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Thursday, 28 June 2012

The Metal Project: Metal From Paraguay

The Metal Project. An ongoing quest to track down every single Meta Metal song on Youtube and gather them in one place.
 Up until I started this project I was vaguely aware that Paraguay had to have some sort of Metal scene but I'd never heard of a single band from there.
 Let's make amends for that, shall we?

220 Voltios - Heavy Metal (2009)

Honour to: bernardus33

Ariman - Metal Eterno (2011)

Honour to: 666infernaroth 

 Atomic Curse - Metal Tonight (2008)

Honour to: Death1Warrior1

Overlord - Possessed By Metal (2002)

Honour to: theheadbanger09

Patriarca -Azote Metal (2007)

Honour to: SxIxSx

Slayground - Metal Up Your Ass (2009 Rehearsal Tape)

Honour to: nclrdsstr

The Axe - Old Brigade Of Metal (2010) 

Honour to: Palametal

Violent Attack - Chaos & Metal (2006)

Honour to: TIOMACHUKA

And that seems to be all I can find for now. See you next time. 

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

The Metal Project: Brazil

The Metal Project. An ongoing quest to track down every single Meta Metal song on Youtube and gather them in one place.
 Today's collection of songs is devoted to Brazil, land of coffee, football, impossibly small bikinis...and some of the most intense Metal fans on the planet. Hope you like it.

Blasfemador - Speed Metal Ataque (2011)

Honour to: mentalholocaust

Bywar - At Trance With Metal (2003)

Honour to: Insane4lifez

Farscape - Carrasco Do Metal  (2003)

Honour to: WhoTendsTheFire

Kronus - Tudo Pelo Metal (Demo 1985)

Honour to: SlauterXstroyes

And now a touch of silliness

Massacration - Sufocator Of Metal (2009)

Honour to: 00batera00

Nuclear Frost - Dark Bomb Metal Punk Squad (2010)

Honour to: 00batera00

Power From Hell - The Metal is Sick But Never Die (Lust and Violence)(2011)

 Honour to: leonardoinvader

Selvageria - Metal Invasor (2005)

Honour to:diabolicfozzy

Thrashera- Metal In My Mind (2011)

Honour to: Thrashra666999

Venus - Metal (1986)

Honour to:SlauterXstroyes

That's it for now. See you next time for more of the same.

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

The Metal Project: Colombian Metal

 Continuing our trek round Latin America, today's post is devoted to bands from Colombia. Enjoy.

Metal King- Metal Essence (2004)


Honour to: dretiley

Darkness - Metalero (1987)

Honour to: MohanCol

 No Mercy - Ultra Metal (2011)

Honour to: DeathThrasher69

Insurrection - High Speed Metal (2011)

Honour to: JDsubsThrash

Revenge - Metal Massacra (2009)

Honour to: AngelKiller197

I'm beginning to suspect that Colombians like a wee bit of Thrash.

Skull - Speed Metal (2005)

Honour to: templeofbone

Sobibor - Furia Y Metal (2006)

Honour to: 6candia6metal6

And finally

Witchtrap - Metal Mania (2007)


See you next time.


Sunday, 24 June 2012

The Metal Project: Metal From Mexico

 The Latin American nations are known for being enthusiastic producers and consumers of Metal and Mexico seems to be no exception. Here's a short selection of "Metal" songs from south of the Rio Grande. 

