WORT’s The Mosh Pit

The Becoming
Vol. 1
Solid State
55:56 - 13 Tracks
This is more or less an emo-hard rock type CD.   As with most albums of this genre, they sound good, are good at what they do, and I’m just being nice because I don’t care too much for this, at least for radio play on the Mosh Pit.  If I were to play this during the Mosh pit, it would be such a momentum breaker, I’m afraid I’d hear a lot of clicks of people changing the station.  Again, not bad at what they do, just not for the Mosh Pit.

Blessed By A Broken Heart
Pedal To The Metal
Century Media
42:19 - 11 Tracks
This is almost as over the top as Dragonforce, however, with the keyboards and very electronic drum sound, they are a lot more “80’s”, but with some good thrash influences.  It’s like a mix of 80’s hard rock, metal-emo core and yeah, some Dragonforce.  There is definitely a lot of cheese flowing on this disc, which in Wisconsin can be a good thing!

Brother Von Doom
Relentless
Deathcote Records
36:59 - 10 Tracks
Brutal death metal stuff to start, then some cool thrashy melodic guitar parts to make it a nice well rounded brutal metal album!   Catchy thrashy music with all out melodic death metal thrashy stuff in between.  Did I just say the same thing in two sentences?  I guess so, but how else can you describe it?  You just have to listen for yourself.

Cradle of Filth
Godspeed on the Devils Thunder
Roadrunner
71:21 - 13 Tracks
They’ve really stepped it up on this new one, it’s darker, more “metal” and just an all out evil sounding CD.  It’s based on Marquis de Sade, so you’ve got some good dark subject material, but the music backs it up.  I gotta hand it to CoF, some of their albums there were a little to um, I dunno, euro-femetal sounding, this one hearkens back to their Dusk and Her Embrace era stuff.

The Duskfall
The Dying Wonders Of The World
Locomotive
41:41 - 9 Tracks
Some melodic death metal from Sweden… hey, if you’re going to be in this genre, you might as well be from Sweden!   This CD was released last year sometime to the rest of the world, and since then (Aug 08) the band has decided to disband.   While this is a cool release in a cool genre, there isn’t too much new going on here.  It’s a bit like Hypocrisy and of course some of the older In Flames/Soilwork type of stuff.

Gojira
The Way Of All Flesh
Prosthetic Records
75:15 - 12 Tracks
There’s a lot of buzz about these guys lately… their last album was pretty groundbreaking for them, so they have a lot of hype to live up to on this followup.  The 1st track is fairly melodic, yet still has a heavy feel to it.  Next up and for a lot of the rest of the album, they have that more Sepultura influenced heavy, stop/start metal thing going on.  Still some good melodic catchy hooks, along with some brutal parts mixed in, but a lot of slower melodic parts too.  It’s very dynamic and you’ll need to probably take in the whole album to appreciate it the most.

Inhale Exhale
I Swear…
Solid State
44:23 - 11 Tracks
Sometimes the stuff from SolidState is really cool and brutal, other times, it’s like the first band on the review list this week (The Becoming)… this one kind of falls in the middle.  It’s got some good brutal-core moments, then gets to some melodic borderline emo vocal chorus parts.   Some songs go more emo (melodic singy chorus parts)… but then it gets to some cool chugga chugga breakdowney metal verses.   Every song does seem to go back and forth between brutal and singy emo (it’s not like super whiney emo, just melodic singing type stuff).

In This Moment
The Dream
Century Media
42:55 - 11 Tracks
The last album from these guys seemed to be a good crossover hit… going from metal to the “solid rock” stations… this album seems to just stay over the more accessible “solid rock” genre.  So, yeah, while still great and catchy, it’s more like a hard rock  “No Doubt” than it is metal.

Jeff Loomis
Zero Order Phase
Century Media
54:02 - 10 Tracks
You may know Jeff as the main axeman for Nevermore, some may know him as “that dude from Wisconsin that’s in Nevermore”… either way, he’s a great guitar player and this is his solo album.  He does have a certain style when playing with Nevermore, and that carries over to this solo album.  Therefore, if you like the music of Nevermore, chances are you’ll like this.  If you only like Nevermore for Warrell Dane, you won’t find it here, it’s all instrumental.  Some great solos on this album of course, and the rest of the music is well put together.

Lords
Fuck All Y’all Motherfuckers
Metal Blade
23:03 - 16 Tracks
This is a collection of quick short songs with just well, I dunno.  A bit of punk, metal, grind, stoner metal… just a lot of different things happening in a short amount of time!  And the song titles and lyrics seem to be done up in a fun way too.  It’s worth a listen!

Psycroptic
Ob(Servant)
Nuclear Blast
49:49 - 9 Tracks
Ever since seeing these guys on Summer Slaughter, I’ve been anxiously waiting having this CD in my hands… It’s everything I thought it would be.  Heavy, catchy, brutal, melodic in some parts, and just a great aural assault on the ears.   It’s similar to a lot of different things, but not the same as anyone else.  Great to hear something different in this day and age of music saturation!

ARTIST  –  TRACK  –  ALBUM  –  LABEL  –  NEW  –  REQ
Sonic Syndicate  –  Engaged  –  Love And Other Disasters  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Walls of Jericho  –  III Shock of the Century  –  The American Dream  –  Trustkill  –  Y  –  N
Slipknot  –  This Cold Black  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
All That Remains  –  Undone  –  Overcome  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Overcast  –  Your (Destructive) Self  –  Reborn To Kill Again  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Unearth  –  My Will Be Done  –  My Will Be Done  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Trenches  –  Calling  –  The Tide Will Swallow Us Hole  –  Solidstate  –  Y  –  N
Motorhead  –  English Rose  –  Motorizer  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Metal Church  –  Crawling To Extinction  –  This Present Wasteland  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Evergrey  –  Fear  –  Torn  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
In Flames  –  The Jester’s Dance  –  The Jester Race  –  Nuclear Blast  –  N  –  Y
Iced Earth  –  I Walk Alone  –  The Crucible Of Man  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Savatage  –  Holocaust  –  Sirens  –  Par  –  N  –  Y
Forbidden  –  March Into Fire  –  Point of No Return  –  Relativity  –  N  –  Y
Dio  –  Breathless  –  The Last In Line  –  Warner Brothers  –  N  –  Y
Droidsattack  –  Malachi Crunch  –  Fatal/Error  –  Crustacean  –  Y  –  N
Burst  –  Exterminate The I  –  Lazarus Bird  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Energy  –  Heaven  –  Invasions of the Mind  –  Bridge Nine  –  Y  –  N
Trivium  –  Down From The Sky  –  Shogun  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Dragonforce  –  Inside The Winter Storm  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Metallica  –  The End of the Line  –  Death Magnetic  –  Warner Brothers  –  Y  –  N
Holy Moses  –  Imagination  –  Agony of Death  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Toxic Holocaust  –  In The Name of Science  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Antagonist  –  Bomb Shelter  –  Exist  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Austrian Death Machine  –  Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Bongzilla  –  American  –  Stash  –  Relapse  –  N  –  Y
Exmortus  –  In Hatreds Flame  –  In Hatreds Flame  –  Heavy Artillery  –  Y  –  N
Artas  –  Bastardo  –  The Healing  –  Napalm  –  Y  –  N
Into Eternity  –  Indignation  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N
Bleeding Through  –  Declaration  –  Declaration  –  Trustkill  –  Y  –  N
Misery Index  –  We Never Come In Peace  –  Traitors  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Stormlord  –  And the Wind Shall Scream My Name  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive  –  Y  –  N
Obituary  –  Kill For Me  –  World Demise  –  Roadrunner  –  N  –  Y
Entombed  –  Blessed Be  –  Clandestine  –  Earache  –  N  –  Y
Amon Amarth  –  Guardians of Asgaard  –  Twilight of the Thundergods  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Hackneyed  –  Worlds Collide  –  Death Prevails  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Carcass  –  Carnal Forge  –  Heartwork  –  Earache  –  N  –  Y
Slayer  –  Spirit In Black  –  Seasons In the Abyss  –  American  –  N  –  Y

