An anonymous reader sent us the below, self-explanatory image; it’s allegedly real. (The teacher’s confusion about the answer is the funniest part.) And whomever this Fernando Diaz González fellow is, I guess I gotta give him props. I was a really lousy science student, but when I didn’t know the answer to a question on a test, I never thought “Fuck it, let’s just have fun with it” like this. Nice work, Señor González!

-AR

(click to enlarge… so worth it)

OK, really, last Big Four post, I promise… at least until the inevitable announcement of more U.S. Big Snore dates reignites discussion about whether anyone really gives a shit. But I just couldn’t resist posting this gnarly photo of Jeff Hanneman’s spider-bitten, skin-grafted, surgically repaired right arm as he surprised an audience of 50,000 by joining Slayer for their two-song encore of “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” That pretty much defines brutal.

-VN

Photo Credit:  www.AndrewStuart.me

Okay so I know we’ve just about run this Big 4 shit into the ground this week, but this is so priceless I just had to share it.

My friend, who we will refer to here only as M.A., lives in Los Angeles, and is not a metalhead. But her boyfriend is — or, at least, he’s a fan of certain bands from a certain era — and so it was with some curiosity that she accompanied him this past weekend to the Big 4 show in California.

So I shot her an e-mail this morning to see how she liked the show. What follows is her response. As metal fan, you will most certainly appreciate all her observations about the show:

Click to read more…

In the context of a 2011 live event the “Big Four” grouping of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax may seem lame, but I don’t think there’s any denying how important those bands were to thrash metal history and still are to today’s young headbangers. Twenty years from now when we look back at the ’00s, which four bands will we look at in awe of all they accomplished for heavy music?

We’re only one and a half years into the ’10s, but that’s not stopping No Clean Singing’s Brutalitopia Jack from compiling a “Big Four of the ’10s” list; his picks are the Faceless, Kylesa, Revocation and Ulcerate. Good picks indeed, but I think it’s way too early to even start thinking about the 2010s.

Instead I’d like to hear your opinions on the Big Four of the ’00s (2000-2009), since that decade is done and gone. I think I’d go with Mastodon, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Opeth, though I reserve the right to change my mind once I see your picks and accompanying arguments. Go!

-VN

Someone has to say it: of all the hype, real or imagined, surrounding the first U.S. Big Four show in California this weekend and I, for one, am not buying it. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax playing together at one show? Yawn.

Dave Mustaine can’t sing / is a boring performer. Even when they aren’t down a member, Slayer are stiff as boards and one show isn’t distinguishable from any other. Anthrax are playing with Joey Suckadonna, which could nevertheless be mildly interesting. Metallica are always great live, even if their new material isn’t. So I’d basically be going to see a Metallica show with tepid warm-up act Belladonna Anthrax and two sets of statues in between.

The specter of such a show during the bands’ primes — or even close to their primes, between 25 and 15 years ago — would’ve been incredibly exciting. Now it just feels like a cash grab for the bands, duping fans looking to relive their glory years by paying insane ticket prices on top of whatever they’ve got to pay the babysitter and spend on $4.50/gallon gas to get out to Indio. To me it all seems like a waste. If I wanted to see Metallica I had nearly half a dozen chances in the past few years and will surely have more; if I want to see Belladonna butcher Bush-era Anthrax songs I will no doubt have the chance to see that in the near future. So what’s the point?

On the other hand, you would’ve gotten to see this: [from Invisible Oranges]

Weigh in with your thoughts on the Big Four below. Did any of you go out to Indio this weekend?

-VN