 Abaddon - Noches De Metal (2010)

Honour to: MrJuegosdefuego

Angel De Metal - Forjando Metal (2009)

Honour to: Josueml333

Aspid - Flor De Metal (1984)

Honour to: IvanHuizar

Bestia Metalica - La Melodia Del Metal (1989 Demo)

Honour to: xDoncelladeacerOx

Caronte - Esta Noche Metal (1987)

Honour to: SlauterXstroyes

Fongus - Metal Mortal (1989)

(I know I said I wasn't going to do instrumentals but I rather like this one)
Honour to: mmmkingofkings

Gog - Angel De Metal (1987)

Honour to: mmmkingofkings

Luzbel - Hijos Del Metal (1986)

Honour to: mmmkingofkings

Transmetal -Transmetal  (1988)

Honour to: leonardoinvader
(Big fans of Venom, clearly)

Vixit - El Poder Del Metal (1991)

Honour to: Mr88PANZERSS

Hopefully you found something that came as a pleasant surprise. Vaya Con Dios

Been watching: Sand Sharks



A film about sharks that can swim in the sand. Starring Brooke Hogan.
How drunk do you have to be before that sounds like something worth investing in?

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Soldiers Of Metal - More Metal From The USA

 Since I did Canada last time around I thought I'd nip southward again and post another batch of US bands, mostly concentrating on the thrashier, nastier corner of the envelope. Beginning with (naturally)...

Anthrax - Soldiers Of Metal (1984)


(Black Witchery) Black Witching Metal (1998)(Demo)

 
Honour to: cryostasium 

Eliminator - Holocaust War Metal (2008)

Honour to: deathtokittens

Erotikill - Metal Cry (1990)

Honour to: thrasher123

Exodus - Metal Command (1985)

Honour to: robertfx

Hallows Eve - Valley Of The Dolls/ Metal Merchants (1985)

Honour to: HereticMocculta

Intruder - Give Me Metal (1986)

Honour to: NWOBHM87

Pantera - Power Metal (1988)

Honour to: Metalzilla2007

Scepter - F***ing Metal Motherf***ers (2003)

Do you really need me to tell you that this one is NSFW?
Honour to: IronBestial

I can't think of a way to follow that so that's it for now.
See you next time.


Tuesday, 19 June 2012

A few things I've been wondering.

1. How come my computer at work always decides to throw a sulk whenever I have somebody sat next to me waiting on results?
2. What do toenails actually do?
3.  What the oinking **** happened to the singles chart in the last ten years?
4. What happened to my attention span, exactly?  I thought you were supposed to get better at concentrating as you got older.
5. If I'm subsidising  British farming through my taxes, shouldn't I get a free chicken once in a while?

Been Watching: Mardi Gras: Spring Break (2011)

  Bump and Scottie are two college boys who are ready and willing to indulge in the time honoured college traditions of screwing everything that moves. A pity that the ladies are not so eager to play.
 After naked streaking fails to bring in the expected flood of partying hotties our two hapless losers set their sights on the greatest party in the world: Mardi Gras.
 Their mate Mike isn't so keen, After all, he has a lovely girlfriend but since she's out of town at her grandad's funeral  he allows himself to be talked into a trip down to Louisiana.
 Once they arrive, the three will discover that Mike's girlfriend Lucy wasn't exactly telling the truth about where she was, finally manage to get into the ultimate party and do alarming things to each other with a banana.

 Carmen Electra has spent the last decade or so being strategically parachuted into films to provide fanservice so I was sort of curious to see how she fared  in a  rare starring role. 
  The DVD cover is a lying bastard. If Carmen is in this film for more than twenty five minutes tops I'd be amazed and once again she's mostly there to look good.
  I have to wonder how actual stars Nicholas D'Agosto, Josh Gad and Bret Harrison felt when they saw how the DVD cover completely fails to mention them in any way. Given what they have to work with they do a decent job and much bigger names have more embarrassing things in their CV.  
   The plot is not exactly treading new ground. The lads arrive in New Orleans ready to party hard but it quickly goes horribly wrong and after enduring one humiliation after another the group hit rock bottom with the definite possibilty of the friendship imploding.
 But then, thanks to good fortune and some women who are prepared to look past the defects, it all comes right by the final scene. Everybody is paired up and loved up: Roll out-take reel and credits.
 Like I said: Nothing too out of the ordinary and nothing that "The Inbetweeners" didn't do much better.
 At heart a lot of these films are - once you get past the turd jokes, the gratuitous tits and buffoonery - a romantic tale of a boy meeting the girl he needs rather than the one he wants.
 Even the fat guy who's spent the entire film being an asshole.
Ain't it sweet?

 So, whoever though this film was funnier than "The Hangover" is utterly insane. "Mardis Gras; Spring Break" isn't even funnier than the American Pie straight-to-DVD films.
  Watch if it comes on Channel 5 and there's nothing better on or if you find it cheap at a car-boot but I wouldn't bother renting it.
 Go rent "Porky's" instead. Pretty much the same jokes but done 30 years ago. 
 

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Been Watching: Slammed (2004)

It's amazing what you can find in charity shops sometimes. Nestled amongst the "Friends" DVDs and the other stuff that's not worth taking to CEX I discovered this:
 Which turned out to be the Hungarian release of this:
  Busboys Jeff and Derek have a plan. To make a name for themselves in the unsanctioned world of Back Bar Wrestling then go on to the big time and make a ton of money.
 But first they need to defeat local champ "Switchblade" Rick Kaspers, save Jeff's uncle's junkyard from evil real estate men  and get the girls of their dreams.  And to do that, they need the help of Back Bar Wrestling legend The Slammer. 

Friday, 15 June 2012

Been Watching: Vampire Shadows (2005)

AKA: Shira The Samurai Vampire.
Medieval Japan: A young samurai woman is attacked by vampires and chooses death rather than become one of the undead. 
Present day: Shira and her team of vampire hunters seek out and destroy the forces of darkness.

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Still More Wrestling Pics.

Here's another clutch that I scanned myself. Mostly from aging Wrestling mags that had been kept in the bottom of a wardrobe, hence the questionable quality.
 Fabulous Moolah grabs a fistful of Penny Mitchell's hair. (1982)
1982 again.
Linda Dallas throws US Champion Misty Blue by her hair. (1989ish)
No idea who either of these are. 
 Velvet McIntyre slams a kick into Sherri Martel's stomach (1988-90?)

 I have a few more I can dig out if anybody's interested. Anyway, see you next time.


Monday, 11 June 2012

A further helping of Metal Videos.

 Another selection of tracks where I can only find a promo
Note that several are clearly somewhat less than serious.

Stron Cigris - Straight To Hell Of Metal (Mexico 2009)

Honour to: PittDestroyer

Malignant Tumour - We Are The Metal (Czech Rep. 2008)

Honour to: bandzone
(The name would lead you to expect Death Metal while what you actually get -at least from this track - is crusty punk-metal. Like Motorhead but filthier and fatter. Not bad at all.)

Try getting the chorus to this one out of your head.

Strident - Power Metal From Space (South Africa 2010)

Honour to:  StridentOfficial

And lastly, a song that manages to get more metal references into 
one song than anybody has managed in human history

Inquisicion - Metal Legions (Chile 2010)

Honour to: inquisicionchile

That's it for now. See you next time.


A Motley Collection Of Wrestling Pics.

Some more from my scanning efforts. These are taken from Graeme Kent's 1968  "Pictorial History Of Wrestling".  Well worth a read if you can find a copy.
 Let's start with some sparring from the 1930s. 
  Note that the lady on the bottom looks a little worried
 That can't be comfortable.

Mae Weston battles the great Mildred Burke (1950s?)
  Some early Japanese women's wrestling. Keiko Yamada blocks Aiko Iwamoto's attempt at a pin.  
Katsue Sasaki dropkicks Kiyo Obata as she tries to climb back into the ring.

That's all for now.  See you next time.


Saturday, 9 June 2012

Metal From The Great White North.

 I thought it was about time I did another one of these and this time I'm moving across the Atlantic to another nation that consistently produces great Rock Bands. Rush, Triumph, Honeymoon Suite, Saga...
  Today I'm going to bring you some bands from the heavier end of the spectrum. Grab a beer, put some gravy and cheese on yer chips and sit back to enjoy some Canadian Metal.

 Black Knight - Araigathor (Metal Anthem) (1985) 

Honour to paradisebeyond1982

Convict - Metal Warriors (1985)

Honour to: crgreyf

D.D.T - Metal On Ashes (1984)

Honour to: ptola

And now something a bit more modern. And a wee bit less melodic. 

Fornication -Grave Shaking Hell Metal (2010)

Honour to: mentalholocaust

Hanover Fist - Metal Of The Night (1983)

Honour to: aerogun18

Hell's Dagger - Metal Rebels (1983)

Honour to: SlauterXstroyes

Canada is not normally known for Power Metal so this next one was a pleasant surprise. 
And it is rather good too. 

Kemilon - The Gates Of Heavy Metal (2012)

Honour to: MapleMetalRecords

Kradle -Heavy Metal Victory (1986)

Honour to: SlauterXstroyes

Razor - Hot Metal (1984)

Honour to: camsarrr

Strapping Young Lad - Far Beyond Metal (2006)

Honour to: ocelotek86

Thunder Rider - Heavy Metal Wizzard (2002)

Honour to: FallenAngel333GR

 At some point over the last couple of posts I managed to pass the 500 songs mark and I'm nowhere near finished with this project. Keeps me out of mischief, I suppose. 
 See you next time for more of the same.   

Friday, 8 June 2012

Another Batch Of Wrestling Pictures

 Looking at the "Popular posts" panel over to the side, it's easy to see what goes down well.So without further ado, here's another collection of women throwing each other about.
(I apologise for the quality. These are all ones I scanned myself and I still haven't worked out how to use the scanner properly)
  The next four are all from a mid 80s AWA match between Candi Devine and the late Sherri Martel
 Sherri pounds away at champ Candi
  Candi's attempt to return to the ring is met with a knee to the face.
 
 The tide is turning as Candi slaps on a headlock.
Candi celebrates

 Tina Starr throws her opponent across the ring. (Britain 1988-ish)
No idea who she is but am I the only one who thinks that she looks a bit like Sarah Ferguson?

 From a 1982 tag match involving Fabulous Moolah & Wendi Richter v Princess Victoria & Velvet McIntyre. Moolah & Wendi won. Incidentally I can remember pics from this match being the first time I ever encountered US womens wrestling.

Big D at the Gosport Waterfront Festival 2012

(The Friday, anyway)

The Gosport Festival has been running for a few years now, barring a hiccup a couple of years back when a council dispute led to the organiser throwing his toys out of the pram and abruptly cancelling all the booked acts. Shame.  I was quite looking forward to seeing Showaddywaddy...
 Anyway, this year the festival was the usual mix of local acts and cheap & available headliners - Saturday through Monday were headed up by, in order: Doctor and The Medics, Junior and Glam City Rockers.
  Friday though, was the day that interested me thanks to an interesting choice of headliner.

80s Metal band Girlschool.

  But let's start with me arriving at the festival site in the first place. And thanks to losing track of time and managing to miss my bus I got there too late to see rockers Circle of Reason.  Remiss of me, because what I heard on their site sounded worth a listen.
 I just had time to grab a painfully expensive beer before Irish outfit Roving Crows ambled onstage.
 The lineup is an unusual one. Drums, acoustic guitar, fiddle and...trumpet?  Musically Roving Crows go in for Celtic folk and it was all pleasant enough but not exactly earth shattering. The singer did try and encourage the crowd to get up on their feet but the only ones taking him up on the offer were the cluster of young metal/alternative kids down the front. The resulting activity was part mosh-pit, part jig and enthusiastic in the extreme.  The band finished with a cover of The Devil Went Down To Georgia, giving fiddle player Caitlin a chance to show off her chops.
 Another non-standard lineup for the next band. Local outfit Hoffenffeffer are at heart the sort of  blues-rock trio you see playing the local every Monday night but added a bongo/conga player and a backing singer who I suspect may have been somebody's girlfriend. 
 Note the way the crowd has got significantly larger.
  I was initially unimpressed but they won me over. For one song the frontman brought his daughter up to take over lead vocals, which was a nice touch.
   The singer of The Dakotas took great delight in announcing that one newspaper had mistaken them for the 1960s outfit so you have to wonder if anybody else got a bit of a shock when the band trooped onstage. I'm fairly certain I have t-shirts older than these guys.
 Anyway,  the youngsters played an energetic set, heavy on radio-friendly rock covers - Green Day, The Stereophonics, Foo Fighters - and were the first band to really get people moving.
    Memo to self. Buy new camera that isn't crap.
     At the time I thought that they had the energy and talent to maybe get somewhere playing their own stuff and further reflection hasn't changed my mind. Give it a few years and we'll see. 
  Round about now is when things started to go a bit pear-shaped and the first of these was entirely self-inflicted.  Having decided that the beer I'd just bought was not only overpriced but ghastly, I thought " Nobody is anywhere near me. Sod it" and dropped it.
 And watched in horror as the beer sprayed about 5 feet across the grass, liberally dosing the shoes and lower skirt of the woman who'd been having a good festival up to now.
  Her husband managed to resist the impulse to smack me one but did point out that said shoes were brand new. Oops. I apologised profusely and scuttled away before anybody had second thoughts on the whole "Smack the idiot" issue. 
 The last time I saw Girlschool was back in 1993. Given the location ( The Student Union at Stafford College), the timing (A wet weekday) and the prevailing musical climate  (Checked shirts, downtuned guitars and moodiness) the turnout was predictably low. Despite that, the ladies put on a decent show and I was hoping for better things this time around.
  But thanks to an unfortunate conjunction of events, things did not go according to plan.
  The one photo I have of Girlschool that's remotely worth posting. 
Everything else tends towards "Dark" or "Blurred"
  It all started so well too. The siren intro tape led into old staple "Demolition Boys" and Kim and her team got ready to rock Gosport. 
 And then  the sound and lights  abruptly cut out
 While band and crew attempted to get everything working again, an unpleasant situation was developing in the front row. The security team took exception to the overexuberant antics of a young, impressively mohawked, punk lad and while things were quiet, a few words were had.
 I have no idea what was said and, crucially what he said in reply, but next thing I knew,the youngster was being hauled out through the crowd with one arm bent behind his back and a forearm lodged firmly across his throat before being slung out of the closest exit.
 I've never seen aggro at this festival before and truth be told, it was not fun to watch.
  The rest of the teenage rock contingent hurried to join their mate while yellow-vested reinforcements gathered by the gate and for a while it looked like things might escalate.
 So when Girlschool got the power going again, they now had a crowd that was subdued, missing most of its more enthusiastic members and more than a little alarmed at the way the security kept bobbing up from behind the barrier anytime somebody looked like they were enjoying themselves.
 I'll give a respectful bow to the band at this point. They recovered quickly and got back up to full speed in short order, cranking out a selection of their better know songs plus a few newies that bear further investigation. Having three lead vocalists also gave them a melodic edge that they used to full advantage, while grinning the whole time. Meanwhile the underrated Denise Dufort kept things motoring at the back.
 Problem was...
  Everytime I looked around the audience was getting thinner and thinner. In retrospect, while Nazareth and The Kenney Jones Gang fared well in previous years, Girlschool were way too heavy for this festival and this crowd.  The people who'd come to see Girlschool stayed until the finish while the casual crowd, out for a few beers and some music on a sunny day, sloped off home. 
 The shenanigans with the power and the security didn't really help either.

So to sum up, file under "That could have gone better"

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Been watching: Strippers Vs Werewolves (2012)

 When a customer at a strip club suddenly sprouts hair and pointy ears he gets a silver pen in the eyesocket, courtesy of a freaked out dancer.  When his packmates find out they are not happy and come looking for payback.
  Meanwhile the stripper and her mates  are getting seriously tooled up.