Top Metal Albums of 2010 - Number 1

The Contortionist - "Exoplanet" 

From the moment I started playing the song "Flourish" from The Contortionist's label debut I knew I was going to love the band. I just didn't know how much I would like the music. To the untrained ear Iron Thrones may sound like the same band and its true their styles are very similar. Both progressive metal, both use heavy and light elements, Both structure their songs very well. The Contortionist just do it in a much better way.

The album starts with the song "Primal Directive" and it might be the most perfect song that's ever started an album. I was glad they decided not to go for the "Intro" route since too many bands take advantage of this mainstay that don't understand that an intro is to prepare the listener for what they will be listening to, not some stupid line from a movie you like." Primal Directive" lays out the formula that the band uses for a good deal of "Exoplanet" it also has a awesome "breakdown". It then blasts into "Flourish" which is by far my favorite song on the album and my favorite song of the year. "Flourish" shows you the talent that the band has, it also is the greatest in extremes of hard and mellow and at times is truly beautiful in both. "Expire" is a nonstop attach of brutality. Which is brought back down with "Contact", which is a more rock style tune. The tracks continue on in a path of greatness. Some of the highlights being the instrumental track "Axiom" and the three part track "exoplanet"

The album is a concept album with heavy sci fi influences. It also borrows tracks from the bands self released effort "Apparition" an album in which the band had a different singer. The new singer rewrote the lyrics for the songs they used to make them his own but also to improve and give flare to the already excellent songs. He also wanted the songs to fit better in a live setting. Which from what I've read and heard over the interwebs is a great show.

This album is more than deserving to be at the top spot. If you've not given this album a listen, then just go buy it. Seriously, don't even listen to it, just buy it. Its so good it would be impossible for you to disagree.

The Contortionist - "Flourish"


The Contortionist - "Contact"


The Contortionist - "Axiom"

My 2004 and 5. A Metal Retrospective. Part Three.

So what lead to the downfall of metalcore. Well saturation of the market really. A new metalcore band released an album or was debuting a song every single day it felt like. It got to the point to where you had to wade through the imitators to find something truly special. That's never fun, especially with music. Then came the destruction of the fans unity. People started to talk badly about the ones who pioneered the genre and those pioneers had a hard time bringing their sound up to date or up to the listeners standards. This was true about a lot of metalcore bands. They had a hard time bringing new stuff or would try and change their sound too much.

Another problem that metalcore had was the advent of deathcore. Which was the mixing of death metal and hardcore. Because people were looking for the next thing deathcore caught on like the plague. Bands like Job for a Cowboy were becoming more popular while KSE and Soilwork were struggling to make new stuff and good stuff. Deathcore practically killed off metalcore over night.

Deathcore wasn't the only style to change the scene. A resurgence or thrash was and still is prominent in the metal scene. Some bands like Shadows Fall made the transition into a more thrash sound very well while other bands didn't change at all. With the trash revival came the wave of 80's metal legends such as Megadeth a Metallica were coming back to the limelight. This seriously hurt the chances of metalcore making a come back.

So what can these bands do to bounce back and will metalcore ultimately make a comeback? Well the bands need to realize they can't rely on old tricks. Bring something new, fresh, and exciting. Don't use the tried and true  format that has become stale and over done. Show some passion in your music. Make it exciting again! As far as a come back goes. All styles of music make a come back sooner or later. I truly believe that metalcore as a genre has more staying power than other sub genres of metal. I think if the bands who do it well figure out a new way of doing things they will be able to make a glorious come back. I personally am looking forward to that day!

I've enjoyed this look back into my metal history and I hope that you have too. If you have questions and comments feel free to use them and if you have bands that you want to see if I've not heard of I'm down with that as well.

Caliban - "Vicious Circle"


As I Lay Dying - "The Darkest Nights"

Cloudkicker - "Beacons" Album Stream

Cloudkicker is an Instrumental band. They do awesome progressive music. You should listen to the album. Even if your not a fan of heavy music. No vocals means its easier to listen to. Ben Sharp is the mastermind behind the band and makes it a one man show. If you like it as always buy it... or download it for free right below.

The Gorillaz - "Phoner To Arizona" New Video

Damon Albarn is releasing "The Fall" tomorrow. Its an album that he created using only the Ipad. I'm not sure how I feel about this first song. It has a gorillaz feel, but it is quite repetitive. I hope there is more vocal work. This also could be the last we hear from Gorillaz since Albarn has decided to go on hiatus from the band. Maybe he will learn he can't ride on the backs of crappy rappers?

Songs I shouldn't like but I do. Justin Timberlake

"Rock Your Body"

Yeah I know its super gay... whatever. I argue that this song is as close as what we will get to newer Micheal Jackson. Don't tell me that Micheal made stuff after the early 90's. I don't believe you. This song is super catchy and that is due to it being produced by The Neptune's which is the brain child of Pharrell Williams. This is also one of the only single's that Timberlake released that featured beat boxing. Its amazing to me that Timberlake only released two studio albums. I know he's been working on an acting career and also producing songs for other people. I'm not sure what reminded me of this song, but it was the perfect opportunity to tell the world that I like this song and screw you if you don't like it!

Top Metal Albums of 2010 - Number 2

Iron Thrones - "The Wretched Sun"
I've been going back and forth for the number 2 slot since I started planing this. There are several albums I wanted to list but just didn't cut it, and then I thought "maybe I could do 2 album's a number" but that's just stupid. None of this is important but I want you to understand what I mean when I say this was a tough choice.

"The Wretched Sun" literally came out of no where. I've known about the existence of Iron Thrones since their debut and knew of their talent as musicians but I never thought they could make an album so good. Think Between the Buried and Me but more structured. The amazing thing is this band still isn't signed to a major label. Its baffling to me. The albums got a perfect blend of hard and not and some of the songs are so mellow that you wouldn't even know this was a brutal band if you just heard those parts. Nothing on this album sounds over produced and it just sounds like these guys are having a blast recording it.

I'm looking forward to more releases from Iron Thrones in the coming years. I'm sure its just a matter of time before they do sign with a label and when they do lets hope that they get the deal they deserve and the creative control they deserve.

Iron Thrones - "Like a Moth to Flame"


Iron Thrones - "Against the Grain"

Dethcore Santa - NSFW

Holy crap nutz this made me chuckle.

Milk - "Oubliette" Album Stream.

This is some interesting stuff. Groovy with male and female vocalists. The first song is by far my favorite out of the bunch but the entire album is good. You can also download it for FREEZ. Not a bad deal at all. You can check out more info about the band HERE,

Daryl Hall and Chromeo - "Lowdown" epic cover!!

What happens when one of the most entertaining acts of this year and one of the greatest 80's pop start cover a Boz Scaggs song? Well the heavens rejoice and I spend an hour listening to it! Hope you in enjoy it as much as I did. I may have already posed this... but the vimeo version has a better audio quality.


Daryl Hall and Chromeo - Lowdown from Planet Quirky on Vimeo.

Alice Gold - "ORBITER'" She works it all night long!!!!

That may sound more dirty than it needs to... but I dig this song. I'm surprised I've not heard it before. I guess in a world full of "Whip My Hair" its getting harder for actual bands. If you want to learn more about Alice Gold go HERE.


'ORBITER' - Alice Gold from gareth phillips on Vimeo.

Come Lounge with Maylee Todd

I'll start off by saying that most people will want to skill the first song. I'm not gonna lie that its a bit irritating. The rest of the album however is quite enjoyable. Maylee has a great voice and the music ranges from lounge to a disco-y pop. Every song has a new element to it and the album truly keeps you on your toes. When I saw the cover for her album my thoughts went straight to "African Child" from "Get Him To The Greek". Its a unique cover I'll give her that. Seriously, just give the album a listen and if you like it enough buy it and support the artist. Check out the song "Heart Throb"

Two New Metal Videos!!!

Dimmu Borgir - "Dimmu Borgir"

KRYOBURN - "Broken Hero"

Asking Alexandria - "A Prophecy" New Video

Eh, I don't hate the song. Well... I don't hate parts of it. The band name makes my face hurt but that shouldn't take away from the song. I can see this band being popular with the Attack Attack people. Asking Alexandria just released an EP and has plans for a new album in 2011.

5 Stupid things about "Tron Legacy!"

"Tron Legacy" is a film made for people who like shiny shit. I wouldn't think that any self respecting fan of the original movie would think that some of the things in Legacy could ever work. Let me make this clear. I didn't hate the movie. There are enjoyable elements that this movie does really well. No one cares about those though. So without further adieu here are the top 5 lamest things in "Tron Legacy" SPOILERS!!!

1. Tron Balls - So in the movie the main villain whose name is "Clue", and he is a digital copy of the first movies protagonist Kevin Flinn. Because he is a copy the movie wants you to think that he has some of the mannerism's of Flinn's character. So when we first see clue he is given these stress balls while watching a light disc fight. The thing that bothered me about these stress balls is that they had the Tron light bar down the middle. WHY? They didn't need to have that light on them and it just made the balls look stupid. I tried to find the scene or a picture and I could not, sorry.

2. Tron Suit Scene. Holy balls this scene made my face hurt. Sam Flinn when he first gets taken when he reaches the grid is told that he will be performing in the "games" and is taken to a room where 4 super model Tron chicks strip him and cloth him with a Tron Suit. This is done horribly, the girls are pointless other than for T&A and its sad that they though it was necessary to show this in the movie. They could have used a cool particle effect in the movie to dress him but they didn't and it was stupid.

3. Zeus/ Castor. One of the worst Characters in a movie EVAAAR. He was annoying and out of place in a movie of very mundane characters. He prances about like the movie's gay character and is obviously villain before he can even get a word out of his mouth. It was a horrible choice of an actor and a horrible way to direct him.

4.Light Cycle's. This one will piss people off but I thought that the cycles were lame in this movie. In the original you had a sense of dread while watching the races in this movie it was more like a flashy "look at my CG" scene. It lost all of the charm form the original and it just seems like something they added on.

5. The Ending and Overall Plot. So the whole plot of the movie is that Clue wants to go to our world and wants to bring all of these programs with him to take over our world. He will do this by using the portal that Sam opened when he came to the Grid. I can't even begin to tell you how effing stupid that is. The movie is asking us to believe that we could be transferred into the grid and that's fine but making us think that they could come back is idiotic. How would the beam know how to reconstruct a program into flesh and blood? Where would the hundreds of troops fit into the small room that the laser is in? There are so many holes with the over all plot that it makes my head spin. The end of the movie is no different and really stupid. I won't spoil it but its in the same vain.

Paramore falling apart - The Drama and Stupidity of it all!

I knew that record companies were spineless and money grubbing but I thought that all those movies you see where the evil producer wants to fire the entire band and keep the face wasn't real. Well Josh Farro the lead guitarist of the band released a statement/ blogged about his departure from the band and its not at all how Haylay said it was. Its actually a very interesting read but I wanted to just talk about a few points of his story and break it down a bit.

Months down the road things changed and this band became all about Hayley. She had a manager at the time that controlled her every move along with her parents. They didn’t like the idea of Hayley being in a rock band so they forced her to leave wanting her to pursue a solo career.

This was something that I'm sure this guy must of thought about that being an issue down the road. She's not exactly ugly and in our society that loves hot young talent, you would have to be stupid not to know that she would be bigger than a bunch of guys behind her. Also the lead singer of a band should lead them on stage and normally art imitates life. I can't think of a band out there that uses a lead guitarist to be the voice of the band. Normally the truly talented musicians have better things to do than talk to the press.

The band was in the dark the whole time. After many meetings between Hayley, her manager and the labels they decided to sign her to Atlantic records. We didn’t understand why Hayley was the only one signing the contract since we were told this was a “band”, but we were too young to grasp all of this.

