Monthly archives: December, 2015

10 of the most METAL things to happen in 2015

From the boom of Bring Me The Horizon to some of the greatest co-headline tours in recent years, metal blogger Dan Hudson looks back on the most outrageously rock things that 2015 had to offer.

1. That’s The Spirit

Like them or not, because of Bring Me The Horizon’s fifth album That’s The Spirit, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to having a legitimate metal headliner that can contend with the likes of Iron Maiden and Metallica. If you don’t believe me…

2. Rock albums all over the charts

…including Enter Shikari’s The Mindsweep at No. 6, Five Finger Death Punch also at No. 6 with Got Your Six and Lamb of God’s VII: Sturm und Drang reaching No. 7; showing how metalheads continue to buck the trend of music fans not paying for music.

3. That’s Not Metal Podcast

Two blokes talk about metal for two hours every week with an obscene amount of knowledge and passion. In no time at all they’ve built up a loyal following and regularly feature highly in the iTunes music podcast chart. Get involved now at thatsnotmetal.net and @NotMetalPod.

4. THAT Drum solo

If you were lucky enough to go to one of Mötley Crüe’s last ever UK shows, there’s really no need for you to see another drum solo ever again.

5. Barack Obama confirms he is not the singer from Korn

In one of the more bizarre stories of the year, a war veteran meets Korn frontman Jonathan Davis but thinks he is hallucinating. When he then subsequently meets Obama, The President stated: “I want to assure you, you are not hallucinating. You are actually in the White House. Those cameras are on. I am not the lead singer from Korn.” Davis says ‘he couldn’t believe it.’

6. Korn perform their debut album in full

In other Korn news, 2015 was the year that Jonathan Davis resurrected some past demons in London and Manchester, as the California titans performed their debut album in its entirety, including an emotional Daddy.

7. Limp Bizkit play in a tent

After several years of playing festival stages, Fred Durst’s nu metal heroes played in a tent. He wore pyjamas. We moshed. A lot.

8. John Coffey singer seamlessly catches beer at festival.

Possibly the coolest thing ever happened this year at Pinkpop in Holland.

9. Slam Dunk’s continued rise

To give you an idea of just how big Slam Dunk now is, in Leeds the festival totally dominated the city, and the after-party took place in the Leeds Arena. An actual 13,500 capacity arena. We already can’t wait for 2016!

10. Monstrous co-headline tours

2015 was the year of huge co-headline rock tours. Slipknot, Korn and King 810, Mötley Crüe and Alice Cooper, Def Leppard and Whitesnake, AND the Pop Punk’s Not Dead tour ensured no headliner left home this year without a monstrous support act.




The Theory of Enter Shikari: Six reasons the St Albans rockers rule

enter_shikari

In 2006, I went to see an unsigned band open the 3rd stage at Download, quite possibly because it was unbearably hot outside and the half-empty tent provided some much-needed shade. As it turns out, their set was mind-blowing, and the next 12 months were a complete whirlwind for Enter Shikari and by the following year, they were back at Donington Park as main support to Korn on the second stage.

I worried at the time that such a meteoric rise could only be matched by a meteoric downfall when the NME and Kerrang! moved on to the next band to hype. Certainly, if anyone had suggested back then that nearly 10 years later the St Albans four-piece would be headlining the 10,000 capacity Alexandra Palace, and would release comfortably my favourite rock album of 2015 in The Mindsweep, I’d never have believed you.

How on earth did they manage it? Here are my six potential theories…

1. The Enter Shikari Album Theory

This is still to be confirmed as an actual scientific theory, but basically every Shikari album to date is better than their previous one.

…or expressed as an equation.

ES = TM > AFFOC > CD > TTTS

2. They are incredible live

Whether they’re doing mega intimate shows, closing Warped Tour UK, or headlining the second stage at Download, no two Shikari gigs are the same. The only constant is the energy between both crowd and band (and when they’re not touring as the main band, the four members of Enter Shikari continue to play live dance sets under the alias, Shikari Sound System).

3. They always bring amazing support acts with them

There’s never any danger of Enter Shikari being upstaged, (see Point 2) so they don’t have any issue taking amazing bands out on the road with them, including letlive., Hundred Reasons, Young Guns, The King Blues, Cancer Bats and Stray From The Path. Next February they’ll have The Wonder Years and The King Blues out with them.

4. They mean what they say

…and it’s not just ‘F**k the system’ either. 2015’s The Mindsweep contains their opinions on everything from the privatisation of the NHS and global warming, to the banking crisis and Greek philosophy. In fact, earlier this month frontman Rou Reynolds wrote an articulate, thought-provoking blog on the UK’s airstrikes in Syria via Rock Sound.

5. When they started, people thought they were a joke

Back in 2007, unfairly lumped in with the awful ‘New Rave’ trend of the time, nobody would have thought their rock/rave hybrid was more than a passing phase. All of those bands are now long gone, whereas Enter Shikari have never been bigger or better.

6. They’ve maintained their DIY ethic

The band run a label Ambush Reality which put out their early releases, and have also signed the noisy, Nottingham four-piece, Heck.

Enter Shikari tour the UK with The Wonder Years and The King Blues between 18 – 27 February 2016