Deals & Steals: Viking Swords and Mixing Boards

  Hey all, a big backlog of interesting finds from the past couple of months. All prices $US, Shipping about $15  altogether.

3 Inches of Blood – Battlecry Under a Winter Sun $5.59. Old school 3IOB is good times.

Dark Tranquillity – Haven $4.88. I’m trying to like it. Really. The riffs are there, but so is the baritone crooning. At least I didn’t turf it out the window like I did with Projector.

Lair of the Minotaur – Evil Power $4.19. This is currently one of my favourite things; a sludgy, fudgy Melvins-like fuzztone with an Entombed’s worth of aggression. Heavy, heavy shit.

Lonely Island – Turtleneck and Chain $9.99. The perfect thing for chilling and sippin’ on a lite beer.

Landmine Marathon – Sovereign Descent $5.99. Recent changes to the band can’t take away the power of this massive recording.

Imperative Reaction – Minus All $4.49. IR are that rare animal nowadays – traditional electro industrial.

Arch Enemy – Anthems of Rebellion $2.99. Their most ineffectual album to date, but the price was right.

Evanescence – The Open Door $6.99. File under stuff that I know is bad but listen to anyway. So terrible, so in my car all the time. I think it’s because Amy Lee’s voice reminds me of happy times chasing girls in college using Sarah McLachlan as bait.

And lastly, a record that reminds me of a fun concert story:

  Hanzel und Gretyl – Uber Alles $2.00. I have a soft spot for these Fako-Fascisto Funsters. They played my area with Slick Idiot last year (during Oktoberfest, no less) and blew out the sound system in the club about 20 times in a row. The result was terrible, but I’ll never forget mock-dominatrix Vas Kallas turning to Kaiser von Loopy, completely dropping character, and honking in pure Brooklynese: “This is gonna be one of them nights, eh Rob?”

Thank you, Rob and Betty.

Deals and Steals: Metal North American Style

  Multiple entries for each band this time, all from the US of A or Canadia. Shipping was on Second Spin this time, courtesy of a promo code they gave me for screwing up the last one. This order shipped from their facility in Illinois instead of California – advantage IL as everything came in its original jewel case rather than bubble wrap around the naked disc.

Hanzel und Gretyl – Zwanzig Zwölf $7.19, Scheissmessiah! $6.39. I wonder what Tim Skold, who has been in both KMFDM and Marilyn Manson, would think of these self-proclaimed “Fukken Über” fetishists?

Three Inches of Blood – Fire Up the Blades $7.19, Here Waits Thy Doom $5.59. Yes, I know the last one is slower. Still the most appropriate soundtrack to Conan’s best-in-life mantra.

  Devildriver – The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand $10.39, The Last Kind Words $7.19, Pray for Villains $10.39. DD came along when I was suffering from band fatigue, so I was never on board. I missed a lot of good stuff! Fury and Villains are special editions with DVD.

We Are the Fallen – Tear the World Down $6.39. Review is here!

See you next time – stay heavy!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Heavy MTL 2010

I’ve had a week to decompress and collect my thoughts about the second edition of Heavy MTL. I think it was a tremendous success by anyone’s standards, featuring some great performances by a truckload of bands and the legendary hospitality of Canada’s hippest city. I initially tried to put everything into a coherent, travelogue-style narrative, but then I decided that would bore the pants off y’all. Here’s the meat of things: 

It's the one that you wanted.

Big Hit: Rob Zombie wiped the floor with the place. In these sorts of festivals, bands usually have enough time and presence of mind to  wander out, play a few songs and disappear again. Not so Mr. Zombie, who brought all the robots, pyro, costumes and video that make him the proper heir apparent to Alice Cooper (Cooper himself didn’t fare so well, conjuring up images of an elderly, croaking transvestite). All this stage mummery didn’t diminish the playing chops of Zombie’s band, who didn’t hide behind their makeup and treated us to a huge committed rock show filled with that thing metal sometimes forgets about: fun. It was interesting to juxtapose the maniacal stage personae with the perfect gentlemen signing autographs earlier in the day. 

Big Miss: Fear Factory, after delivering what might be the record of the year, fumbled their soundcheck badly and then went through the motions in a badly truncated set.  I went in looking for the icing on the tasty cake of FF’s return, only to find it was straight out of the tin. 

Skeletonwitch's Chance Garnette spends some time with Slim's crew

Great as Expected: Skeletonwitch, Testament, Halford, 3 Inches of Blood, Lamb of God and Slayer made the most of their stage time. All these bands have reputations for delivering consistent live performances, and they kept the faith in MTL. 

Pleasant Surprises: Airbourne, as the sole whiskey-rock band between two armies of Metal and Emocore, did much to lighten the mood and gave people their second wind for fun on Day 2. Hail the Villain conquered the crowd with self-deprecating humour and heavier versions of their radio sound, and In This Moment grabbed no small number of new fans with an arresting performance on the third stage. Speaking of third stages — 

Organization Bad: Three stages in competition. I’m old-fashioned, I guess, but I think that every fan should have the chance to see every band. Chimaira in one ear and 3 Inches of Blood in the other isn’t enjoyable for even the most indiscriminate fan. 

"Patches" was sad that he had to pick and choose 😦

Organization Good: Almost everything else! Polite security staff, almost-reasonable  concession prices, on-time performances, great selection of bands. Some might quibble that Day 2 was Emo Day, but I say if you’re gonna have this thing and you want it to thrive you should cram in as many bands as possible. I know that may contradict my thoughts on multiple stages, but it brings me to my next point: 

The Vibe: More important than any one performance or memory, Heavy MTL represents a gathering of the metal community. It puts like-minded folks together to bang their heads, have a beer and talk about the music they love in a safe, positive and party-like atmosphere. Canadians love (and play) metal as well as anyone else, and we need this festival to continue. It’s like our Wacken or Milwaukee, done in our smaller, more polite way. 

Indeed.

So when Heavy MTL 2011 comes around, I won’t be going for any particular band, although I have a ton of suggestions if anyone’s listening. I’ll be going for the good times, good company and that rare chance to be amongst one’s own. 

That’s all for now – I was always taught not to over-analyse anything good. \m/ \m/! 

Don't recall it being "metal -on- your ass", but a'ight.

Deals and Steals: Prepare for MTL!

  As we prepare for Heavy MTL 2010, my friends and I have created a mixtape challenge to keep us occupied and entertained on the drive up to la belle province. Each of us must make a CD for all the others, using songs from the artists appearing at Heavy MTL. We also gave each other scatalogical challenging titles and obscure byzantine rules to follow (mine is that Dio is always allowed, Glassbane wants everything to “sound as Quebecois as possible”, whatever the hell that means).

Since I’m no download ninja and I have a serious used record addiction, I seized the opportunity to grab a bunch of obscure online finds to broaden my options and help me win this mix war. Here’s what just arrived:

Three Inches of Blood  – Advance and Vanquish $5.59. Three-Inch were a hoot at the last MTL, and are now back to destroy more orcs and metalheads alike. 

Shadows Fall – Seeking the Way: Greatest Hits $2.27. To my shame, I had no Shadows Fall in the house to work with. This gets me up to speed quickly – and look at that price!

In This Moment – Beautiful Tragedy and Dream $6.99 apiece. A nice change of pace from a band I didn’t know much about. Rides the Evanescence/Emilie Autumn/Lacuna Coil train; and after a few listens I’ll tell you which car they’re in.

This Moment – Finding a Voice in the Dark $1.07. Clicked on it by accident looking for the band above. The sound sample (gotta love Second Spin for that preview feature) revealed heaviness. I decided that for a buck, this decent hardcore record could hop the border for the chance to be resold, perhaps for three bucks.

And also some MTL-unrelated stuff:

Unleashed $3.77. Jet Li acts like a dog. And a little boy lost. And a badass. Ultimate date movie.

Scanner vs. Signs Ov Chaos $1.27. One of the smoothest operators in electronic music records with one of the strangest. If you know which is which and would like to share, please comment.

  Roadrunner United: The Concert $12.99. I’ve always been a huge fan of RR’s All-Star project. I think the meeting of the minds that took place was a great idea, so it’s only natural that I’d want the matching commemorative concert. Heavy MTL has the same kind of vibe to it – a metal summit to create new friends and new ideas about heavy music.