Five Finger Death Punch "The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 1

If the name Five Finger Death Punch sounds familiar, it’s probably because they’ve become one of the biggest names in modern metal over the past five or so years. Coming in to the metal world with their 2007 debut album The Way Of The Fist, the band caught some attention with their song The Bleeding. It didn’t take long before they released their second album, War Is The Answer, which rocketed to number 7 on Billboard. When their third album American Capitalist went to number 3, it was clear that they had established themselves with a true fan base.

Evan Egerer "Evan Egerer EP"

I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but the basis of my music interests, as wide as they stem, always comes back to that simple blues influenced hard rock. Guys like Slash or early Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth, etc. After listening to (and of course loving) the latest in metal and alternative, I always find my way back to artists such as the previously mentioned artists and remember that they are where my roots of my love for music come from.

Black Sabbath "13"

Did anybody have their doubts when Black Sabbath announced a new album that it would be a display of the same excellence that the band made a reputation of recording in the early 70s? I think a lot of people did. Even I, among the more optimistic of music fans, was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what 34 years of separation would have done to the chemistry that Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi once had. I think when it was announced that Bill Ward would not be participating in this reunion for the ages, even more doubt was put in the minds of fans. Hell, it created quite some backlash with fans, some even boycotting listening the project altogether. It reminds me exactly of Van Halen carrying on without bassist Michael Anthony. What these estranged fans (of both bands, frankly) have to consider to themselves is this: is the absence of one member so much worse than the band as a whole never touring again?

Butcher Babies "Goliath"

I’ve been wondering for weeks how to start off this article on the Butcher Babies. There is so much I can say, but I don’t know what would kick this off on the right foot. The reason being that every week or so I learn something different about the band that changes my perception of what they are about. Originally I was thinking of saying something along the lines of “some people would do anything to get noticed”, since in the early days of the band, their two female singers Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd would perform on stage wearing nothing on the top half of their bodies but tape covering their nipples. But not long after I discovered them, they dropped that gimmick, which was initially a tribute to punk legend Wendy O. Williams (the band’s name comes from her song Butcher Baby from the first Plasmatics album).