Corey Taylor strikes again. The all-American-rock-accentuated-by-hints-of-metal sound of Stone Sour’s third studio album will bowl over fans with a gust of listenability. Audio Secrecy is a multi-layered tribute to alternative music, and is best described by Stone Sour’s frontman: “It’s heavy, it’s melodic, it’s dark, it’s slow, it’s light and it’s beautiful. You’ll hear something different with each listen.” Testament to Stone Sour’s fan clout, the triple-Grammy nominated band, which includes Slipknot’s Jim Root on guitar as well as Josh Rand (guitar), Shawn Economaki (bass) and Roy Mayorga (drums), recently headlined the second stage at 2010’s Download festival. Audio Secrecy is likely to propel the band further forward to the ‘bigger and better’. (more…)

It all began with Vlad the Impaler and Stoker – Bram Stoker that is. Vlad came first. He was also known as Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia or, more simply, as Dracula – Drakyula in Romanian. According to folklore, tyrannical Vlad was sadistically cruel. His victims numbered between 40,000 and 100,000 (depending on who is telling the story) and favoured methods of punishment, other than the infamous impalement, included torturing; burning; skinning (skinning the feet of thieves, thereafter placing salt on the wounds and allowing goats to lick off the salt was a favourite); roasting and boiling people; feeding people the flesh of their friends or relatives; cutting off limbs; and drowning. Edward Cullen clearly missed out on Vamp101.

Most researchers agree that there is a connection between Transylvanian Vlad and Stoker’s Count Dracula; the extent of the association between the factual man and the fictional character is, however, a point of debate. More important than what inspired Stoker’s prolific character is how influential that character has been. The vampire trend has dipped in and out of consciousness since Dracula was published in 1897. In 2010, not only has vampire lore staked a large claim to popular culture but has also called into question the moral fibre of the community and thus raised a hullabaloo similar to the one elicited by Stoker in 1897. Gone is the attraction of long-haired Fabios waggling their penises around the lusty loins of hot blondes in Mills and Boon escapades. Vampire sex is IN; it’s dangerous, possessive and most importantly animalistic. And no tale exposes vampire magnetism better than Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mystery novels – recently translated into hit show True Blood. Harris has built on Stoker’s legacy; she has written a social satire that uses a seemingly innocent gal from Louisiana as a agent for astute commentary and shrewd observation. (more…)

Metal’s favourite doll killing maniacs have injected some uber-attitude into the scene with the release of their second Roadrunner album Women and Children Last. Murderdolls’ driving duo Joey Jordison (Slipknot) and Wednesday 13 (whose band goes by the same name) have put together an album that brings horror-punk-metal to the masses with a vengeance.

Women and Children Last is permeated with the “scum, filth, anger and greed… chaos [and] darkness on a violent binge” that is mentioned in album opener The World According To Revenge. The vision of Joey Jordison (guitar, drums) and Wednesday 13 (vocals, guitar) is realised with the boisterous bellow of speedy guitar riffs and accelerated punk drumming with a touch of metal bashing along the way, which is set to “ piss people off and shake things up”. Jordison went on to tell Kerrang! that “Everything is such a product or a fucking formula these days… Fuck formula! Fuck the norm! (Kerrang! Exclusive! Murderdolls are back). And goal achieved: Women and Children Last is pure, perfect, unadulterated pandemonium. (more…)

Metal’s head-banging cellists are currently playing their way into metal heaven. Apocalyptica’s new album, 7th Symphony, marries Brutal to Beauty in a truly magnificent ceremony. The symphonic tone of the Finnish quartet is typical of the style of metal coming out of Scandinavia at the moment. The classical music training common to many of Scandinavia’s metal heroes is evident in Apocalyptica’s technically advanced compositions. Fourteen years ago the band grabbed the metal community’s attention with their expert covers of Metallica hits and in 2010 Apocalyptica continue to impress with innovative creations. (more…)

My paternal grandmother died a week after my baby girl was born. As a new existence replaced an old one, the circle of life was never more vivid to me as it was then. I was not close to my grandmother and I wish that I had been. I called her granny but have never really appreciated the sentiment that is attached to the title. Retrospect can be a wonderful and yet decidedly pointless exercise but on this occasion I’ll allow my thoughts to run their course. I feel like I have been cheated out of a treasure. A treasure called wisdom: a sacred wisdom that belongs to a grandmother and is relinquished in death as a new matriarch, a grandmother’s successor, assumes the role. My grandmother’s wisdom has been lost in the sands of time due to my own apathy as a granddaughter. I’ve ignored the source and missed the scoop. And my head droops further in shame as I admit that I don’t feel sad about the loss of my grandmother, the person, but rather my grandmother, the wise one. (more…)

Peter Steele died. Not many people will care – “Everything Dies”, as the esteemed muso said. But those who appreciate the talent and artistry enveloped in Type O Negative will shed a sad moment. As I have never been a maniacal Type O fan, it isn’t my place to write a gushy Peter Steele tribute, and so I won’t. However, the death of the iconic muso has reminded me of just how powerful music is. (more…)

I am most pleased to reveal that Jaume Collet-Serra’s Orphan recently ended a severely dry spell of horror film boredom. I am a horror junkie and nothing of late has been spine chillingly awesome. Gruesome … yes. Scary … sort of. Predictable … of course. Orphan is a psychological horror as opposed to the supernatural kind and the reason the film is successful is because it is a character-driven story that is played out exceedingly well by the cast.

The film’s protagonist is the Coleman family, consisting of parents Kate and John, and children Daniel and Max. The family is recovering from the loss of Kate and John’s third child, which was stillborn. Kate used alcohol as a coping mechanism and her addiction and recent recovery there from sets her up as untrustworthy – so naturally when things go seriously awry no one takes Kate’s suspicions seriously – in true horror form. The Coleman family is typical: close but flawed and thus easy for an audience to relate to. In order to fill the void ensuing from their loss, Kate and John decide to adopt a child. And in comes nine-year-old Esther. (more…)

Today, two of my favourite things met up, had a chat and raised the roof. No doubt ‘WTF?’ is scrolling through your head at this very moment so I will rid you of the expletive. Spotify has hooked up with Glee and now my life is complete. I have been known to get excited, ecstatically excited, but today I managed to scare even myself. I have been waiting for this moment since the day that Kurt taught the football thugs to overwhelm their opponents with a song and dance recital of Single Ladies (Put a ring on it). Result: paralytic; on the floor; laughter – that was me. Quick interlude: on the subject of Beyoncé; the only thing to ruin my Glee karaoke session was the elimination of Kurt’s Single Ladies cover from the soundtrack. Tangible disappointment. No doubt Queen Diva herself would not give up the rights to her song, or some such thing. But even that biyatch could not dampen my spirits. Back to the point: today DevilDriver, In Flames, Nightwish and co. made way for my Gleek identity, which stays in the closet (unless I am spotted humming a Glee tune as I walk down the street). The Glee cast’s version of LG’s Bad Romance is one of my favourites, and was made all the more endearing when my metal-head hubby said “WTF is ‘caught in a Bankomat’” – undoubtedly his hearing skills were tainted by a bad experience in Florence that involved Bankomat auto-tellers refusing to let us draw cash. It was traumatic. And more to the point, now “caught in a Bankomat” has replaced “caught in a bad romance”. I am sure LG would appreciate the creative license I have taken with her lyrics. (more…)

The great Korn debate has been raging for as long as the band’s conception in 1994. The California quartet (now that drummer Ray Luzier has officially joined the Davis-Munky-Fieldy trio) has recently released its ninth studio album, Korn III-Remember Who You Are, which is sure to intensify any Korn dissention amongst fans. Korn preferences are as variable and plentiful as there are Korn songs. Davis and his cronies evoke reactions both passionate and extreme, and what else is to be expected from a band that pushes the limits pertaining to emotion, thought and music to the most severe of degrees. Korn is a band with a history and listeners cannot help but adjudicate each new record within the context of that history – by comparing it to the band’s previous albums rather than recognising it as a fresh and unique entity – although unfair to the band perhaps, it is inescapable.

The title of the new album is suggestive of the fact that Korn has gone back to its roots, its past, personally and musically. Title track Oildale (Leave Me Alone) is a reference to a town located a couple of miles outside of north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield (where the band is from) – a further reference to the past and to roots: Korn in the 90s. Korn III-Remember Who You Are certainly embodies a sense of ‘old Korn’; the likes of Korn, Life is Peachy and Follow the Leader. Fans will revel in the assaulting groove of Fear is a Place to Live, the brilliant discord of Lead the Parade, the abrasive heaviness of Let the Guilt Go and the gut-wrenchingly angst of Holding All the Lies. Are you Ready to Live is a stands out as the track that best epitomises the raw, neurotic internal angst of Korn, which has been translated into the welcomingly familiar sound of callous base thwacks, systematically violent drum rhythm and the tormented howls and growls. Korn III-Remember Who You Are is uncomfortable, and that is what fans want from a Korn album: to have their boundaries pushed, prodded and even destroyed. And yet the album just seems to lack a little something – that little bit of magic that is essential to the spark required to light the Korn fire of awesomeness. The ‘Fuck You’ is there but just not loud enough. Irrespective, the band continues to sell out venues worldwide and Korn III-Remember Who You Are is likely to sell, stimulate and aggravate.

Listen to Korn III-Remember Who You Are on Altsounds.com

Free toys for babies … these same pebbles may serve as weapons or garden decorations but I am going with baby toys.

Small children holding hands. And yes, this does only occur in Brighton.

Some gays (and one with a permed mohawk). This could be a very exciting prospect or just plain horrific – check out your homophobe-metre to ascertain.

Candy striped deck chairs.

Fake ‘gangstas’ (in handcuffs). Not as scary as the real thing.

Death omens. This is a good thing because it’s always good to be reminded of death. Especially when one forgets.

A street called Jew. Need I say more.

Somersaulting motorbikes.

You can find India in Brighton. The Taj Mahal moved there.

World anomaly: giant ice cream cone balancing on roof.

Goldilocks wasn’t hiding under the bed. Those silly bears should have looked in Brighton.

A garden in a boat.

Pretty cables.

Weird shit.

Jamie Oliver likes it there.

And finally: it’s just awesome (and there are lots of sweets there; and you can eat fish & chips; and pretty windmills are sold on the beach front).