I listen to music from many bands which have ceased to exist for one reason or another. Of all I can say that the music I miss most is Devin Townsend's aural insanity with Strapping Young Lad.
Chaos indeed
If that didn't rip you a second arsehole then you weren't listening loud enough.
I discovered SYL too late: Devin disbanded the unit in 2007 with the aim of retreating from the limelight amid the recording of The Devin Townsend Project records (I love the new Devin too, but I digress).
Finding SYL in early 2006 was down to my interest in another industrially influenced band, Fear Factory. In 1995 these guy produced the monumental Demanufacture, but my gateway into more extreme music was through their 2004 album Archetype. Being 15 and at the genesis of my musical enlightenment (my days of Green Day/Jimmy Eat World and that pop punk/college rock/puberty shit drawing to a close) I had no idea what I was letting myself in for on buying that album from iTunes (yes, I know). Coincidentally it was around this time I acquainted myself with The Matrix trilogy and Archetype's machine-like samples and future-apocalyptic vibe struck a chord with my adolescent self.
The point of this story is that I had no idea that the Fear Factory on Archetype was the first to feature a new line up, with iconic guitarist Dino Cazares having left the band after the disaster of their 2001 album Digimortal (Which I have the displeasure of owning on CD).
The new line up also produced 2005 album Transgression (also unimpressive) and then all but faded away. Perhaps a sad end to a band that stole the attention of my ears for so many hours (check out my last.fm charts).
However.
Fear Factory returned again. A new line up, a new promise of live shows; I felt deflated over it to be honest.
I don't like 'comebacks'.
To be fair to Fear Factory at least they'd only ever officially been on hiatus. What I have much more of a problem with is when, for example Queen were supposed to headline this year's now cancelled Sonisphere UK. Are you fucking serious? How many hard working, kick-ass bands are out there today that would be more than capable of that headline spot? How exactly do Queen make a comeback anyway? Freddy Mercury is fucking dead and he was that band! It'd be like reforming The Beatles without John Lennon or George Harrison.
Then there's "the original Black Sabbath" lineup, returning to headline this year's Download Festival and record a new album - oh wait - no they're not because Bill Ward's after more money and Tony Iommi has cancer.
And Ozzy on vocals again? Please.
The whole comeback thing stinks of making a quick buck like they do in pop music. As someone with an established music taste I'm against that kind of shit.
Forget old bands - my allegiance lies with bands relevant to now.
