Basement Galaxy

The Best of the Year So Far...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:13:00 EST

What can I say, the first six months of 2008 have been pretty great. A couple of amazing trips, a bunch of memorable shows, and a good helping of fabulous music. It's going to be tough to beat last year, which was one of the best years for new music (for me, anyway) in a long time, but things have been solid so far. Some disappointments, none bigger than the Hold Steady, who have sputtered on their much-anticipated fourth album, and some surprises, none bigger than a Swedish singer-songwriter, whose single charmed me in January, whose live show charmed me in February, and whose album continues as my most-played title of the year so far. What hasn't been surprising is the consistency of a band like the one below, who went into 2008 as my prediction for my top choice, and have delivered in a huge way, reinventing themselves on their ninth album. So, without further ado...

The Best Album of the Year So Far:

Opeth - Watershed
Opeth is the best metal band in the world today, mainly because they continue to raise the bar with every release, challenging themselves, challenging their fans, and daring their peers to top what they've just done. This time, the follow-up to Ghost Reveries, my 2005 album of the year, just might be even better than its predecessor, as the band continues to refine its blend of monstrous death-inspired metal, labyrinthine arrangements reminiscent of early-70s progressive rock, and acoustic fare similar to that of Nick Drake. There are improvements on every front: guitarist Fredrik Akesson and drummer Martin Axenrot are superb new additions, proving their many doubters wrong, Mikael Akerfeldt continues to improve as a singer, and there's more emphasis on mood than ever before, with plenty of creepy enhancements to the arrangements. It's an eclectic album, ranging from the bleak beauty of "Heir Apparent", to the psychotic nine minute suite "The Lotus Eater", to the drop-dead gorgeous epic ballad "Burden", but everything meshes exceptionally well, that unsettling vibe underscoring every track. These guys just keep getting better as each year passes, and if a late-2008 title is going to top this one, it's going to have to be an awfully great piece of work. The gauntlet has been thrown, and we'll see if anyone answers to Opeth's challenge.

And as per usual, here are the ten leading contenders for my year-end top twenty, in alphabetical order:

Black Mountain - In the Future
Canada's indie rock darlings from the West Coast obliterated their acclaimed debut with an epic slab of bombastic prog rock infused with a major stoner rock influence. Hippy-dippy lyrics, huge riffs, wicked grooves, 15 minute songs, and a killer live show...easily my choice for Canadian album of the year.

Disfear - Live the Storm
Some hardcore purists were put off when the d-beat Swedes added crisper production and an undeniable Motorhead element, but personally, I think it's the perfect move, making for THE crossover album of 2008. Simple, straightforward songs that straddle punk and metal, with incredible production by the great Kurt Ballou...if you like rock 'n' roll at all, you will love this album.

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
When I first heard Goldfrapp's fourth album last November, it seemed likable enough, but it just hung around and hung around, the stripped-down approach a perfect change from the past two albums, the more acoustic-oriented arrangements benefiting greatly from the duo's classy, slightly eccentric personalities. Their best work since Felt Mountain.

Jucifer - L'Autrichienne
A 79 minute album based on the life of Marie Antoinette, packed with 21 songs that run the gamut from Southern rock, to stoner, to drone, to country, to folk, to crust punk, there's a heckuvalot to digest on Jucifer's latest, but the versatile guitar and vocals of Amber Valentine make this audacious album work extraordinarily well.

Krallice - Krallice
On the surface, this is nothing but straightforward black metal, but Krallice's uniqueness lies in the presence of guitarists Mick Barr and Colin Marston, who both bring a level of technical wizardry rarely heard in such a primal, ambiance-focused genre. Add plenty of melodic passages that rival the early-90s work of Burzum, and you've got one of the year's best metal records.

Lukestar - Lake Toba
One of my personal Norwegian discoveries, this band is huge over there, and for good reason. Their second album combines classic emo (circa Sunny Day Real Estate) with an ethereal quality, thanks to a singer who employs an otherworldly falsetto, but what grabs you in the end are the astonishing hooks this album brings time and again.

Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Truly one of a kind, 22 year-old Lykke Li Zachrisson offers a quirky little twist on Swedish pop music, with melodies as catchy as her countrymate Robyn, but the production by Bjorn Yttling ingeniously focusing on a subtle, minimal, acoustic feel, enhancing such tracks as "Dance Dance Dance", "Window Blues", and "Little Bit". A brilliant debut.

Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner
The Brooklyn critical faves take a huge step forward, completing a three-album arc that any band would kill for. The band is still as abrasive and confrontational as ever, but the music breathes more, and more instrumental variety is brought in, allowing singer Julie Christmas to deliver her finest performance on record to date.

Meshuggah - obZen
After the very disappointing Catch Thirty-Three, the Swedish metal greats regained their form with an album that combines elements from their past albums, and what obZen lacks in innovation is more than made up for it in the searing performances, highlighted by the virtuosic drumming of Tomas Haake and the sublime solos of Fredrik Thordendal.

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1
The scourge of underground black metal scenesters, the Chicago band has done the unthinkable, blending the chilly atmospherics of black metal with the sumptuous, sedate arrangements of Pink Floyd. Clearly a bid for the big time, Nachtmystium fully deserves any success, regardless of what the elitists say.

Lastly, here are my ten favourite singles of the first half of 2008:

1. Lykke Li - "I'm Good, I'm Gone" (video)
2. Paramore - "That's What You Get" (video)
3. Goldfrapp - "A&E" (video)
4. Drive-By Truckers - "Righteous Path" (video)
5. Lykke Li - "Little Bit" (video)
6. Sambassadeur - "Subtle Changes" (video)
7. Ladytron - "Ghosts" (video)
8. Lukestar - "White Shade" (video)
9. Weezer - "Pork and Beans" (video)
10. Nick Cave - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" (video)

Let There Be Rock!

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:46:00 EST

I honestly didn't think I would ever get to see the Drive-By Truckers in person. I've been such a big fan of theirs since I lucked into a copy of Southern Rock Opera after a year and a half of searching for it, and since then I've seen them evolve into the greatest rock 'n' roll band in America today. And while I have the live DVD, as well as a bunch of bootlegged shows on CD, DBT, despite being the road dogs that they are, have never ventured past Vancouver and Toronto. While all the indie scenesters in those cities pretended to be rednecks, the real Canadian rednecks were being neglected. Miraculously they announced a small Western tour this spring, and the band's show at Calgary's Sled Island festival would eventually lead to a Saskatoon date, thanks to the surprise cancellation of the Edmonton show, which freed up a date between Calgary and Winnipeg.And the good folks at Amigos smartly jumped at the opportunity...and just like that, the DBT were coming to Toon Town.

And it sure was great to see the small, 230 capacity club packed with people. It was 80 degrees at 10:30 pm, so it was incredibly hot in there, and we all sweat buckets. It was also great to see them move aside those annoying tables that clog up the middle of the club, allowing for more people to get into the show. And aside from the odd twits who couldn't grasp the fact that when you leave your spot at a club show, you RELINQUISH that spot, the folks were raucous but very well behaved. DBT's pretty much a word-of-mouth kind of band, and being their first show ever here, I wasn't too sure what the reception would be like, but there were tons of genuine fans shouting out the lyrics. And the band was awesome, extremely tight...Patterson Hood is quite the showman, Mike Cooley's supercool, playing to the crowd during hid flashy solos, and John Neff is a real good addition, understated, but he brings so much depth on guitar and pedal steel. Shonna Tucker was most impressive...she's a tiny thing, but she's as good a bassist as you'll ever come across. Hood kept talking about how much they liked Saskatoon, how they're amazed that somewhere so far away from home could be just like home. Which is true, Alberta/Sask is Canada's version of the South. And he pronounced Saskatchewan properly, something you never see a Southerner do!

As for the songs played, opening with "Tornadoes" was a cool surprise. Live staple "The Living Bubba" was passed over (but the oft-played "18 Wheels of Love" was performed, complete with an revised extended intro, featuring a touching follow-up story by Hood), and nothing from Decoration Day was pulled out, but they did a ton of stuff off Southern Rock Opera, and they pulled out a couple of oldies in "Panties in Your Purse" and "Buttholeville". The new stuff sounded great, especially "The Opening Act". Personal faves? "Let There Be Rock", "Tornadoes", "Zip City", "Buttholeville", "The Righteous Path". Here's the setlist...I know the order of the first few and the last few, and the rest in the middle is just a big jumble:

Tornadoes
Where the Devil Don't Stay
Self Destructive Zones
That Man I Shot
Home Field Advantage
Ronnie and Neil
The Company I Keep
Dead, Drunk and Naked
The Opening Act
3 Dimes Down
The Righteous Path
Panties in Your Purse
A Ghost to Most
Guitar Man Upstairs
Zip City
18 Wheels of Love
Shut Up and Get on the Plane

Encore:
Women Without Whiskey
Let There Be Rock
Buttholeville
State Trooper
People Who Died

Over the last two months I've been so incredibly lucky to see four shows by four of my all-time favorite bands (Meshuggah, Rush, Iron Maiden, Drive-By Truckers), and going into 2008, I didn't expect to see any of them at all. And every show was perfect in its own way. A spring/early summer to remember...

Oh, and tomorrow, my annual Best of the Year So Far list! It's been a good first six months, so stay tuned.

Whoops, this post has been RSSed a day late...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:58:00 EST

New stuff! First of all, my latest Blood & Thunder column appeared yesterday, and it's a good one, all about Brooklyn's amazing Made Out of Babies, their incredibly talented singer Julie Christmas, and their flat-out brilliant new album The Ruiner. Julie was a great pleasure to talk to, and is actually one of the more articulate people I've interviewed, serving up no shortage of good quotes. But most importantly, as a vocalist she's something to behold, especially on the new CD, which trounces the band's previous two efforts. As she mentions in the article, they spent a lot more time on this one than the last two albums, putting more focus on her astounding vocal range, the end result being one of the very best albums of the year, easily. They're still as confrontational and unsettling as ever, but this time they've allowed more room for the music to breathe, for melodies to dominate more than before, and arrangements to be considerably more dynamic, quieter parts creating tension, instead of screamy-screamy all the time. The album came out yesterday...go get it at once.

As for the regular reviews, my effusive praise of the new Nachtmystium album can be read here. They're always a controversial band in underground black metal circles, as the scenesters either don't like leader Blake Judd as a person, or they don't like how the band continues to shed its black metal tag in favour of a more progressive-rock influence. Cynics think they're selling out, pandering to indie rock elitists and Hot Topic mall kids with the very savvy hype machine of Century Media behind them, but I still contend that Nachtmystium is one of the more daring metal bands around. 2006's Instinct: Decay knocked me out two years ago, but Assassins: Black Meddle Part One completely blindsided me with its defiantly clean tones, production that does away with the usual lo-fi bedroom BM recording style, and complete unpredictability. Another one to file under Year's Best. If you like the metal, and have a weakness for early-70s Pink Floyd, you need to hear this.

Some bands know how to get a crowd pumped up before a set begins, and others are pure geniuses at it. When I saw Kiss in 2000, they did a terrific gimmick with the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", where the volume got louder and louder, and when Daltrey let loose his second big scream, the black curtain in front of the stage plummeted, revealing a silver curtain emblazoned with "KISS" in gigantic letters. The crowd went nuts, and the show started as the song ended. Same thing happed at Iron Maiden...the usual music was being pumped through the PA at a minimal volume, and then all of a sudden, the house lights went out, a few rig lights shone onto the crowd, and UFO's classic song "Doctor Doctor" kicked in, blaring nice and loudly. The fact that everyone knew the mighty Maiden was set to hit the stage had people cheering, but that song in particular, one of the swingingest hard rock songs of the 1970s, with those killer Micheal Schenker riffs, that Phil Mogg swagger, and especially that undeniable 6/8 beat, that just got the energy in the building going even more. So what's this all leading to? Well, UFO has a fantastic new compilation CD, which I just so happened to review. It's as good a best-of mix you'll come across with tons of classics and a few underrated gems that many of us, yours truly included, were not too familiar with. It's amazing that classic radio didn't embrace UFO like they did with Blue Oyster Cult. Schenker ruled back then..."Rock Bottom" is one of the great guitar god showcases of all time.

Four days until Drive-By Truckers...if I don't post before then, expect a full recap early Monday!

Judas Priest and Dokken? It's 1986 all over again.

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:30:00 EST

Back posting after another extremely busy week of writing. How many pieces did I work on...a dozen? Ridiculous.

But three big CD reviews to mention today. First, one that I'd been half-dreading, half-curious about for well over a year, the massive two-disc concept album by none other than metal greats Judas Priest. When the band announced they were working on a huge album that dealt with the life and prophecies of Nostradamus, many, including yours truly, groaned. Not only was this said to be a continuation of the bloated doom sound of Angel of Retribution's "Loch Ness", which I still consider one of the worst Priest songs ever recorded, but the subject matter itself seemed far too obvious...singing about Nostradamus is every bit as corny as singing about a gigantic sea serpent. There was no way this could work, yet a part of me was hoping they'd be able to pull it off. And I have to say, they came pretty darn close to doing it. The first CD has a good flow to it, and is highlighted by "Persecution", a song that just might be the best Judas Priest tune since 1984's Defenders of the Faith. The songs are rousing, the segue tracks work well, and aside from the embarrassing Diane Warren-style ballad "Lost Love", it's pretty consistent. Sadly, the wheels fall off, as disc two turns into a boring slog full of ideas that, if they aren't half-baked, are completely ill-advised as a whole. On that CD, I can only recommend two songs, "Visions" and the cool title track, while the rest is just a waste of our time. So the final product turns out to be strange...as my review states, there are some great tracks, some middling tracks, and some truly awful ones. And as much as I like the album's highlights, I can't recommend the album as a whole...unless you can find it for a really good price, I don't think it's really worth it. So while it's definitely a disappointment, the band gave it a very admirable shot.

Interested in a far more consistent, rewarding hard rock/metal album? You might want to try the new Torche, which has been growing on me for ages and keeps getting better. I was a big, big fan of their debut way back in 2005, and who wouldn't be, considering how the Miami band combines vocal melodies and crushing stoner rock better than anyone. Hearing that album, you just knew these guys would refine their sound even further, and true enough, Meanderthal is a major step forward. To the point, really, that these guys start to resemble such bands as Kyuss, Helmet, and even Foo Fighters, the songs more streamlined, the hooks often hugely catchy. At 35 minutes it doesn't waste any time, the songs often short and propulsive, so it's one of those CDs where you'll gladly have it on repeat all day, gradually absorbing each track. And this sucker really starts to get good about midway through, especially on "Across the Shields", which, if it ever gets released as a single, has a good chance of making my 2008 singles list. It's (here comes that phrase again) One Of The Year's Best, with ace production by Kurt Ballou, who is really putting together a strong resume of albums that he's worked on, to the point where it's easy to forget he's the guitar player for Converge. Anyway, pick this album up. Oh, and the art design is very cool...if you can get the insert out of the jewel case, that is!

When it comes to pleasant surprises, for me it doesn't get any more pleasant, or surprising, than the return to form by Dokken. Yes, Dokken. Over the last 15 years or so, so many of the old pop metal bands from the 1980s were obviously so crippled by the grunge fad, which wiped away hair metal instantly in 1992, that the ones that were still together stooped to boring, post-grunge imitations, forgetting what it was that made them so popular in the first place. However, these days pop metal's making quite a comeback among the aging Gen-X set, the huge success of Rocklahoma a prime example, and Dokken sounds inspired by the trend, as Lightning Strikes Again goes back to the sharp riffs, flashy solos, and killer melodies that made them arguably the best singles band of 80s pop metal (toss-up between them and Ratt, in my opinion). In fact, you can stack the opening three songs, "Standing on the Outside", "Give Me a Reason", and "Heart of Stone" against anything off 1988's hit album Back For the Attack, these songs work so well. And don't bother complaining about the absence of George Lynch...Jon Levin does a fabulous job doing the same guitar god shtick. There are a couple of slip-ups ("Disease" is too Godsmacky for its own good), but overall, this is an enormously fun return to form. Wouldn't it be great if Ratt, Night Ranger, and Motley Crue all followed suit with good albums of their own?

Hallowed Be Their Name

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:07:00 EST

I knew exactly what to expect at my first Iron Maiden show since 1987. Knew the setlist, knew every nuance the band brings to their live show, knew right when Bruce Dickinson would pull out the legendary "SCREAM FOR ME!" exhortations, knew the lyrics to every flippin' song. However, what really caught me off-guard was the fact that in all the years since my first Maiden show, and having seen every filmed concert and hearing every live album they've put out, I actually forgot just how special an experience an Iron Maiden show really is. It's indescribable...the only thing I can say is that nobody, nobody has perfected the arena show quite like Maiden has. They bring a level of excitement that I have never seen equaled by another band, by pulling out all the stops from lavish sets and backdrops to pyro to the tried and true gimmicks, and most importantly, performing with passion. The energy is contagious, evident on this night, as a normally tepid prairie crowd were all on their feet, even the people in the far back. It was a glorious night. And although 1987 was a long time ago, I'm convinced the band we saw tonight was so much better than the band we saw 21 years ago, as they know how to pace themselves these days, and are always well rested, as opposed to doing 300 shows per year.

With the band focusing primarily on their 1980-88 material, the evening's setlist was naturally right up my alley, having grown up with the band during that era. Churchill's speech gave me goosebumps, as did "Aces High"...like seeing Rush two weeks ago, I spent the entire song just amazed that I was there seeing it. Pretty much a flawless setlist, my obvious faves being "Mariner", "Powerslave", and "Wasted Years", but there were some songs I got to hear live for the first time, like "Revelations, "The Trooper" (back in 87 they didn't play anything off Piece of Mind!), Moonchild", and "The Clairvoyant". Especially interesting to me was that there were some very cool little bits no one had bothered to point out in other reviews, such as Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers doing the lead harmonies that you hear after the first verse of the album version of "Revelations", something they didn't do on Live After Death. And doing "Moonchild" in its entirety was a good touch...back in 88, the intro was just pre-recorded playback, but they did it from scratch, Murray on acoustic, Smith doing the guitar synth riff. Bruce Dickinson sounded incredible, hitting the high notes exceptionally well "Aces High", he just killed, I tells ya!), running all over the place. No lead singer gets a big crowd going like Bruce, he just commands your attention. Incredible charisma. But he took a spill during "Heaven Can Wait", unfortunately, slipping on a wet spot on the stage and wrecked his leg pretty badly. He missed the final verse/chorus of that song, and was limping the rest of the night. But he's a consummate professional, and still performed with more than enough gusto straight through to the end of the set.

And you know, 21 years ago, I was so disappointed when the show ended, as every teen wants his or her favourite band to play for three hours (at least!), but a true sign I'm getting on in years, when they closed with the classic live staple "Hallowed Be Thy Name", I was more than satisfied, and ready to call it a night. I got my floor ticket, had some fantastic vantage points, spent some money (got the blue & yellow football scarf...I have enough metal t-shirts and I wanted something a little more permanent), and got to see my favourite band of all time play a whole bunch of my favourite songs of all time. And although I said at the beginning of the year that I was fully prepared to fly anywhere in North America to see Iron Maiden, to be able to see them a mere two hours south of where I live was especially thrilling. Like the Rush show, this was another perfect, perfect night. Here's the setlist:

Intro - Churchill's Speech
Aces High
2 Minutes to Midnight
Revelations
The Trooper
Wasted Years
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Powerslave
Heaven Can Wait
Can I Play With Madness?
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore:
Moonchild
The Clairvoyant
Hallowed Be Thy Name

Maiden Day

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:53:00 EST

On April 21, 1987, I saw Iron Maiden for the first, and before today, only time. An incredible show, the set revolving around the music and visuals of the Somewhere in Time album. The setlist was as follows:

Caught Somewhere in Time
2 Minutes to Midnight
Children of the Damned
Stranger in a Strange Land
Wasted Years
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Heaven Can Wait
Phantom of the Opera
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden

Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Running Free

Tonight the 21 year wait ends. Full recap to follow!

You up for some Tag?

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:50:00 EST

I don't usually participate in online memes...not too surprising since this is sort of one of the more un-bloglike blogs out there, but today I have to make an exception. Besides, when the dare comes from Phil Freeman, who himself was tagged by Simon Reynolds, you can't not play along. So here we go:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they�re not any good, but they must be songs you�re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they�re listening to."

Burzum, "Erblicket die T�chter des Firmaments"
It took me a long, long time to get over my hang-up about Vark Vikernes, AKA Burzum. After all, the dude is one despicable human being...convicted murderer, church-burner, outspoken racist. Plus, his popularity among kids who seem to wear Burzum t-shirts just to provoke people is off-putting. But one cannot ignore the fact that his influence on Norwegian black metal is enormous, and when I was getting ready for my trip to Norway in February, I figured it was about time I delved into his work. Doesn't exactly make me look cool, getting into classic black metal this late, but with Burzum albums so hard to find over here, why not take advantage of my being in Norway? And much to my amazement, Burzum albums were sold everywhere, at mall CD stores, metal stores, indie hipster stores...and not just some, but every title. Whether it's because his music is truly appreciated or because the whole Nordic Charlie Manson vibe sells records over there is anybodys guess, but I quickly scooped up a copy of his 1996 album Filosofem, which is always cited as his finest work,and listening to it on the trans-Atlantic flight home, it was the third track, translated as "Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament", which really grabbed me. Its trancelike groove (exceptionally pulled off by Vikernes, who plays all the instruments), its surprisingly warm production, the melancholy lyrics simple yet poetic ("I wonder how life will be /With a death that I shall never see / I wonder why life must be / A life that lasts eternally") creating a mood that could shockingly be described as moving. Since then, I've moved onto other work by Burzum, but this track always beckons. Sure, Varg's as loathsome a person as there is, but once you get over that one major hurdle and learn to separate the jerk from the actual music, there's some extraordinary stuff waiting to be discovered.

