Eviscerated Panda – A Metal Tale
By Sarah Tipper
Kindle: U.S.
Paperback: UK
Upfront Publishing
Release date: May 21, 2012

As a huge fan of heavy metal music I’m a sucker for a “˜metal tale’. I’ve read more than my fair share of the things, but often come away from the page, eyes suitably rolled at a whole book based around a simple premise along the shaky lines of, “what story? Didn’t you see I just wrote “˜Satan’ and “˜horns’ in the same sentence? In a book!” and my faith in my metal-loving friends with an ability to use a typewriter wilts in despair. So it was with understandable caution that I approached my next book, Eviscerated Panda – A Metal Tale.

All anxieties were swiftly blown away by an imaginary Marshall stack: Hell’s Bells is this good!

Being A) British, B) a huge fan of thrash metal, and C) awesome (see A and B), I am hugely excited by this.

A History Of A Time To Come – The Story Of UK Thrash, to give it its full title, will tell the story of those great thrash bands in the UK from the genre’s inception and heyday in the 1980s to its exciting renaissance presently.

Granted, not many thrash metal bands from this little island have achieved anywhere near the level of record sales, reverence, and general arse-lickery as those from the U.S. and other parts of Europe. But that does not mean we don’t have talent, no sir.

Watch the new trailer for the doc here below.

On the heels of the movie version of the Broadway rock musical Rock of Ages arriving in theaters on June 15th, comes a FREE listen at AOL music right now of the soundtrack to the film, which features updated versions of 1980s rock and pop classics.

The biggest buzz regarding this film and the soundtrack is the musical litmus test given to one Tom Cruise, who plays the in-the-film rock and roll legend Stacie Jaxx and actually sings his own songs, many of them absolute 1980s rock and roll standards. The soundtrack album was released this week in CD and MP3 formats.

Another great deal on a live record is available on Mp3 format via Amazon for only $5.00 right now through the end of today (PST). American rocker Bob Seger rocks, rolls, and then some with his Silver Bullet Band on Live Bullet, a 1976 release showcasing the band at Detroit, Michigan’s Cobo Hall at its absolute peak.

Seger remains one of this country’s most successful blue-collar style rock singer/musicians. His gritty style has been successful for decades now. Starting in the late 1960s during that famed Detroit hard rock/early punk genre but arguably second rate to the kinetic sonic frenzies of fellow city mates like The Stooges and The MC5, Seger took an altogether different direction as the sun of the 1970s rose. Seger eventually became a hero to the rock and roll working man as the decade wore on, he became a Midwestern artist mired in sounds and heavy rock and ballad rock styles which became his stock in trade. By the 1975 Cobo Hall show, he was a sensation in Michigan, a few years later, the rest of the country would take notice.

Halestorm
The Strange Case of…
CD | MP3
Atlantic Records
Release date: April 9, 2012

It’s not often that you get the pleasure of hearing a solid hard rock band with a female lead singer. I’m not exactly sure why that is but it just is. There are exceptions, such as old school Heart, but hard rock is traditionally dominated by male singers. One modern notable exception is the band Halestorm. Halestorm successfully blends a modern sensibility of instrumentation and production with a classic 80’s hair band sensibility and tone. This is a tough fence to sit on. Most bands that try it either sound poser or they just sound like a complete throwback to that era of music, which isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. Halestorm does this and also brings us a powerhouse female lead vocal that once you hear it, you won’t forget it.