Play | The Rhapsody Editorial Music Blog

Best of 2008: In Flames

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what Swedish metalheads In Flames had to say about the year in music.

Favorite album:
Who the hell released albums this year?  [Laughs] I think, this is not a metal band but it’s a band called Glasvegas, from Scotland.  That is an amazing album.  I mean it’s kind of depressing in a way, but to me it’s in an uplifting way.  A lot of darkness and sadness in the songs and everything, but to me I find beauty in these things as well.  A lot of my friends were like “how can you listen to this stuff?”  I love when things go in a new, darker and more depressed stage.

Best of 2008: Testament

 

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what San Fran thrash-metal band Testament had to say about the year in music.

Favorite album:
I like our record a lot of course and other than that the new Whitesnake record just was killer --  Doug Aldrich is one of my favorite guitar players and it’s very old school, I like that. The Avenged Sevenfold record, that’s pretty good too.

Best of 2008: Slipknot

 

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what masked metal avengers Slipknot had to say about the year in music.

Favorite album:
My favorite album of the year is mine of course.  [Laughs] I mean because I’m on it [laughs]. It’s just the best record of the year.

Best of 2008: The Sword

 

We asked some of our favorite musicians to tell us about some of their favorite artists, songs and moments from 2008. Here's what the Austin metal band the Sword had to say about the year in music.

Favorite album
I'm gonna have to go with Torche, Meanderthal on that one. Torche is really one of my favorite bands.  They satisfy the seemingly impossible qualification of being "as heavy as the Melvins." Sorry, no other band in the world is that heavy. AND they understand how to use melodies to really engage you and demonstrate a pop sensibility that hardly anyone can match. They are like an elegant Giant that has turned total destruction into a breathtakingly beautiful form of art.

Ex-Torche Guitarist Speaks About Deal-Breaking Fist Fight

Before it was announced that metal it-band Torche's guitarist Juan Montoya would be playing his final show with the band at All Tomorrow's Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas Festival in England, Rhapsody spoke with an unaware Montoya about some of his best and worst moments and memories of 2008. In what became his last interview as a member of Torche, we learned about an altercation that took place between Montoya and singer/ guitarist Steve Brooks. As Brooks releases a statement saying "[Montoya is] no longer with us due to ongoing personal reasons," it seems the black-eye inducing altercation Montoya spoke of was the final deal-breaker.

Rhap Session: Gojira

 

For Gojira’s vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier, it’s been an exciting year. As the French quintet expand on their progressive death/doom sound on The Way of All Flesh, their fourth full-length, and tackle a world tour supporting In Flames, Duplantier has displayed another side of his musicality by playing bass for Cavalera Conspiracy. But with his primary focus being his own band, Duplantier and Gojira continue pushing metal's blackened boundaries with groove-oriented techniques, odd time signatures, sawing guitars and slow-burning, overcast tracks that discuss the inevitably of death. “Since the beginning, I write the lyrics and it’s always about questions I have about life," explains Duplantier. The more Rhapsody spoke to this progressive metal visionary, the more we learned about the spirituality behind the album’s concept, the band’s fascination with nature, and what it was like working with some special guests.

Q&A: Girlschool

In 1978, one of the first all-girl bands known to heavy music formed in London, and now, as Girlschool's original frontwoman Kim McAuliffe puts it, “After 30 years, we are the longest running female rock 'n' roll band in the world!” McAuliffe, along with original bassist/vocalist Enid Williams, original drummer Denise Dufort and newest member (with 10 years of service) guitarist Jackie Chambers are still kicking out the hard rocking jams with a new album. Legacy is a diverse offering commemorating their anniversary and the death of original guitarist Kelly Johnson, who passed just last year. And they did it with a little help from friends like Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Fast Eddie Clark, Twisted Sister's JJ French and Eddie Ojeda, and Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell's Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio. See what Kim and Enid had to say about Legacy, their career highlights (so far) and their new outlook on life and music.

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

Jamey Jasta's Commemorative Metal Playlist

In honor of Headbangers Ball's 20th anniversary, we caught up with Hatebreed/Kingdom of Sorrow frontman and former host of the Ball, Jamey Jasta. "These were really hard to choose," said Jasta when asked to pick his favorite metal songs. "I wouldn't say these are my all-time faves or the order I would would list my top metal songs. This is what I would say right now off the top of my head and I included some metal-influenced hardcore songs, too. Here's my 15 jams. Enjoy and be inspired by them like I have!"

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]

CMJ '08: Rival Schools

Ah, CMJ. Wherein the music industry converges on New York City with hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future, only to be crushed by the endless diatribes of the ruthless critics and hipster elite who are never impressed  and always too cool. That's pretty much the expectation, yet the excitement -- to be part of something, whether or not it's on the cusp of making a greater splash in the music wading pool -- is still in the air as the long, fashionable line outside of Rebel NYC moves a grueling two inches every five minutes. On Monday, October 20 -- the brisk eve of the festival's kick-off -- The Syndicate hosted its 10th annual Conflict of Interest party featuring, among others,  Rival Schools, and as I finally acquire a wrist band for entry, the fun has (unofficially) begun!

Dee Snider's Commemorative Metal Playlist

This week, MTV2's metal sanctuary Headbangers Ball is celebrating its 20th anniversary. To mark this momentous occasion, we caught up with Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, former host of Heavy Metal Mania -- the Ball's first incarnation in the '80s -- to talk about his top 15 metal songs. We'll let him tell you all about it:

"Top 15 Metal Songs? This is an impossible task. Why only 15? And how do I chose from the decades of great metal that I've lived through, loved and still love? This needs to be broken down into decades, then categories. Deep cuts and hits. THIS SUCKS!

"Alright, I've chosen these songs because of the effect they had on my favorite music. The fact that my list ends in 1985 doesn't mean I don't love a lot of the metal that's come out since then. I LOVE METAL. Don't know what my parents did to me when I was little to f*ck me up ... but I'm glad they did! Here are 15 metal songs that mattered and in my view effected the metal world more than others. I know they're mostly hits -- that's why they reached and affected the masses."

[Click the "Continue Reading..." link to listen to a playlist featuring the music discussed in this post.]