On Friday, it was announced that Cradle of Filth will be releasing a new album, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, on November 1 in Europe (through Peaceville Records on the band's own AbraCadaver label) and November 9 in North America via Nuclear Blast. This is their ninth studio album, plus a few EPs, live releases, etc., etc. And I just don't get it. Who still likes this band?

I admit it; Cradle of Filth had one album, 2003's Damnation and a Day, that I kind of enjoyed at the time. The production was so over the top—the band was backed by a full orchestra and choir—that it was an impressive achievement on sonic grounds alone. Just turning all those competing frequencies into something halfway coherent was worthy of acknowledgement, if not celebration. But much of the credit for that should go to Rob Caggiano, who mixed the record, not necessarily to the band themselves.

Looking back at Damnation and a Day now, I can't remember what I liked about it. It's absurdly long, and it suffers from all the same flaws as the rest of their catalog. Dani Filth's vocals are among the worst in music history, and every single song sounds the same—an extended riff salad with no choruses to speak of, no memorable breaks or instrumental interludes, just saw saw saw, blast blast blast, orchestral crescendo, repeat several times. Plus, their attempts at "conceptual" storytelling are an absurd hash of literary name-dropping, stupid puns, and desperate/clumsy attempts to be "shocking" and "sacrilegious" and "perverse."

And yet this band has a fairly sizable and devoted fan base. I don't get it. Their music seems like it would appeal only to those with deep emotional problems, crippling sexual inadequacies and a burning need to be seen by others as literate and iconoclastic, while not actually being aware of the hundreds of years of better, more thoughtful work that's been done on these same subjects outside the realm of metal music. I suppose ignorance is bliss—both my ignorance about just how many people are messed up enough to like Cradle of Filth, and the fans' ignorance about art and culture.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. If you're a Cradle of Filth fan, please speak up in comments. I really want to know what the appeal is. In the meantime, here's the cover art for their new album.


 

Soundgarden will release the compilation Telephantasm on September 28 in the U.S. and one day earlier internationally. It's a best-of that also includes one previously unreleased (and pretty damn good) track, "Black Rain", taken from the Badmotorfinger recording sessions, when the band was at its peak, as far as I'm concerned. I thought the slide began with Superunknown, which was both too long and too experimental, and Down on the Upside was—well, I don't even remember what it sounded like at this point; the single, "Pretty Noose," was so boring I had almost no enthusiasm to listen to the whole record.

Anyway, it's 2010, so in addition to selling it in record stores, Soundgarden and their label will stuff copies of the album inside a million copies of the new videogame Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The tracks will also be available as downloadable content for the game.

And of course, there will also be multiple versions of Telephantasm, as follows:

• a 2CD set with 12 additional tracks, five of which are previously unreleased, and a DVD containing 20 videos, 13 of which have never been released
• a 3LP vinyl edition (probably containing the same tracks as the 2CD set)
• the inevitable super-deluxe collector's edition (2CD set, 3LP set, a poster, lithographs, and a lock of Chris Cornell's chest hair (or Kim Thayil's beard, depending on availability)

Here's the track listing, broken down by level of super-deluxe-ness:

Cheap single CD version:
01. Hunted Down
02. Hands All Over
03. Outshined
04. Rusty Cage
05. Birth Ritual
06. Black Hole Sun
07. Spoonman
08. My Wave
09. Fell on Black Days
10. Burden in My Hand
11. Blow Up the Outside World
12. Black Rain (previously unreleased)

2CD/DVD version (the one I'll probably be buying):
Disc One:
01. All Your Lies
02. Hunted Down
03. Fopp
04. Beyond the Wheel
05. Flower (BBC session)*
06. Hands All Over
07. Big Dumb Sex
08. Get on the Snake (live)
09. Room a Thousand Years Wide (single version)*
10. Rusty Cage
11. Outshined
12. Slaves & Bulldozers

Disc Two:
01. Jesus Christ Pose (live)
02. Birth Ritual
03. My Wave
04. Superunknown
05. Spoonman
06. Black Hole Sun
07. Fell on Black Days (video version)
08. Burden in My Hand
09. Dusty
10. Pretty Noose (live on Saturday Night Live)
11. Blow Up the Outside World (MTV Live 'N' Loud)
12. Black Rain

DVD:
01. Flower
02. Hands All Over
03. Loud Love
04. Jesus Christ Pose (original version)
05. Outshined
06. Rusty Cage
07. My Wave
08. Spoonman
09. The Day I Tried To Live (uncensored)
10. Black Hole Sun
11. Fell On Black Days
12. Pretty Noose (uncensored)
13. Burden In My Hand
14. Blow Up The Outside World (uncensored)
15. Spoonman (mash-up version)
16. The Day I Tried To Live (European version)
17. Superunknown
18. Pretty Noose (international version)
19. Pretty Noose (alternate ending)
20. Blow Up The Outside World (censored)

How 'bout that, huh? Three versions of "Pretty Noose"!!!

