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Q&A with Guitar Hero's Marcus Henderson
The man behind the game's earthshaking fretwork talks about his excellent punk-metal band Drist, and gives us exclusive dirt on the much anticipated Guitar Hero 2--all while tackling songs like "Godzilla" and "Frankenstein" in expert mode.
The man behind the game's earthshaking fretwork talks about his excellent punk-metal band Drist, and gives us exclusive dirt on the much anticipated Guitar Hero 2--all while tackling songs like "Godzilla" and "Frankenstein" in expert mode.
The 404 444: Where we tell a Brutal Legend of Uncharted waters
Get ready to have your faces melted, because Brutal Legend finally comes out today for XBox 360 and the PS3. To quote Jeff, the game is a "metal fan's absolute fantasy come true." It stars Jack Black as the voice of Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a metal band that must fight off metal-infused demons to save the world.
?The intensity. The drama. The emotion. The colors. The darkness. The melodies. The anger. The honesty. The drive. The new. All of the above and more.? According to Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor, those are the things that define Stone Sour?s passionately pulsing second album, Come What(ever) May (Roadrunner). Stone Sour?s first album in four years finds the band firing on all cylinders, and primed to capture the attention and the hearts of the rock ?n roll masses.Stone Sour?s self-titled debut was twice Grammy-nominated and RIAA Certified Gold. It was an eclectic album, propelled by the band?s busy tour schedule, the contemplative smash single ?Bother,? and a series of groovy, melodic metal numbers. In 2002 and 2003, Stone Sour established itself as a multi-faceted hard rock force of nature.While Taylor is one of the most recognized figures in rock music, thanks to his role as the frontman for Slipknot, a Grammy winning, multi-platinum act, Stone Sour is anything but a side project. It?s a full-time band that all members are fiercely dedicated to. Taylor spent much of 2004 and 2005 supporting his other band, but will spend 2006 and 2007 focusing on Stone Sour and Come What(ever) May. Also comprised by guitarist James Root, who does double duty in Slipknot, bassist Shawn Economaki, guitarist Josh Rand and new drummer Roy Mayorga, Stone Sour is armed with an album that expands beyond the palette of its predecessor. The band was afforded more time to craft songs, and it shows. The album, produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver), is tight, crisp, and full of rowdy rockers and melodic numbers.?With Stone Sour, I loosen up and show more of myself,? Taylor reveals. ?As soon as the fans hear this new record, they?ll see it?s different than anything that we have ever done. It gives me a chance to do the singing that I love to do, the type of singing that I do when I?m walking around my house.? Taylor, a self-described extrovert, may be the mouthpiece for Stone Sour, but he insists the band is a truly collaborative effort, and that?s something he thoroughly enjoys. ?I?ve been able to blend into the background if needed, you know? You grow up thinking being recognized all the time will be sweet, but sometimes you just want to be one of the guys. I think I balance it fairly well, without killing people.?Guitarist Josh Rand, who ran 3-5 miles a day during the recording process to clear his mind for each day?s highly creative atmosphere, believes that the diversity of Come What(ever) May, which features guest appearances from The Wallflowers? Rami Jaffee and Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin, will be what hooks fans, and what keeps them. ?This album?s content will fit any mood you may be in,? the guitarist says. ?If you?ve had a shitty day at work, you could crank ?Hell And Consequences.? If you need a little optimism, you could listen to ?Through Glass.? If you are feeling depressed, you could listen to ?Zzyzx Road.??Obviously, Come What(ever) May is a sensory experience, encompassing a wide spectrum of emotions. ?30/30-150? and ?Reborn? are bruisers that?ll get the blood coursing through listeners? veins, while the first single, ?Through Glass,? takes up real estate in your brain for days at a time, thanks its unforgettable melodic twists and chorus. Try and purge your brain of Come What(ever) May?s melodies, and you?ll fail miserably. Taylor concurs, ?So many bands are so genre-specific these days. No bands cover the middle ground. If they try, it?s lifeless and limp. Our album has such a pulse. The cool thing is that when we write stuff, it turns out catchy whether we want it to or not. It?s just something that we do.? He?s right. Crafting melody and mixing it with metallic maelstrom is definitely something that Stone Sour does better than most.Jim Root, who contends that ?life? itself influenced this album and who claims he consumed nerve-shattering, tooth-staining amounts of coffee during the recording process, sees Come What(ever) May as a necessary evolution in the band?s sound. ?We?re taking every aspect to the next level. As an artist, no matter what you do, you must evolve. That?s very important to me. Some people fear change. I embrace it. This record is a testament to where I am at, musically and spiritually. Life is a learning experience and so is song writing. As with everything I try to improve. I can sit back and listen to these songs and know that I have.?Taylor understands that as his career goes on, he will be less and less understood and he likes it that way. ?I?ve lost a little sleep over the fact that people don?t get what I do and how I do it. I do everything I can to entertain, educate and infuriate the status quo. If I give the mainstream a headache once in a while, that works for me.? It?s that attitude that attracts the disaffected youth, the kids, the anti-conservative thinker, as well as the casual rock fan to Stone Sour. ?I have a conscience,? Taylor says about his songwriting style. ?I have a respect for the music and I have an agenda. I have an individualistic mind to botch the ?product? mentality, and I am not out to further myself in a spotlight that knows no favorites. This could all be gone tomorrow. If all you?re doing is trying to build your Q points, what are you going to do when no one wants to see you anymore? At least I?ll be happy about the music I left behind.?The songs and music on Come What(ever) May ensure that Stone Sour?s legacy will endure for a long time to come.
In a world of bands where truth often gets bogged down in the mire of genres, trends and politics, Over it would like to think they have stayed afloat. Out of Orange County, California, by way of Alexandria, Virginia, they have taken in the road and a host of adventures, discovering the things they value most. For this band, what matters is the sincerity of every last one of their hundreds of performances, a personal connection with their fans, and the quest for the inspiring song. Over it lives for furious sounds and a hopeful future. Nearly five years ago in the Fall of 1998, chance drew the members of Over It together. Peter, Nick, Seth and James were four bright-eyed teenagers then, staring down the dawn of what was to become a dazzling, liberating vision. "Looking back, it seems ironic that music left such an indelible mark on the four of us," relates Munters, the group?s lead vocalist and guitar player. ?The suburbs offered us no big brother bands to emulate, and beyond the dark outskirts of DC no form of music-centered scene or shows really existed. Still, somehow the boys in Over It found and sought out the sounds that opened their minds to the possibility of music as a serious creative outlet. Recording and touring in support of their indie-released demo ep, "Over It" and a full length album, "The Ready Series" (both on Oakland?s Negative Progression Records) became more and more a priority for the band as they waited for Ulrich (drums, 20) to finish high school. So much that in the spring of 2001 Munters (22), Watts(21), and Bailey (21), already attending universities, decided to push their education to the back-burner, and persuade their youngest band-mate to wait for college, instead joining them in the full-time pursuit of their love for music. To this day, the band reflects on this decision as the most pivotal turning point in Over It?s story. "We were all good students, but distracted from our studies by the rewards we found in the studio and on the road," remembers Watts. "We just told one another that if we could survive as a productive force, hear our songs featured on dozens of compilations worldwide and find content at each day?s end, we owed it to the world to work fully toward a musical destiny." Following the release of their "Hindsight 20/20" ep in 2001, the band garnered the attention of Santa Barbara?s own Lobster Records, who recognized the bands unflagging work ethic and positive energy. Encouraging Over It to continue and amplify their rigorous touring and eventually relocate to the Southern California markets, Lobster helped spawn "Timing Is Everything", the band?s second full length, and most critically acclaimed work to date. Received by good press, and the approval of a growing fan base, the record propelled Over It through several national tours and two-week stints on the grueling and infamous Vans Warped Tour in both 2002 and 2003 (as well as ?04). ?Being on warped tour was all at one our greatest blessing and the most burdensome weight the band has carried," notes Munters. "We drove our van alongside the coaches of so many-of our idols, and touched base with more fans than we ever thought we would meet, working all day and driving all night to find as much as we could. It was truly a testament to how far a little dedication and sincerity can take four friends." Nearly three years later, the band is still full of wonder and grateful for the path they?ve traveled. None of us ever thought to just step up and live a dream, that?s just the way it keeps happening.
The Battles are almost a traditional rock set up. They deliver mind boggling poly rhythms, complicated time signatures and abstraction that crosses electronic and guitar band lines with intense and captivating power and force!
Death By Stereo "Desperation Train"
Balancing chaos and consciousness is no easy feat, and few bands will ever do it as well as Death By Stereo has on the astonishing new disc Death For Life. Brutal and brutally honest, the set's eleven songs come swinging at you like a bag of bricks as they embrace the extremities of hardcore and the fluid riffs of metal. "We fought it out and found out what we want to be," says vocalist Efrem Schulz. "We're still here, still fighting, still pissed and not pulling any punches. And while we may be into some pissed off music -- at the same time we want to party. We also love Van Halen. So why not let out all of this aggression and have a blast doing it? So many people are so uptight about mixing the two ideas." With that in mind, there is still no way to prepare for "Binge/Purge," a musical riot of a tune peppered with touches of melody and the tenacious, expressive guitar lines of Death By Stereo's Dan Palmer and Tito. "It's a song that deals with the world and all the bullshit that is constantly shoved down our throats," says Schulz. "Everyone feeds off of this violence, apathy and ignorance. We want to purge it all out." Crafted with the help of Avenged Sevenfold vets The Factory (the production duo of Fred Archambault and Bruce MacFarlane), Death For Life marks a new sound and dynamic for Death By Stereo. "Working with Fred and Bruce was the best thing that could have happened to us," Efrem explains. "They really cracked the whip and made us play better than we ever have."
Brutal Legend is the latest from legendary game designer Tim Schafer, who is responsible for such classics as Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. His latest adventure, undoubtedly the most mainstream yet, stars Jack Black as the voice of Eddie Riggs, a roadie for a metal band who finds himself transported to demonic, metal-infused world.
The world we live in is marked by disorder and chaos. Few things, if any, are certain. But then there is Type O Negative, the Brooklyn band whose been making a glorious, doom-caked racket for over a decade. With a sense of humor blacker than the clothing that the individual band members wear and a profound distaste and disgust for both humanity and political correctness, Type O Negative never changes with the times the times change with them. Marked by sharp wit and bouts of gloom 'n depression, Type O Negative continues to reward its listeners with what they have come to love and what they have to expect from the Brooklyn doom squad: a nihilistic world view, anthems of sex and death, and a blinding torch of well-placed hate. + LIFE IS KILLING ME It is Type O Negative's gothically tinged metal, reared on a steady diet of Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy, which never takes itself too seriously, that has garnered them critical and commercial success. 1993's Bloody Kisses was the first album to achieve Gold and Platinum status in the Roadrunner Records catalog. It's successor, 1996's October Rust, also went Gold, thus solidifying Type O's roots in the sediment of metal. Through it all, bassist/frontman Peter Steele still reminisces about his days as an employee of the NYC Parks Department, still lives in the same basement apartment in Brooklyn, still drives the same car, and still wolfs down TV dinners. And he and his cohorts still make bittersweet, head down hard rock.
From First To Last: "The Latest Plague"
?It?s one thing to play a certain type of music,? says singer Sonny Moore dismissively, ?but it?s another thing to have no originality.? This is not just another brash quote from a member of one of the only truly punk bands left, From First To Last. It?s actually more of a mantra. Because when the members of From First To Last?Moore, drummer Derek Bloom and guitarists Travis Richter and Matt Good?began recording their highly anticipated second album Heroine, the pursuit, above all things, was originality. Which, as one spin of Heroine attests, is what they?ve achieved. ?We are so pleased,? Moore says. ?Before we started, we all said, ?We?re not going to make this record unless it?s a record we truly love.? And we did. This is the first time I?ve ever been so proud of a piece of art in my life.? This didn?t happen overnight. Formed in 2002 by Richter and Good in their hometown of Orlando, Florida, it wasn?t until FFTL began recording their Epitaph debut Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count that the band?s line-up began to congeal. Living in Los Angeles and half-heartedly playing in another band, the then 15-year-old Moore decided to spend a few weeks with the band in Georgia, where they were recording their debut. His timing couldn?t have been better. Moore arrived just as Good and Richter parted with their original singer and they were in the process of filling in the vocal gap on their own. After hearing Moore singing backups in the studio one day, a decision was made: Moore was in. Perhaps unsurprisingly the remainder of Dear Diary came together almost as quickly. Good and Richter had written the album in two weeks; Moore completed his vocals in the same space. They were barely a band in some senses, but FFTL?s music caught on nonetheless. Due in large part to their constant touring schedule, including three consecutive Warped Tour runs, Dear Diary went onto sell over 100,000 copies. But beyond the album?s success was an often-unnoticed subtext. As Moore puts it on the album?s opening track, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, ?I?m glad you?ve graced me with your presence/You?re just in time to see me wrestle with my conscience.? Nevermind your broken heart. This was ?screamo? with wit.
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