Metal Militia: Spreading the Disease

[Lysandros]

Speaking of out of the loop.....

A friend stuck their boot up my ..... and chastized my dereliction of metal duty!

Well, perhaps here. But I assue you my leather clad denizens of doom that I have carried on the crusade.

What can I say after all this time? Probably the same old same old Moonbiter would say.

New Entombed EP bodes well for the forthcoming Serpent SaintS record. I expect nothing less than album of the year on this one.

New Maiden is baffling. Half hour too long, severely tests our endurance.

Going to see Celtic Frost and 1349 in a few weeks.

When I was 15, if someone said "Here is a heavy metal band that sings about pirates." I would have been in heaven. 15 years too late, I find myself listening to Runnng Wild.

Have a new Gibson Les Paul, really sweet.

Do people still read LOTR these days? That's so....2002. LOL

Jon Notveidt . Reinkaos sucked as well.

My province here in Canada tossed 3 teenagers into jail for burning down an historic church. Wouldn't you know it, they listen to Burzum....sigh.

And last but not least, blood is still drying in Montreal and they are already pointing out that the gunman "liked Megadeth". Like Dave Mustaine did a bad job of bringing the guy up...

I DID see Judas Priest last winter and it was absolutely stellar. Two hours of glory, Tipton fudged the Painkiller solo and they didn't play Exciter but man was it great! Victim of Changes; now that is something!

Saw Behemoth (pretty good) and saw Dark Tranquility(lame)/Opeth (not as good as last time).

New Enslaved "RUUN" = 9/10

People are raving about the new Deicide record...yeah its pretty cool, for a VITAL REMAINS album. But what else is Benton going to do, no one cares about a cross-branded forehead on a dude pushing 40.

What else?

That's all I got. BTW - I am alive and doing fine. Still taking a break from school but job is great. Winnipeg still smells bad. Tremolo picking is getting there.

Take care out there. Keep the heavy metal faith alive. I might check back in, unprompted even. Thanks Bardhwyn.

[Monoceros]

Lysandros, great you're still checking TORC.

Hmm, really want to get new Enslaved, but it's soo difficult here. Heard new Slayer and Vader. I liked both, but my friends keep telling that they're not playing anything new anymore.

Speaking about Dave, Gigantour is on already. My friend in AUS is seeing Arch Enemy on October, 24. *envious* Already bought a ticket.

And Behemoth... some folks say they're selling out just because of the amount of shows and tours. Well, dunno, guys are great and I don't really care. Besides, I met so many great folks on their official forum. People are just great there!

I'm a little busy with Uni now, hopefully will be back with something more sensible soon.

Cheers, everyone!

[Bardhwyn]

You're welcome, Lys.

[Lysandros]

Lysandros, great you're still checking TORC.

Hmm, really want to get new Enslaved, but it's soo difficult here. Heard new Slayer and Vader. I liked both, but my friends keep telling that they're not playing anything new anymore.

Speaking about Dave, Gigantour is on already. My friend in AUS is seeing Arch Enemy on October, 24. *envious* Already bought a ticket.

And Behemoth... some folks say they're selling out just because of the amount of shows and tours. Well, dunno, guys are great and I don't really care. Besides, I met so many great folks on their official forum. People are just great there!

I'm a little busy with Uni now, hopefully will be back with something more sensible soon.

Cheers, everyone!

Behemoth sell out? I can't imagine that. They toured, cross-Canada in the middle of winter. And I don't mean they played Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver...they played EVERYWHERE. It was something like 15 shows in 3 weeks. I have never seen an underground Euro-band tour Canada like that. They get infernal hails for being such road-dogs!

New Amon Amarth! YAAAAY! No real surprises per se, except that the Jens Bogren (Opeth- Ghost Reveries) production ensures that every aspect of the album is terrific. Fate of Norns was excellent but the production was awful, they had to completely re-do the production just to get something sell-able....ANyway, With Oden on Our Side is just fantastic. Makes me want to polish the chain mail and go out on raid!

I have not heard the new Slayer album, but I agree with your friends Monoceros, nothing new happening with them. Reign in Blood is about all we need.

