Metal mayhem
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Went and saw Anvil! The Story of Anvil with some friends tonight (including Camassia). It’s a documentary about a b-list (c-list?) 80s power metal band from Canada that never quite made it big, but never quit either. The movie was terrific and surprisingly affecting. After the movie I consulted Ian Christe’s magisterial history of heavy Read more
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Heading to Boston for a wedding this weekend. To get in the spirit, here’s one of Beantown’s finest: Read more
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A couple of weeks ago I said I was really digging the new album “The Infection” by Chimaira. Here’s the first video off that album. more about "Friday metal – Chimaira, "Destroy and…", posted with vodpod Read more
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Off to Philadelphia for the weekend, so light blogging will continue for a few days. Read more
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Chimaira is a metal/hardcore sextet from Cleveland; their new album, “The Infection” just came out and is really good. Here’s a clip from their 2003 album “The Impossibility of Reason” (a very postmodern title, don’t you think?): Read more
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I’ve really been digging the new album Static Tensions by Georgia natives Kylesa. The band is an odd amalgam of doom metal, hardcore, and psychedelic rock. And they have two drummers! Here are a couple of clips from their previous album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth: Listen to more here. Read more
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The mighty Mastodon are releasing their new album, Crack the Skye, next Tuesday. Here’s the first video, “Divinations.” They’re streaming much (all?) of the new album on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/mastodon more about "Friday metal – All hail Mastodon!", posted with vodpod Read more
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I figure that any overlap, however tenuous, between heavy metal and animal rights falls under this blog’s purview, so I will link to this story about former American Idol-turned-country superstar Carrie Underwood. Carrie’s latest single is a remake of the immortal Mötley Crüe ballad “Home Sweet Home” and is being used as the soundtrack for Read more
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I was skeptical of Guns ‘n’ Roses’ ballyhooed Chinese Democracy when it (finally) came out, but the album has grown on me considerably. Say what you will about Axl, you can’t deny his ambition to create a big, sprawling, bombastic, self-indulgent, at times over-produced, rock opera. Flawed though it may be, there are some excellent Read more
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Ironically, considering it’s a genre of music often dismissed as “just a bunch of noise,” heavy metal has frequently cultivated an intricate, technical, virtuoso style of playing that rivals jazz and progressive rock. This is particularly true of the (aptly named) “technical death metal” sub-genre. See this interesting article for an appreciation. Here’s a clip Read more
A Thinking Reed 