Royal Thunder EP reissue

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Re-release date: December 21st, 2010
Genre: hard rock, alternative metal

It's difficult to come across a good release this time of year- it's usually just soppy Christmas songs and all, so I was delighted to come across this gem.

Royal Thunder is a female-fronted trio from Atlanta, Georgia, recently signed to Relapse Records. They're a little soft for the metal label, but "Mouth Of Fire" was featured on the 2010/2011 sampler. Mlny Parsonz's huge, soulful vocals take centrestage and there's some natural funk to their music.

But hey, while we're at it-

I made shortbread cookies!

Let's have some Christmas cheer. Breaking More Waves posted a sweet dubstep track; dream-pop act Beach House released "I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun"; but my personal favourite remains. The following is "Santa Through The Back Door" by 30 Seconds To Mars Feat. Colonel Buck.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Have yourself a wonderful, crazy, chaotic Christmas.

In anticipation of "Hurrikanye"

All seven trailers and the single art are out- MTV is scheduled to premiere the short film tomorrow. (I wasn't aware that they still showed music videos.) Misleading is the following tweet:

Looks like #HURRICANETHEFILM has been banned

@jaredleto on Twitter

Nonetheless, if this band Leto's inner editor is good at anything, it is effective promo and creating trailers. Kanye West is expected to have a cameo and should, considering he's a contributor to the track. My personal fear is that the questionable video will ruin my love for the collaboration. (At least it's nowhere near Klaxon's "Twin Flames".) Below is the first preview; the other six introduce story characters.

Check back later tomorrow for the official video and thoughts.

UPDATE: explanation of banning and shot by shot descriptions on jaredleto.com. The 14-minute video is only availible to US viewers for the moment. The uncensored version will appear in New Zealand tomorrow morning. An original 20-minute web version coming soon. Kanye did not make an appearance.


I did manage to see it, though. (An hour following the US premiere, it is not very difficult to find). From an artistic viewpoint, the video is brilliant. The direction, sound, and picture quality were mindblowing. Is it moving? No, not as much as their other films. It's predictable.

Official releases (parties) and such

Black Eyed Peas's "The Time (The Dirty Bit)"

30 Seconds To Mars's This Is War deluxe edition

Kid Cudi's Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

Of these three, I can only say that I'm impressed by the cover art for the latter.

NaNoWriMo word count: 35246 of 50000.

Cardiology and War

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I've always enjoyed Good Charlotte, as out of place as their music seemed in my library. This latest record is sounding good thus far, a step forward while the sound of "The Motivation Proclamation" and "Little Things" from their debut remains. They're predictable; never disappointing because of that.

I hadn't expected much out of the band back then, when I listened to "The River" because M. Shadows and Synyster Gates contributed. I'll admit that I like their parts of that song better, but eventually decided to purchase Good Charlotte.

Also being made available tomorrow is the re-release of 30 Seconds To Mars's This Is War, which I'm not sure is available on iTunes. The additions will include their two BBC Radio covers, "Stronger" and "Bad Romance", as well as their collaboration with Kanye West, "Hurricane". (There were two versions of the song; the one on the original album is void of Kanye's part due to legal issues.)

A DVD for this deluxe edition will have their two released music videos- whatever happened to "This Is War"?- and some exculsive footage. (link to official post)

2007 interview with Faber Drive

(scanned from a winter 2007 edition of UMM)

article written by Andréanna Sasseville

Who are they:
Faber - guitar and lead vocals
Hinsley - lead guitar and backing vocals
Krikit - bass and backing vocals
Red Bull - drums and backing vocals

David Hinsley and Ray "Red" Bull left the band in 2008. Calvin Lechner (better known as "Poncho") joined the band shortly and they recruited a touring guitarist, before JP and Stricko were added to the lineup. Hinsley is still close to the band, recently co-writing a few songs off can'T kEep A SecrEt.

Hometown:
Mission, British Columbia

Debut disc:
Seven Second Surgery - 2007

Their style:
Pop/rock hook songs!

Band name history:
They used to be known as Faber but there is a band in the United States with that name. When Faber drives, he likes to multitask! One day, he went right through a red light because he was trying to play guitar and drive at the same time. (We do not recommend that you try that!). Red was in the car with him and screamed "FABER... DRIVE!!!" They thought that sounded cool so they became Faber Drive.

How it all started:
They submitted a song called 'Sex and Love' to Vancouver's 99.3 The Fox station for the Battle of the Bands contest in 2006 - And yup, you guessed it: they won! The song made its way to the most requested songs list and to some pretty important ears (Nickelback?!) and they were signed to a major label shortly thereafter.

Yes, it was Nickelback- more specifically, Chad Kroeger who owns 604 Records. Not suprising at all; the man also manages Marianas Trench, My Darkest Days, George Canyon, and Theory of a Deadman. (Don't y'all dare diss this multi-talent again.)

What they listen to on tour:
U2, Boys like Girls, and Rage Against the Machine.

I seriously approve of these choices.

You should check them out because:
First and second single off the album, Second Chance and Tongue Tied, are radio chart toppers.

Their website:
http://www.faberdrive.com/

(Link redirects to their Myspace page.) Note again, this is not my writing and I take no responsibilty for misspellings or inaccuracies facts. These are excerpts I've retyped; I don't even write like that. All credit goes to the magazine and their employees.

In other news, 30 Seconds To Mars are out and about in the streets of New York making a music video for their single, "Hurricane". Filming started late last week, in an undisclosed location, some photos surfaced involving fishnets, latex, and photographers Terry Richardson and Aram Bedrossian. They seem to be taking an "Alejandro" approach. Kanye West is currently in Paris, France with the likes of U2. (What a win, four of my favourite artists in one paragraph).

(by Bedrossian; the photos have since been removed)

"The Space in Between"

This song is absolutely brilliant. Mariqueen Maandig's voice hauntingly compliments Trent Reznor's percussive instrumentals, while the third member of the trio, Atticus Ross provides extra programming. How To Destory Angels is Reznor's first project since Nine Inch Nails, and although the latter cannot be compared, I think I'm growing to like HDA better- it's the refreshing mix of female vocals and industrial styles. My favourite track on the EP? "A Drowning".

(get the EP free at their site)
Also, I recently did a piano cover of "Alibi" by 30 Seconds To Mars. Let me know what you think.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]