Believe

Little late getting this post up, but there's nothing new there. Going with something a little out of my norm here and posting some pop rock. This is not your average guitarist either. In fact you can probably add her to the list of amazing female guitarist. I of course am talking about Orianthi. Odd name, cute girl who can shred like no ones business. If the name sounds familiar, good. She's gotten a lot of attention of late. Most notably for being Michael Jackson's guitarist for his final concert movie. Since then she's played with the like of Carrie Underwood and more recently Alice Cooper and Dave Stewart. Not a bad resume for a young guitarist. When not touring with bands or solo, Orianthi has released two albums and an iTunes EP. I've uploaded the second album 'Believe' which features her most well known cuts 'According To You' and 'Highly Strung' which features guitar master Steve Vai. The album is a mix of pop and rock. It's a nice mix and the album is a good one overall. Make no mistake the girl knows her way around a guitar. Definitely worth a listen.

I found Orianthi via the song 'According To You' it was a staple on just about every radio station from rock to Top 40. The pop side of things isn't normally my thing, but with the influx of great young female guitarists and bassists cropping up I decided to give the rest of the catalog a listen. Her playing is superb, there's really no other way to describe it. And come on she's in Alice Coopers band currently. Great musician who's worked with a lot of big names and defiantly has a bright future ahead of her.

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Still Life

Mid week and it's time for some Progressive Death Metal to get you through the rest of the week. And what better way than to feature Opeth. Giants in the field of progressive death metal if you will, Opeth has been around since the mid 90's and has redefined the genre in a sense. The early albums are pretty much straight forward progressive death, save for maybe 'My Arms, Your Hearse' which according to frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, was their "black metal hippie" period. The band since there has released a steady stream of albums that vary from some of the best in the genre, see 'Blackwater Park', to more mellow albums like 'Deliverance' to their latest effort, a very prog heavy record in 'Heritage'. The consistent thing is usually a good mix of the death and mellow elements. And while the obvious choice is to feature the well received 'Blackwater Park' album, I've actually chosen the previous album in 'Still Life'. This album for me was an important record as it paved the way for the epic 'Blackwater Park' album. For those of new to Opeth, this is a good starting point, cause it was my introduction to the band. A great mix of heavy and mellow throughout the album. It's 7 tracks clock in at just over an hour. So if you're not a fan of the ten plus minute opus songs, maybe this isn't for you. This is an epic album to swallow, it's also a headphone album for me, so grab the bog ol headphones and crank this one.

'Still Life' was my introduction to Opeth and really into the death metal genre. More specifically it was the track 'Godhead's Lament' that introduced to me to the band. It's still my favorite Opeth track hands down. Great song, great breakdown in the middle, and a wonderful heavy finish. I saw Opeth some years back on their Chronology Tour. They played a song from every album they had released up to that point, which 'Ghost Reveries' had been out for a bit. I was sad I didn't get to hear my favorite track, but I will be damned if 'White Cluster' didn't kill live. Again there is a love/hate with this band with most folks. Mainly it's the live end of things with Mikael taking time between songs and telling amusing stories or jokes. Personally I think it's great and for my money he's one of the best frontman in Metal today. Gotta break up the set sometimes. The band has released solid album throughout their career and I for one have enjoyed each one of different levels. Great band with hopefully a few more albums left.

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Battle Cry

This week is another varied genre week. While mainly focusing on Metal, I'm going to dive into the sub genres a bit. Let out the collective groan now. Today we're going with some Traditional Metal. Could even go as far as calling this early American Power Metal. Sub genres semantics aside, today's band is a very underrated one on my books. Omen were another band that appeared on Metal Blade's Metal Massacre V album. Somewhat forgotten after the late 80's split. The band recorded some very solid records before splitting up in the late 80's. Omen were another band from LA who were similar to label mates Armored Saint. The band formed after guitarist Kenny Powell split from his band Savage Grace. Fronted by vocalist J.D. Kimball, the band released 3 albums and an EP with J.D. on vocals. He was replaced by Coburn Pharr, who would later wind up fronting Annihilator for several years. The band split and reformed in the late 90's and are still releasing albums every so often. The band's debut remains a quality slice of Metal though. 'Battle Cry' was a great traditional metal record. Every song on this album is a headbanger and sounded great live. I've gone ahead and uploaded the remastered expanded edition of 'Battle Cry' from the 20th Anniversary Box set released back in 03. There are two additional tracks, 'Torture Me', which was their contribution to Metal Massacre V and a Live version of 'Battle Cry' taken from a 86 show in San Antonio TX. A forgotten gem of an album that needs some new life breathed into it.

Omen for me kinda gets tossed into that whatever happened to that one band that was on that comp album pile. And they really don't belong there. The albums with J.D on vocals did really well and the band was always on the road supporting bigger bands. But for whatever reason they never broke completely through. Perhaps it was the vocalist change, maybe it was something else. In any case the band did reform with Kenny's son on vocals and guitars, releasing an album in 97, almost ten years since the last. It would be another six years before another new record would see the light of day. 'Eternal Black Dawn' featured current Phantom-X vocalist Kevin Goocher on vocals. The album was a return to form and the band started to gain some buzz. But plagued by lineup changes once again the band has mustered enough to release a live album of an old show and a comp of demos and new tracks since 03. Sadly J.D passed in 03 from cancer, leaving a comeback option dead in the water. New/Old vocalist Matt Storey is fronting the band and new material is on its way in the coming year. Hopefully people will pick up on what a great band this is.

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OFF!

New week and once again new letter. Short run of some O bands this week. And what better way to kick of a Monday then with some Punk. Some newer yet some how old school punk. OFF! is a newer band made up of veteran punkers. Led by ex Black Flag, Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris, the band has that old school early 80's Punk vibe to it. Rounded out by member of Redd Kross, Burning Brides, and Rocket From The Crypt, this supergroup of you will pulls no punches. Short, sweet and to the point this album clocks in at just over 15 minutes. That's right there's no song over a minute and a half here. 'First Four EPs' is just that the band originally released 4 EPs which comprise this album. From the opener 'Black Thoughts' it's just straight forward Punk. Enjoy this prime slice of 15 minutes. It's time to go OFF!

OFF! has gained attention since they formed. Originally Keith wanted to make another Circle Jerks record, but not everybody could get on the same page. So in protest OFF! was formed. Having one of the most iconic punk frontmen doesn't hurt. This album does have the old Black Flag vibe to it, just with an updated sound. This album is great if you need a quick wake up. Songs like 'Black Thoughts', 'I Don't Belong' and 'Darkness' just make you wanna slam dance. Also there's Keith's eulogy to the late The Gun Club frontman Jeffery Lee Pierce on here, which proves old Punkers still have heart. Solid record through and through, even for those hardened old Punk fans.

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The Novella Reservoir

Closing out the week with some Doom/Death Metal. Novembers Doom are one of the longer running USA Doom/Death outfits. Formed in 89, the band has released eight records, each seeming to outdo the last one. Fronted by Paul Kuhr, whose vocal styling reflect both the growling and the clean, takes the listener on a journey through the lyrics. Paul who also has done artwork for bands in the past, also fronts a band called These Are They. Novembers Doom are somewhat of your traditional Doom/Death band, with the exception that the music isn't always so damned slow as it is with some bands. There's some headbanging to be done here and lots of it. The last few records have been superb, especially with 'Aphotic', but I'm going with 2007's 'The Novella Reservoir'. For me this is a heavy and emotional record. And I mean damn heavy. Give a listen to the albums opener "Rain" and you'll see what I mean. There is an accompanying book to the album as well called 'The Wayfaring Chronicles', which details the bands past albums in depth and provides lyrics and insights to the band. An updated version has been released since via iTunes. This is a very underrated band in my book and worth checking out.

