HITTEN - TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY

 

Boy, have bands hit the bottom of the pile when it comes to choices left for a name. Hitten? Someone explain. But, luckily the music rocks ‘80s style. Nice to have another one of these bands keeping the sounds from that decade alive. Third album from the Spanish five piece, whose bass player is Satan?

“Built To Rock” opens with a Van Halen and Mr. Big fancy guitar and bass riff combo, lots of energy and edge with a big chorus and plenty of twin guitar harmonies too. “Eyes Never Lie” some traditional/power metal riffing with melodic AOR verses and chorus. Damn, can’t put my finger on it who singer Alexx Panza reminds me of. I know, its Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell band) meets Tobi from Edguy! He’s got a swagger, strong mid-range and hits big screams from time to time. Lots of retro graphic and colors for video single “Hard Intentions (Secret Dancer)”, great leads and vocals. “Ride Out The Storm” keeps up the consistency with some double bass. “Core of the Flame” is slower with a mid/late ‘80s moody Saxon feel. How’s that AOR vocal starting “Under Your Spell”, NWOBHM comes through in “Light Beyond the Darkness” and takes a turn with lots of killer Vicious Rumors level shredding skills.



Title track ends the album at eleven minutes, very Maiden like and Gamma Ray twin guitars, and dynamics. Put these guys up there with leaders of the new wave of glam metal, '80s hard rock, with Eclipse, H.E.A.T., Crazy Lixx, Girish and the Chronicles, Bloody Heels, and Dangerous Curves. Or Traditional Metal because they are a little of all that ‘80s good stuff.

ELUVEITIE VOCALIST / HARPIST FABIENNE ERNI TO HOLD LIVE CHAT WITH KAMELOT SINGER TOMMY KAREVIK THIS TUESDAY

Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie have checked in with the following update:

"The time has come to announce the first episode of The Eluveitie Sphere in 2022:

On Tuesday, Fabienne Erni welcomes our special guest Tommy Karevik from

Kamelot have checked in with the following update:

"Kam Empire South America! Life is slowly getting back to normal in the world, and as we’re busy working on the next album, we don’t forget touring plans! For the safety of our fans and for our own safety, we had to schedule the new dates for 2023 — early 2023! Find new dates below. Happy Holidays to all!"

STORMKEEP – TALES OF OTHERTIME

Denver’s Stormkeep turned head with their 2020 debut EP, Galdrum and full-length debut Tales Of Othertime cements them as a serious force in melodic black metal. Take early Emperor, Dissection, and Sacramentum, sprinkle in some dungeon crawling synth with power metal sensibilities and out comes Stormkeep.

Stormkeep understand it’s all about the riffs and they balance hard-hitting, melodic guitar work with atmospheric keys and synth work, and they’re not afraid to let the synth do work – especially in the instrumental, “The Citadel”. Vocalist Otheyn Vermithrax shrieks his way to victory, but clean vocals are also interspersed throughout the 43 minute onslaught. Standing at six tracks, the crown jewel is the 11 minute “A Journey Through Storms”, an appropriate title that segues through breathtaking guitar work, a folksy interlude, followed by an epic, smoldering close. The use of acoustics is brilliantly used to add a dismal, brooding atmosphere.

Lyrics revolve around ancient legends and mythical times which falls right in line with that daunting artwork. The songs are their own adventures with three other tracks besides the mammoth “A Journey Through Storms” exceeding 8 minutes. The drumming ferociously attacks with blastbeats while also showing a proficient technicality. The bass could use a bump in the mix, but that’s a small complaint. The main focus are these guys are talented and can construct memorable tunes. While being influenced from those aforementioned black metal legends, they are unique have their own sound. It was a smart move to use the shorter instrumentals (“The Citadel” and “An Ode To Dragons”) as a palate cleanser to build atmosphere and ready the listener for the longer, blistering tracks.

Be sure to pick this one up – you will not be disappointed.

MEAT LOAF - LEGENDARY ROCK SINGER AND ACTOR DEAD AT 74

 

Legendary rock singer and actor, Meat Loaf (real name Marvin Lee Aday), has passed away at the age of 74. The sad news was shared via the official Meat Loaf Facebook page.

The message states: "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight surrounded by his wife Deborah, daughters Pearl and Amanda and close friends.

"His amazing career spanned 6 decades that saw him sell over 100 Million albums worldwide and star in over 65 movies, including Fight Club, Focus, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne’s World.

"Bat Out of Hell remains one of the top 10 selling albums of all time.

"We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man.

"We thank you for your understanding of our need for privacy at this time.

"From his heart to your souls… don’t ever stop rocking!"

GHOST POSTPONES JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! APPEARANCE "TO A LATER DATE"

 

Ghost were scheduled to appear as the featured music guest on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, Thursday, January 20.



An update from A Nameless Ghoul states: "Children of the World! …more specifically those of you who had just started to prep your couches up for tonights’ Jimmy Kimmel Live show. Well, it turned out that we had a bit too much going on in Reno, getting all our shit together for the tour, however - our good friends at Kimmel offered us to come back and play the show at a later date during our now imminent US tour. So - Cool your jets for today but get ready to rock with us over the coming weeks. Are you ready?"

Tracklist:

"Imperium"
"Kaisarion"
"Spillways"
"Call Me Little Sunshine"
"Hunter's Moon"
"Watcher In The Sky"
"Dominion"
"Twenties"
"Darkness At The Heart Of My Love"
"Griftwood"
"Bite Of Passage"

Isso não é uma música, e sim um tapa na cara de toda uma sociedade artificial

 

A canção escrita por Alissa White-Gluz traduz com maestria como é viver nessa sociedade que se preocupa mais com a roupa que você usa, do que com os valores que se tem

The Agonist era a antiga banda de Alissa White-Gluz, hoje no Arch Enemy.

E além de ótima vocalista, ela sempre foi uma exímia escritora, e foi lá que ela escreveu uma das músicas mais pesadas do metal em relação a crítica social, “Business Suits And Combat Boots”.

A canção já começa com a seguinte frase: “O destino te guia ou você pretende modificá-lo?”

Esse prólogo já nos inicia para o que vem a seguir na canção.

“Foda-se sua roupa de grife esfolada

Tons da moda e cabelo de salão

Saltos para ajudar onde a natureza falhou

Dentes e unhas artificiais”

Quando ela diz “grife esfolada”, provavelmente é uma crítica as roupas que usam pele de animal.

E a crítica segue para todas as pessoas que tentam entrar num padrão de beleza, e se tornam artificiais: “O ninho da vespa se expande”

Aqui a analogia pode ser a comparação de uma vespa com uma abelha, que é sua semelhante, e enquanto a abelha tem um papel importante, a vespa acaba por não ser nada mais do que um predador.

E essa comparação serve provavelmente para as pessoas fúteis que a canção se refere.

“O caminho do futuro são os patrocinadores corporativos criando seus filhos”

As corporações podem ser por exemplo, os próprios programas da TV. Um simples personagem de desenho pode influenciar mais a vida de uma criança do que seus próprios pais.

“Falhas físicas são um vazio mental”

Aqui dá a entender que, não generalizando, mas boa parte dos problemas físicos que as pessoas sentem ter, são problemas criados por alguma alienação.

“Então pague seus cirurgiões

É a seus pais que você deveria agradecer”

Agradecer aos pais pode ser também uma alusão a parte mais acima da canção, onde se dá a entender que os pais abdicam da criação de seus filhos, e deixam que as corporações tomem conta de sua criação, criando adultos complexados.

“Vá existindo em uma sociedade distorcida

Onde a juventude é um crime e um desperdício de gastos com lojas de suor”

De fato, os jovens não mais se preocupam com coisas “da sua idade”, mas sim com ostentar ou então com seu status social perante uma sociedade que os julga por coisas que nunca conseguiram construir.

“Agora a KKK encontrou uma nova máscara

Foda-se sua supremacia autoproclamada

Você esconde seu rosto e sua vergonha!”

Alusão as máscaras utilizadas pela Ku Klux Klan (grupo supremacista branco), e com isso eles conseguem fazer a similaridade onde se antigamente esse grupo se escondia atrás de máscaras, as máscaras de hoje são as milhões de alternativas plásticas, fazendo com que você perca sua identidade.

“Identifique o certo e o errado quando todos os fatos são meramente opinião”

O “fato” dito na música, se refere sobre os padrões de beleza, e como tudo é questão de opinião.

Mas parece que ser você mesmo é errado, e você deve seguir sempre a manada.

DEVIN TOWNSEND SHARES SECOND TRAILER FOR UPCOMING INFINITY ALBUM QUARANTINE PROJECT LIVESTREAM

 

Townsend previously iissued the following message:

"We're going live on Saturday, February 5th, 12noon PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET / 7am AEDT (next day). If you can't make it at that time, no fear: we'll record the show and keep it available for another 48hrs.

Tickets go live on Friday, Jan 7th at 15:00 CET and are exclusively available on DevinTownsendShop.com. We've also added a show-exclusive t-shirt and the option to bundle with the ticket for a discounted price.

Note: the t-shirts are pre-orders and ship from the United Kingdom the week prior to the livestream."



Townsend has said he will perform Infinity in the original album sequence, with songs included from the Christeen EP.