Metal Martyr » opeth

The Scrap Metal Report 5/18/09

Scott — Tue, 19 May 2009 01:28:32 +0000

Wow, almost an entire Monday without an update. Well, I assure you I have a very good excuse. The fact is that I started a new/old job today. I went back to work for my old employer in a new position. First day on the job “The Man” had me bustin’ my ass for 10 hours.

With that said, there is also this to say: May 31st will be my last day with Metal Martyr. It’s been a fun [almost] two years of bitching, ranting, misspellings, grammar butchering, hatred, (sometimes senseless) negativity and most important of all interacting with readers both seldom and avid. You guys kick ass and it’s been a pleasure. Between now and then I’ll try to update as often as time allows. The contest is still on and I’ll still announce it on my way out the door. Now, with all that said, here’s a few key things happening in metal today.

An Iron Maiden Flight 666 Online Video game cane be played at Ironmaiden.com. I haven’t played it yet but it has to be much better than Ed Hunter.

Judas Priest have announced that they will be releasing a live album of previously unreleased live tracks. That means they’ve never released the songs AS live tracks.

The Boy Will Drown’s debut album, Fetish is out now in Europe. This is like that technical deathcore type shit. It’s not bad but it can become redundant as every songs kind of sounds the same.

Mikael Akerfeldt doesn’t Facebook and he wants you to know this.

Sorry, folks but that’s all I have time for tonight. Peace.

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Opeth Warns Of Fake Tour Ticket Scam

Scott — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:53:02 +0000

Opeth’s management is warning fans that the site Opethtickets.com is selling fake tickets and are urging fans to NOT buy from the site.

I checked in to this site and you’d be a blooming idiot to purchase from that site anyway. I check the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey and you can get tickets to that show for $20.00 in advance. On Opethtickets.com they are $59 to $550.00 each if you purchase two. I certainly hope that’s a typo and it was supposed to be $55.00. I don’t know how “Fake” they are because they sell them through stubhub.com, which as far as I know is a legitimate ticket outlet. Anyone that has already purchased tickets at those prices deserves to get ripped off just for being such a dumb-ass. I have found that the best bet is to purchase them through a venue’s website and it’s usually a little cheaper.

Image ©MetalMartyr.com

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Progressive Nation Goes International This Fall

Scott — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:33:24 +0000

Dream Theater will be taking their Progressive Nation tour to Europe and the UK. Along for the ride will be Sweden prog-metal masters, Opeth. Also on the tour will be Bigelf and Unexpect.

I’m sure you’re familiar with Dream Theater and Opeth, but chances are you haven’t heard of or heard much of Bigelf. Bigelf is a rock outfit that kind of fuses the sounds of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and The Beatles into an amazingly different, yet cool sound. They released Cheat The Gallows last year through custard records. Dates have yet to be confirmed for Progressive Nation.

Image: Amazon.com

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No Bloodbath ‘Til 2010

Scott — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:50:25 +0000

Swedish death metal super-group (I hate that title) Bloodbath has made a statement that due to Mikael Akerfeldt and Matin Axenrot being occupied with Opeth, there will be no appearances with Bloodbath at this summer’s European metal festivals.

“Unfortunately, we’ve to announce that BLOODBATH must pass this summer’s festival season. Mike [Mikael Åkerfeldt] and Axe [Martin 'Axe' Axenrot] have both confirmed they’re too occupied with OPETH and cannot commit to any live shows with BLOODBATH until 2010, the earliest. Recruiting live replacements for Mike and Axe has been considered, but is right now not going to be possible for technical aspects and neither appropriate for obvious reasons.

I’m still fairly new to Bloodbath, but I don’t think I would want to see them without Mikael Akerfeldt anyway. Which reminds me, as much as I love The Fathomless Mastery…it never gets enough rotation time in my iPod.

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Opeth Perform Coil on Swedish TV

Scott — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:33:08 +0000

Opeth performed the track Coil from Watershed on Swedish TV with Nathalie Lorichs as guest vocalist. Nathalie is the girlfriend of Opeth’s drummer Martin Axenrot. The performance was aired on Nyhetsmorgon show on Swedish TV4.

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Mikael Akerfeldt Comments On Opeth Grammy Loss To In Flames.

Scott — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:12:44 +0000

Mikael Akerfeldt seems like a pretty down to earth and collected dude. I suppose to make the music that Opeth does, you have to have an immense amount of patience. I like In Flames Sense Of Purpose, but it didn’t have the effect that Opeth’s Watershed did on me. Up until about a year ago I was mainly in to American and British heavy metal. I knew of a few bands here and there from Sweden, Germany and such places but I never really pushed to explore until I started writing for Metal Martyr. I heard the names Opeth and In Flames many times before, just never got around to checking out their music.

When I bought the new In Flames early last year I was pretty happy with it. It was great to me but it didn’t have me looking for more In Flames. When I got Opeth’s Watershed it was a lot different than what I expected. It was enough to get me curious and want to hear more Opeth and now I have every Opeth Album and listened to Damnation, of all records during my morning workout. When I heard that In Flames won it, my first thought was that Swedish Grammy’s aren’t much different than American Grammy’s. The person you want and expect to win never does.

Opeth front-man Mikael Akerfeldt wasn’t sore about the loss. It’s tough to be upset about someone else winning something when that person or band is/are your friends(s). Here’s just a slice of what Akerfeldt had to say on the subject.

“We didn’t win the Grammy award this year either and I admit I got a little disappointed although it doesn’t really mean anything. Since I’m there at the show I wanna fucking win! But IN FLAMES got it. They’re mates of ours so I’m happy for them.”

He goes on to say that the Grammy’s were the same as usual. Boring and stuck up people with little career outside of Sweden.

Source: Blabbermouth

Image: Newscom

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Metal Martyr Best Live Shows Of 2008

Scott — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:50:27 +0000

Metal Martyr Best Live Shows Of 2008. I’m going to break this down by single bands and not so much the tour or show name. I saw a good amount of shows this year. In fact I went to more shows just this year than I ever have in my whole life before before this year. This year has had some great shows come my way and a few I have had to travel a few hours for. Through some of these shows I’ve learned of bands and learned became a bigger fan of other bands. I’d say one of the best ways to discover new bands is to get to a show early enough before the headlining band comes on and catch the opening acts. With that said, let me get to 10 of my favorite bands I saw live in 2008.

Carcass Reunion: This was like a dream come true. I didn’t think I would ever get to see Carcass play live after becoming a fan in 1993. Hopefully we will see more of this in the future in the U.S.
Hatebreed: One of the most energetic shows from a crowd I have seen down here. Beside being dry-humped by some over enthusiastic, sweaty dude behind me, I had a great time and it was a very memorable show.
Opeth: Sold out show, amazing show. I wish they had played some more acoustic stuff…or I wish I had stuck around for the second hour of their set to catch any acoustic stuff they may have played.
Firewind: Powerful live show. Guitars and vocals that just make the show. I wasn’t really a fan of this band before they went on stage but I was eager to see them live for some reason. When they took the stage I immediately though it was kind of cheesy…for about 20 seconds. After that it was total amazement.
The Sword: I think they sound just as good, if not better live. Guitar driven metal that is simplistic and catchy enough to keep everything interesting.
Early Man: A great, thrashy show.
Suffocation: Caught them on the Carcass reunion. The death metal and deathcore bands of today could learn a thing or two from these guys…like writing your song so you can play them live.
Machinehead: This is the second time I’ve seen Machinhead, but the first time in over 10 years. They still know how to rock the stage and were really cool during signings.
Slipknot: I’ve waited 8 years to see these guys live. A lot of people say they don’t put out the energy like they used to but I think they put on a better show than what they used to from the videos I’ve seen. Jumping around onstage is cool and everything…but I want to hear quality music too.
All That Remains: Twice this year I’ve seen ATR and neither time have I been disappointed. Phil knows how to work the stage and Oli’s nimble fingers make for some beautiful solos.

There is my top ten. Here are a few other mentions

Loudest Live Show

Torche (opened for The Sword)

Strangest Live Act

The Monotonix – Starts out kind of fun and wacky and then just goes overboard and stupid really quickly.

Pissed That I Missed Shows (Shows that came around and I wanted to see but missed for one reason or another)

Kataklysm
In Flames, Gojira

Image ©MetalMartyr.com 2008

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Top 10 Metal Albums Of 2008

Scott — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:06:31 +0000

2008 has been a great year for metal. Here is my Top 10 Favorite Metal Albums of 2008 (that I own). I know that there are probably a lot of other amazing metal albums that came out this year but I can only go off of what I own and what I’ve heard. So more or less these are my favorites and not some definitive collection of what I think is the best. How many people can honestly say that they have heard and thoroughly listened to every new metal album that came out this year? Anyway, let’s get to it.

Metal Martyr Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2008

Kataklysm: Prevail –
Gojira: The Way Of All Flesh
Opeth: Watershed
Firewind: The Premonition
In Flames: A Sense Of Purpose
Arsis: We Are The Nightmare
Soulfly: Conquer
Testament: The Formation Of Damnation
Amon Amarth: Twilight Of The Thunder God
Bloodbath: The Masterless Fathomry

Metal Martyr Biggest Disappointment

Slipknot: All Hope Is Gone (Just not as good as I thought it would be)

Biggest Surprise Of 2008

Metallica: Death Magnetic

(While it has it’s flaws, this turned out a lot better than I anticipated and is a thousand time more listenable than St. Anger)

Acquired Tastes (albums that took more than two listens to really get in to)

Withered: Folie Circuluire
The Funeral Pyre: Wounds
Neuraxis: The Thin Line Between

Here is a list of other album that I thought were great and deserve a big mention in no particular order. I suppose I could have made it a favorite top 20 if I wanted to.

Most Hated of 2008

Century: Black Ocean

Image Source: Amazon.com

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Bloodbath T-shirt Controversy

Scott — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:21:50 +0000

With Bloodbath’s new album comes new merch. One of those pieces of merch was a T-shirt that debuted around the 6th of November. The T-shirt titled “Mock The Cross“, the name of the 4th track from The Fathomless Mastery. The T-shirt in questions features Christ upon the cross with a demon puking on his head with snakes and vultures all around. For a detailed image click here.

Now this isn’t the worse T-shirt we have ever seen, nor is the artwork really all that good, but the depiction is obviously enough to upset people and the company that was printing the first round has stopped production due to the owners morals. Sure it is only a T-shirt, but it still offends people and especially Christians. That’s probably what it was meant to do in the first place. That’s what any T-shirt that has a sacrilegious image on it is meant to do.

One ‘former’ Bloodbath fan even commented that he is no longer a fan because of this shirt. So he was a fan before, but obviously never read any of the lyrics to a Bloodbath song. Check out a few lyrics to Mock The Cross below:

In the womb
A sea of vomit
Nurturing the false prophet
His mouth of blasphemy
Spreading forth the creed of the infidels

His spit on the flaking emblem of Solomon
A schism of confusion weaken the trinity
Foresee the death of the holy alliance
The withering corpse of Christ

Here is a bit from Iesous (also from The Fathomless Mastrery with a blasphemous T-shirt):

Stigma
Fury
Throw him
Bound and gagged upon the soil
The red sun
Burning
Burning
Tear the soul of gods only son

Let’s look at the lyrics to Weak Aside from the Unblessing The Purity Ep:

Our name has seen the future
Headshot target now on god
Pointblank crimson dawn
Spew forth tomorrow’s spawn

Now let’s reach back to 2004’s Bastard Son Of God from Nightmares Made Flesh:

He is hater of the rotten Earth
He is the nova that will drape the sky in woe
We drink from his poisoned water
He is lord of those who dwell bound in sickness
Spitting vomit in the face of faith
Cleansing us who must atone for being weak
We drink from his poisoned water
He is the shadow cast upon those defiled

So this dude was a fan until they put words into graphics? C’mon now, that’s so naive. It’s death metal with anti-religious overtones. If you can’t figure that out then you might want to find a different style of music to listen to. I don;t care what kind of music I listen to, if I dig what the sound is then I look into the sound and try to understand what they are (singing) about. You may not always agree with it, but don’t be so stupid as to act like you didn’t know they went against or were singing about something you didn’t believe in.

Now if anyone knows the band Skrewdriver, then it’s like listening to them and then getting all offended when you see one of their T-shirts with a racist remark or white power propaganda on it. Or liking Slayer until you see the Circle Of Lies T-shirt or Deicide before seeing the cover of Once Upon The Cross. Don’t be so naive.

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Contest Winners

Scott — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:53:01 +0000

Alright, the contests for last month are over and here are the winner.

The winner of the Opeth signer guitar pick is Alex Rochon and the winner of the All That Remains Overcome CD is Giles.

I’ll send them out this week.

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