I have this love/hate relationship with the deathcore genre. On one hand I really like some of the bands in the mix and on the other I really hate the genre all together.

The problem is that there are so many deathcore bands out there and it’s become so trendy and I feel that a lot of the bands out there doing it are doing it for the sheer popularity of it. That and perhaps it’s easy. Some are so simplified that they are more hardcore in the metal sense that their music isn’t really all that technical and the only thing that holds it in the “death” genre of it all is the lyrics and vocals.

Read more

The early to mid 1990’s delivered a harsh blow the heavy metal. Grunge overshadowed heavy metal but thankfully did us all a favor by killing the glam-rock era. While a lot of metal bands continued to release solid metal albums, they still had grunge to deal with in both marketing and touring.

I was in my mid teens, working as a dishwasher during the time. My coworkers were all in to the grunge thing and were neo-hippies to boot. We had a prep room where we would prep food and had a cd player in there to listen to music while we worked. I would often get ridiculed for my music and get the typical “Kill your mother, kill your father!” mocking when they walked in to the prep room while I was working. I would either turn it up louder or change it to something a little heavier, darker or evil sounding. I didn’t mind grunge so much, but disliked a lot of people that listened to it for their total lack of having an open mind. Most of them were in to it because it was the popular thing at the time.

Read more

Got an email this morning from a reader that, well, is a bit disgusted with the way metal is ignored and/or mixed in with the rest of rock by the corporate media.

Recently I have been forced to upgrade my current music player software (Zune) and although the new software is slightly more stable, I have been less than enthusiastic about it. I recently went to their “marketplace” to check out their selection of metal and was not very surprised that I had to go through the Rock genre to even see metal as an option. If I wanted I could have chosen Dancehall, world or Spoken word two much more well known genres but I guess people just assume that anything with a electric guitar can be classified under the same thing. This kind of pissed me off from the start. I know most places view metal as rock’s bastard child with some guy named Beelzebub, but seriously have we not differentiated ourselves at all from Kelly Clarkson (who was labeled under rock)?

Read more

Check this out. Here is a cool website that you can create your own poster like the ones they used for Obama and McCain this past election. Just go to www.obamiconme.com, register and follow the directions.

Image ©Metal Martyr 2009

A lot of people say that keyboards don’t belong in metal. I used to believe this as well. That is until I started listening to more metal from across the giant pond. A lot of bands have keyboards but very few of them do it right. I remember seeing a band this past summer that had a keyboard and I just thought to myself, why? In that particular band it didn’t seem necessary or fitting. In bands like Opeth and Children Of Bodom it just wouldn’t be the same without them. Firewind on the other hand could probably sound just as good without them but they still make them sound great.

Mike from Strait Jacket Union, a newer metal blog, wrote an article about some of his favorite metal songs that feature keyboard. Strait Jacket Union is just making tracks on the metal blogosphere, but is worth checking out and adding to your RSS. One of the favorites on Mike’s list is Firewind’s Breaking The Silence from Alligiance, featuring Tara Teresa. He doesn’t forget to mention that Tara is a beautiful woman, as you can see from the video below.

Even though we saw some great shows and amazing albums in 2008, we’ve also seen our share of craziness. I’ve compiled a list of some crazy things that have happened this year that I can think of off the top of my head.

• Byzantine breaks up…3 days after they release Oblivion Beckons.
• Light This City break up before releasing the last record.
• Arsis changes members more than their underwear.
• The Black Dahlia Murder lose a guitarist…steals one from Arsis.
• Phil Demmel of Machine Head passes out twice on stage.
• DJ Sid from Slipknot breaks both of his feet…keeps on trucking.
• Joey Jordison breaks an ankle, cancels UK shows.
• Nachmystium gets booted from the Opeth tour for undisclosed shenanigans.
• Kristen Randal shows her boobs…and they’re only slightly better than Amy Winehouse’s.
• Winds Of Plague drummer Jeff Tenney abruptly leaves the band mid-tour. Says he’s tired of seeing Kristen Randall’s boobs.
• Gwen Stacey singer Bobby Oakley leaves the band…cites that he’s going to sing for Mary Jane Watson.

