The Final Post

Alright metalheads, this is the final post of “Into the Pit.” It has been a fucking killer past couple of years, but it is time to lay this blog to rest. So what was the point? Why did I do this in the first place? Well, let me explain.

I wanted this blog to serve as a guide for all things metal for the readers and writers of ACRN. The early posts of this blog were really focused on defining the sub-genres of heavy metal. Those posts should be used by readers and writers as a means to figure out exactly what kind of metal they are listening to.

Beyond that, I wanted this blog to serve as a modern commentary on the state of heavy metal. I live and breathe this genre of music. I have an encyclopedic knowledge of heavy metal. It’s my passion and I wanted to share my expertise with you, the readers.

Before I put this blog to rest for good, I thought I would make one final top five list. These are the five songs that I consider to be the HEAVIEST OF ALL TIME. Not necessarily the best, just the heaviest. Thank you, readers, for checking out my blog over the past few years. It has been real. Now here we fucking go!

Honorable Mention: Meshuggah - "Bleed"
No one forgets the first time they hear “Bleed.” The technical precision of the track is astounding. Beyond that, there is so much power behind the song. Meshuggah are out for blood and ready to fucking kill. The song is dark and comes from a real pit of despair. This is one of Meshuggah’s finest moments and absolutely one of their heaviest.  

5. Bloodbath - "Eaten"
Everything about this song screams “HEAVY!” The band’s name, the cover art for the record it’s on, the song’s name and its subject matter all make it unbelievably fucking powerful. The song is about getting eaten by a cannibal. Gore, blood and guts are the centerpiece of the song's lyrics. The music that compliments the lyrics and is just brutal. Peter Tagtgren and pals simply nail the delivery of "Eaten," and the song’s final moments are jaw-dropping. Stop what you are doing right now and check out this absolutely monstrous tune! 

4. At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul"
The first riff of "Slaughter of the Soul" is bloodcurdling. It’s so powerful and so intense. The song just builds from there. Tomas Lindberg’s terrifying shrieks and poetically deadly lyrics make this song an absolute monster. "Slaughter of the Soul" is timeless and a masterpiece of heavy metal.  

3. Behemoth - "Lucifer"
This song is from another world. It thrusts listeners into the depths of hell where they await their final judgment. It’s the little touches that make this song so thrilling and so captivating. The atmosphere is so immersive and so intricately crafted. Everything about this song is built around the world the band creates. "Lucifer" is a brutal song that will terrify even the toughest of listeners. 

2. Gojira - "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe"
This song could not be more appropriately named. Gojira understand what it takes to create a heavy song. They understand this more than any other band and that is why this tune is just so blisteringly powerful. This song just takes control of its listeners and forces them to mosh. Joe Duplantier leads listeners into madness from the stage as the song calls for a pit. This song has a groove that is so intense that it is hard not to lose control. Rock out to "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe" and just try not to lose yourself in the pure fucking metal! 

1. Strapping Young Lad - "Oh My Fucking God"
Do I even need to explain why this song is the HEAVIEST OF ALL TIME? Devin Townsend and his crew are fucking mad men. This is a song that is just pure passion. It’s controlled chaos in the finest of ways. Even the song’s chorus is heavy as hell. If you have never listened to "Oh My Fucking God" before, do yourself a favor and just take a moment to get annihilated by its ferocity.

Melodic Death Metal Revival

This week on “Into the Pit,” we are going to discuss the ongoing revival of melodic death metal. Several of the subgenre's most popular bands have put out comeback albums recently. The most exciting record may have yet to come, though. This fall, At the Gates is planning on releasing its first album in 19 years titled At War With Reality.

The release of At the Gates' hotly anticipated new record is coming at the perfect time. Melodic death meal has seen an insane resurgence in the last couple of years. Many new melodic death metal bands have made it into the heavy metal mainstream, whereas a lot of classic melodeath bands are experiencing comebacks. 

In Flames was a precursor to this trend. In 2011, the band released Sounds of a Playground Fading. While the album wasn’t a total return to form, it was still the best record In Flames had released in years. Hints of In Flames’ old style were definitely noticeable through tracks such as “Ropes” and “A New Dawn.” In Flames is currently working on a new record, which will hopefully be even better than their last.

Last year was a huge year for melodic death metal comeback records. The biggest of those releases was Carcass’ Surgical Steel. There were a ton of fans who never thought there would ever be a new Carcass record. Once the album was announced, the hype was unbearable. The expectations of metalheads were extreme, to say the least. When Surgical Steel was finally released it totally blew everyone away. It was one of the few instances of a record actually surpassing the crazy expectations set for it. Surgical Steel was the clear indicator that melodic death metal was about to enter a new glory age.

Releases from Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy and Children of Bodom last year also brought some life to the subgenre. Dark Tranquillity put out Construct, the band’s most experimental release in years. The album was a roaring success that pleased both critics and fans. Construct was without a doubt the band’s most acclaimed release since Character. It was a sign that the melodic death metal standards can still be tampered with while remaining in the confines of the subgenre. 

Hypocrisy’s End of Disclosure was a highly anticipated release of 2013. The album was criticized for being more of the same from the band, but was still generally praised. Hypocrisy has been one of the few melodic death metal bands that hasn't really declined throughout the years. The band has always stayed sharp, so having another above average release from them was a pleasure last year.

While creating End of Disclosure, Hypocrisy main man Peter Tagtgren was also busy producing the newest Children of Bodom record, Halo of Blood. Upon release, Halo of Blood was seen as a return to form for Children of Bodom. While it didn’t go completely back to the band’s neoclassical metal days, it pulled from that era, and was seen as a positive hybrid of styles.

Melodic death metal bands with cult followings have even put out great new releases recently. Arsis put out Unwelcome last year, which was seen as their comeback effort. Meanwhile, Wintersun released the first part of Time in 2012, which fans had been waiting eight years to hear. Time I was positively received and the second part should be out next year.

New popular melodic death metal bands who have certainly made their presence known include Battlecross and The Resistance. Battlecross is the big name going around right now. The band is receiving a lot of acclaim for its ability to combine melodic death metal and thrash metal. The Resistance is made up of In Flames’ old guitar team, Jesper Stromblad and Glenn Ljungstrom. Also featuring The Haunted’s vocalist Marco Aro, The Resistance released a gritty melodeath debut in the form of Scars. The album has received acclaim for being a bold display of power from these aging musicians. 

With impending releases from In Flames and At the Gates this year, melodic death metal as a subgenre is in a great place. This decade will surely be seen years from now as a melodic death metal revival. Sit back and enjoy it, metalheads, because it may be gone before you know it.

Melodic Death Metal

Hello, metalheads! During the past few weeks we have been talking about mainstream heavy metal subgenres. This week, we are going to dig back into underground heavy metal territory and talk about a variation of death metal known as melodic death metal. There are plenty of variations of death metal, but melodic death metal is more fleshed out and distinguished than most other types of death metal. 

Musically speaking, melodic death metal has the melodic qualities of bands that were a part of the NWOBHM, but the aggression of traditional death metal acts. The harmonic guitar lines and fast riffing of melodic death metal came specifically from the NWOBHM. Death metal influences are apparent through the intense drumming and heavily distorted guitars that are signature qualities of melodic death metal. The vocals of melodic death metal consist of death growls, clean vocals and harsh screaming. Some bands have been known to mix all of these styles together, but most melodic death metal groups only choose one or two of these vocal styles to incorporate into their music.  

Melodic death metal was pioneered in England and Scandinavia during the 1990s. The most notable band in this genre to come from England was, without a doubt, Carcass. Carcass started off as a grindcore group, but its legendary 1993 album Heartwork saw the group musically evolve into a melodic death metal band. Carcass only released one more album after Heartwork before breaking up. One of Carcass’s guitarists, Michael Amott, formed the band Arch Enemy after Carcass’s demise and has continued to evolve Carcass’s melodic death metal style through Arch Enemy’s records. 

In Scandinavia, the most famous melodic death metal bands came from Gothenburg, Sweden. Gothenburg was the area of the world where melodic death metal really thrived and gained popularity. At the Gates’ Slaughter of the Soul, In Flames’ The Jester Race and Dark Tranquillity’s The Gallery were the three most important albums associated with this scene, and are the foundation from which Scandinavian melodic death metal developed.

In Flames is arguably the most successful melodic death metal band to come from Gothenburg. The group changed its style in the early 2000s to incorporate strong alternative metal influences, and has reached an international mainstream audience. Many longtime fans have accused the band of selling out  due to this stylistic change. 

At the Gates broke up after the release of Slaughter of the Soul. Since then, the group’s members have gone on to perform with other metal groups, most notably The Haunted, Nightrage, Cradle of Filth and Paradise Lost. At the Gates recently reformed and has been playing reunion shows for the past couple of years.

Dark Tranquillity continued its underground success after The Gallery was released and is still around today. Dark Tranquillity has always been considered the least popular of the three major Gothenburg bands. However, the group has a very loyal fanbase that keeps it going. Stylistically, Dark Traunqillity’s music has changed, but this change is viewed by melodic death metal fans as more of an evolution, unlike In Flames’ recent musical endeavors.  

Today, melodic death metal has become more internationally practiced and the US now has a thriving melodic death metal scene. Nevertheless, the most iconic melodic death metal bands are still the ones who pioneered the subgenre. 

Diving Into The Pit

By: Justin Silk, Contributor

I’m pretty sure every metalhead on Earth has had the following exchange in some way, shape, or form:

Ignorant Listener: What is this garbage you’re listening to?

Me (The Super Kvlt Metalhead): I’m listening to At the Gates. They’re a melodic death metal band.

Ignorant Listener: This is terrible. It’s just a guy screaming into a microphone.

Me (The Super Kvlt Metalhead): It’s not like that at all. It’s heavy metal. It’s a really fast and intense song, and the harsh vocals are necessary to add a powerful tone to the music.


Ignorant Listener: Well it sucks. Real music has singing and is catchy. This isn’t catchy. It’s crap.

And at this point in the discussion, there is a standstill. The “Ignorant Listener” doesn’t understand the appeal of this heavy music, and thereby will refuse to listen to any argument as to why some might find it enjoyable. There are a lot of people like that who simply don’t enjoy harsh vocals, and that’s fine, but for many metalheads around the world, those harsh vocals help to add a new level of intensity to the compellingly vicious music.

Just because a listener doesn’t enjoy harsh vocals (which may consist of screaming, shouting, growling, howling, shrieking, or other experimental styles), doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy heavy metal. It’s a common misconception that all heavy metal music has to be dark, fast, and scary. That’s not the case at all though. In fact, there are many heavy metal bands that wouldn’t dare use harsh vocals, and there are many that also wouldn’t dare to even play fast music.

Heavy metal is a vast genre of music that is always growing in experimentalism. There are so many subgenres of heavy metal and it may be surprising to inexperienced listeners to learn what kinds of bands are actually considered to be a part of the genre.

“Into The Pit: A Metal Blog” is designed to educate readers and listeners alike about the various subgenres of heavy metal music. A different subgenre will be discussed each week, resulting in what could serve as a sort of “heavy metal bible” for those learning about the genre. Each post will consist of a subgenre’s description, history, most popular bands and current activity.

I hope that with this blog, ACRN can better educate music enthusiasts about the amazing world of heavy metal music around them.

So to start things off, below are a few different examples of some the world’s most interesting (but not necessarily the most popular) heavy metal acts. This is just for fun and to show the diversity of the genre. Tune in next week for the discussion of the first heavy metal subgenre!

"Desert Urbania" - Unexpect


"Anthropocentric" - The Ocean


"Scream of the Butterfly" - Acid Bath


"Annubis" - Septic Flesh-


"Twilight Tavern" - Ensiferum


"Into the Painted Grey" - Agalloch