Interview: Rikki Rockett of Poison

They may use a little less makeup and hairspray these days, but not much else has changed about Poison.

The band's recently-released ninth album, "Hollyweird," is full of the same glitzy, hard rocking, three-chord anthems to hedonism that brought Poison three multi-platinum albums and a string of Top 40 hits in the late 1980s and early '90s. Drummer Rikki Rockett says the band wouldn't have it any other way.

"We've definitely stuck to our guns," Rockett said. "Poison is Poison no matter what else is happening. I don't want to follow trends, because you can't keep up with them anyway."

Rockett said their unflinching commitment to making the music only Poison can make is what has allowed them to continue to tour arenas and amphitheaters long after many of their contemporaries from the '80s have fallen into obscurity.

"You get to a point in your career where you surpass trends - like the Rolling Stones," Rockett said. "I'm not saying we're ever going to be the Rolling Stones, but we aspire to go to that level."

Poison hit the road recently with three other bands from the 1980s - Cinderella, Faster Pussycat and Winger.

It's Poison's fourth similar package tour in as many years. Rockett said the formula is working.

"People seem to love it, because they're familiar with a lot of these artists and a lot of their songs," he said. "There are a lot of newer acts I'd like to have on the road, but the way they're sold - it's a hard-sell. A lot of new music is shoved down your throat. With this tour, everyone knows the bands; everyone knows the songs. It's laid-back and we have fun."

But don't call it a nostalgia tour.

"People who say that are really overlooking the obvious," Rockett said. "We have a current record; we're playing new songs and old songs. We're a band with a history. A rock band that's out there making current records is not a nostalgia act."

Rockett said part of the problem is the perception that you have to be young to have validity as a rock band. He disputes that. He said he thinks a band really needs to show some staying power first.

"I don't want to be young forever; I'm really over the whole idea that you have to be a young band to have any kind of validity," he said. "I'm sorry, but Linkin Park doesn't have validity yet. They're making good music, but until you've done it for a while, how can you know what it's really worth?"

And what about that other term that often gets thrown in the face of 1980s rockers? Rockett said the words "hair band" really don't bother him anymore.

"If we're going to categorize like that, then we'd have to say a lot of the current bands are goatee metal," he joked. "On one hand, it's unflattering, but on the other hand, people have been trying to categorize us for years. First we were metal, then glam, then glitter metal, now hair metal. Everyone is striving to categorize. It's really sad that we just can't have music for people to enjoy."

No matter what you call them, Rockett said there's one thing that Poison will always deliver - a solid stage show. Since their early days, Poison has been known for their over-the-top pyro and light spectacles, and this tour will be no exception.

"If someone's going to make the effort to come out to a show, they really deserve something more than just us playing on stage," Rockett said. "Bands that do that just aren't working hard enough for me."

So far, fans have responded well to what Rockett calls an "old school" approach to the stage show. Their previous package tours have been successful, and he expects this one to do well also.

But will Poison ever enjoy the same kind of success they had in the '80s again? Rockett is not sure he wants that.

"It's a different kind of success we have right now; it's not for the moment," he said. "I'm really happy with how things stand. We have a career; we have a loyal fan base. I think we can do this for a long time. We're not the flavor of the month."

Review: Down, "II"

Almost six and a half years after their first album hit the shelves, metal supergroup Down is back with a new album and a new sound.

The New Orleans-based band features vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown of Pantera, guitarist Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity, guitarist Kirk Windstein of Crowbar and drummer Jimmy Bower.

The band's first album, 1996's "NOLA," was just what listeners might expect from bandleaders Anselmo and Keenan - a heavy blend of Pantera and Corrosion of Conformity. Despite the fact they only played 13 shows and got little or no radio airplay, the album took on a life of its own - selling a half-million copies by word of mouth.

Down's sophomore effort brings a little more to the table.

Even though they only have limited time to work together - "II" was recorded in 28 days - they've managed to find their own unique sound. With this album, they embrace the musical diversity of their native New Orleans.

Several songs seem a bit out of character for the band members, who all come from the heavier end of the metal spectrum.

"Learn From This Mistake" is a slow blues number, almost like a lounge tune. "Where I'm Going" is a laid-back twangy country blues song, and "Lies, I Don't Know What They Say, But…" is classy mix of soft jazz and Texas-style blues.

The strongest song on the album, "Stained Glass Cross," adds a heavy guitar to that mix. It's got a catchy, Southern-fried groove - with some tasty Hammond organ and a great lead break before the chorus.

Groove is the key word for "Down II." Almost every song on the album has it. For fans who are more interested in the heavy tunes featured on the band's debut, there's "Man That Follows Hell," "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" and "Dog Tired." All are crushingly heavy songs with down and dirty grooves.

Down's influences also play a very big role on their sophomore album.

The opening cut, "Lysergik Funeral Procession," is lifted straight from the Black Sabbath songbook, as is the chunky opening riff of "New Orleans is a Dying Whore."

They break out the Hendrix funk on the first single "Beautifully Depressed"; "Landing on the Mountains of Meggido" is an obvious homage to Led Zeppelin.

While most side projects are self-indulgent excursions with mixed results, Down doesn't fit that mold.

In fact, these metal all-stars have combined to produce an album that outshines the recent releases of their regular bands. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for them.

Review: Beyond the Embrace, "Against the Elements"

Not so long ago, the extreme metal genres were all about speed and intensity with little attention paid to melody or song structure. Fast and complex was all that mattered. Then along came bands like In Flames and Soilwork that took the aggression of Swedish death metal and added depth and melody.

Following in that tradition - and building on it - comes Beyond the Embrace. On their debut album "Against the Elements," the Massachussets sextet takes the Gothenburg sound and Americanizes it with some very good results.

"Against the Elements" is reminiscent of Fear Factory's early work. It features heavy, pummelling songs, punctuated with ethereal, melodic interludes. The transition here is much smoother and more natural, though.

The triple guitar attack of Alex Botelho, Jeff Saude and Oscar Gouveia, provides a thickly layered backdrop for vocalist Shawn Gallagher, who alternates between the standard extreme metal shrieks and growls, and more impressive, mournful vocals. Drummer Mike Bresciani and bassist Adam Gonzales are not flashy players, instead they're the workhorses of the band, laying down a solid foundation for the rest.

There's even a commercial turn or two on the album, though they're brief. The punk-influenced "Mourning in Magenta" convinces the listener that Beyond the Embrace could be part of the new crop of MTV-friendly metal. The band quickly disabuses listeners of that notion with the next song "Compass," a high-speed assault on the ears that brings to mind early Slayer and Morbid Angel.

That sets the tone for the rest of the album, which features solid slabs of metal like the title track and "The Bending Sea." That said, the arrangements on songs like "Rapture" and "The Riddle of Steel" show far more thoughtfulness than normally found in this brand of music and raise Beyond the Embrace to another level.

Sandwiched in the middle of the album is the melancholy instrumental "Drowning Sun" which showcases the bands musicianship at lower speeds.

If you like your metal fast and heavy, but with a strong melodic sensibility, Beyond the Embrace delivers.

Get "Against the Elements."

Interview: Brent Muscat of Faster Pussycat

It's been a while since Faster Pussycat played the larger venues, but that's about to change.

They'll be hitting the road with Poison and Cinderella for the "Hollyweird" tour. which crosses the U.S. in the next few months.

After building a solid fan base in the 1980s with songs like "Bathroom Wall," "Poison Ivy" and "House of Pain," the members of Faster Pussycat went their separate ways in the early 1990s.

But last year, founding members guitarist Brent Muscat and vocalist Taime Downe put the band back together and hit the road. Muscat says they felt the time was right for the band to reunite.

"I never really wanted to break up, but the other guys wanted to do their own things for a while," says Muscat. "We got together last year, and it was great. I think the timing is right."

During their time away from Faster Pussycat, Muscat and Downe did different things. Downe formed the experimental industrial band the Newlydeads, while Muscat worked with L.A. Guns and some smaller bands. Muscat says during much of that time, he was in bands that toured on low budgets. So, for him, it's nice to be back in Faster Pussycat.

"For me, last year was a piece of cake after going out in a small van and having to haul my own equipment," he says. "That was hard for me, because I was used to having nice buses and road crews."

Muscat says he's excited about the upcoming outings with Poison, because Faster Pussycat hasn't been on a big tour in more than a decade. But he says it will be even better for the band's three newest members.

