Featured Artist of the Week

This week I'm going to introduce a weekly featured artist. It took a lot of consideration to figure out who fit the bill to be the first ever featured artist. After a lot of thought, I decided no one would be better than Rob Zombie, who has accomplished so much in his career, not just in music but in other areas as well.

Zombie began his music career in 1985 with the band White Zombie, named after the film starring Bella Lugosi. White Zombie released four studio albums during their 13 years together, producing two double platinum albums, La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 and Astro Creep 2000. Just before the disbanding of White Zombie, Rob released his first solo album Hellbilly Deluxe, which went triple platinum in the United States. Since then, he has released three more albums: The Sinister Urge, Educated Horses, and Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

On Halloween of 2002, Zombie married long-time girlfriend Sheri Moon who starred in several White Zombie music videos and some of Zombie's solo videos as well. She has played leading roles in all of Rob's films, which include House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, Halloween, Halloween II, and the Haunted World of El Superbeasto, an animated film.

Rob has been nominated for several Grammy Awards as both a solo artist and with White Zombie.

Rob Zombie is one of the greatest musical artists to ever live and if you're not already a fan, he's well worth checking out. This summer he'll be playing on the Main Stage of Mayhem Festival, so go and see him; he puts on the best show you'll ever see. He's got an electricity about him that no artist can achieve, and standing alongside guitar god John 5, bassist Piggy D and new drummer Joey Jordison, his show is a spectacle you won't want to miss.

Album Release Tuesday: May 18th, 2010

Today's Tuesday so that means some new releases. No major releases coming up this week, but we are going to see a lot of non-traditional-day-of-the-week releases.

Today will bring the second album by metalcore band Silent Civilian titled Ghost Stories. Their first album Rebirth of the Temple was pretty good, and I'm hoping their follow-up will be a success. Right now they're on tour with Fear Factory, Prong, and Thy Will Be Done. If you have the chance to see them, go check them out. They put on a pretty good show.

Also coming out today are albums by Five Star Prison Cell and Fleshgod Apocalypse.

Later this week we'll see albums by Loudness and Pain in Salvation on Wednesday and five albums on Friday by Aeon, Exilia, Masterplan, Sabaton and Y&T.

Alubm Review: We Are the Fallen - Tear the World Down

We Are the Fallen's debut album Tear the World Down is a musical masterpiece. Every song is brilliant and it has a good mix of up tempo gothic metal along with a couple slower songs that show the softer side of Carly Stimpson's voice. The band has received some criticism saying they sound very much like Evanescence, which is true, but they do it well. I have no problem with two bands sounding similar as long as the music is good, and in this case, it is.

The tracks Bury Me Alive, Burn, Through Hell, Without You, and St. John are my favorites and show off a classic Gothic sound, but maintain the more mainstream alternative sound that many bands aim for nowadays.

Overall I love this album and give it a solid A-, and recommend it to all you readers. This is one of the best debut albums I've heard, bringing to mind the likes of In This Moment, Disturbed, and Rammstein who all produced near perfect first installments. We Are the Fallen has the ability to thrive in the music industry for several years as long as they have enough promotion, and I for one am really excited to follow their career.

Release Tuesday

Today is Tuesday, so that means it's CD release day and there are a couple good ones out there to check out.

Being a huge gothic metal fan, I'm most looking forward to the debut album by We Are the Fallen titled Tear the World Down. One single has been released so far and it's really good. Consisting of Carly Smithson, a former American Idol contestant and three former Evanescence members, this band has a lot of promise. I know you're thinking they sound lame with an American Idol in their lineup, but she really was one of the best ever and definitely has the gothic voice, very much like Amy Lee. I'm listening to the album as I write this so I'll post a review later on tonight. You can pick up your own copy of the album at BestBuy for just 7.99 for a limited time.

Another exciting release today is the fifth studio album (plus one remix) by Rob Zombie's fantastic guitarist John 5 who never disappoints with his instrumental albums. The Art of Malice is available at BestBuy and on iTunes.

Other releases today include As I Lay Dying's The Powerless Rise, their fifth stuido album. On the more underground side, Brain Drill will be releasing their second album, Howl will be making its debut, Low Twelve will be releasing Splatter Pattern, and Misery Index will release the album Heirs to Thievery.

Song of the Day #2 - Are You Dead Yet?

Today's song of the day is "Are You Dead Yet?" by Finnish black metal band Children of Bodom. "Are You Dead Yet?" was released on the album of the same title back in 2005, an album which reached Gold certification and was number one on Finnish rock charts. This song is a great example of Children of Bodom's shredding guitar riffs and Alexi Laiho's evil rasp. Happy listening!

Song of the Day #1

Hey guys! Today I will be featuring Daily Headbang's first ever Song of the Day! Naturally, I'm going to start out with my favorite song of all time, "Ghostflowers" by Otep. Ghostflowers was released in 2007 on Otep's thrid album, Ascension. This song is unbelievable, starting out slow and mystical and building into a roar of defiance. Otep, as always, shows her brilliance and versatility as both a musician and vocalist. The bass line is pretty sweet too. Check it out!

Mayhem vs Ozz

This is it! Ozzy has finally announced his lineup to wage war against the Mayhem Festival All Star Team...and he's lost, miserably. After all the waiting and anticipation he gives us Motley Crue as the headliner. There is nothing wrong with Motley Crue, but the question is, are they metal enough to headline Ozzfest, one of history's biggest metal festivals? I don't know, that's a pretty tall order. Main stage bands include metal powerhouses like Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, Disturbed, Slipknot, and Rob Zombie. This year's Ozzfest pales in comparison, sporting Halford, DevilDriver, and Nonpoint as Ozzy and Crue's supporters. While DD and Nonpoint are good bands, do they compare to the cast brought together by RockStar Energy? Frankly, NO. Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, and Five Finger Death Punch annihilate Ozzy's lineup.

Personally, I think Ozzy has put together a better second stage than first stage with Black Label Society, Drowning Pool and Kingdom of Sorrow at the top, supported by Goatwhore, Skeleton Witch, Saviours, and Kataklysm. BLS, DP and KoS are all main stage quality acts demoted to the second stage. Comparing the lesser stage of Ozzfest to Mayhem, we see the two stages Mayhem has put together. The first of which includes Atreyu, Norma Jean, In This Moment and 3 Inches of Blood; a solid group. The "Jagermeister Stage" is where we see Jamey Jasta of Ozzfest compete with the Jamey Jasta of Mayhem as Hatebreed headlines Mayhem's sideshow, followed by three quality bands in Chimaira, Shadows Fall and Winds of Plague, four bands I would drop 30 dollars on to see at the local ballroom, not to mention when the aforementioned headliners are present on another stage.

At this point you probably realize that I have much more support for Mayhem, but if you're not convinced yet, this may tip the scales. Have fun TRAVELING to Ozzfest as there are only six dates on the WHOLE TOUR, compared to 26 (yes, 26!) on Mayhemfest. So unless you live in CA, IL, PA, CT, NJ, or ME, you've got some driving to do.
Lucky for me, Mayhem is coming to Dallas. See you there!