In less than one month metalheads from all over will descend on The Palladium in Worcester, MA for The 15th Annual New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The Palladium is widely regarded as the metal capital of the northeast. Starting with the kickoff party on April 18th the weekend long festival boats a who’s who of the best heavy bands in the world such as ANTHRAX, HATEBREED, EXODUS, OPETH, EVERY TIME I DIE, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, D.R.I., THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MUNICIPAL WASTE, SHADOWS FALL, KATATONIA, SICK OF IT ALL, TYR, TERROR, REVOCATION, THE ACACIA STRAIN, JOB FOR A COWBOY, BLACK BREATH, TRAP THEM, TRAPPED UNDER ICE, GOATWHORE and dozens more. At the center of it all is SCOTT LEE, who helped devise the festival originally and helps book it yearly, along with Mass Concerts. We chatted at length with Scott about the history of the festival from its humble beginnings, what it takes to put on the show and where it is headed in the future. You can buy tickets here.
Randy Rhoads put down a legacy that is eternal in the history of metal.
RANDY RHOADS whose knack for melodic song writing and stunning neo-classical lead guitar style revolutionized metal in 1980s, died tragically thirty years ago today. Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) died in a plane crash while on tour with OZZY OSBOURNE, but he has left an indelible mark on generations of musicians to follow.
Rhoads who had been an early member of QUIET RIOT shot to fame when he auditioned for the guitar spot in OZZY OSBOURNE’s band THE BILZZARD OF OZZ. The combination of the soft spoken, but immensely talented Rhoads and Ozzy who felt he had to prove himself to the world after his dismissal from BLACK SABBATH was potent and changed the face of music. Rhoads is always remembered as a terrific lead guitarist and was often compared to the best players of his day like EDDIE VAN HALEN. However, equally important as Randy’s impact as a soloist was his legacy as a songwriter, his use of classical modes and his widespread use of major scales in rock and metal that had predominantly been full of brooding minor keys and old-style pentatonic blues riffs up until that point. He also helped innovate an popularize several styles and looks of guitars with his polka-dot Jackson Flying V’s. Although he is best remembered for songs like OZZY hits “Crazy Train”, “Mr. Crowley” “Suicide Solution”, “Over The Mountain” and “Flying High Again” most of his output, however brief is excellent and worthy of repeat listens.
Popular guitar players who have been influenced by Rhoads such as the late DIMEBAG DARRELL, ZAKK WYLDE, Phil Demmel of MACHINE HEAD and a host of metal lead players from the 80s and 90s used to and still do sing his praises. Although his music is among some of the most popular in the genre, you can still hear examples of his reach in many modern bands like ARCH ENEMY, REVOCATION, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, MASTODON, OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, JOB FOR A COWBOY, THE AGONIST, CHILDREN OF BODOM, WARBRINGER, ICEDEARTH, DECAPITATED, ALL SHALL PERISH and THE FACELESS among many, many others.
Our intrepid metal scribe Sean “That Black Metal Dude” Genovese caught up with Bob Meadows of A LIFE ONCE LOST recently. Sean caught the band live a few weeks back in Allston, MA at Great Scott, where the band was on tour with REVOCATION and KEN MODE. ALOL is out on the road supporting their new album Ecstatic Trance, (Season of Mist)which you should all go get asap!
MA: When you guys first started out in 1999, where did you guys expect to be about ten years from that point?
BM: I guess I just expected to be more on a different train of life, y’know? You don’t really expect ever to start a band with a bunch of kids and then eventually it kind of unravels and unfolds into something 13 years later. It’s just kind of a surreal experience in a way. But man, it’s pretty awesome, I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Actually, a lot of other friends of mine are moving along, moving past, and kind of starting these new lives and here I am, still chasing down this thing, this dream that I call music. It’s pretty wild, man, I never really expected it all.
MA: Right. So what are some of you guys’ main influences, and what are some artists or bands might be surprised shaped your sound?
BM: You can hear the BLACK SABBATH and the MESHUGGAH influence for sure, but in (the) Ecstatic Trance record there’s definitely other influences we’re pulling from, anywhere from FELA KUTI, and TI PEYI A, and ORCHESTRA DE POLYRHYTHMO from North Africa, to the German Krautrock scene, bands like CAN, KRAFTWERK, AMAN DUUL, things like KING CRIMSON. Anything within that little hiatus that we took where we ended up exploring a lot of different things in music. It’s always been an interest of mine with music; the more obscure, the more different and weird it was, the better it was for me, that’s kinda what I got off on. Being able to pull from those influences, and finally being able to let it hang on my sleeve, it’s a pretty cool thing, it’s definitely very unique, and I definitely think we’ve developed a unique sound with the Ecstatic Trance record.
Bob Meadows of A LIFE ONCE LOST.
MA: Let me ask you something that I’m sure most people probably ask you; What are your attitudes on the “djent” craze, as many cite you guys as innovators of poly-rhythms in Metalcore and related genres. Have you any love for bands like PERIPHERY and AFTER THE BURIAL that are expanding on that formula?
BM: I don’t have any feelings towards it. I’m not really interested in that music. When I listen to music, I kinda wanna be floored. When I was younger, when I was 19, that kind of music would be more appealing to me. But since I’m older now, I find more satisfaction in something that’s more soothing, and it’s not really soothing. I hear it all the time, people referring to us as a band in that scene, and I agree to a certain extent, but there were bands before us that were doing it, and there are bands that are still doing it, and those bands deserve more of the credit. When we started doing it, we didn’t do it to fit into a “scene”, like these other bands, these younger kids are doing, but the youth of America is a very impressionable group of individuals, and they feel the need to be able to fit in somewhere. Maybe this new “djent” thing is the new Deathcore, the new Pop Punk or the new whatever. It is what it is, it’s popular, those dudes can play. Misha’s a cool dude; I don’t like his band, but I think he’s a cool dude. I can be friends with someone and not enjoy their band, and that’s the case here. THE AFTER THE BURIAL, BORN OF OSIRIS guys, I really don’t know them. Michael Keene, EVAN BREWER, those guys in THE FACELESS, awesome dudes, but I just can’t get down with the tunes, y’know? Doesn’t make me less of a man, but more of an individual, I guess.
MA: Yeah. I noticed you guys were selling a shirt that says “Drop Acid, Not Bombs”. Is this a hint at some of the creative process behind Ecstatic Trance, since there are a lot more psychedelic influences, as you may have mentioned before?
BM: You can look at it as that. One of the main things was to explore that world of music, like psychedelic rock, I definitely think we’ve succeeded with this, and it’s definitely a great introduction to unravel into something that’s gonna be bigger in the future with our sound. With hallucinogenics, there are only two of us that sorta dabble in that, haha. I think it was more like a goof shirt. We had this ROLLING STONES rip-off tee goin’, with some dude with fucked up teeth, and we were like “We should totally put an acid tab on his fuckin’ tongue, just throw in ‘Drop Acid, Not Bombs’, it could be funny”. So we ended up doing it, and I think the design turned out pretty good. And it’s funny, the people that actually come up and buy this shirt, they’re so weird, haha. We had t-shirts of a “World Bong”, something like that, and we were on tour with NORMA JEAN. We printed the shirts on yellow, red and green, kinda like a Rastafarian, Jamaican color scheme going on. Then you had these impressionable youth, the Christian kids buying the shirts because of the colors, not necessarily knowing what was going on with it. But if it’s funny, it’s funny, it’s fun to be in a band and do shit like that. But yeah it’s more of a goof, haha.
MA: Since you guys recently replaced half the band and have been experimenting with some new sounds on your last two sounds, some fans have expressed that they’re not entirely happy with the direction you’ve taken. Do you have anything to say to them?
BM: Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. There are kids that don’t like my band now that probably really love PERIPHERY and AFTER THE BURIAL. That’s the beauty of being a person, you’re entitled to your own opinion, likes and dislikes, and shit, man, if you don’t like my band, you don’t like my band! That’s fine, just don’t base that on my character as a human being. I’m sure my conversations are ones of humour and also interest. If A Great Artist is the record you wanna hear, you can pop that on while you’re driving and punch the steering wheel. But if you’re coming to our shows, that’s what to expect: We’re gonna play what we just put out, what we believe in. An Ecstatic Trance is that record we believe in at the moment. When we go into the studio to do more things, that’s what you can expect. You’re either with us or not with us, it’s no sweat off my ass, y’know?
MA: Yeah. Going on with that previous question, do you believe you’ll ever make another album like A Great Artist or Hunter, or has the musical environment in the ALOL camp and the general Metal/Hardcore scene has changed to the point where you have to leave those concepts behind?
BM: We were never a band to repeat anything or fall into sequence, or an order when it comes to writing music and songs. We had a very large gap of aggression between A Great Artist and The Iron Gag. It’s a small gap, but there’s progression nonetheless. Once you step back and rewrite something like that it’s regressing in a way. For us to constantly evolve and grow as people, I think the only thing we can do is continue to move forward and develop on sounds that we created in records past. You may see me doing another band in the vein of the older stuff, but never in replication. I would say the likelihood is very slim at this time, haha. But you can never really rule out the elements of pure brutality and heaviness mixed in with the music.
MA: Alright, this is probably the most important question you’ll be asked within the next six months: Was math your favourite subject in high school, and if so, what type?
BM: I actually like math a lot. I like Algebra. I wasn’t a Geometry guy, but number solving, shit like that was always a big interest of mine, haha.
