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8 Static-X – Cult of Static:Evil Disco, as spiky haired front manWayne Static dubs his band’s industrialdance sound, has been ripping up ven-ues worldwide for over 10 years now. Itcontinues to desomate the coveted Oz-zfest each year. Adding guitar solos to

the mix on 2007’s ‘Cannibal’ and ap-proaching darker lyrical territories si-lenced those who dismissed Static-X as another trendy‘nu-metal’ band. On this record, the riffs and samples commandyou to get up and dance with aggression. ‘Lunatic’ (previouslyheard on the soundtrack to ‘The Punisher: War Zone) which nowsports a brief guest solo from Megadeth’s mastermind DaveMustaine, sets you off on a nostalgic journey to the classic ‘Wis-consin Death Trip’ days and bringing back the aggression theban regained after the firing of previous guitarist Trip Eilsen. Theblistering ‘Z28’ and ‘Stingwray’ are destined to stand out at anylive concert, particularly ‘Skinned’ shows the band at their best -creating the most violent ‘evil disco’ that the fans have loved forthe last ten years. Some might argue that ‘Cult of Static’ is an-

other example of the band staying in their comfort zone, butwhen you name an album in appreciation to your loyal fan base,you may as well giv them what they want yet at the same timelaying the blueprint of things to come.

Top tracks: Z28, Lunatic, Stingwray

9 Muse – The ResistanceThe ONLY British entry, Devon’s own Musehas come a long way through 5 albums in tenyears. Following on from their smash hit 2006album ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ and freshoff the back of their 2007 residency at the thennewly refurbished Wembley Stadium, Muse

returned in late 2009 with The Resistance. With this release thetechnical trio have cranked the political axis and conspiracy the-ories from yesteryear up a notch or two. The Resistance isloosely based on George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and judging by the lyri-cal content it is hard not to see why. The opening ‘Uprising’ de-livers a thumping bass line reminiscent to Blondie’s ‘Call Me’and questions a the controlling influences of a futuristic govern-ment. The feeling of nostalgia is stornlgy incorporated intoMuse’s sound, with influences drawn heavily from Queen.‘United States of Eurasia’ is Muse’s own Bohemian Rhapsody,not only because Matt Bellamy’s vocals at times mirror those ofthe late Freddie Mercury but it retains the abnormality that madeBohemian Rhapsody a classic. It still manages to hold its ownground, avoiding cliche and maintaing an original standpoint.

‘Unnatural Selection’ holds nothing back as Bellamy’s voice un-leashes a heartfelt chorus against those of opposition. Endingwith three part epic ‘Exogenesis’, a work of pure genius that al-legedly used over 40 musicians in order to complete.if epic was-n’t used to describe Muse before, it certainly does now.

Top tracks: Uprising, Unnatural Selection

sure fire hit from the Virginian met-aller s. Building on the success of 2005’s equally brutal ‘Sacrament’,Randy Blythe and co have certainly

stepped up their game this time around.

Avoiding the formulaic breakdowns thatplagued earlier releases, Lamb of God have

gone down a more energetic and catastrophic path, treading thewaters more associated with death metal territory. With lead sin-gle ‘Set to Fail’ regarded as one of the finest songs of their ca-

reer (and also nominated for a 2010 grammy award in the ‘BestMetal Perf ormance’ category) it is only fitting that the album itself is regarded as one of their best releases. Other highlights in-clude the in your face anthem ‘Contractor’ that moves along likea bullet train and with its shout along chorus, marks it as one of the fastest songs they’ve released since Black Label. The albumalso sounds a lot more cleaner than previous releases, allowingyou to hear the countless riffs much more clearer. If you didn’tknow heavy before, then after listening to Wrath, you’ll be more

than well educated. Be sure to catch them at this years Down-load Festival ripping up the main stage one devastating circle pitat a time. Lamb of God’s Wrath will surely be tasted

Top tracks: Set To Fail, Contractor, In Your Words

 10 

ALAMB OF GOD WRATH

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released o f  the ‘nough ties’. A f ter man y h

ours o f musing here is  the  top  ten album

s o f 2009...

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5 Steel Panther – Feel The SteelNow whoever said metal had to be serious allthe time? Steel Panther may be a parodymetal band but what they do well is writecatchy heavy metal anthems playing on thestereotypes of the average hair metal rockstar. It’s so cliched to 80’s metal that it is awe-

some. Such topics include rocking out with your cock out (liter-ally) and several explicit sexual activites. Such low brow humouris displayed in songs such as ‘Party All Day’ and ‘CommunityProperty’ (the only power ballad known to use the word ‘dong’).Standout track ‘Death To All But Metal’ verbally attacks the

trends and musical artists that succeeded the Motley Crue’s andthe Bon Jovi’s (just be sure to listen out for the sneaky Metallicariff before the chorus). The subtle references just don’t stopthere, with Party All Day’s suspiciously sounding homage toLivin’ on a Prayer. The band even have the likes of Kelly Clark-son queuing at their door to play on stage with them! (The bandregularly hold a heavy metal show on the Las Vegas strip withcountless celebrities joining them onstage to sing). Selling outvenues in the UK on their last tour only emphasises that SteelPanther are well and truly bringing the fun back into metal. Tharthey blow!Top tracks: Death To All But Metal, Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)

4 Pearl Jam – Backspacer2009 has been the year of the comeback, with the live returns of Limp Bizkit and KoRn to name a few Then to-wards the end of the year we saw an astounding return from grunge legends Pearl Jam. With their ninth studioalbum Backspacer (named after the defunct button used on old typewriters, which front man Eddie Veddar usesto write all his lyrics) they funnily enough take it several steps forward, and is undoubtedly the most up-beat album of their career thus far. For this they have reunited with leg-endary producer Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against

The Machine), of whom hasn’t worked with Pearl Jam since their 1998 release Yield . Interms of musical direction this is Pearl Jam at their best and, shockingly to grunge purists,their poppiest . It moves quick and fast before giving you time to breathe, lasting aproxi-mately 39 minutes, much shorter than prevfious releases. No longer willing to be sta-pled to their ‘grunge icon’ status, they have gone as far as incorporating a New Wavesound into their arsenal whilst retaining the hooks that gained them a loyal following.Songs such as ‘The Fixer’ (an instant classic and undoubtedly THE perfect summer an-

them) ‘Gonna See My Friend’ and ‘Supersonic’ are some of the highlight sing along an-thems envoking nothing but positivity in the Pearl Jam camp. Sure Pearl Jam maybe alittle more older and wiser than they once were but it just goes to show that they still knowhow to have fun.

Top tracks: Supersonic, The Fixer, Gonna See My Friend, Got Some

hen news broke that former Soundgarded/Audioslavesinger Chris Cornell’s third solo album would be producedby Timberland, the rock world all but revolted. Many werequick to dismiss it as the singer’s ‘sell out’ record. Some

even went as far as to dismiss it off of the Billboard 200, lasting onlyseveral weeks on the chart. Despite all of this however, Scream isactually not as bad as it seems. In fact it’s an overlooked record withsome exceptional R ‘n’ B inspired songs. The title track itself is aneasy listening ‘chill out’ affair guaranteed to get the crowd to singalong. ‘Part of Me’ strays even further from Cornell’s body of work,with a backing track reminiscent of Daft Punk. The rock elementhowever hasn’t been fully abandoned as ‘Never Far Away’ retainsthe necessary elements to cons. Recent rumours surfaced that Chrishas returned to the studio to rework ‘Scream’ as a straight up rockrecord. After hearing the leaked mix of ‘Never Far Away’ it appearsthere is hope in reclaiming those lost fans.

Top tracks: Part of Me, Never Far Away, Scream, Watch Out

6 Devildriver – Pray For Villains:When they’re not out on tour raising hell onecircle pit at a time they’re in the studio churn-ing out some of the darkest and heaviestmetal of the 21st century. Dez Fafara has cer-tainly come a long way since his nu-metaldays in Coal Chamber, undoubtedly one of the

worst bands of the last decade (save it Limp Bizkit haters). Hisgrowly vocal range shines on this record and proves that Dev-ildriver aren’t one trick ponies. Listening to lead single Pray ForVillains, a song about ‘the anti-hero’ the only advice that can begiven is to find the nearest neckbrace, you’ll need it after head-

banging to thiss ong. Devildriver move on to explore their moreadventurous side in ‘I’ve Been Sober’, a sombre effort that intro-duces clean vocals, a first in Devildrivers 7 year career. Althoughnot as heavy as the rest of the album it is still brutal in its deliv-ery, and also one of the more catchy efforts! Accompanied bydevastating screams, growly vocals and guitar solos galore,Pray For Villains reinforces Devildriver’s position as one of thetop live metal acts of the new wave, and one of the more solidalbums of 2009.

Top tracks: Pray For Villains, Resurrection Blvd. I’ve BeenSober, Another Night in London

7 SCREAM

CHRIS CORNELL

W

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eleased in their native Sweden in May, Dead By April’s stunning debut crashed into the charts at number2 (14 copies BEHIND Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown, fending off the returning Eminem to thenumber 3 spot). Consisting of former members of various death metal bands this album certainly doeswonders. Incorporating elements of dance, pop, shredding metallic riffs and heart-wrenching aggressive

vocals guaranteed to invoke emotion from its audience. Each song is as infectious as the other, with solid cho-ruses and catchy riffs it will be no surprise to see the crowd singing along when performed live. Highlight tracksinclude ‘Promise Me’ ‘Erased’ and the In Flames inspired ‘Angels of Clarity’ which has garnered some attention

from rock channel Scuzz!. ‘Erased’ begins with a melodic start before launching into a circle pit of tight, heavy riffs while retaining itspop hooks It’s like Linkin Park listened to too much Swedish Death Metal and went to a pop festival by accident. It is without doubtone of the more different albums of the last year. Here’s hoping that their success back home can be replicated here, Shinedownstyle! Check out an interview with lead vocalist Jimmie Strimmell on page … about touring the UK with Skindred and more aboutthe album.

Top tracks: Angels of Clarity, Falling Behind, I Made It, Promise Me, In My Arms

3

2

BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE

R

DEAD BY

APRIL

fter front man Layne Staleys tragic death by heroin overdose in 2002 it waswidely believed that the Seattle legends’ future died with him. Many were quickat the mark to attack new front man William Duvall as they felt he could not fit

into Staley’s shoes. It is true that it was going to be no easy task trying to carryon the Alice in Chains name, making this album very nearly killed Jerry Cantrell at onepoint! But thankfully he fought himself back from illness.The creeping opener All Se-crets Known rips away all doubt with Cantrell's eerie guitar and Sean Kinney's crash-ing drums. Recent singles 'A Looking in View' and 'Check My Brain' contain the classicsludgy sound reminiscent of classics such as God Smack and Man in the Box. Duvallhimself truly shines, at times sounding vaguely similar to the late former singer Layne.The title track, Cantrell’s personal salute to his friend and ‘brother’ Layne, also in-cludes a beautiful piano melody from the legendary Elton John, who’d have thought?

Top tracks: Last of My Kind, Check My Brain, A Looking in View, Black GivesWay To Blue

A

ALI CE I N CH AI N S

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1With other critics barking at the knees of manufactured

garbage, one band has stood out from the pack, creating aLeviathan of a record. Released in the first quarter of 2009,it has since earned them acclaim once more, and is quite

possibly the greatest album of the last few years. So who isit? Read on to find out...