Rather good metal podcast

Podcasts in general can be dicey in terms of quality. Sometimes you just have people making annoying, pointless inside jokes and talking about absolutely nothing. However, the two guys behind, Requiem Metal Podcast have a lot of good insights into the music and a good variety of bands and albums featured. They've covered Swedish DM, Morbid Angel, Immortal, Blind Guardian and Keelhaul so far. It's worth your time. So, listen to 'em.

HERE

Metal Music and Politics Paper (Revised)

As mentioned earlier I'm going to be presenting a paper at the first annual Metal, Music and Politics Conference in Salzburg, Austria. Here's the paper. I'll also soon be posting the handouts (once I can figure out how to put all those pages online)

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Our bands might look "funny" but at least they don't suck as bad as this...

So Bathory and Deicide look a bit "off" but seriously, how many people do you know that have been listening these bunch eyeware ad modelling fools aka: Mates of State ? Are there people that collect everything they own? Do they have a dedicated fanbase around the world and people that even do cover songs of these indie turds? Are they ever gonna do a live album that people can recite from beginning to end. I think not!

Oh, but some say that "metal all sounds the same". I've heard these attitude from people who don't even have a clue how long I've been listening to indie rock. Full disclosure: at least since 1988. It could be argued that up until "indie rock" required an overt professionalism (re: glossy promo photos, massive press kits, massive pre-album hype), it actually had an identity and wasn't riddled with half-assed melodies and annoying vocalists and lifeless song structures. Like prog-rock at the end of the 70's, it's become an illusion of it's former self.

Why are so many bands ruined by MTV?

Last night on KZSU, I played a live version of Krokus' "Headhunter" . While Krokus' output has often been up and down - OK, mostly on the downside for me, they still have a number of killer songs. 1983's "Headhunter" was certainly great for the time it was out. I was friggin' 13 and was impressed by how fast and in my pre-Metallica/pre-Slayer awareness, how intense it sounded! Bands like Krokus like the Scorpions and to a lesser extent Motley Crue and Twisted Sister are more known for the polished crap they did on MTV where as all of these bands in 1983 where considered Heavy Metal. I mean, I wasn't like the older heshers in other towns who not only saw Metallica and Exodus in the clubs but knew them !

"Sex and drugs and rock n' roll is my cuppah teeeeeeeee - time to meeeet Heeeeadhuntahhhhhhh!" And dood, listen to those sweet double leads. Fernando Van Arb was really on to something. Anyway, this one's kinda short. I've been racking by brain today by writing about Extreme Metal and Extreme Politics for the "Music, Metal, and Politics" conference.