Heavy Metal Madness First Round Summary: Part Four

Post # 198

On May 19th, the last segment of the first round of Heavy Metal Madness came to a close, and once again there were some unexpected upsets, and tight races for these bands to make it to the next round.

For the Metalcore Block:

Tool beat Death by a comfortable margin of 39-11,

Bullet For My Valentine upset Opeth 26-19,

System of a Down narrowly escaped being upset by Amon Amarth, as they clung to a 31-25 lead at the end of voting.

...and Korn had the most convincing upset of the month knocking off the #4 seed, Shadows Fall 34-13.

In the Classic Rock Block:

Queen upset Guns N' Roses 31-18,

AC/DC topped the Scorpions 35-14,

Ozzy bested Van Halen 37-9,

and Led Zeppelin overcame Jimi Hendrix 34-14.

As the early pattern of voting has unfolded, it seems that the magic number for a 'safe' amount of votes to push a band into the next round is 30. In the closest races, the most votes collected by a losing band was 29 (Godsmack). Will this rule-of-thumb hold true for the rest of this tournament? Only time will tell...

With the first round now concluded, the matches are only going to get tougher. Fans will have a harder time deciding who to vote for. Those who's first choice of a Champion is now eliminated have the freedom to vote for another band in their place. At this point, many of your predictions can be thrown out the window. I know several of mine have been defenestrated.

So, now is the time to follow more closely than ever! Already, the second round is underway, and more upsets are brewing, while other favorites dominate. Inevitably, more face-offs will come down to a close decision. Help those bands whom you prefer by sharing this blog with your friends, and call for more fans of heavy metal music to cast their votes, and make their opinion count!

Now, as I have done before, I leave you with some of my favorite suggested tracks from those bands now eliminated from Heavy Metal Madness:
Death-Open Casket
Opeth-The Drapery Falls
Amon Amarth-Fate of Norns
Shadows Fall-Forevermore
Guns N' Roses-Welcome to the Jungle
Scorpions-Alien Nation
Van Halen-Source of Infection
Jimi Hendrix-Manic Depression

Shadows Fall-Retribution

Post #132
I had heard of Shadows Fall a few years ago, but for some reason, never developed a true devotion to their music. I had picked up 'Of One Blood' on clearance, and was unimpressed. It seemed too 'death-metal' for my tastes at the time. I bit later I tried 'The War Within', which I also found used. I found this album much more appealing, but still wrote them off as a poor-man's Killswitch Engage. I listened to this CD a bit more than the previous one, but still lost interest after a week or two.


Then, in late '09, came the turning point when I scanned their newest album, Retribution, at a bookstore sampling station. I heard the intro track, 'The Path to Imminent Ruin', and was instantly hooked. My eyes widened at the difference I heard on this recording. Each track seemed like polished perfection compared to anything I had heard from them previously. I hesitated no further, and added this to my purchase.



For the next several weeks, listening to Retribution became a near daily ritual for me. This album had instantly become one of my favorite releases of the year. Shadows Fall can hit you with heavy, thrash style metal, but an instant later will slip into a clean melodic segment. Brian Fair's vocals can scream like metal-core, growl in a deeper near-death-metal style, or sing in classic melodic-style ranges. Again, some of these elements were present on their older releases, just not to the degree of quality that I hear on this release. Retribution seems to strike the perfect balance of elegance and brutality.

Not to be overlooked is the guitar soloing on this album. Lead guitarist, Jonathan Donias, tears up the fretboard with a classic, shredding guitar style that would make the likes of Marty Friedman, or Glenn Tipton jealous. To be honest, this is my favorite element of their sound. Each track I look forward to hearing what the guitar solos might have in store. The quality of guitar work on this album is enough that I want to eat my words from my previous comparison to Killswitch Engage, for I now feel that Shadows Fall are much better at the art of the guitar solo!


From the acoustic intro of 'The Path to Imminent Ruin', they fade into 'My Demise', one of the heaviest tracks on the album. From there it just gets more intense, as almost every track rips your eardrums with ferocious heavy riffs. They even have a cover of Bob Marley's 'War', but if it weren't for the lyrics, I wouldn't recognize it for the over-the-top intensity with which it is delivered! There are a couple tracks that do focus on the melodic side of Shadows Fall, 'The Taste of Fear' and 'Picture Perfect'. These songs really help make this album a complete, and well rounded metal experience.

