Having listened to the new Watain record religiously lately, I was reminded of this little exchange between Watain and Damnation a while back.
Peter Stjärnvind (of Nifelheim, Krux, Entombed, Regurgitate, Unanimated, Merciless, Face Down and Murder Squad) and Richard Cabeza (of Dismember, Unanimated, Dark Funeral and General Surgery) formed Damnation back in 1989 and were originally a Bathory tribute band, which should give you an inkling of what their idea of black metal sounds like.
While they released a demo in 1994, it would take them another ten years before their first album Destructo Evangelia was released. E from Watain provided vocals for the title track:
This was them Irish lads' follow-up to their breakthrough album Troublegum, released the year before.
Main man Andy Cairns has said something to the effect of "Everyone who likes it should be shot". A bit harsh, but I probably made that quote up. He does hate the album though, at least he used to. The critical reception for this was (as I remember it anyway) much more mixed than that for Troublegum, but more and more people are recognising it for the great album that it is. It did quite well sales-wise, and the Hüsker Dü cover Diane is still played on rock stations around the world.
Infernal Love (which I for years thought was called Infertal Love - a superior title if you ask me) follows in the same "pop metal" vein as Troublegum, but the mood here is decidedly darker. This may not be as good as Troublegum, but it's pretty fucking close.
Blacktusk have proven to be appreciated by several readers of this blog in the past, so here's another track from Georgia's latest sludge heroes.
Seriously, there must be something fucked up in the drinking water down there. Or maybe they fill an empty bottle at the nearest swamp and just swig from that? It would certainly explain a lot.
Also, see track #8? I liked it a lot more when I thought it was called Owing To The Frogs. They should've called it that, a much better title. Frogs ftw.
1. Black Pyramid - The cauldron born (2009) 2. Earthride - For the wrath and ruin (2005) 3. Devil Rides Shotgun - Who am I? (2010) 4. Death From Above 1979 - Romantic rights (2004) 5. Lions of Tsavo - The hexing (2008) 6. Eyehategod - Jack ass in the will of god (2000) 7. Keelhaul - Waiting for the moon to speak (2009) 8. Capricorns - Owing to the fogs (2008) 9. Blacktusk - Falling down (2008) 10. Neurosis - The time of the beasts/Cleanse (1993)
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I've had the man-flu all week and I don't need to tell you how deadly that can be.
A snippet from the fourth episode of the third series of the record-breaking Gervais/Merchant/Pilkington podcasts. A woman named Wendy writes and complains about one of Karl's TV appearances.
Karl initially rolls nicely with the punches, but ultimately Karl's inner Manc street thug makes an appearance and he can't resist a snidey comment back at Wendy.
Ever wondered what your favorite metal blog would be like accompanied by the glorious sound of the obviously deep-rooted musical culture of South Africa?
5:27... It should be illegal to have to get up this early.
Why do we even bother? Getting up at dawn to go to work is just an old leftover from when we were all farmers and had to get up to milk the cows and plow fields and shit.
There's no reason for it in this day and age. We need to do something about this.
1. Ocean Chief - Sword of justice (2003) 2. Torture Division - Overtorture (2010) 3. Watain - Watain (Von cover, 2003) 4. Voor - Creature of war (1985) 5. Prong - Cling to life (1987) 6. Asbestosdeath - The suffering (1990) 7. Morbid Angel - Where the slime live (1995) 8. Cathedral - The casket chasers (2010) 9. Titus Tommy Gunn - Big brutal swings (2010) 10. The Cumshots - I drink alone (2006) 11. Black Sabbath - The writ (1975)
Karl Pilkington has not only done radio with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but also with people like Russell Brand and Simon Pegg & Nick Frost. Whom you of course know very well as the brilliant comedy duo from Spaced, Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz.
This is a clip from one of the Pegg/Frost shows in 2002, during which a certain Ricky Gervais calls in to talk about luring worms out of anuses with bacon. Among other things.
And Karl shares another fascinating story, this time about a woman with a very unusual tanning-related ailment.
Allow me to present you with the greatest guitar solo in history. A solid seven seconds of chaos, anarchy and glue-sniffing. Bill Steer wins every time. Stick that in your Steve Vai pipe and smoke it.
You don't get stuff like this on your Guitar Hero thingamajiggy, now do you? No, but you sure get fucking Enter Sandman.
Bollocks. No wonder kids these days are all fucked up.
1. LOK - Kapten Blau (2002) 2. Gluecifer - The general says hell yeah (2000) 3. Fu Manchu - Guardrail (1997) 4. Howl - And the gnawing... (2009) 5. Mínus - Misdo (2001) 6. The Company Band - Company man (2008) 7. Deftones - Minerva (2003) 8. The Wildhearts - Soundog Babylon (1997) 9. Haust - Mockingbird (2008) 10. Teddybears STHLM - Adapted (1996) 11. Kylesa - Bottom line (2005) 12. The Stooges - Lost in the future (1970)
I've been on a mad Om high lately, and deeply regret I didn't include their latest album God Is Good on my best of 2009 countdown. Sorry about that, don't know what I was thinking.
While we're on the topic of that countdown, I also regret not putting Cobalt in the top 30. And both Converge and Ancestors should've been much higher on the list. The Cumshots' A Life Less Necessary should've probably been on the list as well.
Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.
But I digress as always. For teh n00bs: Om consists of singer/bassist Al Cisneros (also of Shrinebuilder, formerly of Sleep and Asbestosdeath) and drummer Emil Amos (also of Grails). Bearded freak, co-founder and drummer extraordinare Chris Hakius (also formerly of Sleep and Asbestosdeath) left in 2008.
Their music has been called many things, including "Tibetan chanting doom", "transcendental doom", "droning Middle Eastern doom" etc. All these labels are fine I suppose, they do the trick. Personally, I wouldn't know where the begin if asked to describe their sound. Hypnotic and meditative, definitely. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun meets Iron Man perhaps? Something along those lines.
Brevity has never interested Om, and these seven tracks clock in at a total of 77 minutes and 20 seconds. By the way, I'm not entirely sure why I chose to illustrate this post with a photo of a giant sun setting over ancient Greek ruins.
It just fits somehow.
Easily one of the best bands in the world, though not one of the easiest to get into but once the penny drops you can't get enough of them. Get drunk/stoned and listen as loudly as your speakers will allow. Then you will surely see the light.
I hesitated to post this for a long time, mainly because of how fucking bad it is. But since they're the biggest metal band in history I suppose I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't
At least the cover is pretty cool. Don't know why they used The Predator instead of Eddie though.
This is a 40-minute Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant/Karl Pilkington podcast which was given away for free to audience members who attended Gervais' one-man show FAME in London in 2007.
Karl moans a bit more about his never-functioning boiler and meeting new family members, and Stephen reads a portion of Karl's book Happyslapped By A Jellyfish.
A large portion of it though consists of Karl explaining an idea he has for a movie. I won't spoil it for you, but just to get your tastebuds going: It's about two brains sharing a head.
1. Blacktusk - The crash (2010) 2. Queens of the Stone Age - Tension head (2000) 3. Clutch - Careful with that mic (2001) 4. Corrosion of Conformity - The door (1996) 5. Transport League - Neckdraft (2000) 6. Big Business - White piz azz (2005) 7. Deftones feat. Maynard James Keenan - Passenger (2000) 8. Mike Patton - Urlo negro (2010) 9. Thåström - Repulsiv (2002) 10. Therapy? - Teethgrinder (1993) 11. Tool - Jimmy (1996)
Fucking hell, I just realised I haven't acknowledged the death of Paul Gray on this blog. A bit weird since I've listened more to Slipknot than Dio and Pete Steele combined, and they both got the nod (here and here). I don't know where my head's been at lately. Things have been weird in the Snusgrop household. Sorry 'bout that.
Anywho, this is my sort-of tribute to the late Paul Gray. Since he and drummer Joey Jordison wrote most if not all of Slipknot's music, it makes you wonder where the band will go from here. I suppose Craig Jones could fill in on bass as he was originally guitarist for the band before switching to "samples", but songwriting-wise I guess it's up for grabs.
The main question I suppose is if whether the band is willing to continue on without him. Slipknot's had the same nine member for eleven years which is impressive enough, so would they be able to go on? I'm sure one side of them wants to keep going because that is undoubtedly what Paul would've wanted, and the other I bet would just want to throw in the towel. Only time will tell I guess.
What we do know for sure is that for years Slipknot served as a big gateway into heavier music for kids worldwide, not unlike the effect Metallica had in the early 90s albeit admittedly on a smaller scale.
On a more personal level I can only repeat what I've said in previous in posts that Slipknot was the soundtrack for large parts of my afformative years, and their impact will always be felt. After all, they made the 22nd best album of the 90s. Not to mention they made the 16th best album of 2008. That's gotta count for something.
As will the fact that I wrote nothing nearly as extensive about the deaths of Dio and Steele, which I suppose is proof enough of how much Slipknot has meant to me.
I've compiled some of my favorite Slipknot songs from their first three albums. I would've included tracks from their fourth and latest album, 2008's All Hope Is Gone but unfortunately that cd got lost when I moved to my current home and has never been seen since. Wherever it is, I hope someone is enjoying it. You can hear samples for that album here and here.
Rest in peace, Paul Gray. Thanks for all the great music and thanks for introducing more people in than anyone can count to the wonderful, beautiful and comforting world that can only be described in three simple words:
Been too busy to blog lately. Except about potato salad, there's always time to blog about potato salad.
This is a snippet of more Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant/Karl Pilkington goodies, from the third episode of the first series of their world record breaking podcast. Originally made available online in 2005.
This is one of the bits they didn't use for the animated HBO version of the podcasts.
