Photo from neo1984.wordpress.com.

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Ronnie James Dio, known by most as a metal god and a pioneer in the formative early days of heavy metal, died this morning. He was 67.

Having been receiving chemotherapy treatments since announcing last November that he was battling stomach cancer, Dio’s current band, Heaven and Hell, had recently cancelled all upcoming dates on their summer tour due to his worsening health. But he and his doctors were confident that he’d be onstage once again.

His wife and manager, Wendy Dio, left the following statement on his website: “Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am.” She added that “Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.”

Famous for taking over for Ozzy Osbourne in 1980 in the band Black Sabbath, he also sang for Rainbow and a solo band bearing his namesake. Heaven and Hell was the latest incarnation of said Black Sabbath lineup. Some of his solo hits included “Holy Diver,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” and “Killing the Dragon.”

ARTIST: The Dillinger Escape Plan
ALBUM TITLE: Option Paralysis
RECORD LABEL: Season of Mist/Party Smasher Inc.
RELEASED: March 23, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

My first impression of The Dillinger Escape Plan was a violent one. I had gone to see them at Chicago’s infamous Fireside Bowl and came home with a black eye after bassist Liam Wilson had stage dove into my face knees first. At the time I was pretty pissed but in retrospect it was an awesome show. In their prime, that band tore people apart, and people loved them for that.

Although they’ve never really lost their edge in the live setting, they have certainly tempered their sound greatly. 2002’s Irony is a Dead Scene introduced a melodic slant, courtesy of guest singer Mike Patton, which would prove hard to shake for the so-called ‘mathcore’ band. Singer Greg Puciato showed how well he could imitate Patton’s snarl, but never gave up on the incensed screams he was known for.

Option Paralysis continues in that aforementioned direction, and the band is better for it. Opening with “Farewell, Mona Lisa,” the song pretty much sums up the entire album. There are the discordant riffs, mind boggling time signatures, and catchy melodic sweeps that contrast the musical destruction beautifully. One of the few bands that had shown that they could grow more accessible without completely joining the mainstream, Option Paralysis is probably the best Faith No More album since the mid-90s.

But as with all things in this band, it’s very sporadic. They spend a good chunk of the album completely annihilating everything in their path, and at times sounds like their more spastic days of old. While these are welcome moments, it’s songs like the six and a half minute “Widower”, with its piano intro and huge rock midsection that truly make Option Paralysis memorable.

RATING: 9/10

ARTIST: As I Lay Dying
ALBUM TITLE: The Powerless Rise
RECORD LABEL: Metal Blade Records
RELEASED: May 11, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

As I Lay Dying’s latest album, The Powerless Rise, opens with little subtlety. There’s some distorted screams in the distance, as a torrent of drumbeats and a spiraling guitar line slither into the picture. Something sounds different, more aggressive. The band have dropped nearly all pretensions of subtlety in the form of melodicism has been pretty much lost.

The band seems to be taking a ‘back to basics’ approach that many of the metalcore bands have been doing as of late, stripping away the excess in favor of a rawer, more aggressive approach. I feel that this has worked to some degree, but for fans of the band’s Swedish-influenced older material, this comes across like a band trying to dumb down their sound.

Their songs used to have build ups and climaxes, but those days are gone, save for the obligatory melodic chorus here and there. Even still, bassist Josh Gilbert doesn’t sound nearly as emotive as Clint Norris did on Shadows Are Security, the band’s third, and in my opinion, best album. Gilbert’s vocals merely sound like every other metal band that has an ‘emotive’ melodic vocalist, a detriment to their once-atmospheric sound.

There’s still a few songs that have the melodic flair of their older material, but most of The Powerless Rise comes from a sound steeped more in traditional hardcore and thrash metal rather than the melodic death influences of old. There was a time when I could recognize the band just by their melodic guitar licks, but now they just sound like everyone else.

RATING: 5/10

ARTIST: Gorillaz
ALBUM TITLE: Plastic Beach
RECORD LABEL: Virgin Records
RELEASED: March 9, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Who would’ve thought that after a decade that we’d still be listening to new music from the Gorillaz? The pet project of Blur frontman Damon Albarn and comic book artist Jamie Hewlitt (Tank Girl) seemed originally a way for Albarn to get himself out of the spotlight that Blur afforded him, but it seemed to do anything but. And with the latest album, Plastic Beach, it finds him sitting in the producer’s chair as well.

On a whole, this is the first Gorillaz project that actually seems to flow together from song to song, rather than a series of vignettes stitched together. Unlike prior exercises, this one will take awhile before the pure brilliance and catchy nature really sinks in, and by that point, you’ll find yourself singing along to the songs’ quirky melodies and offbeat lyrics.

Opening with a symphonic intro that bleeds into what can be best described as slinky 70s-era funk featuring a rap by Snoop Dogg. The bottom drops out halfway through to give way to a sharp bassline and vocoded backing singers, sounding both retro and futuristic at the same time.

This approach continues throughout the album; Albarn seems perfectly comfortable throwing convention out the window to satisfy every whim and fancy with the wide-eyed wonder of a child. Dub music and oriental flutes? Why not. 1980s dance beats brushing shoulders with Mos Def and soul legend Bobby Womack? Let’s do it!. The amazing part is how well everything blends together. On paper it sounds like a disaster, but to listen to it sounds like a genius at work.

While the album does get a little long in the tooth towards the end—it could have quite possibly used someone to cut maybe a track or three from the final cut—that doesn’t take away from the fact that Albarn keeps getting more and more impressive with each album’s release. And I have a feeling that he’s just getting started. Let’s hope so.

9.5/10

ARTIST: The National
ALBUM TITLE: High Violet
LABEL: 4AD Records
RELEASE DATE: May 11

By Chris Kromphardt
Staff Writer, Justice Administrator

The National have come to be known for a few stable tendencies, besides being otherwise unclassifiable genre-wise. Bryan Devendorf’s sterling, versatile percussion, Matt Berninger’s sad-sack baritone musings, and a fantastic clash of wills among the band members recently documented by the New York Times Magazine have defined album after album of melancholy yet inspiring songs. High Violet is their fifth.

Devendorf’s drumming is a force of nature all its own. The sign of a good drummer can be when you actually notice the drumming, but it’s not overpowering everyone else in the band. While Devendorf’s cadence is prominent in the songs “Terrible Love” and “Lemonworld”, you most appreciate his contribution for the seamlessness with which he backs his bandmates while being distinct all his own.

Berninger is one of the most unique frontmen in music today for two reasons: his seemingly inexhaustible capacity to express the terrible beauty in the minutiae of a quarter-life crisis—“I still owe money to the money to the money I owe”; and his smokey baritone that’s deeper than the despair to which he’s giving voice. The first thing you notice when you listen to The National for the first time—lucky you—is likely to be Berninger’s voice; however its seeming limitations in range are forgotten when you realize the aural depth and complexity that is his bandmates weaving their instrumentations among his singing with such graceful ease.

The above NYTimes piece describes the tension that goes into The National’s creative process, which you can get a slight glimpse of in some of their songs. “Afraid Of Everyone” is a prime example. The guitars snarl at each other, the string accompaniment swells, the percussion thumps like a heartbeat—and then it all stops. The band’s collective dissonance coalesces into something tragically gorgeous, and then it’s gone.

High Violet is a little slow toward the end, and the lead single “Bloodbuzz Ohio” sounds like a recycled B-side from earlier albums, but High Violet is right up there with the band’s Boxer (2007) and Alligator (2005).

RATING: 9/10

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

So I while I was doing my daily scouring of music and gaming news sites, I happened upon the new single from Korn, “Oildale”. You can listen to it here if you like; I’m not embedding it. Their new, ‘heavier’ sound sounds the same as their last few albums. It’s hard to believe that their latest release, the confusingly-titled Korn III: Remember Who You Are, is their ninth album.

Listening to this, it got me thinking about the Ozzfest 2010 announcement that came out at the end of last month. It’s been kicking around in my head for the last week, and it still rings with disappointment. On the surface, the festival sounds like they’re changing their game from “Look how much we can scare mom and dad” attempts with the lineup to “Let’s try and get mom and dad to come to the show, they have the monies.” But that thought ends after the headliners—from there on it’s pretty uninspiring.

Halford, Ozzy, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx. Photo taken from ozzfest.com

Headlining the main stage is Ozzy, Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford on a solo run, which makes sense. Priest is still pretty big with the older rockers, and despite not successfully releasing an album that would even register as ‘interesting’ since the 90s, Mötley Crüe still draws in a lot of people. For some reason, I will never understand, but bands like the Crüe, Poison, etc. are all a huge hit, even in 2010. I think it’s because people from my generation go because “LOL IRONY IS COOL” and the people from the next couple generations behind me grew up with this type of stuff, back when the only ‘metal’ music that was accepted by the mainstream had to involve spandex and hairspray.

Rounding out the main stage is DevilDriver and Nonpoint, and that’s where I kind of got confused. Now, I can understand DevilDriver to a point, but every time I listen to them, even when I can honestly say that I own one of their four albums on cd, I will never get over the fact that their lead singer, Bradley ‘Dez’ Fafara, used to handle vocal duties for Coal Chamber.

Coal Chamber. Photo from last.fm

We’ll pause for a minute there.

Coal Chamber was one of the bands that I listened to a ton—when I was 16. Now i’ll be the first to admit that I listened to a lot of crap when I was that age. Growing up, I started really listening to ‘metal’ when I was probably in eighth grade. I heard some Metallica and White Zombie and Pantera and thought that was all really cool stuff. However, that somehow that led me to listening to a lot of nü metal.

What’s nü metal, you ask? Oh boy, I’m glad you asked! Nü metal was a movement that started in the mid-90s, when kids that couldn’t pull off playing the thrash metal that they grew up on, and were far too angsty to try playing death metal, started just drop-tuning their guitars and railed against such trials and tribulations as their parents making them cut the grass and complaining because they were all unique snowflakes. Much of it featured rapped vocals, stupid haircuts, oversized clothing and probably the most simplistic guitar riffs ever written, but it was so that the kids could bounce to it.

Also known as ‘bounce metal’ (because of the aforementioned reason), it was a huge hit amongst suburban white teens, usually the ones who nobody liked in school, and bands capitalized on this. The kids already felt unliked, so they merely wrote songs that called out to them, sucking in many elephant-leg pant wearing kids like black hole in Hot Topic.

Rage Against the Machine. Photo from rockandmetal.com

Nü metal had its roots in bands like Faith No More, Helmet and Rage Against the Machine (and I suppose Korn, but they allowed themselves to be assimilated into the mediocrity shitwave), but unlike those three visionary bands, at the end of the day, these bands had nothing to say. Except maybe “Fuck you, dad!” But we were all teenagers, we all said that once. And then we realized we were immature douchebags.

However, this marketability had struck chords with the music business, who saw this, and it looked like a big fucking dollar sign waiting to explode all over them. So they snatched up any band that either a) featured a rapper and a singer, or b) looked ‘gothic industrial’ but sang about their shitty adolescent lives, and waited for the profit. This resulted in a glut of mediocre bands that all pretty much sounded like one of two sounds, and we all know what happens when a trend hits the saturation point—no one likes it anymore because it’s not ‘unique’, and it dies. Bands like Primer 55, Darwin’s Waiting Room, and From Zero flooded the market, and were all ignored like the turds that they were.

So anyways, around the turn of the millennia, nü metal died a slow and painful death, only to be replaced by a new trend that was a lot like the old trend, emo, screamo, and metalcore. I lump them all together, because at the time, these three types of bands could be seen playing shows together without the tough guy posturing that would end up happening by the middle of the decade, causing the major splintering and infighting. But the drawing factor was that all three of these genres also complained about something that really drew in the youngsters: romance.

So it was out with the old, and in with the new. Nü metal was officially dead, but we’re still stuck with Limp Bizkit, who thinks that they still have something relevant to say.

But all ranting aside, my point about DevilDriver was this. Coal Chamber broke up at what appeared to many as the death knell of nü metal, in 2003. Fafara met the DevilDriver guys in 2002, and jumped right into their band as vocalist in late 2003. Coincidence? I certainly don’t think so. And DevilDriver’s sound, you ask? Thrash metal, which because of the metalcore boom, was picking up a lot of momentum itstelf, in America at least. Metal never died in the rest of the world.

DevilDriver. Photo from atlmetal.com

So whenever I think of DevilDriver, it just makes me shake my head in disgust, because I know, I used to be one of those kids with the Powerman 5000 cds and the Coal Chamber shirts and thought I was the shit. And I’ve learned from my mistakes. And it sucks, because DevilDriver isn’t even that bad of a band. They’re not the most original, but they could certainly do much worse in terms of writing interesting songs, and they put on an energetic show, but that’s the one thing that comes to mind.

Back to Ozzfest 2010; I was shocked to hear that Nonpoint was even around still. When I was a senior in high school, they had released their debut album, Statement, and even at the height of my nü metal obsession I found it to be underwhelming. To find that they’re still underwhelming crowds, and playing on the main stage with Ozzy himself is just one in a long line of disappointments with the whole festival. I suppose at this point it’s moot.

As for the second stage, it’s Black Label Society (AKA Zakk Wylde’s Pinch Harmonic Extravaganza), along with Drowning Pool (still waiting for bodies to hit the floor), Kingdom of Sorrow, Goatwhore, Skeletonwitch, Saviours and Kataklysm. This is perhaps the first Ozzfest lineup that doesn’t even seem remotely interesting to me, and perhaps that’s commentary on the big business side of the metal scene.

I had heard a rumor a couple of times that in order to play on Ozzfest there’s an entrance fee in the tens of thousands of dollars range. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t know. But if it is, I have a feeling that these bands will be regretting it at the end of this tour. If it is successful, I’d like to hear how many of the attendees skipped the first seven or eight bands and showed up late. Which is a shame, because a few of those opening bands are decent in their own right (Skeletonwitch, Saviors, Goatwhore), but you couldn’t pay me to sit through another one of Black Label wankfests, let alone be anywhere near Drowning Pool.

By Luke Baker
Copy Editor, Secret Agent Man

There is something wrong with the music industry today. Let’s cut to the chase. A good percentage of people are not paying for music anymore.

In the words of the late George Harrison, it’s all up to what you value; although, that probably is taken in a different context. So how do we get people to actually value what they listen to today? I found something fairly interesting on my most recent trip to Best Buy. I saw an entire aisle completely dedicated to vinyl records.

“You say you want a revolution? Older technology may be a saving grace.” Photo from Luke Baker

For a moment, my head shook back and forth trying to grasp this concept. Not only did I see Abbey Road from the Beatles on the shelf, but also right next to it was Eminem’s Relapse album on Lp.

This actually is a smart move for the music industry to take. The way to breathe new life into the music industry might involve getting us all back to where we once belonged. (Sorry, I’m full of Beatles references; could you tell?)

For years now, artists and record labels have being trying to find ways to combat music piracy across the Internet, but sadly, I’m afraid that the piracy train can’t be stopped. However, if music artists and labels think of new and better ways to market their music and actually give the consumer something they truly want to own, they might be able to start making some of the cash that they deserve.

Many people today seem to not want to buy music, because this generation, if they actually do take an ethical route and pay for their music, is more inclined to buy more singles for 99 cents a piece. It’s the generation of impatience and instant gratification. No longer do people place the needle on the record and let the whole album play. Oh no, today it’s all about jumping from this track to that track. Some of what is in between can easily be forgotten on a lot of albums today.

I really liked Steve Wilson’s recent approach, most famous for his work in the band known as Porcupine Tree. First of all, Porcupine Tree’s most recent album, The Incident, has a track layout far different from a lot of music today. Yes, the songs are divided into tracks, but in reality the entire first disc of that song is considered to be one giant song. What a concept! He put emphasis on the importance of the album as a whole rather than focusing on making two or three songs great and not making a bunch of filler songs in between.

There probably is a long way to go before the music industry gets their act together, but these recent steps look like a promising way to bring it back up on it’s feet. Basically, bringing back vinyl records seems like a step in the right direction. Maybe sellers could somehow offer digital downloads of the songs for free upon purchasing a record to encourage a sale. That way, customers have something worth owning, along with something they could take with them while traveling.

As for the music makers themselves, they need to remember the importance of the album as a whole. When an entire album is great, it makes me want to go out and buy it for its artwork and to hear it in all its glory, which is the highest possible quality.

Perhaps once it’s possible to get what we pay for again … then maybe, just maybe, people will start paying for it again.

ARTIST: From First to Last
ALBUM TITLE: Throne to the Wolves
RECORD LABEL: Rise Records
RELEASED: March 16, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

I’ll admit, I was a fan of From First to Last’s Heroine. It had enough unique elements to set it apart from many of its post-hardcore peers to keep it in regular rotation for quite awhile after its 2006 release. Of course, like most good things, it didn’t last for long. Lead vocalist Sonny Moore jumped ship about a year after its release, leaving the band scrambling for both a bassist and singer —Limp Bizkit bassist Wes Borland, the only talented member of that band, sat in on bass on that album.

After a misstep of a self-titled third album, it’s good to hear them return to what works with Throne to the Wolves, a release that not only circumvents their previous album, but continues the momentum that Heroine had initially started. True, bands like this may be a dime a dozen, but they have enough going for them musically to hopefully give them an upper hand over plenty of their melodic hardcore/screamo brethren.

Guitarist Matt Good, who had taken over vocals since Moore left, sounds more comfortable taking the lead this time around, and guitarist Matt Manning is competent enough at the rougher vocal passages. The more aggressive breakdowns, which are a first for the band, sound convincing.

The only point that my attention wavered, ironically enough, was during album closer “Now That You’re Gone”, which makes the mistake of forcing in an autotuned vocal line mimicking the guitar lick. The song ends up coming across as an effort to catch the attention of newer fans of the style, who sadly seem to gravitate towards that style. However, after repeated listens, it sort of makes sense, as the band had been doing the industrial-laced sound long before this became a trend.

Perhaps I’m just a sucker for well-executed post hardcore—I won’t say well-produced, as their last one was all of that and failed entirely—but Throne to the Wolves clearly sounds like the logical next step for the band. With enough musical muscle to push the band’s more derivative parts forward, the band sounds reinvigorated, where last time around they sounded as if they were trying to catch the mainstream’s attention.

RATING: 6.5/10

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/fftl

ARTIST: Bleeding Through
ALBUM TITLE: Bleeding Through
RECORD LABEL: Rise Records
RELEASED: April 13, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Bleeding Through is one of those bands that I’d liken to a cockroach. The band has seen its fair share of ups and downs, and like any good roach, they just won’t die. Other bands have rose and fell during their 13 years’ experience, and they have persevered.

Having been one of the forerunners of the American metalcore movement might have had something to do with this. I’ve noticed, as many bands in any music scene pop up, usually it tends to be the ones that took part in innovating the style that survive. The proof is in the pudding; Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and As I Lay Dying are still going strong, whereas most of the other Swedish-core bands all either went back underground, broke up, or found a new genre to emulate.

Bleeding Through has always been one of those bands for me that was kind of just there for me. Fusing the keyboards and more atmospheric elements of symphonic black metal to a backbone of thrash guitars and palm-muted breakdowns, their albums always paled in comparison to the energy of their live shows. Granted, this happens often, but their albums just weren’t the type that demanded repeated listens.

Looking back now, I think it might have been because they tried to be too many different things to different people, and it made for an uneven listening experience. This identity crisis continues on their self-titled sixth album, but for the most part, the deviations aren’t as derailing. But with a band like this, who derives most of their spirit out of sheer aggression, I could really do without the abrupt melodic choruses. At times they sound forced for sake of accessibility. Despite all this, the black metal influence is even more present in the songs than 2008’s Declaration.

Brandon Schieppati’s vocals are much raspier as well, alternating between his trademark barks and a more screechy howl, bringing to mind a more black metal approach. However, at this point in their careers, it really isn’t enough of a change of pace to really call it progress. Sure, some of the set pieces have changed, and there’s a different song playing in the background, but it’s still the same old song and dance on stage, and unless they learn to overcome that boundary, that will forever be their biggest enemy.

RATING: 6/10

For more information, visit www.bleedingthrough.com, www.myspace.com/bleedingthrough

ARTIST: Daughters
ALBUM TITLE: Daughters
RECORD LABEL: Hydra Head Records
RELEASED: March 9, 2010

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

I listen to a lot of noise. I don’t do so in some kind of elitist hipster way that would make readers think that I spend my off-days cultivating a neck beard, wearing flannels and guzzling PBRs by the case, but I just enjoy a band that can make sense out of sheer intensity.

However, there is a very fine line that comes with this sort of game. Go too far and it just sounds like noise for noise’s sake; play it too safe and you risk comparisons to other bands that have done it better. The goal is to nod to your influences but sound completely your own beast. Formed in 2001 from the ashes of the band As the Sun Sets, Daughters made a name for themselves very quickly in the then-burgeoning mathcore scene.

My first impression of Daughters was an interesting one. I was at a straight edge hardcore ‘fest’ at some no name venue in the city, and like most of these things, there were guys selling random shit there from a pretty good cross section of the hardcore and metal scenes. I picked up the Daughters’ first album, Canada Songs, after hearing good things about them.

This album—a full length, mind you—was ten songs in eleven minutes, eight seconds. Despite this, after eleven minutes with them, you left feeling like a changed person. It was nihilistic rage steeped in the hit and run aesthetic of grind music, laced with spidering guitar lines that just sounded creepy.

Like the sick and twisted dance-rock bastard child of The Bronx and Botch, this isn’t the same Daughters. Don’t get me wrong, things are still cacophonous and claustrophobic, but there’s a certain sense of purpose to their music. According to interviews, singer Alexis Marshall has said that the album was the product of his former bandmates pushing to make more ‘acceptable’ music, and while that may have been their goal, this is still nowhere near the mainstream.

Air raid guitars weave in and out between the distortion-heavy bottom end, and Marshall just sounds detached and reveling in the noise. Despite them eschewing their grindcore based roots, they still have made much out of a pile of notes and haphazard rhythms. In a really slapdash sense, it all makes sense. It’s like escaping a car accident only to get mugged while waiting for the police. The album still leaves you feeling violated, but it’s the sonic equivalent of the lesser of two evils.

Listeners, lock up your sons. Here are the Daughters.

RATING: 7/10

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/daughters1