butthead aka 216

My Year As a Quasi-Juggalo: Part I made me chug several Faygos. It was that good.

I would like to go to one of those huge juggalo parties just to see it for myself. Maybe grab the tits of some disgusting smack junkies while I'm there.

The Batlord

I kind of want to check out the Gathering just to say I did. For those who don't know it's a week long (I think) festival for juggalos. All the "big acts" play, but it really just sounds like a drug fest. It's in the woods out in the middle of absolute no where and no cops are allowed on the premises. Apparently they have this bridge at the entrance which just has stalls with people openly selling every drug you could imagine. My friend even took a cellphone pic of some guy with a tent (people generally camp out there) that said "I SELL SHROOMS". It was epic.

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butthead aka 216

I remember reading a blog article a year or two ago about The Gathering. Some journalist or something went in full face paint and attire to try to get a look at what really goes down. I remember reading it was on this huge private land which cops couldn't enter, and much like your story, there was just an insane about of drugs everywhere. Lots of casual, disgusting sex going on, and everyone fucked up out of their minds. I would try to find the article if I wasn't so damn lazy, but I remember being intrigued by it. ICP always piqued my interest somewhat since they kind of arrived on the music scene right around when I started heavily listening to music and in particular Eminem. Their sudden and incredible fame always struck me as sort of surreal.

The Batlord

Say what you want about them but they're certainly unique. I'm sure even people who hate them had to do a double-take the first time they saw a pic or heard a song. They can be derided but never ignored.

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Moss

You may already know this but there is an interesting book where the writer follows around Phish and ICP to write about obsessive fans. Can't post a link but it's called "you don't know me but you don't like me" by Nathan Rabin (a writer for the onion).

The Batlord

So, Unknown Soldier recently nominated me for Best Music Taste, but caveated this by saying that I needed to "branch out", and I figured the best way to do this would be to listen to some old eighties metal, a genre that I am almost totally unfamiliar with. To do this I think I'm going to go review the entirety of the Metal Massacre series. Aficionados of metal (i.e. not me) will know these as a series of compilation albums put out by Brian Slagel, who in 1981 had recently begun the now legendary underground metal label Metal Blade Records, in order to showcase unsigned metal bands. Usually I don't go track by track, but since this is a comp it only makes sense to, but enough talk...

Metal Massacre I - 1982

1. Steeler - "Cold Day In Hell": Sounds kinda like Ratt (also on this comp) or early Crue. Which is funny since these guys are from Nashville, Tennessee. Certainly not bad.


2. Bitch - "Live for the Whip": Meh. They a'ight, but nothing special. Heavy metal with a boring chick singer. And I usually love chick singers.


3. Malice: "Captive of Light" Like much of what's on here (I'm coming back around to this song right now after listening to most of the rest of the album) this is some NWOBHM inspired metal. I never knew there were so many bands copying this **** so straightforwardly, but I guess it makes sense. I mean this was 1982 after all and I guess the American bands just hadn't had time to evolve much. Not that that makes this kick any less ass. If you like Angel Witch, Blitzkrieg, or early Maiden then you'll dig this. Bitchin' riff I might add.


4. Ratt - "Tell the World": An actual band I know. It doesn't mention this track on their Wikipedia article, so I can't be sure if they weren't on any other comps but it's entirely likely that this was their first time on vinyl. It's pretty much Ratt as you would expect: early glam, with an emphasis on big, catchy riffs. It's pretty sweet. Of course that's assuming you like Ratt. And I do.


5. Avatar - "Octave" (instrumental): I can only assume this band couldn't find a vocalist in time, cause why they would put an instrumental on a comp that was probably introducing them to the world I have no idea. Not bad though. Definitely NWOBHM inspired stuff that brings to mind Blitzkrieg.


6. Cirith Ungol - "Death of the Sun": I should love Cirith Ungol: they're from one of my favorite time periods of metal, they're properly cheesy, and their album covers are to die for. But, like Anvil, whenever the vocals kick in I cringe. So this isn't doing anything for me.


7. Demon Flight - "Dead of the Night": That's better. Some good ol' trad metal obviously trying to build from the NWOBHM, but with some oddball King Diamond-style vocals. Not as good as Mercyful Fate mind you, but for all I know the less-than-stellar production might be killing some of the atmosphere. I'm curious to see where they went from here.