MA: Alright, well thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview, Mr. Meadows, and I hope you guys have much luck in your future endeavours: tours, albums, stuff like that, and I hope to see your band again, hopefully with a crowd that’s more energetic?
BM: Ah, see, that shit never really matters to me. I think that it slowly morphed from people going crazy like it was with A Great Artist and with Hunter. With Iron Gag you saw people just more there to experience the show, experience what we’re doing, and that’s actually kinda cool. It takes the Metal that we’re writing and evolves it so that you can sit back and enjoy it whether you’re a fuckin’ stoner, you’re drunk, you’re a cokehead, you’re fuckin’ trippin’ on acid, or you’re straight-edge. You can step back and watch the show, enjoy the show for what it is, and that’s the place where Doug and I are trying to take the group now, make it a live experience, not just an experience for the record.
MA: Hmm, that’s actually a pretty good way to look at it. Well, once again, thank you very much, and I wish you luck.
USA and Canada peeps (only), we’ve got your next chance to win free tickets to see the SHOCKWAVE 2012 TOUR is right the fuck right now! Just answer this weeks’ metal trivia question to win a pair of tickets to see FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, REVOCATION, HAVOK, along with DIRGE WITHIN, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, VILDHJARTA, THE BROWNING & FORGED IN FLAME. Check back here often, Like us on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter too and share with all of your friends to increase your chances of winning.
WEEK TWO QUESTION: How many songs does PARADISE LOST have with the word Goth in the title?
This is a question that will likely make Nick Holmes frown or Greg Mackintosh punch me in the goddamn face. Sorry guys! Think you know the answer? Here are the rules so you can win the tickets:
2. Share our page with all of your friends on Facebook! Extra points for sharing on Twitter too!
3. PRIVATE MESSAGE us your answer. Posting your answer on our timeline gets you disqualified and we will make fun of you for being illiterate.
4. Be creative! Post a pic with the answer! Corpse paint it up! Write us a short, epic poem! Shred a keytar solo! Growl the answer at us, being all kvlt! Thinking outside of the box gets you the tickets.
5. Again, the winners are being picked randomly, so try to catch our attention. The winning entry will get posted on our timeline too!
6. USA and CANADA entries only this time, eh. Sorry, but that is where the tour is going. Also, look at the tour dates on the poster above and make sure you can get to the show in your area before hand. Next time we’ll try to include the rest of the world. We swear on Adrian Erlandsson’s drumsticks!
Your next chance to win free tickets to see the SHOCKWAVE 2012 TOUR is this Monday! Just answer our metal trivia question to win a pair of tickets to see FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, REVOCATION, HAVOK, along with DIRGE WITHIN, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, VILDHJARTA, THE BROWNING & FORGED IN FLAME. Check back here often, Like us on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter too and share with all of your friends to increase your chances of winning. Don’t miss out, check back Monday 6/18 at 12 Noon PST.
Metal Army America caught up with Dave Davidson and Phil Dubois-Coyne of REVOCATION outside of The Worcester Palladium, right before playing on the main stage of The Worcester Deathfest. They are out on the road supporting SIX FEET UNDER on the “18 Nights of Blood Tour” and still supporting their excellent 2011 release Chaos of Forms (Relapse). Keeping their tongues planted firmly in cheek, they made a lot of jokes and attempted to trip each other up several times. We talked about the band, life on the road, The Worcester Palladium and also had a lot of laughs.
Now is your first chance to win a FREE ticket for you and one friend to get into to one of this summer’s biggest metal tours- SHOCKWAVE! Once a week for the next three weeks we are giving away one pair of tickets to see this tour featuring FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, REVOCATION, HAVOK, along with DIRGE WITHIN, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, VILDHJARTA, THE BROWNING & FORGED IN FLAME. All you have to do is answer a simple, (but far from easy) trivia question and follow the rules below to enter and win. Winners will be chosen at random, so please no whining and crying if you don’t win, because there is no crying in metal!
So without further ado….here is this weeks’ question….
WEEK ONE QUESTION: At any one time, what is the largest number of members DYING FETUS has ever had?
That’s not a super-stumper, but it’s no gimme either. No jokes about the wording of “largest” and ”members” and DYING FETUS together or John Gallagher will personally come to your house and stomp you out. Okay, no he won’t. Think you know the answer? Here are the rules so you can win the tickets:
2. Share our page with all of your friends on Facebook! Extra points for sharing on Twitter too!
3. PRIVATE MESSAGE us your answer. Posting your answer on our timeline gets you disqualified and we will make fun of you for being illiterate.
3. Be creative! Post a pic with the answer! Corpse paint it up! Write us a short, epic poem! Shred a keytar solo! Growl the answer at us, being all kvlt! Thinking outside of the box gets you the tickets.
4. Again, the winners are being picked randomly, so try to catch our attention. The winning entry will get posted on our timeline too!
