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Monday Metal Madness – Grammy Nominations 2012
Last year, for the 2011 Grammy Awards (click here for our 2011 poll), there were some cool deserving bands nominated for an award. Dream Theater received their first nomination and Mastodon and Megadeth were also nominated. However, it was Foo Fighters who swept anything and everything related to Rock/Metal. Nothing bad on them, they deserve to be awarded for their work, they are a great band. But, it’s painfully obvious that the Grammy Committee is still unable to draw the line between Rock, Hard Rock, and Metal. They need to separate these categories completely. Incidentally, A Metal State of Mind voters wanted Dream Theater to win.
Concert Review: Gods of Metal (Day 4) (Ozzy & Freinds, Opeth, Black Label Society, Lamb of God) Milan, Italy June 24, 2012
From the second I heard that one of my all-time favorite bands and fathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, were going to reunite for a tour I jumped on grabbing tickets as soon as possible. No other bands were yet announced, but man, an opportunity to see Black Sabbath in what could be their final tour, hells yeah, you can’t put a price on that. Unfortunately due to Tony Iommi’s battle with leukemia which arose after tour dates were set in the Black Sabbath show that was scheduled was canceled. Luckily Mr. Tony Iommi was able to muster up enough strength to pull of a single homecoming show in his hometown of Birmingham, England and got to get the satisfaction of having the band come full circle and land back at home. To Mr. Iommi, I say get well soon and I can’t wait till you can get the Sabbath ball rolling again.
But what about all the other shows that Black Sabbath promised to play? Well, what’s the next best thing to Black Sabbath? How about the face of the band, Mr. John Michel Osbourne, err, Ozzy! Well, I bought tickets to see Black Sabbath, I’ve already seen Ozzy God knows how many times now and Black Sabbath only twice. They tossed in Slash, Zack Wylde, and Geezer Butler, so I guess I can say I was sold on not trying for a refund on my ticket. Having Opeth on the bill too, helped a pinch 
But before I get too ahead of myself, how about a little info on what else went down that day, it was a festival after all.
Album Review- Resolution- Lamb of God
I’m guessing that Lamb of God‘s New Year’s resolution was to create the most energetic and ferocious album of their career, and going by their new album, Resolution, they have stuck to it. After a couple of pretty good, but not stellar albums after their mainstream breakthrough album Ashes in the Wake, these New Wave of American Heavy Metal pioneers seemed to be on the decline. Well, the decline they are not on anymore. Resolution not only grabs the non-believers and punches them in the face, it tackles them to the ground and then proceeds to bludgeon them into the concrete without a shred of remorse until nothing but a messy grease stain is left on the ground. The new album is a return to form and shows why LoG are one of the leading bands in the metal realm.
The Italian Date for Black Sabbath Just Got Sweeter
At the announcement of a new album and coinciding tour for a re-reunited Ozzy-era Black Sabbath didn’t get me worked up enough, the announcement that they would be playing a few metro stops away from my humble abode did. The Gods of Metal festival is hitting Milan, Italy on the 24th of June and will be held at Arena Fiera Milano. headlining is the fathers of heavy metal Black Sabbath, and now recently confirmed, are 3 killer bands, and 1 of which whom has turned this into a do-not-miss event for me. Lamb of God and Trivium, 2 bands that I quite enjoy have been added to the roster, but it’s the band under Sabbath that has got me excited for this show. Opeth will be playing right before Black Sabbath and I can not think of a more suited band for the fathers to follow.
As info on this festival pops up I’ll keep you all updated for all the metal fans who may want to take a trip to one of the most beautiful countries in the world for an awesome day of metal, pizza, and pasta.
