Morbid Angel: A Death Metal Soap Opera

Posted on June 21, 2015June 21, 2015 by Mike

What a week it’s been for Morbid Angel, because in a matter of just a few days, the band lost…everyone. It all started when founding guitarist Trey Azagtoth announced that bassist/vocalist David Vincent was out of the band and back in the band has non other than Steve Tucker – the very guy who replaced David when he first quit the band back in 1996. Trey even said they were working on new music together. Then came the drama; a few hours later David responded saying his basically had no idea what anyone was talking about and that he never the band or was asked to leave.

But wait, this gets better! With the next two to three days drummer Tim Yeung quit the band, saying he left over financial reasons, which is not too much of a surprise, and then co-guitarist Destructhor (his real name is actually Thor. That is fucking awesome!) announced that he was out because he wanted to go back home to Norway to focus on his other band Myrkskog. What I find funny about this already is that both Tim and Destruthor decided to leave Morbid Angel after their most recent European Tour ended in December 2014. I imagine that they both left because of money and their both too professional to say anything, although according to Destructhor the band wanted to work with someone “more local”. Already sounds a bit fishy.

Then, just two days ago, David reversed his initial statement and announced that he too was in fact out of Morbid Angel. He said that he Trey had a long conversation and they both agreed that they had some “incompatibilities” in regard to them working together any longer. Of all the band departures this is the one that was the lightning rod. David Vincent is the vocalist you hear on those first four classic albums. He left the band in 1996 to join his wife’s bondage themed rock band The Genitorturers. There was some dispute over the creative direction of his last album with them, Domination. David thought at the time that it was sonically their best album to date due to their upgraded production values and the fact that they tried a few new things. Trey, on the other hand, said a few years later that he found the sound on Domination to be so sterile that it pissed him off. He also didn’t like that David wrote all the lyrics this time around and that they strayed very far away from the themes of the previous three albums.

Steve Tucker came in and did three albums with the band and then something happened in 2004. Trey and David started talking again, which led to him doing a few surprise gigs with the band…which led to him rejoining the band altogether due to the positive reaction from the fans. There’s been a bit of controversy ever since the band released their 2011 album, Illud Divinum Insanus, an album so techno sounding that David was given the blame for the musical direction. Hell, look at the guy. Really – look at him, even in the picture on this post! God damn if he doesn’t look like something out of a sex shop or Hot Topic before they were bought by the Gap! Some of you call him David Sixx, which I think is hysterical. Given that along with his Genitorturers past and his big influence on Domination twenty years ago it’s easy to make a martyr out of David.

So I wonder like everybody else what happened because Trey obviously isn’t ready to talk yet. He might never be because he doesn’t like to talk…which is probably why he kept David around – he’s very social, I met him so I know as does anyone else who met the guy. Some people are saying that this is Trey cleaning house and regaining control of his band because David was once again too strong when fighting for creative control. Some are a little bummed that he’s gone again and some are REALLY happy that he’s gone and Steve’s back in. And remember I mentioned David not knowing he was gone? Sounds like Trey didn’t really have the balls to tell him he was gone, kind of like when Warrell Dane of Nevermore discovered through Blabbermouth.net that Jeff Loomis had quit the band. Pretty scummy if you ask me.

So where does Trey Azagtoth go from here? Does he hire all naive rookies in order to pay them less than guys like Destructhor and Tim were already getting? Is Trey ever going to discuss what happened? Is this new album he’s doing with Steve Tucker going to blow Illud Divinum Insanus out of the water? Only time will tell but if Trey ever talks he has a lot of explaining to do because a whole band leaving in or announcing their gone in just a matter of days raises a few red flags. I’ll always be grateful that I got to see Morbid Angel with David Vincent during last year’s Summer Slaughter Tour at Irving Plaza in Manhattan. Great show and no songs from Illud! Here’s a short video I made of the band playing “Fall From Grace” off their second album, Blessed Are The Sick. It’s not even two minutes long though because my phone was dying after a long day out.

Anaka live at Gramercy Theater; New Angel Vivaldi Premiere

Posted on June 17, 2015June 19, 2015 by Mike

Anaka Live at Gramercy Theater

I recently got tickets for Anaka’s next show, a headliner at Gramercy Theater in Manhattan on the heels of their latest album, The Unwavering, that’s happening next Saturday, June 26th with support from Brand of Julez and Tempest City. If you don’t know who they are they are an aggresive as FUCK metal band from Brooklyn. I started talking with Jimmy Pallis, the band’s singer on facebook about four years ago; when the conversation went into Megadeth and how they essentially lost their balls after Youthanasia (some of you would say otherwise) I knew this guy was the real deal!

So we exchanged numbers and as it turns out this and his guitar player brother, Peter Pallis, are so into connecting with their fans that they will have no problem driving to you to sell you tickets. This was the case last week when I bought my tickets for this upcoming show. Not a lot of bands do that. It was a funny few minutes. They’ve been on the scene a long ass time and when i told them about my blog post regarding my first metal concert and brought up a few old names the jokes just started flying. Fuck…Jimmy…Peter…we’re old.

If you want a good time and are in the area next Saturday I’d definitely recommend seeing them. A great live show with a very loyal following. Quick story for you; I finally saw Anaka for the first time at a free show they played at a bar called Killarney’s on 95th St in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to promote their latest acoustic EP, Into The Great Unknown – The Acoustic Sessions back in February 2012. I took my then-girlfriend, Nicole, with me along with my then-bassist, Joe, and his friend Shake (yeah, I know, a dopey nickname. But he’s awesome). Now…when you see a band play a bar this tiny the last thing you’re going to expect is for a mosh pit to break out, right? Well…no sooner did they hit one note did the whole bar break out into a pit. I was siting right where the band was and I found myself pinned to the bar by my left leg! I struggled to get out and I think it was Joe who finally pulled me out to safety. But man, driving home from the show that night my left quad was in exquisite pain and it stayed that way for the next two weeks – that’s more of a souvenir of a good time than the t-shirt I bought from Jimmy that night!

New Angel Vivaldi Premiere

What a fuckin’ week it’s been for Angel Vivaldi! The youtube sensation only released the video for his new single “._ _ _ _” just a few days ago via Guitar World and it already has over 20,000 views and more than 24,000 views on Ibanez Guitars’ facebook page. I actually posted a video of him performing this song at Dingbatz a few blog posts ago so this the song proper. Here’s the video now:

He recently made the ballsy decision to quit his fulltime job to go on tour based on all his success so if and when he comes to your town you should go show your support. You won’t regret it.

Final Thoughts…

Anyone here read what Kerry King said about Jeff Hanneman yet? Apparently Kerry was asked if he feels like Jeff’s spirit is guiding the band. Kerry’s reply? “Jeff is worm food. When you die, you go in the dirt. There is no doubt. Doubt’s called agnostic. I’m not agnostic.” Well Kerry is there’s on thing you ARE it’s a real piece of SHIT. “Worm food”? It’s one thing to say that you don’t feel like his spirit is guiding the band. That’s fine. But calling the guy that wrote Slayer’s greatest music “worm food” is as disrespectful and as slimy as it gets man. There are a Lot of people I can’t wait to call worm food but if I was in your position and my co-guitarist who contributed so much was gone I wouldn’t say that shit about him. Scumbag!

Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah Eaten By Members of Heavy Metal Band Watain

Posted on June 8, 2015June 11, 2015 by Mike

The Tyranny of Tradition

Have you ever been so hungry you could eat a horse? On Sunday night, members of the black metal band Watain did just that.

At the end of an impromptu show at Wantagh, Long Island’s VFW Hall 3666, singer Erik Danielsson and the rest of the band carved up the now-legendary horse American Pharoah and consumed him raw. After the band concluded their concert and meal, they donated the remaining edible flesh of the animal to the audience of nearly one hundred formerly enlisted soldiers who served our country with honor during The Korean War and World War 2.

The thoroughbred’s owner Ahmed Zayat, who himself plays in a Megadeth cover band called Hoof in Mouth, is a huge fan of heavy metal and Watain in particular. He demanded that trainer Bob Baffert play Watain’s seminal metal song “Reaping Death” for at least an hour during each of Pharoah’s workouts…

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My First Metal Concert

Posted on June 5, 2015July 15, 2022 by Mike

This just popped in my head a little bit ago…maybe because Phil’s bringing this band back out on the road again, but only as Superjoint for “legal reasons”, whatever the fuck that means. In early 2003 I was finishing up my first year of college and was anxiously waiting for Phil Anselmo to stop with the multiple side projects and get with Pantera again. So one day before I finished for the semester I met this guy Hussein, who I’m still buddies with. I don’t remember how it came about but we got to talking about Pantera and he mentioned that Superjoint Ritual, Phil’s Black Flag-meets-Black Sabbath hardcore side project, was going to be playing L’Amour in Brooklyn in a week and opening up for them would be Sepultura. Whoa wait a sec. Superjoint Ritual? Phil Anselmo? Sepultura? Playing…in Brooklyn?? Playing …in THIS place??? I figured for sure Phil Anselmo was too big of a name for a place like L’Amour, I don’t give a fuck how many bands played there. Hell my first two gigs ever were at L’Amour and I vowed to never played there again because the faggot ass guineas running the place didn’t know how to talk to people. But I realized I had to go. It was Superjoint – it was fucking Phil Anselmo, who at that time still had it as a vocalist, and sadly it was as close to seeing Pantera as I’d ever get, partially because Phil wouldn’t shut the fuck up but that’s another story…kind of. May 20th, 2003. It was perfect, I wasn’t scheduled for work that day and all I had to do was hand a final paper to my English professor and I was a free man. While on campus I couldn’t help but go on a computer and check out Pantera’s website. It read “May 20th 2003: Phil says Pantera is over.” I click on it and there was a link to an audio clip were Phil explained his logic that he wanted to do another Down record, his label wanted another Pantera record and therefore his “obvious choice”, as he put it, was to stick with Superjoint Ritual. Don’t get me wrong, Use Once And Destroy was a fucking AMAZING CD, but that’s his ‘obvious choice”?? Why didn’t I realize he was far from sober the whole time? So I took car service all the way to 63rd St in Brooklyn, which I swear is like this magical hidden block that you can’t know about unless you know what to look for because I never knew of or saw the place until two years earlier. I got there real early anticipating a line but thee wasn’t. But I did see a Ryder moving truck with Sepultura’s gear in it and realized Igor Cavalera was hanging out in front of the building while the crew was unloading the band’s gear. These days I have no problem going up to musicians but this was the first time I ever saw someone like Igor in the flesh and I just fucking froze. I didn’t know what to say, do, nothing. It got worse when Andreas Kisser came out. I did try to talk to the road crew, offering to help them unload. They were cool but they nicely declined. Fuck! I was there for a few hours before I decided that maybe I should get on line. Problem? I didn’t have tickets; but that all changed when I ran into an old friend whose band, Dieverse, was one of the local bands opening up the show. So one of his fat goth chick friends sold me a ticket while (I think) subtly offering to blow me – not happening sweetheart! I was one of the first on line when Superjoint’s bus came around and the band walked out. Considering all things Phil looked pretty normal as he high fived me. I walked in there and was surprised to see that since I last played there in October 2001 they had built a brand new stage in the back, which meant there now were two stages. I thought this was pretty genius since L’Amour was notorious for overloading the bills with local bands up the ass. I would know – my old band suffered for it twice. So while seeing the first main band, this really shitty hardcore band called Full Blown Chaos – wow they sucked so bad! – I found myself talking to some older woman who was standing next to me. She was a real cool chick and I found myself asking her were she lived and when she said the village (Greenwich Village for those of you dopes unfamiliar with lower Manhattan) I for whatever reason said “I figured so”. She asked me nicely how I figured that and I couldn’t think of a good answer even though I totally didn’t mean it as an insult. I must’ve meant the fact that she came off as such a free spirit but didn’t know how to say it like such at the time, and being just days away from turning 19 what the fuck did I know anyway? “I’m getting another beer, I’ll be right back”, she said. Guess if she ever came back. Oops! Yeah, I was a dope. Lesson learned! So Sepultura came out next and they fucking SLAYED. Igor’s drum kit is something else but whatever. The man is one of the greatest metal drummers of all time, a pure machine. Andreas Kisser’s tone was heavy as fuck as they played stuff off classics like Roots and Chaos A.D. During “Roots Bloody Roots” the place came apart for a bit. There was no way they’d be able to steal Superjoint’s thunder – even with Paolo Pinto’s bass sounding like a 747 taking off. So Eddie Trunk came out to introduce Superjoint and I had just discovered him not too long before this night but he was every bit as fat as I imagined he would be just from listening to him as he showed off his vast, useless musical knowledge. The only thing he was missing as far as I was concerned as was a pair of nerdy Steve Urkel glasses and suspenders! The band came out and the place came apart for real this time. I wish I could find footage of the show but I can’t. There was this one guy with these nasty looking dreads standing in front of us who just had to keep his middle finger out in the air while yelling out “FUCK YOU ALL!!!” over and over again. The guy standing next to me was jokingly putting his lighter to the guy’s head – I wish he lit that asshole up! Some memorable parts of the show include a girl jumping on stage to grab Phil’s nuts and hand him a joint, in which Phil responded in kind: “Thanks for the joint – thanks for grabbin’ my balls!”, as security took the girl away. There was the part were some dude jumped of the stage head first and no one caught him. Yeah, cringe moment for me and the dudes I now was hanging with. Then Phil said the one thing some of us predicted he’d say. In a pure drama queen moment he put his left palm out to the crowd, closed his eyes and proclaimed “It feels…SO GOOD…to be only two inches in front of you. I’ve been on all the world’s biggest stages – I’VE BEEN ON ‘EM ALL! But this is where I belong…and this is where I’m stayin’.”, he said as he backed up toward Joe Fazzio’s drums for the next song. “Who called it?”, someone yelled out. Aside from that the band destroyed the place for real. Just one issue…how the fuck do I get car service to take me home?? I found a number for car service when I heard someone say “I know you from Psychology class”. Anna Lopez?? Thank Satan you’re here! And there was my ride home. The next concert I went to two months later was far bigger But this was Phil Anselmo, and this was also to be the second to last time I’d ever go to the original L’Amour; the place closed down eight months later. If any of you reading this were at the show at all drop me a line and tell me about your view of the show. Let me know if I forgot to mention anything.

