New Deftones Songs September 30, 2006
Posted by el fuser in deftones, metal, music, saturday night wrist.1 comment so far
Here is Rapture
Here is the vid for hole in the earth
Here is a crappy quality version of beware the water
Roskilde 06 – Late Review September 27, 2006
Posted by el fuser in European Music Festivals, metal, music, music festival.1 comment so far
This year’s festival in the twee little town of Roskilde, Denmark provided me with a number of ‘firsts’
* first ever proper festival
* first time I drank a box of wine to myself
* first time I almost wet myself from the amount of outstanding music I was going to see.
No, the camping wasn’t any more fun than you would expect it to be, but from the horror stories i’ve heard about Leeds festival, the camp was incredibly chilled out, friendly and non-violent. Was a lack of English people the reason? Unfortunately, probably so. You could even forgive the fact that they let everyone piss all over the place, adding stale urine to the bouquet of the festival which also included the stench of the unwashed, booze stained festival goers and a cheeky hint of portaloo. Plus the sheer amount of things to do (if you could be bothered) was great compensation, and included a massive skatepark complete with screens showing the world cup, food from all over the world (reasonably priced) and a massive (sub zero) lake to swim in. Awesome.
On to the music, I picked out a few I can remember best/enjoyed the most:
Guns N Roses
Amazing when you are amazingly drunk. Forget that Axel is an idiot, forget that the band isn’t the same, forget that they opened an hour late (thanks to booze, I did) Just remember that Appetite for Destruction was the best ever comprimise between the raw anger of youth and brilliant song writing. Except Sweet Child.
Opeth
These guys were good. They come on looking like they are about to perform speed metal covers of ABBA standards, but straight blew my head off. Their song writing has been described as beautiful and there is no doubt in my mind that their latest album, Ghost Reveries, is exactly that. Not only that but they clearly don’t take themselves too seriously despite their ‘scary black metal’ roots, with the lead singer cracking jokes the whole way through. Future kings of metal.
Tool
What can you say about TOOL but, holy crap they are good. Some of the best song writers and musicians out there. The only thing I don’t like about them is there clinical approach to their stage show, they sounded literally 99% the same as you would hear on your CD player. Still, not to be missed.
Amplifier
I told them that I’d followed them all the way from their hometown of Manchester to see them. That was at least 90% a filthy lie. But I was defintely pleased to see them on the bill, as they are amazing live. The new songs are great, the show was great, and I sincerely hope these guys hit the big time.
Deftones
Lets get this over with, the Deftones are fat. Frank looks like David Blaine after he bulked up to go in the box and Chino has been expanding for a while. Who cares, they kicked ass at the festival, digging out the old favourites and playing a number of new ones. Deftones are a ‘long haul’ band unlike their peers, you might look back at Korn and Limp Bizkit and cringe, but honest, clever and uncomprimising music never gets old. By the way check out the new songs floating around the internet, they are excellent.
George Clinton
I love Funkadelic (Maggot Brain is a favourite album) and enjoyed the show but George Clinton took very little part in it.
Arctic Monkeys
I was ‘meh’ about Artic Monkeys, then I started to enjoy them, and at the time of the festival I was back to ‘meh’ again. Hence why I wasn’t queuing up for a place in the tent for hours before and had to listen from from a long way outside of the tent. Hard to judge but they obviously entertain alot of people.
Roger Waters
Legend. A great show with great musicians, if you missed Dark Side being played the whole way through I feel sorry for you.
Bob Dylan
Dylan is a legend too, but one i’ve never held too much interest in. What a shame that my lasting impression of the man will be of one who can barely sing or play anymore, and who insists on carving up his standards into virtually unrecognisable takes on their brilliant originals.
Matisyahu
I feel bad because I was incredibly intrigued by Matisyahu being a Hassidic Jew (complete with beard and dress) who’s style is primarily reggae. If he was a Christian, No doubt I would I would have laughed him off, because my experience of Christian music is, well, not good. Matisyahu is amazing live. His band were on fire, the drummer adding so much to the performance with his use of the double kick drum (usually reserved high tempo metal) and guitarist blasting out solos like they were going out of fashion. I don’t care what he sings about and will retain this attitude when it comes to other openly religious bands in the future.
Kanye West
I only saw a bit of Kanye but he was good. I like him because he is arrogant to the point where you believe he must be putting it on (Up until this point I despise arrogance, but afterwards it’s endearing!), and because his songs are normally really interesting to listen to.
Other bands I saw: Damien Marley, Strokes, Wolfmother.
Ghost Reveries – Opeth (Review) September 27, 2006
Posted by el fuser in Album Review, metal, music, opeth.1 comment so far
In a way it is a crying shame that ‘Ghost Reveries’ will never be appreciated by more than those who are not scared off by singer Mikael Åkerfeldt’s fantastically gutteral black metal growl (believe me, thats alot of people).
Like their fellow Scandinavian Edvard Munch ( the artist who painted The Scream), with ‘Ghost Reveries’ Opeth have produced a work of art that is simultaneously both disturbing and fascinating. The Scandinavian metal scene is somewhat of a breeding ground for similarly ‘darkly beautiful’ music but rarely is the musicianship so top-drawer and songwriting so epic. The band are immense no doubt but for me the highlight is Åkerfeldt’s voice. If you listened to the first minute or so of opener ‘Ghosts of Peridition’ only, you may assume that his talents consist of bark,growl, repeat. But listen a little further (with the track clocking in at 11 mins 20 seconds, you’ve got time to sit back and relax) and you quickly realise that he can change things up to a silky smooth but still powerful singing voice with incredible ease. ‘Ghosts of Peridition’ is the stand out track on the album along with brilliant instrumental ‘Atonement’ and single (ish) ‘Grand Conjuration’. With four tracks lasting over ten minutes, be prepared to put some time into this album before you can fully appreciate it. But hey it’s art, that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Deftones Manchester Academy (Gig Review) September 27, 2006
Posted by el fuser in deftones, metal, music, saturday night wrist.add a comment
The Deftones gig was a strange one for me. It had a real ‘old school’ vibe to it for a start. Lots of people in their mid 20’s burning off the weeks aggression in a highly charged pit. It reminded me of the crowd i’d expect to see at a Fear Factory or Sepultura gig. In a way it was disturbing, how can Deftones be old school? That would make me… yikes!
I’ve been a huge Deftones fan for a long time now and including Roskilde i’ve seen them four times. Every time i’ve been impressed although i’ve heard they can be hit and miss. Guess i’m lucky. Part of the reason I enjoy their shows so much is because they have such a varied and interesting range of songs to choose from. Yes it’s all metal, but there is a very different sound for each album and each one has a special place in my heart.
Their last eponymously titled album was not particularly well received because of it was perceived to be a step back from the majestic ‘White Pony’. I loved it though and it was great to see that they havn’t abandoned it for the live set. White Pony is full of immensley enjoyable songs and the songs always make up the highlights of the show. Around the Fur and Adrenaline of course feature and whipped up the Deftones faithful into quite a frenzy.
The guys did not disappoint me on that night and I don’t think they ever could. A classic band that i am proud to have supported over all these years.
El fuser album and gig reviews 