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Archive for February, 2009
DIMENSION ZERO: SAME TASTE, LESS FILLING
Let’s say you need a new car, and you have it narrowed down to two: A BMW and a Toyota Carolla. The Carolla is a safe, dependable car that you’ll probably own until your kids are in high school, even if you don’t have kids yet. The BMW, on the other hand, is also, in theory, a well built, reliable car with the added bonus of being fucking awesome. The difference, of course, is that your finances don’t allot for a new BMW, despite its awesomeness, and a new Carolla – with its reliability and not entirely emasculating presence – is certainly one of the better new car choices you could make considering your budget. Metal, however, isn’t priced on quality, and such choices don’t have to be made in that fashion. Dimension Zero are definitely a Toyota Carolla: they’re perfectly adequate, they play proficiently, their band members are of varying pedigrees in Swedish metal, and there’s absolutely nothing exceptional about their music. And though Dimension Zero aren’t a low quality melodeath band per se, there sure as hell isn’t anything really good about the band’s latest, He Who Shall Not Bleed.
EXCLUSIVE IN-STUDIO REPORT FROM SIGH’S MIRAI KAWASHIMA, PART II: DR. MIKANNIBAL’S RULES FOR RECORDING VOCALS – GET NAKED, DRINK BLOOD, DON’T MASTURBATE
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 1:00pm by Mirai Kawashima
When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s second entry; you can find his first one here. More will follow in coming days and weeks. Enjoy!
At the moment, we are recording the vocal parts. This time, a half of them are taken care of Dr. Mikannibal.
To get the best result, she sets several strict strange rules on her during the recording.
The first rule is: Get naked when you record the vocals.
MICROSOFT SONGSMITH: A METAL CASE STUDY
If you haven’t heard about the laughing stock that is Microsoft Songsmith by now you’re either dead, completely tuned out, or my grandma. In a nutshell, Songsmith is a new computer program released by Microsoft that automatically creates cheesy sounding, karaoke-style backing music to whatever you sing into it. It’s the modern-day version of those cheesy ’80s Casio keyboards that played a beat and chord progression whenever you hit a new note, only for your voice. But here’s the catch: it’s a complete piece of shit. Since its release a couple of weeks back, the Webernets have exploded with Songsmith-ed versions of famous songs, featuring publicly available a cappella tracks piped into this disaster of a computer program. And the results are simply marvelous and endlessly entertaining.
After the jump, a look at some of the tastiest Songsmith creations based on songs by your metal faves.
OMG WTF TG
Since I am so well connected, I’ve been sitting on this info for a little while. However, as tickets just went on sale, I can finally announce that THROBBING GRISTLE ARE PLAYING NYC!
The recent announcement that the pioneering experimental act would play the Coachella festival should have served as a sign that more domestic gigs would be coming. Since their reunion a few years back, their gigs and studio recordings have been largely subdued and subtle when compared to the menace of earlier albums. But whatever, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Finally, after all these fucking years, I’ll get to see the godparents of all things noisy performing live!
-GS
[Gary Suarez beer battered his junk. He also writes for Brainwashed and usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No.]
NOW KILLSWITCH ENGAGE RIFFS ARE BEING USED AS HIP-HOP SAMPLES.
Have Killswitch Engage reached cultural ubiquity? It’s hard to believe, but — together with original American New Wavers Lamb of God — the Masshole metalcore pioneers have reached the top of the modern metal popularity heirarchy and just might be about to pop mainstream culture’s bubble. The moment of Zen for me came not when Axl and I watched the Hulk-like security guards of New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom sing along to every song at their show there last year, but 10 minutes ago when I realized Killswitch Engage riffs are now being used as samples in hip-hop songs.
Is the party over for Killswitch or has it just begun?
DÅÅTH AREN’T “WORTHLESS” (BUT YOU ARE)
In case the new song “Sharpen the Blades” and that free death metal medley mp3 we gave away awhile back didn’t get you excited for the new Dååth’s forthcoming new album, The Concealers: the band has posted another new song, “The Worthless,” on their MySpace page (or you can just check out the widget above… ’cause, my headline aside, we do like to make life a lil’ bit easier on our readers).
BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE HAVE A PRAYER TEAM?
Becoming the Archetype’s latest album, Dichotomy, is pretty rockin’. It’s kinda like Gojira’s The Way of All Flesh, only, y’know, not a complete masterpiece. But it’s melodic death metal willing to think much further outside the box than most melodic death metal these days and is, if nothing else, a very enjoyable listen.
