2010 Grammy Nominations for Best Metal Performance

I hate the Grammys and I am sure that most metalheads would agree with me. Ever since the first year the award was given out for Best Metal Performance, no self-respecting metalhead has taken it seriously. That first time was one of the most infamous fuckups in award show history. They gave the Grammy to Jethro Fucking Tull. Over Metallica. Over Metallica's "One", a masterful song. That same year the other nominees were Iggy Pop, AC/DC, and Jane's Addiction. What a way to start the award off with a complete fucking disaster.

Since then, Grammy awards under this category have been awarded to non-metal and false metal bands like Nine Inch Nails (twice), Rage Against the Machine, Tool (twice), Deftones, Korn, and Slipknot. The worst year was 2003 when not a single nominee was actually a metal band. That year featured Korn winning with nominations for P.O.D., Slipknot, Stone Sour, and Rob Zombie.

This year's nominees were announced on Thursday and they're not as egregiously, mind-blowingly, awful as usual. Huh. Maybe they're learning. Probably not. As my fiancee said to me many metal bands have become better known in the last few years. She has heard of all of these bands. So, here's the list:

Judas Priest: "Dissident Aggressor": I have no idea why they picked this particular track off the band's recent live album. The song itself is 30 years old.
Lamb of God: "Set to Fail"
Megadeth: "Head Crusher"
Ministry: "Senor Peligro"
Slayer: "Hate Worldwide"

Slayer has won a couple of Grammys for this category recently, so they could easily get it again. Ministry seems to be nominated every year (five times total), so it would be nice for them to finally win it, though I doubt they will as they are extremely inaccessible. Megadeth has been nominated eight times, without a single win. Judas Priest has been nominated four times without a win. Both Megadeth and Judas Priest deserve it for their larger body of work, not necessarily the stuff for which they were nominated.

In short, I think Slayer will win it, but I would like to see it go to Judas Priest or Megadeth. I will not watch the show as they give out this award during the pre-show. Stupid bunch of shit.

Metallica and Alice in Chains were nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance. Metal bands nominated for Hard Rock? Sigh.

Swedish Death Metal

Swedish Death Metal. It is one of those series of words that can be uttered and automatically, a vision (or in this case the audio equivalent of a vision) is played in the minds of those fortunate enough to know just what the hell I'm talking about. Norwegian black metal is another one and German thrash metal is another one still and Milwaukee polka fusion (okay, that last one I may have made up). Swedish death metal had a style and sound all it's own. It was so popular that there was even a book written on the subject titled Swedish Death Metal (hint: Christmas idea for your favorite blogger) by Daniel Ekeroth.

The scene traces its origins to Stockholm. The sound is intense and aggressive: buzzsaw-sounding guitars attained through the use of down-tuning and distortion pedals, pounding drums, and deep growls and psychotic shrieks. The guitar sound came to be known as the Sunlight Studios guitar tone after the studio in which many of the bands often recorded.

So, what are the origins? Let's look at some bands:

First there was Nihilist and Carnage. I am unfortunately not terribly familiar with Carnage, so I can't say much about them. Nihilist recorded a bunch of demos, but never an actual full length album. The recordings were raw but that guitar tone was definitely present and the stage was set. Both Nihilist and Carnage soon split. Carnage members went on to form Dismember and Arch Enemy. Dismember will be discussed soon, Arch Enemy not so much in this post. Nihilist was finished when Johnny Hedlund left to form Unleashed. Which brings us to the next era in this sound and the time when it began taking on a life of its own.Dismember is one of the better groups from this wave, and my personal favorite. The band has quite simply not put out a bad album. They began as aggressive, take-no-prisoners death metal and they remained that way throughout their discography. They may have added some additional melodies occasionally, but their bloodlust still remains. The band is quite simply one of the best death metal bands, period.Unleashed is somewhat similar to Amon Amarth in that they often sing about Vikings and they play death metal. But where Amon Amarth has been accepted into the mainstream music scene somewhat (as much as any extreme metal band is capable I suppose), Unleashed has remained on the outside looking in. Why is that? One may never know.After Hedlund formed Unleashed, the remaining members of Nihilist formed the great Entombed. Entombed's first full length album was a re-recording of some of the Nihilist songs and set the gold standard for Swedish death metal. Left Hand Path is the album against which all other albums are measured. Unfortunately it was downhill from there. Not long after wards (their third album to be exact) the band started experimenting with other styles of metal. This style became known as death 'n roll. I will spare the descriptions, just imagine what the name would entail. This style wasn't bad, but it wasn't the same.While Entombed no longer plays this style, Dismember and Unleashed have remained true to their roots. Other bands that have played or do play Swedish death metal include Grave, Nominon, Hypocrisy, Chaosbreed (Finnish band, who knew?), Hail of Bullets (to a certain degree, definitely inspired by many of the bands), Aeon, Bloodbath (definitely a tribute band), Seance, Evocation, and many others.

Super Huge Initial Impressions Roundup

Okay, this is it for new pickups for now. Let's do this.

INFERNAEON: A SYMPHONY OF SUFFERING

This album kind of slipped by a bunch of people. I had seen the cover before but never really thought much of it. I wasn't even totally sure of the type of metal this band played. Nevertheless, I traded a bunch of old CDs in a couple weeks ago and picked this one up. Not a bad pickup really.

Infernaeon plays symphonic blackened death metal. The album starts off with a soft piano intro and quickly segues into a powerful thrashing riff and the deep growled vocals that will be present for the rest of the album. The symphonic parts do continue throughout adding to the eerie feeling of the entire album. The band essentially adds to the attempts by groups like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth by layering their symphonic elements onto the blackened death metal. The whole effect is basically that of a deranged, evil symphony.

This is a good album, but it is entirely too short and the band hasn't really been heard from since its release. We'll see what happens in the future. I have a feeling they just missed the boat as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth have waned in popularity in recent years.

BLACK SABBATH: BLACK SABBATH

I needed to fill in some holes in my collection and this was a big hole. This is Black Sabbath's debut album, and therefore the first metal album ever. Wow. I have no idea why it took me so long to pick this up. Perhaps it is because Black Sabbath was basically just a real heavy blues rock band at this time while only hinting at what was to come on some of the songs. Nevertheless, there are some true classics on this album, and overall, it is a metal album, although no one knew what metal was at the time.

The album starts off with the incredibly evil title track (also the band's name). "Black Sabbath" is one of the most sinister songs of all time. It tells the story of one coming across a dark shadowy figure, allegedly a true story that happened to bassist Geezer Butler one night. The song uses the tritone to form the main guitar riff, once considered to be a way of summoning demons, it's clear that Black Sabbath was out to shock the world with it's debut. From there, the songs range from the mid-paced metal stomp of "N.I.B." to the heavily blues-inspired "Warning". All of the elements that would make the band famous are present and accounted for: Tony Iommi's flesh-melting, downtuned riffs, Geezer Butler's thunderous bass, Bill Ward's pounding drums, and Ozzy Osbourne's haunted vocals and demonic lyrics.

The fact that this album was released at the height of the hippie movement is icing on the cake. Black Sabbath took a happy, drug-induced movement and brought it to its knees. The band was hated early on by critics and never really achieved the same kind of hindsighted praise that Led Zeppelin did. Perhaps that's because this album was the beginning of heavy metal, a genre overall ignored by critics. It's a shame. This band was one of a kind. All hail Black Sabbath.

DANZIG: DANZIG

Ah Danzig. Danzig was one of the earliest metal bands I discovered. The band was somewhat popular at the time I was getting into metal on account of the live version of "Mother" off of the Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP. Somehow that track made it onto regular rotation on MTV. This was of course at the time that MTV a) played the occasional metal video during regular hours and b) played music videos at all, both statements now false.

This album is Danzig's debut album, although he had previously released albums with The Misfits and Samhain. The Misfits was something of a horror-influenced pop/punk band, a more intimidating version of The Ramones. Samhain took that and added a metal edge. Danzig delved even deeper into metal and gloom and doom.

This lineup released the first four Danzig albums together, afterwards the band became a bit of a revolving door of musicians other than the eponymous Glenn Danzig. The riffs were heavily blues-inspired and Danzig's vocals were sort of a grotesque Jim Morrison meets Elvis. The song topics were a little controversial, touching on perverse sexuality and evil.

Danzig was dangerous. This was just the beginning.

DIO: THE LAST IN LINE

Ronnie James Dio left the relative obscurity of Rainbow and joined Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne was booted. After a couple of very strong albums, he left and formed a band named after himself. Their first album was the iconic Holy Diver, featuring hits "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark". This was the band's second release and it builds on the foundations laid out in the debut. This is good, powerful, traditional heavy metal that takes no prisoners.

The album starts out fairly strong with the anthemic "We Rock" and doesn't let go of the throttle. The album is catchy and powerful with Dio's terrific vocals leading the charge. The guitar riffs are rooted in traditional metal. The songs are all a reasonable length for the style of music that is played.

Dio is one of the icons of heavy metal. This was only his second solo album but he had been around for years before that. This is a great testament to one of the greatest vocalists in metal history. Get well soon Dio.

SLAYER: HELL AWAITS

The great Slayer hit the ground running with their debut album Show No Mercy which was an album full of Venom and NWOBHM-inspired riff madness. This second album cuts much of the NWOBHM-isms and finds the band finding their own voice.

This album is a combination of two distinct sounds: the NWOBHM and the early days of thrash. Slayer has begun making the transition into the powerful, riff-hungry, thrashing death machine that would later completely encompass their sound and image. The riffs are generally faster, the drumming is louder, and the vocals are angrier.

The next album would be the all time class Reign in Blood. Unfortunately, that album kind of takes over much of the focus in the band's discography. Their earlier material was much more raw and edgier. It's a shame that most people don't even look at their material prior to that album. The band was truly something in the early days.

ALICE IN CHAINS: DIRT

To be fair, this probably is not an initial impression of this album. I have heard most, if not all, of these songs many times in the past. Particularly since my older brother was a big Alice in Chains fan and this is then, one of the first metal bands I have had much exposure to.

Alice in Chains is a metal band dammit. There are a lot of purists out there who disagree with that statement, and maybe in certain songs in their later years they are correct. Not here though, this album is metal through and through.

This is the band's masterpiece. It contains many hit songs like "Would?", "Rooster", "Down in a Hole", and "Them Bones". This album strips everything down and is heartfelt, emotional, heartbreaking, and angry all at the same time. Layne Staley was having problems with drugs and his lyrics and vocals conveyed his pain and the music emphasized it. Jerry Cantrell's guitar solos were masterful and his vocals harmonized with Layne's provided a haunting soundscape of emotion.

This album is incredible. There is no doubt in my mind that Alice in Chains was an amazing band, filled with amazing musicians. It's too bad their time in the sun was spent hiding from the glare. Layne is sorely missed.

EMBALMER: THERE WAS BLOOD EVERYWHERE

Late 1990's death metal was not real exciting. There was a bit of a lull in all things metal at the time. The genre was still reeling from the grunge movement which killed a lot of bands. Nu-metal was becoming much more popular and was drawing attention away from the genre. Many of the early death metal bands were declining in quality and there were not a lot of bands to take over.

Which brings us to Embalmer, one of the death metal bands to form in the late 1990's and do reasonably well. Death metal had become even more underground and there was a thriving scene in Cleveland, where Embalmer, Nunslaughter, and other bands formed.

Bands from the late 1990's death metal genre were typically a little more stripped-down and basic. Embalmer is a gore-obsessed death metal band that plays a very primal, raw form of death metal that is also extremely brutal. There is little technical proficiency involved. The band just plays straightforward riffs. There is a very thin line between brutal death metal and slam death and Embalmer seems to be toeing that line.

This is a collection of Embalmer's recordings and it is clear that this band was a decent entry into late 1990's death metal. The album is pure brutality from opening to closing. It is a quick and easy listen taking up less than half an hour. Not bad.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: DEFLORATE

The Black Dahlia Murder is somewhat unfairly lumped in with the metalcore movement, often being mentioned alongside groups like Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, and Trivium. The truth is that the band actually has very little -core present in their music. The group is basically a throwback to At the Gates and other early Swedish melodeath bands.

TBDM play fast, extremely fast. The riffs fly by at a mile a minute and the drums pummel away. The vocals are often high-pitched raspy shrieks with some deeper death growls thrown in for good measure. This album is typical fo their current style, I'm not sure if they ever had any -core influences or not, but there are certainly none here.

I can't decide if I like this one better than Nocturnal or not, so I'll go with no. But it's not by much. TBDM is well-schooled in extreme metal and they typically show it. Since At the Gates is no longer around, this band steps into their shoes. They've always been considered one of the better metalcore bands, but that's selling them way too short. TBDM is not metalcore, they are clearly melodeath.

PRIMORDIAL: A JOURNEY'S END

Primordial is a folk/pagan black metal band out of Ireland. They are a little strange for that genre though as they use frequent clean vocals. They also use some black metal-styled shrieking and growling, but the clean vocals definitely are the most recognizably Primordial.

This is one of their early albums that was re-released this year due to the band's burgeoning popularity after their last album. At this time, the band was not quite as melodic and melancholic as their latest album, but this is nevertheless a very strong album and a sign of things to come from the band.

As part of the reissue, there is a bonus live disc. I sometimes like to hear the live stuff because I don't get to go to a lot of concerts. All I have to say about this one though it that this band better sound better than this now. Maybe it's the really shitty production, but this sounds terrible. I really do not know if I will be listening to this live album much in the future. It does no justice to the band's sound at all.

Other than the live bonus, the album is perfectly fine. I like Primordial quite a bit. They are a bit softer than most other black metal bands, but there is nothing wrong with that. I can use a little melancholy now and again.

MORBID ANGEL: BLESSED ARE THE SICK

Morbid Angel is quite possibly the most important and best death metal band of all time. They put out three classic death metal albums early on and despite declining in quality afterwards, those three albums are still easily on par with any three albums by any other death metal band. This is their second album.

Morbid Angel's first album was all about extreme speed and thrashing, down-tuned riffs. Things are starting to slow down a little bit on this album, although it would be a few more albums before the band really opts for a mid-paced attack a majority of the time. This album balances the all-out blazing fast attack and slower, doomed-out madness. Trey Azagthoth's out-of-this-world riffs are still present as well as David Vincent's frightening vocals. The problem is that it just isn't quite as memorable as the albums that came before and after it. It's a great album to be sure and perhaps it will grow to be as favored as the other two.

W.A.S.P.: W.A.S.P. and THE LAST COMMAND

I mentioned earlier being on a little bit of a 1980's metal kick. W.A.S.P. has always been a band that has intrigued me and yet I was never terribly familiar with their music. Blackie Lawless has always seemed like such a larger than life character. He wears a flame-shooting codpiece, throws raw meat into the crowds, was considered for the role of the T1000 in Terminator 2 (he was determined to be too tall), and in general is kind of a badass. He's also got some bizarre political theories which I won't go into here. Yet for some reason I never really got into the band.

I saw this double CD reissue of the band's first two CDs on a recent trip to the music store and decided to pick it up as the band was on my list of 80's metal bands to check out. These were not the optimal albums I wanted to hear, but no big deal, I figured if I liked them well enough perhaps I will find some of their other material.

W.A.S.P. arose out of the same scene as Motley Crue and Quiet Riot among other glam/hair rock/metal bands. So, of course their music is kind of sleazy and their lyrics are sex-obsessed and misogynistic. Oh well. The music is catchy as hell and the band was basically a joke anyway at the time so no one took them too seriously. The albums are similar, each one having some barn-burners, some slower tracks, and some mid-paced anthems. At this point the pattern of rock single, then power ballad had not yet been established. There are no blatant radio-manufactured songs on these albums.

W.A.S.P. was always a little sleazier than the other bands from those days. Perhaps that's what made them more interesting. This double album was a pretty decent pickup, especially for the price and the relative obscurity of the band's earlier material these days.

Initial Impressions: Tsjuder, Hour of 13, Pharaoh, Nirvana 2002, Dokken

TSJUDER: DESERT NORTHERN HELL

Tsjuder is another extremely raw, primal black metal band. Tsjuder is from Norway and formed in 1993, just before the second wave of black metal achieved notoriety. Tsjuder is definitely not one of the main bands from the movement, however they are one of the few bands that has managed to never change their style of vicious black metal.Tsjuder plays fast and keeps things brutal. Featuring blazing fast riffs and blast beats galore, Tsjuder does not let up until the album is over. Occasional slower parts just emphasize how fast the rest of the music is.

Singer and founding member Nag produces screeches and howls along with a deep rasp. He always plays the bass and keeps things moving with throbbing bass lines.

Tsjuder missed the boat a little bit with their formation occurring just prior to the second wave explosion, but they seem to prefer it that way. This album is still powerful and brutal and proves that underground black metal still has a bite.

HOUR OF 13: HOUR OF 13

Ah, this is more like it. Hour of 13 plays traditional, haunting doom metal in the vein of Candlemass, Trouble, Cirith Ungol, Solitude Aeturnus, and more. The band is very new, this being their first full length album, but they definitely have a bright future.

The riffs are definitely inspired by groups like Black Sabbath and the aforementioned doom metal bands. The vocals are clean and eerily haunting. The overall atmosphere provided by the music is dark and it fills the listener with feelings of dread and doom, just as good doom metal is supposed to do.

In recent years, there have been many bands releasing material that owes much to the traditional metal styles. Hour of 13 is another of those bands playing doom metal styled after bands from the 1980's. It's rare to hear good traditional doom metal that is not mixed with elements of thrash, death, or other metal styles. This is one such album. Hopefully Hour of 13 will influence other groups to take note as well.

PHARAOH: BE GONE

Pharaoh is another traditional metal band, but whereas Hour of 13 has its influences in doom, Pharaoh prefers the more melodic bands such as Iron Maiden. Pharaoh is one of several bands created by Chris Black, a sort of metal jack-of-all-trades who also contributed to Metal Maniacs magazine. Don't be mistaken though, this is not some sort of tribute band, Pharaoh is a rock-solid traditional heavy metal band.

