ZETALAMBMARY is a two-man show for people who appreciate what we feel are genres of music that have always been forced to fly under the radar. Wraith digs just about everything from indie rock to certain noise pieces, while Zen prefers to stick with melodic, epic-sounding metal and Russian folk music. But what the heck, if we dig it, we will promote it anyway!
Awright, your favourite American metalhead is back with a mainstream song this time.
As you all may most probably already know, famed American heavy metal band, Slipknot, has just released their latest album All Hope Is Gone a few months back.
These skilled Halloween costumers never fail to create that gritty and dark image within the realms of their catchy and mainstream-friendly tunes. However, their overall sound is a bit of a bother to me, and we shall touch on that in the review that will be released later on this month shall we.
This Iowa band consists of 9 members, a LOT for a typical band.
They are: Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor.
They have been around since 1995, which makes them one of the leaders of today's American heavy metal scene, and the hot single of theirs now is Psychosocial off of their 4th and latest studio album.
Masked Monsters: We love Halloween!
Looks scary, eh? Well don't worry, ultimately, musicians are just pure antics on-stage and just like any other regular human being off-stage. At least these masketeers make good music. From the dissonant opening guitar riff to the hardcore bursts of harsh vocals with catchy choruses thrown in the mix, this song would fulfill every metalhead's occasional mainstream fix. Go listen to it now!
Psychosocial - Slipknot [Official Music Video]
Psychosocial - Slipknot [Anime fan's interpretation of song]
One of the biggest metal giants on Earth, Iron Maiden, may perhaps remain the spiritual leader of NWOBHM (Short for New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) for as long as they shall roam the planet. Specifically looking at their influence on the mainstream metal scene however, this metal beast's days may be numbered.
Much as yours Truly revere non-mainstream metal over mainstream metal, I have no choice but to put up with such unimpressive mainstream albums once in a while, don't I? (Ah, the practicality of unknown music reviewers). Now, I've really got to get this out of my system: Just what's up with this hype over long and draggy albums?! For over the past half year, I have been seeing looooooooong mainstream metal albums frequently, and 99% of the time, they are from a well-known band hailing from the antediluvian '70s and '80s. Not that this album belongs to that category, I mean it was released 2 years ago! But still, it is one of the more recent metal albums by a famed metal artiste, out there sitting in stacks at mainstream CD stores. In fact, this is the first Iron Maiden album to clock over one hour of album track time.
Alright, I shall continue my complaints in the later part of review. For now, the good news first. (If I don't do this, none of you valuable readers would probably even bother to read this in the first place :-) )
Now, Iron Maiden makes music that is very friendly on the casual listener's ear, and for those of you who want to convert your rockish and poppish friends over to the Metal Side, they would be the perfect metal band to start with (Though better don't try this on Grandpa or Grandma, ABBA will forever be in their hearts). As usual, this most recent album by them has that trademark high-pitched voice of Bruce Dickinson, the polymath of a vocalist of Iron Maiden since the '80s. There is not much musical intricacy as usual on their songs, they are one of those bands who put more focus on the vocals and the draggy guitar solos. However, being an album with a theme on war, it is a rather appropriate tone to adopt I presume. The songs crawl by with a calmness not really befitting of metal, and occasionally ignites musical interest with a few catchy guitar melodies in some songs, one of which being “These Colours Don't Run” which also happens to be my personal favourite track from A Matter Of Life And Death. If you are one of those metalheads looking for energy everytime you listen to metal, this is not the album for you, or in fact, the artiste for you for that matter as well. A Matter Of Life And Death is the kind of metal album that is surprisingly soothing and pleasing to hear, unlike the aggressive, dark, and raunchy metal albums that dominate the American metal scene today. Maybe it is because Iron Maiden tries to spread a new message with every new album released, but if you are someone who likes to find meaning in songs, this might be the album for you.
Iron Men: From left to right – Adrian Smith (Guitar), Janick Gers (Guitar), Nicko McBrain (Drums), Bruce Dickinson (Vocalist), Steve Harris (Bassist), Dave Murray (Lead Guitar)
With that, I shall move on to the bad news. Now, going back to the point about the draggy guitar solos, they are nothing short of old and boring. Iron Maiden should take a leaf out of the book of younger metal bands such as Children Of Bodom and Between The Buried And Me; include more musically profound and fresh instrumentals dammit! Of course, they would have to do that while retaining their original flavour so as to ensure a stable fan base of course. Not only is this album extremely long, it is frustrating to plod through the typically 6 minutes-and-over songs that seems to recycle guitar riffs and solos from the previous tracks. In fact, if you happen to listen to this album in a rather bad and picky mood, don't blame yourself if you give in to temptation and recycle the songs themselves in the Pit 'O Fire for songs. [Read: Recycle Bin]
In the early part of this album, it sounded good. It was engaging up until the 4th track, “The Pilgrim”. Starting from the 5th track onwards, it went downhill, and the initiating track for this downslope ride was aptly named as well, being “The Longest Day”. As mentioned in one of my earlier reviews on this site, no one is complaining about long albums. Let's face it, us poor folks want value for our money! But, like I have said before, if you want listeners to listen beyond the 3-minute mark, you have to give them incentive to want to continue listening to your songs. Maybe it is because I was not born early enough to appreciate the style of old metal bands, and maybe it is because I am more of a non-mainstream metal fan, but even then, it is an undeniable fact that musicians want to be heard. Therefore Iron Maiden, if you want to continue expanding your fan base, especially with new-age non-mainstream advocates such as yours Truly, I strongly and humbly advise you to move with the times and make more fresh, inspiring, and truly breath-taking metal songs that will capture an audience on the second or third listen, or in the best-case scenario, perhaps even during the first listen.
