Friday, February 27, 2009 A look at the world of music, from the obscure to the obscene, the new and the old New album by Lamb of God Heavy metal music has been around for quite some time. Starting with the revolutions of Metallica. Ozzy Oshourne. and Megadeath. it gained a certain amount of mainstream respect. Several thousands of bands have come about since that beginning era surrounding the 1980 s. One of the best, in my opinion, is Lamb of God, and with this new release of Wrath, which hit stores Feb 24, their talent is seen at an even higher level. Forming in 1990 in Richmond, Virginia, Lamb of God started as a band called Burn the Priest. Guitarist Mark Morton, drummer Chris Adler, and bassist John Campbell all attended college at the Virginia Commonwealth University and were looking to break out onto the scene. They found their missing links in the form of vocalist Randy Blythe and Legion Records. In 1998, they produced their self-titled album, Burn the Priest. Even though it got overall rave reviews, they had a hard time booking venues because many establishment owners said that they had an offensive name. So, with the addition of guitarist Willie Adler, they changed their name to Lamb of God in 2000. With the signing of a larger contract under Prosthetic Records, the band quickly made their mark in the Metal World with the nearly back-to back album release of New American Gospel in 2001 and As the Palaces Burn in 2002. Their style was unmatched, and in their ag gressive lyrics and heavily powered dual-guitar riffs. they gained pop ularity quickly. Yet again another record change to Epic Records, they later released Ashes of the Wake in 2005, containing the band's best The cover of Lamb of God's new album, Wrath song work of "Laid to Rest," "Now You've Got Something to Die For," and "Omerta." With a wide fan base praising their lyrical and instrumental talents, the band was well on their walk of fame. In recent years, they've toured with Ozzfest repeatedly and have done several international tours. Reaching a turning point in the career of the band, which came in the form of guitarist Mark Morton and vocalist Randy Blythe having several problems getting along due to Randy's substance abuse, they became much closer and more unified as a band. It was heard clearly in the 2006 release of Sacrament. In this album, the band defines their sound by making it much more rounded and clear. The instrumental patterns on Sacrament grind and pound at a higher level than the band had ever thought they could achieve, not to mention the album shows off the vocal ability of Randy Blythe for the first real time— winning an award from Rolling Stone as Best Metal Vocalist of the Year in 2006. Now, the band dives even further into what they can really put forth on an album. Wrath, the end result, may not he exactly what fans are looking for but it was certainly a necessary album for the band's ca reer. The introduction track, "The Passing, - is an acoustic introduc tion that, in my opinion, hasn't been matched since Metallica did it. Furthermore, the tracks "Grace," "Dead Seeds," and "Set to Fail," round out the meat of the album. In retrospect, overall, it wasn't a very good album if compared to Lamb of God's earlier works. How ever, the effort and style expansion that the band put into the album defines their claim of True American Metal. Don't ignore it. Whether you check out Wrath or Lamb of God's earlier works, you will not be disappointed. Young acts are in over their heads By Matthew Schwabenbauer A lot of people liked M.C. Hammer. I. along with everyone else who grew up during the nineties, can vividly remember the rapper's shiny gold pants and how no one could "touch this." Well, apparently you can touch that, because Hammer went broke years after his heyday. The culprit of Hammer's fall from the good life was an affluent Hollywood lifestyle coupled with overbearing record label contracts. Many other young (and oftentimes quite popular) musical groups have gone broke after lucrative, platinum-selling careers. Pop bands `N Sync and Backstreet Boys have both made headlines over lawsuits with their respective record labels, due to the artists feeling cheated by the terms of their recording contracts. Basically, record labels set their artists up for failure. The Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and MC Hammer all went broke after the peak of their careers. Their record labels kept the majority of the money accumu lated from record sales, and without the steady (albeit comparatively much lower) stream of income they received from stardom, the former superstars went broke (and in Hammer's case, filed bankruptcy). Nowadays, a lot of people like Miley Cyrus, or the Jonas Brothers, or Metro Station. Believe me when I say that young stardom will be these artist's downfall. Pretty soon a record-executive boardroom is going to ride the Jonas Brother's gravy train dry, and this young trio will be "Burnin' Up" the grill of your nearest Applebee's. Don't be surprised when you hear about the Brothers suing their record label in five years and say "Oh, By Nathan Carter contributing writer nrcso69(a psu.cdu nevi's editor mjss3B7(a psu.edu ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Thirsty Thursdays: drinking in By Kay Smith COpy eilllol kni , ..5 74« i p,u.edu On Thursday nights, Smith Chapel is host to a variety of dif ferent authors throughout the se mester. The newly created Sweet Sorrow Reading Series, however. features Behrend Creative Writ ing seniors reading from their the ses. This includes poetry, fiction, or non-fiction. Thursday, Feb 19 was the first of these readings for the spring 2009 semester. It con sisted of three seniors: Sierra Baril. Caitlin Opshinsky, and Jacqui Hricsina —all who read fiction pieces. Baril's reading consisted of ex cerpts from a longer, complete piece about a carnival worker who misses home. Artfully put to gether, it is broken into sections separated by town and which part of the carnival the action takes place in, such as the ball pit or KAY SMITH/ The Behrend Beacon Sierra Bard (left) reads from her creative writing thesis about a girl who works for a traveling carnival. Caitlin Opshinskv (right) reads a This week in art and entertainment history By David Stull contributing write, class 1 22(a psii.edu February 27, 2003 Rogers, known as Mister Rogers passed away at the age of 74 Born in Latrobe. Pennsylvania Rogers studied music at Dart mouth and Rollins Colleges. He was later ordained a Presbyterian Minister and since 1951 had worked on various television shows. In 1968, Mister Roger's Neighborhood aired and ran for 998 episodes. making it the longest running program on PBS. Roger retired from television in 2000 and three years later suc cumbed to stomach cancer in 2003, a month shy of his 75th birthday. February 28,1983: M*A*S*H, a successful situation comedy about a Korean War medical unit aired its final episode. The series was an adaptation of the 1970 film MASH, and ran for 11 sea sons. It was considered a dark comedy for its dramatic comedy material surrounding the Korean War. The finale viewership ex ceeded 100 million, making it the most watched television episode at that time. March 1, 1941: The Nashville radio station W47NV began broadcasting, becoming the first commercially licensed FM radio station. Originally, radio stations broadcasted in the AM frequency. The transition to the FM fre quency meant that the reception Food For Thought "New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other Jimmy's trailer. While soft-spo ken, Baril moved through the piece, reading her favorite sec tions, and brought a new vivacity to the life of a carnie. Opshinsky's piece is much more sinister, though not until the end do we see it twist. It begins with a meeting of old friends who steadily become close again, only to meet their demise at the hands of the narrator, a murderer with a fetish for hanging women in do mestic poses from the basement ceiling. Opshinsky cunningly tip toes around the narrator's true in- tendons and desires. surprising the listener at the same time as the characters in the story. Hricsina also read a section of a longer piece that focuses on the life of a woman after her house burned down, forcing her to save only one of her daughters. The section dealt mainly with the sur viving daughter and the grand- Clark story about a murderer who targets women, and immortalizes them domestically was clearer and received less in terference from other radio March 2, 1944: The Academy Awards were televised for the first time. Although today the Academy Awards are broadcasted nationwide, the first broadcast was shown locally in Los Ange- Fred Rodgers posing with his famous model town from Mister Rodger's Neighborhood les. The event was hosted by Jack Benny and took place in The Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. Bing Crosby won for best male lead and Ingrid Bergman won best female lead for her perform ance in Gaslight. March 3, 1959: Comedian Lou Costello passed away at the age of 52, three days shy of his 53rd reason but because they are not already common." mother's relationship, because the mother and daughter had a fight. Hricsina masterfully molded the dynamic between the three women, especially at the pizza parlor, where the daughter jumps in to defend her mother, a trait that reminds the grandmother of the lost child. Hricsina admits she wasn't re ally nervous about reading in front of classmates, but her fam ily was a different story. "Maybe not so much in front of peers, since many of them have read my work before in workshops, but in front of my family —since I brought a whole fan club." When asked about hearing her peers. Hricsina replied, "I really liked Sierra's idea—the carnival thing. And it was nice to hear Caitlin—l haven't had any work shops with her, so it was com pletely new. And it's always fun to hear somebody with a com birthday. Born in Paterson, New Jersey. Costello. in his youth, was la ni led athlete who boxed under the name "Lou King' . for a brief period of time. He moved onto show business, working in vaude ville and eventually teaming up with Bud Abbott. The comic duo made dozens of movies and be- came one of the most recogniza ble comic pairings in history March 4, 1952: Author Ernest Hemingway finished The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway's last major work, it tells the story of a Cuban fisherman and his struggle to catch the largest fish of his life. The book is renowned throughout the world of literature and won the Pulitzer Prize in John Locke The Behrend Beacon I 7 literature pletely different writing style There are two more thesis read ings this semester, and senior ion McConnell enjoys these opportu nities. "It's nice that we all get to hear what everyone else has been doing." he says. His turn to read will he on April 30, and when asked if he was excited, he joked, "As long as there's enough peer pressure in the room to clap for me no matter what. - Hricsina also enjoys these readings. "It's good to get experience." she says. "How fast to read. how to project your voice, and to build confi dence.- March 5 is the next thesis read ing, featuring Kay Smith. Ben Sutton. Bridget Kelley, and Jody Reed. It will be held in the Studio Theater at 6p.m. All are welcome to attend. March 5, 1962: Actor George C. Scott turned down his nomination for an Academy Award. Scott was nominated for Best Support ing Actor in the film. The Hustler. He declined the nomination. being the first actor to do so. He was nominated again for his por- trayal of General Patton in Pat ton, which is said to be not only Scott's greatest performance. but one of the greatest performances in the industry's history. He de clined this nomination as well. but the Academy kept his name in the running and he won the award, though he eventually sent it hack to the ALademN.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers