OH LOOK MORE BIRTHDAYS!

Members of 2 of my favourite bands celebrated birthdays in the last couple of days.

Yesterday, i.e. Boxing Day, was the 40th/41st (I'm not sure) birthday of Jared Leto, while today (27th December) is Hayley Williams' 24th.

Hurry up with these new albums already.

BEST LIVE BAND OF 2012

As I mentioned when I originally published my list of awards, the Best Live Band one is even more limited than most because it only takes in who I've been to see this year, which is probably not as many as I'd have liked. So this is a little arbitrary.

In fact, I've searched the history of reviews I've written this year, and there's 1 worth including here. The other 2 were Labrinth and Newton Faulkner, who, to their credit, were very good, but a bit out of place. I also saw the rather epic Muse in October, at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes, but I still haven't got round to writing the review, and I may never. It was an amazing show, but my Best Live Band of 2012 award goes to...

MARMOZETS!

I saw them just the once, supporting Young Guns back in March at the Norwich Arts Centre. Young Guns were great, but special mention is reserved for the 'Zets, who played an awesome set despite being largely unknown by the crowd, had mental energy and capped it off by jumping in the crowd for their final song. Read the full review here.

So I wholeheartedly recommend seeing them when you can, you'll nae regret it.

So here's your trophy, the first theNOISE Best Live Band digi-trophy. Congrats.

 

 



THINGS THAT WERE SH*T ABOUT 2012

Every year has its shit. This is not to revel in it all, and think that the past year has been so - far from it. But it is worth paying attention to.

Near tragedy struck Atlanta's Baroness, who were involved in a bus crash while on tour in the UK. However, as recently as this week Baroness' John Baizley released a statement of his and the band's intent to get back on the horse, after months of recovery and continuing physical therapy - I wish them the best in their ongoing improvement, and hope they're back soon.

The UK's, nay Europe's, festival scene took a blow in 2012 with the surprise and widespread cancellation of Sonisphere Festival, due to 'a weak economy and some bad luck'. A promising lineup with a classic rock flavour then never saw the light of day, with Kiss, Faith No More and a Queen reunion, with Adam Lambert on vocal duties, sadly biting the dust (sorry, had to). Fingers crossed that it gets back up on its feet soon, as it is often blessed with a killer bill (though were it actually running in '13 it would have much to do to surpass Download).  I would also love to go back to the place that took my festival virginity (lol) in 2011.

The rock world was shocked this last week when it surfaced that lead singer of Lostprophets, Ian Watkins, had been arrested on allegations of child sex offences. Opinions on the band aside, we can only hope these are untrue claims - he will face the court on Wednesday 26th December.

We have also lost a few bands this past year, among them Japanese Voyeurs and Francesqa (others did but I've forgotten them - comment below if there are any more worth mentioning), while legends Alexisonfire also began their final tour, which will end in Hamilton, Ontario on December 30th. Farewell y'all, good luck, you'll be missed.

Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe has been officially indicted on a charge of manslaughter by the Czech State Attorney's Office in Prague. This follows the death of a fan at a LoG show a couple of years back, in which said fan was reportedly knocked off the stage by Blythe having stormed the stage. It's such an unfortunate thing to have occurred, and I hope the case is resolved cleanly.

And finally, ending on a sombre note (for which I apologise), the biggest tragedy to hit the world of metal this past year, if you hadn't heard about it, was the tragic untimely passing of Suicide Silence vocalist and frontman Mitch Lucker. I've only ever listened to a small handful of their songs, so I can't count myself as a real fan, but I do believe that metal fans in general are a community and a family that I do count myself as part of. So I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, daughter and the rest of his family of bandmates, friends and fans - I know their music meant so much to so many and helped them through difficult times in their lives.

 

And so I dedicate a specific award to Mitch Lucker, the Fallen Hero of 2012, for fronting a band whose work helped countless people through difficult parts of their lives. May you rest in peace and may your inspiration forever live on.

SURPRISE SURPRISE.

The Mayans have just completed the world's biggest and most ancient trolling, so epic that they didn't even exist when it happened. Well done guys, there were more than a handful of gullible sods out there. So now, let the mighty AxeWound begin the partay with a live version (at Radio 1's Maida Vale studio) of the oh-so appropriately titled Post Apocalyptic Party. Liam (Cormier, vocalist for Cancer Bats) absolutely nails the vocals here. Perfect.

LOSTPROPHETS; IAN WATKINS CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX OFFENCES

This certainly came as a shock. Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was yesterday arrested on suspicion of "conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a female under 13 and possession/distribution of indecent images of children" according to the BBC report. 

While I have often been personally outspoken on matters regarding the band's music, I only hope these allegations aren't true, because it's a horrific thing to consider. Especially considering that Lostprophets are a band that some people love, this could be a horrible tarnish. He appears in court on Wednesday 26th, more as it happens.

NEW KILLSWITCH ENGAGE ALBUM COMING SOON

YAAAAAY! \m/.

Killswitch Engage have slated a release date for their as-yet-untitled 6th studio album, and it will land in April 2013. It'll also be the first album in a decade to feature new/old vocalist Jesse Leach, who recently replaced Howard Jones as mic-man after singing on KsE's first 2 albums.

Consider this; Jesse's last album, Alive Or Just Breathing, is widely accepted as a classic of the 21st century in metal. So;

“I came off tour I was filled with energy, ready to go, we knocked out a bunch of stuff. I had joined the band, the record was there, we’re on tour so I really didn’t have time to write. I took the past two months not only recording but writing so I’m there with an idea, being in the other room writing and going to Adam saying, ‘Here’s my idea I just wrote, what do you think?’ So there’s real spontaneity some of the songs that we just finished up. I had maybe five or six solid ideas when I came off tour and the rest had to be developed as we were recording it. It was exciting but at the same time tough because for me I’m digging deep down into my emotions and my psyche trying to come up with stuff that is honest and emotive and relevant, hopefully for the listener. It’s tiring but well worth, anything that’s worth achieving you got to suffer a little bit for it. I think mentally and spiritually and a little bit physically we were suffering but all of that made for an amazing record that I’m really proud of.” (Jesse Leach, speaking to Loudwire)

With those words behind this album, coupled with how good AoJB was...we could be in for a stunner.

BARONESS ARE ON THEIR WAY BACK UP

Following the horrific bus crash involving Baroness and their crew in August, guitarist/vocalist John Baizley released a short statement through the band's official website late last night. While the severity of the injuries suffered by the band means that they won't be completely back in the very near future, as John writes,

"Simply put: it’s time to get back to it." 

So slowly, but we can hope surely, Baroness is far, far from over, and will be returning soon. The full post from John Baizley reads like this;

"Simply put: it’s time to get back to it. Since my belated and thankful return to the USA (after our painful test in motorcoach-aeronautics) i can definitively say i’ve exhausted my reserve of potential leisure activities (there’s not that many of them, after all). in recent weeks, i’ve come dreadfully close to boredom, and in those moments i can’t help but focus on my glaring physical infirmities. television offers little respite from this relative stasis; i’m sure by now i have sampled every biker-meth-dealer-zombie-low-talking-cop-crime-scene-serial-killer-real-housewife soap opera that is currently being broadcast (and there’s no small number of them). i’ve tried to fill my weekly routine with as much physical therapy as possible but the truth is, PT is not fun, and its benefits come with a great deal of mental/physical/spiritual pain and struggle. furthermore, i believe am getting a touch of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to my doctors and therapists (the highlight of my week should NOT involve a clinic). music might be the best therapy i have right now. perhaps it’s both the cause and the cure (the thought has crossed my mind); but i feel lost without it. Pete and i have just spent a long week surveying our musical wreckage and, surprisingly, we are quite well and intact. sure, there’s some substantial obstacles to overcome before we write, record or perform any time soon; but we still have everything we need to get “back in” that particular “saddle again”. Most of my peers are familiar with such high-school-gym-teacher poeticisms as “risk equals reward” and “no pain, no gain”; but did any of us every really believe there was any real wisdom in those adolescent platitudes? i didn’t. i am, however, starting to understand the essence of these and many of our other favorite cliches.

as odd as it might be for me to write these “updates” after 10 years of personal silence on the internet, i feel that i owe everyone who’s voiced or given their support to  Baroness a brief synopsis of our situation and more importantly a heartfelt thanks. honestly, it has made this ordeal much easier on me. what little publicity that surrounds our crash has given voice to so many people who have shared their own stories of injury, trauma and struggle with us, and has furthered my own faith in the communicative and universal strength of music. as every singer on every stage has nightly said, “we wouldn’t be where we are without you.” thanks everyone. we look forward to seeing you soon. here’s a short clip of a song we wrote.

j. "

And that clip accompanying this note is a wonderful acoustic rendition of Stretchmarker, taken from the Green Album, part of their recent double album Yellow & Green, my 5* (before I switched to the /10 system) review of which can be read here.