I CAN’T TAKE DRIVE-IN GIGS SERIOUSLY
And other moans, thoughts and general musings we received from you lot this month
OUT THE DRIVE-IN
Sorry, I just can’t take this ‘drive-in gig’ stuff seriously. I know everyone’s trying their best but are you really telling me the future of gigs is inside a car beeping our horns like it’s rush hour? Not for me.
Stephen Mcahren (Facebook)
Well, we’re a little short of options for gigs right now, so these will have to do, alright? Anything that gets bands some money and means we can at least pretend we’re moving towards normality works for us.
QUESTION TIME
I enjoyed the ‘metal out of lockdown piece’ in the last issue. Some other questions I’d like answering, though: how do we make sure independent venues survive and it’s not just the ‘big boys’ that go on after this? How do we get metal back in the mainstream again? Can The Hu’s beef dumplings work with other meat? Ha ha ha! Just kidding, keep up the good work.
Jim Roode (email)
Yeah, fair, there is a lot more to work out in metal, and indeed in music itself. We can’t comment on The Hu’s beef dumplings, though. Our cooking skills are somewhat... varied.
BLOODBOUND
I don’t care too much for newer bands normally as I feel like it’s all been done before, but absolutely loving Bloodbather after your New Noise piece with them. Nice to see there are still young metal bands unafraid to do something different.
Luke Mcelleson (email)
We’re glad you’re into it – though we’d argue there are a ton of young bands doing something different and exciting right now. Off the tops of our heads we’d recommend Code Orange, Irist, Zeal & Ardor, Loathe, The Hu, Wargasm, Cryptic Shift, Twin Temple and this month’s lead New Noise, Backxwash.
THE PERFECT STORM
Loved the Alestorm thing [The Story Behind Captain Morgan’s Revenge, #337]. Captain Morgan’s Revenge got me into them and I’ve been a huge fan since. Funny as fuck live and in general. Yaharrr, me hearties!
Pete Adamson, matey! (email message in a bottle)
We’re glad you enjoyed it! Those Alestorm boys have certainly done well for themselves, haven’t they? This is normally the point people would expect us to do a pirate pun but we think that’d be a bit f-aaaaarrrrr-ah forget it.
SHITPOP
Was I hearing things or were Merlin and Eleanor talking about Oasis and Blur on the
Metal Hammer Podcast recently [Episode 122]? Can we at least try to keep it metal, please? I know the boundaries get a bit blurred sometimes, but Oasis?! Really?! Come on, guys!
Grumpy Thrasher (email)
Hey, we got asked about it, we answered it, don’t blame us! We all agree that Oasis were best though, right? Come on, Blur never wrote Morning Glory.
MONDAYS ARE FUN DAYS
Am I the only one who thinks Metallica are absolute legends for the Metallica Monday streams they keep doing? I’ve seen so many gigs I didn’t know existed! Although if there’s one criticism, it’d be more 80s stuff, please.
The true Metallica!
Guy Roberts (email)
We can’t lie: getting to feast on a Metallica show each and every week has been pretty damn welcome. Even if we have to wait until Tuesdays because fuck staying up past 11. We’re old now.
THE STREAM IS ALIVE
Trivium’s gig stream was the best online gig I have ever seen. That
is how you do it, boys! The closest I’ve been to feeling like I was at an actual gig again. Surely they are back in the conversation for Download headliners… once festivals are back, of course.
Vicky Atkin (Facebook)
We’d back it – but then we’d back seeing Trivium play anywhere in the flesh. Or seeing an actual festival again. Or just anything
on a stage, really. Fuck it, we’d even take Crazy Town.
MUSH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Here’s the thing: Mushroomhead were never the first group to wear masks and certainly won’t be the last. Bands were doing it long before Slipknot or Mushroomhead ever existed. It’s really not that original of an idea to begin with, and I believe the Slipknot guys when they said they’d never heard of Mushroomhead at the time.
Matthew Jewel (Facebook)
Look, in today’s climate, we should all be wearing masks, so let’s all agree to disagree and at least try to find the most metal facecovering options possible, yeah?
MAN VS MACHINE
I’ve just finished watching the Carpenter Brut movie
[Blood Machines, which Carpenter
Brut soundtracked – synthwave Ed], and that is some crazy shit. Made me want a sequel to Leather Teeth even more, though! Surely it’s time?!
Simon Townsend (email)
From what we gather, the new Carpenter Brut album will be coming next year. In the meantime you’ll just have to spin that Blood Machines soundtrack over and over again. Which is no bad way to spend your time, incidentally.
DOWNWARD SPIRAL?
Did Trent Reznor predict the COVID-19 pandemic? I’ve just spotted a pangolin tucked away in Cleveland industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails’ very twisted, nightmare-inducing, video for Closer.
Also, Youtube have added Every Day is Exactly the Same to my playlist-mix, thinking I don’t want to listen to anything cheerful! Thor Fairchild (email)
No, he didn’t - Ed.