The letters in this logo kind of look like broken up bones pieced together in a graveyard in the dead of night. The off-green color is a bit nasty, reminding us of the gnarly poops that come from eating too much spinach and not enough red meat. Clearly, this isn’t the most indecipherable thing we’ve ever posted, but the band is good and it has an interesting story. So check back for the answer to the logo and some cool live video from the band.
Recently, Swedish psychedelic, doom/death metal band Opeth embarked on the Progressive Nation tour with Dream Theater, 3 and Between the Buried and Me. The bill may seem strange and ill-fitting for Opeth, a band that’s just as likely to burst into death growls as to soar into a classical-inspired passage or swirl into the a trippy, surreal melody. But Opeth have built up enough of a following to draw their own fans to the tour. Also, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt says Dream Theater’s audience has been surprisingly welcoming of the eclectic, extreme Swedes. Besides, he adds, performing with Dream Theater makes more sense than playing with a lot of the other bands with which Opeth have shared the stage.
“We don’t fit in with anyone, which is the problem,” Åkerfeldt says. “But we don’t care because we love what we do and we love that nobody else sounds like us.”
In addition to diversifying their fanbase on Progressive Nation, Opeth are gearing up for the release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which comes out June 3. The disc is an logical progression from their 2005 album Ghost Reveries. The melodies are beautiful, the compositions adventurous and the rhythms are filled with passion and power. However, it’s even more musically extreme than their last offering, attacking with feral blast beats and blowtorch guitar riffs between surreal excursions and sinuous hooks. And, while the band’s previous music featured undeniably strong musicianship, the guitar work on Watershed is even more dynamic and technical thanks to the addition of Fredrik Åkesson (ex-Arch Enemy), who replaced longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren in May 2007.
In the Headbangers Ball Blog Opeth interview podcast, Åkerfeldt talks about his musical goals for Watershed, his personal approach to the lyrics and how having children has made him more angry and aware. He also addressed the musical changes Åkesson has brought to the band, the impact The Zombies and The Hollies had on the new disc and why he chose to cover songs by Pat Travers and Alice in Chains.
Click “more” for streaming and MP3 downloads of the podcast. (more…)
From Alaska with love, here comes the new 36 Crazyfists video for “We Gave it Hell.” The clip was directed by Soren (All That Remains, Unearth) in the Hatcher’s Pass region and comes from the band’s new album The Tide and its Takers, which comes out May 27. Here’s singer Brock Lindow’s take on the clip:
Picture this. Clear skies, negative 30 degrees and mountains that brush elbows with god. Mix in the world’s finest and most fearless professional snow mobilers, and you have the wildest adventure I could ever dream up. The video was a long time coming for me and the fine folks at Ferret delivered us the goods. We had A really great time collaborating with Soren on the visual concept. Basically, we all rode back into Hatcher’s Pass and shot all the riders doing their thing as well as all our friends partying in the parking lot of the State park. Lyrically I took a fist-in-the-air approach to the song to express that never give in mentality. Definitely it was the greatest time we have ever had making a video.
Click “more” to watch “We Gave it Hell” (more…)
Photos by Sarah Hamilton, Le Beast Photography
Awwwww, little white tourists in Shanghai. Wow! China is really neat.Look at all those pretty buildings! I thought it was going to be a pile of garbage. If you zoom into this picture you can peep at our brand new $2 Rolexes and my $3 Armani shirt I picked up at the “Rape Escape Shopping Center,” which was, like, six floors of 20 rows of two foot alleys of bootleg clothing, where, if you’re white, 15 Chinese people follow you around screaming in your ear and trying to take you by the hand to their store behind the building. Our video guy got attacked by a lady with no nose.
Oh, spicy food? Yeah, we eat that. “Hot pot?” Yeah, I’ll bet that’s real hot, Chinese guy. We live next to f–king Mexico. We’ve been to Thailand. Kung Pao Chicken at Panda Express. Heard of it? I can eat, like, five pieces at the same time. Del Scorcho Sauce. I can handle anything. Oh is there a feather on my tongue? Is there some lukewarm wa- uh-oh! Ha-ha. Ha. Uh… Haha. Yeah, this is kind of olllllll nuhhhh nuh nuhhhhh pffffpfptptpptpfp AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (more…)
From now on, we’re giving you guys a chance to help pick the video lineups for Headbangers Ball. A couple days ago, we listed last week’s show lineup and asked you to chose who you wanted to see back again on this Saturday’s episode. The majority of votes went to newbie thrash band Warbringer’s video for “Combat Shock,” so we’ll air that sucker again. A number of votes also went to Behemoth’s “At the Left Hand Ov God,” so look for that as well.
But here’s a sneak preview of the Warbringer for those of you that just can’t wait:
And check out our interview with the band. <p>
If you’re still with us, here’s singer John Kevill’s guest blog about his favorite thrash albums of all time.
Entries (RSS)