Iron Maiden - These Colours Don't Run (the only song that caught my attention)
Iron Maiden - Different World
Even as I am speaking [or typing] now, A Matter Of Life And Death is still on the last few minutes of “Lord Of Light”. I am someone who typically takes great care in sculpting a good read, and needless to say, I take a significant amount of time to accomplish that. Rather than trying to describe the extent of the lengthiness in lengthy sentences, I have decided to let you be the judge and decide from that example, whether or not it is really good for an album to be that lengthy while not being very engaging.
All in all, if you are a hardcore Iron Maiden fan, you should not pass up on this album. If you are someone constantly looking for fresh metal music however, this is a mediocre album that should only be worth your attention when you have exhausted all possible alternative metal options and have spare cash left.
Metal music may be timeless, but the musicians associated with them are not. There is definitely a clear line between having had made classics and making classics.
Everyone's favourite Aussie Hard Rock/Heavy Metal (whichever one you please, really) is back in Black Ice, and this time, they seem to be following the latest trend among bands hailing from the '70s and '80s; that of having a rather lengthy album track time. Not that anyone is complaining about that (*grins*).
First impressions: They are as classic as ever, sticking to their old style faithfully. As old fans might have already noticed by looking at the track names, they are still as obsessed as ever with rock 'n roll. Notice how many times that ubiquitous music term appeared up there in that track list? Yeah, rest assured, that is how much these guys love their style, and they ain't changing their sound just yet. This is a plus point for them actually, because the only way for most old bands to survive now is to stick to their original sound (P.S. Look at Death Magnetic). Speaking of sound, AC/DC strikes me as a hard rock variation of Rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, and pop punk band Hawthorne Heights. All three of them have something in common, and whether this is good or not, I leave it up to you. Notice how all of them have songs that sound so similar to one another, apart from a few exceptions, that you cannot tell whether the CD has gone on to the next track? Yeah, that is their kind of sound, and I mean every alphabet of it.
Whenever you hear a Red Hot Chili Peppers song, you know it is a Red Hot Chili Peppers song; you just can't seem to name it. Similarly, whenever you hear an AC/DC song, you know it is an AC/DC song, but you have trouble naming it as well. It is thanks to that trademark whiny-and-high-pitched-yet-rock-n-rollish vocals, that we have yet another decent rock 'n roll album today. Seriously speaking, if there were three words to describe this album, it would just be “rock 'n roll”. After immersing myself in Black Ice, I cannot help but resemble the band members themselves when they were naming the songs.
If there was anything good about aging, this is probably it. AC/DC shows us that having an expanding sea of white hair, flabby forearms, and an exponential jump in the number of wrinkles caressing the aged skin are no obstacles in their tenacious quest to continue reminding the world of the existence of their unique brand of hard rock. Rocked their way to dizzying heights of stardom back then, still rocking their way to even dizzier heights of stardom today. Black Ice certainly entombs the undying passion and earnestness of AC/DC's music, for it is stellar but slowly dying with the times.
Take a listen!: A potential single that isn't a single yet, and was also the theme song for the Marvel comic superhero "War Machine" from the 2010 film, "Iron Man 2".
You have probably heard that AC/DC was the epitome of “old school rock”, and with this fifteenth album of theirs, they are still “old school rock” even though we are already well into the 21st century. There are many other newer rock 'n roll bands out there today, ala the Finnish hybrid band, Lordi, and others with a unique brand of rock 'n roll themselves such as Bon Jovi. However, AC/DC will still dominate the old school rock 'n roll scene, for their music just strikes a nostalgic chord deep within those who have lived through the 1980's, and tugs at the heartstrings of new listeners with a déjà vu-like feel. Being the longest AC/DC album to date, Black Ice is definitely worth every dollar if you are a hardcore “old school rock” fan, or a rock 'n roll fan looking to turn back music time by a few decades. With lively & upbeat guitar riffs, coupled with rhythmically-simple & thudding drum beats, what is best about this album is that AC/DC does not lose their rock 'n roll energy along the way. Many a times, bands who write many songs at one go tend to lose themselves along the way, and they always end up having a lackluster closure to a potentially great album. Being a rock 'n roll band, starting and ending rock 'n roll style is perfect for any AC/DC album, as the genre is certainly only worthy of being defined by none other than itself.
Electrifying old geezers: From left to right - Brian Johnson (Vocalist), Malcolm Young (Rhythm Guitar), Cliff Williams (Bass Guitar), Angus Young (Lead Guitar), Phil Rudd (Drums)
Overall, Black Ice is a firm, down-to-earth retro album that will certainly appeal to the masses belonging to the young and middle-aged working class group. Teenage Hard Rock fans would generally like it as well, as every AC/DC album more or less oozes the band's signature style, albeit in a nuanced way as each year flies by. C'mon, even legends of rock 'n roll are not impervious to the cruel stream of time that marches ever onwards without batting an eyelid over the glorious past. It is however, amazing how older music tend to outlast their younger counterparts of the 21st century. AC/DC can certainly be a band you can trust on to fall back to should you get tired of ephemeral modern rock hits.
As their name implies, AC/DC never fails to electrify.
Above: A train's ticket that is worth dying for, and the very first single off "Black Ice".
10. My Apocalypse [5:01]
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Californian metal giants, Metallica, comprising of James Hetfield (Vocalist), Lars Ulrich (Drummer), Kirk Hammett (Lead Guitarist), and Robert Trujillo (Bassist), are back with a new, explosive album that rages on throughout the 74 minutes or so of album time with an energy that masks their age but showcases the immortality of metal music.
True to their early thrash roots, Metallica has taken a step back in time and embraced their original beginnings, and the result is an album chocked full of earnest, head-bangin' metal songs. The album theme is as apocalyptic as ever, addressing issues like hopelessness, guilt, death, religion, most of which are typically covered by most if not all metal bands. Being one of the Big Daddies of metal, it is not surprising that Metallica would have an album theme like this as well. What sets them apart from most other young metal bands these days however, is the fact that they do not try to be someone they are not – they remain true to their sound. In fact, this album stands out for the very fact that it does not stand out, as Metallica has ironically managed to spruce up this increasingly stereotypical metal theme with the usual punishing guitar riffs, ear-pounding drum beats that do not lose out to a piledriver's, and angsty vocals; all of which were previously the standard 3-in-1 package deal that came to be associated with most thrash metal albums.
Seems like only the metal scene is tolerant of staunch, genre-abiding artistes, and it sure is a scene that has enjoyed commercial success in recent years.
The only complaints I might have about this album however, would be the length of the individual album tracks themselves. The tracks are almost as lengthy as Dream Theater's rock symphonies of songs, and being thrash and not progressive metal, hearing 5 minutes or more of tearing guitar solos and rhythmically simple drum beats tend to get boring after making your way through half of the chaotic world of Death Magnetic. Long songs are not necessarily boring, but if an artiste wish for its fans to appreciate every second of such lengthy songs, they have to inject some novelty into the instrumentals or vocals, say, like having more complicated rhythms for the drums of course. Overall, the long guitar solos that bridge sections of the titanic songs together are melodic enough (for thrash metal), but they tend to get boring too as the bridges seem a tad too long.
Rawr!: The bad-ass members of Metallica - From left to right, Kirk Hammett (Lead Guitar), James Hetfield (Vocalist), Lars Ulrich (Drums), and Robert Trujillo (Bass Guitar)
As described by music reviewer Josh Tyrangiel, “The songs fly by with the force of the world's angriest amusement-park ride.” (TIME, September 29, 2008), but after riffing and ripping for minutes and minutes on a sole track alone, much of the energy listeners felt initially would have all but diminished. Velocity and raw power alone are not going to make listeners want to listen on beyond the 3-minute mark, but they do succeed in giving listeners some additional 'music fodder', which means tracks that are listenable when you have no desire to listen to any particular song at the moment but just want to pump some air vibrations into your ear canals.
Overall, this is a good album. Death Magnetic is brilliant in that it reminds metal fans yet again why thrash metal was so popular to begin with, and it certainly does get adrenaline pumping into one's veins as the songs speed by. Apart from the lengthiness, the album is not bogged down by any other disamenities, unless you count the music purists' view of metal music as noisy, unrefined, and a jumble of sounds mixed together in the 'wrong' way.
So, if you feel like you need to hear what thrash metal is all about, this would be the perfect album of 2008 to get and start off with. Non-fans of thrash metal however, you can always still give Metallica a try as well, and perhaps try to appreciate the music of one of the metal pioneers that inspired most modern American metal bands, and even influenced peers such as Megadeth and Black Sabbath.
The two music videos above are of the nicer songs off the album, watch and enjoy!
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