Read more

To Look “Metal” Is To Be “Metal”…Or Is It?   

I kind of touched base on this before and I really hate to do it again but I’m going to anyway. This article is also going to be all over the place and my spelling might suck and my grammar may be worse, so just bare with me. And just to warn you…this is a bit long because I wanted to explain everything without someone jumping in my sh*t before understanding it. However I’m sure there are some people that will only read a bit and start rapping their fingers, typing up a flaming comments.

Last Friday I posted a press release on Soulidium front-man getting permanent fangs and him saying “Fangs are the new Tattoo.” I though this was a stupid statement because most of the time when someone gets a tattoo it has meaning and other times it’s because they liked the design or art. Piercing are the same way. Do I believe that you can take it too far? Yes and no. I say yes because some people think that getting a tattoo makes you more metal and the more tattoos you have the more metal you look. Some get all sorts of flash tattoo and sleeve up their arms to “better” their image as a rock star. Tattoos can be kind of addictive as well as piercing’s. Not in addictive way that crack, meth, or heroin can get you but in a way where you get one and just want another one. To some people it’s guitars, some cars and some…tattoos and/or piercing’s. Some like the pain of enduring a piercing or tattoo. Some get these to express themselves. 

Read more

From Nuclear Blast Newsletter:

ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET, the Swedish band featuring  former THE CROWN vocalist Johan Lindstrand, has set Grim Tales as the title of its third album, due October/November via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will be recorded beginning on June 1 at the Black Lounge Studios in Avesta, Sweden with producer Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY).

Commented Lindstrand: “Grim Tales is starting to shape up. Rehearsals are going great and time is ticking towards a nice studio session. We are fully prepared to make the best possible ARMY album yet and at the end of this year we will prove that to you all. We can’t wait to unleash this monster upon you all. So check it out when it’s done, will ya?!”

Read more

Repost from Nuclear Blast Newsletter:

Kolossus, the new album from Norwegian metallers KEEP OF KALESSIN, is available for streaming in its entirety at the band’s MySpace page. Due in Europe on June 6 and in North America on June 10, the CD will feature the following track listing:

01. Origin
02. A New Empire’s Birth
03. Against The Gods
04. The Rising Sign
05. Warmonger
06. Escape The Union
07. The Mark Of Power
08. Kolossus
09. Ascendant

In addition, Kolossus will include a BONUS DVD that will include live sets, album and band documentary, behind the scenes, and other killer material that only you’ll be able to watch by purchasing the album!

For more info on Keep Of Kalessin click on the links below

• Keep Of Kalessin Myspace
• Keep Of Kalessin Official Website

You can pre-order Kolossus Here

Image Source: Amazon.com

Buy at AllPosters.com

In the metal industry these days, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. What I mean is that metal fans are never satisfied one way or another. Through all the changes that have gone through metal over the year, there is always something that aggravates us as fans. Let me explain…

In the beginning all metal was created equal. Through innovation and evolution it has changed in order to keep thriving and satisfying the fans hunger for something bigger and better. As thrash and speed metal started to get big, a big fat, wet, cat crawled out of a trash can and glam rock was born. Glam rock took over the scene and metal as we knew it was put in the shadows for the moment. We still knew it was there and supported it but it wasn’t so much in the public eye. When it was it was always a bad thing like some schmuck off-ing his best friend while listening to his favorite metal band, while glam rock probably spread more STD’s than a big city crack whore. Men looked like women, pants were tighter than a most women’s, yet these guys were seeing more ass than a proctologist. Am I jealous? Nah. It was time for something new though. Even glam rock fans were getting bored and very tired of choking on Aquanet fumes.

Read more