Best of 2016

I should qualify this here.  Honestly, I have not heard that many new albums in 2016.  In fact, it is the fewest I have heard since well before I started this blog.  Because I checked out so few albums, all of the bands are safe bands for me.  I did not experiment with any groups I was not already familiar with and already enjoyed.  So this list is going to have some limitations.

ROTTING CHRIST: RITUALS

Rotting Christ has been declining for several years now.  And this is my least favorite of their albums so far.  Aealo, their 2010 album was their last really good one.  The biggest problem is that this album is more of a collection of ideas than actual songs.  The band seems more interested in playing soundtrack scores for movies like 300 than in crafting real songs.  The spoken word sections and samples used throughout the album certainly add to the soundtrack feel.  It is a credit to the band's ability that even this sounds interesting enough.  There are definitely some good moments throughout the release, but this album is largely a disappointment.  

SKELETONWITCH: THE APOTHIC GLOOM

Skeletonwitch is easily one of the best metal bands going right now.  And this release shows why.  Every song on it is perfect, with great vocals, face-melting intensity, and infectious riffs.  The only problem is that it is an EP, and I had no idea that it was not a full-length album.  It seems a little cruel to hold that against the release, but it is my blog and I can do what I want.  So, because this is just an EP, it falls pretty far down the list.  I am just looking forward to the next album.

DEFEATED SANITY: DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD/DHARMATA

This is a weird one.  The title gives away that this is basically a split album, but it is a split album by just one band.  Let me explain.  Defeated Sanity has always been a little bit strange, combining some of the most brutal slam death with some bizarre jazz-like sections.  So the band took both sides of its sound and split them up.  The first six songs are straightforward brutal death/slam.  The next five emphasize the more experimental oddball side of the band.  Still brutally intense, but with some absolutely off-kilter moments.  It is an intriguing idea, and Defeated Sanity succeed.

METALLICA: HARDWIRED...TO SELF-DESTRUCT

Probably the most anticipated metal album for a lot of people (though not for me, we'll get to mine).  For the most part, Metallica has put out one of their best albums in a very long time.  The songs are tighter and punchier than anything on Death Magnetic, and I actually liked that album.  There are definitely some terrific songs on this album.  It also helps that the songs don't linger for too long.  They are not nearly as long as some of the songs they have been putting out lately.  They are still mostly incapable of getting through a song in less than six minutes, but then, Metallica has always been like that.  This is absolutely one of their best albums in years, but it is just not as good as many of the other albums this year.

OMNIUM GATHERUM: GREY HEAVENS

Gothenburg-style melodeath has mostly disappeared into the ether over the years.  Many of the bands that popularized the form have changed their sound drastically.  But there are a few bands that still sound like the best that style had to offer and Finland's Omnium Gatherum are one of them.  I have only had this album for about a week, so it is still sinking in, but it is a good example of what made this style so interesting in the first place.  There is nothing much risky and ground-breaking here, it is just a solid piece of melodeath, similar to the best releases by In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and Soilwork.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: KING

The Italian symphonic death metallers keep getting better and better.  At first their symphonic elements were a little unwieldy, threatening to take over the sound and sounding a little clumsy.  But over the next few releases, they have been able to incorporate the orchestration more and more to the point that their sound is much more all-encompassing.  The symphonic sections are grandiose while the death metal sections are properly brutal.  And the two mix together very well.  This is a style that does not make much sense on paper, but Fleshgod Apocalypse pull it off nicely and have been doing so for a few years now.

INSOMNIUM: WINTER'S GATE

One of the most ambitious albums of the year comes from the Finnish melodeath band Insomnium, who have put out a number of terrific albums.  This entire album is just one 40 minute long song.  Other bands have done that in the past (Edge of Sanity's Crimson comes to mind), and it is of course an extremely challenging thing to do.  The story is based on a short story written by the band's bassist.  The more I listen to it, the more this one grows on me.  It is extremely difficult to write a 40 minute song that doesn't completely lose the listener, but this one does a good job of retaining interest throughout.  It is more of a collection of movements than one cohesive song, but it manages to to not drift into the background.

WORMED: KRIGHSU

It has only been three years since Wormed's last album, which is damn impressive since their previous album to that was ten years earlier.  The technical slam death band from Spain has outdone themselves yet again.  Each of their albums seems to be better than the last.  Their sci-fi lyrics fit in well with the unconventional song structures and constantly shifting progressions.  The drumming is particularly impressive throughout.  The only constant on the album is the overall uncompromising brutality.  This is not an easy listen for someone not familiar with the band, but after several sessions, it sinks in and doesn't let go.

DENNER/SHERMANN: MASTERS OF EVIL

The long-anticipated full-length release of the original guitarists from Mercyful Fate finally dropped this last year.  After a terrific four-song EP in 2015, the full-length features all new songs.  Michael Denner and Hank Shermann have been doing this for a long time and they know how to write some damn good riffs.  This album is very good from beginning to end.  The only real complaint that I have is that vocalist Sean Peck is not quite the powerful vocalist that would sound best with this blackened heavy metal style.  Someone more like Harry Conklin of Satan's Host would work better.  Other than that, this debut full-length is damn impressive.

ABBATH: ABBATH

The long-time Immortal member Abbath Doom Occulta (probably not his real name) has formed a solo album after years of playing just about every instrument the black metal legends.  All he does for Abbath is sing and play guitars, and of course write all of the music.  Abbath has always had more of a melodic sensibility to his riffing style, as opposed to the blazing fast brutality of previous Immortal guitarist Demonaz.  That sensibility shines through here as he writes his own music.  It is an infectious, powerful album with the kind of classic metal-infused black metal that Abbath has been hinting at throughout his career with Immortal and I.  His ideas are now fully-realized on this release.

GRAND MAGUS: SWORD SONGS

Grand Magus can do no wrong.  Criminally underrated, the traditional heavy metal band just keeps putting out classic albums that almost no one seems to hear.  And that is a shame.  Heavily influenced by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and so many of the titans of the genre, Grand Magus forges its own identity through songs about warfare and battle.  Their sound is masculine and powerful.  There is no room for cowardice.  This is pure fucking metal, plain and simple.  There is nothing soft here, no emotions shrouding things.  Pure.  Fucking.  Metal.

REVOCATION: GREAT IS OUR SIN

Revocation is currently one of my favorite bands.  It has been that way for quite some time now really.  The technical thrash/death metal band is about as close to late-era Death as bands can get, and honestly that was my favorite era of Death's output.  But they take things much farther with some unusual moments of their own.  Revocation continues to grow and continues to improve on their already unique sound.  Each album seems to get better and better.  Plus this album features one hell of a Slayer cover on it.  It takes a great band to do justice to a Slayer cover, and Revocation is a great band.

DESTROYER 666: WILDFIRE

It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Destroyer 666 will make my Top 5 every year that they release an album.  The only frustrating aspect is that they don't do it nearly often enough.  This is their first full-length album since 2009.  One of the biggest surprises on the album is the inclusion of a few clean-singing moments.  That is definitely out of left field for this group, known more for its extremely brutal brand of blackened thrash.  Featuring incendiary lead guitars, frenetic riffs, shrieking vocals, and some of the best songs the band has ever written, this is up there with the absolutely perfect Cold Steel...For an Iron Age among the band's best albums.  An easy choice to be this high on the list.

MEGADETH: DYSTOPIA

Yes, Megadeth's newest album is that much better than Metallica's newest album.  But that really should not be that surprising.  I have seen Megadeth live twice this last year and they continue to put on an incredible live show.  This is quite possibly Megadeth's best album since Countdown to Extinction, and that is really saying something because they put out a number of good, even great albums during that time.  But Mustaine's guitar riffs and solos and his sneering vocal style have not sounded this good in years.  After a couple of lackluster albums, Megadeth has come charging back into top form.  This is a fantastic comeback album and one of the legendary band's best albums in years.

TESTAMENT: BROTHERHOOD OF THE SNAKE

I mentioned previously that the new Metallica album was not my most anticipated album.  That honor belongs to this one.  Sure it has only been three years, but anytime a new Testament album is coming out, I have to get it.  Testament is one of my favorite bands of all time, if not my favorite.  And this album definitely does not disappoint.  This is probably my favorite release by the band since they re-formed after singer Chuck Billy's successful bout with cancer.  The band's brutal blend of thrash, death, and groove metal has not sounded this good since 1999's The Gathering.  This is far darker and more intense than anything the band has done in years and it blows away most of the other albums I have heard this year.  Except for one.

2016 ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

VEKTOR: TERMINAL REDUX

I have been a fan of Vektor ever since I first heard the band.  They are the perfect blend of The Sound of Perseverence-era Death and Nothingface-era Voivod.  And this is their best album yet, which is really saying something as each of their albums have been incredible.  This one blows them away.  An intense, epic sci-fi concept album, this release is progressive and punishing at the same time.  Vektor has always been about pushing the boundaries of metal and they are in top form on this release.  All of the musical risks they take, and there are many, pay off.  This is an absolutely incredible album all the way through.  The very first time I heard it, I knew it would end up being the best album of the year.  It is hard for me to imagine anything topping this one this year either.      