The music is extremely melodic, yet retains a distinctive heavy metal touch. This band could easily have fit right in with the 1980's true metal wave. The riffs sound as if the band combined Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and threw in some other NWOBHM ideas as well, yet remaining distinctly American in their aggressive delivery. The drummer isn't doing anything completely unusual or ear-catching but is very solid and basic and manages to keep the music going. The vocals are similar to Iced Earth's Matt Barlow but are a little higher. He does seem to have the same range though.

This is a very good, powerful traditional metal album from an up and coming American band. It's unfortunate that bands like these are perhaps less well-known by the mainstream than even some black and death metal bands. This is true traditional metal and people should think of this when they think of metal.

NIRVANA 2002: '89-'91 RECORDINGS

I picked this up at the music store one day. I was looking specifically for it, because I knew it was not likely that I would be able to track down the actual demos that make up the album. I did not know how likely it was that I would be able to find it because the nearest music store to me is completely unpredictable in stocking metal. I knew there was a chance though as it was a Relapse release, a label that my store is fairly good at releasing. I had to laugh when I found the album in the CD browser with the Nirvana albums. Imagine someone looking for the early 1990's Seattle grunge band and thinking they have found a possible gem, and actually finding a collection of Swedish death metal demos.

Nirvana 2002 added the surname "2002" so as not to be confused with the Seattle act that was gaining popularity. The band only released a few demos and never released a full length album. There have been rumblings about these demos being collected and released together for some time now. Relapse finally did just that this fall.

The band was part of the early wave of bands out of Sweden playing death metal, along with Nihilist and Unleashed and others, they arrived setting the stage for the huge wave that would follow. Unfortunately Nirvana 2002 would not be around for the ultimate popularity of the movement, breaking up after just a few demos.

The music is typical for Swedish death metal: buzzsaw guitar riffs wrapped around psychotic shrieking. But this band sounds fresh, even though these demos are fairly old. It's a shame that the band has denegrated to cult classic band and is not at the forefront of the very popular style. Swedish death is one of the most revered scenes, to the extent that there is even a book about it. Nirvana 2002 could have been one of the biggest bands, instead of something of a footnote.

DOKKEN: TOOTH AND NAIL

I poked a little fun at Dokken in an earlier post, and they probably deserved some of it. Still though, Dokken was one of the best and most metal bands during the whole hair rock/metal fiasco. Dokken possessed an amazing guitar player, two in fact, and a great vocalist. And the band played metal, at least for the first few albums, before descending into complete mediocrity.

I've been on a bit of a 1980's metal kick lately and identified Dokken as a band I had to look into a little more thoroughly. I remember enjoying several of the band's songs that would be played on the radio back when I was in junior high. They were fast, yet melodic, heavy, yet mainstream-friendly. This was Dokken, a band that managed to balance being a pretty decent metal band with being involved in the glam scene.

This is the band's first full length and one of its most metal releases. It contains the classics "Into the Fire" and "Alone Again". It set the stage for the band's next few albums and their burgeoning poularity. Nevertheless, it is likely this will be the only Dokken album I will pick up. It's good, it's fun, but it's ultimately fluff. Just like Dokken.

Impetigo: Horror of the Zombies

Sick, twisted, and absolutely fucked up. Impetigo's Horror of the Zombies is one of the most fun albums to listen to when in the mood for horror and gore. This is easily the band's best album, and unfortunately the band chose not to try to follow this up to date. The band broke up after it was released and although they have reformed for some anniversary shows, have not put out another full length album.

Impetigo blends death metal and grindcore beautifully into one of the sickest sounds ever. The riffs are not fast but are groove-laden and catchy. The bass rumbles along underneath the riffs providing more earth shaking tremors. The drums are possibly the best musical attribute on the album. They are some of the most interesting patterns in extreme metal. The drums are not played particularly fast, but they are technically very impressive. They are constantly present and blend with the music extremely well.

The vocals sound as if zombies were actually recorded. There are some vocal effects that are used to great effect, enhancing the listening experience that much more. The vocals are double-tracked and are often deep, decayed growls that sound as if they are coming from the grave. Every once in awhile vocalist Scott Dobbins will unleash a blood curdling shriek or do something else unexpected which further adds to the horror of the music.

Lyrically, Impetigo deals with gore, horror, and more horror. The band incorporates several clips from horror movies into the album. I recognize Wizard of Gore and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, but there are others along the way. This further adds to the storytelling aspect of the songs. The band references these obscure horror movies and provides clips to go with the references.

The production on the album is incredible. It is thick and dirty sounding, yet clean enough to hear everything that is happening on the album. If all grindcore sounded like this, I would probably enjoy the genre a little better.

This album is a ton of fun. If only Impetigo had stuck around a little longer to follow it up. The band is a cult favorite, but they could have gotten much more acclaim had they kept at it. As it is, this is a great, somewhat obscure album.

Initial Impressions: Slayer, Hypocrisy, Nile, Archgoat, and Vreid

SLAYER: WORLD PAINTED BLOODThe almighty Slayer returns with their 2009 release, their best album since probably Divine Intervention. Slayer has been the most consistent of the Big 4 of American thrash metal bands, never releasing a truly bad album, apart from their ill-advised album of punk covers, but their albums have been declining in quality for some time. This album does a lot to right the ship.

The album starts off with a slowly building drum cadence, leading into some tonal progressions on the guitar then immediately fires off the first salvo. As anyone who knows Slayer's music can attest, the band does not let up from here. The band is a little more melodic at times on this album instead of just blasting the eardrums of listeners with pounding riff after pounding riff. But they nevertheless remain extremely potent.

Tom Araya's vocals are the same as they have been for years, harsh shouting over the tops of the riffs. The lyrics deal with the standard Slayer stuff: Anti-Christianity, war, death, and other dark subjects. The guitar riffs are razor sharp and the solos cut straight through the riffs and grab the listener's attention. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman remain one of the most powerful guitar duos in metal. Dave Lombardo adds his trademarked furious drum patterns, keeping everything else moving at breakneck speed.

As mentioned, this is easily Slayer's best album in years. It subtracts a lot of the groove metal influences found on recent releases and just flat out blazes. It's total balls to the walls speed from the opening to the end. I still would love to hear the band revert to its earliest days when they engaged mostly in Venom worship, but this is an acceptable substitute.

