AT THE END OF EACH MONTH I'M GOING TO POST THE BEST RELEASES OF THE MONTH. YES MOST OF THE RELEASES SENT INTO SFM666 ARE GOOD BUT SOME ARE GREAT. BASICALLY THIS IS JUST A REMINDER.
FUNERAL WINDS - Sinister Creed Avantgarde Music Old school Dutch Black Metal.
COFFIN TORTURE - Dismal Planet Sludgelord Records They're a duo from South Carolina who really kick down with some Southern Fuckin Sludge. LABYRINTH ENTRANCE - Monumental Bitterness
Godz Ov War Productions This is the solo project of Hunger from the great black metal act STILLBORN. Here's the taste of modern Polish black metal. THE CLEARING PATH - Watershed Between Firmament and the Realm of Hyperborea
I, Voidhanger Records Post black metal that's actually good and not some bullshit for pitchfork hipster pussies. MINNERIKET - Anima Sola
Akslen Black Art Records Impressive one man black metal project from Norway that adds some post punk and gothic stuff that gives off a hypnotic vibe. Very cool for late night blackened haunts. BELDAM - Pasung Horror Pain Gore Death Production The prodigy of EYEHATEGOD and the MELVINS have come to destroy you with sludgy doom. BLIGHT - The Teachings/Death Reborn
Black Market Metal Label If this Montreal, Quebec band's goal was to produce some new punishing black metal then they succeeded. Well that's all this month, Hails and let's see what comes up in February.
NARTHRAAL - Screaming From The Grave Inverse Records
Normally I'm not interested in writing about something from the year before especially if it came out early the year before. But in this case I'm giving an exception since I'm working with this new Finnish label Inverse Records. Secondly this band is from Iceland and their ancestors discovered North America. Oh yeah and third it's old school death metal.
Screaming From The Grave is the debut full length by this Icelandic four piece. The band started out in 2012 and prior to this full length the band released two EPs. Now I'm not going to bullshit by saying I know so much about the Icelandic metal scene, like some hipster after a Google search. In all honesty I do remember writing about a black metal act from Iceland in the past but that's it.
The truth is while listening to Screaming From The Grave I'm thinking Swedish death metal circa 1992 - 1995. On one hand the band employs that fat Boss HM-2 sound but also injects some melodic touches. I'm reminded of what AMON AMARTH was putting out in the late 90s with their first two releases. I'd also toss in some obvious DISMEMBER worship as well. Check out their closing cut "Dismember the Entombed" for any further debate. If I were some jaded asshole I'd probably knock this. But the fact is it's death metal like this which is my favorite style. I'd rather hear a band like NARTHRAAL doing it old school than some modern tech death act. Also the band nails it on the guttural but understandable vocals, the top notch soloing, real drumming and of course the riffs. Some thing else worthy is their song structure variety which displays plenty of tempo shifting that gives everything a feel of freshness as opposed to just copying the past. Yes there are a ton of bands like NARTHRAAL out there doing the whole old school death metal thing. I should know since I have a shelf ready to collapse from the weight of LPs and CDs from those bands. But hey one more good one won't break mine or your collection. This is worth seeking out so you can blast it in order to destroy your neighbor's ear drums. Nuff Said. https://www.inverse.fi/ https://www.facebook.com/inverserecords/ https://narthraal1.bandcamp.com/
VERIKALPA - Taistelutahto Inverse Records Around ten years ago I was all into the Pagan Folk Viking metal genre trend that was going on. Yes I attended two Pagan Fest shows, saw a lot of other gigs with bands doing the whole pagan/folk metal thing. I bought a lot of CDs and am still a huge fan of the music mainly because it was an education.
