On March 1st, 2009, I embarked on a Rock and Roll journey… to blog my Metal heart out about the music, bands, musicians, albums and songs I love the most. This Rock and Roll journey was named – MetalOdyssey. Both past and present bands, my concert experiences, what I buy for music, album reviews, Heavy Metal hunting finds and my best Metal buddy Scott Coverdale have all been covered. Scott researches Metal like a Metalaholic. Once in awhile, I have vented about what ticks me off: The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame, reality show know-it-all dads, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Grammys and the dreadful PMRC. I even posted about my new cat Toby that my family adopted too. My unreal great wife, well, she is responsible for prodding and suggesting that I do this Metal Odyssey blog gig. I look back now and understand why she wanted me to do this. Without her computer, graphics and software expertise, I never would have gotten this blog off the Metal ground. I Thank her with all the love and everything I’ve got for coaxing me into such a Metal thrill ride! It has been a ton of Metal fun.
Did I think I would cover, (most of the time, like, 90% of the time), Metal Music? Kinda did. You see, I also have a love affair with Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Southern Rock, Alternative Rock, Rock and… at times, movie soundtracks. So, my Rock and Roll infatuation covers quite a bit of ground… it’s been that way my entire Metal life. Some may want to call me a Rock Music junkie… so Metal be it! I’m not bashful to express my allegiance to ELO, The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Doors, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Boz Scaggs. Nor will I ever fib and say the Rocky movie soundtrack doesn’t still pump me up and psyche me out of my Metal mind! Bill Conti is a musical genius, John Carpenter is too.
What does the future hold for Metal Odyssey? MORE METAL! With that said, I will warn all of my loyal visitors and new visitors right now… don’t ever be bewildered if you find me blabbing and praising about straight forward Rock and Roll either. I love the roots of Heavy Metal, always have I been amazed at how this incredible form of music came to being. Heavy Metal history is sacred to Metal Odyssey.
Punk Rock I like to blab about too from time to time. Misfits, Ramones, Osaka Popstar, Rancid and The Casualties are my top favorites, they all shall get their justified and respected due on Metal Odyssey again.
In the coming months, hopefully years, I will continue on with this Rock and Roll journey called Metal Odyssey just as I have been doing. I would like to continue to inform, entertain and inspire friendly debate through my writings and reviews. I also get the biggest kick out of consistently finding Metal albums and CD’s dirt cheap at thrift stores, antique stores/malls and flea markets… lending my anecdotes and experiences of such finds to the world makes me feel happy. Any and all personal Metal experiences, (no matter how large or small), that I may encounter in the future will no doubt, be found right here on Metal Odyssey!
I also want to thank the new Metal buddies I have encountered through Metal Odyssey. These guys are fun to correspond with and make me more Metal wiser with each new post they create on their respective blogs, due in part to their personal perspective and knowledge of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Here is a roll call of these great fellow Metalheads who share the same passion as I do for Heavy Metal and Hard Rock music… check them out in the list below, if you already haven’t, they are a Metal kick!
Hard Rock Hideout – I write reviews and do interviews for this unreal cool site… the dudes and dudettes over there are super nice Metal buddies too. Hard Rock Hideout is super loaded with up to the minute news, reviews, interviews, Hard Rock Hideout Radio, videos and… you get the Metal point!
The Metal Files – This Metal buddy was the first to put Metal Odyssey on a blog roll! An industry insider and musician who knows more than a thing or two about what is really going on in Metal. Plus, I really take stock in his Metal opinions, even if he doesn’t like Steelheart.
Heavy Metal Addiction – A Metal buddy who invited me into a group of fellow bloggers to post the “Best Of” lists for 2009. A Metal gracious move I truly appreciate. Great reviews and insight aplenty to be had over there from this Heavy Metal blogging veteran. From his CD Scavenger Hunt to his concert reviews… good Metal stuff.
Metal Excess – This Heavy Metal site is loaded with reviews and honest insight too. A KISS fan exists at Metal Excess, which makes it all the more a Metal pleasure to go there constantly.
Demolish Fanzine – 1980’s Heavy Metal Revival – This Metalhead buddy loves 1980’s Metal, what’s not to love about it? This blog is enriched with the knowledge of a 1980’s fanzine veteran who has loads of Metal interviews and info to share… and I’m reading it.
Heavy Metal Time Machine – An old school Heavy Metal blogger who calls it the way he see it! That’s the way it should be for Metal sakes. Uniquely insightful and fun, (Clash of the Album Covers & Battle of the Bands), the reviews, opinions and anecdotes over there always keeps me thinking.