"For the new guys, it's really exciting," he says. "Last year was the first time some of them had ever been on a tour bus. Now they're going out with Poison for a big summer tour - and summer's the best time to be on the road."

But don't expect a retro-'80s show from Faster Pussycat.

"If people come to the show expecting to see a nostalgia act, they're going to be disappointed - we've got some surprises," says Muscat.

"We're not whipping out the old velvet suits and scarves we used to wear. I think that's one reason Poison wanted us on the tour. We've known each other from back in the day, and they always knew we'd do something unexpected."

In addition to the big shows, Faster Pussycat will be working overtime to try to reconnect with their fans. If the tour is taking a break, they'll be playing a smaller venue somewhere. On some nights, they'll even be playing two shows.

"While we're on the Poison tour, we'll be getting offstage, driving for a little while and playing another show that night," he says.

"We've been out of the public eye for a long time, and I definitely think this tour will help us connect with our fans again. We're getting a lot of e-mails at our Web site (www.fasterpussycat.com) from people who are excited to be able to see us."

Muscat says he doesn't want to try to predict the future, because in the music business anything can happen. But he hopes that once this tour is over, the band can record a new album.

"I think this tour is going to raise our profile, and that will be the best time to go in and make a record," he says. "It would have been nice to have a new album before going on this tour, but you want to do it at the right time. You don't want to push things."

Muscat knows that not everyone will be happy to see Faster Pussycat again. But that doesn't really bother him.

"Faster Pussycat has always been a band where people love you or hate you," he says, "And I kind of like it that way."

Review: Coal Chamber, "Dark Days"

Coal Chamber's self-titled 1997 debut put them on the front lines of the first wave of the music that has come to be known as nu-metal.

The percussive sounds and grunting vocals were just beginning to catch on - and here was a band that nailed the vibe so many others were going for.

Their 1999 release "Chamber Music," though it did contain an interesting cover of Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" featuring Ozzy Osbourne, didn't really break from the sound. Now, the band has unleashed its third studio album, "Dark Days."

Again, not much has changed. Though they've continued to build on it in small ways, the music is basically the same as it has been for the past five years.

On this record, the band showcases both the best and worst that nu-metal has to offer.

It gets off to a promising start with the first single "Fiend." This song is as good as anything happening in any kind of metal today. It's a heavy tune, laced with catchy hooks - a song that makes you want to pump your fist in the air and sing along at the top of your lungs.

"Glow" keeps things going in the right direction. It's another catchy song with a chorus that gets stuck in your head - and some interesting background sounds into the mix.

The rest of the album follows through with solid guitar riffs and hummable melodies. So what's the problem? The same one that plagues so much of nu-metal. An awful lot of it sounds the same.

For every standout song like "Watershed" and every dark melody like the title track, there's another tune that makes the listener say, "I've heard this a dozen times before."

After a very strong start, the last half of "Dark Days" tends to run together in your head.

There are interesting bits and pieces in many of the songs - like the Primus-like sounds in "Alienate Me" - but for the most part, they begin to sound the same after a while.

Tunes like "One Step" and "Drove," while not bad, sound like any of a dozen or more bands that are playing the same style of music. On much of "Dark Days," there's nothing that distinguishes Coal Chamber from the rest of the pack.

That said, the album isn't bad. The songs are solid and there are moments where the band really shines. But at the same time, there's nothing about this record that will wow the listener. It's basically a workhorse album - serviceable, but not very flashy.

While "Dark Days" shows that nu-metal does have the potential to be good metal, it also leaves part of me longing for the days of "old" metal - the days when you could tell bands apart without having to check the CD label.

Get "Dark Days."

Interview: Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth

For a decade, the power metal outfit Iced Earth have stayed true to their roots while the music scene changed around them.

Their sound - which mixes the precise lightning-fast riffing of early Metallica with the melodic sensibilities of bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest - has taken a backseat to grunge and nu-metal on the hard music scene. But now, they're hoping to step up to the big leagues.

Iced Earth has recently released a boxed set, "Dark Genesis," which features remastered versions of their first three albums, their original demo "Enter the Realm" and a set of cover tunes from some of their biggest influences - including Iron Maiden, Kiss, Alice Cooper and others.

The band is on the second U.S. leg of their tour in support of the 2001 release "Horror Show," a concept album based on classic horror movie monsters and a few from the real world. Guitarist and bandleader Jon Schaffer says the album is a return to roots.

