As sick as I feel today I was pleasantly surprised to see Metallica announce their new studio album 72 Seasons and drop a single to promote it.
Its a speedy and tight sounding thrasher to be sure. Although I do have some minor criticisms as you can hear in my video below. That all being said I am looking forward to hearing more tracks from the record and it’s definitely a promising start.
Also ttheir No Repeat two shows for one ticket idea for the tour dates planned so far sounds like astounding value for fans. It’s a great idea if ask me.
I can vividly remember being introduced to this album and band back in 2001.
Check out this video where I discuss the record, the impact it had for myself and I’m sure, many others and if it really needs remixing or remastering at all.
I will always be a fan of Dave Ellefson and frankly, I think he lost his position in Megadeth over nothing when you examine the facts. Although, things were seemingly not great between himself and Mustaine anyway prior to the controversy arising that resulted in his dismissal from the band.
On the subject of the Pantera Reunion shows and Charlie Benante’s recent comments…
Ive nnever wished these guys ill will with this project but I knew people were gonna take issue with it. That being said, a lot of that has to do with how the press have handled the news and chosen their words to publish. Hearing from the musicians themselves paints things in a much more sensible light.
So, a firestorm of social media activity has flared up over Metallica members being snapped mocking the Nazi salute and being pictured with Kerry King who’s been labelled as a white supremacist for some reason (likely due to his lack of hair) … Wow… Ground breaking stuff. All back in the early nineties as well mind you.
Not even two weeks just passed, Stranger Things fans were loosing their minds over the Master Of Puppets Eddie scene in the popular streaming service show. Seemingly, the band had earned themselves a load of new fans.
Fair weather friends though are no friends at all it seems as they now seek to cancel Metallica for nothing at all really.
As tthe Borg would say : Small creatures with small minds trying to attack what they don’t understand.
Here’s the thing though. Metallica can’t be cancelled just like history that’s already been recorded cannot be erased or undone.
They’re a juggernaut that has a global reach that spans four decades and seven continents. Plus their mistakes are very human ones. They’ve shown themselves as vulnerable ordinary people who fall, get up and dust themselves off only to overcome hardship. If anything this will only feed them and Rally them in the same direction. Poke the bear and it’ll most likely poke back.
Cancel culture is one of the worst things to have emerged over the last couple decades as a result of corrupted opinionated education systems and educators.
Sooner or later they’ll be cancelling themselves and the situation will become increasingly laughable and loose all credibility. Victims of this sort of “burning of the witches” type movement are now learning they can defend themselves.
Johnny Depp Vs Amber Heard was the first step but I suspect this will continue for a generation.
Will common sense prevail or return? It must for a functioning society but more damage will be done in the quest for equilibrium I’m certain.
Extremism has no place in modern society and knee jerk reactions are a symptom of the minds of those who are incapable of their own reasoning having any sort of depth or real value to contribute to the benefit of society as a whole. They preach tolerance and yet they have none.
So, one might be forgiven for thinking that yours truly had dropped off the face of the earth during the course of the past twelve months or so.
However, nothing could be further from the truth. What did happen however was that we had a new baby. Sadly, before that we also lost one. Very early in the pregnancy but it still hurt us immensely. We had a first scan that showed a healthy heart beat and less than a fortnight later another scan that did not.
Immediately following that, I was forced out of the company I worked for at the time. Following that, I worked a job that went from temporarily acceptable to a living hell and it very nearly put me in the ground. So much so my wife was the one who called time on it. Her support probably saved my life.
Moving on…
Since then our new little boy has grown to a healthy and happy ten month old. I have a simple, more humble job but it’s honest work and pays fairly enough for the time being while my wife is on maternity leave.
In the last couple months I have also completed all the vocals and solos for the new record. It’s mixed but for a few final tweaks and almost ready for mastering.
While I’ve been working that, I’ve also managed to keep up a presence on YouTube to some degree.
I’ve linked a few videos down below including my thoughts on the Pantera “Reunion” tour. If you can call it that. I’ve also linked a video on my thoughts on Metallica’S Black Album and the undeserved flack it gets from Metal “purists”. Lastly I’ve linked a few playthrough videos of my old material. In each I give the back story as to what each song means to me and some even include lyrics as well.
I’ll be working on posting here more often as the little ones become easier to handle.
Thanks for reading this if you are. Support is hard won these days.
The videos to keep you entertained until next time :
So we’re well on our way now into 2021 with January almost done and dusted. At present you’ll find me working hard on drum sequencing. ( yay, this excites me so much -he says sarcastically. ) I’ll also be hard at work attempting to avoid the destruction on my marriage and the inevitable insanity induced by having a two and a half year old tyrant running around the house saying “no” to any and every suggestion or query under the sun thrown his way.
I hope to use the programmed drums as a sort of demo for real drums to be recorded , but they’ll be programmed to to pro level , so if worst comes to worst I’ll use them for the final versions if funding doesn’t stretch that far. It worked for Fear Factory, It can work for me I Figure and beggers can’t be choosers.
Anyhow, I find myself with a little “noodling time” every once in a while, so I decided to take a walk down memory lane and discuss some of the most important Bands, Albums and Riffs from my formative years that helped shape me into the guitarist I am today.
You can watch the video here:
I cover everything from my introduction to guitar via Nirvana’s Nevermind Album to my initiation into Metal through Metallica’s Black Album and my coming of age when venturing further down the rabbit hole into more progressive territory as I discovered names like John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman and more.
Enjoy the video and I’ll be back to post again soon with any luck.
Check out this video where I stopped to take a break to restring a few instruments being used on the new album and chat about the record’s sound, concepts , influences and gear.
Since my last update I now have ten tracks penned for the new record. Recording has now started and rythm guitar tracks have been laid down for the first couple songs.
For the time being I’ll be continuing to record the rythm tracks , then we’ll move onto bass most likely. In the meantime here’s a playthrough of The Evil Revealed made whilst I was warming up to record and finding a mic position.
If you’re interested in more regular updates vsist my Youtube page and subscribe to that as well as my facebook page and like or follow that.
It’s been about a month now since my last post and as promised all the tracks are essentially written. So I’ve decided to keep things simple and easily manageable which is essential since I have a two year old running around me constantly , particularly during this lock down. All in all the record is gonna feature ten tracks.
So far there’s a nice balance between solid, in the pocket medium tempo tracks , faster tracks at the 180bpm mark and some nice melodic parts splashed here and there. No ballads really but then , they’re not really what I feel belong on a Masterless project.
I’ve also decided to go in a more direct writing direction. Less convoluted. Basically the idea is not to complicate things unnecessarily. I want to enjoy playing this material and for the listener to easily enjoy it as well. Too many metal acts have been pushing the technical boundaries for the last decade now, and it’s all becoming a bit stale from my perspective. That’s just my opinion and each to their own but to my ears , many of them sound the same and are not memorable in the slightest.
So this record is going to have some cool hooks on it, and the songs will be a little shorter. Around the six minute , six and half minute mark on average. I’m also aiming for leads that people can sing along with and enjoy as much as the rest of the song. Remember how good and memorable some solos were in in the 80’s and 90s ? Well it usually wasn’t the complicated stuff it was the riffy stuff. The bass will feature some complexity but that’s specific to the theme of the record, so it’ll easily justify itself . The drums and bass will play off each other a lot this time around.
So now phase two begins. Learning the skeletons by heart and jamming them a lot. When I do this I start to improvise here and there and that’s where the special good stuff emerges. Stuff like some of the more interesting lead lines, harmonies and solos. Although a few of those have already emerged on a few tracks.
After that I’ll begin working on the rhythm section more closely with a view to actually finalising the bass and drum parts.
Once that’s all done , it’ll then be time to start tracking with the amps and mics setup for the final tones. Then , fingers crossed live drum tracks. Vocals are always the very last thing I do before mix down and mastering.
A long way to go from here but one of the hardest steps is done and out of the way. So I’m pretty pleased with how things are going so far. I’ll probably post an update in another few weeks again. Until then , take it easy.
masterlessmusic 