HYPOCRISY: A TASTE OF EXTREME DIVINITYHypocrisy is a band from the Swedish death metal scene that has had something of an odd career trajectory. The band started out as a true Swedish death metal band in the same vein as Nihilist/Entombed, Dismember, and Grave. However, as the Gothenburg melodeath scene grew, Hypocrisy began incorporating elements of that style into their own music. Then, as nu-metal became popular, Hypocrisy attempted to sound like Slipknot. Neither of these changes in the band's style were palatable to their old fans. Eventually, the band stripped these elements away and returned on the Virus album as more or less their old selves, except with a little more melodic tinges. This is their second album after that comeback album.

The buzzsaw-sounding guitar riffs have returned, as has Peter Tagtren's demonic-sounding deep growls and psychotic shrieks. Tagtren has one of the more recognizable voices in death metal. The major difference between old and new Hypcrisy is the melodic guitar leads, which here provide most of the infectiousness of the music. They keep the listener interested. They are just understated enough that one has to listen carefully to hear everything that is playing.

Hypocrisy, to me, has always been a little underrated. The band is not on the same level as Entombed, Dismember, and Grave, and they do not really fit in with the Gothenburg scene at all. It's tough to say where Hypocrisy's place really is. This is a great album. Hopefully, it will lead to more fans and Hypocrisy's place in metal history will be set.

NILE: THOSE WHOM THE GODS DETESTEveryone's favorite Egyptian-themed death metal band is back. Nile has typically put out a new album every couple of yearson recent albums. This is their first album since 2007's Ithyphallic. Their last album seemed a little labored and just was not quite up to snuff after the amazing Annihilation of the Wicked album from 2005. It just was not as inspired and I was hesitant to pick this one up right away on its release date, but apparently I had an extra $15.00 burning a hole in my pocket so I got it along with the Slayer and Hypocrisy albums.

Nile has ditched their old blazing fast riffs for the most part in favor of a more sludgy, doomed-out approach to death metal on recent albums. The Egyptian-inspired musical interludes have been incorporated more and more into the death metal making them far less disjointed and giving the music more continuity. The vocals are still made up of hoarse, growled screams. The drums still play little more than constant blast beats. The production has reverted back to the murky, muddy quality of the early material, before things became a little too processed.

The lyrics still focus on Egypt and ancient mythology, but Karl Sanders is not just taking scriptures and other Egyptian writings and putting them to music anymore. As his fascination and familiarity with Egyptian mythology has grown, he has been able to incorporate more of his own ideas and placing them in the context of the Egyptian-inspired death metal.

Nile has returned to a sound close to Annihilation of the Wicked on this album. It is a return to their most popular sound, and although the band will never sound as raw and dirty as it did in its earlier days, it is still one of the best American death metal bands to form in the last 15 years.

ARCHGOAT: THE LIGHT-DEVOURING DARKNESSBack when Metal Maniacs was still around, there was a writer who wrote about black metal almost exclusively. This writer used to refer to black metal from Finland as "Finn-filthy". I haven't had much exposure to Finnish black metal, but there does seem to be some truth to that label, as the bands I have heard have been extremely bestial and raw-sounding. Archgoat fits in well with other Finnish black metal bands such as Horna, Behexen, Beherit, and Impaled Nazarene.

Archgoat actually formed in 1989, pre-dating the second wave of Norwegian black metal. The band actually broke up in 1993, one year before the scene exploded as Archgoat did not want to be part of a commercial black metal scene. They reformed several years later, and this, despite forming 20 years ago, is only their second full length album.

Musically, Archgoat is extremely raw and primal-sounding. The production is dirty and sludgy with a heavy low-end. This just makes everything sound that much more intense. The band plays fairly fast, pounding black metal with a very evil atmosphere. Vocals are deep growls that are almost indecipherable. There are moments when the sound is an eerie calm, which eventually leads right back into the chaotic energy. The album flies by in the blink of an eye.

Archgoat has long been one of the more admired groups in the Finnish black metal scene. This album is a good reason why. The band has never ditched the kvlt-as-fuck attitude that permeates a lot of the genre. Archgoat are true throwbacks to the days when black metal had no mainstream exposure and was a mysterious and frightening sound. We need more bands like Archgoat.

VREID: PITCH BLACK BRIGADEVreid formed out of the ashes of Windir. Vreid is a different take on black metal than the above Archgoat. Where Archgoat is raw and primal, Vreid is a more stripped-down basic sound, harkening to the days when punk and metal were just becoming acquainted. It's still black metal, but it's closer to early Venom and Bathory than the second wave groups like Mayhem and Immortal.

Vreid formed after the lead singer of Windir, Valfar died. Where Windir was something of a folk black metal band, Vreid has much more in common with thrash metal. It was something of a shock when the band released its first recordings and fans of Windir picked them up, expecting something along Windir's lines. Vreid does venture occasionally into more folk territories, but always returns to the thrash roots of the music.

As mentioned, Vreid plays blackened thrash with powerful riffs and blasting drums. Vocalist Sture has a harsh throaty scream that he uses for all vocals. There are occasional guitar solos and melodic interludes, but the majority of the music is straight-ahead, angry thrash metal.

This album was something of a surprise to me. I admit to not doing uch research into this band prior to buying the album, but I was pleasantly surprised. This albums is great blackened thrash, already one of my favorite genres.

Dio Diagnosed with Stomach Cancer

http://www.ronniejamesdio.com/

They caught it early so it should be operable successfully. Here's to a quick and speedy recovery. Get well soon.

Initial Impressions: Revocation, Misery's Omen, Waylander, Lord Belial, Blood Tsunami

REVOCATION: EXISTENCE IS FUTILE

Revocation is one of the biggest up-and-coming young bands this year. The band plays a highly technical style of thrash that has been extremely well-received by most major metal outlets. There has been an awful lot of hype surrounding this release, so of course I had to check it out eventually. Is the hype justified? You bet your ass it is.

Inevitably this band will be thrown in with the retro thrash movement, which I guess is okay as long as people do not dismiss them simply because of that fact. Revocation sounds more like groups like Sadus, Heathen, and other technical thrash metal bands. A well which has not been mined by many of the other groups in the retro thrash movement.

As far as the music goes, the guitar riffs are definitely the main attraction. Featuring frequent time changes and blazing leads, the guitars definitely steal the show. The vocals are delivered in a harsh yell, definitely a throwback to the late 80's underground thrash vocalists and a continuing force in thrash metal. The drum patterns are often quite complex, with the occasional blast beat thrown in for good measure.

This is a very good example of the retro thrash movement done right. Please do not dismiss the band simply because of that moniker.

MISERY'S OMEN: HOPE DIES

This band is fucked up. I mean this album is seriously unnerving. From the eerie cover art to the rumbling music, everything is odd and off-kilter. I guess that can be expected when one of the band's members is also in the epic mindfuck band Portal.

Misery's Omen plays a sort of progressive, blackened doom metal. The music is mostly made up of slow dirges that sound like the music to a funeral march into hell. It occasionally branches off into more melodic territory, while always soon returning to the deathlike somber sound from whence it came. There are some faster songs on the album, but the band always sounds best when they are slow. There are some soft acoustic interludes that are often beautiful, yet unsettling in their own way as the listener is never sure of when the band will revert to the harsher sound again. The vocals are delivered in a deep grunt and are often indecipherable.

The band uses frequent time signature changes to keep the listener feeling off balance. It works. The entire album is an exercise in strangeness. The length of the songs varies wildly. The 11+ minute opener is immediately followed by aa 3+ minute song. This further leads to the strange feel of the album as a very long song may be followed by a very short song and vice versa.

This album is otherworldly and unique. I have their previous shorter album and enjoyed it so well I picked this one up. But, this one is infinitely stranger and more of an ordeal to listen through. The strangeness can get very unnerving and lead the listener into anticipation for the album to be finished. Not always a great quality in an album.

WAYLANDER: HONOUR AMONGST CHAOS

From the slow deathly dirges of Misery's Omen to the relatively upbeat folk black metal of Waylander. When I first discovered folk metal, I wondered if it was possible to find bands that blended Celtic music (part of my own ancestral background) with heavy metal. Since that time, I have discovered that, in fact, there have been quite a few. Waylander, Skyclad, Cruachan, Eluveitie, and Primordial all play metal laced with Celtic musical influences.

Waylander is a bit different than the other bands, preferring to blend Celtic music with more blackened metal whereas the other bands have different metallic bases. The vocals are harsh, black metal shrieks providing an odd contrast to the often beautiful Celtic melodies. The songs are often mini-epics in order to incorporate all of the ideas of the band. There are frequent slower interludes which allow more of the Celtic music to play freely and unencumbered by the thrashing guitar riffs and pounding drums.

Waylander is one of the better folk metal bands out there. The Celtic music is very prevalent but does not completely take over the metal elements. The two parts exist together in fairly decent harmony. Eluveitie is the only Celtic metal band that has more seemlessly melded their two musical sides. Waylander is definitely a good listen and I may keep my eyes open for more of their stuff.

LORD BELIAL: THE BLACK CURSE

This is my fourth Lord Belial album, and their last album prior to their breakup. It's always a little sad when a quality band breaks up before they have much recognition. Melodic black metal has been gaining in popularity in recent years with groups like Watain, Naglfar, and Nifelheim reaching wider audiences. However, the same exposure was never really granted to Lord Belial. Even magazines such as Metal Maniacs barely covered their last couple of albums. I never saw an interview or review for their prior album, and that was a great melodic black/death metal album. This album did warrant a short article, but no review.

Lord Belial started out as a typical melodic black metal band. They slowly began incorporating more and more death metal influences. The band on this album is almost half and half. It would appear that there may have been some problems internally as the band recorded this album. The album is a little more lackluster compared to their earlier material. It is not nearly as memorable as the band's prior albums. This is a shame as Lord Belial has always had a knack for producing some quality, memorable performances. Perhaps it had become time that the band had run its course.

All of the elements that have made Lord Belial such a vital member of their genre are still present: harsh vocals, soaring leads, pummeling drums, occasional melodic touches, and a fascination with Satanic or Anti-Christian lyrics. The band just sounds a little tired. As mentioned, the band broke up soon after the release of this album. It's a shame, but perhaps for the best.

BLOOD TSUNAMI: THRASH METAL

Sure, why not? Dismember produced Death Metal, Venom had Black Metal, so why can't we have a band simply name their album Thrash Metal?

Blood Tsunami perhaps became best-known for the fact that Bard "Faust" Eithun became their drummer. Faust has been the drummer for several black metal bands over the years including Emperor and Aborym. However, he was not a founding member of the band, so the fact that he is their drummer is one of the principal reasons the band became well-known is somewhat aggravating. Plus, Faust cannot travel to the U.S. if the band were to ever tour here as he has a felony charge of murder on his record. So it's actually kind of a disadvantage to have him as a member.

Blood Tsunami is from Norway, a country not well-known for thrash metal bands. Off the top of my head I can only name this band and Nocturnal Breed as thrash metal bands from Norway. As the country is not rich with thrash metal, the band had to take their influences from elsewhere. Blood Tsunami's thrash metal is a combination of the style of German thrash metal bands like Destruction, Kreator, and Sodom, along with Swedish thrash/death metal bands like At The Gates, Dismember, Nihilist, and Hypocrisy.

The music is very fast, as is customary with thrash, featuring mile-a-minute riffs and an almost buzzsaw sound to the guitars. The vocals are frequently shouted, but oftentimes revert to an almost death metal-like growl.

Blood Tsunami is one of the better newer international thrash metal band, showing that it's not just the U.S. seeing a resurgence in the genre. This album is very good and the band is worth checking out further.

Metal Pets Pt. 5: Destiny

Destiny is my fiancee's horse. I'm not allowed to touch her, but she wanted me to share this anyway. I'm not sure what I could possibly do to a 1,000 pound animal, but oh well. According to my fiancee, Destiny is very intelligent, and perhaps a little spoiled. Apparently, she thinks she's people and will not work for people if they treat her like an animal instead of a person. She says that Destiny is extremely smart, possibly the smartest animal she has met. She has escaped twice, once when she leaped over a four foot fence as a weanling.

I haven't had much exposure to the horse. She glares at me when I drive up to my fiancee's parents' house. That's pretty much it.