If you've been on the fence about Shadows Fall as I have in years past, then I highly recommend listening to Retribution. They've raised the bar significantly on this album. Here are my suggestions to help guide you:
-The Path to Imminent Ruin
-My Demise
-Still I Rise
-War
-The Taste of Fear
-Picture Perfect
-Dead and Gone

http://shadowsfall.com/main/

A Bargain Hunter's Finds (Part 2, Creeping Death EP, Etc...)

Post #105
I'll take a moment here to re-focus on my primary means of reviewing so much essential heavy music: bargain hunting! I've said before that if it were not for inexpensive means of hearing music (online sampling via band-websites & online radio, redeeming coupons at major retailers, 2nd-hand music acquisitions like garage sales & used music retailers, and of course visiting the Audio-Visual section of my local library), I would not have the chance to hear much of the music I've already shared with you.

Now let me document a few of my recent finds, beginning with one that is a rare find indeed, for it is no longer in print: Metallica's early EP, 'Creeping Death' (which includes the original 'Garage Days Revisited' and the single for 'Jump In The Fire'). [$7.98 (+10% off) $7.18 final price]
What an excellent find this was! It is probably the only time I've ever even seen this recording in CD format, and now I'm lucky enough to own it. This item was found at one of the Half Price Books locations I frequent, as well as the next item...

Dream Theater-Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) [2-disc compilation: $7.98 (+10% off) $7.18 final price]
This one I had already checked out from my library a couple times before I found it at Half Price Books. I was in no hurry to buy it right away, since I have all of Dream Theater's albums from which the songs are selected. However I should point out that 3 of the tracks are remixes (the 3 taken from the Images and Words album), and I wanted to have these alternate versions in my personal collection. Was it necessary for Dream Theater to remix these songs? That is perhaps up to the listener to decide. I, for one, appreciate the new mixes. They sound more crisp than the originals.

From Best Buy: Apocalyptica-7th Symphony [Special Edition w/ Live DVD, 2010] $14.99 + portion of $10 Reward Zone certificate: $6.65 final price!
With Apocalyptica, I've been a fan since their first CD, 'Plays Metallica by Four Cellos'. I've tried to keep up with each release over the years, so naturally I was looking to get this one as well. Having $10 worth of Best Buy Reward Zone coupons burning a hole in my email helped make it an easy decision.

From Half Price Books (during the 20% off Everything Labor Day Weekend sale)
Bloomingdale, IL location: Killswitch Engage-As Daylight Dies (Special Edition w/ bonus tracks and DVD w/ 3 videos & 'making of' documentaries, '07) [$9.98 -20% off = $7.98 final price]
Shadows Fall-Threads of Life ('07) [$7.98 -20% off = $6.38 final price]
Geoff Tate (Self-titled solo recording from lead singer of Queensryche, '02) [$5.98 -20% off = $4.78 final price]
Nevermore-dreaming Neon black ('99) [$5.98-20% off = $4.78 final price]

Palatine, IL location: Soundgarden-Louder Than Love ('89) [$5.98-20% off = $4.78 final price]
Unearth-Our Days of Eulogy ('04 w/ bonus disc of 9 other Eulogy Records recording artists) [$2.00 clearance -20% off = $1.60 final price]
Mushroomhead-Savior Sorrow ('06) [$2.00 clearance -20% off = $1.60 final price]
Machine Head-The Burning Red ('99) [$2.00 clearance -20% off = $1.60 final price]
Flyleaf (Self-titled debut '07) [$2.00 clearance -20% off = $1.60 final price]

To summarize this successful scavenging expedition, over the course of 2 weekends;
Total CD count: 13 (plus 1 bonus CD and 2 bonus DVDs)
Grand total: $56.11
Average cost per CD: $4.32

These are the kinds of deals I'm accustomed to finding. I admit that occasionally there is an essential new release that I will sometimes bring myself to spend $12-$15 on, so that I can have it to enjoy right away. However these cases are relatively few and far between for me. Over the course of the last couple years of reading other music-lovers' blogs, I've found a few who like to document their collection-building shopping sprees in a similar fashion as I just did. Often times, the amount of money they spend makes my budget-conscious mind cringe. Perhaps this will open their eyes to the kinds of bargains that are out there to be had.

For these purchases I didn't even need to utilize the internet, where great prices on music are often found from people selling their CDs second-hand. I simply browsed my local used-music retailers, and even there I'm always sure to peruse the clearance section. Also, I took advantage of rewards programs available at primary retailers. It's fun being rewarded for being a frequent shopper.

So go out there and find yourself some great heavy metal music, but also keep in mind that these kinds of bargains are probably easier to find than you think. It just takes a little dillegence and sometimes a bit of patience.

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/
http://www.bestbuy.com/