Merry Christmas Metalheads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Past Christmas i remember with  what music i had been playing at the time. I remember getting up  in the morning back in '92 with the Black Album, '98 with the first G3 album, '02 with Alice in Chains LIVE..

It's going to be a hilarious one this time with Feel the Steel!! This is Tenacious D meets Spinal Tap squirtin' like madmen!!!

Keep on Rockin and Merry Christmas!

The 5th Anniversary of The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell

I am first and foremost an artist.

Less than a notch down the alley comes my next passion which is music. Less than a notch I say because both can’t come to be in perfect symmetry with each other, but I always felt each has owned a side of my filthy black heart. It’s just that I would have to place art to be in the left ventricle where the artery pumps out the blood. Having said that, I must say I have quite managed a marriage of both by way of hobby.

Hobby. Goddamn it hurts like hell to even say the word. 

You can check out that profile picture of mine and you’ll see as to how I make a release of my ‘manageable’ demons. Not an original I must admit, but it’s how I find inspiration for art. Through music. And vice versa. I’m sure there are more than a million folks out there like me. The incendiary genius Chuck Klosterman already unyieldingly stated it about us metalheads- ‘you think you’re weird but you’re not, there’s more than a million people out there like you’.

Now there’s one artist out there who’s gone out to set fire sending sparks of debate throughout the entire heavy metal and art community. I ain’t one to be guru in the philosophy of both, though I have my opinion. First time I heard there was an auction of a painting of this supposedly ‘assassination scene’ of one of my heroes, Dimebag (now that’s why it was a Dean in my pic), I was stoked! I had but a thousand ideas swirling over my head as to how that dark day, which is on it’s Fifth year by tomorrow (or today depending on which side of the globe you’re at), is to be represented. I thought of Neo-classical paintings, of Caravaggio, of The School of Athens by Raphael. Lo and behold it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned up all in the wrong direction. I felt some guilty twitchin’ in my guts the moment I saw it.

The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell by Tom Sanford

It was art, okay. Depending on how you define it. And art is perception. It is opinion. Others may celebrate the life of someone who did an orange line in a canvass, but I’ll be better off spittin’ on his grave. This, for me, is not art. It’s desecration. And whether it gets mainstream propping I’m not one to give credit for its artistry, if there's any. It had evidently used controversy to turn it to one big bandwagon. Much worse, there are hungry vultures out there that are made for such carrion.

Somewhere in some longitude, it is the fifth year anniversary of one of the darkest days in metal. In a few hours, Metal Hammer will be shipping out its 200^th issue with the Tribute to Dimebag cd.  And the troops of doom are out for it. The tracklisting has been out for quite some time now (check this link > tracklist), and I have my own choices I’m too eager to catch. Now I just pray it’ll be sending so much of a ripple to thrash that painting to the bin, and never again make claim as a tribute of some sort.

 Rest In Peace, Cowboy. May you have all the Black Tooth Grin heaven can offer.

GelaSkins Rock!!!

What the freakin' fuck has happened to me this November??

Last post I had was Nov 3, next one comes today, the 30th. Hell it could've been the end of October and the start of December- nil for this month for cryin' out loud. Well, I haven't had the real stuff but i'm tellin you its pretty damn hard to be on a speedball trip in this manner. I realized I had hit 7th heaven only to be dropped rock bottom in a span of 3 weeks. Whatever this real-life drama is, you might not give a flying fuck, but I just want to state there was nothing close to a cherub's hand to pull me up.

But there came rock n roll once more to bring my soul to salvation. It had me once again writing while shitting in a bowl to bring aslant this once catnapping motor to an all-pistons-charging mode.

I guess it ain't heaven's hands that pulled me but the Devil's Trident that propped me up. The reason being was that I had seized a new AC/DC album and discovered a various artists compilation of New Generation Thrash torchbearers.

Although long before that... Recent weeks had me trying to browse every possible network for new stuff but I came empty-handed always. I resorted then, before getting it on with the abovementioned albums, to my very incongruous strategy of re-igniting my love for music- purchasing new increment for the iPod itself and not new music.

I trooped then to the nearest bookstore selling these comfortable add-ons to your devices. Go check it out and hand me a precious stick of Marlboro Reds.

GelaSkins Mobile Art

Hundreds of designs in their website boasting of  their tag line 'design not by bulk..', these stick-ons which, well, do not really 'stick' to your device, are a work of sheer genius. You can reposition them anytime you want without the viscous stuff of adhesives getting in the way.

check out the pattern in this 3M brilliance:

Next decision was a choice of some dark imagery to fit my dumb-as-hell iPod Classic. GelaSkin is comprised of some serious artwork from serious international artists. But the lack of some ominous illustrations led me reminiscing to the days of listening to my first Hendrix tape, the Appetite of Destruction legend, and the many grunge-defying acts that got me through college angst. Yes it was that long ago already I still had cassette tapes back then.

I would not have chosen the Boombox design for its semblance of early hiphop nonsense, but guess what's written above it.

METAL. I would have opted for 'Pure Fucking Metal'. More regrettably, there was none in stock of this design for the Classic. So I had to settle for Boombox II, by the same artist Lyle Owerko.

Though I must say I wished there was no NYC on them speakers. It just made it all the more so Twisted Sister.

Converse Chuck Taylor presents.. AC/DC and Metallica!!!

All I said was that I needed one solid black Chuck.

Little did I know I was opening Pandora's Box right after I said those magic words. It had me in no time checking out the Converse website after my brother had enlightened me that there exists an AC/DC Back In Black high top, black in the entirety of its sole with the album logo and title around the back. I was unconvinced at first to be looking into the possibility of Converse doing art for rock shoes. I doubted they can pull it off with too much rubber on top your toes, which as opposed to Vans, had bigger canvass space on the whole of its dorsal side. And I had fought tooth and nail for that Iron Maiden Killers edition of Vans. It was as mean as hell and I'm still using and abusing it.

But there they all are from Converse universe. Not only did they they have AC/DC but Metallica as well. I could be Beavis and Butthead for one day if my meager finances would stretch it. I thought too, that there just might be a perfect partner for my favorite rock shirt...

...which is....

....THIS!

"...I'm on a highway to hell!"

I had just combed all shops distributing Chucks from a series of malls a few hours back. Not one had an item of the Back in Black high top which I'm still bent on getting my feet on. But I had a first hand inspection of the Highway To Hell edition. Two aspects I had remembered to look into the 'highway' version when I was still on the website were 1. to check on how bright the red on the inside of the canvass is, and 2. how the the odds of having the logo on the under sole going to measure up to fading from continuous pavement scratching.

 

It wasn’t that vampire coffin velvet bright red on the inside. In fact it looked dead red. I was quite surprised however how genius or lucky they could be on how they pulled off that logo under the sole. The exact print would not hit the pavement as it was covered in some transparent silicone. It had that fly-trapped-in-an-ice effect. Or a Jurassic Park fossil. You know what I’m saying.

Arch Enemy Live in Manila : The Experience!

27 October.

It had been exactly a week when I had first seen Arch Enemy in flesh. Indeed I’m so mighty proud to have witnessed them shatter the roofs off of Manila’s World Trade Center.


I wish I had written this piece much earlier and captured the elation I was in at that moment. But then again, not even alien speak can put across the evil sensation that has soaked up my heart. My only regret is that right now, I have gained quite some perspective.


After seven days of exhuming (damn I love that word, however inappropriate) old AE vids and researching for more on the net to feed my fix, I cannot help but fucking compare. It might be good for doing a review, except that this one isn’t. What I plan to share is the intensity of one such electrifying heavy metal experience and not some tale of the tape between the act last week, and the live video that is Tyrants of the Rising Sun.


Having said that, I am keen to accept that Rising Sun is a conscious effort to make the best concert dvd and that it had been well-directed. I’d be better off seeing my heroes in the most primal of their state. And by the way, Arch Enemy Live in Manila sure had one notch of evolution from their previous performances. It had what Ronnie James Dio calls the ‘Disneyland E-ticket’. I’ll get to that bit in a few.


