Category: Music

Adrenaline Mob

So Mr. Mike Portnoy (formerly of Dream Theater, of course) assembled his very own super-group consisting of SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward (copy and pasted from Blabbermouth).

On paper, this band should be kicking all sorts of asses and I am a huge fan of Sir Russell Allen. Unfortunately…

I present Exhibits A through C:

Their message seems to be “We like hanging out in abandoned industrial areas”*

And, really? Using the Godfather font for your logo?

Exhibit D:

Adrenaline Mob - Album Teaser - 2011

Well, that was, how you say, GENERIC. Not half bad but generic and underwhelming.

Never mind chest thumping quotes like:

  • “Even my wife, who’s been through it all with me, says it’s the best stuff she’s ever heard me play on. I played in DREAM THEATER for 25 years, plus some other pretty decent bands including AVENGED SEVENFOLD, so that’s really saying something.” – Portnoy
  • “This band is not in the vein of SYMPHONY X or DREAM THEATER. It’s more along the lines of, say, ROB ZOMBIE, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, SHINEDOWN… with Russell‘s absolute pipes from hell and Mike just outright killing it on the kit.” – Orlando (come on! Disturbed?)

I just don’t foresee great success in this band’s future, but I’ll be glad to be proven wrong

* of course, most rock bands want to be taken seriously so goofing off on camera is taboo. Admittedly, goofing generally only works well for Devin Townsend.

In which I embark on a journey and meet Lucifer and a cheeseburger

Deconstruction is the third in the four album Devin Townsend Project cycle and it has been leaked (check it out on YouTube). After listening to it I do believe the man has out-Ziltoided himself.

As promised, the music is brutal and complex and the story is ostensibly about “a man who goes to Hell and meets the devil. The devil eventually promises to show him the secrets of the universe and presents a cheeseburger to him. However, being a vegetarian, the man cannot eat the cheeseburger, rendering his journey pointless.”

Early reviews are very positive and I’ll add my voice to that chorus. It’s one fucking intense album. When the guest list was first announced I was a little worried at how many there are but even on a preliminary run through my fears were dissipated. The many guests are brilliantly featured, their voices contributing to and blending with that trademark Devin Townsend Wall of Sound. Floor Jansen’s (formerly with After Forever) turn on “Pandemic” is particularly awesome.

Production is fantastic as usual for Devin. He has announced his dropping out from the Loudness wars and good thing too. Finally a loud album I can crank my hi-fi for.

Listening to the album one thing is clear, Devin has been sober for years and it turns out it really wasn’t the drugs or alcohol. He really is insane. In a good, mad genius way though.

Not a Spinal Tap moment

Dream Theater will finally be revealing who their new drummer is in a series of videos posted on YouTube. The seven who auditioned are: Mike Mangini, Virgil Donati, Marco Minnemann, Peter Wildoer, Thomas Lang, Derek Roddy and Aquiles Priester.

From the first two videos, Mangini and Minnemann seem to be the front-runners for the job so far. Both of them are first-rate and will probably be good fits. From rumours going around the interwebs, it’s Mangini, but we’ll see I suppose.

This is a change that’s good for both Mike Portnoy and Dream Theater. As an old fan dating from the Images and Words days, I must say their output after Six Degrees has been generally underwhelming with what I consider to be less memorable songwriting compared to the earlier days.

Another big problem I have with the later albums is Mike taking a shine to some godawful rap/growl vocal stylings that he’ll stick somewhere on every album. I’m probably being petty, but I can’t stand it.

It got so that I preferred the various side projects the members participated in, such as An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess, the Mullmuzzler albums by Labrie and Frameshift’s Unweaving the Rainbow (speaking of which, Henning, we want Frameshift 3). Hopefully playing with a new drummer will get their creative juices again, and here’s hoping that Mike finds himself interesting new projects too.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Edit: Mangini got it. I thought Minnemann would have given the band a fresher sound and am a little disappointed, but still, both are excellent choices.

When did Korean girls transform from fuddy-duddy to smoking hot?

I don’t have the answer.

But I distinctly remembered that the Koreans girls were once seen as the poor cousins of Japanese girls.  Japanese girls were the cute/sexy/hot ones while the Koreans girls were… well, motherly.  In a Kim Jong Il manner.

Is it the Korean dramas that sport ridiculously looking gay dudes who sent girls swooning over some stupid sit-up scene? A nefarious soft power projection by the South Korea gov? The vast improvement in skillsets of the Korean plastic surgeons? All of the above?

Anyway, who cares? A couple of years down the road, I’ll be too old to be looking at teenage girls prancing on the stage without feeling like a dirty old bastard. Might as well enjoy the ride it last.

Random Korean girl group