Queensryche and Armored Saint in Omaha: December 13

Two nights ago, the progressive metal band Queensryche took to the stage at The Waiting Room in Omaha.  Once again, on a Tuesday night.  Nebraska kind of sucks that way.  The concert also did not start until 9:00 p.m.  Which is crazy.  With us having to drive almost two hours to get there and back, it promised to be a very late night.  And this week was already pretty stressful.

I'll be honest, I did not have the highest of hopes for this concert.  There were three bands present and there were questions about all of them.  The first band was Midnight Eternal, a band with whom I was completely unfamiliar.  The Metal Archives lists them as a symphonic metal band and they have a female lead singer, so my first thought was "Nightwish clone".  I have only heard two albums from Armored Saint, one of which I love, and the other I really don't care for.  Most of my knowledge beyond that was that they appeared in Hellraiser 3 and singer John Bush spent some time with Anthrax.  I was most familiar with Queensryche but have not really heard much from them since 1994's Promised Land.  I was not even aware until a few days before that singer Geoff Tate was no longer with the band, which made me that much more wary.  So I did not have the highest of hopes, but it was a chance to see a band I really enjoyed at one point, and my wife wanted to see them, so we went.  And I am so glad that I did, because this was possibly the best concert I have seen all year.  And I have seen several.

Midnight Eternal was not terribly impressive.  Their music was decent enough but my initial impression upon looking into them was correct.  Their pixie-ish singer was talented enough but did not really match up with the music that well.  They were decent, but I don't see myself rushing out to get their album any time soon.

But where Midnight Eternal failed to impress, Armored Saint came out swinging.  They sounded amazing and it is hard to imagine that this is a band likely in their late 40's/early 50's.  John Bush's voice still has the same power it did when they released the Symbol of Salvation album.  They played two tracks off of that album, which is really a classic.  Unfortunately they did not play "Hanging Judge", my personal favorite from it.  They played songs from throughout their career.  I did recognize one track from the album I did not like that much, but it was admittedly the best song from it.  My wife really enjoyed Armored Saint as well.  I may just have to look into their earlier catalog.

After that, Queensryche came on, and they blew me away.  New singer Todd La Torre, formerly of Crimson Glory, sounds so much like Geoff Tate that I would likely not have been able to tell the difference if I just heard them.  The Waiting Room does not have the biggest stage, but Queensryche managed to cram two huge monitors in to show some visual displays during most of their songs, including a little animated feature prior to "Operation: Mindcrime".  As I mentioned, I am only really familiar with the band's material up until Promised Land.  Luckily the vast majority of the songs played were from that time period.  There were only three or four newer songs, all of which were surprisingly good.  But by far the best stuff was the earlier songs, like "Queen of the Reich", "Empire", "Damaged", and "Rage for Order".  I was a little disappointed that they did not play "I Don't Believe in Love", but that was a small disappointment.  The band was in top form throughout and La Torre sounded amazing.  They closed out the night with a blistering version of "Eyes of a Stranger".  I was definitely impressed.

My wife wants it to be known that they were not as good as Scorpions from earlier in the year, but honestly, as much as I enjoyed that show, I enjoyed this one more.

Megadeth in Council Bluffs: October 3, 2016

Last night my wife and I traveled to the Omaha area (Council Bluffs is just across the river in Iowa) for the third time in the last week and a half to catch a concert.  This time, Megadeth was headlining a show featuring four other bands.  This is the third time that I have seen Megadeth, but the first time that they have been the headlining act.  I saw them for the first time a few years ago when Rob Zombie was headlining and I saw them earlier this year at a festival in Texas.  I was excited to see what they would do as the headliner.  The four supporting bands last night were Amon Amarth, Suicidal Tendencies, Metal Church, and Butcher Babies.

In a rare occurrence for my wife and I, we were quite a bit early.  There were very few people in the seats and a handful in front of the stage when we arrived.  That gave us some time to wander around a little and find the merchandise table, where I finally got a Megadeth t-shirt.  At the festival earlier this year, they were completely sold out of Megadeth shirts in my size.  We then found our seats where we realized that Butcher Babies would be the first band to play, instead of Havok as we originally thought.  Apparently they had been kicked off the tour a couple of months ago due to a dispute with management and I did not realize this.  That kind of sucked because I was excited to see Havok, one of the better recent thrash metal bands.

