Metalcore, What's the Score?

So the late Nineties/early Noughties Metal was actually in a fairly healthy commercial state, but creatively it was fucked - over run by baggy jeans, turn tables, white boys trying to rap and a clown in a red baseball cap or Marilyn Manson.
I know. I had a lot of the records as I was DJing at the time.
Like all genres Nu Metal wasn't bad when it first surfaced and a lot of the bands in the first wave or two were quite good, but by the time the genre was bloated and rotting in the harsh light of day most people longed for a bit of musical ability, some solos and a bit of passion as opposed to having Ben fucking Stiller guest on your album to give your self a back slapping celebrity endorsement.
Out of this frustration saw the resurgence of Thrash orientated bands; only because we live in a post modern world that has to put a label on everything (God forbid we couldn't just called it 'Metal'), this new take on a genre whose leading lights still had credence even before the Big Four Cash Grab, Metalcore was born.

Metalcore was given the name because, despite featuring dual guitar harmonies, solos, thrash fast riffing, gruff vocals, it also had incorporated elements of the punk and hardcore scenes such as breakdowns, deep bass parts, empowering lyrics etc so it was essentially a nice media friendly weaving of two Genres 'Heavy Metal' and 'Hardcore'…

Truthfully a lot of the originators of this genre actually had more in common with the Gothenburg Sound that was created by the likes of At The Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity in the preceding decade and the early bands pinned with this tag include forerunners Killswitch Engage, Unearth, All Shall Perish, Walls Of Jericho, Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying, Lamb Of God, All That Remains, Trivium, God Forbid, Chimaira and Avenged Sevenfold.
Frankly a veritable who's who of my record record collection for the past few years (some noticeable omissions included).
But as with Hair Metal, Thrash, Nu Metal, Emo before them nothing lasts forever and as the whole thing begins (well I say begins… truth is it started a fair while ago) to whiff like Big Foot's dick and a number of key releases have come in the last year I thought I would take a look at the past and present and see if I can still find a pulse.

Before I do I want to cut a few off the list:

Lamb of God - never really a metal core band, definitely aren't now, just lazy journalism. They are a Slayer/Pantera hybrid and have been ever since As The Palaces Burn was released back in 2003.


Walls Of Jericho are a great band, more like a female fronted Slayer. I may talk about them another time as at the moment they are on time out due to Candace Kucsulain having given birth to a baby girl in August 2011.

Avenged Sevenfold - began life as the Orange County Killswitch but had to take a directional swerve when M Night Shadows blew out his voice and could no longer scream and growl Death Metal stylee. Whatever, they were shit then and somehow more shit now, apart from that Natural Born Killer song from Nightmares. Which is a shame because his voice isn't bad now and I like the song he did on the first Slash solo album…

Trivium…. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ahem, moving on….

So that's the the two I can't be fagged to talk about off the list as well as one of my favourite metal acts of recent years and Walls of Jericho… (I say recent I pretty much mean the last nine) so to the remnants.
I should point out that I didn't go out of my way to find the most identikit band photos... it's just a metal thing these days...



Killswitch Engage
KsE started out of the blocks incredibly well with their untitled album (the debut, the good one, not the shit boring one they released last time out) and followed that swiftly with 2003 genre defining Alive or Just Breathing? This period in my opinion represents the best of the bands output, in singer Jessie Leech they had a vocalist who could growl like a demon possessed and sing like an Angel, before it became the norm to jam a saccharine sweet chorus into every bloody song this was like the spirit of Gothenburg and the Bay Area wrapped up in a fresh post modern sound; produced perfectly it was a boot in the face that people who had been waiting for such things since Anselmo hollered 'FUCKING HOSTILE!!!" in your ear way back 11 years earlier.
After that Jessie left due to numerous reasons and he was replaced with HoJo, The Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed, and they recorded the genre busting End Of Heartache album which smashed down the doors to the Metal mainstream at the time and catapulted them into the big time shining a light on Metalcore.
Now since then, followers of this blog will know I have taken almost every opportunity I can to put the boot in to KsE as they became more bloated (to the point of diabetes eh HoJo?), more stupid (lose that cape Adam) and just fucking boring and formulaic. Whilst record sales haven't dwindled general interest and respect has, but now with the return of Jessie this year, the once kings of Metalcore could get back to their roots and are embarking on a State side tour playing AOJB in its entirety. Having seen them this year at Download for the first time with Leech I have to say I am jealous of our brethren over the pond.




There is hope yet for KsE in my opinion.



Unearth
Unearth have always had their roots more in the hardcore sound than the Death Metal leanings of their peers. They like most started out with a brutal sounding debut (The Stings of Consciousness) but it wasn't until the release of their sophomore album The Oncoming Storm that they made people really sit up and pay attention. Uncompromisingly heavy, almost devoid of clean vocals and dripping with luscious guitar parts, it proved that despite the mauling Metal had taken previously, it could still be intricate, classy and still get you diving in the pit.
They followed this up with two solid albums in III: The Eyes Of Fire and The March which trod the same path in a very palatable way, but never quite recaptured that feeling and left you wanting them to push themselves further.
Well last year I got what I wanted and the wheels came off. The Darkness In The Light I talked about at the time, so I won't go on and on, but part of why I loved Unearth was because they didn't weld a pop chorus to every (or any) song. Like Randy Blythe, Trevor Philips didn't sing.
Last years release saw clean singing all over the new album and I have to say it was a shock and not a pleasant one. I have struggled to listen to them since to be honest and I know that others have struggled with this change.
Maybe they'll come good, but at the moment it smacks of desperation.



