I want it. I love this guy...

Written by Mountain King on 04.09.2010 at 14:44

I want it. I love this guy...

He just might love you too.

I'm looking forward to this also. Halford rocks!

New Halford woot?!! This is a total surprise, I wasnt expecting new material from them this year. Im in a wretched mood today, but this news has lifted it slightly. xD

Slightly cheesy and slightly awesome at the same time.

Quote:

Written by Guest on 04.09.2010 at 14:48

He just might love you too.

I'm looking forward to this also. Halford rocks!

lmao

...and he just might get you a beer!

Can't wait to get this album!

Written by trendkill- on 04.09.2010 at 22:48

Slightly cheesy and slightly awesome at the same time.

Cheesy and awesome? Yep, those two words perfectly sum up our Rob! lol

Or very cheesy and not awesome judging by that video teaser.

But I'll look into this anyway.

Till the day i day?

Written by Valentin B on 06.09.2010 at 00:50

Till the day i day?

I noticed that as well! Surely it's actually "Till The Day I Die", and that is just a typo. lol

This sounds pretty nice, i wanna listen to this soon only thing is i didn't find "made of metal" too interesting but "the mower" surely caught my attention.

"The Mower" is definitely the better of the 2 songs, although there's no real stand out riffs or hooks in it. It does grow on you though. And I love Rob's demonic death growl at the end of it. \m/

I cant help thinking though, its about Rob mowing his lawn, although Im sure it isnt!

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 01:24

I cant help thinking though, its about Rob mowing his lawn, although Im sure it isnt!

hahah, it most certainly isn't. it probably does have something to do with robots destroying humanity, the good stuff.

Written by Valentin B on 06.09.2010 at 01:29
hahah, it most certainly isn't. it probably does have something to do with robots destroying humanity, the good stuff.

I know there's no way in hell it can be about lawnmowers and gardening, but every time I see that title, I cant help thinking of that. hehe

You're right, the subject of the song is likely to be in that vein. xD Anyways, a new Halford album just has to contain some good songs, so Im very much looking forward to it. Especially now with Roy Z joining Mike Chlasciak in the twin lead attack.

Imo, Rob Halford can still pull out very good vocals but I find the songs damn boring.
There's no wonder I find them boring, however. I can't be sure if it's really due to the quality of the songs or because it is standard Heavy Metal, a genre in which I completely lost interest throughout the years. There's very little stuff I still enjoy as for standard Heavy Metal and I need to be in the right mood, otherwise I well get bored quickly.
It's not the case of dismissing stuff for the sake of it but a case of changes in tastes. I simply can't enjoy the stuff I liked in my youth today because people change with time and I changed too much. It's astonishing sometimes. When I hear stuff I liked very much in the 80s and I haven't heard it for a decade or more, it amazes me to realize how boring I can find it, while I absolutely loved it when I was a teenager.

@Hidden_Dictator: Yep, if you have no interest in standard heavy metal anymore, then it must be hard to decipher whether you actually find Halford's songs to be lacking in quality, or if it's just because you're bored of the genre itself. Its a purely personal thing, and everyone is different. Some people's tastes change over time, sometimes they never do. My tastes have merely expanded over the years, they've never really changed. Although within my first couple of years of liking metal, I already loved a lot of different genres. Power, Death, thrash, standard, etc... So Ive had pretty wide ranging tastes for almost as long as Ive been into metal. There are some genres that I either dont like, or I dont have much time for, but generally speaking, I do love a lot of different styles and genres of metal.

As for Rob's vocals, he has lost a step from his younger days, but for his age, he still has quite an awesome set of pipes. His vocals now are harsher and grittier compared to his heyday, which sometimes suits the songs better. xD

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 02:41

@Hidden_Dictator: Yep, if you have no interest in standard heavy metal anymore, then it must be hard to decipher whether you actually find Halford's songs to be lacking in quality, or if it's just because you're bored of the genre itself. Its a purely personal thing, and everyone is different. Some people's tastes change over time, sometimes they never do. My tastes have merely expanded over the years, they've never really changed. Although within my first couple of years of liking metal, I already loved a lot of different genres. Power, Death, thrash, standard, etc... So Ive had pretty wide ranging tastes for almost as long as Ive been into metal. There are some genres that I either dont like, or I dont have much time for, but generally speaking, I do love a lot of different styles and genres of metal.

It seems for most people their musical tastes are kinda cast in stone around 20 and barely evolve after or evolve towards something softer. In my case, my tastes never ceased to change slowly but surely. And they always evolved towards more extreme music, not the opposite. Don't ask me the reason. I don't know. It's just like that and there's nothing I can do about it.

