daksonfur15-blog
Metal and Rock News Weekly
An archive for all my articles written for thedriveonline.net. I post here every week and would love to hear feedback.
10 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
phys0
Phys0
ravenqueenblazinqueen
flavour country
skeleton-monarch
not today, cephalopod
stranded-its-so-romantic
ANGELS ROLL THEIR EYES
barcodeboyz
Slutty Mutt
Photo
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
System of a Down: The Twelve Year Hypnotize Album Anniversary
The debate of “Who has a longer and more anticipated wait on a new album, System of a Down or Tool?” is always a topic me and fellow journalism friends, toss around every week. However, in terms of wait, the last Tool album 10,000 Days was on April 28th, 2006, while System of a Down released Hypnotize November 22nd, 2005, an almost 5 month difference. Not much in time, but it sure feels like it. Wednesday marks the 12th year of the silence of the Armenian-American rock band, and collectively have sold over 40 million records worldwide, and earned many awards and nominations, including a Grammy for the single “B.Y.O.B,” and have topped the Billboard 200 three times. The style of bombastic riffs, melodic vocals, and cryptic lyrics is still debated on what genre exactly they possess. Most choose “Art Rock” or “Avant-Garde Rock,” but some think this is a new genre entirely, with the buzzword “Soad (Short for the band name) Core.” For us SOAD fans, we miss the band, and they have been claiming a new album for years now, in fashion of Tool, besides the fact Tool is now making progress. The Armenian rockers are touring Europe, while the American crowds pile up waiting for their return.
System of a Down was originally formed in Los Angeles, California, after members Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian dissolved their previous project Soil. The returned to the studio, where the previous recruit from Soil Shavo Odadjian as manager, but was later moved to the bassist position. From there, they recorded demos with drummer Andy Khachaturian, but before they performed, he injured his hand and could not play. This led to the introduction of John Dolmayan, and the full lineup was complete, and the band began touring locally. Ironically, all members went to the same predominantly Armenian school, but the age difference led them to not meet for a long while. After the first show, they recorded the official demo, while not publically release, made its way onto file sharing sites. Finally, in 1997, famed rock producer Rick Rubin caught the band, and signed them to American/Columbian Records.
Through 1998 until 2005, the band released 5 albums, two being a dual record, and one being leaked unfinished songs that the band humorously named Steal This Album!. Numerous chart-topping hits were written, with many coming from their most successful album Toxicity, and the 6th track being “Chop Suey!” hitting 640 million view on Youtube. Although, this song was apart of the tracklist of forbidden songs to be played on the radio after the events of September 11th, 2001, along with Aerials, and was even renamed to “Chop Suey!” due to the previous song title being “Suicide.” Over 40 songs were written for Toxicity alone, and many being inspired by Daron Malakian and his fascination with Charles Manson’s mind and philosophies. After the death of Manson earlier this week, Malakian felt sorrowful for his death and expressed this on his social media, leading to him being labeled as a sympathizer. He retaliated by stating in a lengthy post,
"Let me try to explain...I don't back the murderer Charles Manson, I back his art and his views on social and environmental issues. Sometimes talented people do bad things...OJ Simpson killed his wife, which is horrible. But you can't deny the fact that he was one of the best football players in history. So there is the murderer OJ and the football OJ... My family was in the Armenian Genocide where millions of Armenians were slaughtered by the Turkish government and Turkish soldiers. But I still enjoy Turkish music, Turkish art, and I have Turkish friends who probably had grandparents who were Turkish soldiers during the genocide." You can read more on his controversial outlook on Blabbermouth.com.
Since the release of Hypnotize, the members have other endeavors they have taken part in, frontman Serj Tankian released a film score for the films ”Intent to Destroy” and “Furious,” and has his own solo projects, releasing the critically acclaimed Elect the Dead, and even adapting the tracks into an orchestral performance. John Dolmayan has worked with music less but founded a high end comic book store in Las Vegas under the name Torpedo Comics. Shavo Odadjian has been working with other artists and continues to DJ and record. Daron Malakian formed Scars on Broadway, which is now inactive, and is currently working on new material, but remains the most silent.
