Weekly Dose of Metal: Sylosis

This week’s Dose of Metal is from the UK’s Thrash Metal act, Sylosis. Some of you with a good memory will remember I reviewed the band’s second album Edge of the Earth a couple of months ago, and I really enjoyed it.

The Weekly Dose of Metal this week is the song ‘After Lifeless Years’ taken from the band’s first album, the 2008 Conclusion of an Age.  This features an older lineup of the band, prior to the leaving of vocalist Jamie Graham. You can check out this awesome slab of Metal below.

The Velvet Metallica

Metallica have revealed a very special, secret, new album has been in the works, which guitarist Kirk Hammett allegedly hinted at a month or two back. If I still followed the band like a teenager follows a pair of breasts, then I may have known that.

So what’s the secret album? A collaboration with Dave Mustaine? A Big Four all stars album? A return to actually releasing decent Metal?

Nope, none of those things. It’s a collaboration album with Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed. Wow, sounds exciting…

The album as of yet does not have a release date. In addition, the majority of the music is apparently sung and written by Lou Reed, so please excuse me whilst I don’t give a rat’s ass. If you’re interested, more information can be found at Blabbermouth and Rolling Stones.

You can watch a video of Metallica performing with Lou Reed above. If it’s an indication of what the album will sound like, I won’t be checking it out.

Metallicanopoly available tomorrow

Personally, I preferred Alex’s title of MonopollicA, but I figured I’d go a different route. Metallica‘s special version of Monopoly will apparently be available to buy from tomorrow.

Will you sue Napster, and make millions (who cares if you lose a few fans along the way right?)? Or will you use the ‘Kill ‘Em All’ hammer and destroy your opponents? Or maybe you’ll pick up first prize in a beauty concert and pick up $100. The possibilities are endless!

Blabbermouth have more news and pictures. I’m just too busy laughing at how ironic this is.

Metal art

When Dose of Metal asked me to do a regular guest column, I was sort of at a loss. On one hand, I love to write (even though I’m a much better artist than writer), but I was having a really hard time trying to decide what to talk about. I don’t particularly have any earth-shattering opinions on metal, I don’t have a band, and I’m also not a writer for Cracked.com and I really don’t have the time to research bizarre factoids and top 10 lists. So really, the only solution that I could think of that I know something about is art; heavy metal art specifically.

It’s not an industry that I am a seasoned veteran of, but I have been a professional artist in some capacity for about 11 years now. I remember what it was like to be 15 years old and see my favorite album cover, book, or comic and say to myself “I want to do that more than anything in the world”. So what I will talk about from here on out will most likely be less about “What’s your favorite metal album cover of all time?” and more about “How the hell do I get in touch with a band?” or “No one is writing me back! Does my portfolio suck?”. So if you are an artist aspiring to be in the heavy metal album cover industry (or maybe even not so specifically heavy metal, but any art industry), I think you will enjoy this column.

For my introductory article, I am going to start fairly simple and show you a little bit about who I am and how I approach a painting. And let’s get something straight here; yes, I am a digital painter. No, there is nothing wrong with that. There is a bad rap for digital artists that I see out there sometimes and it’s all bullshit. Someone who is lazy in Photoshop would be just as lazy with real paint. Photoshop (or any other program) is just another tool and in the hands of an experienced artist, he or she should be able to create something with the same amount of emotion as real paint. In a later article I will touch on this more, but for now let’s get to the art… After the jump.

Interview with the ‘Metal as F*ck’ Nergal

SoundShock.com conducted an interview at Metal Hammer’s Golden God Awards with ‘Metal as F*ck’ winner, Nergal of Behemoth. You can view a video of the interview above.

Nergal discusses the possibilities of a new album, and his health improvements. It’s great to see the Behemoth frontman looking and sounding absolutely great. He truly is deserving of the ‘Metal as F*ck’ title, apart from me maybe, because I’ve never won anything in my life 🙁