Musite

2009 is shaping up to be a pretty bloody busy year for Arch Enemy: co-headlining Bloodstock; playing Loud Park 09; releasing their first compilation; and now they’ve announced October will welcome a new record!

Guitarist Michael Amott has said: “By October we’ll have a new studio recording released worldwide, and the set we do at Loud Park 09 in Japan will reflect that, of course! The title and full details of this album we’ve been making in somewhat secretive, or at least in a low-key manner will be made official very soon.”

Not bad eh? October’s only 4 months away, and i’m sure we’ll see a lot of the material at Bloodstock and Loud Park etc.

Black Label Society guitarist and metal veteran Zakk Wylde has never been known for pulling his punches - his down-to-earth attitude often proving diabolical for his victims. During an interview with Gibson guitars, Zakk - in his true hard-arsed style - stated that Aerosmith are ‘as phoney as Britney Spears’. I love Zakk: Mafia is a great album, and he really showed his versatility with songs like ‘Way Beyond Empty’, but is he not criticizing the very foundations he’s standing on?

Zakk said:

“I laugh when I go into a music store and there’s a title called How To Write Songs,” says Wylde. “You can’t teach someone how to write a song.”

“Angus Young didn’t need books to learn to write Hells Bells. The musicians I grew up on and loved - like Led Zepelling and Jimi Hendrix - it’s their names on their songs. That’s the beauty of buying a record by a real artist.”

“Appetite for Destruction was written by Guns n’Roses, not some weak-asses like those lame songwriters on Aerosmith. Aerosmith wrote great songs like Dream On and Back in the Saddle when they were on booze and drugs.”

“Next thing you know, they get sober and bring songwriters in, and then it’s the most watered-down shit. If you can’t write songs you’re as phoney as Britney Spears. You don’t have any business making records.”

His criticism does have some basis; Aerosmith did get ’song doctors’ in on their later, sobre works, but in my opinion those were still great records. You see Zakk, the difference between Britney and Aerosmith is that Aerosmith’s music still entertains music lovers - Britney’s music entertains hicks and crazed little brats; does it matter how ‘phoney’ it is?

Black Sabbath are a band often applauded for their contribution to metal - often being seen as the first to incorporate heavy distortion and dark vocals. But it seems that Ozzy Osbourne isn’t satisfied with just a legacy; he is persueing Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi to satisfy his financial needs also. So why is Ozzy so pissed? The metal forefounder is accusing Iommi of false claiming sole rights to the bands name, which has cost Ozzy royalties from merchandise sales. The singer’s hoping for unspecified damages, lost profits, and a decleration that he is half-owner of the trademark.

Ofcourse, Iommi isn’t exactly happy about the situation; he claims Ozzy legally relinguished rights to the name back in the 1980s - long before Iommi registered the trademark in 2000. Ozzy believes that all 4 original members should own the trademark equally, saying “I hope that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way.”

Ozzy issued a statement on Friday asking Iommi to “do the right thing”.

“Tony, I am so sorry it’s had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you,” he said.

“We’ve all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright.”

I’ve often critisized Ozzy for becoming a bit engulfed in the money making side of his career - take the reality TV for example. A quick conclusion would be that this is just another way of satisfying his wallet; however - considering his immense contribution to the Sabbath name, and metal as a whole - I believe Ozzy should share the Sabbath name, the name he helped create.

I’ve never been a huge fan of gallows - in fact, i’m normally quick to criticize; however this video pleasantly suprised me. The video bleeds British, with everything from rioting to vivid distain for the old bill: Gallows prove that they are not conforming to the American whining that is now branded metal. In short, I like the sound and attitude of the video: it really reminds me Cleveland punk, especially the adapted vocal style of the likes of Stiv Bators.

It seems i’ve been only writing news articles (if any) recently, thus wasting my stubborn opinionate mentality. So I thought I’d tell you my personal favourite albums from each decade. Just because you care…

1960s:

• Donovan - What’s Bin Did and What’s Bin Hid
• Arthur Brown - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
• Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
• Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin’
  

1970s:

• Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica
• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV/Houses of the Holy
  
• Deep Purple - Machine Head
• Dead Boys - Young, Loud & Snotty
• Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
  

1980s:

• Testament - The Legacy
• Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
• Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
• Dio - Holy Diver
• Faith No More - The Real Thing
  

1990s:

• Alice Cooper - Hey Stoopid
• Guns n Roses - Use Your Illusion II
• Blind Melon - Blind Melon/Soup
• Morcheeba - Big Calm
• Clutch - The Elephant Riders
  

2000s:

• Iron Maiden - Brave New World
• Black Stone Cherry - Black Stone Cherry
• Slayer - Christ Illusion
• Electric Six - Senor Smoke
• Cypress Hill - Stoned Raiders

So there you have it, a lot of great albums, a couple of guilty likes, and - ofcourse - a lot of underating… We’re nearly at the end of our first decade of the millenium, but is it looking as strong as the past?

Apologies for the lack of posts lately; i’ve been very busy working etc. Here’s a short list of everything metal I missed: JFAC revealed artwork; Annotations of an Autopsy anounce album number 2; Swashbuckle posted a new track; and Black Stone Cherry anounced an October tour. Considering how much choice of news I had to write about, I really should feel ashamed and lazy

Gnar Dogs is a band i’ve never heard of, but with songs like ‘Cunt Puncher’, i’m assuming they’re pretty fucking thrash; so thrash it seems, their music induced bassist, Ryan Spearman, to have 3 cardiac arrests in a single day. After being rushed to Manchester’s North Devon District Hospital, Spearman fell into a coma and was fitted with a pacemaker: a pacemaker at the mercy of the band’s amps powerful electro-magnets. Doctors also warned that the excitement of thrashing out and moshing could lead to another heart attack; will Ryan listen?
Find out below:

“I don’t remember the first week-and-a-half I spent in hospital; it’s all a big blur.

“It came as a bit of a shock to me because I’ve never had any problems like that in the past although doctors have since told me that my family does have a history of heart problems.”

Spearman, who has been playing all things brutal for the past eight years, said: “Not playing music again was not an option.”

Spearman spent 6 weeks in hospital; however he has now made a nifty recovery; he is currently studying, despite his condition, for a foundation degree in Music Practice at North Devon College. This course includes his own invention the ‘Thrash for Cash’ tour which will feature Gnar Dogs as headliner. The proceeds will go to the British Heart foundation.

He said: “This will be the first proper gig I’ve played since the pacemaker was fitted. I’m not worried at all. Having said that, if I do drop tools and head for the door you’ll know what’s happened - but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Remember the new Killswitch Engage song that emerged; however was butchered by the shoddy youtube quality? Well, do not torture your ears with that tat any further, for pro shot footage has now been released and is begging to crawl inside your head and shred your mind! It’s a good song; however I can’t help but feel that 3 minutes doesn’t do it justice - a couple more verses and a longer bridge would have carried the song miles… None-the-less I am still optimistic about Kill Switch’s July release…

Gwar have attempted some pretty audacious things over their career: appearing on Viva La Bam, and Jerry Springer; abusing ‘Bin Laden’ on stage; and pretty much everthing else shock rock. Now, their audacity has strived another step, with Gwar releasing a version of the shock rock god father Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s out’. I must admit, I have often ignored Gwar’s playing ability and simply focused on their stage antics; however this video reify’s both their musical ability and their comedy genius.

Underground heroes, Taint will be entertaining crowds for free at London’s home of all things heavy ‘The Crobar’, on Saturday 8th May. I saw the welsh hardcore 3-piece supporting Clutch, and their enthused, hysteric hell ride of a show is worthy to entertain any metalhead - if not, it’s free and the bar’s supposedly fairly good. The band are due on stage at 9pm, and as of yet I can not find anything about support bands; however Taint have enough energy to match any bill of bands…

If Taint doesn’t take your fancy, do not fear! You can still satisfy your wallet and your craving for good old metal, as The Ghost of a Thousand recently announced a couple of free UK shows! TGOAT will grace Brighton’s Audio on May 30th, and London’s Bloomsbury Bowling on June 1st - which promises to be a night of jubilation as their new album ‘New Hopes, New Demonstrations’ is released on the same day.