Warriors Of Metal

Just thought I'd post one of my now all time favourite songs by Norwegian Heavy Metal/Black n' Roll/Blackened Thrash metal whatever you want to call them, band I. With Abbath and Demonaz masterminding things you know it's going to kick ass. Here's one of their best songs Warriors (audio only):



"It's a great day for fire, it's a great day for wrath, man's fate is his own, the world's at an end!!!!!!!!.....YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

Classics Part Three: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin are the third band of the big three who began it all. Compared to Sabbath and Purple, Zep were a bit more on the folky side of things, with lyrics ranging from LOTR to classic English folk songs. Led Zeppelin got their name from a line by John Entwistle the bassist from The Who (something to do with a possible formation of a super group involving Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck going down like a lead zeppelin).

Led Zep aren’t as heavy as either Purple or Sabbath but they definitely hold their own, like being banned for life from the Tokyo Hilton, John Bonham riding motorcycles through hotel corridors etc etc, but along with the excess of rock they had a string of absolute classic albums:

It was around this time that tragedy struck Zep, Robert Plant was in a car accident and he broke his ankle, and his wife Maureen almost died and Jimmy Page’s heroin addiction was starting to become apparent.. Zep had a bit of time off and wrote Presence:

To me that’s when the magic began to dwindle and the shit really started to hit the fan, it was rumored that Jimmy Page was dabbling in the occult, he had even bought Aleister Crowleys castle in Scotland (I think) and weird shit started happening, well, crazy things, Robert Plants son Karac died of a stomach infection at age 7 (All My Love is dedicated to him) Jimmy Page broke is ring finger and couldn’t play guitar and there were more weird things that happened but I can’t quite remember them all .

John Bonham died September 25th 1980 and that effectively ended Led Zeppelin, they had one album post Bonham, CODA, but I am not even going to post that.

Out of the three, Led Zep, Sabbath and Purple they definitely my least favourite, they have some utterly brilliant songs but they just don’t do it for me the way the other do. Plant is easily my favourite vocalist and that scream of his on Immigrant Song gives me chills. Bonzo is a great drummer but for me both Bill Ward and Ian Paice do a better job. Jimmy Page is a genius on guitar some of the things he did on guitar blow my mind.

Those slight negatives aside, Led Zep still row my boat and Led Zeppelin III is an all time favourite for me as well.

Classics Part Two: Deep Purple

Well I thought since I posted about Black Sabbath I might as well post about another influential band that help start the monster that is metal, Deep Purple.

Deep Purple hold a special place in my heart as they are one of the earliest of my metal discoveries, thanks to my Dad. He bought me Machine Head for me on Christmas and I remember listening to Highway Star with him.

Deep Purple had some amazingly talented musicians, Jon Lord on keyboards, his solo’s sound like they are played on a guitar, Ritchie Blackmore, a legendary guitarist, Ian Paice, a brilliant drummer, Roger Glover, a godly bassist and Ian Gillian who sounds like some sort of absolute god on vocals, I love his voice.

Deep Purple went through a number of line up changes and Mark II is considered the classic line up, they put out the all the classic albums:

Child in Time is one of my all time favourite songs and Machine Head is easily my favourite album, every song is killer.

Deep Purple did the whole Symphonic Orchestra some 29 years before Metallica thought of the idea, I’ve never heard it but I do plan on buying a copy very soon:

To me Deep Purple are a bit more refined than Zep or Sabbath, a bit more gentlemanly if you catch my drift. Anyway no one should be without at least one Purple album even if it is a best of.

Classics Part One: Black Sabbath

Ahhhhhh Sabbath, the Godfathers of all things heavy and of course all things Metal \m/. It amazes me every time I play a Sabbath song or album how relevant they still are today, sure some of their songs sound dated but everything else sounds as if it could have been recorded yesterday.

Pretty much every Metal band in existence owes something to Black Sabbath, their influence can be felt every where.

I could hear Paranoid every single day and never tire of it. I remember the first time I heard Black Sabbath, it was coming home from a school trip and this guy put Self-Titled on the bus stereo, and skipped to The Wizard, I was spellbound and I have been a fan ever since.

I love the simplicity of the album covers and the fact that you put an album on you can seem to never want to turn it off:

I would post albums after Sabotage but they just don’t have the same magic.

Mannfall Demo complete!

I've decided I'd put a small demo together due to various requests and support.

So here it is guys, available for download at this link. Enjoy and feel free to leave feed back
at the MYSpace or email me at mannfall@hotmail.com.

Lyncht \m/

Mandatory Metallica Saturday

Blind guardian... in a game?

Look for your self, quite funny really.

the video features a new song from their upcoming album.



The making of/motion capture and interviews.




Apparently Hansi and the other band members will also be featured in the game
as NPCs!

