BLUE ASIDE – This Underground Doom Metal power trio from Boston, Massachusetts, that call themselves Blue Aside are not bashful on laying down some potent, Earth rattling psychedelia. Blue Aside is one heavy band, as heavy and thick as an unopened can of Castrol motor oil from 1966. (Man, that sounded hoochie, yet my point has been made). This five song debut EP, The Orange Tree, was released on Hydro-Phonic Records in the Fall of 2010. If a band of any heavy genre wants to make an instant impression on me with a debut EP, then Blue Aside has without a doubt succeeded.
The Traveler of Time and Space begins with a synthetic intro that makes me feel like I’m helplessly floating in outer space without a cell phone or I’m being chased by Zombies that can’t run… take your pick. The riff is king here and it leads me down the path to all things spectacular about Psychedelic Doom Metal, bringing me to the realization that Iron Butterfly is indeed an influential band in 2010. The retrospective nature of Blue Aside is not a dominant force, however. They integrate such imagination into their sound, that it makes for a simultaneous vibe that is both now and futuristic.
The vocals change off from being dark and downright evil to semi-harmonious with echos. One well schooled Rockaholic can easily point the progressive finger, with certainty, at Blue Aside. Stoner Metal fans that are looking for songs that are not 15 minutes long can easily fall victim to what Blue Aside is banging out on The Orange Tree. Picture The Mars Volta deciding they want to get down on some Doom Metal and make their music more eye popping heavy, while maintaining a non-mainstream grip on avant-garde, minus any stretching vocals and this is Blue Aside. Adam Abrams (guitar), Matt Neto (drums) and Joe Twomey (bass) can play, making me feel as if this is their third or fourth album after ten years of touring. As anti-commercial as a five song EP can ever be, The Orange Tree never slips into passages of mainstream cow-towing.
Comparisons aside, this trio is hitting the bulls-eye on being unique. Each song has it’s own flavor, with Orange Eyes being a more guitar oriented song, with it’s melodic leads and slow motion Punk like vocals. Otis’ Sun is much more Doom laden with it’s riffs and vocals and marches on with a more apocalyptic feel, never compromising on it’s melancholic mood. Black Rays has a strong emphasis on drums, with a guitar driven attack that keeps the tempo on high, being the one song on The Orange Tree that can be described as groove laden. Black Rays is my favorite song on this EP, I always fall over for the grooves… man, I dig that stuff.
The Inevitable Journey is a journey into one damn cool, hard and heavy tunnel of sound. The Tony Iommi inspired riffs are infectious, with the Doom infested tempo making this song worthy of repeated listens. Alright, this is my second favorite song on The Orange Tree and it proved to be extremely memorable for me after the very first listen. I could carry on more about this song, adding, that it’s muscular Old School-Stoner vibe meets present day Doom sound, is very close to Metal exhilaration.
Doom. Psychedelic. Stoner. Progressive. At the end of my Metal day, this is one very good, up and coming Metal band period. Smart musicianship coupled with smart lyrics that I hear on The Orange Tree, will take Blue Aside a long way down the Metal road. Fans of the heavy genres mentioned in this review should be able to wrap their ears around the sound that Blue Aside has created on The Orange Tree. Blue Aside has made a lasting Metal impression on me. I’ll be looking forward to Blue Aside releasing a full-length in the future… a band with this much talent, is going to be around for quite some Metal time.
* For more info on Blue Aside, click here: Blue Aside – myspace music
* For more info on Hydro-Phonic Records, click here: Hydro-Phonic Records
BLUE ASIDE:
Adam Abrams – guitar & vocals
Matt Neto – drums & vocals
Joe Twomey – bass & vocals
Track Listing For The Orange Tree:
The Traveler of Time & Space
Otis’ Sun
Orange Eyes
Black Rays
The Inevitable Journey
LONG LIVE BLUE ASIDE.
Stone.
You know those moments or days when you experience a song that just seems to arrive or enter your mind, without being invited? It is subconscious for certain, something triggers a particular song to begin playing in my brain, be it secondary thoughts, reflections, images and/or events that happen in the course of a day’s routine. Today, I had the Savatage cover song of “Day After Day” playing repeat in my head. I honestly do not know why. I have not listened to this song from Savatage for many years, possibly a couple of decades. “Day After Day” is a song from the Savatage album “Fight For The Rock”, (released back in 1986). It is a cool song, without doubt a Hard Rock, borderline Heavy Metal cover version, compared to the original 1971 Rock version from Badfinger. I used to have this original “Fight For The Rock” vinyl, heck, I bought it back when it first came out. Over the years, I sold it for some oddball reason or another.
I have come to the conclusion, that Progressive Metal and Progressive Hard Rock are the genres that keep me grounded. Dream Theater offers me the best of two worlds, like a one-two Metal punch… this band makes me want to Rock out, then again, I have many moments with their music when I want to chill, in a Metal sort of way. I am not at all stating that Dream Theater can be easy listening Progressive Music… no way. They offer the segues, interludes, intro’s and instrumentals that serve as that musical cushion to fall back on, while awaiting the heavy parts. This is what draws me into their music, to always expect the unexpected with the Progressive nature of Dream Theater. Dream Theater has for me, come so far, paid their Metal dues, to be now recognized as a Progressive Metal super power. It is difficult to dispute the vast landscape of progressive musical ingenuity that Dream Theater bestows. listening to their new music is a reminder to me, that you can erase any other thoughts in your mind and escape into an album of songs.
“A Rite Of Passage” is an amazing song, it reminds me of what maybe Rainbow would sound like, in 2009. The keyboards in this song is what has me thinking of vintage Rainbow, the melody also has a deep, rich, Classic Rock flavor. “A Nightmare To Remember”, the opening song, has all the dynamics I come to expect from Dream Theater, musically and lyrically. I am very glad the story line to this song has a happy ending, despite the child mentally reliving such a personal experience that is the referred nightmare. “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”, (released on June 23, 2009), has most certainly eclipsed my expectations of what to expect, both musically and lyrically. This new Dream Theater release deservedly reached #6 on the Billboard album charts on the initial week of it’s release. It is clear that new fans have embraced Dream Theater and all of their epic Progressive Metal.
Enslaved, from Norway, has created quite the exquisite Black Metal album with “Vertebrae”. Why do I use the adjective exquisite to describe this album? Well, I revere the Progressive Metal of Mastodon and Dream Theater, the legendary Progressive Rock of Pink Floyd and the groove infested Black Metal of Satyricon. Enslaved encompasses the most Metal and progressively delicious elements from these favorite bands of mine, while incorporating them into their very own startlingly, mind popping sound. What Enslaved has done here, is taken Rock and Metal influences to a new level, creating an album that embraces everything that is brilliant about Heavy and Progressive music. (I am not saying Enslaved actually looked to these bands for inspiration, this is just my musical and Metal interpretation and/or opinion). Enslaved has their roots in Black Metal, a musical track record that overflows with Metal bragging rights… “Vertebrae” by no means exemplifies this band as not being original. This album is as original as it gets… I cannot truly count how many Metal bands there are, that dare to experiment with music so valiantly.
I have been reading “professionally paid” music critic reviews about the newest release from Mastodon – “Crack The Skye” – the majority of them are not even worth discussing or repeating. I dig the new Mastodon album, simply put it rocks. For Metal sakes, anyone who knows Metal, should know and/or understand that Mastodon is and always has been a Progressive Metal band. With the Progressive Metal bands, you never know exactly what you are going to get with the next album. (To solidify my point, just look at Rush, Dream Theater and Queensryche, these bands have always experimented musically). So what, big deal, so the new Mastodon album is not as heavy as their last release “Blood Mountain” – give me a Metal break.
The Metal musical “escape” I feel and hear while listening to “Crack The Skye” is cool for me. The vocals are still heavy, the guitar leads are still heavy, and the rhythm section is the farthest thing musically from 1970’s Hard Rock as you can possibly get. This album was not created in 1977, this Metal is happening now. Sure, there are plenty of synthetic sounds applied to “Crack The Skye,” that is what makes this album progressive. The synthetic interludes and backdrops along with the lyrics are why I call “Crack The Skye” a Metal journey. Mastodon did not provide here, a “rip and tear – let it all loose, heavy frenzy” – if I or any other true Metal fan wants that, heck, I will listen to a Metal band that is supposed to play that way. Suffice to say, in my Metal opinion, Mastodon has created a Progressive Metal gem. Paid and uninformed music critics can call this new album from Mastodon anything they want. The sole reason why I live for Metal music in the first place, is due to it’s diversity with all of the Metal genres. At the end of the day, when you break it all down, musically, Metal will always be… Metal. 
I really give praise to the vocals, musicianship, song writing and lyrics on “Crack The Skye” – do I find any flaws? Nope. I could never write or play Metal music this darn good. I recommend to all Mastodon and Metal fans across the globe to chase this album down, play it, enjoy it. Rock out to it. Jump onto “Crack The Skye” and experience the Progressive Metal journey that Mastodon created. Now, just because I want to, here is a roll call of the fine Metal musicians that are Mastodon: Brann Dailor (drums, vocals & percussion), Brent Hinds (lead guitar, vocals & banjo), Bill Kelliher (guitar) and Troy Sanders (bass, vocals & bass synth).
Metal Odyssey has taken upon itself to proclaim: Saturday, April 11, is National Heavy Metal Day! Therefore, you may take these helpful tips/advice and put them into action, (if you like) and spread and/or share the great music of Heavy Metal to those around you.
If I could pin point the exact age I was, when I first listened to the Electric Light Orchestra, I would be somewhere around 10 years old – the vintage 1970’s. I have been inhaling the music of ELO for my entire life, safe to say. It does not matter what Metal genre I am currently obsessed with, ELO always gets playing time on my turntable and/or CD players. The Electric Light Orchestra, in my opinion, is one of the original leaders of Progressive Rock. What exactly is it about ELO that gravitates me to their music? Since I can remember, even as a young kid, I always got the biggest kick out of any music that was louder, faster and heavier than what was being played on AM radio. (that is correct, I wrote – AM radio).
So far, I have compiled 5 lists of Metal nominees for the greatest Metal album of all time. I never anticipated just how difficult a (dare I say task) it has been. It has been a fun task, affording me the opportunity to dig deeper into the years of Heavy Metal and all of the amazing genres of Metal that are out there. Will my decision make every Metal fan who reads the Metal Odyssey blog happy? I doubt that, for I am really embarking on a personal decision here, a decision not based on record sales, popularity or chart positions. Furthermore, as any fan of Metal music knows, your favorite band or bands are just that – your main bands. My goal here to decide on the greatest Metal album of all time is not to offend any fellow Metal fans in any way. I keep saying, this is a personal choice, yet, I am also looking forward to backing up and defending my decision! Some people might wonder or think, who cares what this guy thinks is the greatest Metal album of all time? My only response to anyone out there who thinks this is just a waste of time is – this endeavor only shows how much I actually embrace and love Metal music. Plus, researching and writing about the greatest Metal album of all time is light years more constructive and interesting for me, than to be chasing around crap stories about politics and crap stories about politicians second cousins and half sisters.
It is raining where I live this morning. The rain is coming down with quite the bad attitude too. This is the kind of rain where, you know, you dread just having to get your garbage container from the roadside; you know the drenching that is about to occur to your body and it is not requested either. Without complaining any further about inclement weather that no human or expert meteorologist can do to rectify it, here is a band that gets me through driving in the lousiest of lousy weather conditions – Rush. I thought about it this morning as I drove the family cab, yes, Rush just seems to straighten my focus and makes me feel like – who cares what the weather is like. It then hit me, Rush is always my first band of choice that I grab when I have to drive in snow, icy hell and tropical/evil thunderstorms. Not to worry, I always have Rush – “Snakes and Arrows” handy for sunny days, do not ask me why, for I correlate sunny, warm and beautiful days to this fine album. (?)
Queensryche has done it, done it very, very well too. “American Soldier” is a Progressive Metal achievement, in my Metal opinion. This is a concept album, that was written from the words spoken from those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. This release brings Queensryche back to where they belong, at the top of the Metal heap, reminding me of the “Operation Mindcrime” days. This is an album to really follow along to, with the lyrics that are inside the liner notes. Each song does lead itself into the next, both with it’s time line and lyrical content. 
Alas, I found a moment to just kick back, chill out and listen to a Metal CD that caught my eye. This Metal CD was filed in my collection, just waiting for it’s turn to be enjoyed by my hungry ears. Oh, the CD I am talking about? Dream Theater – “Systematic Chaos”. Try hard as I may, it is impossible for me to hear any chaos on this Dream Theater release, none. Instead, what I do hear, is what I will call Progressive perfection. Seriously, for me, the Progressive Metal music of Dream Theater is so accurate, structured, and created on the premise of musical integrity and musical knowledge. Honestly, I am schooled each and every time I give Dream Theater a listen. The musical dynamics that are occurring throughout “Systematic Chaos” makes me realize it may take quite a few more listens before I feel I have heard every key, lyric and note that mystically saturates this incredible album.
Here it is, list #5 in my soul searching quest to determine the greatest Metal album of all-time! I feel like I am nearing closure, the light is at the end of the Metal tunnel. Please feel free to chime in and throw at me any Metal album you have not seen on any of these lists thus far, that you feel is deemed worthy of nomination for the greatest Metal album ever. Why, for me to actually forget a legendary Metal masterpiece? Of course, I am only (Metalhead) human. Plus, the years of Metal have provided such a vast array of genres, so many cool and brilliant albums are out there. I will consider any Metal album suggestion that may come my way, despite my being a Heavy Metal expert – I am kidding of course, all you need to do is read my article on “experts”! Now without any more Metal delay, here goes another 10 nominations (in no particular order) for the greatest Metal album of all-time:
It was 1983 when I first heard Queensryche on the radio, I heard them on an FM station of course, on a radio show that aired on Saturday nights that was called “Metal Shop.” The very first song I ever heard from Queensryche was “Queen of the Reich,” I was hooked by this band ever since. Geoff Tate, in my opinion, has always had just as powerful and prolific vocals as any other singer in the history of Metal. Queensryche can and has fit right into a few different Metal genres, Heavy Metal, Metal and Progressive Metal. With their debut EP “Queensryche” released in 1983, I easily embraced this great Metal band and remembered telling anyone who would listen that this band was for real. Only 4 songs were on the “original” Queensryche EP, – “Queen of the Reich”, “Nightrider”, “Blinded” and “The Lady Wore Black”. These four songs paved the way of the Metal future for Queensryche, without a doubt, an important and historical Metal EP this is. 27 years of recording and touring, Queensryche proved to the world just how real they are! You can still buy this EP, it has since been re-released, (2003), with the addition of 10 bonus tracks. Now, that is far more tunes than the original 4 song, vinyl record I bought back in 1983!
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