The 30th Best Album of the 00s: Machine Head - "The Blackening" (2007)

After releasing two great albums (1994's Burn My Eyes and 1997's The More Things Change...) and two quite shite ones (1999's The Burning Red and 2001's Supercharger), Machine Head returned to form in 2003 with the blistering Through The Ashes Of Empires. That album was their first with guitarist Phil Demmel, who had played with frontman Robb Flynn in overrated Bay Area thrasher Vio-Lence back in the day. Phil brought with him a new spark and an energy the band so badly needed.

I seem to recall how Flynn prior to making the record saying something along the lines of how they wanted to make an album with the darkness of The Cure's Disintegration, the raw desperation of Poison Idea's Feel The Darkness and the epic heavyness of Metallica's Master Of Puppets.

They didn't quite make it there, but there are moment on this album where they hit that nail right on the head. With Demmel in the band fulltime, the guitar hero aspirations ran wild. Epic songs full of twists and turns that make you dizzy, twin guitar madness, the best metal drumming in ages, godly basslines, even godlier (is that a word?) harmonies, and the best lyrics the band has produced this far.

It all adds up to why The Blackening is such a milestone in the band's career.

(mp3) Machine Head - Beautiful mourning
(mp3) Machine Head - Halo (recommended!)

Buy The Blackening @ Amazon.com.

The Top 30 Albums of the 00s

Today it begins, folks. Oh yes.

As with my Top 30 Albums Of The 90s countdown there are three rules to follow:

1. Only "real" albums. In other words no live albums, bootlegs, compilations etc.
2. Since this is a blog for heavy music, only punk, rock, various forms of metal etc. are to be included.
3. Only one album per artists. This is a tricky one, but absolutely essential. If this rule is ignored the list runs the risk of consisting of one album after another with one's favorite band. This is disastrous, uninspired and downright lame.

Get ready, fuckers.

(mp3) Ron Gray & The Countdowns - No more
Available on Sixties Archives Vol.3 - Louisiana Punk (compilation, 1991)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #77

I'd like to dedicate this Friday mp3 shuffle to fine people of Built On A Weak Spot, colostomy grab-bag, shiny grey monotone, mercenario, Get Off My Elevator, Ritual Room, stonerobixx, Prosperity And Beauty, lucid media and MINDGRINDER, all of whom have introduced me to more great bands than I can count.

Pay them a visit, boomark them, download some of their shit. You'll thank me.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #77 (59 mb)

1. Daybreak - It's not that easy (1999)
2. Kyuss - Freedom run (1992)
3. Disfear - Testament (2009)
4. Totalt Jävla Mörker - Sjunde kretsen (2009)
5. Torche - Tarpit carnivore (2007)
6. Clutch - Juggernaut (1991)
7. Faith No More - Surprise! You're dead! (1989)
8. Tight Bros From Way Back When - Take you higher (1998)
9. Black Breath - Unholy virgin (2010)
10. Napalm Death - Puritanical punishment beating (2006)
11. Relevant Few - Sewer of the system (2002)
12. Early Graves - Faith is shit (2010)
13. Peace, Love And Pitbulls - Complete guide (Imitating a bulldozer on a 24 track tapemachine) (1994)

Support the artists, pay for your music.

The epic countdown is inching ever closer

The upcoming list of the top 30 albums of the 00s (the sequal to this one) is slowly but surely coming closer to completion. Can you feel the excitement?! Can you feel the tremors of anticipation in the air?! Woooohooo!

I reckon the countdown will begin some time next week. Or perhaps as early as this weekend. I guess you'll just have stay tuned.

In the meantime: some noise from Volkspolizei, some post-metal/space rock thingy from U.S. Christmas, some Soft Cell from Nine Inch Nails, some god knows what from Gnarkill and some murder metal from Macabre.

Enjoy. Or else.

(mp3) Volkspolizei - When the wind is southerly
Available on The Voice Of A New Microphone (2006)

(mp3) U.S. Christmas - Uktena
Available on Eat The Low Dogs (2008)

(mp3) Nine Inch Nails - Memorabilia (Soft Cell cover)
Available on Closer To God (1994)

(mp3) Gnarkill - Mustard man!
Available on S/t (2002)

(mp3) Macabre - Vampire of Duesseldorf
Available on Sinister Slaughter (1993)

Happy birthday me!

Today it's 29 long years since I slithered out of my mother's filth and I still haven't achieved anything in life.

Yay me!

(mp3) Kyuss - Happy birthday
Available on Sons Of Kyuss (1990)

(mp3) Patton Oswalt - You are allowed 20 birthday parties
Available on Werewolves And Lollipops (2006)

(mp3) Jo Yeong-Wook - Happy birthday
Available on Thirst Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2009)

The sad Nergal news

"Behemoth frontman and lead guitarist Nergal's illness has been confirmed to be leukemia. According to the Polish news site TVP, the disease has advanced to the point where chemotherapy can no longer be an effective treatment and can only be cured through a bone marrow transplant.

Within the country of Poland, there are only 100,000 donors out of a population of 38,192,000. Nergal's fiance Doda has already donated her bone marrow but it's unknown if her bone marrow will provide a DNA match.

Other Polish artists are currently organizing concerts to help raise awareness of Nergal's condition although no artists or concert dates have as yet been announced.

Nergal is currently undergoing a multi-stage, months-long treatment at Gdansk Medical University Hospital and all Behemoth tour dates indefinitely canceled for the foreseeable future."

(source)

This sucks copious amounts of ass. We can only hope he pulls through, but it doesn't look good.

(mp3) Behemoth - Forgotten cult of Aldaron
Available on Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic) (1995)

(mp3) Behemoth - Lasy Pomorza
Available on Grom (1996)

(mp3) Behemoth - Satan's sword (I have become)
Available on Pandemonic Incantations (1998)

(mp3) Behemoth - Starspawn
Available on Satanica (2000)

(mp3) Behemoth - Christians to the lions
Available on Thelema.6 (2001)

(mp3) Behemoth - Blackest ov the black
Available on Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond) (2002)

(mp3) Behemoth - The nephilim rising
Available on Demigod (2004)

(mp3) Behemoth - Libertherme
Available on The Apostasy (2007)

(mp3) Behemoth - He who breeds pestilence
Available on Evangelion (2009)

Brilliance

(mp3) Metallica - Master of puppets
Available on Master Of Puppets (1986)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #76

Alrighty, here we go again. It'll be interesting to see how many downloads this gets, as the really brutal Friday shuffles with plenty of death/black/grind/etc never seem as popular as many of the other ones.

Just take volume 73, volume 64, volume 62, volume 49, volume 45, volume 14 and volume 7 for example. Sure, they've gotten their fair share of downloads, but many others have been downloaded twice as many times.

How come? Too much for your delicate little ears? Huh, Nancy Boy? I guess some music is just too extreme for you. Prove me wrong, you pansy.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #76 (50 mb)

1. Torture Division - The torture never stops (2008)
2. Expulsion - Land of empty graves (2009)
3. Defleshed - The return of the flesh (1999)
4. Interment - Stench of flesh (2010)
5. Dismember - Sword of light (2004)
6. General Surgery - Orgy of flying limbs & gore (1991)
7. Napalm Death - Out of sight out of mind (2002)
8. Carnage - Infestation of evil (1989)
9. Dark Funeral - Demons of five (2009)
10. Entombed - Ensemble of the restless (2001)
11. Vacant Coffin - Get in the coffin (2008)
12. Nachtmystium - Blood trance fusion (2010)
13. Grave - Ridden with belief (2010)

Pay for your music.

Who else is blind?

From the early days of XFM's The Ricky Gervais Show, when Ricky and Stephen Merchant were just beginning to realise the potential in their producer Karl Pilkington, comes today's little clip.

Karl tries to remember which famous blind person has a driving license.

(mp3) RSK - Stevie Wonder's driving license
Original airdate: January 19th 2001.

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #96

I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into with the upcoming Top 30 Albums Of The 00s countdown, due to begin in a week or two.

I thought my list of the best albums of the 90s list was hard enough, but this is even harder - I've currently only managed to narrow it down to 71 albums.

This will be such a bitch.

(mp3) Meshuggah - War
Available on Rare Trax (compilation, 2001)

(mp3) The Bronx - Gun without bullets
Available on S/t (2003)

(mp3) Lobotomy - Awaken
Available on Kill (1997)

(mp3) God Is An Astronaut - Shining through
Available on V/A - Falling Down II (compilation, 2010)

(mp3) Sepultura - Kamaitachi
Available on Against (1998)

Butterslax, motherfucker

The history of Mastodon compilation I posted last year was very popular, and the other week someone emailed and asked for more Butterslax tracks. I uploaded the 1995 demo for them and there's no reason not to share it with the rest of you, as it's quite good. Pretty standard mid '90s sludgy noise rock, but good.

Butterslax was of course the band guitarist Bill Kelliher played in before he joined Brann Dailor in Lethargy, and later Today Is The Day and Mastodon. Enjoy.

That dude in the photo? He has nothing to do with any of this. Don't even know who he is.

(zip) Butterslax - Corn Burglar (demo) (66 mb)

1. Mish mash
2. Freezer burnt
3. Nursey
4. Vibrashoe
5. Mr. Brown
6. Hoss road cookie nook
7. Onnamomacca
8. Slice

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #75

Work has begun on the upcoming Best Albums Of The 00's countdown. It will be heavy music only, perhaps compilmented with a smaller list of softer music on the other blog.

Thanks for your input, readers.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #75 (53 mb)

1. Dungen - Intro (2007)
2. King Crimson - 21st century schizoid man (1969)
3. Deep Purple - Never before (1972)
4. Misery Loves Co. - Rise and fall (2000)
5. Soundgarden - Slaves & bulldozers (1991)
6. Spice and the RJ Band - The fake (2007)
7. Ozzy Osbourne - Slow down (1983)
8. The Sex Pistols - Submission (1977)
9. The Hives - Here we go again (1997)
10. Therapy? - Loose (1995)
11. Probot - Sweet dreams (2004)

Pay for your music.

Your opinion is needed, dear reader

Since my countdown of the 30 best albums of the 90s was such a big hit last year, I was thinking of doing a similar list for the 00s. I've put it on hold (let's face it, everyone and their uncle was doing it recently, for obvious reasons) but I think the time has come to start working on it.

The question is: should it be heavy music only (ie rock, punk, metal) like the top 30 albums of the 90s countdown, or should it also include other types of music like the top 30 albums of 2009 countdown?

Whaddaya think, folks?

Here's something to listen to while you leave a comment:

(mp3) Cathedral - Night of the seagulls
Available on The Carnival Bizarre(1995)

(mp3) Rob Zombie - Superbeast
Available on Hellbilly Deluxe (1998)

(mp3) Marilyn Manson - Coma white
Available on Mechanical Animals (1998)

(mp3) Evanescence - Missing
Available on Anywhere But Home (2004)

(mp3) Descendents - Suburban home
Available on Milo Goes To College (1982)

Speaking of Zach Galifianakis...

...he's the new singer of In Flames.

(mp3) In Flames - The hive
Available on Whoracle (1997)

Your car smells like funyuns

What's there to say about Zach Galifianakis? Not much that hasn't been said already. The man is a genius.

One thing I do have to say about him is how delighted I am that someone has uploaded his TV debut on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2000, which I previously mentioned here.

It's amazing - it even has Swedish subtitles! By someone who clearly didn't understand some of the jokes (vad i helvete är "färglegimitation"?), but that won't bother anyone outside this wonderful Norse nation of which I am a semi-proud citizen.





Oh, and did you see him host SNL back in March? Fantastic. If I ever have a son I'm gonna name him R.J. Sizzle.

(mp3) Zach Galifianakis ft. Fiona Apple - Come on and get it (up in 'dem guts)
Available in episode 3 of Dog Bites Man (2006)

The Friday MP3 Shuffle #74

I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record, but this week's mix is fucking brilliant. I'm so good at making sweet mixes that I almost scare myself. Genius is an intimidating thing, even for the genius himself.

Just look at that golden tracklisting. It's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This mix will save lives, literally. People will step away from ledges.

God bless me.

(zip) MP3 Shuffle #74 (56 mb)

1. Old Man Gloom - Sleeping with snakes (2004)
2. Kvelertak - Blodtørst (2010)
3. Barkmarket - Feed me (1996)
4. Primus - My name is Mud (1993)
5. Probot - The warlock (2004)
6. Clutch - Impetus (1992)
7. Fatso Jetson - Golden age of cell block slang (2010)
8. Black Sabbath - Tomorrow's dream (1972)
9. The Gits - Another shot of whiskey (1992)
10. Mastodon - Clayton boys (2010)
11. Alaskan - Greed and grievance (2010)

Pay for your music.

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #95

(mp3) Soulfly - Bring it
Available on Primitive (2000)

(mp3) Thåström - Ich liebe dich
Available on Xplodera Mig 2000 (1991)

(mp3) Faith No More - We care a lot
Available on We Care A Lot (1985)

(mp3) UFO - Timothy
Available on UFO I (1970)

(mp3) Deathstars - Blitzkrieg
Available on Termination Bliss (2006)

Best scene in a movie ever

Recognize.



The cool-as-ice one with the cigar three seconds into the clip is the Samuel L. Jackson of the gremlin community.

He doesn't give a shit about you.

R.I.P. Mahk Daniels

Mahk Daniels, lead singer of the up and coming hardcore band Early Graves has died in a car crash. Awful, awful news.

Early Graves had just released their second album Goner a month ago and were heading for the big leagues, their big break wasn't far away. Definitely a contender for album of the year.

This is slowly but surely turning into a very sad year in metal. Condolences to his family, friends and bandmates.

(mp3) Early Graves - Wraiths
Available on Goner (2010)

Kylesa non-album tracks galore

The completist in me loves this post.

When I become a fan of a band I must have everything, every alternate take, every cover song, every scratchy old vinyl track. Which is why I'm beyond annoyed I haven't been able to get my hands on Kylesa's 2002 7" single Point of Stillness/Judgement Day or the Skeletal EP in order to complete this post.

Seriously, if anyone out there has those two, send 'em my way immediately. Email me or just leave a link the comments. Other than those two I think I've covered all of the extraordinary Kylesa's non-album works. Or did I manage miss anything else?

And don't miss this fine gig taped in Cologne in 2008. The best version of What Becomes An End I've heard so far.

(mp3) Kylesa - The new normal
Available on Kylesa/Memento Mori (split 7", 2002)


(mp3) Kylesa - The curse of lost days pt. 1
(mp3) Kylesa - The curse of lost days pt. 2
(mp3) Kylesa - The curse of lost days pt. 3
(mp3) Kylesa - The curse of lost days pt. 4
(mp3) Kylesa - The curse of lost days pt. 5
Available on Kylesa/Cream Abdul Babar (split album, 2003)


(mp3) Kylesa - No ending
(mp3) Kylesa - A 100 degree heat index
(mp3) Kylesa - Delusion on fire
(mp3) Kylesa - Clutches (Nausea cover)
Available on No Ending 110 Degree Heat Index (ep, 2004)


(mp3) Kylesa - Left to starve (Eyehategod cover)
Available on V/A - For The Sick: A Tribute To Eyehategod (2007)


(mp3) Kylesa - Set the controls for the heart of the sun (Pink Floyd cover)
Digital download (2008)


(mp3) Kylesa - Interstellar overdrive (Pink Floyd cover)
Available on VA - Like Black Holes in the Sky: The Tribute to Syd Barrett (2009)


(mp3) Kylesa - Pain and suffering
Available on Kylesa/Victims (split, 2009)


(mp3) Kylesa - Drum jam
Available on Unknown Awareness (single, 2009)


Buy all things Kylesa at Amazon.com, douchebag.