This makes you sound whiny. I understand that it sucks and I would hate to be in that situation and it may be true. It makes you sound like a puss when you talk like that. I guess what I expect from a band is some appropriate conduct when leaving/quitting a band. That rarely happens because the shit talking gets press and people LOVE press. I'm not helping by talking about it now but I just wanted to say this one thing...

You're a rockstar. No one will feel sorry for you other than 12 year old girls. Grow the eff up and move on. Don't talk shit when you leave a band because that makes YOU look bad not the people who are. That goes for you too Mike Portnoy... you ass hole. You can see the full post that Josh made HERE. You can see Paramore's statement HERE.

Top Metal Albums of 2010 - Number 3

Dååth - "Dååth"
This album is a ride from beginning to end. Its not for metal newbies or even causal metal listeners. Daath is for those you enjoy the technical side of metal. This album has the cleanest sound of any metal album I've heard and thats a good thing because while its clean sounding its still very much organic. Not over produced like a lot of bands are today. I love the approach these guys come to writing music and their obvious nod to other genre's such as Nu Metal. Dååth may also have two of the greatest guitarists in modern metal today. Emil Werstler and Eyal Levi work off of each other perfectly. They keep their riffs and solo's tight and within the sound of the song. The solo's are constructed well and implemented even better. If your a true lover of metal give this one some play time, you won't be disappointed. I would go so far to say its impossible for you to be.

Andreya Triana - "A Town Called Obsolete"

Normally its hard for me to get into R&B or even stuff that sounds like it. I rather enjoyed this song by Andreya Triana. This song is off of her debut album which came out this year called "Lost Where I Belong".


Andreya Triana 'A Town Called Obsolete' (Official Video) from Ninja Tune on Vimeo.

Scissor Sisters - "Invisible Light" NSFW video

Not gonna lie, I love the Scissor Sisters and all their gayness. The band never disappoints with their crazy videos and songs. This song is one of their newest album, one that I've not spent a ton of time listening to, but i really enjoy this song. I know I complain a lot on this site about pop music but this stuff is truly great.


Scissor Sisters - Invisible Light from CANADA on Vimeo.

Lumerians - "Black Tusk" new video

This is weird, I know that... but the Lumerians aren't a throw away band, well not just yet. They've been opening for the butthole surfers and their debut will be out in march of 2011. Look forward to hearing more from them.

MyGrain - "Of Immortal Aeons" New Video

I promise I haven't been singling out metal lately. I've just not found that much outside stuff to post. This song is pretty decent. Heavy use of keyboards run a fine line between cool and stupid. I like the blend this band has though. MyGrain (which is a terrible name btw) will release their debut album January 12th 2011.

PJ Harvey - "The Last Living Rose" new video

Never been a huge PJ Harvey fan, but I like this song. Not even sure why. I guess its the folky undertones. I'm sure she has something coming out soon. Check out the video below.

My 2004 and 5. A Metal Retrospective. Part Two

Then came 2005, which was like the golden years for metalcore. You had the recent releases from the bands I was talking about before but 2005 added Soilwork's "Stabbing the Drama" and Killswitch Engage's - "End of Heartache." The fore-more being arguably the best album out of the bunch. These albums only added to the awesome music that I was enjoying during these year. It was also the year that Slipknot released the most surprising release of their career and also my favorite in "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)."

When it comes to greatness in metalcore, look no further than Soilwork's "Stabbing the Drama". Its amazing from start to finish with the perfect blend of heavy and the not so. One of the things I love about Soilwork is their unique sound. From the way the guitars are distorted to the way the drummer utilizes the double bass drum the sound is just so different than a lot of the same bands at the time. The album is truly a beast and is also a great starting place for new listeners of metal.

We Be Scary!

"Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)" was surprising for lots of reasons but mainly for two. 1. They completely did away with cursing which was a mainstay of their earlier albums. "Iowa" being the chief offender of this. 2. The more low key songs. Normally Slipknot was balls to the wall with the brutality but "Vol. 3" had a softer side vocally and musically. These changes to the Slipknot format felt natural, like the next best step. It also stands as a testament to the bands skill as musicians at that time.

holy locks!

One of the craziest things to happen to the genre was the departure of Jessie Leech from Killswitch Engage shortly after they released their debut album. The album was a huge success and the band wasn't sure what they wanted to do after he left. When I heard that they added Howard Jones, I was originally like... "who??" That quickly turned into "Hell Yeah" after I heard Jones vocals. The man is amazing. Hes got an incredible control over his vocal chords. KSE "End of Heartache" is a monster of an album. It might be the best metalcore album made by a American band. It also helped the band on a career that would only shine with progress.

Some of the other bands that were prominent in the genre where Shadows Fall. I remember seeing them for the first time. Brian Fair the lead singer has dreadlocks that hang down past his ass and he whips those things around with purpose. They also had a unique sound in a genre mired by copycats. Fairs vocals add a flair to the music and the bands love for classic metal only made them stronger musicians.

Stay tuned for part three coming Xmas day!


Killswitch Engage - Rose Of Sharyn
Uploaded by Rodian. - See the latest featured music videos.


Soilwork - Stabbing The Drama
Uploaded by orchardmusic. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.


Shadows Fall - Inspiration On Demand
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Neuronia - "Slipping Into Oblivion" and KILLTRIBE - "FE4R" new vidoes

Converge - Plagues

There is no way to describe this song other than it's ridiculously brutal. For all you vaginas you probably won't understand anything about this song nor why it is amazing but that's ok I don't care about your opinion. This song will make you eat a baby's face. Enjoy you vagina.

REM feat. Eddie I can't sing for shit Vedder

Holy balls, two of my least favorite vocalists at the same time! The portal to hell just opened and we are all doomed!!!! Seriously though, who cares about R.E.M anymore?! I'm sure there are a couple of hippies out there but for the most part I say down with the noise.

And then there was that time Beach House played Conan...

.... and it sounded a lot like this.

Goldfrapp - Rocket

ok ok so for whatever reason I really like this song and I know I probably shouldn't. I would DEFINITELY say that this is a major guilty pleasure. It might be because the song is just so damn catchy...or the fact that there are not one but TWO keytars or maybe it's the sweet chick drummer or maybe it's the singers sweet sequin dress thing or maybe it's the sweet clear bass! I DON'T KNOW! TOO MANY AWESOME THINGS GOING ON AT ONCE! ugh.... I feel like because I listen to this song I should be in aqua colored underwear from American Apparel without a shirt on while playing with puppies and that is not a good thing...nor a pretty picture sorry for painting that for you. oh well maybe this will become your new guilty pleasure. Probably not. Enjoy.

Alice In Chains - "Last of My Kind" video

Ok video. Never really been a fan of compilations of live footage from bands. I like the song, though I still think this latest album doesn't hold up well with their previous material. "Black Gives Way To Blue" was released last year.
Last Of My Kind 2010

Alice In Chains | Myspace Music Videos

At All Cost

If you don't know who At All Cost is I am sorry but that needs to change! This is sad to me. This band is amazing. End of discussion. Andrew has ridiculous vocals and the band has a really unique sound as a whole. There really isn't any point to this post other than the fact that I miss these guys and wish they were still making music. They only had 2 cd's and the 2nd one really wasn't my cup of tea but the first cd is so damn good I guess I don't really need anything else. R.I.P. AAC. Here are some favorites of mine. Enjoy.

Watchout! There's Ghosts - The Shakeup

WATCHOUT! for this god awful band... When I started watching this video I was like man this song is bad it can't get any worse... then what do you know! This crap has got to go...Not only is this the worst song i've ever heard but the video is full of unnecessary triangles. I feel like everyone in this band are gay lovers. Hey who knows maybe that's what they are going for and if that's the case...theeen congrats you've achieved your goal! HEY MAYBE THAT'S WHY THEY HAVE ALL THE TRIANGLES IN THE VIDEO!! Never mind they aren't unnecessary at all!! Oh and what a horrible band name to i might add... How exactly do you watchout for ghosts??? ya got me oh well. Man I hope you enjoy this.


