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Reggie’s Top 25 Favorite Cover Songs #5 – Cemetery Gates
Doing a cover of Cemetery Gates is a pretty bold move. It’s one of Pantera’s most cherished and most haunting songs. It is also Pantera’s longest song and was even nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998…quite a while after it was released. I am not sure how that Grammy thing works, but whatever… If you are a Pantera fan, you probably know the words to this song and refuse to skip it when it comes on. You can find Cemetery Gates on the album Cowboys From Hell (like you didn’t know) released in 1990. I remember when I first heard it, I was floored. To this day the album it still a true metal masterpiece…even the remastered version released a year or two ago is killer!
Enter the UKs Evile…one of the bands I see today as carrying on the torch of classic thrash metal. They are a band of no compromise and no frills. They are just four dudes that shred and for that I have become a loyal follower of the band. Their cover version of Cemetery Gates is spot-on. It was originally recorded on the Metal Hammer Tribute to Dimebag Darrell album released in 2010. The song was later included on Evile’s Infected Nations re-issue.
Here is the cover from Evile. This fan video features photos of Dimebag and also Mike Alexander, Evile bassist who passed in 2009.
Of course, here is the classic track from the Cowboys From Hell album. Note, this video is actually shorter than the original cut.
Theme Thursday – Pit Music
Back in the day, going to a show was priority and when we got there it was all about good friendly violent fun. The mosh pit; the epicenter of all that is angst was the place to be to let off a little steam. I remember one of my first pit experiences fondly. It was (almost positive) on August 19th 1990, at a dive club called “The Channel” in Boston, MA. I think this may have actually been my first club show. Death Angel was the headliner supporting their album Act III and opening for them was another bay area band, Forbidden. We also saw a couple of local bands – Cardinal Sin and Atomicaust. The pit was an intimidating sight to see – all that hair, sweat, and movement. People were diving off the railings; it was complete chaos…the kind I wanted to be a part of…and so I jumped in with both feet and off I went. Needless to say it was a marvelous, exciting, and bruising time, but damn I felt good…so good that I remember that show to this day down to the six other people I went with…we all crammed into a small Hyundai I think – one dude in the trunk for the hour-long trip to Boston and then back. That’s the shit we did to get to the show and get into the pit.
Video of the Week – In Memoriam
Evile has released another new video in the last couple weeks for their song In Memoriam from their album Five Serpent’s Teeth. This time, the Thrashers tone things down a bit with a somber metal song, powerful to say the least. For those of us living in or near London, Evile will be playing a FREE show on 3rd July in London at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch. There is more information at this link.
Other than that, I am keeping it short this week’s video. If you can’t catch Evile at the free show, you can catch them on a headlining tour in October throughout the UK. Have a great weekend.
Monday Metal Madness – The Art of Covertunes
Last week, Alestorm proved to be more seaworthy than their American pirate metal rivals, Swashbuckle. Congrats to the Scots for taking 80% of the votes in last week’s Monday Metal Madness.
This week, you do not need to appreciate these bands to appreciate the covers they recorded. In my opinion, they are both awesome renditions of classic metal songs although one is much older than the other. Our battle is between Machine Head covering Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden and UK newcomers Evile covering Pantera’s Cemetery Gates. Both songs are outstanding; one covered by a veteran act and one a (relative) newcomer. Only one can win. What say you?
Theme Thursday – UK Metal
After my theme on Canadian metal bands, I figure it’s time to move over to an area I currently reside in; The United Kingdom. I am sure you are well aware of the UK’s illustrious contributions in metal; therefore, I am not going to rehash some of the legends that have poured out of this region such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, or even Def Leppard. I am going to try to stay away from more well-known artists such as Cradle of Filth and Dragonforce. Before I begin my discussion about what is current on these islands, I will give a brief overview of the UK mainly for my American brothers and sisters of metal.
The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I am stationed in England where the population is about 51 million (2008 estimate). To put that into perspective, England is about the same size as the American State of Indiana. The population of Indiana is about 6.5 million and is the 15th most densely populated American State. England may be small in landmass, but is huge on international influence and culture to include heavy metal. Many consider England to be the birthplace of metal, more specifically, in Birmingham. So here we go. This is what the UK has to offer right here and now.
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Evile – Five Serpent’s Teeth – Album Review
If you can manage to lay aside Machine Head for a minute you might want to check out the new Evile album, Five Serpent’s Teeth. British thrashers have released their 3rd studio album in just about 4-years. Their first, Enter the Grave released in 2008, followed by Infected Nations in 2009.
