Saturday Shuffle: Soilwork, Tesla, Anthrax, Scatterbrain, Alestorm

Pretty heavy lineup this week -- some new stuff, some old stuff and ending with some fun ...


Soilwork, “Memories Confined.” From the album The Living Infinite (2013). One of the tracks from the mellower, more melodic side of last year’s Soilwork double album. It’s not really one of the more memorable, but it’s not bad, either.

Stuck in My Head: "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Word Crimes"

I was probably 12 or so when my family got cable TV for the first time. I believe that plan had 12 channels — which seemed like a wealth of content to someone who had previously only received three, or a fuzzy fourth when the weather was right and you adjusted the antenna to just the right spot.

One of those channels, at least for a little while, was HBO. In those days, HBO wasn’t stacked with as many promos for their stuff as regular TV was with commercials, and the network would sometimes play music videos between programs. It was there that I first discovered “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Still Spinning: Scatterbrain, "Here Comes Trouble"

What do thrash, Cheech and Chong, Mozart and some of the greatest riffs in hard rock history have in common?

This sadly forgotten gem of an album.

Scatterbrain arose from the ashes of singer Tommy Christ and guitarist Glen Cummings’ previous outfit Ludichrist with a more thrash feel and a bigger focus on humor. Yes, Here Comes Trouble is something of a novelty album, but the comedy is delivered over some pretty solid chops throughout.

If anyone remembers a song from this record, it’s likely the single and video “Don’t Call Me Dude,” a goofy but hilarious tune about a guy who snaps when his girlfriend leaves him for a burly lifeguard on the beach. The song goes through several movements, and the video follows, with the band mimicking various eras of rock ‘n’ roll from doo-wop to 1980s glam. It’s all a lot of fun, but like most of the rest of the album, the underpinnings of the song are very solid thrash licks.

Saturday Shuffle: Ozzy, Travis Shredd, Uncle Nuge, Benedictum, Down

A little flash, a little heavy and a little fun this week ...

Ozzy Osbourne, “Lightning Strikes.” From the album The Ultimate Sin (1986). I maintain that The Ultimate Sin is one of Ozzy’s most underrated records. As this song and the accompanying video prove, it’s a record very much of its time with all the glitz, glitter and sparkles of the mid to late 1980s, and yes, Ozzy looked ridiculous in those get-ups. But the record contains some really good songs for the style. If I’m being honest, I like it better than Bark at the Moon.

Review: Tenacious D, "Rize of the Fenix"

With album art that gives new meaning to the term “cock rock,” Tenacious D rises again from the ashes. With Rize of the Fenix, they’re destined to rule the rock world like the cocks of the walk. They release their inhibitions and rock out with their … OK, enough bad jokes about the cover.

It is, however, a near-perfect summation of what the team of Jack Black and Kyle Gass are all about. Crude? Yep. Juvenile? You bet. Hilarious? Most definitely. There’s also a devious intelligence in their lampooning of the rock-star attitude as they pay homage to some of the very people that they’re poking fun at and deliver songs that worm their way into your brain — despite your best efforts to keep them out.

Freebies: New music from the one and only Tenacious D

Take a listen to the title track from the upcoming Tenacious D album Rize of the Fenix below.
 

To stream the album in its entirety, head over to Guitar World.

Review: Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters, "Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free"

Ever ask yourself what Al Jourgensen, main man of industrial metal pioneers Ministry, would sound like if he decided to go country? Yeah, me either.

Sadly, Jourgensen has decided to answer that question for us with his side project Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters, which also includes Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Tony Campos (Static-X) and Mke Scaccia (Ministry/Rigor Mortis).

You can tell by the band name that Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free, out on AFM Records, isn’t exactly a serious country project. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work as humor and ends up sounding more like the joke band playing in the corner of a dimly lit dive bar in a Rob Zombie horror flick. Granted, that could have been interesting if done right. This isn’t.

Review: Alestorm, "Back Through Time"

I’ve developed a theory that you can’t stay angry or be in a bad mood while listening to Alestorm. In recent months, that theory has been sorely tested, but every time, the goofy Scottish pirates have managed to conquer my frustrations after a few songs. So, along comes their third record, Back Through Time, just in time. I’ve used “Keelhauled” on the drive home after work so many times it was starting to lose effectiveness, so I needed some fresh piratey sing-alongs, and this record delivers a treasure chest-load of them.

Best of '07: 8. Dethklok, "The Dethalbum"

It could be a sad statement when a cartoon band puts out a record that’s a lot better than much of the output of “real” bands in a given year. In the case of Dethklok, though, it’s not so bad. See, this band — the stars of Cartoon Network Adult Swim’s series “Metalocalypse” and self-proclaimed most brutal band in the world — has metal cred that most fictional bands don’t.

The flesh and blood musicians on the project are series creator Brendan Small, who handles vocals and most instruments, and veteran metal drummer Gene Hoglan, known for his work with Dark Angel, Strapping Young Lad, Death and Testament.

Hoglan’s resume brings credibility to the project, but Small is no slouch. While he pokes fun at the seriousness that metal fans and bands take the music with in “Metalocalypse,” Small obviously has a great affection for the music and a certain reverence for it that shows in the songs on “The Dethalbum.” Fans of metal will hear traces of other bands scattered throughout the songs on this record, the most notable and blatant being the Amon Amarth sounds of “The Lost Vikings.”

Small delivers lyrics that are sometimes cleverly satirical and sometimes just plain silly in the most serious growl of Dethklok vocalist Nathan Explosion. (He also takes a hard rock turn providing the vocals for Pickles the drummer on “Hatredcopter.”) While the lyrics are, for the most part, tongue-in-cheek takes on some stereotypical metal themes, the music is as solid as it comes. Check out the groove of “Bloodrocuted” or the massive slab riffs of the brooding “Go Forth and Die.”

Those who believe metal is a matter of life and death probably won’t get this record. For metal fans with a sense of humor about themselves and their favorite music, it’s great fun.

Get "The Dethalbum."

Get "Metalocalypse: Season One" on DVD.