Obviously the whole idea of incorporating a nation's traditional folk music into a metal framework is cool. But to me it's the fun aspect to the music. VERIKALPA, who hail from Finland, have all the cool trappings I've mentioned. Musically they fit in between KORPIKLAANI and FINNTROLL, two bands also from Finland who I'm a huge fan of. VERIKALPA is a self described Troll & Beer metal band. Now you can understand why I placed them where I did. Taistelutahto is the band's debut full length tossing out ten cuts which are all energetic, aggressive and of course fun. By the way that's gotta be an accordion I hear. The band sings in their native tongue which in the past I've said it makes German sound polite. Any ways VERIKALPA do inject some new found fire into a genre that needs it. Especially since both bands I mentioned where this band sits in between have really gotten boring. https://www.inverse.fi/ https://www.facebook.com/inverserecords/ https://www.facebook.com/Verikalpa
FUNERAL WINDS - Sinister Creed Avantgarde Music This release should come with a warning sticker stating that this is old school (aka: early nineties) black metal. It's filthy, violent, threatening, unapologetic and contains absolutely no atmospheric passages or progression for beardo hipsters to smoke pot to. Oh yeah and I like it a lot. No, I fuckin love this. FUNERAL WINDS might not be a household name to most fans of black metal. But for someone like me, who celebrates his proud Dutch heritage and got a tutorial in Dutch black metal back in 2008 by a member of a more modern black metal act, I do know about them. Actually I should say him as in the one and only Hellchrist Xul who in 1991 started FUNERAL WINDS. Yes that's right all of you collector scum. This is one of the first BM bands to emerge out of the Netherlands. Quick get on Ebay and buy, buy, buy.
Alright enough shenanigans, lets get serious. Basically what we have here is the fourth full length by FUNERAL WINDS in their twenty seven year career. Now don't let that dismay you because Hellchrist Xul has been very prolific act as far as releasing plenty of splits, EPs and demos over his career. By the way if you like this one then I suggest finding a copy of the Screaming for Resurrection compilation album from 2004. Now just to set the tone, the Dutch underground black metal scene is truly underground. It's been overlooked for years not because it lacks anything that their peers from other nations have created. It's just that BM fans look elsewhere for the obvious. Since doing SFM666 I've always tried to showcase bands from Holland in order to expose people to their greatness. Seriously after listening to Sinister Creed you'll be foaming at the mouth. Sinister Creed is unapologetic-ally old school black metal. Hellchrist Xul doesn't give a rat's ass what year it is because it doesn't matter. We're talking about pure evil, straight up ice cold riffs that'll send shivers down your fuckin spine. Brutal assaults overwhelming your senses as diabolical shrieks shock your system. Consider this one of the best BM releases from the early nineties coming out today. Nuff Said. http://www.avantgardemusic.com/ https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/sinister-creed https://www.facebook.com/FuneralWindsBM
HORNA – Kuolleiden Kuu EP HORNA/ PURE spilt World Terror Committee Here's two reasons why HORNA are one of the best black metal acts from Finland. First off their Kuolleiden Kuu EP, four songs recorded during the Hengen Tulet album sessions in 2015. They might be throwaway tracks or just couldn't fit on that full length. Whatever the reason I actually like HORNA in short form releases aka: EPs and Splits. Some of the best material of their long career has come out on em. As far as the EP goes Shatraug's troupe is in usual form mixing three fast to mid-tempo blasts with one long drawn out track of bitterness and pain. Spellgoth, who I wasn't too happy with when he took over vocals years ago, has won me over. He shouts on these cuts. Also worth noting that these were the last cuts to feature Vainaja on drums.
Moving onto the split, HORNA contributes four fresh cuts of raw blackened Finnish necro fury. The recorded in a dungeon sound is slightly different, more upbeat. They must have found a better dungeon. Typical HORNA mid-tempo black metal with Spellgoth actually breaking in some varied vocal styles like low shrieks, screaming and of course the shouts. New drummer, LRH, really has an impact on the sound and fiery direction they're taking. The band paired with here is PURE a one man band ran by Ormenos who hails from Switzerland. Under the name PURE, Ormenos has had a career by putting out four full lengths since starting the act in 2013. By contrast to HORNA, this is a blast from the past ala old school raw black metal. Ormenos screams, howls and growls while musically it's a wall of tremolo riffs and repetitious drumming. Who said the Swiss were nice? Four tracks in all here. https://www.facebook.com/W.T.C.Productions https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/album/kuolleiden-kuu https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/album/split-album-2 https://www.facebook.com/HornaOfficial/ https://www.facebook.com/Pure-official-1557722297879674/?ref=profile
Community Impact Statement For The Murder of James “Jim” Robert Forrester
Councilman Zeke Cohen and the residents of Baltimore seek justice in the murder of Jim Forrester. Mr. Forrester was a beacon of light. He was a loving husband and father. He was a talented musician. He had recently turned a corner of a serious illness. He was kind, compassionate and resilient. He left a lasting impact on everyone he came into contact with. His death is felt profoundly, but we will not allow his light to be snuffed out.
This murder, perpetrated in cold blood, with no discernible motive except to spread terror, has had a devastating impact on our community. It has caused residents to fear for their safety when walking in Fells Point. It has exacerbated a decline in sales for our beloved local business who rely on City residents and tourists to patronize their shops. We ALL deserve to live and work in peace.
Following Mr. Forrester’s murder, his widow has led a courageous campaign to keep his legacy alive. She has refused to allow her late husband to die in vain. Her activism and commitment to justice for not only Jim Forrester, but for all the victims of violence has inspired our community. We stand with her, and with all of the victims of violence in stating, “Enough is enough.”
At a time when Baltimore is experiencing historic levels of violence, we hope to send a clear message: murder will not be tolerated. We expect the perpetrators of this heinous crime to face severe consequences and be held fully accountable for their actions. They have taken away the life of a beloved community member, they have spread terror, they have harmed local businesses, but they will not win. We will stand together. We will fight for our city. We demand Justice for Jim.
This petition and signatures will be delivered to the judge overseeing the case involving the murder of Jim Forrester as a community impact statement.
I should just go back to the old logo with the Betty Page photo because of all the non metal stuff coming in for review. Yes people for the second time in January I'm starting off a review with the words "It's not Metal but I like it and know alot about it." Here we have the debut full length by Swedish four piece PISS RIVER. Musically this is 90's era punk fuckin rock n roll by a band with a gutsy female vocalist. They do a song called "Sparks” which is a tribute to L7's Donita Spark. Although they don't remind me of L7. Actually they sound like THORAZINE, The LUNACHICKS and even The GITS. Some other highlights here are their take on an old Larry Wallis (PINK FAIRIES, MOTORHEAD) song ”Police Car”. An interesting cover choice by far since it's from a solo single he did for STIFF Records. There's also a song titled "Bad Reputation" which is not a JOAN JETT cover but an original. I was actually hoping for a cover. To make a band like this work you need a great vocalist. They have that with Sofia Nilsson. Next you need a great rock style guitarist who can kick out some powerful riffs as well as fiery lead-work. They've got that plus a powerful rhythm section that burns up the background. Yeah this is great and equal to all that's come before. http://thesignrecords.com/ https://pissriver.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/pissriver/
James At 15 is the singer, record breaker and fire breathing frontman for the punk/metal hybrid band KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS (aka: KIFF). This time around he's gonna talk eveything KISS aka: These Guys.....
Did I mention James is a HUGE KISS fan? So here he goes. My ranking of the KISS & related albums.
1. The original KISS & Wicked Lester LP / demos Not clear on if this album was actually officially released. Or just a demo. There were 2 different recording sessions. The first one shows the band pretty much doing a hard rock / prog rock. Even folk, Beatles influenced stuff. The second set of recordings shows the guys rocking much harder and a lot of the songs off the first KISS album We all love. Some of this stuff eventually officially appeared on the KISS box set from the 90s. I was given a bootleg CDR of it in the mid 90s by a friend. I remember it was really high on the list of so many tape/CDR traders back then. Gene & Paul really didn't want this stuff heard for many years. They don't have a lot to be ashamed of. Its not horrible at all. Mostly cool for novelty value. A treat for KISS super-fans. I'll give it 3 stars or Maybe 2&1/2. 2. Ace Frehley -pre KISS band Molemo
Just as bad as Peter Criss's first band. Ace Shines through slightly on a solo or two. Mostly slow boring early 70s hippie rock crapola. I guess Ace himself forgot this even existed. Or was trying to anyway. Was never pressed into a real record or officially released. I heard this tape sold for thousands. 1 star. 3. Peter Criss pre KISS band Chelsea LP
Awful for the most part. Early 70s slow soft prog, folk hippie rock crap. A few moments of hard rock. But mostly boring boring crap. Only a true KISS completest Peter Criss super-fan would search this out. Of course this album is very rare and worth loads of money these days. But through the gift of YouTube We can listen here. File it away never to be heard again ha ha ha. 1 star.