Seriously, though, the track listing for the 2CD version is pretty great. Lots of album cuts and alternate versions. I'll almost certainly be buying this.

Shame about the cover art.



Seriously, what the hell is that? It looks like it took longer to spell check the album title than to design the image. It makes me wonder if the super deluxe version comes with this T-shirt:



(If you're not familiar with the legendary wolf shirt, click the image to go to Amazon and read the customer reviews. They're hilarious.)
 

Welcome to the Heavy Metal Superfan site! As any true headbanger knows, metal is more than just music - it impacts every facet of your life, and true metalheads are lifers. From concert memories to favorite albums to discussions of the latest releases and developments within the music, this is a place for all metal fans to feel welcome and to express their thoughts about the music they love. 

(Above: throat polyp)

I miss metal singers. Maybe it's just the influence of the awesome new Iron Maiden album, but I don't think so—I've been feeling this way for a while. Ronnie James Dio used to criticize death metal vocalists a lot in interviews; he may have been the first person to make the comparison to the Sesame Street character Cookie Monster, in fact. His critique was always based in laziness—he felt that extreme metal frontmen adopted the guttural, growling vocal style because they couldn't do what he did. Well, that seems a little unfair—very few human beings on the planet could do what Dio did. But I think at a certain point, "extreme" vocals became rote and boring, and it's time for a switch.

Do you remember the first time you heard a death metal album? The voice didn't even sound like it came from a human throat. It was low, menacing, even demonic, depending on which vocalist you were listening to. In the early '90s, death metal vocalists had character. Deicide's Glen Benton sounded like Satan himself roaring at you from the bottom of a well. Morbid Angel's David Vincent and Cannibal Corpse's Chris Barnes were more human, but still ugly and harsh. Obituary's John Tardy sounded like a maniac ranting on a bus—the reason the lyrics on Slowly We Rot were indecipherable was because he literally wasn't singing English words, just making evocative sounds. (No less a brilliant vocal technician than Mike Patton has cited Tardy's innovations as an influence on his own work.)

These days, extreme vocals have lost their individuality and become an expected, and often boring, feature on otherwise impressive albums. I'm currently loving Inherit Disease's Visceral Transcendence; their mix of ultra-fast, downtuned death metal and technical intricacy (these guys could play most jazz fusion acts right off the stage if they wanted to) really hits my sweet spot. But at the same time, the vocals pinpoint exactly what's wrong with extreme underground metal in 2010. The vocals are in that squealing-pig/"what'​s wrong with the toilet?" style that fistfuls of other bands are employing, and the roteness of that style is proven by the fact that four different guest vocalists from other bands (Condemned, Envenomation, Retch and Dystrophic) show up on various tracks—and it's totally impossible to tell the difference between their contributions and those of the band's primary "singer."

I think bands should break what's become the mold, and switch it up. I think it would be great to hear a death metal band with a full-throated, power metal-esque singer, or at least someone with a convincing punk/hardcore delivery that makes the words somewhat comprehensible. All this croaking and gurgling just makes me wonder why the bands in question bother writing lyrics at all.
 

There are a bunch of new records coming out today (as well as the Slayer DVDs I talked about yesterday), but only two are worth serious discussion. So let's talk.

Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier (EMI): I've already offered you a track-by-track review of this album (plus an interview with guitarist Janick Gers), so consider this my final word on the matter. The Final Frontier is an excellent record that will leave longtime Iron Maiden fans on their backs, panting and sweaty and maybe needing to change their shorts. It's the longest album they've ever put out (76:35!), but has only ten songs. Many of these songs are long as hell, as you might guess. The intro, "Satellite 15," is unlike anything Maiden has ever recorded, a tribal/martial drum pattern with a guitar riff over the top that sounds kinda like the opening guitar lead to Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'" but slightly heavier. The last three songs on the record are progressive epics, all between eight and eleven minutes long. In between, Maiden play in the expansive style they've adopted since becoming a three-guitar band in 2000, without being quite as exploratory (and, to some fans, boring) as on A Matter of Life and Death (an album I love—the song "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" runs through my head on a regular basis). There are also some seriously aggressive songs, though, most notably "The Talisman," which straight-up rips it and comes in under the five-minute mark. Basically, this album is all the proof anyone should need that Iron Maiden are far from being a nostalgia act; they're serious musicians who are making a major artistic statement, thirty years into their recording career. Bravo to them.

Boris & Ian Astbury, BXI (Southern Lord): This was an interesting idea that went almost totally wrong. Boris, for those who don't know, are a Japanese heavy rock band beloved by people who think too much. The bandmembers themselves think too much about what they do; there's always a distance between us and them, whether they're making endless feedback drone-suites, collaborating with Sunn O))) or pumping out distorted garage-psych anthems. On this four-song EP, they're collaborating with Ian Astbury, former and maybe current vocalist with The Cult and sometime frontman for a version of The Doors. Astbury's wolfman cock-rocker style can be pretty great if you're in the right mood, but it feels like an uncomfortable match with Boris, mostly because the band chose to write riffs rather than songs. The two parts of the equation (vocals and band) frequently feel like they're from two different sessions. The only track that really works is the one Astbury doesn't sing on—a cover of The Cult's "Rain," with soft, girlish vocals from Boris guitarist Wata. The other three are clumsy and somewhat boring exercises.

Other things out today: Knights of the Abyss's The Culling of Wolves and King of Asgard's Fi'mbulvintr (I bet you can safely predict what that latter one will sound like just from looking at the band name and album title). Go spend some money!
 

(Click image to see a much, much, much larger version.)

Slayer are getting into the reissue business, but they're doing it with the awesomeness that has been their hallmark since they first terrorized the global metal scene in the '80s. Three of their live videos—Live Intrusion, Still Reigning and War at the Warfield—are all being reissued on DVD tomorrow. Live Intrusion, originally available only on VHS way back in 1995 and long out of print, features Paul Bostaph on drums, along with guest appearances from Chris Kontos and Robb Flynn of Machine Head (on a cover of Venom's "Witching Hour"). Still Reigning was originally released in 2004, and documents the return of original drummer Dave Lombardo as the band tears through a full performance of 1986's Reign in Blood, along with a bunch of other songs. There's also an interview segment on the DVD. War at the Warfield is a 2001 set (again, with Paul Bostaph on drums) that's focused on songs from God Hates Us All, but includes some real oldies, too, like "Captor of Sin" and "Die By the Sword," as well as a documentary focusing on crazed Slayer fans.

And later this year, the band is gonna deliver a deluxe vinyl boxed set of their entire American Recordings output—ten albums on eleven discs, in a massive slipcase. (See photo at the top of this post.) The Vinyl Conflict features high-quality LP versions of Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, Decade of Aggression: Live, Divine Intervention, Diabolus in Musica, Undisputed Attitude (ugh, I know, but completion is completion), God Hates Us All, Christ Illusion and World Painted Blood. For those who care (I don't, I am not a vinyl guy), the press release says all the albums "have been re-mastered from the original analog flat master tapes and were pressed on the highest quality, 180-gram audiophile vinyl at RTI, the most respected pressing plant in the U.S. and among the best in the world. Lacquers were cut and re-cut several times to ensure the highest sound quality. The individual vinyl discs will come in a standard, clear inner sleeve to preserve the vinyl, are then housed in high-quality litho-wrapped jackets, and then boxed in a hardcover slipcase. Additionally, reproductions of the original LP inner sleeve artwork were converted to 12" x 12" inserts." So...yay. Expect this thing to cost about as much as a month's rent. But fuck it, dude! It's fuckin' SLAYER!!!!!
 

Here's the third and final tour report from Chimaira guitarist Matt DeVries—with a special appearance by the band's merch guy(!). Enjoy...

