Diary of a Madman, "Rock Flag Still Flies" 7/15/14
by Jason Bink
You
could consider this a continuation of my last “state of the union
address” for hard rock. This one is entitled "Rock Flag Still Flies"
because that is how excited I am about some of the latest releases of
2014. Chevelle and Rise Against can also be found on iTunes for $7.99
which is a damn good bargain. I'll give you my brief summaries of each
album in chronological order of release.
Chevelle - La Gorgola
Chevelle have become one of my all time favorite bands. I was a little bit disappointed with their previous two albums, Hats off to the Bull and Sci-Fi Crimes,
however. La Gorgola absolutely restored my faith in them and cemented
Chevelle as one of the best rock bands out there. In fact, this cd has
been played over and over again in my car this summer and I think that
the first five songs alone make it better than their last two discs.
The lead single, "Take Out the Gunman" did not blow me away, although it
actually grew on me a bit. It is outdone by the songs that buttress
either side of it, however. "Jawbreaker" contains really sick bass
lines and driving rhythms. Pete repeats the word Jawbreaker a lot
during this song,but so do I when I play it in my car on 11. "An
Island" I believe is one of Chevelle's best songs ever. It consists of
heavy distortion and groovy hard rock riffs. The lyrics about escaping
the world for a while are pretty cool too, but honestly, there could be
no lyrics in this song and I would still play it over and over again.
If you like hard rock, you need to check out this album.
Track commentary part 1 http://vimeo.com/105888376
Track commentary part 2 http://vimeo.com/106974429
Seether - Isolate and Medicate
Seether
is another favorite of mine that I love to see live and whose music is
always in heavy rotation on my playlists. This is probably their
weakest overall album, in my opinion, but its still about a 7 out of
10. They tried to grab media attention with their lead single "Words as
Weapons" which sampled the melody from "Mad World" (Tears for Fears)
and rocked it out a bit more. Good original lyrics, but as a result of
the blatant rip-off, it doesn’t strike me as a strong Seether song. "Suffer
It All" has crunchy guitar riffs and angry, choppy verses with a
catchy smoother chorus. It is a song about haters, doubters, and
searching for inner strength to battle them. This is more like the
Seether I’m used to. "Goodbye Tonight" sounds like it could have
appeared on their previous album Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray,
which means it is more poppy sounding, but it still rocks. "See You at
the Bottom," the likely second single, and "My Disaster" are two more
strong songs that show off the kind of grunge-metal that Seether does so
well.
Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls
So,
Nostradamus himself could not have predicted what a flop that last
concept album would be. I predicted that the mighty Priest would come
back to former glory, however, and they prove me right with Redeemer of Souls.
The song samples on iTunes sounded very muddy, but once I downloaded
the songs and put headphones on, the song quality was much better. It
still has a lot of low-end and a somewhat cloudy mix. I wonder if this
was done on purpose to try to recreate more of a vinyl sound. The disc
does harken back to the days of Screaming for Vengeance but with some of the newer Angel of Retribution influence as well. I
honestly can't pick a standout track on this album and it will take me a
few more listens to really capture it well. Face to the fire, I'd have
to say "Halls of Valhalla" does a nice job showing off some of the
classic sound and also the evolution of the band. Rob does some
sinister growling on this one like I've never heard from him before as
well as the soaring high notes that made him famous. Suffice it to say,
this album is the Metal Gods showing the new school what metal is all
about.
Rise Against - The Black Market
This
album begins with "The Great Die-Off." It’s ironic, because an album
opener of this title lets me know that this band is still bringing the
same mix of punk, metal, pop, and rock that I know and love from them
and that the band is not going to die off anytime soon. Track 2 "I Don’t
Want to Be Here Anymore" is introspective and anthemic. It will
probably be "The Eco-Terrorist in Me" that becomes a fan favorite,
however. This song is more like Rise Against of albums past, with their
socially-conscious emo-punkitude. Yeah, I just made that word up, but
it describes their dynamic energy and balance of singing and screaming
with all the angst and political conscience of Rage Against the Machine
or System of a Down. I love this song!
Upcoming albums of note:
Jul22
(Hed)pe, ‘Evolution’ (Pavement)
Ill Nino, ”Til Death, La Familia’ (Victory)
Jul 29
Adelitas Way, ‘Stuck’ (Virgin)
Theory of a Deadman, ‘Savages’ (Roadrunner)
Aug 5
Godsmack, ’1000hp’ (Republic)
Aug 12
John 5, ‘Careful With That Axe’ (60 Cycle Hum)
Rock on,
Jason