Since the final record of the dual release, many question the dedication of the band members, who all but Tankian has commented on. Odadjian, in a facebook post, blamed Tankian holding them back, and even asked fans how they would feel about a new vocalist. Due to this, the band Facebook page claimed this was not so, creating a split in fans, and continues to tour, but not produce any new material. The eager fans await any news on the topic, or at least a tour of the USA, but these are on hold as of now, and fans are starting to become less and less excited on news about the album, and some have even give up hope on the release even coming to fruition. However, many fans still believe in this to this day, and now that 2017 is almost over, the rumored year, some speculate the new album will be in 2018. Overall, fans just want something new, interesting, and intriguing to listen to once again, and hope one day that some new tracks with topics ranging from politics to pornography can come from the band and sell millions once again.
#soad#system of a down#tool#tool band#heavy metal#metal#nu metal#hypnotize system of a down#journalism
0 notes
Text
Ghost B.C. Former Members and Current Leader Fail to Reach Court Settlement
The ongoing legal battle between Tobias Forge and the former members of Ghost (Ghost B.C. in the United States due to copyright) has been elongated further. According to the Swedish news site Corren.se, the four previous members Simon Söderberg, Mauro Rubino, Henrik Palm, and Martin Hjertstedt have sued the band leader due to failure to deliver payment from profits within a group project. While the members did actually have a consistent salary, the members doubt this is their fair share from the amount of popularity Ghost as a monumental new band with hundreds of thousands in profit. Forge has stated that the members had no role in the formation of the project, and were seen as hired musicians rather than officially licensed members, and the former members have overzealously enunciated their role.
On monday, there was an oral meeting between the parties, however, Tobias Forge did not appear, and instead had his legal representative, Ann-Charlotte Söderlund Björk, be present to settle the dispute. Two former members, Rubino and Söderberg, were present along with their lawyer, Michael Berg, who soon lost all patience after Forge’s representative demanded answers and information retaining to his role, exclaiming, “It would be great if we were told how extensive this goal would be, if we were not here for three months [sic].”
The president of the court then asked the two parties if they were interested in reaching a settlement to avoid expensive and time consuming consultation and resources of the court. “If an attempt is to be made in conciliation, it should be done now,” says Forge’s representative, in which the prosecuting party agreed towards. However, after a few hours behind closed doors, the two parties could not reach an agreement, and refused to comment on the matter. Any other legal hearings should be held by the turn of the year, unless a change of heart occurs in Forge, but until the legal system or Forge comments on the matter, the public will have to wait. Luckily, Ghost is working on a 2018 album, so at least fans have that to awe over in the space of legal trouble. The story is currently developing and will continue to be a hot topic among the metal community.
0 notes
Text
OPINION: How 2018 Could Bring Back Hard Rock to the Mainstream
Every year, more and more music gets produced than ever before, and with much easier chance of success, due to Soundcloud being a viable platform to host your band’s tracks. Artists in the hip-hop scene have already the world by storm with artists such as Lil Pump and XXXTENTACION having very prominent success. In the grand scheme of things, this is also happening to the realm of hard rock, with many bands choosing this option to introduce their music.
But many also use Bandcamp to ensure their name is on another outlet. How does this affect the industry? Simple; distribution and reputation. More promoters and producers are easily available than ever before, and with groups such as Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons carrying the torch of mainstream rock, I believe 2018 will hold the next wave of metal.
Metal in general is not as widespread on radio anymore, but that has begun to shift in the last year. Of course, metalheads in general scoff at what typical listeners call “rock” and “metal” now, with even metalcore bands being labeled as hardcore death metal surprisingly, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Twenty One Pilots aren’t really most rockers’ cup of tea, but they incorporate melody and guitar riffs, and basing from their success, many mainstream audiences are beginning to like guitar music again- just in small doses. This is history repeating right under the industry’s nose. A history lesson here: In the 1950’s, the Beatles were looked at after the slowdown of Elvis and rock n’ roll as a genre, and a producer famously turned down the band, claiming “Guitar music is out the door.” However, we all know how the story ends, with hipsters, scene kids, metalheads, and typical music fans labelling them as one of the greatest bands of all time, if not the best.
Now, we don’t have to rely on the simple distribution of word-of-mouth or records because we have the world wide web to cast our next hits. So much so, that the net is used to even form bands as a whole, such in case of Periphery, who formed on an online forum for hard rock, and who are regarded as the flag bearers of the djent movement of the late 2000’s. Many producers have turned to Bandcamp and other outlets to see what talent is out all around the world, and more record deals have been sealed in the last 10 years than the last 100 years since distribution and selling product is easier than before.
Due to these two elements of incorporated guitars in pop and distribution being easier than before, I predict 2018 has a hard rock haven waiting to siege the radio once again, and be a force to reckoned with. Even now, five very popular albums have come out in the last four months, from Marilyn Manson’s “Heaven Upside Down”, to Hollywood Undead’s “V”, many hard rock bands are taking this time to unleash their art. For example, Slipknot has been working on an album and, according to an interview from Metal Hammer on the first of the month, claim to have about 8 songs recorded (For the full Shawn “Clown” Crahan Interview, click here) To add heat to this, System of a Down claims to have multiple tracks recorded and an album on the way since earlier this year (For the full John Dolmayan interview, click here), and even Tool, out of all people, finally broke the silence and has said to have recorded a redone version of “Opiate” (The article with Adam Jones’ claim can be found here), however, the latter two bands are subject to change, but fans hold their own. This is a star aligning time in the late 2010’s, and us metalheads can’t wait for the year of controversy to be over and just enjoy the music we all love.
0 notes
Text
The Black Sheep’s Shepherd: The Influence of Nu Metal
History shows that for every grand movement, there’s always a hiccup, and in this case, for every Korn, there’s a Limp Bizkit. In music, this is prominent, with the movement of all sorts of genres stemming from other cracks in the ground of the last generation. The rock community got their dues, but in another direction. Instead of a single event, one massive event in the 90’s took place; the movement of the Nu Metal genre. In layman’s terms, Nu Metal is a genre with no defined structure, but with all the distorted guitars as normal. This movement ushered in copious amounts of new experimentation, structure, ideologies, and tips from other forms of music entirely. Of course, by most of the populace standards, this era came and went, but influence of the sheer number of mistakes and success came directly from this product out of the darkness.
One product of nu metal is the popularity of rock and hip-hop at a balance, which brought us the pleasure (or displeasure, depending which person you ask,) of bands such as Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Kid Rock, and Rage Against the Machine. These pioneers in the balance of opposing forces showed the community that one way or the highway wasn’t going to fly, and instead instilled the message of “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” While Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock talked about the subjective and ego energized lifestyle that much modern hip-hop rhymes about, Rage Against the Machine took to the political game, screaming change in the America they live in. The band was, ironically, indirect inspiration for Fred Durst, the lead vocalist of Limp Bizkit, and was noticed by Rage’s Tim Commerford, who, in a Rolling Stone Interview in 2015, expresses his disdain for the band, cold heartily saying, “I do apologize for Limp Bizkit. I really do. I feel really bad that we inspired such bullshit.” Despite this, many of the works of rap metal began to form, such as Cypress Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, Tech-n9ne, Ghostemane, and even XXXTentacion.
On the opposite scale of things came tones about emotional sensibility across the board, and making insane riffs and blood-pumping tracks to match more traditional metal. One of the most popular groups being Slipknot, who have grown to superstardom out of the backwoods of Iowa. The band itself is a label of the angst and pure rage that their music portrays, and has become a household name for itself, mainly with concerned parents. A more melodic but politically heavy band is System of a Down, who combine Armenian folk elements, along with unique guitar techniques, and a vocalist who produces his own orchestral pieces. However, the crown to the kingdom is, of course, Korn. To explain what Korn mixes together each album would be a potpourri of genres across all spectrums of the industry. Dubstep, rap, scat, jazz, you name it, Korn has a track for it. All three of these bands influence many of the metalcore genre, along with the new wave of accessible rock music. From all regions of music, these bands have a place, case in point being the boy band 5 Seconds of Summer, where one member was spotted with a Slipknot shirt, and the band members themselves enjoys hard rock. Slipknot liked this so much, they requested them to play at their festival “Knotfest,” for the reason of quote, “They’re really cool guys.” Many more bands exist from these influential bands such as Viza, Machine Head, Sepultura, Coal Chamber, Celldwelller, and so many more acts in rock.
Nu metal was always the outcast of the rock community, but it gave realization to the styles that can emerge from seemingly impossible combinations. It gave the buzzword “metal” a sense of style, and a fashion sense in the process. The quality of it may be varied and sometimes muddy, but the impact this movement as one had, was the push the early 2000’s needed to get off its feet. Most the bands mentioned are still together to this day, and sell out venues in a matter of hours. If their fans are the black sheep, they are in good care of their shepherds.
#nu metal#korn#limp bizkit#rage against the machine#slipknot#coal chamber#soad#system of a down#linkin park#sevendust#heavy metal#journalism
0 notes
Text
System of a Down: All of 2017′s Clues on the New Album
With about a month away from the anniversary last System of a Down album released in the last 12 years, many want to know what the Armenian avant-garde artists are going to put out next. Millions of fans are waiting for the day when the band can release an official statement. However, as of now, their cries haven’t been answered. Instead, here are few snippets from interviews and conversations between the bands members. It is important to know that yes, they are still together, and, according to their drummer John Dolmayan on X1075 based in Las Vegas, “If I had it my way, we would’ve put out five albums in the last 12 years. Dolmayan has even added more fuel to the fire by stating “I don’t know why we haven’t made an album exactly, because it seems like we all get along. We all have a great time touring. We still are putting together really good music…I think we can put out a fantastic album.” This bit of knowledge was a bittersweet victory for the fanbase, as it confirms that at last, they have one answer. However, they still don’t know when this seemingly monumental album will release or even come to fruition. Dolmayan goes on to say he feels “As strong as I’ve ever felt” when asked about the quality of the new music constructed since. The full interview is available online if you want to hear all the words he has to say about the band.
Since this news has come by out of left field, more hype has been generated by an even greater amount as this year was rumoured to be the year something would be said officially from the band themselves. In contrast to what Dolmayan has said, unfortunately, the bassist Shavo Odadjian has also said this year “I want a new album too, it’s not happening.” This was followed by him stating, “I don’t know when it’s gonna be, not right now.” This amount of uncertainty has many fans pointing fingers, and the target is Serj Tankian, the lead singer who has enjoyed success as a solo artist, and touring with the band as of 2011. Many blame his solo orchestral and performances as holding up the band, but this is the Internet after all, with more rumours than a middle school locker room published everyday. The only band member to comment on this matter is Odadjian, who on his Facebook page in 2013 claimed that that is true, but the official band page has denounced this, and since then, the band has not commented on the matter.
From this date, System of a Down are still in fact a band, and are all on good standing. With the European tour set to finish soon, hopefully the fans can rest easy and be graced with the unique musicianship of one of the few bands to reach superstardom in less than a decade just by being who they truly are.
#system of a down#soad#heavy metal#serj tankian#daron malakian#shavo odadjian#john dolmayan#journalism
0 notes
Text
INTERVIEW: The Last Ten Seconds of Life
With the expansive music scene so culminated and flooded with blossoming talent, some may think that the trek to achieve stardom is a lot more daunting than ever before. However, some individuals rise above and train their skills to oppose the doubt that the industry throws that them. I got a chance to interview a growing death-groove band known as The Last Ten Seconds of Life, who, since their first release in 2011, have been very busy touring, along with a new album. After a few lineup changes, including their frontman, what has changed from their breakthrough album Soulless Hymns 2015 to The Violent Sound released in 2016?
The band as a whole has answered my questions, however, I do thank John (Vocalist) and Wyatt (Guitarist) for returning the answers and their cooperation throughout this interview, as I am personally a big fan of their works for about two years now.
According to the band, the formation itself happened as quote “Just our life I guess...We were just a bunch of college dudes who wanted to play heavy jams together while in school.” This anecdote is, of course, talking about every member besides John Robert from This Bitter End, who was recruited in 2016 from the departure of Storm Strope, the previous vocalist. Some fans have seen this change as welcome, due to more harmonic vocals being used along with better sampling than before, however, some condemn this, claiming Strope’s vocals were more guttural and intense. This split has caused a discussion between the fans, and the reason until now has been unknown why Strope left so suddenly.
For the name itself, “The Last Ten Seconds of Life”, the name stemmed from Wyatt, who is a big Smiths fan, and it happened to a lyric off of the song entitled “Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.” The music is a pretty big contrast however, as the band has hard riffs with lots of chugging and solos, while the sampling is very prevalent for atmospheric effect. This mash of complex sampling, solos, and hard riffs gives the band it’s death metal feeling, but the introduction of harmonic vocals and atmospheric reverb gives them the advantages of a groove metal spotlight.
The differences between the bands two monumental albums Soulless Hymns and The Violent Sound has been a topic of discussion between the small but loyal community the band has brought along, and some didn’t know what to think of the sound. I got to ask about this change, and to answer the debate of how the writing has changed since then. “We really didn’t necessarily prepare in a sound sort of sense…We like different things at different times I guess.”
Along with this has been the present debate between the vocalist change, so they also added onto this by, quote, “…we wrote The Violent Sound with the intention of showing the highlights in John’s voice. Which led the band’s sound to things that we never really got to do before. It was fun.”
The big question on everyone’s mind between the fanbase is the vocalist change, and we finally have an answer to the departure of the former vocalist Storm Strope. Of course, much thanks to the band for actually answering this question, as this has been a big change for them and I’m sure they know the criticism has been high. The reason for the departure isn’t a huge feud, or even a climactic brawl, but is instead a subtle and agreeable reasoning. I will not simplify this quote, as it is information to be interpreted different ways, and is the first mention of a reasoning between Strope and the band. “There’s a lot of personal family/band business surrounding this question, that’s why we don’t talk about it but in short: On multiple levels he cause a few large and nearly fatal issues within the band. He was let go due to a lack of effort and trust. We could not, in good conscience of business, continue to work with him. He will not return.”
At the events I have been to, I had the chance to talk to the band in person, and they have mentioned “The new album” as a running joke, so I decided to ask if this did exist, and luckily enough, yes it does. “It’s being written when we get home from this run with 36crazyfists. We are stoked.”
With the conclusion of the interview, I asked if there is anything the fans should know before getting back into the fray of touring, and the band had this to say: “We love you guys. All of you. We hope to see you all in our next run. We’re not going anywhere. Much love and respect.”
The Last Ten Seconds of Life are a modern example of bending genres, and creating atmosphere from tracks themselves. You can check out their works on Itunes and Spotify, in which I recommend the tracks “Pain is Pleasure”from Soulless Hymns, and “Little Black Line” from The Violent Sound to compare and contrast the musical talent from the previous era. You can also follow their endeavors on Instagram @tltol as well as on Facebook as “The Last Ten Seconds of Life,” where John even talks about his vocal techniques. With each album, more gets revealed on their interests in experimentation, and hopefully soon, we will all see what their members have for us next.
#the last ten seconds of life#tltsol#deathcore#death groove#death core#death metal#heavy metal#journalism
1 note
·
View note
Text
Heaven Upside Down Album Review: The New Manson Era
After a bit of a wait for just about 2 years, the newest album Heaven Upside Down from the infamous shock rocker Marilyn Manson has been released on October 6th, 2017, and brings many new themes, experimentation, and patterns never before seen in the artist’s career. This new record was produced by Tyler Bates, who has also produced soundtracks for video games, as well as horror and action flicks. With Marilyn Manson’s past reception on THE PALE EMPEROR album being a solid 3.5-star rating on Rolling Stone’s website, many didn’t know what the self-proclaimed Antichrist would bring this time around. After all, Marilyn Manson isn’t as frightening to kids around America anymore, and with the internet and Television being more lenient every year on shocking topics, even Manson knows that being public enemy number one for an art choice is much more difficult to achieve in the current era. With this knowledge in mind, is this a record for his previous fans, or simply another attempt to capitalize on new tricks?
First thing to view over is the hype of the album, which in recent years, Marilyn Manson has gone down a smudge in popularity compared to his success in the late 90’s and early thousands. The overall reception was a mixed bag of old fans being ecstatic, while others leaving their wallet chains in the past. With not much marketing on mainstream media due to the content of the music, this kind of conversation is great for the new album, although it seems the opposite on the surface. Marilyn Manson’s image is shock rock, in simple terms, he “shocks” the listener based on the lyrics and the image to sell such listener the craft. This feeds into the philosophy, “Controversy sells” as well as “There’s no such thing as bad press.” Manson has his image well perfected to a tee, however, the art of his character has been a bit overshadowed by everything the American public are subjected to in these last few years, promptly allowing him the chance to take roles in acting. Although no major news sources were on the neo-goth demon’s doorstep with picket sign from Christian parents this time for the content, the artist still had talks and more prevalent advertising on social media, as he has done in the past decade.
Proceeding the hype is the more important question: What does Marilyn Manson have to offer in year 2017? I examined every track for lyrical content, themes, atmosphere, instrument usage, and other noticeable differences to gain a summary on the sound produced for the album. After doing so, I concluded that the Heaven Upside Down record is, (along with the typical veil of antichrist flavor with violence, sex, Satan, and drugs,) a new taste into the experimental theme usage THE PALE EMPEROR used with emotional turmoil for others. Cleaner vocals have been used prominently instead of a side option for his signature vocal style, there has been more emphasis on synth and technical instruments, use of more classic and melodic instruments such as pianos and acoustic guitars, and themes of relationships with others. Most of the songs express conflict with a partner or a spouse, not too uncommon. However, this new album focused on this point heavier than all other albums. Manson also didn’t have much, if any, very energizing tracks that show his trademark of distorted guitars and industrial sound, and used techniques that were much different for his style. Sadly, it seems like The Dope Show is too dope to be recreated anytime soon. Only about 2 songs on the record don’t follow this path of partner issues, and seems a bit elongated to the point of monotony in some areas. Varying themes that tied together seems like a better choice, as reading the lyrics along to the tracks, I felt like I was still listening to the same message as last album. Aside from these however, the instrumental is stellar, as to be expected. Manson does a fantastic job to capture tone in his voice, and the use of experimental techniques in songwriting.
Finally, the biggest question about this new album is does it hold to Manson’s other work? The answer quite simply is, yes and no. The quality is superb and the image is there, as well as atmosphere and familiar vocal and guitar patterns. However, this new album focuses on one topic very often and doesn’t contain any monumental singles as just a decade ago. This album for most either fits perfectly or doesn’t fit at all, but this feels like a new start in the songwriting and execution of music from Manson, and he does a great job on capturing and mixing his ideas to fit together, and make different songs work to fit his overall persona. Overall, this is really a question for the listener, and can’t be decided on the same grounds of two decades apart, as they are very different and is all based on preference.
Marilyn Manson may not be public enemy number one anymore, but his music still reflects what he is all about; the sinner to all sinners. Although Heaven Upside Down doesn’t contain much of his fast and heavy tones, and doesn’t contain any groundbreaking singles, this record is a very nice introduction to the new Manson style, about emotions and conflicting messages, although some new themes should be explored to not make the writing a looping tape recorder. Any Manson fan should check out this album, and even if you don’t like Manson’s earlier work, I would recommend the newer material for a slower and more emotional meaning. Industrial and goth rock aren’t going anywhere, of course, but the father of it all has made a great attempt to evolve the genre, and his efforts are an atmospheric trance of cold hearted problems. His sound may not be the exact same as his prime, but the brooding feeling and questionable morals are, without a doubt, core Marilyn Manson, and Heaven Upside Down is one great example of image and message together for one Satanic package.
0 notes
Text
An introduction to my blog
Hello,
My name is Rhett, and I am a amateur musician, vocalist, songwriter, writer, journalist, and history buff. I would like to take the time to say thank you for reading this, I am trying to make many of the previous interests into a full career for myself. I would love to hear any criticisms of any articles I post every week on Friday (Unless I write more than intended). I appreciate all the members of this site and wish that a few of you could assist me into making me a better journalist and writer. I would love to also hear about any offers to cooperate on projects in journalism. I write primarily about hard rock and heavy metal music news, and I try my best to stay as transparent and objective as possible. If any of you would like to comment on my work, criticize it, or say anything to me, please feel free to message me. Thank you Tumblr, and stay classy.
~Rhett
#journalism#music journalism#metal music#hard rock#punk rock#nu metal#music news#music articles#heavy metal#metalcore#deathcore#death metal#journalist#journalist student
0 notes