WORT-FM Loud Rock Top 20 for the Week of 9/29/08

Artist  –  Album  –  Label
1) Slipknot  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner
2) Iced Earth  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV
3) Into Eternity  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media
4) Amon Amarth  –  Twilight of the Thunder God  –  Metal Blade
5) All That Remains  –  Overcome  –  Prosthetic
6) Overcast  –  Reborn to Kill Again  –  Metal Blade
7) Metallica  –  Death Magnetic  –  Warner Bros.
8) Stormlord  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive
9) Toxic Holocaust  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse
10) Dragonforce  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner
11) Droidsattack  –  Fatal/Error  –  Crustacean
12) Metal Church  –  This Present Wasteland  –  SPV
13) Trivium  –  Shogun  –  Roadrunner
14) Austrian Death Machine  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade
15) Hackneyed  –  Death Prevails  –  Nuclear Blast
16) Exmortus  –  In Hatred’s Flame  –  Heavy Artillery
17) Burst  –  Lazarus Bird  –  Relapse
18) Evergrey  –  Torn  –  SPV
19) Motorhead  –  Motorizer  –  SPV
20) Walls of Jericho  –  The American Dream  –  Trustkill

Top 5 Adds
1) Bleeding Through  –  Declaration  –  Trustkill
2) Sonic Syndicate  –  Love and Other Disasters  –  Nuclear Blast
3) Antagonist  –  Exist  –  Prosthetic
4) Misery Index  –  Traitors  –  Relapse
5) Artas  –  The Healing  –  Napalm

Other Adds:  Unearth, Kampfar, Trenches, Wykked Wytch, Battlelore, Marya Roxx, Energy, Mudvayne

There are a lot of new releases this week, so some of the reviews will be pretty short!

Godhead
At The Edge of the World
Driven Music Group
79:26 - 18 Tracks
Well, as expected, this is more of a “solid rock” release.  I guess this could be called the new “nu-metal”.  Melodic choruses, just plain ol hard rock type stuff and really, just not mosh pit material.

Sonic Syndicate
Love and Other Disasters
Nuclear Blast
40:23 - 10 Tracks
This works for fans of Soilwork and bands like that, with a melodic yet brutal thrashy sound.  However, there is a bit of metalcore - emoness built into some parts of song.  It’s not all totally whiney emo, but musically you can almost see some kids doing karate moves and stuff.

Antagonist
Exist
Prosthetic
43:32 - 10 Tracks
This makes a good mix of some thrash stuff, but heavy catchy almost Pantera-ish metal.  The vox are more on the scream/growl variety, there are some breakdowns, and they are very good brutal chugga chugga… but then throw in a little melodic part here and there to keep it “real” or something.  Overall, it’s a good thrash/metal record, pretty dynamic and produced well.

Bleeding Through
Declaration
Trustkill
46:14 - 12 Tracks
Formerly pioneers of all that is metalcore, this album seems to kick it up a notch.  It’s a bit darker, and a wall of sound thanks to production by Devin Townsend.  It’s more brutal, deathy, a bit symphonic and makes you want to break things.

Trenches
The Tide Will Swallow Us All
SolidState
55:02 - 10 Tracks
At the most basic level, this is a metalcore band, but this album is anything but basic.  I’d have to throw in experimental too.  The vocals are fairly abrasive, the music is for the most part, metalcore, but also, a bit proggy, and as the CD progresses, not as heavy and/or metal.

Slank
Anthem For The Broken Hearted
MRI
31:12 - 10 Tracks
Well, I heard how great these guys were on the phone today, and they’ve sold a bozillion records worldwide, but not in the US because they haven’t had an English language album yet.  Now they do, and well, while this might be a good CD, it’s not really even close to being metal.  It’s almost ska!  It’s just a plain ol rock album with some catchy music, but sorry, no metal here!

Wykked Wytch
Suffering EP
Perish
9:56 - 2 Tracks
This is a song from their most recent album and an “iTunes single,”  the single is a cover of Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”  The other track is probably something I played when the album was more current.  Fairly brutal black/death/thrash metal with female vox… sounding similar to Cradle of Filth.   The cover is almost funny… music starts slow, with vocals being pretty much a caricature of itself, all “black metal” sounding over quiet music.  However, it is neat to hear a heavier version of this huge “sellout” song.  It was a catchy song, but I don’t know if it should really be covered.

