The Metal Dad Rant
Okay, so I have a six-year-old, right? We had a kid a bit younger than most of the other parents I run into at the playground, and in my neighbourhood the general trend seems to be to not have a child until you’re nudging 40, so I find that I have to deal with a whole bunch of 40-somethings whenever I take little Junior to play on the swings or whatever. Now, if you’re reading this you’re probably into rock and metal and your look probably reflects that in some way. Me too. And over the last few years I’ve noticed something kinda weird. Whenever I’m forced to talk to these stuffy 40-something parents at the park or whatever, and they find out what I do for a living and they see that I’m, like, a metal guy, they really awkwardly throw in words like ‘dude’ and ‘cool’ like it’s the first time they’ve said these words in 20 years. And they try to drag out these antiquated rock references. “Oh you’re a music journalist? I had a Pearl Jam shirt when I was 18…” I’m kinda embarrassed for them. And also it makes me feel stupid, like they think I’m so dumb that I have to hear the words ‘dude’ and ‘cool’ every 20 seconds in order to understand what’s being said to me. Now, in my experience metal dudes are usually pretty well-read so I find this particularly funny. No wait, not funny, what’s the other thing? Oh yeah: insulting. Have you ever had an experience like this, where your metallicism has forced you to deal with patronising jerks? Email your rants to [email protected]
Steve Stevens Hits Town For Clinic
Guitar legend Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Steve Stevens’ Atomic Playboys) is at Cherry Bar on Saturday March 23 for a clinic on behalf of Roland, Boss and World Of Music. He’ll be demoing the new Roland GR-55 guitar synth as well as the new Roland/Fender G-5 and VG guitars. Stevens is currently working with Sebastian Bach on new material. “He’s working on a new record and he asked me to write some stuff,” Stevens told me last week. “I think I’m about six songs in now, and so far he really likes where I’m heading with it, so I hope to be on his next record with this stuff.”
Gig Alert: Kamelot
Melodic progressive goth metallers Kamelot have never been to Australia before, but don’t hold that against them: they’ll be here in June! Their new album Silverthorn was released late last year and they have no shortage of self-described ‘elaborate melodic metal’ to draw from. They’re at The Hi-Fi on Friday June 7. Tickets are $59 plus booking fee from metropolistouring.com and the venues from Friday March 22, and limited VIP meet and greet packages are available for each show too.
Obituary Bring Death To Melbourne
Death metal pioneers Obituary will play two exclusive shows in Australia this May – in Melbourne and Sydney – for their Rotting Slow In Australia tour, playing tracks from their 1989-1992 hat-trick of classics, Slowly We Rot, Cause Of Death and The End Complete. They’re at The Espy on Friday May 3, and tickets are on sale now.
Gig Alert: The Spasms
New garage punk psych band The Spasms have their debut gig on Friday March 22 at Off The Hip Records, 381 Flinders Lane, with Carrie Philis & The Downtown Three and The Ears. Free entry, doors at 6pm. Free beer! The Spasms features Kit Atkinson (of The Kits), Pete Hansford and John Davis.
Unholy Good Friday Returns
The Bendigo Hotel and Heavy Mag have joined forces once again for Unholy Good Friday Season 2, on Friday March 29. This godless aggrofest features rare performances from ‘80s thrash legends Hobbs Angel Of Death and fellow time travellers (and punk thrash legends) Depression. Also joining this awesome spectacle is Sydney’s Darkhorse, and Maniaxe, Party Vibez and Counter Attack. Doors at 6.30pm.
The Superguns CD Launch
Speaking of The Bendigo, this Saturday they’re hosting The Superguns’ CD launch with supports Don Fernando, Riff Fist and Motherslug.
New Orianthi Album Out Now
Adelaidean beauty Orianthi’s new album Heaven In This Hell is out now, and it’s awesome. Ori sheds some of the pop sheen of previous releases in favour of a dirtier blues-rock sound with plenty of world class guitar playing.
Perseverance Get Mad
Madhouse at the CBD nightclub in Melbourne CBD presents an absolute treat for punters on Friday March 22. Not only are the mighty Perseverance making a rare live appearance, but they are launching their magnificent second full length album, Silence, Forever; Endless this night. So it promises to be a truly memorable evening of raw but atmospheric metal mayhem. Providing heavy support on the night will be Evil Intent, who will be heading down from Bendigo to destroy all in their path with their blistering brand of blackened thrash metal.
Senses Fail Unveil Album #5
Senses Fail will release Renacer, their fifth full-length studio album, on Friday March 29 via 3Wise Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, California at The Airport Studio and Red Bull Studio with producer Shaun Lopez (Far, Deftones). “We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in February 2012 and immediately got to work writing Renacer,” singer Buddy Nielsen says. “The approach to this record was to embrace change and explore a different side of the band. The process was long, but was probably the smoothest out of any other record because we wrote without any boundaries. Renacer is by far our heaviest effort to date, which felt like a natural progression for us.”
New Dallas Green Single
Dallas Green’s outfit City & Colour has just released a new single (Of Space And Time) and a new in-studio video in anticipation of their next album. They’ve just played South By Southwest and they’re hitting the UK’s enormous Reading and Leeds festivals, and more info on album #4 will be released shortly. In the meantime, get thee to an internet to check out the new song and in-studio video!
