Well, as I’m sure no one has noticed, it’s been a long damn time since I’ve posted anything on this here site of mine. For some reason I just haven’t felt all that inclined to write about much. Sure, I’ve seen some damn good flicks over the past few months, and yes, I’ve had a few adventures… hell, I guess you could say I’ve been a lazy, lazy fuck. So… well… sorry I guess. Now, back to business.

Over the past few months I’ve really been getting into a little-known hard rockin’ outfit by the name of Volbeat. These Danish s.o.b.s know what’s up when it comes to some oldschool hard-rock-and-freaking-roll! With obvious influences from classic rock ‘n roll bands of old, it’s a tad hard to categorize their sound… I’ve heard them referred to as Elvis-Metal, and with some songs I could justify that comparison. But don’t be fooled. Volbeat can be some heavy, heavy mufuckas. You just have to look past a few somewhat ridiculous lyrics and some English mispronunciations on their singers part (personally, I give him a break considering English isn’t his first language). “Keep it on my baby sukupa dupa lupa dup pop”? Okay man, I’ll let it slide, just make sure you blow my face off with some rocking tunes to accompany that mouthful of nonsense.

And with that I present exhibit A: “A Moment Forever” from their second album ‘Rock the Rebel / Metal the Devil’:

Sure, like most bands, Volbeat likes to mix it up a bit. They have slow songs, fast songs, heavy songs, soft songs… but without a doubt, they all have one things in common: they’re all really fucking good. So do your earholes a favor and check these guys out already.

On one quick final note: I experienced a truly jubilant morning a few weeks back when I found out that, beyond all of my expectations, these guys were added as the openers for the Metallica show I’m hitting up this November. Will I be getting to the venue early to check these guys out? You damn well better believe it.

Official Website: www.volbeat.dk
Official MySpace: www.myspace.com/volbeat

Muse – “Stockholm Syndrome”
From the album: Absolution

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
A lot of people may not attribute the word “metal” while talking about the English rockers Muse, but you have to admit many of their songs have the intricacies and heaviness that can be said for any good heavy metal tune. Much like fellow Brits Porcupine Tree, a great deal of their songs are heavy on crunchy guitar work as well as progressive songwriting techniques. I think an excellent example of their hard rockingness is “Stockholm Syndrome” from their 2003 album Absolution.

As some people may know, back in the wee years of 2000 to 2004, I was the website designer and webmaster for the Elektra-signed hard rock band Systematic. Working with them was wonderful, and I think it really helped propel me to where I am now in my career (story forthcoming). Well, last night on my drive home from the movies (of course), a few tunes came on my iPod, and I felt an overwhelming urge to share them with everyone. They’re a few lesser known tracks the band released as online exclusives on their official website.

Tim Narducci, Adam Ruppel and the boys recorded Blue Oyster Cult‘s classic “Career of Evil” and posted it on the site to introduce drummer-extraordinarre Paul Bostaph to the Systematic crew, as well as to serve as a teaser to their sophomore (and ultimately final) album “Pleasure to Burn”. Personally, I absolutely love this cover. It just plain rocks my socks off. Check it out: