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Classical Revolution PDX, Someday Lounge, August 27, 2008

CFH — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:26:39 GMT

According to the beginning of the manifesto at at Classical Revolution PDX's website, the group "loves classical music, loves playing classical music, loves listening to classical music and is tired of the elitist and inaccessible nature of the classical world." Well, based on the performance I saw last night, those words are most certainly the truth.

Before I go into greater detail about last night's show, I'll give a brief overview of Classical Revolution PDX according to its website. It started in 2007 as an extension of San Francisco's Classical Revolution, which then took chamber music out of the recital hall and made it more accessible to an audience who does not otherwise hear such music in a live context.

Now, one last thing I'll add before getting to the point of this review is that setlists are posted in this section of CRPDX's website a few days after a given performance for those who want to know every detail of what happened.

Okay, the set began with four movements from a Bach "Cello Suite" played by a guitarist. Throughout the rendition, the guitarist constantly moved back and forth on the neck, which created a truly incredible sonic contrast.

Then, an opera singer sang two songs, "Se�ora Escorta" and "The Black Swan." During her time, she also created quite a contrast by belting out a barrage of glass shattering notes with "Se�ora Escorta," and conveying intensely enticing emotion in "The Black Swan."

From there, violist Mattie Kaiser, a violonist, a flutist, a pianist and a cellist played a beautifully uplifting rendition of a modern piece titled "Elegy."

Then, a violinist unleashed a captivating interpretation of Beethoven's "Romance" over a hip hop beat, and proceeded to do something that heavy metal fans refer to as "breakneck shredding."

After this, a pianist and violinist put a unique twist on country artist Lyle Lovett's "Baltimore," and blazed their way through the groovefest "Slovak Peasant's Dance," which was unfortunately way too short.

Up next were two violinists, two violists and a cellist who played a collection of Mozart pieces, and did a tremendous job of constantly splitting up and coming back together in the process.

Rounding out the set was a rendition of Johan Pachelbel's "Canon in D" played by two violists, two violinists, a cellist and a saxophonist that stayed true to the piece, but added a lot to it at the same time.

All things considered, Classical Revolution PDX did a splendid job of performing the music they love, and making the event a thoroughly fun one.

Classical Revolution PDX's next performance will be part of Baroque Bash along with local Portland group Sophe Lux September 17 at Holocene, which is located on SE 10th & Morrison in Portland.

To find out more about CRPDX, and listen to a few past performances, go here.

Megadeth, Cryptic Writings (The 2004 Remastered Version)

CFH — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:53:49 GMT

In 1997, Megadeth caught a fair amount of flack when Cryptic Writings was released since it contained a couple of songs that were made for rock radio in "Almost Honest" and "Use the Man." While any negative comments about those songs were absolutely justifiable, a lot of people took this stance too far in regards to the rest of the album. However, even though the majority of its other songs were quite great, something seemed to be missing in many of them, which meant that the majority of negative assessments directed toward the album were unfortunately tough to refute.

Then, seven years later, Dave Mustaine took it upon himself to remaster all of Megadeth's output on Capitol Records, which spanned from 1986's Peace Sells... But Who's Buying to 1999's Risk. Upon doing so, he managed to do more harm than good for Peace Sells, So Far, So Good, So What! and Rust in Peace, but with Cryptic Writings he sure as hell hit the nail on the head. As a result, his original intentions for the vast majority of the album, which were to come up with true Megadeth songs, became perfectly clear.

Thanks to the remastering, "Mastermind," "The Disentegrators," "Sin," "Have Cool Will Travel" and "She-Wolf" were able to prominently display the edge they initially had before that jackass Bud Prager told Dave Mustaine that "this album will greatly benefit from a more toned down approach." Speaking of a toned down approach, it was also used regarding the songs "Evil Within," which became "Sin," "Vortex" and "Bullprick," which became "FFF," since Prager deemed the lyrics to be "too offensive." Looking back, it's interesting that Dave Mustaine actually bought into that bullshit since he's more or less made his career out of writing lyrics that are straight to the point, and tend to be offensive. Regardless, it's great to see that he's returned to that mindset. Back to those three songs, the demos for "Evil Within," "Vortex" and "Bullprick" depict a band that was one of the few big named ones in 1997 that actually wrote some true, no bullshit metal and/or thrash songs.

Last but not least are the dark and melodic "I'll Get Even" and "A Secret Place," which have unfortunately gotten lost in the shuffle because of Cryptic Writings' sound upon its release in 1997. However, any Megadeth fan that hasn't heard the 2004 remastered version will be in for a pleasant surprise if they decide to give it a listen since it's full of no bullshit metal songs, dark and melodic songs and full-on thrashers once track #4 kicks in.

Ice Cube Live, August 22

CFH — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:01:59 GMT

The following is a review of Ice Cube's performance Friday, August 22 in Portland, Oregon's Roseland Theater. I'm aware that this isn't exactly a pro-hip hop site, but I also believe that someone may get something out this.

The show began with a jackass known as StarChile, who hosts an underground hip hop show on Portland's hip hop/R&B station, Jammin' 107.5. When he first took the stage, I figured that he would spend the majority of his time rapping to his own songs, but instead he did nothing but occasionally rap to someone else's beats and lyrics, and cut the songs off to say nothing more than "where the ladies at" and "y'all betta recanize how great this song is." In short, he's one of those assclowns who thinks that he's so cool, witty, funny and whatever else, but he's nothing more than a total fucking retard who sucked who knows who's dick to get a radio show, and an opening slot for Ice Cube. As his set went on, I hoped more and more that someone would yank his ass of the stage with a Vaudeville cane, or that he would heed my suggestion by walking six blocks to the east of the Roseland, and jumping off the fucking Burnside Bridge. Last but not least, I have no idea why a badass D.J. like D.J. Juggernaut has anything to with his stupid ass.

From there, local Portland rappers Cool Nutz and Maniac Lok took the stage, and did a pretty damn good job. Unfortunately their closer was a bit of a letdown, but most of their songs sounded great, and their performances were spot-on. "'76 Nova" served as the top highlight.

Then, it was finally time for the headliner, who was assisted by South Central LA-based rapper WC. They proceeded to rap for an hour and a half, and provided a good mix of material from Ice Cube's new album, Raw Footage, hits from earlier solo albums and N.W.A. songs. Notable highlights were "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It," "Check Yo Self," "Gangsta Gangsta," "It Was a Good Day" and "Go to Church."

All in all, Ice Cube and WC not only delivered kick-ass performances, they also showed that there aren't too many differences between good hip hop and good metal since both styles have a heavy, aggressive sound, and both styles have their share of real deal artists and piece of shit posers.

For anyone who doesn't agree, the evidence is provided below:

"Go to Church"

"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPawza68dE

Megadeth Concert from the So Far, So Good, So What! Tour

CFH — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:48:10 GMT

Megadeth, Essen, Germany, 1988

I came across this performance completely by accident last week. Specifically, I was bored, fucking around online and looking for something to listen to. I then went to YouTube, and typed in "Megadeth live." The first video that caught my interest was a live version of "The Conjuring" from the band's 1986 album, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying from 1988.

After I clicked on it, I saw something I had been looking for seeminlgy forever: A live performance of "Set the World Afire" from the So Far, So Good, So What! tour. After I clicked on it, I noticed two more things: That Megadeth absolutely nailed the song, and that the same symbol that appeared on the upper left-hand portion of the screen in "The Conjuring's" clip appeared in this one as well. From there, I searched for other videos that contained this symbol, and found out that they're part of a seven song set that Megadeth performed in Essen in 1988.

At this point in time, the line-up consisted of guitarist/vocalist/founder Dave Mustaine, bassist David Ellefson, guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler. Other than Mustaine, none of them are currently in Megadeth, and Behler and Young have been out of the band since 1989. Furthermore regarding those two, Behler was merely a serviceable drummer, but Young may have made enough of an impact to be considered one of Megadeth's greatest guitarists.

For instance, Behler stepped in for the late Gar Samuelson, whose monster jazz/fusion chops took the metal world by storm in 1985. Following Behler's departure, Nick Menza, Jimmy DeGrasso and Shawn Drover have occupied the drum position in Megadeth. Out of them, DeGrasso just may have been the best, but he unfortunately did not get to show his talent in the studio setting since he only appeared on 1999's Risk and 2001's The World Needs a Hero, which are easily the band's two weakest albums. In any case, DeGrasso is without a doubt Megadeth's most underrated drummer.

To see what I mean, go to this performance of "Mechanix" from 1985's Killing is My Business... and Business is Good."

Back to Behler, it's true that he was not one of Megadeth's greatest drummers, but he sure as hell got the job done at Megadeth's 1988 performance in Essen.

Regarding Young's impact, it was only made on one album, but at least that album is one of the band's best, 1988's So Far, So Good, So What!. Just like Behler, Young followed a jazz/fusion musician who possessed monster chops in Chris Poland. After Young's exit, Marty Friedman, Al Pitrelli, Glen Drover and Chris Broderick have been second guitarists in Megadeth. Among them, Pitrelli only appeared on the aforementioned Risk and The World Needs a Hero, Drover only appeared on 2007's United Abominations, which is great, but was released way too late in the band's career for any new members who appeared on it to be considered among the band's best and Broderick hasn't appeared on an album yet. Then there's Marty Friedman, who unleased plenty of wicked solos from 1990's Rust in Peace to 1997's Cryptic Writings. From a technical standpoint, Friedman may have been better than Young, but in terms of tone, Young had him beat by a mile. Specifically, Young's tone was the nastiest of any Megadeth guitarist's, even Dave Mustaine's. On top of that, his vibrato was also the most emphatic, and in terms of technical ability, he more than held his own. Unfortunately though, he could not refrain from making stupid comments such as "The next Megadeth album is going to make Killing, Peace Sells and So Far look like child's play," to which Dave Mustaine said "That guy Jeff Young. He had to go. Everything that came out of his mouth was the purest form of grade A horseshit." With all of that said, no one will ever know if Megadeth would have been better off with Young, and at this point it doesn't really matter. However, Young just may be Megadeth's most underrated guitarist thanks to the tremendous job he did on So Far, and performances such as the one in Essen.

All things considered, this performance is one that any fan of Megadeth's 1980's output will absolutely love. To check it out in its entirety, go to the links below.

"Set the World Afire" (So Far, So Good, So What!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QXlB...eature=related

"Hook in Mouth" (So Far, So Good, So What!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6APiy...eature=related

"Wake Up Dead" (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVgi7...eature=related

"The Conjuring" (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqKdi...eature=related

"Mary Jane" (So Far, So Good, So What!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Lmp...eature=related

"Peace Sells" (Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCai5rxIkZI

"Anarchy in the U.K." (So Far, So Good, So What!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z8zN...eature=related

Maiden Heaven, A Tribute to Iron Maiden

CFH — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:07:36 GMT

I was going to review this CD in the usual fashion, but based on the following statement from Blabbermouth.net, "The track listing and details for this world-exclusive release will be revealed next week and the CD will be available free only with the July 19 issue of Kerrang!," it seems as if it will only be availabe in that particular issue of Kerrang. If I'm wrong, oh well, but it just seems as if reviewing it via blog will be much less of a pain in the ass.

With that out of the way, Maiden Heaven is a largely disappointing release due to many shitty performances, but is worth listening to overall because of some serious gems.

Black Tide kicks things off with a melodic, super-charged version of "Prowler" that demonstrates why it just may be the band that will carry the metal genre further than any other during the next few years or so.

Then, Metallica comes in with a rendition of "Remember Tomorrow" that basically takes up space.

From there, Avenged Sevenfold and Glamour of the Kill exhibit how shitty vocals can kill any performance, even if the music is relatively good, with "Flash of the Blade" and "2 Minutes 2 Midnight" respectively.

Up next is Coheed & Cambria's version of "The Trooper," which is not bad, but would be much better with rougher vocals.

Then, DevilDriver plays a rendition of "Wasted Years" that displays the wrong kind of rougher vocals for an Iron Maiden cover.

From there, Sign reaches rock bottom with an abysmal performance of "Run to the Hills," which is truly beyond words. Check this one out if you feel like torturing yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c15yM...eature=related

Up next is Dream Theater's take on "To Tame a Land," which is extremely refreshing since James LaBrie actually manages to sing it properly. Also of note is John Petrucci's guitar playing, which tends to be stunning when he focuses on relevant soloing instead of wanking.

Then, Madina Lake and Fightstar provide even more wussy and completely unfitting vocals to "Caught Somewhere in Time" and "Fear of the Dark" respectively. Between them is an effective cover of "Wrathchild" by Gallows, which has nothing on the stellar version of the song that appears on the 2005 Iron Maiden tribute album, Numbers from the Beast.

From there, Machine Head delivers the lone contender for best performance honor along with Black Tide's "Prowler" in the form of "Hallowed Be Thy Name." Sure Robert Flynn is no Bruce Dickinson a vocalist, but at least his vocals help Machine Head's performance. On top of that, Flynn and Demmel's guitar work in the song is nothing short of magnificent.

