The year started off pretty slow. In January, the biggest
event to occur in heavy metal was Rob Caggiano leaving Anthrax. I give a lot of
credit to that man for reviving Anthrax from the dead, but they prospered for a
long time without him, and they can certainly do so again. Jonathan Donais from
Shadows Fall should be an interesting addition to the band. He’s not of the
same musical caliber as Caggiano, but he’s still a killer guitar player that
could stylistically bring a lot to the band. Also worth noting is that Caggiano
has since joined Volbeat, a band that is more than deserving of his presence and
expertise.
As far as music releases go, the biggest release of January
was probably Jason Newsted’s Metal EP. It was nice to hear from Metallica’s
former bassist, though the songs themselves were fairly lackluster. Cult of Luna
without a doubt put out the best album of the month, though Voivod, Hatebreed and
Tomahawk also put out solid records.
Just a month after Caggiano announced his departure from
Anthrax, another band of “The Big Four of Thrash Metal” announced a line-up
change. In February, Dave Lombardo said that he would not be performing live
with Slayer in Australia. His status in the band would be left uncertain until
May, where his departure would be officially announced. This was a really rough
year for Slayer. More on that later though.
A bunch of good albums came out in February. The biggest highlight
was Darkthrone’s The Underground Resistance, on which the band stylistically
paid tribute to many of their older heavy metal heroes. The album is so old
school and is insanely awesome. Suffocation, Portal, Omnium Gatherum and
Byzantine also put out pretty strong albums that month.
March was a sad month because former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr passed away. Burr was the drummer on The Number of the Beast, one of
the best heavy metal records of all time. He may be gone now, but he left a
hell of a legacy.
Also in March, Randy Blythe from Lamb of God was acquitted
of all charges in Prague. That was a major relief for the metal community. If a
man gets on stage and charges at you, you push him away. Blythe followed his
instincts and who could blame him? After what happened to Dimebag Darrell in
2004, you can’t take any chances.
Soilwork’s double album The Living Infinite was probably the
musical highlight of March. A lot of people really dug Sevendust’s new record, too. Kvelertak, Avantasia, Finntroll, KEN mode and Hypocrisy also had
albums that are really worth checking out.
April was the month where every mainstream metal band ever
decided to release an album. Drowning Pool had a new album come out with
another new singer (insert sarcastic cheers here) that actually wasn’t that
much of a train wreck. Killswitch Engage’s new album that featured the return
of Jesse Leach also came out, but was pretty underwhelming. Bring Me the
Horizon dominated the mainstream metal market that month with their new
album, Sempiternal, which is definitely their best record to date. David
Draiman’s new band, Device, also released its debut record, and it sounded
exactly like Disturbed, just as everyone predicted.
April continued with even more mainstream metal releases, as
Ghost, Stone Sour, Rob Zombie and Deep Purple all put out pretty good records.
The new Stone Sour was the second part of The House of Gold & Bones double
album, and it had me impressed. Rob Zombie’s newest record was also his
strongest in quite some time. That brought a smile to my face.
The best albums from April were the new releases by Norway’s
Shining, The Ocean and Altar of Plagues. For those of you planning on checking
out ACRN’s albums of the year list, you can expect to see the new records from
The Ocean and Altar of Plagues on my list. They were both phenomenal. Altar of
Plagues may have announced their demise, but man, the band is definitely going
out on a high note.
As far as events go, the only thing to happen in April was
the death of Chi Cheng of Deftones fame. It was no secret that his recovery was
not going well, so his death was sort of expected. It’s a shame because
he was a very talented bassist and he seemed to have been a really great guy.
May was probably the worst, but most important month in metal
this year. On May 2nd, Jeff Hanneman from Slayer passed away. The
heavy metal community was blown away by this unexpected loss. No one realized
that Hanneman was in such bad condition, and everyone was sure he was on his
way to recovery after the lethal spider bite. Hanneman’s influence on heavy
metal was monumental to say the least, and Slayer will always be incomplete
without him.
Meanwhile, during the same month, Tim Lambesis from As I Lay
Dying was arrested for trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife. This is a
classic case of stupid people making stupid decisions. Way to go, Tim. Way to
make your band members proud. Lambesis’ impending court case has gotten a lot
of attention this year, and was certainly a big event from 2013.
As far as records go, May saw fantastic new album releases
from Immolation, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Kylesa, Dark Tranquillity,
Tesseract, Alice in Chains, The Resistance and Chthonic. The Dillinger Escape
Plan really blew up in 2013, and has become way more popular than the group
could have imagined. It’s nice to see such a talented band getting recognized
by the heavy metal community for their excellent music.
June saw a new incarnation of The Haunted take shape, which
totally got me psyched. Apart from that, June was seen as kind of a recovery
month for the heavy metal community. Hanneman’s death was a big deal, and many
people still haven’t accepted it.
Black Sabbath released their first new album in a long time
in June, and many people were excited about that. Queensryche also put out its
first album without Geoff Tate, and it sounded totally awesome. Children of Bodom
and Amon Amarth put out good, but overly hyped albums in June. Deafheaven and
The Black Dahlia Murder put out the most acclaimed records of the month. These
albums were some of the best of what 2013 had to offer in metal. White Wizzard,
Scale the Summit, August Burns Red and Mouth of the Architect also put out
memorable records in June.
July was a fairly boring month in metal. No major events
happened, and the only album releases worth talking about were Battlecross’s
second record, Misery Signals long anticipated fourth album, and Phil Anselmo’s
first solo album. Anselmo’s record didn’t really meet the high expectations set
for it, but it was still nice to hear him perform heavy music again.
The big news during August was Dark Angel’s reunion. Don
Doty wanted to get back into the music scene and basically proclaimed a reunion
without asking any of the other band members if they were up for it. Gene
Hoglan retaliated with a statement saying that the band was considering
reuniting for some festival dates, but not with Doty on vocals. Doty has since
backed off from Dark Angel and has formed a new band. Meanwhile, Dark Angel has
reunited with Ron Rinehart and has some performance dates set for the near
future.
In August, many awesome records were released. Gorguts’ first
album in over a decade, Colored Sands, was probably the highlight of the month.
It met expectations and proved that Gorguts are still leaders in the death
metal scene. Jason Newsted, Avenged Sevenfold, Exhumed, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Watain,
Revocation, Last Chance to Reason and Devildriver also put out pretty good
albums in August. Avenged Sevenfold’s new album received a lot of attention due
to the band’s decision to take heavy influence from some of their favorite
popular metal acts. Machine Head’s Robb Flynn congratulated the band on their “covers
album,” which sparked some commotion between the groups.
September featured album releases by Vista Chino,
Annihilator, Ministry, Satyricon, Gwar, Dream Theater and Carcass. Carcass’ comeback record was the talk of the town when it came out. It was a good
combination of Necroticism and Heartwork, and fans were very pleased with it.
That record is going to be on a lot of favorite album lists at the end of the
year.
The big metal news story of October was Blake Judd’s arrest
and Nachtmystium’s subsequent demise. Judd felt that he was in a dark state,
and that it would be best to end his band on a high note. Nachtmystium will
put out one final album next year. Many of the band’s fans were devastated by
this news.
Fates Warning, Soulfly, Death Angel, Red Fang, Pestilence,
Motorhead, Sepultura, Protest the Hero, Skeletonwitch and Toxic Holocaust all
put very memorable albums in October. Metalheads were particularly impressed
with the latter three records listed. Meanwhile, Korn and Trivium put out
pretty divisive records in October that may have impressed as many fans as they
disappointed.
This month The Melvins, Sun and Sail Club, Hell and Deicide
all put out memorable records. There doesn’t seem to be much going on next
month, though.
This has been a memorable year in metal. There were two
horrible deaths and some sad band break-ups, but there were also several major
reunion records. Many very well known metal acts also put out some major
releases this year that will be talked about for time to come. Next year promises to
be an exciting year, as many great bands are talking about awesome
upcoming albums and tours. Next post I will summarize the best of what is yet
to come in heavy metal in 2014.
