Pantera Anniversary Edition

Pantera's 'Far Beyond Driven: 20th Anniversary Edition' is set to arrive on our metal laps on March 25. A special two-disc version that will include a newly remastered version of the album, along with a live performance from the 1994 Monsters Of Rock festival.
Long considered by some to be their greatest (and admittedly it does have a few classic tunes), I always preferred 'Great Southern Trendkill' myself but anything which keeps the band alive in fans memories is fine by me. Don't forget that two decades is a long time and there will be kids out there who won't be aware of the mighty Pantera (shocking to us older Metalheads I know).

Egg, Chips & Beans

26 years in the making

One important thing to remember when it comes to food is that tasty food is very nearly always the most simple to make. Aye you can follow some dour celebrity chefs four hour guide on making some poncey dish like Camel Fritters in Pheasant Eyeball sauce but if you ever need something truly delicious and homely, keep it simple Charlie. (Whoever Charlie is). Google 'comfort food' and you won't find anything fancy. And it doesn't get any easier than the British classic ~ egg, chips & beans. This is food of champions, nosh of the gods! And if Bacon is the God of Scran (food), then egg, chips and beans are its messianic lieutenants.
Take a gander at the photo above. I cooked that last week. And every mouthful gave me waves of Orgasmatron (to keep it metal). Little wonder I got positive comments when I posted the pic on Twitter. Some sweet folk thought I had gone to a restaurant! Nope, I am Fry King Supreme, the chipper lord. 26 years of frying your own eggs will do that to a person. Boy it tasted good! I'd bet a kidney that even the most hardened lettuce head could not deny its greasy charms.

Less Sabath, More Sabbat

100% classic

Let me kick off straight to the point here; Sabbat were a bloody awesome British thrash metal band. When they released their debut album, "History of a Time to Come" back in 1988, I was blown out of my Nike hi-tops. What a cracker of an album, there isn't a bad track on it. From the brilliant opener, "A Cautionary Tale" to the Christian antagonizing ending of "The Church Bizarre", metalheads will be in their element. "Appetite For Destruction" (Guns n' Roses) was released the year before and Sabbat's mighty offering had the same impact on my teenage self.
And that artwork? I had it the album on vinyl to ogle that lovely art. If I was ever to get a back tattoo, this would be the design. Wonderful package, as was the follow up, 1989's "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays.)" Funnily enough I didn't get that one on vinyl because CD was becoming popular and I was busy scooping those up but in the end got it on cassette.
Such a damned shame that after this period, the mighty Sabbat went tits up but maybe it was for the best? Perhaps its better to have brief spells of genius than having to witness a great band become less great, and hear albums get weaker and weaker. Yes there was a third record, "Mourning Has Broken" (1991) but it was considered both a critical and commercial turkey which banged that final nail into Sabbat's split. But like I say, better to have 2 fantastic albums than none at all


Belt it out

Clive Burr Lives On

Drum solo in Reading, 1982

Clive Burr passed away yesterday at the criminally young age of 56. Sleep well Clive, happy knowing you made Iron Maiden that bit extra special. I have been a Maiden fan since the beginning. Their 1980 debut "Iron Maiden" record was one of the first albums I ever owned and the band have been with me since I was 9 years old, making them feel like distant friends who accompanied me to school and who were around when I got my first girlfriend so this news was sadder than most.
Clive was an awesome drummer (check out a solo above) and those first three Maiden albums (Iron Maiden, Killers and The Number of the Beast) were simply stunning pieces of work. There isn't a bad track on any of them. Not one rubbish song, there aren't many bands who can claim that. (In fact besides the mighty Maiden I can't name any.)

Cliff Burton, Ronnie James Dio, Dimebag Darrel; it looks like God just needed a drummer.


Clive Burr 8 March 1957 ~ 12 March 2013

Keeping It Simple with Pie

Just add brown sauce

You cant get simpler than Pie and Chips. No chippy in Britain would be without it, and wives have cooked this classic meal for husbands since we first lifted a club. (Of course Woolly Mammoth went into them back then).
I always have a Minced Beef and Onion Pie but theres a fair choice on offer including Steak and Kidney, Chicken, Steak and Ale, even Curry if you fancy it.
Pies are a speciality in my hometowns Fish & Chip shops, and were the perfect food to keep me going that extra mile on a good binge. Its also the only food (apart from fish) that I will put vinegar on, as usually I cant stand vinegar.
Pies are also great in a sandwich (see below), although admittedly im the only one I know who has them this way.


Pie Sarnie

Music to eat to ~ The Almighty, Motorhead, Fear Factory.

The Breakfast Ballad

This Breakfast Is Probably an Icon

If you have overdone the bourbon and headbanging the night before, a couple of Boiled Eggs with Toast can sometimes be better than a fry up. (And I never thought Id hear myself say that). Its obviously much lighter on the guts; the ballad to the fry ups thundering drum solo if you will.
But you must cut the toast into 'soldiers' as shown in the photo, this is what millions of British children have gotten used to over the years. And its not simply a tradition, cutting the toasted bread like this makes it easy for the bread to fit into the cracked open egg shell, allowing the hungover mosher to plunge the golden toast into gorgoeus, yellowy, yolky goodness. (Butter and egg yolk are the bomb mixed!)
One thing that has been debated since before Led Zepplin even looked at a stage is how long it takes to boil the perfect egg. Its like the Holy Grail of food. Some say 3 minutes, others say 5, but at the end of the day its up to you whether you prefer runny yolk or solid. Personally I go for messy as hell, meaning 3 minutes are plenty enough for a great egg.

Music to eat this to: Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Poison and Saxon.

P.S. If you would like to purchase one of those funky VW egg cups then they are for sale at Equinox in Tenby.