METALHEADS Podcast Episode 2

Episode #2: In this episode George and Buke discuss new releases, what they've been listening to, Buke's first week with a turntable, their top 3 Iron Maiden albums, the upcoming Opeth album and a pair of classic metal albums.

Episode Transcript (click to expand)

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George
Hello and welcome back to MetalDisciple.com's Metal Heads Podcast. My name is George Washburn. 

Buke
And I'm Buke. And here we are with Episode 2. Who thought we'd come back for another episode? 

Buke
Yeah, back again. 

George
I just wanted to say before we get started that last week's episode and now this week's episode is now available on iTunes. So you can pick that up there. We also have a new website. Wearemetalheads.com and you can stream the episodes there as well. Make sure if you find us on iTunes to subscribe to the feed. Leave us a review what you think. Yes, please let us know what you think. Hopefully we will improve. So when I was working on last week's episode, I noticed a lot of people who were that. I noticed a lot of uhs and ums. And so anyways, I cut out as many as I could, but some of them, there was just no way to get rid of them. So I apologize. We are going to be working on that. And hopefully we think it's part of the learning curve that we have to get over. That goes along with this too. A lot of podcasts I listened to. Sure. I'll talk about this. It was mostly me. You had a few too. So anyway, a new topic I wanted to cover this week are new releases. I figured it would be cool. to talk about all the albums that come out during the week that people might want to hear about. There's so many albums that come out every week. I can't possibly review them all on the site. So I thought maybe it'd be cool to at least mention some of the ones that sound kind of cool. Kind of hit the highlights. Exactly. The highlights. That's a good way of putting it. One standout album this week is the new Aborted. It's called The Necrotic Manifesto. These guys are fucking brutal. It sounds... I think you know what you're getting into when you listen to them. Yeah. are pretty damn heavy and this album the little bit that I've listened to so far sounds even heavier than last time. Autopsy they are releasing a new album this week. Tourniquets, Hacksaws, and Graves. I know these guys I've listened to them somewhat in the past they're obviously a classic death metal band. I listened to the some of this album earlier last week actually and it sounded really good so I'm pretty impressed with that. There's a new death reissue this week of their Leprosy album. You gotta I love Chuck. You got to. Yeah, so you know what you're getting there. Anything special with that that they say on there? I did not notice. Maybe probably a live track or something though. Anyway, they do remasters now. They usually add something, yeah. Also this week is a new band called Devil You Know featuring Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage. Are you going to pick that one? I've had my finger on the pulse of this one for a while. I have no problem admitting that I'm a big Killswitch fan. I have for a while. Howard left the band for personal reasons a couple years.

Buke
I saw the video earlier in the year or towards the end of last year and the sound that I took away from it was kind of a fear factory type of sound that fast pace real heavy on the fast drum work sure the drummer in fact is actually an ex fear factory member really was from divine here see all right okay which you know kind of has that similar yeah yeah sound and speed

George
I actually listened to some tracks from the album before I knew that it was Howard's new band. And I was like, hmm, okay. It's not bad. And then when I saw that it was Howard, I was like, oh, well, all right. Well, maybe I like this a little better than Killswitch Engage. I have always been a fan of his screaming vocals. He's really clear with what he screams. And I've always liked that in screamers. Right on. In vocalists. So I would definitely be getting that. Another album I know that you'll be interested this week is the new Ed Guy. I have already been looking to buy this one. A couple of their albums are some of my favorites. This one's called Space Police, Defenders of the Crown. Sounds a little goofy, but that's Ed Guy. Their Rocket Ride album is one of my absolute favorite power metal albums.

Buke
You gotta love that Tobias is holding the torch for this older style of metal. But you know, I just wanted to say that the thing I like about Ed Guy over his other projects, Avantasia and stuff, is that it's more true power metal in the sense it's not as symphonic and where you hear powerful orchestra sounds and that type of sound. It's more just the real early Hammerfall style, just classical

George
Power Metal Band. Yeah. Super catchy songs, too. Ed Guy's one of the few Power Metal Bands that I still really dig. I mean, there's still plenty of Power Metal Bands that I dig. Don't worry. I'm not trash in the genre or anything. But there's a lot of crap, too. There is. There is. If we ever get into a list of our top five, ten songs, their song, King of Fools, easily. One of my top ten favorite songs. Maybe next episode we should do a list of our favorite Power Metal Band. Maybe. Moving on. Insomnium album, Shadows of the Dying Sun. These guys you gotta love. Yeah, you turn me on to these guys. Another band coming out this week is Lord Mantis. You probably haven't heard those guys, but they're pretty harsh death metal stuff. I heard their last album, so I'm curious to see what this one will sound like. The next band is one that I've been waiting curiously to find out what their new album is going to sound like. This is another one of the Metal Blade Doom bands. This is Portrait. I think you mentioned to me recently that you'd I heard these guys and you were like what's the deal with these guys well uh we'll find out this week when the new album drops there's also a Saxon live album out this week those guys are still putting stuff out yeah St. George's Day Sacrifice live in Manchester they sure have enough tracks that they can pull from yeah I've I've never been a huge Saxon fan like from back in the day when I first heard Saxon in the late mid late 80s you know it didn't sound like Metallica or Megadeth, the bands that I was getting into at the time. And so I wasn't really into it. I was like, meh, okay, you know, I get it. You know, they're new wave British heavy metal, whatever, but not for me. Then in more recent years, I've been going back thinking maybe I should look into it and rediscover the band because I'm probably missing out on some things. And recently I picked up a couple of the albums on vinyl, you know, Strong Arm of the Law, Denim and Leather, stuff like that. And I have to admit, it's actually pretty cool. Do they get, I know with the long career that they've had, do you hear other bands really talk about them? A lot of bands list them as an influence. I mean, particularly like Lars Ulrich from Metallica. And a lot of the guys that came up in the 80s, they really had a passion for saxon. And that's one of the reasons why I went back to listen to them again, because there's got to be something there. They're still around. They've had this longevity for all these years. There's got to be something that I'm just not picking up on. Did they ever really get here in the States? No, not really. Yeah. The final album that I'm going to mention this week is the new Whitechapel, Our Endless War. I know these guys are a band you like. Yes, I do like these guys. Just your standard issue. I hate the John return, but I've seen it attached to them like a death core type of sound. They're in the same vein as your discipleship.

Buke
Spies, Die Con, Suicide Silence, those type of bands. They've done a very successful, if I'm correct, Indiegogo campaign for this to actually do a DVD of a concert right around this time, I think, to go along with making this album, if I'm correct. But I know on the internet, there's a lot of talk surrounding this band. I just want to sort of derail the whole conversation here and just mention how much

George
I hate bands that have core associated with them. Now, I do actually kind of like Whitechapel. They're kind of cool. They're not as stupid as so many of the metalcore bands. Metalcore, metalcore. Fucking hate. We're talking to you, Trina. Yes, fucking. I love you, Trina, but God, you have terrible taste in music. Any of these bands, like the metalcore bands, they're like, And then they sing so feminine. And they sing so pretty-y. Yes. And they're all skinny, pretty boys who may have some tattoos, may look a little rough. I saw something the other day where somebody was saying how they only like real metal bands like Black Veil Brides. I almost swallowed my own tongue. I was like, what? They're not even metal. I can't even call them metal.

Buke
what you thought of these bands. You put it to me in a great way, I'm sorry, a couple months back. You put it in the sense that this is kind of the Hollywood kind of processed, almost kind of formulated, kind of like carbon copy bands out there. I like to refer to it as Hot Topic Metal. Perfect way to put it. Perfect way. Is that store even still around? It is, okay. It kind of transitioned more into like music and like a video game nerdy store. Yeah, Hot Topic Metal. It's like, It's a great way to put it. These are the kids you see hanging out at the mall who, when I was younger, coming up in the middle scene, a lot of kids were wearing the slipknot and stuff. And just because they may scream, they think they're heavy. And that's what these kids listen to. And these bands sell a lot of albums. I don't care if you sell a lot of albums. I'm not going to hate you because you sell a lot of albums. Metallica sells a lot of albums. I love Metallica. That's not a reason to hate a band.

George
But the fact that it feels so geared towards selling albums, these kids, they want something rebellious and aggressive, but they need that catchy vocal hook in the chorus for them to be able to like the music at all. And it's a great way to put that. Because, you know, when you even hear the chorus and the singing in the chorus, and I know this is not Whitechopper where we started with, but the singing in the chorus is a very It's very generic. Very. It's so bubblegum pop. I don't care if you have clean, you know, going back to Ed Guy, they have very catchy, clean vocals, but it doesn't sound fake. And that's what these metalcore, deathcore bands, I mean, deathcore, maybe not. The deathcore probably doesn't have clean vocals. And so, like Whitechapel, maybe I I like them maybe I don't but anybody that's metalcore like what's another one of those bands

Buke
vampires everywhere one of the worst bands I've ever heard I see some of them I was looking on the charts the other day band of mice and men yeah one of the bands that sells a lot of records oh I can't even think of their freaking I think they're an Australian band if I'm correct I can't even think of their name I have a rule when it comes to band names if you have

George
Four Words in your band name, you're probably Metalcore and you probably suck. Probably. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but it seems like most of the Metalcore bands have four words in their name, and when I listen to them, I just don't like it. It just seems so fake and cheap. So not metal. Totally agree. I have a lot of not metal rants that I could go off on, like the fucking Deftones. Why do they keep showing up on,

Buke
Best of Metal lists and Year End lists. They're not metal. I think it goes back to that same point that if you throw in screaming because that's edgy. Do they scream? I haven't listened to them since their first or second album. They do. When I was younger, they're around their fur album with my own summer on it. I thought they were like a corn ripoff. Back in the day, kind of around. That's enough for me. It's that edgy. That's, I think, what get kids. Kids, think it's metal or think it's super heavy if they scream, if they're harsh. And that's what a lot of those bands do. But they also, because you see a lot of females attracted to those type of bands, and a lot of the artists, again, aren't your metalheads, you know, your classic big guy, long hair, you know. These are your skinny, maybe 120 pounds, sobbing wet band members who have,

George
Pretty spiky hair, covered in tats. Yep. Who, when they're on stage, also look good to these fans. Not to us. We're not listening to them. Don't care what you look like. I only care what you sound like. Yep. What else we got? Since we're on the topic of bitching about things, why don't we talk about the Golden Gods? Yes. This... Oh, boy. Revolver Magazine. I read Revolver. I have a subscription. What do you think of them? Obviously, if you have a subscription, do you think that they have a place? I subscribe to all the metal hammer all the I have metal hammer terrorizer I have decibel and I have revolver I I get them because I like to you know because of what I do I have to keep on top of what's going on I need to know all the new music I need to know all the new news so I get all these magazines I have to say of the four metal hammer and terrorizer the British magazines are by far my favorite by far decibels pretty good I mean revolvers

Buke
Okay, but like decibel and revolver, sometimes they pander to a little bit to this stupid American bullshit metal. Yep, those bands just like we were talking about. So it doesn't surprise me that the Golden Gods turned out the way they did. But honestly, what the fuck were they thinking? Forgive me here. I should have maybe done a little more research. I don't know if this is their second or third year. Oh, it's got to be at least I mean, maybe three or four. It's not, you know, we're not talking 10 years here. I don't think so, but I mean, Dio was alive when they were doing these. Yeah, because they got like a Lifetime Achievement Award. So I just wanted to go over some of the highlights to this and get your input on some of these. Lowlights, you mean? Yeah. First off, the show started with Marilyn Manson doing a surprise intro of Slayer. I dig Marilyn Manson. I dig like first three or four albums. There's over Marilyn Manson.

George
You don't dig the weird fat man and man from that he is now? Not so much. He's a little too weird for me these days. His music's not as interesting as it used to be, but I still respect the man. Not entirely metal. He's kind of his own genre almost, but I respect him, but I'm okay with him being at the Golden Gods. So Slayer came out, I should say, I think right before this show happened, the award ceremony was announced. They had signed to Nuclear Blast. That's right. I was surprised by that. I mean, you know, Nuclear Blast is a great label. It's a pretty big metal label, but they've always been on, you know, bigger labels. And did I see that correctly, too, with speaking about new labels and albums? Was there a new record? Did you know you were the first one produced without... Jeff Hanneman? Oh, that. You mean Rick Rubin? Yes. I hadn't read that much yet. I thought I may have seen that. I saw that with their last album. It makes sense. I want to bring up, since we came onto this topic, I wasn't thinking this ahead of time, but what do you think about Slayer without Jeff Handeman? Is it okay? Some people are calling for the band to break up after Jeff died. I'm a little bit on the fence myself. I was listening to the new track Implode. Which they played.

Buke
It didn't really move me. It was okay. I mean, it was kind of semi-typical Slayer. When was the last album that caught you by Slayer? Gosh. God Hates Us All? God Hates Us All, I was about to say. That was my last of the recent releases that still I can put on, and I say this is a Slayer album. I've listened to or read some of the previous band interviews, and most of the Slayer albums tend to be either Jeff-centric or character-y.

George
Cary King centric in terms of the amount of songs that each of these guys writes. Some of the albums they split evenly but you know a lot of them they tend to be either Jeff or Cary centric and I seem to prefer the Jeff centric albums. No disrespect for Cary King I want to be clear on that Cary King is a god I love the man he's an incredible player credible songwriter but in terms of Slayer albums I think I tend to prefer the Jeff Hanneman stuff I mean

Buke
Come on, Jeff gave us Angel of Death, the greatest heavy metal song ever. Yep, it's an anthem. And I'm not opposed to the band continuing without Jeff. See, but the thing is, it's funny you bring this topic up when we're talking about the Revolver, because I don't know if you saw the bands that played there, but Suicide Silence played. You know my opinion on that. And that's why I was so wanted to mention that, because you asked me about Slayer here, and what you thought about them without Jeff. It really depends on the band. Led Zeppelin?

George
I could have continued without John Bonham and I probably would have been okay with that. Metallica continued without Cliff Burton. Obviously I was okay with that. Mitch dies. You're not okay with it. No I mean because Suicide Silence is one of those bands that has core attached. Take your White Chapels yep. And I was never a big fan of the band until I went and saw them live. And the thing that converted me for Suicide Silence was Mitch. His stage presence was so incredible. He was amazing. He blew me away. He converted me on the spot. Nice guy when we talked to him, too. We met him afterwards. He was so nice. We took pictures with him. And he converted me. And from that day forward, I was going to be a Suicide Silence fan. Tragically, he died in that accident. And so, to me, that was the end of Suicide Silence. The guys that are in the band, they're good. Obviously, they're good. And I'm not trying to knock them in any way. But if you're one of those band members, are you just, I'm sorry, you're now out of work? No, of course not. But you could change the name of the band and do something different. Do those songs never get played again? They could play them live. That's fine. I'm not saying they shouldn't work or they shouldn't continue doing what they do. It just seems to me that Suicide Silence was a Mitch thing. as such should have ended with Mitch. That's not always the case with bands. ACDC, Bon Scott died. If they'd ended then, that would have been a real tragedy. Brian Johnson, incredible singer. I think the real tragedy here is you know me, you know I'm an All Shall Parish fan. Yes. I have loved them, I've been waving their flags since I first heard them. To poach the singer from All Shall Parish is sort of a disservice to both bands. Yes, it is. I'm upset because I think

Buke
this now will bring about maybe an end to all shall perish because suicide silence is your hot topic going back to that band they are the type of band that you see hung up in stores you see kids wearing when the you look at like job for a cowboy oh yeah they were really out front like suicide silence and taking this genre and really you're getting it pretty some commercial success in the metal world they were starting to see you know supporting dates on tours and stuff like that so going back to my original point i was upset in the sense that maybe this would be an end to all share parish because the rest of those members are they now going out finding a new singer it's a domino effect you know all shall perish lose their singer to go to suicide silence who should have started a new band so now suicide silence is in my mind is that the problem you have?

George
You know me. Opeth, my favorite band. Mike is Opeth. I'm pretty sentimental. So time will tell whether the All Shall Perish guy going to Suicide Silence will perhaps be a brilliant idea. But for the moment, that's the way I feel. Until he proves to be far superior, or at least as adequate as Mitch, that's the way I'm going to feel. Okay, if you're three or four albums into Anthrax and Joey passes away. Anthrax is a very interesting topic here because Joey Belladonna left Anthrax and John Bush left Armored Saint. I'm a big Armored Saint fan. I am not a John Bush with Anthrax fan. Did not like any of the John Bush material. You've always said that. Not because I have anything against John Bush. He's a great singer. But it just was not anthrax. The thing that made anthrax anthrax for me was Joey Belladonna. As soon as Joey came back to anthrax and they released the latest album, I was back on board. It was 20 years disappeared and I was a fanatical anthrax fan again. I see where you're saying. So going back to the show itself, the awards. We did kind of get derailed from that. But it was good because Suicide Silence did play.

Buke
Okay. At the show. It was marred by a bunch of technical difficulties, apparently.

George
Apparently.

Buke
But they did play. So I want to get your opinion on some of these awards. And I just laugh looking at some of these. The Best Vocalist Award. I'm going to say this wrong. Josh Holm. Queens of the Stone Age. Oh, my God. Like, when did they become metal? The Revolver, Golden God's Best Live Band. Rob Zombie. Can I just derail this again for a second?

George
I have a great respect for Rob Zombie. Particularly the material he did with White Zombie. I enjoy his directing of movies. I liked his first two solo albums. I haven't cared for much of anything that he's done in the last decade. And the one time that I saw him live, this was with White Zombie. So it was a while ago. Was it Ozfest? No, it was actually White Zombie and the Ramones at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan back in the day. He sounded horrible. I couldn't stand it. To me, he was always like Alice Cooper on stage. More kind of like the stage show. Well, yeah, but Alice sounds amazing. Alice Cooper is one of the greatest live shows I've ever seen or heard. So, granted, I haven't listened to Rob Zombie in a long time. I mean, live. So, maybe he's gotten better. But that was a surprise to me. So, you would consider Revolver a metal magazine, right? They cover metal bands? Sure. Okay. The award for

Buke
Most Devoted Fans in Metal. Okay, first of all, what the fuck is that award? In this digital age, maybe the ones who tweet the most, or the ones who post the most Instagram pictures in their band shirts, I don't know. It's high school, it's a popularity contest. The Most Devoted Fans, Avenged Sevenfold. Whatever. Best New Talent, 12 Foot Ninja. Okay, don't even get me started on these guys. After I saw this, I had to go back and listen to another song by these guys, just to be sure I knew what I was talking about.

George
about. Not metal at all. And they keep playing them on liquid metal. Jose. What the fuck? I can't stand him personally. I like Jose. I think he's kind of cool, but I don't understand some of the bands that he puts on there. He's all like 12 foot ninja. And I'm like, uh, wait, did I, did I hit the wrong channel? What is this? This is not metal. They sound like great musicians. Not my thing. Not metal. Just like how Deftones is coming up on

Buke
I really think we need to add a section to this podcast called Not Metal. This is your Not Metal Band of the Week. I'm going to skip over this next award because that's the real point I wanted to bring this up. The Paul Gray Best Basis Award. I didn't see that one. Goes to Chris Kale, Five Finger Death Punch. Okay, Five Finger, I've liked them in the past. I actually have to admit I haven't heard their latest like double

George
So I can't really make too much of an opinion on that. Obviously not one of the more extreme metal bands, but definitely a more commercial sounding appealing band. But still, okay, I can deal with that. The best film and DVD was Pierce the Veil. Okay, prepare for me to go off. First of all, who the fuck are Pierce the Veil? Who's that chick that sings for them? Award winners.

Buke
It sounded like a girl to me. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Metallica release a film last year? Yep, we went out and saw it. How is that not going to win? I thought Through the Never was amazing. Over some, yeah, over some band that's not even metal. Not metal. This was a full, you know, multi-million dollar, full 3D theatrical release in theaters. And it blew both of us away. Yes.

George
She loved it. We've since watched it four or five times at the house. Yep. We still love it. It's a great production. It's a great production. And to lose, I don't, were they even, I guess it's not a nominated kind of thing. It's fan voting. It's a fan voting game. What, who are these people that are voting? They're not even a metal band. In all of metal. Again, the fans voted for Revolver of metal bands. The best metal drummer, according to Revolver fans and readers, Aaron, LJ of Avenged Sevenfold. Okay, well. How about your jeans? What's that? How about like your jean? Oh, a jean hoglin? Yeah. Of course. See, these guys. Again, Avenged Sevenfold. Dave isn't even in the running. Avenged Sevenfold is a band that has converted me over the years. I know they're not true metal, but they do some cool stuff for a more commercial.

Buke
Hot Topic type band. I don't want to insult them in any way. I dig what they do. It's cool that somebody is bringing a heavier music to the masses. And this is a new drummer, is it not? Because Mike Portnoy was playing with them before. After the original guy, I think he died? Yeah, he died. The Rev. Yeah, Mike came in, filled in for a while. When he left Dream Theater, he came in, filled in for them. I thought he may have stayed because the commercial success, that event Sevenfold,

George
They didn't want him anymore. Yeah, they didn't want him. So he left. This guy comes in. So in a way, it's kind of cool that the new guy's getting some recognition, but come on. There are metal drummers, like you said, Gene, Nick Barker. I don't know if Nick's done anything in the last year, but Dave Lombardo. That's what I said. Anything, yeah. There are some drummers out there. You would seem hands down to win. So what's next? The most metal athlete.

Buke
This one I don't have, sorry, Song of the Year. Five Finger Death Punch, Lift Me Up. I never heard it. Lift me up and turn me up. Wait, that's yes. Yeah. The most metal athlete, Josh Barnett. This one I don't have a problem with. He's a mixed martial artist. He always wears a bolt thrower shirt. Who is he? He's a UFC fighter. No. Oh, he's not even a metal guy. No. But this was the most metal athlete award. Okay, I saw that and I was like, what band's he in? The only other metal athlete I know is, Dan Boyle plays for these defensemen for the Sharks. He's a metalhead. In fact, Brian Slagle has had him on his podcast a couple times talking metal. The Dimebag Darryl for Best Guitarist. Say that again. I'm sorry. The Dimebag Darryl Award for Best Guitarist and Sinister Gates and Zacky Vengeance are your best guitarists. I know those names. From Event 7 Fold. Of course they are. Yeah. So it's not really the gold

George
It's the Avenged Sevenfold and Five Finger Death Punch Awards. And all of these are sponsored by Hot Topic. Of course. Your album of the year, Black Sabbath 13. Finally, some metal. Hold on, that's where we're going to get to. And your Golden God Award goes to Joan Jett. That one is a tough one to talk about. I've been a Joan Jett fan for decades. I love what she does.

Buke
especially what she's done. But come on. Not metal. Hello. And I don't listen to her. So I never really listen to her. So I can't have a say on her. I know where you're going. And Ronnie James deal lifetime achievement award. Axl Rose. What? Yeah. But the thing that I wanted to really. You have something to say about Axl Rose getting a lifetime achievement award. You got to respect Axl for his two, three albums.

George
of output in the 80s and early 90s. Has he had a lifetime of really still achieving? Not a lot. I mean, I didn't care for Chinese democracy. I saw it on Vano the other day. I passed it up quickly. It's cool to recognize him, but there's a lot of other people that could have gotten that reward that are perhaps a little more deserving. So when you heard Black Sabbath 13 last year, instantly you gave it your album of the year. Oh, yeah.

Buke
It hooked me right away But what I wanted to really get your take on is Revolver gave their Comeback of the Year award Did you see this? I did To Deep Purple

George
I'm a big Deep Purple fan But you know what? You know what's not Deep Purple? Deep Purple without Richie Blackmore Yes

Buke
And apparently Scott Ian gave this award away and he tweeted about it later I love Scott Ian Blown away with that Black Sabbath Yeah, he got passed up on this

George
This was the first Sabbath recording, what was it, since 76 or 8? 78, I think. Yeah. The original, minus Bill Ward. I think he left the band in 80. Yeah. It's a monumental landmark album. Without a doubt. Deep Purple. Did anybody even listen to Deep Purple last year? Who's in the band these days? I pulled him up on Wikipedia earlier. I don't know what. I love Ian, but last I heard like Joe Satriani was in the band and I don't, there's just no way in hell that that should not have gone to black. But the album was the purple. Now what? I remember that coming out, but it's our 19th album. I missed that one.

Buke
Yep. Let's see who's on the drum in pace on drums. Yeah. He's getting on vocals. Yeah. Yeah. Those Glover on bass, even Morris on guitar.

George
Oh yeah. Yeah, more Don Avery on keyboards. Okay, well, that's mostly Deep Purple, but... But Death Sabbath. There's just no way. I mean, come on. So this is probably the modern-day... Jethro Tull. Jethro Tull. Metallica Jethro Tull moment, yes. Yeah, so I wanted to get your take on that. And it's, you know, what's funny is that Revolver can't even be blamed. They're like, hey, we didn't pick them. You know, the fans picked them. Obviously, the fans are a bunch of dumb shits. Yeah. This is pathetic.

Buke
Jethro Tull is your comeback artist of the year. Hey, I like Jethro Tull too. I'm sorry. Not Jethro Tull. I'm sorry. Deep Purple. And I like Deep Purple. So I don't want to insult the guys, but this is a real, what do they say? Travesty of justice. Yeah. Because with Tony and his health right now, who knows how long he may be here. Tony will be eternal. Do not speak like that. These guys need all the awards they can get for at least getting together and even putting this album out. So, next up, let's talk about what we've been listening to this week. What have you been listening to? I have been listening to an album you actually turned me on to. Nice. It is the Hark Crystalline album. Oh, I just got that on vinyl last week. Did you really? Yes. This album is, it's a real, you know, sludge metal album. I liken it to Baroness. Baroness, as they like to say. I liken it to early Crowbar. Okay. I was kind of hearing some early, like I said, the first or two Crowbar albums. I was hearing in this. This is a Welsh trio. Yeah. The lead singer used to be in a band called Taint. Okay. Just really good sludge metal. Really crushing sludgy riffs. I just love. That's a great album. I'm impressed that you are listening. Yeah. For fans of Crowbar, Mastodon, Baroness, check this album out. It's their first album debut release. Really good. Excellent. Me, before I get into what I've been listening to this week, today I got a couple of new albums in the

George
and I'm just I'm giddy and I have to talk about them I got these are all on vinyl I got Entombed's second album Clandestine I got Creators Pleasure to Kill I've been looking for that one and one that I you never see on vinyl Life of Agony's second album Ugly this one this was only printed on vinyl in the Netherlands and Germany really and this appears to be I haven't I checked it yet, but it appears to be one of the Netherlands copies. So it's actually from 1995. Hmm. Anyway, what I've been listening to this week is an unofficial release. Go back to Life Wagner for a second. Do you have River Runs Red? On vinyl? Yeah. Not an original. I have one of the reissue from last year. Okay. What I've been listening to this week is it's not an official album, but I found it on Bandcamp. Actually, I first heard it on YouTube and then discovered it was available on Bandcamp. Woods of Epre live album. Whoa.

Buke
Man, you're taking my breath away. I thought I'm the live album guy.

George
I know. Wow. I am so man crush on David Gold, rest in peace brother, that anything and everything that's Woods of Epre, I'm going to grab. I've got all the albums on CD now. I've got three, four, and five on vinyl. Last week, I pre-ordered Woods 2 on vinyl. And I don't know what made me think of it, but I went on YouTube just looking for, I wonder if there's any like live concerts that. Was it that you said that you had actually ordered doubles of something? Is that maybe why you were looking again? Remember you told me that you had doubles? I do have two copies of Woods 3 because I ordered one of the colored versions. That's it. And then I realized I didn't order the most limited one. Yes. Maybe that's why I remember that. Okay. I had to I realized I didn't get the one that I actually wanted. So I went ahead and ordered the more rare version because that's the kind of consumer that I am. Was he printing these himself before his passing? He did have his own label, Crankin' House. Because I know that these, I ask because I know that they're extremely limited. Right. The first three albums were hard to find. The fourth album he put out on, Earache, and the fifth album. And now Earache is going back and So this live album, it doesn't appear to be through any sort of label or anything. It says something about fan tribute or something. I don't know. Like a true bootleg? Yeah, basically. Like a Grateful Dead bootleg? Maybe. It says something about recorded by station four, so I think maybe it's a TV station or radio station recording. The quality is what made me... Is it like a soundboard quality? It's at least a soundboard or better quality recording. I started watching the video on YouTube and I was like, whoa, this sounds really good. There's a lot of, you know, cell phone footage and things like that on YouTube and it just sounds horrible. This actually sounds really good. So I had to get a copy of it and I've been just listening to the shit out of it because I love me some Woods of Vipre. Have I mentioned that before? I love Woods of Vipre. I'm so sad that there's no David anymore. But what are you going to do? After you and him had your little tiff. But that's a story for a different episode. Actually. I won't go into it too much. But the last couple days I was feeling rather sad about No More David. And I went back through my email looking for the last Twitter exchange we had. If you look at his Twitter feed, it's there in his last couple months. Yeah. I couldn't find the emails. But I did favorite those emails. the Twitter exchanges. And I went back and read them. And I'm like, I'm such an asshole. The last time I talked to him, he was mad at me. He died mad at me. He did. And that just breaks my heart. But what are you going to do?

Buke
Something you can't take back. Yeah. Fucking.

George
What the hell was the name of that bit? Junius? Fucking Junius. Fucking Junius. Sounds like Coldplay singing metal tunes out of tune. And you'd send another tweet out right now if you could. Yeah. So, last week we talked about how, we talked about Record Store Day, we talked about how you got a turntable in your first vinyl. Yes. It's been a little over a week now. How is vinyl treating you? So, I went home that day, installed it, sat down,

Buke
First album I played was the Rainbow live album. Yeah. And I have nice speakers. I have nice Martin Logan speakers. I have nice electrostatic speakers. Probably sounds a lot better than mine. I go home, I put on the Rainbow live, and you always have told me it's a warm, full sound. So I was expecting nice. Yeah. But I wasn't expecting what I got. Totally. It sounds I know I always say this about live albums that they capture the concert itself Sure But it never captures really the sound of it It's hard to describe right now but listening to that vinyl record my first one really in my lifetime Captured It's The sound is so full that it instantly hooked me Yeah Instantly Just the clarity of it the Tone. Clarity is a good word to describe it. It's just a full, warm sound. To me, it almost sounds like they're playing in the room with you. That's the best description I've heard of it. I have enjoyed the sound from that so much. The Opeth Watershed Record Store Day exclusive, I haven't even listened to that yet. Wow. Just because that live album sounds just like you said. It sounds like they're 10 feet from me playing. So is it safe to say that you are a fan of vinyl now? Yes. That's why I have gone out and procured a couple more vinyl records. Right on. What'd you get? I recently got Deep Purple live in Japan. Deep Purple. Yeah. Comeback Album of the Year. That's one of the critically acclaimed live albums. I've got that one too. It's incredible. I got, look at this. Wow. If we only knew what topics I'd bring up for this podcast. I got Black Sabbath.

George
Hell yeah. Which I know you got. Album of the year. Yeah. I pre-ordered that. Yeah. It was your pre-order. Yeah. You got it. I got British Steel. Judas Priest. And. Oh. Before we move on. I have to. I don't know if you heard it. They posted a new song from the new album. I saw that. I didn't hear it. Redeemer of Souls. Sounds like a. It's their first one without. KK. On. Yeah. Yeah. I got to admit. I didn't care for the last two albums that much. The Nostradamus one. Nostradamus and Angel of Retribution. Not as good as the earlier albums. But this song, maybe I'm just being overly excited and optimistic. But it sounded pretty good. So we'll see how it turns out. Anyway, moving on. So I'm hooked on vinyl. Hell yeah, man. Absolutely hooked on it. I can go out and I find myself checking eBay all the time for what's out there. This makes me very happy. Buke goes to stores with me and sits there patiently while I dig through bins and I buy all this vinyl and he doesn't get anything out of it other than my... Seeing your happiness. Seeing my happiness and you know how altruistic is that. You gotta love it. So I'm happy that now when we go out you'll be able to get something

Buke
out of it too. Yep. I will have to broaden my horizons more, which I don't do right now so much with music. But since a lot of metal is hard to come by on vinyl as it is, original releases and stuff like that, I have to broaden my horizons more with... That's good. And I've heard that jazz albums sound excellent. I've got a Miles Davis one that I picked up recently, Kind of Blue.

George
Great. Yeah. I've heard jazz sounds amazing. So I'm hooked on vinyl. I can't thank you enough for turning me on to it. You're welcome. So there's another topic that I wanted to start covering regularly on the show. I thought it would be cool to talk about a favorite album that we have by a particular band. Great. You know, classic bands, what have you. And the one that I chose for this week is such a huge band with such a catalog, I decided to go with our top three albums by this

Buke
And once you sent me a, for me to start pulling my, out my answer for this question, I really got excited because since your knowledge is decades larger, I'm sorry, longer than mine. Mine's longer than yours. We have it on record. Yes. You have so much more to pull from. I like getting your input because I think I'm going to surprise you. And I think I may too. I think my number one is really going to surprise you. But I think, It's not going to surprise you once I say it because you know I was driving in the car and listening to so much music when you know I think my vocal stylings I like in singing and stuff I think it might not So you want to go first or you want me to go first? I'll go first You want to go first? Go ahead I mean, feel free I will go first Alright How about that? Fair enough My number three I put down peace of mind Hell yeah, that's one of mine You know, the trooper Die with your boots on You can't go wrong It starts out, you know, Where, Eagles, Dare, Revelations.

George
Yeah. That is, I didn't actually rank my top three, like one favorite, two favorite, three favorite.

Buke
These are ranked for me.

George
Right. For me, I didn't actually think about it. I was just like, these are in my top three. And Peace of Mind was one of mine. It was actually the first Maiden album that I got on vinyl. Hmm. And every song on there I love. There's some deep tracks on there maybe. Yeah, I guess you call them deep tracks. songs like To Tame a Land, Sun and Steel, Still Life. Those are all incredible maiden tunes. You don't hear them enough, but every song on that album. Obviously, Revelations, Die With Your Boots On, The Trooper, you can't go wrong with this album, so I'm with you there. My number two is the one you first gave me. The first Iron Maiden album, you said, start with this album. This is your introduction to Iron Maiden. I bet I know what it is. Power Slave. Power Slave. Ace is high, two minutes to midnight. Power Slave. Rhyme. Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner is one of, if not my top Iron Maiden song. If I had to pick a top, Power Slave would be mine. This is my other, this is, you've got two, you've got me two for three here. No. Of, Power Slave was my first introduction to Iron Maiden. I bought this album in 1984, 30 years ago. I was one. When it first came out, I bought it, I was like, holy crap, Iron Maiden. I'm gonna say that again I was one you were one so George has me be he knows his metal I'm oh yes I am what do they call it on that Ian Christie Ian Christie show that gray back gray beards I'm a gray beard literally and figuratively what do you think my number one is gosh that's tough that and I see I'm not sure if you're gonna guess you can guess my number one it's not my number one it but it's in my top three power slave would be my number one hmm I have no idea I

Buke
The Anticipation's killing me. Brave New World. Really? Yep. Why? I am a fan of Iron Maiden Chorus. The Ghost of Navigation. When you get, especially it's those South American live albums that they record. Live in Rio. Live in Rio. Rock in Rio, I guess it was. Yeah, Rock in Rio. When they do the Flight 666 and they're in. Great movie. The En Vivo live that they put out a couple years ago.

George
The Vail would have beaten the Flight 666.

Buke
The Wicker Man, Ghost of the Navigator, Brave New World, Blood Brothers, the chorus for Blood Brothers. Those four songs for me. Yeah. Just when you hear 70,000, 80,000 fans singing along with the band and Bruce. Yes. It's amazing. And that was Bruce's return back to the band.

George
Yes, that was awesome. I was so happy that he came back. Wasn't that their first album as a three-piece? A three-piece? They were never a three-piece. You mean with three guitars? On three guitars. Yes, with both Adrian, Dave, and Yannick. I want to ask you about that. Do you think that's too much? Hell no. Of course not. More Maiden, more guitar. You can't go wrong there. Exactly. I'm a fan of all three. Out of the silent planet off that album, That to me is my number one maiden album. Right on. So do you have any guesses as to what my, it's not my top maiden album, but it is in my top three guess. Hmm. Knowing You, being the, see this is where I'm in a battle. If you're a Bruce or a Paul guy. Uh huh. You know where I'm going with this. I know where you're going. Is it their first or is it Killers? It is their first. I have to include Paul D'Anno. I'm such a fan of Bruce Dickinson. I mean, he makes the band for me, but you can't ignore Paul D'Anno. And yeah, it's kind of a toss up between the first album and Killers. But for me, the first album, it's got Running Free, which I love that song. And you cannot beat Phantom of the Opera. Epic,

Buke
epic song. Is there not a maiden song, any album that you can just, just like you said, running free instantly. I'm running free. You get the chorus in your head.

George
You get the song.

Buke
I'm running free. Do we have to pay for that for me singing? Probably not.

George
But you know,

Buke
but you know, every maiden song is, is,

George
is like that. And then, you know, it's got Charlotte, the harlot cool song, but the live staple song, the title song from the title album from the band, Iron Maiden. They close out every show with that song. It's cool. I mean, it's like the Manowar doing the song Manowar in their shows. It defines the band. And so, yeah, if I'm going to pick top three albums, the first Iron Maiden's got to be in there. The reason I didn't pick the first two Maiden for me is I guess that's not the Maiden that Bruce turned Maiden into. Sure. You know,

Buke
The singing styles on those two are vastly different. Bruce brings that Dio style operatic vocal stylings out there. Sure. I mean, off the top of my head here, top three metal vocalists all time. For me, Dio, Dickinson, Halford. You can't go wrong there.

George
Wow, there's great songs on both of them. It's not the maiden that I'm... Sure. I mean, that's why I decided to go with three for them because there's so many albums and I wanted to include Paul. If I had to only choose one, it would obviously be Power Slave. Would you ever start somebody with those first two maiden albums? No. No. I mean, no. You gotta go with Bruce. Yeah. I love Bruce. Everybody loves Bruce. Bruce is the way to start. But you cannot forget Paul Deano. He is the man. He started with Maiden. Check him out. Yes. So, in the news lately, we've been hearing about a new release from a particular band that I know you care for. A little band called Opeth. Yes. What are you thinking about this new release that is coming out here in another month and change? Yeah. They've already titled it Pale Communion. Pale Communion.

Buke
I say um there to gather my thoughts because I want to be accurate with this is that I'm an Opeth fan number one more than any other band I love anything that Opeth puts out sure I think they are slowly changing the metal fans that have followed them evolving exactly I think you look back to the reception with Damnation and you and I are both on record story day listening the Metal Sucks podcast. Yeah. When they interviewed Mike or Michael and he came right out and said, again, another album, no growling vocals. And the metal fans were sad. They were. This is now the third album in a row where they have moved on. I just got Heritage on Vinyl the other day and I was playing it and, you know, it's cool. It's great. So I'm not too put out by the fact that he's not doing harsh vocals and I'm really curious to see what the new album is going to sound like. I remember the last couple of times. I've seen Opeth live I think 14 or so times. Wow. The last couple of times Opeth came around you didn't want to come see them with me. Not because I don't like them. It's just you've seen them. I've seen them a handful of times and there was no reason to go see them once again. The last time we saw them they toured with Ghost and Mastodon. And I remember

George
I remember you distinctly telling me after they played a lot of the Heritage album. Yeah. You turned to me and you said that was heavy. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like they're not heavy. It's just the vocals are not harsh. And Mike's got a great clean voice. So honestly, if you're a fan of the band, I can't see why you'd complain. I'm glad you brought this up because the Metal Sucks guys got to discuss this. But I really wanted to get your opinion. Is it fair for fans?

Buke
to be up in arms about this. Because this is, if you're at that T intersection, you have growling vocals on your left, clean vocals on your right. Opeth didn't try and maybe sit at that stop sign for a while to try and find the middle road. They went about as far right as you can go. Yeah, but let me tell you about another little band you may have heard of called Metallica. They have been dealing with people complaining about the way, the things that they do,

George
on each successive new album for years. Like from the guy talking right now? I am guilty of... I don't judge them. During our times as best friends, I've heard you say fuck Metallica a couple times though. Who likes Saint Anger? Come on. It was a horrible album. But they have since recovered from that. I thought Death Magnetic was great. Amazing. I didn't like Lulu, but I respected that they... It was something they had to do from a creative... I respect that they wanted to play with this guy and turns out they were the last people to play with this guy I didn't care for it but that's not because I don't like them it's because I've never been a big fan of you talking about Lou Reed I've never been a big fan of Lou Reed he talks more than he sings he doesn't sing at all he talks so you know whatever I can't fault them for doing what they want to do they've done everything else they played in Antarctica and You know, whatever. And the same thing with Opeth. Fans need to understand that Mike wants to play what Mike wants to play. It's never been about the fans. It's been about what Mike wants to play. And if it happens to be death metal vocals, then that's what you get. If it's not, then, you know, either you like it or you don't. So deal with it. Do you still call them a heavy metal band?

Buke
The music's still pretty heavy, so sure. Why not? I mean, I don't know if Mike calls them metal, but I mean, he's very... He has been very outspoken on the fact that he's a fan of 70s rock. Prog rock. Yeah, prog rock, yes. And that's what he's trying to reproduce. Sure, but even in that last interview we heard, he doesn't say that he doesn't like... He doesn't not like metal. He still enjoys death metal. He just creates...

George
Creatively, that's not where he is. He feels like he's played it out and he can't think of new ways to make it evolve and move on. He has echoed what you have told me in conversation many times that death metal is kind of stagnant right now. It is very stagnant. And he doesn't feel like he can contribute anything new. Yes. Yeah, I love death metal. There's a lot of classic death metal albums that I enjoy. But right now,

Buke
I think the thing that got me the most in that interview that he conducted is, remember he said, what are you going to do? Make it faster? Right. Are you going to scream more? Are you going to play the guitar faster?

George
Exactly. There are a few death metal albums that I'm like, like the new Autopsy this week. I listened to that and I dig it. It's cool. It's not innovative. It's nothing new. So in Mike's case, if he wants to do something new, well then, yeah, Maybe you need to move on to something else. The new Massacre album that came out a few weeks ago. Incredible. But there's just so many death metal bands right now that they're just sort of recycling what's come before it. And it doesn't entice me to listen to more than one song. I'm like, meh, whatever. Move on. But I'll be there day one buying it. I will buy it on vinyl now also. I will see them on tour.

Buke
when they come around. Yep. I... I'm waiting for the vinyl pre-order. I still think that Opeth, as a band, are geniuses to me. Yeah. You know, as big a fan of vinyl as Mike is, why is it so hard to find Opeth on vinyl? That's a great point. That is a great point. He has a massive vinyl collection. He talks about it somewhat regularly. We even leave him and ask him about that. Like, why is it so hard to find Opeth on vinyl? Anyway. Anyway, because you have them and I can't get them.

George
I have all of them on vinyl now except for Ghost Reveries. Do you have Orchid? I do have Orchid. That's nice. Are those all original? No. Are they just reissues? I mean, some of them are reissues. I'm not sure. Probably most of them. Wow. Let's move on to our classics of the week. Last week, you brought up, actually, the band that I was listening to this week for my classic, which was Cemetery. You brought that up and I was like, oh my god, I haven't listened to Cemetery in years. This week, I actually, it's not one album, but three. I went back and I listened to all the early Cemetery albums. Back in the mid-90s, when metal was, I mean, death metal and black metal were starting to emerge as like the big thing in metal. But because I wasn't necessarily aware of that yet, I, you know, grunge was the whole big thing in the popular music. and one of the bands that I came across in the mid-90s that I really dug was Cemetery. And so I went back this week and I listened to their first couple of albums and it was like, you know, what do they call that? Memory Lane? Yep. So I have to talk about the first three albums. I'll keep it brief, but the first album, An Evil Shade of Grey. Classic early mid-90s death metal album. Reminds me a lot of Tiamat or how the fuck you say it. You know, the music is metal, but the vocals are harsh. Great classic album. I've been looking for this one on vinyl and it exists. I have not found a copy yet. Their second album, Godless Beauty. I'm sure you're aware of that one. A little more groove element introduced with this album, but still very early death. Great album. Can't recommend it enough. Third album is the one you mentioned last week was Black Vanity. Eventually, Cemetery moved into a much more electronic and gothic sounding sound. And Black Vanity was the first album to sort of start in that progression, but it's still kind of death metal. Some harsh vocals, a little bit of, I don't want to say clean, but not so harsh vocals. You gotta hear this band. I'm sure kids these days coming up probably don't know about this band. You need to listen to Cemetery. Yes. That Black Vanity album is awesome. Yeah. Godless Beauty. There's a song on there called... That Bitter Seed is my favorite song on there. That is a good song. Now She Walks in Shadows is the opening track off Godless Beauty. Killer song. Now she walks the shadows. Now she haunts the night. Yeah. You gotta love it. Good stuff. Cemetery. Check them out. Mine is... I like...

Buke
Melodic ballads almost sometime and this album was a change for this band it really was released in 1989 and John Olivia Oliva Oliva I'm sorry I kind of taken the band sabotage in a different direction on this album yes he had kind of they were more a true metal band you know before this a little thrashier sound prior to this 1989 came around and they released their gutter ballet album It's a gutter ballet! I always go back to this frickin' album and that song as a progressive metal album. I'm surprised he didn't go Hall of the Mountain King. That's what a lot of people say to start with. The title track to this album, I love it. The guitar work is killer. It's a shame. It's his brother. Chris Oliva, yeah. Yep, was killed in a car accident. Fuckin' drunk drivers. Yep. If you're gonna drink, fuckin' get a drink.

George
I think that was that drivers like seventh or eighth time driving that's ridiculous and we were robbed yep but John has not had luck you know I mean John Oliva's pain the guitar died recently well not recently but a few years ago but I hear that they are a new guitar player and are actually going to do a new album I believe their album that was released last year that he put out last year anything with John Oliva yeah my first sabotage album was actually power of the night I bought that on cassette. It was a place called Record Town. Long out of business. Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Briarwood Mall. I mentioned that once in a while in my reviews. I bought it. It was like in the, you know, discount bin. And I was like, hmm, what's this? And I was like, all right, Sabotage. Yeah. And that was my start. So I have a sentimental attachment to that album. But Hall of the Mountain King, you know, Gutter Ballet, any of those, any Sabotage you gotta love. And of course, John now doing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Yes.

Buke
And you had mentioned it earlier with the Iron Maiden song, Phantom of the Opera. I was reading a piece about that. John had actually watched, had recently watched it.

George
Mm-hmm.

Buke
And that kind of gave him some inspiration. Awesome. With the sound that Gutter Ballet came out with to kind of take the band in that direction with that sound that they came out with.

George
Excellent, excellent. All right. Well, I think we're going to wrap it up this week. So, as I mentioned earlier, you can find us on iTunes. You can also stream the podcast on the new website, wearemetalheads.com. You can also check out Metal Disciple stuff on metaldisciple.com. We're also on Facebook there and Twitter and YouTube. The podcast will also be available on YouTube once I get that up there. Let us know what you think. Get a hold of us. Leave us a review. Subscribe. Share your comments, please. Excellent. Tell a friend. Yeah. All right. Well, until next time. We really appreciate you. I'm George. And I'm Buke. Take it easy.