Since this is the last post until 2014, I thought it would
be a good opportunity to talk about the year to come in heavy metal. There are
plenty of exciting events, album releases and tours coming up next year that have
already been announced. Plus, I have a few predictions of my own as to what will
happen to certain bands next year. Take a look!
Album Releases
There are quite a few exciting albums that should be coming
out next year. First, let’s talk about some of the big ones. Metallica, Slayer and Slipknot are the three big bands that are working on highly anticipated
albums.
The next Slayer album will be the first one without Jeff
Hanneman, but chances are we will hear some of the material he wrote before his
death on the new record. It will also be the first Slayer record with Paul
Bostaph back on drums and will more than likely feature guitar playing from
Gary Holt. Holt’s presence on the record is particularly exciting, and
hopefully he can make some substantial contributions to the album.
The next Slipknot record will be the first without Paul
Gray, and is rumored to be a mix between Iowa and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal
Verses). Interestingly, Jim Root is taking some time off touring with Stone
Sour to focus on writing for Slipknot’s upcoming release. Plus, Joey Jordison
and Shawn Crahan have both been hyping up many of the tunes they have written.
Slipknot hasn’t put out an album since 2008, so hopefully their gestating ideas
can all combine to form a masterful new album.
Metallica has been teasing fans with the idea of a new album
for a while now, and the band's new one should be pretty cool. My guess is that they
will put out an album similar to The Black Album. However, who knows what the
band will do to follow Death Magnetic. Metallica has been known to surprise its
fans in unsettling ways, but hopefully the band’s next record won’t be too
disappointing.
Beyond Slayer, Slipknot and Metallica, there are a lot of
other exciting albums coming out this year. Confirmed releases early in the
year are set for Iced Earth, Adrenaline Mob, Alcest, Transatlantic, Behemoth, Within
Temptation, Cynic, Triptykon and Overkill. Behemoth’s new record is
particularly anticipated, as it will be the band’s first album since Nergal
recovered from cancer.
Bands such as Machine Head, Cannibal Corpse, Anthrax, Judas
Priest, Arch Enemy, The Haunted, HammerFall, In Flames, Black Label Society,
Exodus, Sanctuary and Fear Factory have also been confirmed to be working on
albums. The records from these bands probably won’t be released early in the
year, but should happen at some point in 2014.
Tours
Not that many major tours have been announced yet for 2014.
Of course, The Rockstar Mayhem Festival and Summer Slaughter will return with
surely stellar line-ups in the summer. Early in the year, the big talk is going
to revolve around the recently announced Decibel Magazine Tour featuring
Carcass, The Black Dahlia Murder, Gorguts and Noisem. All four of those bands
had highly talked about releases in 2013, and they all put on great live shows.
This is going to be one of the most talked about tours of 2014, so don’t
miss it!
Predictions
I have limited myself to five predictions for the upcoming
year. I wonder if they will come true.
1Slayer will announce Gary Holt as a permanent
guitarist. I mean, who else could they possibly get to replace Hanneman? I
think Exodus will find a way to co-exist, but I don’t think Exodus will be
able to put out an album in 2014. I hope I’m wrong about this, though, because I’d
much rather have Holt focus solely on Exodus.
2System of a Down is going to announce a new
record, and might even put one out in 2014. Serj Tankian is running out of
excuses to stop the band from recording. I think 2014 is going to be the year
for the return of System. Let’s hope I’m right!
3Iron Maiden is going to put out a new record. It
has been almost four years since the last one, and even though the band is in
no rush to put out more music, I think it’s going to happen. I expect a late release
for the record if it happens at all.
4Disturbed announces its return. Device didn’t do
well, and Fight or Flight did even worse. I have to hope that the members of
Disturbed will have enough common sense to reform the band.
5Black Sabbath won’t exist by the end of 2014. I
would be surprised if the band made it through the year. Iommi is still recovering
from cancer and Ozzy seems ready to go back to his solo career. I hope this
prediction is incorrect, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t correct.
Oh man, 2013 was a big year in heavy metal. Where to even
begin? Well I guess let’s start at the beginning.
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.
Heavy metal is a difficult genre of music to get into. Subgenres
such as death metal and black metal may seem repulsive to music listeners who
aren’t used to the harsh nature of the music. Sometimes music that sounds
foreign can just be hard to comprehend.
Therefore, it is important that people find metal groups
known as gateway bands. A gateway band is a band that helps one ease into a
genre (or subgenre) of music. Once listeners start to enjoy a gateway band, it
often becomes easier for them to explore the genre of music that initially
seemed unlikable.
A lot of metalheads really understand the importance of
gateway bands. Very few metalheads have ever just been able to start listening
to an extreme subgenre without having been eased into it through other bands.
Furthermore, a lot of metalheads may have been turned off by heavy metal
entirely, until that one special band came along to convince them otherwise.
Personally, it took me years to start enjoying certain heavy
metal subgenres. In fact, I was repulsed by just the idea of listening to heavy
metal for a long time. But when I turned 15, I started listening to Metallica and everything began to change.
In my opinion, Metallica is probably the best gateway band
into heavy metal. There’s a reason why they are the most popular metal band of
all time. It is because they have such a strong universal appeal. The Black
Album has sold 30 million copies worldwide, and has helped millions of people
become interested in heavy metal. I was blown away the
first time I heard “Enter Sandman,” and it really encouraged me to check out
the rest of Metallica’s discography.
Pretty soon, I had become completely infatuated with the
band’s early thrash metal albums. To this day, Master of Puppets remains my
favorite heavy metal album ever. The first track off the album, “Battery,”
encouraged me to check out more thrash metal bands besides Metallica, in search
of other songs like it. Pretty soon, I found myself on a journey of musical
discovery, and by trying to find bands that sounded like others I liked, I began
to delve deeper and deeper into the heavy metal genre.
Metallica was my gateway band, but they’re not a good
gateway band for everybody. Many metalheads who are encouraging their friends
to start listening to metal will tell them to start at the very beginning with
Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath is an admittedly great gateway metal band. It’s
not hard to convince fans of hard rock, psychedelic rock and the blues that
Black Sabbath is a phenomenal band. After exploring Black Sabbath, many people may be further encouraged to check out other doom metal bands, and may even decide
to listen to stoner metal and sludge metal as well.
Black Sabbath and Metallica are probably the stereotypical
gateway bands of heavy metal. Other common older metal gateway bands include Deep
Purple, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Anthrax. Collectively,
these are the bands that most metalheads of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s will
say got them into heavy metal. However, we’re in the 2000s now, and a lot of
people are looking for more newer, more modern gateway bands into heavy metal.
Ghost is the gateway band that everyone seems to be talking
about right now. Their gimmicky costumes alongside their rather tame music are universally
likeable. Ghost’s dark vibe and embrace of the occult will naturally attract
fans that are unfamiliar with heavy metal. They’re a great gateway band and
they put on a hell of a live show.
Alternative metal and nu metal bands are good gateway bands
for younger teenage listeners who are looking for a bit of kick to the usual
rock music. I know a ton of people who have used Slipknot, Disturbed, System of
a Down, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Marilyn Manson as gateway bands into heavy
metal. Personally, I think Disturbed is a really great gateway metal band that is good
for easing people into the genre.
Metalcore also seems to be a subgenre that is a good gateway
into heavy metal. Melodic metalcore bands such as Every Time I Die, Avenged
Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine and Trivium are great
gateway metal bands with catchy songs. These are good bands for fans of punk
music, and for those who just like simplistic, likeable songs.
Lastly, for those who like complex music with a lot of
intricacies, I recommend exploring progressive metal. Dream Theater, Fates
Warning, Symphony X, Animals as Leaders, Devin Townsend Band and Cynic are an
eclectic group of progressive metal bands that will surely appeal to listeners
of more musically sophisticated and complex genres.
I actually further recommend Cynic, particularly their newer
material, to fans of indie rock. It’s sort of a stretch, but I think Cynic’s
music might be a good gateway for them as well. Fans of indie rock and
alternative rock might also appreciate groups such as Alcest, Agalloch and Amesoeurs.
These are gateway bands that reflect a combination of metal and softer genres
of music.
When beginning to listen to heavy metal, it’s all about
finding the right gateway band. There are infinite possibilities, and all it
takes is one band for someone to get completely hooked on heavy metal. Heavy
metal is such a diverse genre of music that is really worth deeply exploring. Finding
the right gateway band can lead to an exciting musical journey that can really
open up one’s musical palette for the better.
Exploring the world of heavy metal online can be difficult. There
are a lot of terrible heavy metal news sites out there, and many awful places
to look for heavy metal album reviews. Through this blog post, I hope to direct
readers to some really great heavy metal websites that will help them keep up
with their favorite heavy metal acts.
There are a lot of good places to go for heavy metal news,
and likewise a lot of bad places. The most notable heavy metal news site around
is Blabbermouth. Blabbermouth is basically the online CNN for heavy metal and every metalhead knows about it. The site is a fairly objective news
source and focuses on what is going on with popular heavy metal acts.
If metalheads go to
one place on the internet for heavy metal news, Blabbermouth should probably be
it. The site is filled with many garbage interviews that no one really cares
about, but after sifting through the uninformative interviews and news stories,
there ends up being a lot of simple, objective articles that get information
across efficiently. The site does a good job at reporting about upcoming album
releases and tours, and is a good place for fans of less obscure heavy metal bands
to go.
The album reviews on Blabbermouth are pretty hit and miss.
The site frequently overrates albums, and is often misleading in terms of
describing album quality. I have observed that the site does a better job
rating albums by more underground bands than they do with mainstream metal
groups. The reviews are always well written, though, despite the fact that
sometimes they aren’t that thorough. All in all, read the album reviews for fun
if you want, but don’t take them seriously.
For those who want a more comical news source, MetalSucks is
a great place to go, and is the home of frequently mocked writers, Axl
Rosenberg and Vince Neilstein. They do a
great job of making heavy metal news funny, and often provide great
commentaries to ridiculous stories. All of the writers on MetalSucks are very
opinionated, and they aren’t afraid to make that known, however the site posts
about bands of all types. MetalSucks is actually my favorite news source. I
find their articles to be entertaining, and they cover a pretty wide spectrum
of bands.
For those who want objective news like Blabbermouth, MetalStorm, Metal Injection and Metal Hammer are also good places to go. I
particularly find myself being constantly redirected to Metal Injection to
check out album reviews and song/album streams.
The only other site I frequently return to is Gun Shy Assassin, a metal news site run by Chris
Harris, who has written for many other bigger music news sites. GSA is a good
news site, covering a fairly wide spectrum of bands. The site also has some
blogs that are run by really excellent musicians. The only major problem I have
with GSA is that Harris often provides inconsistent commentaries within news
stories. Sometimes Harris is really funny and has great things to say. Other
times he comes off as being really whiney. That being said, he is usually more
funny than whiney, and his stories about getting into fights with various
mainstream metal musicians are often pretty great. He is very opinionated, but
his site is all in good fun, and is certainly worth following.
For those who are trying to keep up with a specific, more
obscure heavy metal band, the best place to follow them is probably on Facebook.
Also, becoming a fan on Facebook of specific record labels (no matter how
obscure) is a great way to keep up with bands. Checking the websites of those
labels for press releases is similarly a good idea.
For those who are looking for good heavy metal review sites,
I personally recommend MetalSucks, Metal Injection and Angry Metal Guy. Angry
Metal Guy is really opinionated and often disagrees with what the majority of
heavy metal critics have to say. His reviews are very well written,
and he is a fairly well recognized reviewer online. What he has to say is
always insightful and of good character, and his reviews are a pleasure to
read. MetalSucks and Metal Injection tend to agree more with what the majority
of critics have to say.
General music sites are also really good for heavy metal
reviews. Allmusic, Sputnikmusic, and Spin particularly do a good job of
reviewing heavy metal albums when they choose to. Pitchfork is more hit or miss. Never expect a good thrash or death metal review from Pitchfork, but good
black metal, sludge metal, doom metal, post metal and stoner metal reviews are
common and worth reading.
One final site that is important to mention is The Metal Archives. The Metal Archives has a file on almost every heavy metal band out
there that has gotten their feet off the ground. It’s a great site to look for
band information. The user album reviews on the site are also often very
good and worth reading. The Metal Archives is an extremely important heavy
metal website and has a lot of information when explored in depth. For
information about specific metal bands, such as band histories and current
activities, I recommend visiting their personal Facebook, Bandcamp and Wikipedia
pages along with The Metal Archives.
There is no one website that is particularly good for heavy
metal information. However, when using a good combination of reliable metal
news sites, review sites and informative sites, it is very easy to keep up
with the heavy metal genre of music.
This week we are going to be discussing a few metal bands
that didn’t exist for very long, but have since had an extraordinary impact on
heavy metal music. All of these groups released at most two albums, and
are not together today. Many of them are very unlikely to reform again.