5. USA and Canada entries only this time folks. Sorry, but that is where the tour is going. Next time we’ll try to include the rest of the world. We swear on the precious!
Good luck and make sure to pay a visit to SHOCKWAVE’s Facebook page and website too. Tell them how excited you are for the tour and that Metal Army America sent ya!
Now is your first chance to win a FREE ticket for you and one friend to get into to one of this summer’s biggest metal tours- SHOCKWAVE! Once a week for the next three weeks we are giving away one pair of tickets to see this tour featuring FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, REVOCATION, HAVOK, along with DIRGE WITHIN, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, VILDHJARTA, THE BROWNING & FORGED IN FLAME. All you have to do is answer a simple, (but far from easy) trivia question and follow the rules below to enter and win. Winners will be chosen at random, so please no whining and crying if you don’t win, because there is no crying in metal!
So without further ado….here is this weeks’ question….
WEEK ONE QUESTION: At any one time, what is the largest number of members DYING FETUS has ever had?
That’s not a super-stumper, but it’s no gimme either. No jokes about the wording of “largest” and ”members” and DYING FETUS together or John Gallagher will personally come to your house and stomp you out. Okay, no he won’t. Think you know the answer? Here are the rules so you can win the tickets:
2. Share our page with all of your friends on Facebook! Extra points for sharing on Twitter too!
3. PRIVATE MESSAGE us your answer. Posting your answer on our timeline gets you disqualified and we will make fun of you for being illiterate.
3. Be creative! Post a pic with the answer! Corpse paint it up! Write us a short, epic poem! Shred a keytar solo! Growl the answer at us, being all kvlt! Thinking outside of the box gets you the tickets.
4. Again, the winners are being picked randomly, so try to catch our attention. The winning entry will get posted on our timeline too!
5. USA and Canada entries only this time folks. Sorry, but that is where the tour is going. Next time we’ll try to include the rest of the world. We swear on the precious!
Good luck and make sure to pay a visit to SHOCKWAVE’s Facebook page and website too. Tell them how excited you are for the tour and that Metal Army America sent ya!
Metal Army America is teaming up with Red Rocket Entertainment to bring you a contest with your chance to win free tickets to see the SHOCKWAVE 2012 TOUR! Some of the genres best bands such as FEAR FACTORY, VOIVOD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, MISERY INDEX, REVOCATION, HAVOK, along with DIRGE WITHIN, LAST CHANCE TO REASON, VILDHJARTA, THE BROWNING & FORGED IN FLAME are hitting the road, crisscrossing the US and Canada to kick your punk ass ears in every night. You are gonna need to put your metal thinking caps on, because this contest is a trivia contest. Fear not troops, you will have three, count `em three chances to win before the end of June. Check back here often, and on our Facebook page and our Twitter account too and share with all of your friends to increase your chances of winning each week starting this Monday 6/11 at 12 Noon PST.
Randy Rhoads whose knack for melodic song writing and stunning neo-classical lead guitar style revolutionized metal in 1980′s died tragically thirty years ago today. Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) died in a plane crash while on tour with OZZY OSBOURNE, but he has left an indelible mark on generations of musicians to follow.
Rhoads who had been an early member of QUIET RIOT shot to fame when he auditioned for the guitar spot in OZZY OSBOURNE’s band THE BILZZARD OF OZZ. The combination of the soft spoken, but immensely talented Rhoads and Ozzy who felt he had to prove himself to the world after his dismissal from BLACK SABBATH was potent and changed the face of music. Rhoads is always remembered as a terrific lead guitarist and was often compared to the best players of his day like EDDIE VAN HALEN. However, equally important as Randy’s impact as a soloist was his legacy as a songwriter, his use of classical modes and his widespread use of major scales in rock and metal that had predominantly been full of brooding minor keys and old-style pentatonic blues riffs up until that point. He also helped innovate an popularize several styles and looks of guitars with his polka-dot Jackson Flying V’s. Although he is best remembered for songs like OZZY hits “Crazy Train”, “Mr. Crowley” “Suicide Solution”, “Over The Mountain” and “Flying High Again” most of his output, however brief is excellent and worthy of repeat listens.
Turn this record up loud for full enjoyment!
Popular guitar players who have been influenced by Rhoads such as the late DIMEBAG DARRELL, ZAKK WYLDE, Phil Demmel of MACHINE HEAD and a host of metal lead players from the 80′s and 90′s used to and still do sing his praises. Although his music is among some of the most popular in the genre, you can still hear examples of his reach in many modern bands like ARCH ENEMY, REVOCATION, ANIMALS AS LEADERS, MASTODON, OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, JOB FOR A COWBOY, THE AGONIST, CHILDREN OF BODOM, WARBRINGER, ICED EARTH, DECAPITATED, ALL SHALL PERISH and THE FACELESS among many, many others.
