METAL UPDATE

There hasn't been all that much metal content on this blog of late. So here's a brief change-up.

I got the Black Sabbath (Dio version) Live At The Hammersmith Odeon CD, out today on Rhino Handmade. I can now go on with my life, without spending every waking moment mentally kicking myself in the nuts for not getting into the Radio City show a month back. This thing is fucking awe-inspiring. Take your copy of Live Evil and break it into a million glimmering shards, because this is the stone cold shit. Limited edition, so get one today.

John Darnielle is a clear and perceptive thinker, a smart motherfucker generally speaking. But when it comes to metal, he and I don't always agree 100 percent. He likes Laethora a whole fuckin' lot. Based on his write-up, I dug through my towers of promos until I found this one (luckily, it was right near the top of the first tower I approached). And...well...it's okay. But it's not life-changing in any way, shape or form. I could listen to the Nox album another dozen times before feeling the need to go back to these Swedes, I think. (Minor heresy: I'm not a huge Swedish-death-metal fan, period. Grave? Love 'em. Entombed? Like Clandestine just fine, but can take or leave everything else. Arch Enemy? Fucking great, but they're more pan-Euro than Swedish, and Meshuggah aren't even from Earth.) Bloody Panda, who he big-ups a few times on lptj, are as good as he says, though. And I have the feeling that when the new Pig Destroyer lands, he and I will be totally in sync.