Rob “The Metal Guy” Rants About Youtube Reaction Videos

   Anyone who takes the time to film themselves watching a music video and then labels it a “reaction” video on Youtube, honestly needs to be put on one of Elon Musk’s rockets and sent to Mars. I’ve noticed over the years that there are too many Youtubers creating these “reaction” videos, especially people who are obviously not fans of rock and metal music. I’m sure a lot of people might ask, “how do you know they are not fans,” or “you sound like a metal elitist,” but in all honesty when someone uses poor descriptive dialogue to label a Slayer song and seems to know nothing about the actual music they are describing, then they are not fans of the band at all. If anything they just find some random metal video and believe that making a reaction video will get them clicks. 

   When you have some hipster dude who dresses like they regularly attend Coachella filming a reaction video to a black metal song, you know the world has become completely ruined by ignorant humanoids who only care about getting attention from a platform that has become a massive joke over the years. Based on my last comment you can tell that I am not a huge Youtube fan. I find that the platform has completely gone downhill thanks to the corporation running it, along with some of the despicable content creators who have gained massive amounts of ignorant followers. 

   Now, I know in the past I have advocated for more people to check out certain rock and metal bands, because I strongly believe that there are some talented artists who deserve recognition. I have dedicated most of my life to promoting rock and metal music, so I do not wish to prevent people from checking it out. However, taking a rock or metal song and filming your response is just disingenuous and makes you look like an attention seeking whore. Just imagine if I started doing album reviews for that mindless modern pop music which has turned children into complete brats who at the age of eleven are trying to act like the Kardashians. Really makes me sick, but I would never go out of my way to review it and then film my reaction. Probably because my reaction would just be me ranting and raving about how these people are destroying society. 

   Again, I do not wish to dissuade people from listening to rock and metal music, and I do not want to say that people should not do reviews via blogs, or video if they actually know what they are talking about. I am just trying to get people to understand that making a video to show your “reaction” is criminally obnoxious. Also, a lot of these people are putting on a poor acting performance and you can tell they are not being genuine when listening to the songs. Humans will do almost anything for attention nowadays and platforms like Youtube unfortunately fuel this sick behavior. 

    As someone who has spent years reviewing and covering rock and metal music, I have become just completely incensed by all this nonsense. Hopefully this trend will die off like so many other YouTube fads, but the only way to stop it is to avoid these videos at all costs and support the music critiques who truly appreciate the artists and know what they are talking about! 

Rob "the metal guy" Rant: Equal Criticism for Crappy Bands

   Most of the time I ignore music I dislike, because I rather not waste my time listening to garbage. Of course I understand that some people enjoy the music I label as garbage, so I will try to not be too disrespectful. However, when I came across a Metal Injection article that featured a video by Otep, I could not help myself and decided to watch and listen to this train wreck of an artist.

    If you are a fan of Otep I will not label you as a moron, however, I do find Otep to be a generic Hard Rock / Nu Metal band trying to stay relevant by writing controversial songs. Also, the band’s singer, Otep Shamaya, is extremely political and does not hesitate to voice her opinion. Being political in your music is not a bad quality and I do respect that she is not afraid to voice her opinions, even if I disagree with some of what she has to say. Still, her new video, “Equal Rights, Equal Lefts,” is complete rubbish.

    The song’s main theme is about fighting against homophobia and even advocates for violence against homophobic people. Now, I have nothing against homosexual people and think homophobic people are douche bags/trolls on the loose. However, promoting violence against other people does not help your cause and makes you look like a major douche bag as well. Lyrics like, “He called me a dyke, I called him an ambulance,” does not help your cause. Actually, there won’t just be an ambulance coming to the scene of the fight, you will have the cops showing up as well charging Ms. Otep with aggravated assault. These lyrics are something I would expect from a rapper artist. Then again, the song sounds like a generic gangster rap song with horribly constructed riffs to achieve an utterly horrendous mix of rap meets metal. Other lyrics such as, “And we fucked till the morning, She found religion in every position, Screaming "oh god" and singing in hymnals,” are once again pointless and sound like something I would expect from a gangster rapper.

    Time to focus on the video now, which is equally as unbearable as the actual song. I think my major criticism with the video is that Otep comes across as wanting to be some sort of hardcore gangster. Just imagine a 50 Cent video with more lesbian and gay imagery, and that is your entire video. She also gets into a fight with a guy and comes out as the victor in the altercation. In my opinion the video made no sense and was a cinematic failure. I guess this is why I get labeled a metal elitist sometimes, because I listen to actual metal music that makes good videos.

    In the end, I think the reason I wrote this critique because I don’t get how an artist can go around demanding equal rights, but at the same time advocate violence. I don’t get why it is okay to write songs like this, but when a black metal band like Marduk writes songs about World War 2 it is okay to shutdown their concerts and falsely label them as white supremacists. Shouldn’t we advocate for Otep shows to be cancelled for promoting violence?

