Rolling Metal Thread 2012

Also excellent: the new Dawnbringer. I find Profound Lore's catalog way more miss than hit, but this one's a killer.

May metal roundup: 10 mini-reviews by me, 5 by other folks (and I feel like I'm slipping behind in my listening again):

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/2012/05/metal

The Grand Magus and Dawnbringer albums are outstanding. Hooky, powerful stuff. A bit silly how the Dawnbringer is a concept album yet no lyrics are included!

And Chuck, that Halestorm album is growing on me.

Oh, and Crazy Lixx is great fun.

Oh man, that Grand Magus record is killer – made me happy I just got a new car with USB capabilities so I can rock out to it while driving.

This guitar:

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/Metaltim/April%202012/bf00b818f8.jpg

Tomorrow: Nasum and Brutal Truth in Philly.
My face: Grinded.

I knew it was a good idea to start reducing my antidepressants at the start of the year. I'm actually getting really excited about the Slayer day of IBYM in London now.

Is anyone going?

Seeing Yob for the first time and the Melvins should be amazing if the new album's anything to go by.

Wish I was going this weekend but will content myself with Harvey Milk tonight instead.

Rockin'. They're usually ace. Seeing them on Saturday.

Yeah, this Grand Magus album is solid, in the solidest sense of solidity. Metal in the oldest, grandest, Steppenwolf-and-Deep-Purple-invented-this tradition.

"Starlight Slaughter" totally sounds like Down to Earth era Rainbow.

That song has been stuck in my head. I love catchy songs about werewolves!

Awesome show all round. A Norwegian (?) sludge band playing their second ever show were a blinding start, then Hey Colossus (who I have always managed to miss until now) totally knocked me out.

Harvey Milk completely brought it though, with a sludge doom first half culminating in Anvil Will Fall, then an unexpected Shame ushering in a totally rocking second half. We also got an encore of Lay My Head Down in defiance of the curfew which you might not get at the weekend. Creston's voice is in seriously bad shape though, so I wouldn't actually like to predict just what you'll get at the weekend.

Hey Colossus are awesome. How was the drumming? They've recently picked up Tim Cedar - frontman of Part Chimp - on sticks.

Haha, I was pretty sure it was him but thought it too odd a change to be right. Drumming was great, he hits hard and the second last track had some really strange tempo changes and stop-starts that seemed to suit his style well.

Doran: I'm going to the Slayer IBYM show. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Sleep.

what do you guys think of the Scion support of heavy music? Is it a bullshit way for some corp to get their name into the minds of unsuspecting folks or is it just a cool thing for metal in general, good bands, getting good money to do good free shows..

I've had some lengthy discussions both online and in person with a lot of folks, what does ILM think?
Are they supporting heavy music, or are they trying desperately to infiltrate the underground to sell cars?

and on a related note.. Enabler has the drummer from Fall Out Boy playing drums for them... does this ruin street cred, or does it even fucking matter?

I was at HM last night and thought it was great - Creston's voice didn't strike me as being notably shot, haven't listened to em for a long ass time tbh so maybe it just sounded like old man blues croak. love their idea of a 'party' set for the second half

Hey C were great when they were in a groove, less so when trying to find it (and when the sound levels were all rong) but fukkit I love them. first band are called Hark, are not Norwegian, and have the singer from Taint in if you know them

will be at IBYM on Friday only, daresay I'll see you there JD

only loosely au fait with Enabler but the drummer came up through 90s bands like Racetraitor iirc? always understood that to be where most of FoB started out, bands-wise

Here's a playlist I made for Friday's Slayer IBYM day: http://open.spotify.com/user/nstewart/playlist/0XZY0e6TxsxMxKe8YOCJFj

Great stuff, hopefully see you both there. I'm so excited I'm going to go down when it opens and watch half of Storm Of Light and half of They Live. Thanks for the spotify. As soon as my boy wakes up from his nap I'm going to stick that on. (Or if his naps goes on to long perhaps I'll put it on before he wakes up.)

NP. I've just added some WITTR for the sake of completeness. Will keep an eye out tomorrow!

what do you guys think of the Scion support of heavy music? Is it a bullshit way for some corp to get their name into the minds of unsuspecting folks or is it just a cool thing for metal in general, good bands, getting good money to do good free shows..

I've had some lengthy discussions both online and in person with a lot of folks, what does ILM think?
Are they supporting heavy music, or are they trying desperately to infiltrate the underground to sell cars?

The fact that you have had "lengthy discussions" on this subject makes me very, very sad. "The underground" is not a real thing that exists, and if it did, it would not exactly be a major source of purchasing power. Also, the idea of "unsuspecting folks" being stealth-marketed to by corporations is a bad joke. It's 2012; no one is "unsuspecting" if they're past the age of, say, five. I think there's been sufficient testimony regarding artistic non-interference from the actual musicians involved that the "metal community" can happily accept the free music and, if the sight of a Scion logo offends you, put your hands over your eyes as you listen.

I'm actually getting really excited about the Slayer day of IBYM in London now.

Is anyone going?

Yep, just the Friday.

I liked it when Scion emailed me a free Omar-S EP the other week

i have no problem with scionfest as its got good bands but

"The underground" is not a real thing that exists

at the risk of stunting the growth of another amusing ILM beef, I suspect you've misinterpreted what he was getting at there

ie my reading was that it wasn't a tangible and rigidly definable thing, so strictly speaking couldn't be 'infiltrated'

well in which case apologies but he does have a record of slagging off underground metal bands/labels/fans(and me the other day). i know several people who work really hard doing their own labels or distros, not for much if any profit, but for love of music and they fund it out of their own pockets. They dont have pr men or advertise in metal magazines so therefore dont make EOY album lists like the bigger labels (indie or major) can.

Today in Glasgow I bought a couple of Trouble live lps and the paul chain ep. All on HRR. Also got the 1st Argus and The Devil's Blood cds 2nd hand. They had loads of other lps i wanted like the 1st In Solitude album but couldnt afford it. Sadly they didn't have the Torche lp either.

Here's why and how I can argue that "'the underground' is not a real thing that exists":

I am 40 years old. I have been actively involved with unpopular music (going to shows, buying records, reviewing bands for tiny fly-by-night zines) since roughly 1985 (the writing part started in 1996). Many's the time I have considered starting a label of my own - though in my case it would be a jazz label, so I'd really be throwing money down a hole. In all that time, I have never encountered a musician who wanted to be less well known than they were, or have fewer people hearing their work. The problem was never one of "selling out" - it was one of getting someone, anyone, to pay any attention at all.

The whole idea of "selling out" exists only in the minds of insecure and overzealous fans (many of whom are also writers, unfortunately, which is how this absurd idea maintains currency) who don't want people they don't personally know (or, at the very least, people who seem cool, thus making the insecure and overzealous fan feel cool by association) listening to their favorite bands. Bands want to be heard, and art requires patrons. For a while it was the Catholic Church or various rich fuckers who were paying the bills, and now it's corporations. DIY is great, but 99 percent of DIY metal artists and labels would happily take a bag of money if it would help get their music to more people. (I specify metal because there's always the counterexample of the noise scene, which is willfully obscurantist because it's basically a cranky, reactionary, fuck-you-Dad gesture against the larger society. Which is fine. Pat them on the head and leave them alone.) The only time an artist "sells out" is when they do something they would not otherwise do, solely for the money. I have not yet seen a Scion-sponsored artist write a song about Scion cars.

And, to reiterate, when you're saying "the underground" you're talking about under-capitalized, lower-tier artists with little or no public profile. These are not people with a lot of money. They probably can't afford to buy a new car. So why would it make sense for a car company to market to them and/or their fans? I don't have an answer to why Scion supports metal. But I think the bands are finding the situation advantageous, so good for them.

I don't have an answer to why Scion supports metal.

i am truly amazed that they are still at this, it's been several years now

I don't really know shit about cars or how much a new Scion costs but at this point I suspect the people watching most of the sort of bands that play Scion events make more at their job than the bands do

music writers like yourself? ;)

music writers like yourself? ;)

Yeah, except even when I was 24 and getting my first pieces published, I never believed in the idea of "selling out" or used that phrase in my work.

In all that time, I have never encountered a musician who wanted to be less well known than they were, or have fewer people hearing their work. The problem was never one of "selling out" - it was one of getting someone, anyone, to pay any attention at all.

well there are always tru kvlt black metal dudes

those guys are similar in FU attitude to the noise bands, I suppose.

Yeah, but that's the equivalent of a small child yelling "Don't look at me!" at the top of its lungs. It has the opposite effect.

as a dude that works in a different end of the music industry tho, yeah, i agree with your sentiment 100% (abt the wanting to be known aspect)

The whole idea of "selling out" exists only in the minds of insecure and overzealous fans (many of whom are also writers, unfortunately, which is how this absurd idea maintains currency) who don't want people they don't personally know (or, at the very least, people who seem cool, thus making the insecure and overzealous fan feel cool by association) listening to their favorite bands.

this is a falsehood. it is true that most bands would like to be more heard. testimony, I got an offer for a hotel ad a couple years ago, they were just using an instrumental part of a really good aerosmith song. the song's important to some people, doesn't really have anything to do with getting a good night's sleep at a hotel. in fact, what goes on in a hotel in this song would probably get you thrown out of the hotel. so I said "no," because it wouldn't have been right for the song, aesthetically, to be placed there, even though it would have expanded my audience and gotten me paid. taking the money & coming up w/some bullshit rationalization about it would have pretty much been dictionary-definition "selling out."

so the point is, it's actually possible to hope that people who'd enjoy what you do will hear it, and work hard to make that happen, without whoring yourself for money, which is what tethering your music to an unrelated product is, imo. the scion stuff is more interesting than that, because it really does seem to be helmed by dudes who give a shit about metal & are putting on good shows, which is important to the scene is ways that scene purity isn't. to then say "there's no underground/there's no scene" is patently absurd, though

the song's important to some people

question: if the song was a really obscure aerosmith song that nobody showed a particular fondness towards, would you have felt differently about letting them use it? like did the consideration lie in aerosmith's sense of integrity about how the music is used, or in trying to protect aerosmith fans who may have felt betrayed to hear it in that context?

smithy otm

if the song was a really obscure aerosmith song that nobody showed a particular fondness towards, would you have felt differently about letting them use it?

idk I generally err on the side of "if you have any doubt, say no" - context is important, content is important, it's not the audience's fondness as much as the particular strain of fondness (if it's a song people like 'cause it's got a good beat & a nice hook that's different from "this song meant a lot to my family in a difficult time"), you just have to follow your gut on these things & if your gut tells you "this feels like I'd be selling something I can't get back for money" then you are in fact selling out imo & that's to be avoided generally

but don't get me wrong if somebody's got a million bucks for "Bright Light Fright" I'm all fucking ears, there's bills to pay around here

I actually got to your specific objection four sentences later, aero.

it's true you did but that first sentence is pretty sweeping & rong imo