The “Godfather of Heavy Metal” has filed suit with the US Patent and Trademark Office, claiming that Black Sabbath guitarist and former bandmate Tony Iommi illegally seized ownership of the landmark band’s name.
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You may not know Red Fang by name, but if you’ve been near the internets recently, you’ve probably seen the video for their debut single “Prehistoric Dog”. It’s ‘gone viral’ as the kids say, and rightfully so: it’s easily one of the best videos of the last five years. Incorporating host of visual delights, including excessive beer consumption, live action role playing, creative recycling and Monty Python-esque gore, you owe it to yourself to seek it out immediately. In fact, the video is so good that you might be distracted from the fact that Red Fang are much more than an awesome video. That would be doing the four Portland natives a great disservice, as a trip through the self-titled Red Fang debut will assert quite definitively that they are nothing less than a full-on four-piece Metal onslaught.
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Notes From Middle America is contributor Danny R. Phillips’ monthly column. You can read past installments here.
 
I have to ask.  What happened to rock? Has it become passé or uncool for a band to struggle, tour, play shows night after night to build a fan base without the help of excessive internet buzz or douche bags in the “hip” magazines who supposedly have their fingers on the pulse of the American youth culture? If a band has to work hard to get what they have, is that far less important than the mandatory polo shirts they wear on stage?
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Written by Danny R. Phillips

Metallica, the bay-area giants that legitimized “thrash metal” with albums like Kill ‘Em All, Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All and “The Black Album” were welcomed into the hallowed confines of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.
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