Metal Reunions That Should Be On Your Radar

There are some really cool heavy metal reunions going on right now, and I thought this week would be a great time to discuss some of them. These are the top five heavy metal reunions that you should be paying attention to:

1       Emperor 
Emperor is one of the most important black metal bands of all time. Formed in 1991, these guys defined symphonic black metal, and helped pioneer black metal in Norway. They were very much a part of the church burning movement in Norway in the 1990s, with a few of the band’s seminal members being a arrested and sent to jail for various crimes, including murder.

Emperor has recently reformed in order to commemorate the release of its classic debut album, In the Nightside Eclipse. The band will be performing the album in its entirety at several festival shows. Though the band leader, Ihsahn, seems to be more focused on his highly successful solo career, there is still a chance the band might continue to release new material. Even if they don’t, these shows will go down as a part of heavy metal history, and may possibly be the last chance for metalheads to witness Emperor’s glory.

2      The Haunted
Everyone is always raving about how important At the Gates was, but the other baby of the Bjorler brothers has always been a powerful force in heavy metal as well. The Haunted formed in 1996 after the demise of At the Gates, and the band put out several thrash metal albums that were very successful throughout Europe, though the band always maintained a small following in the US as well. The band's lineup has shifted constantly throughout the years, but Anders Bjorler, Jonas Bjorler and Patrik Jensen have appeared on all of the band’s records…until now.

In 2012, Anders left the group following the departures of the band’s vocalist and drummer. Jonas and Jensen remained committed to the band’s future even though fans couldn’t see one with the band having already lost so many members all within the same year. This year, after a period of inactivity, Jensen announced the band’s return with a new guitarist, alongside Adrian Erlandson, who founded the band and was the drummer on the band’s debut album, and Marco Aro, who was the band’s most acclaimed vocalist and played on their second and third records. With such a great new lineup, and with the departure of Anders, who may have been behind the disaster that was Unseen, the band’s future looks brighter than it has in a long, long time.

3        Sanctuary
No one expected Sanctuary to reform. Warrel Dane and Jim Sheppard were so preoccupied with Nevermore, and received such acclaim with the band, that no one ever demanded a Sanctuary reunion. But now that Nevermore is gone, Sanctuary’s reunion has grown ever more exciting.

Sanctuary formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1992, only to reunite 18 years later in 2010. Sanctuary put out two legendary heavy metal records during its career that combined thrash metal and power metal. The band is currently working on its third record that will serve as the comeback. With Nevermore gone, fans are dying to hear what Dane and his crew have up their sleeves. The new album should be out sometime in late 2013 or early 2014.

4       Dog Fashion Disco
Majorly influenced by Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle, Dog Fashion Disco appeared on the scene in 1995 and quickly established a cult following (including yours truly). The band put out six albums during its initial run--the first three were released independently, and the last three were released on major labels. The group never quite got as popular as it should have, despite the band’s unique style of music, which was a form of avant-garde metal that involved combining heavy metal with psychedelic rock, jazz, lounge music and circus music. Dog Fashion Disco broke up in 2007, with band members going on to form obscure groups such as Polkadot Cadaver, Knives Out!, El Creepo and Celebrity Sex Scandal.

After reuniting in its hometown to do some reunion shows for a few consecutive years, the band officially announced that it were back together for good only a couple of weeks ago. The band plans to release irs comeback record, Sweet Nothings, in the spring of 2014. Back in the day, Dog Fashion Disco was known for one song, which featured Serj Tankian, and for touring with some of metal’s most successful contemporary acts. Now that the group is back together, hopefully it can gain even a bigger fanbase, for the band's unusual style of music certainly deserves to be heard. 

5       System of a Down
Everyone knows System of a Down. The band released very famous metal songs including “Chop Suey!,” “Toxicity,” “B.Y.O.B.” and “Lonely Day,” and was nominated for several Grammy awards (and they even won one) during their initial run. The band reunited in 2011 to the excitement of many fans. So why am I bringing them up now?

The band has not released an album since its reunion and fans are getting anxious. This year most of the band members have shown their excitement to put out new music as well, but they are being held up by vocalist Serj Tankian. Tankian has had a successful solo career, and after releasing two albums this year, one can only hope that System has big plans for 2014. The world needs System of a Down, and hopefully they will blow us all away with album number six!

Experimental (Avant-Garde) Metal

This week we are going to be getting a bit experimental. That’s right! It’s time to talk about experimental metal, also known as avant-garde metal. The terms “experimental metal” and “avant-garde metal” are usually interchangeable with fans of the subgenre, and each band of the subgenre has a preference of how they wish to be described. For the sake of the blog post, I will simply refer to the subgenre as experimental metal. 

Experimental metal is basically the subgenre for bands that no one knows how to describe. Metal bands that use unusual sounds, instruments, song structures and/or playing techniques all are labeled as experimental metal bands because they don’t fall into any other subgenre. Progressive metal bands also use unusual song structures and playing techniques, which may cause confusion about how they should be labeled. It’s important to keep in mind that progressive metal bands always use standard heavy metal instrumentation and that they rely more on technicality than real experimentation. The difference between the subgenres is huge and anyone who has experience listening to them both can easily identify how a band should be labeled. 

It’s fairly unclear where experimental metal originated from, but the subgenre definitely made its first appearance in the 1990s. Bands such as Neurosis, Boris, Earth, Maudlin of the Well and Sunn O))) all started to experiment with conventional heavy metal music, which led to the formation of many experimental metal groups. Some other notorious experimental metal acts include Ulver, Arcturus, Unexpect, Fantomas, Sigh, The Ocean, Diablo Swing Orchestra and Dog Fashion Disco.

In recent years, experimental metal has become more popular than ever before. Record labels such as The End Records, Hydra Head Records, Southern Lord Records, Profound Lore Records and Misanthropy Records are all known for releasing notorious modern experimental metal records. The internet has really popularized the idea of experimenting with normal heavy metal standards, and now there is a large niche of fans of the experimental metal subgenre. The future of experimental metal is a bright one with limitless possibilities.