Satyricon – The Age Of Nero was released back on November 3, 2008. This is an album that gets increasingly greater for me, after each listen. One song in particular, Black Crow On A Tombstone, just stays in my head for days… weeks on end. I am not going to fight it off, it’s a fantastic song that I immensely enjoy. I can remember distinctly, the first time I listened to The Age Of Nero in it’s entirety… it blew me away. The grooves are abundant throughout this album, Black Metal reigns supreme through these songs. Satyricon created an album with The Age Of Nero that I would easily consider to be… Metal Album of the Decade. I’m not kidding around… the Metal… Black Metal, on this album is representative of what incredible song writing is all about, both musically and lyrically. Satyr proved to me, that you do not need to get mathematical, intricate or go over the top, in order to create a sensational Black Metal album such as this. Here is the video for Black Crow On A Tombstone – the darkness of the video compliments this song. Satyr sings this song with unreal conviction, which is an attribute I find so admirable and remarkable. Being pre-warned by the sight of a black crow, that impending doom is upon you, is the theme of this song. Here’s hoping you enjoy this great song and video as much as I do…
If you wish, you can read my full review for Satyricon – The Age Of Nero, which I posted on April 7, 2009, by clicking the header below:
Satyricon “The Age Of Nero” – this is serious Metal
LONG LIVE SATYRICON.
Well, sorry fellow Metalheads and Satyricon fans… apparently “WMG” (yeah, that record compnay) doesn’t want to “share” their music video’s with blogs like Metal Odyssey. It’s too bad, due to the fact that Metal Odyssey gives away FREE advertising for record companies like WMG day in and day out. Wherever you do go to finally see this amazing Satyricon music video, I hope you do enjoy it. Black Crow On A Tombstone is one HELL of a music video from one incredible Black Metal Band that is Satyricon.
Stone.
Thank you Blackie Lawless. Thank you for not going away, taking an extended leave of absence or selling out. There are too many 1980’s Heavy Metal Bands that did just those things, now they are scrambling to make their triumphant comeback or best album ever. Some are doing just that, only Blackie Lawless does not belong to that club. The Heavy Metal membership card that Blackie Lawless holds says two words… for life. Why shouldn’t it say just that? The true fans of Heavy Metal and/or W.A.S.P. are in it for life. While the 1990’s ushered in the Grunge genre and scores of pretentious bands (being mistakenly labeled) Heavy Metal, all the while lining up at Hollywood’s red carpet gala’s for accolades, W.A.S.P. was too busy making real Heavy Metal albums of integrity. The politically correct mainstream press was not a necessity for W.A.S.P.’s survival then, it certainly is not now. There is no return of or part ll theme happening with W.A.S.P., just a band that is a Heavy Metal mainstay, due to the perseverance and creativity of Blackie Lawless. To take a quote from Blackie Lawless, (as stated in the liner notes from Babylon)… If it is not the truth, it will not stand.
Crazy is the opening song on Babylon. The weight of the world always seems to be put on the opening track of any album. The first song sets the table for the remainder of the album, good or bad, this all important track can either be the demise or exclamation point for the songs that follow. With Crazy, this song kicks and extends it’s Heavy Metal tentacles like a giant sea squid on a caffeine rush. Crazy is the prelude to nine Heavy Metal songs of substance, this song alone foretells that W.A.S.P. connects in 2009. Blackie Lawless borrowed some of his Old School Heavy Metal and fused it with a more mature presentation, both with lyrics and tempo. Sure, Crazy is a fast moving song, only it’s the streamlined sound of it’s speed that makes it so appreciable. The consistency of Heavy Metal muscle is what I have come to expect from W.A.S.P., Crazy illuminates and flexes it from the opening note. My best Metal buddy Scott cued me into the comparison of Crazy to Wild Child, from the 1985 W.A.S.P. classic, The Last Command. (This was well before I owned a copy of Babylon, Scott was a lucky one who nailed Babylon on it’s import release date of October 13th). The opening guitar intro to both Crazy and Wild Child are very similar, still not a mirror image note for note.
W.A.S.P. has me burning up with an extreme Heavy Metal fever. Their new studio album, Babylon, is the total Old School Heavy Metal package. I am so excited about this new W.A.S.P. album, I need to calm down. Alright, if you have never purchased a W.A.S.P. album in your life and you are into Metal, do the right thing and buy Babylon. Veteran W.A.S.P. fans should understand why I am pumped up about Babylon… it is the quintessential Heavy Metal album for 2009. Am I saying it is the best Heavy Metal album of 2009? I am sure leaning in that direction for certain. Remember, this is Heavy Metal, no strings attached. Blackie Lawless has proven once again he is not about to back down, cow tow or change for anyone. Blackie Lawless has my total Metal support and praise for his convictions, which he so eloquently states within the liner notes of Babylon.
I will always believe, that it is extremely hard to cover a song of this magnitude, without tripping up somewhere along the way. Nothing beats a Hard Rock Classic, especially one from Deep Purple. David Coverdale will forever have the notoriety of originally vocalizing Burn with Deep Purple. David Coverdale’s vocal signature on the original version of Burn, plus his historical importance to Heavy Metal is immeasurable, in my most honest Metal opinion. Fast forward to 2009 and Burn is resurrected from the archives of Hard Rock history, thanks to W.A.S.P.. Blackie Lawless maintains the signature keyboards of Burn, reestablishing the importance this instrument has within this song. Doug Blair on lead guitar, cements himself as an asset, to the Heavy Metal identity that is W.A.S.P., on this amazing cover song. Burn returns and rises like a flaming phoenix, with Blackie Lawless unleashing this song’s power and exposing it’s grandeur for all Heavy Metal time.
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.
I really get a kick out of Alexi Laiho, his lead vocals and lead guitar play are extreme to the Metal maximum. I know that sounds rather yahoo, only there is no other way to really explain it. I like this guys style, he is hell bent on playing some of the fastest Thrash Metal Music out there. On the new Children Of Bodom album, Skeletons in the Closet, (released on September 22, 2009), there are seventeen cover songs. Of the bands and musicians that are covered here, there is one song that I simply cannot get into or simply stomach. Hey, one lousy song out of seventeen isn’t too shabby. Consider the fact, that I really like the other sixteen songs on Skeletons in the Closet and I declare this album a Metal winner. Let’s cut to the Metal chase here and I’ll just state that the cover of the Britney Spears song, Oops… I Did It Again is equally lame as it is annoying. I have never been intrigued by Britney Spears, nor do I give her even one millionth of an ounce of respect for any music she has done in her life.
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.
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.
Here I go again… pulling out another great and scary Rock song that is just eerily perfect for the Halloween season. In 1986, the ever legendary John Fogerty released his solo album – Eye of the Zombie
Meat L
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.
I first stumbled across Hallowmas – The Road To Hallow’s Eve on the Century Media Records online store – CM Distro.com. The CD cover artwork took my Metal breath away, I am a huge Metal sucker for the scary and horrific album covers… this goes back decades for me. You cannot always judge a book, uh, album by it’s cover. In the case of my purchasing The Road To Hallow’s Eve based on the artwork and song titles, well, I proclaim a Horror Punk victory! This album is on Coffin Records, a recognized label notorious for underground talent. Hallowmas released this album back in 2005, I bought it about one year ago, during one of my Halloween spirited moods. Cutting to the Metal chase here, this is one dandy of a Horror Punk Band, a terrorizing thrill a second is The Road To Hallow’s Eve. It’s all good… Horror Punk style. I have numerous times, since buying this CD, have tried to read and/or find out more about this cool Hallowmas band… all in vain however. The only trail I find on the world wide web about them are the basics I found in the liner notes of this very album. Hallowmas is without question an underground Horror Punk band. I sincerely hope they resurface and continue their Horror Punk path… The Road To Hallow’s Eve makes for an intense foundation for them to build upon.
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