Thursday I went with my roommate, Forrest, and my friend and fellow Spoylr writer, Bryan, to see As I Lay Dying, All That Remains, Haste the Day, and Through the Eyes of the Dead at the Norva in Norfolk, VA. Sadly this was a really early show, starting at 6:30PM, and we missed Through the Eyes of the Dead perform.

Haste the Day

We were however just in time to see Haste the Day come on. I originally heard their first album, “When Everything Falls”, about a year ago and I really enjoy their new album “Pressure the Hinges”. Sadly I was a little disappointed in the overall energy level of the live performance. Maybe it was it was still early in the evening (or Through the Eyes of the Dead sucked) but nobody was really moving and the mosh pit was basically non-existent. They played a fair mix of both albums but I would have prefered a tad more off the first album, but I guess they have to promote the new one. A quick side note: is it impossible for the singers to hear that they are off key when singing live (the lead “screamer” did great, just the melodic vocals were kind of off)? Still they did a pretty good job and managed to get people excited for All That Remains.

Oli Herbert of All That Remains shreds

All That Remains really got the crowd pumped. I was really impressed with the lead guitarists performance (and his wicked beard). Sadly, they played very little off of their old albums. I wasn’t heart-broken or anything though because “The Fall of Ideals” is an amazing album in its entirety. It was funny to listen to the lead singer say, “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry, that will get played… of course.” I could only assume that the front of the audience was pestering them to play “Six” a track you may no from the bonus songs in Guitar Hero II (a difficult one at that). They closed with it and the crowd went nuts. My one complaint, the lead singer could have left his shirt on, his giant nipple rings may do it for the chicks (maybe) but I didn’t need to see it. And a few people from the crowd were attempting to give him their shirts.

As I Lay Dying

As I Lay dying blow me away. I know a lot of “true” metal-heads like to give them shit because they are new and pretty popular as far as metal bands go, but that is bullshit. The ones in the spotlight are always the ones to get the most shit, but they tore it up. They had plenty of time to play a good amount of their new and old stuff. They even took requests, playing one of my favorite songs off of “Shadows Are Security”, “The Darkest Nights”. The crowd got even more wild than at the Unearth show, which was pretty nuts. A great show and I wish I could have seen Through the Eyes of the Dead and I love you Haste the Day, but step up the energy and try talking to the crowd a little more next time. I would definitely see all these bands again.

I just picked up both the newest Arch Enemy album Rise Of The Tyrant and the brand spanking new Soilwork album Sworn To A Great Divide. These are two of the bands that really got me into metal, along with DragonForce and In Flames, so they hold a special place in my metal heart. So, I am am delighted to say that both albums are great in their own ways. If you like their early albums, then these two will not disappoint.

Rise Of The Tyrant reminds me of Angela Gossow’s first album with Arch Enemy, Wages of Sin. Ditching the doubles vocals of Doomsday Machine and bringing back a more melodic core, often using symphonic pieces and even a bit of opera to add to the mix. The album is intense and Christopher Amott returns as lead guitarist for some of the most blazing and clean guitar solos I’ve heard on a metal album. Though Doomsday Machine was a great album, the return to the classic Arch Enemy style is refreshing. If I was forced to choose the better of the two albums, it would be this one. That doesn’t mean Sworn To The Great Divide is bad by any means, but this album kicked my ass and I thanked it whole-heartedly.

Sworn To A Great Divide is Soilwork’s seventh album and has been over two years since the release of Stabbing The Drama. The new album mixes some of Björn’s older vocal styles, mostly his deep throttling scream, with his newer melodic chorus singing (which got them labeled as “metalcore”) heard on Figure Number Five and Stabbing The Drama. The album as a whole seems to be the culmination of the bands sound and really brings it all together, trying to get back to before they were labeled “sell outs”. The Swedish Black Metal returns.

P.S. If you really like Soilwork, check out Björn and his side project Dishormonia Mundi. The albums Mind Tricks and Fragments of Degreneration are great.

P.P.S. You can get the Soilwork single “Exile” as DLC for Guitar Hero II on 360 and “Take This Life” from Come Clarity by In Flames will be on Guitar Hero III. It is a good time to be a gamer and metal fan.

In a relatively rapid follow-up to their last massive double-disk electric/acoustic album, In Your Honor, the Foo Fighters now present to you their sixth original release album, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace. This album especially comes as a surprise in light of their extensive touring and live acoustic CD and DVD, Skin and Bones, released less than a year ago. It’s often said that Dave Grohl is the hardest working man (or at least one of them) in music today, and the quality and delivery of this album stand to prove that assertion. In spite of all this, the collective expectation for this album was quite high, and with the hard-rocking single “The Pretender,” it seemed that The Foo Fighters were ready to emerge from their time spent in the, albeit pleasant, mellowness of acoustic guitar and return to the heavy thrashing sound of albums past (i.e. One By One). But like most of the times your expectations are really set on something, you just might get something entirely different. How you deal with that will likely determine how you respond to this album. That said, getting something other than what you planned for sometimes works out for the better and you wonder why you ever wanted anything else in the first place. In this case what you get is a highly reflective album befitting the title, with liberal use of acoustic guitar and heavy electric punctuation that manages to synthesize all of the ‘Fighters past musical dabblings.

After MANY plays of this album, the first thing I have to say is that it’s an easy listen from start to finish. Most of the tracks feature a wide dynamic range, adding a multi-dimensionality that runs through the entire album. While the overall vibe is more chill than past albums, the same level of energy pervades it. If you’re looking for typical alternative or grunge stylings though, look elsewhere. Instrumentation here frequently includes fiddle, piano and even a bit of accordion. The one (and maybe most important) constant here is Grohl’s vocal work, which is as powerful as ever and reminds me more of a force of nature or a jet engine than a mere set of vocal cords attached to a pair of lungs. Grohl manages to effectively cover a range from quiet sentimentality to scorching rage (all in the same song at times) with an uncommon ease of finesse and his signature earnest sentimentality. The song writing here is full of Grohl’s usual cleverness and edge, though songs like “Summer’s End” and “Statues” make me think that he’s a bit of a hopeless romantic - probably why this album resonates so well with this reviewer.

Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace is an album that serves to prove that The Foo Fighters are comfortable in their own skin - a trait that sets them apart from the contemporary music scene as they follow the direction their own path takes them. The Foo Fighters have also picked up quite a few influences over the years, and I personally got the feeling there’s some good old Zep lurking here and there (I’m sure others will notice this and other musical nods). Whether or not they have completely outgrown the more adolescent sound of their past, they have definitely matured and are happy to live in the moment. Bottom line: if you liked the direction they took with In Your Honor, you should love this album. If you didn’t like the last two albums, you probably shouldn’t bother. Otherwise listen, and enjoy the delicious Foo!

Note: This is a review of the CD release, not the iTunes download, which includes a bonus track and other material. This in contrast to the One By One CD release, which included a bonus disk containing two music videos with 5.1 audio, a bonus track and other extras. Am I the only one who feels like they’re getting punished for wanting to own something tangible?  Not to mention the audiophile benefits of playing a CD through your own receiver’s DAC…

Friday night I went to the Norva in Norfolk with another writer on here, Bryan, to see Unearth with special guests Darkest Hour, Autumn Burns Red, and Suicide Silence. It was EPIC. This is my first time seeing all of these bands in concert and my first time hearing Autumn Burns Red.

The night started with a local metal band that I can’t remember the name of (sorry dudes), then moved on to Suicide Silence. I recently picked up these guys first album and have listened to it a couple times. I gotta say, they are better live. They really set the pace for the rest of the night and the energy didn’t drop. Autumn Burns Red came on next. To my surprise (they looked kinda emo), they were really metal! I’ll definitely be picking up their album.

Finally, two of my favorite metal bands were up. Darkest Hour came on and wailed. Their lead guitarist is something else, and their drummer really tore it up. You could literally feel the metal in your chest. This is when the mosh pit started to really get riled up this point and a few fights broke out, with a bouncer at one point punching a dude in the face repeatedly in my direction, though a just sort of redirected the fight towards the back on the venue like one would redirect a roaring train on rails. They played mostly songs off of their new album “Deliver Us”, which is one of the best metal albums I’ve listened to and that is a load.

Unearth came on last and really rocked the house. Their riffs were so hard and the breakdowns were hard. This is when the crowd just went nuts. They played a bunch of songs off their new album “III” one from their first album “The Stings of Conscience” and even their single from the recent Aquateen Hunger Force soundtrack. The concert ended and I could feel it in my chest and heard muffled speach through the ringing of my ears saying “That was badass!” and “That was fucking epic!” I can’t wait to see these guys in concert again.

Allow me to make something very clear, I love METAL! I also love senseless, comedic violence. So Metalocalypse is like a god send in cartoon form. If Dethklok were real I would stalk them, kill them, and make pillow cases out of their flayed flesh so that my thoughts could be closest to them while I sleep.

Now that that is out of the way, Metalocalypse is one of the funniest shows currently on [adult swim] and the season premier did not disappoint. The plot of the season premier begins where the season finale left off. General Crozier is suffering from partial amnesia after Mr. Selatcia kills Cardinal Ravenwood and puts Crozier to sleep. Dethklok however has shut themselves in and refuse to make any public appearances or start on their new album; instead, living a lavish lifestyle and abusing each other in brutal ways. This time by macing each other in the groin with crotch firing mace codpieces. The new episode is full of decapitations, disembowelments, and various other gratuitous deaths! Its worthwhile to note that the animation has improved significantly since season 1, most likely due to a much larger budget. Its all capped off by the new soundtrack of surprisingly well composed metal, especially since it is written for a 10 minute short cartoon. This, of course, brings me to my next subject.

The DETHALBUM. The entirely remastered soundtrack is wonderfully done. With guest drummer Gene Hoglan, of Strapping Young Lad and Testament, playing on every track. It includes previously unreleased tracks including “Bloodrocuted”, which was mentioned in season 1 by Nathan Explosion as excellent song title. If you get the version with the bonus disc it includes my favorite track “Murder Train a’Comin”, which seamlessly switches between the blues and hardcore deathmetal and has hilarious commentary sprinkled throughout.

Do yourself a favor and pick up the new Dethalbum in stores now, watch the new season on Cartoon Network’s [adult swim], and pick up the season 1 DVD when it hits stores Oct. 2nd.

P.S. I would like to thank the dudes at Dethklok.org for showing off my Dethklok fan art and being cool enough to link here and to my deviantArt page.