I found this band a few years back when I was doing some street team work for their label, The End Records. The End used to have an amazing roster, before going off into god only knows why land. Anyways, the label sent me a copy of their album 'The Pale Haunt Departure'. Solid album, but wasn't really a fan. I've never really embraced Doom Metal. For me it's to slow at times and makes me wanna sleep. Now not saying there aren't some great bands out there in that genre. But I decided to dust of 'Pale Haunt' after sometime and I actually found myself enjoying it more and more. By then 'The Novella Reservoir' had come out and I really enjoyed what I had heard. Like I said lyrically this band is great, I think it drives the music. Last few albums have been nothing short of stellar and hoping to see lots more.

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Pretty Hate Machine

Been slacking this week with the updates, so here's the final two postings before we move forward.  First up is some industrial, if you wanna call it that. Nine Inch Nails have been around for near two decades now. Starting out as somewhat of an industrial metal act, along the lines of Ministry and KMFDM, they helped pioneer the industrial movement. The band has moved away from that sound almost developing a dark ambient sound of late. Fronted by Trent Reznor, who remains the only original member left and is basically the band, only recruited musicians for live shows. The obvious upload choice for most here would be 'The Downward Spiral', but while that's a solid record, I'm gonna go with the debut in 'Pretty Hate Machine'. For me this stands up a a stronger album that hasn't been overplayed into oblivion. The first three tracks set the tone for the album. 'Head Like A Hole' is still a classic song in my books. Yet somehow I feel this album doesn't get enough respect. So here it is, the NIN debut, time to dig out the goth clothes.

NIN were my intro to industrial. I later got into KMFDM and Ministry, but 'Pretty Hate Machine' was the starting point for me. I got into this album while I was still in middle school I think. I remember rocking a NIN shirt on my first day of High School. I'm sure there's an awkward pic of that somewhere, but I digress. I was starting to find the whole 90's music scene. Bands like Nirvana, STP, GnR, Alice In Chains, and many more began to creep into my ears. Whether you wanna admit it or not, that was the soundtrack for a lot of us there. For me though NIN was overexposed with 'The Downward Spiral'. The over saturation of 'Closer' to this day makes me ill. 'Hurt' only got the recognition after Johnny Cash covered it. Good album, just overplayed and perhaps that's where the change in the sound began. The newer stuff is great as background music when you're screwing around. Reznor has stated that NIN wouldn't be anymore, but has since changed his mind about that. I'm hoping for one more album with the old sound. Oh one can hope.

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Over The Hills

Haven't has any female fronted Metal in a while, and with this band currently on the road, I figured what the hell. Nightwish is probably one of the more well known bands in the 'beauty and the beast' or 'operatic metal' genres. Nightwish started in the mid 90's and sort of kick started the whole operatic metal thing. Combining power metal elements with operatic vocals makes for an interesting mix. Nevertheless it's been rather successful over the years. The band soldiers on albeit with a different female singer after a very public split with the previous vocalist. The band has since toned down the vocals a bit and have focused more on writing their own movie. Yes that's right. In any case I've decided to post another EP. 'Over The Hills And Far Away' is a short EP combining studio tracks with live tracks. Although this is the expanded edition, the original didn't feature the live tracks. The title track is a cover of the Gary Moore classic. Also included is a remake of the bands old track 'Astral Romance'. All in all this is a good point for anyone new to the genre.

Nightwish was a band I really didn't care for at first listen. I think the vocals kinda turned me off. At that point I was just getting into female fronted metal. I gave them another listen a few years later and after a few spins I got into it. Granted the band really hasn't been the same after Tarja left, but the new record is pretty solid, ridiculous movie idea aside of course. There have been countless other operatic metal bands out there, but Nightwish still remains one of the most popular. This is a band that takes a little time to get into it, but in the ends it's a unique mix of styles and the output is pretty good.

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