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.

Dethalbum II: The Official Blog Metal Review

There's really something to be said about the fact that Brendon Small's virtual band Dethklok had one of the mos anticipated metal albums of the year with Dethalbum II. The first Dethalbum had the best debut of a death metal album of all time. Debuting at #21 on the Billboard charts. But, this new album beat it and debuted at #15! Good job, Brendon!

This album kicks off with the explosive new single (video below), "Bloodlines" which, we've all heard before. It's a pretty good. It really marked a new point in Dethklok because it's the first Dethklok song we've heard with a high-pitched scream which is pretty great. My favorite song (at the moment) is "The Gears". I love everything about this song. It's so catchy and great. I love the riffs and the melody in the verses.

Songs like "Burn The Earth" and "Laser Cannon Deth Sentance" are what take Dethklok out of being just a joke band into being a full-blown death metal band. And "Black Fire Upon Us" is an epic song along the same lines as "Go Into The Water" from the first album.

I'm gonna skip a few songs to talk about the song that everyone skipped to upon listening to the album. This is of course "Murmaider II: The Water God". This song is almost better than the first one. I mean, the guitar riff during the part where he sings "SWIM ON!" is just so epic, you can't help but like it. Plus, you can't not love the story-line. I would like to be the Water God some day.

I've decided to keep this short and not break it down song-by-song like I normally would with an album review because, hey, it's DETHKLOK. Go buy the album or die.

(5 out of 5 goat heads)

My Top Album Of The Week Via Last.FM

So I'm gonna start doing this every week. I've been a member of Last.FM for a while now, and I have my account track my weekly top albums. And, this week, coming in a number one with 29 plays is Cormorant's brilliant full-length debut Metazoa.

About a week and a half ago, I was waiting for something to download and I noticed that MetalSucks was streaming the album. I had some time to kill so I figured, hey, why not? After listening to the first couple of songs I was instantly hooked. Everything about this band and this album is just purely amazing. This band combines elements of progressive, death metal, black metal, and even a little folk metal into one awesome album. All of the songs are about 7 minutes long. The longest song, being one of my favorites is "Hanging Gardens" clocking in at 11 minutes and 16 seconds. Their songs may be a little lengthy but they have to be. They're incredibly complex and they hang together so well. Not once during any of the epic masterpieces did I ever get bored and wonder when it would be over.

The only song I don't really like on this album is "Hole In The Sea." I just haven't been able to get past the singer's annoying vocals at the beginning. Other than that, every song is pure genius. The highlights of the album are "Salt Of The Earth," "Hanging Gardens," and "The Emigrant's Wife." I suggest you go out and buy this album. Or stream it via the link I posted above.