Credit: courtesy Roadrunner Records

The News Review:

- Credit: courtesy Roadrunner Records
- Don’t blame the video games
- The Curse of the Sea Dog
- Nothing quite so metal as blood
- More nerdy pop propels Fall ut Boy’s latest.
- Free the sound inside
- Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

Credit: courtesy Roadrunner Records
Gauntlet – Feb 8, 2007
Credit: courtesy Roadrunner Records Jesus’ severed head on a nun’s lap and merch that sports the words “Gilded Cunt” define the unholy Cradle of Filth. The most successful British metal band of the last 20 years (according to the only trusted source for all things metal Metal Hammer magazine) is as extreme and diverse as their fan base and damned proud of it. Call them goth metal black metal death metal heavy metal or whatever other genre comes to mind–the ever-evolving Cradle of Filth are on tour kicking ass and stirring up more shit than ever before. Their 12th major release Thornography showcases the best effort yet by the band proving to fans and foes alike that they’re just as much about the music as they are the image. Supporting their latest release with the Thornography tour the always-controversial Cradle was in shit well before the bus left. The album’s cover which features a nun with Jesus’ severed head on her lap was modified to appease censorship demands before being released to the public. “They refused to have it because the woman’s skirt was too short” explains guitarist Paul Allender… A lot of people have said ‘Why don’t you do that again?’ but we see each album as one particular part in time. We don’t want to keep repeating it. “Even more diverse than Cradle’s music is their incredibly loyal fan base willing to follow the band through any genre and likely to the gates of hell. With each album and its respective sound new minions from various metal legions are recruited. “At shows we’ve got goth kids there black metal kids there heavy metal kids there headbangers punks it’s everybody” says Allender. “Nowadays at gigs we’re starting to see a lot more of the headbangers there as well so we’re playing and kids in the front row are just headbanging to this stuff and it’s fucking amazing.

Don’t blame the video games
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Feb 8, 2007
4) Miami lawyer Jack Thompson is a moron and should be treated as such by general society. He believes not only that there is a “direct correlation between playing violent video games and instances of violence in teenage boys” but seemingly also that there hasn’t been violence before video games and metal music were created. Thompson needs to wake up and realize that violence has always been around us as part of general society. What games did the ancient Romans enjoy? I’ll give you a hint: It starts with “brutal” and usually ended with “death or dismemberment. ” This wasn’t simulated violence; it was real… And people cheered for it. What about the advent of television in the 1940s and ’50s? Many members of the baby-boomer generation have fond memories of watching Westerns and cops-and-robbers television shows as children. Shoot-outs kidnapping death all were typical fare for these shows. Yes none of it was terribly graphic especially by today’s standards with shows like “CSI” and “Law & rder. ” But how is it that these shows escape blame now and violent video games are expected to shoulder the weight of a violent America?I’m much more apt to blame loose parenting skills on the increase of violence and lack of respect for people. If violent video games are part of the equation bad parenting skills and violent video games have to go hand in hand. If parents monitored what their children played and watched and told them it was bad or flat-out censored it it wouldn’t be a problem.

The Curse of the Sea Dog
Portland Mercury – The Portland Mercury – Feb 8, 2007
“Assbring” is a very common name in Sweden. flipBook –> El Perro del Mar Sat March 10Doug Fir830 E Burnside The Rhino box set of ne Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found elbowed its way into my music collection last year and has never left. At three CDs it features unearthed gems from Cathy Saint the Rev-Lons the Honeys and tons of other ’60s-era girl bands I had never heard of. So while my inner indie kid told me to pay some attention to the new Arcade Fire or Ted Leo burning a hole through my iPod I couldn’t pry myself away from Dawn’s “I’m Afraid They’re All Talking About Me. ” I had stumbled down a rabbit hole of ’60s girl pop and couldn’t bear to listen to anything that didn’t feature all-female harmonies and a Phil Spector-ish Wall of Sound. That is until I discovered El Perro del Mar… The El Perro name comes from a vacation during which Assbring saw a dog on the beach which for some reason motivated her to return to Sweden in order to resurrect the ghosts of girl groups past. The story is a bit odd but the result of all this is her self-titled debut (licensed in the States via Seattle label The Control Group) which manages to bridge the gap between modern vocal-based pop music and the girl groups’ gilded age. Assbring calls Gothenburg home a locale known on the musical map for its contributions to death metal—and even scarier than that as the home of Ace of Base. Along with fellow Gothenburger Jens Lekman Assbring unearths a stark melancholic pop style that is as vintage as it is shiny and new. The songs of El Perro del Mar shimmer with the innocence of the classic girl-group era complete with the stylish backdrop of instruments grand arrangements and Assbring’s rich despondent voice. Her album begins with the ethereal “Candy” the record’s lone optimistic high-note which despite its name never develops into empty saccharine pop music. After that it’s all downhill for Assbring.

Nothing quite so metal as blood
Gauntlet – Feb 8, 2007
“When writing the band works together starting with a riff and developing it rather than a single songwriter dictating parts. Their influences range from Ancient Corpse to classic rock. The music is as eclectic as the fans are. Their shows bring in everything from hardcore and punk rock kids to old metal heads that haven’t been to a show in years. The music is a mix of power death and thrash metal. But Hooper says it’s just plain metal. “My father came up with [the name] which is terribly un-metal” says Hooper.

More nerdy pop propels Fall ut Boy’s latest.
Free with registration – Buffalo News – AccessMyLibrary.com – Feb 8, 2007
8–Fall ut Boy has become the KISS of its generation. In the late ’70s the Kabuki-painted glam-metal foursome split audiences down the middle. ne either loved KISS or hat.

Free the sound inside
Los Angeles Times – Feb 8, 2007
By Chris Barton Times Staff Writer February 8 2007If there were a degree-of-difficulty scale for measuring music careers Mark Linkous probably would lie at the opposite end of the spectrum from say Katharine McPhee. Since he began recording under the name Sparklehorse more than 10 years ago Linkous’ short list of challenges has included a longtime struggle with depression a drug-related accident in 1996 that briefly left him paralyzed and most recently the loss of a close friend and collaborator when House of Freaks’ Bryan Harvey was brutally murdered with his family at the start of 2006. His calf muscles destroyed as a result of lost circulation during his overdose Linkous now wears leg braces to get around but the damage from Harvey’s death still casts a dark shadow. “It was horrible” he says by phone from Austin Texas. “If it would’ve happened early on in the record I don’t know if it would’ve ever gotten finished. header-sect { background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0%; text-align:center; position:relative; top:-12px; left:52px; width:108px; }#sponsored1.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News
Worcester Telegram – Worcester Telegram – Feb 8, 2007
Dink had been condemned by the Turkish government even receiving a six-month suspended jail sentence in 2005. He speaks out in “Screamers. ” But his voice was silenced last month when he was shot to death outside his office in Turkey by a lone gunman. The Turkish government condemned the shooting but the 92-year-old genocide obviously still rattles with the sound of gunfire. “He (Dink) was talking exactly about the issues that made him a target” Garapedian said. “He knew his life was in danger. He knew he was on a hit list because he was in our film… But to actually make a film about that it felt too personal. ” That would change when she went to a System of a Down concert in 2004. “I didn’t know their music really well. What impressed me was that the fans already knew about the Armenian Genocide. That really shocked me. Most Americans don’t know about it and here is this band that’s doing it. ” The band is not only speaking out but is a multiplatinum selling outfit famous for such diverse numbers as “Holy Mountains” and “P.