    You know what…I don’t care at the end of the day if Otep wants to sing songs like this, because she is using her freedom of speech. Although, if a band was to write songs about punching homosexuals in the face we must accept that too. Equal rights for all songwriters should be a new slogan. Wrapping up, Otep is definitely not my cup of tea and a band I have no problem calling out for writing what I think is trash music. Agree or disagree, you have that right because in America we have the freedom of speech…unless you are black metal band who writes songs about World War 2 and Paganism…then you are a Nazi and can have your shows shutdown. The logic of today’s world is scary…

Please feel free to leave a comment...trolls are welcomed...but no violence advocating humanoids please!

Antifa: The New Fascists and New Enemies of Rob “The Metal Guy”

Graveland "Thousand Swords"

    I guess you could say I am late pertaining to the whole Graveland and Messe Des Morts music festival situation, however, after seeing some more anti-fascist activity that in my opinion looks pretty darn close to actual fascist tactics, I am finally expressing my thoughts on the subject. If we can all be honest with ourselves, throwing rocks and resorting to terror like tactics to shutdown a concert because one band is accused of having a certain point of view, comes across as more fascist than anti-fascist.

    Since the Graveland show cancelation in Canada has past, I will try not to dwell too much on it, but the main points of the situation should be discussed. If you do not know what happened here is the quick rundown: Graveland is a Polish black metal band that has been labeled a national socialist black metal band(NSBM), which is false since the band constantly denounces any affiliation with NSBM, so people need to get over this false narrative. A bunch of Canadian Antifa(anti-fascist psychos) protestors used their terrorist like tactics to shutdown an entire black metal festival the band was playing at, and screwed over fans who paid money to see some good black metal acts perform that night. In the end, their actions were childish and Graveland was not going to put on a pro-Nazi performance like those Antifa jerks claimed would happen.

    See, I am worried that this is not just a metal related issue, but a societal one. I am not afraid if I lose readers over this piece, because I honestly think that I am speaking from my heart. Racism is wrong and supporting Nazi ideology is wrong, but you can’t go around covering your faces and throwing objects to silence others for having an extreme point of view. In this world you have to deal with different points of view no matter how silly or outrageous they might be to you. Using aggressive force to silence them is no different than what the Nazi party did when Hitler was around. Also, to reference the Graveland case again, we can point out how the protestors were acting on false information about the band being NSBM. Now that is scary, because people are jumping to action without knowing the entire facts!

    Again, I worry about how the metal community and society will be able to move forward if people are going to be running around acting like the gestapo because one band is “accused” of having a certain extreme point of view. If a band actually advocates for the physical harm of a group of people, I can see where that is serious matter that should be looked into right away. However, that is not what happened with the Graveland situation and most of the Antifa incidents involve the anti-fascist protestors doing most of the physical harm.

    In conclusion, I am a fan of Graveland and will not stop supporting them because some Antifa whack jobs believe they are a racist band. If you want to believe the false narrative of them being NSBM, you can choose not to support them. One day I would like to see everyone put on their big boy/girl pants and just do what they want to as long as it does not physically hurt someone else. Now, go listen to Graveland my people!...or write a comment insulting me. Either way, you have the freewill and option to do so.

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #15

    Looks like Disney Land won’t be creating a heavy metal themed ride called, “The Foe Hammer.” Hell, they won’t even let Exmortus play the House of Blues in Anaheim!

    Upon hearing that Exmortus was taken off of the Anaheim, CA House of Blues show with Marty Friedman, I was extremely confused and disappointed that Disney would do such a thing. I found out about the band being taken off of the show upon reading a post from the band’s label Prosthetic Records. Plus, the band confirmed by sharing an article from one of those other metal media websites that reports on stories with lightening quick speeds. Now, I am still trying to figure out why they were declined Disney approval to play? Did Exmortus fail to pass the Disney qualification test? Are they too extreme for the House of Blues in Anaheim? I just do not understand why the band is not allowed to play at the House of Blues!

    Until Disney or the House of Blues in Anaheim release a valid reason as to why they did not grant approval, I am going to continue to look at them as another entity that discriminates against heavy metal. Surprisingly, Exmortus played at the House of Blues in Anaheim back in 2013! What changed? Maybe Mickey Mouse is afraid more people will become slaves to the sword and less slaves to his annoying teen pop artists that will grow up to crash and burn like the Hindenburg.

