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.