4. KISS - Self Titled first album! What can I say? Perfect album. The hard rocking classic all KISS fans love. Classic song after classic song. At least half of em. Still regularly make it into KISS's live sets these days. Strutter, Deuce, Firehouse, Cold Gin, Black Diamond, Nothing To Lose and plenty of others. KISS topped them all when this came out. The blueprint for heavy metal/glam rock/hard rock/shock rock. They took what Alice Cooper, Slade, NY Dolls & Zepplin were already doing. Turned up the amps. Turned up the fire ! and Americanized it all into short catchy loud raw ruthless rock n roll. Interesting album cover. Peter's make up had yet to be perfected. I first had this album as a kid in the 70s. Still love it. Still gets regular plays at My house. My favorite of the first 3 KISS records. 5 Stars !
5. KISS- Hotter Then Hell The second Klassic from KISS. Wild album cover front & back. Look up the crazy stories on that photo shoot. I heard it said this album influenced a lot of 90s grunge rockers. Kinda ironic. Considering years later grunge rock itself influenced KISS on their Carnival Of Souls album in the mid 90s. But yeah I can sort of see it. Again like the first album. Full of great songs like Got To Choose, Hotter Then Hell, Going Blind & others. Overall slower but heavier then the first album. Often the favorite KISS album by diehard metalheads. Like all the early KISS records. I consider it a classic. I'll give it 5 stars.
6. KISS - Dressed To Kill Again another really cool album cover. KISS's third album has em getting back to a more traditional hard rocking style. Loud fast raw & catchy. Room Service opens. I never understood Why this & Ladies In Waiting never got much play live. KISS was really playing live a lot. Touring constantly at this point. Playing anywhere USA all the time. Its a wonder they found the time to write and record this. Just another amazing thing about KISS. This album got a ton of play (loud as fuck) In My first car. On 8 track! 5 Stars !
7. KISS - Alive 1 And here We are. 1975. The year and album that made KISS one of the biggest rock bands in history. A deluxe double lp. Pictures etc. If You could not get to a KISS concert. You could crank this up and start to finish. Visualize quite clearly what it was like. You don't just play this album. You live it! Hear the great early KISS songs played faster louder rougher mixed with the fire & bombs. You could almost smell the smoke & sweat rolling off the stage. As well as other stuff going on in the audiance. This was not the first double live album by a major band. But its the one that caused record labels to put out a ton more of them over the next ten years. To many KISS fans. This it the album. The peak of KISS. I would not say that. But its certainly a high point. A moment in KISSstory that continues to blow minds. KISS is a live band. Always has been. A great place to start. If You want to understand why they are such a loved band by so many. Even people that don't consider themselves much of a fan of KISS. Usually will admit this is one of the greatest live LPs ever. From where I'm standing. Its only equal is KISS Alive 2. And together they are My absolute favorite albums of all time by anybody. 5 stars ! !!!
8. KISS - Destroyer & Destroyer resurrected OK not much difference between these two. Pretty much either version of Destroyer is a great 5 star classic album. Minor differences in a couple solos on a couple songs. Remastered. Destroyer was KISS getting harder louder & softer poppier at the same time. Originally it pissed some fans off slightly. They saw it as KISS losing their raw edge. Going commercial. Selling out. Loaded with classic songs. Many are still played live today. Big rocking KISS anthems as well as the pop ballad Beth. A few dark sleazy stuff like Sweet Pain. The first time I heard it. I was annoyed by some of the pop stuff. But over the years I've come to love every second of this album. Another perfect album by KISS ! 5 Stars !!! EDITOR'S NOTE: This is just the first of a few columns JAMES AT 15 will doing on KISS. So remember you wanted the best and you got it from JAMES AT 15.
EDITOR'S NOTE PART TWO: My favorite KISS moment is here watching this on TV way back when, enjoy.
COFFIN TORTURE - Dismal Planet Sludgelord Records You know those times when you come home (in my case at 3 AM after work) and you push play on your music player then walk away fully forgetting how loud you were listening to music earlier? My roommate will sleep through her dogs barking and my blasting alarm clock on Tuesday mornings but COFFIN TORTURE woke her the fuck up. Freaked the fuck out of me as well and I was in the kitchen getting a beer. OK now before I get into the music I just want to give a shout out. Sludgelord Records is the label from The Sludgelord website/blog. I am a fan of their site because over the years I've found their writers to be honest. To me that goes a long way. They've cover almost all genres of metal but if you're a doom head then you should check em out. I don't give shout outs to other sites, obviously, but in this case I will. Now as far as COFFIN TORTURE goes well first off cool name. On a side note I use to have a coffin. Actually it was an oblong box which was a Halloween decoration which a friend and I stole from a yard near where I lived years ago. We grabbed it one night, the fucker was heavy, we put it in his van and brought it back to my place. Interesting enough, behind my house was a cemetery. So while we carried the thing in my neighbors were watching. The next day they asked my roommate if we got it from the graveyard. And to answer the obvious question, yes I did have sex in it. But as far as the music goes I'm ashamed to say I have not heard of COFFIN TORTURE until listening to this their debut full length, which is total sludge rock. They're a duo from South Carolina which means we're neighbors. Anyways COFFIN TORTURE have been around for a decade and have a slew of short form releases. Interested parties should find their Slithering Through Your Dreams: 2008-2016 Primitive Recordings compilation. Yeah it's 2018 so can a sludge rock band really captivate? In this band's case yeah and they do it well. COFFIN TORTURE are Southern Fuckin Sludge and they are loud even played at low volume. They blanket the listener with a huge assault to your senses. The three keys for them are the bombastic drumming, the poking a hornet nest distortion sound to the guitars and the manacle vocals. I'm sure other people could make comparisons to other bands but I ain't listening to those bands at the wee hours of the morning. Which is by the way the only times I've had chances to play this. Actually I love this because it's a vomiting Southern sludge monster that you know is dangerous but hey you like it as a pet. https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/coffintorture
CRIMSON DEVILS - A Taste For Blood Self Released Well this is the second time in 2018 (as well as in January) that I'm starting a review with the words "It's not Metal but I like it and know a lot about it." (Hmmm, is this gonna be a trend?) Here we have an Austin, Texas act who have a sound firmly plucked from late 90's Hard Fuckin Rock n Roll, Garage Rock or Hard Rockin Punk. Yeah pick your own genre tag but sound-wise this reminds me of bands like NINE POUND HAMMER, QUADRAJETS, HOOKERS and a host of other era acts. Back in the late 90s when Scumfeast was a fanzine me and co-editor Andy would cover a lot of bands like this. It's just great fuckin music for anyone into loud shit that rocks your head, soul or liver. Yeah this is definitely whisky soaked sounds with a hefty heap of Southern swagger. Eleven cuts in all. I like em all but "STFU" is my fave. Some label needs to sign this band up NOW. https://crimsondevils.bandcamp.com/
WATAIN - Trident Wolf Eclipse Century Media Records OK bias alert, yes I'm a fan of WATAIN, have been for a while. Although a few months ago when I heard this was coming out in January I really wasn't excited unlike many in the mainstream metal media. Then again the label paid them to be excited. Yeah well just to overview their career; I thought their early releases were brutally cruel and cold black metal. Probably some of the best as far as the genre had at the time. Then came Sworn to the Dark which put them into the top tier. An absolutely great album. I saw the band on that tour. They had the club smelling like an abattoir but hey it was a great performance. Strangely enough it was not a well attended show. I credit that to 1) it was a weeknight show so plenty of die-hards stayed home. 2) Ticket price was steep. And 3) the local hiptard crowd wasn't into black metal yet. Moving on I thought 2010's Lawless Darkness was a bone tossed out to the mainstream types who jumped on the black metal bandwagon and 2013’s The Wild Hunt was an experiment gone wrong. Now I'm not one of the many voices in the BM underground who screamed "sellout" after their last two releases. I just lost interest. So here we have Trident Wolf Eclipse and after listening to it on and off for a week I'll say it is a step back from their last two full lengths. Hell it's even a step back from Sworn to the Dark. I'm thinking the boys in WATAIN sat down and had a discussion as in "Hey we're a Swedish black metal band in the vein of DISSECTION and MARDUK. Why the fuck are we