Evolution of the Beast

“Throw at me what you got, ‘cause I will break free, of all the webs that bind me” DevilDriver, Dead To Rights.

Last week, DevilDriver released their fifth album, Beast. I’d been looking forward to this for months, catching updates and feedback on Facebook. Somehow I resisted the sneak-peek of new tracks and videos. I wanted to go into this one completely blind. It was worth the wait.

With every new album, DevilDriver brings something else. You will find another layer, another hook, another level of ferocity. I’ve been a fan of singer Dez from his Coal Chamber days and I was excited when I heard he was starting a new band. DevilDriver is a departure in style from Coal Chamber and it was one of my first forays into real death metal. Since the first album, they’ve continually progressed and evolved. Just when you think that they’re as heavy as possible the next CD proves you wrong. DevilDriver is an insatiable Beast.

Dead To Rights kicks off the CD, beginning with pummeling drums and a gnarly guitar hook. You have to wait for the vocals. I can imagine Dez grinning wildly just before flying full on into the melee. This track is indicative of the rest of the songs: unrelenting intensity, punishing vocals, tech drumming, and more than a few surprises. The breakdowns are more intricate. They divert your attention for just a moment before the next riff takes your head off. This is a runaway truck and there’s a madman at the wheel. Check out the solo work in Coldblooded, the stomping breakdown in Blur, or the devious out-section of Crowns of Creation.

When you peel back the layers of sounds and get down to Dez’s lyrics, you’ll find a consistent pattern. It’s easy to overlook the details or make ignorant assessments. Aside from the beautiful chaos and head banging bliss, there is equal power in what DevilDriver has to say. These songs are about facing adversity and rising up against negativity. Sure, bad things happen to everyone. But you have to get up, dust yourself off, and keep on going. And if you’re not with him you’re against him and you’d better get out of the way. Sometimes you can’t help others until you’ve exorcised your own demons. Struggle and triumph can each bring hope.

Dez exclaims that he loves this and he wants to do it forever. I certain hope he does. The rest of us will be here, fists in the air, cheering and moshing all the way. With Beast, DevilDriver unleashed a true monster. They’ve outdone themselves completely and I can’t imagine what more they could bring us. Then again, I’ve said that before. This is rock. This is life. What are you listening to?

Video for DevilDriver’s Dead To Rights. Beast up!

End of ISIS

“Eyes are shut, feet are bare / For this journey I'm unprepared” Isis, 20 Minutes / 40 Years

At the end of their tour in 2010, Isis announced that they were calling it quits. The band had accomplished what they set out to do. I have mixed feelings. Isis is the kind of band that requires a certain amount of dedication and effort to get to know. I’ve been a fan for only a short amount of time and so I feel in some ways that the relationship has ended before I was ready. But that would be selfish. Plus their music persists and let’s be honest; I’ll probably need a lifetime to appreciate all that Isis has to offer.

Isis was heavily influenced by bands like Neurosis and Tool; a kind of progressive, yet sludgy metal. Their music ticks along with incredible precision and depth one minute and the next body-slams the listener with powerful, bludgeoning riffs. The intricate parts feel as though they’re played through muddy pools, like you’re pushing against the current of a rain-swollen river.

Ambient waves lull you into dreamy ecstasy before the tidal wave of sound drags you through violent nightmares. The songs are long. Most span at least 7 minutes. Unrelenting. You can’t turn away; you can’t surface, not even to breathe. The driving rhythms draw you closer and closer to the edge. And then Aaron Turner’s voice creeps in, low and casual, like a demon beckoning from a place yet unseen. Your only guide through these murky depths. Consistently through their albums you feel his voice more than you actually hear it. Whether he’s giving life to a rough melody or growling ferociously, the vocals are set back in the mix. It feels more like Isis use the vocal as another instrument; wandering back and forth between raw and refined.

Their career stretches back 13 years. I only own 3 albums, including their last release Wavering Radiant. With each album, Isis embarks on their own journey and it’s up to you to keep pace. This is the music played at the edge of the universe. This is the music played at the end of time. When the apocalypse comes, Isis will provide the soundtrack. There is no more beautiful way to go. This is rock, this is life, what are you listening to?

ISIS - 20 Minutes / 40 Years, from the album Wavering Radiant (2009).

Be My Valentine

For this week’s installment, I decided to dive deep in my iTunes library to retrieve some suggestions for your Valentine’s Day playlist. In any good movie, the soundtrack provides a constant backdrop for setting the mood and filling the otherwise empty spaces. Your perfect valentines would be utterly incomplete without an equally stunning soundtrack.

Then again, maybe Valentine’s is not your favorite day. I’ll start off with a few for you…

Coal Chamber – Unspoiled

The story goes that singer Dez Farfara’s wife left him just prior to recording Coal Chamber’s first album. He screams the lines, Do I look fine to you/ do I seem alright with such raw intensity. It’s a wholly unnatural sound, coming from a place deep inside a wounded soul.

The Verve Pipe – Barely (if at all)

Best known for the moody grunge radio song, The Freshmen, The Verve Pipe’s debut album opened with a hollow, whining guitar sustain before bursting into angst-riddled distortion. Singer Brian Vander Ark bitterly rails against the woman who pretended much but only loved me barely, if at all.

Bob Dylan – It Ain’t Me Babe

Whatever it is you’re looking for, whatever you think you need, Bob Dylan doesn’t have it for you. That’s the just the cold, cruel reality. Wherever you were hoping to the take this relationship, Dylan delivers his verdict, in no uncertain terms.

Johnny Cash – Hurt

Everyone I know/ goes away in the end. Johnny Cash’s Hurt is solemn, dark, and haunting. It’s an epic dirge for the funeral of life, love, and all that could be good. You could have it all/ my empire of dirt/ I will let you down/ I will make you hurt. Enough said.

Apocalyptica – SOS (Anything But Love) with Cristina Scabbia

Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia gives her intense, sultry style to Anything But Love. Listening to Lacuna Coil, you get a sense that she’s someone not to be messed around with. On this track, Christina’s love-wronged voice is powerful with Apocalyptica’s sweeping strings to comfort her bitter melody.

Jimi Hendrix

The blues are filled with lost and poisoned love. Hey Joe demonstrates a man, wronged by love, on the edge of sanity. Yet, through Hendrix’s blues-drench delivery, you feel sympathetic and almost understand Joe’s course of action. My favorite Hendrix song (for any occasion) is Red House. Imagine wandering home to your lover to find the house empty and the locks changed. Everything you knew is gone. Even if you deserved it, that’s still not cool. But Jimi offers hope at the songs conclusion: Even though my baby don’t love me no more/ I know her sister will.

Now for the playlist of love…

A Perfect Circle - Magdalena

Swirling with intense emotion and sexuality, Maynard James Keenan beckons the love of Magdalena. The song builds through the verses and charges headlong into each chorus, climaxing against Billy Howerdel’s blistering guitar breakdowns. I’d sell my soul/ my self esteem/ a dollar at a time/ … for one kiss/ one taste of you/ my Magdalena.

Deftones – Passenger

A lot of the Deftones’ music bristles with sexual tension and Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) lends his voice to one of their most intense. Let your mind wander through the twisting ambient riffing and tensely strained vocals. Throw caution to the wind and love without boundaries.

The Doors

It couldn’t be Valentine’s without playing The Doors. Take your pick: Hello, I Love You; Light My Fire; Love Her Madly; We Could Be So Good Together. There are too many to choose. Just start with Waiting For the Sun and go from there. Don’t bother sweating over the perfect soundtrack to charm your significant other. Just let Jim Morrison do all of the talking.

Franz Ferdinand

For that special kind of love that fails conventional description, go no further than Franz Ferdinand. This is dirty, slinky rock that slithers its way into your heart with catchy grooves and smooth vocals. It captivates and keeps you coming back for more. Perhaps you should keep the lyrics away so she doesn’t get any ideas… or maybe that’s just what you need.

System of a Down – Ego Brain

System is known mostly for chaotic, politically driven metal, but Ego Brain is an alternative emotional gem. Serj Tankian’s vocals soar and reassures us that when all else fails, trust in your partner and find that love prevails over all.

Metallica – Nothing Else Matters

This song holds a lot of meaning for me. Starting slow and soulfully, it crescendos into a elegant ballad. Musically, it transcends the reach of mere rock and metal. Check out the video of Apocalyptica’s instrumental arrangement. This song teaches us that love belongs to each of us and we must love in spite of everything life throws in our way. Love is the only thing that really matters. Give everything of yourself through love and through life. This is rock. This is life. What are you listening to?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Peace for Metal Earth

“Wouldn’t it be great to heal the world, with only a song,” Serj Tankian, Honking Antelope



New Zealand is a country known for progressive thinking; a proponent of sustainability and peaceful living. So when the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra was searching for a contemporary artist to work with, it’s no surprise that they got in touch with System of a Down front man, Serj Tankian. The result was a symphonic arrangement based on Tankian’s solo album. Recorded in March 2009 in Auckland New Zealand, this work is a perfect, peaceful marriage of classical music and progressive metal.

System of a Down arose in the late nineties with sharp, chaotic, progressive metal. The infectious hooks would draw you in just before swerving violently in another direction. System presented an emotional and passionate politicized voice. Much of their music focuses on injustice and greed, oppression and war. They’ve called for peace and railed against complacency and apathy toward the status quo. Music is more than just about selling CDs and concert seats. In their music, you’ll find a challenge and a call to action.

This passion continues into Serj Tankian’s solo work. His first album, Elect the Dead, serves as a biting reminder that things have not improved greatly in the years since System of a Down first assaulted the airwaves. Serj’s resolve has grown stronger to challenge the system. Musically, this album is often more approachable than some of System’s work. The hooks are deeper and the melodies so catchy that you’re still humming it hours after each listen. Again we continue to hear of the evil of money, the destruction of our planet, and the call for acceptance and peace.

This makes the union between the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and Serj so natural for the creation of the Elect the Dead Symphony. Serj’s style is theatrical and his energy easily finds its place in each symphonic arrangement. The symphony contains versions of most of the Elect Dead album and a few other tracks. These are not just the same songs with a string and horn section added. Instead, each song was arranged for a full orchestra.

Even though the venue is filled with cheering fans and there are nearly 80 people on the stage, Serj and the APO deliver an intimate performance. You feel drawn in closely by the smooth arrangements. The blistering wall of sound that normally stands behind Serj’s powerful vocals has been gracefully turned down, exposing the finer nuances of each song’s intensity. If you allow yourself to simultaneously recall the studio album, it’s amazing to hear the juxtaposition of Elect The Dead’s raw metal with the subtle elegance of the APO. You experience a different kind of intensity, as the orchestra’s ebb and flow draws your closer to the stage. You’re allowed to witness the marriage of seemingly competitive styles. Serj grins ear to ear with every chorus and you know that this is a special show.

It’s in these rare collaborations that music demonstrates how we can live our own lives. Peace and understanding coupled with compassion and acceptance. Many worlds can live harmoniously together. Serj and the APO beautifully illustrate this meaning and message. If you’re interested in more, check out the organizations supported by System of a Down and Serj Tankian, especially the Axis of Justice which was formed by Serj and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine/Audio Slave). Metal is good for the soul and good for the world. This is rock, this is life, what are you listening to?