Late reviews coming

Right, I feel the need to do some reviews (however belated), so expect a review of Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (from last Monday), Rammstein's new album, Liebe ist fur Alle da, maybe an on time review of Wolfmother's Cosmic Egg too.

Also in the next fortnight, expect a review of World Painted Blood by Slayer and Clutch live at the Academy 2 next Monday. Might even throw some reviews of other shit I was at/have listened to recently up too.

So there, you massive fuckers.

Wolf w/Cauldron & Incidium

Wolf w/ Cauldron & Incidium
Moho
14/10/2009
Thomas Geddes
****

Wolf may not be the hugest heavy metal band out there, but they’re certainly big enough to get excited about, when they play a venue as small as the Moho.

Playing to a room of no more than fifty, the Swedish old-schoolers didn’t seem deterred as they powered through riff after riff, stopping only once, early into the set, to pay heartfelt tribute to Evile’s recently departed bassist. Afterwards though, they broke out the cliché’s; running into the crowd and fist pumping through an impressive greatest hits style set. But cliché’s work at this kind of gig, and the small crowd loved every second of the throwback to metal’s yesteryear

Tagging along for the ride were Incidium, a thrash metal band who, despite a solid performance, were notably out of place. Cauldron, another slice of pure 80’s, were the middle act and seemed in their element. Close crowd’s called for playful banter from Cauldron, who, based on song titles like ‘Chained up in Chains’, didn’t take themselves too seriously. Yet their set was as heavy and fast as what succeeded. Wolf certainly stole the show, but a full solid gig. If you like anything the heavy side of AC/DC, this was for you.

(Edited version may appear in Student Direct: Mancunian at a later date)

Stoner Rock News: Karma to Burn release new video for 20

One of the biggest things you need to learn about me is that, I have a massive, huge, biblical love for stoner rock. So any news that I deem relevant to that, it'll be posted here in a snap. Well, here's the first bit of news.

Recently reformed instrumental, numerical-song-titling geniuses, Karma To Burn, have just re-recorded their songs 20 & 30 to make them sound crisper. Whilst doing this, they also recorded a video for 20 which may have just become one of my favourite videos of all time. Perfectly bizare sums it up.

Papa Roach w/Madina fucking Lake & Heavens Basement

Papa Roach w/Madina Lake & Heaven’s Basement
Manchester Academy 1
11/10/2009
Thomas Geddes
***

Papa Roach must be counting their blessings that Madina Lake exist. If it wasn’t for their shambolic performance preceding the headline act, Papa Roach wouldn’t have looked all that great.

Openers Heaven’s Basement offered the greatest set. Ploughing through their hard rock warm up slot, seemingly determined to leave an impression. Then again so would you if your career had been reset thanks to managerial issues forcing you to change your name and start from scratch. Working the crowd as well as any band can to a filling room, everyone was jumping and clapping along. The high spirits of the crowd didn't last for too long. What succeeded them can only be accurately described in noises of disgust. A kind of shudder from within the stomach. Pure nausia. Madina Lake definitely entertained an audience strewn with young girls willing to get wet at any band with matching haircuts, but the missed high notes were glaringly obvious and the front-man’s failed stage dive was embarrassing, if not hilarious. I’d genuinely recommend a trip to the bar, as no matter how much you drink, you'll feel less sick by the end of it than if you were to watch the glorious shit stains on stage.

Because of this confirmation of evil, Papa Roach’s arrival onstage seemed more triumphant than it would have otherwise. Kicking off a set peppered with songs from newest album Metamorphosis, the Californian quartet never hit their stride, looking constantly stiff and pretty much as though they were only on stage because of contractual commitment. During classics such as ‘Blood Brothers’, they seemed just as bored with it all, despite huge reactions from the crowd. Even Jacoby Shaddix’s confusing ramblings of “Who wants to take a sh*t on the floor?’, appeared as though they’d be rehashed for the full tour. Their whole set seemed way too static, way too rehearsed. Not in a good, polished and honed kind of way either. More in an embarrassingly awkward way where there was no room to move. I Definitely would not want to see twice in one tour. If not for the fact the 'first gig' type crowd showed no respect for their peers (when someone falls over in a pit and you're the only one trying to help them up, you'll see what I mean) then for the fact that I'd fear, with all the deja vu, that there was a glitch in the Matrix.

(Edited version appears in Student-Direct:Mancunian Issue 5 dated October 19th 2009)

House of Blues @ Old Orleans

Day: Thursdays
Time:7:30PM/8:00PM till 11:00PM
Price: Free

I'm no expert on blues and given the choice at home, I wouldn't listen to the straight-up real proper blues variety. Granted, I like Led Zeppelin, Clutch, AC/DC, ZZ Top and plenty of others that incorporated blues at some point or other, but it's not really the same. Which is why, when it comes to hearing blues in a live situation, I'm expected to scoff and run away to some metal bar for some comfort from a long haired, leather clad, biker-type rocker.

Not the case. Infact, it couldn't be further from the truth if you fired it from a cannon into the sun. Hearing blues whilst nursing a drink is something special. It's the kind of relaxed oposite of what I'd normally go to. I like to think of it as a night off from reality. So imagine my joy when I found out there was a blues night every week, minutes away and free to enter. Yeah, it was pretty joyous.

House of Blues at Old Orleans (located in the Printworks) is an amazingly peaceful night out that I believe everyone with ears should pen into their diary. The premise is, 3 blues bands/artists (though what defines blues can be very sketchy here. It seems an acoustic guitar usually qualifies apparently) play an equal length set each and then. Well. Then you go home. That simple. I've only been for 2 weeks thus far, but both weeks have provided at least one amazing act and two average ones. But so long as the amazing one is first, you'll be drunk by the second act and won't care. That's all I have to say on this. It's not technically a review as a call to arms. Get to Old Orleans every Thursday so that they can make plenty of money and continue to do this for months and months.

Sore bloody neck + Early bloody morning = Bloody bloody hell

To say I hate my neck muscles and the existance of man today is not only an understatement, but also the most fundamental truth known to man. The ache's in both my neck and head aren't only annoying to me, but also to anybody who crosses my path. I mean look at me. My face is demented as it is, but today it looks like a bag of mangled anvils. I'm gonna be grumpy all day. Bloody early mornings. On the plus side, Wolf were awesome. Cauldron were awesome. Incidium were pretty decent too. Real review coming sometime later.

Wolf w/Cauldron tonight.

I find myself in an awesome position tonight. I'm going to check out 2 bands (maybe a 3rd depending on who this mystery guest is) at a smallish venue in Manchester called the Moho. I have very little knowledge of the bands, I've seen neither live & until last week, I couldn't sing any of their songs. But after a few days of spotifying, I'm really hyped. Massively. It's amazing. And the best thing. It's FREE. Seriously guys, take advantage of your local publications and get working for them as a volunteer. Now, just to dust off the leather jacket and chains.

Bowling For Soup - Sorry For Partyin'

Bowling for Soup
Sorry for Partyin'
2/5


Every time I put on a Bowling for Soup album, I instantly feel like I'm 10 again, remembering listening to the first few albums and being overcome with mirth. However, with Sorry for Partyin', that didn't last the whole album. If anything, I felt older by the end.

The problem with this album isn't that it isn't funny (I defy anyone who says they can listen to 'No Hablo Inglés' without at least a smirk), but the hooks aren't as catchy as you'd expect in the whole from the 15 year strong Texas quartet. There's nothing even close to their earlier successes such as 'Girl All the Bad Guys Want' or 'High School Never Ends' and the first single, 'My Wena', a thinly veiled double entendre comparing the male member to a girl, is probably the least memorable on the album. The album opens with what I suspect may be the biggest success, 'Really Cool Dance Song', a song that not surprisingly is an attempt to make a poppy dance song which will be played everywhere in a few weeks.

If you dig around, there's certainly enough here to warrant a listen, such as 'America (Wake Up Amy)' a pop punk rally call for America to 'wake up' to all it's problems, 'BFFF' about loving a man (in a heterosexual way) and 'I Can't Stand L.A.', however, the people who should be buying this in droves are young teenagers more interested in a cheap laugh than music. Not a bad album by any means, but for me there's too much effort spent on the lyrics and not enough on the music. In the words of Danny Glover, "I'm too old for this sh*t."

(Edited version originally printed in Student Direct: Mancunion - Issue 3 - October 2009)

Hey

Welcome. If you found this, either I've told you it exists, you were looking for a camply named magician, or you may have an unhealthy addiction to garages. If you're here for the latter two reasons, bugger off. I have no time for you. Otherwise, you're welcome. Essentially, this'll be a collection of my ramblings, thoughts, articles, reviews and mainly anything in the world of rock or metal I find interesting or worthy of comment. So yeah. Thats it.

P.S. I have to do my top 5 bands seeing as I always ask everyone else.

Clutch - Metallica - AC/DC - Dropkick Murphys - Pink Floyd