8. Pandemonium - "Fighting Backwards": Coooool. Sounds like kissing cousins to Witchfinder General. Good dose of heavy Sabbath riffs with some Ozzy-style vocals. With the scarcity of doom in the eighties I imagine I'd have heard of these guys had they done anything of note, so now I have to know what happened to them.


9. Malice - "Kick You Down": Right off the bat the opening drumbeat brings to mind Motorhead, but since this is Malice's second song on the comp I know that this is an NWOBHM (by way of LA) band to the bone. Bitchin' riff I might add.


10. Metallica (listed as "Mettallica") - "Hit the Lights": Alright, this is the real reason I wanted to do this: the first Metallica song ever recorded. They weren't even a real band when they did this. James played bass and some guy called Lloyd Grant, who wasn't even involved with the band but for this one recording, played lead. Alright, so what does the song actually sound like...

Bahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I thought his singing on No Life Till Leather was goofy. Now he's trying to sing like he's in Diamond Head. And it's not particularly working. I mean the rest of the song kicks as much ass as one would expect, but that singing is just...yeah. No. Thank god it's slightly buried in the mix. But **** does this song kick ass other than that.

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The Batlord

Metal Massacre II - 1982

1. Armored Saint - "Lesson Well Learned": I actually haven't listened to much Armored Saint past Reign of Fire, so I'm glad for the opportunity. It's about what I expected: driving trad metal with a hard rock mentality that's a little more raw than what I'm familiar with. Good riffs, good vocals, good ****.


2. 3rd Stage Alert - "Mind Invader": **** yeah, this rules! The music is relatively straight-forward early eighties heavy/power metal. Pretty good, but it's the singer that's the best part. He's got a lower register than you'd think of for this kind of thing, but in no way is he a screamer or a growler. He's got this low-key operatic thing going on that makes this PFE (Pretty ****ing Epic). Kind of reminds me of the guy from Falconer. And since Falconer have a song called "Mind Traveler" I'm slightly curious if they are aware of this band. Hmm.


3. Surgical Steel - "Rivit Head": These guys obviously listen to far, FAR too much Judas Priest (if such a thing is possible). Fun but you could always just listen to British Steel. Doesn't make me wanna skip though, so it's all good.


4. Obsession - "Shadows of Steel": Fun heavy/speed metal. Disposable, but I still dig it. I usually do after all.


5. Savage Grace - "Scepters of Deceit": Less disposable heavy/speed metal. The vocalist has a good range that would make Halford proud. Head is banging.


6. Overkill - "No Holds Barred": Hell yeah, Overkill. At this point, like Metallica and Anthrax, they resembled a heavy/speed metal band than the thrash metal band that they would become. Blitz also has more of a hard rock vocal style, and doesn't sound like an air raid siren. They're still high quality though, and this is certain to be one of the highlights of the album. I could swear I've heard this song in another form though. That high-energy, boogie riff is picking at my brain. Don't know if I'm going crazy, or if not, who ripped off who, but I think something might be up with this.


7. Warlord - "Lucifer's Hammer": One of the only Christian metal bands you'll ever hear, Warlord are a fairly awesome trad metal/power metal band. They've got some great energy here, with a vocalist that brings the song into the heavens to create some PFE'ness. I totally need to go back and relisten to their debut.


8. Trauma - "Such a Shame": Trauma are only really notable for being one of those bands that "X" was in before they joined "Band Y". The "X" being Cliff Burton, and "Band Y" being Metallica. The vocalist is a bit too cheesy even for me, but the crunchy speed metal on display is pretty tasty. Not bad.


9. Dietrich - "It's Alright": Kicking off with a bitchin' riff with some good crunchy production is an excellent way to get my attention. So, these guys have my seal of approval already. Nothing mind-blowing. Just more riff-based heavy metal, but these guys know how to make the head bang and who could ask for more?


10. Molten Leather - "Inversion": Best. Name. Ever. What the **** is "molten leather" anyway? Wouldn't leather just burn? Whatevs. Too bad these guys are just kinda okay. I was hoping to be able to say, "Yeah, I dig stuff like Jag Panzer, Virgin Steele, Molten Leather. You know, music." There is a good riff in there though. I likes riffs.


11. Hyksos - "Kings": With a name like Hyksos I'm guessing these guys are nerds. I don't imagine a bunch of generic metalhead neanderthals are gonna use an obscure historical reference like that. That's nerd ****. And with vocals that high these are definitely some proto-power metal dorks. Just looked at their one album cover, yeah, king riding a horse, castle, dark and stormy night. Nerds. Fun stuff. I don't know if I'll be running off to listen to more of them, but I am entertained. PFE (The Batlord loves his new jargon) if nothing else.


12. Aloha - "Heavy Metal Virgin": Aloha? Seriously? There should be a law against metal bands named Aloha. And they're a generic NWOBHM-worshipping metal band (although with some lame glam metal vocals) who don't have much to recommend them other than that they're fun enough that I could listen to them for a song or two and not feel like skipping them

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The Batlord

Guess I shoulda posted some vids to go along with those...

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The Batlord

Metal Massacre III - 1983

1. Slayer - "Aggressive Perfector": Another band that shows you just how influential this series, Metal Blade Records, and California metal in general were back then. They got ****ing Slayer for Christ's sake, after which they got to release their debut album. And of course it's a bitchin' Slayer song. It's ****ing Slayer.


2. Bitch - "Riding In thunder": Couldn't find this song on the Tube so I had to go for the album version. I kinda couldn't have cared less for this band's song from the first Metal Massacre, but this is a vast improvement. And by that I mean it has a bitchin' riff. I guess they're kinda like Shout at the Devil-era Motley Crue. The chick singing is growing on me. I wouldn't say she's the most versatile singer ever, but she brings an energy that goes well with the music. I get the feeling that she was as much eye candy as she was a singer though since apparently their stage shows were rather...S&M-ish.


3. Tyrant - "Armageddon": I'm pretty sure that Jag Panzer was originally called Tryant, but had to change their name because of this band. So I kind of want to hate them out of spite, but I can't. Tyrant rule. Maiden-ish heavy metal with some badass chugging riffs and a double-helping of cheese. Their vocalist has goes from a growl (think a not quite as ugly version of Tom Araya from Show No Mercy) to an ear-piercing shriek without a hint of class or intelligence and the lyrics appear to be about the final battle of Armageddon. Pretty ****ing Epic indeed. The Batlord is vaguely smitten. Along with 3rd Stage Alert this is one of the bands I want to explore the most after all this.


4. Medusa - "Piranhas": Had to use a demo for this one, and boy does that production suck. The ****ey prod can't hide the energy of the proto-thrash on display though. These guys are kickin' some ass. Now I gotta check to see if these guys have an actual album...nope. Oddly enough though they have a previously unreleased EP that was put out in 2010. Need it.


5. Test Pattern - "Bite the Knife": I think I'm hearing the evolution of metal on this disc. Already the tone is getting harder, heavier, and faster over the space of these three albums and this band is an example of this. Definitely close to trad metal, but the hardcore influence is starting to rear its ugly head with the riffing and especially the vocals. I'm curious just how fast this progression will become over the later comps. Cool song BTW.


6. Black Widow - "Blitzkrieg": The ****? Was that just an instrumental? I can't tell cause I was busy mocking DJ for wearing an owl onesie. Yup. Instrumental. Was okay.


7. Warlord - "Mrs. Victoria": How is it possible for a Christian metal band to make a song that sounds evil? More top notch epic heavy metal from this band. I'm really starting to love these guys.


8. Virgin Steele - "Let's Go All the Way": THE ****?! I know what Virgin Steele sound like. This...I don't know what the **** this is. This sounds like UFO had a love child with Deep Purple and stole a car while I stared on incredulously with my now useless keys in my hand. Cool song BTW. Now I just have to figure out if this is Virgin Steele or if it was misnamed. Even the Youtube comments are useless. They just ramble on about weddings and selling RV's and somebody who is not Buffy the Vampire Slayer who might actually be called Buffy.


9. Sexist - "Fire and Wind": Pretty standard heavy metal.


10. Znowhite - "Hellbent": Sounds like somebody had listened to Metallica before. These guys (and girl singer) definitely have that primitive speed metal mixed with hardcore thing down. They don't have a whole lot more going for them, but I'm still entertained.


11. Marauder - "The Kid": I can't tell if there's a cowbell going on or if they just have ****ty production. Well, if not they still have ****ty production. And to make it worse the guitar is coming out of the left speaker and the drums from the right. Dude...what? They're alright, but not alright enough to make me want to put up with this.


12. La Mort - "Fist and Chain": Trad metal. Can't really be arsed (love British slang) to say anything else.

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Unknown Soldier

I was referring to you branching out from metal and not listening to more metal

Btw I've never listened to these Metal Massacre comps before, but they're pretty essential to the history of metal circa early 80s and have added them to my listening list.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History