    Next topic is about one of my least favorite music journal magazines and a rock musician who played in a band that I used to really respect until I found out he was a complete egotistical jerk. Yes, Rolling Stone asked Gene Simmons to review a track from Lamb of God’s new album. Anyone has the right to review anything in this country, but asking Gene Simmons to review Lamb of God is ridiculous. He did compliment the band on their instrumental sound during the song. However, being the old school music man that he is, expressed how the vocals were not to his liking. Not surprising because Gene still thinks , “I Was Made For Loving,” is on par with Beethoven.

    I understand that everyone can’t be a fan of harsh sounding metal vocals, but do not get a person to comment on a extreme metal release if they are only going to complain that the vocals aren’t melodic enough. If that is the case, go listen to melodic power metal or classic style metal bands Gene. Yeah, while you are at it, go listen to a band like Night Demon instead of doing pointless articles for Rolling Pebbles.

    Okay, that is enough for this week. I need to check my blood pressure after that last topic. Until next time, stay metal and thanks for reading these rants! \m/

Rob “the metal guy” Rants About Metal #14

    Supposedly there is new music from Immortal that is in the works, however, longtime member Abbath will not be involved. That is like having an original Black Sabbath line-up without Bill Ward. I can’t imagine any of this nonsense actually happening...oh wait, yes I can.

    To be honest, I was slightly shocked by the announcement that lyricist/guitarist Demonaz and drummer Horgh released this past week regarding their decision to make a new Immortal album. I really believed Immortal was finished since Abbath started a new band after failing to obtain the legal rights to continue making new music as Immortal. I am confused how Immortal will be able to release an album without Abbath. He is the one guy everyone recognizes from Immortal and his voice gives the band a distinct sound.

    I see an Immortal without Abbath like Motörhead without Lemmy. No offense to Demonaz and Horgh, who are both talented musicians, but I do not believe they will draw the same amount of fans to checkout their new music since Abbath is no longer part of the band. I just don’t see how they can successfully sell Immortal if Abbath does not play on the new album. Maybe I will be wrong and this could be the greatest Immortal album ever released...though, I highly doubt it. 

    Next topic deals with some first hand metal experiences involving live shows I attended this past week. First, I went to a metal/punk show on Sunday that was free at some dive bar in Petaluma, CA. The bar was not the most optimal place for a show since there was no stage and not a whole lot of room for the bands to set up. Most of the people inside were already smashed and did not seem like they were there for the music. Also, the booking for the show was a catastrophe with the opening band being the best band that night and the other three being below the average musical level. The headliner was probably the most questionable act and I was literally the only one standing in front watching while everyone else was either passed out or still pouring more alcohol into their systems. Another point to bring up about that night was I witnessed two multi person brawls and a drunk dude getting body slammed. Complete and utter chaos, but these are the places some bands starting out can only play.

    Well, the other show I attended seemed to be in another galaxy compared to the Petaluma show. On Wednesday I saw Night Demon and Holy Grail play in SF at a bar called, Bottom of the Hill. Now, I wrote a review of that show, so I will not go into detail. However, I will say that the promoter and venue were extremely professional. There were no fights and no drunks getting body slammed. The point I am trying to make is that promoters and venues need to hold themselves to a certain level of professionalism, or face low turnouts in the future. Also, 21 plus/bar shows need to be careful, because they do not want the cops getting called and stopping the show. Unfortunately most bands who have yet to reach a certain level can only play bars since all ages venues tend to demand larger crowds and are becoming fewer (In my area at least). That is why I am a proponent of building more all ages venues and finding ways to make them profitable for the bands and owners.

    Alright, I have written quite enough. Of course there is probably some hair metal controversy I could weigh in on, but I will let Eddie Trunk talk about that on his radio show. Okay, thanks for reading this week’s rant and leave a comment if have an opinion about any topic I brought up during this rant. -Rob “the metal guy”

Rob “the metal guy” Rants About Metal #13

    For this rant, the beginning topic will be more about hard rock based than metal. Also, the band I will be discussing is my all-time favorite band...Rush, so I will really be expressing my honest opinions.

    Saturday August 1st in Los Angeles, California, was the final date of the Rush R40 tour. The band had put together a stunning tour of North America that I was lucky enough to catch when they came to my area. However, once the tour ended and even before, the internet rumor mill started spinning about saying that this would probably be the end for Rush. Even though the band has not explicitly stated that the R40 was the last official tour and there has yet to be an official press release saying the band is done, I have read articles inferring that the Canadian trio is packing it up. When will these rock and metal websites learn?!

    Well, Alex Lifeson during an interview with Eddie Trunk, finally made a statement to shut everyone up about the band being finished. Alex stated during the interview with Eddie Trunk that, “Whatever this tour is, it's not the end of the band.” So, there you have it people. Rush is not done! If you listen to the interview and hear what Alex has to say, he explains that the band is just becoming aware of what they might be capable of doing in the future because of their age. You really need to read the language of his statements and notice there is no clear cut phrase that says Rush is stopping. Over the years Rush has developed a strong bond with their fans, and would make sure to communicate in a direct manner that they are making a major career decision such as to possibly retire. Rush would not do some article with an elitist piece of crap magazine like Rolling Stone and then just tell their fans to deal with it.

    Okay, moving on before I write an extremely long rant about the flaws of Rolling Stone. Anyone here notice Corey Taylor tends to make statements that receive unbelievable rock/metal media press coverage? Look at what I am doing right now! After reading him make a comment saying how pop music is pretty much equal to complete garbage and then how young metal fans don’t care about the roots of the genre, I feel some need to analyze and discuss his statements. I agree one-hundred percent about his comments on pop music. In an interview with Loudwire.com, Taylor said, “You might as well be listening to a fucking piece of wood at that point.” Such an unapologetic and truthful statement. Also, he does a great job pointing out where the mainstream music business is going. Is Corey Taylor running for president? I might vote for him...

    Hold on, I do not agree with everything the guy has to say. His comment on radio.com about how younger metal fans don’t care about the genre’s roots was very disappointing. I know plenty of young metal fans who care about the old music as much as the new music. To me Corey Taylor needs to be careful about trying to analyze the entire young metal population. I have gone to shows and talked with young fans who enjoy bands like Rush, Black Sabbath, Hellhammer, Atheist, Carnivore and then started telling me about the new up and coming local bands. I myself am only twenty-three and enjoy a variety of hard rock and heavy metal both new and old. So, I hope Corey Taylor understands there are young metal fans who do care about the genre’s older groups, and are at the same time passionate about the new bands. Maybe he has experienced too many internet trolls and needs to make his way down to more local metal shows to better understand the current young metal culture.

    Well, I hope you were all able to read this long essay of a rant. I should buy you all a drink for reading this whole damn entry. Make sure to comment below if you have anything to add to the discussion. Cheers! -Rob “the metal guy” 

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #12

    So I finally sat down and listened to the new Nile track, “Call of Destruction.” Well, if anyone was hoping for a strong blistering technical death metal track, they would not have been disappointed.

    Nile is a band that has something to prove with their upcoming album, “What Should Not Be Unearthed.” Their last album seemed to receive mixed responses from fans with the negative reviews tending to be very critical. I believe Nile just needs to keep offering brutal tech death metal and find ways to strengthen the presentation of their lyrical content like on the band’s early releases. I can honestly say the new track, “Call of Destruction,” is a massive step in the right direction. The track is slamming with bombastic sounding wicked compositions. Another area that really stood out is the lyrical content. Nile writes about how there is this call to destroy historic artifacts and monuments in the Middle East going on right now. They even put a disclaimer in the beginning of the video to tell people that they are not trying to put forth a religious or political agenda, but they want to raise awareness about the destruction of human history going on in the world. While most bands tend to leave me hesitant after releasing the first single to a new album...Nile has me sold. Where can I pre-order this damn thing?!

    Alright, next topic that I want to address and evaluate. Recently Helloween announced they will be coming to North America. However, they will only be playing seven shows. The closest show to where I live is in Los Angeles...and that is still about six plus hours of driving. What is going on? Okay, I will do my best to analyze and offer a possible explanation.

    Helloween is an ionic power metal band who seems to get plenty of nods in the metal community. Unfortunately, I have noticed that certain fans only reference the classic Helloween albums and seem to write their new music off as generic. There have been similar cases where a European metal band puts out a new album and American metal fans do not feel the new release lives up to the band’s earlier more iconic albums. Now, because of this a band from Europe will probably decide that touring all across North America will not likely be a financial success. Thus, they only play a few shows where the market looks to be best for them. Helloween’s new album, “My God Given Right,” in my opinion is a great release and features some really good songs. These guys still have the ability to write solid power metal songs along with displaying brilliant musicianship. As I brought up earlier in my evaluation, I think most American fans are stuck believing, “Keeper of the Seven Keys Part One and Two,” are the last two albums worth noting. European power metal fans seem to be more up to date with the genre’s new releases, so the main market for most power metal bands is probably Europe. I might need to move to Europe if I want a better shot at seeing Helloween live...

    That is all I have for this week you metal maniacs. Feel free to weigh in with your own opinions and offer some possible points about the topics I have brought up. Cheers!
-Rob "the metal guy" \m/

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #10

    When there is no place left on the casino circuit for them...the washed up eighties hair bands get together to put on a washed up eighties hair metal jam fest. Who would go and see that you might ask? Well, Tom Keifer from Cinderella will be part of it, so I am not going to completely knock the show. However, Sebastian Bach will be there and I would not be surprised if he throws one of his famous Bach tantrums.
    Actually, this show at the Irvine Meadows in Irvine, Ca looks somewhat interesting. I would not mind seeing Faster Pussycat and Tom Keifer. Though I am a tad confused why they booked both Tracii Guns and L.A. Guns. Tracii used to be in L.A. Guns and he said some harsh words about the band’s current drummer. There might be a hair metal brawl on stage! Unfortunately, these bands have had their glory days and need to move on. Their cheesy videos and catchy rock songs about messing around with women will always be a guilty pleasure of mine, but I would not pay to see them now (Cinderella is an amazing rock band and Tom Keifer is a brilliant songwriter, thus he is excluded from that last statement).
    So, Ghost or Ghost BC released another new song that will be on their upcoming third album. The song, “From the Pinnacle to the Pit,” is a slight return to their early material with a heavier riff section being more noticeable. I think the band actually listened to some of the criticism they received from fans over their last album being too keyboard saturated. I definitely hear a difference from their last release, but I still think that the first album, “Opus Eponymous,” shall forever be the album that defines Ghost for me. The two new tracks I have heard are by no means utter pieces of flaming horse crap, though the musical astonishment I have for this band is not the same compared to when I first heard their debut release. In the end, I cannot complain because at least this is an improvement from the second album, “Infestissumam.” That album was a disappointment just like the San Jose Sharks hockey team failing to win in the playoffs every year and then not even making it last year...
    Last topic to bring up is that if you ever want to avoid upsetting Glenn Danzig, just don’t go up to him and shove a camera in his face. Danzig has been known to get confrontational when a reporter or music fan starts filming him. This past week Navid Farsi who I guess has trolled rock musicians and other celebrities before, decided to go after Danzig and get a reaction by filming the singer. Not only did Navid film Danzig during the concert, he was bold enough to go up to Danzig after the show in the parking lot. Sure enough the dude was put in a headlock by Danzig and the video is now getting plenty of views on youtube. I think Danzig needs to watch his temper, but this Navid guy is an internet attention wanting douche. Unfortunately, Navid got what he wanted because now all the metal media websites are talking about this. In the end I ask one thing: Leave Danzig alone and he will leave you alone. Just imagine Danzig is a wild animal that should be left alone in his natural habitat.
    Alright that is it for this week’s rant. Who thought I would make it to ten...well, the metal world keeps offering me good topics to evaluate. Some topics are more ridiculous than others of course...

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #9

    For those who do not know Kanye West thinks he is a rockstar even though he is an enormous douche star. Corey Taylor from Slipknot already set him straight, so I guess there is not much more for me to say. Actually, I plan to nominate Kanye West for biggest douche in the universe. He will win for sure.
    Okay, okay, let me get onto topics in the hard rock and metal world. Well, I finally got around to watching the entire new music video put out by ex-WASP guitarist Chris Holmes. The song for the video, “Born Work Die,” is from his new solo album called, “Shitting Bricks.” I used to somewhat respect Chris for his work in WASP. Unfortunately, the dude’s music videos are beyond horrendous. I find myself laughing uncontrollably at how bizarre the concepts are at times, along with the fact that he looks like Captain Caveman. This new video shows Chris working in a motorcycle repair shop and looking extremely washed up. Sometimes I wonder if the man’s brain left his body once the eighties finished. In all fairness the guitar playing in the song isn’t dreadful. He still has a solid sounding tone and throws in some cool blues licks. After hearing the song and watching the video I think that Chris is qualified to play in the Mentors if they need another guitar player or singer. The lyrics that Chris comes up with are about as entertaining as the stuff El Duce used to write...
    Technical death metal icons Nile this past week released the track list for their new album that comes out in August. The album, “What Should Not Be Unearthed,” is out the 28th for anyone who wants to mark that date down on their calendars. I have always enjoyed reading Nile’s song titles. I know some fans weren’t pleased with how the last album sounded, but I thought the song titles were exceptional. Songs like “Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame,” and “Natural Liberation of Fear Through the Ritual of Deception of Death,” were loads of fun to say on air when I was doing my radio show. I really can’t wait to hear the new music as Nile is definitely one of the most creative and talented death metal bands around.
    Last night I went to a local metal show with four solid bands from the Sonoma County Area. There is not a massive scene up here in Northern California, but the fans are unbelievably passionate about the music. You have people headbanging like crazy the whole night and the mosh pit is one constant toxic waltz. This leads me to advocate for more metal fans supporting their local scenes. With well known hard rock and metal bands becoming more expensive, sometimes the small club shows are a better option. Also, you are supporting up and coming metal acts who have that raw and exciting passion to play music like the bands they idolize. Another point to make is that you never know if one of those bands from a local metal show might go on to become the next Metallica. Before Metallica was playing major arenas across the globe they were playing small shows in people’s backyards and at clubs. So, if you find out there is a local metal show going on the area you live, try to make your way out and support the scene. Heavy metal will never die because of the passion that comes from the fans who are simply fanatical about the music. Keep headbanging people...Keep Headbanging! \m/

