The Necrofile - Issue 33
by EC

Okay, Rod T. has apparently overdosed on pills, tequila, and sex somewhere in Key West. The man has not made an appearance at our office or sent us an email, so we here at Maximum Metal think he may in fact have died while on his cruise last month. With that being said, I will go ahead and crank out this edition of The Necrofile and pray for Rod's safe return.

Let me first start off by listing my favorite albums of the past year. First up is the absolute best record from In Flames, "Come Clarity", which is the obvious highlight of this half year's selections. Following that is Germany's hard rock machine Edguy, who put out their crowning achievement in "Rocket Ride". Another fantastic release that pretty much went under the radar was Germany's Motorjesus. The hard rock outfit released a stellar full-length in "Death Rider" this year and I urge everyone out there to pick up a copy. Other honorable mentions this year go to Cataract, Communic, Pyramaze, Attacker, Jorn, Beyond Fear, and Amorphis.

Starting off the second year with a bang is Poisonblack. The goth-rockers led by ex-Sentenced frontman Ville Laihiala has been pounding my speakers and head with their new album "Lust Stained Despair". Anyone into the likes of Amorphis, Paradise Lost, and Sentenced should definitely check this band out. Another great start to the second half of the year comes by way of Chrome Division, the new hard rock project from members of Dimmu Borgir. That album can be found on the label Nuclear Blast while Poisonblack is distributed by Century Media.

This week CNN did an interesting piece on how heavy metal has changed over the years. CNN quotes bands like Cattle Decapitation, Six Feet Under, Lamb Of God, and Napalm Death to support the article's suggestion that heavy metal has new messages within their songs when compared to the likes of Black Sabbath thirty-five years ago. "Heavy Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" film-maker Sam Dunn comments on how much metal's messages have changed over the course of history. He also mentions his new documentary about new metal scenes that are arising in countries like Brazil and Indonesia. The article can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/14/metal.makeover.ap/index.html.

Well after listening to heavy metal for almost 15 years, I have finally discovered MOTORHEAD. It is a shameful fact that I have basically swept metal legends Motorhead under the proverbial rug all of this time. I have listened to a few Motorhead tunes over the years, but never quite fully accepted the band's sound. After picking up "Ace Of Spades" and "Overkill" a few weeks back, the Motorhead movement slowly began. Last week I picked up re-masters of "Orgasmatron" and "Another Perfect Day" and was completely blown away. Motorhead are probably just as important to the metal spectrum as Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden in my opinion. The band has a unique sound that few acts can pull off even in this day and age. Lemmy's songwriting and stance on politics, war, life, and love are simply mesmerizing through album after album of stellar playing and bombastic head bangin'. A friend let me borrow some newer releases like "Inferno", "Overnight Sensation", "Snake Bite Love", and "We Are Motorhead" and at this point I can honestly say that Motorhead could become one of my favorite bands of all time. I am anxiously awaiting the new Motorhead release entitled "Kiss Of Death", set to hit stores in late August.

Now for some news tidbits you may have missed in our previous headlines:

Hard rock act Bang Tango return to the scene again in late September with a new album. Vocalist Joe Leste finished up his vocals this month.

Detroit shock rockers Halloween have released their new album, and are currently touring with Manilla Road and Attacker.

Primal Fear has apparently been dropped from Nuclear Blast. The group have signed on with Frontier Records for the new album.

Grave Digger has also been dropped from Nuclear Blast. The band led by Chris Boltendahl has signed with up and coming label Locomotive.

The new Obsession album has been released. This marks the first album from the band in over 10 years.

Iron Maiden's official site has posted three new song samples from the upcoming album "A Matter Of Life And Death". Look for that release in early September.

That wraps up this edition of The Necrofile. Look for Rod T. to come back on board for the next issue. In the meantime, I leave you with this:

I'm on the nightrain
Bottoms up
I'm on the nightrain
Fill my cup
I'm on the nightrain
Ready to crash and burn
I never learn
I'm on the nightrain

--EC