Some more Crowbar

Posted on May 28, 2015June 6, 2015 by Mike

In the spirit of my last posting regarding Crowbar’s upcoming gig at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn at the end of next month, I just can’t resist t adding this clip from Beavis and Butthead. “Heh heh. This is the kind of music you have on a workout tape if you get skinny and you wanna get fat. Heh heh.” Classic.

Crowbar at Saint Vitus

Posted on May 25, 2015May 25, 2015 by Mike

I celebrated my 31st birthday in Manhattan yesterday, with my girlfriend. It was a great time. Bought a Power Trip CD at Generations on Thompson St, got free ices courtesy of the New York Rangers, who had an ice truck outside Washington Square Park, got a Black Flag t shirt on St. Mark’s Place, which I might cut the sleeves off of. But as a birthday gift to myself I started my day by getting myself tickets to see Crowbar on Monday, June 29th at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, Ny.

This is fittingly being called the Summer of Doom Tour, as they released their 10th album, Symmetry in Black, just last year. Also on the bill are Battlecross and Lord Dying. I’m hoping I can find a way to meet or at least take a picture with Kirk Windstein. If you love to lift weights Crowbar’s music is the perfect music to listen to. Really sludgy, heavy as FUCK, so unrelenting. Twenty six years later Kirk is still a beast. His lyrics over the last two albums have changed to reflect his positive outlook on life after becoming sober but the music is as inspired and as badass as anything he put out before.

Anybody remember when they first heard Crowbar? I do. “Huh huh – he’s always taking a dump! – huh huh.” Man, I miss Beavis and Butthead. I’m sure a good chunk of people out there would have never known about Kirk or Crowbar had it not been for his stint in Sludge supergroup Down, with whom he made three classic albums and an EP before leaving to focus entirely on Crowbar. I personally think that was the best move he could’ve ever made. If any of you reading this plan on going to the show you should drop me line/comment/whatever; maybe we could meet up. I’m also sure I’ll be doing a write up of the show for this blog. Until then, here’s probably my favorite Crowbar video – mostly thanks to Beavis and Butthead!

Five Years Gone

Posted on May 16, 2015September 12, 2016 by Mike

Has it really been five years, man? Five years since we lost you, the great Ronnie James Dio?? I sadly still remember it like it was yesterday, the day my friend over a Comic Book Jones gave me the news… “Dude, Dio died today” “Dude don’t lie to me like that!” and then he turned about the computer so I could see the Blabbermouth report for myself. I’ll never forget how sad I was at that very moment; and I’m still a bit sad any time I listen to your stuff Ronnie.

The first time I ever heard of you or saw you was a parody on South Park back in 1998. But it was over 2 years later when I heard you singing “Neon Knights” with Black Sabbath that I became hooked. Man did you have a set of pipes on you or what?? I wanted more and I eventually bought the entire Heaven and Hell album. It was then that I discovered that you pretty much were responsible for pretty much all of Metal’s fantastical themes: the dragons, the medieval themes of knights and kings, and of course…rainbows,a recurring theme from your days in the band Rainbow – thank you for ditching Blackmore’s dumb ass by the way!

Then there’s one more important piece of the puzzle you gave us – the horns. So much debate on who first used them, the origins of them with some people suggesting they were first used in India in the 14th century…India. There’s even debate on who used them on stage first. According to what you said your grandmother used to do that to “ward off the Evil Eye or to give the Evil Eye”, of course depending on how you do it. But regardless of who did what first it was ultimately you who made something so seemingly evil such a popular staple at shows everywhere – I know I’m not the only one and for that I thank you!

But I can’t finish this without talking about Dio the MUSICIAN. Oh yeah, until I bought your first solo album, Holy Diver, I was unaware of your ability to write more than just lyrics. Just listening to “Stand Up And Shout” I was instantly blown away at the fresh feeling of the song, the speed, the aggression(!!), the attitude, Vivian Campbell’s intense, frenzied solo. It was a pure breath of fresh air, a nice kick in the balls that almost made the three CDs you did with Sabbath sounds almost tame! There was also that voice, again. You could do anything with your voice and it’d sound amazing; you could sing softly, yell with power, snarl, growl, scream – you could do it all!

I’ll have to admit though, you were a bit funny when I saw you perform live for the first time. It was 2003 and you along with Motorhead were opening up for Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden – what a bill! You came out and your pipes were in full power that night bro, and I was at 2nd row for this. But, Ronnie, dude, the way you moved on stage that night in your silk pants and shirt with your glitter cross, I wasn’t sure if I was watching Dio or a stripper! But I couldn’t make to many jokes, you killed it that night.

I saw you two more times years later with Heaven and Hell (bullshit. This will always be Black Sabbath!) at Radio City in 2007 and a year later at Metal Masters in New Jersey. If someone told me that that New Jersey show was to be the last time I ever saw you I’d tell them to eat shit and die but sadly that was the case. How empty the world seems without you Ronnie. You were truly one of a kind as a vocalist. But more than even that you were the total package as a frontman and a musician. Also, by most accounts you were also one of the coolest guys ever.

Here’s a quick story. My friend Rick called me up to tell me that his girlfriend, of all people, had been approached by you, Tony, Geezer and Vinny at a deli across the street from Vintage Vinyl, were I guess you all were doing a signing for The Devil You Know. I think you guys actually talked to her because she was the only one who wasn’t running after you guys. According to Rick as soon as you all finally said goodbye to her several girls ran to her asking her if she realized who she just spoke to and when they told her she frantically called Rick right away – and of course Rick called me right away!

Thank you Ronnie, for the impact you left on the Metal community, on several aspiring singers, and on me. There will never be anyone like you again; but I’d like to think that one day soon someone will come along with a passion of metal the at least matches yours. I’m going to leave off here with one of my favorite deep cuts from Holy Diver, because playing that title track alone would be too predictable. Rest in Peace Ronnie, and thank you again. \m/\m/

Show Me What You’re Made Of

Posted on May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 by Mike

What a ride it’s been for Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe over the last few years, huh? He’s been through hell and somehow avoided a lengthy prison sentence for the death of a fan during a concert in Prague back in 2010, having been acquitted in 2013. I know I wasn’t the only the only one to be relieved for him when the news came that he would come home. I personally put the blame on the security guard and the fan himself. I don’t do moshpits but if I were in a Suicidal Tendencies show or a LAMB OF GOD show I sure wouldn’t be drunk because I know I’d have to be VERY aware of all the other jackasses ready to clobber you.

I was well aware of his upcoming prison memoirs Dark Days, set to be released this July, by the time my girlfriend, Courtenay, told me that she was invited to his photography exhibition Show Me What You’re Made Of at Sacred Gallery in Manhattan this past Saturday, May 2nd. Whoa, wait. Randy Blythe? Photography? I already knew that he’s ridiculously intelligent, and I’m so looking forward to buying his book. But taking pictures too?? My girlfriend HATES Lamb of God so much but was so happy that he was able to come home, and was interested in seeing his work. I, of course, LOVE Lamb of God AND was so happy he came home. The kicker? My girlfriend was issued a permanent VIP pass by Kevin Wilson, the manager and defacto owner of Sacred Tattoo and Sacred Gallery, and therefore we could get in an hour ahead of everyone else. Of course we were going!

While waiting on line that night we met a college kid named Alexander, very nice…very talkative. Well, either that or he was trying to avoid the two seventeen year old dumb fucks in front of him on the line. In fact if you check out Metal Injection’s coverage of the exhibition you’ll see they even interviewed him during the halfway point of the story. I just wonder if when the reporter was trying to go somewhere else this guy still wasn’t done talking!

Around 7pm we were able to go in for a private viewing thanks to Coutenay’s VIP pass and need less to say I was absolutely blown the fuck away. He’s a natural! Randy has been apparently taking pictures for years, maybe a year or two before the Prague incident; he found the time to explore the surroundings of whatever city or country he might’ve been in a the time and just capture some breathtaking shots. Not to blow smoke up the guy’s ass but he definitely has a knack for timing, which is all too important when you shoot moving images.

Notice that the frames are a little…old looking? A little beaten up? Maybe…even old as fuck…like it was a piece of something else a long time ago? Well, you’d be right! These frames are courtesy of Frames by Greta. Greta Brinkman, a carpenter turned frame builder takes old pieces of wood and turns them in to picture frames of all sizes – rather than just throwing them out. She also happens to play bass for stoner metal band Druglord from Richmond, Virginia – Randy’s hometown.

I actually spoke to Randy for a few minutes and I tried to get him to explain to me how he edits his shit because it was so good and he told me that there was no real editing involved. Most people would yell “arrogant prick!” but he didn’t come off to me that way at all. I was almost offended again when he just ditched me but I understood he was getting pulled away because some couple bought a picture. While there I ran into my friends Jimmy and Peter Pallis, the singer and guitarist from Brooklyn based metal band Anaka. If you’re in the NYC at all you should check them out when they play the Gramercy Theater on Saturday, June 27th.

…and just like that you now know what I look like. Don’t get any ideas.

Everything was cool until some lanky 6 foot 8 fucktard arrived. I had a feeling he looked familiar, especially after everyone sitting on the couch next to mine began taking pictures on their cellphones. Then I heard him talking – loud as fuck – like some surfer stoner shithead with this gay looking red hat and this long, doofy looking jacket. My first reaction: “This motherfucker’s still alive?!” Remember Jesse Camp everybody?? The first MTV I Wanna Be A VJ contest winner from 1998? This was him and man he looks like SHIT.

He turned his head as my camera was taking the shot but he looks a lot older than 35. Drugs are a bitch, eh? But aside from that he was acting the same, talking the same, the STOOPID hand motions. Oh yeah. He was doing a video on the exhibition and he was interviewing Acey Slade, who was the DJ for the night. I’m not a fan of anything Acey played that night but man it was way better than ANY of the bands he’s ever played in.

I tried to get a picture with Randy before Courtenay and I left when I noticed a funny scene where someone trying to take a picture with Randy couldn’t get the camera to work. I found it so amusing I even made a video of it:

This video was taken right before I finally got a picture in with him. Funny guy. I went for the selfie pose when Randy decided “Ok that’s way too close. Here!” He then takes the phone from me, reaches as far back as he could with his lanky ass arms and takes a really good picture. “And…walla! There’s your picture!”, he said before he went off to take more pics. The smart ass style of the way he said almost pissed me off – again. But then I remembered “Oh wait! I probably would’ve done the same thing!”. That Randy, funny guy.

“Jeff Would Want This!”

Posted on April 30, 2015May 22, 2015 by Mike

…really guys? Because I don’t! There’s a lot I can say about the latest Metal Hammer. I can talk about Kerry and Tom’s take on the Dave Lombardo situation, the fact that this really isn’t the first time Paul Bostaph was in the band, the fact that Gary Holt is pretty much a Slayer member at this point.

But all I really care about is that stupid quote on the cover of the mag. Why? Because I don’t know about you but I’m not looking forward to a whole album written by Kerry King, no fucking way. And I know I’m not the only one either!

Jeff Hanneman, Slayer’s fallen guitarist – I still miss him so much! – was the guy that kept Slayer raw as FUCK. You knew damn well when a song was written by him because it was usually so fucked up. HIs shit was real; it came from inside because, unlike Kerry, he wasn’t listening to bullshit nu-metal or trying to fit in with what might’ve been popular, especially in the early 2000’s. He also came from a family of war veterans which meant A. He knew exactly what he was writing about at all times and B. He was able to write about more than just blood and death.

Jeff’s punk rock background also gave him that ability to write music without limitations. His solos are way more off the cuff than Kerry’s ever were. I’ve yet to hear another guitarist solo off key and make it fit the song perfectly – but Jeff could do it. Oh, and back to the brutality thing, Jeff has a major one-up on Kerry – he wrote “Angel of Death”, one of the most brutal and fucked up songs off all time. Kerry could never get the band in as much trouble as Jeff did with THAT song but hey, there’s no such thing as bad publicity when you’re in Slayer. Jeff also wrote some of Slayer’s most memorable songs: “War Ensemble”, “Dead Skin Mask”, “South of Heaven””Postmortem”, “Raining Blood” – the starter for every pit….ever.

I mean no disrespect to Gary Holt but Slayer should just call it a day. They’ve accomplished more than they could’ve ever dreamed of as band with songs like “Necrophiliac”, but Kerry writing the whole thing already makes the upcoming album sound so one dimensional to me. Gary obviously had no input in this – and he shouldn’t. When Jeff died the band lost it’s raw edge, that let it loose spirit. Some of you might say that about Dave Lombardo being out again but this article isn’t about him because he left the band once before and he’s still breathing. Even my friend Idrees, the biggest Slayer fanboy you’ll EVER know finally saw the light, telling me this past December that even HE made peace with the fact the Slayer are done. Oh, and you’ll read more about that guy soon.

Anyway, I don’t know about you but as far as I’m concerned, I feel like Tom Araya and especially Kerry are just keeping the band alive for no other reason but to keep cash flowing. I don’t know why Kerry doesn’t try the side project he said he always wanted to do with Zakk Wylde. Kerry, you guys are toast, just let it go. Here’s how I’ll always remember Slayer…with a Jeff song:

RIP Jeff Hanneman 1964 – 2013

Workout Song of the Day

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Mike

This will drive anyone to lift heavy or just fight some guy and just not stop – even if several cops are trying to rip you off the guy you’re beating the shit out of! Ironically this is also the very first Testament song I ever heard back when I was in high school. Metal. As. Fuck. \m/\m/!!!!

Confessions of an Angry Metalhead

Tag: “Metal Mike”