So Butcher Babies took the stage, and I was already annoyed about Havok not being there.  And then Butcher Babies started playing, and my annoyance increased exponentially.  Butcher Babies is basically a novelty band.  They have achieved notoriety from having not one, but two, beautiful female singers (as my wife said, four boobs are better than two).  Early on the band's career, they took the stage topless in just pasties, but now dress like naughty schoolgirls, showing a lot of cleavage.  They both utilize extreme vocal styles, such as growling and screaming, and bounce around all over the stage.  Having two singers would make sense if they used two different vocal styles a la Scar Symmetry, but Butcher Babies do not do this.  The music was annoying too, Butcher Babies is basically Coal Chamber sonically.  So, things did not start off too well.  I will not be picking up any Butcher Babies albums, and my wife still thinks they are called Stabby Sisters.

Metal Church was next.  I am not completely familiar with their catalog, outside of their first two albums and one of their more recent ones.  The band had recently reunited with singer Mike Howe, who took over for David Wayne, the singer on the band's first two classic releases.  Unfortunately the band seemed to have the shortest set, playing just five songs, though one of the songs "Beyond the Black" was extended somewhat.  Four out of the five songs appeared on Metal Church's first three albums, so they stuck to the classic era.  The only other one appears on their newest album.  Metal Church sounded great, though Howe was a little worse for wear.  Kurt Vanderhoof's guitar work remains the band's biggest strength.

After another break, Suicidal Tendencies took the stage playing "You Can't Bring Me Down", which is my personal favorite ST track.  Despite the advanced age of some of the members (singer Mike Muir is 53), the band still moves across the stage like a bunch of damn maniacs.  Their set was energetic and filled with the kind of punk-infused thrash metal that made the band one of the forefathers of crossover.  Muir's frequent preachiness got a little old quickly, though that was the only downside.  I have been a fan of Suicidal Tendencies since early in my formative years in metal and the band played a number of songs that I was captivated by early on.  My wife, on the other hand, was not nearly as impressed.  The other big surprise was that Dave Lombardo, legendary drummer for Slayer and Testament, among other bands, was hitting the skins for Suicidal.

Despite having just seen Amon Amarth in concert a few months prior, I was pretty excited to see them again.  The stage set was different this time around, they had a boat in the middle of the stage instead of a viking helmet.  A number of the songs were the same as earlier in the year.  But they seemed to have a little more energy.  I have been a big fan of Amon Amarth's particular brand of viking-oriented melodic death metal since the first time I heard them, and last night was a reminder of why.

Finally, the headliners took to the stage.  Megadeth sounded terrific, although Dave may have been suffering from a little bit of a cold.  His voice was not quite right.  Megadeth played a wide assortment of songs from their entire history, as well as a few songs off of their newest album, which really is a very good release.  Megadeth opened things up with the classic "Hangar 18" and covered a few other songs from Rust in Peace as well, including the blistering "Tornado of Souls".  Along the way, they covered most of the bigger songs in the band's extensive catalog.  As expected, Mustaine and new lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro were the highlights of the night with their back and forth soloing.  They closed things out with the ball-busting "Holy Wars".

After three concerts in a week and a half, I am glad that it will be a little while before the next one.  Having to travel two hours to get there and getting home at 1 to 2 a.m. on weeknights can be a little tiring.  Nevertheless, I am already looking forward to the next one.  Most likely that will be in December when Queensryche comes to Omaha.  My wife and I will also be seeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra in November as well.

Trivium with Sabaton and Huntress in Omaha: September 29, 2016

For the second week in a row, I found myself driving down to Omaha on a Thursday night to catch a metal concert with my wife, who is getting more and more interested.  Things have come a long ways since she was falling asleep during the Opeth and Overkill concerts.  This concert was headlined by Trivium, a band that I loved when I was in law school.  I will say that I was more interested in seeing Huntress than Trivium, and I had not heard Sabaton before.  I have liked some of Trivium's stuff after The Crusade, but I did not check out their two most recent albums at all.  Huntress's album made it into my Top 5 of 2013, but again, I have not checked out their more recent output.

Huntress was the first to take the stage and they did sound excellent.  Jill Janus's voice was in top form for the most part, other than when she was doing screaching vocals.  It was the guitar work of Eli Santana that was the most impressive aspect of the band's show.  Huntress did play "I Want to Fuck You to Death", which was one of their best songs off of Starbound Beast.  I was not aware that Lemmy Kilmister helped write the song before last night.  Janus told the story of wanting to have the venerable Motorhead singer co-write a song with her and he presented the lyrics to this song.  Huntress plays classic-sounding pure metal and Janus's vocal range is awesome.  It was a great way to start off what would be a great night of metal.

I have apparently missed out on something with Sabaton.  They had a huge fanbase present at the show.  As I mentioned, I had not heard Sabaton before, as power metal has never been one of my particular favorite subgenres.  But they blew the roof off.  Emboldened by some terrific fan response, they were energetic and charismatic on stage and played some damn catchy songs.  Sabaton was definitely the highlight of the night, and it is not very often that a supporting band can really say that.  I will definitely be checking out some of the band's discography.  My wife was also very impressed with Sabaton, which is surprising, to say the least.

Finally, Trivium took the stage.  I am much more familiar with their catalog than the other two bands and recognized most of the songs they played.  And they played most of the songs that I expected.  Their setlist encompassed their entire output, even one song off of their very first album.  Trivium is usually at their best when they are avoiding the harsh vocals of their past, and thankfully they only played a couple of those songs.  The dueling guitar attack of Cory Beaulieu and Matt Heafy is definitely the band's strength and took center stage last night as well.  I was a little surprised that Trivium played "In Waves" as their encore, instead of the tailor-made for an encore "Anthem (We are the Fire)".

All in all, last night was a lot of fun for the both of us.  I was pleasantly surprised by Trivium's show, but Sabaton were definitely the highlight of the night.  

Blind Guardian and Grave Digger in Omaha: September 22, 2016

Last night, my wife and I attended the Blind Guardian concert in Omaha at the Waiting Room Lounge, a venue I have not previously been to.  Grave Digger was opening, so it was sure to be a fun night of German heavy metal.  The Waiting Room is a fairly small venue.  It is a bar that happens to have a stage area and a floor in front.  We found some seats at a table that had been moved to the back of the floor area.

Grave Digger was the first to take the stage and they played a blistering 45 minute set.  They are looking somewhat worse for wear, still dressing as they would have during the 1980's, but with graying and balding hair.  But they still sounded damn good.  I am not completely familiar with Grave Digger's catalogue, I only have one of their albums, but I did recognize one of the songs they played, which was my favorite off of the album I own, "Ballad of a Hangman".  Many of the other songs played had me convinced that I needed to check out more of their output.  Singer Chris Boltendahl was definitely charismatic and kept the crowd in it throughout the entire show.  All in all, it was a very impressive show for a band that has been around for more than three decades at this point.

Blind Guardian was up next, playing a track I had not heard before, though it would be the only one the entire show.  Afterwards, they played the enormously popular "Welcome to Dying", followed by the rollicking "Nightfall".  Blind Guardian has always had some rather unique lyrical themes for metal, and the next song "Fly" certainly qualified.  Only Blind Guardian can write a song about Peter Pan and make it sound metal as fuck.  After that, the band played the entirety of the album Imaginations from the Other Side, which was always my favorite of their albums.  They sounded just as good live as the album did, and that album is over 20 years old, which is incredible.  They closed the set after finishing up with the album, and then it was encore time and Blind Guardian delivered.  They started off with "Sacred Worlds", the best song off of their last album.  Later they performed the acoustic "Bard's Song-In the Forest" with the crowd singing along before closing the show out for real with "Mirror Mirror".  The band really did sound like they were 20 years younger, and singer Hansi Kursch still has the dynamic range that has become one of the key components of the band's sound.

This was my first time seeing a power metal band in concert.  Blind Guardian is of course one of the greatest power metal bands in history.  This was apparently their first concert in Nebraska, and the crowd was really involved.  Hopefully this will spread and more groups will make it over here.

Guns 'N Roses and Alice in Chains in Kansas City: 6/29/16

No, Guns 'N Roses does not really belong on this blog.  They are not a metal band after all, but they were heavily influential in helping to lead me to metal.  My older brother was a big fan of the band and had their first four albums.  In those days, the band was everywhere.  "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child O' Mine" were already massive hits and the band was striking it big with the hits from the two Use Your Illusion albums.  I have always enjoyed their music, though never quite enough to pick up any of the albums.

It was not my idea to go to this concert.  My wife has been slowly converting into a hard rock fan and has developed a particular fondness for attending concerts.  We have been to a number of concerts over the last year or so, many of which she wanted to attend.  I was okay with the idea of going since it was mostly a reunion for the band.  Slash, Dizzy Reed, and Duff McKagan re-joined the band with Axl Rose.  Richard Fortus had been with the band since 2002 and Frank Ferrer since 2006.  They also featured a second keyboard player Melissa Reese.  So, much of the band from the height of their popularity was back.  So that was enough to make me at least somewhat interested, though it was still my wife's idea to go to it.  Now, when it was announced that Alice in Chains would open for them, I was fully on board.

Well it turned out that we missed most of the Alice in Chains set.  Getting to Arrowhead Stadium in the first place proved to be a debacle.  Traffic was terrible and they were doing some inexplicable things with the entrances to the parking lot.  After that, we had to walk all the way around the stadium to get to the right gate, then wait in line for 20 minutes to get in.  Finally, we were on our way to our seats on the third level, only to find that we were bumped up to the third row of the floor seating area, right behind a kid that looked like a teen-aged Axl Rose, complete with long stringy hair and red bandanna.  Which was great, but meant we had to turn back around and head all the way down.  It just goes to show you should never pay full-price for the best seats.  This is the second time we have been moved up considerably.  By the time we finally got to our seats, Alice in Chains was playing "Rooster".  And then, they were done.  We heard bits and pieces of them playing "Down in a Hole" and "Would?", but that was it.  It was horribly disappointing.

A short time later, G'nR took the stage to "It's So Easy", which struck me as odd.  They have the perfect opening song in their arsenal in "Welcome to the Jungle".  Fuck, it even has "Welcome" in the title.  Why is that not the opener?  I was not sure what to expect from the band honestly.  I remember Axl showing up on some awards show several years back with Buckethead as his guitarist and being utterly unimpressed.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good the band actually sounded.  Axl's voice was obviously not as powerful as it had been when he was younger, but he did sound reasonably close.  He and Slash are a little pudgy these days and look kind of ridiculous wearing the same clothing they wore when they were in their 20's, but at least their sound is reasonably close.

Guns 'N Roses played most of their biggest hits and a lot of other fan favorites as well.  They also played at least one or two songs from the maligned Chinese Democracy album, which I could have done without personally.  In looking at their catalog later, the only song that sticks out in my mind that they did not play was "Patience", which is a little too soft and slow anyway.  After playing for two hours, they seemingly closed out the show with "Night Train" only to come back and play "Don't Cry" and close things out with "Paradise City".  It was a bit of a long concert, but it was a surprisingly good show from a rejuvenated band.

River City Rockfest: San Antonio, TX 5/29/16

I did something last weekend I swore I would never do again.  I went to an all-day, outdoor music festival in the summer.  And I did it in Texas.  Don't blame me.  Blame my wife.  She was the one that wanted to go to this festival.  She has recently become a big fan of hard rock and heavy metal from the 1980's and the Scorpions are one of her favorite bands.  I like the Scorpions as well, though not quite to her level.  So she got it in her mind that she wanted to see them in concert, but the Scorpions do not really tour much these days.  They were going to be co-headlining the River City Rockfest in San Antonio though and so an idea for a vacation was formed.  The bands at the festival were mostly more modern rock-oriented, with some over-the-hill nu metal bands, and some older metal bands as well.

After two days of driving, we arrived at San Antonio the night before the festival.  We decided to skip the first act and get some lunch before heading over.  We missed Pop Evil, a band I am not at all familiar with other than my sister-in-law's boyfriend wearing their t-shirt all the time.  We also missed Avatar and Red Sun Rising, two other bands with whom I am not familiar.  The first band we saw was DevilDriver.  I have a couple of their albums, but I did not hear any of the songs from those releases.  To be fair, with as many bands as played, most of the setlists were fairly short.  Most of the songs kind of blended together.  They were decent, but I am not as familiar with their music as I once was.  Dez sounded great, as expected though.

After DevilDriver, we did not really pay much attention to the bands for a little while, trying to track down t-shirts and water, since it was 90 degrees and humid.  We barely heard Texas Hippie Coalition or Hellyeah, though to be fair, I am not really a fan of either band.  I also saw Hellyeah last summer with Slayer and King Diamond.  The singer gave the exact same "metal saved my life" bullshit speech that he gave last year.  We did get a look at the pathetic-looking third stage which was barely large enough for an entire band to stand on and rarely had more than a handful of fans watching.  I had not heard of any of the third stage bands and did not particularly want to move around much due to the heat.  We brought lawn chairs and positioned them in an area that allowed us to see and hear the first two stages.  The bands were staggered so that there was not typically two bands playing at the same time for more than a couple of minutes.

The next band that my wife wanted to see was Sixx A.M., Nikki Sixx's band.  This was fairly typical modern hard rock with a bit of the hair band flair.  The songs were catchy enough.  I doubt I will ever really like them myself though.  On the second stage after Sixx A.M. came The Sword, who I have seen before opening for Metallica.  This is another band I have not really kept up with, though I did recognize a couple of songs.  Their particular brand of psychedelic doom metal did not really appeal to too many in the crowd.

After The Sword, we had to seek shelter from the heat for a little bit.  Besides, the next two bands were Bullet for My Valentine (who I hate), and Hatebreed (who I am mostly ambivalent towards).  There was a sideshow called Hellzaopoppin that was performing in a small indoor area with fans running.  The acts were not very exciting though, other than one man who was missing his entire lower torso.  It was amazing he was even still alive.  We hid out there for a little while until close to the time that the band I was most excited to see would be taking the stage: Megadeth.

This was my second time seeing Megadeth.  Dave Mustaine was not quite as animated onstage and a lot of his normal commentary was missing, but they still sounded good.  They played a number of classic Megadeth songs like "Hangar 18", "Peace Sells", and "Holy Wars", but they also played a number of songs from their newest album, which is a pretty good release.

Once Megadeth was done, we moved forward closer to the main stage as the Scorpions would be taking the stage after the second stage band was done.  Fine with me, as P.O.D. was never exactly one of my favorite bands, even when I did like nu-metal.  A huge crowd gathered around the stage.  Amazing that a band that has been around for nearly half a century could still gather that much of a crowd.  The Scorpions were amazing and were definitely the highlight of the day.  The fact that men in their late 60's still could play that well, in the sweltering heat of Texas, was truly mind-blowing.  They played a number of their biggest songs: "No One Like You", "Big City Nights", and "The Zoo".  They acted like they were closing their show after an hour, but it was pretty obvious they would be back to play "Rock You Like a Hurricane".  And as expected, they did return to play two more songs, starting out with "Still Loving You" and closing with their biggest hit, which we all expected.

After that, we decided to take off, missing the last two bands: Sevendust and Disturbed.  I have seen both bands when I was in college, and did not have a whole lot of desire to stick around.  It had been a long day and hot.  The last all-day music festival I attended resulted in me getting heat stroke.  I was not looking forward to that happening again.  Luckily, I stayed hydrated and survived.  My wife did too, obviously, or this would be a much different post.  I swore after that last one that I would never do this again.  But I did, and we traveled all the way to Texas in what could have been a very bad move to do so.

Amon Amarth, Entombed A.D., and Ex Mortus in Omaha: 05/09/2016

Monday was my birthday.  Luckily there happened to be a decent concert in the area so my wife had the wonderful luck to get to see a few death metal bands live at Sokol Auditorium.  Sokol is not my favorite venue since there is no seating and I generally don't like to stand for several hours on end.  But it tends to draw some decent bands.

Ex Mortus was the first band up and they ripped through a fast-paced, intense set filled with shredding guitar solos and leads and deep-throated growling vocals.  I have only heard one of this band's albums but their speed and impressive guitar work makes them a band to watch in the future.  The highlight of their set was the ripping version of "Moonlight Sonata" they played late in their time on stage.

Up next was Entombed A.D., obviously a reformation of the legendary Entombed, who were one of the leading bands in the Swedish death metal movement of the late 80's/early 90's.  Entombed's final album was the 2007 death 'n roll masterpiece Serpent Saints.  Three of the four members from that version of Entombed are currently with Entombed A.D.  The resurrected group played a number of songs from their newest album and also some classics from the Entombed era such as "Wolverine Blues", "Left Hand Path", and "Revel in Flesh".  Their classic tracks were the strongest from their set, but their other stuff was entertaining enough.  L-G Petrov looks a little rough these days, but he can still command attention from the stage.

Finally, Amon Amarth hit the stage.  True to their image, they looked like vikings and had a large viking helmet taking up much of the center of the stage.  The drum kit was stationed on top of the viking helmet.  At several moments during the show, a couple of people dressed to look like Vikings and carrying swords, helmets, shields, bows, and more took the stage.  I did not feel that was really necessary personally.  Amon Amarth delivered a strong set encompassing much of their catalog.  I have not yet heard their most recent album, but it appears to be fairly typical of Amon Amarth: mid-paced, crunching melodic death metal with deep, roaring vocals.  The only real problem with their set was that most of the songs were about the same tempo, making it a little difficult to stay interested in the show.  Some dynamics would have been welcome.  It was a very good show ultimately, but it could have been so much better.

My wife was less than impressed with it, which is not shocking.  Surprisingly she preferred Ex Mortus of the three bands.  She really hated Entombed A.D., which I found hilarious.  It was a damn good show, and a great birthday.

Ghost and Tribulation in Omaha: 4/20/16

On Wednesday, my wife and I left work a little early in order to travel to Omaha, Nebraska (about an hour and a half away) to see Ghost perform at Sokol Auditorium with Tribulation as their opening act.  Tribulation's most recent album was my Album of the Year and Ghost is coming off of a Grammy win, so I was fairly excited to see both bands.

I believe all of Tribulation's songs were off of their Children of the Night album, which really is a terrific album.  Their music was terrific, dynamic and powerful.  The band members were really into it as well, in particularly one of the two guitarists who was all over the stage, shrieking like a wild animal.  They played for about half an hour and included some of my favorite tracks from their latest album.  It was an impressive performance, though it annoyed my wife.

