The Batlord

Me too, but what do the Stormtroopers of Death have to do with System of a Down?

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The Batlord

I'm sure someday I'll listen to more of Megadeth's newer material. I used to be a hardcore Megadeth fanatic when I was in high school after all. But The System Has Failed and United Abominations are the definition of mediocre. If any other band had released those albums they would have been dropped by their label and been back to flipping burgers. The third rate political/religious ranting doesn't help either.

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Trollheart

Reckless and relentless --- Asking Alexandria --- 2011 (Sumerian)

A band formed in Dubai in, uh, sometime before 2008, they reformed -- that is to say, re-formed not reunited: this is a new band with only the founder Ben Bruce remaining from the original lineup, and he is at pains apparently to make it clear this is NOT the same band --- back in good old Blightly in 2008 and have so far released three albums, the most recent of which came out this year. They're described as both Metalcore and Electronicore, which is intriguing if not a little confusing. Let's see if we can solve the mystery.

With a sound like marimba or vibraphone or something, "Welcome" is a short, gothic-sounding little instrumental moving at mid-pace with what sounds like strings of some sort, but of course it's an introduction to the album and things get going properly with "Dear insanity". The guitars are hard, the drumming powerful, the pace pretty frenetic and the vocals, well, completley indecipherable, somewhere between a scream and a growl, sometimes with both. Oh, and then clean vocals too, so that I can at least hear that the guy can sing. Whether this is the same guy singing all the vocals or not I don't know: Danny Worsnop, who also plays the synths, seems to be the main vocalist with Bruce providing backing, so maybe it's he that's growling and/or screaming?

As ever, it's a pity because when the vocals are sung properly the songs seem quite decent, but when those growls, howls, screams and roars cut in it just ruins it for me. Yes I know: don't you have a pretty dress to put on? Look, I just hate vocals I can't make out, all right? "Closure" starts out with sort of an industrial, mechanical feel on the synth, hard churning guitars and more growls, though my copy says Ben Bruce takes the main vocal here. Doesn't sound that much different I have to say. Lots of power, anger and energy with some fine guitar riffs and a sense that this could be almost commercial if it wasn't for the, ah, unorthodox vocals.

Beautiful atmospheric synth with bubbly sparkly keys jumping along it and a drumbeat that would surely be more comfortable in a trance or techno record --- guess this is where the "electronicore" tag comes in --- which makes it a little confusing as to whether this band can really be taken to be metal at all. "A lesson never learned" has some very orchestral synth, and too much ragged growling for my liking, but quite a decent hook, with a sort of vocoder part that wouldn't be out of place in a song by one of these modern boybands. Wow. Confusing it certainly is.

That confusion grows with the onset of "To the stage", which has so many different elements in it that it's just hard to pin down, and then "Dedication" is, well exactly that: a spoken dedication backed by a heavy synth line and slow thumping percussion. Short, but it's actually very good. It's some guy called James Murray speaking. Then "Someone, somewhere" is a good rocker with still quite a bit of electro in it, and "Breathless" kicks up the tempo a little more. Ah yes, there are the growls. Why don't these guys just get a job on "Dr. Who" and be done with it?

Growls and vocals kick off "The match", with a galloping drumbeat, then it slows down into something of a --- well, not quite a grinder, but slower certainly. Uh, yeah. Then it speeds up again and kind of metamorphoses into a trance track? Um. Great metal guitar work as "Another bottle down" gets going, then it goes into a kind of indie/post-rock vibe, throw in some orchestral synth and neoclassical piano, and I'm just about swamped by influences here. Powering on into the title track which has a good rock/metal feel though a little too much screaming and "Whoa-oh-oh!"s for me, to finish on "Morte et dabo", which goes all gothic again, with a choir opening it then descending into a breakneck metal track with screaming, growling and shouting. Yeah, okay: I'm done.

TRACKLISTING

1. Welcome
2. Dear insanity
3. Closure
4. A lesson never learned
5. To the stage
6. Dedication
7. Someone. somewhere
8. Breathless
9. The match
10. Another bottle down
11. Reckless and relentless
12. Morte et dabo

Problem as I see it with this band is that they're trying to be all things to all men. Maybe they have a huge following, but to me the mix of electronic, pop, rock, metal, punk, indie, gothic, semi-classical and even more is just too bewildering to sort out. I mean, in the same song they're singing like a boyband, blasting beats and screaming and yelling then bringing in a choir! It's just too much for this girl's brain. Maybe I'll just go try on that dress after all. Maybe I don't have what it takes to sort it out and enjoy them, which is a pity because behind all the growls and screams and the confusion over genre influences I think there's a pretty decent band there.

It's just not worth all the time and effort digging down through the crap to get to the gold, in my opinion.


Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asking_Alexandria

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

"It's only rock'n'roll ... isn't it?"

During my research for Metal Month I came across something that concerned me, and it's been niggling at me ever since. You can say of course that it's a knee-jerk reaction, that I'm just being a girl, or that I'm taking things too seriously, but I wonder. Most of you presumably reading this know of the band Mayhem. They're not my poison at all, but that's beside the point. The Batlord mentioned them some time ago, in particular the fact that their lead singer, who called himself Dead, was, well, dead. I wasn't that surprised, reading of his habit of breathing in from a bag containing a days/weeks/who knows-old dead crow before going on stage, and thought at the time that he had just died from being an idiot; had contacted some sort of disease as a result of doing something patently stupid that basically flips the finger to the Grim Reaper and says "Come on you big pussy! Take me if you can!" And the Hooded One had obliged.

That was what I assumed had happened. But no. Turns out Dead wasn't happy with living, so killed himself. Cut his throat with a razor and then blew his head off with a shotgun. How, as Dougal Maguire once wondered about Kurt Cobain, had he managed to survive that? Well, he didn't, and he had now made his pseduonym literal. He was dead. But even that didn't faze me too much: Mayhem were Black Metal, and odd things go on in such bands, as each tries to outdo the other in terms of being "evil". Even the fact that his compatriot in the band, a guy who went by the name of Euronymus, thought it was "so cool" that he had killed himself, wasn't too surprising, though a little unsettling.

No. It was when I read deeper into the philosophy of Mayhem, or at least Dead, real name Per Yngve Ohlim, known to his small circle of friends and his family as Pelle, that I began to worry. You see, Black Metal bands have never concerned me but I do wonder about the idea behind them. Some, like Venom, wanted really nothing to do with Satanism and the occult, and used it only for shock value and to sell records, a cheap marketing ploy, while others, like Watain, to whom I will return later, are deadly serious about what they see as their religion. Extreme Metal bands of most stripes, be they Death, Doom, Black or whatever, often subscribe to odd notions and roles, holding themselves up as the "blackest", "doomiest", "angriest" or "most evil" bands in the world. But mostly, so far as I can see, it's empty posturing.

I mentioned it with Manowar in my review of "Hail to England". They espoused fighting the good fight, keeping metal pure and killing the unbeliever. But did they strap on broadswords every time they went for a walk or limo-ride through Manhattan? Did they arrive at parties loaded down with shields and helmets? Did they ride the streets of New York on fiery battle chargers? Well no they didn't of course, because however serious Manowar were about their music, they knew that the image behind it was nothing more than a gimmick, a ploy to draw the fans in. Most likely Eric Adams, Ross the Boss et al never handled a real sword outside of a photo-session for an album cover or during an onstage performance, and would not know what to do with one if they were actually faced with a situation that required real combat. It's all fantasy; a joke, a PR stunt, and they know it. They know when to turn it on, and when to switch it off. They don't take it seriously, outside of the band dynamic.

Mayhem, it seems, do, or did. I'm still not sure whether to take the words of Dead at face value, but it seemed he declared his hatred for fun, enjoyment, peace, happiness, laughter. Euronymous, the guitarist (who is also now dead, surprise surprise) claimed he wanted to spread sorrow, hatred and evil through his music. He claimed to be against freedom, to worship death, oh, and Satan. For real.

Now, you may say and you may be right, all of this was theatre, that neither Dead nor Euronymous meant what they said. It could, indeed, be the Manowar idea: all an image created to sell records. The problem lies in this: although people may have been suckered into believing that Joey DeMaio went to bed in a lionskin loincloth and with a dagger at his side and a sword under his pillow, and may even in extreme cases have emulated such behaviour, Manowar never preached anything except rock and roll. Oh yes, they said "death to false metal!" but they just meant --- and it was understood --- don't listen to that sort of music, ridicule and revile it. I think everyone could see they were just playing a part, revelling in the roles they had created and having one hell of a time doing so.

But Mayhem, whether or not they were serious, held some very dark beliefs and --- and this is extremely important --- made it seem like they meant every word they said. Now, we all know kids are impressionable and who's going to fall under the spell of Black Metal --- or any really aggressive, angry music form --- more than kids? Teenagers, adolescents, in some cases even younger. People who are very open to suggestion and to some degree take an awful lot literally. So if your hero is Dead, or Euronymous, and they say life is wrong, everyone should worship death and spread evil and misery, how are the kids going to react to that? Oh for certain, the larger percentage will not do anything: most people know, even at that age, that music exists within often the framework of its own fantasy world.

But for the small, perhaps miniscule percentage that believe, truly believe, every word that falls from their idols' mouths, how are they likely to respond? Can we be certain that no Mayhem fan took their own life, or killed someone else, in reaction to what they were told was "the way to be"? Well no of course we can't, and if there were instances they could hardly be traced directly and provable beyond a reasonable doubt back to the utterances of some unhappy rock star. But that's not the point.

The point is: these guys have to realise that they are standing up there as an example, an influence, role models. Anything they say, any feelings they espouse or any "directions" they give to their fans can be misinterpreted with tragic consequences. I don't know; from what I read of Mayhem, I think Dead and Euronymous (God not rest their dark evil souls) would possibly be delighted to know that their "teachings" had resulted in deaths, injury, sorrow and mayhem with a small "m". But if The Stones or U2 or Metallica started telling people at gigs or in interviews to kill their parents, don't you think there'd be an outcry and wouldn't this be irresponsible behaviour? And yet, because perhaps Mayhem were part of a smaller, more insular scene in the Black Metal movement in Norway, and never grew into a global phenomenon like the three bands mentioned above, they never seem to have been taken to task for their views. Mind you, I can't say that Mayhem ever encouraged anyone to kill their parents, but they were seemingly all about evil, and spreading that message so that sort of influence could certainly --- theoretically, at least --- lead to such misunderstandings.

Then you have Watain. Their frontman, Erik Danielsson, seems to be seriously into Satanism and black magic. He literally worships the Devil. Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not saying who can practice what religion and I'd never interfere in anyone's beliefs, no matter how opposed to them I might be. But again it's the impression this can make, the example to fans, the message sent. If Venom laughed at Satan, their fans knew it and though they all made the sign and pretended to worship Lucifer, they knew it was a crock. But now you have Danielsson telling his fans that Satan is real (which he may be, I don't know) and that he should be adored. Mind you, let's be fair: in an interview with Metal Hammer he did make it clear that he does not expect anyone to follow him, and he is not a dark messiah of any kind. But you know, kids will think what kids will think, and if they think "Oh cool! Satan's real and we should worship him!" then who knows where that might end?

The point I'm trying to make here is that I believe that public figures of any kind have a responsibility to be, well, responsible for what they say. Whether you're a politician or an author or a musician or a football star, you need to realise that people hang on your words, and something you say which is not perhaps meant in an offhand or casual manner, or even in humour, if not explained properly or contextualised, may very well ne taken literally. Words have power, and fame has power, and put the two together and you have one hell of a dangerous weapon. I just think it's incumbent upon those who stand up on the soapbox to realise that what they say reverberates through their fans, perhaps even down through years, perhaps even in the case of Mayhem's Dead and Euronymous, beyond the very grave.

The old cliche, with great power comes great responsibility, is never truer than when dealing with rock icons, and the more influence you have, and the larger and more malleable your audience, the more careful I believe you have to be not to give the wrong impression and start in motion a chain of events that can have tragic and unforseen consequences. After all, why give the Moral Majority and those who denounce rock --- and Metal in particular --- as "the devil's music" any more ammunition? Doing what Mayhem were doing is I believe playing right into the hands of those who would expunge rock music from this Earth, had they the ability, and showing those who do not hold those views that, you know, maybe these guys have something after all. I mean, who wants their kid coming home saying "I'm just going out to bury my clothes in the ground so they'll make me smell like a corpse"? And if you read into the history of Mayhem, that seems to be the least of what they expounded.

Music is, in the final analysis, to me at any rate, meant to heal, to help, to bring together, not torture, destroy and rip apart.

That ain't rock and roll, and I don't like it.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

Nah, the black metal clique in Norway didn't mean it. The real difference between them and Manowar is that those kids were legitimately disturbed. If black metal had started out as a bigger scene then it wouldn't have been so bad, but it was a very small, insular scene at first so it was capable of being influenced by a few charismatic nutbags like Varg Vikernes and Euronymous. I don't understand why everybody says "RIP Euronymous". Dude was a loser and a cunt.

As far as I'm concerned anyone who is that open to suggestion isn't worth worrying about. Nazism is also a big thing in the black metal scene to this day and dumb kids are still latching onto that. Do we really care about these people? If they wanna off themselves then good riddance.

Besides, if art has to cater to morals then we'd have a pretty limited scope of creativity. If making the world a little more unsafe is the price we have to pay for a more diverse, interesting world then so be it.

Oh we already know.

Varg Vikernes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Faust (musician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Absurd (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (also a good band to look up if you want to learn about Nazism in black metal)

Jarno Elg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Trollheart

I see. Well, that just sort of proves my point then, doesn't it? I get what you say about people being influenced by neo-Nazi ideals and all that, and that you don't think the bands should be responsible, but I disagree. If you know someone has a propensity for murder do you hand him a knife and then not worry about what he'll do with it? Or someone with a chronic alcoholic problem and you take him to a free bar? I mean other people, Batty: I know YOU would...

