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It took me a long while to warm up to black metal, because of the fact that it’s a hard genre to warm up to!  Created up there in frozen tundra of Norway, the music illicit nothing but cold chilly feelings, not to mention that it’s completely diabolical and it’s practioners have crossed several societal lines or two. Darkthrone is a band that has allowed me to view this wicked sub-genre of metal from the periphery without full indulging in it’s violent excess.  First off, ABITNS is not your typical white noise, reverb drenched type of music usually associated with the Norwegians.  Darkthrone originated as a death metal band and slowly progressed to the minimal drumming and guitar tremolo-picking style they later incorporated in “Transylvanian Hunger”.  ABITNS has a very strong hard rock feel, particularly with the drumming which has allot of time changes, drum rolls, as well has blast beats and double kicks.  In fact this has as much to do with Joy Division, Goth and punk as it does to later day Norwegian Black metal, which makes it a great choice for anyone interested in sampling this type of music.  This is an energetic, innovative hard-rocking metal record. 4/5.

In the year 2002 with the release of “Coup de Grace”, Orange Goblin became a band without a genre, but back in Y2K “The Big Black” demonstrated the were the best Stoner band in the world…ahh if only they had stuck to it.  Thrashier and more metallic than their previous two efforts, yet still possessing allot of Kyuss worship, this album kicked major stoner arse.  Sludgy doom riffs punctuated with lots of wah-wah and occasional psychedelic break, all performed with precision and expertise.  Lodging heavy notes permanently in your lower brain stem…and your classic lo-fi Billy Anderson mud production, too boot. 5/5

The new Metallica record is completely pointless and proves they’re completely enamored by their own self-indulgences of the past 15 years, and could care less about keeping up with the times. The mere fact these songs are over 6 minutes and don’t evolve past the opening riff, first verse and chorus prove how arrogant and lazy Metallica has become. Suicide & Redemption is sheer torture, after 50 odd minutes, listening to the lame exchanges between Kirk and Lars, reminded me one final time how boring and predictable they’ve become. Congrats Metallica for setting up the public and making another killing. 2/5

This double live cd is an example of a visionary guitarist, being “on”.  Unfortunately, this set if often misunderstood by many Santana fans throughout the many years.  Early fans of his rock period, Santana I, Abraxas and III dislike the jazziness and the harsh angular tone of Carlo’s guitar.  Newer fans dislike this for the same reason.  Regardless, Lotus finds Carlos Santana at his creative peak, touring Japan with the new Santana Band, which included keyboardist Tom Coaster in exchange for Greg Rollie.  Following his project with John McLaughlin, “Love, Devotion and Surrender” and the release of Miles Davis “Bitches Brew”, Santana and band made a larger commitment to longer instrumental arranged songs that were complex and integrate.  Carlos, always amazing, is at his best live, and his powers and technique are at full display here.  If a Santana fan, this is an essential acquisition.  New fans should start with “Abraxis” and “Carvanerai” in order to appreciate full the creative peak Santana had scaled for this live set.4/5

Robin Trower career began like a super-nova, peaking just a year later with “Bridge of Sighs”.  Here on the debut, he has his forcefully clean telecaster and massive groove on full display.  Often mistakenly sited as a Hendrix imitators, the influence is obvious, however the differences shatter any shallow comparison.  First, Trower music is much heavier with far greater low-end resonance doominess demonstrated throughout most of the tracks.  Trower new how to play slow and sustain to create some of the most beautiful trippy hard rock every laid down to tape.  Secondly, Trower had James Dewar on vocals, the most overlooked rock singer of the 70’s.  Dewar possessed the muscular dramatic delivery of Jack Bruce and the smooth soulful style of Paul Rodgers, and was unfortunately overshadowed by Trowers brilliant playing his entire career. Production is a little muddy at time however the overall sound is massive and groovy with a little prog-tendency and shredding here and there.  3.5/5

7/10 Hate spandex, big hair, make-up and the boys in costume? Well, when you have songwriting as strong Bon Jovi’s “Slipper When Wet”, does it really matter? This album represents the relentless pursuit of a good time. An old fashioned rock n roll record that gets you hoppin, and just enough of a surprise “Wanted Dead or Alive”, to make it a classic. Def Leppard were Jon and Ritchie’s only competition for this type of slick hair metal. Lap it up, puppies.

9/10. This is a demonic hippy love fest. It’s not thrash, its not stoner, but it’s very doomy, heavy and psychodelic. Imagine Jimi Hendrix reborn in molten lava from the Valley of the Ords. “Communion” ranks up there with the greatest metal releases of the new millinium. Matt Pikes classic wall of heavy metal is enhanced with Eastern rhythms, adding melody and believe it or not, beauty and grace. The first three cuts, “Fury Whip”, “Waste of Tiamat”, and ‘DITC”, are classic HOF, fast, brutal, brilliant drumming and guitar, made even more impactful due to the crystal clear production. Not content with simply carrying the momentum, the second half ends even stronger with a trio of tunes “Rumors of War”, “Ethereal” and “Return to Nod” are powerful as well as melodious, finding Matt Pike turning in his most affecting vocals and most searing solos since “Holy Mountain”.
High on Fire

8/10.  Easily the fastest best performed (played) record, ever. Note I said “best performed”, because no thrashers ever had better technique then Megadeth. Besides being a great guitarist, Dave Mustaine had the intellegence to surround himself with other equally great players. This begs the question, “Who’s rocks greatest lead guitar duo, ever?” Answer: Dave Mustaine and who ever he happens to be paired with at the time. Because of the speed and complexity, to this very day, over 20 years after it’s release, I’m still picking up new riffs in the mix. To top it off, it’s not all speed and time changes, there’s actually a lot of melody in the tunes. The only negative is the cover of “These Boots” which has the profanity beeped out, which happens often enought to ruin another classic thrash jam.

Rock music, by its very nature, is in a state of constant flux. It constantly evolves by the combination of various content and musical influences, the constant being the traditional drum, bass, guitar, vocal configuration. Early on, it was the combination of blues, gospel and rockabilly. Lyrical content was sexually based, representing subject matter that was taboo to conservative society of the 50’s, creating the rebellious nature of rock n roll. In the early 90’s it was Death Metal, suicide, self-mutilation, etc., followed by Nu-Metal which incorporated some of the rap culture. Obviously, there’s a commercial appeal to this and record companies quickly figured out how to market the good acts, creating a bunch of imitators, flooding the market with product, desensitizing society to what made the bands sound so dangerous in the first place, making rock music, as you noted, “generic”. So like a lethal virus, the next generation of musicians rebel, label the mega-rich rock stars “sellouts” and take the genre to more extreme territory, evolving into a new “strain”. All these sub-genres are new strains, and the best ones look to rock society at its core. That being said, rock music seems to be in a slump. Rap music today has become what rock music used to be.