Obvious

The stupidest thing the rock critics of the late 60's and 70s did was assume that rock n' roll would remain the dominant force in pop music forever. Boomers took it for granted that their music would stand the test of time. Of course, this was wishful thinking, as subsequent generations have developed their own unique musical pathways. Every generation does this, and it's silly to expect that people born in the 40s and 50s were somehow exceptional, that their music was automatically superior to any that came before or after. The more politicized and idealistic among these people even dared hope that the music could be used to rally and radicalize the masses for political action. I suppose this made sense in the context of the late 60's global youth movement that saw radical student and youth-led political movements in Canada, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Japan, France, Vietnam, China, Great Britain and elsewhere. The end result was that the ideal of rock as a force of societal change took on so much import in the minds of many that its meaning in a musical context was lost. A couple of fallacies that resulted from this was the belief that rock and pop were one and the same, and that all truly great rock music must resonate with a mass audience. The reverberations of this generation-wide inability to grasp the musical changes underway are still being felt today. Now, it's hip-hop, dance music and country that dominates the pop charts, and really it's been this way for decades. Most people don't have a clue what they actually like about the music they listen to. Go ahead, ask someone some time. It's like they've never thought about it. The problem is that the bands who really were playing rock music in the musical sense (the only one that matters) of the term were left behind as popular tastes changed. As they pursued their muses down through various spacey, progressive, hard rock, avante garde, proto metal, punk rock, blues and psychedelic avenues and began to evolve away from their source musics, bands focused on musical concerns rather than political posturing. After Vietnam it became less profitable for a band to do so anyways. As time went on through the late 70s, critics declined to champion such bands because of what they weren't: ie, mass cultural forces that could be used to rally the masses. Nevermind that Black Flag, Metallica, Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, The Wipers, Mudhoney, Saint Vitus, the Melvins, Slayer, Motorhead, D.O.A. and many, many others were making rock music that was aesthetically very close to what the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had done in their days... small band music with a focus on the aggressive interplay between a rhythm section and one or two guitar players. I once helped finance a DVD called Such Hawks, Such Hounds At one point legendary Seattle producer Jack Endino says something to the effect that there will always be an audience for heavy rock, but it will never be at the top of the charts. I agree with him, but i still think today's rock writers have a responsibility to document the careers of relevant rock bands from past and present. The flame of rock will keep burning, but it's continued vitality will take rigorous aesthetic thought on our parts. Pretending rock is something it's not doesn't help anyone.

