A Draft Page of Reviews!

3rd Times The Charm...

El magazine cover numero deux!

Just another random design cover.I was going to take the Metal Hammer approach and just keep the main focus on the cover star but thought it'd looks a bit too plain (took fucking forever to photoshop those pics together, even editing the band members to appear they're standing close together!) I've even changed the name of the magazine to 'Carnage' because I thought a one worded title would be better, plus more can be put on with a shorter title ;). Yet again some font issues yadda yadda yadda but its only another draft!

Mudvayne - Mudvayne (2009)

Releasing an album shortly after Christmas does seem to be an odd and extremely daft time. Even more tragic for Mudvayne, whose latest debuted at the lowly Billboard chart position of 49 in America (compared to 2005's Lost and Found which crashed into the charts at number 2). But does this poor timing account for the trigger aimed at Mudvayne? Or have they indeed shot themselves in the foot this time?

It was only the previous November that Mudvayne released The New Game, an album panned for its 'mainstream' ideas that fell short of what everyone expected from the band that dub themselves 'math metal'. Remarkably the Illinois quartet are back to represent their heaviest material in years. Sounding further away form the mainstream than ever before, Beautiful and Strange sets the ball rolling with a riff although not digestible for a radio-friendly audience but one that will be stuck in your head for sometime. Giving credit where its due New Game had its fair share of standout tracks but not a lot to call home about. A heavy dose of crunchy guitars and shredding bass drown the sorrows of Mudvayne's past mistakes, re-introducing a sound not heard as well since the LD50 era. There are no obvious stand-out tracks, which works in its favour as each track stands out in its own right, even the risky titled Heard It All Before. A thunderstorm of a song, with a gloomy intro that turns into an aggressive tirade of riffs exploding with the screams of vocalist Chad Gray sounding as angry as ever before. Even closing track Dead Inside is excusable as the aggression and the drive is there, even if it is merely an acoustic song. It ends with a similar soundbite heard in the opening, representing the full circle the band has come.

And so Mudvayne represents the bands return to their roots; the sound of a band yet again hungry. This CD could do for Mudvayne what Death Magnetic did for Metallica. It just goes to show the what great care that has been taken with this album and thats just in terms of production and musicianship so far. It has been heavily reported that the album has cleverly been released with an album sleeve with artwork only visible under black light. Expect the limited edition copies to be a must have for Mudvayne fans across the world but be quick! there's only 1000!

Personal favs: Beautiful and Strange, Heard It All Before, Scream With Me, 1000 Mile Journey, Dead Inside

Reviews TBD

Got a hold of some new albums I'm going to have a go at reviewing, some not long released, some yet to be released (not going to let on where I got them tho hehe) I'll put them up in the next few days but so far I'll be reviewing:

*Mudvayne (self titled) - Just debuted poorly on the Billboard 200 in America. Is it the staleness of the charts to blame? Or is the album in fact, crap?

*Puddle of Mudd (Vol.4: Songs in the Key of Love and Hate) - One of the bands whose career took off thanks to a number of things; their smash hit single 'Blurry' being on Limp Bizkit frontman's record label (Flawless Records) and the sceptical reason being that they took off on the the coat tails of the 'nu-grunge' trend pioneered by Stadium acts Nickelback and Staind. Last album Famous flopped, but judging by the lead single it looks like this may well be the final nail in the coffin. Only the rest of the album will tell if this will be the case

*30 Seconds to Mars (This is War) - Bravely touring UK arenas with this album next month Jared Leto and co. released their 3rd album several weeks back. So far I've only heard the first single 'Kings and Queens' and must say the optimism shows in its epic production. I look forward to hearing whether they are able to sustain interest with This is War.

New albums in 2010!

As its coming to the end of what has been one of the most exciting years for music I thought it would be a good time to look at what's in store for 2010! Several bands reformed this year, prompting the diehards to metaphorically whack themselves off with excitement. Faith no More probably being the biggest band to come back to the live circuit, performing an impressive set at this years Download Festival, which in turn prompted the organisers of the Reading/Leeds Festivals to book Mike Patton and co. to headline the Radio One stage. Sadly there is no news of a new album on the horizon, as bassist Billy Gould has said they are looking to tour the US pretty soon.

Jacksonville Nu-metallers Limp Bizkit reformed at the arse end of 2008 with original guitarist Wes Borland in tow, fully confirming their intentions to tour again earlier this year. After annihilating the crowds at Donnington (and shutting up the haters) Freddy D and his band made it known that they were back and intended on releasing one hell of a new album. Despite their past critical slaughterings they have earned deep respect this year from their past enemeies. Most surprising of all was NiN mastermind Trent Reznor, who even posted a picture of the band during their Sonisphere set at Knebworth on the official NiN website that same day. Sid Wilson of Slipknot has commented recently its good to see that they have reformed (giving the hostility Corey Taylor aimed at Fred Durst for his 'businessman' attitude, discarding any musicianship the red capped one may or may not have had). After several months of silence from the Limp Bizkit camp as they hammered away in the studio the first details of the new album were leaked by the frontman himself.

