Not quite a year ago, Aaron and I went to Toronto to splurge on music. Today I have returned from what is hoped to be a regular occurrence. I present to you, the spoils of war below. This is just a teaser. My goal is to edit together another documentary video like I did last year. This year I shot everything on my new BlackBerry Z10, which means I have to do some file conversion. With any luck I’ll be showing you all the details and fun soon. Until then, enjoy this teaser.!
Updated with photos of this cool limited edition autographed CD!
NEWSTED – Metal (2013 EP, iTunes and Jasonic Music)
Oh man! If this doesn’t kick off 2013 with a bang, I don’t know what will!
This four song EP is some of the coolest heavy metal tunage that these aged ears have heard in recent days. Newsted (the band) consists of: Jason Newsted, bass & lead vocals, with Jesus Mendez Jr. on drums and Jessie Farnsworth on guitar. No, I never heard of those two guys either, but who cares? This EP smokes from start to finish!
Jason’s vocals are reminiscent of his former bandmate’s, Snake, from Voivod. Even musically, Newsted has more in common with Voivod than Metallica. The first song, “Soldierhead”, rocks like a Motorhead outtake on rocket fuel, with those snakey Voivod vocals. Then it really kicks into a Voivod vibe, accompanied by some thrashy soloing.
The second track, “Godsnake”, slows the pace to an ominous crawl. Jason spits the words out like venom. It’s an infectious groove, with a total Fu Manchu guitar solo.
“King of the Underdogs” starts with some slow, evil metal pickin’, but settles into a slammin’ groove in short order. Jason’s bass is delicious, but once again, it’s the vocal I’m addicted to. “I am the king…I am the king…I am the king of the underdogs, you know that’s my name!” snarls Jason. The chorus is infectious, and the solo is eerie goodness.
“Skyscraper”, the final song, is not a David Lee Roth cover, thankfully, but in fact is a Sabbathy riff monster. Once again, when the vocal kicks in, I can’t help but think of Voivod. But that’s OK. I like Voivod. I’ve played this EP a number of times now, but I can’t pick a favourite tune. All four are great, old school metal tunes with grit, groove, bite and melody.
Of interest: the songs are (coincidentally?) in order from shortest to longest.
Initially this was an iTunes only release. Then, after I bought that, Jason announced a limited autographed physical CD release. Me being a lover of physical product (and autographs) I ordered that here:
https://tinmanmerchandising.com/merch/product_info.php?cPath=446_447&products_id=1479#merchTop
I love the vinyl look of the actual CD. The packaging has photos and lyrics. It’s a nice little cardboard sleeve with that bitchin’ Newsted logo.
Jason has also said that this is the first of three EPs. Count me in for the next one. Can Jason deliver more of this metal devastation? Let’s find out.
5/5 stars
mikeladano.com 