Just stumbled across the coolest fuckin' metal website I've seen in a long time. It's called Metalgasm.com. It has the simplest premise one could think of: just name the point in a metal song that makes you, as a metalhead, cream your pants. And share with others for good times.
I've submitted a few myself, it's hell of fun!
31.5.09
30.5.09
Consider The Engagement
Just a quick muse on the new Killswitch Engage track offered via Roadrunner Records yesterday; people might crucify me for doing this, but it sounds like something Iron Maiden would do. I'm not saying they'd use screamed vocals and tremolo picking to the extent in the track, but it only clocks in at 2 minutes and 42 seconds. Remember "Different World" from A Matter of Life and Death? Probably not. But it was just a great single that summed up the album in one track. Dark Tranquillity did it too prior to the release of Character, in the form of "Derivation TNB." I would expect this single serve the same purpose, considering the track an "official leak" ahead of the album's release on June 26th (Australia)
Not being the biggest fan of KSE, I did admire the succinct and direct songwriting that they displayed on this track, their trending toward the 80s sound almost now a given. Its noteworthy that they use the same motive in all their riffs, building upon it and repeating for maximum effect. Even when it deviates for a heavy, chugging bridge, it just rams home the motive again, repeating that catchy, huge chorus. The economy of style definitely will win many fans. Good stuff.
--Hat tip to Bob at Roadrunner AU.
Not being the biggest fan of KSE, I did admire the succinct and direct songwriting that they displayed on this track, their trending toward the 80s sound almost now a given. Its noteworthy that they use the same motive in all their riffs, building upon it and repeating for maximum effect. Even when it deviates for a heavy, chugging bridge, it just rams home the motive again, repeating that catchy, huge chorus. The economy of style definitely will win many fans. Good stuff.
--Hat tip to Bob at Roadrunner AU.
25.5.09
Yeah, Well, Cool.
I don't know about some people, but Twitter, the social media platform that I used to think was "Facebook without the Faces...or the books, for that matter" is just suited for my mind. In my schoolyard days, I would make quips and one-liners that would merely evaporate into the ether, never to be heard again. Then as time went on, writing for the satirical school magazines, I'd make up headlines without copy to go underneath - why should I? The headline was amusing enough, why sully it with even more words? If the joke delivers itself a laugh, why keep going and risk falling flat by adding more bullshit to it?
Trending topics like "failed TV pilots" allow for people to flex their creative muscle in a discrete format. I enjoy seeing some of the wonderful creations people come up with. Even better when others give me a "ReTweet" for something I've contributed.
Sure, some people (read: Elyse) think I'm a complete wanker, but for "media professionals" such as myself ("yeah, you're still retarded though" I can hear her say) that have something to say, no matter how condensed, it can be a very useful tool to connect to other people with. Doesn't that make you feel all special?
In actual news: I'm going to review about a million discs this month and I have an interview with Amorphis in the can. Sounds like...fun
Trending topics like "failed TV pilots" allow for people to flex their creative muscle in a discrete format. I enjoy seeing some of the wonderful creations people come up with. Even better when others give me a "ReTweet" for something I've contributed.
Sure, some people (read: Elyse) think I'm a complete wanker, but for "media professionals" such as myself ("yeah, you're still retarded though" I can hear her say) that have something to say, no matter how condensed, it can be a very useful tool to connect to other people with. Doesn't that make you feel all special?
In actual news: I'm going to review about a million discs this month and I have an interview with Amorphis in the can. Sounds like...fun
11.5.09
What do we call Metal?
Looking at various metal websites and publications, the new track produced by Blind Guardian for the Sacred 2 RPG (the inevitable formalizing of the relationship between Blind Guardian and uber-nerdy genre RPGs) has been described as "progressive metal." Recently, many bands have also been labeled as progressive. Now, the ultra-rigid pedantic metalhead bastard in me wants to scream "No it isn't!"; and well, using progressive as a catch-all term in metal seems apt, since "progressive" metal seems to be on a higher level of abstraction than most other sub-genres.
People use the word "progressive" as a synonym for "complex" which others take as "superior." Blind Guardian are the genre leaders of Power Metal and show more variation than repetition in their music. They are also ahead of their time in their approaches to songwriting. Hence the rationale behind "progressive." Black Metal are the most ardent Aristotelians; they class many black metal influenced bands, which would would be best termed under the umbrella of "black metal" as not, instead using the term for an elite cadre of bands that pioneered the genre. Since the cult-like fandom of black metal enthusiasts do not own the rights to the term, it is used much more liberally than they would care for. Also of note that the label of Progressive Metal has crept up to include non-Power Metal based bands such as Opeth, Gojira and Mastodon as of late, all bands that employ death vocals in preference to clean singing exclusively.