The way it evolved in my case, as for my favorite genre, is more or less the following (though I always listened to stuff from different genres):

Heavy Metal ---> Powermetal (but of the old melodic Speed Metal kind, I never liked soft Powermetal) ---> Thrash ---> Black Metal

By the way, you don't seem to like Black Metal. You never talk about this genre, as if it doesn't exist for you (which is my own attitude towards Doom Metal, I never had the slightest trace of interest for this genre because of the slowness and depressive mood).

Made of Cheeeeeeeeese

The cover art is awful, and I don't think I will be able to listen the whole album in just one listen, I mean, 14 songs! That's a lot for a Heavy metal album, well, let's see, maybe it will be cool, but I think that only few songs will be good...

Written by RavenKing on 06.09.2010 at 03:08
It seems for most people their musical tastes are kinda cast in stone around 20 and barely evolve after or evolve towards something softer. In my case, my tastes never ceased to change slowly but surely. And they always evolved towards more extreme music, not the opposite. Don't ask me the reason. I don't know. It's just like that and there's nothing I can do about it.

The way it evolved in my case, as for my favorite genre, is more or less the following (though I always listened to stuff from different genres):

Heavy Metal ---> Powermetal (but of the old melodic Speed Metal kind, I never liked soft Powermetal) ---> Thrash ---> Black Metal

Well, I was exposed to extreme metal when I was still very young. I must have only been 13/14 when I first heard bands like Death, Carcass etc... And while initially it was hard for me to get into, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with those types of bands. But what didn't happen was a rejection of lighter styles of metal that I was into beforehand as a result of that. And that is something that has remained the case for me ever since. Helloween's Keeper albums are 2 of my favourite albums of all time, but then so is Carcass' Symphonies Of Sickness. Now, musically those albums couldnt be further apart in style, yet I have equal fondness for them. I do think that many people, particularly guys, ditch the lighter metal styles once they get into extreme metal. It's almost as if they feel it's something they have to do. I know that probably isnt the case with you, but Im sure that for some, it is like that.

Different strokes for different folks I guess... lol xD

Written by RavenKing on 06.09.2010 at 03:08
By the way, you don't seem to like Black Metal. You never talk about this genre, as if it doesn't exist for you (which is my own attitude towards Doom Metal, I never had the slightest trace of interest for this genre because of the slowness and depressive mood).

I do like black metal, though I certainly wouldn't claim to be any authority on the genre, because I only listen to a small amount of black metal bands. And I dont listen to it that often. Same with doom metal actually. I only like about a handful of bands in that genre. lol

@Daggon: Yep, the new Halford album cover is awful.

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 10:16

Well, I was exposed to extreme metal when I was still very young. I must have only been 13/14 when I first heard bands like Death, Carcass etc... And while initially it was hard for me to get into, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with those types of bands. But what didn't happen was a rejection of lighter styles of metal that I was into beforehand as a result of that. And that is something that has remained the case for me ever since. Helloween's Keeper albums are 2 of my favourite albums of all time, but then so is Carcass' Symphonies Of Sickness. Now, musically those albums couldnt be further apart in style, yet I have equal fondness for them. I do think that many people, particularly guys, ditch the lighter metal styles once they get into extreme metal. It's almost as if they feel it's something they have to do. I know that probably isnt the case with you, but Im sure that for some, it is like that.

I still like to listen to "Walls Of Jericho", Keepers 1 and all Gamma Ray albums from "Land Of The Free" to "Land Of The Free 2" (I hate "To The Metal", however) when I'm in the right mood. Same for Blind Guardian's stuff until "Somewhere Far Beyond".

I believe if Powermetal bands still released Power/speed albums, I'd still enjoy the genre, as a change from Black Metal and Thrash, when I'm in the mood for something softer and happier but still undoubtedly metal.
My dislike of the Powermetal genre is not a rejection of the stuff I liked years ago as much as not being able to enjoy the genre because it changed too much (read because it pussified itself to a degree I can't stand).
I still like pure Power/Speed Metal.
But I never liked, and will never like, ultra-cheesy flowermetal.

As for traditional Heavy Metal, I've never been a big fan because as soon as I got into metal, I quickly switched to Power/speed Metal and Thrash, because I like speed very much, so I found this stuff had more appeal for me. Apart from Iron Maiden, which I listened to quite a lot in the 80s, I never cared much for standard Heavy Metal.

Damn, Angelic Storm, you make me realize that I haven't changed so much, after all. lol

Death and Carcass are a barely impressive feat, as Death never was that extreme at all to begin with and then became pretty easy to listen to, even for the commercial ear (minus the vocals).

Carcass, I guess the production in their debut's a turn-off, but they also seemed to be pretty easy to get into, though they have that odd crawling feeling to their music and those muffled raspy vocals...

And let's not forget they're both pretty popular bands. So yeah.

Written by RavenKing on 06.09.2010 at 16:31
I still like to listen to "Walls Of Jericho", Keepers 1 and all Gamma Ray albums from "Land Of The Free" to "Land Of The Free 2" (I hate "To The Metal", however) when I'm in the right mood. Same for Blind Guardian's stuff until "Somewhere Far Beyond".

I find "Land Of The Free 2" to be a weak album by Gamma Ray. lol Some songs like "Rain", "Opportunity", and "Real World", are awesome, but overall, I really wouldnt put it up there with their true classics like LOTF1, "No World Order", or my personal fave, "Somewhere Out In Space". "To The Metal" has it's moments (Like "Deadlands" and "Chasing Shadows") but again, it's a weak album by them imo. As for "Walls Of Jericho" and Keeper 1, well they're just genre defining classics. xD

How about "Imaginations From The Other Side"? Do you not like that album?

Quote:
I believe if Powermetal bands still released Power/speed albums, I'd still enjoy the genre, as a change from Black Metal and Thrash, when I'm in the mood for something softer and happier but still undoubtedly metal.
My dislike of the Powermetal genre is not a rejection of the stuff I liked years ago as much as not being able to enjoy the genre because it changed too much (read because it pussified itself to a degree I can't stand).
I still like pure Power/Speed Metal.
But I never liked, and will never like, ultra-cheesy flowermetal.

hehe, I never had you down as someone who would like anything "softer and happier". I myself dont mind cheesiness so long as I like the music. If the music is crap to me, then the cheesiness just makes it worse, but if I like the music, then its not an issue for me. lol

Quote:
As for traditional Heavy Metal, I've never been a big fan because as soon as I got into metal, I quickly switched to Power/speed Metal and Thrash, because I like speed very much, so I found this stuff had more appeal for me. Apart from Iron Maiden, which I listened to quite a lot in the 80s, I never cared much for standard Heavy Metal.

Well actually, Maiden were really the only metal band I liked before I discovered thrash. (before that it was rock like Guns N' Roses) So I wasnt really that well versed in traditional heavy metal before I made the jump to more aggressive metal. But I still love Maiden, and especially Judas Priest who are still one of my all time fave metal bands.

Quote:
Damn, Angelic Storm, you make me realize that I haven't changed so much, after all. lol

As long as that is a good thing, then Im glad to be of service! haha


@Vezzy: What? Not impressive? I'm not trying to impress anyone. lol And not impressive to who? You, I suppose...

Besides, when I first heard albums like "Clandestine", "Leprosy", and "Necroticism..", I was only 13, and the most extreme music Id heard up till that point was Slayer. So yes, those albums at the time were very extreme to me. Anyways, it's hardly as if stuff like "Left To Die" and "Severe Burns", or "Embryonic Necropsy And Devourment" were the type of songs you'd find on mainstream charts or radio.

No matter that Carcass are "popular", that still doesn't make "Reek Of Putrefaction" or "Symphonies Of Sickness" albums that would be palatable for most people. Even a lot of metal fans couldnt stomach those albums. Ive even heard some fans of Carcass' later albums calling Symphonies... horrible music. Even Necroticism, but the first 2 albums especially, are still extreme no matter which way you look at it. And I find early Carcass a lot more intense and exciting to listen to than the vast majority of today's brutal death/grind bands, who dont seem to know how to write songs that sound different from each other. lol

I mean easy to get into if you're already into some sort of metal (maybe not if you're a traditional and glamcoholic, so yeah, they wouldn't stomach it).

What exactly are you looking for anyway (also where, for that matter)? Most of the time I see you talk about power/heavy and otherwise well known bands. Stuff like Cephalic Impurity and Guttural Secrete, just to name a couple, is good modern brutal death.

Grindcore in general... Wormrot, Magrudergrind, Trap Them and The Berzerker a few modern grind bands. Although the latter's drum BPM can get on your nerves.

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 18:22

How about "Imaginations From The Other Side"? Do you not like that album?

It's an album I can stand but I don't like it much. Not enough to listen to it from time to time. I dislike the way Hansi started to use his mellow (which I find weak and whiny) voice during softer passages. Also, the production started to be a bit modern for my tastes and music too much layered sometimes.
Still better than anything that came afterwards.

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 18:22

hehe, I never had you down as someone who would like anything "softer and happier". I myself dont mind cheesiness so long as I like the music. If the music is crap to me, then the cheesiness just makes it worse, but if I like the music, then its not an issue for me.

