So, yesterday I got around to listening to about 12 hours' worth music downloads from the past year or two. I owe a huge debt to the person or persons who shared Antigama, Children of Bodom, and In Flames. On top of that, I did a quick search & was able to score tickets to Children of Bodom early next month!

I also ended up liking 2-3 tracks from a female-fronted band that I was sure I'd be able to remember today, but can't. But maybe my horizons aren't as narrow as they once were.

Thanks!

Three big releases out on Tuesday...there's the new Katatonia and the new Edguy, both of which I love, but I haven't really mentioned the new Amorphis album enough, which I think is their best in a very long time, a considerable improvement over Far From the Sun (which I liked). They've returned to the folk-inspired sounds of their 90s stuff, but have now balanced it with a very listener-friendly hard rock sound. The end result is often a lot like a more robust Nightwish. I really like the new singer, he has a distinct, lower-register voice, and plenty of range. It's a solid CD from start to finish.

Here's the vid for "House of Sleep":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5pdG8PZjVog

im a metal-turned-indie music fan, but the one metal band i still love is Norma Jean (although technically i think they are termed "metalcore," but meh). Their album Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child is absolutely amazing, although their second LP Oh God the Aftermath was hugely disappointing. Im in the process of ripping both albums onto my itunes right now, so ill post both in the coming days if there seems to be interest...

oh, and Converge are the shit

I saw Norma Jean last summer...they're an excellent live band.

Coincidentally, I was just going to mention the new Spitfire album, which has Scottie from Norma Jean on guitar. It's a pretty good CD, very similar to NJ and As I Lay Dying, heavy emphasis on the technical side of metalcore. Very strong lyrics, and some cool artwork. Plus, it's less than 35 minutes long, so there's no overkill. The album leaked a while back, but can also be previewed here.

I haven't been around here for a while, so bear with me.

Personally, I have no problem with people getting into metal at a young age. The fadsters will get bored and move on, and the people who really like the sound will stick around and delve deeper. Wishing unpopularity on the genre seems a tad odd, as I remember about a decade ago, and everybody was bemoaning the fact that metal was a dirty word, and we couldn't hear anything on the radio.

The way I see it, I no longer get looks of 'he's a nut' if I say I listen to metal, and bands get more money from album sales and tours than they did before. Sure, it means there are bands like Avenged Sevenfold stinking up the airwaves, but (a) it is an entry point for young kids - and let's face it, people need an entry point, and ( there is always garbage in metal. Let's not forget Coal Chamber.

I don't get the hate for Avenged Sevenfold. From 15 year old posting on Blabbermouth, I can understand it. And certainly, everything before City of Evil pales in comparison, since they sounded like the generic, bad vocals metalcore band. But City of Evil is great. Maybe it's just because I crave clean vocals and harmonies in my metal, or the fact that I've never really listened to emo at all, but I think the NWOBHM music and emo choruses/harmonies kick ass. That album is probably in my top 5-10 from last year. I'm still listening to it.

It's because it just strikes me as so mediocre, more than anything else. I was listening to the radio a few months ago, and the DJ told me to 'get ready for something really hardcore'. I was intrigued; what woud this be? Converge? Majority Rule?

So the tune comes on (and I do give songs a fair crack of it, rather than making my mind up beforehand), blah blah metally stuff, done a ton better by many other bands. And then, it just turns pop for the chorus. And not good, GA/Stevens/Annie type pop (or even Wilt/Wildhearts/New Porns power pop), but some really weird gear change. Deftones gear changes I can take, ditto Glassjaw et al. This just struck me as a really wussy move.

A friend of mine once remarked 'if you're going to look like you rock, make sure you actually do rock'. That kind of sums it up for me.

Understood. Personally, I like the pop-emo/metal contrasts on that album and contrasting styles like that in music generally.

Avenged Sevenfold have their hearts in the right place, which makes the goofiness of their music easier for me to bear. Compare them to another insanely popular metalcore band like As I Lay Dying, and AS completely blow those guys away, thanks to 1) showmanship, 2) tight guitar work that's creative enough to move beyond just copying Morbid Angel, and 3) vocal melodies, clunky as they may be at times. There's a sense of fun in the music that is absent from 99% of metalcore bands out there, and a willingness to actually give the paying kids some bang for their burger flippin' bucks.

