TGIFF!

"God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with our high voltage rock. In your name we pray, Amen."

Have a great weekend everyone!

Drummer on Fire! (Well, his kit at least)

Thought I would post a quick video of this amazing drummer from Rick K. & The Allnighters.  Enjoy!

The Age of Hell Set To Tour!

Chimaira is back on the road with a new crew and a new album!  Mark Hunter and the rest of the crew will be heading out for a U.S. tour with support from Impending Doom, Revocation and Rise To Remain.



The dates for the "The Age Of Hell Tour" are (so far):

Oct. 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
Oct. 14 - Joliet, IL - Mojoe's
Oct. 15 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
Oct. 17 - Denver, CO - Summit
Oct. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
Oct. 20 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
Oct. 21 - Portland, OR - Peter's Room
Oct. 24 - Los Angeles, CA - Key Club
Oct. 25 - Tucson, AZ - The Rock
Oct. 27 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
Oct. 28 - Dallas, TX - The Door
Oct. 29 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's
Oct. 31 - Orlando, FL - Firestone
Nov. 01 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Nov. 03 - New York, NY - BB King Blues Club & Grill
Nov. 04 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls
Nov. 05 - Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa

More dates are likely to be added, so the AFGM team is standing by for the good stuff (coughcanadiandatescough).  So far, Chimaira have relased a music video for their single 'Year of the Snake':


(Directed by Todd Bell)

As an FYI to those who follow Chimaira closely, the drum tracks on the newest album (The Age of Hell) were laid down by Ben Schigel (producer of the album).  The album was mixed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris.  The album was released Tuesday, August 16, 2011 via eOne Music.  Available everywhere on the net and in stores.

New Music Technology...

Not available on the retail market yet, but designer Yong-Seong Kim has made quite the splash with his latest Dual Music Player.  The DMP plays both MP3s as well as CD Audio.  It is compact and can be worn around your neck or inside your pocket.

This handy device has a USB terminal for loading MP3s, as well as a microphone, LCD display and all your regular necessities (play, pause, stop, skip, shuffle, etc).



You can view other designs from Yanko Designs here

Kiss Gets The Boot from Michael Jackson Tribute Show

Originally slated for the highly anticipated Michael Jackson Tribute Show, Kiss has now been removed from the bill, due to comments made about Jackson via bassist Gene Simmons.

"Under the circumstances, we fully agree that even though Kiss is a band Michael admired, we have no choice but to rescind our invitation to them to appear in our tribute concert," -Chris Hunt (Global Live Events CEO)

In U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine (2010), Gene Simmons told journalist Geoff Barton:


"I knew Michael, I ran into him a few times. I met him the first time before he became the superstar, when he was sort of teenagey, when he was still a Jackson Five. This was in the Cher days, when Cher and I lived together.  But as time moved on, and no matter what my fond memories and fond images of Michael were, with one allegation of pedophilia after another and another and another…Oh dear."


Simmons also added, "There's never been a single female of any age that I've ever known about who has ever made a claim that she has had a physical relationship with Michael, ever.  The only sexual references ever made about Michael Jackson that were made by anyone, anywhere around the world, have always been made by kids, and specifically males usually 10 to 14 years of age; never females, that age or older, and never grown men."

Jane's Addiction Video Compilation

Jane's Addiction have released a small video compilation (via YouTube) overlooking the last 23 years of this band's history.  Enjoy!

(Jane's Addiction - 1988-Present)

Random Organized Thought Energy/Arm The Homeless Review...

The best thing about having your own blog is you get to talk about whatever you like!  Mind you, I tastefully present news worthy of hitting up the blog, but this review hit a little closer to home.

Over the past weekend, I was able to perform a show with some of the best local musicians I know.  Heads were banging, amp distortion cranked to the max, amps catching on fire, snares broken and pits a moshin!



First to hit the stage was my old high school band 'Random Organized Thought Energy' (aka R.O.T.E.).  Being that we haven't played a show in over 6 years, we were all a little intimidated by the time spent apart, but confident in our ability and progression as musicians.

 

We had a great crowd response to back us up and remind us that we play some damn good metal tunes.  We ended up performing our EP2, with a few added bonuses like Absence of Knowledge and Violent Femmes' 'Blister in the Sun'.  Like us or hate us, we all had tons of fun and had a great time playing to those who came out early in the evening.



Then we move on to my boys in Arm The Homeless!  For those not aware, we have been playing together for the past five years and have focused a lot of time and energy into covering tunes by Rage Against The Machine.



The first set is always filled with classic/nostalgic 90's tunes that everyone can sing along to.  Hell, we even had our good friend Art Pisanski up on stage (minus the actual stage) to help us sing Weezer's El Scorcho.  And all I gotta say is "The red head said you shred the chello, and I'm jello baby..."



After the first break, we spent no time ripping song after song of RATM covers.  Covering everything from No Shelter, to Bombtrack, and of course (the fan favourite) Killing In The Name.  We ended up playing around 12-15 RATM tracks with little to no damage or the people and the bar.  I only say this because for some odd reason, we are the only band that tends to break out in a moshpit in our little bar (The Nest).  Either way, the crowd was happy, energetic and ready for more.  We loved the response we got from the crowd and only made us want to play again very soon.



For all of those who came (one or both nights), we very much thank you for having a great time with us, grabbing a beer and singing along to the songs we all know and love.  And as a final sign off for this review...

F**K YOU!  I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!


(For more photos of the shows, please visit the band's Facebook pages)

20 Years Later, Metallica Still Reigns Supreme!

Its been 20 years (August 12, 1991) since the Metallica crew released their world famous self titled album (aka 'Black Album').

In 2009, the self titled album topped SoundScan as the largest selling album (beating the previous album 'Come On Over' by country music star Shania Twain) with 15,689,000 copies sold worldwide.

In light of this landmark, I felt the need to post a few music video's in tribute to their accomplishment.  Kudos to James, Lars, Kirk and Jason (now Rob) for composing one of rock's most influential albums to date!


(Enter Sandman)


(The Unforgiven)


(Sad But True)


(Nothing Else Matters)

Colplay to release Mylo Xyloto

British altervative rockers Coldplay will be returning to the Billboard charts very soon with the upcoming release of Mylo Xyloto, due in stores October 24, 2011 via Capitol Records.

(Official album cover)


(Alternative cover)



The album name was announced through their website on August 12, 2011

Chimaira - The Age of Hell

(Originally posted on August 15th, 2011)

Cleveland metal heads Chimaira are waiting the arrival of their latest release dubbed 'The Age of Hell', due in stores August 16th, 2011 via E1 Music.

(Photo taken by Todd Bell)

"'The Age of Hell' is a definite return to form for Chimaira. It’s the sound of a band that has regained it’s confidence, learned from their mistakes and secured it’s foothold in the metal landscape . If you were a fan of the bands early albums but have strayed away, I highly suggest you check this album out." -Metal Arcade

Track listing is as follows:

1. The Age Of Hell
2. Clockwork
3. Losing My Mind
4. Time Is Running Out
5. Year Of The Snake
6. Beyond The Grave
7. Born In Blood (featuring Phil Bozeman of Whitechapel)
8. Stoma
9. Powerless
10. Trigger Finger
11. Scapegoat
12. Samsara (featuring Emil Werstler of DÅÅTH)

"After reading numerous reports about the band’s virtual dismantlement and ensuing demise, I fully expected this to be just a rehashed effort of the last three releases on yet another label. Not only was I wrong, I was dead wrong. This time, Chimaira have come out with a huge chip on their shoulder, ready to destroy anything or anyone that stands in their way. Not only is The Age Of Hell the most focused Chimaira album to date, but it proves the band is leaner, meaner and healthier than ever before." -The New Review

Chimaira have also released their first music video for the album.  The song chosen was 'Year of the Snake':

"Words can’t express what it took to create this album. We hope you love it as much as we do. Turn it up loud, this is Chimaira at it’s finest." - Mark Hunter (vocals)

"But instead of being just a 12-song pounding jackhammer, Chimaira pull out some different stuff like the stoner metal/doom groove in "Beyond the Grave" and "Time is Running Out", melodic ambience/post rock in "Clockwork" and an all out musical jamming session in the closer "Samsara". It’s like a sequel to The Impossibility Of Reason’s "Implements of Destruction", but it flows with its own identity and merits.

To remain relevant in the ever changing music scene, Chimaira had to sit back and take a good look what they had become, go back, strip everything down to the core and re-invent themselves. That ethic is ever present in The Age of Hell. You could say it’s an album that saved Chimaira from completely imploding and destroying themselves, presenting a new Chimaira coming out from the corner, swinging wildly with the intention to kill." -Loud Magazine

On June 6th, 2012, Chimaria also dropped a lyric video for their track "Time Is Running Out", which you can check out below:



"'Time Is Running Out,' has that medieval, prepare for battle atmosphere. The feel is weighty and powerful, but the song retains a good amount of melody while bludgeoning your psyche. “Year Of The Snake” is a grip-you-by-the-throat death rattler with a sweet breakdown." -Metalholic

The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne

The Devil Wears Prada released a track listing for their upcoming album 'Dead Throne', due in stores on September 13th via Ferret Music.


(TDWP - Dead Throne, produced by KSE's Adam D.)

01 – Dead Throne
02 – Untidaled
03 – Mammoth
04 – Vengeance
05 – R.I.T.
06 – My Questions
07 – Kansas
08 – Born To Lose
09 – Forever Decay
10 – Chicago
11 – Constance
12 – Pretenders
13 – Hold Fast

"The new record contains the heavy aspects of the Zombie EP, meshed with the melody of the full-lengths. ‘Born To Lose’ (now renamed Dead Throne) captures some of those elements and serves as a comprehensive preview to the album. By all means I'd call it our most emotional, well-written album to date."  - Mike Hranica

The Devil Wears Prada‘s new single “R.I.T.” was debuted on Full Metal Jackie‘s radio show over the weekend. You can find a recording taken from the radio broadcast below:

In light of the new album release, TDWP have announced a string of European shows with support from We Came As Romans and Dream on, Dreamer:

Tesseract to Start Filming Music Video for 'Eden'

Tesseract have recently announced that they have plans to release a music video for their single 'Eden'.  'Eden' is from Tesseract's most recent release "One" via Centruy Media Records.

Bassist Amos Williams shared some insight into what their plans are:

“We like to keep a close eye on what’s happening in the underground and the scene from which we were born. One day a jaw-dropping, stunning video appears on Got-Djent.com. I mean beautiful, cinematic, and emotive. Ganesh Rao created not only a great example of ‘djent’ with his entirely self created EMPYREAN project, but as director of the video, made something that has truly risen the bar for independent creators."

 (Tesseract - One)

"Now, as it happened we were looking for a director to work with us for our upcoming video for ‘Eden‘, so it was a no-brainer to approach Ganesh to try and make it happen. We’re very excited to see what we can create together. The hope is that it’s a piece of art, not a bullshit piece of marketing that does nothing but to self serve and ego boost the band. A lasting composition that can be enjoyed both visually and aurally. It won’t be MTV, but like all things TESSERACT, it should be intense, emotive, and enthralling.”

Here is a video of Tesseract's latest music video release titled 'Nascent':

Tesseract recently announced their plans for a North American touring venture with Animals As Leaders and Between The Buried and Me.

More information can be found here

God Forbid Signs with Victory Records!

"We are excited to announce the signing of New Brunswick, New Jersey’s melodic, thrash-metal warriors, God Forbid, to a merchandising, publishing and recording deal. Both Victory Records and God Forbid are veterans at their respective crafts, so it would seem that fate has now pieced together two longstanding staples of the hardcore and metal scenes. This marks the next chapter for GOD FORBID, a band that has sold 300,000+ albums over the last decade…" -Victory Records

“We are so excited to be a part of the Victory family. We are very proud to bring our music too all the maniacs out there who are fans of the band as well as this label. We look forward to starting a powerful partnership which will bring a new energy to the metal world.” -Corey, GOD FORBID

Gwar back with 'Return Of The World Maggot' Fall Tour

Gwar have decided to come back for another round of North American touring after a very successful European festival tour (minus bassist Beefcake The Mighty).  The tour kicks off October 18 at in Charlotte, North Carolina and will wrap on November 27 in New Haven, Connecticut.  On the bill for this tour is Everytime I Die, Ghoul and Warbeast.


 "Once again we blow the mighty horn of war, and summon the most fanatical fans in metal history to pay homage to their brutal overlords, us. Between holding Crack-a-Thons, having GWAR-B-Qs, you might think that your Lords and Masters had forgotten about you...but you won't get off that easy! Gwar is returning to personally slap the teeth out of your collective mouths, and have a great time while doing it!" - Oderus Urungus

10/18 Charlotte, NC – Amos Southend
10/19 Norfolk, VA – The Norva
10/20 Washington DC – 9:30 Club
10/21 Worcester, MA – Palladium
10/22 Albany, NY – Northern Lights
10/23 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
10/24 Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues
10/25 Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Hall
10/26 Grand Rapids, MI – Intersection
10/28 Milwaukee, WI – Rave
10/29 Detroit, MI – Harpos
10/30 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
10/31 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
11/01 Sauget, IL – Pop’s
11/02 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/04 Edmonton, AB – Events Center
11/05 Calgary, AB – Macewan Ballroom
11/07 Vancouver, BC – Commodore
11/08 Seattle,WA – Showbox
11/09 Portland, OR – Roseland
11/11 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Grand
11/12 Los Angeles, CA – House Of Blues
11/13 Pomona, CA – Glasshouse
11/15 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre
11/16 Denver, CO – Summit Theater
11/18 Austin, TX – East Side Drive In
11/19 Dallas, TX – House Of Blues
11/20 Houston, TX – House Of Blues
11/21 New Orleans, LA – The Hanger
11/22 Atlanta,GA – Masquerade
11/23 Tampa, FL – Green Iguana Stadium
11/25 Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theater
11/26 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
11/27 New Haven, CT – Toads Place


Tickets for the Toronto event can be found here!

(Gwar - Let Us Slay)

Deftones @ Lollapalooza

Saturday, August 6 proved to be quite the entertaining day for this year's Lollapalooza festival at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois.  The Deftones had professional camera footage of them rockin out on the main stage of the event to a high energy crowd over the weekend:

(Elite)

(My Own Summer)

The Deftones have been writing and recording new material for their upcoming seventh studio album due out tentatively 2012.  Lead vocalist Chino Moreno had this to say about the recording process so far with the new album:

"We find that when we actually get together in a rehearsal spot where there's no distractions and we can work together cohesively as a band, that's really when we're writing songs."

(Diamond Eyes)

(Passenger)

You can view the rest of the performance at this Youtube account.

Alexisonfire Calls It A Day/Say Their Farewells

St. Catharines' post hardcore five piece, ALEXISONFIRE, has decided after 10+ years to call it a day...






The boys had the intention of recording their 5th studio album, but failed to do so as two band members announced they were departing.  The Alexisonfire website offered this humble message by lead vocalist George Pettit:

(click to enlarge)

Dallas Green's departure from the band to focus solely on City and Colour, Wade MacNeil's departure to join a currently unnamed band, and other personal issues among the remaining members as reasons for breaking up.

Alexisonfire are currently planning to commemorate their 10th anniversary with a series of releases and one last run of Canadian headline shows.

“I don’t know what we’ll do. I don’t think we’ll play arenas. It’ll probably be a bunch of shows, probably be a bunch of nights at a smaller place. Maybe we’ll play every record or maybe we’ll do different set lists and stuff. It’ll be more of a happy-go-lucky vibe than ‘hey, look at how big we were.’ You know what I mean? It would be more about celebrating what we had and what we did and what we accomplished.” -Dallas Green

DATES ARE HERE!

"As promised in 2010 – we’re back for a Farewell Tour. We know that this tour doesn’t reach all of you, and this list is sure to cause some disappointment, but know that we have done our best to fit what we can into this window of time. December 2012 is the only time that all 5 of us aren’t committed to something in our personal or professional lives. An entire month!!!! 

We couldn’t be more excited to get on the road and travel and hit the stage one last time – most importantly we wanted to keep our promise to you guys. We’re going to be playing till the venues try to kick us off the stage. We’re talking 20+ songs a night. 

We said we’d return for some proper farewell shows. And here they are. 

12.02 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton (support from Ghost Of A Thousand)

12.03 – London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton (support from Ghost Of A Thousand)

12.07 – Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Via Funchal (support from Billy Talent)

12.11 – Sydney, AUS @ Hordern Pavilion (support from House vs. Hurricane)

12.12 – Melbourne, AUS @ Festival Hall (support from House vs. Hurricane)

12.17 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum (support from Moneen)

12.19 – Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Centre (support from Moneen)

12.20 – Calgary, AB @ Big Four Building (support from Moneen)

12.22 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis (support from Moneen)

12.23 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis (support from Moneen)

12.26 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy (support from Moneen)

12.27 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy (support from Fucked Up!)