Listed below are five of the most important short lived
heavy metal bands. Take a look!
1. Hellhammer
Hellhammer only put out an EP, but the
influence of that EP was monumental within black metal. At the time of the EP’s
release, it was the most extreme record to ever be put out by a metal band.
Some critics hated it, but others loved it. Many bands took influence from it,
and with that, the first wave of black metal had begun. The members of
Hellhammer regrouped after the band's demise as Celtic Frost, where they achieved
greater success. Hellhammer wasn’t around for long, but it completely changed
extreme metal forever.
2. Acid Bath
This group is one of my personal favorite
metal bands. Acid Bath existed from 1991 to 1997 and put out two albums. These
albums are stoner metal classics and have been hugely influential
within the scene. Acid Bath played a style of music that combined many
different subgenres of heavy metal, but the band’s roots were primarily in
stoner metal and sludge metal. The experimental nature that sludge metal has
taken on can be partially attributed to Acid Bath’s two records. The band
dissolved with the death of bassist Audie Pitre, who contributed a lot to the
band’s sound. Since the band’s break-up, vocalist Dax Riggs has taken a bluesy,
stoner rock route with Agents of Oblivion, Deadboy and the Elephantmen and his
solo work. Guitarist Sammy Duet has had some success with his
blackened death metal act, Goatwhore. The musicians who were involved with Acid
Bath have a strong cult following, particularly in Louisiana, where the group
originated.
3. Weakling
Weakling put out one album. That’s all it took
for the group to leave a permanent mark on black metal. Weakling was around
from 1998 to 1999, with its only album coming out in 2000. The group put out
a legendary black metal album that practiced a unique style of depressive,
progressive black metal. Not many bands have really tried to mimic Weakling,
but countless groups have been influenced by them. Wolves in the Throne Room is
the closest metalheads will probably ever get to hearing more of Weakling’s
style of music. John Gossard, one of the group’s essential members, has since gone on to perform with Asunder and Dispirit, which are two other bands that
are certainly worth checking out.
4. SikTh
It might be cheating to include this band. SikTh
was around for nine years, but the band only put out two albums. SikTh’s influence
has been extraordinary since its dissolution. The band played a unique style of
progressive metal. It sounded like no one else at the time, and fans were
astounded by the unique music. Since SikTh broke up, many bands have taken
influence from the group. Periphery is the most notable of these acts, and as I have
mentioned in other posts, Periphery’s influence on the progressive metal and
djent communities has been astounding. Periphery would not exist without SikTh, though. Musically speaking, I think SikTh is the superior band and was way
ahead of its time. The band’s influence will certainly be strongly felt for a
long time to come. SikTh keeps hinting at a reunion, but no plans have been
confirmed. Keep your fingers crossed, metalheads.
5. Amesoeurs
So many metal bands that are being formed
today are influenced by Amesoeurs. This group only existed from 2004 to 2009,
but its impact has already proven to be immense. The group was one of the
first to combine black metal and shoegaze, and its only record (which is
self-titled) is better than 99% of the bands that came after it. This style
of music had already started to be pioneered by Neige from the French metal
band, Alcest. He brought his expertise to Amesoeurs, as musicians Sylvian
(Peste Noire), Fursy Teyessier (Les Discrets) and Winterhalter (Alcest, Peste
Noire) had not been as experienced at the time of the recording of Amesoeurs’
only album. At the time of the record’s release, it got a moderate amount of
critical praise, but black metal fans were more than touched by the album’s
style. There are now many metal groups modeling themselves after Amesoeurs,
though none are nearly as good.
During the 2000s, thrash metal experienced a revival of
sorts. In the 1990s, the subgenre had died down a little to make way for newer,
more extreme types of heavy metal. Many of the more mainstream thrash metal
groups, such as Metallica and Megadeth, took on more of a hard rock approach in
order to try to compete with grunge. Meanwhile, some thrash metal bands, such
as Slayer, Testament and Exodus, stuck to their roots, but struggled to
survive due to fans gaining more of an interest in new, heavier styles of metal.
Others groups like Destruction, Dark
Angel, Vio-lence and Death Angel just couldn’t compete, so they disappeared
entirely.
By the mid-2000s, thrash metal was cool again. Many
fans had missed the passion of the music and longed to re-experience the
mayhem that thrash metal brought to their youth, so new thrash metal
bands started to emerge and old ones went back to their roots. Listed below are
my ten favorite albums from the thrash metal revival movement. Take a look!
10. Death Angel - Killing Season
Death Angel was a really talented thrash metal band from the
1980s, but the band was always dragged down by the youth of its members.
When Death Angel re-emerged in the 2000s after having broken up in the early
1990s, it sounded like a totally different band. The music was reminiscent of
old Death Angel, but it was so much more mature. Weak link Mark Osgueda suddenly became one of the band’s biggest assets due the maturation in his
voice. Killing Season has thus far been the highlight of Death Angel’s work
since its reactivation, and is, in my opinion, the band's best album ever.
9. Megadeth - United Abominations
Megadeth has had three fantastic modern thrash metal albums:
The System Has Failed, United Abominations and Endgame. My favorite is United
Abominations. The album sounds really natural for Megadeth and is a
great combination of the band’s work in the 1980s and the early 1990s. It’s a
catchy thrash metal album that never tries too hard to impress its listeners.
United Abominations is, in my opinion, the most underrated
Megadeth.
8. Anthrax - Worship Music
Worship Music speaks for itself. Featuring the return of
Joey Belladonna, the album sounds like Anthrax hasn’t missed a beat with its old singer. Worship Music is a great album by a band whose quality never suffered
too much. Rob Caggiano did a great job producing the record too, and really
motivated everyone to play their hearts out.
7. Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder
Warbringer is a newer thrash metal band that sounds like a
combination of old-school Slayer and Exodus. This record is the band during its
prime, and is heavy as hell. The band members all sound really pissed and it
adds to the album’s intensity. That album opener, “Living Weapon,” is one of my
favorite thrash metal songs ever. SO BRUTAL!
6. Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted
The Cavalera brothers didn’t play together for a long time
after Max left Sepultura. However, when
the brothers finally reunited on Inflikted, all hell broke loose. This album
features outstanding musicianship from everyone involved and is better than
anything that modern day Sepultura has ever put out. If you’re a fan of Max
Cavalera, even a little, this album is really worth listening to. It’s awesome!
5. Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
Kreator has really done a good job at putting out memorable
albums during the 2000s. The group’s most recent effort, Phantom Antichrist, is its best modern thrash metal album yet. The band still sounds great and will
hopefully keep pummeling the ears of its fans for many years to come. Also, THAT
ALBUM COVER IS FUCKING AWESOME! Look it up!
4. Battlecross - Pursuit of Honor
Battlecross is the newest band on this list. Pursuit of
Honor combines thrash metal with melodic death metal in a way that has never
been done before. Battlecross’ music is more passionate and exciting than the
majority of heavy metal music that is coming out now. This album is worthy of
all the praise it receives and should be checked out by thrash metal fans, as
well as fans of groups such as At the Gates and Children of Bodom. Battlecross’ music does not disappoint.
3. Skeletonwitch - Beyond the Permafrost
Hailing from Athens, Ohio, Skeletonwitch is one of the best
modern thrash metal bands around. The group combines thrash metal and black
metal in a way that no other group can emulate. The band's live performances are
outstanding and the music is empowering. Beyond the Permafrost has become the
group’s classic record, and it is one that many metalheads will surely be
listening to for decades to come.
2. Exodus - Exhibit B: The Human Condition
Exodus has done a brilliant job of refining its sound in
the 2000s. Gary Holt’s songwriting abilities are incredible, and each song on
this album is really memorable. Exodus is still creating classics, and it is
evident with this record, which was released only three years ago. The band still
sounds so youthful and alive even though the members have aged significantly. Singer Rob Dukes is doing a phenomenal job of filling massive shoes, and he has
really helped to give this band new life. Exodus is one of the few old thrash
metal bands that is currently putting out records that are better than some of its old work from the 1980s. Exhibit B: The Human Condition is incredible,
and is a modern thrash metal masterpiece.
1. Overkill - Ironbound
Overkill is unbelievable. This band is always so overlooked,
despite the fact that it's one of the best thrash metal bands around.
Overkill combines old school speed metal with thrash metal, and has been
creating some of the most exciting, fast metal albums of the last decade.
Ironbound is my favorite recent Overkill record, but the last three have all
really been phenomenal, and are better than most of the rest of the albums on
this list. Ironbound is a memorable record from top to bottom and is a
must-hear album for every metalhead.
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!
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 andSynyster 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.
