End of the year....

Well here we are another end of the school year. This year is a little different because I came into this school 3 years ago and most of my classes were filled with sophmores...you do the math and realize they are graduating. A little bitter sweet you could say. Hopefully, they have learned right from wrong and will make some good decisions in their adult life. Oh well...life goes on right? Good luck to the class of 07.

As for my classes, believe it or not I do reflect on my teaching style. I know I have a lonng way to go before I am comfortable in my style, but Alg. B this year was pretty close. The daily quizzes, continuing to work on older material on a daily basis was a good idea. I also thought taking away the calculators with a month before state testing was a good idea too. As for my Geometry class, I did the same lessons as last year, but I couldn't motivate them it seemed like. I thought my tests were written a bit better with more multiple choice questions (to prepare theym for state testing), but for some reason they just didn't click. Algebra 2...oh my where do I start? Mainly seniors, who didn't need the class, was the first warning sign. I think I presented the material fairly well, but I need to tweak it some more...fine tune it if you will. Summer school will be a good place for me to improve my Algebra 2 techniques and lessons.

I have no idea what my schedule will be like next year, if I get another Alg. 2 class I am sure I will do better. I am curious about this Geometry AB course we offer. Who knows? I won't find out for another few weeks...or months.

As for my music...I think I did a fair job of exposing them to new music. It's funny to watch kids come in as they hear metal playing in the class for the first time. Most give a double take...like wait this is a math class. We played everything from Metallica (of course) to Lacuna Coil. Motley Crue to Guns N Roses...you get the idea. I would have to say The Polyphonic Spree was a surprise hit for the class...a catchy song that had most humming at some point of the class. Omissions from this year, Velvet Revolver, Foo Fighters (only 1 song), Testament, and some others that I can't believe I missed out on. It's funny, most kids know these metal bands from Guitar Hero. To hear them come in and ask for Hangar 18...well who am I to say no, right?

A side note...I scan/rescan all of the lyrics for any curse words. That's why I stay off of the rap music, my students say they can't understand it anyway, but I tell them that I would know and it's wrong.

So next stop...Disneyland and grad night a first for me. Then a week off with the baby and then summer school. Good times.

Iced Earth

Well this band holds a special place in my heart and always will...why? Iced Earth was the first real band I got into after Metallica& Megadeth ran their course for me. I remembered hearing about Iced Earth on tour with Megadeth. The Megadeth boards were on fire about how good this band was so I decided to check them out. Now the first thing I noticed about the band is the high quality artwork they have for their albums. Check them out.








Now let's talk about the music. Iced Earth plays a sort of NWOBHM/thrash metal mix. Imagine Iron Maiden on steroids. Instead of Steve Harris' galloping bass line you get a heavy head banging guitar riff. My first Iced Earth album was Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is good because the sequel to that album comes out later this year. Something Wicked is a solid album from start to finish, but you quickly notice the fast song then slow song pattern for the entire album. You can't get into a rhythm to either bang your head or get out your lighter. The shining moment on the album, and this is what hooked me on Iced Earth, is the Something Wicked Trilogy. 3 songs linked together clocking in at about 25 minutes. I had never heard anything like this before. In a nut shell, the trilogy talks about this character who is destined to destroy all of mankind...oh yeah I guess I should note the fact the lyrics aren't happy, if you need more proof let's look at their 2nd album.

Night of the Stormrider is a concept album about a soldier who loses his faith in religion and decides to take it out on mankind. The really evil thing about this is that he doesn't have any regrets and would do it again. Musically, NotS is probably my favorite IE album. The riffs and time/tempo changes through out the entire album are really great. The intro riff to Stormrider is probably one of my all time favorites.

One last thing about Iced Earth...the line up changes. Until the 2 part album is released, no album has had the same line up from one album to the next...is this a problem? Not really, starting with Burnt Offerings, Matt Barlow took over the vocal duties. Now the previous 2 vocalists were good, in fact I heard the only reason the guy from NotS was dropped was because of his cocky attitude. But Matt Barlow quickly became the voice of Iced Earth. The next 4 albums and one live album are all solid albums, especially the live album. If you can find the 3 disc live album, Alive in Athens, or the 2 disc Days of Purgatory get them. They give a great overview of Iced Earth minus Horror Show and The Glorious Burden. After HS, Matt Barlow left the band due to his reaction to 9/11, enter Tim Owens of Judas Priest. Now Tim Owens is a good vocalist, but for me he is too much like Rob Halford. If I want Rob Halford I will listen to Judas Priest or Halford. TGB was a solid album, but it was missing a lot. The riffs didn't seem to be their the whole time and the vocals were always high.

