Death Magnetic: It Wasn't That Bad

If you haven't heard, Megadeth's new album Super Collider is going to be released soon and people have come to an agreement that it's almost as bad as their infamous 1999 album Risk. Have I personally heard either album yet? No, but the point here is to address a comment about Super Collider made by Metalsucks writer Axl Rosenberg. This is a quote from his recent review of the album:

The Appeal of Cheesy Music

Nation, I have to admit to all of you that I can be a pretty miserable person, given there is a considerable amount of shittiness happening around me. All I need to do is go on facebook and see pictures of a girl I like with another guy and BOOM! I'm miserable. These days, whenever I pass a graveyard and it seems strangely appealing to me, all I need to do is blast some Wu-Tang shit and I'll snap back into a neutral state. But it wasn't always that way. Up until recently, I would always gravitate toward songs like the one above whenever I felt like an emo pansy. I'd say this kind of 3rd-wave emo was ineffective in helping my mood at all, so why was I so attracted to it?

New Madvillain Album This Year?!

According to the fine fellows at Rhapsody, Madvillainy, the only album released by the hip-hop duo Madvillain so far (MC: DOOM, DJ: Madlib), is the greatest hip-hop album from the last decade. While I personally don't hold it to that level, and I don't even think it's the best thing DOOM has ever done (THIS is), I will admit that Madvillainy is one hell of a unique album and a feat of creativity in hip-hop. For me, it's like the Paul's Boutique of DOOM's discography; my favorite album is the one that came before it, but I have to recognize that the follow-up exists on a deeper level than its predecessor. But one thing that frustrates many hip-hop fans who drool all over this album's greatness is that it came out in 2004 and we haven't heard much from Madvillain since, minus some demo tracks released from the Stones Throw label a few years ago, so when will we hear anything new from this villainous pair?

Top 5 Reasons NOT To F*ck With The Wu-Tang Clan

Nation, I have to admit that I have a problem: I have Wu-Tang addiction. And will it subside anytime soon and allow me to take control of my life again? Maybe, maybe not. The “Shaolin Sound” produced by the RZA and the rappers who stomp all over it has become my obsession as is evident by looking at all of my school papers which are covered with the logo at the top of this post. "The Amazing Atheist" TJ Kirk said in a recent video that it's a good thing to have addictions, because if you don't, then you'll have nothing to fall back on. It's just a matter of choosing your addictions wisely. Is it wise to have become addicted to the Clan? I'd say so, because if I'm ever feeling lower than dirt I can just put on "Bring Da Ruckus", rock the fuck out, and I'll feel fine. 

Sacrificing Metal Identity? Why I Cut My Hair

For the third time now I have gone from looking like this:

to this:

Every time I've done it, I cause everyone around me to ask "why?", and every time I've done it I end up choosing to grow it out to its old length. A year and a half later and, boom! I'm a metalhead again. But this time I'm going to consider keeping my head well shorn, maybe forever. For so long it has been part of my heavy metal identity to sport this look, but recently I've been finding myself drifting away from this identity altogether.

The "La Villa Strangiato" Solo: Putting Most Guitar Solos To Shame Since 1978

(skip to 3:53)

There are just some things that I will never ever get tired of, maybe for as long as I live. Among those in that category include eggplant sandwiches, watching old episodes of Spongebob, masturbation, and, of course, listening to various versions of Alex Lifeson's "La Villa Strangiato" solo.

Tim Lambesis: Possibly F*cked

I am unashamed to say that As I Lay Dying holds a special place in my heavy metal heart, even though many trve kvltists would put them on par with a smelly, dying salmon flip-flopping on the shore and would put me on par with the mallcore kids for listening them. The truth is, they were the single solitary band to get me into extreme metal in the first place, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Jeff Hanneman - R.I.P.

Yesterday, the metal world lost another legend in the form of Slayer's Jeff Hanneman to sudden liver failure, coming as a surprise to me as well as the collective heavy metal community. Some are speculating that his liver failure may have something to do with a nasty spider bite he got in 2011, but as of right now nothing has been officially disclosed. He didn't quite have the celebrity status of second lead guitarist Kerry King, but everyone needs to remember that it was Hanneman, not King, who wrote all your favorite Slayer songs, chiefly, that one little song called "Raining Blood" which was the first Slayer song I ever heard as a kid.

Commercial Radio: STOP LISTENING

Commercial radio is pretty much irrelevant in the world today because of how readily new music can be found on that cool new place called the interweb (or is it the webbernet? I can't remember what it's called) and now people can easily bypass annoying songs they don't like by simply plugging in their iPods into their cars and and setting them to shuffle mode, and in the case of my iPod, that's over 6,000 songs resulting in the best radio station in the fucking world with no chance of hearing another Rise Against song - and no commercials! Besides the commercials, another common complaint about modern radio is a lack of sonic variety. On top-40 pop radio, this is unavoidable. I've been in the unfortunate position of being in a car with a mainstream friend with the radio set to the pop station and having to listen to the same songs being played every hour, and some twice in one hour. I'd rather have someone pour a bucket of bat guano all over me than go through that miserable experience again.