Then, Trivium unleashes a version of "Iron Maiden" that depicts a band on a mission to play the most vicious music it possibly can play.

Up next is Year Long Disaster's rendition of "Running Free," which is easily the best performance by a non-metal band on this compilation.

Rounding out the disc is a mostly unplugged cover of "Brave New World" by Ghostlines. Now am I missing something, or is Iron Maiden a metal band? Therefore, what possessed Ghostlines to play mostly unplugged version of a song on a metal compilation?

To sum it all up, ten of the disc's tracks are performed by non-metal bands, and/or feature horrendous vocals. Out of them, one performance, Year Long Disaster's of "Running Free," truly kicks ass. Then there's a forgettable version of "Remember Tomorrow" by the so-called "greatest metal band of all-time." Thankfully though, the album is salvaged by great performances from Dream Theater and Trivium, and show stealing ones by Black Tide and Machine Head. All in all, this compilation would have been at least 70 percent better if more metal bands had joined the party, or at least vocalists who understand that Bruce Dickinson specializes in singing melodies with some balls behind them.

Track list

1. Black Tide, "Prowler" (Iron Maiden)
2. Metallica, "Remember Tomorrow" (Iron Maiden)
3. Avenged Sevenfold, "Flash of the Blade" (Powerslave)
4. Glamour of the Kill, "2 Minutes to Midnight" (Powerslave)
5. Coheed & Cambria, "The Trooper" (Piece of Mind)
6. DevilDriver, "Wasted Years" (Somewhere in Time)
7. Sign, "Run to the Hills" (Number of the Beast)
8. Dream Theater, "To Tame a Land" (Piece of Mind)
9. Madina Lake, "Caught Somewhere in Time" (Somewhere in Time)
10. Gallows, "Wrathchild" (Killers)
11. Fightstar, "Fear of the Dark" (Fear of the Dark)
12. Machine Head, "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (Number of the Beast)
13. Trivium, "Iron Maiden" (Iron Maiden)
14. Year Long Disaster, "Running Free" (Iron Maiden)
15. Ghostlines, "Brave New World" (Brave New World)

Are you yellow, chicken, or just a wussy?

Mark Carras — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:13:00 GMT

Every once in awhile I get someone brave enough to call me and give feedback. Most ot the time it is someone who doesn't have the balls to actually talk to me. They just spew some uninformed criticism and hang up before I can say anything back. Sometimes they are smart enough to block their number, sometimes not.

You sad little man
Today I got a phone call from a sad pathetic excuse for his fathers nut sack who wanted to know when I am going to update my website. Of course he couldn't muster enough courage to hear my answer, so out of pity for the sad little chap I will answer it here. Mainly to let you all know what the hell is up.

My time is short
First off I am again working full time. So I barely have enough time for the behind the scenes admin crap it takes to keep this thing online. So I depend on writers more than ever. So far everyone I have sent stacks of promos too has not posted reviews. I am sure some of them will very soon.

So reviews could start flooding the site anytime very soon!

News is updated everyday, so we have had tons of updates.

Photos posted Wednesday morning!
I have live photos from the concert this Sunday with Spike And The Impalers, Starship, & Foghat that should be posted Wednesday morning. Kenny Wayne Shepard told security to stop all the photogaphers that had photo passes. So we don't have anything rom his set. Guess his management only wanted shitty cell phone pictures. Maybe that is why his album sales are falling so fast?

Interviews you say?
Well we will not be doing transcribed interviews anytime soon. We would spend 2 hours to prepare, an hour to do the interview, four hours to transcribe it, and then we would see a fan of the band take two seconds of their time to copy and paste the interview somewhere else. That's a ton of time for nothing.

Interview will be live now!
So all interviews will be done as a live streaming webcast from now on. Fans will be encouraged to jump into the streams chat room to interact live with the artist and myself doing the interview. If you miss the live stream I will post the interview for MP3 download soon after.

My final lame excuse!
Another thing that is slowing me down is the system this site is run on is very outdated and was half finished. A very good friend of the site was going to help me build the site CMS, but got burnt out and overly busy with a job change and things have been half finished for years.

So a whole new site is on the way!
We have a new head of programing that is currently finishing up the MAJOR upgrade to our other site www.HeavyAsHell.com and will start on the new Rock My Monkey right after. So although working with an unfinished and outdated system now is slowing me down, I am also working with our new guy on a whole new site that will blow this one away.

Things will be faster than ever...
Things will be faster than ever when we have the new system ready to go. Not only because it will be a massively better system, but also because I will go back to part time with my other job and full time with this again. Oh, and yes it will have a new and better look too!

So be patient little chicken shit.
Things will get better. And please, be brave and talk to me. I'm not really that scary. Next time just say, "Hey, how come you haven't updated in so long." Then I can point out the daily updates to the news section, the forums, this blog, and let you in on things we are working on that will be posted soon.

Thanks.
Mark "the slacker" Carras.

Woo!

Xir0n — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:56:22 GMT

Ello mates. I'm ere again and I don't have a whole lot to say since my last post. I've been learning a lot about the guitar again and most importantly I've been learning a lot about feelings.

I've learned that I tend to hide a lot of things behind arrogance because I don't like being disproved and I've always wanted to feel important. In my own home I was always kind of neglected and my opinions never really mattered. Even today I apparently just 'think I know it all' because I'm a college student (when the topic is the dark brown accents clashing with the pastel blue bathroom). I've always been kind of set aside as the 'fuck up' child because I chose to do music rather than to become a doctor or lawyer or some shit. I've realized that I'll probably never be 'the good son' but I can at least be the happy son.

Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal

CFH — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:11:44 GMT

The all-encompassing book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal was written by Ian Christe, who has also had hundreds of articles printed by publications such as Metal Maniacs.

As stated in the previous paragraph, Sound of the Beast is as much of an all-encompassing book as any fan of heavy metal could ever want. For instance, any metal fan knows that Black Sabbath basically defined heavy metal by releasing their self-titled debut album in 1970. Any metal fan knows that Judas Priest and Motorhead gave the genre more momentum later in the 1970's. Any metal fan knows that Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer make up what's considered the "Big Four" of thrash metal. Any metal fan knows that Metallica became the biggest metal band of the past seventeen years when they released their fifth, self-titled album, aka the Black Album, in 1991. As a result, Sound of the Beast serves as an invaluable resource for any metal fan who desires to dig below the genre's obvious surface. Specifically, excerpts from interviews with many lesser known, rather important metal figures, such as original Anthrax bassist and Nuclear Assault founder Dan Lilker and Tom Warrior, of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, will shed light on what were once mysteries for an abundance of metal fans. Uncannily detailed information, such as that about the 1984 tour featuring W.A.S.P., Metallica and Armored Saint, also helps to ensure that even those know nearly everything about metal will learn something new once they finish the book.

Because heavy metal is a genre that has spanned more than thirty years and contains perhaps hundreds of sub-genres, it's natural that some important bands were left out, and/or given little coverage in the name of finishing the damn book. However, those who are willing to look past such a petty "flaw" will most likely have a blast reading Sound of the Beast.

To purchase Sound of the Beast, go to http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Beast-Co...8746515&sr=8-1

For more information on Sound of the Beast and Ian Christe, go to http://soundofthebeast.com/splash.html

To directly address "factual inaccuracies" within Sound of the Beast, as a certain, perhaps former, member of the Rock My Monkey forums claims exist, go to http://soundofthebeast.com/err_roars.html

To read Mark Carras' review of Sound of the Beast, go to http://www.rockmymonkey.com/bookrevi...te03-08-04.php

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself (The Movie)

Mythos Inibri — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:56:40 GMT

S.O.D. - Kill Yourself (The Movie)

This movie was released in the year 2000,a great way to bring in the new century.Billy and the boys really do this right.There are various performances here in the U.S. and Japan.These guys know how to have fun.Billy is constantly firing people throughout and Scott Ian(guitarist)comes off as an airhead at times during the movie part of this concert/movie/documentary.This band is what is reffered to as crossover music,mixing metal with punk.Billy originally being a punk vocalist while Scott,Dan(bassist),and Charlie(drums)are from a metal band(Anthrax) S.O.D. started as sort of a joke that went out of control,morphing into some sort of a monster but never losing their comedic edge.This movie includes songs performed live from both of their albums-Speak English or Die,and Bigger Than the Devil. If you are a metal and punk fan and haven't seen this I would suggest you get up off your fat ass and get one.You don't know what you're missing!This is definitely a 5 fucking star movie.I need to replace my VHS version with the DVD soon.This movie never gets old,there is so much on here.S.O.D. does not need any further explanation.Buy or Die!!

Mythos '08

Flipper Live DVD

Mythos Inibri — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:13:54 GMT

Flipper Live DVD released Feb.19th 2008

This DVD is simply entitled Flipper Live.It is taken from 2 concerts,1980 at Berkley Square and 1981 at Kezar Stadium where they were opening for Throbbing Gristle.It includes bonus material as well in the form of a music video for "Sex Bomb" the legendary anti-classic Flipper anthem.

The picture for their 1980 concert at Berkley Square is almost crystal clear (excellent) they open with "Low Rider" and Bruce Loose (bassist/vocalist) picks up a saxophone for a brief moment during this version. Next up is a strange song entitled "Friends" going from simple melody to frantic back and forth filled with wondering,angry? lyrics."Friends never appeared on any of their LP's so was another added bonus.

All throughout their performance (drummer) Steve (boom boom) DePace very steadily holds this structure together never missing a beat amidst the chaos that is Flipper.Will Shatter(bassist/vocalist) appears very intoxicated slurring his speech at times.Drinking while playing 4th song "One by One" slamming his bass open-stringed with his other hand.All the while Ted Falconi buzzes away with searing feedback infected guitar chords.This band definitely does not try to impress you with super hard to play song structures or blinding speed. These guys look and sound more like they're having one hell of a great time as does the crowd gathered to see them.The highlight of this show is probably "The Wheel" where Bruce and Will trade places and Will takes the microphone and hands the bass to Bruce.As it turns out someone from the audience gets the other microphone to share his vocals onstage for this one sometimes adding in Rolling Stones lyrics.This song gets at the time a scary kind of feel to it and then it seems like the funniest fucking thing ever.Then Will begins waving his arm in a circle and gets others copying him and laughing.You never know when the song will end and it doesn't matter because you don't want it to anyways.

I imagine seeing and being at a Flipper show would be more of a party than going to see some rock band in a giant colliseum somewhere.This video is a complete trip and just as great as I imagined it would be.

The Berkley Square concert ends with "End The Game" which is about the struggle of life,jobs,anger ect... Great Fucking Show!

Live At Kezar 1981

Again very clear picture not quite as clear as Berkley Square but very very good.There are a few moments where the sound cuts out for a brief second.

This show starts out with "Shine" from their first LP "Generic" There is a movie screen behind the stage and Will is singing while holding a bottle of wine.These lyrics are very intense and meaningful.Bruce diligently playing bass and Steve is keeping perfect tempo on drums as usual.It's always neat to try and figure out what it is exactly that Ted is doing on his guitar.It's hard to tell sometimes because he almost always seems to be in the background.

They play "Lowrider" at this show as well.There are 6 songs at The Kezar and 9 songs at Berkley Square(which includes a brief version of "Brainwash which was 12 times longer on the LP "Sex Bomb Baby" which I'll cover later)

The band turns their back to the audience as Ted appears to be tuning his guitar or having technical difficulties and Bruce begins speaking to the audience about what is on the movie screen above them that is apparently a seal being cut open as he drinks a Budweiser tall-boy.Then they start back up by playing "One By One" which is about the erosion of our world and the way things are.The next song is "Hard Cold Old World" which appeared on their "Public Flipper Ltd." double live album.

Something happened to their bass and Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle brings out his bass and helps Bruce put it on so they can finish their set.Will just sort of wanders around drinking his wine.They start the song over.The guitar playing becomes a bit more frantic as Ted's guitar strap came loose and he halfway dropped it the he begins smashing it into the stage; Somehow he puts it back on and it's still squealing so they end this set with a very distorted version of "Life"

I could swear to god that the last two songs sound exactly like they came off of The Residents album "Third Reich N Roll" (weird) You must see this to believe that it actually ever really happened.You will never mistake this band for anyone else.

Mythos '08

Music Reviews

Mythos Inibri — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:03:21 GMT

I will be posting Punk/Hardcore and other various Metal reviews in this section.80's Punk/Hardcore only.You won't find any fakey new shit in here copying the real stuff.

Bands you will not find in here are Green Day,Fallout Boy,or whoever the fuck the rest of those posers are.

My first review's to be posted soon will be of Flipper.One Of San Francisco's finest hardcore bands. After that who knows?

One contest ends, 3 more are announced!

Mark Carras — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 06:03:58 GMT

So the first �Get Paid To Post� contest is done. All the winners have been chosen. Monday we had �SadChild�, Tuesday was �vertigo�, Wednesday we had no winner, so Thursday both �vertigo� & �WormdrivE� won, and unless something really amazing happens �sadchild� will win for Friday with an amazing four stories published within a 24 hour period! I think that might be a record. Unless anyone wants to dispute it. I have to admit that I thought the site would grow way more during this contest. I was even planning on shutting down until we could re-launch with a way bigger promotional contest (more on this later). I was talked out of this by two people.

So starting the second I post this on Heavy As Hell, another contest is born! The prize? $100 payable by either PayPal or Amazon gift certificate. This will be a monthly contest that will end March 1st. So whoever gets the most stories �published� within the month, gets $100! Cool? Now here is the trick. If you recruit someone, you get credit for half of what they do. If votes are close, some stories are of questionable quality, some rules are not followed, or whatever else, I can look at other things as well. Number one will always be, did you vote for other stories too? I will also look at your comment activity. So just like with the contest that just ended, it is not just about how many stories you get to the front page. That is just the biggest part of it all.

So why end this monthly thing on March 1st? Because at that time we plan to launch the biggest contest in the history of this site! How does $100 a day for a week sound? We also plan to do twice as much advertising. So it would seem kind of silly to offer $100 for the best user of the month when you are also giving away $100 a day at the same time. Will another monthly contest be born at that time? This depends on all of you. This place needs to grow. Invite some friends. Do you post regularly at another music site? Do what you can to get that site to add HAH buttons to their site. This way people can submit links to their site here on HAH with just a click. We want to make it as easy as possible to promote all the heavy music webzines out there. That is what this site is all about. We want to network all the webzines and heavy rock & metal blogs out there.

Want more of my money? Ok. Here is a deal. Go to Alexa.com. Alexa ranks every website on the internet. If a heavy music website ranks within the top one million. Anyone (including the head of that site) who can get a website within Alexa�s top one million to add automated story submission links or buttons, and those buttons stay for at least one month, the person who got that website to add those automated submission buttons gets a $25 Amazon gift certificate or PayPal payment. If a debate between more then one user claiming to be responsible for the automated submission links arises, I will give the prize to whoever can get the webmaster of that site to vouch for them. Remember, I have to see those buttons on every new article on the site for an entire month before I can cough up the prize to you. Go to http://www.heavyashell.com/Tools.php for info on how to add these buttons.

Hope this is all good news to you. I hope it helps get you excited enough to help spread the news about this site and invite some friends. Remember, if they make it clear that you recruited them (in comments), then you get half of the credit for their activity. So the best way to win is to get a ton of friends to be active on this site. Feel free to ask any questions about any of this in the comments section of this post. Thanks.

Heavy As Hell.com announces it's first two winners!

Mark Carras — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:30:41 GMT

So the first two days of the "Get Paid To Post" contest have been announced. For Monday Dec 3rd we have one who goes under the name of "Sadchild". For Tuesday Dec 4th we have one who goes under the name of "vertigo". A user who goes under the name of "WormdrivE" came very close one of those days, so I really hope he keeps trying. There is still winners for Wednesday, Thursday, And Friday to be announced. At the time of this posting I don't even have a clear winner for Wednesday at all! Why? No one has even submitted a story today! That's right...we could end up with no winners at all for Wednesday if no one uses these last two hours to get posting!

If this happens, I am open to having two winners on Thursday or Friday. So start subiting stories, voting, and making comments. It could mean some extra Christmas money. For those two that have already won, if no one else is active on the site you could win twice. Or if no one else is close as active you could win twice. It can happen. I would prefer to have a new person, but having one person win twice is better then no winner at all.

Or you could invite a friend.

Christmas music and stocking stuffers Part 1!

Mark Carras — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:40:54 GMT

So every few days I plan to post some of the stocking stuffers I think you weirdos might enjoy. Stocking stuffers that are cheap and Christmas music that is really messed up. For the record, I own every one of the cd's below and have been driving my wife nuts with them for years.

Heavy Metal Fun Time Activity Book: Price $9.95
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Bob Rivers-Twisted Christmas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Bob Rivers-More Twisted Christmas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Bob Rivers-I Am Santa Claus
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Bob Rivers-Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Bob Rivers-White Trash Christmas
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

South Park-Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...brasiverockcom

Some Star Wars Images I thought you would all enjoy

Mark Carras — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:10:26 GMT

http://diablo2003.deviantart.com/art/Starbuck-67549133