Shitty Bands That Need to Go Away Pt. 1: The Devil Wears Prada

Let's do something different and completely hate on a band that deserves it, shall we? It's more fun to hate terrible bands than it is to love great ones. Well, maybe not more fun, but definitely more amusing.

So let's see, as mentioned earlier, this band is named after a Meryl Streep movie. That's not what they claim, but to me, if you have to come up with a convoluted story to explain away any similarities between your band's name and a Meryl Streep movie, you could have just as easily come up with a better name. Therefore, I will accept no explanations and just tell you this cold, hard fact: you named yourself after a fucking Meryl Streep movie, about fashion no less.

Now that we have that ugliness out of the way, what other Meryl Streep movies could you have named yourselves after? This is a primer for all you Christian hardcore bands out there. I had to use Wikipedia to come up with this as I don't know many Meryl Streep movies, unlike The Devil Wears Prada who apparently knew of one.

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Julie & Julia
Doubt
Mamma Mia! (added points for being the name of a terrible Abba song)
A Prairie Home Companion
The Hours
Adaptation
Music of the Heart
The Bridges of Madison County
Death Becomes Her (I wouldn't be shocked to see some horrible screamo band with this name)
Postcards from the Edge
Out of Africa
Silkwood
Sophie's Choice

There you have it, free advice. Now, fuck off.

Ridiculously Unhelpful Amazon Listmania Pt. 3: The Next Dokken

http://www.amazon.com/The-next-Dokken/lm/R3MXB5CUUMUTUO/ref=cm_lmt_srch_f_1_rsrsrs0

Yes, that's right boys and girls, apparently we need another Dokken. You remember Dokken right? No? "Breaking the Chains"? "Unchain the Night"? "Alone Again"? "Into the Fire"? "Dream Warriors", the song from A Nightmare on Elm St 5? Bueller?
Whatever, that's why we need a next Dokken, because the first one wasn't memorable enough. I happen to like Dokken okay, they were one of the better bands in the whole 1980's glam metal scene. So what kind of characteristics will we be looking for in the next Dokken? Presumably, they will play some sort of heavily melodic pop-inflected metal with virtuosic guitar solos and high vocals. So who's the next Dokken? Here's the list:

Atreyu (what the fuck? I'm pretty sure there are absolutely no similarities between these two bands)
Ozzy Osbourne (little piece of advice: when determining "the next band x" it's best not to refer to one that has actually been around just as long or longer)
Early Man (I have no exposure to this band whatsoever
3 Inches of Blood (once again, NO similarities)
Ratt (see Ozzy)
Pantera (huh?)
Whitecross (no idea)
Stryper
White Lion (awful, awful band)
Pharaoh (great new band, virtually no similarity to Dokken though)
Dragonforce
Avenged Sevenfold (more like the next Guns 'N Roses, minus talent and memorable songs)
Dreamland (never heard of 'em)
Poison (see Ratt)
Nocturnal Rites (Swedish power metal band)
Y&T
Disturbed (and my brain exploded)
Phil Vincent
XYZ
Black Widow (this album was originally released in 1970, eight years prior to the formation of Dokken)
Metallica (why would Metallica want to be the next anything? what's wrong with being the first Metallica? Pretty good if you ask me)
The Sword (doom metal wannabe band, Dokken is not at all close to doom metal)
Metallica
I (blackened heavy metal supergroup)
Armageddon
Skid Row (this I might be inclined to believe, but they're not around anymore at all)
Slick Shoes (who?)
Driver
Iced Earth (no)
Razormaid (this was released in 1987 and the band promptly disbanded, thus they are not the next anything)
Empire
Headrush
The Cowboy Prostitutes
Def Leppard (see Poison)
Riff Raff (originally released in 1974)
Sebastian Bach
Human Zoo
Seventh Calling
Sonic X

I've never heard of half of these bands. Is the next Dokken among them, no clue? Do I care? Not a chance.

My Metal History Pt. 5: The College Years

I started college right when nu-metal was exploding. It was hard to avoid listening to some of that stuff, and indeed most of my early concert experiences were going to see nu-metal bands like Sevendust, Disturbed, Static-X, Godhead, Staind, Cold, and Rob Zombie (although Rob did play several White Zombie songs as he continues to do). The unfortunate thing was that nu-metal was unavoidable and did make it into lots of traditional heavy metal magazines. It was tough to know quite what to think of the genre, but it flamed out spectacularly in recent years.

I admit it: I did listen to some nu-metal. But I was always a little ambivalent towards a lot of the groups. Looking back, I realize that I was always cautious about the music due to the fact that I did not like listening to nu-metal albums all the way through. I would often have tracks that I would skip. My metal albums were not like that. That, to me, was the principal difference. Metal music was created with the goal of putting out quality albums. Nu-metal was created with the goal of making money.

Musically, there were differences that I noticed as well. Metal was about the riffs. The guitar was a melodic instrument. Nu-metal used down-tuned guitar riffs and utilized the guitar as more of a rhythmic instrument. The vocals were the melody in nu-metal.

Now that I have explained that whole sordid affair, let's look into the metal that I was listening to at the time:

Fear Factory was a band that began to make waves at the time nu-metal was getting off the ground, although their metal roots were far more apparent. That was a band that I enjoyed quite a bit and was the second metal band of whom I bought a shirt.

My enjoyment of Iron Maiden soared. I really don't remember quite when that happened. All I know is that I owned two albums in high school and I suddenly discovered how great that band was and bought five or six more. I even reviewed the most recent album Brave New World for my History of Rock Music class for the review paper assignment. Yes that was a class, yes I got an A on the assignment, and yes I got an A in the class (I was known as the Curve Killer in that class as the professor would curve the tests up to give the student with the highest grade on the test a 100%, the problem was, I almost never missed any questions on the tests).

I bought Dissection's Storm of the Light's Bane through a bookstore. I had never heard anything like it. It was dark, cold, and hostile, but I wanted to hear more bands like it. Unfortunately, it took quite a bit of searching to find anything.

It was in college that I discovered Opeth and Dark Tranquillity, going to Homer's one early evening on Halloween. That directly lead me to find albums by groups like Emperor, Moonspell, In Flames, Meshuggah, and more.

Slayer became one of my favorite bands when I received two of their albums as Christmas presents. I had owned one album previously, which I also bought while in late high school/early college. From that Christmas, I was obsessed with the band though. They still rank as one of my favorite thrash metal bands.

I also still listened to a lot of the bands I had been listening to previously: Metallica, Megadeth (even though both bands were putting out disappointing albums), Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and more. The next leap would not occur until law school.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 36: Besatt: Hail Lucifer

Very subtle. Besatt is a black metal band from Poland, which is a surprising hotbed for extreme metal. The band takes influences from second wave Norwegian black metal and first wave black metal bands such as Celtic Frost and Bathory. The band's sound is an unholy combination of its influences.

Besatt's riffs are delivered in a buzzing, tremolo style, befitting the genre. There are often only one or two riffs per song. Again, fairly typical for the cult style of the music. The drums are almost solely blast beats buried underneath the buzzsaw guitar sounds. The bass cannot be heard at all. The production is extremely lo-fi.

The vocals on the album are delivered in a typical black metal shriek. The lyrics are about Satanism, the occult, and Anti-Christianity.

As for the songs themselves, "War" is probably the best track. It features samples of medieval warfare throughout the entire song while the music is playing. It gives the overall effect of absolute, massive chaos. Hearing people screaming and sword clashes throughout the music somehow fits the style. It really must be heard.

All of this basically means that this album is representative of its style. It could also mean that the album is very cliche. It all depends on the listener and their enjoyment of this particular style of black metal. I happen to enjoy the style, and this is an underrated, unknown gem.

Metal Pets Pt. 4: Hannah

Hannah is our border collie. As a typical border collie, she is extremely intelligent and diligent. She is the most gifted of the dogs when it comes to tricks. My particular favorites involve her playing frisbee. When we have gone to my parents' house, she always goes in search of the frisbees and brings them to us to throw for her. She is very good at catching and returning them. She often drops the frisbee a couple of feet away, but if she is told to bring the frisbee closer, she will do so. She is the only dog I have seen able to do that. My other favorite thing about her is that she greets me with hugs. She stands on her hind legs and wraps her front legs around my waist.

Metal Pets Pt. 3: Annie

My fiancee decided I should split the dogs up into individual posts.

Next up is our absolutely beautiful German Shepherd Annie. Annie is a gorgeous sable color. She is also one of the sweetest dogs in the world. That is, as long as she knows who you are. I went to my fiancee's apartment shortly before we started dating. Annie was in a kennel and I walked into the room. Annie went ballistic, barking and growling, that is until she was let out of the kennel. She immediately ran behind the bed and hid. From that time forward, she has become a very friendly dog towards me. She absolutely loves the both of us.

Metal Pets Pt. 2: The Reaper

The Reaper has been a subject of a couple of prior posts. He is our little blue heeler puppy and next week, he will turn one year old. My fiancee and I joke around about him a lot, but we do love him, at least I think so. He is undoubtedly a handful and is often difficult to deal with. We have discovered a couple of unusual things about him though. One is that he is surprisingly calm in the car. And when I say surprisingly, I mean it. He is not calm ever, EVER, but he rides in the car extremely well. Secondly, he is extremely smart, freaky smart. He has learned to drink out of a glass without knocking it over. He learns tricks very quickly. He also figured out how to break out of his kennel. That was an interesting day, coming home during lunch to find that he had utterly demolished a phone book, leaving little pieces all over the floor.

One of these days, The Reaper will be a good dog. Let's just hope we can make it that long.

Next time up: The other three dogs: Sienna, Annie, and Hannah.

Metal Pets: The Cats

Last week, there was a blog on Invisible Oranges (http://invisibleoranges.com/2009/11/why-do-metalheads-tend-to-be-cat-people.html) about why metalheads tend to be cat people. Essentially, the arguments that writer put forth are that pet owners tend to prefer animals that are like them. Many metalheads are introverted, independent, and a little rebellious. This is far closer to describing cats than dogs, although he has never met The Reaper, my blue heeler puppy.

As for me, I have always been an animal person. I have had various animals all my life. In particular, I have had cats all my life. Currently, I have four.

Meet Bagheera, the spawn of Satan. Bagheera had a wild streak a mile long when he was younger. He once pulled a knife off of the counter and picked it up with his mouth. My dad walked out to check out the sound and saw the cat walking down the hallway toward the bedrooms with the knife in his mouth. He has also put three people in the emergency room and once chased my little brother up the stairs. Since I moved out of my parents home, I took Bagheera with me.

This is Sai. Sai is a little bit of a freak. He's a polydactyl cat, but he practically has an extra paw on each of his legs. The joke when we were getting him declawed was that we had better not be charged by the claw as he had 26 claws.

This is Daisy, my fiancee's cat. Apparently she has a mean streak to her as well. My fiancee said that at one point Daisy would growl and hiss at her just because she told her "no".

And, this is Twizzy, my fiancee's other cat who has adopted me. Twizzy is the friendliest cat in the world and is more doglike than any of the others. He is very dependent on people and constantly jumps in my lap when I go home.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 35: Blood of Kingu: De Occulta Philosophia

Blood of Kingu is an occult black metal band from the Ukraine of all places. Metal truly is a well-known form of music around the world, and that is further demonstrated here with a band from a somewhat isolated Easter European country. Metal is popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, it has not been able to reach a worldwide audience to this point.

The lead member of the band, Roman Saenko, is also involved in other Ukrainian metal projects including Drudkh and Hate Forest. He is a very prolific musician, releasing two to three albums per year through various projects.

Blood of Kingu essentially sounds like De Mysteriis Dom Satanas-era Mayhem. The band relies on dark atmospheric riffs and tremolo picking. The music is eerie and intimidating. It's creepy, just as Mayhem was before them.

Not helping matters is the vocals which are often delivered in an ominous chanting like the Benedictine monks if they were chanting about evil and Satan. Combine that with the already unnerving music, and you have one hell of a frightening album.

The only real problem with the album is the low production values. The vocals in particular get kind of lost in the mix. In addition, the album tends to get a little repetitive. Riffs are repeated over and over again ad nauseum in the individual songs, each song generally only containing one riff.

Blood of Kingu has potential. They just have not reached it yet.