So now we sit back and wait for 2 Iced Earth albums this year. I have heard the EP, Overture of the Wicked, and I am not super happy, but I am not giving up on them. This is Jon's baby, he has been waiting to finish the Something Wicked Trilogy for 2 albums now. I don't think he can mess it up.

Soulfly...more tribal metal

So I left off last year with Sepultura's Against and Nation. I said I would talk about Soulfly, but never really did...huh. Anyway, a quick breakdown of Soulfly. After Max left Sepultura for a variety of reasons, he started a new band Soulfly. You can read all about Soulfly here.

So as for the band's music, it is classic tribal metal, with a hint of nu-metal. With a crap load of guest musicians on all of his albums the music never really flowed well together from album to album. But people agree on 2 things, first their debut Soulfly is basically Roots 2, seriously if you like Roots you will love Soulfly. And secondly, Dark Ages is a definite return to a classic Sepultura thrash sound. If this were a perfect world, Dark Ages would have come after Chaos A.D. and before Roots. It is more of a thrash album, than nu-metal. Some have even called it death metal, which I can see.

So onto the album. Of course it opens up with an instrumetal 40 second intro...when we look back at music at this time everyone is gonna ask...why so many intros? Even more so in this case, because adding the intro to Babylon would have worked perfectly...oh well. Babylon gives the listeners of what to expect throughout the album. Some killer guitar riffs, excellent drumming, and some soft interludes. The lead guitar plays a sort of middle eastern sounding riff throughout the song...very nice. The song for me that captures the whole aspect of tribal metal is I and I, keeping in pace with the blistering riffs of Babylon, I and I is a straight up thrash metal song with a head banging chorus if I ever heard one. The great thing about this song is the tribal breakdown, simply breath-taking, then after about 1 minute a classic guitar solo...I'm talking late 80's early 90's solo here. There seems to be a nod to Arise, with the song Arise Again, which seems to bash critics of Soulfly. It doesn't live up to the Sepultura song, but it is a welcomed surprise. Riotstarter and Frontline are solid songs as well, with Frontline using the f-word every 5 seconds it seems.

The one drawback to this album is that it is over an hour long and that might be a struggle for some. I found this album to be my favorite Soulfly album.

Next up...Iced Earth.

Megadeth - United Abominations

well a quick note just for a sec about Megadeth's latest offering. I have heard Gears of War and wasn't that impressed, but I have heard some other tracks and I gotta say this is looking to be a pretty solid album. Sleepwalker sounds more and more like classic Megadeth...not sure if I am gonna go back to R.I.P., but it is defintely the best thing they have written in some time. Solos are all over the place. I was happy with TWNAH and TSHF, so I expect UA to be just as solid. On a side note, Megadeth is pretty famous for their covers (like Iron Maiden) and this one was designed by a fan. It looks pretty tight, Vic looks a little bit different, but I am ok with it.

As for this blog, look for some talk about Soulfly ( I was reading earlier posts) and realized I never went back and talked about Soulfly or later day Sepultura. Both are solid examples of tribal metal. Plus Soulfly is going to be releasing some new songs this week on their website so it will be interesting to see the direction the band is going in.

post-state testing thoughts

well the state testing is all over with and I don't really know how to interpret my students reactions. Some say it was pretty tough, while others said it was ok. My Algebra 2 students said it was the hardest test ever...my geometry students had mixed reactions. You figure with the way computers and technology has come we wouldn't have to wait until the fall to see the results. Makes you wonder why it takes so long?

So the question is what now? At my old school, some of the teachers stopped teaching any new material and focused on previous material for the final or just started working towards the material for the next math course. We work so hard to finish or come close to finishing the book before testing that it does beg the question...what's the point to go on? Take my Geometry class, we finished the book (minus a few sections), but would it be wrong of me to spend 1 - 2 weeks on Algebra I topics to job their memories for Algebra 2? Can you say factoring/completing the square? My arguement would be that nothing they learn now will help them out on the state test which is what we have been drilling to them. Algebra 2 still has 2 chapters to go, so they will still be finishing the book. Makes me wonder what other teachers are doing. I know that most AP teachers watch regular movies after their AP test...will regular ed classes go that way?

Oh well enough shop, back to music. One album that I didn't list yesterday that I have been thinking about is Machine Head's The Blackening. This album was released about a month or so ago and it is truly killer. Now I would hate to call an album a classic after it has been out for less than 6 months, but this one does might just get me to change that thought process. I will doing a review of the album later, but for those who haven't heard it...the first song is over 10 minutes. Tons of time changes, awesome solos, and solid drumming. This could be this generations Master of Puppets...there I said it.