Holy Moses
Agony of Death
SPV
69:30 - 12 Tracks
Female fronted heavy thrash band Holy Moses is back with their 11th album!  You kind of have a bit of an Exodus/Overkill music sound here, but the vocals are more brutal, and it just has a darker feel than just standard old-school thrash.  You could almost picture this being a more raw Arch Enemy album… of course for me it’s hard to compare to Arch Enemy… but this is catchy thrash with some almost brutal female vocals… so that’s how I can compare!  You’ll hear this on the Mosh Pit!

Mudvayne
“Do What You Do” Single
Epic
7:08 - 2 Tracks
It’s Mudvayne… what can you say, it’s not “old” Mudvayne, but more like, um, new emo Mudvayne… nothing really special or “cool” in these two tracks.   These songs tend to be “safe” to me, no real limits being pushed like they used to do.  Hey, I guess when you get older, you try harder to make things “perfect”  This to me means, not really gonna get airplay on Metal Radio, but a lot of play on other stations!

Energy
Invasions of the Mind
Bridge Nine
27:37 - 11 Tracks
Well, I’d have to call this emo-core.  Some decent fast-ish music with some occasional abrasive vocals, but overall, emo emo emo singy singy… Ugh.   Track length is short, so maybe I’ll play something so you can share in what I have to hear.  I guess it’s that punk-ish emo type stuff.  It’s just not all that great for the Mosh Pit!

Battlelore
The Last Alliance
Napalm
53:46 - 11 Tracks
“Epic Fantasy Metal”  Clean female vocals mixed with the occasional death/black metal growl, along with symphonic, keyboard heavy dark metal.  Some tracks kick it up a notch with heavy and catchiness, others turn it down a notch.   I’d like to maybe play more tracks, but after track 4, they all have voiceovers!

Artas
The Healing
Napalm
51:00 - 13 Tracks
Some brutalcore?   It’s thrashy, deathy, catchy… of course the Napalm records genre says “Modern Metal”  I guess that could mean, “new wave of brutal metal core”  They are from Austria, so maybe they know Austrain Death Machine?   Actually it is almost similar to ADM, as it’s brutal, heavy, and catchy as I mentioned.  Unfortunately there are voiceovers on this too, everything past track 5 is ruined.

Kampfar
Heimgang
Napalm
47:08 - 10 Tracks
Some pretty cool old school sounding Black metal  “Pagan Black Metal” on the Napalm rap sheet.  Some good melodic guitar work, heavy dark evil vocals, and just all out stuff that black metal should be!

Misery Index
Traitors
Relapse
11 Tracks
Heavy, brutal, grindy, and concise.  The concise part is not normally what you get on Relapse records, a lot of their roster tends to mess around a lot, this gets you right to the point without fucking around.  This is the kind of metal we need to have more of.  :)

Marya Roxx
21?! The EP
RAM
14:25 - 4 Tracks
This is some hard rock type stuff with female vocals.  Catchy guitars, decent songs, there are only 4 tracks on this EP, but I think I could manage to play something… it’s got an 80’s 90’s throwback sound, but still kinda modern!

ARTIST  –  TRACK  –  ALBUM  –  LABEL  –  NEW  –  REQ
Droidsattack  –  Steven Seagal  –  Fatal/Error  –  Crustacean  –  Y  –  N
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo  –  Hairdresser  –  I Have Made My Bed In Darkness  –  Mediaskare  –  Y  –  N
Metallica  –  Broken, Beat & Scarred  –  Death Magnetic  –  Warner Bros.  –  Y  –  N
Trivium  –  Torn Between Scylia And Charybdis  –  Shogun  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Metal Church  –  Meet Your Maker  –  This Present Wasteland  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
All That Remains  –  Two Weeks  –  Overcome  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Norma Jean  –  Birth Of The Anti Mother  –  The Anti Mother  –  SolidState  –  Y  –  N
Walls of Jericho  –  A Long Walk Home  –  The American Dream   –  Trustkill  –  Y  –  N
Overcast  –  Spun  –  Reborn To Kill Again  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Slipknot  –  Butcher’s Hook  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
The Showdown  –  The Hammer of the Gods  –  Back Breaker  –  SolidState  –  Y  –  N
Genghis Tron  –  Things Don’t Look Good  –  Board Up The House  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Motorhead  –  Buried Alive  –  Motorizer  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Iced Earth  –  Crown of the Fallen  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Iced Earth  –  The Dimension Gauntlet  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Iron Maiden  –  Powerslave  –  Powerslave  –  Capitol  –  N  –  Y
Pantera  –  By Demons Be Driven  –  Vulgar Display of Power  –  Atco  –  N  –  Y
Sepultura  –  Refuse Resist  –  Chaos AD  –  Epic  –  N  –  Y
Devil’s Slingshot  –  Def Bitch Blues  –  Clinophobia  –  Mascot  –  Y  –  N
Scatterbrain  –  Earache My Eye  –  Here Comes Trouble  –  In Effect  –  N  –  Y
Suicidal Tendencies  –  Institutionalized  –  Still Cyco After All These Years  –  Epic  –  N  –  Y
Anthrax  –  Startin’ Up A Posse  –  Attack of the Killer B’s  –  Island  –  N  –  Y
Austrian Death Machine  –  Get To The Choppa  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Dragonforce  –  The Last Journey Home  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Toxic Holocaust  –  Future Shock  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Into Eternity  –  Diagnosis Terminal  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N
Death  –  The Philosopher  –  Individual Thought Patterns  –  Relativity  –  N  –  Y
Stormlord  –  Emet  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive  –  Y  –  N
All Shall Perish  –  Awaken The Dreamers  –  Awaken The Dreamers  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Marty Friedman  –  Elixir  –  Exhibit A Live In Europe  –  Mascot  –  Y  –  N
Amon Amarth  –  Free Will Sacrifice  –  Twilight of the Thunder Gods  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Hollow Corp.  –  Elevation  –  Cloister of Radiance  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Acacia Strain  –  Dr. Doom  –  Continent  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Hackneyed  –  Axe Splatter  –  Death Prevails  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Krisiun  –  Sons of Pest  –  Southern Storm  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N
Opeth  –  The Lotus Eather  –  Watershed  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N

WORT-FM Loud Rock Top 20 for the Week of 9/22/08

Artist  –  Album  –  Label
1) Slipknot  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner
2) Motörhead  –  Motörizer  –  SPV
3) Overcast  –  Reborn to Kill Again  –  Metal Blade
4) Walls of Jericho  –  The American Dream  –  Trustkill
5) Iced Earth  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV
6) All That Remains  –  Overcome  –  Prosthetic
7) Into Eternity  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media
8) Krisiun  –  Southern Storm  –  Century Media
9) The Acacia Strain  –  Continent  –  Prosthetic
10) Dragonforce  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner
11) Austrian Death Machine  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade
12) Stormlord  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive
13) Norma Jean  –  The Anti-Mother  –  SolidState  –
14) All Shall Perish  –  Awaken The Dreamers  –  Nuclear Blast
15) Toxic Holocaust  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse
16) Amon Amarth  –  Twilight of the Thunder God  –  Metal Blade
17) Metallica  –  Death Magnetic  –  Warner Bros.
18) Metal Church  –  This Present Wasteland  –  SPV
19) Showdown  –  Back Breaker  –  SolidState
20) Hackneyed  –  Death Prevails  –  Nuclear Blast

Top 5 Adds
1) Amon Amarth  –  Twilight of the Thunder God  –  Metal Blade
2) Metallica  –  Death Magnetic  –  Warner Bros.
3) Droidsattack  –  Fatal/Error  –  Crustacean
4) Hollow Corp.  –  Cloister of Radiance  –  Prosthetic
5) Exotic Animal Petting Zoo  –  I Have Made My Bed In Darkness  –  Mediaskare

Other Adds:  Devil’s Slingshot, Destination: Oblivion, Marty Friedman, Anathema

Amon Amarth
Twilight of the Thunder God
Twilight of the Thunder God
Metal Blade
43:28 - 10 Tracks
Well, it’s been a couple years since their last album, which was like, way super good.  This one has all of the metal that the last one did, but throw in a lil more melody, a little moreblack metal, a little more everything actually.  This album has it all and the production is top notch.

Hollow Corp.
Cloister of Radiance
Prosthetic
56:48 - 8 Tracks
Actually this is pretty similar to the Amon Amarth… similar as in like, genre… catchy, dark, but yet, not all depressing.  Simliar vocal style, music, heaviness, etc.

Droidsattack
Fatal/error
Crustacean
43:59 - 8 Tracks
It’s always neat when I get a CD from a national promotions company from a local band.  It shows someone is trying!  This new album is pretty well put together, some great catchy stoner metal going on here.  Definitely worthy of airplay, even if they weren’t from Madison!

Anathema
Hindsight
K Scope
52:42 - 10 Tracks
Back in the day, these guys had something metal happening, nowadays, I’m not sure what to call them.   But well, this just does not fit into what one would call Metal.  It’s a lot of pianos, singing, etc.   Take Opeth’s Damnation CD and tone it down from there even.  Meh.

Exotic Animal Petting Zoo
I Have Made My Bed In Darkness
Mediaskare
63:26 - 12 Tracks
I guess this could be considered “experimental” as it’s spacey in parts, but also just kicks into some pretty cool prog-ish metal.  I guess they say it’s for fans of Mr. Bungle, BTBAM and Dillinger Escape Plan.   It’s almost like old GOOD Incubus in parts too.   It’s something different than everything else lately, so it might just get on the air!

Devil’s Slingshot
Clinophobia
Mascot
40:10 - 9 Tracks
Billy Sheehan (Bass), Tony MacAlpine (Guitar) and Virgil Donati (Drums) make up this instrumental trio… Great to have this kind of release after all these years without anything like it!  These guys are no stranger to albums like this, as they all have done them before, usually with Derek Sherinian or their own projects, etc.  It’s not completely metal, it’s more like hard rock, with some jazzy infusion stuff, but overall, it’s like one of those Steve Vai instrumental type things.  You’ll hear some of this on the Mosh Pit!

Marty Friedman
Exhibit A Live In Europe
Mascot
61:27 - 16 Tracks
After hearing some of Marty’s other solo stuff, at first thought I figured this would be some new agey stuff with maybe some hard rock leanings…. nope!  It’s got some metal shredding going on… well, not endless wanky noodley shreddy stuff… Friedman’s guitar playing is usually fairly melodic with of course lots of meedly meedly, but with rhythm.  He’s got Ron Jarzombek playing another guitar on this live recording… the songs are structured all nice.  I’d have to say this is definitely more “metal” than the Devil’s Slingshot!   Of course there are some slower songs on here, but overall, it’s a catchy “instru-metal” disc.

Metallica
Death Magnetic
Warner Bros.
74:46 - 10 Tracks
The most reviewed album of like the last 5 years, and now it’s my turn?   Well, I’ve had a few weeks to listen to this, and it’s grown on me quite a bit.  The songs are catchy, have some great guitar work, and this is probably about as good as Metallica is going to get… relative to their heyday.   The production/mixing on this album is horrible.  Just about everything is maxed out to the point of distortion.  How can this happen?   The mix is a little weird too… I don’t really care for how the vocals seem to be their own entity instead of mixing in with the music.  These guys could really use Andy Sneap, or I’d love to hear Devin Townsend turn this into a wall of sound.  I’m sure they are going for the “raw” sound on purpose… it’s not nearly as bad as St. Anger, but still not as great as it can be… especially with technology in this day and age.  Still… it’s good stuff and You’ll hear it on the Mosh Pit.