SO. In an effort to do some research on Becoming the Archetype, I headed over to their MySpace page, where I found they have… a prayer team.
Seriously.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SYLOSIS GUITARIST JOSH MIDDLETON
U.K. prog-death-thrashers (yeah, I said it) Sylosis are without a doubt one of the young bands that interest me most in 2009, thanks in no small part to the urging of several MetalSucks readers. Their Nuclear Blast debut Conclusion of an Age is a refreshing burst of modern thrash and death metal, rolled into a nicely accessible little package and sprinkled with prog influences that show the maturity and restraint of a band twice their young age. We’ll post an official MetalSucks review shortly, but in the meantime I was able to catch up with guitarist Josh Middleton to ask him a few questions about the formation of the band, the events that led to their deal with Nuclear Blast, their upcoming touring plans and their metal heroes.
I HAVE NO CLEVER HEADLINE FOR THE TOMBS “GOSSAMER” VIDEO
Also, I don’t really understand the appeal of Tombs. I know they’re the hot shit right now so I guess I’ll hafta file ‘em under the “bands I just don’t get” column.
ANYWAY, Pitchfork.TV debuted the band’s new video, and I can say this: I think it’s very well shot, especially since I’m assuming they had a very, very limited budget. I wish the editing were a little more rhythmic, but since I’m not a fan of the band, this video really isn’t for me, so all the Tombs fans/would-be Spielbergs can tell me why I’m wrong in the comments section below.
-AR
MR. BIG STILL WANTS TO BE WITH YOU
I think I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to hair metal and cock rock, but I honestly couldn’t discuss any Mr. Big song that isn’t “To Be With You.” Apparently I’m not alone: the band has 124 songs currently on iTunes, ten of which are really just “To Be With You;” six of those ten take spots as the band’s ten most purchased songs. In other words: when Billy Sheehan dies, this song will be mentioned very close to the top of his obituary.
ANYWAY, the band is apparently reuniting for some shows in Japan, a.k.a. the only place where most hair metal musicians are still considered stars. I’d express jealousy that the bands Japanese fans will get to indulge and us Americans will not, but I honestly don’t give a shit; somebody call me when the two versions of L.A. Guns finally reconcile.
-AR
I WISH THE MEMBERS OF CAMP KILL YOURSELF WOULD KILL THEMSELVES
MetalSucks Maniac Tim Young e-mailed us over the weekend to suggest we spend some time talking about CKY. With all due respect to Tim (and not at all speaking for Vince, with whom I have not conferred on the subject), the reason I’ve never written about CKY is because I once had the displeasure of sitting through a CKY set, and I’d place the experience somewhere in between the time my dentist forgot to give me novocaine before he started drilling and the time I was thirteen and my old man found my cigarettes and went all Homer Simpson on me. Seriously. Not only did the music suck, but the band members were, by all appearances, total tool bags – especially the bass player, who kept making the kinds of “monster faces” one usually makes to get a giggle out of a little kid, lip synching along with the lyrics all the while.
ANYWAY, here’s CKY’s video for “96 Quite Bitter Beings.” It was directed to Bam Margera, who, if this clip is any indication, should probably stick to shoving things up his ass and whacking himself in the nuts for our viewing pleasure.
-AR
FAILED EXPERIMENTS IN HUMAN CREATIVITY: THE INSANE CLOWN POSSE EDITION
Readers of this site with a fine attention to detail know that I’m actually not a lifelong New Yorker; during those fuzzy, booze and weed-drenched years known as “college” I moved out to the wilds of Detroit, Michigan. Well, Ann Arbor… but everyone who lives within 100 miles of the place (hello, Kid Rock!) says they’re from Detroit, so fuck it. I did spend plenty of time in the city proper though and actually grew to quite like Detroit in all its abandoned glory. But among the city’s least endearing aspects was its penchant for terrible, terrible music (see above), and at the absolute bottom of the already-despicable totem pole of shit bands were the putrid shitstains known as Insane Clown Posse. People in Detroit fucking LOVE this band unconditionally. People with otherwise perfectly respectable, nay, GOOD taste in music pledge allegiance to the Juggalo nation and wear the hatchet around their neck.
Let’s take a look into the heart of the Juggalo, shall we?
