Browsing all articles in 2007: Year In Review.

Queen, KISS Performances From American Idol Season Finale

To tack onto our blurb from earlier, both QUEEN and KISS made appearances on last night’s season finale of American Idol. You can check out the performances below:

SMN April Fools Day 2009

Our news for April 1 was slightly lacking, mainly because all our efforts were shunted towards the fantastic April Fools Day page that we scripted up. See all the “news” you missed out on, some hot pics, and the actual page itself here.

2009 rolls on “all in the name of love”…

The Amenta Confirmed for Against the Grain Festival

THE AMENTA, who recently returned home to Australia after a European tour, has announced their participation in Against The Grain Festival:

September 19 – Adelaide, Australia @ Fowlers Live

THE AMENTA are preparing to bring their noise to Australia with the Industrial Corruption Tour, teaming up with old friends THE BERZERKER…that tour kicks off on March 19. Look at those dates here.

Bonded By Blood Hitting The Road on “Masters of Disaster” Tour

Pomona, CA thrash phenoms, BONDED BY BLOOD are hitting the road starting this Friday for their first full national tour with Exmortus and Witchaven.

Tour dates for the “Masters of Disaster” tour:

March 6 – Las Vegas NV @ The 4 Aces
March 7 – Phoenix AZ @ The Sets
March 9 – Tucson AZ @ Vaudville
March 10 – Las Cruces NM @ El Patio
March 11 – Lubbock TX @ Jakes Backroom
March 12 – Oklahoma city OK @ Conservatory
March 13 – Dallas TX @ Renos Chop Shop
March 14 – San Antonio TX @ The Warhol
March 15 – Jackson MS @  Bomb Shelter
March 17 – St. Petersburg FL @  State Theatre
March 18 – Ft. Myers FL @ Rockstarz
March 20 – Winterpark FL @ The Haven
March 22 – Sheffield AL @ Muscle Shoals
March 24 – Raleigh NC @ Volume 11
March 26 – Danville VA @ Plan B
March 27 – Allentown PA @ Sterling Hotel
March 29 – Boston MA @ The Metal Hall
March 30 – Syracuse NY @ Lost Horizon
March 31 – Cleveland OH @ Now Thats Class
April 1 – Bay City MI @ Indian Barrys
April 2 – Detroit MI @ Blondies
April 3 – Fort Wayne IN @ Miss Q’s
April 4 – Aurora IL @ Dougs Rock House
April 7 – Des Moines IA @ Vaudville Mews
April 8 – Kansas City MO @ Riot Room
April 9 – Lincoln Nebraska @  Knickerbocker
April 10 – Denver CO @ Moes BBQ
April 11 – Billings MT @ FOE
April 15 – Boise ID @ Gustos
April 16 – Seattle WA @ King Cobra
April 17 – Portland OR @ Satyricon
April 18 – Medford OR @ Musichead
April 20 – Daly City CA @ Route92
April 22 – Fresno CA @  The Exit
April 24 – San Jose CA @  West Valley College
April 25 – San Francisco CA @ Thee Parkside
May 1 – Hollywood CA @ The Knitting Factory “Thrasho De Mayo IV” w/Exumer

SMNnews Top 5 Fan Voted Albums of 2007 Results

The Top 5 fan-voted albums of the year on SMNnews were as follows:

1. BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME – Colors (September 18, 2007 ; Victory Records)
2. DARKEST HOUR – Deliver Us (July 9, 2007; Victory Records)
3. MACHINE HEAD - The Blackening (March 26, 2007; Roadrunner Records)
4. NEUROSIS - Given to the Rising (May 22, 2007; Neurot Records)
5. HORSE the Band – A Natural Death (August 28, 2007; KOCH Records)

A big thank you to all who voted and supported SMNnews in `07 – here’s to a bigger and better 2008!

SMNnews Staff Picks For Best Albums of 2007

Boss:

1. 3 Inches of Blood – Fire Up the Blades
2. Led Zeppelin – Mothership
3. Down – Over the Under
4. Timbaland – Shock Value
5. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
6. Darkest Hour – Deliver Us
7. Throwdown – Venom and Tears
8. Between The Buried And Me – Colors
9. A Perfect Murder – War of Aggression
10. Stereophonics – Pull the Pin

Underling:

1. Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
2. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
3. El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
4. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – In Glorious Times
5. Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
6. Clutch – From Beale Street To Oblivion
7. Behold…The Arctopus – Skullgrid
8. Blotted Science – The Machinations of Dementia
9. Melt-Banana – Bambi’s Dilemma
10. Odious Mortem – Cryptic Implosion

Philip Anselmo, Mike Williams, Dez Fafara, Scott Vogel Reveal Top Albums of 2007

Dez Fafara (Vocals) – Devildriver

1. Down – III: Over the Under
2. Dax Riggs – We Sing of Only Blood or Love
3. Tony Joe White – Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings
4. Amon Amarth – With Oden On Our Side (2006)
5. Dethklok – The Dethalbum

Philip Anselmo (Vocals) – Down
(in no particular order)

1. Bad Brains – Build A Nation
2. The Sursiks – I Didn’t Know I Was Singing
3. Terra Diablo – Deluge Songs
4. Darkthrone – F.O.A.D.
5. Down – III: Over The Under

Mike IX Williams (Vocals) – EyeHateGod

1. Dark Throne – F.O.A.D. EP /N.W.O.B.H.M. LP
2. Watain – Sworn To The Dark
3. Black Tusk – The Fallen Kingdom
4. Hail! Hornet – Hail! Hornet
5. Severe Torture – Sworn Vengeance

Scott Vogel (Vocals) – Terror

1. Death Before Dishonor – Count Me In
2. Sean Price – Jesus Price Superstar
3. Behemoth – The Apostasy
4. Madball – Infiltrate the System
5. Bitter End – Climate of Fear

Dead to Fall, Ghost Machine, Between the Buried and Me, The Funeral Pyre, Infernaeon, Scale the Summit, Across Five Aprils, and More Reveal Top Albums of 2007

Christopher Binns (ex-Motograter, Drums) – Ghost Machine

1. Ken Andrews – Secrets Of The Lost
2. Satellite Emigrate – Emigrate
3. Alter Bridge – Blackbird
4. Katatonia -  Live Consternation
5. Soilwork – Sworn To A Great Divide

Jim Davies (ex-Prodigy, Pitchshifter) – Victory Pill

1. NIN – Year Zero
2. Saul williams – The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
3. Underworld – Oblivion with Bells
4. Dave Gahan – Hourglass
5. Victory Pill – Victory Pill

Vincent Bennett (vocals) – The Acacia Strain

1. Cockpunch! – Attack
2. Ringworm – Venomous Grand Design
3. Despised Icon – The Ills of Modern Man
4. Ghostface and MF Doom – Swift and Changable
5. Shipwreck A.D. – Abyss

Chris Letchford (guitars) – Scale The Summit

1. Blotted Science – The Machinations Of Dementia
2. Between The Buried And Me – Colors
3. Cephalic Carnage – Xenosapien
4. Animosity – Animal
5. 3 – The End Is Begun

Brian Werner (vocals) – Infernaeon

1. King Diamond – Give Me Your Soul…Please
2. Dethklok – The Dethalbum
3. Dimmu Borgir – In Sorti Diaboli
4. Sons of Azreal – The Conjuration of Vengence
5. Malevolent Creation – Doomsday X

John (vocals) – The Funeral Pyre

1. Trap Them “Sleepwell Deconstructor”
2. Swall The Sun “Hope”
3. Oakhelm “Betwixt and Between
4. Deathspell Omega “Fas…”
5. Watain “Sworn To The Dark”

Brandon Mullins (Vocals) – Across Five Aprils

1. Posion the Well – Versions
2. As Cities Burn – Come Now Sleep
3. Rihanna – Good Girl Gone Bad
4. The Warriors – Genuine Sense of Outrage
5. Blonde Redhead – 23

Josh Dycus (Bass) – Across Five Aprils

1. Blonde Redhead – 23
2. Poison the Well – Versions
3. Coliseum – No Salvation
4. Pelican – City of Echoes
5. These Arms Are Snakes – Easter

Farewell to Freeway (band)

1. Means – Sending You Strength
2. Shotgun Rules – Fugitives and Refugees
3. Every Bridge Burned – Aun Aprendo
4. Arise and Ruin – The Final Dawn
5. Emmure -Goodbye to the Gallows

Tommy Rogers (Vocals) – Between the Buried and Me

1. The Avett Brother – Emotionalism
2. Silverchair – Young Modern
3. Radiohead – In Rainbows
4. Devin Townsend – Ziltoid The Omniscient
5. Ulver – Shadows of the Sun

Ben Lionetti (Guitar) – Emmure

1. Killswitch Engage – As Daylight Dies
2. It Dies Today - Sirens
3. BTBAM- Colors
4. A Day to Remember – For Those Who Have Heart
5. Misery Signals – Mirrors

Chad Fjerstad (Bass) – Dead to Fall

    1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
2. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
3. Circa Survive – On Letting Go
4. Blonde Redhead – 23
5. Ion Dissonance – Minus the Herd

The Autumn Offering, On A Pale Horse, RE:Ignition, SOiL, FBTMOF, (HED) P.E., Light this City, Wolf, Year of Desolation Reveal Top Albums of 2007

Josh Brainard (Guitars, ex-Slipknot) – On A Pale Horse

1. Clutch – From Beale Street to Oblivion
2. Foo Fighters -  Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
3. Machine Head – The Blackening
4. Down -  Over the Under
5. The Sword – Age of Winters

Jahred Shane (vocals) – (HED) P.E.

1.   Jay Z – American Gangster
2.   ICP – The Tempest
3.   REFUSED – The Shape of Punk To Come
4.   Tech N9ne – Misery Love Kompany
5.   hedpe – Insomnia

Ben Murray (Drummer) - Light This City

1. A Wilhelm Scream – Career Suicide
2. The Flatliners – The Great Awake
3. Behemoth – The Apostasy
4. Strung Out – Blackhawks Over Los Angeles
5. 3 – The End is Begun

Johannes Losback (Guitar) – Wolf

1. Beyond Fear – Beyond Fear
2. Haunted – The Dead Eye
3. Devin Townsend Band – Synchestra
4. Trivium – The Crusade
5. Slayer – Christ Illusion

Aaron Peltz (ex-down.the.sun, Vocals) – On A Pale Horse

1. Machine Head – The Blackening
2. Exodus – Atrocity Exhibition (Exhibit A)
3. Down – Over the Under
4. Middian – Age Eternal
5. High On Fire – Death is this Communion

Chad Zimmerman (Vocals) – Year of Desolation

1. Skeletonwitch – Beyond The Permafrost
2. Baroness – Red Album
3. Coliseum – No Salvation
4. Municipal Waste – The Art of Partying
5. Cephalic Carnage – Xenosapian

Steev Esquivel (Vocals) – Re:Ignition, Skinlab

1. Machine Head – The Blackening
2. Devildriver – The last kind words
3. Divine Heresy – Bleed the fifth
4. Dirge – 2007 Demo’s
5. Exodus – The Atrocity Exhibition… Exhibit A.

Norman Matthews (Vocals) – Never 3nough

1. Dave Gahan – Hourglass
2. Nine Inch Nails – YEAR 2000
3. Blaqk Audio – cEX cELLS
4. Butch Walker  – Letters
5. Vast – April

Matt McChesney (Vocals) – The Autumn Offering

1. Down III – Over The Under
2. Jesu- Conqueror
3. Machine Head- The Blackening
4. Pig Destroyer -Phantom Limb
5. The Autumn Offering- Fear Will Cast no Shadow

Adam Rupert Fisher (Guitars/Vocals) – Fear Before the March of Flames

    1. 65 Days of Static – The Destruction of Small Ideas
2. portugal.the man – Church Mouth
3. Silverchair – Young Modern
4. NIN – Year Zero
5. BTBAM – Colors

Billy Bottom (Vocals) – Nights Like These

    1. Neurosis – Given To The Rising
2. Radiohead – In Rainbows
3. Queens of the Stoneage – Era Vulgaris
4. Minus the Bear – Planet of Ice
5. Down – III: Over the Under

Tim King (Bass) – SOiL

1. Sixx AM - The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack
2. Adema - Kill the headlights
3. Static X - Cannibal
4. The Autumn Offering – Fear Will Cast No Shadow
5. Ozzy Osbourne – Black Rain

Joey Eppard (Vocals) – 3

1. Kiss Kiss – Reality vs. the Optimist
2. Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
3. The Dear Hunter – Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading:
4. Radiohead – In Rainbows
5. Amber Leigh – Reckless

The Red Chord, Cephalic Carnage, Impaled, Behold…The Arctopus, A Life Once Lost, Genghis Tron, Unexpect, Tub Ring, Light This City, Whitechapel, Deranged, etc. Members Reveal Favorite Albums of 2007

Mike Keller (guitar) – The Red Chord

Between The Buried And Me – Colors
Minus The Bear – Planet of Ice
Neurosis – Given To The Rising
Avett Brothers – Emotionalism
Behold…The Arctopus – Skullgrid

Gunface (guitar) – The Red Chord

Ulver – Shadows Of The Sun
Between The Buried And Me – Colors
Devin Townsend – Ziltoid The Omniscient
Bebel GIlberto – Memento
Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal

Nick Schendzielos (bass) – Cephalic Carnage

1. Car Bomb – Centralia
2. The Toys of Men – Stanley Clarke
3. Between The Buried And Me – Colors
4. Battles – Mirrored
5. The Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal

Colin Marston (Warr guitar) – Behold…The Arctopus

Time of Orchids – Namesake Caution
Martyr – Feeding the Abscess
Negativa – ep
Deathspell Omega – Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum
Octis – Neerdeth

Hamilton (guitar, programming ) – Genghis Tron

Radiohead – In Rainbows
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Is Is E.P.
Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
Big Business – Here Come The Waterworks
Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb

Ross Sewage (bass) – Impaled

5. Estuary – The Craft of Contradiction
4. Shining – V:/Halmstad
3. Greg Palast – Live from the Armed Madhouse
2. High on Fire – Death is the Communion
1. Impaled – The Last Gasp

Kevin (vocals) – Tub Ring

5. Enon – Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds
4. The Bird & The Bee – Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah
3. Justice – Cross
2. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
1. Daft Punk – Alive 2007

Blaise Borboën-Léonard (violin) – Unexpect

1. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – In Glorious Times
2. Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
3. Battles – Mirrored
4. The Bad Plus – Prog
5. Secret Chiefs 3 – Path of Most Resistance

Keith (vocals) & Sex Farm (bass) – Architect

1. Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
2. Neurosis – Giving To The Rising
3. Trap Them – Seance’ Prime
4. Engineer – The Dregs
5. Bitchmaker – Always The Bitchmaker, Never The Bitch

Santi (vocals) – Nashgul

1.Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today
2. Abscess – Horrorhammer
3. Heaven and hell – Live at Radio City Music Hall
4. Insect Warfare – World Extermination
5 . Looking for an answer – Extincion

Rikard Wermén (drums) – Deranged

1. The Dillinger Escape Plane – Ire Works
2. Clutch – From Beale Street…
3. Sworn – Enemy Maniacal
4. Death Breath – Let It Stink
5. Dinosaur JR – Beyond

Ben Savage (guitar) – Whitechapel

1. Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
2. Ion Dissonance – Minus the Herd
3. Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza – Danza II: the Electric Boogalo
4. Impending Doom – nailed.dead.risen
5. The Red Chord – Prey for Eyes

Ben Murray (drums) – Light This City

1. A Wilhelm Scream – Career Suicide
2. Behemoth – The Apostasy
3. Strung Out – Blackhawks Over Los Angeles
4. 3 – The End is Begun
5. The Flatliners – The Great Awake

Snake Sustaine (guitar) – A Life Once Lost

High On Fire – Death Is This Communion
Down – Over the Under
Ziltoid – The Omniscient
Neurosis – Given To The Rising
Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works

15 Non-Metal Albums of 2007 You Should’ve Heard

Since it’s not possible to keep up with every great album that’s released every year, we’ve compiled this list of 15 non-metal albums from 2007 that you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t check out:

Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
www.myspace.com/aesoprockwins

Battles – Mirrored
www.myspace.com/battlestheband

Björk – Volta
www.myspace.com/bjork

The Book of Knots – Traineater
www.myspace.com/thebookofknots

The Dear Hunter – Act II: The Meaning Of, & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading
www.myspace.com/thedearhunter

El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
www.myspace.com/elproducto

Holy Fuck – LP
www.myspace.com/holyfuck

Justice – †
www.myspace.com/etjusticepourtous

Melt-Banana – Bambi’s Dilemma
www.myspace.com/aza

Radiohead – In Rainbows
www.myspace.com/radiohead

Sage Francis – Human The Death Dance
www.myspace.com/sagefrancis

Saul Williams – The Inevitable Rise & Liberation of NiggyTardust!
www.myspace.com/saulwilliams

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – In Glorious Times
www.myspace.com/sleepytimegorillamuseum

Tomahawk – Anonymous
www.myspace.com/tomahawkofficial

Tub Ring – The Great Filter
www.myspace.com/tubring

Shadows Fall, Neuraxis, Dethlok, The End, Faber Drive, Thursday, Against Me! Albums of the Year

Rob Milley (guitarist) – Neuraxis

1. Megadeth – United Abominations
2. Cephalic Carnage – Xenosapien
3. Descend Into Nothingness – Empowerment of the Oppressed
4. Vengeful – Karma
5. Dying Fetus – War of Attrition

Brian Fair (vocals) – Shadows Fall

1. Explosions In The Sky – All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
2. Jesu – Conqueror
3. Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace
4. Interpol – Our Love To Admire
5. Radiohead – In Rainbows

William Murderface (bass) – Dethlok

1.   Behemoth/The Apostasy
2.   Exodus/The Atrocity Exhibition
3.   Cannibal Corpse/Kill
4.   Aeon/Rise to Dominate
5.   Vader/Impressions in Blood

Steve Pedula (guitars) – Thursday 

1. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
2. The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
3. Minus The Bear – Planet of Ice
4. Against Me – New Wave
5. Battles – Mirrored

Aaron Wolff (vocals) – The End

1. Radiohead – In Rainbows
2. Thrice – The Alchemy Index 1,2
3. Silverchair – Young Modern
4. Attack In Black – Marriage
5. Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero

Faber Drive (band)

1.  Boys Like Girls – Boys Like Girls
2.  Chris Daughtry – Daughtry
3.  Avril Lavigne – The Best Damn Thing
4.  Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
5.  Kanye West – Graduation

Against Me! (band)

1. The National – Boxer
2. Money Brother – Mount Pleasure
3. The Good, The Bad, The Queen – S/T
4. Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
5. Rumble Strips – Girls and Weather

The 10 Worst Metal Albums of 2007

After over 1,000 votes, the results are in! The following are the 10 Worst “Metal” Albums of 2007:

01. Avenged Sevenfold – Avenged Sevenfold
02. HellYeah – HellYeah
03. Waking The Cadaver – Perverse Recollections of A Necromangler
04. Otep – The Ascension
05. Job For A Cowboy – Genesis
06. Divine Heresy – Bleed The Fifth
07. Soilwork – Sworn To A Great Divide
08. Despised Icon – The Ills of Modern Man
09. Suicide Silence – The Cleansing
10. Ion Dissonance – Minus The Heard

SMN Forum Members Vote Defeated Sanity’s ‘Psalms of the Moribund’ As Metal Album of the Year

Following their controversial list of the “Top 50 Death Metal Albums” of all time, some of our forum members took the time to vote on their “Top 15 Metal Albums of 2007.” Here’s what they came up with:

01. Defeated Sanity – “Psalms of the Moribund”
02. Odious Mortem – “Cryptic Implosion”
03. Blotted Science – “The Machinations of Dementia”
04. Immolation – “Shadows In The Light”
05. Element – “Aeons Past”
06. The Black Dahlia Murder – “Nocturnal”
07. Deathspell Omega – “Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum”
08. Between The Buried And Me – “Colors”
09. Nox – “Ixaxaar
09. Disavowed – “Stagnated Existence”
11. Nile – “Ithyphallic
12. Inveracity – “Extermination of Millions”
13. Malignancy – “Inhuman Grotesqueries”
14. Dream Theater – “Systematic Chaos”
15. Down – “III: Over The Under”

If you disagree, don’t forget to vote in our year end poll for Metal Album of the Year here.