New Entombed and My Dying Bride this month. 2006 is becoming a great year for metal....:
Amorphis - Eclipse (New Singer + Kalevala = Happy Me)
Amon Amarth - With Oden on Our Side
Enslaved - Ruun
Dismember - The God that Never Was (Dismember is brutal; guaranteed)
Akercocke - Words that Go Unspoken, Deeds that Go Undone (Rush + Death Metal!)
Celtic Frost - Monotheist (sludgy goodness)
Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (frosty urban gloom)
Korpiklaani - Tales From this Road (drunken Finnish glee)
The Sword - Age of Winters (best attempt at doom-rock since Kyuss)
Therion - Celebrators of Becoming (DVD)

[Monoceros]

They get infernal hails for being such road-dogs!

Yea, guys are great! And I don't really care about what negotive people are thinking.

BTW, Behemoth reissued their demo albums as Demonica in one box set. Limted

I'll add some more to your list

Those ones are already out, but I haven't got them yet. It'll take some time

Venom - Metal Black
Satyricon - Now, Diabolical
Sinister - Afterburner
Zyklon - Disintegrate
Carpathian Forest -
Koldbrann - Alt er Befengt
Gorgoroth -
SYL - The New Black
Deicide - The Stench of Redemption
Napalm Death - Smear Campaign
Suffocation - Suffocation

And Yes! Blind Guardian's new record. Waited it for 4 years.

[Didi]

have made a cd list, am nearing the 200 now
http://www.cd-tracker.com/item_list_v2. ... &order_by=
still not enough thou...=)

I buy too few recent cds tho, im still collecting many older works...

[Moonbiter]

24 posts in an entire year! Don't tell me you people have suddenly gotten lives! Then again, I haven't been too active myself...

Well, up here on The Reef it has been pretty quiet on the metal front. I haven't actually seen a gig in ages, except for Maiden this week. That was an interesting experience. They played the entire new album, and only put in 5 old classics at the end. One would think that would be a complete musical suicide, but the audience LOVED it! People knew the song, headbanged away like nothing was different. THAT is truly impressive! Not many bands have the fanbase to be able to perform a stunt like that, but Maiden pulled it off spectacularily!

I think that was the only gig I saw in 2006! Hmmmm, no.. wait. I saw Gamma Ray last spring, and it was a great gig! Oh, and I saw The Cramps this summer, which was superb as usual. Apart from that, only a couple of local bands. So that's 3 gigs in a year. It used to be at least 20. Not that it's my fault. there simply wasn't any interesting bands touring. WASP? I've seen them 12 times. Slayer? No thanks, twice is enough. Sweden Rock sucked this year. I had seen every interesting band on the program at least 5 times... Which left me with the increasingly desperate panda-brigade, and their endless side projects. These guys are sooo lame. "Hey, I have a great idea! Let's switch instruments, call ourselves OrcJöckStrappur and play all our old songs backwards. The audience won't hear the difference anyway! We can postpone having to get real jobs for at least one more tour of East European cornfield festivals!"

The greatest moment came some months ago when a very "evil" guitarplayer was discovered playing in the backing band of a gospel choir!

Well, it's either that or Burger King....

I got the new Rammstein DVD "Völkerball" in the DeeeeLuxe 3 disk package, so now I'm happy. Apart from that? Hmmmm, I haven't bought much music lately. Let's see... The Eagles of Death Metal's latest... a bunch of new Brit bands like Tokyo Dragons, Roadstar, Dragonforce, Towers of London etc. That's mostly it. Now let's see if we can get some more posts in here before the end of the year....

[Monoceros]

Moonbiter, yay, managed to come here before the New Year!

Didi, great list! I do feel need to do something like that with all my stuff. Guess I'm just too lazy.

Oh, what's new? From the list of CD's I wanted to buy this year I managed to get only Amon Amarth and Korpiklaani. Too busy with my study to search for them. Been several times to local gigs, that's a lot comparing to previous year.

Guess that's it. Almost nothing new.

Oh, btw, Merry Christmas and a heavy nu yeah!

