The Grammys 2014

The Grammys and heavy metal have never really gotten along. That being said, the Grammys are tonight and it is still always an honor to be nominated for such a prestigious award. This week on “Into the Pit,” we are going to take a look at the nominees for the one heavy metal-related category in the entire ceremony: Best Metal Performance. There is a pretty interesting batch of bands nominated for the award this year, some of which deserve to be there and others who don’t.

Best Metal Performance

Anthrax - “T.N.T.” (AC/DC cover)

This song doesn’t deserve to be nominated--plain and simple. I have no idea what the Grammy committee was thinking with this choice. Anthrax is a legendary band, no doubt, and they covered a legendary song. However, the cover is nothing special at all. The band did nothing to make it sound unique or fresh. It just sounds like the band recording an easy song that all the members knew how to play. There are much better songs on Anthrax’s Anthems EP that are more worthy of being nominated. The only bright side to all of this is that Rob Caggiano was able to receive one last recognition for his work with the band. But this song really deserves to lose, and there will be a lot of unhappy metalheads if it wins.

Black Sabbath - “God Is Dead?”

Surprise, surprise. Black Sabbath's first new single with Ozzy Osbourne since 1998 is nominated for a Grammy award. In all honesty, the most obvious choice on the list wouldn’t make a bad winner. No one in the heavy metal community would be unhappy if Black Sabbath took home the award this year. “God Is Dead?” is a pretty great song, and even though Rick Rubin’s production isn’t the best, the performance by the band itself is awesome. Black Sabbath’s members are old now, but they still really know how to rock. “God Is Dead?” is my personal second favorite nominee this year and is the song I think will win the award. 

Dream Theater - “The Enemy Inside”

This song was not the best off Dream Theater’s new self-titled record, but it made a very good impression as a first single. A Dramatic Turn of Events was a stale album to say the least, and “The Enemy Inside” brought the band’s fans a huge sigh of relief. The song had more energy than anything off A Dramatic Turn of Events. More than that, it brought back memories of the band’s highly acclaimed album, Train of Thought. It was this reminder of how good Dream Theater could be that got fans really pumped for the band’s self-titled record. The album ended up being a slightly uneven product, but it was an overall good showing for the band, and a fine debut for Mike Mangini as a fully integrated band member. “The Enemy Inside” could easily take home the Grammy award this year, but I personally don’t think it should. The song is good, but not nearly as good as some of the other nominees.

Killswitch Engage - “In Due Time”

I was really happy to see this song nominated for a Grammy this year. I don’t think it should win, but it deserves the honor of just receiving a nomination. This song was a great single, and the best tune Killswitch Engage had released in years. Jesse Leach’s return was a needed dose of energy to the declining band. Killswitch Engage is back at the top of its game, and this song put the band there. It’s a damn good metal song, and I’m thrilled to see it honored. 

Volbeat - “Room 24” (feat. King Diamond)

This is the song I desperately want to take home the Grammy award this year, even though I doubt it will. Volbeat is an amazing band that is just finally starting to receive the recognition it deserves. This song comes off the band’s newest record, Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, which isn’t the group's best offering, but is still really freaking good. This song is notable for featuring King Diamond, who hasn’t been around for quite some time. King Diamond sounds great on this track and his voice compliments Volbeat’s musical vision very well. The band’s performance on this track is similarly great and Rob Caggiano’s production helps accentuate it. I really hope Volbeat wins this year, and I’m sure I’m not the only metalhead who hopes so too.

Quit While You're Ahead

Recently on ACRN.com, we wrote a collaborative feature article about bands that should have quit while they were ahead. This week I’ve decided to write a metal version of that article.

To narrow it down to five choices, I eliminated all extraordinarily legendary bands and artists who should stay around even if it’s just for nostalgia’s sake. For example, even though Megadeth’s last few albums have been weak, they are such a renowned act that I couldn’t possibly put them on the list. Plus, they really only play a couple of their newer songs live, and are worth seeing just to hear the classics. 

I also eliminated any bands from the list that I really felt could bounce back. For example, Bullet for My Valentine seemed like an obvious choice for the list, since their last album was abysmal. However, all of their albums before it were relatively good, so I have to assume that the last record was a misstep. 

Additionally, the list below is fairly mainstream for a reason. I didn’t want my readers to have to look up every band on the list. That would be too much work. 

Now, without further ado, and in no particular order, here is my list:

1.       Avenged Sevenfold

When The Rev passed away, that should have been it for Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev was a good drummer, but his greatest contribution to the band was through his songwriting abilities. Sure, M. Shadows and Synyster Gates have proven themselves to be pretty good songwriters, but The Rev’s songs were always special treasures on each Avenged Sevenfold record. He wrote some of the band’s most creative and exciting songs, such as “Chapter Four,” “Almost Easy,” “Afterlife,” “A Little Piece of Heaven,” “Welcome to the Family” and “Fiction.” Even though M. Shadows’ songs were usually bigger hits (“Unholy Confessions” and “Beast and the Harlot”), The Rev’s songs were usually those that added depth to the band’s records. The Rev was never afraid to experiment and those experimentations almost always paid off in a big way for the band. The Rev’s songwriting, drumming, and backing vocals were essential to what made Avenged Sevenfold such a special metal group. The band’s newest album, Hail to the King, is evidence that the band faces a hard road ahead without The Rev. Personally, I think they should just give up now or at least change their name to preserve the legacy of those fantastic first five records.

 

2.      Korn

I haven’t seen a metal band struggle this much with identity confusion since Metallica popped (or should I say “pooped”) out St. Anger. I was one of the few people who actually dug Korn’s experimentation with dubstep, but then again I also enjoyed St. Anger to a degree. Still, Korn is a band that keeps needing to re-examine itself. The group did so successfully with Korn III: Remember Who You Are, after a spree of lackluster albums. Now the group needs to do so yet again because the band’s newest record, The Paradigm Shift, just sounds like a mess. Its combination of sounds and styles isn’t original. It’s just confusing and upsetting for longtime fans of the band. The band had some incredible early albums, but it might be time that the band members took a little break to explore their musical side interests without having them leak into Korn records. Then they could come back and play their older material again, and everyone would be happy.

3.      Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage basically invented melodic metalcore with its first four albums. The band was a monumental influence on so many bands that came after it. But now they are starting to lose their momentum. The band’s fifth album was a mess in so many ways, with melodies that made fans shudder and breakdowns that were much weaker than usual. Then Howard Jones left the band, and the group’s old singer, Jesse Leach, returned. Leach brought some energy and excitement back into the band, but the group’s newest album just sounds like a repeat of everything else it has done. Killswitch Engage had a good run, but they are running out of ideas, and it has become brutally obvious. Killswitch Engage isn’t going to be gaining many new fans nowadays, and no one is really talking about them anymore. Their style is becoming stale and dated, and it’s time for them to disappear for a little while, so they can preserve the integrity of a pretty memorable legacy of records.   

4.       In Flames

I have a difficult time talking about In Flames. I worship their first five records, and consider them to be some of melodic death metal’s finest achievements. However, with the change in style that first appeared on Reroute to Remain, the quality of the band’s music began to decline. I understand the band’s actions, though. They wanted a more mainstream American audience so they ditched the melodic death metal style in favor of a more alternative metal-based one. That would have been fine by me as long as the band didn’t stick with it for too long. Unfortunately, the band put out four alternative metal records, only one of which (Come Clarity) is worth listening to all the way through. Finally, in 2011, the band decided to acknowledge its melodic death metal fans again with Sounds of a Playground Fading, but the album is far from perfect. Anders Friden’s clean vocals are still pretty awful, and they take up most of the album. Plus, the electronic moments are weird and unwelcome. Fans of In Flames have been begging for a good, traditional melodic death metal record from their heroes. The band’s alternative metal output isn’t going to get better than Come Clarity, and if the band can’t do what its fans are requesting, then maybe it should just disband altogether. Jesper Stromblad at least knew when enough was enough. If only it was more obvious to the rest of the band members. 

5.      Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie’s stage shows are still phenomenal, however his music just isn’t. His best musical years are far behind him, and even though his new record was decent, he’s probably never going to put out another classic metal song again. If Zombie played some old tunes from his White Zombie days alongside songs from his first two solo records, fans would be very happy. He doesn’t even have to tour that often. He could just keep making movies (which he is clearly very good at), and whenever he’s in the mood, he could embark on a short tour playing his old music. That plan sounds much better than releasing an okay album every three to four years and regularly touring behind songs that don’t have much spark behind them. Zombie should just stop making records. He has enough great songs and is just ruining their legacy by continuing to make more. 

Metalcore

Alright metalheads, it is time for the long overdue blog post about metalcore. This subgenre has risen to success particularly during the last ten years or so, and has caused quite a bit of controversy in the heavy metal community. Popular bands such as Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine, Shadows Fall, Trivium and All That Remains all fall into the metalcore subgenre.

For those who do not know, metalcore is the combination of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Metalcore music revolves around breakdowns, which are slow but powerful passages that often entice metalheads to jump into a mosh pit.

Metalcore was a subgenre that many people saw coming before it actually rose to popularity. Thrash, groove and death metal bands of the 1980s and 1990s all experimented with combining hardcore punk and heavy metal before the genres of music became fused together permanently. The legendary thrash metal band Slayer even released an entire album of hardcore punk cover songs during the 1990s. Sepultura is often credited with laying down the framework for the subgenre.

During the 1990s, mathcore bands started to sprout up. We will be covering mathcore in depth next week. It was an important precursor to metalcore. Mathcore bands such as Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch all placed a heavier reliance on breakdowns, which would greatly shape the development of metalcore to come.

By the mid-2000s, metalcore started to really take shape. The subgenre rose to popularity just as nu metal started to fade into obscurity. Killswitch Engage was one of the most notable pioneers at this time, often being credited as the first commercially accessible metalcore band. This very commercialized style of metalcore is also known as melodic metalcore, and it places a greater emphasis on melody rather than breakdowns. Adam Dutkiewicz, the guitarist of Killswitch Engage, is extremely important to the metalcore subgenre, as he has produced many of the subgenre’s most successful records.

Around the time that Killswitch Engage released their landmark record, The End of Heartache, other metalcore bands started to achieve a great amount of success as well. Shadows Fall released The War Within, which debuted at number 20 on the Billboard chart. All That Remains also experienced an unexpected amount of success with their 2006 record, The Fall of Ideals. Rising to even greater success than other bands in the subgenre was Avenged Sevenfold, who released their album City of Evil in 2005 and suddenly became one of the most popular heavy metal bands in the US.

Soon after the commercial rise of metalcore, heavier bands such as The Devil Wears Prada and As I Lay Dying also began to experience some commercial recognition. Metalcore also began to become popular outside the US during the late 2000s, which allowed the Welsh band Bullet for My Valentine to gain international fame. 

Beyond the melodic metalcore scene, there are also several other types of metalcore. There is a large sector of metalcore bands whose sound revolves around a punk ideology, often taking part in Warped Tour and experiencing a fair amount of popularity. These bands include the likes of Every Time I Die, Underoath, A Day To Remember, Escape the Fate, Alexisonfire and The Word Alive. Similarly, there is a large Christian metalcore scene that has sprouted up with As I Lay Dying and The Devil Wears Prada taking the lead.

The popularity of metalcore has been met with a very mixed reception. Many traditional metalheads have expressed their unhappiness with the subgenre, claiming that the focus on breakdowns often detracts from the music’s creativity. Displeasure with the subgenre’s subculture has often been expressed, with many older metalheads stereotyping metalcore fans as a group of angsty teenagers without much musical knowledge.

Nevertheless, metalcore still remains at the center of mainstream heavy metal today, though melodic metalcore particularly seems to be slowly losing momentum. With the onset of the 2010s, there is no certain trend in heavy metal, but that makes the genre all the more diverse and exciting.