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest 2010 Final Wrap Up

To say that this has been one of the best tours we have ever been on would be a massive understatement. I want to start off by saying thanks to all the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem staff for having us on this tour and making it one of the smoothest-run and most fun tours we have done to date! Also a big thanks to Jägermeister music and the Jäger tour staff for not only sponsoring our stage but for getting me and the boys nice and buzzed every day and making every day run the way a stage should be run.
And last but not least, a huge thanks to all the diehard fans who came out to each and every show on this run and represented hard every day through the brutal heat. And thanks to each and every one of you who bought our new DVD (Coming Alive, in stores now).

There’s still one week left, so anyone who has yet to check out the tour, do yourself a favor and go! You can’t beat a lineup like this one!

I’m gonna try something different on this last blog. I’m gonna let Andrew Shanks, our merchandiser extraordinaire, finish this recap blog up to give you guys an outsider's look at touring with Chimaira on the Mayhem tour. Here goes...

Andrew says:

A massive swarm of individuals sporting piercings, tattoos, sleeveless shirts and any kind of hair style imaginable, thrown into a sea of humidity, beer, energy drinks and most importantly, loud heavy metal music. Welcome to the Rockstar Mayhem tour.

I’ve been on countless summer tours and I’m pleased to say that this is the second year in a row that I’ve had the privilege to be a part of this here Mayhem tour—last year with All That Remains and now with Chimaira, it’s been a whole seven years since I’ve spent my summer time at home. “Home” consisting of a place where right now is the only time of the year where the ground isn’t covered in ice and snow, and more importantly, a time of the year where I don’t have to worry about dusting off the ice crystals that would typically form on my eyelashes the second I step out of my front door any other time of the year. “Home” for me being Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Huh? Where? Yeah I know, it almost sounds imaginary, and pretty funny too, but I can assure you that it does indeed exist. I can also assure you that, yes, it is as bad as it sounds. The only exception to this are the friendly and courteous people that for whatever reason, choose to reside there. All factors aside, skipping out on the only tolerable season in my hometown and leaving behind all of my friends and family is a simple and worthwhile sacrifice to take part in the 2010 Rockstar Mayhem Tour. There’s no other way I’d prefer to spend my summer.

The tour is referred to by most as “Heavy Metal Summer Camp,” and I couldn’t agree with this description more. I remember being sent away to a Christian summer camp when I was 12 years old, where every night I’d find myself staring aimlessly at a campfire and pretending to sing the lyrics to songs about Jesus. The Rockstar Mayhem tour has a lot of the same fundamentals as your typical summer camp; the similarities between the two are definitely present… That is, as long as you replace the campfire with pyrotechnics, the Christian sing-a-longs with the lyrics of "Ball Tongue" and then add more than a few too many alcoholic beverages and a few shots of Jägermeister. Voila! Mayhem.

Here we are already, week number four of sun, parking lots, amphitheaters and on average, 15-20 thousand diehard metal enthusiasts. We’ve only got one more week of it all left. I can’t believe it’s almost over, another amazing summer of music, sweat and beer nearing its end. To say it has been amazing would be an understatement.

After picking my brain over a few drinks, trying to find something wrong with this tour, I was only able to come up with two “flaws” (and I definitely use that term loosely):

The first one being, I’ve met way so many wicked-deadly people this summer and made so many new friends, all whom live in different parts of the country, or in different countries altogether. I’m really going to miss seeing all of these great faces and hanging out and partying with all of these weird, freaky and interesting people every day. I mean, in all seriousness, I am excited to go home and hang out with my friends and see my family, but with them all having regular, stable (boring) jobs and all, who's gonna fill the shoes of Ryan from Atreyu and shotgun beers with me at 9:30 AM every day?

The second flaw of this tour: I’ve been graced with so much free alcohol day in and day out that my alcohol tolerance right now has got to be higher than both Cheech and Chong combined. I don’t even want to begin to think about how much money it’s going to cost me when I get home just to catch even the slightest buzz; it’s pretty much like drinking water now. With that being said, I’m not going to think about it. Instead, I’m going to mix another drink, shotgun a few more beers and think about thinking of taking a shower before we depart to our next destination. Cheers!

—Andrew

Thanks to Andrew for being a killer merch guy!

—Matt DeVries






 

I hadn't planned to do this, but we might as well continue with what's becoming Disturbed week here on the blog...the band has released a video for "Another Way to Die," a new single from their upcoming fifth album Asylum. As David Draiman discussed in Part Two of our interview (see below), there's a message to the song and the video, but it's kinda subtle—you'll have to pay attention to catch it. See for yourself.