* I also want to thank WordPress.com for having a kick butt and easy to navigate blog site!
I do want to THANK EACH AND EVERY VISITOR to Metal Odyssey over this past first year! Regardless if your comments were friendly or not, heck, at least you commented! Without visitors to Metal Odyssey, there is no fun in blabbing about the music that gets us all through each day.
BE TRUE TO THE MUSIC YOU LOVE AND THE MUSIC WILL BE TRUE TO YOU!
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE FREEDOM TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WE CHOOSE!
Thank you all again,
Stone.
Back on October 4, 1983, Black Sabbath released their eleventh studio album – Born Again. I was serving time in high school as a senior in 1983, I also became a born again Metalhead that same year, thanks to this most underrated Black Sabbath album. I am not kidding or trying to sound like a yahoo by stating that. Born Again was a match made in Metal heaven for me… the prolific vocals of Ian Gillan uniting with the ultra legendary Black Sabbath. I have to admit, with Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio not fronting Black Sabbath, it was common place for professionally paid Rock Music critics to easily overlook the other lead singers this Rock And Roll Hall of Fame band has bestowed over the decades. I never overlooked a damned thing Black Sabbath had done, especially when they joined forces with Ian Gillan. From the front album cover artwork of the demon baby, to the down right eerie and chilling Metal Music heard on Born Again, this album is a must listen and own in Metal Music 101.
Metal Odyssey’s Metal Album Recommendation For Your Halloween Listening Enjoyment: OBITUARY – DARKEST DAY – These Death Metal Legends are not fooling around with their June 30th, 2009 release. Darkest Day is without Metal hesitation, one of my top three albums of 2009… spanning all the Metal genres.
Plus, the Grim Reaper wants to warn you all… the brand new SLAYER album World Painted Blood gets released on Tuesday, November 3rd. I am counting down the minutes in my Metal mind to this great moment in Slayer history.
U.D.O. is another justified example as to why I consider Germany the worlds greatest exporter of Metal Music outside of the great United States. U.D.O. does not stray from their Heavy Metal norm on Dominator, (released on October 6, 2009 in the U.S.A., on AFM Records). The first two songs on Dominator are like smash mouth football… Old School and punishing. The lyrics are not meant for NASA academics, they are meant for the Metalheads of the world who take pride in their Heavy Metal Music and bands. The Bogeyman and Dominator are song titles with lyrical content that follow a simple rule of Heavy Metal… thou shall not conform. Vintage Heavy Metal, baby. No political statements or hard to decipher words to be found. I love this stuff. I live for this stuff. Black and White is song three and glorifies the elegance of Heavy Metal guitar, not to forget Heavy Metal chorus as well. Udo Dirkschneider on lead vocals sounds as great as ever, anyone who states otherwise is simply jealous of this ageless Metal icon. Udo Dirkschneider has forever forged his legacy twice in Heavy Metal history, both with U.D.O. and Accept. Heavy Metal lightning does strike twice, Udo Dirkschneider is living proof of that.
Slayer. Thrash Metal Legends without any doubt in my Metal mind. I caught onto Slayer from the very beginning. I ordered Slayer’s first album, Show No Mercy, through mail order – direct from Metal Blade Records, back in 1984. Since then, Slayer has been a band that I uphold as one of the greatest Thrash Metal Bands ever, (if not the greatest).I have seen Slayer live in a small club setting back in the late 1980’s, a fortunate Metal experience that I will never forget. Yes, Slayer is a core favorite of mine and that will never change.
The Book Of Slayer covers the band from it’s infancy in 1981 to present day. Anecdotes, interviews, tons of photos and details abound and it is 100% Slayer. Plus there are four feature articles included about Slayer, from past issues of Revolver. Revolver documents Slayer throughout their entire career in excellent Metal fashion. Kerry King, Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Paul Bostaph are all included in the story telling and interviews. This is one Slayer collectible worth picking up – the content within it’s pages and Slayer knowledge you will gain is well worth the $5.99 cover price. New fans can catch up on some great Slayer history and veteran fans should find it hard to put down. I know I will be taking it with me just about everywhere.
