Well its been a while...

Its been a few weeks since this place was last updated, due to the christmas period taking over my life and generally removing me from college.

Lately the metal music scene has actually been quite quiet over this period with not too many concerts and/or albums being released over the past few weeks.

However, of the gigs that have happened there has been some reviews such as this one for Biffy Clyro at the SECC.

BIFFY CLYRO ****

SECC, Glasgow, December 20

Crowds always respond to a passionate, honest performance, so it's no wonder they were so highly charged and energised by this set.

A roar of excitement and anticipation went up as opener Living Is A Problem kicked into gear and not even the venue's customary lousy sound could dampen fans' spirits.

Joy. Discovery. Invention saw the trio at their angsty best, while on the poignant Folding Stars, Simon Neil's impassioned delivery prompted a forest of mobile phone lights to spring up.

Big hit Mountains dealt the knockout blow at the end, its colossal chorus sending the sell-out crowd into a frenzy. Andy Kerr

One of the main albums of the past month or so is the mixed artists album

"We Wish You a Metal Christmas and a Headbanging New Year" with contributions from well known artists such as the legendary Ronnie James Dio and Alice Cooper along with other artists such as Dave Grohl and Lemmy.

A review of the album by an actual listener is below:

This is great! Another great Christmas CD for heavy metal fans! If you're a fan of heavy metal, let me tell you, your Christmas simply isn't complete until you've heard Ronnie Dio singing 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' with Tony Iommi on guitar - undoubtedly the highlight of this collection.

'Run, Rudolph, Run' is a killer rocker, full of energy and the classic rocking spirit. Alice Cooper's 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town' is great, although it could never be as good as Dokken's hilariously brilliant version on last year's Monster Ballads Christmas compilation (and Alice, you really don't need to (literally) spell out the 'Santa Claws' pun, we do get it). And Roxx Gang's version, from the same Monster Ballads comp, of 'Santa's Back In Town' beats Ripper Owens' version on here, but only because it's simply fantastic (and Roxx Gang were probably more suited to that sort of tune). These aren't really low points though, and all in all this is a great fun record, which brought a huge smile to my face (a lifelong metal fan) as soon as I heard the falsetto at the beginning of the first track.

Amazingly, there's barely a weak moment on the whole record. Other real highlights include 'Deck the Halls', which is given a killer metal riff (probably better than Twisted Sister's on their excellent Twisted Christmas, but only just); and 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree', another real rock n roller. The only blooper is 'Silent Night', which was a terrible idea, and all those involved should be ashamed of themselves. It's nonsense modern death metal, totally pointless, and just sad rather than funny. It's the only time when modern-day metal intrudes on what is otherwise a great hark back to the glory days. And it was released in 2008! I can't believe it.

Dug Pinnick's 'Little Drummer Boy' is even pretty good, and it's a song that seems incredibly hard to get right, for some bizarre reason (such luminaries as Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra have made complete hashes of it, so you've gotta admire these guys - it sounds rubbish unless it's *up tempo* folks!!!). Pinnick's vocals are a little lacklustre, but at least he gets the tempo right. To be fair it is a song rather heavy on the Christianity, so you can forgive him for not really getting into it all that much, although on the other hand he isn't really a fantastic singer anyway. But it's good fun all the same, especially the ad libbing in the faster section.

And to all of those metal 'fans' who don't have a sense of humour, or who aren't alive enough to enjoy this, get a life! There's a reviewer on Amazon.com, one Rodriguez, who says 'this goes against everything metal stands for' - listen mate, when what you think metal stands for is different to what Tony Iommi, Ronnie Dio, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, and Geoff Tate think it stands for, it ain't you that's in the right! Metal is, always has been and always will be about having a good time, partying hard and rocking out! And if you wanna do that this Christmas, then what better way than getting this CD! You won't regret it!

And onto 2009.

With the number of albums and tours set to be, or rumoured to be, announced within the next few months the next year looks like it could be a very interesting year for music.

With Heaven and Hell already announced for Download, Machine Head headlining Wacken Open Air and Graspop yet to even start announcing bands the festival season should be an exciting one for those who are going.

Now lets just hope 2009 outstrips 2008 for album releases and tours by some of the biggest acts on the planet