[Moonbiter]

Well Mono, nice of you to drop by! The mighty metal hordes seem slightly less horde-ish these days…

The coolest happening in 2006 can be summed up for me by two words: Chrome Division. When this crew released their debut album “Doomsday Rock’n’Roll” in July, it caused near total panic amongst the pandas. Why? Well, the band consists of some of the nastiest luminaries of Extreme Metal in Norway, teamed up with some genuine rock’n’roll lowlifes of the blues and boogie scene. The fact that they signed a three record deal with Nuclear Blast led to wild speculations and near hysteria amongst the black’n’burp metal fans.
The main reason is that the band was started by none other than Shagrath, taking on the role of band leader, songwriter and rhythm guitarist. Most people know him as the spiky-nasty-panda-thingy warbling incomprehensible drivel as the frontman for Black Metal kings Dimmu Borgir. Seeing him in a denim vest and wifebeater shades, Les Paul swung low, was enough to give the collective Black Metal community a thrombosis. Was this the end? Was Dimmu Borgir breaking up? To add insult to injury the band also features members of Ashes To Ashes, Minas Tirith and other bands sacred to the pandas, dressed in classic rock’n’roll regalia, even sporting t-shirts promoting Elvis, Chuck Berry and the Stones. They’re even seen smiling in promo pics! Shock! Death! Horror!
The fact is that Chrome Division is a blessing, and an opportunity for the band and especially Shagrath to show how immensely versatile and brilliant they are as musicians. These guys are true rockers by heart, far above and beyond the rather limited guidelines set by their respective main bands. They incorporate the sounds of all their main influences of old, throwing them into a big pot and bringing it to the boiling point. Sounding like Motorhead and Zodiac Mindwarp high on the hog, jamming tunes by Iron Maiden, WASP, Thin Lizzy, Running Wild, Krokus and Twisted Sister, it’s pure headbanging bliss. The musicianship is astonishing, and the lads seem to be enjoying themselves like I haven’t seen in a long time.
The only cloud on the horizon for me is that a short chat with singer Eddie at an Oslo watering hole a few weeks back revealed that they have no set live dates. *sigh* What a shame! This is a band that is perfect for a Saturday nite of unfiltered fun and debauchery. Hopefully they’ll organize something after Shagrath finishes recording the new Dimmu album, but I’m not holding my breath.

Welcome to 2007, metal heads!

[Lysandros]

I can well imagine the conflicted horror felt by the black metal masses with the advent of bands like Chrome Division and Abbath's I project. Neither thrilled me much but nevertheless its nice to see since it seems like Gluecifer was the hard-rocking anomaly for the longest time! Speaking of which Moonbiter, if you still have the Captain's ear, tell him we all miss the Kings of Rock. I actually was down in Cuba last year and some Norwegian dudes were stunned that I was a massive fan of their hometown heroes. hahaha.

Black Sabbath is touring again....ooops, sorry Sharon...I mean Heaven and Hell are touring again. Sabbath-Dio era lineup. Can't wait to see them next month. I have seen neither Dio nor Sabbath ever. Megadeth opens, another band I should have seen like 15 years ago.

And maybe even more exiting, Paul Dianno is playing a local wino-bin. It will probably be lame but as long as he plays running free I will be thrilled!

[SmogsFlame]

I don't know "exactly" if you'd call Rob Zombie and Five Bolt Main "metal" bands but their both good. I also like Slipnot, Korn, and System of a Down. I started out liking the "light" rock better, thinking that hard rock/metal were like bad or whatever (I don't even remember). But now...the harder the better.

[Lysandros]

Just a summary of shows:

Paul DiAnno - Well, don't get me wrong, he tries really hard. Fact is, DiAnno is in horrible physical shape. He needed a handler to help him walk through the club to the loo for pete's sake. The man can barely walk, and as he joked at one point through his set, "The leg will probably be comin' off this year." Ole' Paul has made every poor decision possible during his life and rather sadly, he definitely knows it and knows he can't help it one bit. His set was split almost half solo stuff, half Maiden tunes with his faithful French-Canadian Maiden cover band backing. The band churned out the Maiden stuff very well, better than most backing bands I have heard play behind "The Beast". When Paul had to exit stage left at several points during the proceedings to rest his leg the cover band ripped through some Maiden instrumental classics, Transylvania being particularly frenetic. Paul's voice is pretty much garbage, at times hitting on the golden tones of yore, more often simply shouting and hoping the crowd would fill in. Highlights were predictably Phantom of the Opera and Runnign free. Lowlights were the Ramones cover! 6.5/10

Down/Megadeth/Heaven and Hell: Disappointment of the night was that Down was supposedly off the bill due to bronchitis and as a result Megadeth would play extra time. Sadly, Down turned up and Phil Anselmo polluted the air with his stoner diatribes. Weak. Megadeth had the crowd electrified, tearing through some classic stuff and closing with Hanger 18/Holy Wars. Totally great! Dave, I swear, looks the same as he did 20 years ago and time has not dulled the technical prowess of this craftiest of Bay Area bashers. Sabbath up next, the stage an awesome gothic castle set, ponderous crosses and cemetary fences with fog a-plenty. Dio easily shows himself as a geriatric howler on par with Halford and Dickenson. No wonder that they tour under the Heaven and Hell moniker, playing ONLY Dio era material, as Ozzy's vocals so disgrace that name and it would, to be frank, be embarassing to have Dio go out and sing the classic Sabbath stuff better than Ozzy has belted it in 10 years. Dio was totally killer. Unfortunately he had only the borderline Tier 2 material to delve into. Some Dio-era nonsense is really cool, but with a 100 minute set, if you tossed those tracks on a mix tape, you'd be pretty bored. Best tracks were of course Heaven and Hell, Sign of the Southern Cross and Die Young! Appice's drum solo was weak. The crowd (well-sized) clearly was itching for some more uptempo doom, but a plethora of plodding dreary epics abounded. Mob Rules and Neon Nights being the only fist pumpers. Bottom line, I can't wait for Megadeth to come back as a headliner and Heaven and Hell garners a 7.5/10.

Nothing new otherwise up here in the Great White North.

[Lysandros]

Well, just another concert update...

Dimmu Borgir/Unearth/Kataklysm
Oddly enough, Katklysm had the best sound of the night, by far. Everything was crystal clear and it made for a hard thrashing affair. Their drummer is quite the blastbeater, zipping out bursts and muting those cymbals like none I have seen. Otherwise, fairly pedestrian death metal. Unearth were your typical US-metalcore stuff, but they get points for being the most energetic band of the evening, even doing sychronized leaps off the drum riser. Dimmu was alright, mainly by nature of their material. They did very little on stage, and with low lighting you could barely see anything anyway. 7/10

Amon Amarth
Ok, so Goatwhore was the opener and Darkest Hour were the closer...who cares? I was there to see Amon Amarth, much like everyone else in the beer splashed bowels of the Royal Albert Arms. They were stellar, holding forth over the proceedings like the viking lords they are. Short, 40 minute set, included nothing earlier than stuff from The Crusher album. But to judge by the plastic swords held aloft by the many happy constituents, it was all good. I really hope they come back as a headliner. Lowlight was a buddy of mine getting elbowed in the face during the encore performance of The Pursuit of Vikings and the ensuing (altogether out of character) bar brawl I was compelled to be party to subsequently.

Clutch
One of the tightest bands I have ever seen live. One of the worst encores I have ever seen live.

[Canamarth]

Just saying hi, really, and pointing Lysandros into the Bowmen of Dale thread.

Alright and for something on-topic. I've been to the "Rock im Park" festival this year.
http://bands.rock-im-park.de/
Been to the Alterna stage and saw a few loud heavy metal bands I didn't really know but have to admit I mostly stayed around Centre stage where I listened and danced to the likes of KoRn, Muse, Billy Talent, Kaiser Chiefs, The Hives, Beatsteaks, Die Ärzte. What can I say? I think I slipped a bit into punk. Though I still like my metal CDs, of course.

[Bardhwyn]

And I am saying hi, point BOTH Canamarth and Lysandros to the Bowmen of Dale thread, for old times sake.

Miss you two.

[Canamarth]

It is taking ages but it seems the Dalers are all drawn back to this thread at one time or another. Interesting. Does that mean Dale men and women have especially good taste?

