The Balance Is Complete

  One of the most common stories I have about the relationship between me and music is the one I tell about:

  It was 1989, and my 8th grade band class was invited to play in the state capitol building, which required a 2- day bus trip. Mom gave me $20 for food (which was pretty much a fortune for a single mother with 6 kids) and loaded me onto the bus with the rest of my class. As far as junior high bus trips went, it was pretty much standard: rowdy kids and frustrated chaperones threatening to lick our eyeballs (serious) if we didn't settle down... we made the capitol and did our thing and survived the night crammed into hotel rooms without the police being called. The next day, they took us to the mall to blow off some steam and all I remember was wandering into a record store (yeah, we still had them back then..) and picking up this tape (yes, a CASSETTE) called Alice In Hell by a band who I only knew by seeing their logo in a recent Hit Parader magazine, and was compelled to have it, knowing I'd never have another chance. Naturally, I pretty much starved for the next 300 miles, but I had this amazing album that I listened to over and over and over the entire trip back home; I had never heard anything like it. This album today is still in my top 5 favorites, and it makes itself quite at home in my collection with the rest of its brothers and sisters, all children of the guitar god Jeff Waters, who has graced the universe once again with one of the best metal albums of the year:

  Yeah, I'm completely biased, but do you blame me? It's Annihilator. That's all that needs said, no further rationale needed; if you can't at least TRY to like it, then you clearly have no business having an opinion about metal. In the early 80's, Annihilator demos were the 3rd most traded tapes, behind Metallica and Megadeth demos and they are the highest selling Canadian metal band in history.. Can you say that about any of these pretty-boy, skinny jean, makeup- wearing, boo-hoo teenagers crying about a breakup "Metal" bands that are popping up like pimples nowadays? No, you can't, can you? 

  From Deadlock to One Falls, Two Rise, it could possibly be argued that this might be the sharpest Annihilator album since Alice or at the very least, King Of The Kill. Regardless, it's fucking ANNIHILATOR.. just get it and rock your damn head off.

       https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annihilator/9614139730?fref=ts&rf=112307188780515

                                     

                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                              

Les Femmes

I'm all for bullet belts, blasphemy and brutality, but let's take a moment for the...uh...curvier...side of metal.

Everyone has their own opinion as to who the best female metal vocalists are, typically referring to Doro Pesch, Amy Lee, Lita Ford or the like. The more advanced listener might suggest Angela Gossow, Sharon den Adel or Alexis Brown. Fortunately for you, as far as this little piece of the internet is concerned, its MY opinion that matters (insert evil chuckle here).

Don't get me wrong, I have every Arch Enemy album, several Doro and Lita; I always enjoy a good run of Straight Line Stitch, and I've at least given Within Temptation and Evanescence a shot; I know there's many more but let's talk about the 2 bands I always gravitate towards, promote more and listen to more often than not, and for good reason (in my opinion).

Now keep in mind, I constantly receive truckloads of new albums and music from all corners of the globe and most of the time I'll just chuck something on without knowing anything about it just to get a feel for it and do my homework later, so I had no idea what I was in for last September when I finally decided to dig into my Nightmare files and play Seven Kingdoms' third album The Fire Is Mine, based heavily on George R.R. Martin's work 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' (more commonly known as TV's Game Of Thrones, although it won't kill you to read a book now and agan)

Being trained to hear every note from every angle at once, I was absolutely LOST. The intro was standard stuff, but as soon as After The Fall started I was child crying for his mama, tearing my desk apart looking for my headphones for a good 5- 10 minutes so I could hear it full blast direct injection to the brain only to realize I was already wearing them, the tonal qualities of Sabrina Valentine's voice paired with some of the finest power metal I've ever heard made me a melty little bitch. After The Fall, Symphony Of Stars, Kardia, Fragile Minds Collapse... fucking MAGIC.

And so, being thoroughly mind- blown, I hit the books, so to speak. Its one thing to just sit and read bios and press releases, but the video for After The Fall swayed my opinion only to further solidify my later on- air declarations of a band who loves what they do and a woman as beautiful as her voice.
                   
                  https://www.facebook.com/SevenKingdomsOfficial?ref=ts&fref=ts

                                Seven Kingdoms. Sabrina Valentine. Write that down.

My personal top choice for the Femme Fatale du Metal, the woman with whom I would have absolutely no issue repopulating the planet if need be, can only be the raven- haired Swedish seductress Liv Jagrell.

I'm an 80's kid, I grew up on REAL rock & roll, music that helps you move when you don't want to, that keeps the faith for you when you want to fall, and in 2010 when I opened a package from a promoter friend of mine, I got hooked on the anthems of Sister Sin and besides being standard rotation from then on they became incorporated into my personal soundtrack: endless hours of video enjoyment, on my headphones for the long walks home from the studio in the middle of the night, road trip jams... On Parole, Better Than Them, Beat Em Down, Morning After, Fight Song... music to live by.

I am also your standard- issue male member of humanity: I have eyes and a brain, same as anyone. In nearly 40 years I'm pretty sure I've seen every type of woman, every shape, every state of dress and undress, analyzed every feature, experienced every personality and attitude and to me, Liv has it all. And its not that I just sit there goggle- eyed at her fleshy parts either; sure she's one stone fox but I also enjoy watching interviews, listening to her accent, seeing her expressions and interactions, her presence on and off- stage. You know, the stuff that actually MATTERS. Maybe I'm a little biased, I dunno, but backed by a band that matches her stride, Sister Sin should be one of the more important bands on anyone's playlist, and a life- size poster of Liv should be above everyone's bed...

                                             https://www.facebook.com/SisterSin?fref=ts

                                     

Headed Down South

"Hidden by the World and daylight, born again and again through centuries of terror, to live lives of the necromancers.... we shall never die. Our galloping blasphemy lead us now..."
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I adhere to no particular theological beliefs, but I LOVE Black Metal; the intensity, the emotion... it's very... primal. I do my best to steer clear of blatant admiration of any deity, instead choosing to focus on the more roundabout titles and subjects of songs, but dammit, it's just FUN to listen to stuff like this.

In late 2012 I had my first taste of Satan's Wrath, with their Galloping Blasphemy album and had a great time throwing it into my radio playlists and terrorizing the airwaves. Now once again I have the privilege to introduce the next eardrum- savaging, bloodthirsty violation of holiness: Aeon's Of Satan's Reign.

Again, I hold no loyalties, but it's impossible to dismiss the passion. You know when you build a fire, and you let it die down... the flames, instead of roaring as high as they can, steadily stream between the logs, eating away, fed by the intense heat of the red- hot embers at the center of the fire, the heat that remains until the last bit of fuel is consumed? There you go: Satan's Wrath. Just like that. Listen to Ecstacies Of Sorcery and tell me I'm wrong.

Satan's Wrath - Aeons Of Satan's Reign available November 12, 2013 from Metal Blade Records

Oh, exciting times indeed, when we're treated to a new Demonical album! I keep 2011's Death Infernal on my mp3 player for walking and working music because it sets the necessary pace, a heartbeat for the moment, let's say... it's easy to get lost in the miles or the task at hand when 'March For Victory' or 'Through Hellfire' is playing and now we can look forward to even more accomplishments with Darkness Unbound as the soundtrack to our successes.

Much like the early days of their fellow Swedes Entombed, this is a band that sets its hooks with the very first riff, and from 'Darkness Unbound' to 'The Great Praise', you're bodily dragged from song to song; you have no will. For about 40 minutes, they OWN your ass. Brutal, vicious Death Metal.. Just the way we like it...

Demonical - Darkness Unbound available November 12, 2013 from Metal Blade Records
https://www.facebook.com/Demonicalofficial?fref=ts

First And Foremost

I suppose that just because I can, I'd like to inaugurate these musings with some words on one of my most recent acquisitions, since I'm listening to it right now...
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In listening to Darkhaus' debut album, My Only Shelter, it's easy to just get lost in the emotion of it all. And by emotion, I don't mean whining or crying like what most people are driving towards these days, what with political correctness and trophies for everyone destroying the ability to deal with reality and worrying about saying just the right thing so as not to offend (gods forbid).  What I mean is emotion in its mature form, introspective and strong, with a glimpse into the ability to still retain the joie de vivre that gets lost over the years.

Just push play, and this album is instantly enjoyable, a shelter (ha ha), if you will, from the everyday forcefeedings of the 'popular', an excellent mix of 80's synth- pop, rock ballads and dance grooves put together by musicians who really know what they're doing and do it well, bringing the cultural influences of Scotland, Germany, Austria and the US together to create something you won't find anywhere else but on this album.

In terms of commentary, it might do to put it like this: today I received 18 new albums and this is the only one I've listened to, since I have yet to choose anything different to listen to for the last 5 hours. THAT'S how good I believe this album to be. I'm rarely wrong about these things...

Darkhaus - My Only Shelter available in the U.S. December 3, 2013 as Digital only from SPV/ Oblivion  https://www.facebook.com/DarkhausOfficial?fref=ts