By Art Michalski, on September 3rd, 2010
 Lansing will see some "Science" when the Orbs hit Tuesday. The band now known as Orbs was not born out of a close mutual personal bond over years and years, but one bond that was born out of an appreciation for each member’s music and the bands they are or were with. Orbs was the brainchild of Ashley Ellyllon, keyboardist for the black metal band Abigail Williams. Wanting to venture out beyond the parameters of her band, she enlisted the help of Between the Buried and Me guitarist Dan Briggs.
Along with vocalist Adam Fisher, lead singer of Fear Before The March of Flames, Orbs was born and has released their debut, “Asleep Next To Science”, that came out on August 17th. The album is an eclectic blend of prog rock, metal and various other elements that the band members have obsessed about for a long time.
The 9 songs on “Asleep” are lead by Briggs’ guitar work, which gives the album the BTBAM signature sound, but Fisher’s vocals make things a bit more accessible than some of the BTBAM moments are. Ellyllon’s keyboards give the album its ambient moments and adds some depth and fullness to the songs. You definitely will want to check out songs like “Megloblastic Madness” and “People Will Read Again” for the best example of how these songs come together.
Continue reading Orbs Eye Down Lansing
By Art Michalski, on September 2nd, 2010
 If you loved the other Disturbed albums, you're gonna love "Asylum". If there is a model of consistency in hard rock today, Disturbed holds that candle for keeping things rocking, but not veering off in a vastly different direction throughout the course of their first four albums.
Even though their debut, “The Sickness” still stands above all the rest, the band’s catalog has remained steady and has watched their fan based remain loyal and dedicated. With the Chicago band’s fifth album, “Asylum”, Disturbed sticks with what’s tried and true and keeps the band’s signature sound.
”Asylum” starts out with an short instrumental, followed by the title track- which is signature Disturbed, complete with the always passionate lyrics of David Draiman. What may be different this time are some of the topics of the songs: “Never Again” tackles Draiman’s disdain with the Holocaust and some people who tend to glorify the paraphernalia of the Nazi era, while the first single “Another Way To Die” delves into the global warming debate. The songs move away from the usual lyrics of pain, struggle and empowerment and might be the most ambitious material the band has put forth. A personal favorite is “The Animal”, which seems to be the perfect blend of all the material Disturbed has put out at this point.
Continue reading Album Review- Disturbed “Asylum”
By Art Michalski, on September 1st, 2010
 "Blood in the Gears" is a step in the right direction for The Showdown. After their 2007 album “Temptation Come My Way”, the Tennessean based band The Showdown found a heavy groove and seemed to please a rock of heavy metal and hard rock fans as well. The band’s next album, “Back Breaker”, was a throwback to the band’s roots with blazing riffage and much heavier vocals than the previous album.
After taking some time off, the band is back with the brand new “Blood in the Gears”, which leans more on the sound of “Back Breaker”, but stays accessible enough to still keep the fans of “Temptation” happy.
Lead singer David Bunton sounds as a man unhinged and in the zone on the opener “The Man Named Hell” and “Heavy Lies The Crown”. Bunton’s vocals stay clean enough to understand everything, but keeps enough of a piercing growl to his vocals and successfully steers clear of the metalcore trappings many bands of the genre continue to milk. He almost goes for a Brian Fair (Shadows Fall) styled vocal on “Bring It Down” that shows some range beyond most of the other songs on the album.
Continue reading Album Review- The Showdown “Blood in the Gears”
By Art Michalski, on August 30th, 2010
 Judd and Nachtmystium hits the Stick September 10th. The Chicago based psychedelic rock band Nachtmystium has under a bit of a metamorphosis during the band’s existence. The band, lead by vocalist/guitarist Blake Judd, started out as a straight on American version of black metal. But over the years as Judd’s musical interests have changed, the band has interjected more industrial and hard rock sounds into the band’s music.
The results have been staggering- the band’s last two albums (“Assassins- Black Meddle Pt. 1” in 2008, and “Addicts- Black Meddle Pt. 2” earlier this year) have been huge critical success and beloved by the fans of the band.
The band is gearing up for a tour, and I had a chance to catch up with Blake while at home in Chicago prior to the tour. We discussed his early obsession with black metal, as well as the different vibes of the “Black Meddle” albums. Here’s my interview with Blake:
Continue reading Interview w/ Blake Judd of Nachtmystium
By Art Michalski, on August 29th, 2010
 "Women & Children Last" is out tomorrow. Wednesday 13 has been a very busy guy over the past 6 years since his first band, the Murderdolls went on hiatus in 2004. Wednesday has put out 3 solo albums, as well as a country-tinged project called Gunfire 76 since Murderdolls partner in crime Joey Jordison had been recording and touring with Slipknot. But now that Jordison is taking time away from Slipknot, he is playing drums with Rob Zombie and him and Wednesday have re-ignited the Murderdolls.
The Murderdolls are gearing up to release their second album, “Women & Children Last”, which is due out August 27th. Wednesday was doing press at the Detroit stop of the Rockstar Mayhem Festival when I got a chance to catch up and talk with him. We discussed the creative reunion between him and Jordison and how all things horror influenced his music to this day.
Here’s my interview with Wednesday 13:
Continue reading Interview w/ Wednesday 13 of the Murderdolls
By Art Michalski, on August 24th, 2010
 Troy's own invades the Hayloft Friday night. Through a lot of touring and homegrown support, the Troy (yep, Michigan) based band We Came As Romans made quite the splash last year. The sextet’s debut album, “To Plant A Seed” debuted within the Billboard Top 200- not bad at all for a band that has been only been officially in it’s current incarnation since early 2007.
The group, lead by the vocal duo of David Stephens and Kyle Pavone, show their flare for a mixture of the rage and melody through “To Plant A Seed”. Songs like “Intentions” and “Beliefs” give the band a perfect blend of melodic based hard rock that will probably go a long way in the coming years.
Throughout the album, the band tries and portrays a very positive and upbeat message through their music. It is no surprise that people needing an outlet like this has latched onto the band- as the band’s MySpace page has had their music played nearly 5 million times, and their debut EP in 2008 was downloaded 50,000 times when it was offered free.
Continue reading We Came As Romans Head Home
By Art Michalski, on August 23rd, 2010
 Black Metal from Belgium takes over Blondie's Thursday night. For black metal fans here in the States, it should be a good upcoming few months for the scene. Even though the Behemoth tour has been cancelled for the States, due to lead singer Nergal’s health issues- there are still plenty of shows to keep the corpsepaint legions happy.
One of those tours rolling through the States is the long awaited return of Belgium’s Enthroned. Born in 1993 in the wake of the wild stories of church burnings in parts of Europe, the band has toured extensively in Europe, but has not been here in the States since 2001. But now the band is back here in the States behind the release of their new album, “Pentagrammon”.
The album is a eleven song rip-roarer of blast beats and fury. Lead by songs like “Ornament of Grace” and “Unconscious Minds”, lead singer Nornagest and company pound and deliver doses of evil sounding metal that will please fans of the genre alike.
Continue reading Enthroned’s Darkness Engulfs Blondie’s
By Art Michalski, on August 21st, 2010
 Dicky & The Bosstones hits St. Andrew's August 27th. When you thought of ska in the 1990’s, the Boston collective known as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones was the biggest name of all of the groups that broke out. 1997 saw the band’s biggest moment, as their album “Let’s Face It” went platinum. The Bosstones went on hiatus in 2002, only to return a few years back to give each other another shot. Last year, the Bosstones released their first album in 7 years, as “Pin Points & Gin Joints” was released and the group have been putting together tour dates since the release.
During the band’s break, lead singer Dicky Barrett was anything but idle: Barrett hosted radio shows in Boston and L.A. and probably his best known non-Bosstones gig- being the announcer on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”. Before the band’s August tour, I had a chance to sit down and talk with Barrett about the band’s return and what sort of bribe he had to pay up on in order to tour with the Dropkick Murphy’s back in 2008.
Here’s my interview with Dicky:
AM: After a 7 year delay, how good was it to release “Pin Points & Gin Joints” late last year?
DB: I really enjoyed the whole experience, the process of making the album was a lot of fun and I always enjoy making new music. Once you get on in there, it’s like riding a bike. Well, riding a really sh—y bike that you really love (laughs).
Continue reading Interview w/ Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
By Art Michalski, on August 21st, 2010
 It wouldn't have hurt "Frontier" to be a bit shorter. Iron Maiden’s body of work is one of the greatest ever seen in the world of metal. From songs like “Number of the Beast” to “The Trooper”, the band’s anthems are always at or near the top of any metal fans’ list.
Since Bruce Dickinson came back into the lead singer fold back in 2000, the band has released four albums that has helped re-energize the fan base and make Maiden as big as they were in the early to mid 80’s- not bad for a band pushing past 50 years old on average. But the band’s 2006 effort “A Matter Of Life and Death”, seemed slow and prodding at times and I probably wouldn’t rank it among the band’s best.
But since that time, the band celebrated massive success with their 2008 tour and got everybody pumped up for their new album, “The Final Frontier”, with a big time tour this summer. But the big question remains, does “The Final Frontier” meet the same fate as the last album, or will it go down as one of the band’s epic masterpieces? The answer: it falls somewhere in between.
Continue reading Album Review- Iron Maiden “The Final Frontier”
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