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #8

    Right away I am just going to throw out that Sonoma State University is not on my good list right now. Thanks to the school’s ridiculous possibly for obtaining keys, I have had to cancel my radio show two weeks in a row. Also, they treat the radio station I work for like a diseased leper. After almost four years of hosting a hard rock and heavy metal radio show I feel like I get no respect. Rodney Dangerfield...I now know what you truly meant when you would say you get no respect...
    Okay, moving away from my radio show problems and onto topics in the world of rock and heavy metal. First off, Journey needs to get a new drummer. Actually, who cares about Journey! There are only a few original members in the band and their songs are overplayed on mainstream rock radio. However, their current drummer, Deen Castronovo is making them at least interesting to read about now. The guy is charged with assaulting some woman and then breaking a court order by excessively calling her and texting her. Now, there are reports surfacing that Deen was under the influence of meth during this time of horrible behavior. I am not surprised some rocker went crazy and is in the press for criminal behavior. These dudes tend to act up every three to four months. Their careers are based around nostalgia and some of them need to hang it up.  Just wait, next month it will be the drummer for an eighties hair metal band who got drunk and stole a golf cart...oh wait, that already happened.
    In positive metal news the band Malevolent Creation is putting out a new album. The album is expected to be out September 18 and is titled, “Dead Man’s Path.” I saw the album cover and was impressed. Of course, I have not heard the music so I can’t really make an opinion on how it will sound. Though if it is anything close to the stuff on second their album, “Retribution,” I will definitely be interested.
    I guess the last part of this rant is where I am going to express my opinions on how metal people are perceived by non-metal people. Recently, I was walking across my campus wearing a King Diamond t-shirt and happened to walk through a Christian Club seminar that was being hosted outside. As one girl was talking to her small group of professionally dressed teens, I noticed she gave me a displeasing look as if she thought that maybe I was a spy working for Satan. This is not the first time a person has given me a mean look while wearing a metal shirt. Is our society, which is supposed to be more understanding and tolerant towards different groups, still discriminating against the heavy metal culture? Just because someone wears a Morbid Angel or Exodus t-shirt does not mean they are a bad person, or someone you should be afraid of. They just happen to enjoy a certain style of music and wish to not hide their enjoyment. I find the whole situation unfortunate that people should judge another based on the music they listen to and by the shirt they wear.
    To wrap this rant up, we should all be proud to be a metal fans no matter where you come from or how you dress. Also, the few people in the rock and metal people who do partake in some outrageous behavior should not define the community. Overall, I believe metal fans are some of the most tolerant and respectful people on this planet.  Never be ashamed to be a metal fan and never let people who are against heavy metal bring you down!

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #7

    Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Dave Mustaine’s mind flying away into the clouds.
    Yep, I need to start this rant off by bringing up Old Man Mustaine. Recently I have been hearing some news about the new Megadeth album. Unfortunately the type of news I am hearing is not increasing my interest in the new release. I am more afraid than when I first heard the title track to, Super Collider! First off, they have some country artist named Steve Wariner playing on a track. Is Megadeth jumping off the thrash ship and venturing into the world of country? I know the band played at some George Jones tribute concert, but they honestly don’t think their core fan base is really going to embrace MegaCountry. Also, I am just worried that the album will be a disappointment because Dave Mustaine is a squirrel. No offense, but his interviews can be a bit bizarre and musically I don’t know what else this band really has to offer. I shall hope that the new album is a strong release and makes up for the last album, Super Disappointment Collider. However, I will not hold my breath...
    Next topic is about a band that I recently heard on the radio. The band is... Butcher Babies. For those who don’t know of them, just imagine two female singers trying to growl and dress in outrageous sexy looking outfits. In all fairness they are not completely horrible, but after hearing their song, “Monster Ball,” on Sirius Liquid Metal, I really do not get how people consider them to be an act worth paying money for. Their sound is a mix of poorly arranged nu metal/ industrial metal and really bad growling. Vocally, I could not tell what was going on. The contrast of very pop like clean vocals and weak sounding death growls made my head hurt. Also, the lyrics being presented in the song were about as memorable as the words on the back of a cereal box. After the song finished, I learned to always turn the station when Butcher Babies shows up on air.
    Last topic I want to bring up... Did you know that Gene Simmons thinks rock is dead? Again! I am tired of hearing him saying this bit in every interview. Gene, why don’t you donate some of your money to the young rock/metal bands to help rock not die! Or just retire to some island and never bother us again! If rock was completely one hundred percent dead, then why do people still pay for Kiss shows? Why do people still give this arrogant man money? Best answer I can come up with for those last two questions, I think some Kiss fans have been brainwashed or fed subliminal messages. That would be a great science fiction movie. Kiss taking over the world with subliminal messages in their music and products. Wouldn’t be surprised if Gene takes my idea and actually makes the movie...
    Well, there is this week’s rant. Feel free to comment on one of the topics brought up. Don’t be afraid to voice your honest opinion like I do!

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Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #6

    Another week full of metal news and crap that I can express my thoughts on. Oh what fun...
   
    To begin, Morbid Angel should win an award for confusing the hell out of their fan base and the entire metal music media. At one point I did not even know who was still in the band! First Trey talked about how him and Steve Tucker were working on stuff and the new Morbid Angel album would be a “...world beater.” Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, it got everyone thinking David Vincent was out. However, David released a statement later that day saying that he was never asked to leave the band! What? The metal world literally went crazy with different scenarios such as their possibly being two vocalists in the band or that the band would split into two factions. People actually thought their might be a possibility of two Morbid Angels! Then Tim Yeung the drummer decided to leave the band for financial reasons. A few days later the band’s second guitarist Destructhor decided he was on his way out. At the end of this week I did not even know if Trey was in the band. Maybe Morbid Angel was a spiritual entity that would go on releasing albums.
    Well, I guess some of the confusion has been put to rest as David Vincent released a statement saying him and Trey are not going to be working together and he is moving onto new musical projects. Still, Morbid Angel confused the heck out of me this past week and I will not be enthusiastic if I hear there is a new album coming out. From now on I shall refer to Morbid Angel as Morbid Confusion. Don’t get me wrong, their music is some of the death metal’s finest (minus most of the songs if not all on that last album). Though I really will have a hard time believing anything moving forward that the band has to say, especially if posted on a metal media site.
    Next topic, would you believe it? Eddie Van Halen said something disrespectful about former bass player Michael Anthony. Wow, how old are these rockers?! They are worse than a group of high school drama queens! Eddie said in some stupid interview with Billboard that “...Every note Mike ever played, I had to show him how to play. Before we'd go on tour, he'd come over with a video camera and I'd have to show him how to play all the parts.” To summarize that quote for everyone, Eddie Van Halen is trying to tell people that he has an inflated ego and is unbelievably arrogant. In every interview that I have heard with Michael Anthony, I have never heard him make any strong critical comments or disrespectful comments for that matter about Eddie. Also, Eddie is getting old and bitter and probably realizes that most fans would like to see the original line-up. Wouldn’t be surprised if the band needs to cancel their tour due to Eddie’s health issues. He treated his body worse than Fred Sanford treated Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son.
    I think that is enough for this week. I swear these musicians are more childish than my three year old nephew. One day I would like to see metal news reporting sites just focus on young metal bands and their awesome new albums. Unfortunately, if not for these ridiculous rockers and their drama...What would I have to rant about?

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #5

    Before I begin this rant I want to take a moment to reflect on the life of Christopher Lee. He was a brilliant actor who appeared in many great films, with my favorites being his horror films. Also, the guy did work with power/symphonic metal bands such as Rhapsody of Fire and Manowar. Mr. Lee even released his own symphonic metal albums. All around he was a great performer and one of the most metal people to walk on this earth. Rest in peace Christopher Lee and may your spirit live on through your amazing works.
    Alright moving onto topics in the metal world, I guess I will start with Electric Wizard. Their most recent album, “Time to Die,” is being pulled from store shelves and reportedly fans can’t download it off iTunes. Now, there is a reason behind the recent recall. Allegations from drummer Mark Greening have surfaced saying that Jus Oborn and Liz Buckingham did not pay him yet for the work he did on the album. Mark is currently not with the band and has a lawsuit against his former members. The label that put the album out is Spinefarm Records and they have pulled the album due to the pending lawsuit. Now, what do I make of this? I am not shocked that Electric Wizard is being accused of not paying members. They are big time stoners! I would not be surprised if Jus and Liz smoked Mark’s pay check by accident. I personally thought the album was decent and actually added the album to my radio station’s rotation. Hell, there is a review of the album on this blog of the album. I am sure most fans by now have bought the album, but then again, they might be extremely stoned like the band. Well, for the time being anyone looking to scalp and charge double for what you paid for, “Time to Die,” ...you better cash in now!
    Actually, don’t do that because I hate people that charge ridiculous prices for albums that are hard to find. Also, I blame the labels for not repressing a consistent amount of albums when there is a decent demand for the album. I guess in their defense the case can be made that not too many people buy albums anymore. Recently I read a quote from Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillian that said, “Buy real records in real shops, or I’ll come round your house and scream at your mother.” If that does not get people to go out and buy more albums I don’t know what else will. Maybe have Lars from Metallica come to your house and complain about how Jason left the band, or just have him start talking about how great his life is since he hangs around movie stars.
    That it is for this week. I could make fun of the most recent hair metal hack tour package consisting of Quiet Riot, Jack Russell’s Great White, LA Guns and Enuff Z’nuff. However, I think looking at the list of old washed up rockers is enough to make most people laugh. Hope no one blows out a hip!

Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #4

    First off I bought the new Helloween album this past week and believe a video review is on the horizon. For now, I will focus my commentary on topics I noticed going on in the metal world.
    To begin, I thought I would bring up a humorous argument that went down on a band’s Facebook page. So, this death metal band that I consider to be one of the top up and coming bands in the genre, posted a video of a recent practice session to show the fans they are preparing to make a new album. Soon after posting the video on their page, a person decided to comment accusing the band of stealing a riff from the band that the person is involved in. Supposedly this person believes the band has heard their music before, so there must be an act of copying going on. I think death metal musicians arguing over stealing riffs is utterly hilarious. Why watch TV when I can read two parties banter back and forth about a stolen intro riff? If the band copied the entire song note for note maybe their is a case to bring up.  Also, going to court over the fact that an intro to a death metal song might have been ripped off, would really be a pathetic statement about our society. Stop your crying person making the claims that your riff was stolen. There are only so many damn notes in the western music scale that eventually something will sound similar!
    Next topic comes from an area that I feel like the metal world can’t stop talking about. The topic of how the record industry has declined seems to be very popular and can be applied to the current state of heavy metal. After listening to an interview that WSOU conducted with Alex Skolnick from Testament at some New England metal festival, I get the sense that the subject of industry decline is still relevant. Skolnick points out how major arena acts are doing fine, but the mid level bands really do struggle to make music a full time job. Major companies are investing massive amounts of money into big time acts that there is no hope for young metal bands.
     The music industry is just falling apart and the economic dilemmas that face young metal bands is truly a difficult situation to solve. However, young bands do have the opportunity to get their music heard on a larger scale via the internet, but they just won’t be able to pay the bills playing music. In a perfect world metal musicians would have a stable income stream, but of course, this is not a perfect world. Hopefully one day someone puts forth a fair economic system to help up and coming metal acts. I believe the passion and true enjoyment of the music keeps young metal bands chasing the dream. I wish I could take all the money that goes to those low pants wearing gibberish talking rappers and give it to the talented metal acts who know how to play instruments and write creative lyrics that just don’t talk about going to the clubs.
    That is it for this week. Hope no gibberish talking rap fans read this blog or I might need to walk down the streets with a bulletproof jacket on...  

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Rob "the metal guy" Rants About Metal #3

    Ghost is back...Oh wait, I have to call them Ghost B.C. since they were forced to change their name in America due to legal reasons. Anyway, they are going to be releasing their third album later this summer with the exact date being August 21. Titled, “Meliora,” the album is the follow-up to 2013’s, "Infestissumam." I personally thought “Infestissumam" was a flat out disappointment, especially compared to the band’s first album. I remember constantly talking about the first album and getting excited for the follow up to that release. Unfortunately, Ghost just did not deliver a strong recording with that second album. I thought the album was extremely over produced and the band added too many keyboard arrangements. Compared to the spooky melodic classic rock sounding first album, the band turned into a techno pop rock group who relied heavily upon their gimmicky. Also, when the band decided to expand their merchandizing by putting out butt plugs and dildos, I thought I was dealing with another Kiss. Hopefully with this third album Ghost returns to the more classic rock driven sound and relies less on keyboards. Also, I would like to see them stop making sex toys...Leave the outrageous merchandizing to Gene Simmons.
    Slayer drama alert! Slayer drama alert! Blabbermouth reports that Kerry King felt ‘insulted’ by the record contract that was offered to the band by longtime producer and label boss Rick Rubin. Slayer has worked with Rubin and American Recordings for a longtime and recently King addressed the reason for the split. I guess an agreement could not be made for this new album, so the band is using Nuclear Blast to put out their eleventh album, “Repentless.” I could care less who puts out the new Slayer album, but I think the whole situation is humorous given that Kerry King has come to be viewed as the major jerk of the metal world. Maybe Rubin should have offered to take Kerry King to Burger King in the contract? I can’t wait to see more hilarious stories involving current or former members of Slayer. Don’t forget, the new album does not come out until 9/11, so I think we will be hearing more from metal’s most dramatic band who used to be metal’s most feared and well respected bands.
    Last topic...I am leaving it up to you people! Tell me something below in the comments section that is going on in the metal world that you would like to express an opinion about. Don’t be afraid to say what you feel and even come up with a clever joke. 
    Hope you enjoyed this weeks rant and I will be back with another! \m/