Artist: Austrian Death Machine
Title: “Jingle All The Way”
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 12/19/2011
Genre: Death Metal/Comedy Metal
Rating: 2.5/5
Just when you thought it was safe to do your holiday shopping it would seem that Tim Lambesis and Ahnold were back and ready to give you another slap in the chops as only their Austrian Death Machine project can. Their two new songs are done with the Christmas season in mind and offer homage to the 1996 comedy film “Jingle All The Way” (hence the title); If for some reason you don’t recall the film based on your age group, well it starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad who played the part of two dads hunting for a last minute Christmas present for their respective sons. A “Turbo Man” action figure. The hijinks and catch phrases in the film are played out in these two songs. The third track originally hails from the bands “Double Brootal” album and pokes a little fun at the guttural growling that is prevalent in most Death Metal bands.
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Artist: Black Label Society
Title: “Glorious Christmas Songs That Will Make Your Black Label Heart Feel Good”
Label: E1 Music
Release Date: 11/1/2011
Genre: Holiday Music
Rating: 4/5
After listening to the both the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Twisted Sister offerings in terms of my heavy Holiday fare, I had to admit that I was not sure what to expect from Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society when I learned that they would be doing a Christmas themed release of their own. Truth be told this is more of an EP as it only runs for three tunes but at the end of the day it really showcases some nice playing by Zakk and when it’s all added up it’s some truly charming stuff. Yep, the Black Label Society main Berzerker seems to have a softer side to him and one that really manages to warm the holiday hearts with these three tunes. He begins with the classic “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and with Sister doing this I had wondered just how different a BLS take might come out. The answer is simple – very, very different as all of these tunes are instrumental tracks and Zakk opts to let his guitar do the singing. Having heard Zakk sing with regular BLS stuff and his acoustic releases I had to say that this surprised me since when he wants to do it, he has a very pleasant vocal register. Just listen to him on tunes like “In This River” if you need a quick idea of what I mean.
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Where Heavy Music & Pop Culture Collide
