Destruction - Eternal Devastation: Part 2 in a 10-part series looking back at the best thrash metal albums of 1986

Throughout 2011 I'll be looking back a quarter century at 10 iconic thrash metal albums of 1986. For my money, 1986 was the best year in the history of thrash -- and probably the metal genre as a whole -- giving us seminal releases by many of thrash metal's best acts. Each entry will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the album's release date and will feature interviews with band members and/or people who were part of the album's creation.

 For Part 2, I'll take a look back at Destruction's classic sophomore release, Eternal Devastation, which was released on July 1, 1986. I e-mailed some questions to Destruction bassist/vocalist Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer (via ridiculously helpful Nuclear Blast publicist Loana Valencia), which resulted in an entertaining and informative Q&A.

The Atomic Bitchwax - The Local Fuzz (Album Review)

The Atomic Bitchwax - The Local Fuzz
Release date: June 28, 2011 (Tee Pee Records)

Sometimes, the mark of great music isn't so much that it demands your undivided attention, but that it simply makes whatever else you happen to be doing that much more enjoyable (or, in some cases, slightly more tolerable). By those standards, the Atomic Bitchwax might have a legitimate "Album of the Year" candidate in The Local Fuzz.

Helms Alee - Weatherhead (Album Review)

Helms Alee - Weatherhead
Release date: June 21, 2011 (Hydra Head Records)

After four or five spins of Helms Alee's sophomore album, Weatherhead, I found myself thinking "Man, it's too bad Kurt Cobain isn't around to hear this." After all, Cobain was never shy about name-dropping the Pixies and the Melvins as two of his biggest musical influences, and those two bands' legacies are alive and well on Helms Alee's latest release. Hell, if Kim Deal and Buzz Osbourne had a torrid, drug-fueled love affair and spawned three illegitimate children, odds are good they would grow up to sound quite a bit like Helms Alee.

Top 20 Slayer songs for your International Day of Slayer playlist

Slayer in 1986. 

To commemorate the sixth annual International Day of Slayer - which, if your math skills aren't so great, originated on the incredibly appropriate date of 6/6/06 - I have decided to assemble a playlist of 20 of Slayer's greatest songs.

I should note right off the bat that this isn't a "true" Top 20 list of Slayer's absolute best songs. My goal was simply to create a career-spanning playlist to celebrate the International Day of Slayer. In so doing, I established the following two rules for myself:

1. I had to choose at least one song from each of Slayer's full-length studio albums (I didn't include live albums or EPs, but I did pick a song from their album of punk covers, Undisputed Attitude).

2. The total running time of the playlist could not exceed 80 minutes - the duration of a standard CD-R.

Random and Mr. Miranda (aka Mirandom) release "Wednesday" music video; Rebecca Black mulls legal action

I've been slacking on ye olde weblog all year, but after five and a half months, something finally landed in my inbox that inspired me to write for free - a new video from Valley MCs Random and Mr. Miranda for the song "Wednesday" from their upcoming release The Memorandum. The song is all about slogging through a typical workweek and the sense of relief that comes with making it through "hump day."

I've written features on both of these guys for New Times, and they're two of the hardest working and most talented artists in the local hip-hop scene. I've felt for a while now that either one of these guys could be the rapper who finally puts Phoenix on the hip-hop map. Who knows? Maybe they'll accomplish that goal together. Wednesday might not be as sexy of a day as - oh, I don't know - Friday, but in the hands of Mr. Miranda and Random, it's not looking too bad at all.

Check out the video for "Wednesday" after the break. The song was co-produced by Random and EOM and the video was directed by Spicy Fud.