For Those About to Govern

Randy Blythe is giddy.

The vocalist for Richmond-based groove metal band Lamb of God, Blythe took to the blogosphere yesterday to celebrate the election of Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as Indonesia's next President. Widodo is, well, let's let Blythe tell it:

Incredibly, ladies & gentlemen, the new President of Indonesia is a metal head AND a lamb of god fan. No, this is not a joke, yes the photos are real, yes he digs Napalm Death, Metallica, Megadeth, & lamb of god amongst others- holy crap! THE WORLD’S FIRST HEAVY METAL PRESIDENT! Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the governor of Jakarta & former furniture salesman who was born into poverty, has won the election. I do not know much at all about Indonesian politics, so I can’t comment of their political situation one way or the other, but from what I can tell, Jokowi seems to be a man of the people. Wow. A metal head president- who would have thought? AMAZING. I mean, can you IMAGINE it? This is THE ONLY PRESIDENT IN THE WORLD with whom you can sit down and argue about which Slayer record is the best. Holy crap, it’s too much! I want the Prez to take me on a diplomatic surf summit to Bali. Maybe I can get ambassadorial status. #jokowipleasetakemetoyourislandparadise

The 53 year-old Widodo won a hotly contested election against Indonesian general Probowo Subianto, who plans to appeal the result. Should Widodo prevail, and most observers expect that he will, he'll preside over the world's third-largest democracy. He'll also have to deal with a host of pressing concerns, including rising unemployment, high deficits, a slowing economy, a trade imbalance, and widespread government corruption.

He'll have to ride the lightning, sad but true, unless he chooses to just kill 'em all. The people of the vast Indonesian archipelago hope he turns out to be more master of puppets than harvester of sorrows. But for now, for both Indonesians and the metal community, nothing else matters.

Metal Up Your Ass Friday (Reprise): Lemmy

Thanks to Palladia, the best HD channel I don't get to enough, I was able to find and record this documentary earlier this month. It is tremendously entertaining on many levels.



Oh yeah, I think there's basketball on today too. Go get drunk and watch some. Thanks to a genius sales guy at my company, I will be at a "client event" at a bar in midtown. This event features pitchers of beer and fried appetizers and starts at 12:30. Good times.

Metal Up Your Ass (Good) Friday: Volume 4, Featuring Slipknot

A double shot of Slipknot today. The bands seems a bit farcical with their jumpsuits and terrifying clown masks, but they are a pretty intense band. Their stage presence is phenomenal, if not typical for the metal world. The lead singer verbally abuses the crowd all show long (which the crowd eats up), and the band tries to incite violent moshing among the idiots in the crowd. The band features a drummer, two additional clown percussionists and a clown on the turntable. They have a BIG sound in person, with lots of drums to make you want to start stomping in your combat boots.

Here's an unofficial video for Surfacing:



And here's the official video for Duality, the one song you may know by them. The song may be overplayed to some, but it still kicks ass.

Happy Good Friday from the G:TB team.

Metal Up Your Ass Friday, Featuring Lamb of God. With Extra Idiocy!

Richmond, VA has produced some fantastic things over the years (Philip Morris smokes, VCU basketball), as well as some less fantastic things (Confederacy, tons of murders). One creation from Richmond that would fall into the "more fantastic" side of life is Lamb of God. Simplest description is that they are like Pantera, but heavier.

Lamb of God has their own tradition in concert. They play a song called "Black Label." As they lead into the song, the lead singer gets the entire crowd to retreat to the corners of the stage, form a wall of death and then charge into each other at full speed. It is just as awesome, terrifying and dangerous as it seems. Combine moshing meatheads, speed metal, alcohol, drugs and lots of sexual angst among young male misfits and you have total fucking chaos.

To truly capture the insanity, I'm including two live clips of the onslaughts. Below that I have a studio version of the song, which hauls. Enjoy this at your cube/office/desk.

Here's one composite video that captures the intensity of the moments a bit better. Go to the 1 minute, and then the 1:35 mark to see it go down a couple times.



This is a version done in a show in Athens, Greece. Like Citizen Dick, Lamb of God is huge in Belgium. Go to the 1:20 second mark to see the devastation unfold. Good to know their growls translate across the pond. Surprisingly, there are no moshers in scarves.



And here is a studio version, along with something resembling a video (warning: may give you a seizure), if you want to hear the audio with decent quality.

Metal Up Your Ass Friday, Featuring Pantera

It's the first of April, bitches. Baseball is starting. College basketball is ending. Tulips are blooming. So get fired up with Phil Anselmo, Dimebag Darrell (RIP), Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown.