Metal mayhem
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Before there was grunge there were a host of bands that would eventually be lumped together as “alternative” who displayed significant metal influences, even if they blended them with funk, modern rock, industrial or other sounds. I cut my teeth as a teenager in the early 90s on a lot of this stuff, so it’s Read more
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This was published a while ago, but the Guardian asks: Why Is Metal Still Ignored by the Mainstream? Mastodon, “Sleeping Giant” Read more
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In just under the wire (at least for me) as one of the best metal albums of 2007 is Colors by the band Between the Buried and Me. This was a Christmas present from Josh and his wife, and I’ve been listening to it pretty much nonstop since we got back from Indy. It’s heavily Read more
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Decibel magazine, sort of the Pitchfork of heavy music, has released its list of the top 40 metal albums of the year. There’s a lot on here I haven’t heard, but here are some of the albums I’ve enjoyed, a few of which didn’t make Decibel’s list: Baroness, The Red Album: This is the first Read more
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‘Nuff said. “War Pigs” (live in Paris, 1970): “Paranoid” (from British TV, 1970; song starts about 2 minutes in): “Die Young” (with Ronnie James Dio on vocals): Read more
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I know it’s Wednesday, but with the holiday coming up, I can’t promise there’ll be much blogging over the next couple of days. And I know I posted an In Flames video a couple of weeks back, but this is an insanely catchy song and I’ve had it stuck in my head all week. The Read more
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Of the “big four” thrash bands of the 80s (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth), Anthrax never seemed to quite find their niche. The mainstream success of Metallica eluded them, but they were never content to remain firmly in the underground like Slayer. They were one of the few metal bands to take rap seriously (and humorously!), Read more
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Interesting Slate article on the evolution of the black metal ethos from misanthropic Satanism to a more romantic, melancholy pre-Christian paganism. This ends up having a certain affinity with deep ecology themes, and the article offers a profile of a black metal group in Sanat Cruz that is simultaneously trying to live off the grid Read more
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Whew – that black metal stuff gives me the creeps! How ’bout something a little more lighthearted? Anyone remember the 1990s Suicidal Tendencies side project Infectious Grooves? The lineup: Mike Muir (ST frontman), Adam Siegel (former guitarist for defunct metal/punk fusion band Excel), Robert Trujillo (ex-ST, ex-Ozzy and current Metallica bassist) and Stephen Perkins (former Read more
A Thinking Reed 