Happy Wednesday Metalheads! Hope you’re having a great week so far. Today let’s take a trip back in time to 1987 to the song “Me Against The World” by Lizzy Borden from their “Visual Lies” album. Formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, Lizzy Borden, who specialize in “shock rock” were one of the prominent bands featured in “The Decline of the Western Civilization 2: The Metal Years” movie directed by Penelope Spheeris .
This song is a personal favorite of mine and every single time I listen to it, I get pumped up to fight against any adversity that happens in my life. If I have to fight, then as Lizzy sings “my strength is in my will.” Check out the video for the song and the definite 80’s throwback style.
Today we take a trip back to 1989 to a thrash band from Hoboken, New Jersey called Gothic Slam. Formed in 1984, Gothic Slam released two albums, Killer Instinct on Torrid Records in 1988 and 1989’s Just A Face In The Crowd album on Epic records which included the song “Who Died And Made You God.”
“Who Died And Made You God” was played regularly on MTV’s Headbangers Ball and the band often played the New York/New Jersey area club circuit at many now defunct classic metal clubs including Studio One in NJ, Streets in New Rochelle, NY and L’amour’s in Brooklyn, NY. The lineup included Daniel Gomez (Vocals), Klaude Ryker (Guitar), Billy Genese (Guitar), J.T. (Bass) and Dave Chavarri (Drums). Gothic Slam had gained respect of many of their peers and fans because they considered themselves kids in the crowd. Although the band broke up, drummer Dave Chavarri who spent time in M.O.D. and Laaz Rockit went on to form Ill Nino in 1998. Singer Daniel Gomez also had a stint in Ill Nino.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FOR “WHO DIED AND MADE YOU GOD”
Happy Wednesday Metalheads! Hope you’re having a great week so far. Today we’re taking a trip back to 1987 to the second album by Candlemass called “Nightfall” for the track “Bewitched.” This was the first Candlemass album to feature vocalist Messiah Marcolin and is considered one of their best selling albums to date.
The lineup for “Nightfall” includes: Leif Edling – bass, Messiah Marcolin – vocals, Mats Bjorkman and Mike Wead guitars and Jan Lindh – drums. The cover art of the album is a portrait made by Thomas Cole, the last in his “The Voyage of Life ” series entitled “Old Age.”
The video for “Bewitched” features vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin otherwise known as ‘Dead’ from the Norweigan Black Metal band, Mayhem, who sadly ended up committing suicide in 1991 at age 22. The “Bewitched” video directed by former Bathory drummer Jonas Akerlund helped to propel the band to international status and the album sold over a million copies worldwide.
Check out the song and video below and Messiah’s Doom Mosh!
Happy Friday Metalheads! Today, we remember Slayer guitarist, Jeff Hannemann, who’s birthday would have been this coming Sunday, but sadly passed away in 2013 at 49 due to liver failure.
Jeffrey John “Jeff” Hanneman met Kerry King in 1981 while auditioning for another band and approached him about playing together and forming their own band. King, who was in agreement with Hanneman, introduced drummer Dave Lombardo to Hanneman and after recruiting bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, Slayer was born. The band often played covers of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs at clubs and parties. During a show at the Woodstock Club, Slayer were noticed by Metal Blade Records founder, Brian Slagel, who asked them to record an original song for his Metal Massacre III compilation. The song “Aggressive Perfector” led to a recording contract with Metal Blade Records.
Jeff contributed both musically and lyrically to every Slayer album and wrote the songs “Raining Blood”, “War Ensemble”, “South of Heaven”, “Seasons in the Abyss” and “Angel of Death.” Jeff was a huge fan of early heavy metal and punk music and sported a DK (Dead Kennedys) symbol, as well as the likeness of Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten on his guitar. ESP also released a signature Jeff Hanneman model guitar, based on his Jackson Soloist. In 2011, Jeff had contracted necrotizing fasciitis which forced him to take a hiatus from Slayer and while the band had announced that he had recovered from the disease, he was still not well enough to return to Slayer. His death sent shockwaves through the metal community and changed the face of metal forever.
As a longtime Slayer fan who grew up in the 80’s when I first heard Slayer I was hooked. The first time I heard “Show No Mercy” and “Chemical Warfare”, there was no doubt in my mind that Slayer would achieve the success they have attained and beyond. If you went to any metal club, you would hear “SLAYER” chanted at least once or twice during the night and Slayer shows always have some very intense mosh pits. Rest in peace Jeff, you left us way too soon and the legacy you left the metal world will live on forever!!
CHECK OUT SLAYER FROM STUDIO 54 IN NYC ON THE COMBAT TOUR FROM 1985
Happy Wednesday Metalheads! Hope you’re having a great week so far. Today we take a trip back to 1984 to a song off the album of the same name, Metal Queen by Canadian singer Lee Aaron.
The album resulted in a multi-album contract with Attic Records which resulted in Aaron forming an 11 year song writing relationship with her guitarist, John Albani. The album spent two weeks at #69 on the RPM Canadian Album chart and Aaron toured non-stop between 1984 and 1992.
After a few projects that didn’t take off, Aaron switched to jazz but has been playing both rock and jazz shows ever since including a return performance in 2011 at the Sweden Rock Festival.
Aaron released her first all-rock album “Fire and Gasoline” in 2016, 20 years after her last hard rock/metal album. The album was self-financed on her Big Sister Records label and she has made appearances at several European shows in Germany and London to name a few. Her latest album released earlier this year “Diamond Baby Blues” showcases her rock side mixed with blues to once again prove the “Metal Queen” hasn’t skipped a beat.
Happy Friday Metalheads. Today we take a trip back to 1989 to the third album by San Francisco Bay Area thrash band, Exodus called “Fabulous Disaster.”
The album released by Combat Records features the song “Toxic Waltz”, which was often seen on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. The album also includes a cover of the War song “Low Rider.” The band lineup for “Fabulous Disaster” includes:
Steve “Zetro” Souza – Vocals
Gary Holt – Guitars, backing vocals
Rick Hunolt – Guitars, backing vocals
Rob McKillop – Bass, backing vocals
Tom Hunting – Drums, percussion
The album reached #82 on The Billboard 200 chart and the album version’s inner sleeve was printed green with the lyrics, photos and credits for the band. The AC/DC cover of “Overdose” was left out on some issues of the album due to licensing issues.
CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW AND GET ON YOUR FEET AND DO “THE TOXIC WALTZ”
Happy Friday Metalheads! Today we take a trip back to 1988 to the second album by Testament called “The New Order.”
This album showcased Testament’s sound and brought them to the forefront of thrash metal. Produced by Alex Perialas, the album includes a cover of Aerosmith’s “Nobody’s Fault” and features Chuck Billy on vocals, Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson guitars, Greg Christian on bass and Louie Clemente on drums.
The track listing for “The New Order” is as follows:
Eerie Inhabitants
The New Order
Trial by Fire
Into the Pit
Hypnosis
Disciples of the Watch
The Preacher
Nobody’s Fault
A Day of Reckoning
Musical Death (A Dirge)
“Hypnosis” and “Musical Death (A Dirge)” are instrumental tracks and “Into the Pit” and “Nobody’s Fault” were released as singles and the band shot videos for the songs as well. “The Preacher” was also released as a single and guitarist Eric Peterson came up with the cover art concept.
Happy Wednesday Metalheads! Hope you’re having a great week so far. Today we’re going back to 1988 to the debut self-titled album by Vixen for the track “Edge of a Broken Heart.”
The song written by Richard Marx and Fee Waybill reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1988 and the album was also co-produced by Marx. The success of the album helped Vixen to secure supporting slots on tours with Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and Bon Jovi, as well as headlining their own shows as well.
Vixen broke up in 1992 due to musical differences but tried reuniting a few times with different members of the original band in each version. In 2012, guitarist Jan Kuehnemund was planning to reunite the original Vixen lineup with singer Janet Gardner, drummer Roxy Petrucci and bassist Share Ross but sadly was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2013. The remaining members decided to carry on the Vixen name in her honor.
The band is currently planning to release a new album in 2019, however singer Janet Gardner has since left the band and was replaced with Femme Fatale singer Lorraine Lewis along with current members Roxy Petrucci, Share Ross and Britt Lighting.
Happy Friday Metalheads! Hope you had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend. If you haven’t had a chance to catch my podcast interview with Alex Kayne from L’amour – The Rock Capital of Brooklyn, then click on the link below to hear all about the early days of heavy metal at one of the world’s most famous metal clubs in the country.
After my conversation with Alex it got me to thinking about Anthrax and their show as Satan’s Lounge Band and how it all came about. So let’s take a trip back to 1989 for “Satan’s Lounge Band” better known as Anthrax.
Anthrax, who hail from New York City had gotten their start at L’amour’s and several local clubs throughout the NYC area in the early 80’s and in 1984 signed a record deal with Megaforce Records owner Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha. Once the members were finalized, they released a few albums that helped to land tours with Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and Overkill to name a few, throughout the US and Europe.
The band however decided that they wanted to go back to their roots and booked 2 nights back to back at L’amour – The Rock Capital of Brooklyn, the club they frequented in their early days. The show was advertised under the moniker Satan’s Lounge Band – taken from the song “Bud E. Law Bomb and Satan’s Lounge Band” on side B of the “I Am The Law” 12 inch single. Of course word got out quickly who really was playing the club and it turned out to be a packed house.
Check out the full set below and the video “Madhouse” Live at L’amour from MetalHead Video Magazine – Vol 1, which includes backstage footage of the band and the band performing Madhouse live. Enjoy!
SATAN’S LOUNGE BAND/ANTHRAX – LIVE AT L’AMOUR’S 1989
MADHOUSE – LIVE AT L’AMOUR – METALHEAD VIDEO MAGAZINE – VOL 1
Happy New Year Metalheads and Happy Wednesday! Hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying your New Year so far. Today’s blog post is about the one and only, Peter Thomas Ratajczyk better known as Pete Steele, who would have been 59 years old this past Monday, January 4th.
Pictures courtesy of Pinterest and QuoteSurf
Pete, who had a towering presence, standing at 6’8 feet tall, began his music career by forming his first band Fallout in 1979. The band split in 1982 and Pete then formed the legendary Carnivore. After releasing two albums, the band broke up in 1987, but staged many reunions over the years up until Pete’s unexpected passing.
After Carnivore, Pete formed Type O Negative and things really took off. Pete, who was the main songwriter and bassist for the band often wrote songs of a very personal nature that dealt with topics of love, loss and addiction. Steele himself suffered from depression and admitted getting treatment for substance abuse as well as being bipolar.
Type O Negative’s popularity soared after the release of their second album Bloody Kisses. Pete was everywhere, making guest appearances on talk shows including Ricki Lake, Jerry Springer and The Howard Stern Show. He also appeared in an episode of the HBO original show “OZ”. However, his most popular appearance was his nude centerfold for Playgirl in 1995.
Pete had been sober for a few years up until his death and had been working on new music. His death was a shock to the metal world.
I met Pete back at the now defunct L’amour’s in Brooklyn, NYC in the late 90’s and he was such a nice guy. He didn’t have a rock star attitude, he didn’t have bodyguards surrounding him and he was very approachable and easy to talk to. Rest in Peace, Pete. Your music lives on forever!
Below is one of his last interviews before his passing:
The Metal Wire 