I think, as I said before, a certain sense of responsibility is required from our musicians, no matter what genre they work in, and the more famous and therefore more influential they are, the more careful they should be of what they say and how it could be misinterpreted.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Powerstars

Well I've been thinking about doing a week of classic (rock) albums people will be shocked I've never heard.

So basically, TH ripoff week!

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Trollheart

That's cool. I'll even endorse it for you. Here, have one of my forms:

"I, Trollheart, completely and unreservedly endorse this event/procedure/person/place/vehicle/delete or add as appropriate."

But if you're doing Classic Rock, beware the wrath of the Unknown Soldier...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

ICED EARTH: American Power Metal band. Iced Earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IN FLAMES: Massively popular Metal band from Sweden. In Flames - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IOMMI, TONY: Legendary guitarist with Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IRON MAIDEN: One of the biggest and most famous, and most commercially successful, Heavy Metal bands of all time. Iron Maiden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IRON MAN: Classic song from Black Sabbath, one that helped birth the subgenre of Doom Metal.





JONES, JOHN PAUL: Bass player and keyboard player for Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones (musician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

JUDAS PRIEST: One of the original Heavy Metal bands, who predate the NWOBHM but are often linked with it. Judas Priest - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




KAMELOT: American Progressive Metal band. Kamelot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KILLERS: Seminal second album from Iron Maiden, last to feature Paul Di'Anno. Killers (Iron Maiden album) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KING DIAMOND: Lead vocalist with Black Metal band Mercyful Fate, he also performs solo under his own name. King Diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KING, KERRY: Guitarist and co-founder of Thrash Metal supremos Slayer. Kerry King - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KISS: Glam Metal band who made their name by wearing elaborate masks onstage. Kiss (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KORN: One of the big names in the Nu-Metal movement. Korn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KREATOR: One of the "Big Three" Thrash/Death Metal bands in Germany. Kreator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




LED ZEPPELIN: Primarily a rock/blues band, Led Zeppelin's influence nevertheless helped lead to the creation of the Heavy Metal genre, and so with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple they are looked upon as fathers of Heavy Metal, even if they weren't Heavy Metal themselves. Led Zeppelin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LEMMY: Legendary bass player, singer and founder of British noise merchants Motorhead. Lemmy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LIVE AFTER DEATH: Seminal and revered live album from Iron Maiden, professed by many to be the best live album ever. Live After Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



MANOWAR: Power Metal band from New York, Manowar utilise a lot of mythic and warrior-type imagery in their songs and stageshow. Manowar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MEGADETH: Spinoff band from Metallica, now considered one of the "Big Four" thrash bands. Megadeth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MERCYFUL FATE: Black Metal band from Denmark, whose vocalist King Diamond went on to have a successful solo career. Mercyful Fate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

METALCORE: Want hardcore punk with extreme metal? You got it. Metalcore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

METALHEAD: A follower and fan of Heavy Metal music. Heavy metal subculture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

METALLICA: One of the "Big Four" Thrash Metal bands, best known for tracks like "Enter Sandman" and "One", and albums such as "Ride the lightning" and "Master of puppets". Metallica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MORBID ANGEL: American Death Metal band whose guitarist is considered among the top in his subgenre. Morbid Angel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MOTORHEAD: The granddaddies of British Thrash/Speed Metal, still one of the loudest bands around. Motörhead - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MUSTAINE, DAVE: Onetime guitarist with Metallica, he left (ahem!) to form Megadeth. Dave Mustaine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




NAPALM DEATH: Grindcore band from the UK. Napalm Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NIGHTWISH: Symphonic Metal band from Finland. Nightwish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NINE INCH NAILS: Usually abbreviated to NIN, this is an Industrial Metal band from Cleveland Ohio. Nine Inch Nails - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NU-METAL: As annoying as its spelling, nu-metal features the younger bands who think they're metal, and add in elements of grunge, funk, rap and other genres to their music. Nu-Metal is generally derided by all true Metalheads. Nu metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NWOBHM: The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, a tag given to the phenomenal and simultaenous rise of new Heavy Metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Tank and Saxon during the early 1980s. New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

I'm sure you could make the case that any number of things in pop culture might incite people to do this, that, or the other that might be negative. Breaking Bad might not be telling someone to do or sell crystal meth like black metal is telling people to be "evil", but I'm sure that someone has gotten the idea to do one or both of those things merely by watching an episode. The point being that if artists let the marginal freaks decide how they express themselves our world will be lessened. Personally I'd rather have a few deaths than a creatively restrictive world, even if the restrictions are self-imposed.

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