"The horror theme goes back to the early days of the band," he says. "When I was a teen-ager, one of the things I wrote about most was horror movies. When the band got signed, I moved away from that. This was a kind of return to roots, lyrically and musically as well. There are a lot of elements from the first three albums on `Horror Show.'"

One song that doesn't seem to fit on the album is "Ghost of Freedom," a powerful song from the viewpoint of a soldier who has given his life for his country.

The song has taken on new meaning since Sept. 11, but it's not the first patriotic song the band has done. Their 1998 release "Something Wicked This Way Comes" included a song called "1776."

Balancing patriotism with a largely non-American audience can be a challenge, Schaffer says.

"We've always been a patriotic band, but I was always kind of reluctant to show it in the music," he says. "There are a lot of places around the world that are not America-friendly.

"The first time I did it was on `1776.' It's an instrumental, but there are some very patriotic themes in it. Every American who sees that title, will know what it's about. We just took it one step further on `Ghost of Freedom.'"

Schaffer says much of his patriotism stems from seeing what life is like in the rest of the world.

"Touring the world in the last couple of years, I've grown to really appreciate what we have here," he says. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people (complaining) about America when they have no clue. I wish more Americans would visit other places, so they could see just how good we've got it."

Despite his patriotic stance, Schaffer's homeland hasn't always been as good to him as other places in the world. Iced Earth fans on the European tour got a blistering, nearly three-hour set in a packed arena with elaborate stage designs and theatrical elements. In America, they play on cramped stages in small clubs, with a much lower budget.

"I really wish we could bring (the show) to the States, and we will be able to some day," he says. "Our history is in Europe. We've been touring Europe since 1990, and the status of the band is 10 times bigger there."

The reason for the difference, he says, is the way the American music market is set up. The problem for Iced Earth is that many fans just don't know about the band and its music.

"It's controlled by dollars,"Schaffer says. "Here in the States, the way to promote your band is through radio and MTV, and that costs big, big, big money. Over there, the support of the underground is what makes you."

As far as today's American metal scene goes, Schaffer says he hasn't heard much of it - and what he has heard doesn't appeal to him.

"If you're talking about nu-metal, I think that stuff's a joke," he says. "Metal to me should be very intense, very powerful, very dark and also very melodic. Unfortunately, I think that's typical of our society, flooding the market with a trend."

Schaffer is interested in doing something more ... interesting.

"I think we've got a lot more work to do before we reach the arena level in the U.S., which is our goal," he says. "But I'm sure whatever ends up happening, it's going to be a big step forward."

Review: The Crown, "Crowned in Terror"

Take the early sounds of Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, throw them in a blender and turn it on the fastest speed. What comes out will probably sound a whole lot like The Crown.

"Crowned in Terror" has gotten a very positive reception in the extreme metal community, and it's easy to see why.

The band launches a full-out assault from the first cut, the title track. Guitarists Marko Tervonen and Marcus Sunesson alternate between edgy Slayer-like licks and chunky thrash riffs, while the vocals of former At the Gates screamer Tomas Lindberg shred the listener's eardrums.

The strength of "Crowned in Terror," though, is the foundation the music is built on - the drumming of Janne Saarenpaa.

Saarenpaa's skill and stamina is undeniable, and the listener can't help but be impressed when he cuts loose. But it's that same skill that causes a problem. There's a temptation to make the drums the featured instrument.

On songs like "Speed of Darkness," there are spots where the drums take over and drown out everything else. That's a shame, because some of those songs have a lot going for them.

But for every one of those, there's an "Under the Whip" or "Out for Blood," where Saarenpaa's furious double-bass attack lays the perfect foundation.

Surprisingly, the band really shines when they throttle down, though.

The slower riffs are crisp and impressive with a classic metal sound. One of the strongest songs on the album is also the slowest, "World Below." The tune chugs along at a pace that's practically lethargic by comparison, but displays some of the band's tightest musicianship.

Overall, "Crowned in Terror" is a solid album, but it is admittedly an acquired taste. The Crown is certainly not for everyone.

Get "Crowned in Terror."

Review: Arch Enemy, "Wages of Sin"

While the hard rock and metal arena has become more open to female performers over the past two decades, the more extreme end of the spectrum has still been pretty much an all-boys club - until now.