Back on topic. Will again attend Rock im Park this year, after having been there the last two years. Last year's highlights were definitely Coheed & Cambria, Disturbed and Metallica. This time there'll be such illustrous bands as

2raumwohnung
Alexisonfire
All That Remains
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Basement Jaxx
Biffy Clyro
Billy Talent
Black Stone Cherry
Bloc Party
Bring Me The Horizon
Chester French
Chris Cornell
Dir En Grey
Dragonforce
Dredg
Enter Shikari
Esser
Expatriate
Five Finger Death Punch
Flogging Molly
Gallows
Guano Apes
Hollywood Undead
Ich Bin Bunt
Jan Delay & Disko No. 1
Juliette Lewis
Kettcar
Kilians
Killswitch Engage
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Korn
Limp Bizkit
Little Man Tate
Machine Head
Madina Lake
Madness
Mando Diao
Marilyn Manson
MIA.
Middle Class Rut
New Found Glory
Pain
Papa Roach
Peter Fox
Peter, Bjoern & John
Phoenix
Placebo
Polarkreis 18
Razorlight
Reamonn
Scouting For Girls
Selig
Sevendust
Shinedown
Slipknot
Staind
SteadlÃ1/4r
Sugarplum Fairy
The All American Rejects
The Crave
The Gaslight Anthem
The Killers
The Kooks
The Prodigy
The Rifles
The Script
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives (OEOC)
The Subways
Tomte
Trivium
Volbeat
White Lies

I have highlighted the ones I am particularly looking forward to. Anyone else going on some festivals this year? Or some tips on the bands that are attending Rock im Park? Something I must see?

[Grimmodhr]

Im a Big fan of Black Metal I like Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon,Emporer, Immortal, Darkthrone, Burzum, Khold, Mayhem. And many others and a big fan of metal generally I was fortunate to see Black Sabbath at the Birmingham NEC in 1999 it was a truly momentous occasion to see the original line up they opened with War pigs it was awesome Love every minute of it, Have seen Iron Maiden a couple of times the best was on the Powerslave tour in 1984 at The Bristol Hippodrome with Waysted supporting that was an excellent gig especally when Eddie walked on stage cant remember the set they played but it was a cracking show I also like Korpiklaani i have Korven Kuningas which is a belter of an album id love to see them at festival that would be great

[Canamarth]

Hail and well met, Grimmodhr.

Have to admit I don't know many of those bands but really would have liked seeing Black Sabbath live.

Alright, now for the bands I saw live at Rock im Park this year - so as not to keep you waiting till next; and yes, I realise not all of them really fit into a metal thread.

Kettcar:
Not much rush at the Alterna Stage yet, so we stood comfortably right in front of the band. Some nice goose bumps-songs and a great relaxed way to start the festival.

Billy Talent:
Move to Center Stage where we saw the Canadian band for the second time. It’s been a ride two years ago and good fun this year as well.

MIA:
Treck back to Alterna Stage where we saw most of MIA’s concert. And what a surprise that proved to be. Interesting show in which Mieze got changed for almost every song. A totally happy-go-lucky atmosphere and people dancing left, right and centre. Great, great fun!

The Kooks:
The concert we had been waiting for. Certainly alright but nothing too memorable.

Razorlight:
Great songs to sing along to. Singer looked as if he’d been bitten by Vampire recently. Too much sex, drugs & rock ’n’ roll?

Placebo:
Wow. Bought the new album just after the weekend. We could see that the band just had great fun making music together. No matter how many people were watching, they just shone at each other and played.

Marilyn Manson:
Too many people in the audience at the too small Alterna Stage who just wanted to mosh. Hardly anyone knew the texts to the songs so the atmosphere just didn’t catch. Highlight was the mobile phone he took from some guy in the first row to dial guy’s mom. “Hi, this is Marilyn Manson …”.

Bloc Party:
After some torrential rain, a welcome band to dance oneself dry again and sing till one’s voice gave out. Great live band.

Slipknot:
A theory I formed over the last two years was confirmed during the concert: Those who make the loudest music, those who make the scariest first impression are really the nicest guys. Ok, every second word was f...(ing) but – if you concentrated on the message – the lead singer said only the nicest things. He thanked everyone for turning up in this bad weather, thanked all the fans who supported the band, said we should all be true to ourselves, and told us to take care of each other. Love, peace and scary masks – yes, they go along fine together.