Calexico w/ Jim James, "Goin' to Acapulco"
Dylan fan that I am, it took me longest to really get into The Basement Tapes. Compared to his classic work, this felt a little too eclectic, a little too slipshod back in 1991 when I was exploring Dylan's discography. And while I eventually did catch on, this particular song never really did anything for me. Then I went to see Todd Haynes' I'm Not There back in February...late in the film, Richard Gere's Dylan character happens upon a bizarre funeral mass where a brass band is playing this song, My Morning Jacket's tenor-voiced Jim James, all done up to look like Dylan circa Rolling Thunder Revue, belting out this tune like it's the most tragic song ever written. Gere is stopped dead in his tracks, and so are we, as James and the always brilliant Calexico deliver one of the most subtly beautiful Dylan covers I've ever heard. The phrase, "Gonna have some fun," couldn't sound any sadder.

Eluveitie, "Inis Mona"
The Swiss folk metal band's album Slania has been in my head since February, but my trip on Paganfest has really ignited an obsession, especially with this track. Not necessarily because I toured with the band (let me just say they're all super-nice folks), but primarily because their live show was jaw-dropping. It's already inpressive that they make what should be an awkward combination (Dark Tranquillity's melodeath and Celtic folk music) work on record, but there was no way I was expecting it to work onstage. Neither were the cynical angry hardcore kids at New England Metalfest, where Eluveitie was making its North American debut, as the heckles from the crowd started once they saw the line check, involving hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, flutes, bagpipes, and mandola. And it may sound corny, but something magical happened right at the beginning of this track, when hurdy-gurdy, pipes, and fiddle kick off the track. Heads started bobbing. Cheers erupted. Smiles could be seen. By set's end, the kids weren't moshing, they were dancing. It was absolutely extraordinary, and since then I feel compelled to play this track daily, which I pretty much do, and (again with the corniness), I still feel that energy rush those kids in Worcester felt.

Jucifer, "Window (Where the Sea Falls Forever)"
It took me forever to get into Jucifer's new album. After all, with a 79 minute concept album based upon the life and times of Marie Antoinette that veers wildly from sludge, to doom metal, to crust punk, to folk, to country, to Southern rock, to grunge, to drone, there's a whole heckuvalot there to digest. But after a good couple months, the thing finally clicked, and one of the tracks to stick in my head the most is this one, which tells the tale of Louis XVI in his cell awaiting the guillotine. Amid the lyrics about loss and regret is a wickedly kickin' tune with a Southern swagger, Amber Valentine spitting the lines with anger, sadness, and defiance.

Ladytron, "Ghosts"
A lot of people complain about Ladytron's lack of emotion in their music, but with this band, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I believe the first single from their fourth album just might be their defining moment. Built around the kind of schaffel beat that Goldfrapp made a living at between 2003 and 2005, Ladytron adds an icy, dark atmosphere atop the song's contagious hook. That balance of pop and chilliness is further enhanced by Helena Marnie's vocals...at first, she carries on that there might be a humanity to her persona after all, speaking of a lover she'd wronged ("Made a trail of a thousand tears / Made you a prisoner inside your own frequency"), but right when she hints at expressing regret ("There's a ghost inside me who wants to say I'm sorry"), she delivers one last knockout punch: "Doesn't mean I'm sorry." Just like that, sung nonchalantly, with complete emotional detachment, driving a stake through the heart and casually walking away. Cold-hearted, vicious, quintessential Ladytron.

Opeth, "Burden"
There's a whole lot to like about Opeth's new album Watershed, and I'll be the first to say that "The Lotus Eater" is right up their with the band's all-time finest work, but this seven and a half minute ballad which appears midway through the album was the one thrack that ended up flooring me the most over the past month. Structurally, it's the most pedestrian thing Opeth has ever done, a combination of the mellower moments off King Crimson's Red and the Scorpions' mid-70s material with Uli Jon Roth, but this is just drop-dead gorgeous. Mikeal Akerfeldt has always been a good singer, but this doesn't just return to the strictly clean singing style of Damnation (not a death growl to be heard), but ends up topping it, his singing more assured and confident than ever. Plus, the last half of the album, with its stunner of a dual lead guitar coda, conveys the teary-eyed majesty and melodrama of 70s metal at its very finest. And the acoustic outro, with those plucked strings sloooowly going out of tune, is as creepy as the rest of the song is lovely.

UFO, "Rock Bottom"
I've been on such a UFO kick this spring, and this track in particular begs repeated plays constantly. From the 1975 album Phenomenon, it announces the arrival of a teenaged guitar god named Michael Schenker, who instantly transformed the UK band from a rather ordinary space rock outfit to one of the finest hard rock/metal acts of the 1970s. The song is a tour de force for Schenker, the first half focusing on his incessant boogie riff, the second half launching into a spectacular extended jam, something which would become a traditional solo showcase for years. But as amazing as Schenker is, one mustn't forget about the vocal efforts of Phil Mogg, one of the most versatile and charismatic rock singers to come out of that decade, his raspy howl giving this track the attitude it demanded: "With all darkness closin' in / Will the light reveal your soul / One sweet kiss on your clay cold lips / I'll know sleep you'll never know."

And so, the same challenge is offered to the following fine bloggers:

Burning Sled
Hectic But Eclectic
Robin Jahdi
Cosmo Lee
Sean Palmerston
Sandra Sperounes
Andrew Unterberger

Album of the year? We'll have to just wait and see...

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:07:00 EST

Yep, another review, but this one's a biggie. Going into every year, I try to think of the new albums that are coming out over the next twelve months, trying to figure out which ones are going to be potential album of the year contenders. We've had a ton of them thus far, and the results have been mixed: Goldfrapp (close), Drive-By Truckers (slight miss), Ladytron (awfully good), Meshuggah (big-time contender), Nachtmystium (even better than expected), the Hold Steady (not even close). But the one title that I knew going in would be the one to beat would be the new CD by Opeth, and in my opinion, it ranks as one of the finest albums they've ever made. They've always been about the balance between the mellow and the heavy, but the flow between the two feels so natural, so effortless, and although there are the usual tracks that top ten minutes or so, its deliberate pace feels like not a minute is wasted. A beautiful, beautiful album, highlighted by its opening four tracks "Coil", "Heir Apparent", "The Lotus Eater", and the drop-dead gorgeous "Burden". Need more convincing? My raving mad rave review is up at PopMatters. And if you need a little more of a devil's advocate POV before deciding whether or not to shell out the 20 bucks for that neat special edition, Cosmo Lee has an excellent assessment...while a positive review, he still considers Watershed somewhat of a minor piece of work by the band.

So, there are only two more days until Iron Maiden, so I might as well carry on with some more maiden-related nonsense...

An opinion on the band that may surprise anyone who knows me:
Iron Maiden has never released a studio album that I could honestly say is "perfect". There is always at least one track that sticks in my craw. To wit: "Charlotte the Harlot", "Prodigal Son", "Gangland", "To Tame a Land", "Losfer Words", "Deja Vu"...each of those songs from the first six albums bug the heck out of me. And while Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is in my opinion the most front-to-back flawless of all Maiden albums, it's not my all-time fave. I'm weird that way.

So what is my all-time favourite Iron Maiden album, then?
Easy. Live After Death. After I spent a whole year digesting Powerslave, I got the massive double live album (on a rather tiny single cassette, mind you) the week it came out in late 1985, and not only was it an astounding document of the band's high-energy show, but it served as a crucial, valuable introduction to the band's extensive back catalogue. It was through this album that songs like "Phantom of the Opera", "Revelations", "Children of the Damned", and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" became some of my all-time faves. It was, hands down, the most played tape I ever owned, played until the tape was thin, ribbony and completely unplayable. Needless to say, the 1998 double-CD release was one of the best things to ever happen.

Wait, that's cheating. Try favourite studio album, then.
No, it's not Seventh Son. It's Powerslave. It was my first Maiden album so that attachment is already strong. But aside from "Losfer Words", which totally screams "filler!", the songs are incredible, the band sounding on top of its game.The beginning is powerful, with "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight", while "Powerslave" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" bring the festivities to an epic conclusion that remains unmatched in metal history.

Okay then, least favourite album.
Another easy one. No Prayer For the Dying. Two years after Seventh Son, which I absolutely adored, I was so excited for the follow-up, and when I listened to No Prayer for the first time, this might sound corny, but a part of me died. My musical tastes had broadened immensely since high school (1989 was spent completely obsessing over the Ramones, Voivod, Faith No More, and the nascent grunge movement), yet still I clung to Maiden, dutiful fan that I was. The hackneyed songwriting and lazy performances of this album, though, convinced me to let go, and although I'd still buy fear of the Dark two years later, (a alight improvement, but still hugely subpar) I was all but finished with Iron Maiden until 1998. Although I was completely aware of the disastrous decade the band would go on to have, I wouldn't buy another new Iron Maiden album until 1999.

Just one more random thought:

Iron Maiden has done the merchandising thing extremely well over the years, but if I was to add one item to the band's long line of licensed products, it would be their own brand of Cortisone cream. Naturally, I would call it Powersalve.

BACK inthevillageandI'm BACK inthevillageandI'm BACK inthevillage...AGAIN!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:48:00 EST

My writing schedule is back on track, finally, which means there's another big review to mention. I've been an admirer of Ladytron for years, since 2002, yet I'm as amazed as anyone that they've been able to last this long. Over that time, though, they've managed to show tremendous musical growth, each new album much more adventurous than the rest. And as my review indicates, I'm really enjoying their fourth album, Velocifero, which pretty much continues where Witching Hour left off a year and a half ago, but this time adds a good helping of darkness and harsher sounds into the mix, making for an enticing little combination.And Helena Marnie continues to develop a fabulous singing voice...she's one of my favourite singers going, in fact, and the simultaneous warmth/iciness in her delivery (check out the amazing single "Ghosts" for a prime example) is entrancing. I'm never a big fan of second vocalist Mira Aroyo (her Bulgarian contributions always feel tacked on), but there are a couple of tracks on this album where she's really strong, and more emotive than ever before. This album is definitely a year-end list contender, while "Ghosts" is a lock for my 2008 singles list.

And from the very good to the rather disappointing, it appears the Hold Steady's run of consecutive superb albums has stalled at three. While Stay Positive is not without its moments, and contains the usual lyrical brilliance from Craig Finn, the hooks that dominated albums like Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America, my #2 albums in 2005 and 2006 respectively, are virtually nonexistent. Less than half of the songs sort of work ("Constructive Summer", "Sequestered in Memphis", "One For the Cutters", "Slapped Actress" among them), and for this band especially, that's nowhere near enough. Considering the bar that was set by their first three albums, no matter how rosy a picture you want to paint about this disc, the bottom line is that it remains a colossal, colossal disappointment.

This is really turning into The Year I've Seen Bands I've Been Wanting to See For Years...on the heels of Rush and Iron Maiden, miraculously, my beloved Drive-By Truckers are coming to town on the 29th. To Amigos in fact, and it's going to be a killer night of epic Southern Rock in that tiny little club. I had given up hope of ever seeing them, but because their Edmonton show was canceled they had an open date on their tour, and they booked a show here. Thank you, Sled Island!

With five days until the big show in Regina, here are a few more Maiden musings...

Favourite song:
"Rime of the Ancient Mariner"...it was a revelation when I heard it in 1984, a song that I played and played and played that decade. 13 minutes long, and it just flies by. It pretty much follows the Steve Harris Songwriting Formula (gallopy bit, mellow bit, even bigger gallopy bit) but every second of it is on, it feels tight, Bruce Dickinson sells the heck out of the Cliffs Notes lyrics, and the crescendos, predictable as they are, to this day give me goosebumps. I was thrilled to see them perform the song in 1987, and it's going to be so much fun hearing it again on Sunday.

Least favourite song:
"Holy Smoke"...In 1990, I truly thought this was the end. After a spectacular run of seven consecutive great albums, they were totally out of gas by the time No Prayer For the Dying came out, and it could be heard in the first single, which was full of guitar harmonies on autopilot, a ham-fisted performance by Dickinson, and quite possibly the worst video ever made. "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" tends to receive the brunt of the slagging, and the late-90s track "Virus" is a horribly unpleasant, uncharacteristic bit of vitriol from a usually likable band, but no, this track is even worse, and was the first time a favourite band had delivered a crushing disappointment.

Favourite song nobody else seems to like:
"The Clansman"...Blaze Bayley's two-album run as Dickinson's replacement in the mid-90s was the low point for the band, as The X Factor and Virtual XI are universally despised, but if you ask me, if you combine the best songs from both albums, you'd have a better collection of tracks than either No Prayer or Fear of the Dark. And "The Clansman" is the best of the lot...again, Harris is doing the same old thing, this time writing about Braveheart instead of Coleridge, but wow, those build-ups are awesome, the chorus of "FREEDOM" contagious. And trust good old Bruce-Bruce to improve the song even more, as he took it at Rock in Rio (see link) and made it his own. Epic metal at its finest!

Least favourite song everyone else seems to love:
"Fear of the Dark"...unlike Harris's "Rime" or "Clansman", everything about this 1992 track is so wooden, the riffs boring, the subject matter incredibly banal, the crescendos seen coming from a mile away. I'm still amazed that it's become the fan favourite that it is, it's nothing but cheap thrills to appease the drunken punters, songwriting at its laziest. And I'm amazed they're playing the song during the current tour, which is supposed to be 80-88 material only. Oh well, I'll just politely enjoy the ride, tacky as it is.

Song I would most like to see performed live:
There are many I could suggest, like "The Prisoner", "Still Life", "Killers", and even "The Sign of the Cross", but the one track that would thrill me like no other would be the underrated Powerslave gem "Back in the Village". It's never been played live, and I've often wondered why, because it's the kind of uptempo chugger that arena crowds eat up. Adrian Smith's nimble opening riff is way cool, Dickinson's spouting another homage to The Prisoner, his air raid siren voice wailing away, Harris's excessive, look-at-me bassline is so joyously locked in the upper register it's almost ridiculous, and Nicko McBrain is hammering down a ferocious beat peppered with those fills that he and only he can pull off. It's an incredible song, one that deserves to be dusted off more than any other.

Do they still call it Brechtian cabaret punk?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:10:00 EST

A few new-ish review to mention today...a week or so ago my PopMatters piece on the new odd-and-ends compilation by The Dresden Dolls went up. I'm a fan of the duo, have been for a while now, but I have to admit I was a little suspicious of this release, especially since CD collections of studio leftovers, b-sides, and demos rarely turn out to be very good at all, but you've got to give Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione credit, they've put together an admirable little stopgap album that can tide us over until Palmer's solo debut comes out later this year (I believe). Standouts include "Night Reconnaissance" and the extremely grim humour of "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner", a b-side that appeared on last year's concert DVD.

Decibel's new site isn't up yet, but I did stumble across my pieces that appear in the June issue. I interviewed guitarist Gus G from Greek melodic metal dudes Firewind a long time ago, and my small feature ended up being bumped up a month...he's a friendly fella and their new album is very enjoyable. Unlike most power metal bands, there's an early-80s feel to a lot of their compositions that I really like, to the point where they do a cover of Michael Sembello's "Maniac" and pull it off while only sounding minimally cheesy.

As for reviews, there are three of them this month. Best of the lot is the new Gates of Slumber, a massive slab of old-fashioned, Robert E. Howard-obsessed doom metal, released on Profound Lore. I've had it for quite some time, and over four months or so it's grown on me in a big, big way. The actual CD is very cool...not only is the artwork of the classic metal, airbrushed customized van variety, but there are detailed liner notes written about every song, something we rarely get these days. I love it when bands go the extra mile like that. The new CD by Sahg is nearly as great...I thought their debut from a couple years ago was alright, but when I saw them in Norway, as I mentioned in February, they completely blew me away. And true enough, the new album turned out to be a big step forward for the band, who continue to refine their (again) classic doom sound. With these guys, it's all about the lead vocals, delivered in an extraordinary tenor voice. Not enough new metal bands have singers like that anymore. Lastly is Florida teen band Black Tide, whose debut full-length starts of strongly, only to sound more and more inept with each passing song. Much to my surprise, they're getting a few politely positive reviews, but I'm not buying into this record at all. Sure, the 15 year-old kid is very talented, but chops mean squat when you can't write good songs.

Although I have more writin' and interviewing to do this week, my mind is going to be on the forthcoming Iron Maiden show, which is now six days away. So I thought I'd try to post some Maiden-related thoughts over the course of this week. So to start...

The first time I heard of Iron Maiden:
That would be 1983, in seventh or eighth grade, when I saw kids at my school wearing those tacky black and white baseball shirts with The Number of the Beast or Piece of Mind on the fronts. Being a kid who had just moved from a small town to a small city, I had no clue what Iron Maiden was or sounded like, and the mascot guy looked pretty cool, but seeing how the guys who wore the shirts were among the people bullying me every day, I had no inclination to ask!

The first time I heard Iron Maiden:
Fall of 1984, when the video for "2 Minutes to Midnight" played on CBC's Good Rockin' Tonite (oh man, look at that clip). I was intrigued, to say the least, but it wasn't the kind of light-bulb-going-off reaction like when I heard Metallica for the first time...as I had started getting my metal feet wet over the summer of that year, Maiden's approach still had yet to sink in for me. The connection didn't quite hit until the second single and video, "Aces High". By then, I had grown increasingly fascinated with the lavish cover art of Powerslave, and I really dug Bruce Dickinson's flamboyant vocals on the track ("Rolling! Turning! Diving!"). So, on Christmas day 1984, one of my presents was the cassette of Powerslave, which became one of my most-played tapes of the 1980s, and which I still have here stashed away. Over the next couple years, I'd gradually learn more and more about Maiden's back catalogue (they went as far back as 1980, which to me at the time made them seem OLD), collecting each of their albums, but it would be this one that I'd have a special fondness for.

Catch the Fish.

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:00:00 EST

The first time I ever heard Rush was sometime in 1984. The song was "Distant Early Warning", from the Grace Under Pressure album. Before then, I had spent my entire life removed from FM radio, and as a result had missed out on a staggering amount of classic rock from the 70s and early 80s, like Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, and Rush. With the onset of music videos coinciding with my recent interest in contemporary rock music, I was open to anything and everything, and being a Canadian, I found myself getting to know Rush quite quickly through their videos. Plus, the local library had all of Rush's albums on LP, so with the full discography at my disposal, it helped create a new young fan. When I saw the band's televised performance of the Grace Under Pressure tour in 1985, I thought the whole stage show was incredible, that massive drum kit incredibly cool. It sure would be cool to see Rush someday, I thought.

Who knew it would take 24 years for me to finally see this band for the first time? Part of it was due to my unfortunate geographical location, as Saskatchewan didn't get many big shows. Part of it was also due to simple neglect, as Rush was more keen to focus on the bigger markets. But also, there was plenty of crummy timing. Whenever Rush made it out to Alberta, for instance, I could never make it out there. Last year was near comical...I was determined to see them that summer, but a certain niece decided to be born right around the time Rush was to hit Calgary, so I was there instead (a good trade, if you ask me!). I knew Rush was going to hit the road in 08, but by then I'd lost all hope. They'd never come here.

Then in late December the rumours started flying. Rush blogs were reporting that Saskatoon was in talks regarding booking a show, to the point where it seemed to be all but a certainty. When the dates were finally announced in February, Regina had the show, not Saskatoon (Saskatoon had booked that Walking With Dinosaurs dealy, a much bigger money maker), and although I was pretty darn mad about that, no measly two hour drive south was going to keep me from seeing a concert I'd waited most of my life for. When the time came to order tickets, I tried out the fan club presale, and the best I could get was 13th row on the floor. After much hemming and hawing, I decided to wait to try Ticketmaster. One of the Rush blogs had the presale password the night before the presale started (those Rush fans do their homework, I tell you), so I logged on at 10 am, and was shocked to find I had snagged a fifth row floor seat. It's kind of lousy going to shows alone, but this is one case where ordering a single ticket works to a guy's advantage. So once that was all done, I had to endure three long months of waiting. Thankfully, I had a pair of incredible road trips to keep my mind off the wait...

So the day finally arrived on Sunday, and I excitedly headed out to Regina, Snakes & Arrows Live playing in the car.Dashed in the frigid Regina air to the Brandt Centre, where I promptly raided the merch table with all the other geeks. After bringing my haul back to the car (yay for their re-entry policy, I tell you), I headed down to check out my seat. I was shocked to learn that my spot was practically dead centre...and not only that, but there were no tall people in front of me, so I was afforded a completely unobstructed view.

The lights went down right at 7:45, the very funny opening video played, and then Alex Lifeson strode onstage, playing the opening riff to "Limelight". Right there in front of me. Geddy Lee and Neil Peart joined in soon after, and I was immediately a dumbfounded kid again, in shock. There they were. Playing one of their greatest songs. I was awestruck...so much so, in fact, that I couldn't enjoy the song on the same level as I'd usually do in such a setting. I was simply trying to get over the fact that the long, long wait was over.

Thankfully, it's a three hour show, and by the time they kicked into "Digital Man", my head had cleared. The first half of the show was tremendous, classics like "Limelight", "Red Barchetta", and "Freewill" offset by lesser-known nuggets like "Between the Wheels" (which blew me away, being from Grace Under Pressure), "Ghost of a Chance", and "Mission". "The Trees" was cool, especially when Peart inserted a sample of the now-classic "Real guitars are for old people" Cartman quote, and "Dreamline" had plenty of synchronized lasers. Cos as we all know, lasers make a rock show that much more fun. Geddy Lee's chicken roasters were doing their thing (a testament to this band's irreverent sense of humour), with a roadie in a chef's outfit coming out every so often to baste the birds.

The intermission was longer than I'd expected, around 20 minutes at least. But it turned out to be a welcome break, as both the band and audience were plenty refreshed for the second half. Starting the set off with five straight Snakes & Arrows tracks is an audacious idea, but I think that album is their best in a good 17 years, and tracks like "Far Cry" and "Armor and Sword" sounded fantastic. After that, though, it was a steady stream of classics, starting with my favourite Rush song of all time, the timeless "Sbdivisions", and continuing with an amazing performance of the epic "Natural Science" and the low-key brooder "Witch Hunt". Peart's drum solo was another big highlight, a dream come true for many of us in the crowd. I've long been of the opinion that the only two drummers in rock history capable of delivering a compelling drum solo are John Bonham and Neil Peart, so it was a massive thrill to see the master in action. There's a musicality to his solos that makes it fun to see and hear, and his use of samples makes it even more so. After that, the heavy hitters came out..."The Spirit of Radio". "Overture/The Temples of Syrinx", which scorched. "Tom Sawyer", complete with the great South Park intro. "A Passage to Bangkok". And to close, perhaps a nod to all the kids who got into Rush by playing Guitar Hero, the classic instrumental "YYZ".

For a perfect concert experience, all sorts of intangibles have to all work in your favour. The seat has to be good. The sound mix has to be good. The volume has to be precisely at the point where it's loud enough for you to listen without earplugs. The setlist must be thorough, and not contain any duds. There cannot be any idiots around you. Your view must be unobstructed. The merch must be fairly priced. The security people must be nice. All sorts of factors. And this show was as close to perfect as I've ever seen. It was glorious, and as I made my way out after the show, I thought if you were to ask me if that horribly long wait was worth it, I would have told you a resounding YES. It was one of the greatest concert experiences of my life.

The setlist:

Set 1:
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Set 2:
Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism (drum solo)
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer

Encore:
One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ

Seriously, pick up the new Jucifer.

Thu, 22 May 2008 18:33:00 EST

Yeah, that was a busy week or so. I don't know how many pieces of writin' I churned out, but it was a ridiculous number. After one day to recuperate, it's back on the horse, right up until the Rush concert in (egads!) three days.

Although we're all still waiting for Decibel's website to relaunch, there are nonetheless a couple pieces of mine that have gone up at PopMatters. First is my review of Mike Patton's incredibly cool score for short film A Perfect Place...if there's one musician who seems perfectly suited for scoring films, it's Patton, and he does a terrific job on this very cool CD/DVD combo. His style is as eclectic as you'd expect, but because he's working with director Derrick Scocchera, he has to defer to what the director wants, and as a result the overall feel of the soundtrack album is much more cohesive than it would have been if it was all Patton. In fact, I think it could be the best thing he's done in a very long time, and although the film is pretty cool, the soundtrack has instantly become one of my 2008 favourites.

Also up at PopMatters today is my latest column, as I tackle the four 2008 releases by thrash greats Testament. My trip out east a month ago really disrupted my work schedule, so I was scrambling a bit, but it was good to see it published so quickly, and in the end I think the piece turned out alright. Testament's new album is a good one, an admirable return to form after a whopping nine years of no new studio material, but interestingly, the more I listened to it, the more inconsistent it feels, as if the band is still trying to get their footing. Still, there are plenty of excellent tracks, and I look forward to seeing them open for Judas Priest in July. And it's going to be a quick turnaround when it comes to the column itself, as work on the June installment will commence on Friday.

Recently the new 2008 releases have seemed to stagnate a bit, as I've heard plenty of good albums, but not enough great ones. That changed over the week, though. I was able to spend plenty of time listening to the new one by Made Out of Babies, and I think it tops their last two. They're as abrasive as ever, but this time around their songwriting is really showing significant improvements, allowing for a little more variety and dynamics, and that includes singer Julie Christmas, whose extraordinary vocal range has always defined the band, but on this album she sounds in full command, unafraid to use more subtle touches, but still plenty capable of emitting screams that make your hair stand on end. Then there's one of the year's most anticipated metal records, the latest by Chicago black metal dudes Nachtmystium. I loved their last album, how it combined underground black metal with a distinct psychedelic quality, and this time they've gone several steps further. Like Enslaved, there's a real prog rock influence going on, and while there are still plenty of "extreme" moments, the real strengths of the album lie in the more subdued passages. And thirdly, and arguably the best, is the new one by another black metal band called Krallice. A collaboration between guitarists Mick Barr (Ocrilim) and Colin Marston (Disrhythmia), a couple of guys who tend to get a little undisciplined when it comes to song structure, Krallice forces both to work within the structure of black metal, and the results are stunning, a wicked blend of black metal intensity and atmospherics with astounding technical ability. We rarely hear shredding like this in the genre, but it's never self-indulgent, and there are times where the band dares to approach the majesty of early-90s Burzum. Nachtmystium and Made Out of Babies are out in June, while Krallice won't be released until July...so if you have a jones for the kind of extreme metal that's both visceral and brave, you absolutely need these two.

Speaking of great albums, Jucifer's new CD L'Autrichienne continues to take me by surprise. This was one of those releases where I was stuck with a promotional download, which is the latest trend labels are using to try to thwart leaks. I usually don't mind, but with this album, which is an 80 minute concept album about the life and death of Marie Antoinette, it was very difficult to digest without any lyrics or liner notes. Consequently, my 150 word review for Metal Edge, which should be in the next issue, ended up being politely positive, simply because, although I dug the wild stylistic mess of the whole album, it was impossible for me to experience the full impact of the album that singer/guitarist Amber Valentine intended. So even though I was supposed to give a well thought-out review, one that could hopefully advise anyone who was curious about the disc, I still felt like I was missing out on a major part of it. That's the toughest thing to do as a music critic, you sometimes almost have to feign knowing more about a record than you actually do, either because it's too early for a label to give you any additional information or they're just paranoid about idiots putting the music on the internet. Or in the odd case, both.

So the whole Jucifer thing had been eating at me...it's clearly an amazing piece of work, and I wanted to delve deeper like any other average listener. Cosmo Lee's post about L'Autrichienne the other day turned out to be the catalyst, as he, a writer who actually got the retail version, wrote an excellent, observant review based on the total package, confirming my hunch that yeah, this album gets so much better when you have the booklet to follow along with. So when I took an hour this afternoon to get out and check out some record stores, I found a copy of the album and just had to get it. And I tell you, finally experiencing that album after feeling so in the dark for so long, was incredibly revelatory. Reading Valentine's insightful and informative notes for each song as the CD played, it really hammered home the power of the album, the extreme diversity of the whole thing so much easier to comprehend. I was already familiar with the songs, but this was actually the first time I got the intent behind the music, and the true sense of power conveyed by it, that I'm now convinced it's one of the year's best. Proof yet again how listening to mp3s is hardly the complete metal experience...when a band does it right, all three factors are vital, the music, the artwork, the lyrics, and when they gel as brilliantly as they do on L'Autrichienne, the process of being a fan, not a critic, where you go out, slap down some cash, buy an album, tear the cello off, and plunk the disc in the stereo with no internal pressure of having to write about it in 24 hours, becomes a truly transcendent experience.

Not that I hate what I do, mind you! Just sometimes you get so buried in CDs, mp3s, and press releases, that you can't see the forest for the trees, so it's good to take a step back every once in a while.

Lobodomized

Tue, 13 May 2008 05:03:00 EST

I've never been he biggest fan of Children of Bodom, and have always been quite amazed at the Finnish metal band's popularity. The music is mildly compelling, a mish-mash of a whole bunch of metal styles forming a crazy, hyperkinetic hybrid, but unlike other modern melodically-inclined "extreme" bands, like Arch Enemy for instance, I've always found it tough to get into Bodom's tunes. Guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho is flashy, but his solos and melodies aren't exactly the most instantly memorable, as it seems songwriting takes a backseat to shredding, the last album Are You Dead Yet? a prime example. When I saw them three years ago, coming on right after a gargantuan set by Mastodon, they seemed underwhelming by comparison, the sound thin, Laiho's poses trite. I just couldn't buy into it.

This year, though, it looks like I'm finally coming around. Bodom's new album is a good one, having grown on me tremendously over the last month or so, good enough to compel me to write a very positive review for PopMatters. Basically, Blooddrunk is more of what everyone has come to expect from the band, but the songs are better, the hooks catchier, the balance between lead guitar and keyboards (an integral characteristic of the Bodom sound) more even than on the last CD. It's a good enough album to convince me that Are You Dead Yet? was just an aberration, and get me to re-examine their back catalogue.

And as coincidence would have it, on the same weekend that my review appeared, I ended up seeing Children of Bodom, along with Megadeth, In Flames, High on Fire, and Job For a Cowboy, otherwise known as the 2008 installment of Gigantour, which made a stop in Saskatoon. This city has really become a dead zone when it comes to metal shows, but seeing how well-attended this one was last night, perhaps there's hope just yet. The dark, devoid-of-atmosphere warehouse they call Prairieland Park was the most full I've seen it since the Pixies' massive show here in 2004, with each band very well received. The mighty High on Fire kicked it off...of all the bands, it was Matt Pike & co. who I'd been looking forward to seeing the most, and they turned out to be even better than the first time I'd seen them. The sound was fantastic...for a trio, these guys sound massive, and I really like how they pump up Jeff Matz's bass so it sounds monstrous, making for a towering rhythm section with drummer Des Kensel. Pike, meanwhile, was quite the showman. Shirtless, banging his head, and unleashing those riffs on his awesome custom nine-string guitar, he was a cool combination of blue-collar hesher and flashy shredder, leading the band into a half hour's worth of material spanning their last three albums. They were so good, it seemed far too short a set to play, but hey, I'll take 30 minutes of High on Fire over no High on Fire. Great to catch them again. Their setlist:

Rumors of War
Turk
Cometh Down Hessian
Waste of Tiamat
Eyes and Teeth
Devolution

Next up was generic deathcore band Job For a Cowboy. Like on their last album, they're a tight-sounding band, but the music is so devoid of charisma, I couldn't wait for their set to end. The kiddies seemed to like it, but knowing full well there are dozens of similar-sounding bands that create music with actual personality instead of this death-by-numbers, I was bored stiff. They had no business going on after High on Fire, they should have opened the show, if only to get it over with quickly.

Children of Bodom was next, and much to my shock and awe, they conquered. Like High on Fire, the sound mix was impeccable, and the crowd went absolutely insane for them, the pit huge and scarily violent. The two new songs went over extremely well, especially "Hellhounds on My Trail", but it was the older material like "Angels Don't Kill" and "Bodom After Midnight" that really won me over, sounding so much more strong and robust than the comparatively thin-sounding album versions. Laiho was in good form, his voice as black metal screechy as ever, his soloing nimble as usual. Great fun! The setlist:

Sixpounder
Living dead Beat
In Your Face
Bodom After Midnight
Hellhounds on Your Trail
Angels Don't Kill
Blooddrunk
Downfall

I'd also been greatly looking forward to In Flames' return to the city. I've been a shameless fan of their post-2002 incarnation for quite a while now (go ahead and strip me of what's left of my metal cred!), so unlike most fans who complain and complain about the lack of early material, I'm just fine and happy hearing the new stuff, and indeed, the band focused primarily on their last four albums during their hour-long set. Like their last appearance, though, the sound was surprisingly low. They're the quietest metal band I've ever seen, in fact. I don't want bands to destroy my hearing or anything, but when I'm not wearing earplugs and am wanting to yell out, "TURN IT UP!!!", you know there's a problem. Nonetheless, despite being in desperate need of an upward turn on the volume knob, the band sounded good, Anders Friden's vocals solid. I would have liked to hear "Trigger" again, but overall, a quality set. Ze setlist:

Cloud Connected
The Mirror's Truth
Leeches
Colony
The Quiet Place
Transparent
Graveland
Disconnected
I'm the Highway
Come Clarity
Take This Life
My Sweet Shadow

I was getting mighty tired by the time Megadeth came on, my patience running short not only with the kids constantly walking in and out in front of us, but the truly bizarre audio mix of the band. The bass was too high, so high they might as well have billed it Megadeth Featuring James Lomenzo, drowning out the guitars, and Dave Mustaine's vocals were almost impossible to hear during the first 20 minutes or so. It could have made for a disastrous set, but by the time they launched into "In My Darkest Hour", they seemed to right the ship just enough. The bass was still too prominent, but overall, the band was very tight, new guitarist Chris Broadrick fitting in perfectly. Overall, it was great to hear some songs they didn't play when I saw them for the first time, opening for Heaven and Hell last year, tracks like "Darkest Hour", "Take No Prisoners", "Tornado of Souls" (which was wicked!), "Trust", and especially "Sweating Bullets". Nothing from Killing is My Business, but I can't complain. By the end of the set, the drunks penned in in the fenced-off section in the back had stormed their way across, pushing the barrier against one of the lifts a spotlight guy was on, giving him a pretty good scare, and closer to the stage, the kids were beating themselves up pretty good. Whatever floats their boat, I guess. So it was good to see the band recover from a clunky start and finish the show on a high note, that being the always glorious "Holy Wars". So aside from one band that was a complete waste of time, it as a good night out, giving me a couple weeks to recover before the trip to Regina to see Rush for the first time. Anyhoo, here you go again, the setlist:

Sleepwalker
Wake Up Dead
Take No Prisoners
Skin O� My Teeth
Washington Is Next
Kick The Chair
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Burnt Ice
A Tout Le Monde
Tornado Of Souls
Ashes In Your Mouth
Sweating Bullets
Symphony Of Destruction
Trust
Peace Sells

Encore:
Holy Wars

Busy week ahead, with nine reviews (minimum!), two features, and a column to do. Yeesh. So bear with me if my next post isn't for a day or two. Or three...

NicotineValiumVicodinMarijuanaEcstasy&Alcohol...

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:23:00 EST

Australia certainly doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to cuting-edge music, but one thing they do well is old-fashioned riff rawk, and the latest export to ride that big wave of hype all the way across the Pacific to North America is about as dumb as hard rock can get, but it's also enormously fun. In fact, Airbourne doesn't hide their AC/DC/Rose Tattoo influence one bit, and I say good for them. Modern rock has been stagnating so badly this decade, that I'll take any upbeat, fun guitar-based rock music that comes my way, no matter how trite. Their second album is instantly gratifying, but the riffs are first-rate and the hooks are incredibly catchy. Not a lick of originality, but when it's done this convincingly, who the heck cares? Read my review, sample the tracks if you haven't heard these guys before, and get the album. It's a good one.

Ever since first getting into them back in 2000, I'd always wanted to see Queens of the Stone Age. I had a chance last year but balked, and I did the same thing a month or so ago when they booked a show at the Odeon. I had second thoughts and looked into ticket availability, but not surprisingly, it had sold out. Late yesterday afternoon, though, I had a cool stroke of luck, as a BraveBoard acquaintance had a ticket to spare. You can't pass up a serendipitous moment like that, so before I knew it, I found myself at the Odeon, crammed in with a thousand or so energetic folks.

The opening band was a fascinating one, Iceland's Mugison. I was never a big fan of his DIY albums in the past, as they came off as sort of a bland Beck/Grandaddy/Beta Band knock-off, but this time he was with a full band, and they really blew me away with their selection of songs from the latest album Mugiboogie. Perhaps aware of their audience on this tour, the band really played up the riffs and the volume, and they were downright ferocious at times, the tunes going over really well with the crowd. I picked up a ten dollar copy of the album, which turns out to be much like the stuff we heard onstage, emphasizing the band thing as opposed to the solo multi-instrumental thing that sounded sort of played out. Plus the design on the album is cool, a faux/leather envelope with a CD and hymnal-style booklet inside. Interestingly, that's the original Iceland version, as Ipecac is releasing it domestically in July...

As for Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age, they delivered, big time. It was as good a rock show as I've seen here in ages, in fact. Normally, when a band comes along and emphasizes newer material over old it's usually tougher to get into the whole spirit of the experience (case in point, Ministry), but QOTSA's last two albums, especially 2007's Era Vulgaris, are very sneaky in their catchiness, to the point where it took both albums a good six months to really get into my head. So although the band left out such classic tracks as "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret", "Go With the Flow", and calling card "No One Knows", so deep is their catalogue, you hardly noticed there were any significant omissions. The new stuff killed, actually. "Medication", "Little Sister", and the awesome "The Blood is Love" from Lullabies to Paralyze and Era Vulgaris selections "Turnin' on the Screw", "Sick, Sick, Sick", "Make it Wit Chu", and the great "3's & 7's" were all highlights from the hour and a half-plus set. Still, though, it was really cool to hear songs like "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" (what a scorching opener!) and "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire". Plus the extended jam of "Song For the Dead" was a cool way to end the show. When all was said and done, we were absolutely drenched...like the Montreal Paganfest, it was the hottest I'd ever been at a show. It was so hot, in fact, that there was a fog of steam in the entire venue. It's not every day you get to see a band like this in such a cozy place these days, and I'm extremely glad (not to mention thankful!) that I was lucky enough to make it to this show. Amazing time. Here's the setlist:

Feel Good Hit of the Summer
Medication
Avon
You Would Know
3's & 7's
Do it Again
Someone's in the Wolf
Little Sister
In the Fade
Make it Wit Chu
Turnin' on the Screw
Blood is Love
Misfit Love
Burn the Witch
Sick, Sick, Sick
I Think I Lost My Headache

Encore:
Millionaire
Song For the Dead

Meshuggah in Woosta!

Sat, 03 May 2008 04:29:00 EST

As mentioned yesterday, I have a ton of new writing to mention. Finally! There's been quite a backlog of stuff, so it's good to see it appearing at last.

I wrote at length about the recent Killing Joke reissues here a couple months ago, and I ended up using those posts as the jumping-off point for a mammoth feature piece for PopMatters. While two of the albums haven't exactly aged well, the other two, 1983's Fire Dances and 1985's near-masterpiece Night Time have withstood the test of time, and the new, sparking remasters really emphasize this band's trademark punch. That mid-80s period is definitely my favourite of Killing Joke's many incarnations. Essential listening.

I was a huge fan of El Perro Del Mar's debut album a couple years ago, and it's great to see that Sarah Assbring hasn't lost a step on her new one. In fact, From the Valley to the Stars is a bit more ambitious, going for a more keyboard-based sound instead of the last one, which was written on acoustic guitar. While there are no songs that equal the downtrodden majesty of "God Knows", they're still very lovely, as Assbring continues to wallow in her own misery. A bit of a grower, though, so if this one doesn't quite grab you at first, just give it time.

Back to the topic of folk/pagan metal, I've admired Korpiklaani for the past three years or so, as they've taken the obscure sound of Finnish humppa music and blended it perfectly with fast, thrashy metal arrangements. It's more of the same thing on Korven Kuningas, and that's all we ever want from these guys...but if you ask me, their last album Tervaskanto is just a little bit better. But hey, there's no such thing as a bad Korpiklaani album, so be sure to check this one out.

While on the subject, Korpiklaani played the European leg of Paganfest just last month, and while on my road trip I was told about "Korpiklaani Coffee", a potent but apparently yummy concoction the guys in the band drink constantly, comprised of 2 cm Jagermeister, 2 cm Bailey's, and 2 cm vodka...

Lastly, my umpteenth Rush review went up this past week. This time around, it's for the excellent Snakes & Arrows Live album, a splendid two-disc set recorded in Holland late last year. Not only is it probably my favourite of all of Rush's live albums, but it's a great little appetizer for the big Rush concert in Regina in three weeks. Aside from four changes to the setlist, it's pretty much what we'll get, which I'm more than happy with, as I'm still hugely into the last album, which has turned out to have incredible staying power.