When Arch Enemy vocalist Johan Liiva departed, the band raised some eyebrows by choosing a woman, Angela Gossow, as his replacement. In a press release, guitarist Michael Amott said the choice was a no-brainer.

"She's really one in a million, musically, as well as visually," Amott said.

On receiving their new album "Wages of Sin," my first thought was, "a death metal band with a female singer, that's a great gimmick." Then I popped the CD into the player. About halfway through the opening song "Enemy Within," my opinion changed.

Gossow is the real deal. Not only does she kick the door down for women in extreme metal - she stomps that sucker into splinters and starts a raging bonfire with it.

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, one of the leading metal magazines, said of Gossow, "Her performance is nothing short of staggering, giving many of her peers serious competition if not putting them to shame entirely." I can't disagree.

Arch Enemy's sound could probably best be described as progressive death metal. That may sound like a contradiction until you hear how the ethereal opening lead and dark grinding verse of a song like "Shadows and Dust" work together.

Musically, the band has more in common with early Dream Theater than Slayer, but Daniel Erlandsson's furious double-bass drumming and Gossow's feral snarls are pure death metal. Their arrangements are satisfyingly complex, but still unrelentingly heavy.

Songs like "Heart of Darkness" and "Ravenous" are burners that show the incredible technical prowess of the band, but they're also shot through with intriguing, catchy melodies and musical hooks. Soft, but dark interludes - like the opening of "Enemy Within" and the instrumental cut "Snow Bound" - are sprinkled liberally throughout the album.

The most interesting songs on "Wages of Sin" come when the band throws the listener a curve. "Savage Messiah" opens with a twangy lick that sounds like it came straight out of an old Western movie. The main riff of the song shows shades of early thrash, with an artsy chorus and a classic-sounding twin guitar lead break. Likewise, the groove of "Behind the Smile" seems a little out of place, but it works well.

Even the obligatory death metal standards like "The First Deadly Sin" have melodic elements that set Arch Enemy apart from their peers.

If you don't believe girls can play extreme metal, give "Wages of Sin" a listen. It just might change your mind.

Get "Wages of Sin."

Review: All That Remains, "Behind Silence and Solitude"

I grew up on the first wave of extreme metal in the 1980s - bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica and others. But by the early '90s, Metallica and Megadeth had taken a commercial turn and most of these subgenres of metal had evolved into something that I didn't recognize as music.

At that time, it seemed to me that most of the new bands were less concerned with how their music sounded and more concerned with being louder, faster and more obnoxious than everyone else.

In the past few years, though, a new trend has pulled me back into the music on the more extreme end of the spectrum.

It's a brand of music that melds the new and old sounds. It's fast and heavy, but still very melodic.

One of the newest bands on this scene is All That Remains.

The influence of the pioneers of thrash and the New Wave of British heavy metal bands are obvious on this album. The twin guitar attack of Chris Bartlett and Oliver Hebert is more than a little reminiscent of classic teams like Judas Priest's Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing or Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Dave Murray.

"From These Wounds," one of the strongest performances on the album, really shows off the Maiden influence - and the guitar riff behind the solo seems to me an obvious homage to Metallica, circa "... And Justice For All."

The album also contains brief blasts of the frenzied insanity you'd expect, with 100 mile per hour drumming and grinding guitar riffs. But for every one of those, there's another, more surprising moment.

Take the the bluesy break in "Home to Me," the catchy - dare I say, funky - verse of "Follow" or the crushing, Sabbath-style riffs of "Erase."

Lyrically, the band sets itself further apart from its peers. They eschew the campy and often gory horror movie imagery of other extreme metal bands in favor of intelligent statements about love, loss, pain and anger - things that are real to listeners.

Even though they're delivered in the guttural growl that seems obligatory these days, the lyrics are almost poetic - even taking on Christian overtones "One Belief."

In fact, the vocals are my only problem with "Behind Silence and Solitude" - and it's not really a big one. Philip Labonte's growls are OK, but a more expressive vocal style might have elevated this album to the next level.

A voice that could really make me feel the emotions buried in these songs, would have made "Behind Silence and Solitude" easily one of the best metal albums I've heard in years.

As it stands, though, All That Remains is still one of the best extreme metal outfits going, and they offer hope for the future of the genre.

Get "Behind Silence and Solitude."