Generations

One could argue that the birth of heavy metal started when Black Sabbath struck the opening notes of their debut self titled album back in 1969.  The Diablos in Musica chords (or diminished fifths for you musicians out there) coupled with the iconic line “What is this that stands before me” ushered in one of the strongest movements in modern music history.  People were scared, they were confused, but most importantly they were intrigued.  With the initial heavy metal seed sown, it flourished oh so swiftly.  The more people heard heavy metal and enjoy it, the more they took the ideas set forth by Black Sabbath and put their own twist letting this new genre branch out into a plethora of directions.  Over the generations heavy metal grew and evolved unlike any previous form of music.  Often times seeds dropped from that initial Black Sabbath tree and led to the birth to another heavy metal tree complete with growing and evolving branches.  In time seeds from the new trees birthed others and so on and so forth.  In a short amount of time there grew a heavy metal forest where one end differed greatly from the other. Within this glorious forest we all have found a different branches and trees that birthed the seed to our personal heavy metal forests.

What we bring you today is a collaboration effort between Reggie (Plantera7), me (Matt, aka Atleastimhousebroken), and our metal blog buddies Dan, Chris, and Melissa over at D.C. Metal Review and Metalosophy.  We are all different ages ranging from 38 to 20, grew up in diverse households, and have different branches of entry into the realm of metal.  What we are looking to show along with our own heavy metal story is how in just the 18 years between us how much impact heavy metal has had on our culture and personal lives and how much it has evolved and grew over the generations.  We will focus mainly on our high school years but also delve into the before and after a bit.  We hope you enjoy and check out the other blogs of our friends who took part in this with us.  We would also love to keep this going as long as possible and cover as many generations as possible, so don’t be shy and tell us your heavy metal story, no matter how long or short, down in the comments.  Peace Love and Metal!!!

Video of the Week – Ideate

The other day I got my copy of Soen‘s debut album Cognitive in the mail, and what can I say, it’s awesome.  In case you don’t know, Soen features Martin Lopez, the ex-drummer of Opeth and Amon Amarth, and Steve DiGiorgio, amazing bassist for hire and previously of Testament.  After I have absorbed it some more I’ll post a full-fledged review, but I can tell you now that it is well worth picking up, especially if you enjoy Tool/A Perfect Circle and Opeth.

Here’s a cool video of them doing an acoustic rendition of the song “Ideate” off of Cognitive.  This track works great as an acoustic song and has a different feel to it then the album version.  I’ll also post the official video for the song “Savia” again, which if you haven’t seen or heard yet is a great song and a visually appealing clip.  Enjoy!! Peace Love and Metal!!!

P.S. If the “Ideate” Vimeo embedding code is giving me a headache, so you can click on the link below to check out the video, sorry

Click here to check out the acoustic version of “Ideate”

And here’s the video for “Savia”

Themed Thursday: A Little Something on the Side

If you don’t pay attention, some of the artists you know and/or respect might pull a fast one.  Their side-project they didn’t tell anyone about might go unnoticed.  How dare they?  This week I’ll profile five that I picked up on over the years and two just recently.  I think we all know about the big ones like Dream Theater spin-offs (Liquid Tension Experiment) etc, but hopefully these might be new to you or something long forgotten.  The bottom line is that members of these bands have full-time gigs, so there is only so much time to dedicate to the other bands they play in/with.  If you have never heard of these bands, I guess it’s time you did. Here goes.

Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360)

Once again, the city of Steelport is under fire; caught in the crossfire from rival gangs.  Saints Row:  The Third (or Saints Row 3) takes the fight to the streets in this open-world action/adventure game.  In this third installment, the Saints attempt to regain control of Steelport from the gangs that comprise The Syndicate.  It’s a complex story of organized crime, but a simple plot…regain control.

Overkill Update Part II

Ok, now I am getting pumped up. Normally I am unaware of an Overkill release because they tend to sneak them out. You know, they are not all about the whole advertising thing. If I listen to The Electric Age and drive 90MPH in England, my ass will get ticketed at every speed cam in the country. Hopefully, I will be able to control what D.D. says I’ll do listening to this album. Just about a month or so away. Check out this little update. Hey Overkill, let’s have a sneak peek at the music!

Concert Review – Dream Theater – Mediolanum Forum – Milan, Italy – Feb. 21st, 2012

The first time I saw the legendary Progressive Metal band Dream Theater they performed in a tiny club in New Jersey (The Tradewinds, in Seabright) in 1999.  Suffice to say it was a magical evening and due to the size of the club, a very intimate concert.  Over the years, each time I went to catch this awesome band live the venues kept getting bigger and bigger due to their immense popularity, and somehow they were able to maintain that intimate feeling that I had got when I first saw them.  February 21st, 2012 marks my 6th time seeing Dream Theater in the largest venue I’ve seen them in yet, the Mediolanum Forum in Milan, Italy, and somehow they are still able to maintain that intimate magic that they’ve held over their many years together.

Song of the Week – 46 & 2

Let’s get your brain running a bit today with some Tool.  The main theme in “46 & 2″ off the album Ænima revolves around the idea of evolving into the next and higher state of being.  At one time humans had 44 chromosomes, those were the aboriginal people of the world and some can be found today in secluded or undiscovered aboriginal tribes.  These people can be described as those whose conscious don’t see anything outside of themselves.  With our modern evolution right now, we have 46 chromosomes, and we have evolved from the ideals of our former and our conscious certainly perceive things outside of ourselves.  The next step of evolution would likely bring about a cosmic conscious where the chromosome count would be 48, or 46 & 2.

The songs heavy focus on ‘shadow’ is derived from Carl Jung’s theories.  The shadow is basically everything about that is unseen that you are uncomfortable with or hate. This is also known as the Anima (hence the name of the album).  Jung believed that one can not make the jump to the next level of evolution without first going inside yourself cleansing the negativity of your conscious and subconscious.  This ‘dirt’ is referred to as ‘the shadow’.

‘Picking scabs’ is also referenced a lot in the song.  That could be easily summed up as not allowing or refraining from healing wounds, emotionally speaking.  Without the wounds healed, the next jump into higher being can not be done.  The same could be said for Maynard reference to ‘muscle memory’.  We will follow what is natural and react to things based on what has happened in the past.  One needs to overcome this ‘muscle memory’ to achieve true cleansing.

And to sum it up neatly, the song, to me, is about being open-minded, accepting change.  What are your thoughts and theories?  Let’s hear them.  And enjoy the awesome song!! Peace Love and Metal!!!

My shadow’s

Shedding skin and
I’ve been picking
Scabs again.
I’m down
Digging through
My old muscles
Looking for a clue.

I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been.
I’ve been wallowing in my own confused,
insecure delusions
For a piece to cross me over
Or a word to guide me in.
I wanna feel the changes coming down.
I wanna know what I’ve been hiding in

My shadow.
Change is coming through my shadow.
My shadow’s shedding skin
I’ve been picking
My scabs again.

I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been.
I’ve been wallowing in my own chaotic,
insecure delusions.

I wanna feel the change consume me,
Feel the outside turning in.
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
Cleansing I’ve endured within

My shadow
Change is coming.
Now is my time.
Listen to my muscle memory.
Contemplate what I’ve been clinging to.
Forty-six and two ahead of me.

I choose to live and to
Grow, take and give and to
Move, learn and love and to
Cry, kill and die and to
Be paranoid and to
Lie, hate and fear and to
Do what it takes to move through.

I choose to live and to
Lie, kill and give and to
Die, learn and love and to
Do what it takes to step through.

See my shadow changing,
Stretching up and over me.
Soften this old armor.
Hoping I can clear the way
By stepping through my shadow,
Coming out the other side.
Step into the shadow.
Forty six and two are just ahead of me.

Full Album Stream – Outer Isolation by Vektor

Take one part Science Fiction, one part Progressive Metal, one part Thrash Metal, and two parts Death, blend to a pulp, shake, garnish with killer guitar solos and licks, and serve.  You now have Arizona metal band Vektor.  Check out their album Outer Isolation in its entirety.  Trust me, this album will rock you into another dimension as well as satisfy your inner nerd at the same time, do not pass this one up.  Now excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor and give this another spin (and jump on Amazon and order it up).  Enjoy and let us know what you thought!!  Peace Love and Metal!!!

Vektor - Outer Isolation

Saw II Review (Xbox360)

Another protagonist who has soiled the world with his indiscretions finds himself the victim of Jigsaw’s torturous traps.  The second installment takes place somewhere between Saw and Saw II films.  Like the first game, you will find yourself frantically trying to solve timed life-saving puzzles often at the expense of others.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out and well…that’s ok.  As long as you live, that’s all that matters.  The other victims you encounter are dregs of society also trapped in this twisted and gruesome game of survival.

Sonisphere Festival UK Update

Sonisphere promoters FINALLY got around to making their first announcement for the UK edition to be held over the weekend of 6-8 July.  Of course, this is good for UK residents and those that want to travel here for the festival.  My initial thoughts seeing the three headliners was…really?  But, now that I take another look, there are a ton of bands I have never seen before.  Download has a great lineup so far, but I have seen most of those bands multiple times.  Sonisphere is offering something a bit different this year and it’s making me a bit interested.  Here is the run-down starting with the headliner in bold:

Friday:  Kiss, Within Temptation, Wolfmother.

Saturday:  Queen w/Adam Lambert, Evanescence, Tim Minchin (Comedian), The Darkness, Flogging Molly, Lacuna Coil, Gojira, Katatonia, Ghost, Fields of Nephlim.

Sunday:  Faith No More, Incubus, Refused, Marilyn Manson, Mastodon, Cypress Hill, Andrew W.K., The Blackout, Switchfoot, I Killed The Prom Queen

If you don’t know who Adam Lambert is, he was on American Idol a few years ago.  He would probably do Queen songs just fine, though I was never that much of a Queen fan anyway.

The day I am most interested in is Sunday with Faith No  More, Marilyn Manson, and Mastodon.  According to the poster, Mastodon will be performing the entire album, The Hunter.  There is also much more room for big names to fill up the main and second stages.  I am definitely interested so see what gets added to the lineup as festival times draws near.