God Forbid
God Forbid were a little different and in Gone Forever and Constitution of Treason released some of my favourite albums around the year I was made redundant (2005). I remember temping for DEFRA around my birthday and wondering round the grounds listening to these albums and As I Lay Dying's Shadows Are Security (more on them later)
Since then they have been at war with themselves with Doc Coyle the elder brother stating that they needed to get serious or he would be off and following the lack lustre follow up Lifesblood it seemed that time was up for some.
At this time I saw them in Bristol supporting fading Nu Metal stars Ill Nino and was approached by his brother Dallas Coyle holding a sign up asking for coke, shortly after he left the band and was replaced by Kris Norris of Darkest Hour and then some dude called Mick Wicklund.
For me the support gig for Ill Nino was appropriate as, like them, God Forbid have failed to kick on, last years Equilibrium passed by in a haze of indifference, and they seem to fade a little more with each passing release. They keep popping up on tours in America with many of the usual suspects on this entry, but these days I'm hardly beating down the door to listen to anything new they produce.
Which is a shame.



Chimaira
It seems a little unfair to lump Chimaira in with Metalcore as they have always been a more pure Metal band like Lamb of God. Their Pass Out Of Existence debut was flavoured with Nu Metal influences, but by the time they stripped down to release the incredible Impossibility of Reason album they were lean and mean and created a huge wave on Roadrunner with the Down Again single.
As with all things they seemed primed for success but if you get the chance to see their DVD The Dehumanizing Process the band effectively fell apart over this album tour and the tour for the subsequent self titled album and were dropped by Roadrunner (quel surprise) and have spent the past couple of years limping on and constantly shedding band members right up until 2011 when they release the surprisingly good Age Of Hell album (free to UK Metal Hammer readers), but this comeback seems short lived as two more band members have jumped ship since then and it seems that even the most hardcore Chimaira fan is probably calling time.



As I Lay Dying
As I mentioned earlier in 2006 AILD release their 3rd album Shadows Are Security. Having seen them supporting my Alaskan favourites 36 Crazyfists on their Snowcapped Romance tour (not to mention seeing a pre-EP release Bullet For My Valentine open) I was moved enough to buy their Frail Words Collapse album.
They were by far one of the heaviest bands of their collective - low on sung melodies but high on Maiden influenced dual guitar harmonies. However after breaking big(ish) with Shadows… the band released An Ocean Between Us - this album is considered their best and saw them collect several accolades including a Grammy nomination, but saw the ratio of clean to gruff vocals creep up.
This is the problem for me, this wasn't too bad on Oceans, but the increase in the two follow ups - 2009's The Powerless Rise and this years Awakened means suffering more of Josh Gilbert's clean vocals and unlike Clint Norris before him, I don't really like them… they are a bit whiny and irritating and whereas they used to be used sparingly, now they are almost Killswitch predictable. Don't get me wrong Awakened is a heavy album and by no means close to the worst I have heard this year, but I am finding myself enjoying Tim Lambesis' comedy side project Austrian Death Machine more these days.





Shadows Fall
Right around the halcyon time of the mid-Noughties Metalcore was hitting it's stride Shadows Fall released one of the best Metalcore albums the genre has produced in The War Within. Having ditched Phil Labonte in favour of Brian Fair (he of the massively long dreadlocks) on vocals after artistic differences following the their debut Sombre Eyes To The Sky, the band established themselves as a rising force recording Of One Blood and the momentum gaining follow up The Art Of Balance.
The War Within cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Chart and topped number one on the Top Independent Chart and even got a slot on Guitar Hero II causing some to tip the Shads as the next successor to the likes of Metallica, however the next two albums (Threads of Life and Retribution) saw them lose their direction a little as the band seemed unsure whether to go for the commercial bucks or stay true to their roots and the results was a listenable, but unremarkable mish mash and it looked like they too may end up another casualty on the metalcore scrap heap.
Fortunately this year saw the release of their latest record Fire From The Sky. Reunited with old pal and cape wearing idiot savant Adam D of Killswitch behind the desk for the first time since Sombre Eyes… this record is a wake up call to all who had written them off.
Back to their melodic thrash best, heavy and uplifting and with a production crisper than a new pair of ironed boxer shorts, Fire… has reignited.




