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.


 

Behemoth's new video for "Alas, Lord is Upon Me" from 2009's Evangelion has been released, and it's fucking awesome. They've also got some more physical product coming in the next few months: the group's second DVD, Evangelia Heretika, will be released this fall, and in early 2011, Metal Blade will be releasing Behemoth's Conjuration and Slaves Shall Serve EPs as a 2CD set.

Unfortunately, all this good news for fans comes at something of a bad time for the Polish death metal gods, as frontman Nergal has been forced to cancel all the band's upcoming live commitments due to serious illness. On Monday, he posted the following statement on the band's website:

“Dear All, I’d like to announce that Behemoth won’t be able to tour for the foreseeable future. I don’t wanna bore you with details here, but I’m sick and am receiving some serious medical treatment. It’s gonna take another few weeks or more for full recovery, and so we have been forced to cancel all the Behemoth shows in August, planned dates in Russia and Baltic States for September and October, and our American tour in November. I know how much it sucks but health comes first. I can assure all of you that when we return, I’ll be stronger than death, and we’ll reschedule every tour as soon as logistics allow. I feel good and strong, my mind is focused, I've got my loving woman by my side, my band mates, friends (never thought there are so many, haha), management, agents and label people are giving me massive support. I can’t ask for more but a little patience now..."

Here's hoping his recovery is swift. Here's the video.


 

Here it is—the third and final installment of our interview with Disturbed frontman David Draiman. In this segment, he discusses why the group doesn't write more lighthearted, "party band" type songs the way bands like Buckcherry and Mötley Crüe do, what fans can expect (and expect to be surprised by) from their set on the Uproar tour, and why Disturbed doesn't have its own burger at Kuma's Corner, despite being from Chicago. Enjoy!


 

Here's the second part of my three-part interview with Disturbed frontman David Draiman. In this installment, Draiman talks about the songs "Another Way to Die" and "Never Again" from the band's new album Asylum (out August 31), both of which have lyrics with strong political messages. This leads to a larger discussion of whether the band's fan base is as politically minded as he is—or if they even agree with him—as well as an exploration of his views on international politics, Israel, and religion vs. spirituality. Enjoy!


 

The Rockstar Uproar Festival tour, co-headlined by Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold with support from Stone Sour, Halestorm, Hellyeah, Airbourne, Hail the Villain and New Medicine, kicks off in Minneapolis on August 17. Disturbed's new album Asylum comes out August 31. I've heard it; it sounds like a Disturbed album, but a really good one—I like it more than Ten Thousand Fists, and just as much as Believe, which was great.

Just under two weeks ago, I interviewed the band's frontman, David Draiman, in New York. I'm going to post that interview in three pieces—the first today, the second tomorrow and the third and last on Wednesday. We cover a fair amount of ground, from Draiman's vocal influences to international politics, religion, why Disturbed aren't more of a party band, and why they don't have their own burger at Kuma's Corner, despite being Chicago natives. So here we go.


 

Fear Factory suffered a major bus fire overnight while on tour in England. As guitarist Dino Cazares explains it on the band's MySpace page:

"We had just finished playing a sold out show in Sheffield and we were on our way to London. Everyone was asleep except for two of our crew. At about 3:30am the bus driver noticed smoke coming from the back right wheel. He stopped, jumped out and noticed a flame underneath the wheel well. He tried to extinguish it but the flames were too much. Everyone on the bus was woken up by one of our crew yelling 'Get everyone up and out of the bus.' Everyone grabbed their bags and ran off the bus. We stood on the side of the freeway going 'thank god we all made it out' until someone noticed our merchandise guy was still asleep on the bus. A good friend of ours ran back on the smoked-filled bus and got him out just minutes before the bus was completely in flames...our eyes are burning and we were all coughing from the smoke. Some of us lost wallets, money, computers but that's not important compared to our lives. It only took about 20 to 30 minutes for the bus to be completely covered in flames. The fire trucks and the police finally arrived but it was too late to save anything on the bus. A coach bus picked us up and brought us safely to a nearby hotel. We found out only a short while ago that the trailer was saved where all our gear was. But the bus is just a metal frame on the side of the road."

Fear Factory are currently on tour in the UK continuing performances in support of their latest album, Mechanize. The band completed their most recent American tour on July 27th in Allentown, PA. The following evening the band departed for an additional three weeks of dates in the UK and at various European festivals.
 

The new Iron Maiden album The Final Frontier will be released in just under two weeks, on August 17. It's been strictly embargoed—no review copies have been mailed to writers or anybody else. But the label's been playing it for journalists, and a couple of weeks ago, I went to Sony Music's offices in Manhattan to hear the thing—all 76 minutes and 35 seconds of it. Here are my notes, more or less.

1. "Satellite 15...The Final Frontier" (8:40): The first three minutes or so of this track are some of the weirdest music Iron Maiden's ever released. It's an abstract morass of roaring guitars and tribal drumming, with Bruce Dickinson carrying what little melody there is as the band crashes and rumbles behind him. When it shifts into "The Final Frontier," though, the impact is massive. The song's main riff is killer, as are the solos by Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. The song doesn't have the classic Maiden gallop; it's slower and more conventionally rockin', with a big chorus to shout along to. As you know if you've seen the awesome video (can't embed, sorry). If they tour again once the record's in stores, they'll absolutely be playing this one live.

2. "El Dorado" (6:49): This track, the only new one they played on tour, leads straight in from "Final Frontier" with no break, and it's got a huge riff and prominent bass line. The lyrics seem like a not particularly positive metaphor for the music business.

3. "Mother of Mercy" (5:20): This one starts off slow, with a jangling, almost acoustic guitar melody and gently ticking hi-hat, before another massive wall of guitar comes in. The lyrics are about how terrible it is that we have to fight wars, a theme Maiden have been working for decades at this point.

4. "Coming Home" (5:52): This is a ballad, at first anyway—the slow, gentle part doesn't last long. The lyrics, particularly the ultra-anthemic chorus, are all about space travel and coming home. There's a nice progressive break in the middle, and Dave Murray takes a killer solo that's very much in the post-blues spirit of David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. There's also a solo by Adrian Smith.

5. "The Alchemist" (4:29): This is the fastest song on the album, clearly co-written by Janick Gers as it reverts to the early '80s Maiden gallop and features a totally shredtastic solo from J.G.

6. "Isle of Avalon" (9:06): I don't remember much about this song, other than that it was very prog-rock and very long, and reminded me a lot of the stretched-out, more meditative material on A Matter of Life and Death. Which is a good thing in my book, but your mileage may vary.

7. "Starblind" (7:48): And we return to the sci-fi lyrical themes, and the AMOLAD style, with another long, slow song. These tracks aren't boring, they're just reminiscent of stuff Maiden's done before, so it's difficult to recall them.

8. "The Talisman" (9:03): This is the other song Janick Gers co-worte, but it's very different than "The Alchemist"—it's twice as long, and starts with an acoustic guitar intro before launching a galloping primary riff that's, again, very '80s (ironic how the one guy who wasn't in the band during those years tries the hardest to recall them in his songwriting), but which is welded to a chorus that reminds me in part of the song "Dance of Death" or "These Colours Don't Run." At its midpoint, the song breaks down almost completely, before a whole new, more conventionally hard rock riff appears. This track almost feels like a collage at certain points, and lacks the seamlessness of the rest of the disc, even the two-part opening track.

9. "The Man Who Would Be King" (8:28): This is another prog-rockin' epic. Note that the album concludes with three eight-minutes-or-mor​e songs in a row, and plan accordingly. Bring a snack.

10. "When the Wild Wind Blows" (10:59): Eleven minutes. The longest Iron Maiden song since "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." (You could point out "Sign of the Cross," from The X Factor, but I would respond by explaining to you that Iron Maiden did not exist between 1994 and 1999.) Anyway, the song. It starts out in sort of folky/proggy epic territory, before building up and becoming a midtempo stomp. It's a perfect closer to the record, because by the time it's over, you'll need a nap.

Overall verdict: This is a very good album that will require multiple listens to really sink in, because it's so goddamn long that you're gonna forget how it started by the time it ends. But there are absolutely no "what the hell were they thinking?" tracks, and the hot streak they've been on since Dickinson returned continues unabated. Highly recommended.
 

There are no super-high profile releases this week, but there are some quality discs coming out that span various metal subgenres. Here's a brief rundown.

All Out War, Into the Killing Fields (Victory): These guys aren't the heaviest thing I've ever heard, but they do a pretty capable job of mixing hardcore, thrash and death metal, with a pretty unhinged vocalist who at times almost makes this disc sound like Mike Williams of Eyehategod fronting a Slayer cover band.

Blood Revolt, Indoctrine (Profound Lore): I wanted to like this record more than I do. It's sorta Swedish, sorta Bolt Thrower-ish old school death metal, but with unique (and not in a good way) vocals by Alan "Nemtheaga" Averill of Primordial. There are a few good riffs, but overall it's just buzzing retro death with an infuriatingly amelodic frontman. Profound Lore is an amazing label with a killin' roster, but every once in a while they drop a turd, and this is one such occasion.

Hammers of Misfortune, The August Engine, The Bastard, Fields/Church of Broken Glass, The Locust Years (Metal Blade): The entire back catalog of this awesome Bay Area classic-metal project, led by Ludicra guitarist John Cobbett, has been remastered and reissued. Hammers of Misfortune play old-school (as in early '80s) metal with no irony and a real appreciation for beauty. Every album is different, because they've been through a number of personnel changes over the years.

The Bastard is a concept album, practically an opera, in fact, as the lyrical perspective shifts among three characters. The music is power metal with some black and death metal elements in the rhythm section. The August Engine is more progressive and epic, with more acoustic elements that recall Opeth and even '70s prog acts like Genesis. The band's third album, The Locust Years, is possibly its heaviest, stomping across the back of the listener's neck even as the female vocals, flute and Hammond organ add grace notes. "War Anthem" totally lives up to its name, sounding like an outtake from a '70s Judas Priest album. And 2008's Fields/Church of Broken Glass brings all the elements of the band's style together into a seamless whole, despite being split between two EPs. The title track is a re-recording of the final track from The Locust Years. This is a great, ambitious band that's never gotten the recognition they deserve. Maybe Metal Blade can help fix that.

Wretched, Beyond the Gate (Victory): This is a melodic death metal record with occasional outbursts of guitar shred. Think Arch Enemy with a male vocalist and more breakdowns, and the guitarist from Revocation contributing solos. It's good, but it doesn't really vault out of the pack with true originality.