Edit: Lacuna Coil leaked!

I guess I need to check out As I Lay Dying.

That's what I mean. I can go for Deftones, Glassjaw, Fear Factory, earthtone9 - even the likes of My Chemical Romance. The AS I heard just didn't do it for me in that style. Maybe I heard the wrong stuff. I don't want to come off as overly harsh, that's just the way I see it.


Luckily, I don't tend to hear any of that stuff. In my day, 'popular metalcore' was Earth Crisis and Bloodlet so yeah.

Yeah, I am also managing to mostly avoid most metalcore. Even the bands that everyone sings the praises of like Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, etc. are somewhat lost on me. They sound really awesome while I'm playing them, but there's really nothing to them that sticks with me after the song/record is over ... no memorable riffs, choruses, melodies, etc. Metalcore to me seems like a "throw it all against the wall and see if it sticks" genre ... all chaos and (admittedly excellent at times) musicianship, but nothing I can really sink my teeth into. I guess I'm just looking for different things out of my metal. There are some exceptions...that Between the Buried and Me record definitely left an impression and gets regular spins. And I really dig Shadows Fall, who to me are more of an Americanized take on Gothenburg-style Swedish death metal than anything. Most of the time though, I'm pretty lost.

Converge and Dillinger are different, I reckon. Back in the day that sort of thing was referred to as 'Noisecore'. That was the varied, jazzy, crazy stuff. 'Metalcore' was more just hardcore bands that had turned metal. In terms of 'memorable' stuff, yeah, a lot of it isn't the most catchy, but that's pretty much the point really. Here's a list that kind of illustrates the variety of noisecore, which I think was the place to be in 1998-9 anyway:

Dillinger Escape Plan - 'Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants'
Kiss It Goodbye - 'Sick Day'
Botch - 'Man The Ramparts'
Coalesce - 'What Happens On The Road Always Comes Home'
Dillinger Escape Plan - 'The Mullet Burden'
Cave In - 'Until Your Heart Stops'
Drowningman - 'Radio Tuned To The Sound Of Hearts Breaking'
Soilent Green - 'It Was Just An Accident'
Converge - 'Jane Doe'
Today Is The Day - 'The Man Who Loves To Hurt Himself'

... or something.

I need me some Botch.

The whole "metalcore" tag seems to have become as vague and all-inclusive as "heavy metal". But yeah, it's pretty much divided between the skronk 'n' screech noise of DEP/Converge and the Gothenburg/Florida death revivalists like Darkest Hour and Black Dahlia Murder. Then you have the bands who straddle the line between metal and NYC-style hardcore like Bleeding Through...

I always like the highly technical aspects of the more progresssive-minded noise bands (have to plug the new discs by Spitfire and Intronaut again), but metal oldster that I am, vocal versatility always wins me over, which is a big reason why I dug Miss Machine so much, not to mention BTBAM's Alaska and the new Yakuza CD. If As I Lay Dying could exercise as much creativity in their lead vocals as they do in their killer guitar work, they'd be incredible. They have to ditch that generic screamer.

As for the new Lacuna Coil album, it's very strong. Gets a little samey right in the middle, but for the most part, it's the sound of a band who is fully aware that their time is now. There are some great potential singles here ("Closer" is so freakishly upbeat it might as well be Lullacry), Cristina is indeed becoming the centrepiece, but Andrea does hold his own as The Sidekick, sounding quite robust vocally, instead of carrying on like a tone-deaf buffoon.

Holy crap! They cover Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence"! Best goth metal cover of a pop tune since Within Temptation's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill"...

YSI coming forthwith. By that I mean about four hours from now.

speaking of Converge, here is a link to a pretty insane rendition of The Cure's "Disintegration" by the forefathers of metalcore...

Converge- Disintegration (The Cure cover)

Fire it up...........
hxxp://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3BT4DM0TIO9U0060Z8CNNKNA7I

Here's the new Lacuna Coil:

hxxps://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=18GE1O20H2D1R2NOSM8YLT0IHF

I'm a little late to the Avenged Sevenfold discussion, but I really like City of Evil. I think the single I've heard on the radio, "Bat Country", is my least favorite song on the disc. I'm not a huge metal fan and can't really distinguish between the different sub-genres, but it was a pretty enjoyable album for me. From what I can tell of my very limited exposure to metalcore, there's a high amount of crap to quality ratio - it seems like a lot of these younger metalcore bands I see on FUSE or whatever are more about the scene than the music. Kinda reminds me of how "emo" was five years ago. But thats just my .02.

In not really at all related news, I haven't picked up a new "metal" album in awhile now, thinking about picking up the most recent Between the Buried and Me album based on Sask's positive comments.

EDIT: And whoa. After reading more of the responses since the A/S discussion, I realize I might be way off base as what I thought metalcore was. Whoops. I suppose that'll teach me to just shut up and observe this thread instead of trying to chip in. Metal is just so overwhelming sometimes.

too bad... wma files

Doh. I wondered why that zip file was relatively small.

For what it is worth....Venom release "Metal Black" April 4th. I remember buying "Welcome to Hell" in 1981. Damn, getting old sucks!!!!!

Opeth's Chronology set from LA is up at Dimeadozen.org:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/download.php/876....flac16.torrent

Registration only. No new members accepted.

lol Raiderbri, who is this in your new avatar?

Uhhhh...still trying to figure out who they are??? Have only seen them 12 or 13 times(LOL) This board would not exist without those four guys. Can't wait(not!!!) to see Metallica butcher "Hole in the Sky" on VH1 Tuesday night

You're on the right track, you pretty much nailed the metalcore problem with your comments above.

I've been listening to the last two Place of Skulls releases (With Vision, Love Through Blood EP), and it just hammers home how truly great the new album is. It's one of the most genuinely emotional, introspective metal albums I've heard in years. Not to mention brutally heavy at times, and with lots of beautiful, expressive solos and singing by Victor Griffin. I think lots of people here will like the CD a lot. I'll ysi sometime (maybe tomorrow) if people are interested...

Edit: Raiderbri, have you heard the Venom? It's leaked, but I'm reluctant to waste my precious Oink ratio on it...people are saying it's terrible. Is it any good?

Second Edit:

I'll bet it's great. Metallica do covers better than anyone.

Ah, Sabbath. Never noticed how much Geezer looks like Father Guido Sarducci.

See, that connection will never leave my head now.

So in this post I'm really just going to gush about a song that I've been into for [thinks] most of my life, now. However, it's only recently that I have been hit by quite how masterful a song it is. Anyway, before I go any further it's probably best for those ignorant of the greatness to take a listen to it for themselves, and for those in the know to revisit it:

hxxp://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0VTCRCV3ZVMRC1B2D1QNE9QME0

Right, we're back. Yeah, I've always liked this song a lot, but for some reason viewed Rust In Peace as some kind of no-man's land between the classic 'In My Darkest Hour' era and the streamlined pop-metal brilliance of (the first half of) Countdown To Extinction. However, this song is an absolute classic. The kind of genre-transcending thing that Metallica used to do so well.

The first thing that hits is the mania of the piece. Guitar notes descending like someone who's running so fast down stairs that they've lost control of their legs and are now just falling. And on top of that we get the bizarro lead melody which sounds like someone learned to play it backwards before they learned it forwards. And it's all more punk rock/hardcore than metal in its delivery, especially for 1990. There's an immense aggression to it, to a level that goes even beyond what Slayer were doing at the time.

What will undoubtedly be a sticking point for many is Dave Mustaine's voice. It's very high-pitched and weird. However, I reckon that works really well on the best Megadeth music. The very fact that he is not some gruff, masculine Hetfield/Anselmo/Thomas lends an emotional fragility to the bluster - the listener really gets the sense that this talk of holy war and general mayhem is not just something to get righteous about, but is actually very real. And scary.

Then we get that Spanish guitar breakdown (which I guess is supposed to sound Middle-Eastern), which leads directly into the more traditional realms of macho staccato metal. And it goes crazy, because that doesn't last either. Classic riff kicks in ('wage the war on organised crime'), and the emotional poignance is there once again. No idea what he's singing about this time - Mustaine seems to have turned himself into a super-soldier, and there is a sadness in his voice when he sings 'either way, they die'.

