I loved Sepultura, and was legitimately gutted when Max left (which at the time meant a split). I can dig anything of theirs from Beneath The Remains to Roots. I don't even mind the later stuff that I've heard, though it is somewhat lacking in personality.

I love them because the music just rocks to me. In terms of mainstream Metal from that era, I prefer Pantera to them, but that's about it. And not only do I liek their music, but they were partly responsible for Metal's evolution in the 90s. Chaos AD was one of those albums which made you think 'this is sort of thrash, but not really'. Good stuff.

Funny thing is, the vocals really turned me off the music at the time, but I was drawn to it by the riffs, which (as with Pantera) reminded me of a Metal version of rave tunes. 'Refuse/Resist' and 'Shedding Skin' (about halfway through) are good examples of this.

Yeah, Sauron was a better vocalist, but the new guy doesn't bother me at all and the rest of the band is as good as ever. "Post Organic" is probably the best song they've ever done, just so fucking intense, I love it.

So the last 24 hours have seen more Sepultura on my stereo than ever before, and it's clear that both Beneath the Remains and Arise are masterpieces.

Also- remember that Metal Church/ Metallica show I was talking about? Here's a setlist (and yes, Sask, they started on Dec 15th in Saskatoon). Good times.

Dec. 20, 1986 - Seattle, WA - Seattle Center Arena

Ecstasy of Gold
Battery
Master of Puppets
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Bass Solo
Whiplash
The Thing That Should Not Be
Fade to Black
Seek & Destroy
Creeping Death
The Four Horsemen
Guitar Solo
Am I Evil?
Damage Inc.
Fight Fire With Fire
Blitzkrieg

Yeah, what a set. They kept calling Newsted Jason Newkid. I still have the tour book with the dedication to Cliff and the message "we welcome Jason Newsted from Flotsam & Jetsam". They didn't play Blitzkrieg in Saskatoon, but people were screaming for it, I remember. The only Metal Church songs I remember them doing are Ton of Bricks, Start the Fire, The Dark, Line of Death, and Watch the Children Pray. I didn't know their first album at all at the time, but in retrospect, I'm pretty sure they did Beyond the Black.

Here's my account of that Saskatoon show, as drawn by Joel Orff:
http://jorff.com/rock/metallica.html
(he put it in his book, which was way cool)

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Metal Church, even though the band is a shadow of what it used to be. My former aunt-in-law was a groupie in SF and used to work at The Stone, and got me into Hetfield's birthday party on August 3, 1987, which was a Trouble/King Diamond show. James, Lars, and Kirk were there (no Newsted), and Craig Wells of Metal Church was there, too. I had already met James before Craig came into the place, and frankly, I only recognized him because he had been on Headbanger's Ball the week before. So he's talking to James and I approached him for an autograph, and he gave me this look like, "James Hetfield is right there and you want MY autograph?" He couldn't get over it, and seemed floored that someone knew who he was.

A couple of years later they came through Atlanta opening for Udo-less Accept and WASP, and I saw Duke Erickson watching Accept and asked him to see if Craig would come out. Amazingly, he remembered me - and it wasn't some BS, because I mentioned SF and he told me it was James' birthday party - and he brought the entire band up into the stands to talk to me and my buddy. That was fucking cool as shit.

What I wouldn't give for the Blessing In Disguise lineup to have recorded just one more album...

Great story, PH!

I loved Blessing in Disguise, and was always amazed that the album wasn't as big a seller as it deserved to be.

I was 16, and that was the greatest night of my life up to that point. I spent the night passing beers to James and walking the streets with him and a few others after the show. Got to meet King Diamond, too - the satanic munchkin.

Hey emgee...any chance of upping disc 4?

I need to find it. I thought this set was gone forever, but I found disc 3 while organizing my collection (my kids think cds are frisbees). will try to find it today.

Can someone YSI some Katatonia? I downloaded a promo version of the upcoming Great Cold Distance (with some guy doing a twice-a-track voiceover saying what album you're listening to), and I love it. I understand Akerfeldt from Opeth was involved with some of their earlier stuff. I'd prefer more melodic stuff than death metal, but would be interested in hearing both sides of their persona. Thanks.

If I still have that cd at home I'll upload it tonight or tomorrow.

I just got that CD today. Talk about infuriating...I despise those voice-overs. The recent Gamma Ray album had intermittent fadeouts, which was even worse.

Still, the Katatonia a great-sounding album, and as soon as the "official" version leaks, I'll post it here.

Thanks. I'm really digging it, despite the "interference."

Katatonia--Viva Emptiness

Thanks a ton.

The new Burst album continues to blow me away. Definitely one that will appeal to the Converge/Neurosis/Mastodon/Opeth crowds.

Thanks!

Can you YSI a couple of Burst cuts? Never heard of them.

I'll ysi the album in the next day or two...if not Sunday night, then sometime on Monday. It's definitely my fave of the year so far.

Not sure if this really belongs in the metal thread, but doesn't really deserve a thread of it's own. Seen a few reviews for Cave In's Perfect Pitch Black appear online. Until Your Heart Stops is still one of my all time favourite metal records, and Jupiter was an amazing record as well. Antenna however, while still strong thoughout, felt a bit compromised and half-hearted. They snuck out Pitch Perfect Black at the end of last year with no fan fair at all.



I've had this for months and thought it was just a B-Side/Rarities collection, but now they're promoting it as an actual album... It sounds like a B-Side/Rarities collection though. It basically just treads around the same alt-metal ground that the band has been covering since Jupiter, with the exception of adding bassist Caleb Scofield's shredded hardcore vocals in liberal doses. While delivering a really varied album stylistically there is a lack of cohesion and a lot of the songs seem like uncompleted musical ideas that tend to meander rather than take off. Paranormal and Ataraxia being the worst examples of this habit - completely missing the exhilarating direction changes of Cave-In's earlier work. At least they're back on Hydrahead now and back touring with bands like Pelican and Converge rather than the Foo Fighters. So hopefully this album is just a stop-gap before a proper return to form.

Here's some of the album highlights (IMO)

Trepanning - Fun uptempo punk-metal. Sounds a bit like Soundgarden if fronted by Phil Anselmo.

Down the Drain - The purist shoegazing excursion the band has ever done. Bit of a MBV goof really. The instrumental break is beautiful.

Screaming in Your Sleep - Very much in the Antenna vein, but would have made much a better single than Anchor.

Off To Ruin - Driving, moody alt-metal. Not a million miles from QOTSA's harder stuff.

In sad news John-Robert Connors, who has been one of my favourite heavy-hitters for years, comfortably covering styles from Grohl to Lombardo, has left the band due to broken wrist and living in Germany. But in happy news his replacement is Converge's Ben Koller. I can't wait to hear what the new material with him sounds like.

Chaos AD has always been a favourite of mine.

Here's the whole album



I'm not quite as blown away by this as Sask seems to be but it is very good.

Thanks, Burzum!

I just finished reviewing the album. It's definitely a grower..."Where the Wave Broke", "The Immateria", and the last three tracks especially blew me away. It just shatters their previous album...outstanding production, real depth to the music. And vocal melodies always rope me in.

Thanks!

I'm digging that Burst, thanks. It would've held up as an instrumental album though, imo.

Yeah, I like it a little, but the screaming overpowers the quiet sections. Way over done. It's not even the fact that he's screaming that bothers me, but how out of context it is. Not even close to Opeth.

I came away quite impressed by the quality of the vocals. Lots of hardcore screams, but well defined instead of sounding generic, if that makes sense. Plus, the rough/clean gimmick is done to death, but Burst do it better than most of the kiddie bands out there, with some really good melodies sung by the guitarist.

Oh, I like how the hardcore vocals are well-defined, they just don't fit the music in certain parts. It'd be like Akerfeldt growling his way through Hours of Wealth.

Here's a great song from The Gathering's new album, out in late April:

"Shortest Day"

A little bit of an Interpol feel going on, which is quite interesting...

I have yet to hear a female-fronted metal band I like and this isn't changing that, although I'd hardly consider this metal anyway. Just sounds like typical boring indie pap to me.

Looking forward to hearing that Burst album, definitely. As long as it's better than Isis I'll be happy.

I have so much new stuff, I don't know where to start. Might as well go with the one with the cover that looks lifted from a stoner's customized van circa 1979:



I'm only a couple songs in, but it's fun stuff, bombastic power metal, fantasy lyrics, etc. Here's a sample:
"Evil Eyes"
RIYL: Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy

Speaking of Edguy, I've been hearing really good things about their new album...I should get it sometime.

Here's an unreleased Sword track from the Revolver mag bootleg download section of their website:

Under the Bough
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3BZ62NO...BT1LESPL1YJX6XU

Have you heard
Warlock (Dora)
Drain S.T.H.
Lacuna Coil
Kittie
Nightwish
Epica

Sask, Diesel, help me out with some more, I know I'm missing some and am too lazy to go check my albums.

On a side note, If I ever get some free time a metal chick's album is something I'd like to put together


The cover alone says I'll like it, but having Helloween in there makes it a sale.

I made a female goth mix a couple months ago, but didn't post it. One could easily make a solid two or three-disc set of great female-fronted metal bands.

I've heard all of these and none of them did anything for me. If anyone wants to YSI some good female-fronted metal stuff I'll give it a chance. I hate anything "goth" though and a lot of the female led stuff seems to fall into that category.

Arch Enemy's great fun, in a cheesy, Manowar kind of way. But you're undoubtedly familiar with them.

I am such a sucker for the girly goth stuff, and am counting the days until the Lacuna Coil album surfaces. But The Gathering remains my very favourite...Anneke brings a femininity that has never been pulled off in the genre, before or since. No overemotional theatrics, no trying to sound like a guy, just gorgeous singing.

I'm really late getting into all that...it was Diesel's 2003 metal mix that turned me on to Lacuna Coil, which led to Nightwish, which led to The Gathering.

Otep is another, saw them at the Pound about a year ago. Women singing metal results in nothing but dissonance for me. edit: I wish it were otherwise.

Burst: I'm not sure what it is about these guys. They, along with Pelican, while definately good, seem to be getting recognition for far more than they are actually accomplishing.


Female fronted: I am of the opinion that it often detracts from the overall impact of the music, if it is metal that we are referring to, but there are some examples where female vocals are absolutely necessary for the song's atmosphere.
Iced Earth- Phantom Opera Ghost being one of them.

But....this isn't "Sword" Sword, right? Like Metalized/Sweet Dreams Sword? This is "THE Sword".

Man, I bought Sweet Dreams used on cassette at school about 12 years ago and listened to it non-stop for about 2 months. Good stuff. This is a good thread.

Right. I never liked Sword. I do like THE Sword.


Wha? It works brilliantly in several instances, especially in the melodic department. Female-led singers have done more with the melodic side of the genre during the last decade, far more than the traditional power metal bands have.

I wish Otep would just go away. What an awful band.

More power metal!



Had high hopes for this one, and oh, is this good. Love it. They have the 80s shtick down better than anyone else out there today, and on the new cd, they tone down the prog moments a touch, and go completely for retro fun. "Fucking With Fire" is so awesomely 1985...I'll post that and another track a bit later tonight.

Yep, I like it a lot. It made the newsgroups a couple of weeks ago.

Someone needs to post a really good Gathering album. I've only heard Souvenirs, and it didn't do a ton for me. Like Burzum said, it hardly seemed metallic to me at all. This new song is alright, but I really want to hear/know why this band is so revered, because beyond the voice, I'm not hearing it.

I'll post Mandylion and Nighttime Birds as soon as I can...I'll start either late tonight or tomorrow morning.

These guys aren't the best by far, but I'm really enjoying the new album from After Forever. The thing I like the most about this particular female singer is that she can pull off both hard rock vocals and the operatic stuff within the same song. I don't think you'll find this song sounds too goth, although it's definitely along the same lines as Nightwish and others. If you can't listen to Nightwish, then these bands are probably just not for you.

After Forever - Come

http://s59.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1WITYRX...E21Z36N9A3VWC7U

Edguy is always a blast.

This is the conclusion I've come to. I couldn't make it through one minute of the song you posted. As soon as those operatic vocals came in I was done. This stuff is just too cheesy sounding for me.

I really like Floor Jansen's voice. To each their own, I guess!

For those interested, here's a compilation of Trouble rare and demo tracks, spanning 1980-1995.

http://s37.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=241FVGS...823K1PS43HGMLFL

The setlist from the first Opeth show of the NA tour...for those of us who don't mind spoilers. I like.

(of course, this doesn't apply to you folks in Chicago, who are in for a much longer set)