What are we supposed to make of this new Guns N Roses Shacklers Revenge review?

September 22, 2008

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BLOG: What are we to make of Shackler’s Revenge?

Check out the song here

Joe Bosso, Wed 17 Sep, 10:27 pm BST

Revenge isn’t always sweet

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We’re still waiting for Chinese Democracy, Axl Rose’s - er, Guns N’ Roses’s - long-delayed, massively hyped and hopelessly overbudget album. But now, finally, we have at least something, a song, Shackler’s Revenge, attributed to the band, or Axl, whatever the case may be, thanks to Rock Band 2.

Which brings up a very simple question with no easy answer: So how is it?

Hard to say - and the reason for that is because of the sheer weight of anticipation for Chinese Democracy, one which Axl should have diffused a decade ago, at least. It’s become something of an industry-blogosphere joke, and a tired, too-often-told one at that.

Should Axl ever surprise us all and release the album (November was bantered about for a while over the summer but that looks highly unlikely), the whole thing will be mired in so much squabbling, so many comparisons to the band of old and debate about why it all took so long that it will be nearly impossible to assess the record on its actual merits. And even if the album turns out to be great, how will we even know - could it ever be great enough?

At this point, Chinese Democracy is Axl Rose’s musical equivalent of Heaven’s Gate, director Michael Cimino’s 1980 bloated, obnoxiously overhyped western that set a new benchmark for an auteur run amuck. But even if Heaven’s Gate served mainly as a monument to Mr. Cimino’s hubris and excess, at least it only took him two years to put the film out. That it promptly sunk United Artists and destroyed his career is besides the point; his ego fueled his need to thrust his botched creation into the world, whereas Rose’s ego renders him incapable of letting go.

NIN + Nu Metal doesn’t = GN’R

Given all that, Shackler’s Revenge in 2008 sounds like it probably should have been released by somebody - certainly not Guns N’ Roses, or Axl Rose, or even Izzy - back in 1994. The meat of the track is something of a Pro Tools-ed amalgam of Nine Inch Nails meets early Nu Metal rumblings. It might have made for a decent Marilyn Manson album cut back in the day, but as the first “new” music from the GN’R brand in umpteen years, what are we to say? “Gee, thanks”?

Axl has removed the human elements from the music. He even went industrial on his voice.

As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold, and that’s the problem here. Axl has removed the human elements from the music. He even went industrial on his voice. On classic Guns N’ Roses numbers, his raspy growl - by turns haunting, vulnerable and utterly distinctive - conveyed desperate rage in a way that was practically feral. On Shackler’s Revenge, however, he’s reinvented himself as a singing cyborg, and his gutteral vocals are buried deep in a thicket of clanks, squeals and other such audio filigree.

Where’d the guitar go?

Whether Buckethead or any of the other 100 or so guitarists who have past through the Guns N’ Roses revolving doors in recent years is playing is anyone’s guess, but the brief solo is mere window dressing. Paging Mr. Slash! Paging Mr. Slash! You’re needed in Studio A - STAT!

Ultimately, Shackler’s Revenge finds Axl Rose trapped in a cul-de-sac of his own design. The one-time brash confrontationalist now holes himself up in his Hollywood Xanadu, on his own with no direction home. It all seemed so much easier when he was just a starry-eyed ruffian, part of a like-minded gang looking to get off the streets. That band was hungry, and they created art that positively ached.

You know, there’s a little band called Velvet Revolver, they seem pretty hungry to keep going. And they’re looking for a singer…Nah! Silly idea.

What do you think? Check out Shackler’s Revenge here and let us know.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/blog-what-are-we-to-make-of-shacklers-revenge-174263

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Written by caustic · Filed Under Reviews

TERRORIZER ONLINE #59: Testament + post-rock review round up

September 21, 2008

From:     terrorizer@terrorizer.com
Subject:     TERRORIZER ONLINE #59: Testament + post-rock review round up
Date:     September 18, 2008 5:32:35 PM EDT (CA)
To:     feedback@caustictruths.com

1. Louise slips inside a fifteen-year-old

2. WEB-EXCLUSIVE Testament interview!

3. WEB-EXCLUSIVE post-rock review round-up!

4. Latest news and gigs from Terrorizer.com

5. He’s only a Minor Threat, and Immortal, again.

Remember being fifteen? Perhaps some of you still are (lucky sods).

World-weary before you’d even finished high school, that slow-dawning
cynicism creeping into your once positive outlook, where the only
thing that would incite any form of emotion would be while you were in
your bedroom listening to the latest metal album, or arguing with
friends about your favourite, or most hated bands, at the back of
science class when you should have been paying attention to your
dangerously lit Bunsen Burner. Well that was me at fifteen anyway.

And with that in mind, you could say Terrorizer was born fifteen.
From it’s formation in 1993 (incidentally the year I turned the big
one-five), it’s had that almost-teenage obsession with extreme
music, from gushing about the latest Sepultura album to petulantly
disregarding anything that wasn’t loud, heavy and parent-unfriendly.

And now, it’s time to crack open the bevvies and toast fifteen
years of proudly being the World’s only real extreme metal magazine.

And what better way to kickstart the festivities than this very
weekend, as we throw a joint shindig with past cover-adorning
gloomsters Paradise Lost, who turn 25 in style with an almighty
concert at London’s Forum tomorrow with old bedfellows Anathema and
My Dying Bride.

Heading down to the show? Or maybe to see Nile tear Camden’s
Underworld club a new one? Whatever you’re doing tomorrow night, if
you’re in London make sure you come down to The Electric Ballroom
– those nice guys at Camden’s ONLY Friday night metal club are
promising reduced entry to anyone with a Paradise Lost ticket. Get in!

I know it seems like London gets all the fun, so if you’re not
within a tube ride away from the greatest city on earth stop
reading… for Terrorizer will also be celebrating their anniversary
with an exclusive IN FLAMES in-store appearance at Borders Bookstore
on Charing Cross Road, right before their gig at The Astoria on
October 1. For more information on that little beauty of an afternoon
head to www.Terrorizer.com/News.php
<javascript:void(0);/*1221753507535*/>
.

Now, where’s my birthday cake? James? Get baking!

– Louise, Assistant Editor

PLEASE NOTE: If you duplicate, repost or generally share any of the
wonderous bits and bobs from TERRORIZER ONLINE on your blogs, forums,
zines or news sites, then do so with our blessing, but we’d really
appreciate a link back to www.Terrorizer.com
<javascript:void(0);/*1221752838447*/>
and encouragement to sign up - it’s only fair!

WEB-EXCLUSIVE TESTAMENT INTERVIEW: “That record was a little
compromised”

Hopefully you’ve already got 175 in your hands and have blitzed your
way through thrash kings TESTAMENT’s Hard Of Hearing, conducted by the
lovely Jenn Selby, here’s a little bit that didn’t make it…

ALICE IN CHAINS

‘Junkhead’ FROM ‘DIRT’

(COLUMBIA, 1992)

Time for the guys to give us a bit of a history lesson. Having
suffered accusations from the alternative press in the early ’90s that
they dampened down their sound in order to reconnect dwindling
audiences, who diverted their attentions up north to the growing
grunge movement. But how much grunge did they actually suffer?

Chuck: “Alice In Chains.”

Eric: “Is this a bonus track or something?”

Chuck: “No. Not ‘Would?’?”

Eric: “This is probably the one I just skipped over.”

Chuck: “What’s it called?”

‘Junkhead’. So what about the allegations that you tried to sound
a little more ‘grunge’ to embrace a mainstream audience?

Chuck: “Ha!”

Eric: “We went the opposite way. That was about the time when ‘Low’
came out. Our record label wanted us to write something more
alternative, but we went and wrote a song called ‘Dog Faced Gods’
which was more kind of death metal.”

Chuck: “’The Ritual’ was on a path of its own. The record was
actually written a lot heavier and thrashier, and at that time, Alex
(Skolnick) was on tour with Stu Hamm doing some other gigs and coming
back to listen to the songs we wrote. He was like, ‘I’m not playing
over the thrash parts! We need to slow it down and get some straight
ahead beats.’ And when it did that, vocally, for me, it made it kind
of boring because it’s just one straight path, and it really slowed
everything down and broke up the dynamics we created originally.”

Eric: “The whole record was just a big compromise.”

Chuck: “We were on the way to parting ways with Alex at the time,
and you could tell he wanted to do something else. He was in a band
from when he was fifteen and left when he was 23 and he grew up on
tour playing thrash metal, so he wanted to do different things. So
when he went on the Stu Hamm tour it opened his eyes that there was
other stuff out here. That record was a little compromised. But I
think it would have been a more of a ‘thrash’ record if we had stuck
to our guns and said, ‘No, we’re not going to change it.’ It would
have been a different record, for sure.”

Eric: “It’s a good record for us though. I mean, we’ve had a lot of
records that have come and gone. That one’s a lot more classic rock
sounding, you know?”

Chuck: “It was influenced a lot by the record label as well though.
Because we had a lot of people asking ‘Where’s the next single?
Where’s the next video?’ And we had the big Atlantic Records behind
us, and we were kind of listening to them and it was a comprising time
for us. Especially the way the scene was changing, we were changing as
well.”

Eric: “Pantera came out with ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’, Sepultura
came out with ‘Arise’, we came out with this. But we got success from
it though. We were on the radio a lot. It’s just that we didn’t want
to play ‘Return Of The Serenity’ live.”

Chuck: “It gave us a different exposure. The next record, the last
record with Atlantic Records, that’s the point where they were
dropping a lot of the metal bands, and we had one more obligation with
them, so we thought, screw that we’re going to write heavier! Alex
left the band and Louie was gone, and we thought, fuck that, we’re
going to be heavier now, and that’s when we did the ‘Low’ record ‘Dog
Faced Gods’. And that opened up a whole new world with people writing
in and saying ‘That’s so different! You need to do more of that.’
And then came ‘Demonic’ and we went a little bit too over that top on
that one, because I sang almost all death style. Then we did ‘The
Gathering’, which kind of brought it all together.”

www.TestamentLegions.com <http://www.testamentlegions.com>

If you like Testament you might enjoy reading about them in
Terrorizer #175, out now.

WEB-EXCLUSIVE POST-ROCK REVIEW ROUND-UP

With James Hoare rushing out the door as soon as the little hand
reaches the 6 and the big hands reaches the 12, in order to get down
to Camden’s Underworld to see Pelican we thought it was high time we
check out some of the lush, expansive, discs of silvery shimmer that
arrive at Terrorizer HQ. To honour Pelican, and the rest of those
so-called ‘post-rock’ artistes we got ‘Rizer scribes Pitchon, Carlos
and Stewart-Panko, as well as Atavist’s Chris Naughton, to let us know
what’s been on their summer playlist.

AT THE SOUNDAWN

‘Red Square – We Come In Waves’

LIFEFORCE

A couple of issues ago we presented the mysterious knack for epic,
melodic gothic melancholy hovering like a spectre above the city of
Rome. This beautiful malady is apparently nationally-encompassing as
At The Soundawn are from Modena. The press release claims they sound
like a cross between Mogwai, Tool, Shai Hulud and Radiohead, which is
merely a diplomatic way to say they sound like Isis. The epic,
reverberating post-Neurosis parts are undeniably Isis-esque. But, read
on, ye faithful! Because what surrounds the various Isistensities
possesses the same beautiful breadth and magic of more contemporary,
lesser known Isisiples like *shels, who, combined with the
aforementioned Italians dare to be boldly melodic (topped by Rome’s
soaring Klimt 1918) in a way Isis probably should be, and with a whiff
of Cave-In ‘Jupiter’s aerodynamic prog, resulting with a package
that is not only confident and mercurial, but also escapes any copycat
tedium.

[7] AVI PITCHON

CELESTINE

‘At The Borders Of Arcadia’

MILKWEED

This EP has all the elements to get you excited – a band from an
unusual location (Reykjavik), cryptic song-titles, cool enigmatic
artwork and meaty, tortured sludge, delivered in a darker Cult Of Luna
kinda way that goes down very well on the first few listens. Thing is,
after that period, you’ll realise that not much has really stuck,
and even less that indicates a real individual personality. It
wasn’t a bad move on the part of Milkweed to re-release this debut,
as this will provide many with their first contact with Celestine and
‘At The Borders Of Arcadia’ isn’t an album to be ashamed of,
showing a lot of promise for future release. Right now, though, as
much as the cool bits (like the fiery closer ‘Me’) are appealing,
they also sound like other bands, instead of sounding like Celestine,
which means that some growing up is in order still.

(6) JOSÉ CARLOS SANTOS

FEAR FALLS BURNING

‘Frenzy Of The Absolute’

CONSPIRACY

On the back of two recent collaborations with Nadja and Birchville
Cat Motel, Fear Falls Burning have quickly re-emerged with their new
album ‘Frenzy of the Absolute’. While still keeping his trademark
guitar drone at the fore, FFB have incorporated some unexpected
elements into the mix. Having enlisted the drumming skills of
Switchblade’s Tim Bertilsson and Cult Of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg
what ensues are three tracks of beautifully drifting, minimal drone,
that at times have sparse, crashing drum lines reminiscent of Teeth Of
Lions Rule The Divine. Across these expansive tracks is a definite
sense of tension-building, which comes to an apex in ‘We Took The
Defeating Murmur Down’, where menacing guitar ambience and sporadic
percussion gel to make a smooth, almost progressive soundscape. While
drone is still a major part of this release it is pleasing to see an
artist such as FFB taking a sometimes limiting genre and do something
relatively unfamiliar with it.

(7.5) CHRIS NAUGHTON

GANON(

‘As Above, So Below’(

ACERBIC NOISE DEVELOPMENT(

Now that ‘metalgaze’ has been made into a ‘movement’, extreme music’s
inclination to copy-what’s-popular and be suspicious of new blood
means all sorts of pretenders to the Neur-Isis throne are looking to
make a name while the purity critics keep their true-versus-false
scorecards handy. Michigan’s Ganon may seem like newcomers, but
they’re actually marginal self-promoters a couple albums into the
game. That they’ll have to worry about credibility is a shame because
they take the blueprint sound and add infectious songwriting touches
in ‘Descend From The Wind,’ elegiac, yet life-affirming, guitar work
in ‘Until First Light’ and thunderous, yet instantly memorable,
down-picking and palm muting in ‘Collide And Cease.’ Each of the five
songs here clocks in between seven and nine minutes, giving the tracks
the time to develop and breathe across moods and dynamics with long
instrumental passages that don’t tax or try the listener’s patience.
Let’s hope they’re able to get their name out there in support of this
beast.(

(7.5) KEVIN STEWART-PANKO

TANEN

‘Fragments’

TRENDKILL

A glimpse of the names involved in the making of this album, with
Derek Hess taking care of the artwork and Cult Of Luna’s drummer
Magnus Lindberg of the mastering, is enough to give you a rough idea
of what this French bunch sound like. Mixing explosive post-hardcore
akin to Converge with more atmospheric but still pretty complex bits
that bring to mind Cult Of Luna’s calmer passages, the overall
result is a rather hit-and-miss affair. It’s during the most
ferocious parts that the best things happen. Despite all the chaos
going on, the band maintains a solid foundation of rock and groove
that lends weight and substance to the mayhem, while vocalist Dam
shows remarkable talent as well. However, nearly half the album is
spent on slower, artsy post-something else bits that you think
you’ll enjoy after ten listens, but you never really do, because
they are, ultimately, uneventful and rather empty. With some refining,
the second album can be much better.

(6) JOSÉ CARLOS SANTOS

TRANSITIONAL

‘Nothing Real Nothing Absent’

CONSPIRACY

Kevin Laska (Novatron, with Ramleh/Skullflower’s Anthony Difranco)
and Dave Cochrane (Jesu, God, The Bug, Head Of David) form a
formidable duo link in this secret lineage of British epic
experimental music. This predominantly instrumental debut echoes many
of its evolutionary predecessors, based on gigantic, crushing, glacial
riffs and massive, cyber dub rhythms, heavily processed through
psychedelic industrial prisms, and bracketed by abstract, floating
icebergs of crackle, hum and drone. Transitional’s mournful,
frost-bitten take on what’s conceptually supposed to range between
the spiritually stoic (as hinted by ‘Indian’ band logo combined
with the album’s title) to the ecstatically elating occasionally
risks sounding dated, burdened by commitment to its authoritative
roots in the ‘90s and earlier. But in moments when it gloriously
channels hidden streams (‘This Paradise Pt 1’ is like early 4AD
Lush covering PIL’s ‘The Order of Death’ with guest Vocoders off
OLD’s ‘Formula’) it transcends time in transit to eternity.

(7) AVI PITCHON

If you like post-rock you might enjoy reading about Supersonic 08 in
Terrorizer #175, out now

TERRORIZER.COM gigs this week:

September 19th 08 - Nile - Camden Underworld, London- w/ Grave +
Belphegor + Omnium Gatherum( <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 19th 08 - Keep Of Kalessin - Junktion 7, Nottingham- w/
Abgott( <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 19th 08 - Pelican - The Croft, Bristol- w/ Torche
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

(September 20th 08 - Firewind - Rio, Leeds- w/ Kiuas(
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 20th 08 - Nile - The Park, Peterborough- w/ Grave +
Belphegor + Omnium Gatherum( <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 20th 08 - Keep Of Kalessin - The Man On The Moon,
Cambridge- w/ Abgott <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

(September 21st 08 - Afgrund - Bar Monsta, London- w/ Ablach +
Basement Torture Killings + Burial(
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 21st 08 - Firewind - Little Civic, Wolverhampton- w/ Kiuas(
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 21st 08 - Nile - Rio, Leeds- w/ Grave + Belphegor + Omnium
Gatherum( <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 21st 08 - Keep Of Kalessin - Camden Underworld, London- w/
Abgott <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

(September 22nd 08 - Firewind - Fibber Magee’s, Dublin- w/ Kiuas(
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 22nd 08 - Nile - Civic Hall, Wolverhampton- w/ Grave +
Belphegor + Omnium Gatherum( <http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

September 22nd 08 - Rolo Tomassi - Old Blue Last, London
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

(September 23rd 08 - Rolo Tomassi - The Croft, Bristol
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

(September 24th 08 - Firewind - Jilly’s Rockworld, Manchester- w/
Kiuas(September 24th 08 - Rolo Tomassi - Sanctuary, Birmingham
<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>
e

<http://www.terrorizer.com/gigs.php>

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BITCHING, BITING and TIMEWASTING:

In an astonishing coup, Sir Ben Kingsley steps into the shoes of
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on behalf of Mean Magazine. That’s some ‘must watch’ viewing right
there.

Finally, is that another Immortal video
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? Yes, yes it is.

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Written by caustic · Filed Under Reviews, Interview

Avenged Sevenfold prove to be getting bigger and better with new DVD in review

September 19, 2008

Avenged Sevenfold - Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough
Review by Mike Bax

I guess a pessimistic review of this package would read something like this: A short live DVD with a bunch of b-sides. And in a nutshell, that’s what Avenged Sevenfold - Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough is: a high quality DVD recording of their April 10th Long Beach California Taste Of Chaos Headlining show, with a CD containing eleven (for the most part) previously unreleased songs. The thing about this DVD/CD package is that it’s great. Really great. I’ve not seen A7X live as of yet (they just blew off a Toronto show last week I was really looking forward to because M. Shadows’ voice needed some rest). So, until I do get the chance to see them, this nicely filmed DVD will stave me off until the band can come back. Filmed by Rafa Alcantara (who filmed the 2007 road documentary All Excess) and boasting 12 live tracks (with an ‘encore’ buried in the Extras section), Live In The LBC is a tightly filmed, produced and packaged live set that will please both fans and skeptics alike. The fact that it comes bundled with a CD featuring all of the b-sides from the 2007 Self titled Avenged Sevenfold recordings (including both covers of Iron Maiden’s ‘Flash Of The Blade’ and Pantera’s ‘Walk’) makes Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough totally worth the cost of admission at $18. I Haven’t heard a band do Maiden justice like ‘Flash Of The Blade’ in a loooong while. A7X is pretty much the personification of 2008 metal - and this live set shows they are going nowhere but to bigger-and-better places in the years to come.

www.avengedsevenfold.com

http://www.fazer.ca/2008/09/18/avenged-sevenfold-live-in-the-lbc-diamonds-in-the-rough-review/

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Written by caustic · Filed Under Reviews, DVD