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Hell Yeah Metal Heads! In our little,twisted world it’s already christmas.Looks like it’s going to snow metal this Fall,if not for real snow!

Eagle Records will be releasing a star studded Metal Christmas record this Fall.Twisted Sistor did it back in October,2006,Motorhead did a Christmas edition of Ace of Spades(single)-but this time around you are going to have not only God  Lemmy Kilmister,but also Dio,Chuck Billy,Tim “Ripper” Owens and the likes on this album.Read the tracklist-the entire tracklist,it’s long.But bet ya’ll only breathe twice while reading it.

‘Run Rudolph Run’
Vocal/bass: Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD)
Guitar/vocals: Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ TOP)
Drums/vocals: Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS)

‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’
Vocal: Alice Cooper
Guitar: John 5 (MARILYN MANSON/ROB ZOMBIE)
Bass: Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG/ NIACIN)
Drums: Vinnie Appice (HEAVEN AND HELL/ BLACK SABBATH)

‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’
Vocal: Ronnie James Dio
Guitar: Tony Iommi (Heaven And Hell/ Black Sabbath)
Bass: Rudy Sarzo (WHITESNAKE/DIO)
Drums: Simon Wright (AC/DC/DIO)

‘Little Drummer Boy’
Vocal: Dug Pinnick (KING’s X)
Guitars: George Lynch (DOKKEN)
Bass: Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big)
Drums: Simon Phillips (THE WHO/TOTO)

‘Santa Claus Is Back In Town’
Vocal: Tim Ripper Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN/ex-JUDAS PRIEST)
Lead Guitar: Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE)
Rhythm guitar: Juan Garcia (AGENT STEEL)
Bass: Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake/TED NUGENT)
Drums: Vinnie Appice

‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
Vocal: Tommy Shaw (STYX)
Guitars: Steve Lukather (TOTO)
Bass: Marco Mendoza
Drums: Kenny Aronoff (TONY IOMMI/SMASHING PUMPKINS)

‘Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer’
Vocal/Guitar: Ace Frehley (ex-KISS)
Bass: Billy Sheehan
Drums: Greg Bissonette (DAVID LEE ROTH)

‘Rocking Round The Xmas Tree’
Vocal: Joe lynn Turner (RAINBOW/Deep Purple)
Guitars: Bruce Kulick (KISS/GRAND FUNK)
Bass: Rudy Sarzo
Drums: Simon Wright

‘Silent Night’
Vocal: Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT)
Guitar: Scott Ian (ANTHRAX)
Lead Guitar: Jon Donais (SHADOWSFALL)
Bass: Chris Wyse (Ozzy/THE CULT)
Drums: John Tempesta (ROB ZOMBIE)

‘Silver Bells’
Vocal: Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen/JOURNEY)
guitar: Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT)
Bass: James Lomenzo (MEGADETH/DLR BAND)
Drums: Ray Luzier (KORN/DAVID LEE ROTH)

‘Deck The Halls’
Vocal: Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB)
Guitar: Craig Goldy (Dio)
Bass: Tony Franklin (THE FIRM)
Drums: John Tempesta (ROB ZOMBIE)

‘We Wish You a Merry Xmas’
Vocal: Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE)
Guitars: Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake)
Bass: Chris Wyse
Drums: Ray Luzier

Stop drooling!

Image Credits-motorhead.it,wikipedia,Beartooth myspace

links worth checking out-Eagle Records

You might consider this post a tad bit too late because Graeme “Crash” Crallan,ex-Tank drummer passed away more than two weeks ago due to head injuries

due to falling in the streets of London . But given the timeless factor of Tank’s music, their contribution towards the growth of Heavy Metal and the great bands they’ve influenced-including my personal favorite Blackened Thrashers Bulldozer- I’ve decided to write this post anyways.

Though Crallan was only involved with Tank for a period of roughly two years,I think his contribution towards their 1984 hit album “Honour and Blood” (Label:Music for Nations) helped create a more “thrashy” element-which was already in Tank’s music,but not as significantly unique in “Honour and Blood”. It also helped Crallan himself gain the recognition he deserved in the metal stratosphere,especially given the fact that his band with Iron Maiden’s Janick Gers “White Spirit” was not as influential as Tank-this may vary largely depending on personal taste.

Speaking of Tank’s music-they captured early thrash sounds that may resemble that of peers like Venom,blended with speed metal elements widely popular in the era thanks to bands like Motorhead and Judas Priest and successfully combining it with classic, generic New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

There are a two key factors I consider important that paved the path to the immensely influential career of Tank.

1.They were genuinely generic.

Most people consider bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc… to be generic.They are! And that’s for a reason.

These bands are considered generic because they defined the genre themselves and hence influenced other acts to try and do something within the same stratosphere. This did result in many rip off acts but I can’t really picture an innovative act like Opeth just appearing out of no where given no prior-and maybe primitive-inspirations.

You may not want to see a presumably “generic” rip off act in a Band Show,but in the long run you can’t blame Iron Maiden or Tank for being generic either.The key factor here is to understand the difference and similarity between “classic” and “generic”.

2.Tank successfully captured peer Punk elements and presented in their technical virtuosity.

According to Wikipedia-though the New Wave of British Heavy Metal rose to success as a “reaction towards the decline of acts like Deep Purple,Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin” in the face of the rebellious punk movement in Britain-it nevertheless blended many Punk aspects from the era. Tank too have a clear punk element in their music-that will definitely appeal to many metalheads whose awareness of metal came through punk-but also retaining their technical skills in fast paced solos and successful song writing. This may be considered inevitable given that Tank itself was formed Algy Ward,a former member of none other than the very influential “The Damned”.

Despite numerous line-up changes Tank are still doing what they do best since 1980, and they kick plenty of ass with every record of the way.

Graeme Crallan-Rest in Peace.

Image Credits-darkside.ru

A few links worth checking out-

• Tank’s official website.
• Tank’s official myspace page.
• N.W.O.B.H.M Online Encyclopedia.

I’ve been away from the better part of the blogosphere for some time.Reason:I flew from Colombo to Minnesota and it took a decent amount of time preparing to leave,leaving (meaning flying)and some more time to getting settled.So anyways,I am back and I am ready to blog.

Most of the time-here on metal cracker-I write stuff that is very opinion oriented,but now I’ve decided that it’s more important to write content that is unique and more “discussion oriented”.So here goes and feel free comment and swear as much as you want below in the comments section.

This is a never ending debate though,and that is why I’ve said “Why I don’t hate….” instead of “Why I like….”I’ve often had the “Is punk a real deal?” discussion with a lot of my friends,and it has never really proven anything about the topic but only keeping going on and on and on.And trust me they are as metal as your wieght in metal.

Before going to details I have to point out that,I am not a huge fan of metalcore.I don’t see it in metalcore what I see in Lamb of God or some of the tight modern outfits today or some of the old-school timeless music people like Chuck Schuldiner has given birth to.But still like I’ve said I don’t hate it either and so here’s why I don’t hate metal core.

#1.Metalcore helps expand metal as a whole.

Metalcore does add a little bit of variety to this amazing genre we love.But my point is not that.Though a lot of metalheads hate metalcore and are reluctant to even admit it is a sub-genre within metal,I personally think metalcore is a genre that can capture hardcore punk and extreme sub genres like thrash and a little bit of death metal with NWOBHM influences.In a away though most metalheads are not at all attracted to it,metalcore attracts other fans into metal by exposing them to a core metal sound but wrapped with mellow punk elements,who would have instead never been able to digest the extreme,raw sounds of Death.

It’s just like Metallica’s St.Anger-we metalheads hated it but it did more justice for all than when Lars Ulrich fucked over his fans.But just to let you know,St.Anger topped  30 International music charts all over the world.Yes!At the same time!Now isn’t that a good thing for metal-an artiste from a genre hated by the mainstream makes it to the top of more than 30 top charts beating some of the worlds most renowned pussy-friendly acts?I mean come on bitch!We all hate St.Anger but it did something fucking N-Sync could’t do?

#2.(Most of) It does require some amount of technical ability and virtuosity.

No matter how some of us may hate to admit it,a lot of kids playing metalcore do know how to strike a chord.I consider metalcore to be a more riff driven form of modern cross over genres that combines certain classic metal elements that Thirty Seconds to Mars honestly aren’t capable of.Now look,I have seen enough technical acts who masturbate on their gear,just as much as you do and I am not trying to compare the technical capabilities differnt sub-genres demand for.It’s just stupid.My point is metalcore does incoporate some classic metal techniques ranging from maiden-esque twin guitar solos to blast beats to double-driven bass etc…

This once again contributes into exposing this genre we love so much to masses by putting in some of its significant musical aspects into something that is musically and culturally much more commercial mainstream.

#3.Metalcore’s musical anatomy still lies in metal,so might as well not hate it.

 The name is metalcore,it’s metal something.Metalcore is a promanteau of heavy metal and hardcore ( punk ).(See wikipedia.)And so even this revolves again in to what I am trying to point out.It is capable of transforming an extreme sound into something that is easily adaoptable to most non-metalheads.

Bottomline.

I am not a metalcore fan!But I am not a metalcore hater either.But there are a few other metalcore related sub-genres like EMO that I really hate,because some of it promotes certain things that are so against the tribal ideologies of heavy metal like selfharm and low-esteem,really shallow  hig school musical-esque romantic lyrical content.

But all in all I generally don’t hate metalcore because-like I’ve repeated-it exposes metal to the masses.I even didn’t mind Kerrang!’s later attempts,because I thought they compiled metal into a very sellable context so the kids could have something that is richer than atleast Vanity Fair…..That is until they started featuring 30 Seconds to Mars.

So the idea here is,simply put; if a  young kid in his early teens listening to a metalcore band is encouraged to go and buy classic metal albums,that is good thing.Because it is good for metal as a genre but also as a serious form of art.Because evolution is inevitable,like it or not it will happen.The way I see it metalcore is an evolved form of metal music that does a decent amount of good than what meets the eye.

p.s-Underground? Anybody?

This band is awesome.No doubts.

They gave us Britney covers,they gave us a superb ass rendition of Final Countdown and they are one of the few technically awesome melodic death metal acts out there.

According to Children of Bodom fansite Scythes Of Bodom-Children of Bodom played Rihanna’s Umbrella at one of their recent gigs in Japan.

I have mixed views.The band has a reputation for doing this sort of thing and yes they do it in their own inno-BLOODY-vative way.But are they just taking it a bit out of hand by doing this?The video is below,watch and let’s start talking.

To all those “less-awesome” people who don’t listen to Bruce Dickinson’s Friday Rock Show on BBC-6 (I mena what the ??? ) Lemmy appeared on last night’s show. Yeah I know,that it self is a treat-Lemmy being interviewed by Bruce but the real treat? Bruce played “Runaround man”, “Rock Out” and “1000 names of God”. Fuck yes!!!

And it was one hell of an interview too-the relavant part come in around 2:15 off the 3 hour show.

There ain’t much you can write about this but to highlight a few  moments you are going to miss include-

•  
  • Them talking about some “white crystals”-Ahem!
  • The talk about a man caught with “White crystals”,a sex toy and a piece of rope (or string,can’t really remember) tied around his “shakalaka bum bum”
  • The recording process of the new album (which Lemmy described as ” We go in to the Studio and look at the equipment on the first two days, and then we get a bit near to it the third day and the fourth day we actually start playing….the same way”)
  • Bruce’s question/suggestion about a “Porno movie” and Lemmy’s expected response.
  • Plus….

do I really  need to go on? You get 3 tracks off the album,’nuff said!

Listen to the radio show here on BBC Radio-6

Any kind man with a spare second please?

Lemmy happens to like Nazi memorabilia. Lemmy also happens to be the biggest loudmouth in Rock ‘n’ Roll and thus loved by all most all of the Rock ‘n’ Roll community.According to the Dogmatic Blog and Blabbermouth an investigation has been launched as to whether Lemmy committed a crime under the German Law by wearing a supposed Nazi cap for a photo that appeared in a German newspaper recently.

Two things-

(A) It’s not very often I write something intelligent here.(Ahem!) So listen!

(B) Let’s hear what you think.

I’ve recently posted a comment at Chathuranga’s blog-frontman FIH-where I mentioned about Lemmy being controversial but still how intelligent and intellectual his words and/or actions can be. The point I rasied was-for a controversy to be raised,whatever the subject is,it has to be intelligent.It was presented in the context of album covers-a topic raised by Chathuranga. But the idea I tried to convey was dumb subjects don’t raise controversy.

Prime Example-Lemmy’s thoughts on the legalization of heroin. Lemmy raised a lot of eyebrows in November,2005 when he delivered a guest speech at the Welsh Assembly.Speaking about Heroin Lemmy said

“I have never had heroin but since I moved to London from north Wales in ‘67 I have mixed with junkies on a casual and almost daily basis,” he said. “I also lived with a young woman who tried heroin just to see what it was like. It killed her three years later. I hate the idea even as I say it, but I do believe the only way to treat heroin is to legalize it.”

This is something I’ve debated with my friends a lot.Is it right to legalize heroin?That’s not my question,that’s not my point.My point is right or wrong,you can debate about it because it’s something intellectual.It’s something you can do your research on,collect information,analyse them and come to conclusions.When Madonna strips,it’s just stripping and that’s it.You don’t browse the net,read books and research on it.Wet Dreams,Primitive sexual fantacies may however lead to contradictions.Anyway….

My topic is not about drugs and the law.It’s one of those topics you can’t come to a conclusion by debating but more opinion-oriented. Let’s not talk about it here.The idea is-Lemmy isn’t dumb.When he does or say something,it means something,something more than what meets the eye,something intelligent.

So Nazi memorabilia.

Lemmy collects Nazi memorabilia?True,fact!

Is Lemmy facinated by World War II?True,fact.

Is Lemmy a Nazi? Get a blowjob!

The way I look at it-collecting Nazi memorabilia doesn’t make you a Nazi or not.

World War II-according to Lemmy-“is the most important event in the 20th century. It changed everybody’s life, changed yours, changed mine. It changed the map of the world. It moved Poland 250 Miles ‘cross the fucking earth. I think, not to be interested in it should be weird.”

-And damn right,it is!

If you think it’s wrong to be aroused by and study about World War II-don’t send your child to school.They teach about it all the time.

Nazism is a major aspect associated with World War II,so again-if you think studying about it is,by any means, makes one a Nazi,you are seriously mistaken.

But looking in a German context, itis actually a bit different. “Nazism” and “WWII” can be very sensitive topics.Oh but Fuck! If you want to send a man to jail for wearing a Nazi cap,you have to raid every house in Germany and arrest the parents of every kid playing WWII computer games.

I’ve often spoken and debated with my friends about “generalizing” taboo. Modern culture often suggests and practices certain rigid statements or comments that actually cause issues rather than solving them.Let me make myself clear-if a Black man from Huston wants to be called an “African American” and not “Black” that’s where Racism is.If a white man wants to be called “Caucasian” and not “White” that’s where Racism is.If a Sri Lanka wants to be called “South Asian” and not “Brownie” or “Curry” that’s where Racism is. I know this is largely personal and depends on the cultural,social environment one’s been brought up,but I seriously agree with what Suresh De Silva-Stigmata there’s a difference between definition and disguise.

Ok come on,as if collecting every piece of Nazi related objects on the face of Earth and burning them would do any good to the lost lives,property and the chaos?

Lemmy-the GI’s took everything back to America. They took fucking warehouses full of uniforms, Mercedes staff-cars. One guy shipped a Focke Wulf 190-fighter home in pieces and rebuilt it in America. Now he owns the only fucking FW-190 in the world. I used to buy a couple of things here in Germany, but now you can’t take anymore knifes or things back home in a plane. And it’s become more relaxed to buy stuff like that here. There’s five or six stores in Hamburg especially. They’re advertising it. What’s the point anyway? It’s not nationalistic kind of thing, I mean, what the fuck you’re gonna do? Pretend, it never happened? There’s airplane model-kits of Messerschmidt 109-fighters. Shouldn’t you touch them?

I personally believe Nazi memorabilia and collecting Nazi Memorabilia is no different than Ancient Historic objects and collecting them.History has both the dark and the bright and it’s only too intelligent and broad minded to accept the fact that both dark and bright history and every single piece of evidence attached to them available,are equally important.

Any thoughts?

Sources-Lemmy-wikipedia and New York Waste interview with Lemmy (this is bloody good,a good read).
 

Wait till the video is loaded,bare through it somehow and you won’t regret what you’ll see.

The Gym Calss Heroes rock man! You seriously won’t regret this video!They seriously know their shit man!I mean they are fucking covering Laid to Rest!For real!

The vocalist!Wow!Man!Now that’s what I call a serious vocal,I really didn’t know this guy could do a vocal like that!

I say this again,you want regret what you see!You’ll laugh your fucking ass off!!!

The Gym Class Heroes are funnier than both George Carlin and Russel Peters put together.Listen closely and you’ll hear their fans-their own dumb,retarted fans who’ve paid their hard earned money to go see these kids play bull with their instruments-saying “Oh no!” when leader Gymie says ‘This songs called Laid to Rest by a band called Lamb of God”.Even they know!!!

Yeah,let’s hear it.What was that you said?Oh yeah man,they should quit doing their shit ass music and do their own muppet show!

It’s a pity that some are actually awesome enough to clap!

For some weird reason I’ve been writing alot about this band lately.For the fans of SlipKnot-they’ve released the track listing and the album artwork for their forthcoming album “All hope is gone”.The track listing is as follows.

01. Execute
02. Gematria (The Killing Name)
03. Sulfur
04. Psychosocial
05. Dead Memories
06. Vendetta
07. Butcher’s Hook
08. Gehenna
09. The Cold Black
10. Wherein Lies Continue
11. Snuff
12. All Hope is Gone

Special Edition Tracks:
13. Child of Burning Time (Bonus Track)
14. Til We Die (Bonus Track)
15. Vermillion Pt. 2 (Bloodstone Mix) (Bonus Track)
16. iTunes Exclusive Track (Pre-Order Only)

The album artwork can be viewed below.