Thus more confusion abounds when describing "Heavy Metal" and "Metal" - the latter term in favor during the late 70s and early 90s until newer audiences lopped the "Heavy" from the name and merely used "Metal" to describe the entire genre. If you ask Gen X/Y's what Baby Boomers refer to as "Heavy Metal" they may agree on Iron Maiden and such, but beyond the 90s with the rise of melodic death, nu-metal and etc., the younger generation tend to get more specific while the older generation prefer to continue to use the term "Heavy Metal" instead.
Using an abstraction ladder, I believe that we can appropriately order the terms to avoid confusion, hence:
Blind Guardian -> Power Metal -> Progressive Metal -> Metal (or Heavy Metal)
Please note that Power Metal is not a direct subset of Progressive Metal. However the genre terms have yet to please anyone beyond doubt; the bar-room debate as to whether X band is part of Y genre shall inevitably continue as we both hear the same music flowing from our speakers but ultimately decide to call it something else.
People use the word "progressive" as a synonym for "complex" which others take as "superior." Blind Guardian are the genre leaders of Power Metal and show more variation than repetition in their music. They are also ahead of their time in their approaches to songwriting. Hence the rationale behind "progressive." Black Metal are the most ardent Aristotelians; they class many black metal influenced bands, which would would be best termed under the umbrella of "black metal" as not, instead using the term for an elite cadre of bands that pioneered the genre. Since the cult-like fandom of black metal enthusiasts do not own the rights to the term, it is used much more liberally than they would care for. Also of note that the label of Progressive Metal has crept up to include non-Power Metal based bands such as Opeth, Gojira and Mastodon as of late, all bands that employ death vocals in preference to clean singing exclusively.
Thus more confusion abounds when describing "Heavy Metal" and "Metal" - the latter term in favor during the late 70s and early 90s until newer audiences lopped the "Heavy" from the name and merely used "Metal" to describe the entire genre. If you ask Gen X/Y's what Baby Boomers refer to as "Heavy Metal" they may agree on Iron Maiden and such, but beyond the 90s with the rise of melodic death, nu-metal and etc., the younger generation tend to get more specific while the older generation prefer to continue to use the term "Heavy Metal" instead.
Using an abstraction ladder, I believe that we can appropriately order the terms to avoid confusion, hence:
Blind Guardian -> Power Metal -> Progressive Metal -> Metal (or Heavy Metal)
Please note that Power Metal is not a direct subset of Progressive Metal. However the genre terms have yet to please anyone beyond doubt; the bar-room debate as to whether X band is part of Y genre shall inevitably continue as we both hear the same music flowing from our speakers but ultimately decide to call it something else.
8.5.09
In Error
Well, what exactly have I been doing? Looking up websites. It's what I do. Oh, and try to transmit myself across the internet to the girl I'm totally in love with. So far it hasn't been working. I'll have to buy that plane ticket after all. Damn it all to hell!
Which is kind of daunting, to say the least. Arriving in Seppoland and getting all my necessary paperwork in order might just drive me batty. I'll be set up there in no time at all, I just don't have much fundamentals here, scarcely less than over there (but still more, damn you!). I'm sort of stuck, scrambling for ideas on how to pass myself off as a journalist when next to no-one believes that's what I (have been) do(ing) since I was in high school, essentially. Except for those 20 readers a day. I love YOU guys heaps.
I've got interviews set up with all kinds of interesting people; but I can't for the life of me figure out who wants to read about them. In a world that thrives on hearsay, uninterested as hapless facts look on in disillusion, what exactly do I do?
Which is kind of daunting, to say the least. Arriving in Seppoland and getting all my necessary paperwork in order might just drive me batty. I'll be set up there in no time at all, I just don't have much fundamentals here, scarcely less than over there (but still more, damn you!). I'm sort of stuck, scrambling for ideas on how to pass myself off as a journalist when next to no-one believes that's what I (have been) do(ing) since I was in high school, essentially. Except for those 20 readers a day. I love YOU guys heaps.
I've got interviews set up with all kinds of interesting people; but I can't for the life of me figure out who wants to read about them. In a world that thrives on hearsay, uninterested as hapless facts look on in disillusion, what exactly do I do?
2.5.09
Trivium - Corey Beaulieu Interview
An interview with my good friend (well, I have met him a few times - does that count?) Corey Beaulieu, guitarist for global metal giants Trivium. Be sure to read Buzz Magazine for more Trivium news this month!!!
---
Floridian metallers Trivium have a hectic tour schedule. As of publication, they would have already embarked on a trek through Canada with Slipknot then hopping over to Japan before touching down in Australia. Although the norm for places such as the United States and Europe, Trivium’s headlining tour comes with two other overseas bands, namely Germany’s Heaven Shall Burn and thrash metal neophytes Black Tide – a band with an average age of only seventeen. Talking with Corey Beaulieu, guitarist for the heavy metal hegemons, insists that he won’t do anything to corrupt their innocent minds while in Australia; he’s already done it for them.
“Well, we had them open a few shows for us back home a couple of years ago”, Corey reflects. “That was their first kind of mini-tour; we popped their ‘tour cherry’ in a way.
“We’ve seen them at various music awards but we haven’t toured with them since then, so they’ve come a long way since we played with them. It’ll be fun to play with them again. They’re Florida boys so it’ll be like ‘Florida reunites in Australia.’”
Despite a legion of vehement armchair-bound, Facebook toting detractors, Trivium have won over many metalheads in Australia with their latest record, Shogun, finishing with a peak ranking of #4 on the ARIA album charts; a feat that many metal bands could only dream of accomplishing. Corey says that he’s “really excited” by all the press and fan reaction to such a stellar result and their first ever Australian headlining tour.
“We’re really pumped to do a headlining tour for the record for the first time and Australia is one of the places where we’ve never done this sort of stuff before, so our fans haven’t seen the full, super-long Trivium set so its going to be fun to be able to do that because we’ve got a really killer set going too. Hopefully everyone has a chance to make it out to the show.”
Even though the set may be lengthy, Corey insists that fans may never get to hear the “sheer volume of material” in their vaults as Trivium’s well of inspiration seldom runs dry. Corey believes that the state of the music industry is changing and Trivium needs to lead the charge.
“Instead of recording 12 songs per record, we could easily go in and record something like 20 songs and then put out the record,” Corey muses. “Every three months or something or throughout the tour cycle we could put out a new song online. We could constantly feed people with new music, keep people involved.”
“We might write a record with a bunch of songs that don’t typically fit the tone of the [album]; we could put out a song that’s a little different from the record – you know, just to put out music that’s cool. We don’t [necessarily] have to put it on a record.”
“With the industry sort of suffering, you have to have a fresh approach on music and keeping people’s attention spans up.”
Will Corey weep for the decline of the humble compact disc? As a fan, yes. As a guitarist in a constantly touring metal band, seemingly not, as he revealed to me.
“When I was a kid I fuckin’ loved going down to the record store and buying new music – you know saying ‘that has a cool album cover, I’m going to buy it.’ But now out of the necessity of what I do and my traveling around, I started using iTunes. I got hooked on it; its just so easy, I click a button and I buy an album that I want. Sometimes some of the stuff I want to buy, record stores won’t even have because shelf space is declining. People can’t get the record they want unless they special order it or some shit.”
iTunes may have killed the CD star, but Beaulieu thinks that artists will get their just reward if they choose the digital route.
“It doesn’t cost a lot – well, any money to put a record up on iTunes. There are a lot of benefits to it but what you miss is the actual, physical product. But truth be told, the CD is kind of dying out. People just aren’t buying music any more and its hurting the whole business.”
Even though music is essentially being stolen via the internet, Corey doesn’t believe that Trivium will have to make their music “louder” as people move away from listening to music on their stereos with powerful speakers to iPods with the now ubiquitous tiny white earphones.
“Well, I’ve got the little earbuds that came with my iPhone, and they sound fuckin’ killer for their size.” He says, surprisingly.
“The technology that goes into what you’re listening to and to keep it at a really high quality is really advanced. It depends on what you’ve got. If you’re listening to a record via shitty equipment it’s still going to sound shitty no matter how good the production of the album was. I don’t think we should ‘dumb down’ or change ourselves sonically during recording to match what people are listening to us through.
“People should want to listen to music on high quality sound systems. It’ll just kick ass more.”
Those with the cash to splash on high-end sound kit should take note of the guitar tone on Shogun; the production into creating such an inimitable sound was meticulous to say the least.
“The reason it sounds so different is because there’s just so many angles of sound going into it,” Corey explains. “our producer [Nick Rasculinecz, also currently producing the new Alice in Chains album] knew a lot of old school tricks and would mix and match between ProTools and stuff used before then.”
“We might have been sitting there going ‘what the hell is he doing?’ when he was setting up an old studio trick from back in the day instead of using a plug-in tool or something like that. He’d actually go out and do something in the room to create the sound we wanted. He brought some different approaches to the record that we had never seen before.”
Was the band happy with the result?
“Oh yeah. We would never have been able to get some of the sounds we got without someone with the kind of experience he had. It was a lot of fun seeing him do some of the stuff he did.”
---
© Tom Valcanis / Crushtor Media Services, All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.
---
Floridian metallers Trivium have a hectic tour schedule. As of publication, they would have already embarked on a trek through Canada with Slipknot then hopping over to Japan before touching down in Australia. Although the norm for places such as the United States and Europe, Trivium’s headlining tour comes with two other overseas bands, namely Germany’s Heaven Shall Burn and thrash metal neophytes Black Tide – a band with an average age of only seventeen. Talking with Corey Beaulieu, guitarist for the heavy metal hegemons, insists that he won’t do anything to corrupt their innocent minds while in Australia; he’s already done it for them.
“Well, we had them open a few shows for us back home a couple of years ago”, Corey reflects. “That was their first kind of mini-tour; we popped their ‘tour cherry’ in a way.
“We’ve seen them at various music awards but we haven’t toured with them since then, so they’ve come a long way since we played with them. It’ll be fun to play with them again. They’re Florida boys so it’ll be like ‘Florida reunites in Australia.’”
Despite a legion of vehement armchair-bound, Facebook toting detractors, Trivium have won over many metalheads in Australia with their latest record, Shogun, finishing with a peak ranking of #4 on the ARIA album charts; a feat that many metal bands could only dream of accomplishing. Corey says that he’s “really excited” by all the press and fan reaction to such a stellar result and their first ever Australian headlining tour.
“We’re really pumped to do a headlining tour for the record for the first time and Australia is one of the places where we’ve never done this sort of stuff before, so our fans haven’t seen the full, super-long Trivium set so its going to be fun to be able to do that because we’ve got a really killer set going too. Hopefully everyone has a chance to make it out to the show.”
Even though the set may be lengthy, Corey insists that fans may never get to hear the “sheer volume of material” in their vaults as Trivium’s well of inspiration seldom runs dry. Corey believes that the state of the music industry is changing and Trivium needs to lead the charge.
“Instead of recording 12 songs per record, we could easily go in and record something like 20 songs and then put out the record,” Corey muses. “Every three months or something or throughout the tour cycle we could put out a new song online. We could constantly feed people with new music, keep people involved.”
“We might write a record with a bunch of songs that don’t typically fit the tone of the [album]; we could put out a song that’s a little different from the record – you know, just to put out music that’s cool. We don’t [necessarily] have to put it on a record.”
“With the industry sort of suffering, you have to have a fresh approach on music and keeping people’s attention spans up.”
Will Corey weep for the decline of the humble compact disc? As a fan, yes. As a guitarist in a constantly touring metal band, seemingly not, as he revealed to me.
“When I was a kid I fuckin’ loved going down to the record store and buying new music – you know saying ‘that has a cool album cover, I’m going to buy it.’ But now out of the necessity of what I do and my traveling around, I started using iTunes. I got hooked on it; its just so easy, I click a button and I buy an album that I want. Sometimes some of the stuff I want to buy, record stores won’t even have because shelf space is declining. People can’t get the record they want unless they special order it or some shit.”
iTunes may have killed the CD star, but Beaulieu thinks that artists will get their just reward if they choose the digital route.
“It doesn’t cost a lot – well, any money to put a record up on iTunes. There are a lot of benefits to it but what you miss is the actual, physical product. But truth be told, the CD is kind of dying out. People just aren’t buying music any more and its hurting the whole business.”
Even though music is essentially being stolen via the internet, Corey doesn’t believe that Trivium will have to make their music “louder” as people move away from listening to music on their stereos with powerful speakers to iPods with the now ubiquitous tiny white earphones.
“Well, I’ve got the little earbuds that came with my iPhone, and they sound fuckin’ killer for their size.” He says, surprisingly.
“The technology that goes into what you’re listening to and to keep it at a really high quality is really advanced. It depends on what you’ve got. If you’re listening to a record via shitty equipment it’s still going to sound shitty no matter how good the production of the album was. I don’t think we should ‘dumb down’ or change ourselves sonically during recording to match what people are listening to us through.
“People should want to listen to music on high quality sound systems. It’ll just kick ass more.”
Those with the cash to splash on high-end sound kit should take note of the guitar tone on Shogun; the production into creating such an inimitable sound was meticulous to say the least.
“The reason it sounds so different is because there’s just so many angles of sound going into it,” Corey explains. “our producer [Nick Rasculinecz, also currently producing the new Alice in Chains album] knew a lot of old school tricks and would mix and match between ProTools and stuff used before then.”
“We might have been sitting there going ‘what the hell is he doing?’ when he was setting up an old studio trick from back in the day instead of using a plug-in tool or something like that. He’d actually go out and do something in the room to create the sound we wanted. He brought some different approaches to the record that we had never seen before.”
Was the band happy with the result?
“Oh yeah. We would never have been able to get some of the sounds we got without someone with the kind of experience he had. It was a lot of fun seeing him do some of the stuff he did.”
---
© Tom Valcanis / Crushtor Media Services, All Rights Reserved. Posted with permission.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)