The Three Metal Festivals, All Metal Heads Should Be Attending!

"Bloodstock Open Air" August 12th - 14th 2011

Headlining: Motörhead, Immortal, W.A.S.P, Devin Townsend Project At The Gates, Morbid Angel, Rhapsody Of Fire, Therion, Coroner, Kreator, Nevermore, Exodus, Triptykon, Hammerfall, Grave Digger, Ihsahn, Napalm Death, Tarot, Wolf,  and 1349.

This 4 night camping trip certainly seems worth all the hassle of pitching a tent. It's located at "Catton Hall, Walton On Trent, Derbyshire, England.

"Download" June 10th - 12th 2011

Headlining: Def Leppard, System Of A Down, Linkin Park, The Darkness, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Alter Bridge, Skunk Anansie, Disturbed, Pendulum, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Korn, Twisted Sister, The Cult, Danzig, Funeral For A Friend, Frank Turner. Plus many, many more.

System Of A Down! Korn! Disturbed! As the 13 year old school girl in me would say. OMG, OMG, OMG!!! Very jealous of anyone who will be attending this festival. I was given the option for any 'one' festival and I chose....

"Sonisphere" 8th - 10th July 2011

Headlining: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax (Big Four), Diamond Head, Biffy Clyro, Weezer, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Motörhead, You Me At Six, All Time Low, Mastodon, Opeth, Airbourne, Sum 41, Arch Enemy, Gallows, One minute Silence and many, many more!

They will also have comedians performing during the festival, Bill Bailey heading the comedy side of things. I think it was money well spent. I am thoroughly excited whenever I hear one of the bands who are going. I hope to see you at Knebworth early July!

Beast (Special Edition) by DevilDriver

I recently brought this album not knowing what to expect as I've never really given DevilDriver my full attention, only really enjoying the song "I Dream I Died" which is on their self titled "DevilDriver".

The first song on their latest album "Dead to Rights" is a good introduction into "Beast (Special Edition). Starting off with some great drumming then the guitar which I was catchy. The Vocals is exactly what I expect from singer Dez Fafara. All together, you can feel the passion of their music. This song is going to be a favourite.

"Bring the Fight (To the Floor)" starts a lot more melodic than the first song, but the vocals on this track is harsher with more sustained shouts. Right up my street. The chorus is quite fun and is music I would use to get myself in the mood for some brutal moshing before a heavy metal gig.

"Hardened" is a lot more like StoneSour in the beginning but then manages to get itself into some savage riff which I'm sure all budding guitarist will want to know. The vocals have two different tones which make this song enjoyable.

The rest of this album is really worth a listen, especially "Shitlist". This song is easily my favourite one for it's great, gentle introduction, followed by some great lyrics and a catchy and what I believe, is an epic chorus.

I recommend buying the "special edition" rather than the standard version as you get three extra songs, two bonus tracks and one live song. The live song is "Grinfucked" and it is brilliant! Never hearing this song before now, I really enjoyed it and have put it into my "Brutal Metal Playlist" on my iPhone.

You can easily see why DevilDriver are as popular as they are. Being signed with "RoadRunner" means that you have to be as popular as they are or they wouldn't be with that legendary label for much longer.

Overall, it's a great album, but I've only mentioned a few tracks. Buy the album for yourself and enjoy it's epicness for yourself.

Slipknot On The Cover Of Kerrang Magazine Issue 1358 April 09 2011

This weeks issue of Kerrang, http://www.kerrang.com/, held a top 20 list of Slipknot songs, chosen by the Maggots (Slipknot fans) to celebrate Paul Gray's (Slipknot's bassist who died on 24th May 2010) birthday which is the 8th April.

Counting down from 20:
20: All Hope Is Gone
19: Purity
18: Disasterpiece
17: My Plague
16: Sulfer
15: Eyeless
14: Left Behind
13: Dead Memories
12: Vermillion
11: Duality
10: Before I Forget
09: Snuff
08: (Sic)
07: Psychosocial
06: The Heretic Anthem
05: Spit It Out
04: Pulse Of The Maggots
03: Surfaceing
02: People=Shit
01: Wait And Bleed

I actually can see why this list is in this order. I was surprised about "Duality" and "Before I Forget" but I am very pleased with "Wait And Bleed".

I recommend picking up this copy of Kerrang soon as it has new interviews about their songs from Corey Taylor and other members. Slipknot are on the cover. You can't possibly miss it with "Ok" and "Hello" either side of it on the shelf.

Slipknot are playing at "Sonisphere 2011, http://uk.sonispherefestivals.com" which is 7th - 10th July. Hope fully see you there.

Slipknot

There is one band that will always hold a special place in my heart.

Slipknot is the band that got me interested in metal. Corey Taylor's vocals are inspiring and I love the difference between songs. For example, "People=Shit (Iowa)" is a bit more violent than "Vermillion Part Two (Vol. 3)", yet I find he does both perfectly well. They have released four brilliant albums "Slipknot", "Iowa", "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)" and their latest "All Hope Is Gone". They also released a demo album called "Mate, Feed, Kill, Repeat." I have yet to find words to describe how they have influenced me.

Between these four albums and a demo, they have created some brilliant tracks. I could go through them all but that would take a while and as this blog in mostly my opinion, I'd end up naming every song. We wouldn't want that now. So instead I'll do my best and narrow it into the top 3 in hope to make a guide for people slowly evolving into a "Maggot"(Slipknot Fan).

1. Spit It Out: Firstly, imagine this song on karaoke. Good luck to that guy! Secondly, It's the most unique Slipknot song (In my opinion), because Corey Taylor almost raps. It is so quickly spoken that I did look up the lyrics. It is 2 minutes and 39 seconds of pure brutality. It stops me in my tracks and I can't help but smile, shortly followed by a rather quick headbang. If I were to play one song to someone who was on the verg of becoming a metal head and I had to choose a song to complete their journey, it wouldn't be this one. You can't skip straight to the best track with Slipknot. You have to earn it, so I'd show them number 2.

2. (Sic): This song pretty much is what it says on the tin, SICK! This is an epic song with lyrics such as "Fuck this shit, I'm sick of it, you're going down, this is a war" (Need to change my pants due to epicness). It's quite a simple song with some brilliant vocals, amazing drumming and guitar. This song has earned it's way into my good book. I can't help but want to break something. This is quite a heavy song, but most enjoyable. If you want to know what Slipknot are about, listen to (Sic)!

3. Before I Forget: This actually won an award in 2004 in our mainstream society. Metal music has a tendency to avoid or not be played on the radio (Due to a high amount of "foul language") This track has powerful words which make me think of the basics, what we are, underneath the skin. I may be looking into it too much, but this song makes me think. I also get to enjoy a catchy riff and a great chorus! If I had the power, babies would have to listen to this upon arrival. "Out the womb, wash, towel, Slipknot, food, sleep, nappy change!"

I am a Slipknot fan as you may have noticed, but I believe that their words are stronger than mine. I recommend a listen. I actually have the Slipknot "S" tattooed on my arm. I wouldn't go that far without buying all the albums first. If you do enjoy them, hopefully you'll be joining me at "Sonisphere 2011, http://uk.sonispherefestivals.com" to see them on the Sunday. See you there