Monday Morning Metal 01.09.06
Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 01.09.2006
It's a new year, but it's the same old metal inside!
Ok, life is back to normal, or at least my version of it. It's been a crazy few weeks, as you can all imagine. The holidays will do that to ya. Hope you'll all forgive me. It'd be pretty shitty of you if you didn't. It was nice to get away from work for a while. This is my first full work week in a while, so it's back to the grind for me. I want to start this week with a bit of an open call here. I'm looking for an intelligent conservative who enjoys political debate. If you fit that description, please email me, and we'll talk. I'll let you know more of what I'm looking for then. But enough of that, on with the
Pimps
Lots of good stuff here at 411 this week. We start off with the 411 Year in Review parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Nice lineup.
We also get a new Roundtable for anyone interested in what's coming up this month.
Evocator is back, and writing just like he used to. This week he covers the Fall of Media Play and his Best of 2005. Oh, by the way Evo, you're one of 2 411 Music folks who've stuck around since the very, very beginning. Not to be picky, but your first column is dated at 9-4-02. Mine is 8-30-02. That's right, I win. Hehehe.
Ben doubles the Ohio Polack quotient here at 411 with his weekly All You Cannot Live Without. I love having other metalheads around. Makes me all warm and fuzzy.
Rhett is also back after an extended break. I missed ya, buddy.
Metal News
Audioslave are heading to the studio to begin work on their third album. Figuring their second album was fairly mediocre, the world is really itching for even more new music by these guys. They'll probably still tour on the second album for a while, since it'll probably take at least a year to do all the recording, mixing, producing, etc. that the band will require.
Raymond Herrera of Fear Factory recently commented on guitarist Dino Cazares's departure from the band. While Dino had said that his departure was more due to musical differences than to anything personal, Herrera said that Dino left because of personal reasons and that there wasn't any major musical differences in the band. He also says that the band's bassist-turned-guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers is a "better guitarist than Dino ever was." These comments lead me to believe that Herrera is fucking insane. Nothing against Christian, but Dino is a legend, and Christian has a lot to prove before he deserves to be mentioned along with Dino. Dino responded to these comments with an email to Blabbermouth that simply said "Hahahaha." Well said, Dino.
Miami will be hosting the Global Gathering festival in March. Confirmed acts include Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Avenged Sevenfold, Coheed and Cambria, Rise Against, and Lacuna Coil. Not that great of a lineup, but I know that a bunch of people love Rob Zombie, and Avenged Sevenfold has been getting a lot of people excited for reasons I can't comprehend. If you like radio-friendly metal, than this festival is probably right up your alley.
Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars was recently pulled off stage by an overzealous female fan at the band's New Year's Eve show. I'm betting that she was a 55 year old 300 pound behemoth who thought that the fake blood he was spraying on the crowd meant that he was hiding a cow somewhere. Sadly, Mars survived the incident without any serious injuries. He said that he's used to being attacked by overweight white trash.
David Lee Roth recently stated that a Van Halen reunion is "inevitable." Of course, he failed to mention that any such reunion would also be "pathetic" "abysmal" and "a joke." David, guess what, you suck. You've always sucked. You're a joke who's greatest talent was jumping and doing the splits in mid air. As big of an idiot as Eddie Van Halen is, he even realizes that the band's best days were with Sammy Hagar. David will be taking over for Howard Stern in a handful of markets, in a move that will lead to a number of former Stern listeners to go out and buy Sirius.
If you're an independent musician looking for a studio drummer or someone to produce your next album, consider using Life of Agony drummer Sal Abruscato. Yep, Sal is available to play drums for you, go on tour with you, and probably even wash your car for a paycheck. This is of course because Life of Agony was dropped by Epic Records after only selling 30,000 copies of "Broken Valley." Why that album only sold 30,000, I don't know, but that's life. And it sucks to be Life of Agony right now. These guys were supposed to reunite and kick everyone's ass and blow up huge. Instead they just kind of fizzled out. Oh well. So, yeah, give Sal a call. He could use the work, poor guy.
Corrosion of Conformity frontman Pepper Keenan recently said that touring with Disturbed was the "dumbest thing (they've) ever done." Well, no shit. Disturbed sucks, and CoC at least has some semblance of musical credibility. Maybe not based on the last time I saw them, but for the most part they're a pretty cool band. They've got talent. They're innovative. They try to do different stuff. You can't say any of that for Disturbed. Hopefully CoC realizes the mistake and doesn't try to be something that they're not.
Former Guns and Roses guitarist and current Velvet Revolver member Slash recently said that he believes that the new GnR album "Chinese Democracy" will be coming out in March. For those of you who don't know, my first article with 411 was about Guns and Roses, and was in anticipation of the "inevitable" release of the album. Almost 3 and a half years after writing that, I could truly give a fuck. I doubt it comes out. If it does, I won't buy it. I hope it sells 5,000 copies and loses millions of dollars.
Godsmack are finishing up their new album. The album has a working title of "Four," and, according to frontman Sully Erma, will "perk people's eyebrows up again." He says that the album contains some old-school style Godsmack songs, along with some more epic songs. No word yet on when this is coming out, but it's one of the few albums on their way that I'm really looking forward to. So far Godsmack has bounced between mediocre and amazing, but I've got to give them the benefit of the doubt on the new one.
36 Crazyfists have become (I believe) the first band confirmed for 2007's Sounds of the Underground tour. If the lineup is anything like last year's, it'll be another great show. They just need to get their asses to Columbus. I doubt that we'll hear much about this tour until May or so, but 36 Crazyfists are from Alaska, so they probably have to book their airfare early.
The Last Word
Thanks for reading folks. Again, if you're a conservative Republican who enjoys political debate, send me an email. Or, if you have anything to say, send me an email. I'm always looking for comments. Have a good one, and I'll be back next week.
