Megadeth – Megadeth

Posted on January 26, 2026 by Mike

https://metalheadconfessions.com/?p=3428

This won’t be fun. I will not enjoy making this review. It’s sad that I came out of retirement for this.

It was announced a few months back that Megadeth’s next album would be their last. I didn’t buy that and I somewhat still don’t, even after listening to the final track, with its strongly worded message. Dave Mustaine has been diagnosed an arthritic condition in his left hand known as Dupuytren’s Contracture, in which his hand stiffen up, as if he’s holding an axe. That apparently is why it’s also known as Viking Disease. Imagine writing some of THE most insanely technical riffs in ALL of Heavy Metal, and then your hand is essentially crippled. That’d kill me if I were in his shoes.

We also have yet another new lineup. Back in the fold for his second jaunt with Megadeth is none other than legendary Brooklyn bassist James LoMenzo. James joined Megadeth in time for 2007’s United Abominations and left shortly after 2009’s Endgame as original Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was being brought back in. When David was fired a few years ago for what I at least describe as religious hypocrisy, his bass parts in the yet to be released The Sick, The Dying, And The Dead were erased and replaced by fretless bass GOD Steve DiGiorgio. But Steve didn’t tour with the band for that album, and that’s when James was brought back. Finnish guitarist Teemu Mantysaari was previously in Symphonic Metal band Wintersun. He joined in time to replace Kiko Loureiro, who left after The Sick, The Dying and The Dead to be home in Brazil with his family.

Symphonic Metal: GAY.

So, with some younger blood in Megadeth, it would be interesting to hear how this supposed sendoff would sound. For those who don’t know, Dave Mustaine left his own band in 2002 after an arm injury. But he came back a little over a year later and his hand was working just fine. And when he initially said that the inaugural 2005 Gigantour would be the last Megadeth tour, he chose to continue on. That’s why I’m pessimistic. Even David Ellefson knows to be pessimistic!

Let’s look at the artwork first. We see band mascot Vic Rattlehead in a three piece suit. As he’s adjusting his tie, we see that he’s slowly being engulfed in flames. It may be symbolic of one going out bravely, going out on his own terms. To me it’s reminiscent of Gus Fring adjusting his tie after barely making it out of the nursing home room that was just blown up by Hector Salamanca by way of Walter White in Season 4 of Breaking Bad. Half his face is blown off, but maybe he knows he’s about to die because once that shock kicks in he immediately drops to the floor.

This supposed final album begins with “Tipping Point”, which was also the first single off the album. It starts off with a pretty good mid-tempo, Iron Maiden-esque harmony riff, featuring quite an impressive solo from Dave. It then picks up speed. Then comes Dave’s vocals and rather shitty lyrics. “Today I may bleed, but tonight you will die”? Yeah, ok bud. Thank fuck for Teemu, who really does sound like a modern-day Marty Friedman at times. And man, it’s only one track in and I can hear how shot Dave’s voice is. A lot of this has to do with his 2010 neck fusion. That fucked up a lot of things for him.

Unfortunately, his voice is going to sound pretty raspy and frail for most, if not all of this album.

The lyrics to “I Don’t Care” are absolutely childish and retarded in plain English. RETARDED. Is this supposed to be Dave’s attempt at writing a Punk Rock song at 64 years old?? Once again, thank you Teemu for saving the day, and for not being a Temu Marty Friedman. See what I did there? Otherwise, “You gotta know gotta know gotta know” that this song is absolute ass!

“Hey, God?!” is more mid-tempo. The sound of Dirk Verbeuren’s drums, and the punchiness of his snare, make this sound like it maybe could’ve fit on Countdown to Extinction. I’m trying to figure out what Dave’s talking about. Is he trying to speak from someone else’s point of view since he himself is a Born Again? Is he channeling his younger self who attempted suicide more than a few times (see “Skin ‘O My Teeth”)? What I do know is that I love Dirk’s drum breaks immediately preceding the solo section.

“Let There Be Shred” contains the album’s most technical riffing so far. And, true to the title, solos galore between both Dave and Teemu. But goddamn, these lyrics – especially the chorus! And how about the line, “the guitars are screaming , they scream with delight”?

GAY.

Before I continue, I need to make this abundantly clear: I get that Dave Mustaine is now 64. Fuck, this September he officially becomes a fucking senior citizen – a milestone he NEVER thought he’d reach! So, I get that at this point not everything he writes will necessarily hit the mark. But I do expect that if this album is to be his final curtain call, that he puts just a little bit more effort into his lyrics. Just a little. It shouldn’t be that hard.

Left to Right: James LoMenzo (bass), Dirk Verbeuren (drums), Dave Mustaine (vocals and guitar), Teemu Mantysaari (guitar)

Is Dave even trying to sing on “Puppet Parade”. In the chorus alone it sounds like his just trying to get through it, and not even because he’s straining his voice. It sounds like that amateur musician that’s so anxious that he’s just trying to get the take over with and doesn’t care if it’s QUALITY or not. I’ve dealt with that a few times when I was stupid enough to play in bands. The music here reminds me of something that could’ve been on United Abominations. Go figure; that’s Megadeth’s last really good album for me and that was released nearly nineteen years ago now.

In fact, I’d say that this final album as whole musically is a combination of both Countdown and United. It’s technical to a point, yet melodic, and there are more mid-tempo tracks than fast tracks, most likely as a result of Dave’s unfortunate diagnosis. I sense that it was the only way he could feasibly record at least one more album without being in too much pain and I cannot hold that against him.

Damn if “Another Bad Day” doesn’t sound like “This Was My Life” at points. It’s actually one of the better arrangements on the record, that’s for sure. But the lyrics sound like a real bad attempt at Springsteen minus the part where he worked that 50 hour shift over at the factory in (insert the edge of random New Jersey town here) and didn’t get paid for it the next week.

I think it’s odd that I don’t really hear much of James LoMenzo’s bass in the mix. I wish I knew why, because he’s an INCREDIBLE bassist. We’re talking so good that I actually forgive him for being in White Lion in the 80’s!

Why do the opening tom fills for “Made to Kill” remind me slightly of “13 Steps to Nowehere” by Pantera? The shuffle otherwise is a classic signature of Megadeth and I actually can’t help but bop my head. The speed picks up and I appear to FINALLY hear James’ bass. Thank fuck! It’s not up there in the mix the way David Ellefson’s bass used to be, but that could also be because Ellefson uses a pick and James uses his fingers. Those vocals again. I almost feel sorry for him. The arrangement seems a bit anti-climactic. It picks up speed, hits a Dave solo, a few more lyrics and it just stops abruptly.

“Obey the Call” is giving me mixed feelings. The mid-tempo groove allows the guitars to breathe a bit more. Teemu’s solos kill it. Thank fuck he helped Dave with some of these arrangements because you can tell he needed the help more than ever. It picks up momentum, a few trade off solos between Teemu and Dave, and then it ends abruptly. Again.

“I know me, I know myself. I do not fear countless battles ahead. I will win when I go to war. Swifter than the wind, I attack fire.” Between this music and your shaky voice, I’m not convinced, Dave. Maybe this’ll work in the nearest nursing home.

And by the way this is killing me to write this.

“One more spotlight start to fade to black. One more winding road, and I won’t come. The roar I lived for, it starts to die. And now it’s time for me to say the long goodbye”. That’s what kicks off “The Last Note”. This is actually moving to me as someone whose own guitar playing was influenced by Dave Mustaine. The deepness in his gravely, shaky voice, appears to be legitimately genuine, as if he knows it’s truly over for him.

The arrangement is very different from the rest of the album, as the lyrical message is far more important than the music. And the music is just fitting. It’s not as dramatic a musical number as I was hoping for with crescendos and drops. But the emotion is there, I was just hoping for a little more to match the lyrics.

“They gave me gold. They gave me a name. But every deal was signed in blood and flames. So here’s my last will and testament, my sneer. I came, I ruled, and now, I disappear…” That’s the way he said goodbye to a calming, gentle twelve string guitar.

If that isn’t an emotional way to go, then I don’t know what is. It did hit me. His riffs, despite what his previous band said about him, ran circles around those guys. His songs were amazingly intelligent, his riffs made you dizzy, his arrangements otherworldly – and most of those happened while under the influence! He made his own path and has his own legacy.

Well, that’s the way he SHOULD HAVE said goodbye.

Now For The Problem!

A Metallica cover, huh?

Let’s discuss something else first. It’s a bit peculiar that he chose to record “Ride the Lightning”. Yes, girls, he does in fact have a songwriting credit for that track before you scream at me for no reason. But of all SIX songs he has credit for, I’m very surprised he didn’t record anything from Kill ‘Em All, the album where he sees the most songwriting credits. I’m even more surprised that he didn’t choose “Jump In The Fire”, as he wrote that before he even joined Metallica. Megadeth already performed “Phantom Lord” live during their 2013 Gigantour shows with Jason Newsted joining the band on stage for that number.

But what I’m not surprised at is that he chose to do this at all. According to David Ellefson, when Megadeth were getting ready to record The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead (in which David’s bass tracks were later erased), Dave wanted Megadeth to record the tracks he wrote for Kill ‘Em All as retaliation for Metallica releasing a special edition, 40th anniversary cassette replica of the No Life ‘Til Leather demo for Record Store Day in 2022, and that’s when David FINALLY put his foot down said no. He also thinks that was the beginning of the end of his relationship with Dave leading to the incident that justified Dave firing him in the end.

Now to discuss “Ride The Lightning”: The Megadeth Edition.

Ask Dave Mustaine and he’ll tell you this is his “full circle” moment where he pays tribute to his previous band as they were his roots. That’d make sense if he ever actually GOT OVER THE FACT THAT THEY FIRED HIM. I think this was more to show off the fact that from a musical standpoint he’s the one who invented the spider chord technique you here in the middle section, and he also most likely wrote the main riff. That sliding power chord is unquestionably a main staple of Dave Mustaine’s guitar/songwriting technique. That groaning sound that you hear in so many Megadeth songs.

But listening to this track over and over again I can’t help but ask myself “what the fuck are we doing here???”. I’m just going to get straight to the point here, it’s a modern-day produced, note-for-note rendition. And Dave’s vocals? Remember that Beavis and Butthead episode where Butthead told Beavis that he sounded like Mustaine? Well, here, Mustaine sounds like Beavis talking about trying to score. That’s not a compliment and Beavis and Butthead was my childhood!

I feel like he just did one take struggling to just get through this. It’s really bad karaoke. It’s as if he got smashed, stumbled into the nearest Karaoke bar in St. Marks Place in Manhattan and yelled badly into the worn out microphone, trying to emulate the vocals of a then-twenty one year old kid. To boot, his vocals in the mix are louder than the music. And let’s talk about the solo section. It’s clear that Dave arranged it where he and Teemu trade off solos. Teemu absolutely starts if off, followed by Dave. But that harmonized section near the end, I don’t know if it’s Dave, Teemu or the two of them harmonizing together. But it almost sounds like a harmonizer effect. Very clinical, much like Dirk’s drums.

And then there’s James’ bass, which I complained about once already. I’m not listening to this expecting Dave to mix James to sound remotely like the late Cliff Burton. I definitely didn’t expect Dave to fly Flemming Rasmussen in from Denmark to mix the tracks the way he did for Metallica in 1984. But on a track like “Ride The Lightning” where the bass was absolutely as important as the other instruments, James fucking LoMenzo needed to be a little more prominent in the mix.

Worse than all of what I just said is the idea that nearly 43 years and an entire legacy later, he chose to end his career by pointing to THEM. It’s not a full circle moment at all. It’s him still mourning the fact that he got kicked out of what became the biggest band on Earth even though it was HIS OWN FUCKING FAULT. I’m not as big a Metallica fan like I was a Megadeth fan; but you NEVER heard James or Lar$ bitch about Dave they way Dave still bitches about them.

It’s time to face the facts: Dave’s time in Metallica was a fucking blip. He, once again, has songwriting credit for only SIX SONGS. He never even made it to record Kill ‘Em All because he was unceremoniously fired just DAYS after the band arrived in Queens, NY. I can easily join the echo chamber in saying he needs to let it go. But if I’m pragmatic, I know that at this point it’s hopeless, so hopeless it’s pathetic. I swear his dying words are going to be “James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich”. And why not? The first two words in his autobiography actually are “James Hetfield” after all. I shit you not.

Abandonment issues my big, hairy ass!

THIS is how he chose to ride off into the sunset, by pretending he was still with them and seemingly forgetting about his own INCREDIBLE legacy. It also acts as a reminder that a LOT of his career was based on trying to one-up Metallica. That’s why he tried to go mainstream in 1992. That’s why he made an album as shitty as Risk in 1999 – because of something he heard Lar$ say!

I didn’t have high hopes for Megadeth’s self-titled farewell. The band’s take on “Ride the Lightning” solidified my fears. I hearby give Megadeth’s swan song two middle fingers.

My Own Final Will and Testament

I’m closing this by officially announcing my retirement from Confessions of An Angry Metalhead. I haven’t been inspired or motivated for over a year. That’s why I’ve done NOTHING since 2024, that’s why I’ve done NOTHING to celebrate the blog’s 10th anniversary last year. I just don’t care and you probably don’t either. The only way I’ll let anyone keep in touch with me if it’s a hot chick, or at least one with great big titties, who wants to send me nudes. Otherwise, I hope I pissed you off and triggered your asses to no end.

Good riddance and kill yourselves you fucking cunts!

Megadeth – Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! (2002 Remix and Remaster)

Posted on January 25, 2026 by Mike

https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/SUZJL0rEd0b

Why?

Why the fuck am I writing another article after having not done so in well over a year? I was unofficially retired, having zero desire to write anything else. I was done. Then Dave Mustaine announced that the next Megadeth album would be the band’s last, and that he was going to retire. Then I started hearing some songs and I was absolutely mortified by the lyrics to some of these songs alone. And I feared that this final album, released just yesterday as of my writing this, is going to be absolute shit.

I’m very tempted to write an article just shitting all over this final album. But before I do, I figured I should talk about my reaction to listening to Mustaine’s 2002 remix of Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!, Megadeth’s 1985 debut.

It was my teenage years when I began to absolutely WORSHIP Megadeth far more than I ever could Metallica, the band Dave was kicked out of right before that band recorded their 1983 debut, Kill ‘Em All. My first Megadeth experience, unfortunately was 1997’s Crypitc Writings, which is where the band truly took a stab at mainstream success. It was…ok. Two years later they released Risk, which was even WORSE, and I questioned my my spending choices greatly.

But over time I’d hear classic songs such as “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”, and “Sweating Bullets” on WSOU and wonder where THIS band had been! When the band started to go back to its thrashier roots in 2001, I was inspired and bought the remainder of their 90’s-era output starting with Countdown to Extinction, followed by Youthanasia, and then finally, the motherload itself, Rust in Peace.

I was fucking FLOORED. This was so intricate, so intense. “How the fuck does he sing AND play those guitar parts??”. Then in early 2002, it was announced that Dave remixed and remastered Megadeth’s debut album to be released in February to be released on Loud Records. When they approached him about merely remastering the record, Dave offered to remix it to bring out things that you couldn’t hear in the original recording. He wanted to give it the treatment that all the other albums would get. Also…

See this shit?

Yeah, he definitely wanted the opportunity to finally do justice to this shit show that Combat Records did, making Dave think to himself “Boy did we get cheated!”.

So, upon meeting up with a friend at the Staten Island Mall the Sunday after the remixed album was released, I picked it up at Sam Goody. While taking cab service home, the driver was starting at some of the girls, and beginning to tell me about some of his conquests, before an elderly woman came into the car, forcing him to switch personalities, so to speak.

The biggest mistake I recall making that afternoon was trying to do homework while this was blasting out of my then-new Phillips 5-disc CD player. The piano and ESPECIALLY the guitar was nice and clear for the intro to “Last Rites/Loved to Death”. Once the drums kicked in you could hear that the sounds was far more crisp, the flatulent snare drum sound replaced with something infinitely sharper. And all of this was going to make for Gar Samuelson’s drums to be easier to hear, and far more brutal than what’s heard on the original mix. Then was the way Dave just fucking RIPPED that solo using his Bill Lawrence pickup as an extra fret!

Next up was the badass title track, which according to Dave’s liner notes, was based on The Punisher. I was flabbergasted, thinking that at one point, he was actually trying to sing while playing that chaotically technical riff live in concert. And it was the fucking verse riff!! It was all too clear as the speed picked up: this truly was the brainchild of a guy who lost the opportunity of a lifetime and was now out for blood. He told that band when they fired him to not use his shit. They did anyway and it challenged him to do something he knew they couldn’t pull off.

After that was “Skull Beneath The Skin”, which I’m 99.5% positive is the story of Vic Rattlehead, Megadeth’s mascot. It’s an absolute beast of an exercise in dynamics and changes. There’s a reason Scott Ian of Anthrax once described Dave’s guitar style as being “sideways”, and that’s probably because it truly never was straightforward. Maybe it was because in Gar and guitarist Chris Poland, Dave had employed two jazz musicians who probably helped him in arranging the chaos.

The speedballs might’ve helped too.

This style continued for the next two tracks, “Rattlehead”, the albums Thrash anthem featuring some INCREDIBLE leads by Chris Poland, and “Chosen Ones”. Following these was “Looking Down the Cross”, the ultimate beneficiary of Dave Mustaine’s remix job as far as I’m concerned. You can hear the difference INSTANTLY which Dave’s tapping harmonics in the beginning of the song. In the original mix, the riff is very reverberated, sounding as if it was played in a cave. Within the confines of the remix, the harmonics have more feedback to them and sound far more in your face. And that was the whole point of him remixing this whole album anyway.

This to me is the centerpiece of Killing… It’s technical, it changes tempos at the drop of a fucking dime, the lyrics are insanely intelligent for a guy that had a MAJOR drug problem long before Chris and Gar ever introduced him and bassist David Ellefson to speedballs. Considering that James and Lar$ initially didn’t have the most flattering things to say about Dave’s guitar abilities, especially in the lead department, this was the track that should have shut them both up. The second solo on “Looking…” is the most intense solo Dave ever played. It’s chaotic, it’s panic stricken courtesy of the multiple diminished trills he hits, AND it actually tells a story within the confines of the chaos!

“Mechanix” hits and here we go. Metallica fans know this one w]as “The Four Horsemen”. The primary differences are “Mechanix” lacks the mid-tempo section and the apocalyptic lyrics. In its stead are a slightly faster tempo that doesn’t relent and lyrics about a horny gas station attendant. Hearing James sing “Mechanix” on the No Life ‘Til Leather demo is hilarious when you realize those are Dave’s lyrics, and James’ vocal style still wasn’t fully developed yet.

Closing the album is a cover of “These Boots”, the Nancy Sinatra song. I hate this song with all my heart and soul. I’ll NEVER understand what possessed the band to cover this song. But I do know that it’s quite funny. Lee Hazelwood, the writer of the song, waited ten years before he decided to complain about the band’s cover version, prompting Dave to bleep out random lyrics for the sake of comedic effect more than anything else.

In the next two months leading to the news that Megadeth would have broken up (albeit temporarily), this album kicked my ass so hard. I listened to it RELIGIOUSLY for the next little while as I traveled to school and work every day. It wasn’t perfect, it was nothing like the succeeding album, which found Megadeth on a major label. But the songs were fucking RAW and the new remix job accentuated that rawness. It was very much needed. Not bad for guys who needed an extra $4,000 to finish the album because they blew half of their $8,000 budget on drugs! I give the remix of Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good four middle fingers!

Track List

Last Rites/Loved to Deth

Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!

The Skull Beneath the Skin

Rattlehead

Chosen Ones

Looking Down the Cross

Mechanix

These Boots (Nancy Sinatra)

Bonus Tracks from the Last Rites demo (1984):

Last Rites/Loved to Deth

Mechanix

The Skull Beneath the Skin

Welcome Home, Boys! Shadows Fall – “In the Grey”

Posted on December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 by Mike

Twelve years, twelve long years. That’s how long it’s been since Shadows Fall, one of the most important Heavy Metal bands to come out of the late 90’s-mid 2000’s New Wave of American Heavy Metal released the last album, Fire from the Sky before ultimately going on an indefinite hiatus three years later. In the years that followed, drummer Jason Bittner had gone on to play for Flotsam and Jetsam before leaving them for Overkill, which he had just left recently. More notably, lead guitar GOD Jonathan Donais replaced Rob Caggiano as the lead guitarist for Anthrax. He made his recording debut with them with their 2016 album, For All Kings.

However, in recent years, Shadows Fall began to sporadically – and I DO mean sporadically! – play shows, primarily festival dates. I assume this was to maximize the worth of their time after being away for so long. But the demand for more grew and when the band performed The War Within in its entirety this past March, Brian Fair announced that they were in the middle of recording new material. Well, it was announced that “In the Grey”, their first new single in twelve long, agonizing years, would be released on Friday, December 6th.

Well, December 6th arrived and there’s only one thing to say after listening to the first new Shadows Fall single in twelve years:

Welcome home, boys!

“In The Grey” is EVERYTHING we ever knew and loved about Shadows Fall, all wrapped into one hard-hitting, 3:38 package. It hits you in the face instantly with Jason Bittner’s sledgehammer-esque, lightning-fast drums, before transitioning into a frantic drop-C thrash riff and Brian Fair screaming his head off. It drops the tempo for the chorus and sounds a bit like “Still I Rise” off 2009’s Retribution before making way for a pinch harmonic drenched breakdown riff. Jon, Zakk so would’ve been proud. At the 2:16 mark, you’ll hear one last syncopated riff right before Jon’s solo. There’s a subtle change there that you’d have to really pay attention to. Without getting nerdy about it, it definitely adds color and dynamics to the riff. If you play music, you’ll hear it instantly. I fucking love it.

Jon’s solo….oh that solo. It’s everything we all loved about his playing. Technical, aggressive, intense, dripping with emotion. I said he was the bastard child of Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde, and he demonstrated it here. And it’s short enough to leave us wanting more. After one more repeated chorus, it’s all over. At least for now. The production on “In the Grey” is fantastic. You can hear every nuance of every instrument. If Zeuss produced this (I’m betting he did) then score one for the band because NO ONE knows how Shadows Fall is supposed to sound like Zeuss does.

Let’s dissect these lyrics. If there was one thing I was looking forward to, this was it, because Brian has written some thought-provoking lyrics over the years.

“Impermanence breeds pain
All hope and light will drain
You think it’s all on you
But they feel it too…

The pressure building
The bones will crack
Relentless waves in which you drown
The heart rings hollow
And thoughts collapse
Ruthless obsession there’s no turning back”

According to Brian, the lyrics are rooted in experiencing crippling depression. And as someone who might or might not be dealing with that as I type this review up, this hits a little too hard. Let’s continue to the chorus to avoid dissecting everything.

“Hey! another day in the grey
This can’t be the only way
The light seems so far away
Hey! another day in the grey
I’m not giving up today
The light seems so far away”

What Brian also mentioned is that the song is ultimately about slowly overcoming said depression or at least making the commitment to not let it drown you. That’s not easy to do.

I love “In the Grey” and I am left with hope that whatever Shadows Fall drops next will also be as true to the legacy of this once untouchable band as this track is. Sad as I was to hear they were going on indefinite hiatus all those years ago, I dare say this was actually worth the wait. Most bands that reunite after a long absence tend to not have that fire in them. But with “In the Grey”, I sense what I sensed when I saw them in March. That’s a band fully rejuvenated. I give “In the Grey” five out of five middle fingers.

