Opinion
No diplomacy. No hedge. Just what I think. This is the bar after a show ; beer in hand, volume still ringing in your ears, saying exactly what you mean.
Past opinions
Opinion What is the forbidden riff?
The forbidden riff is the opening of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' — informally banned in guitar shops since the early 1990s because beginners learn it first, play it badly, and play it constantly. The term broadened to cover any overplayed guitar riff that shop staff dread hearing on a loop, including Enter Sandman, Smoke on the Water, Sweet Child O' Mine, and Wonderwall.
22 June 2026
Opinion AC/DC at Oakland 1979. With Bon Scott, this is what a rock band looks like.
I have always been an AC/DC fan. The 1979 Oakland Coliseum performance of Highway to Hell is the thirty-three-minute proof. Bon Scott on vocals, the Young brothers in their prime, less than a year before Bon would be gone. Forty-six years later, nobody has written a better three-chord rock song.
10 May 2026
Opinion UFO. The Band That Time Forgot.
They influenced Tom Morello, Slash, Stone Gossard and Steve Harris. They made one of the greatest live albums in rock. And nobody talks about UFO anymore. That's a crime.
25 April 2026
Opinion Support Acts Deserve Better Sound. Always.
The headliner sounds like god and the support sounds like a tin bucket. That's a choice, not a budget. And it's time we stopped pretending otherwise.
9 April 2026
Opinion This Week in Metal: April 7-13, 1987
Helloween dropped Future World, Headbangers Ball was days away, and a kid in Belgium packed his cassettes for university.
6 April 2026
Opinion 7 Forgotten Metal Bands From the 1980s
Seven 80s metal bands that had the riffs, the attitude, and the talent. They just didn't have the timing. Or the MTV budget.
17 December 2025
Opinion The Strange Case of Draugveil
Black metal, Reddit drama, and a band nobody can agree on. The internet did its thing again. Here's why none of it matters.
13 July 2025
Opinion 10 Rock Songs That Were BRUTALLY Banned
The PMRC's Filthy Fifteen. AC/DC, Judas Priest, Venom, all blacklisted in the '80s. Today's lyrics are ten times worse and nobody cares. What changed?
31 May 2025
Opinion Belgium's Metal Bands That Deserve Your Attention
Belgium punches way above its weight in metal. From 80s speed metal pioneers to the H8000 hardcore scene. Here's why you should care.
6 August 2023