Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Roadrunner United - The All-Star Sessions

One of the most anticipated metal albums of the year, Joey Jordison (Slipknot), Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium), Robert Flynn (Machine Head) and Dino Cazeras (ex-Fear Factory) captain the ultimate dream bands comprising past and present artists from Roadrunner Records!
The end result is one great album featuring 18 tracks put together by over 55 artists from 42 bands. The only downside to me is that every track sounds just like what you'd expect from the singers. I would have liked if they mixed up the styles a bit instead of doing what they usually do for their own bands.
This is still a must have album for all heavy metal fans, especially those of the Roadrunner label.
CD Rating: ****

Below is a track listing for the album as well as they artists who appear on each track:

The Dagger
Vocals – Howard Jones (Killswitch Engage)
Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Robert Flynn (Machine Head)
Rhythm Guitar – Jordan Whelan (Still Remains)
Solo – Jeff Waters (Annihilator)
Bass – Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory)
Drums – Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

The Enemy
Vocals – Mark Hunter (Chimaira)
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Cazeras (ex-Fear Factory)
Solo, Acoustic Guitar – Andreas Kisser (Sepultura)
Bass – Paul Gray (Slipknot)
Drums – Roy Mayorga (Soulfly)

Annihilation by the Hands of God
Vocals – Glen Benton (Deicide)
Rhythm Guitar – Matt Devries (Chimaira)
Rhythm Guitar – Rob Barrett (Malevolent Creation)
Solo – James Murphy (Death, Obituary)
Fretless Bass – Steve DiGiorgio (Death)
Drums – Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls)

In The Fire
Vocals – King Diamond (King Diamond)
Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars – Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium)
Lead & Rhythm Guitars – Cory Beaulieu (Trivium)
Bass – Mike D’Antonio (Killswitch Engage)
Drums – Dave Chavarri (Ill Nino)

The End
Vocals & Solo – Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium)
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Cazeras (ex-Fear Factory)
Bass – Nadja Peulen (ex-Coal Chamber)
Drums – Roy Mayorga (Soulfly)
Melodic Guitar Harmonics – Logan Mader (Machine Head)
Keyboards, Programming – Rhys Fulber (Fear Factory)

Tired ‘N’ Lonely
Vocals & Piano – Keith Caputo (Life of Agony)
Rhythm Guitar – Matt Baumbach (Visions of Disorder)
Rhythm Guitar – Tommy Niemeyer (The Accused)
Rhythm Guitar – Acey Slade (Murderdolls)
Solo, Harmony Guitar – James Root (Slipknot, Stone Sour)
Drums, Bass – Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls)

Independent (Voice of the Voiceless)
Vocals – Max Cavalera (Soulfly)
Rhythm Guitar, 3-part Guitar Harmonies, Keyboards – Robert Flynn (Machine Head)
Rhythm Guitar – Jordan Whelan (Still Remains)
Solo – Jeff Waters (Annihilator)
Bass – Christian Olde Wolbers – (Fear Factory)
Drums – Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

Dawn of a Golden Age
Vocals – Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth)
Lead & Rhythm Guitars – Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium)
Rhythm Guitar – Justin Hagberg (3 Inches of Blood)
Bass – Sean Malone (Cynic)
Drums – Mike Smith (Suffocation)

The Rich Man
Vocals – Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour)
Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards – Robert Flynn (Machine Head)
Rhythm Guitar – Jordan Whelan (Still Remains)
Bass – Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory)
Drums – Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

No Way Out
Vocals – Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw)
Guitar, Bass – Matt Baumbach (Visions of Disorder)
Drums, Bass – Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls)
Programming, Synths – Junkie XL

Baptized in the Redemption
Vocals – Dez Fafara (Devil Driver, ex-Coal Chamber)
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Cazeras (ex-Fear Factory)
Solo, Wah Wah Guitar – Andreas Kisser (Sepultura)
Bass – Paul Gray (Slipknot)
Drums – Roy Mayorga (Soulfly)

Roads
Vocals – Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth)
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Josh Silver (Type O Negative)

Blood & Flames
Vocals – Jesse David Leach (ex-Killswitch Engage)
Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals – Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium)
Rhythm Guitar – Josh Rand (Stone Sour)
Bass – Mike D’Antonio (Killswitch Engage)
Drums – Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative)

Constitution Down
Vocals – Kyle Thomas (Floodgate)
Rhythm Guitar – Matt DeVries (Chimaira)
Rhythm Guitar, Trade-Off Solo – Rob Barrett (Malevolent Creation)
Intro Solo – James Murphy (Death, Obituary)
Trade-Off Solo – Andy La Rocque (King Diamond)
Fretless Bass – Steve DiGiorgio (Death)
Drums – Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls)

I Don’t Wanna Be (A Superhero)
Vocals – Michael Graves (The Misfits)
Lead & Rhythm Guitars – Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium)
Rhythm Guitar – Justin Hagberg (3 Inches of Blood)
Bass – Mike D’Antonio (Death)
Drums – Dave Chavarri (Ill Nino)

Army of the Sun
Vocals – Tim Williams (Visions of Disorder)
Rhythm Guitar – Robert Flynn (Machine Head)
Rhythm Guitar – Jordan Whelan (Still Remains)
Bass – Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory)
Drums – Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

No Mas Control
Vocals – Cristian Machado (Ill Nino)
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Cazeras (ex-Fear Factory)
Harmony Guitar – Souren “Mike” Sarkisyan (Spine Shank)
Harmony Solo – Andreas Kisser (Sepultura)
Bass – Marcelo Dias (ex-Soulfly)
Drums – Dave McClain (Machine Head)

Enemy of the State
Vocals, Keyboards – Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Rhythm, Acoustic & Slide Guitars – Steve Holt (36 Crazy Fists)
Bass – Dave Pybus (Cradle of Filth)
Drums – Joey Jordison (Slipkot, Murderdolls)
Keyboards, Samples – Josh Silver (Type O Negative)

2006 Hall of Fame inductees announced

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame announced the five inductees for the class of 2006. They are Black Sabbath, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Miles Davis. The ceremony takes place in March 2006.

Monday, November 28, 2005

As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle

Great video sees the band jamming in a sewer or some kind of underground tunnel, spliced with scenes of this old dude at his desk with some medical tools and stuff putting something together, which in the end turns out to be an artificial heart for himself since he doesn't have one, just a big gaping hole in his chest!
This was one of the best songs on the album, and they made a good video to go with it.
Video Rating: ****

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Ill Nino - What You Deserve

Easilly the best track off their latest album, "One Nation Underground", this is a fun video that sees this guy trying to act all tough and such, stealing money from a blind begger on the street and even from his own grandmother so he can go to strip clubs! Of course, money can't buy everything as his advances are rejected by some chick who proceeds to go off with another hot chick! The dumbass is than seen counting how much money he has left as he leaves the club, only to run into a rival gang members who proceed to beat him up and leave him unconscious in the middle of the sidewalk, but his money is still in his hand!
Throughout the video we see the band jamming in the club as well as on the street, and the video ends on a particularly funny note as they walk by his body on the street and diss it, but return to take his money, shades and shoes!
Fun stuff. I've always liked videos that tell stories like this that match the lyrics of the song.
Video Rating: ***1/2

Monday, November 07, 2005

Six Feet Under - Deathklaat

A simple live video featuring the band at one of their gigs, surrounding with a legion of moshers and headbangers, and quite a few surprising cute chicks. You see the band jamming, the crowd moshing and headbanging, and alot of hair flying from vocalist Chris Barnes as he swings his massive dreadlocks around, all in the confines of a dark club stage.
Good simple fun stuff. They don't have a big budget for awe-inspiring music videos, but they've become one of the most consistent in America for putting out new releases regularly and such.
Video Rating: *

Mudvayne - Forget to Remember

From the soundtrack of the movie SAW 2 (which stars Donnie Walberg and the ever hot Shawnee Smith), this interesting video starts off with Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray getting abducted by the mysterious psycho from the movie and waking up locked in a room with his fellow bandmates. From there we see the band jamming in the darkened room with scenes from the movie scattered throughout the video. Your standard soundtrack video I guess, but a good track for it. And I don't really see what got this into the top 25 scariest videos ever as listed from some other site I can't remember. Or maybe I just forget to remember it...
Video Rating: **1/2