System of a Down reunited

System of a Down have been apart for around five years now and now the band is reuniting for some festival gigs overseas.

The big question is, will the band also get together to record a new album and will it be any good? Mesmerize was the last album released by the band I enjoyed throughout. Hypnotize didn't really impress me songwise and continued to feature too much of Daron Malakian's vocals.

Hopefully if the band gets back in the studio, Daron gets off his egotistical high horse and sticks to writing songs and backing vocals, while Serj takes over the lead work. Then I will show some interest.

I do enjoy plenty of System of a Down's back catalog, so since the is a music blog after all, I'll post a few right here.

Oh, and I'll be more interested when Faith No More announces a US reunion tour (although it would be even cooler with Jim Martin, they should at least bring him back for an encore at a few shows, a la Kiss Unplugged, and have both guitarists jamming out).

Metallica to begin writing new album in 2011?

If Lars Ulrich has anything to say about it, the band will begin writing music sometime in 2011. However, knowing the pace of Metallica, we likely won't see a new album until at least 2012 (if that).

Death Magnetic is surprisingly well written, so lets hope all these Big Four shows have reignited the flame and the band delivers at least one more album to remember them by. I haven't listened to Death Magnetic for awhile, so here's a refresher.

*Video removed, will try and put up a new one here shortly.

Manowar is at it again

Ever wonder what it sounds like to put gasoline on your balls and light it? Neither have I...

But according to bassist Joey DeMaio, that is the sound of the new Manowar album, Hammer of the Gods.

Here is the actual message from DeMaio taken from a recent official video message:

"A couple of people were wanting to know what's going on with the new album, 'Hammer Of The Gods'. Well, the truth is this: [original MANOWAR drummer] Donnie Hamzik is officially back in the band, and that changed everything for us. So all the songs that were written have been completely fucking thrown out, completely ditched — gone, never to be heard from again. The writing has changed because Donnie's back in the band and he's burning like a mad motherfucking demon on drums. So this album is gonna basically sound like I told you before — like somebody put gasoline on your fucking balls and lit it. So it'll be worth the fucking wait, 'cause when it comes, it's coming back."

Ouch. Sounds painful and like the album wouldn't be very pleasant to the ears, but say what you will, Manowar still delivers metal to its fans, even if the group is overly cheesy at times. That's just part of the charm.

The Misfits are true punk

Out of all the great classic punk bands, in my mind, The Misfits still stand at the top of them all. I can't say there is much timeliness to this post - I just haven't been able to write much in awhile and have been listening to this album lately. A total classic!

Enjoy and look out for more updates soon.