Watchout! Theres Ghosts - The Shake Up [HD Music video] from Color Factory on Vimeo.

Burden Of A Day - Remember

For some reason this band makes me laugh. It's not because I think they are bad or anything. 10 seconds into this song I almost turned it off because I thought I heard gay emo singing but the guy actually has some talent which is nice for a change. He's hitting some Steve Perry notes and for that I give him props and he isn't doing it in to whiney of a voice, so that's nice as well. Not really that original of a video but whatever. Enjoy.


Burden Of A Day - Remember from McGVideoCore on Vimeo.

My 2004 and 5. A Metal Retrospective. Part one.

When you look back on what you listened to in your younger days its easy to be dismissive. When we get older and we think we know more about who we are as people we look down upon the person who liked a certain genre or band because its not as "good" or hasn't stayed relevant to today's styling's. Its sad really, we get a certain amount of joy out of music but we find it so easy to push those bands or songs to the side when something new or better comes along. I've recently been revisiting some of the older music that I listened to, especially in the metal department. Every genre goes through seasons and changes every single year but I can't think of a genre that has changed and become more fragmented than Metal. I want to look back at a simpler time when I didn't know these sub genres existed and I thought KSE was the best band ever. This is my 2004 and 2005 in retrospect.

The early 2000's were a confusing time for my musically. I was graduating from high school and I was heavy into chorus. I was never a huge fan of the songs we did, but I always thought about how cool it would be for the show choir I was in to do a heavier song. Of course that didn't happen and I was stuck with show tunes but it still was a very fun time in my life. During that time I was living the good life, hanging out with friends, visiting my best friend Josh in college, working at pizza hut and it was a decent existence. The only thing that really separated myself from others was my choice in music. I had been a fan of heavier music during the Nu Metal genre phase and I was getting out of the whole rap metal thing quickly. I started listening to bands like Slipknot, Fear Factory and Killswitch Engage. This was the most important change that I made in my youth musically because its defined my love for the metal genre today. I discovered the genre of Metalcore.

What is Metalcore? Well that ones easy. Its the blending of the two styles, Metal and Hardcore. The songs normally have a vocalist who screams the verses and sings the chorus's. Sometimes there will be two singers in the band to effectively meet this standard practice. Metalcore as a genre is a bit more accessible because of the structure of the songs. They tend to not be as brutal is traditional metal and hardcore bands. Metalcore bands use the standard heavy riff, double bass, "guitar mimicking" bass guitar setup. Guitar solo's aren't as prominent in the genre as a whole but the over all guitar work is excellent.

I  remember it like it was yesterday. I went to manifest before my drive up to Winthrop University to visit Josh and/or a girl and I picked up two album that changed my outlook on music. Those albums were  The Haunted - "rEVOLVEr" and In Flames - "Soundtrack To Your Escape". I didn't know music like this existed, but as soon as I heard it I wanted more. So I started to research, which was a kind of end of innocence for my love of metal music. I learned that this genre was called metalcore and that there were plenty of bands like this. Little did I know that there were a ton of bands that were adopting the sound of these bands. Soon I was listening to some of the greatest Metalcore bands the genre had to offer. For me metalcore, is my genre's pure metal. Yeah the bands were borrowing other sounds from bands in other countries such as Sweden, but these bands were making the sound their own.

In Flames is widely referred to as one of the founders of the genre. They are also one of the longest running bands. The band has released nine studio albums to date. When I hear people talk about the band normally its things like "Clayman" was the best record but for me it was "Soundtrack". This album is epic and it takes a lot of chances. As far as heaviness goes this one isn't close to the top of the list, but it makes up in really catchy songs what it lacks in heavy.  Which was the opposite for The Haunted. The Haunted make heavy music with barely any actual singing. They play fast and in your face. I can think of no two albums that contrast so well yet both share the same genre of music.





In part two I'll look more into 2005 and into the bands that defined the genre in America and in part three I'll talk about the downfall of the genre and the bands who are still around and ones that still have a loving relationship with metalcore.