… And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead:
Finally a first venture to the Club Stage. And what a cool band with two sets of drums that made the according noise.

[Grimmodhr]

Hail Canamarth seems like you had a good time at the festival, Id be interested in seeing Slipknot ive got some of their stuff on compilation cds and on a Metal Hammer dvd Pulse of Maggots live at A Japanese festival was most impressed The festivals I would like to go to would be Hellfest at Clisson France had great lineup this year but "being poorer than a disabled banana" couldnt afford to go Also Wacken in Germany thats in August and Tuska in Finland would be good too. Black Sabbath was truly amazing though that gig will live with me until the end of my days

[Canamarth]

Have to say I'd also like to go to Wacken just for the fun of seeing that small village at the edge of nowhere overrun by all those metal fans. Have to check the dates cause I will be in Northern Germany in August some time.

The Slipknot concert was definitely worth seeing. Especially as they made everyone kneel and jump up at the same time at the end of the concert. Great view from the back then.

[Grimmodhr]

Have just looked on the officail Wacken website, and sadly it has sold out but the lineup looks really good. Here are some of the bands id like to see, Amon Amarth, Borknagar, Cathedral, Enslaved, Korpiklaani, Lacuna Coil, Napalm Death among a whole load of bands id be interested in seeing. I know what you mean about people jumping at gigs, we did it when I went to see Page and Plant at Manchester in 1998 great gig it was too

[Canamarth]

Ok, let's see. If I went to Wacken I would definitely want to see:

BossHoss
Coheed & Cambria
In Extremo
Motörhead
Running Wild
Thin Lizzy
UFO

(watch the old guys before they drop dead, you see )

Then I'd go and see some out of sheer curiosity, though I don't know any of their work, really:

Amon Amarth (good name that )
Anthrax
Doro
Machine Head
Mambo Kurt
Napalm Death
Rage
Saxon
Schandmaul
Subway to Sally
Whiplash

[Grimmodhr]

Good idea to see the old ones, been fortunate enough to see Motorhead and UFO both really great gigs especially Motorhead Lemmy is a very charimatic character with his inbetween song talk Amon Amarth are excellent their from Sweden and play Death Metal one of my favourite tracks by them is Fate of Norns that song is killer id like to get their dvd Wrath of The Norsemen its three disc set I think on of them is from an earlier show at Wacken Saxon would be a good band to see liked them for years but havent got round to see them.

[Canamarth]

I'm usually not a big Death Metal fan. I like to be able to "sing along". But I'll check Amon Amarth out via Amazon and I-Tunes. See if it catches my fancy.

Yep, Lemmy was definitely cool on the stage.

Guess my favourite metal bands at the moment are Coheed & Cambria and Disturbed. Melodic and nice voices. I'm a softie, you know.

[Grimmodhr]

Amon Amarth are heavy but melodic too I strongly recomend them as I mentioned in my first post im a big fan of Black Metal but I do like other categories of metal not familiar with Coheed & Cambria though what do they sound like? Melodic sing along stuff I like are Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil and Lordi who are great love that band

[Canamarth]

Hm, Coheed and Cambria are maybe a bit Nightwishy.

Click on "Reinhören" under "Hörbeispiele". The first two songs are slow starters. But they all get loud in the end.

[Grimmodhr]

Cheers for the link cana il check it out by your description they sound pretty good. The only thing ive got is an interview on the golden gods, metal hammer dvd.

Are you into any NWOBHM? stuff like Jaguar, Demon, Tigers of Pan Tang, Angelwitch, Raven, Handsome Beasts, Tytan Witchfynde, & Witchfinder General im lucky enough to havesome of this stuff on vynyl from years ago all really great bands worth checking out

[Canamarth]

Had to google that. But hey, I'm not British, so I'm allowed to.

Haven't heard of those bands. They all sound rather beastly.

[Grimmodhr]

Fair comment but there are some gems to be found if you trawl back through the annals of metal history

[Canamarth]

No disputing that. Recently heard a bit of Black Sabbath and was quite delighted.