His bloody head was a vision of Cephalic Carnage...

So my little cherubs of the metallic waste land, another song shall be brought onto thee!

While at the moment I'm mainly going through bands most of you have heard, yes I am still in exam period give me a break, I shall not skimp on the musical analysis!

Today's portion of ferrous goodness comes from a strange band- Cephalic Carnage. A band whose strange grindcore tinged experimentation have earned a great deal of respect, even though I'm not always sure what they are doing ...

Anyways, todays helping is delivered (in 30 minutes or less or your money back) from their delightful album- Anomalies! Released in 2005, this album was an interesting mix of softly woven introductions, heavy as shit blasting and bloody fine guitar mastery!

The song of my personal interest was one which the twisted Mr. Layzell pointed me onto towards- Piece Maker. This song is very juicy. Meaty riffs fall out of the record like a rump steak and mean drum parts roll the meat into the mincer for your ears to masticate.

The songs main riff is a simple sludgy repeating pattern of doubles, this makes up the introduction and the verses. The introduction, which is similar in effect to Seemless' Parody, begins with the main riff quietly played and a nice bouncy pentatonic based introduction solo, all with a lovely vinyl-esqe buzz to it. The solo guitar works in and out of the riff then suddenly- BAM! A fucking explosion erupts and the screamed vocals create a thick sound reminiscent of an engine, minus the muffler.

The chorus rushes forward like a severed artery, throwing out thick chunks of groove. Basically this song is a groove metal masterclass, including time and tempo changes with plenty of lovely syncopation to boot.

The drums and guitar all just mince up nicely, it is my kind of music to headbang to. The song expertly shifts from stoner/sludge to a low tuned, slow, grinding death sledge. This change of feel, is almost complete, deep grunts and slow evil guitar sounds are a complete contrast to the earlier parts of the song. However they expertly retain that groove, that bounce and manage to keep the main guitar theme trundling along.

This is one of those songs whose heaviness is created not through fast, insane guitar riffage, but through low, relentless and generally mean sounding atmospheric groove, just like some of the original Black Sabbath songs.

If I would, could you?

Greetings and salutations! Today is the beginning of a new era, well decade. So aside from getting extraordinarily drunk, I have made a little promise, It'll be tricky. For every week I shall post a review of a single song.

Well, here we go...

Todays song is one which should hopefully bring your new year in smoothly, while it be not a face melting cacophony of death metal guitar mastery, it is a lyrical pleasure- Would? by Alice in Chains, specifically the version on their unplugged album.

Alice in Chains is often cited as a grunge basic, a band that if you want to get grunge you should check out. While I can detect the lovely tones of grunge, I would say the band in fact surpasses the genre with a metallic hint. They are a band whose dirty guitars and vocals are skillfully layered onto a bed of bizarre time signatures and a thin sheet of inner turmoil. Alice in Chains are indeed a band to listen to.

The band second album Dirt (1992) is where one can find the original version of this song, however it was chosen for their set when they appeared on MTV's Unplugged show in 1996. The performance had all the original members, except for their original bassist Mike Starr who left after they released Dirt to be replaced by Mike Inez who plays bass guitar in this version.

A shame and a rare wonder, as this is the last performance that the lead singer Layne Staley would give, as soon after he died of a mixed drug overdose.

Now that you have the bands background let us move swiftly onto this song. A live performance on MTV's Unplugged requires performers to perform `acoustic` sets, unless you are Kurt Cobain- then you get an amp. The song was originally written as a tribute towards the late lead singer of a band called Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood who died of a heroine overdose. It is also a defense of his actions. Here it is the 10th in a 13 track set which can be almost considered a unique best of, of the band.

It opens with a very brooding bass line which is complimented by the drummer (Sean Kinney), whose tight use of the snare and choked high hat help build tension for Staley's vocals to rest upon. Guitars here are merely help to fill the space in the bass line. The vocals are brilliantly harmonised by the lead guitarist (Jerry Cantrell).

Suddenly the drums open up and the guitars chime, almost covering the bass, whilst the vocals softly emote the listener. Dynamically the differences between the verse and chorus are delightful, signposting clearly where we are in the song. The bass overall is the driving force in this song, however the guitar and drums are the instruments that indicate segment changes.

The lyrics are well worth reading, they are heartfelt and the delivery in this version is very choking. lines such as;

`What does friend mean to you?

A word so wrongfully abused.`

The dynamics of Staley's voice drift from soft cooing to strangled cries of frustration at a society that doesn't know him but judges nevertheless. It is a very honest song and it really captures the frustration of a person whose private life has been torn open and presented to the masses for a fondue party. The song ends with a jarring series of staccato slashes, non of this cheap, let's fade out shit here.

In short a performance of a band who are their tightest and are not afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves- sound soppy? Well prove me wrong!

Shai-Hu-Lud passes out with his Jager...