My Top Album Of The Week Via Last.FM: Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile"

So I know I'm late on writing... Anything. I don't have a good excuse. Oh well. Anyway, according to my Last.FM account, my top album of this week is Nine Inch Nails' 2-disk masterpiece The Fragile. Nine Inch Nails completely dominated the list this week, taking not only the #1 spot, but the top 4 spots. And, this one is not just the #1 album, but it has broken the record for most plays in a single week with an impressive 80 plays. Which is 40 more plays than the #2 album which was Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero.

How do I even begin to describe why this album is so great? There's no way I have enough time to sit here and go into all 23 songs like this album deserves. And yet, there's no real way to give a cursory over-view of this amazing album. I think it's the catchiness of songs like "We're In This Together" and "Where Is Everybody" that first draws you in. Then songs like "I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally" that are so haunting and makes the album stick with you.

Or maybe it's the constant build that each song seems to go through. All you have to do is listen to the open track on the first disk to be instantly captured. It starts off with a very simply acoustic guitar riff and just keeps building and building until it's just an assault of hard alt-rock. Then you just have the pure heaviness of songs like "Starfuckers, Inc." and "No, You Don't" that sets this album apart from the other albums. This album is Nine Inch Nails in their most raw, and pure form. The fact that this album isn't more famous just baffles me.

I don't usually put videos in these blogs but I feel I must for this one. Here's them playing "No, You Don't" live.

Some Very Sad News To Report.

Nathan Ells, who I have often regarded as being one of the best, most talented vocalists in metal today, is no longer in The Human Abstract. As said in a statement on the band's MySpace page;

It is time we update you on some very important news. First and foremost, The Human Abstract will no longer be working with Nathan Ells. We want to wish Nathan the very best in his future endeavors. With that being said, we are now looking for our new lead singer. To clue everyone in, our new singer must be into Chuck Norris, Van Damme and most importantly Steven Seagal movies. We will be holding public auditions, so if you have what it takes please reach us at THAvocalistsearch@gmail.com and we will respond to you with more information.

I literally just read this and figured I must write an article. Nathan Ells has one of the most impressive vocal ranges in this type of music. Also, the man was a genious song writer and an AMAZING performer. I know this because I've seen them live twice. And, I can't imagine a the band without him. Being a metal vocalist myself, I respect the things that Nathan does with his voice. I often try to sing his songs and wish I had that type of range. Just go buy a copy of Midheaven and see how awesome his voice is. That album really draws it out to it's finest. Whereas Nocturne focused more on the technical aspect of the band's music. Just watch them perform "A Violent Strike" and tell me the band can ever be the same without him.

My Tope Album of the Week Via Last.FM - Revocation's "Existence Is Futile"

One of the perks of being back is that I can start doing this again. My top album this week, according my Last.FM account is Revocation's crushing sophomore release, Existence Is Futile. First of all, even though I haven't been posting, I still generated the list every week trying to motivate myself to write. And I would like to point out that last week's winner which was Scar Symmetry's newest album Dark Matter Dimensions holds the record for most plays of an album in any given one week period for me coming in with 61 one plays in just one week. Which is pretty huge so, eventually I will be writing a full review of that album.

I guess I kept my iPod on shuffle for most of the week because this week's winner only had 17 plays. Oh well. Lets talk about how amazing this album is. It totally takes their first release, Empire Of The Obscene, and rapes it... In the face! As great as an album that was, Existence Is Futile crushes it in every possible way. The intricate guitar work is what I think makes this album above all else that I've heard this year. Just listen to the opening instrumental track "Enter The Hall." When I bought this album at a local record store (physical CDs for the win!) on Holloween, me and my friend Malcolm played it through my computer as we prepared our costumes as Jay and Silent Bob to go hang out in front of a convenience store. We weren't really paying attention during the first few seconds of the album. Then the cymbal crash. After the cymbal crash of the first track, everything goes off. It's like an explosion of guitar solos. The both of us just stopped and stared at my computer for a second. That very second I decided that this was one of the best albums of 2009 by far. And THE best new band out there without question.

After that the entire album is just a slew of thrash metal classics to kill your family to. The title track is one of the most interesting songs on the album because it makes you feel like it's two different songs. About half-way through the song everything stops and it just picks back up with a completely different and equally as amazing riff and vocal line, and drum progression. Just really interesting how they did this. Also, the song "The Brain Scramblers" is just a song that is meant to be played live. I can just see the audience screaming. "NEUROTOXINS SCRAMBLES BRAINS!!!" Just pure win.

I'm not gonna spend much time dissecting each song but, I would like to say this; if you don't buy a copy of this album, you are missing out on what is probably the best metal album of 2009. Hands down.

Highlights of the album are... THE ENTIRE THING. Seriously. Buy it. Now. Go.

Name Change

I'm finally back from a long needed break from blogging. I wasn't planing on taking the break but, i just didn't have the time to post because I finally got a job. So, now that I've taken that break I think I've figured out how to manage my time so I can do this and my job and school and stuff. Anyway, with me being back, i decided that the blog could use a new name.

I was playing my iTunes on shuffle the other day and I found a song that I never noticed before. Called "Feedback, Blood, and Distortion" by Toxic Holocaust. And I thought to myself, those three words sum up metal perfectly! Everything that is metal is in those three words. So simple. So that's the new name of my blog. And, to celebrate, here's the song that inspired me.

My Top Album Of The Week Via Last.FM - Chimaira's "The Infection"

It's Saturday and you know what that means, it's time for my second album of the week according to my Last.FM account. This week, Chimaira's latest offering The Infection came in at number one with 32 plays. Last weeks winner, Cormorant's Metazoa came in at number two this week with 21 plays.

So, I finally decided to get the new Chimaira album into my library and, needless to say, I absolutely love it. Some people complained that the riffs are "too slow." I say they're crushing. There's nothing slow moving about this album. It's not like a Down or Clutch album where it borders on blues. Trust me, this is the same brand of pure American metal that this amazing band always produces. I've seen this band twice now, and the second time I saw them, it was on the Music As A Weapon VI tour with Disturbed and I swear when they played "Destroy and Dominate" from this album, it was the most painful mosh pit I've ever been in. Also the biggest. It was absolutely insane. I would love to see this band when they're actually the headliner of a tour.

My only complaints about this album are that, the song "Impending Doom" is a little more boring to me than I would've though. And "The Heart Of It All" is a 14 minute instrumental track. I listened to the whole thing just waiting for the voice break but it never came. It NEVER CAME. But, everything else about this album is great. I especially like the guitar work on "Coming Alive." You'll get what I mean when you listen to it. And, it it just me or is Mark Hunter's voice deeper that it used to be? Interesting.

The highlights of this album are "The Venom Inside," "Coming Alive," "On Broken Glass" and "Destroy and Dominate."

In Terms Of "Special Edition" Packaging, Mudvayne Wins

So, I read over at Metal Insider the other day that Mudvayne has a new album coming out. Uhmm... Didn't they just put out an album? They don't waste any time, huh. Anyway, the point is, the new Mudvayne self titled album with be printed on black light reactant ink. That's not even the coolest part, the special edition comes with it's own black light! So, that's pretty cool. As far as I'm concerned, this kinda brings them back to the old days of doing things based on being kinda cool or trippy to some people. Who knows? Maybe we'll even see a return-to-form in terms of music. Because, I still listen to their first two albums more than any of their other stuff. Another sign of promise it the fact that, in the video below that kinda demonstrates the packaging, the art has the The Beginning Of All Things To End logo on it. So, I think that's a good sign of what's to come.

Also, the band has a new sog streaming on their MySpace page. And, quite frankly, I like it a lot better than that album they put out a few months ago. It shows real promise of going back to a metal band as opposed to a heavy rock band like they were on The New Game. Not only that, the new song has BLAST BEATS!! That's a real step up for Mudvayne and maybe it will earn them some cred back in the metal community. Who knows. I'm definitely a big enough fan of them but, not the rest of the metal community agrees with me.

Make Funny Faces With A New Scar Symmetry Video

So Scar Symmetry finally released the video for the first single off their new album Dark Matter Dimensions. Like the rest of the Scar Symmetry fans, I was anxious to see how the two new singers do with this band. And, quite frankly, I have no complaints. The song is pretty much a Scar Symmetry song. What can I say? It's what you would expect from a band that is commonly referred to as "Death Jovi."

The only annoying thing is, the new dude that does the growls keeps making these ridiculous faces when he sings. I don't know if he's being serious or just trying really hard to look metal but, it's pretty funny. Even if you don't like the song or this band you can at least get a few chuckles out of this guy. In any case, Dark Matter Dimensions comes out October 20th on Nuclear Blast. And, consider me excited.