MacabreEternal

Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost

One of the weaker songs on the whole album for me if I am being honest. Too long and monotonous, "Love Zone" and their ridiculous effort at "Johnny B Goode" are also let downs. I liked "Johnny B Goode" when I was a kid but for some reason it hasn't stuck with the onset of age. I think it's just a bit over the top and a bit too much "fuck yeah, lets metalkill a classic song guys, we are so metal we can make anything sound metal, fuck yeah".

"Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" wins this hands down. "Infinite Dreams", "Can I Play With Madness", "The Evil That Men Do" and the title track are all classics. If had to place a top three I would award second place to "Powerslave" which is front heavy though and fades after "Flash Of The Blade" and third spot would go to "Somewhere In Time" (even though it has "De Ja Vu" on it which is my least favourite/most hated Maiden song of all time).

New album is about to be released and I got a sample on the cover of Classic Rock mag this month - the track isn't that bad. I don't think it will be another "In Rock" or "Machine Head" (I doubt Gillan and co have that in them nowadays - they are all pensioners) but well done to them for still going and not being afraid to tour and release new material. Bob Ezrin has produced this time and he has a pretty decent reputation so the polish should be there.

I listened to Ram It Down ealrier and their are some great tracks on that record - it doesn't hold up in comparison to say "Screaming.." or "Stained Class" but it does contain my favourite JP track of their more commercial era in "Monsters Of Rock". That massive almost doomy riff with Halford's menacing vocals and licks being fired off by KK and Glen build to the chorus perfectly. "Heavy Metal" and "Hard As Iron" are stand out tracks also for me.

They get bummed something rotten by Mike Sweeney on Real XS Radio virtually everyday when he tells the audience how groundbreaking and influential they were/are. I can't deny their history nor their success and they should be applauded for that but their sound was mediocre at best and their depth in terms of sound practically non-existent. Rant over.

I watched Bill Steer and Shane Embury getting interviewed in their bedroom on a documentary on YouTube yesterday. They amused me when they said how grown up they were because they no longer believed metal was Satan worship and also that they (Napalm Death) took extreme to a whole new level in comparison to Slayer who were like the most extreme band at that time. Documentary also had Lars Ulrich being interviewed in a pub talking about his first ever gig which he whent ot with his Dad and some of his Dad's mates - it was Deep Purple. Anyway it was nice to hear from Lars from the days before he disappeared up his own arse. P.s you need "...Golgotha" in your collection.

Pop music. Massively over-rated and over lauded pop music.

Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium

Sepultura - Arise

In fairness it's probably the funniest thing I have seen Gervais in for ages.

This week: Incantation (mostly last years "Vanquish In Vengence") Chastain (debut release) Heavy Load ("Stronger Than Evil") Cathedral (mostly "Forest Of Equilibrium) Slayer ("Reign In Blood and "South Of Heaven")

And shortly after this shot was taken I bet a local church caught fire - all by itself?

Incantation - Vanquish In Vengence

Welcome aboard - I expect you have such classics as "Onward To Golgotha" and "Effigy Of The Forgotten" in your collection? Also the Master debut? "Altars Of Madness"? "Deicide"? "Left Hand Path"? Ok, I will stop now. Dammit I have had too much sugar today.

It doesn't actually say - it just mentions "the post-war years" which I am taking to be closer to the 50's than the 80's although arguably any year after 1945 is a post war year? They mention the re-enactors on the recruitment form should be ready to play any NATO member country nationality or Soviet forces. Looking more closely they mention they are using a fleet of FV 432's to stage an infantry invasion and they weren't about until the 60's to my knowledge so it maybe a decade or so after the second world war.

Currently enjoying Hooded Menace "Never Cross The Dead" and Serpentine Path S/T. I doubt Hooded Menace will ever better the crude looming melodies of "Never Cross The Dead" but that's fine by me as I can listen to this album all day. "Effigies Of Evil" is alright but I still prefer "Never.." Serpentine Path have done a great job on their debut for Relapse and it is one hell of a crushing and bruising slab of death/doom as your ever liable to pick up anywhere really. Mind you given they are in effect a super group it was sort of always going to be decent anyway.

Cathedral - Forest Of Equlibrium

I think somewhere in all this Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road should get mentions. The first 3 albums by Cirith Ungol are classics and although you have to wait until "Crystal Logic" onwards for decent output from Manilla Road what follows from that point onwards is influential stuff. Both bands are part of any metal education curriculum in my opinion.

For me the best UFO track is: z-uFp0m2xNs In terms of proto-metal or early incarnations of the music we all love there is a blog called The Day After The Sabbath which I recommend to anybody interested in this era of music. The guy who does the blog spends his time sourcing classics from all over the world and I was particularly interested in the Italian Prog Compilation he put together. He does proto, prog, early doom, trad metal etc so there should be something in there to suit all tastes with just one quick google search.

Religion, opiate of the masses.

Leatherwolf - S/T

Just completed GoW3 on XBOX 360 and was impressed at the content but thought it was all getting a bit old and samey after three games. It is still an enjoyable romp as it always was but I had no time to jump on LIVE with it as I had it from LoveFilm as part of our (soon to expire) free trial. Also played the Arkham City Batman game and thought it was great. I had feared it would be too much like the previous one but I was surprised at it's longevity and depth. The boss fights were a little familiar after a couple but the puzzles were strong enough and the ability to explore freely the map was welcome. Incidentally, bored as I was earlier I downloaded a demo of Injustice:Gods Amongst Us which is the new DC Comics beat em up. For all it's promise of mulit-tiered arenas and in depth character studies it was very much a plain old beat em up to my eyes but then again it was only a demo. I spend too little time on my XBOX nowadays - I still find myself going on for a blast of GTA4 regularly and am very much looking forward to the new one later this year.