Scott's Metal Track of the Day - The Veil of Isis by The Sword

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by The Sword. This is the opening track on their latest album Apochryphon which was released in 2012. If you are a fan of Black Sabbath or Corrosion of Conformity you will probably like these guys.

The outro on this song is awesome. I wish they would have made it about a minute longer though. I get all pumped up and then it ends.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Psycho Holiday by Pantera

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Pantera. This is off of their 1990 album Cowboys From Hell. This was not their first album but most fans consider it to be since it was their first album after leaving behind their Glam Metal style. I have never even listened to a song from that era and something tells me I should keep it that way.

RIP Dimebag

Scott's Instrumental Metal Track of the Day - Nottingham Lace by Buckethead

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is brought to you by Buckethead. This is off of his 2005 album Enter the Chicken. From about the 2:30 mark on is some fantastic, soothing soloing.

I've mentioned in previous posts how busy this guy is. Already in 2014 he has released 15 studio albums. That is just ridiculous. One of them is titled "You Can't Triple Stamp a Double Stamp"!

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - Chiseled in Stone by Vern Gosdin

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is brought to you by the Voice, Vern Gosdin. This is the title track off of his 1988 album Chiseled in Stone.

I know it is pretty obvious from the lyrics but this is about a man who gets in fight with his wife and runs off to the bar to sulk. An old man sits beside him and and tells him that he should be thankful that he has someone to go home to. He goes on to tell him numerous stories that include the passing of his wife which is obvious in the powerful line "You don't know about lonely until it's chiseled in stone."

This song is a great reminder to enjoy the time you have with the ones you love and even in the tough times you should "thank your lucky stars" that they are still in your life.

Weekend Wildcard - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Bill Joel

This Weekend's Wildcard is brought to you by Billy Joel. This is off of his 1977 album The Stranger. He has had countless hits throughout the years but this song wasn't even released as a single. It probably had something to do with the song being over 7 minutes long which is his longest studio recording. Despite not being released as a single, it has long been a fan favorite.

This song is a medley of three different pieces with different styles. It starts with melodic piano section followed by an uptempo jazz section followed by a rock in and roll section and then closes it out by returning to the melodic piano section.

"They started to fight when the money got tight
And they just didn't count on the tears"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Among the Living by Anthrax

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Anthrax. This is the title track on their 1987 album Among the Living. This song is based on the Stephen King novel The Stand. "The Walkin Dude" is Randall Flagg, the main villain in the book, and the beginning verse: "Disease! Disease! Spreading the disease!\With some help from Captain Trips\He'll bring the world down to its knees" refers to the virus that destroys most of the population in the novel.

I have this on vinyl in a frame on the wall in my man cave at home. It was actually given to my family a long time ago by my Dad's neighbor along with a bunch of other records. Because I had never seen Poltergeist, I didn't realize that the creepy man on the cover was from the movie. This was pointed out to me by Johnathon Stone last year.

This album was dedicated to Cliff Burton of Metallica who had died in a bus wreck 6 months before the album was released.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Time Consumer by Coheed and Cambria

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Coheed and Cambria. These are the opening two tracks off of their debut album The Second Stage Turbine Blade. The first 56 seconds are the intro. As with all of their songs, it revolves around the comic The Amory Wars written by the band's lead singer and guitarist.

This song depicts Coheed's last moments with his his two youngest children, twins Matthew and Maria, right after he has poisoned them. He poisons them because he has been tricked into believing that they are infected with a strain of the Monstar virus called the Sinstar virus that cannot be controlled and must be stopped because it endangers their universe.

Coheed's last words to them: "Maria my star...Matthew goodnight."

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - The Nameless by Slipknot

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Slipknot. This is another one off of their 2004 album Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses) which is my favorite by the band. It is the only album by the band that was produced by Rick Rubin. Maybe they should bring him back. I love the structure of this song with the use of the backing vocals throughout.

A new album is in the works and Corey has stated that the album is very dark and is a cross between Iowa and Vol. 3. Let's hope that is true. Unfortunately Joey Jordison is no longer the drummer which is a big loss. He was probably the most talented member in the band. 

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Earth Day by Devin Townsend

In honor of Earth Day today's Metal Track is, of course, Earth Day by Devin Townsend. This is off of his 2001 album Terria. Devin got his first major gig performing vocals on Steve Vai's Sex & Religion album in 1993. After that album he went on to form the heavy metal band Strapping Young Lad. At the same time he has released numerous solo albums. He has also produced albums during this time.

I know I have posted this before but in case you missed it: The original character design for Pickles the drummer from the show Metalocalypse looked almost exactly like Devin in his early years. The design was changed slightly to distinguish the two. Devin also provided voices to other characters on the show.


Me as Pickles

Scott's Instrumental Metal Track of the Day - A weather front has stalled out in the Pacific - like a lonely person, lost in thought, oblivious of time by Cloudkicker

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is brought to you by Cloudkicker which is the name under which Ben Sharp released his solo work. He writes, records, mixes, and masters everything from his home in Columbus, Ohio. This is off of his latest album Subsume which was released last year. Ben releases all of his music for free with the option to add a donation.

Go check out more of his stuff here: http://cloudkickermusic.com/

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - Fly to the Angels by Slaughter

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is brought to you by Slaughter. This was the second single and video released in support of their breakthrough debut album Stick It to Ya which was released in 1990. The other major hit off of that album was Up All Night. The band gets its name from the lead singer's name, Mark Slaughter.

Weekend Wildcard - Sure Shot by Beastie Boys

This Weekend's Wildcard is brought to you by Beastie Boys. Why? Well, because you can't, you won't, and you don't stop! This is the opening track off of their 1994 album Ill Communication which also featured the mega hit Sabotage.

Sadly, founding member Adam Yauch died at age 47 on May 4, 2012, after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer. RIP MCA!

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Pet by A Perfect Circle

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by A Perfect Circle. This is another one off of their 2003 album Thirteenth step which is a concept album that deals with the different aspects and perspectives of addiction.

This song is told from the perspective of the drug talking to the addict. On the surface the lyrics sound like they are from the perspective of a parent talking to a child with lines like "Lay your head down child, I won't let the boogeyman come." But instead the drug is telling the addict that it will protect him from the outside world ('the real world').

Stay with me
Safe and ignorant
Just stay with me
Hold you and protect you from the other ones
The evil ones
Don't love you son
Go back to sleep

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Froggin' Bullfish by Periphery

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Periphery. This is off of their 2012 album Periphery II: This Time It's Personal. I know parts of it has some harsh vocals and that's not everyone's thing but I urge you to stick in there. The singer, Spencer, has great range and it is on display in this track.

You Final Fantasy players may hear some familiar sounds in this song. In the YouTube posting Misha Mansoor stated "I'll admit that the middle part of the song is heavily influenced by the FF7 slums theme (Where Cloud goes dress shopping) because it felt oh so right haha."

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - How the Gods Kill by Danzig

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Danzig. This is the title track on their 1992 album Danzig III: How the Gods Kill. This song concerns a search for knowledge and an understanding of oneself. The video for this was featured on the Beavis & Butthead episode "Scientific Stuff" (See below).

This song starts off slow but it is totally worth the wait. It kicks in at about the 2:42 mark with an outstanding riff coupled with powerful vocals. The band noted that in this recording you can hear some hissing in the intro because of their preamp setup but they didn't want to re-do it because Glenn nailed it on vocals.



Beavis and Butthead Clip

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Shot in the Dark by Ozzy Osbourne

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Ozzy Osbourne. This is the final track off of his 1986 album The Ultimate Sin. At the time, this was Ozzy's most successful song on the Billboard Top 100 at 68. This song features a fantastic riff by Jake E. Lee.

The song was co-written by bassist Phil Soussan however, Ozzy was credited on the album sleeve. Due to this contention, the song has been rarely featured on any compilation albums despite its success.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - City of Echoes by Pelican

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is brought to you by Pelican. This is the title track off of their 2007 album City of Echoes. Listened to them for the first time this weekend with Donovan Patterson at the beach. They are commonly characterized as a Post-Metal band although their guitarist considers their style to be more aligned with punk and hardcore. They've got an atmospheric style that is chill and relaxing.

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - To Be With You by Mr. Big

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is brought to you by Mr. Big. This is the final track off of their 1991 album Lean into It. This is the band's most successful song. At one point it was the #1 single in 15 countries. This song features some great guitar work by the renown virtuoso Paul Gilbert and some great vocals by Eric Martin.

Weekend Wildcard - Move Your Feet by Junior Senior

This Weekend's Wildcard is brought to you by Junior Senior. If you are ever having a bad day, just watch this video. It's hard not to crack a smile. We used to watch this all the time back in college. That squirrel could have his own TV show.

This pop music duo of Jesper "Junior" Mortensen and Jeppe "Senior" Laursen are from Denmark. This was their first single off of their 2003 debut album D-D-Don't Stop the Beat and is still their most successful song.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Left for Dead by Death Angel

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Death Angel off of their 2013 album The Dream Calls for Blood. I just read a great article on these guys in the most recent Guitar World issue.

These guys were on the rise back in the 1990 when they had a tragic bus accident that severely injured their drummer. The band had just signed with a big label (Geffen) and the label tried to force them to continue on with the tour immediately with a new drummer. The band declined to hire a long term replacement and Geffen immediately dropped them.

The band ended up splitting up after that and didn't reunite until 2001. No telling what they could have accomplished if the accident had not happened or if the label would have just given them time to grieve and let the drummer heal.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Where Death Seems to Dwell

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by the Swedish band Amon Amarth off of their 2004 album Fate of Norms.

In Norse mythology, there were 4 different places that the soul could go after death; Valhalla, Fólkvangr, Hel and Helgafjell. Of the ones that died in battle, half the souls go to Valhalla and the other half to Fólkvangr. Helgafjell is a holy place and Hel was a realm of punishment for those that did not die from battle, but from old age and disease.

In this song, it appears a man has died and he is confused about the place he is in. It is described as a dark and dreary place. At the end, his fears are confirmed we he discovers he has been sent to Nifehel (A location in Hel):

"He approach the gates
his heart is cold
He understands all to well
She awaits him
The truth unfolds
He's been sent to Nifelhel"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Dethharmonic by Dethklok

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by the baddest band to ever be drawn, Dethklok. I absolutely love this song. It's hilarious and the music is great. Brendan Small does an outstanding job of mixing comical topics with more serious sounds of metal.

If it wasn't obvious the song is about greed and Nathan's distaste of the government for making him pay income tax.

Some great lines:

"If I could write off your murder
I'd save all of my receipts
because I'd rather you be dead
than lose a tiny shred of what I made this fiscal year
I'd rather you be dead than ponder parting with my second home
I'd rather you be dead than consider not opening a restaurant"

PREPARE THE LASER BEAM!

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Super-Charger Heaven by White Zombie

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by White Zombie. This one is off of their 1995 album Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head but is normally just referred to as Astro-Creep 2000.

This song like many of his songs contain references to horror movies. This one opens with the audio sample: "Look, I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen." taken from the 1963 movie The Haunting. It also contains audio samples from the 1976 movie To the Devil a Daughter.

Scott's Instrumental Metal Track of the Day - Tooth and Claw by Animals as Leaders

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is brought to you by Animals as Leaders and the spectacular Tosin Abasi. This one is off of their brand new album The Joy of Motion which was just released last month. I still need to buy this one. Like the previous albums, this one was also produced by Misha Mansoor from Periphery.

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - Black by Pearl Jam

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is brought to you by Pearl Jam. This is off of their debut album Ten which is still their best album in my opinion.

This song was originally an instrumental demo titled "E Ballad" written by guitarist Stone Gossard. It was included on a demo tape called Stone Gossard Demos '91 that was circulated in an attempt to find a lead singer for the band. The demo landed in the hands of a San Diego gas station attendant, Eddie Vedder, who recorded lyrics for three of the songs which later became "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". The band invited him to Seattle and he wrote lyrics for "Black" on the way.

Weekend Wildcard - Only in Dreams by Weezer

This Weekend's Wildcard is brought to you by Weezer. This is the closing track off of their 1994 self titled debut album also known as the Blue Album. This is Weezer's longest song to date. The song has a great three minute long guitar section building up to a fantastic crescendo to close out the song and the album.

The song is about a young guy wanting to be with the girl of his dreams. However, since the girl is so popular, he can only fantasize about her in his dreams.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Metropolis Part 1 by Dream Theater

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Dream Theater. This is off of their second album Images and Words which was released in 1992 and remains the bands most successful studio album. This was the first album to feature James Labrie on vocals. The sequel to this song came in the form of a full album, Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory which was released in 1999. The band had not planned on releasing a sequel but did so after pressure from the fans.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - A National Acrobat by Black Sabbath

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Black Sabbath. This is off of their 1973 album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Metallica covered part of this song and mashed it together with Sabbra Cadabra on their album Garage Inc.

The song is about rebirth and reincarnation and is told through the eyes of an unborn child. It says that when you are reincarnated you forget all of your past lives and you have to die in order to move onto your next life:

"I'm trapped inside my embryonic cell
And flashing memories
Are cast into the never ending well"

"Don't believe the life you have will be the only one
You have to let your body sleep to let your soul live on"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Suicidal Tendencies. It's more Hardcore Punk but whatever. This is the only single released from their 1983 self-titled debut album. This is probably still the band's most popular song. It has been a staple in the band's live performances since it was first performed in 1982.

The song is unique because of the structure, or lack there of, in the lyrics which are a string of run-on sentences that are spoken. The song and the video are told from the perspective of a young Mike Muir who talks about numerous social conflicts with friends, authority figures, and most importantly his parents. Tom Araya from slayer makes a small cameo at the 35 second mark when he pushes Mike.

Most memorable line that has been used by many bands including Limp Bizkit:
"All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi"

Scott's real Metal Track of the Day - Born in Winter by Gojira

April Fools, now for the real Metal Track of the Day. Today's Metal Track is brought to you by the French heavy metal band Gojira. This is off of their most recent album L'Enfant Sauvage which was released in 2012. This song has a great atmospheric sound to it that the video complements very well.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Someday by Nickelback

Today's Metal Track is brought to you by Nickelback. These guys are probably the best metal band that every lived. They put all other metal bands to shame with their outstanding guitar work and lyrics. Every song they put out is very unique. It is also obvious that they are in it for the music and not just to make money.