Speak to the hand! Dez Fafara's extreme extremity waits for some action as the Roadrunner United frat hangs at Fuse's studio. (AP Photo/Hiroko Masuike)
How many metal dudes (and the ladies who love them) can you pack into YOUR living room? Some members of Roadrunner United watch other members of the band on TV during a filming at Fuse TV in New York, Friday, Oct. 8, 2005. (AP Photo/Hiroko Masuike)
Nothing says metal like red lights fashioned into geometric shapes. Members of the Roadrunner United squad are interrogated by Fuse's host Juliya. Having their rock god moments are (from 2nd left to right): Dino Cazares, Cris Machado, Dave Chavarri, Josh Silver and Dez Fafara. (AP Photo/Hiroko Masuike)
Yeah, so I got this t-shirt for $50 and now it's at H&M for $5. Hate that! Members of Roadrunner United (from left to right): Dino Cazares, Josh Silver, Joey Jordison and Dave Chavarri walk amongst the regular peeps on a New York City street and don't stand out at all. (AP Photo/Hiroko Masuike)
What happens if you throw together some of the top thrashers of metal music in one subbasement television studio for a couple of hours: Jack Daniels in the mainline? The snorting of Ajax? Knife-swishing brawls?
Since the early days, with bands like Black Sabbath, metal has been a genre of hard-working, long-touring bands legendary for their follies.
But on this day, a little Guns N' Roses streams out of a boombox amid mucho back-patting collegiality among members of bands such as Slipknot, Fear Factory, Type O negative, Ill Nino, VOD, Murderdolls, Life of Agony and Coal Chamber. The only folly was that someone ordered too few brownies for the deli tray.
Roadrunner Records, a label that has shepherded metal through 25 years of waxing and waning mainstream popularity, has gathered some of their varsity players together to stump for their latest project: "Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions."
To celebrate the label's anniversary, A&R man Monte Conner got together four of Roadrunner's most trusted elders to pick dream teams from the label's 175-plus artist roster. The result is a high concept release featuring 55 musicians from 42 bands on 18 tracks spanning all manner of metal and hard rock genres. Most opted for brutal displays of sonic virtuosity with blast beat drums and pickslides rolling into shredding solos.
Nearly half the All-Star crew came to Fuse Networks studios to tape a segment for the network's Metal Asylum, and asap got to mingle about in the green room. The posse proved to be less Headbangers' Ball and more high school reunion. Fuse coughed up no alcohol for the squad, and all -- in basic black for this and every occasion -- didn't start complaining for cocktail hour until 3pm.
Turns out, these boys are more functional than Metallica pre-"Some Kind of Monster," and effusively chatty about what it takes to keep a family -- their bands, their label, and the metal scene in general -- happy. so asap gathered some tips for a Metal Masterclass:
1. KNOW WHEN YOU'RE HOOKED. "I guess I got to realize it was pretty serious when I started selling everything I had in order to buy instruments, including stuff like pot," says Ill Nino's Cristian Machado. "You know when you find yourself selling pot just to buy a bass guitar, or a cheap-ass classical guitar, you know you're in for the long run. Music is a habit, it's one of the strongest habits you can take up."
2. KNOW HOW TO MAKE YOUR MONEY. "For me it never mattered about the record, for me I made money off the live shows and merchandise. But now there are so many bootleggers out there, it's crazy," says Dino Cazares of seminal industrial metal band Fear Factory.
3. KNOW HOW TO GET SOME STYLE. "I don't care how good somebody is, it's all style. Think the Sex Pistols were great musicians? They weren't even standing up half the time," says Josh Silver of Type O Negative. "It's about style and putting out emotional content. I don't care if you're a virtuoso, I don't think it makes you better or worse."
4. KNOW HOW TO THINK AHEAD. According to Roadrunner's Conner: "The trend in metal is to get away from rap and those types of vocals. I don't like to give this away because it's a trade secret. How many people are going to read this? For me, the next trend in metal is the classic sound of the 80's. And I don't mean hair metal."
___
HEAR THESE SONGS FROM "THE ALL-STAR SESSIONS."
The End
The Dagger
___
Daphne Carr is a writer in New York. And yes, she HAS flipped the devil horns.
___
Want to comment? Sound off at soundoffasap@ap.org.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