12.28 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy (support from Monster Truck)

12.29 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy (support from TBA...)

12.30 – Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum (support from Moneen)

“For our last show ever, we thought it would be nice to bring it closer to where we grew up. Hamilton is where George calls home, it’s where I was born, and it’s where we have played countless, amazing shows over the years. This show will be a celebration of the last 10 years of our music and growing up together. I can’t think of a better way to end the tour.” -Wade MacNeil

 More details to come...

Oh Sleeper - Children of Fire

Oh, Sleeper!  The hardcore boys from Ft. Worth, Texas have been hard at work and equally ecstatic for their upcomin LP 'Children of Fire', due in stores Sept. 27, 2011 via Solid State Records.

“With every record we try to push the limits of what we can do with our sound. This record is an expansion of our sound and the best incarnation of the band to date. Also this is the most in depth we ever taken a concept record. Instead of 12 different stories that tie together around one theme, this album is one complete story where every track acts as a chapter in that story. Listeners will really have to grasp every part of the story to understand it fully.” - James Erwin

A music video has surfaced for their upcoming single 'Endseekers':

1 – Endseekers
2 – Shed Your Soul
3 – The Marriage Of Steel And Skin
4 – Hush Yael
5 – The Conscience Speaks
6 – Dealers Of Fame
7 – Means To Believe
8 – In The Wake Of Pigs
9 – Claws Of A God
10 – The Family Ruin
11 – Chewing The Stitch
12 – Children Of Fire

(Not in order: Micah Kinard, Shane Blay, James Erwin, Zac Mayfield, Nate Grady)

And now for the latest music video from Oh, Sleeper.  Check out (below) "Hush Yael":

Rolling Stone Magazine Cover Winners - The Sheepdogs

Saskatoon rockers "The Sheepdogs" have rose from the flat plains of Saskatchewan to become Rolling Stone Magazine's "Choose The Winner" contest for the month of August.  This is the first time that RSM has featured an unsigned band on their magazine cover.

"We were in New York and went to a bar and had some drinks with the Rolling Stone people and just grabbed anyone we could find and laughed and talked and then we went to a bar next to our hotel and things get a little fuzzy. I think we ended up at a bar in Harlem, but I’m still trying to piece the night together." - Ewan Currie

(The Sheepdogs are: Ewan Currie, Leot Hanson, Ryan Gullen, Sam Corbett)

The Sheepdogs have also released an official video (courtesy of SXSW) for their single 'I Don't Know':

A video of the winner's performance can be seen here, via Jimmy Fallon's website:
The Sheepdogs - I Don't Know (Live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)


The boys will be making some stops in Toronto on August 7th for the Toronto Beer Festival with The Trews.

Mastodon - The Hunter

Mastodon have been hard at work completing the final touches on their new album "The Hunter", due in stores on September 27th, 2011 via Reprise Records.

(The Hunter, standard issue)

(The Hunter, limited edition packaging)

"When you listen to the songs, they don't sound as 'fun' as we perceive them to be, I guess; it's still pretty extremely heavy material." He added, "We had a few songs that were kind of, not left over from 'Crack The Skye', but just stuff that we wanted to be on that album, but that album kind of took on a whole different thing of its own and there were a few stragglers that were super-heavy and crazy that didn't make it, and we finally got to put them on this record. And then we wrote a whole bunch of brand new stuff. There's, like, 14 songs that we recorded. And it's sort all over the place — a lot of different sounds. Some straight-up classic-rock-sounding songs, straight-up death metal-sounding songs and some completely bizarre, weirdo rock songs that we're not really sure what they are, but we love them." - Brann Dailor (drummer)

Mastodon's first music video, Black Tongue, shows the construction of the sculpture seen on their album cover:

Track listing is as follows for 'The Hunter':
01. Black Tongue
02. Curl Of The Burl
03. Blasteroid
04. Stargasm
05. Octopus Has No Friends
06. All The Heavy Lifting
07. The Hunter
08. Dry Bone Valley
09. Thickening
10. Creature Lives
11. Spectrelight
12. Bedazzled Fingernails
13. The Sparrow
14. The Ruiner (limited-edition bonus track)
15. Deathbound (limited-edition bonus track)