice, whether tapping our toes or banging our heads, the music has to make us feel something… which is why I feel more than comfortable suggesting that all of the Metal Martyr readers give Blaggards a listen. I didn’t have my nice HD video camera with me for this show, and attempted to record a couple of their songs at night with a regular digital camera. Needless to say, the videos came out looking like The Blair Witch Project, so I won’t be posting those.

However, you can listen to one of their songs, “Drunken Sailor”, here!

Blaggards and Metal Martyr have teamed up to offer one reader a copy of Standards, their full length first release, and a bad ass Blaggards t-shirt. Entering is simple, just leave a comment below, and at 5pm CST on Monday, August 17, 2009 I will pick a random winner via random.org.

Learn more about Blaggards here:

www.blaggards.com
www.myspace.com/blaggards

Buy their CD here: www.cdbaby.com/artist/blaggards

Contest Rules:

You must be a resident of the US, and leave a valid email address when you make your comment so that I can contact the winner. One comment per person per day, please. Any duplicates will be deleted.

[image: Anna Donlan/Blaggards]

Post from: Metal Martyr

A quick run down of some things in the news today. Some are a big deal, others are not so much.

Lamb Of God: Wrath leaked a few days ago. Chances are if you download it, you will probably still buy it when it comes out…unless you absolutely hate it or you’re just a cheap bastard. I kind of have some mixed feelings on it after 3 listens. I’m not saying I downloaded it, I’m just saying.

AC/DC were said to be playing Wrestlmania 25. Now it’s said that they’re not. Either way I could really care less.

Shadows Fall have started recording their new album at Planet Z studios in Hadley, Massachusetts. I don’t know if I’m really looking forward to that yet. Killswitch is supposed to release a new one this year as well, but I’m not totally itching for that quite yet either.

Lauren Harris, daughter of Steve Harris of…if you don’t know who Steve Harris is, please leave. Anway, Steve Harris’ daughter will be posing for the UK edition of FHM (For Him Magazine) in a revealing photo shoot. Lauren is an attractive woman, so this should be interesting.

Lastly, everyone is giving Christian Bale shit for throwing a conniption fit on the set of some movie and throwing the “F” word around. Who cares?! Did he stab a Chihuahua with a spork or beat up some old lady over road rage? No, he yelled at some dude that screwed up. Get over it people. Everyone is so goddamned sensitive.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Antimusic reported that Sharon Osbourne said in an interview that Ozfest will return next year as it did in the past and she wants AC/DC to open. That will be interesting…how the hell does she plan on paying for that gig. AC/DC aren’t exactly cheap act to book, I don’t care how old they are. You can read Antimusic’s take on it here

There is more rumors of a Slayer retirement. We heard this awhile back, but this time it sounds much more inevitable. in This Interview at Thrashhits.com, Tommy Araya says “Yeah. Let’s put it this way, this is the final record of our commitment with Rick Rubin.” But that leaves an open end. Does this mean the last Slayer record or just the last one with Rick Ruben? Maybe they will try different ventures.

Id there a Metallica track listing for Death Magnetic? It appears so and there is actually going to be an Unforgiven III. But now it’s kind of up in the air or maybe someone leaked some shit they were not supposed to. Blabbermouth first reported this and not it looks as if the source site has taken down the announcement…WTF?

Kataklysm recently announced a North American Tour. I can only hope they play in some venue near me but I can’t get my hopes up. If you haven’t heard the entire Prevail album, buy it, borrow it burn it, whatever…it’s brutal, it rips, it kills…ok, can’t think of any other metal sounding expressions to describe this album…oh wait…IT SLAYS!!

Want to win Opeth’s Watershed? I hope you Unreadable band logo skills are up to par. Metalsucks.net has a weekly contest called “Completely Unreadable Band Logo Of The Week“. If you can guess the band who’s logo looks so ridiculously stupid that you can not even read it, then you could win a cd. Click here to check it out.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Metallica – Kill “em All Fabric Poster
Buy at AllPosters.com

I was 7 or 8 years old when this came out and I wish I could say I have been listening to it since then…but it wasn’t until the early 90’s when my musical taste took a turn for the best. From days of listening to Aerosmith, AC/DC, Whitesnake and White Lion changing to Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. Don’t get me wrong, I still dig that old music but I love the Heavy Metal. I really didn’t get into Metallica until after I got into Megadeth.

After I started to hear more metal on upstate NY’s WKLL 94.9 K-rock, it all started to come together for me. Shortly after I discovered this, this thing that everyone always told me was “The Devil’s Music“, I wanted more. it was like crack for your ear drums. When I first bought Kill ‘Em All (or did I shop lift it from Fay’s Drugs, I can’t remember) it blew me away. It was already almost 9 years old but it was the best thing I had ever heard. Master Of Puppets Followed and Ride The Lightening shortly thereafter. The heavy bass drum and snappy snare in …And Justice For All had my friend Doug and I, hauling ass down the road in my 87 Chevy Cavalier at unsafe speeds screaming “Dear Mother, Dear Father. What Is This Hell You Have put Me Through…”. Those were the days.

