Megadeth Needs A New Drummer, We Have A Suggestion

So in some surprising news Shawn Drover, the drummer for Megadeth for the last 10 years has quit the band.

With the band planning to record in early 2015 it makes sense that they are on the look out for a new drummer, we have a suggestion:


Mike Sankari is tossing his hat in the ring and as a kick ass drummer we would be stoked for Dave Mustaine to give him a shot.

Mike is a friend who is instrumental in Gotham Rocks and a bad ass skin slammer as well. Hopefully the metal magicians are buying into him. Rust In Peace!

Soulfly -Enslaved Album Review

Hey All,

Got a new review up over on Gotham Rocks

Read it right C'here!!!!

It is of Soulfly's newest release Enslaved.

While my friends over at Gotham Rocks have been exposing me to new more mainstream "Hard Rock" acts, I have been a fan of Max since his earliest recordings.  Granted I never got on the Soulfly train, but early Sepultura (especially Arise) were vital in my love for thrash metal.  

I will never forget the looks on other teams faces in high school when we warmed up to "Arise" and "Dead Embryonic Cells", no idea how to react. 

While this record isn't up to those heights, it certainly brings back a level of real metal, and goes into straight death metal territory at points.  It is heavy as fuck and if you are into that sort of thing, or like me was a fan of Max back in the day give this one a listen.  You can buy it here, catch the band live here and check out some samples below:

My favorite song on the album "Plata o Plomo"


"World Scum"
  

Album Review: Halestorm The Strange Case Of...

Hey all,

Got a new review up over on Gotham Rocks

Give it a Read Right C'here!!!!

It is of the new Halestorm disk The Strange Case of...

This right here is a group that is looking to break into mass worldwide appeal with some blatant pop tracks surround by some hard rock. 

Front woman Lzzy Hale (see where he band name comes from now?) dominates everything and with reason as she is a very marketable frontwoman who has a legit voice.  Lyrically things seem middle of the road, with moderate gender switching and bitch acting as a provocative word, I guess, but the musicianship and craft is cool.  Brother Arejay seems to ham it up along with sis in the first video released for the track "Love Bites (And So Do I)" below.

Here is where you can get the album and check some videos below.

"Love Bites (And So Do I)" The hardest song on the disk-


"All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" Heart cover from the EP I mentioned in the review:
  

Shinedown - Amaryllis Review

Hey all,

Got a new review up on Gotham Rocks.

Check it out Right C'here!!!

The people over at Gotham Rocks are focusing on the Hard Rock vein of music and Shinedown, fits that bill.

One of the fun things about reviewing albums is that it gets you to listen to things that you may never have checked out and Shinedown fits that bill as well, RtBE would have skipped over them, but it is fun to be able to give a listen to things out of your wheel house.

Give a few tracks a listen below and feel free to grab the album here.  

"Bully"

 
"Unity"

Flying Colors Self-Titled Review

Hey all,

Give it a read right c'here!!!!

It is exciting that my first review over at Gotham Rocks has been posted.

It is of Flying Colors Self-Titled first release.  This is Prog-Rock royalty that is going to try to make a play for mainstream audiences (whatever mainstream audiences are these days I guess) with a very poppy front lead vocalist.

This isn't the worst move as Prog fans have always liked layered and soaring vocals, so things won't be that weird for long time Dream Theater fans but Casey McPherson definitely brings a Adult AM vibe in the Train sort of way to some of the more pop tunes here.  ("Kayla", "The Storm").

Certainly worth a listen if you are into any of the players here (who are all extremely talented) or the style of tunes.  Don't be surprised to hear one of these tracks in a commercial or Rom-Com in the next year either...

As for Gotham Rocks themselves, it is a an all around music website/PR company that a friend of mine has been running for a few years now.  Their focus is pretty much locked into the hard rock/heavy metal side of things so if that is your taste keep a close eye on them, especially if you live in NYC.  RtBE are happy to support Gotham Rocks with reviews and anything else, so stay tuned for more collaboration.

Flying Colors is pretty tight on the youtube clips, so peep this Drum Cam video available from Mike Portnoy regarding the songs, and you get a sample of a few of them in there: