Where the hell's the SNOW???

So, again there's been a lot to do, both at work and home... The concert season really went out with a bang! Saxon & Anvil x2, Lizzy Borden & Martyr, Iced Earth, Pentagram, Thrash Fest Classics and Motörhead in about a week and a half... That's ALMOST even overdoze for me! So now again, I have a lot to write for Metal Kaoz so it's really nice with a weekend with nothing planned. Ok, I did plan to see Lizzy Borden in Trollhättan today as well but I really don't want to go anywhere today and I really need the rest. Looking forward to another rough week with long days and tons of things to do.
Motörhead did a really good concert last night, Lemmy's soar voice was long gone and the place was packed... I waited the longest I could before leaving for the concert, not hearing anything about a photopass from Livenation. In the end they granted me one but that was too late, I didn't have access to my email at that time. A bummer for sure.

 

One of the reason this week (too) became as tough as it was, was because of the weather. Monday morning driving from Malmö took about double the time as usual. Apparently everyone was going to work at the same time, very early because of the weather so the freeway was packed with cars driving very slow. I had to try and see if it really was slippry. I didn't feel any of that... But the traffic info on the radio said other things. I guess I'm still used to the way of the north when it comes to driving during winter...

Anyway, I had to make a stop halfway between Varberg and Borås getting some air, THEN I realized it actually was rather slippry on the roads but I couldn't feel any of that in the new blue car with brand new winter tyres on it.



After this short break the road was closed... A lorry with a trailer had slipped off the road and was blocking it comepletely. So I had to take a detour from Björketorp via Fotskäl, Asstorp, Hajom and Skene before getting back out on the main road again. Nice drive but NOT when all I can thinnk of is how to ccatch up for lost time without having to stay in the office all night. Arrived at the office about three hours later than planned.

 And then the snow came... At least for a day! Driving home from the Thrashfest Classics it was sowing heavily, the worst time I could  hardly see 10m infront of the car on the freeway. It's a bit exciting to hope you'll see the fence in the middle or that you're on the right side of the hard shoulder when the next indication shows up.

   

But everything went alright in the end, just took a little more time than planned. That seems to be the case for me these days, doesn't really matter if I fly, drive, take the train, especially on monday's, it ALWAYS takes more time, are delayed or breaks down or whatever. The snow didn't stay long though, the morning after Thrash Fest Classics it was raining and in the afternoon everything was gone again, back to dark and gloomy.

So this weekend will be spent listening to music. I have to make up my mind about album of the year list for Metal Kaoz... It's going to be a tough one this year.... That's for sure. Ok, top three was rather simple, Arch/Matheos - "Sympathetic Resonance", Vicious Rumors - "Razorback Killers" and Hammers Of Misfortune - "17th Street" settled rather fast when I started to think about it... It still migth change, who knows. I have to list 5 for Metal Kaoz and now it starts to get hard. Next three, at this point is Hell, Anvil and Saxon... Then Jack Starr's Burning Starr, Blood Ceremony, Krux, Beehler, Cage and a few more climbed fast when I started to get into them. Still need to listen more. Then I know I've mentioned Argus, Slingblade, Megadeth, Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley too. The Riot album is really nice, Anthrax sounds really good, Martyr, Iced Earth... Gonna be hard to choose, that's for sure!!!

Cheers

E



NP: Jack Starr's Burning Starr - Land Of The Dead

Uriah Heep @ Trägår'n - PICTURE GALORE

Uriah Heep played at Trägår'n in Gothenburg a few weeks ago! this was a concert I've been looking forward to a lot. I hold Uriah Heep as one of my favorite bands and they've been amazing every times I've seen them play! Also it was fun to see that the expression "Never too old to Rock" actually is valid!!! Ok, swedes are normally blond but this time it was more in a grey or even white scale of colour.

URIAH HEEP @ TRÄGÅR'N    METAL KAOZ live Report 

http://www.metalkaoz.com/live-reports/3175-uriah-heep-tragarn-gothenburg-swe.html

The pictures turned our rather well too! So here's the rest, the ones that didn't fit into the Kaoz Report!!!!

While we're at the subject Uriah Heep. I finished reading the book about David Byron a while ago too! It was a great book, a very joyful reading indeed. It's just a shame the book is out of print!!!

DAVID BYRON - Born To Perform by Jeff Perkins    KAOZ reviewhttp://www.metalkaoz.com/kaoz-library/2930-born-to-perform.html

NP: SARACEN - Marilyn



Recordshoppers Anonyous #5

So, again there has been a lot going on! Busy days at work, busy days at home… Despite the stress at work on occasion it has actually been quite good days. A last minute trip to Brazil to participte in a Workshop took some time off from everything else I’ve planned to do. But I don’t complain, even if it was just WORK, it’s still more fun to sit in an office in Brazil (where spring is coming in) rather than in Sweden as we are approaching grey and dark times very quickly now. At least I had the opportunity to re-fill the Cachaca stash a little and this time I got all the exotic juices (and jello) with me home also. Last time someone opened my checked in suitcase and snatched all snacks and some other things as well.


Then I’ve been trying to focus on playing guitar, writing for Metal Kaoz, playing guitar and trying to get my ass off the couch and workout some. Most things have actually progressed rather well but of course I’m not as structured in the writing so I finish one thing first. Now I have 6 almost finished live reports so it will be kind of a ketchup effect in a week or so.
The guitar playing has been really ok as well. It is fun to play and my Transplanted Marshall sounds amazing. I even plugged in the wha-wha and Delay effect the other day in an attempt to start using them again too. I’m not sure about the Delay though, when it comes to the functionality of it… It might have seen its best days. I bought it second hand too but I’ll try to clean it a little and then decide if I need a new one or not.


Now too, since Malta Doom Metal Festival is coming closer it is important to play to stay in shape. And it turned out so good we actually have a gig just a few days before we travel to Malta. Void Moon, Cult Of The Fox and Lights Our are going to play Café Barbro in Malmö on October 23rd.

The Cult Of The Fox album ”A Vow Of Vengeance” has been received very well. Most reviews has been very positive, stating it is Heavy Metal as it is supposed to sound. That is very cool, and then, to get 7 of 10 in Rockhard Magazine is really big. Even if it’s not the highest (8,5 of 10 is the best at this point) that grade weighs a lot more than most other reviews.
The only thing missing now is some gigs. At this point we have some loose plans for January. Even if it’s not 100% confirmed yet it looks promising for one gig in France and one in Holland. I certainly wouldn’t mind one or two in Germany/Holland/Belgium at the same time.


And then of course! The new car is 3 weeks+ old now! It’s VERY different to drive and not have to focus on parts falling off or listening after some new things about to break! The only problem is that I’m not used to it yet so driving this new one to a level until it feels like the Passat I’m not within speed limit anymore. I really need to think about that because it would be very bad to loose my drivers license now when I (we) have a flash new car.

It has been quite some record shopping lately too! Ok, the package from TPL has built up over some months but it turned out quite massive in the end. Then, after the Uriah Heep concert the fanatic struck again and realized it is a must to have all the re-mastered versions to get all the bonus material. Luckily CDON had a very nice bargain deal on those! That I like.

Also High Roller Records had some nice price vinyl. Gonna be some busy days to listen to it all. Ok, I’ve done some listening to a few already, that’s a privilege when reviewing records… One though that I should have checked out long ago is the Arch/Matheos "Sympathetic Resonance". First because Fates Warning is one of my favorite bands and I really enjoy John Arch's voice. A little freaky but damn interesting. the record is FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely one for the top 10 of the year!

But it sure is a lot coming during the fall. Hammers Of Misfortune, Riot, Saracen, Martyr… To mention a few. And then of course all concerts. That first week of December going to be tough. Iced Earth, Thrash Fest Classics (with Sepultura, Destruction, Heathen, Mortal Sin and one more..), Pentagram, Motörhead and Lizzy Borden. Then of course a few Saxon and Anvil gigs the week prior to this!!! Gonna be a hard but FUN winter!


NP: Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance