And what gets you into the category for “hottest chicks in metal” at the Revolver Golden Gods awards? For having having not only one hot chick, but TWO hot chicks in the band, that’s how! Eyes Set to Kill is painfully generic metalcore, like 2003 era bordering on old school new school metalcore. The ONLY reason these guys are anywhere in the media today is because of the Rodriguez Sisters and their utter hotness. Furthermore, even if the band were good, how much respect could we actually give Eyes Set to Kill for prostituting out their female half for the sole purpose of gaining attention to their music. Yes, they are cute, but this also isn’t MTV, so don’t expect much support from the metal community.

http://www.myspace.com/eyessettokill

Prog rock is no exception to the rule of creativity. This is high brow music, and thus requires a sense of creative instinct, one that requires more than the standard compositional format found in rock and pop. Gordian Knot surely have the technical merit down pact, but they use that technical talent to make music that sounds more like the soundtrack to a B movie score than a music journey that a progressive rock/metal album should be.  Yet still, Gordian Knot manages to be spoken of in high regard by many modern metal enthusiasts (aka fans of Cynic who heard Traced in Air before Focus) as the go to for modern prog rock that isn’t Dream Theater, and I just can’t appreciate how such a rich and colorful genre can be summarized by the likes  of this band.

If you want a band that plays what Gordian Knot tries to play, check out the FAR superior Liquid Tension Experiment, or, if you feel like LTE sounds a bit too much like Dream Theater for your tastes, check out Scale the Summit.

Calling these guys overplayed is a bit of an exaggeration at this point since they are still very underground, even in their home nation of Germany. Nonetheless, We Butter the Bread With Butter is bound and determined to become the next pop culture metal sensation, and all I can do is lower my head in shame. The band’s shtick, at least on their debut album Das Monster aus dem Schrank, is to make electro-deathcore ala Attack Attack! about German nursery rhymes. This album came out last year, but apparently the band is in the works of releasing their follow up which is bound to become popular for one stupid reason or another. Now, the concept of this band is passable, there are a lot of crazy bands with crazy names, but We Butter the Bread With Butter FAILS at completing anything resembling quality, original material. The material on this album is typical pop culture bullshit. I don’t know where the heart of the band lies in terms of artistic credibility, I mean they could genuinely think they make good music, but it seems to me like these guys are jumping on the wagon and could give two shits about metal or its credibility. This band mocks good music with this sorry attempt at humor and by using every cliche modern metal has to offer. I can’t believe this shit is even metal.

However, as is now AMR policy, I leave it up to the reader to decide with a LaLa.com link to the album in its entirety. No signing up, you can give the full album one entire listen! If you get through it that is…

This week, it is with great regret that I reduce our weekly (ha!) feature to a new low with grind/screamo/Christian band, Attack Attack! Not only is this yet another generic Christian quasi-grind/deathcore act, but they one up their musical shititude with heaping loads of electronica and *sigh* a vocorder. That’s right, that piece of shit that Kanye West brought forth to the masses which has been instilled in the hip hop and pop communities for ever more, has now officially crossed over into aggressive music courtesy of Attack Attack! Bands like Machine Head and The Haunted at least have the courtesy of maintaining their limited abilities to metal, but this is a whole new level of fucked up interference from mainstream hipster trends in metal. How much more must we put up with? Oh, and in case you may be confused, there is also an indie rock group by the name of Attack! Attack! from England. The difference? Those guys use two exclamation points! Damn, the level of unoriginality of Attack Attack! is at such a sinful level, that it almost makes these guys hypocrites singing about the glory of Christ.

Oh, and to make matters worse, the once catchy Katy Perry tune “I Kissed A Girl” has been covered by these guys with their own little hip deathcore bent on it. WTF man, WTF.

http://www.myspace.com/attackattack

CODY

Isn’t it sad when a band makes this unceremonious list without having even released a debut record? Comedic grindsters, Iwrestledabearonce are due to release their debut record in early June, yet the hype surrounding this band is astronomical. Appearing in a primo spot at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival along with regular airplay Sirius XM, Iwrestledabearonce are seemingly being forced down our throats, and the band are only now finalizing songs that have already been in circulation through the release of their EP, which is where all of this spontaneous coverage has spawned from. This band is a bit of an anomaly to me because they manage to write halfway decent grind riffs at times, and they totally don’t take their image seriously, yet this angle has garnered them critical attention. All I can say is, why? Why does such an average sounding band, with a humorous take on grind/metal deserve such acclaim?

Alas, Iwrestledabearonce has achieved the unfortunate status of appearing on my Overplayed band of the Week List. I truly hope I get a slew of hipsters flooding to this article, because I really want to know what the hype is about. Until then, everytime a song comes on through Liquid Metal, rest assured I will be changing the channel to POTUS.

I can’t believe I haven’t commented on these guys before now! Machine Head is probably the most over-played non-classic metal band of all time. And no, Machine Head is NOT classic, nor should they ever be classified as such. Machine Head now basks in their current level of popularity for the simple reason: that they sold out during the 90’s by adapting to nu-metal to survive, even landing a sweet spot on Ozzfest. Machine Head plays simple metal music for the mainstream metal fan, and as a result, they are featured over many other vastly superior bands, both in the technical and creative departments. Am I bitching too much about Machine Head? Probably, but the band sucks, and it kinda pisses me off that they have achieved the level of success that they have without what I would consider the necessary creativity to get them there. Ah well, all hail the mighty dollar. At least the mainstream will be exposed to a new, superior Mastodon record this month.

