Third Time’s A Charm

Plenty of people dislike Dave Mustaine (read the Al Jourgensen cover story for one), but you have to give the Megadeth frontman credit for Gigantour.

Its virgin run in 2005 wasn’t all that impressive because a lineup clogged up by Bobaflex, Dry Kill Logic, Symphony X, and Life Of Agony wasn’t a convincing reason to part ways with $40. Lamb Of God and Opeth as main supports on the following year’s package were huge improvements over Dream Theater and Fear Factory, but the problem was still getting through all the mediocre (or worse) acts before the big guns – the roster was wildly inconsistent. That’s what makes the Gigantour 2 DVD (Image Entertainment) cool: You can skip The Smash Up, Sanctity, Into Eternity, Overkill, and Arch Enemy. There is also a companion CD that, in one of the stupidest acts of editing ever, blanks the cuss words out of between-song banter (i.e. “Make some fucking noise, Florida”), but leaves them in the songs. So you’ll hear one “goddamn,” six “motherfucks,” and one “fuck” during Lamb Of God’s “Red Neck,” but when frontman Randy Blythe encourages the crowd to start a “fucking circle pit” – it’s earmuff time. This is undoubtedly the work of the re-born Mustaine, who also took it upon himself to protect our fragile ears from any potty mouth on 2006’s Arsenal Of Megadeth DVD package, which would have been stellar had he not FUCKED it all up (Censorship, the “spirit of heavy metal,” right Dave?).

You won’t have to do much skipping when the Gigantour 3 DVD comes out, though. Mustaine put together an outstanding – nearly perfect – lineup this year. At this point in their careers, either In Flames, Children Of Bodom, or High On Fire would have been logical choices for direct support (Megadeth obviously headline), so having them all on one bill (plus young death metal hotshots Job For A Cowboy) is huge.

The only valid gripe about Gigantour 2008 is High On Fire’s burial in the bill. Kudos to Mustaine for including Matt Pike and his crew, but too bad it appears they play first. Showtime for the Aragon May 6th is 5:00; a lot of people will still be boarding the Red Line while the evening’s best band – right now – go on.

Then again, Children Of Bodom were in a similar situation two years ago on the Unholy Alliance Tour, when they were the second of five bands to perform. I was one of the few who made it to Aragon early enough to see COB kill. It was the best set of the night, Slayer included.

This time the group will be supporting the brand new Blooddrunk (Spinefarm), and hopefully, the songs pack more wallop onstage than they do on CD (COB’s sixth). 2003’s Hate Crew Deathroll was the Finns’ best album, and 2005’s Are You Dead Yet? was solid but slightly weaker than Deathroll. Blooddrunk follows the trend: decent but not as strong as its predecessor. Bodom like to kick listeners in the teeth immediately by putting the album’s best song first (“Needled 24/7” on Hate Crew and “Living Dead Beat” on Dead Yet?), and “Hellhounds On My Trail,” a perfect sample of Bodom’s Skid Row-meets-Bathory style, is no exception on Blooddrunk. Problem is, there’s only a few attention-catchers left among the remaining eight tracks. The “formula” hasn’t changed for frontman/guitarist Alexi Laiho and co. – they’re still speed freaks with joneses for acrobatic guitar solos and power metal synthesizer schmaltz – and there isn’t a bad song in the bunch. There just aren’t any great ones, either.

There’s no arguing In Flames have changed their style. While listening to A Sense Of Purpose (Koch) it’s hard to believe this is the same band that, along with Dark Tranquility and At The Gates, pioneered melodic death metal. It wasn’t done overnight, though. The band started experimenting with a cleaner, slicker, catchier sound on 2004’s Soundtrack To Your Escape. Two years later they pushed it a little further with Come Clarity, and A Sense Of Purpose seems to be the ultimate goal, which is apparently metalcore. Damn catchy metalcore, but still.

In Flames have put nearly 20 years into metal, helped define a sound, therefore earning the right to record whatever they want. But with that right comes our responsibility to criticize, sorry.

REALLY?: Sometimes, record labels and publicists just try too hard, bless their hearts. Take the new Emmure record, The Respect Issue (Victory, May 13th), for example. It actually says this in capped, bolded letters at the top of the one sheet: “Warning: This Album Is Not For The Faint Of Heart.” Apparently senior citizens, pregnant women, and people with cardiac conditions shouldn’t ride roller coasters or listen to Emmure. Here’s my substitute tag: “Warning: This Album Is Not For People Who Like Good Heavy Metal.” Unless bland chunk-a-chunk riffs, tired death metal grunts, and hat-turned-to-the-side, hardcore poses are your thing, of course. Emmure play at the Savage Events Center in Elgin, May 2nd . . . If you take Moribund’s word for it, Avsky‘s Malignant is “one of the most dangerous black metal records the label has come across in many, many years.” That’s just the one-sheet, the back of the promo CD says the Swedish duo are “easily the most dangerous-sounding black metal bands [sic] in ages.” Easily! You’ve been warned: These aren’t just a couple clowns in corpsepaint, so proceed with caution.

FINALLY: Varg Vikernes (aka Count Grishnackh) actually was (is?) dangerous, but not just dangerous sounding. Though Vikernes is probably more infamous for his crimes (currently serving a 21-year sentence in a Norway prison for the murder of Mayhem‘s Euronymous as well as various church burnings) than famous for his music, there is no denying Burzum‘s (his one-man project) influence on early black metal. Anthology (Candlelight) is the first career-spanning collection of Burzum material, and though nine-songs is hardly an expansive compilation, the album does capture Vikernes’ transition from cold, primitive black metal to experimental, synthesizer-led dark ambient.

RANDOM LIST: Top Five Songs That Reference Band’s Name In Lyrics/Title:

1. Iron Maiden, “Iron Maiden”
2. Black Sabbath, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
3. Metallica, “Whiplash”
4. Megadeth, “Rattlehead”
5. Suicidal Tendencies, “Join The Army”

MISC: Second City? Anthrax obviously don’t think so. Despite their proud New York City roots, the thrash band chose Chicago (where drummer Charlie Benante now resides) to debut new singer Dan Nelson. Anthrax will warm up for two California gigs with Iron Maiden by playing Double Door May 28th. They are expected to debut some new material . . . I hinted at a magnificent Alehorn Of Power III (August 9th at Double Door) lineup last month, and as of press time all but two bands have confirmed. Trouble, Slough Feg, Bible Of The Devil, Pharaoh, and Icarus Witch are good to go . . . Yours truly has decided to make the North Side a better place by making it more metal. I’ve partnered with the Red Line Tap to present a monthly night of live heavy metal mayhem called Metal Up Your Tap. It goes down on the last Saturday of every month beginning May 31st with Superchrist, Wastelander, Züül, and Kastasyde. Details and tunes can be found at Myspace.com/metalupyourtap.

mosh@illinoisentertainer.com

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Caught In A Mosh, Columns, Monthly