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.

For access to my Flickr page with more images from the show, click on this!

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.

Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2009

Image provided by Wikipedia.

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

MySpace

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.

Review: blessthefall – His Last Walk (2007)

Blessthefall is a group of young adults from Arizona who came together to crafted some great friggin’ music. I found them on MTV2 late one night, sitting in my buddy Dietrich’s apartment, when their video for ‘Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad’ aired.

I was floored. The song opened strong, carried strong, and finished strong. I was so impressed, I flipped open my phone and downloaded the song from my cellular provider’s music store as soon as the video was over. It wasn’t long after that I got my hands on the full album.

‘A Message to the Unknown’ opens the CD and is brutal as hell. Screams and melodic vocals with double bass kicks and all sorts of heaviness around it come together to form a perfect song. I was amazed at how well a band could hit the mark like this. The energy overflows and this was just the first song!

The aforementioned ‘Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad’ opens just as strong as ‘Message…’ and is just as solid. I said earlier that when I first heard the song, I was impressed as hell. The song is so good, I can throw it in my playlist every now and then on my commute home and I’ll never skip it. Double bass kicks litter the track, sandwiching the vocalist’s (Mabbit) incredible screams. An elevated guitar solo for a bridge connects the opening end of the song to the equally intense ending, with more double bass kicks and a ferocious outro. Absolutely amazing.

‘Higinia’ is heavy just the same, with an intense anthem (“You will not die!”) and screams abound. The energy is preserved from the first two tracks and you wonder if it will ever fade. But do you want it to? I didn’t. So far, so good, right? So why does it still happen anyway?

‘Could Tell a Love’ is where the energy – nay, the insanity, begins to dwindle. It’s still heavy, with screams and great riffs, but Mabbit’s melodic work begins to eclipse his screams more in this song and it is here where we begin to see a shift from the metalcore to the post-hardcore.

I kind of have mixed feelings toward ‘Rise Up.’ The tone shifts away (but not completely away) from the heavy screaming and more toward those clichéd, angst-y sounding vocals that I am far from a fan of.

‘Times Like These’ dumps the sound of ‘Rise Up’ and echoes ‘Could Tell a Love,’ with alternating screams and… how do I put this, better melodic vocals.

‘Pray’ has an impressive acoustic thing going before a bad-ass electric riff takes over and ‘With Eyes Wide Shut,’ though reminding me of ‘Rise Up,’ is a unique and quiet by comparison ballad.

‘Black Rose Dying’ is worth mentioning, but the closer, ‘His Last Walk,’ is a brutal assault on your ears with some bad-ass choir singing (reminds me of chant music) in the background as Mabbit’s screams slowly fade away.

I used to think the first couple tracks were the album’s only high points, but for the most part, blessthefall’s debut album is spot on. They are much better as a metalcore group and I think they should keep it heavy from now on. If the whole disc was ‘Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad,’ sure I might say something about variety (which this album surely has, in spades) but being “too metal” is never a bad thing, especially when it’s mastered so well.

The band has a new singer and, apparently, has finished work on their follow-up album, due for release sometime this fall. We’ll see what happens.

Wikipedia | MySpace | Amazon

Review: Blinded Colony – Bedtime Prayers (2007)

I don’t know how I happened upon Blinded Colony, but I do know one thing: those damn Swedes know how to make music.

The band’s second studio album starts off pretty quick and I am reminded of another favourite from Sweden: Soilwork. The sound of the introductory ‘My Halo,’ guitar-wise, sounds so much like Soilwork it’s not even funny. But I loved “Sworn to a Great Divide” so who gives a shit? Anyway, ‘My Halo’ is a great track. It’s heavy and full of screams and melodic choruses.

‘Bedtime Prayers’ is probably my favorite track off the album. I had this crazy thought enter my mind when I first heard this song: the lead singer, Schuster, sounds like the Three Days Grace guy, Adam Gontier. ‘Bedtime Prayers’ opens with a Soilwork-sounding riff and clean vocals by Schuster that sound just like Gontier. Of course, when the screaming starts, I was reminded that this wasn’t that other awesome band and I began to wonder what 3DG would sound like if they went more metal. I guess we’ll never know.

Anyway, the song is great and so is the rest of the album. Each song has a perfect blend of powerful screams and clean vocals, with catchy, but familiar, riffs, inspired by Sweden’s more internationally known acts, In Flames and Soilwork. If you’re a fan of Sweden and their unique style of melodic death metal, add Blinded Colony to your wishlist.

Homepage | MySpace | Amazon

Review: The Autumn Offering – Requiem (2009)

I picked up “Fear Will Cast No Shadow” last year and, for the most part, I thought the CD was OK. I didn’t know much about TAO before McChesney, apart from the single ‘Embrace the Gutter,’ but I thought as a “metal” group, TAO was OK and that “Fear Will Cast No Shadow” was mediocre at best. They were good enough, though, to warrant my interest in their follow-up, “Requiem.’” I picked it up a couple weeks ago, loaded it up and was surprised.

The album starts off with ‘Curtain Hits the Cast,’ a heavy song with side-by-side vocal tracks: one clean and melodic, the other growling and awesome. The song has a catchy opening riff and a bad-ass drum sequence and guitar solo in the bridge. ‘Narcosis’ carries the torch, with an opening solo and all-pervading double bass kicks. The track has a great down-tempo bridge and continues the side-by-side dirty/clean vocals that ‘Curtain’ had.

‘Venus Mourning’ opts to alternate the melodic singing and McChesney’s growls rather than have the two play on top of each other. The song opens a little slower and feels like it might be closer to a metal-ish ballad before McChesney’s clean singing yields to his screams and the pace picks up a third in. McChesney’s clean vocals pick up again in the middle of the song, but with the double-bass kicks in the background, I wasn’t sure what kind of song I was listening to. He could have done all screams instead and it would have worked just as well. The breakdown at the end consists of a piano track, some light drums and a slighty distorted (read: raised treble, lowered bass) vocals.

The rest of the CD carried the aforementioned torch all the way to the end without missing a beat. The album is much better than ‘Fear Will Cast No Shadow’ – it’s heavier, harder, grittier, louder, darker… y’know, better! If you didn’t like ‘Fear…’ as much as you thought or wanted to, give The Autumn Offering a second chance and pick up ‘Requiem.’ If the album has any shortcomings, it’s the overall time: not even forty minutes. All of the songs are great, and maybe some of them sounded better short of three minutes as opposed to being dragged out to four, but expect to change CDs sooner than you might have expected – especially if you have a longer commute.

Wikipedia | MySpace | Amazon

(Image provided by Victory Records)