The song seems to have settled in now, as Dave tells us about 'their' mistakes - killing his wife and baby for a start. He prefaces the first solo with the warning of 'no more mistakes'. And then it all breaks down again, into a thrash-fest that is punctuated by some ejaculation-delaying palm-muting. Then the proper nutty solo that Thrash of the time was so happily full of.

And at the end of that it's really roaring along. We get a really energising and heavy conclusion to a song that is a really fucking great six and a half minutes. So yeah, vague lyrical content aside this is a top notch song from the turn of a decade, and Megadeth really do deserve more props than they get. While I am generally very modernist in my listening to heavy music, I wish more of the big metal bands had songs like this. Because most of them have nothing to compare.

It's a shame Mustaine was so deranged at the time: 'It's revolving around the way that war is imminent and it doesn't really matter what country it's in... Khadafi [Libya]... Khomeini [Iran]... It's funky (sic) how these guys have weird names, these idiots that lead different countries. But it shows you... war's war, no matter where you're at.'. Despite that, the songs's really good. And does anyone know what the last line is - what will they take away?

I always thought "Holy Wars" was the best Megadeth song, and really the only post-Peace Sells song of theirs worth listening to. Really fun to play on guitar too. Oh, and the last line is "Next thing you know they'll take my thoughts away".

Man, I could probably name 20 worth listening to pretty easily.


Cool, cheers. I should have edited that part out as someone on another board told me. Oh, and a slightly fleshed out version of that post can be found on my blog, should anyone want to read it.

Weird, "Holy Wars" was in my head all day yesterday. That's a great little write-up of such a fantastic, complicated song. My favourite part is the weird bridge right in the middle ("Up on my podium as the know it all scholar") that comes in from out of nowhere. Mustaine's just tossing different pieces in, left and right during the whole song, it's crazy. I remember the song/video/album came out right when Desert Storm was going on...it's both strange and sad that the song is still very appropriate today.

Easily Megadeth's finest hour.

Cheers Sask!


Yeah, I kind of undersold that bit. I'd have liked to spend more time on that and also the second solo, which is a thrilling piece of guitar work.


That's the thing, and this only hit me after I'd written the stuff on it: I was kind of doing a stream of consciousness response to what the song was giving me. I think that because of the fragmented, random pattern of the song I might have been somewhat influenced.


Indeed. And that's one avenue I (briefly) looked at on the blog. Speaking of, I should go back there and see if it lets me upload pics now...

i finally dld Boris's new album, Pink...man, it is kicking my ass pretty hard

Rust In Peace is easily my favorite Megadeth album. They had, and still have, a tendency to be hit-and-miss for me, and that album is no exception, but the majoity of it is killer. Personally, Take No Prisoners is my favorite Megadeth song by far.

Yeah, it's an excellent album. One of two great albums they released last year (well, sort of. The chronology of Boris is a bit weird when you take into account western vs. Japanese release dates), and I reckon the best thing they've done thus far. I love Boris, and wear my FANGSANALSATAN t-shirt with pride!

Peace Sells will always get my vote, mainly for sentimental reasons, but overall, Rust in Peace is the band's high water mark. They had everything going right...Mustaine was (relatively) sober, he finally got an ace co-guitarist in Friedman, Menza absolutely tore it up on drums, Mike Clink's production was extremely crisp (Max Norman-esque, I'd say), and it was the last gasp of the American thrash era, which would quickly be supplanted by mainstream grunge and underground Florida death.


Welcome to the club, dude.

I'd kill to see that Boris/Sunn O))) bill...

i think im going to enjoy being in this club...what an incredible album/band! i still have yet to check out Sunn O))) though...im just getting back into the metal you see

Sunn O))) is a big undertaking- give yourself a lot of time.



About Megadeth: I honestly enjoy them more than Metallica. Really strange band, when you think about it, and despite Mustaine's egomania, the band is more about music, I think, than Metallica is. At least nowadays.

New Voivod!

Stream "The X Stream" here.

Great song. Propulsive, heavy on groove, with a cool, stomping breakdown. Bodes well.

The North American version of Pink just arrived today. Nice to finally have the real thing after four months of mp3's, and it just reiterates the fact that it's a major, major contender for album of the year.

The artwork's different than the Japanese blotter version that everyone's talking about (sorry, no images online yet), but the cool thing is, the song titles have been translated, as have the Japanese lyrics. Here are the English song titles, if you want to make it a little easier to understand on your iPods or what have you:
1. Farewell
2. Pink
3. Nothing Special
5. Blackout
6. Electric
7. Pseudo-Bread
8. Afterburner
9. Six, Three Times
10. My Machine
11. Just Abandoned Myself

I think it always was more about music than Metallica was.

I discovered Megadeth via Countdown to Extinction, bought Youthanasia next, then the rest of the catalog after that. So I have a fondness for late-era 'Deth, and didn't come to truly appreciate their earlier stuff until I saw them in concert a couple of times. Mustaine is one of the most underrated guitarists ever. My favorite song by them is prolly "Into the Lungs of Hell" from SFSGSW?,

Boris is so much more accessible than Sunn o))), imo. I think I even prefer Godflesh to the latter...would Godflesh be considered "proto-drone"?

True, but the weird thing is that from 85-92, Megadeth was constantly following Metallica's lead. Killing is My Business had Mustaine ressurecting Metallica's "Mechanix" in retaliation to "The Four Horsemen". "Anarchy in the UK" came out six months after Garage Days Rerevisited. Rust in Peace was just as technically ambitious as And Justice For All. Then a year after Metallica streamlined their sound for stronger commercial appeal, Countdown to Extinction did the exact same thing.

In the end, I think Metallica's output (even the mediocre stuff) is consistently stronger than Megadeth's discography (Cryptic Writings/Risk/The World Needs a Hero is a far weaker run that Load/Reload/St. Anger), but that doesn't diminish what Mustaine has accomplished over twenty-some years.

Ran across this in the newsgroups. Solo album from Marcel Coenen of Sun Caged, it's like a combo of prog/European metal and shredder guitar work with various guest vocalists. Not bad:

hxxp://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=241NRBUXWPLJ02QWIM0PZEMWEL

In general I agree. Stuff like Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta is straight up rock music. However, some of their albums like Flood, Sunbaked Snowcave and Amplifier Worship are definitely of titanic proportions.


'Even prefer'. Godflesh are one of the greatest extreme bands ever, and I'd choose them over Sunn (o))) in a heartbeat. Utterly before their time and under-appreciated by the majority of Metal fans. Them and Swans were the template for pretty much all underground, cool, heavy music of today.

As for 'proto drone', nah. Like all the best bands they defy categorisation. At the time they were generally termed Industrial Metal. You can't really have a 'proto drone' on account of the drone is one of the oldest musical languages in the world.

As far as the drone in rock music, check out the likes of Earth and the excellent Glenn Branca, who composed 'symphonies' for massed guitar. I'll upload some Branca songs in a bit, as I have some on the computer.

And as usual, I recommend the album in my avatar to anyone into Boris/Sunn (o)))/Godflesh. As far as I'm concerned, it is the ultimate mix of heavy riffs, bassy production and drones. The advantage that it has over 'competition' is the fact that it is just so much more dynamic and eclectic in terms of instrumentation and mood than the current big two.

Hard to believe it's a decade old this year.

The new Enslaved leaked last night...

Edit: Yeah, do as throughsilver says. That Neurosis album sounds absolutely massive.

[quote name='throughsilver' date='Mar 23 2006, 06:25 AM' post='48474']
In general I agree. Stuff like Heavy Rocks and Akuma No Uta is straight up rock music. However, some of their albums like Flood, Sunbaked Snowcave and Amplifier Worship are definitely of titanic proportions.
'Even prefer'. Godflesh are one of the greatest extreme bands ever, and I'd choose them over

I second that although, to me, they are one of the best BANDS ever.

My most anticipated album of the year. Listening for the first time right now and so far I'm not dissapointed. God I love this band.

edit: Yeah this album is fucking incredible. What a great year this has been for metal so far.