But today it all came back. The riffs, the ever so familiar Hetfield growls, the kick ass ripping solos, the vocal reverb that was every so popular back then. It was an amazing flashback. I’m not going to ruin this moment by mentioning the late 90’s because that would just absolutely spoil my metal high. Kill ‘Em All. What better title, what better album art. So simple yet so damn amazingly brilliant. Now I know I haven’t said anything here that hasn’t been said before by another metal fan but I just had to share my moment of metal flashback ecstasy. If you haven’t listened to this album in awhile, break it out, blow the dust off of it and give it a listen. And if you have it on vinyl, more power to you and I hope your listening to it in that form. KILL ‘EM ALL!!!!!

Post from: Metal Martyr

“You’re cool. Your wedding should be too. The Rock ’n’ Roll Wedding Collection features 15 amazing string quartet renditions of romantic rock classics suitable for the procession, the reception, or the first dance. Now there’s no reason you can’t walk down the aisle to instrumental versions of Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, or AC/DC. For those about to rock, say I do!” Below is a sample.

Stairway to Heaven (String Quartet Tribute to Led Zeppelin)

Go To Vitamin Records and Check out Rock And Roll Wedding Collection and the other String Quartet Tributes to some of your favorite bands

Post from: Metal Martyr

Holy crap, 2008 is here already. Where does the time go. Another year another year older my decrepit ass is. 2007 was a fun filled roller-coaster of madness, but here we are. It’s time for a whole new shitty year. A new president will be elected, “W” will finally be out and we can look forward to a whole new screwed up situation come ‘09. Speaking of…I’m about tired of hearing the word Caucus. Anyway, time to unload the garbage…

Gene Simmons is on The Apprentice Celebrity edition and he helped his team win last night. Since it’s all for charity I guess I’ll leave Gene alone…for now.

Marilyn Manson is officially divorced so now he is free to grope any concert security staff member he likes.

Just a friendly reminder that Australia’s Airbourne is the worst AC/DC cover band I’ve ever heard.

Vince Niel opens the Dr. Feelgood Bar and still bears the sign Poker in the Front Liquor in the Rear…or do I have that backwards? Oh well, either way work out well.

Former Nirvana bassist joins old punkers Flipper…what was his name again?

Traci Gunns says it’s time to record a new record. Really Tracy?…c’mon now, I thought you would have learned by now that it’s just not working. maybe in Japan…but those guys like everything.
Former Dio Guitarist Craig Goldy wants to share his vast knowledge of the record industry…that is probably old and out dated. Here’s some knowledge I have of the record industry, It’s a dying institution unless they adapt to the internet.

Metallica’s Black Album is one of the top ten selling elbums of the “Sound Scan” era, a bunch of people on Blabbermouth.net argue about it, blah-blah-blah…who really cares.

Sebastian Bach still thinks his record is the greatest thing since Chinese Democracy and Phil Anselmo lists Downs new record in his own top 5 of 2007. This goes to show that neither artists are truly sober just yet.

In Non-Metal related news…Amy Winehouse continues to make Courtney Love look like a model citizen and Britney Spears has been giving her sister, Jamie Lynn Spears some parental advice!

‘Till next time…Keep it hard, keep it heavy or keep it in your pants!

Post from: Metal Martyr

“The definition of metal changes every decade as musicians continually push the genre to new extremes, writes Chris Gill of Gibson.com. But several elements have remained consistent throughout the years: distorted guitar, heavy riffs, and lightning-fast solos. Some of the greatest guitar solos ever recorded can be found on metal classics from the ’70s and ’80s, and many of those solos were recorded using Gibson guitars.

What makes a guitar solo great? While technical precision and speed are certainly important, a good solo should also be inventive and imaginative. The solo should support the song, and the best solos are ones that are so melodically strong that you can sing them while you wail away on your air guitar.“

Whole Lotta Love- Led Zeppelin

War Pigs- Black Sabbath

Rock Bottom- UFO

Stranglehold- Ted Nugent

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper- BOC

You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC

Flying High Again- Ozzy

Stand Up And SHout- Dio

Thunder And Lightening- Thin Lizzy

Welcome To The Jungle- GnR

Top Ten Guitar Solos Of the 70’s and 80’s

Image Source: http://www.amherst.k12.wi.us/USERWEBS/STUDENTS/2006/nelsforr/randy%20rhodes.jpg

Post from: Metal Martyr