Metal Reviews

Am I the only person that has a serious problem with Municipal Waste's logo being above, and bigger than, Napalm Death's logo on this poster?

I mean, I like Municipal Waste. I have all their albums. But come on, what the fuck!



Sounds like a sick tour, anyway!

MuniWaste may not be a better band, but they have garnered quite a reputation in the States because of their massive touring schedule. I've had the chance to see them countless times and never have. I'll probably hit up that Springfield show. Napalm Death, however, is a much more underground name due to their playing grind, and to a slightly lesser degree their Englishness and lack of touring in the States. But it is a co-headlining set. MuniWaste will draw their crowds and the avid fans of Napalm Death surely won't let this pass them by.

Personally, I just wish I cared more about ND.

http://www.metalsucks.net/2012/08/23/op-ed-metal-vocalists-have-become-irrelevant/

The article basically says that the only way for metal to move forward is to ditch the use of vocals in their entirety.

He does make some good points (that there are a ton of mediocre vocalists out there that don't contribute anything to the music is one of them) but to link that to "metal's only way to evolve is to ditch vocalists" is just absolutely ridiculous to say the least.

Wow, that's a completely moronic statement indeed. I'd probably give up on metal if there weren't vocalists and lyrics anymore. Whatever the subgenre, vocalists still add a lot, even if excellent ones are scarce (scarcer? Perhaps.)

Replace the vocalist by a saxophone!
Iron Maiden with John Zorn!
Judas Priest with Peter Brötzmann!
Metallica with Steve Coleman!


Seriously, the vocals are not the problem, the lyrics...

Or maybe a new type of vocalist will emerge...


I basically agree that something has to change. The ones trying to be opera singers but have numerous problems preventing them from being technically sound in that arena is not going to work for a lot of people. I like it, but not many do. The guys who can really sing like Tyranti are getting the shaft as far as I'm concerned to the point that people actually thought Fabio Lione was mediocre because they are engrained with mediocrity for his singing style. The death metal shit is stale as fuck. What if someone did a combination of black metal vocals and death metal vocals though and sings proper technique doing it? That's the only to take anything to the next level. You'd have to have an insane range for that shit. Not harsh sounding or screaming, but guttural with a lot of distortion added in the bass. I don't know, is anyone doing that? Warrel Dane, but Death metal style that goes really low and really high? Akercocke is the only one I can think of.

This no singers

Can throat-singing be applied to death metal?
That would be interesting.

Yes. Om incorporates some Tibetan chants.

Incorporating it is one thing, replacing the metal vocals by throat singing altogether would be a whole other thing.

I think a better argument could be made for vocal-free metal by just naming the awesome, innovative bands doing it: East of the Wall (on their debut), Zebulon Pike, Caldera, Trephine, Canvas Solaris.

Arghoslent did an instrumental track on their last album and it slays.

I always liked the vocals in metal though.

Same in Incorrigible Bigotry, best track on the album.

I wholeheartedly agree that there are metal bands without vocalists producing fantastic music, as there are metal bands with vocalists whose instrumentals are the best material they've ever recorded. But saying that the only way for metal to move forward is to ditch vocalists all together without even implying that musically the genre should change too is just retarded. Following his logic you'll just get instrumental metal bands playing the same kind of music that has been played for the past ten years but without some guy or girl opening his/her mouth in front of a microphone. Which isn't inherently wrong, as I said, there are instrumental bands i thoroughly enjoy. But omitting one aspect while retaining the status quo isn't evolving and that's the major flaw of the article.

I've always preferred vocals buried in the mix as sort of a background noise or additional instrument. Not sure I could do without it though.

Call it a sign of the times.

There’s a movement afoot to hijack an Internet contest and get Taylor Swift to sing “You Belong With Me” to the students at country’s oldest school for the deaf.

It would be the second major contest involving a music superstar to be manipulated online in a similar manner in the span of just over a month.

Swift has joined with pizza-maker Papa John's and textbook company Chegg for a promotion in which the school with the highest online vote total would score a performance by the 22-year-old country chanteuse.

Thanks to an organized campaign by users of 4chan, Reddit and several other sites, Massachusetts’ Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is in the lead, Gawker reported.

It’s unclear if the prankster protesters were rigging the vote with charitable aims in mind for the school - or trying to force Swift to play in front of an audience that largely couldn’t hear her music.

What was the first incident? The Euronymous business on the Norwegian airlines?

Any US fans looking to pre-order the new Castle album 'Blacklands' can do so here: http://www.indiemerch.com/prostheticrecords/item/16146

That one is ooooooold but still awesome nonetheless!

Needs more table though.

http://hydraheadlines.blogspot.co.uk/20 ... l?spref=tw

Shit news - Hydra Head is shutting down.