All That Remains
So having been removed from Shadows Fall, ex military man and gun loving NRA nut Phil Labonte turned his attention to making his imagined side project a reality with All That Remains. Having always appreciated his voice more than Fair's it was no surprise that I loved All That Remains and their debut Behind Silence & Solitude, like most of the genres debuts is nigh on death metal raw.
Following a few line up shifts the band released it's sophomore album This Darkened Heart for Prosthetic Records.
In comparison to it's predecessor this is a cast iron classic, again produced by friend Adam D this is as pure metal core as you can get, Labonte's bark broken up by some well timed and flavoured clean vocals without being indulgent.
Sure enough as the genre gained in popularity so the pressures on the band to perform commercially escalated and the resultant album was 2006's Fall Of Ideas, still clinging onto enough credibility in the underground this album Still Remains (oof - where are they now?) the fans classic choice. Although not as good in my opinion as TDH it features several alternative radio friendly hits that propelled them into the same league as Shadows and Killswitch.
My problem with All That Remains from this point is that the clean vocals began to appear more and more and have clearly been tweaked in the studio. Whilst this is no surprise in this day and age, one of the main reasons I love the music I do is that you can go see them live and raw.
It seems that raw is an accurate way to describe Labonte's live vocals and debate rages online as to whether he can actually deliver the clean goods live.
However buoyed by the success of Fall, ATR followed this up with 2008's Overcome and 2010's For We Are Many which have only seen the band move further away from their roots and incorporate more clean singing and less thrash orientated material. Although for the record I enjoy both of these records, putting them on back to back with This Darkened Heart show cases how far the band have gone in the route of putting their albums together in the studio.
Certainly this has seen record sales rise steadily, but when you start to sound produced to the point of Linkin Park you are gonna have to take some stick.

Pro-Tools & Autotune

An album you cannot sing...

Whilst these records have proved successful we stand poised for the release of A War You Cannot Win in two weeks time.
I fear this is probably the last time I will describe ATR as a metal core band. The new single that preceded the album Stand Up is a dreadful poppy, hard rock, entirely clean sung piece of smalchy shit that has been massively, massively studio engineered, with vocals that constantly wobble about as the pitch correction desperately tries to match the music and dipshit, chest beating lyrics.
If this wasn't bad enough, Labonte has repeatedly come out in the press lately spouting bollocks about liberals and advocating gun ownership, big government, becoming a partner in a gunshop, posing with assault rifes and falling out with Rent-A-Commie Tom Morello. Not to mention that the album cover is a piss poor rip off of IronMaiden's A Matter Of Life And Death logo only with assault rifles, with silencers.
In an online interview Phil explained how he no problems offending his fans by speaking his mind.
Well judging by the comments appearing online, a large portion of his fan base has no problems offending him as the backlash over the frankly dreadful Stand Up has seen many claiming to have finished with the band.
Well, I've heard the new album and frankly the clean vocals are processed beyond shit. The album has some great heavy moments (Stand Up notwithstanding) but every fucking song that quivering, digital, annoying clean vocal comes in and it sounds like I am listening to some bullshit pop boy band. In fact listening to it as I write this Asking Too Much makes Stand Up seem like a great track, I mean how fucking far off the note do you have to be for the pitch correction to be so dominant in the weak mix? Not to mention at one point it actually breaks down and Phil sings comfortable in his register in a low voice and you hear his real voice... it sounds fine, then the chorus kicks back in and the whole fucking Autotune multi-layer kicks back in and you could be listening to a different guy.
The whole thing smacks of Pro-Tools and Autotune - there is no way this will ever come over well live. As far as 'music' goes this is the worst thing I have suffered in 2012 and it comes from one of my favourite bands of the last couple of years.
I have to say Phil you should rename your band to to Autotuned Remainstream because you make the dude from As I Lay Dying seem like a pleasure to listen to on this release.
Absolutely dreadful.

Ultimately Metalcore, like Nu Metal, Grunge, Thrash etc before it is clinging onto life itself by finger tips… the fact is that music seems to come in waves, either from bands in the same scene trying to out do each other, record companies wanting their own piece of a fad or bandwagon jumping.
Some of the bands I have listed here have been great and could be again, some are on a downwards trajectory and some will fade from existence and some simply aren't the same bands anymore.

I understand that stagnation equals death - I reviewed the new Neurosis album for The Sleeping Shaman recently so I get that some bands can't or won't stand still and I don't expect them to still be the same, but taking a band like Lamb of God who have not compromised in what they do and are selling in numbers that some of the bands mentioned can only dream of, making some of the best music they have made in their career, it makes some of the decisions made by other bands mentioned here seem a desperate attempt to play the game.
And at least Randy Blythe admits he can't sing.

Perfect Vision?

 

In case you haven't been keeping track of this blog lately you may, or may not have noticed that I have been getting awfully excited about the comeback of Long Island's Vision of Disorder.

Having been denied the chance to hear Vision of Disorder's comeback album a few weeks ago thanks to The Sleeping Shaman (I'm still holding this against you Lee!) the anticipation in my household (well more me, less so the misses) has increased on an almost daily basis as the count down to the release of The Cursed Remain Cursed on the 17th September.

Finally I caught a break when Metal Hammer took the awesome step to feature the entire album for streaming on their Spotlight section this week, meaning the wait of 11 years for new material from my favourite hardcore band was finally over.

Having seen the incredible reviews stack up on reviews, fansites, Dom Lawson's Iron Sandwich and the pages of Metal Hammer itself, the question I had to ask as I tentatively clicked play was, is this all just hype?

I am relived to say that the answer is a resounding no.



From the moment opening single/teaser track (whatever the fuck you call a single these days) Loveless takes off, it is clear that VOD mean business as visceral and pummelling, huge melodic hooks sucks you in.
It is like the band haven't missed a step, or if they did, they smashed their toe, swore into the sky and bounded forward with renewed purpose. Tim Williams' vocal deliver is as furious as ever as he spits venomous lyrics like,
In the throes of our misery
I swear that I'll have my revenge
At the crossroads of our sanity
We'll be loveless until the end

Set To Fail, a much hyped track in reviews, smashes in without missing a beat. It is a collision of hardcore, metal and groove as the musicians creating this glorious cacophony showcase exactly what made them so special in the first place - the deep Slayeresque riff, the stop/start dynamics, the snaking bass and Williams schizophrenic use of shrieks, shouts and that unique clean singing that set them apart from some of the run of the mill New York bands they rubbed shoulders with.

Up next Blood Red Sun is just simply gigantic. Starting with impressive drumming, it breaks out from a relentless high tempo into a massive chorus and huge sing-a-long sections that deserve to be screamed in pits all over the world. Just thinking about it puts a huge fucking smile on my face and it's been a while since I went into the pit, but I was throwing shapes in the kitchen as I played it at deafening level.

Fourth track Hard Times is not a Cro-Mags cover, instead it is another slice of prime brutality delivered with flair and block levelling groove. Inspite of the unforgiving heaviness, there is always catchy vocal chant never far away as it stops on a dime and changes tempo. Even if it scrapes your throat as it comes out.
What is incredible is how raw and savage the whole album is.
And I mean the whole album - even the moments they take their foot off the gas.
It is simply relentless and harks back to the days of Imprint and the self titled debut. I had heard that it was angry and heavy, but quite simply this is seriously intense and goes way beyond my expectations. Whatever happened in their time apart or even their time back together, it is clear that the fire that drives this band is burning as brightly as ever.

Make no mistake this is no cash grab reunion, this is the real fucking deal as Annihilator simply kicks your face off with no apology. Skullz (Rot In Pieces) eases back on the tempo and substitutes the fury for a head banging feast and more sing-a-long barrages.
The Enemy (the other preview track) see Williams sounding like Layne Stayley if he had kicked the smack and gone fucking postal, whilst the band whip up the kind of storm they did on Imprint's standout track By The River.
From here Seventh Circle and New Order Of Ages see the band developing light and shade as they shift focus to creating an atmospheric soup of heavy dirge verses off kilter melody that recalls the late nineties alternative scene distilled with a genuine anger that few 'heavy' bands can manage with conviction these days.
Right on cue Be Up On It cranks the tempo and delivers a soulful chorus that is almost tender despite the raging setting it is housed in, briefly delivering a 'lighters in the air' moment, before lapsing back into the kind of riff that inspires pits.

The final track Heart & Soul attempts to walk this same tightrope.
In truth, for me, it is the weakest track on the album. To put this in it's true context, it's not bad, it's not a dud and I won't be bailing from future listens a track early, but at times it feels a little thrown together and it's stop/start transition from heavy to melodic feels a little forced and the down tempo shift feels unnecessary.
It is, however, worth sticking with for it's defiant to the last  'We're gonna torch this city and watch it burn' refrain.

So maybe it isn't quite as perfect as the title suggests, but it's damn close enough for me.
Closer than I hoped to be honest .
I liked Bloodsimple, it kept reminding me of Williams and Kennedy's chemistry, but much like A Perfect Circle breaks up the time between Tool albums and is good to play around your girlfriend, when the big boys come home it is time to get serious and for me The Cursed Remain Cursed does exactly that.
If you had said to me back in 2003 that a decade later Vision of Disorder would release an album capable of flattening the competition, I would have probably laid a decent bet that if they were still going, they would have mellowed with age.
Ultimately no one, apart from those who loved the band have clamoured for this reunion, for this album, but it shows they are doing it for the best reason possible - to make the best fucking VOD album they could and to be honest, they have come close to making the best VOD album yet.
9/10 for me and a contender for album of the year.
Go see them in Camden for me this week.
You bastards.

A quick round up

Marking a return to tapping on the keyboard it seems that this new found burst of creativity is lacking its usual bite and venom… could this herald a new age of mature writing for the blog?
Could it bollocks.



Having bombarded my friends Facebook news feeds in recent times I had nearly reached exhaustion by the time the Czech legal system caught up with the real world and decided to release Lamb of God's Randy Blythe after dithering for nearly five weeks.
Despite paying the bail twice, the prosecution were maintaining Blythde was a flight risk and would disappear if released. Despite assurances by LoGs management that the singer of a niche touring metal band was unlikely to drop off the planet (especially when they had fleeced him for two years worth of wages) this seemed to fly for a while, hence the protracted stay.
In between criticising the US Government for failing to inform him of the impending charges Blythe released the incredibly mature statement:

Greetings.
 This is D. Randall Blythe, checking in from my beloved hometown of Richmond, VA, United States of America. I was recently released on bail from Pankrác Prison in Prague, Czech Republic, after over a month of incarceration. Now that I am out for the moment, I would like to say a few things.
1. While in prison, I had minimal knowledge of how my case was viewed anywhere but the Czech Republic. I was told by my attorney that I had a lot support from peers in the music industry, my hometown, fans, and of course my family. I cannot express how emotional it made me upon my release to read about even a fraction of the voices that were raised on my behalf. From legends in my music community, to fans across the world, and even people who were previously unaware of my existence but sympathized with my plight- I am truly humbled. I cannot thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers. I would especially like to thank the people of Richmond, VA, for standing by me. In the 48 hours I have been home, many people I have never met before have stopped me on the street, waved and smiled as I passed by, or said hello in a restaurant. All have said "We are glad you are home, Randy". You all make me proud and grateful that I call Richmond home.
2. I would like state that I suffered no abuse, from either authorities or inmates, during my incarceration in Pankrác. I received no special treatment, and was in general population with everyone else- make no mistake, it was prison, not some celebrity rehab tv show. But I was treated fairly by the guards and kindly by my fellow inmates. People are dying of starvation all over the world. Men and women are losing their lives daily in the Middle East and other war torn regions. I had food, clothes, shelter, and no one was trying to kill me. I cannot complain over a short stay in prison while many people elsewhere fight to survive on a daily basis.
3. If it is deemed necessary for me to do so, I WILL return to Prague to stand trial. While I maintain my innocence 100%, and will do so steadfastly, I will NOT hide in the United States, safe from extradition and possible prosecution. As I write this, the family of a fan of my band suffers through the indescribably tragic loss of their child. They have to deal with constantly varying media reports about the circumstances surrounding his death. I am charged with maliciously causing severe bodily harm to this young man, resulting in his death. While I consider the charge leveled against me ludicrous and without qualification, my opinion makes no difference in this matter. The charge exists, and for the family of this young man, questions remain. The worst possible pain remains. It is fairly common knowledge amongst fans of my band that I once lost a child as well. I, unfortunately, am intimately familiar with what their pain is like. Therefore, I know all too well that in their time of grief, this family needs and deserves some real answers, not a media explosion followed by the accused killer of their son hiding like a coward thousands of miles away while they suffer. I am a man. I was raised to face my problems head on, not run from them like a petulant child. I hope that justice is done, and the family of Daniel N. will receive the closure they undoubtably need to facilitate healing. I feel VERY STRONGLY that as an adult, it would be both irresponsible and immoral for me not to return to Prague if I am summoned. This is not about bail money. This is about a young man who lost his life. I will act with honor, and I will fight to clear my good name in this matter. Thank you for reading this, and I wish you all peace.

I look forward to LoG regaining their momentum...



Dave Mustaine has been making a massive ass of himself again.
Despite resurgence in Megadeth's popularity over the last couple of years the now seemingly right wing, Christian, sober Mustaine has become increasingly vocal on all manner of things but music.
Unlike when MTV got him to report on the Democratic Party Conference, Dave has now taken to spouting the kind of bollocks that saw him driven out of Ireland under police guard for 'inadvertently' expressing sympathy for the IRA telling people they were selling t-shirts outside 'for the cause'.
Now the man has a right to speak, but even in America Megadeth's fanbase, one would imagine, are primarily young Democrats or certainly middle of the road no matter how they are dissatisfied with America's most famous West Ham fan so to keep digging this hole seems decidedly unhinged for the guy who got kicked out from Metallica for being a bigger drunken asshole than the rest of them.




Exciting times are ahead for fans of Northern England,  Hardcore influenced, progressive post Metallers Earthtone9. Having successfully recorded and released the excellent For Cause &  Consequence EP through the pioneering Pledge Music project, news broke earlier this year that the band were going back to the web to raise the cash for a full album.
Bringing you up to current day I am pleased to announce that recording is well underway with (and counting) 110% of the target figure achieved.
As a huge fan of the band I am frankly pissing my pants in anticipation and hope this album launch will bring about an extended touring session from my favourite UK act since Iron Maiden.
The band will be playing two shows in September supporting the mighty (and also reactivated) Vision Of Disorder.
The fact I cannot get to either the London or the Manchester gig would be a downer, if it wasn't for the knowledge that two of my dearest and most missed bands were release (what I hope will be) killer albums soon.




Talking of Iron Maiden though, if you were fearing that despite touring the Maiden England set around the globe (no doubt ahead of next years Blue Ray/DVD release), on the back of the mammoth selling Final Frontier album and tour, that they might run out of cash soon news broke this week that EMI were releasing all their first eight classic albums on picture disc vinyl.
That's right between October this year and February next year, all the classic master tape versions of those albums get the picture disc, gatefold twelve inch treatment.
As what has been described as a blatant cash to cash in on the collectors market, this eight album bonanza will be costing aficionados a pretty hefty penny.
I placed my deposit for the lot this morning.
They are soooo pretty.

What else can I tell you?
I have recently been promised an advanced copy of Oakland's finest post metal/folk/hardcore/everything crew Neurosis' new album Honor Through Decay for The Sleeping Shaman which I have to say is a great honour (sic) and genuinely exciting.
I shall post a link when it's done (October ish).

And finally next month sees the release of the first instalment of the Down ep run(Down IV Part I – The Purple EP), so I guess the end of the year is going to end with a musical headrush of epic proportion.
Which is good because the middle dragged like fuck.

Hallowed Be Thy Ground

Okay I have been threatening this for a while and as proof that sobriety can be a terrible thing to taste, I thought I would actually write about history and even some Metal as opposed to venting about the mental and musical decline of Metllica for a change. Given I have written about the only news stories I am interested in at the moment I felt it was time to turn my attention to my spiritual home of Donington Park and it's long association with Heavy Metal music.

Donington Park is situated near the legendary site of Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, or Oop Norf as I like to refer to it being north of Bristol (although several of my associates will be quick to point out that it is actually in the area referred to as The Midlands…), whatever geography boy, it took a two and a half hour drive up country from my birth place and I have migrated south since then.
The actual Castle itself was built in the the 12th Century and eventually passed into the hands of the crown around the time of Edward the 2nd and then eventually into the estate of Donington Hall.

The Park was created  as a racing circuit before the Second World War and was used as a storage for military vehicles during it. Post War the circuit fell into disrepair until it was revived during the 1970's by a local construction entrepreneur Tom Wheatcroft. Whilst the track would only play host to one Formula 1 event it became the favoured home of the British leg of the Moto GP circuit.
Fast forward to current day and the complex fell foul of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and nowadays plays host to the Donington Historic Festival reliving the circuits faded glory days.
It is also currently the UK site for the Download Rock and Metal festival.



Way back in the olden days though, well 1980 to be precise, promoter Paul Loadsby held a one day festival specifically dedicated to rock and Heavy Metal. On the back of having successfully promoted Richie Blackmore's Rainbow on tour he asked them to headline to which Blackmore having jettisoned supreme vocalist Ronnie James Dio (happy 70th by the way man, hope you are rocking somewhere with us) probably needed all the exposure they could get. At least until Since You've Been Gone destroyed any hope that Blackmore's ego would ever return to earth.
It held around 35k people was a huge success. It was probably half assed, all kinds of health and safety violations, fairly cheap and a pleasure to be at.
I dunno, ask my mate Nick, he was there. He's well old.
Sorry Nick.
As well as Blackmore, his ego and his band, the line up featured British and International stars of the day Scorpions (Turn ze spotlights, on ze peepol!), April Wine (no me neither), Judas Priest, Saxon, Riot, Touch and Running Wild.
Following the successful of the inaugural show the festival would run almost continually for another 15 years billed as the now legendary Monsters of Rock festival.

Notable highlights over the years include Metallica making their debut in 1985 and having a pigs head thrown at them.
Seriously.
Now I have thrown my fair share at the stage over the years and a half full pint/coke bottle/tub of pasta salad is hard enough to get decent height or distance on, yet alone a pig's head, so far play Metal-loving nuttier.
It does beg the question what you were doing with a PIGS HEAD at a festival though.
Others include AC/DC headlining numerous times - the excellent AC/DC Live is recorded from their 1991 turn at the festival; Van Halen's first UK appearance with Diamond David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne when he could sing, ZZ Top and of course Iron Maiden's legendary headlining appearance in 1988.
A veritable who's who of the heavy music of the time.



I'll pause here at Iron Maiden (surprise!).
This was my entry point to heavy music. I was introduced to Iron Maiden at this very moment. The inertia of having a number one album in the UK in the form of concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, a catchier than a man with large hands single in Can I Play With Madness, plus the festival extending it's capacity and the only UK date from Metal's hottest property, the stars seemed to align for this show. Couple that with a supporting bill of hot upstart's Guns n Roses full UK debut, KISS, DDLR's solo show, Megadeth (resists dig) and Helloween and the whole day remains one of those mouthwatering prospects to the 33 year old me and a complete other world to the ten year old version.
As such the Donington would be forever cemented into my conscious as the home of the music I love as Maiden broke the attendance record and played to some 107k fans.
Sadly that day contained tragedy as two fans were crushed to death during Guns n Roses set, despite Axl being about 3 years from shoving his head up his ass and pleading with the crowd to step back. In reality the increased capacity, the mud, the excitement led to a horrific accident.
Iron Maiden's management took the decision to isolate the band from the news, they took to the stage and played a blinder. It must have been a terribly bittersweet moment for the band as they played the gig of their lives only to have it tempered with such news.
As a result no festival was held in 1989 out of respect for the loss.

The festival re-emerged the following year and some great bands graced the stage over the next few years (bar a mystery break in 1993) including the aforementioned AC/DC, Slayer, WASP, Skid Row (memorable for Sebastian 'Baz' Bach slipping on the wet stage and landing flat on his ass on the opening number), Sepultura performing as a three piece due to Max Cavalera having to fly home regarding the death of his step son Dana Wells, a mystery that has never quite been resolved, a second crack at the headlining whip for Iron Maiden who recorded and released a live album and an eye wateringly edited VHS.




My Donington story really begins in 1995. Celebrating having completed our GCSEs some school friends and I went to what had been arrogantly renamed 'Escape From The Studio '95' by none other than my former amores Metallica. Topping a bill that saw Therapy? Skid Row, Slllllllaaaaaaayyyyyeeeeeerrrrrrr, Slash's Snakepit, White Zombie, Machine Head, Warrior Soul and Corrosion of Conformity, the band decided that being stuck in the studio with the Load and Reload material had gotten tedious (No. Shit.) so they legged it over to play a gig at what even motor mouthed, gurning, drum Muppet Larz recognised as the home of Heavy Metal.
Going up on a bus was a great day. The festival itself was largely a blur, I can remember the sand fight where we stood with a great view of the front of the stage before CoC kicked off and introducing us to the huge guys moshing all around us.
I remember my friend smiling in amusement as I screamed 'Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast' at Machine Head and realised then we were going in separate directions musically as he went to see if he could recognise the singer for Slash's band Eric Drover. Seriously the guy couldn't stand out in a crowd if he set himself on fire and ran around.
I loved Skid Row, White Zombie and Therapy? and found Metallica to be incredibly arrogant.
Make of that what you will.
Anyway after the one day I had the bug and despite not going the next year (Missing Biohazard have the plug pulled for starting a stage invasion and Korn's incendiary debut) I knew I would go again.
Only I didn't.
1996 as I have pointed out was not a good year for Heavy Music and turned out to be the last Monsters of Rock festival at Donngton, it seemed that Doningtons long illustrious history with Rock would fade into a footnote in the history of both music and the site itself.



Fast forward, or rather skip (we have come a long way thanks to technology after all) to 2003 and the concept was rebooted to the then cutting edge (but now somewhat stock) era of the digital download, as Download. In the interim period this new fangled thing called the Innernet had been invented and files could be stored, shared and robbed from it, changing the face of the music industry forever.
The festival was given a face lift as promoter Andy Copping sought to make Download into the biggest metal festival in Europe by a cunning five year plan.
That year saw a two day festival featuring a mixture of the old guard and new bands rubbing shoulders with Iron Maiden headlining Saturday, Audioslave playing second guest to Sunday's closing Limp Bizkit. Well except that Fred Durst's crew bailed on the festival due to state side commitments and Chris Cornell's version of Rage Against The Machine stepping up to deliver a more satisfying close.
Kind of unsurprisingly Metallica gate crashed as a 'secret' band playing in the tent on the Sunday as part of their return to active duties ahead of the Madly In Anger at the World Tour. Having witnessed the carnage of this show, it still remains (despite my increasingly negative take on the band) one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Over the next decade the festival would swell from an initial 60k attendees to this years monstrous 100k plus. No slouch to global price increases this would also see the price double.
The site has long since lost the charm of wondering around inside the track and under the Dunlop arch as it has grown beyond the capacity of the bowl and now boasts four stages as well as a host of entertainment, shops, refreshments and distance in-between things.
Since it's growth I have seen some incredible music there, met my future wife and had times with people I met and love that I honestly would not give back for all the tea in China.

This year was no exception.
As the obligations of life curtail the freedom of youth this year was almost a retirement party for my group of friends, with looming Weddings, children and age, we tripped up to Donington to see the ilk of Machine Head, Kyuss Lives! Black Sabbath, Lamb of God, Metallica etc to send our group off in style.
Due to global warming, bad luck and so on this year was a horrific wash out of the site which was carnage by the time the last of us arrived on the Thursday night (long gone are the days of securing a decent camping spot after Wednesday) it was a mud bath of epic proportions.
Still in the spirit of all things British, we complained like hell about everything but still made the best of things.

There is no doubt in my mind that  I can view my times at MoR and the early Downloads with rose tinted glasses and I have an increasing laundry list of complaints about the new format of the festival (which can be summed up in one word, size) but the fact remains I still very much view Doningtnon as my spiritual home. There is something incredible about the atmosphere of the place that is ingrained in my memory, in my psyche, to the point where I am bloody minded enough to insist that my loved ones have to take my ashes there when I pass and throw the urn at some awful band.

I could rant about the pricing, about how when I went to Sonisphere 2010 I was reminded how a festival should be - friendly staff, acceptable prices, close proximity to camp sites and facilities, but the fact is much as this was billed as the last time before we went on indefinite hiatus (before the cash grab reunion), it is looking increasingly likely that Iron Maiden will be back next year to bring the Maiden England set to the hallowed ground of Donington and if you think I will sit out seeing my favourite band play my favourite arena, then you are smoking better gear than Cypress Hill.

So how to leave this piece?
Simply that Donington deserves it's place in the rock annals. Rock belongs with the site. Where as festivals like Reading which were/are synonymous with rock and have since become a haven for mainstream douchebaggery, Download still holds (almost) true.
Now if they would just heed my advice and make a few changes…

See you next year.

From Bliss to Resuscitation

So in the interest of actually keeping in with the title of the blog I have decided to dig into the archives and shine the spotlight on one of my favourite bands from the New York Hardcore scene, Vision of Disorder.
Next month sees the release of their first album for over a decade with Septembers 'The Cursed Remain Cursed'.

Despite being one of the most innovative and boundary pushing of their peers VOD have spent the large majority of the noughties on hiatus or far more accurately, defunct.

Starting life in 1995 and heavily influenced by the hardcore scene as well as other wide ranging musical influences that made their own sound far from run of the mill, the band became an integral part of the furniture recording the Still ep that established them as one of the top acts along side 25 Ta Life, Crown of Thornz, Madball and H20.
If you can track it down find the documentary N.Y.H.C about the scene (it is on You Tube if you can be fagged to sit through it in 10 ten minute parts) which details the sense of community, address the notion of violence and of course talks about the lives of those involved.



The Still ep was a great success and eventually the band came to the attention of the growing Roadrunner Label who release their full length debut in 1996 and remain fondly remembered by hardcore purists.



Coming two years later the sophomore album Imprint saw the band moving in a more metal influenced direction, even including Pantera's motormouth vocalist guesting on the hugely punishing By The River. However despite the fact that this album has stood the test of time and is a crushing mixture of hardcore and metal there were rumblings amongst the older fans of the band that they were taking the easy route and going for a commercial sound (if you have heard Imprint you'll know this is cobblers) by heading towards metal and were incredibly critical of the raw sounding production.
The raw production issue of this record was due to the fact that Roadrunner had only given them two weeks to record the album. This perceived lack of support saw the two parties relationship break down irreconcilably and subsequently the band left the label.



As a stop gap and a way of raising the public's awareness of the band after a difficult period they recorded a stop gap album For The Bleeders. This was essentially a better take on a collection of demo songs. The album was released in 1999 on Go Kart Records.

Finding anew home on TVT Records VOD took their evolving sound and welded Southern Rock influences and grunge stylings (notably Alice In Chains) to their uncompromising sound for 2001s From Bliss To Devastation.




It is fair to say that this album is perceived as a commercial flop. If the fans reaction to Imprint was less than flattering then the reviews for FBTD were down right savage.
Personally this is my favourite release by the band, a seriously cool blend of aggression and melody with off kilter sounds and great vocal turns by Tim Williams but with the band unhappy with TVTs lack of support the band collapsed into hiatus in 2002.

In the time they have been away it has seemed a VOD shaped gap has been gaping in the hardcore and metal scenes, particularly hardcore whose lack of variation has often cost my affections.

In the interim vocalist Williams and Guitarist Kennedy formed the metalcore band Bloodsimple who released two pretty good albums if ever you have the time to check them out.

From about 2006 events conspired to allow the band to stage a three song reunion during a Bloodsimple show and the response was ecstatic and paved the way for a full reunion show later that year.

In 2008 after a string of shows it was announced via the TMZ of metal (Blabbermouth) that Vision of Disorder had reunited and intended to record a new album.

And so time marched on… For those of us who paid interest to this reunion, it has seemed like forever as the album released was pushed back repeatedly.
In March 2010 Williams announced that the band were taking a short break having written 19 songs for contention and were hoping to to pair this selection down to 11 tracks.

Left in limbo it seemed to fans like myself that despite seeing a number of higher profile bands reunite for a seeming comeback only to be disappointed by them milking the lucrative summer festival circuit playing greatest hits with no intention of getting back to the chemistry of the studio, that at least VOD were putting the musical creativity ahead of ticket sales (unlike the recent smash and grab of At The Drive-In).

Finally, last year Internet single The Enemy was unveiled to the world. Chock full of breakdowns, fast drumming and dripping with melodic choruses. it was a rollarcoaster that hinted at great times to come for old and new fans of the band.
This year the Internet premiered 'Loveless' confirmed that the band were back with a bang. Streamed on lambgoat.com the track is a punch in the face to their detractors that would suggest that the years away from the band have reignited the fire and the rage that drove them in the early nineties yet balanced with the maturity of age.




With the album only a little less than a month away the only bittersweet aspect comes with the fact that the site I write reviews for (The Sleeping Shaman) was sent this for review by new home Candlelight but is not musically eligible and my erstwhile boss has heard it (and didn't like it) and won't let me have the copy!
(I am kidding Lee. Sort of.)

Still this is a small quibble. I have no idea how Vision of Disorder will fare in a landscape that owes much their influence and impact on the genre all these years later, but it is fantastic to know that they are back and this is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year in my household.

A genuine welcome back boys, I have missed you.
And appear to have penned an article without a single swear word in.
Fuck.
Oh.

Premature Jack Elation

Who is Jack?

I have no idea but it seemed like a good pun at the time.

So there I was piecing together a decent come back job... jeez this thing is littered with dubious commentry tonight... and I stumbled across Dom Lawson's Iron Sandwich review of the upcoming Cision of Disorder album.

I'll fill you in more on Dom at some point, but I think over the years I have followed his rise in the ranks of British metal journalists with some curiosity as his opinions and tastes have very much mirrored mine and I can only eye his career with envy really.

But still I digress, I'll be talking VOD soon enough, but I was struck by this uncanny, uncompromising review from his online video blog Iron Sandwich and I thought, damn this guy is me.

He goes on a bit, but don't we all.
Anyway without further ado.

The Cursed Remain Cursed

Something is coming

It's been a while...