Yesterday, November 23, 2009, was a very good day in the life of this Misfits fan, uh, fiend. You see, as I innocently walked to my mailbox, (which is on the front roadside), I stared up towards the front door to my house… what is that I see? It was a very large bubble mailer, flat and the size of a record album… extremely beautiful looking from afar. My heart began to race as I felt a tad of perspiration come upon my forehead, my legs took me as fast as they would go to this mysterious package. Holding my crap/junk mail in my left hand, I bent down to pick up this glorious bubble mailer with my right hand. The return address read: Cinder Block/FFP… from Rancho Cordova, California… what a wonderful return address indeed. You see, I pre-ordered Misfits Land Of The Dead, (the first pressing and red vinyl version), back on October 15, of this year and it is now in my hands! Yeeaaahhhh baaabbbbbyyyyy!!
The excitement that rippled throughout my body and mind, at this moment of knowing Land Of The Dead was in this bubble mailer I was holding, was a moment I will not forget for a very long time. There are only 1,000 copies of the red vinyl version! Hello, can we all say… rare? Being a Misfits fan/fiend for so long, the sheer exhilaration of finally nailing down one of their rare vinyl singles – is a Horror Punk dream come true for me. With over a month passing by since my initial order, I began to worry, that maybe I was not going to be one of the lucky ones to get a red vinyl copy of Land Of The Dead. Worry no more! Cinder Block is the distribution/mail order company that the Misfits web site uses for selling all things… Misfits. A huge Horror Punk kudos to Cinder Block for landing me a copy and making good on my order! Plus, a bonus Horror Punk kudos to Cinder Block for the protective packaging they used for shipping… my copy of Land Of The Dead is mint/spotless!
The backside of this 12 inch vinyl single has the complete lyrics for both songs: Land Of The Dead and Twilight Of The Dead. A brief write-up regarding the connection between George A. Romero, (the legendary film director for the Living Dead movie series) and Jerry Only, is also on the backside of this 12 inch single. I purchased both of these Misfits songs on itunes as well, needing digital copies is a must. It just feels damned great to order what is known to be a rarity and actually get it! I spent a total of $15.94 on this Misfits gem, (including shipping), this is not shabby when you consider what this same red vinyl version is going for on ebay currently. My best Metal buddy Scott, well, he informed me this red vinyl version is selling in the $60.00 to $75.00 range! (I wasn’t tracking this info myself, due to my waiting nervously for my own copy to arrive in the mail). Let me say this, it was worth every cent to get this Misfits single on vinyl. I am a psyched out dude today and it feels great.
Misfits as they appear on Land Of The Dead:
Jerry Only – bass & vocals
Dez Cadena – rhythm & lead guitars
Robo AKA Julio Roberto Valverde Valencia – drums
The album artwork by Arthur Suydam gets my vote for 2009 Album Cover of the Year, spanning all the Rock Music genres. As a fellow artist, it is hard for me not to stare at this cover with art appreciation.
I am a Slayer fan. Have been since I first held onto the Show No Mercy album and stared at the artwork in frozen awe. I bought that Slayer album back in 1984, back when I was picked on for the music I liked by the kids wearing turtle necks, with a stupid alligator on them. The Izod kids… they were so convinced that Slayer was not going to be around in five years. That same Izod crowd all were convinced that Metal Music was for the troubled kids, listening to Slayer is what made us trouble. Really, that junk was thrown at me about Slayer and I never flinched. It’s funny now as I look back on those ridiculous high school years, the hurtful remarks and snotty attitude that I put up with from so many of my peers are now a humorous memory for me. I’ve turned out alright for myself since 1984, I am proud of my life’s accomplishments thus far. I’m not about to reveal every good deed I have done throughout my life, it really would be boring to read. Being a Slayer fan and fan of Metal Music is a part of me, take it or leave it.
Contrary to so many of the Izod kids, the religious right and the PMRC, (The Parents Music Resource Center), I and countless other Slayer fans never became Satanists or serial killers. Nope, the Thrash Metal of Slayer never made me commit a crime. I know this probably disappoints some of the Izod crowd out there, yet Slayer never influenced me to become a lifetime criminal. To compare Metal Music to violent behavior is such a waste of time, there is no correlation. Drugs and/or mental illness is the obvious incubus for violent behavior. How do I know, you may ask? Well, for one, Charles Manson was a Beach Boys fan… Thrash, Death and Black Metal never existed when Charles Manson was roaming the streets. Anyone would be wrong to connect The Beach Boys to violent behavior as well. To say that even The Beach Boys provokes violent behavior is ludicrous and/or irrational. What type of Metal Music did Al Capone listen to? How about Napoleon Bonaparte? I have made my Metal point here… feels good too.