ARTIST  –  TRACK  –  ALBUM  –  LABEL  –  NEW  –  REQ
Slipknot  –  Vendetta  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Trivium  –  Kirisute Gomen  –  Shogun  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Poisonblack  –  Diane  –  A Dead Heavy Day  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N
Bison BC  –  Dark Towers  –  Quiet Earth  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Chrome Division  –  The Boys from the East  –  Booze, Broads & Beezlebub  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Son of Sam  –  The Bleeding  –  Into The Night  –  Horror High  –  Y  –  N
Motorhead  –  One Short Life  –  Motorizer  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Metal Church  –  The Perfect Crime  –  This Present Wasteland  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Iced Earth  –  Minions of the Watch  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Iced Earth  –  The Revealing  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Communic  –  On Ancient Ground  –  Payment of Existence  –  Locomotive  –  Y  –  N
Dragonforce  –  Heartbreak Armageddon  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner  –  Y  –  N
Evergrey  –  Broken Wings  –  Torn  –  SPV  –  Y  –  N
Austrian Death Machine  –  It’s Not A Tumor  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Megadeth  –  Tornado of Souls  –  Rust In Peace  –  Capitol  –  N  –  Y
Death Angel  –  Seemingly Endless Time  –  Act III  –  DGC  –  N  –  Y
Slayer  –  Criminally Insane  –  Reign in Blood  –  American  –  N  –  Y
Hexen  –  No More Color  –  State of Insurgency  –  Old School Metal  –  Y  –  N
Overcast  –  Reborn To Kill Again  –  Reborn To Kill Again  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
All That Remains  –  Before The Damned  –  Overcome  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Walls of Jericho  –  Famous Last Words  –  The American Dream  –  Trustkill  –  Y  –  N
The Acacia Strain  –  Seaward  –  Continent  –  Prosthetic  –  Y  –  N
Norma Jean  –  Opposite of Left And Wrong  –  The Anti Mother  –  SolidState  –  Y  –  N
This or the Apocalypse  –  No Horizons  –  Monuments  –  Lifeforce  –  Y  –  N
Underoath  –  Breathing In A New Mentality  –  Lost In The Sound of Separation  –  Tooth & Nail  –  Y  –  N
Agraceful  –  Stygiophobia  –  The Great I Am  –  Sumerian  –  Y  –  N
The Classic Struggle  –  Do The Thing  –  Bring Back The Glory  –  Ironclad  –  Y  –  N
Into Eternity  –  Spent Years Of Regret  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N
Burst  –  I Hold Vertigo  –  Lazarus Bird  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Toxic Holocaust  –  Endless Armageddon  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse  –  Y  –  N
Nuclear Assault  –  Too Young To Die  –  Out of Order  –  Combat  –  N  –  Y
Gama Bomb  –  Time Crime  –  Citizen Brain  –  Earache  –  Y  –  N
Bonded By Blood  –  Severe Violation  –  Feed The Beast  –  Earache  –  Y  –  N
Stormlord  –  Scorn  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive  –  Y  –  N
Illdisposed  –  Love Is Tasted Bitter  –  The Prestige  –  Locomotive  –  Y  –  N
Amon Amarth  –  Twilight of the Thunder God  –  Twilight of the Thunder God  –  Metal Blade  –  Y  –  N
Vehement  –  Omniscient  –  Vehement  –  Vehement  –  Y  –  N
All Shall Perish  –  Never…Again  –  Awaken The Dreamers  –  Nuclear Blast  –  Y  –  N
Cryptopsy  –  Lichmistress  –  None So Vile  –  Wrong Again  –  N  –  Y
Watain  –  Darkness and Death  –  Sworn To The Dark  –  Season of Mist  –  N  –  Y
Krisiun  –  Contradictions Of Decay  –  Southern Storm  –  Century Media  –  Y  –  N

WORT-FM Loud Rock Top 20 for the Week of 9/15/08

Artist  –  Album  –  Label
1) Motörhead  –  Motörizer  –  SPV
2) Slipknot  –  All Hope Is Gone  –  Roadrunner
3) Austrian Death Machine  –  Total Brutal  –  Metal Blade
4) Walls of Jericho  –  The American Dream  –  Trustkill
5) Krisiun  –  Southern Storm  –  Century Media
6) Overcast  –  Reborn to Kill Again  –  Metal Blade
7) HeXen  –  State Of Insurgency  –  Old School Metal
8) Chrome Division  –  Booze, Broads & Beelzebub  –  Nuclear Blast
9) Iced Earth  –  The Crucible of Man  –  SPV
10) Illdisposed  –  The Prestige  –  Locomotive
11) The Acacia Strain  –  Continent  –  Prosthetic
12) Dragonforce  –  Ultra Beatdown  –  Roadrunner
13) The Human Abstract  –  Midheaven  –  Hopeless
14) All Shall Perish  –  Awaken The Dreamers  –  Nuclear Blast
15) Norma Jean  –  The Anti-Mother  –  SolidState
16) Communic  –  Payment of Existence  –  Locomotive
17) The Classic Struggle  –  Bring Back The Glory  –  Metal Blade
18) Into Eternity  –  The Incurable Tragedy  –  Century Media
19) Stormlord  –  Mare Nostrum  –  Locomotive
20) Toxic Holocaust  –  An Overdose of Death  –  Relapse

Top 5 Adds
1) Bison BC  –  Quiet Earth  –  Metal Blade
2) Trivium  –  Shogun  –  Roadrunner
3) Poisonblack  –  A Dead Heavy Day  –  Century Media
4) This Or The Apocalypse  –  Monuments  –  Lifeforce
5) Evergrey  –  Torn  –  SPV

Other Adds:  Son of Sam, Burst, Underoath, Agraceful, Intronaut

Trivium
Shogun
Roadrunner
66:41 - 11 Tracks
Well, there was a lot of hype building into this album, about this being their make or break CD… The first track is pretty awesome and metal… but with that lil twinge of emo (clean but not whiney vocals) as Trivium will always have.   I guess it’s not really emo, but moreso “clean”   The rest of the album has a good mix of catchy hardrock/metal/metalcore anthems.  I don’t know if this is a breakthrough record, but it is a good progression in the line of albums.

Evergrey
Torn
SPV
53:40 - 11 Tracks
I was just googling these guys the other week, wondering when if anything new was coming out… and sure as hell… there was, and a few days later, the CD showed up!   Always one of the better prog/power metal bands, this new one follows the same formula… some great power metal with a little bit of an edge.   Almost like some classic AOR/Heavier Queensryche sound happening here, songs are catchy, make you want to sing along, play air guitar, drums, bass, karaoke!

Son of Sam
Into The Night
Horror High
32:50 - 9 Tracks
Side project from Danzig and Samhain guitarist… it sounds pretty similar to both.  A bit more metal, but a very similar style to Danzig.   “Horror Rock”  The music rocks pretty good, and manages to distract you from the whiney Danzig-ish vox.

Poisonblack
A Dead Heavy Day
Century Media
56:28 - 12 Tracks
They are considered a “gothic metal” band… I’d have to say they lean towards more traditional metal these days with some goth underlyings.   There’s some heaviness happening… along with some catchy choruses but listening to a few tracks, it does tend to all run together… Still good stuff though!

This or the Apocalypse
Monuments
Lifeforce
43:25 - 10 Tracks
A pretty neat metal-brutal core album.  The stopstart guitar stuff in the first track make it different than some other stuff out there, then it opens up into some brutal stuff mixing with an almost experimental mix of metal.  They mix so many styles around, they actually seem to make their own here.  It’s fairly chaotic, but somehow keeps it together.  I’ve been impressed with stuff on Lifeforce Records lately.

Underoath
Lost in the Sound of Separation
Tooth & Nail
41:41 - 11 Tracks
Another album from the Floridians… they seem to stick to the “cool” metalcore genre.   Huge aggressive breakdowns, some good abrasive vocals, but of course, they mix with some clean emo vocals here and there.   Nothing really new here, but nothing awful.

Agraceful
The Great I Am
Sumerian
31:56 - 10 Tracks
This is brutal-metalcore stuff… but usually the brutal core doesn’t get emo in choruses, and this does.   But the non-emo parts are pretty darn brutal!   I guess I’m on the fence on this one, the brutal stuff is decent, although not groundbreaking, but then to go full on into the emo singy chorus just hits a nerve with me.  It’s not bad, but it seems to be done already by lots of other bands.

Bison BC
Quiet Earth
Metal Blade
8 Tracks
One of those metal stoner bands… You know, like High on Fire, Mastodon… You almost can’t go wrong in this genre…  The songs are catchy, fun to listen to and yes, sludgey at times.   As I said, they’re in good company with their genre-mates, and bands like this have become fun to see at live shows!

Intronaut
Prehistoricisms
Century Media
8 Tracks
A bit like Isis/Neurosis (if you know me, you know I’m not a fan), but a smidge better.  Quite all over the map, heavy, interludey, melodic, etc.  Hard to put a finger on it…

Burst
Lazarus Bird
Relapse
8 Tracks
A bit stoner metal, a little bit experimental, wikipedia calls them progressive metal.  I guess they could be all of the above… I guess it’d mostly be like Kyuss if I had to compare… decent stuff!