Album: Look At Yourself
Label: Mercury Records
Year: 1971

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, rock music was presented with a new breed that pushed the envelope just a little bit further, with bands like Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, RUSH and others forming a posse that would later be termed as proto-metal, meaning rock music that set the tone for what metal [...]

Out of any metal band on the face of the planet, Trans-Siberian Orchestra is by far the most accepted and revered. Yes, it is true that TSO is not entirely metallic, but any group that has been comprised of Alex Skolnick (Testament), Al Pitrelli (Megadeth, Savatage), Chris Caffery (Savatage, Metallium), Jeff Plate (Savatage, Metal Church) [...]

Before becoming one of the greatest modern rock guitarists of our time, Zakk Wylde was involved in a little country and blues inspired metal outfit by the name of Pride & Glory. Combining traditional country rhythms with hard hitting riffs that would later show up in Wylde’s Black Label Society, PnG was truly a demonstration [...]

This is one mainstream metal band that truly deserves all the damn hype they get. Every kid (the last time I checked), was under 20, with the lead singer being 15. It’s hard to talk shit about such a young band that just finished a tour in fucking Japan when most of us at 15 [...]

The late 70’s and early 80’s in metal are often marekd by the rising tide of British metallians within the New Wave of british Heavy Metal with standouts such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head and Def Leppard making names for themselves internationally. However, across the pond in New York City, an up and coming [...]

1. Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer (1992)
I am a huge fan of Dio era Black Sabbath, and while Dehumanizer isn’t the greatest of the three albums Dio did with Sabbath, it is indeed a great album that is painfully under appreciated. What I find most telling about this album is that it maintains an undeniably [...]

1. Blaze Bayley - The Man Who Would Not Die (2008)
Blaze, like Ripper Owens, is seen by many as a singer for hire who supplemented Iron Maiden’s need for a vocalist while Bruce Dickinson did his own thing. However, while fans hailed the return of Maiden’s classic vocalist, Blaze Bayley seemingly went politely off [...]

Where: MOHEGAN SUN, CONNECTICUT
When: August 15th, 2008
I started off my day with some kickball. In fact, not only was this your average company outing pick up game of kickball, but it was a bloodsport. A heated game with competition rangin g from the ages of 8 to 45. Yes, we all knew this was a [...]

1. Pharaoh - Be Gone (2008)
This being my first exposure to Philly based Pharaoh, I immediately recognized that this wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Be Gone takes strong influences from the likes of Manowar, Iron Maiden and lesser known Viperine, creating a more traditional metal base, while maintaining an all out melodic attack. [...]