Well, keep in mind softer can be very relative. The stuff I label as softer and happier is still Speed Metal. Read "softer and happier" compared to the music I usually listen to". (Black Metal and some Thrash)
I can stand some cheesiness without problem, if the music is still in your face and fast. After all, I'm a big medieval and fantasy lover. It's just that I usually prefer to see things from the dark side, if you know what I mean. But there's a certain level of cheesiness I can't go past.
And yes, if music is bad, cheesiness makes it much worse. When cheesiness reaches overpretentious levels (see Rhapsody Of Fire) or hilarious nonsense (Bal-Sagoth after their first album), then there's no way I can ignore it and enjoy music despite the cheesiness.
And the Powermetal genre has crossed the line between 'a bit of cheesiness here and there' and being cheesy for the sake of being cheesy to the point it becomes a big joke already a long while ago. I mean, at some point there is no credibility left.

Written by Angelic Storm on 06.09.2010 at 18:22

Written by RavenKing on 06.09.2010 at 16:31
I still like to listen to "Walls Of Jericho", Keepers 1 and all Gamma Ray albums from "Land Of The Free" to "Land Of The Free 2" (I hate "To The Metal", however) when I'm in the right mood. Same for Blind Guardian's stuff until "Somewhere Far Beyond".

I find "Land Of The Free 2" to be a weak album by Gamma Ray. lol Some songs like "Rain", "Opportunity", and "Real World", are awesome, but overall, I really wouldnt put it up there with their true classics like LOTF1, "No World Order", or my personal fave, "Somewhere Out In Space". "To The Metal" has it's moments (Like "Deadlands" and "Chasing Shadows") but again, it's a weak album by them imo. As for "Walls Of Jericho" and Keeper 1, well they're just genre defining classics. xD

I think LOTF 2 is a very good Powermetal album and by far the best PM album released in 2007.

To be honest, I never thought I would one day say something like this about Gamma Ray, especially as it was the only Power/speed Metal band still playing it by the book only a few years ago but, as much as I like every other Gamma Ray album (I'm not too fond of the Scheepers era but I can find some good songs on every album), I have to say that, imo, "To The Metal" sucks from beginning to end. Not a single good song on this lazy album. The songs are mediocre and production makes everything sound like shit. I will never buy this album. Also, I will check the next album before giving up on this band but if it's as crappy as "To The Metal", I'll stick to the old albums and won't bother to check the new ones.
Extremely sub-par for musicians as talented as Gamma Ray's members. And a total disappointment.

EDIT: Some people criticized "Majestic" and LOTF 2 but they were still very decent albums. Yes, there was some stagnation but I had no big problem with it. However, "To The Metal" doesn't feel like a Gamma Ray album at all. And I forgot to mention that vocals are bad. And this comment comes from someone who usually prefer Kai Hansen to Michael Kiske as a vocalist.

Written by vezzy on 06.09.2010 at 19:08

I mean easy to get into if you're already into some sort of metal (maybe not if you're a traditional and glamcoholic, so yeah, they wouldn't stomach it).

What exactly are you looking for anyway (also where, for that matter)? Most of the time I see you talk about power/heavy and otherwise well known bands. Stuff like Cephalic Impurity and Guttural Secrete, just to name a couple, is good modern brutal death.

Grindcore in general... Wormrot, Magrudergrind, Trap Them and The Berzerker a few modern grind bands. Although the latter's drum BPM can get on your nerves.

I highly doubt the first 2 Carcass albums would be easy for most metal fans to get into. Especially if they're young and have never been exposed to anything more extreme than power or thrash. You also have to keep in mind the timespace we're talking about here. When I first got into bands like Carcass, Death, etc... there was no real brutal death scene. In fact, the term "brutal death metal" for summing up an entire sub genre didnt even exist back then. So the grind/death bands that I grew up listening to at the time were the most brutal and heaviest things around. These ultra brutal bands that are around today didn't exist back then. Have you got any idea the impact and shock that an album like "Symphonies Of Sickness" would have created back in the day? I highly doubt it. To you, it might not be extreme, but back then it without a doubt was, and I still class the first 2 albums as extreme. Even "Necroticism" would be too much apart from to death/grind lovers. Just because there may be albums "more extreme" than those ones, doesnt mean they aren't extreme at all. Besides, how "extreme" a band is, isnt a measure of a bands worth or goodness, just their style.

I mainly talk about power/heavy/thrash/death bands, because those are the genres I particularly like. I do like bands in most other genres, but struggle to find good bands in them. By it's very nature, the brutal death/grind genre is awash with generic and identikit sounding bands. In principle, its a very easy genre to play, and in most band's struggle to be the most brutal band possible, they actually forget about the songwriting part. I do not measure a band's worth on how brutal or not they are, in fact its meaningless to me. Only good and memorable songs matter to me. Trap Them aren't more brutal than early Carcass imo, no way. But they are a decent band. The Bezerker are definitely brutal, but the almost non-stop blast beating gets on my nerves after a while. Which is a shame, cos some of their music is actually very good.

Wowowowow!! i cant wait to get this album!!