Tag: Metal Blade Records

Before he became a household name in prog rock, Neal Morse had already played in a handful of bands throughout the 80s and 90s. He’d recorded at least half a dozen albums with the notable Spock’s Beard, and also formed a prog-rock supergroup called Transatlantic with members of Flower Kings, Marillion, and Dream Theater. In fact, Morse’s partnership with famed drummer Mike Portnoy would carry over into several other projects, most notably (for our purposes here) the Neal Morse Band. In 2002, Morse became a born-again Christian, and began writing music with distinctly Christian lyrics and purposes.… Continued →

The Awful Truth–the best band that (almost) never was! In the late 80s I was huge into King’s X and what would soon become known as the “Houston sound.” It was part progressive metal, part groove, part rock, and lots of harmonies thrown in. I’d started hearing about this new band (at the time) called The Awful Truth, who had recorded their debut album for mainstream Metal Blade Records, and sadly broke up before it even came out. In fact, by the time the album was released, two thirds of The Awful Truth had formed a new band with two other members, the now-legendary Galactic Cowboys, increasing that groovy-metallic Houston Sound to yet another band.… Continued →

Many fitting tributes have been written about the one and only, the mighty drummer/musician/song-writer/animal rights activist Ted Kirkpatrick. So much has been said about his life, his music, and his impact that I can’t really add much here. Ted’s incredible musicianship is impossible to overstate. He was revered even by the most ardent anti-religion folks, for his musicality alone, including folks like King Diamond and Marty Friedman. While I never got to meet Ted, I did have the chance to see Tourniquet live once. It was their first tour with Luke Easter as the new lead vocalist.… Continued →

Doom Metallers Trouble’s debut Psalm 9 release has been out for 30+ years. Imagine that!  Signed by Metal Blade Records, the 1984 album is commonly known as one of, if not the first doom metal releases. They were given the “white metal” moniker because of the obvious Biblical references.  I had a friend who passed recently who hung out with the band back in the day & it was nice to actually meet someone who listened to my “Christian music.” Guitarist Bruce Franklin would go on & join Supershine w/ Dug from King’s X & also release an outstanding industrial album generation-Brutal Reality.… Continued →

Austrian Death Machine's three song Christmas ep, "Jingle All The Way" is out December 19th 2011. Pick it up!

This will be the metalcore album of the year.