Nails – Every Bridge Burning

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Mike

Eight years. That’s how long it’s been since Nails released You Will Never Be One of Us, the band’s last album and 2016 Nuclear Blast Records debut. That album was absolutely disgusting, just beautifully vile and disgusting. It was raw, quick (minus “They Come Crawling Back”), and disgusting. The biggest surprise to me still, even eight years later, is that it debuted on the Billboard charts. Forget about the position (128), it’s just the idea that a band this disgusting DEBUTED ON THE BILLBOARD FUCKING CHARTS.

We wouldn’t hear much from Nails for a long time afterwards. The band, with the YWNBOOU lineup still intact, did release some new material from time to time, including a split with Full of Hell and the 2019 single “I Don’t Want to Know You”. Otherwise, not much was heard from them, which isn’t a surprise. Frontman/guitarist Todd Jones made it clear in the past that Nails is definitely not a full-time touring band, as he has a full-time job and doesn’t like being away from home for long stretches of time. It might or might not even be why both drummer Taylor Young and bassist John Gianelli left in late 2020, ultimately concluding the original lineup.

With all of that in mind, let’s fast forward to the present. As I type this, Every Bridge Burning, Nails’ fourth full length album and second on Nuclear Blast Records, has been out for two weeks now. To boot, this new release has a whole new, much more metal-inspired lineup, including Carlos Cruz on drums, formerly of Warbringer. After many much-needed repeated listens (the album is only 18 minutes after all!) there’s only one thing to say:

Every Bridge Burning fucks hard. It fucks harder than my first girlfriend from when I was 18 who just lied there on her parents’ leather couch like a dead fish. I could list a few others, but Kristy, you were the worst. Worst blowjob, worst fuck, worst everything. But it also fucks as hard as the submissive chick who always addressed me as “Daddy”.

But I digress.

“Imposing Will” is the lead off track and after four bass drum kicks to start things off, it immediately turns into something that could’ve sounded like “Parasite, pt.2” from the previous record. But the difference here is the drums are even punchier than last time around. I didn’t think that was even possible since Kurt Ballou’s production made Taylor’s drums sound like battering rams last time around! Todd Jones sounds as if he’s continuing with the vocal style he began using on YWNBOOU. It’s one that’s much more growly and guttural than the high-pitched scream he used on 2013’s Abandon All Life.

“Punishment Map” immediately kicks in with more blast beats from Carlos Cruz along with Todd’s and Shelby Lermo’s Boss HM2 Heavy Metal-cranked, Swedish Death Metal inspired guitar tones. It’s the type where even MY ears (I have perfect pitch) have a hard time making out what’s happening at times. But that’s the beauty of it all. And to you fucking gear nerds, yeah, I know Todd is using an overdrive pedal that was custom made for him – but it’s definitely inspired by the old HM2 pedal, and you can’t deny it!

The more I go through the album I begin to realize that not only are the drums clearer in the mix, but so are Todd’s vocals. I still can’t completely make out what he’s saying; but he doesn’t sound like he’s drowning in the mix either. I also hear slight bit of room reverb (?) in his vocals, almost similar to King Diamond’s voice on Mercyful Fate’s Don’t Break The Oath.

“Give Me the Painkiller” took me very much by surprise when it was released as a single over the summer. The opening riff alone is far more intricate than anything else in Nails’ entire catalog. In fact, the song is the most Metal sounding of the entire album and even has a legitimate guitar solo. I shit you not! And come to find out, Todd revealed in Forbes that upon having writers block during the pandemic (aka the greatest year and a half of my life!!!), he began listening to Van Halen. While Todd clearly didn’t begin trying to write like Ed, the change in music encouraged him to break out of his shell and branch out.

I don’t care what music you prefer to listen to, you’re not a real musician unless you listen to all kinds of music because you never know where your next source of inspiration will be.

I wasn’t sure about “Lacking the Ability to Process Empathy” when I heard it weeks ago. It appeared nowhere near as dynamic as the other songs I’d heard as singles. But within the confines of an album flow, it fits right in. I also love Carlo’s double bass groove near the end of the track. “Trapped”, the shortest track on the record at just 0:38 seconds, is just pure rape. There’s nothing else to say.

“Dehumaized” is THE song to listen to while beating the shit out of someone with brass knucks AND a metal baseball bat. The pace is superhuman at the very start with blast beats so clear that you must be dead if you stay still. It appears to be a tradition for Nails to have the album closer be the longest track on the record. And at 3:19, “No More Rivers to Cross” is only half the length of “They Come Crawling Back”, which clocked in at 8:14; but it’s so fucking filled with changes, headbanging grooves and Tony Iommi-esque trills that the song’s length is perfect.

If there’s anything I can say about Every Bridge Burning, it’s that Nails – Todd in particular! – is still one big ball of rage, bile, resentment, violence, intensity, you fucking name it. But now, the music is just a tad more diverse, and I like it.

I hearby give Every Bridge Burning four out of five middle fingers!

The Black Dahlia Murder – Aftermath

Posted on June 13, 2024 by Mike

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/angrymetalhead/episodes/The-Black-Dahlia-Murder—Aftermath-e2krsnc

The wait is over. I don’t have much else to say expect it was one agonizing wait. It’s not the first time a band chose to continue with a different singer, but there were clearly going to be implications here. The Black Dahlia Murder, the single most important Death Metal band in the last twenty years were about to release their first new song since the death of Trevor Strnad devastated the entire underground community, leaving many of us – myself included! – feeling that this was the end, and that with just one original member remaining, The Black Dahlia Murder’s days were fucking numbered. They were cooked as far as I was concerned.

That’s why, after several months of the surviving members keeping their cards close to their chest – and who could blame them? – they shocked us all again by using Decibel Magazine to announce the return of ex-guitarist Ryan Knight alongside current guitarist Brandon Ellis, and the even bigger surprise in which founding guitarist Brian Eschbach would leave his position to become the new lead singer. For context, no shit he did many of the backing vocals over the decades. But this was different. In a sense, it was probably wise to keep shit like this in-house. But regardless of how much Brian has written over time, and with the possible knowledge that one cannot simply emulate another person’s vocal style, filling his own departed singer’s shoes would not be easy.

And that’s putting it lightly.

That’d be comparable to expecting William DuVall to sound just like Layne Staley. It would never be possible and even if he somehow pulled it off, it’d be considered phony, and Alice in Chains would’ve folded yet again, this time for good.

So here we are. The Black Dahlia Murder has released their new song, “Aftermath”, off their upcoming album, Servitude, to be released on September 27th, and I intentionally waited until I was finished with my morning Leg Day in the gym before I listened to this. I needed to be able to just sit, listen, and take notes without any distractions. Thanks to everyone who read and heeded my Instagram story request and didn’t tell me a damn thing. I needed to be able to hear “Aftermath” with an open mind, no preconceived notions. It was the only way I could give such an anticipated song a fair review.

Aftermath

The opening few seconds bring the sounds of an incoming storm. Before the 7 second mark even hits the new lineup kicks into full gear like there is no tomorrow, and it sounds like classic Black Dahlia, but with the awareness that this time they all have far too much to prove. It’s only eight seconds later the Brian begins to sing. Upon listening to him you can already hear that this is the same man that’s performed backing vocals for years both on record and live. It’s here that you can tell that he’s not out to emulate someone as emotional and dynamic as Trevor. Yeah, I said emotional, because that’s partially what made his performances stand out as they did. Anyone can growl. Anyone can scream. Anyone can combine the two. But few can give it the character Trevor Strnad did for nine albums. Ironically, while Brian Eschbach thankfully isn’t trying to be Trevor, he does sound a lot like him.

As mentioned earlier, the opening riff sounded like classic Black Dahlia, chock full of Carcass-inspired melodies, albeit with far more urgency. Since every musician in the world has their own way of writing, I’m wondering if Brian had a major say in the songwriting for “Aftermath” and perhaps the bulk of the upcoming new album. This would not be to take anything away from the returning Ryan Knight or Brandon Ellis, who quickly became a powerhouse in The Black Dahlia Murder, but I suspect Brian knew there needed to be some sort of familiarity to the music. To circle back to my earlier Alice in Chains comparison, upon writing their 2009 comeback masterpiece, Black Gives Way to Blue, Jerry Cantrell NEEDED to write nearly everything. That familiarity in the music was the only way anyone would accept any new music from the band, and he knew it.

The lyrics are pretty powerful, sending a message without actually discussing the events of the last two years:

So here we are
You thought you’d seen it all
Still amongst the living after the fall
The burning rock fell from the sky
Laid waste to old world most did die
Roaming the fire
Adapting to ash
Scavenging to survive
Time and pressure
Make us clash
Feeding off each other when we can
The decisions that we make
Beg the question “Are we still human?”

If I were to put myself in the shoes of Brian Eschbach alone, I can imagine feeling every negative emotion I felt listening to Unhallowed for the first time, only multiplied by infinity. I can imagine that as he’s making decisions he never thought he’d have to make, he had to wonder many days and subsequent months, if this was real or if this was all a fucking nightmare? Again, I alone thought the band were fucked.

A decent slowdown arrives at the 1:35 mark. But even with the main, neck-breaking tempo being given a short rest, even the slowdown has urgency, as led by Alan Cassidy’s marching drum pattern. The band kicked back into full gear with the main guitar solo by the returning Ryan Knight. I really missed hearing this man play. It was on his initial 2009 debut with the band, Deflorate, where I declared that The Black Dahlia Murder had become a full-fledged Death Metal band. That’s not to say I didn’t like the preceding three albums from them, but Ryan’s lead playing compared to his predecessor, A decent slowdown arrives at the 1:35 mark. But even with the main, neck-breaking tempo being given a short rest, even the slowdown has urgency, as led by Alan Cassidy’s marching drum pattern. During this slowdown period, we hear the main guitar solo played by the returning Ryan Knight. I really missed hearing this man play. With his wide vibrato and his harmonies, he always reminded me of what King Diamond’s Andy LaRoque would sound like in a true Death Metal setting outside of his solos of Death ‘s Individual Thought Patterns. It was on his initial 2009 debut with the band, Deflorate, where I declared that The Black Dahlia Murder had become a full-fledged Death Metal band. That’s not to say I didn’t like the preceding three albums from them, but Ryan’s lead playing compared to his predecessor, John Kempainen was truly night and day. I initially thought that Brandon was not to be heard on this track at all. But I now know that he actually plays the bulk of the solo. Strange how that works. It’s a remind that the two actually have VERY similar styles. Whoops! After that amazing solo, the speed picks up again, blast beats abound. With one minute to go in the song, the band, Brian especially, are going to make sure they make their message loud and clear. Brian is beginning to sound even more slobbish here, harsher, angrier, more distraught as if he knows he’s almost finished, but he has more to say and he NEEDS us all to hear him.

The song ends abruptly.

My Thoughts

After a distressing, two-year wait there are many things I can say about “Aftermath”. One of my Instagram followers told me he found his listening experience to be overwhelming. I couldn’t agree more. There was too much on the line here for The Black Dahlia Murder to fuck this up. With a run time of three minutes and one second, the band did exactly what they needed to do. They wasted zero time with the introduction, they reintroduced themselves in a timely fashion, dynamics being used to perfection, and they ended it on a literal high note, making me at least wish there was a tad more. “Aftermath” isn’t just a song, this was statement. It NEEDED to be a statement. It NEEDED to send a clear message, and it did.

I give “Aftermath” five out of five middle fingers.

The Case For Abbreviated Training

Posted on September 13, 2016September 13, 2016 by Mike

The following is my first ever article for Bodybuilding.com, written today. It was approved by the moderators not too long ago, hopefully it’s good enough to be published. But you can read it here and judge for yourself:

I was first introduced to the idea of abbreviated training in 2009, when a trainer at my former gym told me about a book entitled Brawn. Originally released in 1991, it’s author, Stuart McRobert wrote in extensive detail about the important of shorter training in comparison to the routines found in magazines during the time of the book’s release. McRobert stressed that the average Joe couldn’t possibly get big or strong on a pro bodybuilder’s routine, but they could totally benefit by going back to the basics.

Let me clarify something first, the average Joe is not just a non-competitive bodybuilder. It’s someone like you and me, who works a day job five days out of the week and goes to home to multiple responsibilities. Some of you work more than one job, some of you have young children at home, and then there are other responsibilities that naturally hinder us from being able to just go to the gym and do multiple exercises in the course of four, five or even six days a week.

I can actually relate to this now more than ever as someone who recently competed in his first Powerlifting meet. I live in New Jersey but I work in Brooklyn, NY so it takes me a good hour an a half to get to and get home from work. Once I’m home I still have to prepare dinner, get ready for the next day, do things around the house, etc.

My current program, Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 for Powerlifting, calls for three or four day a week training; so what I decided to do was take the four day a week template and alternate it into a three day per week schedule in order to fit my daily needs as well as give myself time to recover from the previous workouts. That was a very important first step for me. The next thing I did for sake of shortening my training was reducing the amount of exercises I needed to do per training day.

This can especially benefit powerlifters. Are we training for looks come competition time or are we training to improve on the big three moves, Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift? If you chose the latter then keep reading! There are plenty of great powerlifting routines out there but if you’re like me and your trying to save time are you really going to waste your time training your secondary muscles? Sure, having thick lats can be beneficial, but are they what you’re using when you Deadlift? Fat chance! You need the power of those hamstrings and your glutes to help you bring that bar up. Same thing applies for Bench Presses. Once again referring to the lats, do they help you push the bar off your chest to the ceiling or do you need a thick chest along with strong triceps and shoulders to help you do the work?

So what’s the point of all of this? Because I’m strapped for time ten months out of the year I need to train in a way that’s practical and in order to do that I stripped my training of anything I found was unnecessary in helping to improve my functionality in the main lifts. In doing this I shortened my training dramatically and I still get results. Here’s an example of the way I currently train using just my working sets:

Day 1:
Overhead Press – 3 x 5/3/1
Barbell Curl – 3 x 10
Tricep Dips – 3 x 10

Day 2:
Deadlift – 3 x 5/3/1
Leg Curls – 3 x 10

Day 3:
Bench Press – 3 x 5/3/1
Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 x 10
Chest Dips – 3 x 10

Day 4:
Squats – 3 x 5/3/1
Leg Press – 3 x 10

Upon reading this you might notice that I split the assistance leg work to two different days. I chose to do that purposely based on which assistance work helps with certain lifts. If I’m squatting then I’d rather just stick with Leg Presses to help me build muscle in my quads, just as I’d rather do Leg Curls on Deadlift days to strengthen my hamstrings. Therefore I have two strictly upper body days and two strictly lower body days, all even arranged as to save time and give me more bang for my buck.

But this is just how I train, for the most part. It might be different for all of you. All I did was take a preset template and removed what I felt was wasting time, because time is money, of which I usually have none. So here’s something to think about in the future if you happen to fall in this category, because it’s amazing to see that the saying “less is more” actually fits here. So if you’re strapped for time and still want to train, get rid of the excuses and make a plan of action today!

Mike is an amateur powerlifter hoping to enter his second competition in the near future.

You can also check out the original article here if you want:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=172409253

Operation Domination – live at The Studio At Webster Hall August 31st, 2016

Posted on September 2, 2016September 18, 2016 by Mike

Funny isn’t it? Just one night after I published a scathing piece on why I basically would like to see New York City burn to the ground…I’m back in New York City. But at least it was for something awesome; I was there to see Angel Vivaldi and Firewind/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G on their Operation Domination Tour at The Studio At Webster Hall. Angel is on the heels of re-releasing his 2010, EP The Speed Of Dark, with it’s tracks being completely re-recorded with his current band, and Gus recently released his latest solo album, I Am The Fire, a more straight forward album compared to what he does with Firewind. Also, I guess he needs to keep himself busy until Ozzy comes calling to do his next excuse of an album. Hey, just maybe Ozzy will actually let Gus write material for it this time. That’s a maybe. If you follow me on facebook then you already know how I feel about Ozzy’s plans to record after Black Sabbath’s last show. But if you don’t…I’d rather Ozzy just call it a day, he hasn’t made anything meaningful in decades and the ONLY reason I even bought Black Rain in 2007 was because Zakk Wylde wrote eight of the album’s ten tracks. So Ozzy…if you ever see this…you were great when I saw you with Sabbath at the Garden. Do yourself a big favor and just go on a high note like Tony Iommi is doing.

Webster Hall is right around the corner from the 111 year old art store that’s being forced to close so the Marriot can make it into a hotel aimed at millennials. So yeah I did go check it out before I went inside. Someone was talking to the owner, who clearly looked distressed. Then again his family ran the place for three generations.

There are two rooms in Webster Hall: The Marlin Room, which is the main room for popular acts, stupid raves and 80’s prom bullshit and, once upon a time, WWF Shotgun Saturday Night. Let’s see who remembers that one! And then there’s The Studio, which is essentially a small bar with a good size stage. Gus and Angel were to play The Studio…I guess the guys running Webster Hall decided that some shitty rave was more important that a fucking YouTube sensation and Ozzy’s guitarist, right?

Angel went on stage and just blew everybody the fuck away.

Showoff!

Alex fuckin’ Bent!

I actually met Alex when he was opening up for Crowbar with Battlecross last year at Saint Vitus In Brooklyn. Really cool kid…incredible drummer. On this tour he’s actually doing double duty, playing with both Angel and Gus. Here’s a picture I took of us outside Saint Vitus last year.

I wanted to talk to him and praise the hell out of him but before the show ended I found myself bailing out early because my knees were in excruciating pain – having flat feet is a real bitch.

Angel’s Setlist

An Angel’s Poem On A Grave

An Erisian Autumn

._ _ _ _

A Mercurian Summer

. . . . _

Acid Reign

Guitar Solo

Sea Of Heartbreak

Crystal Planet (Joe Satriani Cover)

A Martian Winter

Gus G? Loud as fuck! So loud that a few songs into his set I had no choice but to go to the back, where my girlfriend was…because she already knew better. Oh yeah, the guy’s an incredible player, real easy to see why he got the gig with Ozzy. His whole band – which included Alex and Jake, Angel’s bassist, sounded fan-fucking-tastic. But I had one complaint:

Dude…you don’t have to play “Crazy Train” just because you’re in Ozzy’s band bro. Hell, most people there for you were actually Firewind fans.

In fact the band did play two Firewind songs d I have to say I was kind of impressed. I hate Power Metal with a passion but Gus’s playing was so muscular – very similar to Zakk – that it gave the songs some BALLS.

As I said before…I left after the “Crazy Train” cover because my knee were in pain. But I know for a fact that I missed Angel join Gus on stage for what was probably a really sick jam out.

Gus’s Setlist

Burn

Brand New Revolution

Vengeance (instrumental)

Eyes Wide Open

Come Hell Or High Water

World On Fire (Firewind)

The Quest

Terrified

Redemption

I Am The Fire

Crazy Train (Ozzy)

Fire And The Fury (Firewind)

G.O.T

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https://www.facebook.com/Confessions-Of-An-Angry-Metalhead-1237695776242081/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

R.I.P. New York City…or Why I’m Glad I Got Out!

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Mike

This is actually going to be full article based on a random thought I wrote about just last year, regarding the decline of New York City’s diversity and character because let’s face it…it’s just gotten worse and will continue to do so.

So it all started just two nights ago, when I came across this article:

http://ny.curbed.com/2016/8/12/12452636/target-east-village-opening-date

Wait…what the fuck? A new, two floor Target in the East Village? With a 30-year lease on the building?! First off, I’m a bit biased here because I used to work at Target but…ew! Also…why? Why Target and why in the East Fucking Village?? Then, I reminded myself of exactly why: money talk$.

I wrote a year ago that many of the places I used to know were going away at a pretty steady pace, especially at my old haunts, specifically St. Mark’s Place, which I had said was at least hanging on a thread so long as Sounds was still around, even if it was open just three days a week by that point, if anything for the sake of posture. Whoops! Not too long after I wrote that piece Sounds finally did close down for good, signaling THE end of the more culturally diverse St. Mark’s Place I used to know once and for all. Why? Because who the fuck can afford these fucking rent hikes? Oh wait…chain stores can!

Oh, I can go on and on about when I first noticed this change, and how it changed the entire landscape of Manhattan alone – don’t even get me started with Brooklyn! But instead I’m going to rant about who we can all blame for this and if you live or used to live anywhere in New York City (like me) you already know why: yuppies and especially hipsters. The hipsters started fucking everything up when they came to Williamsburg, Brooklyn from whatever bumfuck towns/states they grew up in during the late 90’s/early 2000’s with their daddys’ checkbooks in search of somewhere cheap as hell. In just a few years time a once extremely dangerous part of Brooklyn now had hipster themed bars and vintage record shops on almost every street corner. And not only that, rent was now fucking sky high. I was an intern for a music marketing firm in Manhattan in 2007 and a considerable portion of the hipster fuckheads I worked with lived in “Billyburg”. The only way they could be living there was if their parents were paying the rent because I can tell you right now they sure as fuck weren’t making even remotely decent salaries at this particular firm. I’d look for apartments in Brooklyn on craigslist and some of these prices were retarded. $2000 for a studio off of Bedford Ave? Really? But if you want to know how I truly feel about hipsters just watch this amazing clip from The Gentlemen’s Rant. Skip to the 1:50 mark for my favorite part!

This was just the beginning, of course. Soon, the resulting trickle down effect happened: Manhattan followed suit. The hipsters lived in Williamsburg in order to be as close to Manhattan as possible so before anyone knew it any area near the Williamsburg Bridge, especially the Lower East Side, started changing at that steady paced I mentioned before to cater to these motherfuckers. The trickle down effect here? Long standing Mom and Pop stores began to close shop to be replaced by some really strange fucking things.

This also spread, of course, throughout most of Manhattan, not just the Lower East Side. Old buildings were being knocked down to make room for high rise condos that I know I sure can’t afford. Here’s a quick story. My dad’s been in real estate since 2005, having gotten his real estate license from NYU in 1988, and he was responsible for one of these buildings in the Lower East Side being knocked down in 2007. He told me that while on site a girl came up to him asking him to please sign her petition to stop these developers from knocking the building down, obviously having no idea she was talking to the very person behind the whole thing. Oops!

To some of you reading this I risk coming off as yelling at yuppies and hipsters to get off my lawn like a bitter old man. You’d be wrong. Yeah, I hate yuppies and REALLY hate hipsters. But my big problem is that because of them, and more specifically about their lack of history, having not grown up in the city like I did, they appear to truly lack any appreciation for the charm New York City once had. It was once such a diverse city. I don’t just mean for the reputation of it’s many areas – not just the parts I mentioned – but because you could go into any street corner and find something completely random and enjoyable. Hell, twelve years ago I could just turn to W 48th St in the tourist trap that is Times Square and I’d just happen to find the once infamous Music Row. You’re reading correctly, there was once an entire block of just music instrument stores. Several Sam Ash buildings, each one dedicated to specific instruments, Rudy’s, the world famous Manny’s Music, just to name a few.

