This first post was supposed to be done a long time ago! I'm not sure why it has even taken so long for me to get round to writing it in all honesty. Also, it has nothing to do with pirates.
Hopefully sitting here listening to Volbeat will give me some inspiration. They're a band that I have known about for years, but for a while I had forgotten about them. I caught them at Download in 2013 and my girlfriend, who previously wasn't sure whether she liked their music or not, really started to get into them. This year at Download we got up close for their performance, and it really ignited the Volbeat fuse in my head.
The show that they gave us was amazing! Their crowd interaction was great, they enjoyed themselves, and more importantly, they made sure that we enjoyed watching them. Having been out of the loop for a while I didn't know all of the material that they played, but that soon changed. Shortly after getting home from Donington Park (that's where Download is held) I bought myself a couple of Volbeat CD's and Killswitch Engage's latest Album too. If you aren't familiar with Volbeat I would recommend giving them a chance. They take influences from artists like Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and mix it with modern hard rock and metal, creating something quite unique to them.
I know that it's a little late to be talking about Download as it isn't really news anymore, but while I'm on about it I'd like to mention something that I noticed. Five Finger Death Punch... I know that they didn't perform at Download this year, but their merch was everywhere! Usually Slipknot are the metallers choice of clothing but this year something had changed. It seems like FFDP have taken over! I can't say I'm surprised either, because FFDP are amazing. Since their release of 'The Wrong Side of Heaven and The Righteous Side of Hell', interest in them appears to have rocketed.
I suppose Death Punch have an advantage over Slipknot. They've both got brutal, hard-hitting music with a purpose, but FFDP have newer material that people are still discovering. Although Slipknot are slowly releasing songs from their upcoming album, the majority of their work has been around for years, and being one of metals' most talked about bands, it's impossible not to have heard it.
In my opinion, the reason FFDP have done so well up to this point is that they have that explosiveness about them that we all love. They are heavy, yet they are melodic, and their live shows represent that perfectly.
Keep those horns up \m/