"The name of the new Limp Bizkit album is Gold Cobra. We will slowly be revealing the meaning of the title over the next few weeks. Cobras are quite venomous. I wish it were a much longer, more ridiculous title, but Gold Cobra is as ridiculous as we're going to get right now"

Gold Cobra? Is he serious? Well, with wes back on board, and that this must be the oddest choice of title since 2000's 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water' (the last full release with Wes not including 2005's 'The Unquestionable Truth E.P' we can only hope that this latest album is more well received than 'Results May Vary' one of the worst reviewed albums EVER on leading reviewer website Metacritic. I didn't find it THAT bad tbf.

After me declaring their latest album 'Crack The Skye' one of the greatest albums of the past decade (If you haven't checked it out yet, don't make me punch you) Atlantan prog-metal titans Mastodon have wrote the score to 2010 blockbuster 'Jonah Hex' not much information has leaked as of now whether it will be released as a full studio album or something just to tie in with the film. All that is known for now is that it is 'really fucking heavy' according to sources.

Blowing the minds of Australian audiences for the last few years. Newcomers Karnivool are bringing their latest album 'Sound Awake' to the rest of the world in February, after crashing into the Australian charts at number 2 this past summer. I had the chance to witness their debut UK performance on their tour with Skindred in October and only one thing can be said about the progressive rockers: The UK has been seriously missing out.

Here's the one I'm waiting for impatiently. The 5th studio album from Boston rock titans Godsmack! They're currently in the studio recording for a scheduled March/April 2010 release.

They released a new single this year entitled 'Whiskey Hangover' which has fast become another smash hit to add to the many notches on their singles belt. The song itself is very reminiscent of the first alb

um, but can we be expecting a similar sound to their multi-platinum debut? Word for now is that they intend to record around 20+ songs and whittle them down to around 11 tracks. Frontman Sully Erna has stated his thoughts on the direction of the new album on his Facebook page. 'It’s gonna be really heavy, I mean, it’s very aggressive. I think it’s going to be a lot more in your face. I don’t think there’s going to be any Voodoo's or Senerity's on this one. We decided to go balls out" I for one can't fucking wait!" Sully is also working on a song for Sylvester Stallone's new testosterone fuelled film The Expendables after Sly himself heard one of his solo tracks.

Recently on Twitter, Welsh metalcore outfit Bullet for My Valentine announced they had finished the recording process for their new as yet untitled 3rd studio release. It is now currently in the mixing progress and should be out in the first quarter of 2010. It's understood that the band have chosen to release a more hard rock sounding album as opposed to their more metal style.

Little information has been released for these albums as of late. but we are due new releases by:

Adema (Back with original forntman Mark Chavez)

Avenged Sevenfold

Blink-182

Deftones

Disturbed

Down

Good Charlotte

Iron Maiden

Judas Priest

KoRn

Linkin Park

Meat Loaf

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Seether

Stone Sour

Sum 41

Better Late than never: Rammstein - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da

Internal conflict has always played a destructive part in some of today’s biggest rock bands. Who can forget Metallica’s 2004 film Some Kind of Monster where rage-infested drummer Lars Ulrich screamed the word f*** in the face of a calmly sat James Hetfield. Germany’s finest export Rammstein are no strangers to bust ups, having nearly called it a day after 2001’s smash hit Mutter. 2004’s Reise Reise and 2005’s Rosenrot seemed patchy at best to others and the future of the industrial sextet looked in serious doubt. You would never have guessed what problems affected Rammstein when seeing their live shows. More pyrotechnics and fireworks than your average Bonfire Night the band appear to have a lot of fun on stage (almost too much fun with props such as squirting dildo’s and frontman Till Linderman’s persistence to faux sodomize willing keyboardist Flake) Album number six Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da (Love Is For Everyone), once again sees them sadly on the brink of collapse in the wake of what could be their finest album yet. The lead single ‘Pussy’, with the chorus ‘you’ve got a pussy, I have a dick, so what’s the problem? Let’s do it quick’ should be more than enough to tell you what is in store on Liebe Ist Fur All De. Catchy yet never losing its industrial vibes dancing isn’t even an option, it’s a necessity. Although for those who have seen the music video may choose to engage in something else besides dancing. In their 15 years, Rammstein have never been a band to shy away from controversy, they downright revel in it. So it only seems natural that they cover such subject as sex tourism and on ‘Wiener Blut ‘ the notorious Josef Fritzl. The overall musicianship demonstrates that Rammstein have chose to shy away from their industrial roots in favour of a more in your face metal sound. Although heavier than its predecessors there are the odd lighter moments. The fanfare introduction of Waidmanns Heil and the acoustic driven ‘Freuhling in Paris’ to name such a few. Considering their reputation it will be interesting to see how these songs transpire on their UK tour in February, a spectacle you’d be as mad as Rammstein to miss as this is a record destined for great heights and would be a shame yet a fitting tribute to Rammstein’s legacy if it were to be their swansong

Top tracks: Rammlied, Pussy, Fruling In Paris, Waidmanns Hell

Watch the video for 'Pussy' if you dare!