Oh, here’s my favorite. A 111 year old art supply store right around the corner from Webster Hall is being forced out of business because the building was sold to some jerkoff who plans to make the building into a hotel geared toward…millennials?? What the fuck does that require exactly that a piece of HISTORY is being forced to close down for this? Someone please tell me. What exactly makes millennials so fucking special? Is it the computer thing?? Since the age range for millennials is between 1982 and 2002 I guess I’d be considered a millennial on paper, being that I was born in 1984. But I’m no millennial because just about anyone born in the 80’s knew how to survive without cellphones and computers. Ask the kids today when they last experienced a fleeting, random moment. You’d probably hear crickets for a long time because that’s how often their heads are down at their smartphones they honestly have NO BUSINESS carrying around at twelve years old.

So here’s my main point to all of this. Gentrification my ass! If I wanted to go to an outdoor strip mall I’d go to probably any other city…or an outdoor strip mall. I used to live in a city that had a very special charm to it, one that was different, one with so much diversity and excitement, one with character. These were the things that made it The Greatest City In The World, because it’s not that anymore, not when I see Subway restaurants on nearly every street corner and increasingly more homeless people on the streets because they were evicted for their inability to pay their rents. If you’re reading this and are as disgusted with what’s become of it all like I was, do yourself a favor and get out while you still can…like I did, because it’s no longer just the East Village that’s dead – all of New York City is!

There are times now where I drive on Route 3 E and if I catch it around sunset I get a gorgeous view of the city from afar. But every time come across this brilliant view I sadly can’t help but always think to myself the same thing over and over again: “New York City…beautiful to look at…ugly to live in…”

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Giving The Devil His Good Name Back – The Metal Mike Show, September 9th 2004

Posted on August 29, 2016January 10, 2023 by Mike

In my very first post here I briefly mentioned that I used to DJ for my college radio station. Hell, that show, without question is the precursor to this blog because it gradually became my first platform to just talk shit AND not get in trouble for it. But that’s a story for another time because how I got this fucking show so easily requires a bit of a back story anyway. Oh, by the way, I won’t be mentioning which station it is because I don’t feel like giving anyone any undeserved attention.

So, I decided to give my station a shot in April, 2004, thinking I wanted to be a DJ. I liked the idea of being able to play music and not be seen. To this day it’s amazing how UGLY some of the top DJ’s in the country really are. But since they sound great who the fuck cares? I went through two meetings, one with the personnel director and the second with the station’s chief engineer…part super genius…part angry, bitter, and an all around asshole. If Gregory House was a real person he’d be this guy! What made me laugh inside was in despite only being in his mid-30’s, the combination of his skullet and his awful 70’s looking moustache made this fucker look like an ex-member of the Doobie Brothers.

If I’m not mistaken I took the test a good week later and passed with just two wrong answers. I originally chose to join the Music Department because that meant I could review records for play as well as maybe even dictate what got played at all, the first CD I ever reviewed being Black Label Society’s low key masterpiece, Hangover Music, Vol.6, which I was also able to burn and leave at the station while I took the original copy home. But long story short the director at the time let no one do anything with her, frustrating me, so I joined the Engineering Department. I had wanted to join Production but, at the time, it was mandated that you couldn’t do shit in production unless you knew how to run the board properly.

Some time goes by, the middle of summer arrives, and I was approached by the newly appointed engineering director about being his assistant. Why? Neither he or anyone else wanted the only other person around to be involved because that’s how lowly they all thought of him. We’re talking a really nice guy too. And there you have it, proof that even college radio isn’t clean of slimy politics! So, from then on until I left for good in early 2007 I was the Assistant Engineering Director of my station. But of course there was something else I wanted, and part of the process I didn’t even have to go through.

While I had applied for a show to start in the fall semester, I didn’t have to make an audition tape, and all because I was an engineer. In other words, I already knew how to operate the board. Before I was told that was even getting my first show I was approached by another DJ from the Production Department about covering him because he wasn’t able to get out of work. It was easy enough, his show had a specific format which he wrote down for me – all I had to do was follow the bullet points. So there I was, fresh from sitting in with the two BEST DJs in the whole station at that time – both actually being alumni volunteers at that point – and DJing my first show.

It was a little nerve wracking, I was already engineering and cohosting someone else’s public service show on Mondays for a month at this point, but this was the first time I was on my own. After reading off the most important bullet point of this guy’s show he surprised me by calling me up. I didn’t think he was listening but here this guy was telling me that I “rock”, and even complimenting my voice. And after I finished up, that angry chief engineer – who can still go suck a dick and die – even told me he liked my voice.

Thursday, September 9th, 2004. This day would see the launch of the Metal Mike Show at 4pm. My then guitarist, Chad, jokingly suggested I call myself Metal Mike. A manager of mine at work suggested Iron Mike, but some at the station just didn’t like it. For a few weeks prior to this I had hand drawn ads and plastered them all over the walls of every single building on campus, as well as on the walls of music stores where I lived and even in places in Manhattan, especially the now defunct Manny’s Music on w 47th St. The guy whose show I covered for read the script for my station promo and immediately asked if he could read it on mic. It was hysterical hearing him read “It’s time to give the devil his good name back…Hell never sounded so good!”, with as much bass as he could get out of his voice.

With two hours to go I began writing down my playlist for the next three hours, trying to find a balance between the music I wanted to play and the music I’d be required to play. There were two other metal DJ’s who happily pigeonholed themselves to two extremes, one to Black Metal so underground the bands themselves don’t even know if their demo tape is even circulating, and another guy that loved to cater to his drunk following in England, playing nothing but Swedish Melodic Metal and Power Metal. Power Metal…GAY. I wanted to be the balance between those two guys, being a fan of almost all types of Metal…expect Power Metal or anything related to it. I’d like to think I did a good job with that over the next two plus years.

Ten minutes to go. I walked in to the On-Air room where another DJ was getting ready to wrap things up, this was on of the two people I sat in with. Now this woman had an incredible radio voice. She’ll be oh so shy talking to you but when she’s on air she gets so sensual to the point that you’d think it was a different person. Looking on the instant messenger on the computer screen I already had to messages. One was from my dad, who had tuned in on his office computer to hear me, the other being some jackass in the station busting my balls “I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY GAVE YOU A SHOW!” I think I know who it was. She left, I played a few PSA’s to get settled in, my show’s promo, followed by my favorite station ID track…and off we go!

I had Ozzy open up my show with “Miracle Man” off his classic 1988 album, No Rest For The Wicked. This was Zakk Wylde’s recording debut with him and I was such a Zakk fanboy at the time. Also, that opening riff is just huge! Nerves hitting me so hard, I couldn’t help but practically scream right into the mic once the song ended. I knew I needed to calm down but I was so nervous I just couldn’t stop myself! After screaming out the station’s phone number for requests I immediately but on Death’s “Bite The Pain”, a request for one of those two metal DJ’s I mentioned before. I tried to do everything I could to calm myself down. It took awhile but as time went on I got a bit more comfortable…until someone came to check on me.

It was 6pm, two hours down, one to go. Someone asked me how I was doing and as soon as I said ok it went downhill. I put on Black Sabbath’s “Fairies Wear Boots”, only for it to start skipping. So I quickly put “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” on the second CD player…and THAT started skipping. So I pulled out Metallica’s …And Justice For All CD, put on “To Live Is To Die”…and THAT began skipping. FUCK! I had no choice but I go back on air and try to save myself. Luckily for me, the rest of the show went off without a hitch before the next DJ came to relieve me. All in all I had fun; I clearly had a lot of work to do as far as calming my nerves so I don’t scream into the mic, but this was the beginning of a time that would consume the next two years of my life.

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Extreme Metal Gym Playlist

Posted on August 21, 2016September 5, 2016 by Mike

Gym playlists. Man, some people out there really seem to not have the balls to delve into nastier shit than they’re accustomed to in order to really raise those adrenaline levels. I guess they don’t really want to train with fury after all. Pussies. This goes back to my first true post on here, titled: “…if I had my own gym”. I bitched that the so-called metalheads in my gym cried like little girls upon hearing my heavy-as-fuck Spotify playlist, which contained several tracks by Pantera (the super heavy shit from the mid-90’s), Strapping Young Lad, Nevermore and Meshuggah. The remarks came flying: “What is this crap?” “Yeah I know I’m a Stripping Young Lad but this sucks!”, “Do you have any Metallica??”

Sure, there are gyms out there that understand that Disturbed is NOT the definition of music that makes you want to fight someone of even deadlift the house. But they’re few and far between. Also, I’ve come across plenty of playlists on Bodybuilding.com and, while some have come close, I came across a lot of shit. When I think of real weightlifting music Bring Me The Horizon and Miss May I are clearly, badass bands to train to. Right? Right? Excuse me while I puke out my flank steak dinner and my creatine powder.

So here are my ten picks, in no particular order, for heavy-as-fuck, balls to the wall, rage fueling, gym music.

Nails – You Will Never Be One Of Us, 2016

I’m starting with this one because I need to get something off my chest real quick: I’m so fucking mad at these guys! Just as this album is getting more critical acclaim and attention than any other album sounding remotely like this the band, without warning, goes on hiatus?!?! What the fuck is this shit?? And why now??? Did Todd Jones decide he couldn’t handle the sudden popularity?? Did it go against his hardcore ethos?? Good thing I never went to This Is Hardcore in the beginning of the month because I would’ve been really pissed off!

Now that that’s out of the way…this is most likely my album of the year. In just over twenty-one minutes, this album is literally all killer no filler…at all. This is just straight up RAGE from start to finish. The production is rough, the vocals are ridden with the type of slobbering anger that says Todd Jones wants to hurt you so bad. This is true Meathead music. It’s totally amped up my workouts since it came out two months ago and will most likely continue to do so.

Key Tracks: You Will Never Be One Of Us, Savage Intolerance, Parasite, They Come Crawling Back

2. Pantera – The Great Southern Trendkill, 1996

Yeah…this one…not Cowboys, not Vulgar…this one. Why? Listen to the opening seconds of the title track alone. That’s why. The Great Southern Trendkill is literally the most violent and intense Pantera release in their entire recording career. It just wreaks of every negative emotion you DIDN’T expect from Pantera. I guess it kind of, sort of, also helps that Phil Anselmo was secretly doing heroin during this time. That shit always brings down the mood! Featuring the late Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt on backing screams on certain tracks.

Key Tracks: The Great Southern Trendkill, War Nerve, Suicide Note Pt.2, Sandblasted Skin

3. Strapping Young Lad – Alien, 2005

Ever wanted to hear what a bipolar person sounds like when they stop taking their meds just to make their most intense album ever? Here’s your chance! But it ain’t pretty. Which is why I love it! Devin Townsend knew that Strapping’s 2003 comeback record was clearly stale, minus two tracks. So what did he do? He risked his mental health and let the crazies out to play on more time. I cannot listen to this record when I am driving because there were many times when this record came out that I went into massive road rage, probably came close to INTENTIONALLY running over people and driving into a wall.

Key tracks: Skeksis, Shitstorm, Love?, We Ride

4. Nevermore – This Godless Endeavor, 2005

Without question the heaviest album Nevermore ever did. I don’t know if it was because of the permanent addition of Steve Smyth as a second guitarist, but whatever it was, it worked. Usually known for a more diverse musical formula on previous albums, much of that is non-existent here. Like…compared to the albums before it or after…This Godless Endeavor is musically pitch black. I can totally see myself bench pressing to Jeff Loomis and Steve Smyth’s dueling leads on “Psalm Of Lydia”.

Key Tracks: Born, My Acid Words, Bittersweet Feast, Psalm Of Lydia

5 and 6. Crowbar – Crowbar, 1993/Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form, 2001

I decided I had to put in two albums here. Crowbar are the ultimate go-to band for intense weight training. It’s unforgivingly brutal, fast enough, slow enough, sludgy enough and add Kirk Windstein’s increasing raspy vocals on being down and out and all I want to do is eat lots of food and deadlift.

Speaking of food, on their Phil Anselmo-produced, self titled album is a song called “Existence Is Punishment”. If you ever watched Beavis and Butthead in the 90’s you probably saw them making fun of that song’s video, leaving Beavis to basically say that the band makes you want to eat and get fat. Oh..and that they’re always taking a dump. Also featured here the most badass cover of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” that you’ll ever here.

Key Tracks: “High Rate Extinction”, “Existence is Punishment”, “All I Had (I Gave)”, “No Quarter” (Led Zeppelin)

Probably the fattest, sludgiest and – believe it or not – most groundbreaking album or their career. Featuring future Goatwhore guitarist Sammy Duet, Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form truly lived up to it’s name. But not just because it’s heavy, or you might as well consider every heavy album to be groundbreaking. But because the songwriting here is so thought out. Everything was perfectly arranged. “The Lasting Dose”, the album’s most popular track – and the one where the moshpits always reach new heights – probably wouldn’t sound as amazing it does if it wasn’t well written. This one always has me banging my head while training – I could give two shits if anyone’s looking at me.

Key Tracks: The Lasting Does, To Build A Mountain, Failure To Delay Gratification, Empty Room

7. Behemoth – The Satanist, 2014

First off: Nergal is GOD. I knew I loved Behemoth they day I heard their 2004 album, Demigod, in my college radio station, where I found myself playing it to death for a while. It was the perfect mix of death metal with black metal themed lyrics, a new style the band were experimenting with.

But here, literally a decade later, the band is beginning to change. Oh yeah, the brutality of their previous albums is still here, but the music itself feels fresh, much looser, much more off the cuff. I remember hearing Nergal screaming with passion on the track “Messe Noire:: “I believe in SATAN!!!!”, me yelling to my car stereo with excitement “Oh yes you do!!!”.

Key Tracks: Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel, Messe Noire, Amen, O Father, O Satan, O Sun

8. Meshuggah – obZen, 2008

This was band’s second album using eight string guitars, but after 2005’s weird, and heavily drum sampled Catch 33, the heaviest band to ever come out of Sweden were back with fury. Back when everyone and their mother was still on Myspace, I heard “Bleed” on the band’s music player…and nearly fell off my chair. The slow tempo, mixed with Tomas Haake’s double bass rolls, those bowel inducing, low tuned eight strings locked in just perfectly, Jens Kidman’s newly developed screaming…it was as if the band was reborn! Meshuggah were already one of my top five gym bands but obZen is a modern day Extreme Metal masterpiece.

Key Tracks: Combustion, Electric Red, Bleed, Dancers To A Discordant System

9. Morbid Angel – Domination, 1995

The one album that causes the most drama between fans. You either love Domination or the thought of it makes your stomach turn, and that even goes for the members of the band. Between the production style and the change in David Vincent’s lyrical themes and vocal approach, this is either the band’s most brutal album or the biggest pile of shit they ever recorded. Me? I fucking love it! It’s virtually unrelenting, minus “Hatework”, which I could do without. I personally think the clarity in production makes Trey and Erik’s guitars that much more brutal.

Key Tracks: Dominate, Where The Slime Lives, Eyes To See Ears To Hear, Dawn Of The Angry

10. Black Label Society – Live Alcohol Fueled Brutality + 5, 2001

Right off the bat, fuck the “plus 5” on the second disc, it doesn’t matter. I almost didn’t use this album but first off, Zakk Wylde is GOD. Second, this live album is endlessly loud, violent, and brutal. This was recorded on that infamous 2ooo tour were Zakk’s famous “grail” Les Paul was stolen, not to be seen again for a good three years. This is another album I’ll bang my head to and sing out loud in the gym regardless of who’s watching me. Fuck them, they’re all listening to the shitty dance music playing through the speakers or some watered down “rock” through their earbuds.

Key Tracks: Low Down, Lost My Better Half, Bored To Tears, No More Tears (Ozzy Cover)

Confessions of an Angry Metalhead

Tag: Aggression