Exodus… a Thrash Metal originator. Exodus… Old School Thrash Metal. Exodus… Bonded By Blood, was the first album released by this very important Thrash Metal Band, (back in 1985). Why I feel Exodus is a very important Thrash Metal Band is due to their being one of the first Metal Bands to introduce this genre to the world. Back in 1985, there were not the hundreds of thousands of Thrash Metal Bands there are now… you can thank Exodus for influencing countless musicians and bands alike for embarking on their careers in Metal… Thrash Metal. Just seek out and read some interviews of past and current Thrash Metal musicians, you discover after awhile, that Exodus and especially their initial album Bonded By Blood is ultra revered. Yes, I am an Exodus fan, since 1985 until this very day. Lineup changes within Exodus has not made me wince one Metal bit. Guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Tom Hunting have held the Thrash Metal fort for Exodus over the past three decades, serving Exodus and their fans well… extremely well. (Note: Paul Bostaph has stepped in on drums for Exodus, he is an unreal great Metal drummer at large).
Listening to the late and unreal great – Paul Baloff on lead vocals is as inspiring to me as all damn hell. His vocals were not your stereotypical Thrash Metal type… he resonated with the influence of early Rob Halford of Judas Priest… in my Metal opinion, still exuding his very own style that to this day is untouched. I reached for my CD jewel case of Bonded By Blood, (my copy is the reissue by Combat Records, it also has the alternate cover that is shown at the left and bottom of this post). The original front cover artwork is damn more cool than the alternate version, just look at it at the top of this post for proof. On the back cover of Bonded By Blood, it has a group photo of Exodus… Paul Baloff is shown wearing a Pipers Pit sleeveless t-shirt. Rowdy Roddy Piper… Paul Baloff… man, that is as fitting a shirt as any for him to wear back then. I used to be the f’n biggest Rowdy Roddy Piper fan around, imitating his wrestling moves and voice too… silly and cool memories, all courtesy of one photo of Exodus.
Reign Fall lyrically expresses the ghastly imagery of what happens to those who cannot think for themselves, wasting away at the mercy of ones very own doing. Reign Fall, as well as every song on The End Of Tomorrow, is a throwback Metal feast of melodic speed crashing into riffs that are beyond run of the mill. Al Ravage reminds me thoroughly of a young Rob Halford, (Judas Priest), intertwined with a young Paul Dianno, (of early Iron Maiden). Hey, I am by no means putting Al Ravage in this heroic class of Heavy Metal vocalists… (not yet anyways), what I am pointing out is Al Ravage can sing Heavy Metal with marked influences and originality combined. Ravage knows they are Old School, using this phrase so much doing a review may sound very redundant, yet for any veteran fan of Heavy Metal from yesteryear, you know just how juicy it can get when a new album excretes all things good about the glory days of Metal… The End Of Tomorrow is an unleashed monster of what I am talking about here.
Motorhead is and always will be a core favorite Heavy Metal Band of mine, (a top 3 band without a doubt). I was first introduced to this prolific band back around 1983, a friend of mine in high school gave me an 8-track of a live Motorhead bootleg. (This dudes name was Rich, I am glad we had crossed paths back then). The sound was enormously awful, (the actual 8-track didn’t help), the lead vocals were beyond raspy and unclear and the Heavy Metal Music being played was raw, uncommercial and unlike anything I had ever heard before in my young life. I loved it. I was beyond thrilled at listening to this Motorhead 8-track. I was enamored by every unpolished intricacy that my rookie Metalhead ears heard. Here is this band, on a beat up 8-track, recorded as a live bootleg somewhere far away in the world, that only a dozen or so dudes in my high school even knew about at that time in 1983. All that was written on the blank white sticker on this 8-track was a barely legible – Motorhead Live. I’ll never forget that… an Old School Metal memory at it’s most innocent. I was awe struck by the unnatural vocals of Lemmy Kilmister and his bass was over powering to boot. Gimme some more Motorhead is what I said.
When I listen to 
Crowbar was my Metal band of choice today. Sludge Metal with a healthy slice of Doom Metal at it’s very best is Crowbar. I gave another listen to Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form and have walked away with the same Metal satisfaction as always – ultra Sludge Metal satisfaction that is. The slow trudging and heavy duty guitar riffs combined with the slow paced rhythm section, makes me scream in Metal glee that Crowbar has taken Old School Heavy Metal to a more dark and doom ridden place. The lyrics heard in the songs on Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form are gloomy, mournful and visits the realms of self suffering, doubt and infliction. Well, that is what Doom Metal delves into, topics too touchy for the faint at heart mainstream. These lyrics explore what it must feel like when one is truly suffering from extreme mental anguish. Now, if you are to look past the psychologically driven lyrics, the Metal Music is an ear crushing experience and/or escape that seems to come at me from all sides. Crowbar plays their Sludge Metal like it surrounds me, repeatedly encircling my space like a slow marching invasion of Metal giants from a far away and spooky place. Cool.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.