8:18 pm. Without an invite up my sleeve and a brother on the way from the suburbs, I got off the cab and wished I could die on the spot. I had rushed straight from the tight-ass environment of my workplace rolled up in my ridiculous blue uniform with a necktie on. There I was exposing myself to two lines of Arch-hungry fans in all their black t-shirt glory. Now I had become ‘the weird one’, but damn I loved the feeling. Stare me on some more, I’m feelin’ you all!


I got to the end of the line and begged concert security that I be spared with my lighter. There is no way in this world I’m throwing away a Led Zep Zippo to the bin. Later on I figured I was even spared the whole evening as well. I managed to get through the entrance with my fighting knife and realized that after all the rigorous frisking, this is the one city with an ordinance to forbid such weapon. And the manila cops/pigs are everywhere.




8:43 pm. No more Super VIP tickets. Fuck it, there is no meet and greet anyways, I was told. I got two VIP’s, snagged the Rise Of The Tyrant cd’s and bagged the free drinks. I got back out to change clothes and took my brother in. There he was, eager as hell in his long dirty locks and Sic Vic t-shirt but in no way the lesser Arch fan. He had pushed the boundaries for us to be in this threshold. As we had done another round of waiting in line and going through inspection again, we were fortunate enough to see at least Bloodshed. Man, I thought, this is the stuff that would make parents shit in their pants. I’m glad to be here.

9 - 9:30pm. Nothing. Just pure anticipation and bladder pressure control lessons. The crowd is anxious and I’ll be damned if I take my piss and risk the chance of seeing them jump out of the stage.

 

9:31pm. Pure Fucking Metal Mayhem.

The moment they hit the lights and that long ‘boing’ synth of a gong was reverberating, I knew I was in a different haze. Clouds of smoke were creeping through the big Root of All Evil gigantic skulls as the big bat stage backdrop stared dead into my eyes. Right this very moment Arch Enemy all came out and goosebumps started to rise from my spine up to my nape. The intro to Blood On Your Hands had me lost somewhere here and in limbo as I stared up to the newest of my heroes. Then, the much awaited Diva Satanica came out screaming from hell. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was really her in person !

Struck as I am, I was also stunned to be seeing her in full-on black clothing, with tops up to the wrists and leather catwoman tights and boots. I was expecting her traditional torn-jeans, white tank top and black streaks just beneath the eyes. Instead, the strips were in white make-up, as the armbands they all were
wearing were in white. Her hair was not in its usual grease as well, bleach blonde as it was, I figured it grew longer and might have had a wash or two. I’ll bet my bottom dollar everyone in the hall was holdin horses from jumping to the stage and poking her. Conversely, it was the lady beside me who was shouting ‘I love you Angela’.

I swept a glance at the remainder of the band with all the mindful effort I could afford. As I knew that unlike Angela who is German, the rest is Swedish. I knew that this is one different block as they never looked Anglo-Saxon in any way. I am faced with Vikings! And they’re playing serious metal!

Meanwhile, I checked on our cam to see if we were getting some images. But I made it a point for us to enjoy the show and feel the power and intensity and get some recorded stuff later. The crowd was now goin’ freakin’ nuts over shouting ‘RE-MEM-BER!!’. I figured right then and there which songs I must remember to put more stars in my iPod. I will be back for more of the heaviest parts of this night..

Arch Enemy Fever..

I will be back for the ultimate Arch Enemy experience, World Trade Center in Manila, 20th of October...

World Painted Blood this Halloween!!!

Paint your town red this Halloween as the most evil band in the world sets off its trebuchet with its latest flamin’ release, World Painted Blood!!

In a few weeks, Slayer will be back in all their blasphemous glory!!!!

Pardon me, if you will, for handing you too much up-for-grabs, I’ll be back to give you a rundown of all the material I’ve written that are not out yet by the time of my writing. But please, join me in the frontline as I bleed my eardrums! How you get your music is none of my business, I know every die-hard metalhead enough to know that when you like some band too much, you’re gonna go legit on its latest deal to satiate your craving. In the meantime, I’ll kick it off with what’s steaming from the Kitchen of Hell prowled upon by Kerry and company.

