Sunday, August 23, 2009

Upcoming Releases: Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now (2009)

Three Days Grace's third studio album, Life Starts Now, will be released on September 22nd. Attached is the album art and track listing.


1. Bitter Taste
2. Break
3. World So Cold
4. Lost In You
5. The Good Life
6. No More
7. Last To Know
8. Someone Who Cares
9. Bully
10. Without You
11. Goin' Down
12. Life Starts Now

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Upcoming Releases: blessthefall - Witness (2009)

blessthefall's sophomore album, Witness, is prepping for an October 6th release. Attached is the album art and track listing.


  1. "2.0"
  2. "What's Left of Me"
  3. "To Hell and Back"
  4. "God Wears Gucci"
  5. "Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted"
  6. "Witness"
  7. "Last Ones Left"
  8. "Five Ninety"
  9. "We'll Sleep When We're Dead"
  10. "Skinwalkers"
  11. "You Deserve Nothing and I Hope You Get Less"
  12. "Stay Still"

Singles: Breaking Benjamin - "I Will Not Bow"

Breaking Benjamin is back and they're still good. The single "I Will Not Bow" reminds me of everything right they have ever done: all-encompassing clean vocals; some quick, deep screams; a melodic chorus; driving riffs.

Their fourth album Dear Agony is due out September 29th. My recommendation: go get it.

Singles: Five Finger Death Punch - "Hard To See"

Five Finger Death Punch has another album coming out in September and with the release of their first single, "Hard To See," I'm heavily leaning toward purchasing the Hardcore War Is the Answer package at their band-merch site. Yeah, it's 80 big 'uns, but so what? I got a job.

Anyway, the single is a great mix of screams and melody with an awesome solo and a great tempo. The track feels like it's always moving forward without so much a pause or hesitation.

FFDP's second album War Is the Answer is expected to drop September 22nd. To look into the great packages you could own, and all the stuff that would come with the disc, click the link.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Visited: Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2009 (RECAP)

Saturday was my return visit to Dallas for Mayhem Fest. Headlined by Marilyn Manson and Slayer, I honestly had a bad-ass time.

After a couple hours of tail-gating, Riley and I used the pre-order (PIT!) passes I bought earlier in the year to get us in the gates an hour before everyone else. Immediately, I went to the Jaegermeister stage. No one was there yet, so Riley and I parked it right on the barricade. We were ready to go.
The Jaeger Battle of the Bands winner, Adakain, opened up on the stage and kicked ass. I bought their CD and will give you a review later on. Anyway, Adakain owned - simply put.
We stayed put at the Jaeger stage. On the Hot Topic stage "next door," there was Behemoth, Whitechapel, Cannibal Corpse, Job for a Cowboy, and Black Dahlia Murder - all a little too heavy for me. So we stayed at the Jaeger stage and waited for God Forbid.
I saw God Forbid back when they went through Lafayette and they rocked back then. Being so close this time around, I had an ever better time. Their setlist included 'War of Attrition' off their new album, Earthsblood; 'The Fallen Hero' off Constitution of Treason and a some even older stuff from Determination.
Following was All That Remains, promoting their latest album Overcome. They began, though, with 'This Calling' from Fall of Ideals and darted back and forth between their 2006 release and their 2008. Great setlist, by the way, the closer being the popular 'Two Weeks.'
I stepped out and watched Trivium from the back so I could stand in line to get autographs from Killswitch Engage. Mission accomplished, baby.


Bullet for My Valentine opened on the main stage and Riley and I were barely a few yards from the barricade. Their setlist included 'Hand of Blood,' '4 Words To Choke Upon,' 'Waking the Demon,' and a brand new song. When Killswitch played one of their new songs early this year at Music as a Weapon, they released a new album not six months later. It's been over eighteen months since Bullet's Scream Aim Fire released, so maybe we don't have much longer to wait for their next album to hit the shelves. Also, during 'Tears Don't Fall,' I broke my cherry and got in a circle pit. Fucking awesome.
Killswitch Engage rocked just as hard as they did at Music as a Weapon, playing 'End of Heartache,' 'Rose of Sharyn,' 'Fixation on the Darkness' and 'Reckoning,' off their latest album.
I have never listed to Slayer before. I knew they had been around for a while, but I didn't know it was closing in on thirty years! For an hour, the metal act possessed the crowd Riley and I were shit-deep in and we were pummeled. The one song I did recognize they closed with: 'Raining Blood.'

I had never seen Marilyn Manson live before that day. He was waited on hand and foot, tossing microphone stands and beer bottles and spitting the beer out at us with a scowl. Yet there we were, screaming for more. His setlist included 'Rock is Dead,' 'Sweet Dreams,' the new 'Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon' off High End of Low and 'Disposable Teens,' sang in memory of Pantera's Dimebag.

The show was great and I stand by my kick-ass decision to get pit access this year. I only wish I had done so last year. I would have died to have seen Slipknot as close as I did Manson.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Visited: Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2009

Riley and I took off yesterday morning at around eight o'clock and headed for Dallas to revisit the Superpages center for the now-annual Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest. We went last year when Slipknot and Disturbed headlined and I pre-ordered this year's tickets back in February, I think, cuz I knew we were gonna want to go again. I'll post pics and videos as soon as possible, but lemme say that we had a fucking blast. Recap of the event next post.


Image provided by Wikipedia.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Upcoming Releases: Threat Signal - Vigilance

A quick reminder that Threat Signal will be dropping their second album, Vigilance, on
September 8th in North America. Attached is the album art and track listing provided by their
mySpace page.



01. Afterlife
02. Through My Eyes
03. The Beginning Of The End
04. United We Stand
05. Beyond Recognition
06. Another Source Of Light
07. Hate Machine
08. Severed
09. Lost
10. Revision
11. In Repair
12. Escape From Reality
13. To Remember

Upcoming Releases: Chevelle, Rob Zombie, Shadows Fall, etc.

Nothing puts me in a better mood than discovering that some of my favourite acts are putting out new material soon. Just last night, I compiled a small list of bands I'll be keeping my eye on as they prepare releasing their latest material in the coming months. It is as follows:

- SOiL will be releasing their fifth studio album (second with new-ish vocalist AJ Cavalier), titled Picture Perfect on October 20th of this year. Their last album, True Self, was released over three years ago.

- Deftones has a new album waiting to be released, titled Eros, which was set to be released earlier this year, but due to a near-fatal accident that almost claimed their bassist, the album was put on hold till October. Currently, it's been upgraded to an indefinite hold. Their official page stated "although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach... with Chi’s condition heavy on our minds while doing so."

- Crossbreed, an act many people have probably never heard of, was supposed to release their second studio album K.E. 101 a few months ago, but due to some label issues, the album has been slated to release on September 1st.

- Rob Zombie will be releasing another album in October, hopefully. With all of his films being in a state of release or development or whatever in between, I wouldn't be surprised if something gets in the way of his music.

- Powerman 5000 will be releasing their sixth studio album, Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere, tentatively on October 6th.

- Three Days Grace has their third studio album, Life Starts Now, prepped for a September 22nd release. The first single from the album, "Break," will undoubtedly hit airwaves soon.

- Muse has a release, titled The Resistance, planned for a September 14th release. A whole track listing is available on the album's Wikipedia page and the total run time of the disc is six minutes short of an hour. Not bad.

- Shadows Fall is looking to release their next album, Retribution, on September 15th. Their sixth studio album features a guest spot from Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe.

- Chevelle will be releasing their next album Sci-Fi Crimes soon - September 1st.

- Breaking Benjamin has been working on their fourth album, Dear Agony, and has been preparing that for a September 29th release. The first single, "I Will Not Bow,' will be released August 17th.

- I was reluctant to add this, but someone out there might care. Pearl Jam will be releasing their 128th studio album, Backspacer, on September 20th.