Whats next huh?

Dismember

Dismember, the greatest of all the Old School Swedish Death Metal bands, even Entombed. Reason I say that they are better than Entombed is that Dismember are just so damned consistent. Every album is Swedish DM played to perfection. Melodic like Maiden brutal like Morbid Angel, a perfect mix.

My favourite album is 'Death Metal', it kills from beginning to end as well as having one of the coolest album covers known to mankind:

I am actually considering getting that as a tattoo,

Anyway do yourself a favour and get Death Metal, no self respecting Metalhead should be with out it!!

The Death of the Record Store - An End to Nostalgia

All of my record stores are gone. The Sam Goody where I bought all of my Slayer albums and one of the store clerks introduced me to underground metal has left one of the bigger malls in my state. The Camelot Music where I used to work for the store discount and so I could use the catalog is long gone, now an urban logo clothing store. The Tower Records where I bough Death's "Human", and Mercyful Fate's 'Time" and "Into The Shadows"? That didn't last past high school, in which I graduated in 2000.

I will miss the record store hunting experience. Thumbing through hundreds of CDs just to find one gem. I also will miss the physical entity of a CD. The liner notes with the lyrics and the artwork. I will miss when I'm in a random town for whatever reason and checking out the record store just in case they had something I might want to buy. I will miss the way my eyes lit up when I was in Norway, and for the first time in my life I had tons and TONS of CDs that was in my taste and I had to limit myself on how much to buy because I wanted everything.


Initially, I resisted the change from CD to digital music. After all, I had about 600 albums laying around that represented a lot of money and a lot of time.

The digital age has given me something that the old experience never could. An endless supply of music that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere, ever. CD out-of-print? No problem. Band you found on the sampler CD that doesn't seem to exist in the store's catalog? Someone online not only knows what you're talking about, but has it as well and is a big fan. Who's that band that you saw once on Beavis and Butthead that you can't remember but you know that you liked that one song? There's a list telling you what it is and you'll be able to have it before the toast pops out of the toaster.

What about if you're like me and you like Celtic music? I bought a sampler CD and there was a band on there called "Four yn y Bar" whose song called "Dacw 'Nghariad" caught my ear. The CD notes had very little information about the band. What does this beautiful song mean? What are the lyrics and what do they mean? click click click click...

Four yn y Bar = Four in the Bar (obviously meaning the unit in which beats are measured in music)
Dacw ‘Nghariad = There Is My Love
I have access not only to the lyrics, but also a translation and a phonetic transcript in case I want to learn to sing along. The many joys of being able to experience an old song in a new way is fantastic. The mystique of not knowing is nothing compared to the empowerment of knowledge.

It's fun to remember traveling with a hundred or so albums in my suitcase so that while out-of-town so that I would still have a great selection to go through. It's better walking about with a Zune large enough that it holds my entire collection. It's fun to remember organizing albums in the CD holder in the probable order in which I would want to listen to them on a long trip, then curse myself for being so foolish as to think I could predict my music listening mood. It's better seting up playlists large enough where I don't have to be distracted while driving.

It's also fun to think of thumbing through one's own collection, spinning the CD spinner and knowing just where each album was that you didn't have to look and just pull it out by feel. The extra space in the room is better and worrying about keeping track of such a large collection is different, but much easeir. Finding those limited edition Ulver EP's was also a kick. It's better knowing that nothing is limited anymore and knowing that you can find it, if you look.


This is the just another end of an age in the musical world. There used to be a time when new music was so infrequent that the release of a new album was considered a major event. A regular pastime would be to go over to someone's house and to just listen to an album or two. This is not to suggest that both the former nor the latter do not exist today, the frequency and the impact has diminished greatly. It's hard to believe that either will ever exist again at the same levels because music is so personalized, and so openly available, and I like that.

I often hear the sobbing of people who miss the artwork of CDs. This lamentation was also heard when the switch from LP's to Cassettes was made. Miss the artwork of your favorite bands?

http://www.cover-paradies.to/?Lng=IT

The old school was fun. The memories are great. This is better and I'm not very sad to see these stores go. Eventually MP3's will automatically come with artwork, credits, liner notes and lyrics. Eventually someone will figure out how to make digital music much like it was in the past and package their album digitally as they once did physically. In time, perhaps, each track will come with a different piece of artwork to give each track an individual identity. Who knows? Maybe they're already doing that and are already planning a new spin that will make us all but forget the fact that in buying an album once meant something to us and holds us in a grip of nostalgia.

The only difference will be... we can't hold it and don't go somewhere to get it.

Testament - The Haunting

One of my favourite songs of theirs, I really dig the solo. Just felt like posting this:



Live in London, I really need to get that.

Farewell to Miika Tenkula

I know I have already posted about Miika's death buta farewell Video has popped up on the interweb dedicated to him.

Hordes of Satan walk among us... Belphegor

A lot of people comment on how bands like WASP, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath play the devil's music, worship satan and all of that crap. When you hear and see a band like Belphegor it makes those bands look like a bunch of harmless kittens. Belphegor are a Polish brutal blackened-death metal band who have been unleashing Satan's hellfire for several years now. I honestly can't think of many bands as furiously intense, unrelenting and authentic as Belphegor. They pummel you to the ground, kick you in the stomach, break your ankles, slit your nostrils, spit on your face and begin to gut and disembowel you. They are one of the best bands in the genre and their musical talents mixed with intense beliefs have to be heard. Here's their video for Bluhsturm Erotika:

Like a piece of steel.... Judas Priest

Man I am so fucking psyched about seeing Judas Priest tonight, this has been a goal of mine for a while. You can't say you love heavy metal without liking a bit of Priest man. I just listened to the new album again this morning and all I can say is epic, a bit drawn out in places but still good. I can't wait to hear Painkiller, Electric Eye, Riding on the Wind, Beyond the Realms of Death, Touch of Evil, Victim of Changes and all the classics. Here's a vid of Victim of Changes off the Rising in the East DVD just watch KK Downing's solo fuck:



Hell fucking yes \m/

Gojira - Rowing My Boat Since 2005

French Prog Death Metallers Gojira have been kicking my arse for a wee while now and with the release of The Way Of All Flesh last year just cemented them as one of the best bands in the genre.  They are tight, fast, energetic, forward thinking and brilliant musicians to boot.  When I first heard From Mars To Sirus way back in 2005 I was hooked.  The video to  From Sirus literally blew my mind the first time I saw it, let your mind be blown:

Any of these amazing albums are worth getting:

Terra Incognita (2000)

The Link (2003)

The Link Alive (2004)

From Mars To Sirus (2005)

The Way Of All Flesh (2008)

Mandatory Metallica Saturday

R.I.P. Miika Tenkula

Miika Tenkula the guitarist from Sentenced passed away on Thursday the 19th, no one knows the full details except alcohol may have something to do with it.  Nothing official has been posted on the Sentenced page.

R.I.P. Miika.

The Monolith Death Cult - Hollandaise Flavoured Death Metal

The Monolith Death Cult or TMDC for short are a Brutal Death Metal band from Holland.  They are known for their brutal sound mixed with electronics, unusual but it certainly makes for a worthwhile listen.  

The Apotheosis (2003)

The White Crematoriam (2005)

Trivmviarate (2008)

Trivmviarate is one of 2008's best Brutal Death Metal albums, well, one of the most interesting at least! There is a big

future ahead for these guys.

Absu's Artwork

bsu have some of the coolest album covers in Metal, take a gander:

See what I mean?

Megadeth...The Punishment Due!

I'm going to catch Priest Feast this saturday down in London which for those who don't know will consist of Judas Priest as main act with Megadeth and Testament supporting. I am looking forward to seeing all 3 of these bands especially Priest. Having seen Megadeth and Testament before I know to expect a kickass show. Here's one of the main songs off of Megadeth's set I'm looking forward to, if you don't know it shoot yourself now:

More hails to the Queen!

The sheer strength of this woman's voice
blows my mind every time!

Doro you Rule my Ruins \m/


I rule the Ruins



Sign of Satan



Hateful Guy



Earth Shaker Rock

Carpathian Forest

Carpathian Forest are a Black Metal band from Norway (where else?), to me Carpathian Forest are one of the most varied Black Metal bands out there, every album is a complete joy to listen to. Nattefrost from, obviously, Nattefrost, sings and the mighty Tchort (a personal legend of mine) plays guitar, there are other members of course but those two are the main standouts. Check out Black Shining Leather and Fuck You All!!!! in particular.

Black Shining Leather (1998)



Strange Old Brew (2000)



Morbid Fascination Of Death (2001)



Defending The Throne Of Evil (2003)



Fuck You All!!!! (2006)



Carpathian Forest supposedly have a new album that was due out December last year but so far nothing has appeared. They also have a fair amount of EP's, I'm just too lazy to post them all.

All hail Carpathian Forest \m/

Doesn't This Look Enticing?

The new live DVD from Nokturnal Mortum , Live In Katowice. I want this more than anything right now.

Sunn O)))

According to Apeshit.com Sunn O))) have a new album out soon, May to be a bit more precise, here are the details:

SUNN O))) are set to release their seventh studio album, entitled Monoliths & Dimensions. The album features guest musicians, enigmatic Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar (MAYHEM, TORMENTOR, etc.), and slow music godfather Dylan Carlson (EARTH), as well as Julian Priester (who worked with SUN RA in the 50s, John Coltrane’s African Brass band, and Herbie Hancock’s Sextant band) and new-music horn player Stuart Dempster. There’s also an upright bass trio, French and English horns, harp and flute duo, piano, brass, reed & strings ensembles, and a Viennese woman’s choir led by Persian vocal savant Jessika Kenney.

The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion toward the timbre of feedback and the instruments involved, so the piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear. They stated that the end product is “the most musical piece we’ve done, and also the heaviest, powerful and most abstract set of chords we’ve laid to tape.”

The album was recorded and mixed by Randall Dunn and Mell Dettmer at various points over the last two years, and will be released late May 2008. Monoliths & Dimensions is practice in density, gravity and momentum.

Monoliths & Dimensions track listing:
“Aghartha” (17:34)
“Big Church [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]” (09:43)
“Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)” (10:02)
“Alice” (16:21)

I look forward to this.

Is There Anything About This That......

.....makes you want to listen to Hatebreed?



If there is one thing more than I hate more than Nickleback, it's Tough Guy Hardcore i.e. Hatebreed.

Who Allowed This To Happen??

Limp Bizkit have reformed with their original line up....what the fuck?

Nu-metal band Limp Bizkit is reuniting their original lineup to record a new album and tour worldwide. The original line-up of Fred Durst, Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, John Otto, and DJ Lethal are back from an eight year hiatus. Fred Durst and Wes Borland said in a joint statement:

"We decided we were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other. Regardless of where our separate paths have taken us, we recognize there is a powerful and unique energy with this particular group of people we have not found anywhere else. This is why Limp Bizkit is back."

The guys will kick off a world tour in the Spring on the overseas festival circuit with headline shows sprinkled in throughout Eastern Europe and Europe, selected dates include, in late May, Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic countries where Limp Bizkit has never played before despite huge demand, along with major festivals like Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park in Germany. More dates will be announced shortly. A new album, which would be the original group’s first full-length effort since 2000, is also planned.

Limp Bizkit’s first three albums have sold over 20 million copies in the U.S. alone, and another 13 million in the rest of the world.

Wes Borland is the biggest liar in music, in one breath he is saying he will never play with Limp Bizkit ever again, in the next breath he is saying he can't wait for the shows.

I hope their tour bus crahses.

For All Of You Who Love Immortal, Listen Up!

I discovered Rimfrost this morning, they are a perfect fill in until the new Immortal album makes an appearance, saying that they are really good in their own right they are just pure Immortal worship. Sweden still churns out excellent Black Metal bands.

Here is a vid of them rehearsing:



Keep and eye on these guys they will go somewhere, well as far as you can go in underground Black Metal circles. Have a listen to their album A Frozen World Unknown to see what I mean.

Hails to the Forefathers!

I shouldn't have to say anything.
Put up your horns and bang your head.

Slaughter of the Soul



Under a Serpent Sun



Suicide Nation

Try These

Here are two very good Post Rock/Sludge Metal releases that every Metalhead should own or at least listen to:

Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites



This is a double album, the first disc is the Post Rock heaviness and the second disc is pretty much ambient noises, both of them are designed to be played simultaneously. The first disc alone is brilliant but both of them together just enhances the listen.

Burst - The Lazarus Bird



These guys are in the same vein as Isis but leaning a bit more towards the hardcore side, sort of how Cult of Luna used to sound but not so electronic is another good description. Some of these songs just give me chills. One of the best releases for 2008.

Black Cascade

The new Wolves In The Throne Room is due out on the 31st March and it is sure to be on hell of a record, look at the album cover, it reeks of epic....



Bring on the 31st of March I say.

The Mightest of the Mighty......Meshuggah

Meshuggah, Technical Post Thrash Metal (or what ever you want to label them) legends, my all time favourite band, the band that almost deafened me live in concert last year.

Every time I play them they blow my fucking mind, everything they do is done to perfection. For months I have been trying to decide on a favourite album, for a long time it was Nothing then it was Chaosphere, then it was Destroy Erase Improve, then it was Contradictions Collapse and then Catch Thirty Three took the 1st place, and then obZen arrived and I didn't play any other music for weeks......then they cycle of "Favourite Meshuggah Album Syndrome" started all over again. So after hefty debate I have come to the conclusion, they all equally kick my arse so all are deservedly 1st place.














I think I would kill to see them again, especially the latest tour with The Faceless and Cynic.



One thing that still boggles my mind is the huge jump in quality of songs from Contradictions Collapse to Destroy Erase Improve, sure Contradictions is amazing in it's own way but there is no comparison between the two really, DEI is simply pure brilliance.

Anyway, listen and enjoy



Listen to that double kick, that guitaring and Jens roaring his lungs out. Amazing, mind blowing stuff.