Heheh… MetalJew posts on his blog about Schneerson – the band is bringing the message of the Rebbe to the world through the most powerful form of music in existence — Black Metal.
This review is supposed to go on www.americanwired.com, a site which has already broken an Alexa rating of 80,000.
In reply to a certain publicist who was quite uppity when I asked for an interview with one of the acts on his label, “Hobbyist” my ass.
It’s the hobbyists that put food on your table, in any case.
ROADRUNNER UNITED: THE ALL-STAR SESSIONS
(Roadrunner Records)
Performance: ***
Sound: *****
This album is a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Roadrunner Records. They drafted many of their artists to collaborate together on one disc. Each of these musicians brought the element of what makes his band special to the table. But the problem is that some tracks are successful and coherent while others are clumsy “cut and paste” deals, meaning that in some cases, these elements may identify their contributors but they don’t necessarily flow together. All of the songs are produced quite aptly. Some of them are polished to a soulless luster and some are fittingly raw and tasty. “The Rich Man”
boasts a tense slow tempo, building into a good burst of rage. “Baptized by the Redemption” is a fine example of technically apt metal combined with fierce brutality, unfettered by slick production. A spooky, melancholic dirge with slight hippie overtones is “Roads,” the collaboration between Josh Silver of Type O Negative and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth. It’s not standard Roadrunner fare at all. “Enemy of the State,” where Type O Negative’s Peter Steele so entertainingly tries to sound like a drunk Soviet dictator, is definitely standard Type O Negative fare. But generally, the songs don’t depict one specific band’s style. Members of classic acts Fear Factory, Sepultura/Soulfly, Machine Head, Cradle of Filth and King Diamond certainly leave their mark on whatever they’re dealing with as they blend their talents with lesser-known acts. And it’s fun to discern what shred of sound belongs to which band in each track. That may be one of the saving graces of this disc. It’s worth a shot.
On the inset it said that Max Cavalera couldn’t be one of the “team captains” in charge of the Roadrunner United disc because he was busy doing the Soulfly “Dark Ages” album. Well, I enjoyed that album a lot more and a review of that, also for www.americanwired.com, is forthcoming.
Jerusalem’s black metal mongerers Azamoth will embark on a European tour with Lord Belial in April.
This show rocked so hard.
Review forthcoming.
View all pics at my Flickr site.
Hmm… maybe someone in the mainstream Israeli press is finally waking up… click here for the article in English.
Frosty black metallers Winterhorde have released a new sample from their studio recording of the debut album titled “Nebula-The Final Redemption”. To hear, click here.
SHADOWS FALL
The Art of Touring
(Century Media)
Color
Region 1
NTSC
If you’re looking for something comparable to Iron Maiden’s Live After Death in quality of production, fuggedaboudit. The Art of Touring is a completely different style with its own intrinsic charm, built on bootlegs and behind-the-scenes handheld camera footage. Between Zakk Wylde’s extolling the virtues of the band’s derrières to deer hunting, tour bus mishaps and oral rocket launching, the band’s shenanigans often run like a toned down Jackass movie Jr. – some of them are hilarious.
Additionally, there’s a humorous yet poignant cover of Pantera’s “Walk” done with Damageplan when Dimebag Darrell was still alive. Six of SF’s professional videos are featured as well as bonus tracks including quality covers of Motley Crue’s “Live Wire” and Dangerous Toys’ “Teas’n Pleas’n” with a cameo appearance by that band’s vocalist Jason McMaster.
On a side note: from this DVD, you can note the way glam metal and its theatrics subtly influenced this band – whether it’s by the stunts they’re pulling on and offstage, by the bands they cover or by frontman Brian Fair’s impossibly long dreadlocks whipping around his head like the aesthetics of frenzied moshing octopi. What’s remarkable about Shadows Fall is that they have supreme technical skill (drummer Jason Bittman was voted #1 Metal Drummer in the Modern Drummer Reader’s Poll) but they don’t sacrifice the intensity and passion of the music in order to show off individually. The Art of Touring makes them seem like down-to-earth, normal metalheads themselves. The Art of Touring is a product of DIY ethic combined with bearable bootleg quality performances, definitely worth the money if you’re just a metalhead who appreciates that type of mindset or, of course, if you just happen to like the band.
View this review in its original state here at American Wired.
This is only about half of the pictures I took at Betzefer’s January 21 show at the Yellow Submarine in Jerusalem. As usual, some are good, some suck and the red-eye runs rampant. The other half including opening acts Incinerator and 7% Mind Usage will be up within the next few days. In any case, as usual, Betzefer tore up the stage, performing in full happily brutal effect. You European folks are in for a treat this spring… for tour dates, check their websites at http://www.myspace.com/betzefer and http://www.betzefer.com.
