Dec 162013
 

Are you like me? Do you shake your head in quasi-disbelief when you see the ordering of band names on posters for hybrid rock/metal festivals like the one above, which provides the latest line-up updates for the 2014 edition of the UK’s DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL? Way up at the top, you see that the headliners include the octogenarians in Aerosmith — and then only down below, almost buried in the fine print, you see the name SikTh.

I mean, considering that SikTh were an influential band who have been defunct for more than five years, the fact that they have reunited seems like the kind of news that deserves a little more prominence, such as perhaps placement on the same line as… uh… Fall Out Boy? Okay, maybe that’s asking for too much. How about SikTh on the same line as Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel? And no, I have no fucking idea what Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel is, though if they include actual red dragons, I’d be interested in seeing them.

In other news, it appears Linkin Park will be performing Hybrid Theory at DOWNLOAD. I might pay to see that, if only for nostalgia reasons, as long as Linkin Park promise not to play anything they’ve recorded since 2003.

Also, it appears the festival will also include Battlecross, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dying Fetus, In Flames (appearing on the same line as those red dragons and a rhino that needs to be fed), Thy Art Is Murder, and The Black Dahlia Murder (who just barely made the poster before they ran out of room). Not too shabby. Continue reading »

Oct 112012
 

 

We’re going off our usual beaten path of metallic extremity in this post, with two brand new videos from Primal Rock Rebellion and Death Grips. I thought both were worth watching, and so here they are. We’ll get back to our usual diet of gut rumbling music later today.

PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION

SikTh is no more (though a reunion could still happen), but SikTh’s Mikee Goodman is very much still alive and kicking. His two-man band Primal Rock Rebellion (formed with Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith) released a debut album earlier this year called Awoken Broken.

This morning I saw that PRR had released a new music video for a track from the album, “Tortured Tone”, and I decided to check it out. Goodman himself conceived, cast, and directed the clip, and it’s a visual feast. It includes a log cabins, woodland tranquility, seascape vistas, rainy cobble-stoned hills, Goodman and Smith performing in a huge bright field, a pretty girl, and a bit of creepy stop-motion animation.

As noted, the song isn’t the usual NCS fare, but it eventually pulls out some metal grit and heft, and it’s melodically memorable. Here you go: Continue reading »

Jan 032012
 

Okay, the headline of this post is a bit of an exaggeration, but I think you’ll forgive me after you hear the music.

The news is this: Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith has joined forces with former SikTh frontman Mikee Goodman for a new studio project. It’s called Primal Rock Rebellion, and the duo have finished recording an album that will be released on February 27 by the Spinefarm label.

The songs were all co-written by Smith and Goodman, with Smith playing both guitar and bass. Session musicians who also contributed to the forthcoming album include Abi Fry of Bat For Lashes, plus original SikTh member Dan ‘Loord’ Foord on drums, among others.

Spinefarm and the band have just released a song from the album called “I See Lights”. It’s dark and nasty, and the guitar and bass riffage get their hooks in you pretty fast. Listen to it after the jump — and if you like what you here, you can download it for free. Continue reading »