Breaking News

If you're as cool and hip as me, you already know that Mastodon just released a new track off their upcoming album The Hunter.  

Holy. Shit.

In lieu of my Pitchfork Festival experience (I'll do that next time), I felt the need to do a quick review of BLACK TONGUE!!!  Enjoy.

The instant I heard this song was released, I found a it on YouTube as quick as I could and listened to it.  And then I listened to it again.  And again.  Do you get that I like Mastodon yet?  This track starts off with a brutal riff before quickly swings into a tight groove.  Right off the bat, "Black Tongue" leaves the impression that this album will be much heavier than 2009's Crack the Skye.  The verses, however, continue to bring in more melodic elements that the band experimented with last time.  While the guitars and drums are reminiscent of Remission and Leviathan, the vocals are actually sung instead of shouted/screamed.  Troy Sanders' vocals (at least I'm pretty sure it's Troy) have only gotten better.  He is able to produce ominous melodies while still packing a punch.  The second half of the song contains ultra-heavy riffs straight from Melvin's territories while adding vocals with psychedelic effects that evoke some of the sonics from Blood Mountain.  Brent Hinds' guitar solo adds interweaving lines,  similar to something The Black Dahlia Murder would do, to the song without showing off too much.  

Overall, "Black Tongue" combines a little bit of everything the band has done but still pushes forward to create something fresh and, of course, brutal.  It seems this band can do no wrong, because I every time I think they have to be out of ideas, the release something like this and blow all my expectations out of the water.  September 27th can't come soon enough, cus I wanna hear the rest of The Hunter.

NOW!!!

How long was I asleep?

I must have dosed off for a couple days there...or weeks.  Oh well, nothing too exciting has happened I suppose.  I guess getting back into the school year got me distracted.

Anyhow, I'll keep this one short and sweet just to warm you back up, if you are, in fact, still tuned in.
I went to Chicago this weekend with some friends, and despite some weird occurrences wherever we went, it was a fun trip.  We went to the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Science and Industry.  We also spent some time in Chinatown, where a got a sweet dragon statue that is now on my desk.  The Skydeck in the Sears Tower (I refuse to call it the Willis Tower) provided an awesome view of the city.

On another note, here's a list of albums I've gotten since New Year's that I've enjoyed (in no particular order):
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
Marquee Moon - Television
Los Angeles - X
Think Tank - Blur
Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
( ) - Sigur Ros
Dark Ages - Bison B.C.

Well, that's all for now.  I'll do my best to drop by more often.
And by the way, I hear there are some sweet bands playing at Rhino's this Friday....just sayin'.

Welcoming War

Hello world,

First of all, Merry Christmas!  Hope everyone has a good one.

This is my first venture into the world of blogging, and it is a bit of an experiment for me.  While I've never done anything quite like blogging before, that's not the point.  What I'm going to try to do is see how many people I can get to read my blog without actually telling anyone about it.  Why would I do this, you ask?  It seems a bit counter-productive.  After all, what's the point of writing something no one but myself will likely see?  I guess I'm just bored and curious.  I wonder if it is possible at all for anyone to find this if no one knows it exists.  In a way, I feel like I'm testing the power of the Internet.  Nobody's can become world famous overnight because of the internet.  So who knows, only time will tell.  I'm creating something out of nothing.

On the off-chance someone is reading this, I will tell you what I plan to blog about, at least for the next week or so.  I will be posting a few "best-of-the year" lists for movies, music, etc.  Especially music.  I love music.  Like a lot.  So yeah, be expecting some of that soon.  FYI, my best-music-of-the-year list will be delayed slightly due to the release of the new Gorillaz album (it came out like 3 hours ago).  I'm excited but I'll give it a few days so I don't place it at #1 just cus I get too excited.

That's all for now, everyone enjoy their holidays,
-The Wolf