OK where can I get this game? - Iron Maiden, Speed Of Light

Man, what a video, the new Iron Maiden single, "Speed of light" has come out and although the song isn't played at the speed of light, its a pretty decent effort from a band who have plenty of musical creativity left in them.... Now the only bad thing about the song is, that it's overshadowed by possibly the best music video ever! I had to watch it again with my eyes closed... Yes its possible!.. To hear the song! I had got too engrossed in watching Eddie's virtual exploits and the song became background static... Is it a bad thing? Probably, maybe not...I'm not sure!

Hetfield: The Metallicat

What do you get if you cross Garfield with Metallica?

Well you get a cat who looks like Garfield called Hetfield with a Goatee who recites Metallic lyrics mostly on Monday, to his owner who looks suspiciously like Lars Ulrich.

The comic strip which can be found here is a pretty good read, and its great to get something metal related and funny for once!

Slayer always in the news

Is it just me are Slayer dominating the metal news websites with rehash after rehash of the same stories? Yes we know Kerry King speaks his mind, yes we know they have a new album out. What we need are some fresh stories... I guess we'll have to wait for the album to come out for that.

Interestingly enough Kerry King said that repentless isn't in his dictionary... I really don't know what to make of this, as I doubt every variation of a word would be listed as a separate word. Anyway we should be talking about the music and from what I heard. We're in for another great effort from Slayer!

Goat slime

So I was on YouTube and this ad came up, it was a song by a band called Goat Slime. The production and sound quality was quite bad, which ruined a pretty decent song, think morbid visions by sepultura as a weigh point for sound... Maybe they were actually going for that exact setup.

Anyway if you are used to listening to poorly produced metal and can overlook the muffly sound. Check them out, worth a listen... I'll definitely hear them some more.

Evil Invaders

I recently had a great time seeing Belgian thrashers Evil Invaders playing live. It was a small place and a small crowd, but once they started, it didn't matter they could have been playing anywhere, the energy was intence, the speed unrelenting and the atmosphere was electric!

I bought their album 'Pulses of Pleasure' and it's pretty damn good! Think old old Overkill and you'll be pretty close. I did get their EP from 2013 too and both CDs are currently on my playlist in my car!

You can check them out here, I strongly urge you to click!

I'm Baaaaack!

Yes after a longer than anticipated absence, I'm back. Expect album reviews, tips for upcoming bands and much more.

World Painted Blood… World Painted SLAYER!

Slayer’s latest effort harks back to the days of old Slayer, proper Slayer! Of all the metal acts out there, except Overkill, Slayer have kept the truest to their roots, yet a couple of their recent..ish albums did miss the target slightly. Things started to turn back in the right direction with the release of Christ Illusion however and I for one have been eager with anticipation for their follow up.

Signs were good, Psycopathy red was released a long time before the album and only one word could be used to describe it, “SLAYER!!!” the came Hate Worldwide, which in my opinion is the weakest song on the album, but if you like thrash, it still beats pretty much anything that’s been released by anyone since around 1993.

Playing with Dolls
A short film by Slayer fan Mark Brooks, was announced on their website, the trailer was awesome and the song in the trailer, the title track to the new album, simply breathtaking. The full video (18 mins of a guy cutting women up) is probably a bit over the top, but hey, this is SLAYER and it is an interesting concept, getting in the mind of someone like that, this stuff happens and unfortunately it’s often taboo.

World Painted Blood
I’ve held off reviewing the album until the initial excitement wore off, and so that i could get to know it enough to review it fairly.

The way the album opens is just paving the way for what’s to follow, it grabs your attention and is like ‘dude this album is going to tear your head off’ from the first listen you just want more, The intro, the changes in tempo, the (rather strange for slayer) solo, the outro, it’s just one of those songs, like ‘seasons in the abyss’ a one off, a stroke of genius.

it continues into Unit 731 a song about the Japanese army unit of the same name, it’s gruesome and the music is fitting, an onslaught of thrashing guitars and thundering drums, next step Snuff which keeps up the pace of it’s predecessor but adds a more personal and demented twist. It’s followed by "Beauty Through Order" a more ritualistic slayer song, not as thrashy as the others but still very very dark.

The speed kicks back into gear with Hate Worldwide, but as mentioned before this is really the weakest part of the album, though in no means is it anywhere near as weak as the weakest parts of Death Magnetic or Endgame. Public display of dismemberment is next, very similar to Divine Intervention, it’s very direct and the lyrics are, nice and sinister.

Human Strain is really the closest to any of their more recent material but with a ‘Seasons’ vibe it’s really the most catchy, (if you can call a Slayer song catchy) song on the album. Americon just seems to get lost in the grand scheme of things, on it’s own it’s a great song and similar to Jihad. probably it just gets forgotten because it’s followed by the almighty Psycopathy Red.

Then the album quietens, slows down and hush hush, the eerie ‘Playing With Dolls’ builds up, hailed as the new ‘Dead skin Mask’ it does not disappoint and has probably the best title of any song i can think of.

The tempo returns to blistering pace for the closing track ‘Not of this God, think Reign in Blood…

once it’s finished, quickly press play and start from World Painted Blood again!

I give it a whopping 12/10 it’s a fantastic album and the best for well over a decade, keeping the trend of old bands putting out good albums, well decimating that trend really and shows just how far James and Dave still have to go to get back to their best.