JOVM pays tribute to MTV on its 37th birthday.
Tag: Metallica
Throwback: Happy Birthday MTV/The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”
JOVM pays tribute to MTV on its 37th birthday.
New Audio: JOVM Mainstays R.I.P. Return with an Epic, Mind-Altering Bit of Thrash Metal
Now, over the past year or so, Portland, OR-based doom metal quartet, R.I.P has added themselves to a lengthy and eclectic list of mainstay artists I’ve written about throughout the history of this site. And as you may recall, the quartet’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort is slated for an October 13, 2017 release through RidingEasy Records, and the album is reportedly inspired by Rick Rubin’s legendary and influential 80’s productions — think Beastie Boys, Run DMC and LL Cool J among others — and Murder Dog Magazine, and as a result, the members of the band have crafted material with a streamlined and punishingly, raw ferocity, specifically meant to evoke the days when metal and hip-hop were reviled by the mainstream as the work of thugs intent on destroying the very fabric of America and its youth. Unlike their debut, Street Reaper reveals a subtly expanded songwriting approach, rooted in their belief that doom metal shouldn’t be pigeonholed into a particular tuning or time signature but rather, a particular mood that inspires doom — in this case, terror, uncertainty, chaos, war, etc.
Unsurprisingly, the material on Street Reaper is influenced not by doom metal’s typical sci-fi, fantasy or mysticism but within an inescapable, horrible and fearful present, full of what seems to be the impending collapse of democracy as we know it in the US, of economic failure, dwindling resources, increasing inequity and inequality, nuclear war, civil war, and a primal fight for survival. Album single “The Other Side” may arguably be the Portland-based band’s most blistering and impassioned playing — and while it may be a desperate howl into a growing void, there’s a feral urgency within the material that sets them apart from their contemporaries. The album’s follow-up single, “Unmarked Grave,” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor as it features blistering, impassioned, face-melting power chords, a motorik groove, forceful drumming, an arena friendly hook and howled vocals, and while being equally urgent, the material manages to sound as though it were indebted to Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and Ozzy Osbourne, complete with a sweaty, whiskey and hallucinogen-fueled frenzy.
“The Casket,” Street Reaper’s latest single (and album opening track) is a blistering bit of thrash metal, reminiscent of Ride the Lightning and Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica and Iron Maiden, thanks in part to layers upon layers of chugging power chords, forceful drumming and howled vocals and it may be among the most explosive songs they’ve released to date, but pay close attention to the expansive and ambitious song structure that features shifting time signature changes and chord progressions, as well as some incredibly dexterous guitar work. Simply put, it’s pretty fucking epic!
New Video: The Headbangers Ball-Inspired Sounds and Visuals of Power Trip’s “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”
Comprised of Riley Gale, Blake Ibanez, Chris Ulsh, Nick Stewart and Chris Whetzel, the Dallas, TX-based metal quintet Power Trip have developed a reputation for a bruising sound that draws heavily from 80s and 90s heavy metal; in fact, “Firing Squad,” off their recently released Nightmare Logic is reminiscent of Slayer, Metallica Iron Maiden and even Motorhead; but with a subtly modern production sheen. And the album’s latest single, “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” continues on a similar, punishing vein as blistering cascades of power chords, propulsive and thundering drumming, howled lyrics and an emphasis on rousingly anthemic, mosh pit-friendly hooks.
Directed by Andy Capper, the recently released music video for the bruising “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” uses footage from a rowdy hometown show and cuts clips of warfare — including soldiers firing machine guns, bombs blowing up tanks, cars and other things, nuclear bomb tests and the stupid, orange-skinned face of blind, swaggering, Mussolini-like, new fascism. Reportedly, the visuals emphasize Gale’s furious lyrics, which focus on devaluation of human life by those who’ve gained immense power through money and politics, and while visually being reminiscent of the sorts of videos you’d see on Headbanger’s Ball.
Preview: Living Colour at City Winery 3/13/17
Currently comprised of founding members Corey Glover (vocals), Vernon Reid (guitar, synths, backing vocals) and Will Calhoun (drums, percussion, keys, samples, backing vocals), with Doug Wimbish (bass, drums, guitar, programming, backing vocals), the New York-based rock quartet Living Colour originally formed in 1984 and they quickly received attention for a sound that meshed elements of heavy metal, funk, jazz, jazz fusion, soul, prog rock and alternative rock with lyrics that frequently focused on the personal and sociopolitical, frequently commenting on and attacking Eurocentrism and racism in America. The quartet’s original lineup, featuring featuring the founding trio of Glover, Reid and Calhoun with Muzz Skillings (bass) cut their teeth and honed their sound and live show playing shows at CBGB’s.
Interestingly, the band found an unlikely champion in The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, who took the band under his wing, produced a demo, which caught the attention of Epic Records. And with the release of 1988’s commercially and critically successful full-length debut Vivid, the band’s original lineup, quickly rose to attention with their smash hit “Cult of Personality,” which won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance; they also won the Best New Artist Award at 1989’s MTV Video Music Awards. Adding to a growing international profile, The Rolling Stones had Living Colour opened for the rock legend’s Stateside leg of the Steel Wheels tour. They quickly followed that up with 1990’s sophomore effort Time’s Up, which also won a Grammy.
After releasing three full-length albums with a number of major and minor hits, the band split up with the members focus on a variety of creative projects; in fact, Wimbish, Calhoun and Glover had teamed up with Glover in a project called Headfake, which played frequently in the New York City area. And as the story goes, in late 2000, Headfake played at CBGBs with Reid joining them, leading to rumors of a Living Colour reunion. Of course, those rumors proved to be true, as Living Colour went on their first tour together n six years the following summer.
The members of the band have since released one of their most experimental efforts to date, 2003’s Collideøscope, followed by 2005’s rarities and B-sides compilation, a few live albums, 2006’s Best of compilation, Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour and 2009’s Chair in the Doorway. And over the past couple of years, the band has been on a rather busy touring schedule, touring to support the 25th anniversary of their seminal effort Vivid.
As a personal note, as a music obsessed boy, I’ve almost always listened to a wildly eclectic variety of music, and in the 80s metal was a big thing. I loved Metallica, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue and the like; but when I watched their videos and concerts, I didn’t see anyone who looked like me — and even in my 8 year old mind, I knew that I couldn’t be those guys. I was black and from Queens. However, seeing someone who looked like me with guys who came from neighborhoods that I knew or had family in, kicking ass and taking names was a revelation. And it made them heroes to me.
Sadly, I was too young to catch them back then; however, I have since seen them twice — once at Afropunk during their Vivid 25th Anniversary Tour and later at Brooklyn Bowl, and I’m thrilled to know that the band is playing tonight at City Winery.
Live Footage: Iggy Pop and Metallica “T.V. Eye” in Mexico City
More than enough ink both real and virtual has been spilled on Iggy Pop throughout his ridiculously influential and lengthy musical career, and with the legend turning 70 next month, we should all enjoy him for as long as he’s here to kick ass. Additionally more than enough ink both real and virtual has been spilled on Metallica; so instead of discussing backstory and biography, I’ll say this: Metallica is currently on tour to support their latest album, 2016’s Hardwired . . . To Self-Destruct, and while on a several night run in Mexico City with Iggy Pop as an opener, the members of Metallica invited the legend on stage to play The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye.”
Live Concert Photography: Glamglare Presents: Blonde Maze with Jon Prezant Letters to Nepal, and Lillet Blanc at The Delancey 2/11/17
Comprised of Riley Gale, Blake Ibanez, Chris Ulsh, Nick Stewart and Chris Whetzel, the Dallas, TX-based metal quintet Power Trip have developed a reptuation for a sound that draws heavily from 80s metal, complete with similiar guitar pyrotechnics and thundering drumming. And “Firing Squad,” the latest single off the band’s Nightmare Logic, their forthcoming album slated for a February 24, 2017 through Southern Lord Records, will futher cement their growing reptuation for pairing blistering and explosive riffs with thunderous, insistent drumming and howled vocals — in a mosh pit worthy song that sounds as though it draws from Slayer, Metallica and Iron Maiden; but with a modern production sheen.
With the release of”Firing Squad,” the Dallas-based metal quintent announced the first leg of a North American tour to support Nightmare Logic — and it includes a March 3, 2017 NYC area stop at The Marlin Room at Webster Hall. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
Tour Dates:
1/4: RBC – Dallas, TX ^
1/5: Barracuda – Austin, TX ^
2/24: Walter’s – Houston, TX *
2/25: Siberia – New Orleans, LA *
2/26: Saturn – Birmingham, AL *
2/27: Kings – Raleigh, NC *
2/28: Broadberry – Richmond, VA *
3/1: Soundstage – Baltimore, MD *
3/2: Webster Hall’s Marlin Room – New York, NY *
3/3: Spirit – Pittsburgh, PA *
3/4: Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH *
3/4: Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH *
3/8: Les Foufounes Électriques – Montreal, QC *
3/9: Brass Monkey – Ottawa, ON *
3/10: Velvet Underground – Toronto, ON *
3/11: Marble Bar – Detroit, MI *
3/12: Reggie’s – Chicago, IL *
3/13: Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN *
3/14: Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA *
3/16: Riot Room – Kansas City, MO *
3/17: 89th Street Collective – Oklahoma City, OK *
3/25 – 3/26: South by So What? – Dallas, TX
3/31 – 4/2: Tacoma Hardcore Fest – Tacoma, WA #
^ – w/ Antwon
* – w/ Iron Reagan
2/27 – 3/1 – w/ Genocide Pact
2/28 – 3/4 – w/ Concealed Blade
3/2 – w/ Krimewatch
3/3 – 3/4 – w/ Protestor
# – w/ Destruction Unit and Primal Rite
Live Concert Photography: Hallowolfbat at House of Vans featuring GWAR, Darkest Hour and Mutoid Man 10/29/16
New Video: Zig Zags Returns with Another Blistering, Face-Melting, Anthemic and 80s Metal Inspired New Single and Video
Running Out of Red’s third and latest single “They Came For Us” continue on the same vein as its preceding two singles — enormous, face-melting power chords, thundering drumming and rousingly anthemic hooks paired with lyrics that focus on horror movie themes. And every time I’ve heard this song, I can envision the metalheads at Clem’s, (un-iroinically) headbanging and shouting along with upraised beers and fists.
The recently released music video employs the use of suicidal cult imagery — and in some way, it reveals the dangers of blind obedience and conformity, while also pointing at the lunacy of following an ignorant, narcissistic, power hungry, greedy, authoritarian blowhard like Donald Trump.
New Video: The 80s Horror Movie-Inspired Visuals for Zig Zags’ “Giving Up The Ghost”
With the release of their debut effort In The Red, Los Angeles, CA-based thrash punk trio Zig Zags –-comprised of Jed Maheu (guitar/vocals), Caleb Miller (bass/vocals), and Dane Arnold (drums) — quickly received attention for a blistering, face-melting, no-bullshit thrash metal/thrash punk aesthetic that sounds as though it owes a massive debt to early 80s Metallica, Slayer,Iron Maiden and others. Last month, I wrote about album single “The Sadist,”a single off the trio’s recently released Running Out of Red that helped to further cement the trio’s reputation for pairing scuzzy, face-melting, mosh-pit friendly power chords guitar pyrotechnics, propulsive drumming and shouted vocals. Unsurprisingly, the album’s latest single “Giving Up The Ghost” continues on the exact same vein as “The Sadist” — although the latest single manages to directly channel Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning-era Metallica in such an uncanny way that the songs manages to sound as though it could have been released in 1983.
The recently released music video is deeply indebted to cheap 80s horror flicks as a denim vest wearing zombie stalks an adorable, little skateboarding badass, who narrowly escapes him — in true horror movie fashion.
With the release of their critically acclaimed, tenth full-length album Pink a decade ago, Japanese metal trio Boris achieved international attention, outside the tight-kint underground metal community; in fact, the album landed on a number of Best of Lists from underground metal sites, mainstream rock magazines and Pitchfork‘s Best Albums of 2006 list. And adding to the growing attention they received that year, album title track “Farewell” was featured in Jim Jarmusch‘s cult classic film The Limits of Control.
In order to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its initial release, the band comprised of Atsuo (drums, vocals), Wata (guitar, vocals) and Takeshi (bass, guitar and vocals) along with renowned indie label Sergeant House will be re-issue a deluxe edition of the album as a 3LP and 2CD box set everywhere except Japan on July 8, 2016, featuring several perviously unreleased tracks recorded during the 2004-2005 Pink sessions, three longer edits of truncated album tracks off the original CD release “Farewell,” “Pseudo-Bread,” and “My Machine,” and the original artwork from the Japanese version, created by the band members themselves. Additionally, the box set will include a collection of album tracks that the band re-mixed, re-mastered, re-edited or re-arranged over the course of the past year that the band has viewed as a special director’s cut of their beloved album — and in some way, it may be seen as capturing their original artistic intentions.
The deluxe edition’s latest single “SOFUN” finds the band pairing blistering, guitar pyrotechnics, thundering and propulsive drumming reminiscent of metal and grunge but with an ironic, punk rock sneer and howled vocals — and sonically, the song sounds as though it draws equal influence from Motorhead, early Metallica, Bad Religion, and My Vitriol while being mosh pit worthy.
The members of Boris will be embarking on a lengthy North American tour in which they will perform Pink in its entirety. Joining them for all but two Canadian dates will be new labelmates Earth and it’ll include a New York area date at Warsaw. Check out tour dates below.
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BORIS / EARTH / SHITSTORM TOUR 2016:
07/22 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
07/23 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
07/25 Dallas, TX @ Trees
07/26 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
07/28 Ybor City, FL @ The Orpheum
07/29 Orlando, FL @ The Social
07/30 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
07/31 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
08/01 Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records
08/03 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
08/04 Washington, DC @ 930 Club
08/05 Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
08/06 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
08/07 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
08/09 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
08/10 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B. (no Earth)
08/11 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace (no Earth)
08/12 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
08/13 Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
08/14 Chicago, IL @ Metro
08/16 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
08/17 Minneapolis, MN @ Fineline Music Cafe
08/18 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
08/19 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
08/20 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
08/22 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
08/23 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
08/25 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
08/26 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
08/27 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel – Psycho Las Vegas (Boris only)