Some great albums....

ok, well today is the mathematics part of the state testing...I don't know why I am nervous, but I worked really hard this year so maybe I am expecting a huge payoff. Like I said I won't find out until next year....oh well.

So yesterday I told you how I got into heavy metal, today I will tell you about some albums that are just flat out masterpieces. These are the albums that when you hear them for the 1st time you are blown away because you have never heard anything like that before.

Ok obviously there are the classics of Megadeth's Rust in Piece or Metallica's Master of Puppets (or And Justice for All, Ride the Lightning) But how about some recent albums that are already classics.

Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor

Now this was Nevermore's 6th album and you could tell this band was onto something. They took that old school thrash style and made it just about as heavy as possbile. You could hear it coming in Dead Heart in a Dead World and Dreaming Neon Black, but This Godless Endeavor just clicks. Take the opener Born; killer riffs and drums come out of nowhere and there is sort of some harsh vocals (something Nevermore doesn't do), then this sort of catchy sing along chorus. Now if you like guitar solos, then Nevermore is your band. Trade off solos are the norm here...some solid examples of this are Psalm of Lydia, Medicated Nation, and Bittersweet Feast. The title track is a whole post by itself clocking in at 9 minutes, it feels like a journey and they do an excellent job of keeping the time changes fresh so you don't feel like it's a 9 minute song. Do yourself a favor and go get this album. I don't have much to say about it because if you like thrash metal then this is for you.

Samples can be found here http://www.centurymedia.com/us/single_artist.php?ID=38
and here http://www.amazon.com/This-Godless-Endeavor-Nevermore/dp/B0009YNSG0

Into Eternity - Buried in Oblivion

Into Eternity is a hard band to categorize. Some call them death metal others power metal and yet others still call them progressive. Well they are actually all of that... and more. Buried in Oblivion is their 3rd album, and like Nevermore, you could see the writing on the wall after their previous album Dead or Dreaming. The main difference is that while Nevermore's line-up remained somewhat constant, Into Eternity changed vocalists every album. Now their latest Scattering of Ashes is a solid album as well, but this is where it started. the opener starts off with this guitar intro that makes your head spin as you listen to it. Now like Nevermore, the guitar solos are awesome. Layered solos, quick time changes, and insane drumming are just the tip for this band. What makes this album so different is the 3 different vocalists...yeah I said 3. There is a clean vocalist, a screamer, and a death metal growler...and they make it work. The vocal harmonies in this album are something to be heard. Three Dimensional Aperture is the first song you really hear all of the vocals working together. There are no bad songs on this album...Isolation, Beginning of the End, Spiralling into Depression...all classics. Just when you thought you have heard it all something new comes out, whether it is a breakdown or another time change that you didn't see coming. After 8 songs of straight up metal, then out of nowhere the title track is one of the most beautiful song by any metal band...imagine after all of those electric guitars you go into a song with a classic guitar...solo included, something I had never heard before or since. It flows into Black Sea of Agony, which then goes classic progressive and plays back some of the title track in that song...classic. Then the last song is another beautiful song...seriously think Chicago vocals hear people. The lyrics are still dark and depressing, but the music...amazing.

Samples can be found here http://www.centurymedia.com/us/single_artist.php?ID=27
and here http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Oblivion-Into-Eternity/dp/B00018U9NE

Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing

Now this album is alot different from the others and I will get to that in a second. From yesterday's post you read how I found Shadows Fall and then I went onto to find out about Killswitch Engage and thought "well if Shadows Fall is classic thrash with a modern twist then KsE is gonna be solid as well." I had also seen their video for Last Serenade on Fuse TV and enjoyed it alot. So I pick up this album (their 2nd album), put it in a listen to the first songs Numbered Days and was kind of taken aback by the vocals...more screaming then singing, but then I quickly found myself giving the classic head nod because the music had that feel to it to make you do the head bang. This is the first band I heard that used the screaming versus that led to the clean singing choruses. Now on this album KsE perfected it. Now if you were to have picked up their debut, you wouldn't have expected this. Their debut was solid, but they didn't use the clean singing as much. So this came out of nowhere. By the time you get the first chorus you are surprised how a vocalist can sound so brutal and beautiful at the same time. So I listen to the album and find myself loving all of the songs...great choruses, heavy gutiar riffs, tight drumming, everything that makes an album a classic for me. Once again this classic guitar intro comes on and to this day this is the most beautiful instrumental song I have ever heard is played...Without a Name. From start to finish I love it, I find myself singing along with the chorus, air drumming, and head banging. Then I am reading a review on the album, and they mention there are no guitar solos...huh? How could I miss that? I listen to the album one more time and yep no solos. I am floored, I love solos, but yet I listened to an album 3 times loving every second and never notice the lack of solos...that very reason made me realize how special this album is. One other thing I noticed was the lyrics. Metal is known for it's dark, depressing, and evil lyrics. With KsE all you get is positive messages of hope and love. Another first for me. KsE lost the vocalist from this album shortly after it was released, he was replaced by another guys, but this album will always be their best for me.
Samples can be found here http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/KillswitchEngage/music.aspx and here http://www.amazon.com/Alive-Just-Breathing-Killswitch-Engage/dp/B000065894

So there you go 3 newer albums, that are all classics for me. If you haven't heard any of them pick them up you won't be disappointed.

how it all began...

well the 5 posts obviously didn't pan out...I will strike that up to illness. I came down with the flu last week had to take 2 days off. Anyway we are in the middle of state testing. I hope my students do well on this test...but I guess I will have to wait til next year to find out.

So one of the more frequently asked questions I get it "how did you get into heavy metal?" Well let me try and sum it up for you. First I need to take you back to 1990 and the 7th grade, sad part is that some of my students weren't even born yet. Well we earned enough marbles to go to the park & we were allowed to bring our own music. I heard a song that day that changed my life forever Got the Time by Anthrax, actually it is a cover version, but I was in the 7th grade. That song was the most agressive, fast, and catchy piece of music I have ever heard. In fact, it is still one of my favorite songs.

Well after that I was hooked. I needed to hear more. So on a trip to Bakersfield with my cousin, I looked for Anthrax's Persistence of Time, but they didn't have it. Now I wasn't leaving without some metal album. So I looked around and found another band I had heard of Megadeth. I picked out the coolest looking album Rust in Piece...seriously look at the cover how cool is that? Well when I got the chance I listened to that album and was blown away by the speed of the songs and the guitar solos were mind boggling. After that I went looking for everything Megadeth.

When I got to high school, I was still into Megadeth, Anthrax, and Guns N Roses. My brother was listening to Metallica at the time. Now believe or not I had not heard of Metallica at the time...my first Metallica song One from ...And Justice for All. After that I really became addicted to all things metal.

Now during the mid 90's metal went very underground. Grunge & Nu-Metal were the popular forms of music at the time, so not alot of new bands or music was being played anywhere much less MTV which was becoming more TV than MTV.

So fast forward to 2002, I am flipping through the channels and I hear this blistering guitar solo and I wait to see who it is. I mean it's 2002 guitar solos have been dead for a long time, so this peaked my interest. The band, Shadows Fall, the song Destroyer of Senses. Well by now the internet was pretty huge so I began to search abou this band. From that I found Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, and God Forbid. From there I was able to find out their "influences" of In Flames, Soilwork, At the Gates.

From here out the rest is history. Maybe I will try to break down how I view the sub-genres of metal or talk about some new music.

ahhh who knew a baby was this time consuming?

well for those who thought I fell off the Earth, I haven't just been busy with my wife, baby, and still adjusting to our new house.

Anyway, we have our huge state testing next week, but the math one isn't until the second week back. I am feeling pretty good about my Algebra B classes, but can't really get a solid read on my Geometry and Algebra 2 classes...we will wait and see.

I find it funny how just a few years ago we didn't put too much emphasis on the test saying "it's one test...they could have a bad day and mess up" to now where it is "show us what you know"...in other words don't screw up. Fun huh?

As for this blog, I was originally running it as a music info site, which I still will, but I think I will also post more on school and maybe some TV...who knows. My goal is to try and post every day...or at least 5 times a week.

As for music, for the next 2 weeks we are going to be listening to Metallica, so maybe I will post some stuff on them...wait and see.


oh and for those curious, I still listen to Sepultura. I was gonna take some time to explain the whole "tribal metal" scene. BTW if you listen to Sepultura and like their later day stuff check out Soulfly. The lead singer/guitarist used to be in Sepultura, and their debut has been called Roots 2. My personal favorite of theirs is Dark Ages...more like Chaos A.D. 2

Recently, I have been listening to new bands that are playing straight up classic thrash. Susperia - Cut From Stone, Sanctity - Road to Bloodshed, Machine Head - The Blackening (album of the year!) and some others.

Even more recently, industrial metal. I'm not talking about Ministry or Godflesh, but more in the vein of Fear Factory, Dagoba, Mnemic, Threat Signal, Sybreed, and Static-X. I will talk more about these bands and that genre later on...ok well time to get back to work.

Wendland...out

Tirades of Truth: The Autumn Offering - Embrace the Gutter

Well last time I said I would review my favorite album of the year and here it is...The Autumn Offering - Embrace the Gutter. This album is very similar to early Shadows Fall or All That Remains. The cover says something about them being like Pantera...uh no actually I think they might be better. That's right I said it. This album is pretty solid from start to finish...minus that stupid 34 second intro they call a song. Why do bands feel the need to have an intro and outro instrumental 'song'?

Ok breakdown of the music. In a nutshell, this band combines the riffs of Shadows Fall (or any New England band nowadays), the solos of any classic thrash band out there, and the breakdowns of Unearth or Killswitch Engage. As for the vocals, think growling screams...not too cookie monster-ish, but nothing clean.

'Decay' starts off the album and to be honest it sounds like your standard metalcore song complete with breakdown and then it pulls out this pretty good solo.

'The Yearning' starts off with a nice little riff and then a cool little lead, which catches me totally off guard. A catchier chorus and a beautiful solo/bridge and an ending that has a cool riff breakdown that makes it 2 solid songs in a row for this album.

'Embrace the Gutter' this is the video I saw which got me into this band. I saw the solo part in the video and went nuts. I hadn't heard a solo like that since Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor. Anyway, the song is the catchiest of the album, chorus wise. The song sounds like it could have come off of a God Forbid album, but the solo....oh my!! Seriously, I thought I was listening to a Megadeth circa R.I.P. era song. That is not an overstatement. Go to their myspace and listen to it.

'Ghost' is the next song which is pretty solid, probably my second favorite. If you thought Embrace the Gutter was catchy, then listen to this song. The drumming is insane and it blends so well into the chorus amazing. And then out of nowhere they give you a classic Iron Maiden sounding solo...yeah I said Iron Maiden. Then it goes into a sick breakdown that would make Unearth jealous to end the song.

You can see where this is going...each song is pretty killer. Tight solos throughout the album just listent to No End in Sight if you want another Megadeth style solo. 'Walk the Line' continues into the final instrumental track 'The Final Cut'

Obviously, I like the album. It blends the two styles of metal pretty well. To me they are up their with Shadows Fall, All That Remains, and Trivium that can play this thrash metalcore style. If you like any of those bands...get this album now.

Next time...how about my top albums of 2006.

Tirades of Truth: Shadows Fall - Fallout from the War

ok, well let's shift gears from all of the Sepultura/tribal metal for awhile and talk about a new release by one of my favorite new bands...Shadows Fall. I remember flipping through MTV a few years ago and seeing a video (shocking in itself, MTV playing a video) and I was blown away by the drums, guitar riffs, and most of all a solo that was short, but pretty killer. The video was 'Destroyer of Senses' from The Art of Balance. Well of course I went out and picked up the album. I was completely blown away. The music was a throw back to the classic years of thrash...think circa 86 - 90, awesome to say the least. Well, obviously I became an instant fan. Picking up their earlier album, Of One Blood, and then their latest The War Within. I will review the other albums later, but onto their latest The Fallout from the War.

This is an album that is basically leftovers from the writing sessions for The War Within, kinda like Load and Re-Load. Well the main difference is that this album is probably better than The War Within. Don't get me wrong, TWW was a solid album, but it was a little to catchy for me. But this thing...this sounds like it was written in between Of One Blood and The Art of Balance. What does this mean? Well the songs are completely brutal, the drumming is insane and the riffs are heavy and fast. Need proof listen to the intro of Going, Going, Gone or Will to Rebuild. Now keep in mind only the first 6 songs are new. The next 2 are re-recordings of earlier songs not released in the U.S. (although Deadworld was on Century Media's Identity 8 album) and the last 3 are cover songs. The new songs are solid thrashers. Don't expect catchiness or technical songs...minus the guitar solos of course. The re-recorded versions are ok, now I had Deadworld already and they kinda changed the intro and some other parts. It doesn't make it worse just different... ya know? The cover songs are great from the groove oriented December to the Anthrax sounding Mark of the Squealer, and finishing with a little glam cover...Teasin' Pleasin'.

Overall, this album is really great. I would have to say, once again, it's better than The War Within. I would say that if you are a fan of earlier Shadows Fall then this is for you. If you wanted more of TWW then you might have to wait until their next album.

Next time, an album that is possibly my favorite album of 2006...stay tuned.