Distortion Analysis
Two dudes talking about metal music. Each episode we'll cover a specific topic related to heavy music, we'll review an album, talk about music news, expose artists we haven't heard yet, cover live tours and include interviews with artists.
Distortion Analysis
Distortion Analysis - Episode 2
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TOPIC OF THE PODCAST - MTV shutting down and it’s impact on metal
Metal news - Geezer Butler Says He’s Using An AI Singer While Writing Songs For His Next Solo Album, AI in music
Album reviews - Lamb of God: Resolution
Mystery band of the week
Live shows or tours going on / that we’ve seen. Discussion of upcoming tours we’re interested in.
- TSO just wrapped up latest holiday tour
Welcome to the store show analysis. For each episode, we discuss various topics, artistic news, bands on tour, and share album reviews all focused on heavy metals. Welcome to episode two of the distortion analysis. We have we have a name, William. This is great. We actually came up with a name. And it's so on point. I think so.
SPEAKER_02Distortion analysis, I think, is a solid name, don't you think? I I mean it relates to many different aspects of what we do, and it's also my favorite channel on my amp.
SPEAKER_04There you go. I have to confess, I did look up, uh I did a little homework just to see if there's any other metal podcasts that had the word distortion in them. A couple of things here and there, nothing too significant. The only thing I saw that was kind of like anything that was kind of with within it was that was in our wheelhouse was one called uh it was it was like dads on distortion or something. So it was a bunch of like dads, I guess, talking about metal or something. But then they put out they only put out like two or three episodes a year. So wow. Yeah, so I'm not too worried about them. But that's fine. So that's out there.
SPEAKER_02So just and also we're not dads.
SPEAKER_04Well, true. So we're we do have our own niche. That name doesn't apply to us. That's right. So we're fine without that. So um, all right. So the uh topic of this particular podcast was uh I saw that MTV has shut down. Oh yeah. Music channels have shut down. Yeah, so the so the history of MTV is coming to a close.
SPEAKER_02Well, it it's uh it I think it sucks that the one thing that's living on is the non-music MTV, of course, you know, like the the reality television shows the version of MTV. I mean, I don't know. I'm I'm assuming that MTV was a huge part of your life and growing up with like being exposed to different uh rock bands and metal bands.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's why I wanted to bring it up because uh in the early days when they actually when the M stood for music and not like marketing and you know merchandising and you know that kind of thing, um, when it was still music uh based, uh uh when that when when Headbanger's Ball came out, that changed my life, man. Because that was like the first real portal I had in the metal that was so accessible to me. Because I where I grew up, I didn't have college radio and commercial radio wasn't really paying playing anything, they were all playing classic rock stuff. I wasn't here, I wasn't hearing like Venom or Sabbath or you know early Metallica or you know any of that stuff. I wasn't hearing that anywhere on the radio. What now? What about you? You grew up, I mean you had you had at least WSOU near you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I didn't find out about it until like 89 or 90. No, it was about 89, I think. Okay, but but but I mean, you know, I was I was still watching MTV from the time at the what 80 82?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, something like that. One, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I mean, I was already familiar with the format, it was basically just getting turned on to uh an a new show, yeah, which was Headbanger's Ball.
SPEAKER_04Well, what be well before Headbanger's Ball, what did you have access to as far as metal outlets and listening to metal? Because the only thing I had were my friends in middle school that were turning me on to like Warlord and Merciful Fate, and you know, I was getting all these early, you know, really early band man of war stuff like that. I was getting all these early bands, right? But that was because my friends were kind of like tape trading and things like that. So we were doing stuff like that back in like sixth, seventh, you know, eighth grade, right? In the high school. So, but that's how I was finding out about like a lot of a lot of the underground bands. But how did you how did you discover them?
SPEAKER_02Exact same thing, exact same friends making recommendations. Um, the recommendations started with the basics, like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, uh, you know, and Overkill, which is from here in Jersey. So it it was kind of like a local thing, and then you know, of course, there was uh, you know, man of war, I think, was also uh New York based. I wasn't a big fan of them, but um there was uh what was it, SOD?
SPEAKER_04SOD, yeah, Storm Trick, yes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, plus New York was a hardcore capital too.
SPEAKER_04So oh yeah, big time crumbsuckers, you know, all that all those bands going back to the room.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's going back to the Ramones, yeah, big time.
SPEAKER_04So, what did you guys have uh was there any radio stations or anything like that before, like like besides the the stuff you did with your friends? Did you have any other outlets?
SPEAKER_02Uh not really. What really wasn't a popular medium? It was always seen as like I distinctly remember metal heads being ostracized in junior high school. Yeah, they were dirt bags, they were scumbags. Yeah, um, there was a few guys that like I can distinctly remember, like nobody ever said anything good about them, but they were the ones who were they were the ones who were wearing like the anthrax shirts, yeah, Alika shirts, and uh I don't know what it was. It was just like I it fortunately, I can say I got into the music because of the music. As when I first heard Metallica, it just like totally possessed me. Yeah, and it wasn't because I wanted to fit in with a group of people, it was just like, oh my god, this shit is awesome. Oh, look at that, those people over there like the same thing. I'm gonna go hang out over there, right? It opened a whole new circle of friends, right on.
SPEAKER_04So when you got into MTV, like how did you react when you first saw Headband's Ball? Because I know when I heard the SOD music, because you said SD, they were like the theme music of Headbringer's Ball that dun dun uh, yeah. So that was all them. Uh that's all you know, uh, you know, Scotty and Ruffs. So when you got into that, how did you? I know I freaked out when I saw that because I couldn't believe all the stuff I was exposed to. Yeah, I was staying updated as I could watching everything. What about you?
SPEAKER_02Uh it was kind of a mix for me because a lot of the stuff that was on the show was uh hair hair metal, hair metal, yeah.
SPEAKER_04They definitely had hair metal, you know.
SPEAKER_02And so at the time, the girl I was dating, she was like a huge, huge fan of uh Skid Row and Poison. She had posters of like Brett Michaels all over the world with Wolver her past there, and uh I don't know, it just was like ew, you know. I mean it's like I'm trying to I'm trying to like you know make some moves here, and I keep seeing dudes out of the fucking corner of my eye watching, and it's not cool, but uh and the dudes are kind of pretty, so it's even more distracting. Oh man, the Motley Cruz, the Motley Crue pictures that she had up. I was like, at first I was like, are they actively trying to cross-dress?
SPEAKER_04That the that must have been theater pain. I yeah, it's right about that same era.
SPEAKER_02I there's a funny, there's a funny anecdote from Carrie King who's like uh, and I don't I don't know if this is really attributed to him directly, or if somebody just made this up because you know everything on the internet is true. You're right. But he's apparently he was said something like we were driving down the street one day and we saw a group of hookers, and then we realized it was Motley Crue.
SPEAKER_03I think he did he did say something to that effect. Yeah, I did, yeah. I think that's a real quote. Yeah, so I think that's legit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, so so Headbangers Ball was like a mix of that stuff, yeah, and then it would mix it like because I actually recorded uh quite a few videos.
SPEAKER_04I used to do that too. I used to record, I used to record on DHS tape, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep, and and they would mix they would mix things up, it wouldn't always be like there wasn't like a speed metal section.
SPEAKER_04See, that's what I liked about it. It was like an eclectic mix of different styles. I mean, you had hair metal, but then you had thrash in there, right? You had the you know, you had uh some of the heavier stuff in there too, some of the speed metal, like metallic and then early mega death. You know, when I saw the video for Peace Cells, that was like one of the coolest things ever. It was sick, yeah. It was so, yeah, because it was it was something that was it felt kind of like forbidden in a way, you know what I mean? Because it was like, what's this underground thing? And yeah, it definitely felt taboo. Yeah, yeah. And then you had the people head banging their heads and stuff like that, and it just let felt this dark, you know, kind of energy to it, but in a really interesting, kind of constructive way at the same time.
SPEAKER_02Oh, totally, and some of those videos were works of art. Oh, big time, yeah, like the video for Megadeth's Hangar 18, yeah, is a work of art.
SPEAKER_04100%, yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's but but that's the thing though, you got you got exposure to those bands, and how else did we get exposure then? Because at that time, again, commercial radio wasn't playing this stuff. That's for sure. And again, I lived in a market where there was no college radio around, so we exposed, like you know, with that kind of stuff. So that was my that was the way I found these bands, and then and then that just turned on my friends, and that just made us go even more crazy, yeah. When you know, when we were in that tape trading thing, because now we had this outlet and we all talked about it. Was that something? Did you did you bond with your friends over MTV at all?
SPEAKER_02Uh it wasn't it wasn't explicitly MTV per se, it was just what they were playing. Just said Bangers Ball and stuff, yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, man, did you see the new video for you know, blah blah blah? You know, especially like when Metallica's video came out for one.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, that was a big deal.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I was like, my god, listen to those double bass drums, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, it just it seemed more, I don't know, live when you were watching this video. This tragic story about this fallen soldier who was, you know, a quadruple amputee, and that was just sick, man. It was amazing. Nobody had ever seen anything like that.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Well, that brings up a really good point because I think that was where I know I started to connect with bands more, uh, just on my own level of seeing actually seeing them, actually connecting a face to the people playing. Yeah, because you know, you didn't really get that before. Again, you had raised them in action, whatever. Yeah, it's actually unless you saw them live. But when I was a kid, I couldn't go to live shows, so this was like the next best thing, right? Right, right, right. And then uh, because my band in the 70s was KISS. Yeah, so when you know KISS started making videos and stuff, it was like there's kids, you know, I actually get to see them, you know. That was like that was like that connection that that you just had that you just didn't, you know, you didn't have before.
SPEAKER_02So or you bought like a VHS concert film, right?
SPEAKER_04Something like that. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02No, we had we had a um a record store on Long Island, it was called Slip Disc Records, and it was just phenomenal, phenomenal record store. You can get anything metal. Uh people all over the island would would go to this a store. It was in uh town called Limbrook. Um and I don't want to speak for you, but I will say that for me, I feel like I kind of miss the bus with uh like the exposure aspect to metal because you know that there was like a whole underground scene going on in the especially in the late 80s. Oh I was never a part of, but like if you wanted to get exposure to a lot of stuff, once you got like once you found it was almost like the analogy I use is like the catacombs under Paris. Yeah, but once you find an entry point, you're you're off to the races, the world just blows up, yeah. Yeah, and you start finding out that people are producing like their own homemade magazines, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and then you see you know ads for different albums, and um you know, being a guitar player, I was also buying guitar magazines, yeah, and they would occasionally review different albums, like heavier albums, as uh Testament, Exodus, Slayer, and so I'd be like, Oh, I'm gonna go to slip disc and and pick that up. That was the extent that I I was really how I was getting turned on and stuff, but there was a whole underground net people were tape trading well before I ever did that.
SPEAKER_04Oh, same here. Yeah, I mean I I I didn't find out about the underground until around like late, yeah, that's about right, late 80s, early 90s for me too. And then especially when I started working at relapse, and then that just cracked my brain open to a whole bunch of stuff because that then I got into European stuff and a bunch of other stuff. So, because a lot of those other bands didn't get exposure over here again. You know, again, MTV was kind of that portal, but then around I don't know when it was when it started to go south, I think it was after the grunge movement towards the late 90s, I guess. Is that when it started to go? I think to the they were getting away from music and getting into the other crap that they were doing, I guess, more and more. Oh, yeah, that timetable.
SPEAKER_02I would say mid to the late 90s, um, which is when they started having like shows that were not about music, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's like um pregnant teenagers and whatever.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. And I can't think of names of all of those shows, but like once I saw one and I'm like, oh, maybe this is just a fluke, yeah, and it wasn't a fluke, and then they started coming up with all the other shows, and then they came out with MTV2, right?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I was like, oh yeah, and they actually, I think some of the marketing about two, yeah, was that it was supposed to be music oriented again.
SPEAKER_04It was actually supposed to be right, they were going back to what their roots are supposed to be.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I said hallelujah, and then I got let down again. Yeah, because the same crap, because as soon as they realized, oh, we're not making a lot of money doing these music videos, let's do these stupid shows on this channel too.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's pretty much what happened, and then it went to hell from there, yeah. So, yeah, I mean it it was good that metal had a moment on there, it had some exposure, and then it went back underground again. So, but yeah, but it's but it's interesting that I find that it's interesting that bands still make videos though, so that that hasn't really stopped the whole video movement overall. No, not really still doing they have their own YouTube channels now, or they're just releasing as you know, extra bonus c content on their albums, you know, things like that that they're doing. So it seems like the the the the music video has not died, it's just been kind of repurposed, I guess. Yeah, you still watch comic videos? Yeah, do you still watch?
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, it comes through different channels. Now, I mean YouTube is full of them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, okay. Well, like if I ever want to be where pretty much where I watch anything music video totally YouTube, totally.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the T television is no longer part of that equation.
SPEAKER_04What what yeah? So so do you have any are there any channels you watch in specifically or just kind of like in general bands?
SPEAKER_02And there's well it's like a mix between channels that are dedicated to uh uh increasing the exposure of a lot of different bands, like label channels, right?
SPEAKER_05Right, right.
SPEAKER_02Um, and there's also the individual bands channel uh channels that might have like their videos on there. So sometimes I'll end up watching a video of a band and then it's their channel, so there's a bunch of other videos under there, uh, versus like a channel like um I'll just pick a popular one now. It's called Slam Worldwide, huh? And it's all slam death metal basically. Okay, um, but yeah, I mean if you if you just want a great primer on a lot of different different slam bands, I mean that's a great channel, and the videos are well made. Cool.
SPEAKER_04So they actually put some money into they actually have like a budget to put into it and stuff.
SPEAKER_02I don't know about how the finances part of it works. I mean, everybody's getting ripped off now. Nobody's making money with music anymore. It's it's a dead, it's a dead model in terms of like gener unless you're unless you're like a uh one of those uh K pop bands. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. One of these Taylor Swift type people, you're not making enough of money to just be like, okay, I'm gonna not work anymore, and you know where I'm going with that.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, well, I was reading that there are bands that are giving up touring because they can't pull off the expense. Yeah, they're just kind of doing like regional shows so they don't have to get on the road per se, but they can still play out, and so that's what they're doing. Yep. So yeah, it's like there's a lot of, yeah, you can't make shit in music right now unless you're like you said, like you're some huge act.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it makes you wonder how they used to be able to afford it. Yeah, you know, when ACDC used to go out in the late in late 70s and all through the 80s, they would have uh how many, what 20, 30 trucks, semi-trucks, plus the buses. Yeah, I mean, do you know how how astronomically expensive that had to be? Yeah, yeah, anyway.
SPEAKER_04I mean, look at what Maiden does, or uh or like Rommstein. I mean, the the scope of those like setups is crazy like massive, but they but that's the only way they could pull that off is being at that level, which is where like see that's the thing that sucks about MTV going down the way it did, because Headbringer's Ball was like one of those exposure points for bands that now has been taken away. So you know, so so now you have to kind of like hunt a little harder for this stuff, like you know, like like what you were describing on YouTube, where you have to go look look up bands and like kind of do your own homework on it, and it's just there's not like one outlet for this anymore. So I think there's I think I think there's a gap that's been left behind, but I don't know if anybody can fill that gap because I I guess the money's not there for it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02The money's not there and the eyeballs aren't there, yeah. Which I guess is tied to the money, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so I guess not, which is kind of sad because it it it you're right, there's like some really music music beautiful music videos out there, and it feels in some ways like an art lost art, although they're still doing they're still making videos.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's you know, it's it's it's just fallen by the wayside along with everything else, just like the Vic troller did a hundred years ago. You know, now it's you know, broadcast television and and terrestrial radio are looked at as um uh you know icons of the past.
SPEAKER_04Antiquated, yeah. You know, yeah. Well, that's true. You you bring up a good point about terrestrial radio where that's been replaced by well, like podcasts and you know, just uh uh streaming music platforms music platforms, yeah, it's playlists. Uh yeah, I talked to a buddy of mine who who uh who runs a label himself, and uh you know basically all the money is coming from streaming, so that's pretty much where it's at. And and what are called playlists now, which are of course where you know they have these people that assemble playlists for people to listen to, and it's kind of like it's almost like a pre-built DJ set.
SPEAKER_02It totally is, you know, that's pretty much what it is, and it's not even being curated by a real person in a lot of cases. Oh, yeah, these are you know, it's those they're AI algorithms, and it's just I mean, I don't know. I I still don't dig the whole uh that that whole streaming format. I like the album format because one song flows into another.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, I I I just that's just kind of how I feel about it, but it's definitely become like an anachronism because I remember telling somebody that I was listening to the radio the other day, and he says, You listen to the radio? Who's in my car? I was I was stuck in traffic. What the fuck do you want from me, man?
SPEAKER_04You know, radios still exist. Yeah. Uh all right, since you mentioned AI, this is a good time for us to transition over to Metal News. Oh, because I I I mentioned something to you in the notes there um that I read on Metal Addicts, where I read that uh in Metal News this this episode, I read that Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath is using an AI singer while he's writing songs for his next solo album. Right. Now I now I read a little bit further about that. I want to clarify, but that he has not said that he's using the AI singer as the singer for the album, he's just using an AI singer to kind of like test like melodies and vocal tracks and that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_02That's how I read that.
SPEAKER_04That's how I read that too. Now, how do you feel about that?
SPEAKER_02Uh if it's not, I don't know, that doesn't bother me like the idea of uh an actual AI vocalist, right? Um that you're putting out AI vocals as part of your your end product. That's the he's basically using it as a songwriting tool. Right. You know, so it's no different to me than like someone who's using a metronome.
SPEAKER_04I was just gonna I was just thinking of metronome, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's just a tool that you use. I use it all the time, and it's not because I can't count, you know, three, four times, it's because it it helps take the mental workload off a little bit so that I could focus on making it work, right? Right. And if that's what he's doing, it's no different.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's kind of how I felt about it too. I just hope that nobody crosses a line and starts to go, oh well, we don't really need singers anymore. We'll just use this.
SPEAKER_02Stop listening to that guy.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, that's how I feel about that too. But I mean, I feel like there's people knocking on that door right now. You know what I mean? That there are people that are trying to replace RI.
SPEAKER_02It's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, look at the band, look at the the news that came out. I put something on my Facebook, like I don't know, four or five months ago, that uh there was uh the story back then was that there was this band that I don't remember the name, and I don't even want to say it because I don't want anybody to go, oh, I gotta listen to that. No, you don't. Some band that was completely created by Spotify the for uh I read something about that. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_04It was a completely AI band.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. That that to me is an abomination, man. And and uh, you know, everyone's entitled to their opinion. And if someone feels like, oh, it's just it's interesting because it's just a new type of art form. If you want to look at it that way, that's fine. But as a musician, I can't I can't accept it.
SPEAKER_04No, what did it sound like to you? Did it sound authentic, like real musicians, or did it sound like AI?
SPEAKER_02It sounded like real music, really, but there was something that was not right. It's the it's this the thing that was missing from it was the same thing as when you're listening to like AI narration of videos, or when you look at AI art, yeah. It's something off, right? It's biz it's bizarre, it's something bizarre element to it.
SPEAKER_04You know what I you know what I think it's missing. This is gonna sound very woo-woo, kind of hippie of me. Uh, it feels like it's missing soul. You're not alone in saying that, but that's why a lot of people have said that. Don't you think that? Because I mean, yeah, one key thing that we have that AI doesn't is that human thing, that's right, human nature touch thing, and that's right. That doesn't have that, and I can tell that when I look at the art, when I hear the music, I can tell it, and it's just like that missing ingredient that it doesn't have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, a lot of people would say that the thing about AI music is that it might be too perfect, and it's not that, yeah, yeah. Uh it doesn't feel too perfect, it feels like it's uh it's real music, but it just it's it's lacking a um kind of a um free uh free freewheeling, I guess, type of uh ingenuity and creativity, yeah, yeah. That that isn't it, I don't know. There's just it's very clear to me that it lacks human expression.
SPEAKER_04Yes, there you go. That's a good way to phrase it, human expression. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So not cool with me, but you know, look, like I said, if you if you're just practicing something to try to come up with something, yeah, that's that's one thing. Now, now now then you when you get too close to the line is when you're like, I can't really finish this line.
SPEAKER_05Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then you go into the AI thing and you're like, what rhymes with blah blah blah? You know, it's different if you're like looking up uh like a thesaurus to see about you know antonyms or synonyms of a certain word you're looking for or different forms of the word. That's different, but like when you're asking a program to finish your lyrics, that's yeah, that's stepping, that's where the line is getting across.
SPEAKER_04I agree with that. Yeah, and I have heard other instances where there have been writers that have been using AI to help them write, and I'm like, I mean, if it's something like you said, like the word research thing, I think that's totally fine, but when it's trying to you're trying to generate the content and be lazy about it, well, then that's not you anymore, that's just you passing the buck. And then as far as I'm concerned, the AI should get a writing credit.
SPEAKER_02Right. I've always said if uh you can't finish something, whether it's a line of a lyric or a riff or a bridge or a chorus, walk away. Right. Walk away for as long as it takes. If it takes a day, a week, two weeks, a month, come back to it. Yeah, because then you'll have you know just fresh eyes and a fresh mind about it. And I I I only say that out of experience. Like when I come back to something, I usually go, Oh god, I didn't, I should have seen that all along. Yeah, you know, yeah, but uh I don't know. I missed you know, we could sit here and make up all of our own, you know, rules about what we think is cool and not, and you know, somewhere over in the other side of the planet, two dudes are discussing the same thing and they're saying the opposite. Yeah, probably. Is it is it what's who's right and who's wrong? Well, we're right, but that's okay. Well, yeah. I only I only said that to be diplomatic.
SPEAKER_04That's not how you really feel. All right. So did you have other any other metal news that you saw want to talk about? Uh no. I'm good. Okay, so that moves us over into our album review of the week. And this is my uh this is my choice this week. I chose Lamb of God Resolution. And what did you think? Being what did you so yeah, you digging it?
SPEAKER_02I spun that thing like five or six times so far. Um let me refer to my famous notes. Not a bad song on the entire album, right? Tightness is on another level. Solos are totally insane and savage. Phil Anselmo vocals possessed by Nephrin Ka.
SPEAKER_04That's a great description.
SPEAKER_02Oh my god, awesome. A little bit of James Brown in this, bringing the funk. There's some funk, exceptionally arcane riffs, and that fucking guitar tone. Sounds so good.
SPEAKER_04Like for being such a massive band, they have such good separation going on hearing what they're doing, especially as intricate as they are. Yeah, oh my god, there's like the thing that blows me away about them is that like one of the things, one of the things that blows me away away is the drumming. Like, there that drumming is insane. He is they are so tight, so precise, there's not a sloppy thing in there, but he's also like hitting like a thousand notes at a time. I don't know how the hell he does it.
SPEAKER_02I don't know. He's he's I think he exists on a slightly altered plane for the rest of them. And I say this because if you look in the first song, which is the you know, that the real dog straight for the sun, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Straight for the sun.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, the the note that I made is at the end, the drummer had no reason to do this, but at the end, but he did you know that that like as the guitars are fading out, he just starts pounding. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pounding, and it's like, oh my god, this brings it to another level, and then of course it creates the bridge into song two, right? Right. So, yeah, man, I didn't, I'll be honest with you, I really didn't know what to expect because my only exposure to Lamb of God prior to this was, and I rem I looked it up uh since we last spoke, and it's the the song Redneck, which is on the album Sacrament. Oh now Sacrament what came out in 06. I read. Okay, and this thing came out uh what this was 2011. Resolution was like, Yeah, 2011. So it's it's clearly like a different yeah uh uh uh approach to songwriting because like I didn't like the riffs in in redneck, I didn't like the way the song was written, yeah. It was too rocky for me, and so I'm like, ah, and then you know, the video was kind of funny to watch with the kids' birthday party being in you know interrupted and violated by heavy metal musicians and hookers. But uh, you know, I was pleasantly surprised in putting on resolution. I thought it's a fantastic album, it's very well produced. Yeah, uh, it's not too long. Nope. And it's just it's just it's very powerful.
SPEAKER_04That that's their seventh album, so they had a lot of time to evolve into their you know their sort of songwriting techniques and what they were doing. And before that, they didn't have a history as burn the priest, so they had other albums before that too, and then until they got oh yeah, so it became Lamb of God, yeah. Um, but yeah, this is like the seventh album. And yeah, I like the the like I like that they still have variation to it, they definitely have a formula, but they also still surprise me with the different pacing and things like that because straight for the sun, that first song that you talked about, it's not like it's not like something like cheated where it's like instantly like rah- rah-ruh, just blah like in your face, like which is what you often expect from that when you just expect this you know, pounding fast, you know, kind of intense thing. It's like that slow build thing where it's like and then he's like you know, like that. Yeah, it's just that that kind of epic build-up thing rather than just being like 90 miles an hour, like right out of the gate.
SPEAKER_02Excellent introduction to that album.
SPEAKER_04That's what I liked about it. Yeah, it was just that different kind of pace and feel, like right away, but heavy as shit. Yeah, it wasn't like it would diminish the heaviness at all. It was still like, oh my god, that's like this is like epic. I want to break shit just like in a slow motion manner, you know what I mean? Yeah, cheated. I want to break stuff fast, but straight for the sun, I want to break stuff slowly in slow motion. There you go. So so, but yeah, it was this that that kind of stuff that I thought was what makes them kind of unique in that they don't they're not one-dimensional. No, they can kind of feel that way at times, but then when you kind of really lock into different songs, you're like, oh no, there's some peaks and valleys in here, you know.
SPEAKER_02Oh, definitely. It's definitely uh uh an album that was worthy of the term journey.
SPEAKER_04Well, I mean, the the guitar intro to Ghost Walking, which is where it has that clean guitar before you oh the acoustic intro. Oh my god, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah, which song is that?
SPEAKER_04Ghostwalking.
SPEAKER_02What's the what number song is that?
SPEAKER_04Uh number uh three.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah, yeah. That's that's uh wow. The song beat your face up. Sick fucking drums. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_04But that's the number that's the one you start. You start off with that. You said that you you texted me, you were like, holy shit, that guitar. And I knew what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_02It was very enjoyable. I I I kept thinking that they were a nice cross between uh Pantera and and Judas Priest.
SPEAKER_04Oh interesting, but like slightly more pissed off. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I think that's a I think that's fair. That's a I can see that. Yeah, you can definitely see that, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Um if I have to recommend any follow-ups, I would recommend omens. Yeah. And also um uh Wrath.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Now those two those two came out between Sacrament and I think that's true, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Although Wrath, I don't know if that's a little bit later or not. Hold on, I'll tell you in a minute. Um, but yeah, that I'm not sure when when what the order of those were exactly. So Wrath, I'm not sure. Whoops. Whoops, turn that off. Uh yeah, I'm not sure I'll have to look that up. Uh I'll double check though. Um let me see if I can find that. Yeah, I don't know, like because um I don't know exactly their discography history per se. Uh so they got a lot of records. They do, yeah. They actually do have and they also have like EPs and stuff like that. They they did that one song with uh Lambogar um uh with um Mastodon. Okay, yeah, they didn't know I don't know it. They did a collaboration with Mastodon too. So um, but yeah, they're they did you know they're they're kind of all over the place doing different stuff, but yeah, they've been around for a long time now. They have been, yeah. Um let me just see if I can bring this up. Uh yeah, I can't find it. I'll figure it out. Anyway, you get the idea. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh the last thing I have, you mean you keep going back to the drums. I have last but not least, these drums should be on the golden record on Voyager 1.
SPEAKER_04I rest my case. I agree with that. I I really agree with that. I mean, they're really, really good. Oh my god, so tight. So tight. Yeah, Wrath was 2009. Sorry, just had to look that up real quick. Yep. Um, yeah, I I I agree with that. Like that again, that drummer, insane, insanely good. But I also like again the scope of like Randy Bly's vocals. He's he's like one of those really interesting vocalists that he he works with his voice like an instrument more because he got he'll go high and low, he does like real guttural stuff, then he does clean vocals. I mean, he's just like all over the place, man. He's not like some singers that are just kind of like they're kind of like one, you know, sort of barky thing that they do. That's kind of it. No, you're right. He's like it's like this, he's like an instrument that way. I don't know how I don't know how he's how he sings like that.
SPEAKER_02He does what the song requires, and I respect that. Yeah, and same thing with the drums, it's very easy to overplay, yeah. You know, and then once you've done it and you let the cat out of the cage, it's too late to take it back.
SPEAKER_05That's it.
SPEAKER_04So you you know, you have to just be very sparing in how you exhibit your excellence, whether it's skilled, where it can get too busy and gets kind of like you know, a masturbation exercise, yeah, and then it gets like show pose, self-indulgent, yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally, yeah. Yeah, I don't I think that I think that's true of both the drums and the vocals. Well, everything really they they know how to like go crazy, but not in a way that feels overly complicated or indulged or or because you like you said, it's like he does what's required for the vocal at that time, just like it's always important to play for the song, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, I did read that he said uh Blythe said that they make he said that the band makes music for five guys, and that's it. They don't make music for the fans, they don't make music for the label, they make music for themselves. That's all they do. So it's like fuck everybody else. If you like it, great. If you don't, you don't. So kind of a thing, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And that's how you should do it.
SPEAKER_04That's what I think.
SPEAKER_02Because otherwise, you you I don't know, what are you chasing?
SPEAKER_04You're well, you're pandering just to sell albums or something, or whatever that is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but the even if you even if you sell albums, you're just gonna be you're a flash in the pen. Yeah, if you don't develop your own signature identity as a band, then you're gonna not you're not gonna last very long. You know, we I mentioned the Ramones earlier, you know, they had a very specific, clear direction about how they wanted to present their music, and it because of that, they lasted for decades, and their music continues to uh entertain people. So you know it's the same thing with this stuff. You make make things that you are happy going to your grave about that you're passionate about, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, um, to your question about the the latest album would be Omens, that was 2022. Okay, so you can kind of if you want to hear something more recent, that would be maybe the one to listen to if you want to hear their more recent stuff. Oh, I'll check it out. Yeah, they're working on some new stuff, but they don't have another album out just yet. They've been doing some singles here and there, but that's been okay, yeah. But yeah, no, man, that that uh again is vocal. I one of the things I love about that is on on one of the surprises for me on this album was um King Me, the last song. It's uh kind of like this really big, sort of epic long song that's uh like towards the end.
SPEAKER_02Epic finale, like a dragon flying from the sky.
SPEAKER_04Yep, you worded it so much better than I did, so yeah, that that's that's a great way to work. But see, that's again that's one of those songs that kind of surprises you. You wouldn't necessarily expect that from them, yeah. But you get this kind of big epic song at the end, and you're like, holy shit, that was like because it's a departure from that, it still gets into like brutal territory, but it's big, it's this sort of big sweeping song, and they've done they do that stuff from time to time where you know where they surprise you with sort of a more of a like more thought out, just expansive song like that, rather than just brutal in your face.
SPEAKER_02That was a great capstone to that album, right? Yeah, yeah, and it's it's it takes a lot, I think, to say, why don't we do something that's just very uh profound, yeah, for the last song.
SPEAKER_04Profound is a good word, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, yeah, a lot of a lot of times people put real stinkers at the end of their records. Yeah, this is not a case of that.
SPEAKER_04Well, I like that they had like I'm looking at the album now, there's 16 tracks on here, and one of the other things I like about what they do is they often include like live songs too. Oh, so there's a bunch of live tracks on Wrath and some of the other albums as well that are really cool because they just have all these bonus tracks, and it's not like they charge extra for the album, it's like the same like 10 bucks or whatever, you know, that they charge for the album. So just like they do that with other with other albums too. So that's one of the things I really like about them is they'll they released uh Ashes of the Wake, they did like a anniversary of that, and then there was a bunch of other again, like live stuff on there, some demos on there, you know, things like that. There's like you know, 18 tracks on there, so just stuff like that that they do that they don't like, you know, they don't make make it some big oh, you have to pay for some some box set or something. It's like right a really nice, just hey, here's this extra bonus stuff, or just slap it on there, and it sounds cool.
SPEAKER_02It's so obvious that it's something they're doing for their fans.
SPEAKER_05Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Whereas if you were to pull that record up on Spotify, I don't know if it has those extras on it or not.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I don't know, but uh yeah, I mean that's that's something that you do if you have uh uh a recording laying around of a of a show you played a couple years ago and the and the response was fantastic, then put it at the end of the record, yeah. Big time people will love it.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's why I like buying the albums directly from the artists. Like I buy stuff on Apple Music and places like that. Um I don't listen to streaming because I don't like I'm not a fan per per se. Uh and I'd rather have bonus stuff like that and support the artist with a direct sale. Totally. So totally that's that's that's my mentality with it. Not to mention you get all this great bonus stuff that you like you said, you don't get like necessarily on platforms like like on the streamers. So yeah. So hey, support the artist.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's how they were gonna make the money now. It's not from you know, not from uh well hopefully you can get like some tour dates together. Yeah, hopefully you can sell some merch.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_02But uh it's always a gamble, especially when you have when you have five people in a band. Uh you know, how how are you splitting uh yeah? I mean, you play a show and you get 250 bucks, yeah. You split that five ways and then you have to pay for food and gas.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there's another show tomorrow. Yeah, exactly. Uh all right, so um that was our review of the week. So we are on to the mystery band of the week, which is uh again uh where we try to turn each other onto a band that we haven't heard of yet, or that you you know that the other person has not heard of yet. Um, we're gonna be taking turns this week. It's my turn to present a band to you to see if I can if I can uh turn you onto a band here. And it's gonna be uh I am again wearing the shirt. So Prophets of Rage. Ah are you familiar? I am not. Ah, I've heard the name. So let me explain who Prophets of Rage are. Okay, so now they've only released like an EP and like a self-titled album, which I highly recommend. Uh, so let me ask you this are you a rage against the machine fan? Uh very but it's okay if you're not. I just checking. Okay, well, here's who it is it's Rage Against the Machine, but instead of Zach De la Roca, it is uh B Real from Cypress Hill and Chuck D from Public Enemy. Oh, yeah. On vocals, you betcha. Wow, all right, those two together. Keep talking. Highly recommend it. It's it sounds it sounds a lot like Rage, but with those two guys on top of it, man. It is amazing. I'm such a big fan of this. I got the EP, I got the the the self-titled thing. Um, there's some live stuff on the EP, which is good too, if you're interested. Um, but yeah, they just kind of formed the super group and they released a couple albums. Now I don't know if they're gonna do any more because Tom Rell's been doing some solo stuff that I've been also selling too. Yeah, I love his stuff. Um, but then uh uh but I yeah, I don't know if they're if they're gonna keep doing this or not. I have to look it up and and check out uh the band's website and stuff. But yeah, so and it sounds like Rage, but with Chuck D and Be Real on top of it. So the vocals are just freaking awesome. I was a big uh Cypress fan. Oh, then you're gonna love this because it's the mashup of those two working together. Oh, that's cool. So and Chuck D's my favorite rapper, like of all time. Really? Oh, I love Public Enemy, huge public enemy fan. Yeah, I love that band. Well, not just for his I think he's got such a definitive voice that is so distinctly him.
SPEAKER_02Oh, most definitely.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god. But then secondly, um his his lyrics too, because they do get political, they have some really interesting. Oh, totally. There's some weed stuff on there because B reel's on there, of course. So there's stuff about weed, of course. So weed and politics are a lot of the you know, the dominant subject matter on the on the album. I can take it, it's fun. And one one thing that's cool about the um the the the EP is they do some live stuff and they do some public enemy stuff, and they also do like a beastie boy cover and some other stuff. It's really freaking cool, man. Wow. So yeah, it's worth it's worth taking a listen to overall. Just you know, just prophets of rage. Prophets of rage. So she's my pen. That is your uh that is your assignment to check out. And then of course, next week you'll be or in the next episode, you'll be giving me my assignment, but this is your assignment. So check out I would say um check out the the self titled though. It's just it's a such a strong album, and the musician sips awesome because it is like the rage guys, so and it's their funk, it's their it's kind of it's it's yeah, again, it's just like a rage album, but just with these two vocalists.
SPEAKER_02And well, I'm a big fan of Morello's guitar play.
SPEAKER_04Oh, then you'll love this. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because it's him. It's just him doing his thing, man. And you know what that's like. And you know, he just have you heard his solo stuff at all? No. Okay, I'm gonna add a tag on. I'm gonna tag on to this. Just like about any of his solo albums. There's three, there's at least three of them. Uh they're called He does have kind of a name for them, though. It's kind of this project he's sort of doing. Uh hang on, let me just get the name for you here real quick. Um, but yeah, he's he's got this. Um he's got this uh this solo thing that he's been doing with different vocalists, though. Yeah, so he's got all these vocalists he's working with on here. Um so let me see, let me find it real quick. But yeah, it's it's definitely worth taking a look, take a listen to. But yeah, that that you'll you'll love that prophets of rage. If you like his guitar work, yeah, if you like rage's stuff, not you know, without Zach, of course, uh, and you like Be Real, I'm telling you, man. Yeah, this is the real deal, it's really good. So hang on one second, I'm almost there. I'm trying to find Tomorello's stuff here.
SPEAKER_02Man, Rage was a huge in their heyday.
SPEAKER_04Freaking love that band.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they were one of the biggest bands of the 90s.
SPEAKER_04It's called The Atlas Underground, and then he's got the Atlas under fire and under yeah, the Atlas Underground. Just look for that Tom Rello. All right, he's got three albums that I know of so far, but uh yeah, take a listen to it. But then you know, check this out too, man. I'm telling you, if you liked this, if you liked Rage stuff and you like his guitar work, it's uh every bit as good as it always is. I will do that, yeah. Fantastic.
SPEAKER_02But then with the rappers on top. Yeah, man. I used to uh I used to jam some Cypress Hill back in the day.
SPEAKER_04Did you really?
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, you said you grew up on you're a rap, you were you were into rap. Uh yeah, but I mean this was after that. This was after I had also uh already become like a a rock guy, a guitar guy, and it just like right on um friend from high school just turned me on to them. He's like, if you ever listen to this, that's it's like crazy how good it is. Yeah, it's so clever and it's so well executed. And I'm like, all right, and I I don't remember which if I listen, I don't think it was Temple of Boom. I think it was the first the album before that. Um not the self-titled first album, it was the second one, and I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head, but okay, yeah, it was uh it was uh uh I mean it was just like a nice contrast to all the metal I was listening to.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I like it too. Is that the contrast?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there was good rap that came out in the 90s, man. I mean, it was like an evolution of what had happened in the late 80s and big time, you know, biggie smalls and um geez, what else was I listening to back then?
SPEAKER_04Uh um it was really in the public end.
SPEAKER_02Wu Tang.
SPEAKER_04Wu Tang, yep. No, there's a group out of Philly called the Goats that I liked a lot.
SPEAKER_02I heard of them, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they later become they later evolved into Incognito. Really? That was their name. Yeah, Incognito. Yeah, I love that. They were really good though. They were a really tight band around Philly. Nice, yeah. So, okay, so um uh that moves us into talking about live shows and tours that we know that are going on, or that were any shows that you've come up you're gonna go see?
SPEAKER_02Uh I I'm I may go to a show up in Brooklyn. This is in a few months. It's gonna be Autopsy. Oh uh, and supporting them is gonna be Morpheus Descends, which I've seen before, and they they opened for us once, and I haven't seen them in at least like 30 years. So um, but these these are like OG bands. They're playing at the monarch in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Monarch Monarch.
SPEAKER_04I've heard of that. Yeah, I've heard of that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I gotta I gotta look into that.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_02Uh one thing I'm not interested in seeing, and this may sound weird coming from a fan of Rush, but Rush is now talking about going back that like putting a tour.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they're going tour with the with the drummer with this new drummer. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Uh it's exceptionally confounding to me because the ingredients for Rush includes the doctor. Yeah. And he's not there anymore, so why don't they just call it something else? Hey, nothing against her, she's phenomenal. Yeah, she can play all the stuff.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, if they want to get together, they want to play new music, that's great.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Something else.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry, I can't.
SPEAKER_04You know, I agree. I agree. That's it, it is a tough pill to swallow without Neil Pearl in there. So yeah, uh like live, I mean, like I said, I respect her too, but you're right, it's not really quite rush. They should maybe rush something, rush two point, rush something.
SPEAKER_02I I said to my wife, like, why don't they just if they want to just first it started off with them playing some live shows, yeah. And I said, Well, why don't they just call it the music of rush?
SPEAKER_04That would be that would be a good call. I think that's a great, yeah. I think that's a great way to frame that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that because she clearly she has nothing but respect for Neil. Yeah, yeah. And she knows the shoes she's trying to fill. Right. So she's not looking to, you know, uh recreate wheel with them.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But just, you know, okay, I'm gonna play it, we're gonna play some rush songs, we're gonna call it the music of rush.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. That would be, yeah, an evening with the music of rush. Yeah, I think that would be, yeah, I think you're right. That would be, I agree with that.
SPEAKER_02And if they want to write some their own music, have at it, call it something else.
SPEAKER_04I saw that um corner is back on the road too. So I heard of that. They're headlining the tour now, yep. So they're they're coming here to to uh Portland in February.
SPEAKER_02I think they have a new album out there.
SPEAKER_04I think they do, yeah. I think they do. So I heard it's really heavy. I haven't heard it yet. I want to check it out. So have you been into them at all? Were you a coroner guy? No.
SPEAKER_02Okay, it's just you know, another another example of you know, two, too many metal bands.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, not enough to keep up with. Yeah, uh, and here's another one I saw that was interesting on the road, too. Uh, not metal, but metal adjacent will say, uh, did you see that black flag is touring? With Henry? No, different singer, girl, uh female singer, actually. Kind of like, yeah. Oh yeah, they've they replaced Henry with some with with uh with another singer. Okay, so it's not Henry. So uh, but no, that that's that I thought was interesting too. I don't know, yeah, I haven't I haven't heard them or anything like with the new singer, but I I'm just kind of curious what the um what the uh crowd responses will be like with that because I don't know that the last time they toured or anything, anything like that, but it's gotta be it's gotta be a while. But at the same so there's the novelty of seeing them, but I can't imagine seeing them without Henry. It's the same problem with Rush, where how do you call that black flag without Henry? Yeah, yeah, who's like the definitive voice of that band?
SPEAKER_02Well, there's there's a spectrum of that, right? Because how many bands had to replace somebody and continued on? Now Zeppelin was in the same boat, yeah. And Plant just said, uh-uh, absolutely not. And he said the same, he's been consistent about it for 50 years. So kudos to him for you know having integrity about it. But then you look at ACDC when they replaced Bon. Well, they didn't replace him, but you know, they they got uh um geez. Um oh my god, how am I spacing out his name? Um Brian Johnson. Brian Johnson, yeah. Yeah, I mean they became uh a different band, but they still sounded like the old band. Right. So there almost wasn't like he wasn't he wasn't so instrumental. Bon Scott was phenomenal as a front end, but yeah, he wasn't literally irreplaceable.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02You rise to the level of of a uh a Neil Peart, yeah, yeah. You you just just you know so for example, like the band Death, right? When Chuck died, now the the tribute bands that constantly tour Left to Die, Gruesome, and then um uh Death to All. Death to All. Yeah, uh they they don't call themselves Death, right, right, because they know, yeah, exactly. Even with some of the original musicians.
SPEAKER_04Well, Gene Hoagland's in in uh Death to All.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I mean Gene Hoagland, Steve Giorgio, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Steve Giorgio is in there, I was gonna say two. Yep.
SPEAKER_02When I saw them last was it last year or the year before? Uh they had the uh Bobby Koble.
SPEAKER_04How were they when you saw them? Were they good?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely phenomenal.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I gotta see that.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely phenomenal. I mean, it was it was it sounded so damn good. And the guy that's playing guitar and singing, I can't remember his name. Uh, he actually even looks a little bit like Chuck. I saw that.
SPEAKER_04He's even playing, he's also playing a guitar like Chuck played too. Very similar to it.
SPEAKER_02It's not it's not a BC Rich stealth, it's something I know, but it's like the same, yeah.
SPEAKER_04He's it's still like a spiky star kind of guitar, same kind of similar model, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but you know, they know they make no but there's no bones about what they're doing that they're not trying to reinvent the wheel, right? It's they're just playing tribute, yeah, which is great.
SPEAKER_04And I think that's solid, I think that's a solid approach, personally. Right. Uh I don't know I I saw that uh of course that this this is this was uh just the holidays recently that uh Trans Siberian Orchestra just wrapped up their oh yeah their final dates. Have you ever seen them, T SO?
SPEAKER_02No, I actually the the very little things of theirs that I've seen, it's I I haven't been really like into it. Yeah, like I'm not into the neoclassical uh uh melding with like metal, which is weird because if you think about how close metal is to classical music, well, like power metal, like you know, Ingvei Maumsteam and you know people like that, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean you would think it would lend itself to being uh I don't know, uh attractive to more metalheads than not, but yeah, I don't know, it just doesn't hold my interest. Oh, okay, I got you. But but interestingly enough, the I read that the guy who got this whole thing together, uh, what was it, the end of the 90s? Yeah, uh, when they got together, he produced uh the band Sabotage.
SPEAKER_04Well, I was gonna say they had members of Sabotage in there, uh, members of Testament have played in there. Yeah, so I mean, you know, so they have heavy guitarists like in and out of that band. Oh, yeah. Uh yeah, one of the one of the main guys from Sabotage was the I think one of the guys that spearheaded that. So yeah, the guitarist, I think. So yeah, so but but that's you know, I I like that uh idea of mixing the the holiday classical stuff. I've seen them twice. Uh because they were quite uh they're fun. They they put on a big stage show, it's huge, they play arenas because they're really big and you know, they have this big mainstream audience. Yeah, but what I find really funny about it is that they get these like families going and stuff, and they have no idea these guys are metal heads, so they have no idea. But but the stage show looks like a metal show when you see it. Looks like it looks like Iron Maiden if they're playing Christmas songs, right? Because they do a big stage show, they do like very theatrical. Oh, yeah, they have big things shooting out, they have backup dancers, they lasers, they change sets, they have dancers. I mean, it's this whole thing, yeah, and it's a spectacle. So I went there one time with my mom, my stepdad, uh, and then you know, and he was in a wheelchair, so it was like one of those things, and then uh and then I saw them uh back in Harrisburg, uh like a hundred years ago, uh uh with another friend of mine. So it's just like I've seen them a couple times, they're always they're pretty consistent, consistently the same, but they're very good at what they do. It's always it's worth seeing like at least once, just to kind of see the stage show and the music. The music's good, and it's pretty like I can understand why I wouldn't hold your interest because it's pretty it feels generic, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02You took the word right out of my mouth, yeah, that's exactly what I was gonna say.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. So it just feels very kind of like boilerplate, you know, kind of holiday stuff. I mean, they have solos, they're very good guitarists and everything, but right musicians musicians are excellent, but it does definitely definitely feel very cookie cutter generic kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_02It's it almost feels a little kitschy to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it's definitely but I'm not and I'm not saying that to make fun of them.
SPEAKER_04No, no, no, no, no, but that's definitely part of the style, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I I wouldn't I wouldn't uh you wouldn't have to drag me kicking and screaming to go see them. It's just that there would be uh a third on the list, maybe. Right.
SPEAKER_03Gotcha.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, they sound pretty cool.
SPEAKER_04Uh well, it's worth checking out at least once. I think you'd appreciate the guitar work, and you know, I think your you and your wife would like the stage show and just you know things like that. So nice. Just yeah, at least the holiday thing once, you know, why not? All right, I think that's gonna wrap up this episode. Did you have anything else you want to leave off with here?
SPEAKER_02Uh what was it about the um we were talking about Lamb of God and oh, when I re-watch that video uh for uh Redneck, right?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02The video starts off with the parents looking through the yellow pages and seeing an ad that says Lamb of God for at children's entertainment or something, right? And it brought me back to what we what we discussed recently about how how funny it was that the recent news the Stub Hub thing, yeah. The Stub Hub, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's almost like early. It's kind of like that. Yeah, it is kind of like that misunderstand that misunderstanding of what they really do. And here they are. Yeah, yeah, that you're right. That's a little bit of a like a premonition, like to what would what happened later on to them.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I I mean don't get look if you're gonna go be a metal band, don't get yourself into a a a mess like that. Call yourself something proper. Seth Putnam said it best when he called his band anal cunt. Well, you know, there you go. There's no erasing no confusion about what that is.
SPEAKER_04There's no confusion or pungent stench. Pungent stench. Pungent stench is another one, so it's very clear kind of what you're getting there. Cannibal corpse. I mean, so yeah, there's definitely some obvious names out there that definitely are a precursor to what you're gonna get for sure. Yeah, yeah. Lamb of God is a little deceptive, yeah. So yeah, I agree with that. So yeah, they just need to be more honest, I guess. All right, so that brings us up to uh the close of another episode, and uh, I guess we'll see you next time. We will see you later. Thank you for joining us.