[Blistering Song of the Day: Ginger's "Casino Bay"] “Casino Bay” is the first track on Ginger’s third solo album Market Harbour and definitely one of my favourites. But while this one track does reveal a side to Ginger that many fans of The Wildhearts may not be aware of, it’s far from a perfect example of what Ginger’s produces solo-wise, as a whole. Anyone who’s familiar with Ginger’s solo stuff will tell you that while The Wildhearts is all about heavy rock ‘n’ roll, Ginger’s solo stuff covers pretty much heavy rock ‘n’ roll, and everything else within the music spectrum...

[Smohalla – The Potential of Infinity] “I don't know what black metal is supposed to be. It can be played by corpse-painted penis with lava semen thrown on the face of a pregnant panda. If it sounds interesting to me, I will listen and enjoy the ride. If Smohalla existed in the 90's, I think people would have called us dark metal. Some people usedto say that black metal can only have Satanist lyrics. So what, Burzum is playing post-grunge? And black metal was created in the 60's?” - Slo

[Blistering Song of the Day: Therapy? - "Meat Abstract"] The overall effect is a hypnotic cocoon you can lose yourself in, especially before the second verse where the bass carries through a noise rock section gifted with trick stops, before the guitar comes buzzing back in. All the while that snapping drum work just keeps pushing things forward. Still a live staple to this day, “Meat Abstract” is the first step in an ongoing journey that favours reinvention and experimentation over taking the easy option...

[Unisonic – Old Kids of the Century] “I’m an idealist. I believe in the good things in life. I believe in humanity and I know there are a lot of bad things going on, but I’m always meeting beautiful people with big hearts and I love that. That’s probably why these records [Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and II] linger on – the younger generation gets a kick out of it because it has an uplifting vibe. I think music that brings people down is a crime. I’m not talking about metal music all the time – you can be aggressive or whatever, and if you express it in a good way or express anger in a constructive way, that’s a different story. A lot of things that are coming out now are bleak or down, and I really think that’s a crime.” – Michael Kiske

[Blistering Song of the Day: Powermad's "Nice Dreams"] Rare at the time to see a speed/thrash-oriented metal band come up with such a double-edged hook between the soaring melodic vocal chorus as well as the riff and opening solo line… it just reverberates in your head space for days. Powermad simply benefited from being in Minnesota, far away from the East Coast/ West Coast metal havens. I would put this in my top five metal songs of all time - it brings a smile to my face and the desire to air guitar every single time I hear it, plus it has some killer John Macaluso drum fills towards the song's conclusion...

[Blistering Song of the Day: Bathory's "The Stallion"] An eight-legged stallion is what the character of this timeless conceptual masterpiece, Blood on Ice, receives as an aid on his journey to battle. Blood on Ice paved the way for the future of Viking metal, as a genre, and served as a departure from Bathory’s previous black metal sound. The song's beginning riff is reminiscent to a horse's slow gallop, and the drums make your heart race with anticipation. Verses are separated by a memorable and song-identifying riff, while the lyrics contribute to form a vivid and rustic scene. An incredible guitar solo simultaneously stimulates the mind while allowing the imagery and atmosphere of the song to sink in. Although part of an epic voyage, "The Stallion" is easily a stand-alone song…

[Blistering Song of the Day: Blind Guardian's "Welcome to Dying"] This is a new quasi-"feature" we're introducing to the site, one that should (hopefully) reinforce the notion that the Blistering staff is in good musical taste. Since Youtube has virtually every song in creation available, it allows for quick retrieval of particular jams, so the staff (and various guests) will be posting a favorite song of theirs for your listening pleasure. Because of our posting schedule, the title of "Song of the Day" is arbitrary, but since our readership is quite astute I'm sure everyone will grasp the idea...

[Prong - Carving Their Legacy] “You have to write for the wastepaper basket. You can’t just stop midway. You finish a song, even if during the process it isn’t working out, you have to complete songs to work them out. Down the line, something you don’t like at first you may play for somebody else and the producer likes the idea. You mix and match from there - there’s no formula to it. As far not repeating myself - that may be to my detriment because the bands that have their own formula and seem comfortable repeating themselves tend to be the most successful ones.” – Tommy Victor

[Outcast – Reasons Being] “Our main guideline is to keep our music organic and warm. That’s another point which distinguishes us from the djent scene. We surely share the technical approach with this complex songwriting and polyrhythmic influences but we try to push the concept further away using odd harmonies and replace the guitar work not just with low and powerful strikes but also using progressive influences such as Dream Theater or Steve Vai. We also love vintage stuff and this dirty roughness you could find in Converge or in Strapping Young Lad.” - Nicolas Soulat

[Torche - Just Kicking It] “The guys in the band, I don’t want to speak for them – they would say we’re not a metal band, we’re a rock band. I don’t take that route, I think if people want to think that, that’s fine. When I grew up, my first guitar riffs were Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, then you hear Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and whatever else. I still…I don’t know [laughs]. The bigger bummer is when people go, ‘You aren’t a metal band’ and they’re pissed about it. Like what you like, but if people are bummed…especially with the new record since we didn’t write the first album all over again, people would say we were treading water if we did re-write the first album.” - Andrew Elstner

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