Metal is epic

This morning, I was going through my usual routine of blasting some Metal music (a little Machine Head, a little Obituary) , and the thought came to me; Metal is epic. Ok, so that’s something we all know, but it’s true, it really is the best damn genre of music out there.

I do get sick of the constant prejudice I face on a day to day basis regarding the music I listen to. People seem to think Metal is some sort of monotonal, one dimensional, aggressive music that is marketed for predominantly white sub-urban, lower middle class teenagers. We all know that this is just not the case though. Metal is for everyone, and not just that, it is one of the most diverse, experimental, and progressive, inclusive genres of music that unites people of all walks of life. Just compare bands like Opeth to Machine Head, Between the Buried and Me to Amon Amarth, and Black Sabbath to Dream Theater, and you will see just a small part of what Metal has to offer.

Compare music to food, and Metal is like a fine meal. The mainstream music that is currently taking up the radio and music channels is like the McDonald’s or Burger King of music. It seems appetising, and “everyone” loves it, but in reality, the food is made up of mass-made, processed, manufactured cheap crap. Metal, on the other hand, is a fine meal. It’s made up of layers and layers of different flavors, each organically grown, and crafted with the finest care.

It seems ridiculous, when you think about it, that the mainstream constantly refuses to acknowledge real Metal and Rock music, when the three of the strongest selling artists right now have got to be AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Metallica. No, not Lady Gaga, not Katy Perry, but AC-fucking-DC are still taking the world by storm all these years after they begun.

Why all the food analogies? Because I’m a fat bastard, obviously. I know, I know, pointless rant is pointless, but I am tres bored.

Friday Top 10: Albums of the 90s

So, many of us here at Dose of Metal are in our mid twenties, and we grew up with Metal in the ’90s. It may not go down as the greatest decade in Metal history, but fuck it, I love the ’90s. So many damn good albums came out of that decade, and that’s the purpose of this week’s Friday Top 10.

The list is pretty simple. Two rules: Only one album per band, to keep it varied, and secondly, Metal only, and that’s it. Other than that, I just blew this list out of my ass, because I’m awesome and you should listen to me.

So what are you waiting for? Make the jump for this week’s Friday Top 10.

Buy the Jaymz pickups, fools!

James Hetfield may be one of the most underrated guitarists in metal. Some of you may disagree since Metallica gets a lot of credit as a band but, think about it, most people think of James as the vocalist. It’s Kirk who made all the ‘Top Guitarists’ lists and few people realize James wrote most of the guitar riffs in this band.

Therefore I think he really is underrated as an axeman since whenever I say he’s one of my favorite guitarists, people chuckle and answer back “LOL, he is teh singer!!111”

So when I said you could also play guitar like him, I lied. But I did mention his pickups before, so make the jump to watch a two-part interview with him about his guitar playing.

I reviewed his signature picks and kinda saw them as kinda useless since they’re expensive (but nice), but his EMG pickups are responsible for the signature Metallica sound so I’d definitely get them. Although I’d probably just get his classic 81/60 setup.

No more albums from Tommy Lee

Apparently Tommy Lee (of Mötley Crüe, Methods of Mayhem and the Pam and Tommy sex tape) will not be releasing any full albums from now on. Like you, reading that line made me jump up and down in innocent happiness. Unfortunately I read the rest of his quote and realized he’ll still release new music, just one at a time:

“To tell you the truth, I think the days of making a record, for me personally, are over. After this last [Methods of Mayhem] record I did I’ll never make another full record, I think. It’s a waste of time, ’cause people can only ingest a song at a time, so why not make bitching songs at a time and release them? If you want to call them singles, great, whatever; or at its maximum, an EP, four songs, done, boom. I just really feel like the days of the entire record are long gone.“

Read full interview here.

I could keep making fun of Tommy Lee and his bands but you know, he may have something there. Wouldn’t it be cool if bands, instead of releasing an album every few years, released a few songs per year? This way they’d get instant feedback and know where to go with the next track, and maybe after 2 years they can compile those songs with artwork and sell them as albums for the fans.

It wouldn’t be half bad in this era of music sales going down the drain. I’d honestly embrace it, although I was born in the 80s so to me, the joy of buying a full album will always be something special.

Plus it’d be much easier reviewing one song instead of 12. I’m lazy.

Friday headlines: Video interviews

We’ve got some awesome headlines for you today. And by awesome I mean shitty because they’re video interviews with bands I don’t like so I get two senses invaded instead of just one… You get the idea. But maybe some of you care, so here they are:

Korn (pictured above, unfortunately) got interviewed at one of the biggest European festivals: Rock Am Ring. It’s a video interview and you can see it after the jump, but please don’t, because nu-metal is evil.

Hell also got interviewed (also after the jump) and isn’t the name fitting? That’s exactly where I’d rather be instead of watching a Korn interview or music video.

Dio Disciples bassist James Lomenzo (he was also in Megadeth, so bitches better recognize) gave an interview on ‘The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show’ and boy is that a stupid name for a show. Almost as stupid as ‘Alexing out with Alex Show’ and I just made that name up on the spot, so go figure how much time it took Mr. Blair with his own. Anyway, the chat is also after ‘The Jumping out with Alex of Dose of Metal MAKE THE JUMP show.’

Another bassist got interviewed, yo. This time it’s none other than Billy Sheehan (who?) of Mr. Big (who?). It happened at the M3 Festival (what?) and it’s also after the jump (yeah!) — I just realized I made this line sound like Limp Bizkit lyrics.

And finally (thank God), Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo also gave an interview. What do you know, it’s a trend today. By now, you prolly realized it’s after the jump so all that’s left for me to do is tell you what he says in the interview, right? Wrong, I don’t care, so figure it out for yourself.

So there you have it. Make the jump and see five pointless interviews if you have nothing better to do on a Friday.