CODY

Yeah yeah I know, they are “legends” of the grunge and 90’s metal scenes, and yes, they made Dirt which is a pretty good album, but come on people, let’s make some progress here. Alice in Chains had it’s run, but after the death of Layne Staley, the band should have died with him to be frank. By saying that I am truly not trying to piss people off, but like Pantera and Dimebag, how can you take such an important figure of the band  out of the equation and then continue on? I don’t want to speak for the original bandmembers still kicking around, but you have to wonder if this whole reunion is just a financial get rich quick gimmick. Having a few shows to keep the legacy alive is one thing, but becoming a full time band again? Come on folks.

I am not one of those people who claim that Alice in Chains don’t deserve to be apart of the metal scene because they are indeed metal, but why do we have to throw so much adulation their way? Why do all metal news outlets have to hug the nuts of Jerry Cantrell when there is such a strong undercurrent at our fingertips? Realistically the answer is unfortunately quite obvious; money and recognition, that’s what. Landing a reunited Alice in Chains on your cover, or having an Alice in Chains week on satellite radio is guaranteed to bring in the populace. I can’t slam people for wanting to promote their product, I really can’t, but don’t be such whores about it.

Wow, it’s been October since I did one of these. I guess you could say I haven’t been on the ball eh? Sheesh. Anyway, back to the grind. This week’s (month’s?) overplayed band of the week is one that has been bugging me for quite some time, and that band is The Haunted. Consisting primarily of post-thrash elements, as well as some Swedish melodic death, The Haunted are not what I’d call a bad band per se, just an incredibly boring one.

These guys have all the chops in the world, with band members hailing from all across the metalscape. I mean literally, The Haunted consists of a virtual smorgasbord of players from bands that range from really, really good, to legendary. Witchery? At the Gates? Invocator? Nightrage? Damn man, that’s some heavy shit right there! Still though, the “ommph” factor that was readily apparent in all these listed bands, was somehow set adrift when The Haunted became a reality. Why? Who the hell knows. All I know is that The Haunted is one of the few bands that should good, but in reality fail both in the recorded setting, as well as in the live setting. I mean what gives? This is one question I can’t answer, even with a clever, sarcastic quip.

In my opinion, I think The Haunted should call it a day, and invite the far superior, and much missed The Crown to take it’s place as Sweden’s most popular modern thrashers. This is a small request? Right?

It seems that American metal has taken on its latest trend–female fronted bands. While nothing new to metal in the last 10-15 years, especially in Europe, it seems only in the last few years that extreme metal has taken on the role of females, most notably Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy fame. However, for all the talented frontwomen in the world of music (i.e. Angela Gossow), there are those who seem to possess the role simply to give the band prominence, regardless if that is their intention or not.

A perfect example of this is the popular quasi-metal band Otep. Having been around the block, Otep, are not a flash in the pan group for all intents and purposes, but this does not mean they are good…at all. However, being good is not a virtue that musicians need to have in order to make it in American music, and fortunately for this particular band, aggressive music is “en vogue,” and any semblance of attracting attention is always a good thing it would seem. Marilyn Manson had shock value, Korn had slap bass and juvenile angry lyrics that kids could relate to, Slipknot has costumes, etc. Mainstream aggressive music always seems to need a schtick (at least according to major labels), and slapping a female into the mix, talented or otherwise, gets bands noticed and will probably sell a few more records. Unfortunately for fans o good music, Otep is not much a group that can bring an original concept and talent at the same time.

Bringing to the table boring riffs, the same trepid vocals song after song that seem to constantly keep building up to something that will never become tangible to the listener. Yet, for reasons I will never understand, Otep is incredibly over amongst mainstream heavy rock fans. I guess it can be argued that Otep acts as a gateway drug to heavier and better music, but realistically, that doesn’t make their music justifiably better. I’ll stick with my Arch Enemy thank you very much.

CODY

I know we have covered this band in the last month or so quite thoroughly, but it’s better than featuring Metallica again, right? I appreciate the hits to the site but….yeah, this month has been trampled by fanboys quite enough. Anyway, back to our featured guests this week, the speedy power metal powerhouses known as Dragonforce. What really irks me about this band, is not the one trick they seem to exploit time and time again, but rather its the fact that they keep getting jammed down our throats time and time again like they are still some new sensation! American fans seem to still go out to see these guys for the same reason everyone goes out to see them, to see them shred live, which they do quite well. However, when there are dozens of better power metal bands waiting in the wings, while much better bands are struggling to find their place in the American market (including American bands like Cellador and Onward), I can’t help but feeling like Dragonforce is merely a product of stereotypical music commercialism at its worst/best. Until record labels and concert promoters begin to feel that Dragonforce’s welcome is being worn thin, they will promote them in the hopes of making an extra buck, while other, more potent power metal bands are left attempting to make the rounds on their own.

I guess I can’t give Dragonforce too much shit though, after all, they are one of the only successful modern power metal acts to break into the U.S., and they do feature artists who can play and perform quite well. I guess the biggest problem is, I am just sick of hearing the same songs rehashed, with no others coming in to refresh a stagnating American movement that never really got its start in the first place in the face of the mounting popularity of deathcore. Oh well, maybe there will be hope in the future for us power metal fans.

CODY