Just about every month during the early '70s, a now-classic prog rock album dropped. And 1971 was seemingly overflowing with 'em: Jethro Tull's Aqualung, Pink Floyd's Meddle, Genesis' Nursery Cryme, ELP's Tarkus, Uriah Heep's Salisbury, etc.
But the undisputed kings of '71 prog were Yes – simply due to the fact that they issued not one, but two classic prog studio offerings that year, The Yes Album and Fragile.
METALLICA PRODUCER FLEMMING RASMUSSEN – “HANK SHERMANN’S AMP WAS USED ON RIDE THE LIGHTNING”
Metallica’s iconic second album Ride The Lightning celebrates its 40th anniversary today. The album contains classics like “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, “Fade To Black”, and “Creeping Death”.
Producer Flemming Rasmussen (who would also producer Metallica’s Master Of Puppets and …And Justice For All) has posted a message about his recollections of the recording:
Anyone that’s read Ian Winwood’s excellent Bodies: Life And Death In Music will have some understanding of how difficult it is to be a rock star. Yes, it seems like a glamorous way to live and travelling the world to play music certainly has its moments, but the reality of it is gruelling. The parties, groupies and excess get most of the attention, but far more time is taken up by a brutal slog that plays havoc with your head. It’s an endless string of repetitive days on tour buses, where you barely get any alone time and spend a mere fraction of your life at home. For Jonas Ekdahl, it’s time to call it quits. Having spent a significant chunk of his adult life playing drums for EVERGREY, he’s understandably had enough of eating airport food and seeing motorways whenever he looks out of a window. He’s bowing out and while he’s still very much a part of the band’s extended family, his life on the road is at an end.
“When I first started, playing live shows was the best thing in the world, it was the best feeling to be on stage, and nothing could beat that. But over the last couple of years that feeling has shifted towards the songwriting and production aspect of music,” he explains, “it’s now got to the point where I feel that I’d rather be doing that instead.”
At the time of our chat, EVERGREY hadn’t revealed who Jonas’ replacement would be and despite offering him a Twix, he remained tight-lipped, and we couldn’t tease an exclusive out of him (it was later revealed to be veteran Norwegian drummer Simen Sandnes). However, he’s going out on top.
Theories Of Emptiness is EVERGREY’s fourteenth full-length album and quelle surprise, it’s terrific. The Swedes have been reliable workhorses of the European metal scene for decades now, but they’ve really upped their game in the last few years. The conventional wisdom is that 2001’s In Search Of Truth is their best work, but they’ve been on a creative high of late and if anything, are better now than ever before. This is their fourth album in six years and there’s no sign that the well of inspiration is running dry.
“After Escape Of The Phoenix, the pandemic hit, and we figured, instead of taking a break we would just keep on writing,” says Jonas. “We couldn’t go out and do any tours or shows, so we just wrote. We were in a good creative phase at the time. It turned into a new album, and then we kept going. I guess we’re just striking when the iron is hot and making the most of the time we’ve got.”
The surge of creativity triggered by the coronavirus lockdowns resulted in 2022’s A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament), a progressive-minded take on power metal with a dark overtone. It was excellent, but Theories Of Emptiness manages to outdo it. Despite the name, it’s also lighter than its brooding predecessor.
“It deals with different kinds and aspects of emptiness that you can feel depending on the situation. And it doesn’t always have to be a negative one, because I believe that most people are afraid to feel empty, but there’s also a positive side of emptiness as well. If you find inner peace, for example. If you have inner peace, then in a way you have emptiness.”
This optimistic outlook is evident in the music. There are fast riffs, vibrant melodies and catchy choruses aplenty. There’s a noticeable lack of their traditional Gothic-tinged ballads, and there’s even a riotous, crowd-pleasing anthem described as “EVERGREY meets W.A.S.P.” One Heart is a fist-pumping barn burner with fan-submitted backing vocals and the band sound like they’re having a great time playing it. EVERGREY have a reputation for dealing in heavy-going subject matter, but this one is a lung-bursting party song.
Not that they’re going to be skipping through fields of daisies and frolicking in the sunshine though, Theories Of Emptiness still has a touch of darkness about it. There’s a running theme of grief and loss in here, and tracks like To Become Someone Else aren’t afraid to scream their pain at the world. But there’s also a drive to overcome adversity, best exemplified in the uplifting Our Way Through Silence and the aggressive opener Falling From The Sun.
“We can go super dark if we want to, but we also learn to embrace the uplifting side more and more as well, to find the contrast between them.”
In other words, while EVERGREY are as emotive and melancholic as ever, but there’s a cautious hopefulness about them this time. Theories Of Emptiness is a potential Album Of The Year contender, and a fitting swansong for Jonas’ time in the band. It marks the end of an incredible run, but he looks happy and content to be away from the rigours of life on the road and get to sleep in his own bed more often.
And as he’s stepping away from the band who wrote In Search Of Truth, one of the best alien abduction albums ever, there’s one question we’ve got to ask: does he believe in extra-terrestrial life?
“Probably… yeah I think it’s likely. Maybe not flying around in saucers and abducting people, but we have no idea. We barely know what’s happening on this planet. I’m interested in extra-terrestrials and the universe and stuff like that, I think I’m a pretty spiritual guy. So, I’m very open minded to all that. If was only us, that would be super weird.” Keep watching the skis. Skies.
Theories Of Emptiness is out now via Napalm Records.
While they don't need North American validation (hell, they bypassed the continent for years and worked themselves to festival headliner status, without us), but now that they'll start the Wake Up The Wicked global trek in the States, where there IS a rabid undercurrent of support, the latest eleven offerings take on greater importance. They've been recording for almost 20 year (longer than some of their fans have been alive!), but sort of hit their "comfort zone" a few albums back, a formula that isn't radically altered here.
My main "complaint" on recent discs was embracing the younger, often female audience, at the expense of the speedier numbers, as well as the tongue-in-cheek religious pokes in the eye. Good to see both are back, beginning with the opening "Bless "Em With The Blade". It races, start to finish, and is over in just 2:47, the shortest inclusion (although only one cracks four minutes, and by just four seconds!). Probably seen the pre-release video for "Sinners Of The Seven Seas" already. Nice to hear the sparingly use of Latin lyrics, like the early days, on this one and elsewhere on the platter, including regal follow-up "Kyrie Klitorem".
On a bouncy, mid-paced folk melody, "Heretic Hunters" has a build-in audience sing-along chorus, although the multi-voice, orchestral choir might be a bit too much for smaller stages. Obscure historical track this time around is "1589", the tale of Peter Stumpp, the werewolf of Bedburg (Germany). Convicted of 16 murders, as well as accusations of witchcraft and cannibalism, he, his daughter and mistress were all tortured, executed and bodies burned. His severed head was posted on a pole as a warning against similar activities.
GENE HOGLAN FINISHES RECORDING DRUMS FOR NEW DARK ANGEL ALBUM - "IT'S COMING!"; VIDEO
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California thrashers, Dark Angel, have begun recording their new album. In fact, drummer Gene Hoglan has finished recording his parts for the new record.
Hoglan shared the video below earlier today. In the clip, Gene says, "Hey, everybody. It's your big buddy Gene here, and I just wanna let you know that I just finished the drums to the new Dark Angel record. It's coming."
As lendas do metal canadense, Anvil, lançaram a parte americana de sua turnê One And Only em 10 de julho na Stone Church em Brattleboro, Vermont, e Airrick Nh enviou um vídeo do set completo da banda. Assista abaixo.
Setlist do Anvil (conforme Setlist.fm):
"Marcha dos Caranguejos" "666" "Ooh Baby" "A Verdade Está Morrendo" "Finalmente Legal" "Rock 'n' Roll Fodão" "Jackhammer" "Livre Como O Vento" "Isto É Treze" "Mothra" "Cadela Na Caixa" "Swing Thing" "Em Chamas" "Metal Sobre Metal"
A lot of classic rock and metal bands went through some unexpected lineup changes throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. Among many examples, we have Van Halen with Extreme's Gary Cherone fronting the band. Although not as popular as the band's David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar eras, this period yielded one album, 1998's Van Halen III, and has a special place in the hearts of diehard Van Halen fans. On the other hand, some may also feel that, just like with other rock bands, the combo just didn't really work out.
As bassist Michael Anthony said in a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, he also feels like it wasn't the best fit, although he does admit that the Gary Cherone era had its good sides. While he was still preparing to go out on the road with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Jason Bonham, Anthony shared his thoughts on the matter.
