We have a solid show for you this week. Good discussion, no fights, no real tangents, just good talk of heavy music. The reviews make for some good discussions based on their respective types of metal, which range from Folk to Doom/Gothic. The First Impressions alone run the gamut from Black/Folk/Progressive Metal to whatever you categorize Stone Sour as, so that keep things fresh as well. Oh, and we take a few quick stabs at Five Finger Death Punch. Why do they even get mentioned, you ask? Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out.
Reviews: Darkness By Oath – Near Death Experience; The Foreshadowing – Oionos and Second World; Korpiklaani – Manala
First Impressions: Asking Alexandria – “Run Free”; Enslaved – “Thoughts Like Hammers”; Monuments – “Degenerate”; Stone Sour – “Gone Sovereign/Absolute Zero”
Korpiklaani – Manala
Brian – Try | Kyle – Skip | Nick – Try
The Foreshadowing – Oionos & Second World
Brian – Buy | Kyle – Skip | Nick – Buy
Darkness By Oath – Near Death Experience
Brian – Skip | Kyle – Buy | Nick – Skip
The Sideshow Podcast 
I knew it! You DO like mallcore! Giving Asking Alexandria a buy and 2 tries certainly qualifies as liking mallcore. On the one hand I give you credit for giving your honest opinions no matter what the preconceptions of the band may be. But on the other hand, I can’t pass up the opportunity to point out that Asking Alexandria is mallcore.
Speaking of Snow Patrol, I just listened to some of their stuff the other day. I like the song “Set the Fire to the Third Bar.” But if you want depressing, give a try to The Hour of Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy. I wouldn’t recommend you listen to The Hour of Bewilderbeast in general, I’m just saying it’s depressing music – more so than any metal (that I can think of).
Hey, Judgy McJudgerson…did you listen to the new Asking Alexandria song?
No, I have not listened to the song. That’s the whole point and how this all started. I’m not being judgmental: I’m being biased. You recently asked (or at least brought up the topic) about biases, and I am biased against Asking Alexandria.
Bias: “a particular tendency or inclination, especially one that prevents unprejudiced consideration.”
Our biases prevent us from giving “unprejudiced consideration” to certain bands and music. I really don’t think I have that many biases (at least compared to most people), but you just hit on mine. As Kyle said: “I hate them, I hate their look, I hate what they represent, I hate their fans.” Even though Kyle continues to say that he never hated their music, for me all those other things prevent me from even listening to their music because I am biased against them. (To be fair, I don’t hate their fans because we all have fond memories of liking crappy bands that we listened to when we were 13 years old.)