Rantings

Everyone should have access to any music they want to hear. I'm not going to shut myself off from culture just because I make minimum wage. I have a right to explore digital media. I think everyone does. And many, many people will take advantage of that freedom to enjoy the creative output of an artist without giving anything back. That's too bad. Not everyone can afford it, and not everyone cares enough. Of course I believe that artists deserve to be compensated for the things they create. Thankfully, I do have a small amount of disposable income, and I use some of it to support artists I like by buying records and seeing their shows. I see myself as a patron of the arts. I can't possibly buy all the records I want, but I'm working on it. Knowing how to prioritize becomes a necessity then for the serious music fan. The internet is an invaluable tool. I can have any music I want, so I choose what I really think is truly excellent to spend my money on. I know I'm not like most people, but that's how I roll. The problem is that in decades past our idea of the value of music has fluctuated wildly. Today we are awash in talented music. It's a devalued resource. Kids today won't pay for music -- or will they? My peer group isn't representative of most 20-somethings, but many of my friends do see shows or buy music or merch. What's more, even though many bands don't ever make money and people seem to be more jaded about major-label success than ever before, people are still forming bands. Music isn't in trouble, it's the industry that's suffering. Even then it's the bigger, larger, slower beasts with incredible overheads that are wallowing in tar-black sales figures. Smaller, more flexible labels who operate with skinnier budgets are devising innovative ways to succeed in the marketplace. Isn't that what capitalism is all about? Until the 20th Century, people enjoyed music only one way -- live. But just about anyone could practice enough to be semi-proficient, and even if they couldn't, people would still get together and make music with each other for the sheer enjoyment of it. The recording process changed our relationship with music. When we learned how to record and play back music, we made it possible for the moment of spontaneous performance to be immortalized. This in turn caused the creation of an industry which could finance the recording process and pay for the increasingly sophisticated equipment that followed. In doing so, they also worked with the mass media, particularly radio, to create a bottleneck; for the most part, only music that they released reached the ears of the public. The gatekeepers of the media then decided who got played to the general public. Many people -- bands, managers, executives, corporate shareholders etc. -- got very wealthy this way. Music that sells is a much rarer thing than just music by itself. In doing so they also changed our perception of how musicians perform their art. It was recorded music, not live music, that fixed in the audiences' mind the idea of how music "should" sound. This allowed them to insist upon the recording process sounding just so. Modern music that doesn't have a digital sheen doesn't have a prayer of making the jump into the major media marketplace. This does not mean, however, that people have lost the ability to respond when faced with music in a live setting. The trick, as Carducci says, is getting them there in the first place. The industry has taught us to venerate the cult of the star. It was in their interests to do so, because then they could sell us the name/face/image of their latest act. That's a lot easier for them to do if they've conditioned us to believe that whatever shiny product they are foisting on us couldn't possibly be equaled by any four random people in a garage somewhere. Unfortunately for them, the internet taught us that many many people could in fact equal the output of major labels. Go ahead and check youtube and see how many videos of guitarists there are doing a pretty fair version of "Eruption." Bands have also had their worldview warped by the boom years of the record industry. Traveling musicians and minstrels in years past knew how difficult it was to ply their trade, but they did it anyways, even if allowing that they were not likely to ever achieve wealth (fame was another story). The ideal that some people still aspire to now is unrealistic. Bands, many very good ones, still believe in the fantasy of the Led Zeppelin-Rolling Stones jetliners-supermodels-trashing hotels-mountains of cocaine rock n' roll fantasy. Real bands today can spend 20 years working their asses off to make a living, and still never passing through that glass ceiling defined by exposure in the mass media. The few that do break through without the media's help are labelled "cult acts" precisely because their situation differs so starkly from the norm. Usually you have to be pretty damn good to attract a following the old fashioned way, by relentless touring. To accuse a band like Nickelback of not having -any- talent is off base. I'm not going to tell you that they make good music, just that they have a talent for scamming the music-buying public and playing BIG MUSIC's industry game. Chad shits out hits, and people eat it up, with radio happy to supply the snow shovel. Nickelback don't suck any more than any other group of artisans raised on commercial 90s "modern rock" radio that DOESN'T fill stadiums. They write generic rock songs with good hooks and a huge production budget. Stylistic consolidators, astute racketeers and hack opportunists have formed and supported bands like Nickelback in the past and it's just lazy to blame them for everything that's wrong with the industry. I'm sure Nickelback put on a suitably professional arena-rock show with explosions and lasers and play all their hits exactly the way they sound on the radio. In other words, "Don't hate the playa, hate the game!"

High On Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

 

Would you believe that it’s the heaviest High On Fire album yet? Matt Pike’s barbarian riffage and Des Kensel’s thunderous stomp are glued in place by the ultrafuzzed subsonics of Jeff Matz on a set of rampaging behemoth epics. The first three of these display savage aggression, ferocious chops, and awesome power from a band known for such. The production is monstrous, not as precise as Snakes for the Divine, but huger. The low end spills forth and annihilates here, the kind of thing people like huge riffs for. Pike’s vocals probably sound the best they ever have, in keeping with his ever increasing improvement in that department. But so far, nothing will jump out at the hardened Pike devotee as anything out of the ordinary.

The game charger arrives with a 7 minute riff mountain called “Madness Of An Architect.” This bad boy is HUGE, and Pike takes his time working into it, opening with a pall of feedback and a river of magma fuzz. When the band eventually gets going, they unmercifully drive the song on while simultaneously crushing the thing into the ground. Pike solos his way into the setting sun with an intensity and focus that matches any of his best performances. “Madness of An Architect” is a statement.

The middle section of this record are as awesome a display of this band’s abilities as we have seen.
“Architect” is followed by the kaleidoscopic psychedelic guitar showpiece “Samsara.” Pike stretches out here in a way he rarely has before, exploring different moods and unhurriedly mapping out every harmonic corner of his guitar. His wah-inflected leads here consolidate his status as a first class guitar hero.

Perhaps the time playing with his old bandmates in Sleep allowed Matt Pike to resolve any musical issues that may have resulted from lingering tensions. Whatever the reason, Pike hasn’t sounded this loose or been as willing to stretch out in studio since his pilgrimage with the Weedian. When “King Of Days” announces itself with a planet-shifting riff and a god-sized bellow from Pike, it actually sounds like the end of the universe. Pike’s never-ending solo spiral out is one of the most marvelous performances I’ve ever heard on a lead guitar.

Unlike the last few releases, which were fading towards an ever-more technical and punishing approach to making modern heavy metal, De Vermis Mysteriis hews much closer to early High On Fire’s caveman tendencies. The difference is that those releases had been much more informed by Sleep’s legacy, along with the band’s antecedents. Here the melding of primal heaviness and devastating metalness is far more integrated in approach, and Pike sounds as though he has finally come to terms with the music he made as a member of Sleep. High On Fire have been leveling buildings for over a decade now, and continue to streamline their sound to its most essential elements.

On Rock - Exerpt

The Swedish rock scene of the mid '00s was suitably efficient in its retrograde ambitions. There was also a clear distinction between the new rock bands that appeared after the mid 90s and the legions of melodic death metal and flamboyantly classicist power metal bands that developed earlier. Swedish garage revivalists the Hives and the the Hellacopters kept rip-roaring beer-soaked garage rock alive and kicking. The Hives achieved a measure of success in the States and managed a few radio hits, while the Hellacopters truly earned the tag of "Sweden's loudest band" with their hellacious live show.

A number of the heavy stoner rock bands of this area were influenced greatly by the rich psychedelic and experimental tradition of their homeland. Carcass, Carnage and Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amot's Spiritual Beggars, along with Kyuss-worshipping desert gods Dozer, Greenleaf, Asteroid and Demon Cleaner are the best of these, but worthwhile rocking has been done by the likes of Lowrider, Truckfighters, Roach Powder and the Mushroom River Band. Witchcraft and later Graveyeard were more or less untouched by the American desert rock and altarnative rock currents, and did a completely faithfuk homage to 70s proto doom bands like Bedemon, Necromandus, Lucifer's Friend and Pentagram. Gluecifer was harder-hitting and more glammed up than some of the blunted out stoners in those bands, but their approach was mostly a tightened up version of traditional high energy hard rock.

Dungen stand out as the most significant rock band of the period, due to their superior songwriting chops and spectacular use of the recording studio. Strangely enough, their use of Swedish singing caused them to stand out significantly from many of their contemporaries. Their album Ta Det Lungt made substantial inroads in the burgeoning North American indie rock market and raised the band's profile considerably. Main man Gustav Ejstes started the project as essentially a one-man studio project, but eventually put together a full band for touring and recording purposes. At best, their sound married pristine production and indelible if unintelligible hooks to an adventurous musical base that incorporated jazzy interludes, warm acoustic mantras, low-key lounge crawls, and heavy psychedelic freakouts. Estes' guitar was just as likely to let go a screeching feedback solo as release a fluttering butterfly melody.

Opeth began life as an extreme metal band in the '90s, but quickly evolved into something altogether more dynamic. Their Blackwater Park album nicked its name and ambition from 70's prog rock dinosaurs, but it is a high water mark for progressive metal. Opeth also managed to build a titanic live reputation based on their obvious musical skill and crushing take on Zeppelin's classic light and shade approach. This suited them well among some of the bands that were appearing on the heavier end of post-rock experimentation. Opeth's output would become quite influential as more bands embraced the grandiosity and complexity of progressive music later in the decade. Opeth themselves continued to evolve and generated a vortex of metal, folk, rock, jazz, psychedelic and progressive music before committing themselves to full fledged 70's revivalism at the close of the decade. By the end they had more in common with King Crimson than In Flames, but their discography is consistent, expansive, and surprisingly approachable.


Sweden's approach to doom has traditionally been more classically influenced in the heavy metal sense of the term as demonstrated by Count Raven, Isole and Candlemass. Grand Magus were much more dramatic than either their English Rise Above lablemates or their American Southern Lord contemporaries. Cult of Luna approached Candlemass riffs from an alternative rock angle and showed a flair blissed-out dynamic builds as well. Ghost (not the Japanese band) appeared late in the decade and delivered a killer sludge assault with occasionally Ozzie-ish vocals.

Gig

Motorhead’s Feb. 20, 2012 set at the Abbotsford Sports & Entertainment Centre

Bomber
Damage Case
No Class
The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
Stay Clean
One To Sing The Blues
*Drum Solo*
Going To Brazil
Ace Of Spades
Overkill

The commute to Abbotsford is not an easy one, so we missed out on Lacuna Coil’s set entirely. After sitting through almost an hour of competent but unspectacular pop metal by Swedish band Volbeat, I was salivating for a taste of the real rock, the kind that only Motorhead can deliver. I’m happy to say that these legends delivered the goods in spades. Lemmy’s bass was thunderous and his vocals suitably gravelly. The rest of the band played with a wild energy that stayed tight. These are pros that haven’t tired of pushing themselves. My only complaint is that the set was quite short, only 45 minutes or so. I would have preferred a longer set and about 3 or 4 fewer songs from Volbeat. Actually, I would have preferred a 2 and a half hour Motorhead set and nothing else, but what can you do? Anyways, they hit a number of the expected high points of their discography, and the crowd was enraptured. A definate highlight of my concert-going career.

Megadeth headlined, but it was my fourth time seeing them. I would also say I enjoyed this set the least of the ones I’ve seen. They were good but Dave Mustine engaged in a little crowd-baiting that was only sometimes well-received, and this is a guy who has endorsed Rick Santorum. I will say that the set was too heavy on Countdown to Extinction numbers and missed several favorites from Rust In Peace and Peace Sells, plus they didn’t do “In My Darkest Hour.” A competent set, but Motorhead blew the roof off the place.

Intolerance

These guys are probably the biggest reason why about half the people in North America are suspicious of evangelical Christians. Look man, believe what you want, but the United States has bigger problems than a Radiohead tour. And maybe try protesting like, a government building representing the military industrial complex instead of the funeral for a fallen soldier. This is why people don't like you.

Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees

Band: Liberteer
Album: Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
Label: Relapse
Year: 2012

Grindcore works best in short bursts. The relentless blast beats and sickening morass of detuned bass rumble underneath a vicious stabbing guitar is exhilarating at first. One good grindcore song is like driving a drag-racer into a brick wall. But our ears aren't meant to be exposed to such frenzy for long. After a while it becomes similar to working in a metal shop. Loud, but indistinguishable. Our ears tune it out, and all excitement is lost. This kind directionless sonic punishment has its place, but as far as I'm concerned, grindcore starts and ends with the first 2 Napalm Death albums.

At least, I thought so until I heard this. There is real depth to this album. But unlike any protest era folk song, nothing about this sounds utopian. It's urgent, brutal and deadly serious. Song titles like "99 to 1" and "Class War Never Meant More Than It Does Now" make it pretty clear what these guys are on about. Even the title of the record alludes to early 20th Century Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Salazar Zapata. The record is uncompromising and complex, but it never avoids a populist streak. Nothing here is too dense to follow, in fact the bone-simple catchiness of the riffs and the red-blooded conviction of the performances force the listener to sit up and pay attention. It's anthemic and populist, music made for filling mosh pits, shaking rafters and inciting riots. Liberteer's opus has a human heart, and it beats red hot with class rage. This isn't political. This is a revolution.

There is a real streak of rurality that expresses itself through the addition of traditionally redneck type instruments to the standard metal band format. Perhaps Liberteer use the gritty, unrefined instruments of the American heartland and eschew any attempts at commercial airplay as a way of expressing their solidarity with the proletariat. In any case, some metal heads may balk at the abundance of non-metal sounds here even while the band brandishes soaring guitars, tuneful death growls and a pristine but ultra-heavy mix. By introducing dynamics and actual musicality into the grindcore palette, Liberteer have up the intensity considerably over any comparable acts.

Intro "The Falcon Cannot Hear The Falconer" begins as a rousing call to arms reminiscent of Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" before exploding into a firestorm of jackhammer blastbeats and ultra distorted death riffs. But the skull-scraping double bass assaults are used judiciously. Half way through, the song explodes into a triumphant trumpet figure, then suddenly shifts into a brief civil war march complete with jaunty piccolo, and finally explodes back into tumbling sludge monster. To say that the album is adventurous would be like saying that David Lee Roth liked to do cocaine. "Rise Like Lions After Slumber" rides a banjo rhythm figure and Gothenberg death metal riffs into a briar of strobbing snare hits. "Usurious Epitaph" rides a circus melody into cacophonous oblivion, while "Sweat for Blood" rides bubbling synths, feedback palls, brass swells and a cowbell into a grand heavy metal crescendo. With such a jumble of sounds, the album should be a fucking mess. Instead, it's an intricately crafted work of art.

This album is immaculately produced, and the standard of musicianship here is excellent. Some of the most extreme metal that has been produced in the past decade has sounded too polished, and tends to take on a machine-tooled precision that is inferior aesthetically to the ragged, human performances of death metal's early '90s golden age. But Liberteer sound natural. This album was no doubt meticulously assembled in studio, but the instruments sound like they are being played by humans. This is as finely crafted a statement as you will hear all year, and the whole thing will only take 27 minutes of your time. The album moves as one cohesive whole anyways, so even if the songs seem to run together, it makes sense to think of the album as one, unified manifesto from the underground. From the sound of it, they're pissed, and they 'aint finished yet.