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.