Mattowarrior's Metal Madness

Being a Metal Elitist or "Purist" isn't without it's issues. You can't win them all, as far as convincing others inside the Metal Milieu whether your taste is "justified" or not. Of course, "who cares what people think" should be the rule, but I figured an article like this would make entertaining fodder for discussion, as well as looking inside the mind of a Metal Fan who feels the Nineties (yes that decade) may have been the greatest decade for metal, at least in the underground and in Europe. Without further adieu, here are 5 bands I just never could get into, and yeah, at times I've tried and tried and tried. I'll follow up those 5 bands with 5 more that according to my own standards and tastes, and more importantly (the hierarchical ideology of Metal "Elitism", which I'm using in a somewhat ironic and tongue in cheek way) I "shouldn't" like: 1. Korn. I never liked Korn. I just found the mix of elem...

                                         Kiss, rare picture of the group sans makeup in the Seventies.  Among the criticisms from the people who hate/dislike Kiss that's postulated very often is the assertion that, given that much of the popularity of Kiss comes from their "live act" and in particular, their makeup and costumes, that they would've never reached the heights awarded to them if they were just a regular "rock band" in the seventies, some going so far as to say they never would've made it to being an international act! If one is to believe this assertion, then one has to immediately go to their music and analyze them in the context of seventies hard rock and metal acts who were their contemporaries. Also, we need to look at the building blocks of their music, and the fact that this is a lot of what people (often) ignore. Culled from interviews, various other...

Recently, I have discovered a new band which delves into some interesting concepts, War Gods of the Deep. Their new EP, Robots, Rockets & Rampage has been released and its an interesting listen. The Band is named (Seemingly) from a 1965 movie with Vincent Price, (which went by City under the sea in non US countries). In it, The plot concerns the discovery of a lost city beneath the sea off the coast of Cornwall.  Price is the captain overseeing a group of sailors who have lived there for more than a century where the peculiar mix of gases has allowed them to extend their lifespan. The band, which lists Kiss, Queen, Van Halen, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Boston, the Eagles, Prince, Def Leppard, and Journey among their influences, as well as comics, science fiction, fantasy and pulp magazines, as well as Star Wars (tastefully and gratefully mainly the Original Trilogy :) ) has definitely a unique and fresh sound going for them.  ...

Does humor belong in music? Frank Zappa once asked the question many years ago, and with him, it was almost more of a statement than a question, because obviously with his music it was a “yes”. Granted, his was often the biting type of satirical and sardonic humor that was incisive towards the mores and values of the day. The question also then arises to “does humor belong in metal”? Metal has often been maligned as being either unfunny or extremely unintentionally funny, as any fan of the film This is Spinal Tap, or even Beavis and Butthead can attest.  There have been gems of comedy scattered within the metal scene though, whether it'd be Scatterbrain who appeared in the 80's, Tenacious D's flirtations and appreciation of the metal idiom, Mr Bungle or Primus's careening towards the metal genre, or the underrated project Crotchduster from the early 2000's (featuring a certain Richard Chirsty on drums) or even comedian Brian Posehn's metal songs.  Me...

It's not every day that you're sent a roughshod demo song to review, and a bit more of a challenge to do so than a finely honed product. Up until now, I have reviewed mainly professional releases, but was asked to do this, and will oblige.  It's hard to describe Song Of Love, other than an amalgamation of hard rock and metal and progressive, their demo song "Babylon", is actually a charming number, while as rough and imperfectly produced as I described.  Being a fan of diverse productions like the ones by artists even such as GG Allin or a lot of the more "Necro" Black Metal bands, I can deal with a rough production. The song is an instrumental. The beginning parts of the song remind me simultaneously of Led Zeppelin but also latter day free jazz influenced Black Flag. It is followed by some progressive Maidenish melodic riffs, with some very odd timings done by the drummer. Then some more odd timed riffs embellish the songs and it pic...