Although I knew about my Paganfest trip for two whole months (I was offered the gig the day before I left for Norway), I never bothered to check to see who else was playing at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester. It just never occurred to me to bother checking. When I finally did a week before I left, my jaw hit the floor. Appearing right after the Paganfest bands was...Meshuggah and Ministry. Only one of the best live bands on the planet, with arguably the best metal band in the world today opening. I kept hoping and hoping I'd get the chance to take in the shows, and when I found out that we'd be leaving Worcester at 2 am, inside I was doing backflips. So after doing the writer/observer/shmoozer thing for much of the day, I became a Meshuggah geek for an hour, right in the middle of the very energetic crowd.

Waiting for the 9:45 start time, things didn't bode well early on, as a flying beer bottle came within a few feet of my head (why sell obnoxious Massachusetts hardcore thugs bottled beer at shows???). Being an uninsured Canadian in America, and having just watched Michael Moore's Sicko just a few days prior, visions of astronomical hospital bills flew before my eyes. I seriously considered moving to a safer place, like in front of a wall or something, but thankfully, when the band took the stage, everyone settled down and had some good friendly violent fun. And although the sound could have been just a little louder, it was nonetheless glorious, with songs like the astonishing double-kick workout "Bleed", Nothing classic "Rational Gaze", and the ferocious live staple "Future Breed Machine" among the highlights. Drummer Tomas Haake was his usual brilliant self, and Fredrik Thordendal was amazing, especially during his solos, which are the band's secret weapons, little moments of clarity and expression amidst such cold, technically challenging arrangements. It had been six years since I'd last seen Meshuggah, and it was a huge thrill to enjoy their set in such a unique situation. I savoured every minute. Here's their setlist:

Perpetual Black Second Bleed
The Mouth Licking What You've Bled
Electric Red
Pravus
Rational Gaze
Straws Pulled At Random
Future Breed Machine

Ministry, on the other hand, was quite a big disappointment. All the bells and whistles were there, from the chain link fence separating Al Jourgensen and his bandmates from the crowd, to the provocative projected visuals, to the strobe lights, to the cool mic stand, but considering how the crowd had been there for something like 11 hours already, starting the show off with an hour of new material was not a wise move. The more new songs they played, the more apathetic the audience became, including yours truly, who had retreated to a seat in the balcony. With so many classic songs to choose from, it was criminal to not give the fans what they wanted. And when they finally did pull out the oldies (two of which were performed excellently by Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell), it was at the tail end of their set, which had to be cut short because of the 1 am curfew. Their 2004 show was far, far better...check out the October 04 archive for the brilliant setlist. Here's what Al and co. pulled out on this night, however:

Let's Go
The Dick Song
Watch Yourself
Life Is Good
The Last Sucker
No "W"
Waiting
Worthless
Wrong
Rio Grande Blood
Senor Peligro
Lieslieslies
Khyber Pass

Encore:
So What?
N.W.O. (w/ Burton C. Bell)
Just One Fix (w/ Burton C. Bell)
Thieves

And speaking of Meshuggah, Cosmo Lee recently mentioned the band's "Bleed" contest, in which fans could send in video clips of them attempting to duplicate Tomas Haake's intricate drum work. There are plenty of cool performances by talented drum geeks, but it's the more creative finalists that won me over the most. Especially this one, which makes me laugh every time I see it. It's so brilliant, it deserves to win.

No, they didn't sing along to "Tiny Dancer" on the bus...

Fri, 02 May 2008 03:31:00 EST

Well, I'm back home after spending six days away, traveling across the Northeast with the four bands on the Paganfest tour. I really should have blogged from the road like I said, but I was either too busy being accosted by my new Faroese Viking buddies, watching live sets, piecing together my Metal Edge article, or just lollygagging and chatting with musicians. And being passed out, exhausted, on a swanky tour bus.

Needless to say, it was great fun, but very, very tiring. Five days on a bus alone is tough enough, but an entire month-long tour? That'd drive me insane. It's a tough, tough life. I left for Toronto last Friday morning, and took the insanely long bus/subway/streetcar trip from the airport to The Opera House, where I hooked up with the bands I'd be traveling with: Ensiferum and Turisas from Finland, Tyr from the Faroe Islands, and Eluveitie from Switzerland. As it happened, Eluveitie was unable to make it to the two Canadian shows because of visa hassles, which disappointed a lot of people, so we ended up hooking up with them in Worcester, Massachusetts a couple days later. I ended up riding with Tyr and Eluveitie for the entire trip, as the Ensiferum/Turisas bus was already over-full, and that arrangement turned out great, as both bands were exceptionally friendly.

Specific details of the tour exploits will eventually appear in my article, but here's a slapdash account of each five day...

Toronto, ON: Tons of kids, so many of them dressed up as Vikings, with plastic helmets, swords, dresses, kilts, pelts, carpet swatches posing as pelts (!), and warpaint. It looked like BiMonSciFiCon, not a metal show. Each band was well-received, but this night was all about Turisas, who tore the place apart, led by their now-famous cover of Boney M's "Rasputin". Chatted at length with Pete from Ensiferum and Mattias from Turisas...for a guy who looks like a burly warrior onstage, and who is a consummate metal frontman, Matthias is a surprisingly reserved dude offstage. So much so, you'd never know he was the lead guy...and many kids didn't make the connection. Sleeping on the bunk was an adjustment, but I quickly got used to the rumble of the highway travel.

Montreal, PQ: When we got to Le Medley late in the morning, there were already kids waiting in line, and with more than 1500 tickets sold, everyone knew this would be a big show. I did some wandering around the old part of Montreal...it was my first time there, and I really enjoyed what I saw of the city. Plus, it was on the day of a Habs game, and the city was positively buzzing, with Canadiens flags everywhere. The show itself was NUTS...the energy was astounding, every band going over huge, merchandise selling out quickly. And the heat was oppressive...I spent much of the show on a balcony part facing the crowd and just watching their reactions, but it wound up getting so hot, that I had to keep ducking outside for air, and I ended up watching Ensiferum from backstage, where it was cooler. Brooklyn band Gwynbleidd opened, and were tremendous, and I ended up bumping into them a couple of times. We had a beer with the guys in Tyr, they gave me their recent CD, and I promised to keep an eye out for their new album, due out this year. Things got even crazier after the show, but that's for the article. You'll just have to wait.

Worcester, MA: Pure and utter chaos, something the tour manager wasn't exactly thrilled to deal with. It was Day 3 of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, where band after band after band would play a quick, half hour set with a changeover of ten minutes, which made for madness backstage. Plus with no dressing rooms, bands were confined to their buses all day. And a lot of the bands were of the metalcore variety, making for quite a boring, repetitive afternoon. Luckily, I bumped into buddy Sean Palmerston, who introduced me to a ton of people I know through music writing, but had never had the chance to meet. met writers, publicists, record label folks, and bands, from the cool guys in Hemlock at Subway of all places, and Meshuggah at a private shindig. Not surprisingly, Viking/pagan/folk metal was a tougher sell on this night, but Eluveitie came on and won everyone over. The reaction was incredible, as people responded to the positive vibe of the music, which combines melodic Swedish death metal with fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, tin flute, and bagpipes. It was an eye-opener for me, too...I was already a fan of their most recent album Slania, but I had no idea they'd be able to translate the two disparate styles so well in a live setting.

Springfield, VA: After a wonderfully decadent 3 a.m. Quarter Pounder meal at a huge truckstop on the Massachusetts Turnpike (is it me, or does McDonald's always taste better in America?), I went to sleep while crossing into Connecticut, and woke up as we were crossing into Delaware on I-95. Delaware looks boring, Baltimore looks as depressing as The Wire makes it out to be, but once you get to the DC-Virginia area, it becomes surprisingly nice. And green, with more trees than I ever expected to see there. The Jaxx club in Springfield was an odd location, in a strip mall, but it was adjacent to tons of stores and restaurants, so that was good, Unfortunately, it was raining buckets for much of the day, so I couldn't go for much of a walk. Got to know Eluveitie better, though, and I also met some folks from a Norse pagan commune in Maryland who'd driven down for the show. They were extremely friendly, their 60-something leader exuding an ebullient Jerry Garcia vibe, but the longer we chatted, the more surreal it all became. They were accompanied by a young, skinny girl they claled their Berzerker (I am not making this up) who was completely silent and stone-faced, projecting a scary, Squaky Fromme-type vibe. As for the show, unlike Woosta, the smaller venue (which was long sold-out) was jumpin' from the get-go. I ended up missing much of Ensiferum's set because I was too busy having potent drinks foisted upon me Terji and Gunnar from Tyr, who were determined to get me as wasted as they were. And they did a pretty good job of it, I might add. Anyway, much fun was had. That was a great night, and ended up having a good chat over wine with Anna from Eluveitie and tour manager Dave as we waited for Terji and Gunnar to return from goofing around.

Cleveland, OH: Collapsed to sleep in Virginny, and woke up somewhere in Ohio, and groggily had a sammich from a Wal-Mart Subway. Arrived at Peabody's in the early afternoon, watching a goofy James Vanderbeek movie with a few band members about a giant killer squid that was so obviously filmed in Manitoba. People were pretty persnickety on this day...for instance, the girls in Eluveitie were sick to death of American venues having no showers and demanded a hotel room just to clean up, which just gave the tour manager just one more thing to do on his already massive to-do list. And I waited and waited for 4:00, which was when I could check into my hotel. When I did, I relaxed for a bit, enjoying the quiet, had a gloriously yummy baked meatball sub, and wandered back to see the show one more time. The Cleveland crowd was slow to get going for every band, and the merch wasn't selling as well as the other cities, so it was a bit of an off night. After the pace cleared, I went and said bye to everyone from the bus, and when I gave the tour manager my laminate, I said I was going to buy a couple shirts, and he said, "No, no, no...give this guy anything he wants." So I got an Eluveitie hoodie, and Ensiferym and Tyr shirts, all of which are snazzy. I then grabbed a couple slices from the pizza place next door, went back to the hotel, took the longest shower ever, and took it easy.

Cleveland's a cool place, not as dumpy as people often presume. I regret not going to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, but my backpack was so heavy, I couldn't handle walking further than I already did. I did walk across the Cuyahoga river to the Great Lakes brew pub, where I had my first proper, sit-down meal in ages, and got some good pics of the downtown skyline. After that, it was off to the airport, and after a Toronto connection, I got back home at 10 pm.

So I'm still trying to get my energy back...I have some new writing to plug, plus a Meshuggah/Ministry show to mention, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, I can't go on any further!

I'm more than a little worried about the Habs right now.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:43:00 EST

There's so much stuff to mention, I hope I can remember everything! Where to begin...

I might as well start with the newest stuff, that being my April column. I'd always wanted to interview John Darnielle, not so much about The Mountain Goats, but the subject of metal music, of which he is a gigantic fan. When it was announced a year ago that he'd not only be writing about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality for Continuum's 33 1/3 series, but would be doing so in the form of a short novel, I couldn't wait to see how it turned out. After all, the dude's an enormously talented writer, and true enough, Master of Reality is a tremendous book. It's a smart critical analysis told through the voice of his teenaged protagonist, but even more impressively, it's as affecting and perceptive a depiction of teen metalheads in the mid-80s that I have ever seen. Anyway, the release of the book was perfectly timed for my April column, as I needed a good idea, so I thought, why not? And Darnielle's responses turned out to be even better than I'd expected, which made for an excellent, excellent piece, I think. I've always been fascinated by the weird relationship between indie and metal audiences (both seem to be especially wary of each other, yet their insularity is so oddly similar), and it was fun to ask questions about that. So give it a read, go buy the book, and if you don't have the Master of Reality album, be ashamed of yourself and go buy it at once.

Also appearing early this week was my review of the new In Flames album. It's weird how the band's discography from the 1990s is so revered, yet I can't help but love their post-2000 output more, as they've learned to utilize melodies far better than the decade prior, best exemplified by Reroute to Remain and Come Clarity. Most of A Sense of Purpose stays the course, content with remaining in the niche the band has created for themselves. Which is good and all, the songs are all solid, but overall, it feels a little safe. Thankfully, late in the album there's "The Chosen Pessimist", an eight-minute mood piece that really has the band testing just how far into melodic territory they can go. It's an unusual track, but one that has grown on me tremendously over the past couple months. So while it won't exactly place prominently on my year-end list, I still heartily approve of the album. Well worth buying, especially if it's on sale. Oh, and if you check out the new issue of Metal Edge at the nearest newsstand, you'll see my big piece on the band, featuring an interview with singer Anders Friden. That was a pleasant conversation, and I think the piece turned out well. It's just a shame it's not posted on the internet! But you can spare five bucks for the mag, right? Or at least a courtesy flip-through...

It's amazing that it's been nearly three years since I've seen Dan Snaith and Caribou live. He's here all the time it seems, but I'd missed his last two shows, and considering how I hadn't seen how the Andorra material translates live, and how Caribou is one of the best live bands around, I couldn't let myself squander another opportunity to see the band. So I was lucky to find out Amigos still has a few tickets left that afternoon.

When I saw Caribou, then known as Manitoba, for the first time in June of 2004, it was an exuberant yet cautious performance, the four piece band playing over sequenced tracks, and when the 45 minutes was over, Snaith was almost apologetic, saying they couldn't play any longer because they didn't know any more songs. Nearly a year and a half later, the band had greatly improved, bringing in more improvisation and organic instrumentation. However, nothing had prepared me for the transformation the band has undergone in 2008. It was astonishing...not only was the band now recreating the album tracks from the ground up, including Snaith singing full-time, but they were doing an amazing job of it. Snaith especially has come a long way, and it's clear the relentless touring has made him a much more confident musician and singer onstage. The band sounded phenomenal, and the place (which, no surprise, was sold out) was absolutely jumping. it was good to hear the old Up in Flames standards, and Andorra's "Melody Day" has been transformed into a terrific rock tune (I'd really like to hear a live recorded session performance of this song), but "Hello Hammerheads" was a bit too mellow, the crowd chatter growing as folks started to crave the bursts of dual drums, which the epic "Every Time She Turns Round It's Her Birthday" delivered in spades. Nice to hear "Bees" too, which is probably my favourite Caribou track...the projected, moving highway lines to accentuate the whole motorik influence was a cool touch. The visuals overall were especially cool, not as low-budget as the last time I saw the band. A tremendous set overall...and loud! Which I was expecting; if I hadn't stayed outside a 20-foot radius, I would have been as deafened as I was after the Black Mountain show a few weeks ago.

Caribou's opening band Fuck Buttons was also one of the more interesting, not to mention goofily-named acts I've seen in a while. I first heard of them right around when the tour was announced, around January, when folks started talking about how this band with the stupid name was actually pretty darn good, the single "Bright Tomorrow" steadily building strong word of mouth as the months went by. I too was intrigued by the song's slyly incessant hook, not to mention the duo's tendency toward all-out noise rock, and when I got to Amigos midway through their set, the energy in the room was nuts, as Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power had steadily built up a massive wall of sound and thrumming beats, "Bright Tomorrow" sounding much more aggressive and incessant than on record. It was enough to convince me to pick up a copy of the recently-released Street Horrrsing album, which I'm really enjoying. Again, it's not as immediately gripping as hearing them live, but the album's subtlety turns out to be its great strength. I bet it's going to turn out to be one of the year's bigger growers.

And speaking of good albums, the new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds CD is outstanding, feeling like a logical extension of the terrific Grinderman album. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" is already one of the year's best singles, but the hilarious "We Call Upon the Author" ("Bukowski was a jerk! Berryman was best!/He wrote like wet papier mache, went the Heming-way weirdly on wings and with maximum pain/We call upon the author to explain!") and the gorgeous Velvet Underground homage "More News From Nowhere" just might be even better. Definitely one of the year's best.

2008 is really shaping up to be a good year for concerts around these parts...not so much the local club scene, as the indie places are unusually slow and metal shows have virtually abandoned this city, but the arena gigs are more than making up for it. First Gigantour on Mother's Day, then Rush two weeks later, then Iron Maiden two weeks after that. Then in late July, Judas Priest and Testament are coming to Saskatoon. And if that wasn't enough, my beloved Drive-By Truckers are FINALLY touring Western Canada, stopping in Edmonton on June 29, which I have every intention of attending. If I can get out to see Oasis in August, it'll be the nuttiest summer of big concerts ever.

But when it comes to real, extreme craziness, nothing will compare to my big trip in seven days, which I hope to blog from on the new laptop. Won't spill the beans just yet (what am I talking about? I've told everybody), but it's a trip eerily similar to Almost Famous (right down to Swingos), but involving Vikings. Lots and lots of Vikings.

Are you Muxtaping yet?

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:02:00 EST

Finally, some new writing to plug! S'about time, right?

In the May issue of Decibel (the one with the photo of Alexi Laiho after drinking too much cherry Kool-Aid), four of my five pieces are up on the website. Back in February I talked to Aidan Baker of Toronto ambient drone outfit Nadja about their insane prodigiousness, especially in the wake of the release of new discs like this one and this one. He's a really polite guy, but as I mention in the piece, he's the ultimate quiet talker, and I had a heckuva time transcribing the interview. But the whole thing turned out alright, I think.

Over in the reviews section, the biggie this month is the new disc by tech-death metalers Arsis. I'd come to like the band a lot over the last few years, and We Are the Nightmare offers an interesting twist on their intricate sound, placing a little more emphasis on catchy, thrash-inspired riffs more than ever before. I think it works rather well. Wrath of the Weak is a one-man black metal project from Buffalo, Jordan Buck following the example of Burzum (musically, not all that other stuff), creating moody, subtly melodic melodies that lurk underneath its chilly exterior. And I'm not exaggerating in the review, just before I wrote it I'd been walking in an absolutely brutal winter storm, so listening to Alogon as I tried to warm back up was somehow fitting. Lastly, there's my piece on the recent CD by Legion of the Damned, a cool Dutch thrash band that thought it would be a neat idea to re-release an old album...only the final product turned into something much more complicated than it really had to be, as I explain in the review. It's a killer album, though, a healthy dose of first-rate Euro thrash metal.

The one Decibel piece that's missing is my news bit on Mike Patton and his involvement with the soundtrack to the short film A Perfect Place. I did that the day before I left for Norway, which was a little tight time-wise, but it was such great fun talking to Patton, who to nobody's surprise is an extremely interesting guy. The work he did on the soundtrack is some of his best stuff in years, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the film, which comes in DVD form along with the terrific score. It's as good a two-fer-one deal as you'll ever get, so keep your eyes peeled for it. So you'll have to take a peek at the new Decibel if you want to see the actual article. And you know you do.

Over at PopMatters, my review of the new album by The Sword is up today. Back when I first got the early advance copy of the CD, January I think, I loved it. And really, how could I not? After all, the band, while still hugely indebted to old-school doom metal, had added cool little twists into the mix, like flashy riffs reminiscent of 80s thrash and early-80s NWOBHM. But a funny thing happened since then. I heard the excellent new album by Swedish doom traditionalists Isole. I heard the great new record by Gates of Slumber. I saw an incredible set by Sahg in Oslo, and was blown away by their new album soon after. So what do those three bands bring to the doomy table that the Sword doesn't? Quality vocals. Sahg boasts a tremendous lead singer who howls away in a soaring tenor, Isole's singer is a bit more rugged-sounding, but his melodies are exceptional, and while Gates of Slumber isn't quite in that same league vocally, they still retain the same kind of unassuming catchiness that St. Vitus, Place of Skulls, The Hidden Hand, etc. all bring. On Gods of the Earth, though, singer JD Cronise doesn't hold up his end of the bargain. His singing was never great, but was passable on Age of Winters, but while the instrumental tracks sound fantastic, his vocal melodies just go through the motions, and what we can hear fo them are buried deep in the mix. I know this band is completely sincere in its intentions of bringing great, classic metal, but the way Cronise sounds so detached and lazy will have some accusing the band of being "hipster" or "false metal". It's not a bad album at all, but in more skilled hands, it could have been great.

And speaking of great singers, John Garcia has returned with his post-Kyuss project Hermano, whose new album I recently reviewed. Unlike Josh Homme, whose Queens of the Stone Age has gone on to carve out its own post-Kyuss niche, Garcia seems content to stick to what he does strongest, churning out good desert rock. His band does try to broaden its musical palette by going acoustic on several occasions, but the most fun is had on rockers like "Kentucky", "Exam Room", and the contagious "Adoption Boy".

Ever hear of Muxtape? No? Well, if you're unfamiliar, everyone is making Muxtapes these days, posting mp3s on their own page, which streams up to twelve tracks like a quick mixtape. A great idea, but we all know it's going to be shut down soon enough by the copyright police. But for now, I suggest you give a listen to my own Muxtape...the whole theme of the thing is new Scandinavian music, partially inspired by my Norway trip, and partially by my predilection towards Scandinavian pop. Turned out to be a good, solid, diverse mix, I think. So listen and enjoy!

PopMatters recently did a neat thing, finally sorting its archives by writer. So after years of waiting, nearly all my articles and reviews for the site (and there are hundreds), are finally on one single page. So that means you can track my evolution from overly-hyperbolic writer to slightly less hyperbolic writer much more conveniently than in the past. Seriously, though, there are some titles and pieces I hadn't thought of in years. I don't dare click on the Andrew WK review, I know I missed the boat completely on that one. And you know what? I still stand by my St. Anger review. For the most part.