I always express just how thankful I am that so many veteran Metal
So, tomorrow I will make my 
SKELETONWITCH released their second full studio album with Prosthetic Records, Breathing the Fire, on October 13, 2009. I could not resist the Metal temptation and need of picking up this new CD on my visit to f.y.e. today. As I stood there staring at the hellish and downright evil artwork on the front cover of Breathing the Fire, it dawned on me… the Metal wait is over for this new Skeletonwitch. Yeah, very often enough I want my Metal pretty damned fast and extreme in every musical facet. All twelve songs on this album are extremely worthy, I can’t point out any skip overs whatsoever. Skeletonwitch does not fall short of Extreme Metal – every song on Breathing the Fire is blended with the very best of several Metal genres.
Today I found myself in another one of those funks, where the melancholy feelings just won’t subside. So, earlier tonight, I turned to music, Metal Music, to settle my thoughts, nerves and soul. I chose to listen to Entombed, Wolverine Blues. Released back in 1993, on Earache/Columbia Records, I find it startling that this album is around seventeen years old already. An excellent listening choice I made, Entombed was the Metal elixir and their album Wolverine Blues was the Metal prescription that served me right tonight. Entombed delivers their original style of Death Metal or Death N’ Roll with Wolverine Blues, it is as groove charged as it is sinister. With each listen, I can still hear some Thrash Metal being fused within Entombed’s songs on this album. In a Metal nutshell, Entombed covers some ground with Extreme Metal genres. This is one hell of a heavy and hard album, the righteous Metal remedy for curing my blues – let me tell you. Lyrically, there is no bashfulness to be found when it comes to topics and imagery on Wolverine Blues. The combination of the aggressive lyrics and Death N’ Roll charge makes this album sound like it belongs on top of the Metal heap in 2009.
As a life long Metalhead, whenever you see a Heavy Metal Band crack the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart it is cause for Metal celebration. With that said, whenever I witness an Extreme Metal Band crack this same album chart, well, the world suddenly becomes a better place indeed. Step in The Black Dahlia Murder… please. Their newest album – Deflorate, (Metal Blade Records), debuted at #43 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart the week of September 15, 2009. (12,000 units were sold in the first week of this albums release). YEAH! In the midst of dozens of bubble gum – Pop Music new releases, there arises… The Black Dahlia Murder. Let this debut week showing of this incredible band and album, be a Metal reminder to the commercial Pop/Elevator Music world, that Extreme Music lurks around every corner, back road, corn field, city street and CD aisle. Earlier this year, Cannibal Corpse cracked this same Billboard Top 200 Album Chart as well, I see an Extreme Metal pattern of awareness starting to develop here in 2009. Metal Odyssey is Extreme Metal proud of The Black Dahlia Murder, (and still damn Metal proud of Cannibal Corpse too). Real music… Metal Music. All of us Metalheads and the Metal Bands we follow are not going away anytime soon… METAL RULES.
Modern Life Is War caught my attention this past Summer of ’09, as I was perusing the clearance rack at my local Hot Topic. I was stunned, to say the least, to see a quality Hardcore Punk Band like this, on a clearance rack, of all places. It is a shame Modern Life Is War disbanded back in 2008… this was one loud, rowdy, Hardcore Punk Band that created some cool albums in less than a decade, (4 albums and 1 debut EP). From looking around the internet, Modern Life Is War certainly have a ton of fans hoping for a reunion of any kind. Going back to my clearance rack experience at Hot Topic… uncovered was a limited edition 7″ colored vinyl of the single Stagger Lee and the b side The Motorcycle Boy Reigns
The Casualties are a smack to the head reminder that Punk Rock is not dead… one listen to we are all we have and I listened again. The Casualties new album, (released August 25, 2009 on SIDEONEDUMMY Records), comes across fast, heavy and embracingly aggressive. Standing amidst what I consider, an enduring crowd of veteran and rising Punk Rock and Hardcore Punk bands that are all current and real, The Casualties approach is take no damn crap or prisoners, in my Metal opinion. The Casualties have never been bashful about making a social statement lyrically, we are all we have gives more than a nod to what is pissing off this band. I cannot resist the Old School backing/gang vocals that makes this album so darned Punk infused. If we are all we have was a book, an appropriate title very well could be Real Punk Rock and The System Sucks. Integrity heard and felt in music is open for interpretation, a personal opinion, if you will… I hear and feel the upmost integrity from The Casualties, always have, there is no saran wrap shrouding this band from their convictions.
Alright, I am more than thrilled at this new Obituary album, “Darkest Day”, I am enthralled with Metal jubilation. Death Metal jubilation. I am also reminded as to why I am lured into the heaviest, most Metal bludgeoning genre there is… it is Obituary. These guys are not about making nice with the trend setters… forget about it. Obituary is Old School Death Metal lathered with extreme. Understand, however, that Obituary delivers grooves by the Death Metal bushels. From it’s deadly beginning track – “List of Dead” to it’s deadly ending “Left To Die”, I am going out on a Metal limb here by stating… “Darkest Day” is one of 2009’s best Metal albums period. Being one of the true forefathers of the Death Metal genre, Obituary lays their Death Metal cards out on the table here, you either are with them or with them. This is not a Death Metal band that you just want to try out, if you buy an Obituary album, you are either a fan or your about to become one. 
I am Metal psyched about another great Metal album coming out in this month of September of 2009, Children of Bodom – Skeletons In The Closet
I cannot wait to get my hands on this new album and crank it up extremely loud, on September 23, 2009, I will. I am just very curious as to how the Britney Spears cover of Oooops! I Did It Again… is going to sound like. What about the Kenny Rogers song? Man, that should be a Metal hoot. Knowing the way Children of Bodom play their Metal, I am confident they will rage these songs into Extreme Metal bliss. Still, I cannot believe I am writing about Britney Spears, Kenny Rogers and Children of Bodom in the same post. One thing is for sure here, Children of Bodom can never be accused of not being diversified. The cover songs represent a darn cool list of bands here… Slayer, W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Ramones – these are legendary bands without question. Thank you, Finland, for the fine Metal export they call Children of Bodom.
I have added a new band to my Black Metal favorites list, they are Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams is void of having the heavy grooves of Satyricon’s superior recent releases, void of having the progressiveness of the incredible Enslaved. What Abigail Williams does offer up musically, is the extreme and brutal sounds of Black Metal. Yes, the very, very, heavy side of Black Metal. The layering of music is similar to what Cradle of Filth has accomplished with their infamous albums, minus any over exaggeration of melody. O.K., I have pointed out where Abigail Williams lines up musically, compared to their Black Metal counterparts, (or some of them anyway). On “In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns”, (released on October 28, 2008 – candlelight records), Sorceron on lead vocals is alarmingly convincing, while the entire band plays very tight, giving every indication musically, that they know these are ten solid songs.
I have an appetite for the most Extreme Metal Music out there. Job For A Cowboy is without question, a healthy dose of Extreme Metal. Death Metal is this bands calling card. Playing every musical instrument in their band extremely fast and heavy is an understatement. Blast beats and the infamous cookie monster vocals are lathered all over the songs on “Ruination”, (released on Metal Blade Records, July 7, 2009). So, with all of the expected characteristics of being an Extreme – Death Metal band aside, Job For A Cowboy does prove to me one thing… they are more concerned about global and societal troubles than one might expect. I am not going to admit, I can actually make out the lyrics to these songs, from the vocals of Jonny Davy. Nope, instead, I have the assistance of the sacred liner notes, that come with the complete lyrics for every song on “Ruination”. For me, not understanding the words being pronounced from the Death Metal growls of Jonny Davy comes with the territory of this Metal genre. With this genre of Metal, the lead vocalist is just as equally important as any of the musical instruments being played. It is the anger driven vocals that gives the songs on “Ruination” their intended extreme force and purpose, if you will. Jonny Davy on vocals is equivalent to a wasp nest being disturbed by a broom stick. His vocals will swarm all over your Metal soul, clutching it, beating it into shape and then slapping you in the face with it. Job For A Cowboy delivers a lesson in Extreme – Death Metal whoop ass that has me saying… thank you sir, can I please have more?
Just when I thought that Cannibal Corpse’s “Evisceration Plague” was the lightning strike of an Extreme – Death Metal album of 2009, well, now I have my own personal
Motorhead and Anthrax. Each band is a prominent member in the Metal Music world. Motorhead and Anthrax have always hinted, albeit with Metal stylings, their musical taste for Punk Rock Music. Both of these legendary Metal bands covered the Sex Pistols classic “God Save The Queen” from the “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” album, (released in October of 1977). This song was written of course, by Paul Cook, Steve Jones, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) and Glen Matlock. Both cover versions are really cool and heavy, with Motorhead having their unmistakable, heavy coated vocals and bass guitar of Lemmy Kilmister leading the way. You know it’s Motorhead when you hear their cover of this prolific song… no pretensions, no frills, no sugar coating. The Motorhead cover version of “God Save The Queen” can be found on the “We Are Motorhead” album, (released on May 16, 2000). The Anthrax cover version is found on the EP – “Armed And Dangerous”, (released in February of 1985). In my Metal opinion, Anthrax covers “God Save The Queen” with convincing Punk Rock attitude, the reasons for this lays in the lead vocals of Joey Belladonna as well as the backing vocals. Musically, Anthrax is right on the Punk Rock bulls eye, which always led me to believe this particular lineup could have experimented even more with Punk Rock songs.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.