putting out crap just to appease a bunch of losers. Let's do a fuckin black metal album." So yeah Trident Wolf Eclipse is the band going back a ways from their most recent material but this ain't Casus Luciferi. Still it's a good release and it seems WATAIN are not out to please music snob critics. Instead they're just trying to make their brand of black metal great again. The release starts off well with the blistering “Nuclear Alchemy” as a tone setting welcome back to the fray. What follows are a few bombastic blackened cuts that carry a cool and almost symphonic style melody. For most of this I listen to it and think it's Lawless Darkness toned down a lot. "Sacred Damnation" being mediocre while "Teufelsreich" brings back memories of DISSECTION worship. Then there's songs like “Furor Diabolicus”, "A Throne Below" and “Ultra (Pandemoniac)” which to me is the best part of the release. The band cuts loose with fury via riffs and tempo changes to remind you why they became a standout black metal act in the first place. As for the rest of the album it's standard WATAIN fair which we're use to by now. I think Erik Danielsson's vocals on here come across as vengeful in the way he delivers em. It's as if he has a point to prove. In the end I gotta say Trident Wolf Eclipse is a decent release for WATAIN. It's a stripped down version of what they've been pushing for the past couple of years. For those of you out there who are sworn to the dark but thought WATAIN stood in the limelight for too long. Here ya go, try it you'll like it. https://www.cmdistro.de/ https://www.facebook.com/watainofficial
Also if they come by don't forget to check em out with DESTROYER 666.
OBSCENE - Sermon to the Snake Horror Pain Gore Death Productions So a bunch of Midwest metal veterans get together to form a new band with death metal on their agenda. OK I think that's cool, exciting as well as historic. I mean I've always extolled the venomous virtues of Midwest American death metal. There's a sickness about it especially when bands get totally in a dirge brutality mode or include non-genre aesthetics. I'm glad to hear that OBSCENE are carrying on with tradition. OBSCENE are a new five piece act from Indianapolis, Indiana and made up of musicians from such acts as ACHERON, SUMMON THE DESTROYER, TUNGUSKA and CHRIST BEHEADED. Their introduction to the world is this four cut EP. Musically the band shows off the diversity of death by including plenty of doomish runs followed by some galloping rhythm rushes. There's no flashiness to be heard. This is just straight to the gut textbook Midwest DM. Probably one of the major standouts are Kyle Shaw's vocals. He sounds like a torture victim giving a confession. Like tie the guy in a chair, drive nails through his hands and record the wails of pain and anguish. How could you not appreciate that? I will say that only a four song EP will not suffice here. I believe a full length release would be cool because there's more avenues of pain, suffering and death that this band needs to explore. I'll look forward to that one.
James At 15 is the singer, record breaker and fire breathing frontman for the punk/metal hybrid band KNOWLEDGE IS FOR FOOLS (aka: KIFF). James has previously shared some of his thoughts on ACDC's career, his favorite albums as well as his thoughts on Malcom Young's death last year. This time James shares some personal history involving his love of ACDC as well as 70s & 80s Hard Fuckin Rock. After re-reading the stuff I wrote about my favorite AC/DC albums a day or two after Malcom had died and Wolf had just posted on this blog on New Years Day. Here We are 2018, the future of AC/DC as of now is uncertain. I got to thinking about the bands history and my history of what seems like a life long fan. I guess it was late the 70s when I discovered them. 78? I would have been 12 or 13. Just a year or two into My rock fan super crazed lover of loud beginings. Like most kids of that era. I started with KISS. Became obsessed. After I ran out of KISS albums to buy. I started looking into other hard rock. Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith and a few others all came next. I guess besides KISS . Nugent was second on My list of the ultimate rockers ever. Which led Me into tuning in on a very exciting episode of the Midnight Special. A episode advertised as being hosted by Ted Nugent ! I stayed up and watched Ted as He along with Wolfman Jack & Steven Tyler introduced great stuff like Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy & Aeromith. And right in the middle of it all. A band I had never heard of. AC/DC ! Boom I was instantly hooked. AC/DC plowed through a wild version of their classic Sin City ! After that. It was a week or two before I could purchase a actual AC/DC album. If You Want Blood Live was a new album at the time. There it was that insane & brilliant album cover in the new release rack. I had to have it. The only other LP available locally at the time. Was Powerage. It was a few months before I could get My hands on that one. And seems like by then. Or shortly after came Highway To Hell which I also tuned into big time.
AC/DC had truly became one of My favorite bands during this time. Especially since also at this time My beloved KISS had put out Dynasty & those mostly crummy solo albums. Nugent was still still strong with Weekend Warriors but then came State Of Shock which for Him was weak. I was searching for harder heavier. Which also around this time led Me to Judas Priest & punk. But that's another story. But it is worth mentioning. That a lot of older rockers of the late 70s. Originally thought AC/DC was a punk band! For the most part. The term heavy metal was not a common thing. I mean it was used by rock journalist in Cream & other rock magazines. But to a working class kid in a smaller Midwestern Indiana city. Heavy metal? Punk ? We didn't know. It was just Hard Rock to us. I remember reading one AC/DC interview. Where some asshole journalist. Eager to lump AC/DC in with the punk movement. Asked Angus & Malcom if they were punk. Malcom responded with what the fuck is a punk. And then when asked if He had any sympathy for punk. Angus simply responded .... None!
Anyway during this time period. I had become a huge AC/DC fan. I was itching in the worst way to see a concert by them. But at that age I depended on the goodwill of older friends and relatives. And permissions from My Mom to see concerts. So I never got the chance. Sadly Bon Scott died during the Highway To Hell tour. Then came Back N Black a new singer. Same great band. I was pleasantly surprised AC/DC was still great ! Of course that's the album that took them beyond huge. A year or two later I finally got to see them on For Those About To Rock tour. Another great album. And a great concert. Next came Flick Of The Switch. Even better album & tour. Then Fly On The Wall 1985. By then I was living in North Carolina. We went to see them on that tour. Greensboro Colosseum. With then new guitar god Yngwie J Malmsteen opening. A great concert for sure. It was one of the last of the great arena seating giant concerts I saw. Parking lot drug & booze insanity. Ultra violent redneck fights throughout the night inside the arena LOL. The end of an era.
After that came reserved seating. Metal detectors. DUI checkpoints. Other buzz killing aspects to concert going. My interest was waning anyway. I was still searching for harder heavier. which by then had led Me to the then fairly new thrash/speed metal scene. as well as hardcore punk & related insanity. AC/DC began a cycle of putting out album after album of same old same old. Beyond a couple songs. They just seemed like they had slowed down. Got kinda boring. Going through the motions. I saw them a couple more times live. Well just because they came to town. Friends were going and it was the fun thing to do. Don't get Me wrong. Those concerts were still fun. But it was never the same again. Still what a incredible run they had.
Bon Scott was a brilliant lyrical badass with a unique voice. After He died. Malcom took over writing lyrics with the help of Brian Johnson. Now Brian Johnson is gone. Malcom who wrote 90% of the songs to begin with is gone. Drummer Phil Rudd is doing solo albums on & off house arrests, rehab & heart attacks. Bassist Cliff Williams has anounced He's retired. Angus piloted AC/DC through a tour with His nephew on second guitar, Chris Slade on drums & Axl Rose on vocals !!! WTF ??? But yeah I have to admit. As bad as I hate Guns & Roses. The footage I saw of Him with AC/DC was not that bad. Some friends that went to see that tour. All came back with good things to say. I guess they did a ton of Bon era songs. I guess I would rather see Axl Rose with AC/DC then Guns & Posers. Still I personally would have voted for Rose Tattoo's Angry Anderson to take Johnson's place on the mic. I mean He's short old & Australian just like Angus. Seems natural right? I remember When Bon died. The rumors were all about Dan McCafferty from Nazareth or Marc Storace from Krokus. I guess those were just rumors. But its fun to think. Of what AC/DC would have sounded like with those guys.
Another AC/DC urban legend. Has always been that they had recorded a lot of the stuff from Back In Black with Bon Scott just before He died. How cool would that be? Sadly I don't think that one is true. The book AC/DC Maximum Rock N Roll. Is a great read filled with stories. Insight, rumors and theories about the band. All told from Roadies, Ex wives & girlfriends other bands etc. The band members themselves. Especially the Young family. Have always preferred to let the music do the talking. Beyond general promotion of whatever latest album & tour they are pushing. Notorious for being short with interviewers.