Right now Slayer has been placing dots on the world map for their upcoming tour. (Damn if I get another rumor of them devils paying Manila a visit!) True enough, it was a world map that they unveiled recently in their official website as the cover art for its latest release. Except that you don’t get the demarcation lines as the land markings are all made up of skulls and bones, all in crimson splendor. I reckon the map is not in one plate, but something that you form out of four different covers. I can’t quite grasp the idea yet but for damn sure I’m going to know it first hand.

While some singles have been leaking out on the internet for over a year already, I haven’t played anything yet even in various Slayer social networking sites. In this type of music, you sure wouldn’t want to hear it raw and in preview. And I’m waiting for the real deal. While at it, I’m lashing on my curiosity with bits and pieces straight from the Slayer camp. I have one most intriguing post from Dave Lombardo via Metal Hammer a few months back. There he said something like, this time, Slayer will be sticking to the melodies to bring this album about. Also he spoke of how one shouldn’t be afraid of hooks to make a catchy tune. Truly Slayer is not going glam on this one but by what he meant I’m completely lost. Several decades and they did not reinvent themselves. The word ‘sell-out’ has sold out a million times already but they stuck to their guns. The last I remember of them out of their league was through Undisputed Attitude. And it’s not that too way out of the line either. But hooks? On a Slayer song? Today’s Twitter post from Lombardo has got him using the word ‘melody’ again. Go check it yourself, I didn’t go that far enough to remember it. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean I’m reservin’ on my devil horns for this one. Hell I might even like it better for cryin’ out loud.

World Painted Blood sets Japan on fire 28th October,  Australia on the 30th,  North America November 3rd and the rest of the world on 2nd November.

New Winger album - Karma

Say all the fuck you want about this genre and this band but the level of musicianship Winger brings us is just too high to ignore. Reb Beach? He has never failed to melt me with his classical and jazz-influenced solos. Double that up with John Roth's blues-based playing and you got yourself a fine double-edged stab. Rod Morgenstein is one of the greatest on the skins out there and I heard he's revered as well by the Norwegian drummers (well, what difference does it make, both these genres are identified with make-up). Kip Winger? Damn that voice! Bas Bach may hit higher notes but Kip's is more of my league, not too top-of-the-instrument yet stone cold solid . And did I tell you he's a music teacher?

Though with every member almost at the top of their field, frankly I feel it was fairly reasonable why they became the subject of Beavis and Butthead's tall story and Lars Ulrich's dartboard. The initial record off this flank was just too glam gay with hits like 'Madelaine' and 'Seventeen'. The first and only time they got me hooked on their renewed style was through their '93 offering Pull. I just thought that they experimented way too far with Winger IV.

But that doesn't mean I'm gonna quit checking on new stuff out of their armory. Their MySpace profile just got updated with overwhelming promotional functions and side players with previews of every track off their upcoming new record Karma. Seen as a coming-full-circle move of some sort, Karma in the holistc sense sure sets to be the most appropriate title of all.

Set to be released this 16th of October, I've been playing in advance all the tracks to handle my expectations. Damn if I don't get any 5 stars for my playlist from this but I'm sure as hell there's a lot to be learned from here technique-wise.

The song to hear when you have just lost someone so dear..

Brought to us by the greatest frontman this genre has ever known is this sad song of mourning. I am inclined to believe he wrote this as a tribute to his old man, which up until now is a loss he has not recovered from yet.


So long my dear departed
Where did you go?
I can't believe your gone and
The nights go on so slow

I'm missing you each morning
Days gone by
Again I feel the longing
To look you in the eye


You know I'll never let you go
You know I'll never hurt so bad
And if it takes a thousand years
I will be right there by your side

You know I'll never hurt so much
When I lost you I was blind
And every time I catch my tear
I will be right there by your side

I feel you when you're watching
From afar
To young to leave me standing
I wonder where you are

The precious time we spent
The fondest memories
I hold on to the promise
That you made to me


I stare into his eyes
And then I see your face
Undying love inside
A love you can't replace

You're looking down with pride
Let me show what I can't tell

So long my dear departed
Where did you go?
I can't believe you're gone and
My life goes on so slow

MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Guitar Hero, Rockband and Sims present: Bang Camaro! - Unorthodox meets Old School

It's always about being so psyched out on some new band I come across that I had started doing this. Never had I been so eager about some fist raisin', gut wrenchin', bottle smashin' sweat soaked rock band since Airbourne- and I had not written about them yet. But I will. Soon.

Now let me just get on with new business. Truly I'm so psyched out about some relatively new band. One that's got more than ten singers.

Recently it's not frequent that I get my hands on something new that's a fruit of my own research. Often I'd allow some of my trustworthy brethren to recommend it, like some new movie seen by a fellow critic firsthand lest I blow my money over an M. Night Shyamalan-esque hoax. . I checked out this band from Amazon's related music predictive feature coz the name sounded so hard rock, but I wasn't prepared for some serious experimentation through uncharted grounds.

Taking the music with no prior knowledge of who these young artists are and where they come from left me confounded as to why the hell my iPod dock is not screeching with top-of-the-instrument vocals. But I recognized early on that there was not just one frontman, but a crowd that's singing the lyrics. And I'm not speaking in terms of glamified mic-sharing choruses- everything, even the verses, were in unison. This, however, is the only thing that's unconventional with this band. The rest is vintage approach.

With frontmen, being dubbed as "The Choir", two guitarists, a bass player and a drummer, one might expect something 'fresh' and something that would break barriers. Well, their sound is from the late 70's. And that is why I dig them.

Declaring themselves the biggest fans of Ratt, Dokken and Cinderella, i beg to disagree that their sound is reminiscent of this era,as the swarm of all other reviews are saying. It wont take a good ear to discern that, though their songs are mostly driven by catchy hooks, its not all glamslam showdown. To be honest, its KISS circa Vinnie Vincent I make out on most of the songs from the first and self-titled album(yeah its already 1980 but that sound is from their previous decade still as the 80's KISS would be defined by Bruce Kulick). Bang Camaro II, however, has outgrown that and sounds more classic, carry-it-through-the-modern times rock n roll.

Bang Camaro presented itself to a big chop of its fanbase via Guitar Hero, Rockband and Sims. I hear you gamer freaks clickin' your tongues out there. But gamer or not, this sure is one band that's worth promoting not only since all their songs are good but also for the reason that they carry THE torch.

Endgame!

Frankly I must state I wasn’t the least bit excited about this latest opus from the Megadeth warchest. Having been a fan of the classic Mustaine-Friedman-Ellefson-Menza line-up, I’m mighty proud to have kept an open mind to further productions from the latter camps. As much as I had yearned for a reunion with at least Dave Ellefson, I kept on buying their music, dvd’s and stayed updated via Megadeth.com. I failed, however, to hold a firm foot on the release of Endgame last September 15.

I checked on the Metal Hammer homepage to catch on what’s been looming on the darker side of the heavy music veil. Astounded as always when I see thrash masters getting media attention despite forceful promotions of new and young talents, Endgame was on full throttle. To give you a rundown of the tabs posted there, Metal Hammer has initiated a poll on what’s the foremost favorite Deth album to fans. You guessed right, Rust In Peace sure grabbed the top spot. But I didn’t quite expect Endgame to be on third. And it was the title of that particular post. Honestly I can’t tell if this is some promotional bullshit. I’ve known and respected this mag for not getting into any compromises. Also as with any wise reviewer, they never judged new music without at least sittin’ it over for not less than a week. And judge they did not. Yet.

Posted as well was their recent quote on Mustaine’s reason for not getting into the whole Metallica Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame mania as they were out headlining for the Judas Priest Tour in Europe. Another was a possible Big Four tour, which is one that I had to take with a grain of salt. My favorite though is how Slash liked the new Megadeth and how His Royal Darkness Dave Mustaine had favorably replied. This one I’ll be commenting about on a future post.

Now as Metal Hammer suggested, I had gotten my ass in gear to get this latest record. It’s blastin’ to ten on my speakers but I’ll let this one sit for some time. All I can throw to you right now is that there’s an Iraqi invasion magnitude of guitar shredding. I’m getting the weirdest and fastest sweep picks comin from different directions, and to be honest, I can’t tell whether it’s firing from General Mustaine or from newcomer Chris Broderick.

Arch Enemy Live In Manila Oct 20 @ The WTC!!!

Officially announced in their website, Angela and Friends will destroy Manila to pieces and eat us all alive on October 20.


http://www.archenemy.net/tours.php


Finally all the buzz that started in social networking sites in this country has come to an end. Since May of this year me and my brothers in heavy music have been relying on hearsay and gossip about Arch Enemy even trying to consider coming here. From the supposedly sold out VIP tickets, to possible venues that can withstand their trademark swirl mosh pit, to whomever has the guts of iron to summon them. Pulp and JB Music Store proved us all wrong that it's impossible this side of the world.

Truly Manila has become a metal stronghold!

Thanks to PULP for pushing the boundaries to open the floodgates of hell. Thanks to JB Music as well, but go fuck your know-it-all, pea brain clerks.

UFC 102 Randy Couture Entrance - Livewire

Face it, brothers, there is not one venue, save an actual live concert where we feel the electricity of heavy music in motion. Well the next best thing to a live performance for me are fight entrances in the MMA.

Anderson Silva may be the best fighter out there today but he just cant kick it off gettin into my nerves with his DMX innuendo. But Rich Franklyn, in their last encounter, sure perked the crowd up with Welcome To The Jungle. Some I recall using Aerosmith songs and Brock Lesnar even made use of Enter Sandman- whether he pulled it off its up to you.

Randy Couture's much awaited match with Nogueira had me waiting for Back In The Saddle as it was the last I remember of him. I was wrong to think he'd stick to that. The moment they hit the lights, I heard one favorite bass line, AC/DC's Livewire!!!

Though not the best of song from The Thunder, I've grown to love Livewire seeing the young members play it in VH1 documentaries and Jewels. It has that escalating feel in which the song seems to grow till it hits you in the nuts full blast.Even better with Angus, if seen in performance, suddenly breaking loose by way of His trademark Walk.

That sort of 'escalating feel' seemed to work out for Couture's entrance. It was so perfect that one would think it was almost choreographed! From the bass line intro he was waiting in the dug out, to the guitar part he started walking, then round the corner explodes the main riff! It was in this part of the song you'd see Randy headbangin discreetly, nevertheless feeling the moment. Then, as he came out of the tunnel and into the crowd pops the first verse "wel if youre lookin for trouble, im the man to see..' Now he points his index finger up and the crowd goes wild! As if it would end with that, he got into the cage with the song's 2nd riff, the faster one which preludes the solo!

I may be the die hard ac/dc thunderhead, but go check all the you tube posts and tell me what's the big deal.

Charm City Devils - Let's Rock N Roll!

I have to hand some credit to my glam rock lovin' friend Harry. His conviction to keep it conservative in music left me a link to the old ways. That is not to say I've been busy searching for New Wave Of American Metal stuff, but the deal is that you can comb all forums in the net and not be directed to any worthwhile material. Funny thing is, all these crazy sites are poppin' out of the woodwork to 'bring metal to the masses' while most metal sub genres are now getting heavier- albeit all in the wrong directions. Case in point, copycats of the already ridiculous Scandinavian extreme metal.

Chickenfoot was as well brought to my attention through Harry's research. Though I might have seen its big banner in the local music bar (which I now regret not buying the real deal cos its got sum big poster freebie!), it was handed to me in a what-can-you-say-bout-this manner as the stuff was playing. With it, are bands relatively new to the scene: Endeverafter, Beautiful Creatures and Charm City Devils.

Hailing from Baltimore is this new bunch of recent recruits to the Nikki Sixx fold via The Eleven Seven label. Also they were billed in for the second round of Crue Fest mayhem (get the glam connection?) which I firmly believe will be less visible to me on the dvd cover having seen Drowning Pool and Godsmack! I think I've seen Papa Roach somewhere there as well..

Nevertheless, go troop down to wherever you get your cd's or mp3's and hear all tracks from this magnificent album. 'Let's Rock N Roll' is sure to grab you by the balls as it is one solid hard rock offering we've come to love before. It may not be that complex hard rock, but its not as basic as usual 1-4-5 blues. It sure has got the energy of the old guard, and more importantly, the reckless abandon of real rock n roll.

It's got some good hooks too, if that's what you're waiting for me to say!

Emerson Knives and Emerson Brand Apparel- all about Rock!

Lest I be a Ted Nugent mockery, I said I wont post here any of my other leisure pursuits parallel to this music I embrace. If you drop in on Ted's website you will see that there are two portals you are given entrance to - Skip to Rock N Roll or Skip to Hunting. Truly he has made a statement to his fans of how his love for both of those passions is in equilibrium.


Problem is, though Hunting may be an all-American culture, it's not all Rock N Roll. So is the love for guns, or any firearm for that matter. Now I am left to ponder on what other passion, hobby or lifestyle is on the same page with heavy music.


Tattoos- definitely in sync with rock n roll. It is ours and ours to love. Regardless of how many rappers rip those old english characters and make ghetto statements out of it, the ridicule is upon them. The tattoo culture is not closely related to us, it IS us. Period.


Surfing? Not so. Billabong may throw in some skulls or gothic script here and there, but it appeals only to a select few. Most surfers, usually the hard core ones, are only into surfing.


Mixed Martial Arts? about 95% metal. Megadeth plays on Affliction fight nights, and the crowd are all up on those devil horns like the UFC is some Iron Maiden concert. The shirts, the skin art. Metal.


Harley and the biker life? Without a shred of doubt.


Knives? Not merely. But there's this one brand I got hooked into recently that is so undeniably Rock N Roll.


Enter Emerson Knives. Recently the cutlery world is rocked on its edges as this particular brand introduced the patented waive feature (a hook that snags the side of your pocket as you pull the folder out, instantly opening it) and a world-class 'built like a tank' craftsmanship. Knife enthusiasts are now flocking to the Emerson booths on conventions, leaving the other giants like Benchmade and Spyderco almost unattended. They all want a piece of the custom-made ones. And they all want to meet Ernest Emerson.

The charismatic CEO is not only a knife maker but is also known as a top martial arts instructor, Defense contractor and a musician. In the Emerson myspace account, the music slate states "rock and anything that rocks hard!" Like, hell yeah! The music player as well on top of the profile has AC/DC's Rock N Roll train playing the last time I checked it. And I noted too on Wiki that he's now making custom guitars.
He then released a series of t-shirts, dubbed Emerson Brand Apparel, to promote his works, maybe his music in mind as well.


All the designs you can wear as you play on stage, or in attendance to a heavy metal slugfest.















The shirt design shown below (read front: it's only rock n roll , back: but I like it) even had a narrative of how much Mr Ernest loves this music. In his website he stated 'I am a Rocker and will always be till the day I die..'















On the media page, they basked on the glory and how thankful they are in a photograph sent to them as Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God wore them loud and proud in the Hell Or High Water shirt:







Another shirt design newly added to their line up cant be more rock n roll than anything your imagination can get a hold of:

Chickenfoot - another smash collaboration!

Ever wonder, with the recent Van Halen reunion tour, whats been brewing in the Hagar camp? As you may have gotten word that it was the Guitar God's son Wolfgang who played bass on that tour, also you may speculate that original bassist Michael Anthony may have been busy with other projects. In actual fact Hagar and Anthony had joined forces to create what may be dubbed as a super group. Along with Red Hot Chili Peppers skinman Chad Smith and of course virtuoso Satch on the axe. You heard me right. The Satch Joe Satriani is back and this time he's in a real band albeit not a tour stint with Deep Purple. This is as real as it gets and you can check all their vids on You Tube.


Shredders beware! Though personally I'm quite having a spin of fun with this offering, it fell short of the expectations of some of my more 'technically gifted' friends. For what particular reason I cant fully grasp yet- I was more interested with the riffs and hooks so maybe, just maybe, it has something that has got to do with the solos. Im having a blast anyway, so grab a beer and do try listening to it as well! Ill bet my bottom peso there's not one track you'll skip in this whole record.


Here's one at The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Notice how they brandish that insignia in their instruments. Like they're in some serious gang! Man I hope they last. By the way, Chad's shirt says 'i am not will ferell' HAHA!

Viva Les Paul

" Les Paul died Thursday of pneumonia. He was 94. "

Just got word on this right after I had uploaded the blind man video. Checked it at CNN.com and indeed it was an acrimonious truth.

As my first entry was a saved file, I reasoned I should put the original date. I could have raised that goblet to Les Paul had it not been a drafted one. Stretching my guilt further was another window open as I was doing that first entry- checking out a new Fender! It was a 'Road Worn' Strat that my brother was showing me in all its beat up glory. But man, that's a tale or another day.

Les Paul was 94, but I'm not one to say 'old enough'. The worst comment you can ever get from someone 'bout your granny who passed away will be that. You need not be Plato to rationalize on that. Hell, Les Paul could have lived to a hundred! But being the genius that he is- gracing us the sound and images from Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Slash- I bet he'll live hundred years over.

So cheers mate.

Long Live Heavy Music!!!

Aug 13! Happy Anniversary UP Beta Sigma Fratenity Los Baños Chapter! Yeah its already 59 years of being the most bad ass berserkin cowboys in Sin City campus!!


HaHa!

Raise your goblets, dear brothers, and celebrate the vibrant longevity of the existence of the music we so dearly love!

Let this be the portal of all those who are lost in search of good heavy music. Be it classic rock n roll or the new wave of american heavy metal, it is now my resolution to share with you every band or project I will come across as I continue to explore what popular music cant provide us. May this also be the venue for which I shall scream, in all glory of the devil's horns, what new music I have synced since the journey of my iPod updating has begun. Just so I can slim it down a bit, the genres I will be attempting to cover are only those that trudge along the conservative line of rock and metal- nothing way out of the league that has brought us those stupid turntables and geek sensibilities. Also I will throw in some REAL Filipino "Pinoy" Rock treats as this is my homegrown screech of rebellion. While chunks of everyday annoying stories shall serve as the fuel for this inspiration of anger!

As music video channels and most radio stations have stopped their selfish jumping on the bandwagons of hard rock and heavy metal, I, along with other defenders of the faith, have been relentlessly communicating about what we've been listening to recently. While the means of how we discover such bands may be nothing special, this site may save you the hassle of searching, and worse, the crap of seeking other listener's opinions unworthy of your time.


Ain't no better way to start this than with Black Stone Cherry's Folklore and Superstition.



I must shamefully admit that I had stumbled upon this great record in a music store. In a scruffy little corner of 'new releases' (used to be a whole floor of only 'rock' category shelves in the early to mid-nineties, later decreased to 'pop/rock' and now what?) along with revitalized remnants of the almost rudimentary nu metal terminology- 3 inches of blood, Disturbed, Mudvayne - this cover easily snagged my periphery and the subconscious of a classic fanatic. Except that it's not all classic. Save me the arduous job of doing the Wiki work, you can do research and find these boys were'nt even born before '83. Yet the sound they have created is a coalescence of black crowes and black sabbath. Somewhere in between maybe, coz it ain't too laid back bluesey and not as dark and gloomy. I would best put it in the hard rock class, in all the grandeur of the southern US feel.

Hear them, for after all any genre is just an opinion. What may be metal to our old folks can just be plain ear candy to them Norwegians.



Here's "Blind Man" , which, I believe, is the video for the carrier single and the record's first track: