Did a Q&A Interview for Metal Army America with New Jersey’s own Doc Coyle. For those of you that don’t know he’s the guitarist for God Forbid. You can read the interview here.

On a side note the top picture was taken back in March at B.B. Kings in NYC, while the second shot was taken in June 09 at the now defunct Kobetasonik Festival in Bilbao Spain.

As voted by the listeners of Fusion Sonica and Mars Attacks:

Best Track of 2009 – Megadeth – 1,320′

Top 15 Albums of 2009

1. Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
2. Mastodon – Crack The Skye
3. Dream Theater – Black Clouds & Silver Linings
4. Megadeth – Endgame
5. Deathklok – Dethalbum II
6. Rammstein – Liebe ist fur alle da
7. Ace Frehley – Anomoly
8. Black Crows – Before The Frost…
9. Cannibal Corpse – Evisceration Plague
10. Converge – Axe To Fall
11. Heaven and Hell – The Devil You Know
12. Lamb of God – Wrath
13. Muse – The Resistance
14. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
15. Baroness – The Blue Record

Best albums of 2009 in my opinion:

1. Mastodon – Crack The Skye
2. Baroness – The Blue Record
3. Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue
4. Ace Frehley – Anomoly
5. The Crooked Vultures – S/T
6. Megadeth – Endgame
7. The Devin Townsend Band – Addicted
8. Heaven and Hell – The Devil You Know
9. Dream Theater – Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10. God Forbid – Earthblood

11. Lamb of God – Wrath
12. Warrior Soul – Chinese Democracy
13. City of Fire – S/T
14. Ripper Owens – Play My Game
15. Street Sweeper Social Club – S/T
16. Snail – Blood
17. Slayer – World Painted Blood
18. Autumn Hour – Dethroned
19. New Keepers Of The Water Tower – Chronicles
20. Swashbuckle – Cruise Ship Terror
21. Arkaea – Years Of Darkness
22. Throwdown – Deathless
23. Steel Panther – Feel The Steel
24. Seventh Void – S/T
25. Municipal Waste – Massive Aggressive
26. High Spirits – S/T
27. Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us (Death Unites Us)
28. Kittie – Into The Black
29. Struck By Lightning – Serpents
30. Kiss – Sonic Boom
31. Lacuna Coil – Shadow Life
32. Mob Research – Holy City Zoo
33. Shadows Fall – Retribution
34. Austrian Death Machine – Double Brutal
35. Divine Heresy – Bringer Of Plagues
36. Kreator – Hordes Of Chaos
37. Marilyn Manson – The High End Of The Low
38. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder
39. The Agonist – Lullabies For The Dormant Mind
40. Immortal – All Shall Fall

Non-Metal

1. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight Franz Ferdinand
2. U2 – No Line On The Horizon
3. Wolfmother – Comic Egg
4. Pearl Jam – Back Spacer
5. Muse – The Resistance

Best albums in 2009 recorded by national groups from here in Spain:

1. Wayne – The Moon Effect
2. Hell’s Fire – Eleven Roads To Hell
3. Aloud – Regeneracion
4. Guldin – Moralia
5. Blood – Seppuku

Best tracks of the year in my opinion:

1. Mastodon – Divinations
2. Lamb Of God – In Your Words
3. God Forbid – Empire Of The Gun
4. New Keepers Of The Water Tower – Pursuit of Yeti
5. Ace – Sister

6. Seventh Void – Closing In
7. Fear Factory – Power Shifter
8. Megadeth – This Day We Fight
9. The Devin Townsend Band – Addicted
10. Mastondon – Oblivion

11. Them Crooked Vultures – Scumbag Blues
12. Alice In Chains – Check My Brain
13. Killswitch Engage – The Reckoning
14. Baroness – Swollen and Halo
15. Warrior Soul – The Fourth Reich
16. Lamb Of God – Fake Messiah
17. City Of Fire – Carve Your Name
18. Megadeth – 1,230
19. Municipal Waste – Mech-cannible

20. Snail – Mental Models
21. Ace – Too Many Faces
22. Devin Townsend – Supercrush!
23. Dream Theater – A Rite Of Passage
24. The Company Band – Spellbinder
25. Shrinebuilder – Science of Anger
26. Baroness – A Horse Called Golgotha
27. Street Sweeper Social Club – Promenade
28. Heaven and Hell – Neverwhere
29. Marilyn Manson – I Have To Look Up To See Hell
30. Alice In Chains – Your Decision

31. God Forbid – War Of Attrition
32. Them Crooked Vultures – No One Loves Me Like I Do
33. Swashbuckle – Scurvy Back
34. Trivium – Down From The Sky
35. Autum Hour – Techcceleration
36. Slayer – Americon
37. Sepultura – We’ve Lost You
38. Alice In Chains – Last Of My Kind
39. City Of Fire – Gravity

40. Snail – Sleep
41. Danzig – Thirteen
42. Austrian Death Machine – In Need Your Cloths, Your Boots, Your Motorcycle
43. Chevelle – Sleep Apnea
44. New Keepers Of The Water Tower – Rise Of The Lizard King
45. Devin Townsen – Awake!
46. Megadeth – 44 Minutes
47. Ripper Owens – Death Race
48. Alice In Chains – All Secrets Known
49. God Forbid – Walk Alone

50. Immortal – Rise Of Darkness
51. Mushroom Head – Your Soul Is Mine
52. Slayer – World Painted Blood
53. God Forbid – Stockholm Syndrome
54. Hatebreed – Ever Lasting Scar
55. Slipknot – Psycho Social
56. Bruce Kulick – No Friend Of Mine
57. Shadows Fall – Still I Rise
58. Them Crooked Vultures – Gunman
59. Echos Of Empires – Ten Swords

60. Steel Panther – The Shocker
61. Otep – Rise, Rebel, Resist
62. Wayne – Till Death Do Us Part
63. Alexis On Fire – Young Cardinals
64. Alice In Chains – Acid Buble
65. Street Sweeper Social Club – The Oath
66. Lacuna Coil – I Survive
67. Cycle Of Pain – Dead Man Walking
68. New Keepers Of The Water Tower – The Three Headed Cow
69. Mob Research – Tribe

70. Kiss – Say Yeah
71. Shadows Fall – King Nothing
72. CKY – Hellions On Parade
73. Dream Theater – The Shattered Fortress
74. Killswitch Engage – Never Again
75. Keator – Hordes Of Chaos
76. Halford – Get Into The Spirit
77. Living Colour – Ass Hole
78. Mastodon – The Last Baron
79. Heaven And Hell – Eating The Cannibal

80. Ray West – No State Of Grace
81. Seventh Void – Heaven Is Gone
82. Slipknot – Sulfer
83. Static-X – Lunatic
84. Sylosis – After Lifeless Years
85. Arkaea – Locust
86. Baroness – War, Wisdom and Rhyme
87. Warrior Soul – She’s Glaswegian
88. Lamb Of God – Set To Fail
89. Yngwie Malesteen – Live To Fight
90. Megadeth – Headcrusher

91. Arkaea – Beneath The Shades Of Grey
92. Throwdown – The Scythe
93. Swashbuckle – Cruiseship Terror
94. Lazarus A.D. – Last Breath
95. Marilyn Manson – We’re From America
96. Heaven & Hell – Bible Black
97. Ace Frehley – Outerspace
98. Chimaira – Frozen In Time
99. Satyricon – Black Crow On A Tombstone

100. Mastodon – The Czar
101. Municipal Waste – Wrong Answer
102. The Agonist – Thank You, Pain
103. ZO2 – Painted Lady
104. Believer – The Brave
105. Otep – Smash The Control Machine
106. Divine Heresy – Facebreaker
107. Leeches Of Lore – I Am The Raptor
108. Arkaea – Years In Darkness
109. The Agonist – Waiting Out The Winter

110. Anvil – Bombs Away
111. Rammstein – Rammlied
112. Evile – Now Demolition
113. Them Croocked Vultures – New Fang
114. Devin Towsend – Disruptr
115. Red Fang – Prehistoric Dog
116. Throwdown – Tombs
117. Struck By Lightning – The Watchful Eye
118. Paradise Lost – Universal Dream
119. Ace Frehley – Pain In The Neck

120. The Elite – Kill The Sun
121. Immortal – All Shall Fall
122. Freakshow – Everyone
123. Masters Of Reality – King Richard THL
124. Dream Theater – A Nightmare To Remember
125. Devil Driver – Pray For Villains
126. Devin Townsend – The Universe In A Ball!
127. Heaven & Hell – Eating The Cannibal
128. Killswitch Engage – Starting Over
129. Alice In Chains – A Looking In View

130. Lamb Of God – Contractor
131. Motley Crue – Saints Of Los Angeles
132. Queensryche – Silver
133. Satyricon – Wolfpack
134. Street Sweep Social Club – The Oath
135. Sepultura – What I Do
136. New Keepers Of The Water Tower – The Strafing Lobster
137. Slipknot – Butcherhook
138. Snail – Via
139. Kiss – Modern Day Delilah

140. Them Crooked Vultures – Mind Eraser, No Chaser
141. Trivium – Into The Mouth Of Hell We March
142. Leeches Of Lore – Black Cognac
143. Warrior Soul – Don’t Believe
144. Steel Panther – Eyes Of The Panther
145. Queensryche – Man Down!
146. Black Pyramid – Mirror Messiah
147. Kiss – All For The Glory
148. Motley Crue – Mother Fucker Of The Year
149. Autumn Hour – End User

150. Heaven & Hell – Atom & Evil
151. Autumn Hour – Everyday
152. Ripper Owens – Believe
153. Ace Frehley – Foxy & Free
154. Amorphis – Silver Bride
155. Cycle Of Pain – Cycle Of Pain
156. Dream Theater – The Best Of Times
157. Kreator – War Curse
158. Lacuna Coil – Spellbound
159. Marilyn Manson – Four Rusted Horses

160. Megadeth – Endgame
161. Mob Research – Wambulance
162. Seventh Void – Slow Decent
163. Austrian Death Machine – Gotta Go
164. Cave In – Retina Sees Rewind
165. Chevelle – Jars
166. Chimaira – Coming Alive
167. Divine Heresy – Bringer of Plagues
168. Gallows – Crucifucks
169. Ripper Owens – Pick Yourself Up
170. Sirenia – Path To Decay

New all music episode of Mars Attacks including a mini-tribute to Dimebag Darrel, and Dio. A few cover songs, some obscure tracks, a do over if you will, and a new song from an old union!

Groups features are:

Faith No More – The Cowboy Song
The Cult – Wild Flower
City of Fire – Gravity
Fear Factory – Power Shifter
Black Sabbath – Country Girl
Dog Eat Dog – Games
Heathen – Kill The King
Sacred Reich W/ Rob Halford – Rapid Fire
Armored Saint – March Of The Saint 2009
Anthrax – Killing Box
Pantera – Becoming
Bruce Kulick – No Friend Of Mine

Behind my banter you will hear:

Marilyn Manson – I Have To Look Up To See Hell
The Devin Townsend Project – Super Crush
H.I.M. – Heart Killer
Killing Bird – Beat The Bullet
Racer X – Heart Of A Lion
The Almighty – Jonestown Mind
Life Of Agony – River Runs Red
Van Halen – Dirty Movies
God Forbid – Stockholm Syndrome
Ace Frehley – Pain In The Neck
Hell’s Fire – Devil’s Ground

The following items are discussed during the episode:

The Real Thing, Live At Brixton Academy, Electric, AC/DC, Sonic Temple, Rick Rubin, Arkaea, Divine Heresy, Burton C. Bell, Byron Stroud, Transgression, Archetype, Gene Hogland, Dio, Live At Hammersmith Odean, Black Sabbath The Dio Years, Rainbow, John Bush, Bushthrax, Dimebag Darrell, Steve Vai, Phil Anselmo, John Carpenter, Ghost Of Mars, Floods, Guitar World, Rebel Meets Rebel, Damageplan, Tres Diablos, John Corabi, Union, Motley Crue, The Scream, Ratt

The review I have put together is based upon three albums that have been released over the course of the last few months. All of these albums pertain to the Fear Factory family tree. As most of you know there is a soap opera going on right now regarding who controls the name of the band. In the meantime, all of the current/pervious members (depending on which faction you speak to) have recently released albums. For Dino Cazeres (original guitarist) this is his second outing with his band Divine Heresy, while Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers debut with Arkea. Not to be outdone, Burton C. Bell, and touring bass player Byran Stroud have released City Of Fire, dedicated to the city of Vancouver, B.C. Before delving into each album, let me state that no one has reinvented the wheel here, nor did they have to. When listening to each album, you can definitely feel each members influence.

The first album to be released was Arkaea’s Years In Darkness. There is no doubt in my mind that this album was supposed to be a Fear Factory release. Out of the three it is by far the closest to the authentic Fear Factory sound we have all come to know. Raymond and Christian’s signature playing is all over this, all be it that the latter is borrowing heavily from Dino’s style. Joining them in this endeavor is Pat Kavanagh on bass (Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne was rumored for some time, imagine what could have been), and Jon Howard of Threat Signal, a band Christian had previously produced. Howard’s vocals took me a bit of getting used to, as on this album he is a mix between a Burton C. Bell-lite, and Chester Bennington-lite. That said, I really started digging the album after listening to it a few times. The album has quite a few standout tracks in my opinion. It varies from being strait up Fear Factoryesque metal with tracks like Locust, Beneath The Shades of Grey, Years In Darkness, Awakening, and Black Ocean. Tracks that could have been on Transgression like My Redemption, and Break the Silence, this last track includes your classic Fear Factory keyboards. While you also have a “radio friendly” track Gone Tomorrow which is in the vein of Dark Bodies off of Digimortal. This song actually has more of a pop edge to it. War Within however has a riff that sounds eerily like Dino’s work in Divine Heresy. All in all this is pretty solid album, and is better than the last two studio albums they put out as Fear Factory. There are very few throw away spots. What is this album missing? Burton’s vocals and Dino’s song writing. The vocals are too thin at times.

The next album to come out was Divine Heresy’s Bringer of Plagues. As mentioned above, this is Dino’s second time at bat with this band. This time around they have a new singer in Travis Neal, and an official bass player Joe Payne. The drummer continues to be the super-heavy weight Tim Yeung. This album is very much along the lines of the Bleed the Fifth, their first album. It also has a bunch of solid tracks, but isn’t in my opinion as complete as their previous album, or the ones released by Arkaea or City of Fire. Dino seems to get lost in the musical Olympics he has put together. He is doing everything he can to outshine his former band mates, and in the process sacrificing his song writing style. With Bleed the Fifth you had the sonic beat down you’re accustomed to receiving from Dino, but out of nowhere the melody would hit you with tracks like Impossible is Nothing, or Closure. The songs Bleed the Fifth, and Failed Creation dipped into death metal, and the latter brings the melody/riffing Dino is known for to the forefront. Onto Bringer of Plagues, what will come as a shock to no one, Dino’s playing and song writing is what sticks out on this album. His playing is as expected, a mix between the previous album, and his tenure in Fear Factory. Standout tracks are all very strong, including Facebreaker , the Battle of J Casey, Redefine, Darkness Embedded and The End Begins. The rest of the songs suffer from the musical Olympics I alluded to earlier. What’s missing from this album? The vocals are stronger than the Arkaea album, but the song writing isn’t as focused. Perhaps it’s the lack of input from the other members; after all it is Dino’s project. Some of the songs sound alike with their mix of 16th, and 32nd notes a slight breakdown, and some clear melodic vocals to wrap things up. That said Dino still has a habit of pulling out a giant riff from out of nowhere that levels you, and reminds you why you started listening to his playing in the first place.

Finally we have City of Fire, formed in Vancouver, with Burton, and Byron the ex-Strapping Young Lad bass player that came into the Fear Factory fold when Christian switched over from bass to play guitar. Accompanying them are Ian White and Terry “Sho” Murray on guitar, and Bob Wagner on drums. The album starts out with Fear Factory like keyboards and an atypical drumming style to what people have become used to hearing from Raymond and Tim. As the album progresses you come to find a completely different guitar style canvassing these tracks as well. Gone for the most part are the 16th and 32nd notes alluded to with the other two albums. They are replaced at times with Billy Duffy like riffs, while also mixing in with the atmospheric influence of Bauhaus. That said, Burton’s vocals shine throughout this album. Where the previous two singers were good to adequate, Burton smashes all of the songs. I also like the fact that the album is very heavy, and doesn’t stay in a realm you’d think these players are comfortable with. They ventures out and experiments, which is great, but at times is also a detriment. Strong tracks include the opener Carve Your Name, which sounds somewhat like what you’d expect from Burton. This is followed by Gravity which is a mix between Jane’s Addiction like bass line, and Beyond Good and Evil era The Cult guitar riffage. Rising continues this line and incorporates acoustic guitars. Other stand out tracks are Spirit Guide, Coitus Interruptus, the Ministry influenced Hanya. Other tracks are just one long ambient affair after another, making it difficult to distinguish between the tracks at times. The album wraps up with a cover of The Cult’s Rain. What’s missing with this album, lack of direction which someone like Dino could add to some of these tracks. But I honestly don’t miss the machine gun like stylings of Raymond/Tim or Dino/Christian as what is presented on the album is different, and equally good. Bob Wagner does a good job in remaining very dynamic, without having to be a clone of any of the other drummers mentioned. This is why the heavier songs give both of the other albums a run for their money.

I can’t help but thinking what culling together the best songs from each album and having them recorded by the original members of the band might have produced? Raymond has talked about wanting to write/record with the guitar tandem of Dino, and Christian, but while this ever take place? Neither has recorded with a second guitarist, would dual guitars mesh within the textures of a Fear Factory song? What while happen when the legal issues shake out between everyone involved? Will we ever get to hear the “new” Fear Factory with Dino, Burton, Byron, and Gene Hogland? Will we ever see the original band put their issues to the side for the sake of their fans/music? Or will we see the splintering we’ve all seen with Sepultura, and Soundgarden and their respective wives/managers? I guess we’ll have to continue to tune into this soap opera to find out!