Sadly earlier in 2017. We lost another important figure in the history of AC/DC. Older brother George Young. George played a big role in producing and steering the band. Through the 70s & 80s especially. George Himself was also a damn great guitar slinger. He led the Legendary Australian rock band the Easybeats. Who had a string of great hit songs in the late 60s/early 70s. One of My favorite George Young stories. Is that while touring in Europe sometime around 69 or 70. Playing a show with the Yardbirds or Clapton etc. He was asked about how incredible a guitarist Eric Clapton was. George just shrugged. And said I got a couple of kid brothers back home could play circles around Him. So Now You Know the rest of the story LOL.
I do realize. Knowing Wolf's readership and fan base of Scumfeast. Probably 95% of You are Extreme metal diehards. Honestly while I have a basic understanding & appreciation for that world. I'm not a huge fan. Beyond some of the classics. And a few bands and albums I have tapped into over the years. Mostly from My days as a booker promoter of underground shows & clubs. I occasionally hear stuff I like. Through Wolf & this blog. Or other bands My band ends up performing with. But I'm mostly stuck in the 70s & 80s punk & metal hard rock world. Just being honest. How does this relate to this blog & AC/DC? More or less. I guess cause I'm old & Wolf's old. We can remember. A time when Yes. AC/DC was considered extreme to some. They really were one of the loudest. Most over the top acts at one time. Long before death & black metal. Late 70s eraly 80s AC/DC was one of the bands scaring the hell out of little old church ladies. Listening to the dark ominous intro to any number of today's black metal songs. Its the direct decedent from 1970's intro the the first Black Sabbath song & intro onto 1980s intro to AC/DC classic Hells Bells. While the current black metal band is certainly taking things to new extremes. And doing their own thing. Everything came from somewhere. And had AC/DC & many other dad rock dinosaurs not walked the earth first. Who knows what today's metal might sound like?
All this from a couple of brothers. Who really only considered what they did as a supercharged version of the Rolling Stones? But yeah even the Rolling Stones had they days of scaring the death out of church ladies.
RIP George & Malcom Young , And Bon Scott ! Long Live ANGUS !!!
Another interesting side note. A lot of people don't realize this. But Bon Scott was not AC/DC's original singer. They started out life as a Australian club act. With a singer named Dave Evans. Dave only sang for one year. Only one 45 was released. Today its very rare & collectible.
So through Youtube & My natural curiosity about this type of thing. I started checking this stuff out. After Dave was replaced by Bon Scott. The Young's later said He just did'nt fit in. He went on to have some mid 70s success. In Australia in a hard rock/glam rock act called Rabbit. I checked some of this stuff out. I liked it ok. Interesting anyway. Check it out.
I have always wanted to check out Bon Scott's pre AC/DC stuff. Just have not yet done it. Future read? Thanks for reading this far.
LOOK FOR MORE COLUMNS BY JAMES AT 15 THIS YEAR AS HE WRITES ABOUT KISS, NUGENT, MOTORHEAD AS WELL AS VARIOUS HARD FUCKIN ROCK FROM THE 70S AND 80S.
WELCOME TO EXTREME METAL MANIAC OR WHAT i LIKE TO CALL THE HOME OF EXTREME METAL.
Attention
In Jan. 2020 some not so nice person(s), who obviously don't care for Metal, decided to complain to a social media platform about something I posted. That got me banned from posting links there under the former blog title Scumfeast Metal 666. Fine I just changed the name to what you see now. Hey I'm still here and, under our present day situation, will be more extreme then before.
Editor/Creator: Usurper of Eternal Condemnation and Inverted Opinions
Formerly SCUMFEAST METAL 666 and now EXTREME METAL MANIAC Blog
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created and maintained by mr. wolf:
band or label inquiries about a review can contact me via email. All those inquiries will definitely be checked out. No guarantees of course. I only write about what interests me. You can also contact me through the Facebook page on the link or use my email address mr.wolf69@yahoo.com
Extreme Metal or Music is generally a form which is accepted by 1% of all of the music loving public. It is elitist in every way and that's important to those of us who call ourselves fans. The 99% of people who will not like it are Not Supposed To. The music wasn't made for them, "the masses". It's music that's for those who take things to that "other" level. There is nothing hip or fad about it. In fact I treat those two notions very harshly.
