Karma to Burn signs record deal

•September 5, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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Among my other bizarre proclivities, I have a thing for stoner metal – Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, early Queens of the Stone Age, etc. Karma to Burn is another band that fits into that genre that I really enjoy, both with and without a vocalist.

Officially they disbanded in 2002 but this year they’ve been playing some shows and it was just announced that they have signed to Napalm Records, which is oddly the home of many folk and symphonic metal bands like Korpiklaani, Kampfar and Leaves’ Eyes.

A statement from Richard Mullins:

“Not only are we thrilled with this new partnership with NAPALM Records, we are also excited to work on this new KARMA TO BURN album for the creative opportunity artistically. We had unfinished business when our gorilla sized heroin habits took over, overturning our cars and our lives, there came an accounting in which we fell before the Grim Reaper as wheat in winter, as lambs under the knife, so it allows us to continue the musical journey we started early in our careers.”

Um… sure! Regardless, I’m glad to see they will be making more music. Here’s a video clip of Eight, from 1999:

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPDexN3Bp3Q]
YouTube – KARMA TO BURN – Eight (Official Video)

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First video from Kittie’s new album

•September 4, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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I’ve blogged before about how much I like Kittie. I’m a sucker for *real* chick metal in general but I’ve always really liked this band. They’ve released four albums, each with a quite different feel, and this year (in a couple of weeks, in fact) they are releasing their fifth effort, In the Black.

This morning “the old blabber” alerted me to the fact that they’ve released the first video from the album, for a song called Cut Throat. It’s the first I’ve heard of their new stuff and as usual, I do like it. The last album, Funeral For Yesterday, had very traditional song structures and not a lot in the way of harsh vocals (in contrast to the previous release Until the End which had lots) and it looks like Morgan Lander is again channelling her inner demon with lots of growling as well as clean vocals.

The song has kind of Motorhead-esque big rock riffs and anyway, enough talking about it here’s the link (it’s MTV so I can’t embed it). Go watch then come back and tell me what you think.

Kittie – Cut Throat

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Mark Riddick and Fetid Zombie

•August 23, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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I came across a blog post about Mark Riddick – and apologies, but I can’t remember where or how – sometime before we left for Europe. Mark is an artist who has been drawing insane, sick, disgusting and altogether amazing death metal artwork and logos for extreme metal bands since 2001.

His son was diagnosed with a rare form of diabetes (Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus, or NDI) and so to help raise money for the organisation that funds research into the condition, he created a limited edition print and t-shirt package. It looks pretty gruesome, it’s for a good cause and hey, PayPal isn’t real money anyway, so I bought one.

The package arrived while we were away and holy shit, it’s awesome: a beautiful print on black which I’ll have to frame, cool t-shirt (I got the shirt for Dave) and the package had some bonus stuff including stickers from Mark’s band Unburied (he plays bass) and a poster and CD from Fetid Zombie, a death metal side-project where he plays all the instruments and writes all the songs (and naturally, creates all the artwork).

Pleasures of the Scalpel, which I received, was Fetid Zombie’s debut release and it’s really good fun. Although only 31 minutes long, there’s a ton of really catchy riffs that I kept finding myself humming after the very first listening. Guest guitar solos are contributed by some fairly stellar death metal guitarists including Jim Malone from Arsis, and of course the artwork is appropriately revolting. If I had to pick a low point, the vocals sound over-manipulated and a little grating if you listen for too long but on the whole I really enjoyed the release and was pretty stoked to get it free! Fetid Zombie have a follow-up release, Abort the Messiah, which I will have to add to my collection as well.

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Only in Poland

•August 16, 2009 • 3 Comments

Here’s a photo Dave surreptitiously took in Empik in Krakow, which is a mainstream music/book/game chain which probably most resembles Borders for Australians.

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Click through for the larger version but this is their list of top 20 CD releases… with Behemoth at number 1, ahead of U2, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas, etc etc. A black/death metal band. On a general top 20 list. AT THE TOP.

Only in Poland – no wonder I love the place 🙂

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why we haven’t blogged

•August 1, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I was *intending* to blog from Wacken… but in between bands it’s just easier to sit at the camp and *ahem* stay hydrated…

This was uploaded from my phone using Shozu. Prepaid 3G internet has been an absolute godsend this year.

Posted by ShoZu

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The t-shirt problem

•July 16, 2009 • 8 Comments

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Some people may think that laundry is not very metal. I disagree. Proper care of metal t-shirts is an important skill that every metalhead should have.

However, my diligence has a downside. I haven’t thrown out a metal t-shirt of my own… ever. I threw out one of Dave’s – a Pantera tour shirt – that he had owned before he met me and my anally retentive washing habits, and a such was hanging together by a thread – but other than that our collection is being added to but not subtracted from.

It struck me the other day that I have a finite amount of closet space, and as such the current system is not really scalable. My oldest still-wearable t-shirt is from 1989. That veteran just turned 20.

I’m actually concerned. I have no idea what I’m going to do.

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Dear Metal Journos: it’s not a “Twitter Page”…

•July 12, 2009 • 4 Comments

fail whale 

I just read a BraveWords.com news headline that read “MEGADETH Drummer SHAWN DROVER Launches Twitter.com Page, Clinic In Planning For August” (link).

The opening paragraph itself is also suspect:

MEGADETH drummer Shawn Drover has launched an official Twitter.com page for up-to-the-minute messaging at this location.

Anyone who actually uses or understands Twitter will get that it’s not a “Twitter.com page”, it’s an account. But you wouldn’t say someone has a Twitter account, you would say that they are now “on Twitter”. Or “will now be issuing updates via Twitter”. And rather than “at this location” it would make more sense to say “follow him/them at this location”. Hell, there’s a thousand other variations that make more sense and fit into the Twitter paradigm. Calling it a “Twitter.com page” is essentially dismissing it as another MySpace, which is well-understood in musical circles now.

Please don’t think I’m picking on Brave Words. I’ve seen the same thing on Blabbermouth and a few other metal news sites, including ones who should know better.

The way this piece is written smacks to me to regurgitated press release – not that there’s anything wrong with that in itself, but if the press release is not well written or doesn’t make sense, it’s up to the person writing it up to fix that. I may be naive but I assume that anyone writing for a metal web site would have some understanding of Twitter by now even if they don’t use it themselves. If the person writing the press release in the first place doesn’t understand Twitter either that’s probably something that ought to be addressed too.

This kind of thing reminds me of when the web was really new too, only it was usually mainstream media using ridiculous analogies and misusing terms. Once Twitter becomes old hat, it will be something new that will have me gnashing my teeth. *sigh*

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Metal Journalism

•July 9, 2009 • 1 Comment

The awesome Leticia, the driving force behind Metal As Fuck, is a very knowledgeable and accomplished editor, writer and publisher. Her high standards in writing and editing are largely the reason why the articles, reviews and interviews on the site are so good.

Over on her personal blog, she’s been publishing a series of “how to” articles on music journalism – with a view to it becoming an online course, released under creative commons. This material is absolutely top notch. Up to now, she’s covered ethnography at gigs – something I was kind of doing without even realising it had a name – as well as live reviews, release reviews, and has started on interviews.

It has helped me out heaps, and is well worth checking out, as is her blog in general.

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Machine Head say a big “fuck you” to Limp Bizkit

•July 8, 2009 • 2 Comments

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Soap opera metal for the morning: it seems that Machine Head have pulled out of the Sonisphere festival in the UK because Limp Bizkit were added above them in the listing: Machine Head Pull Out Of Sonisphere

The festival themselves say they tried to keep Machine Head in by offering more cash, higher billing etc – Sonisphere: Machine Wouldn’t Take More Money For Second Stage Slot – but apparently the thought of playing in the same bill as he mighty Fred Durst left Rob Flynn and the boys quaking in their boots. With laughter, obviously.

I like Machine Head. The last couple of times I’ve seen them has been in less than ideal circumstances so I’m very much looking forward to their headline set at Wacken.

Dear Machine Head: Please play Ten Ton Hammer. That is all.

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New Alice in Chains song

•June 30, 2009 • 2 Comments

To say I’m an Alice In Chains fan would be somewhat of an understatement. This is a band I just totally fucking love.

Seeing them live at Soundwave 2009, with their new singer William DuVall, was nothing short of a religious experience. I had high hopes but low expectations but hearing those songs sung so true to the originals by a man obviously not trying to imitate the late Layne Stayley brought tears to my eyes, as well as to a significant portion of the audience too. What can I say – it was emotional. I thought I’d blogged about it already but I can’t find it so maybe not. Here’s a clip that was uploaded from the show – just listen to the crowd when the vocals start – that’s the sound of every person within cooee singing their heart out:

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdjAHfiYhm0]
YouTube – Alice in Chains – Man In The Box (live)Soundwave Festival, Perth, W.A 02/03/09

So here we are, Alice in Chains are releasing a new album. They released a couple of video trailers which didn’t really give much away, but tonight a song was put up on aliceinchains.com for free download (thanks Metal Insider for the heads up). Go on, go get it and have a listen. I’ll wait.

So what do you reckon? I think it’s… plenty heavy, angsty enough, Jerry Cantrell’s riffs sound awesome and the harmonies are just perfect AIC. I call a win.

It’s possibly I’m a hopless fangirl though. What do you think?

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