Ghost took the stage soon afterwards, after a long lead-up with some church choir vocal recording.  It was quite obvious that they have been building a large fan base as a large crowd gathered around the stage, many of whom were not in attendance during Tribulation's performance.  A number of people were also sporting makeup similar to Papa Emeritus.  Some were even wearing a mockup of priests' robes and collars.  One person had rubber goat horns strapped to his head.

The musicians of Ghost had their customary black robes and demon masks, concealing their identities.  Papa Emeritus emerged from the blackness shortly thereafter dressed in his customary evil pope robe and mitre.  He stayed in that costume for about the first half of the concert, but did eventually ditch the mitre and robe.  I don't know if that is normal for him, but it was hot in the auditorium.

Ghost played a good cross-section from all three of their major albums.  Of course "Cirice" was performed and drew a big applause from the crowd.  Ghost were terrific performers and Papa Emeritus was very charismatic and interesting to watch.  My wife enjoyed this concert quite a bit.  As did I.  I was somewhat skeptical at one point about seeing Ghost.  I have enjoyed their albums, though they have not been particular favorites of mine.  But they were so impressive live, that I have achieved a new appreciation for them.

The Grammys Still (Mostly) Suck

Well I was reasonably impressed that Ghost won the Grammy last for Best Metal Performance.  I have seen the video of their acceptance of the award and I would have liked some reaction shots from the crowd, as Ghost definitely makes an impression visually.  Their song was the only nomination that I really like all that well.  The other bands nominated were Lamb of  God, Slipknot, August Burns Red, and Sevendust, none of whom I give a fuck about.  Ghost is apparently also going on tour soon with a concert date near here, I may have to go check them out.

Black Sabbath in Omaha: January 20, 2016

Last night, as part of my Christmas present from my wife, I got to see Black Sabbath finally.  The band had announced their last tour, entitled obviously The End.  Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne all returned for the last go-around, but were accompanied by Tommy Clufetos on drums.  Black Sabbath kicked off the tour in Omaha, NE of all places, because, and I am quoting Ozzy here "why the fuck not?"

I was not sure there was going to be an opening band until someone took the stage.  That band was Rival Sons, a band I may have heard of at one point, but never really heard.  Rival Sons was sort of a 60's/70's blues rock band.  The singer was very impressive and they did have some damn catchy songs, but I was not really sure they belonged at this concert.  I would have liked to have seen Black Sabbath bring on a young metal band to showcase, rather than this type of retro rock, personally.  Nothing against the band as they were enjoyable enough.

A short while later, Black Sabbath took the stage and opened up with fittingly, "Black Sabbath".  It was pretty clear from the beginning that Ozzy was not having the best night vocally, but that did not stop him from being the consummate showman, keeping the crowd going and interacting with them frequently.  Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler on the other hand sounded terrific throughout.  Iommi proved why he is one of the greatest and most influential guitarists out there and Geezer's trademarked rumbling bass sound was impressive.

The set list was mostly culled from the band's first four albums, much more of a sendoff than a tour focusing on newer material.  In fact, only one song did not come from that era, "Dirty Women" and it was off of their seventh album Technical Ecstasy, which still featured the classic lineup.  Other than that, the band played a bevy of favorites including "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "N.I.B.", "War Pigs", "Fairies Wear Boots", "Children of the Grave", "Into the Void", "Tomorrow's Dream", and "Snowblind".  Of course "Iron Man" made an appearance and the band closed with "Paranoid", while purple confetti (the most metal of all party decorations) rained down from the rafters.  One of the highlights was "Wicked World" which featured an extended drum solo, and Clufetos is one hell of a drummer.

I was a little disappointed the band did not play any material off of Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath as that is one of my favorite albums by Black Sabbath.  As mentioned Ozzy sounded pretty bad throughout the concert, he was frequently out of tune and definitely did not have the ability to hit some of the higher notes.  He was fairly active on stage though, despite kind of shuffling around like an octogenarian.   

All in all, this was a damn good concert despite Ozzy's vocal limitations.  I am very glad I got to see them before they hung it up for good.

Top However Many Albums of 2016

This is going to be kind of an ambitious post from someone who has barely posted in the last year and a half.  Because of that, I feel like I need to cover all of the albums I have picked up over the last year.  So there will be some less than good albums covered, don't take this to be a top albums list so much as ranking all of the albums I have bought over the year.  This is going to be a long one.  Even though I have not been picking up nearly as many albums this last year, there is still a pretty hefty stack sitting on my desk.

So, without further ado, abandon all hope ye who enter:

R.I.P. Lemmy

I was never the biggest Motorhead fan, though I did enjoy everything I heard from them.  I just never bought too many of their albums.   That being said, their influence was undeniable.  Lemmy will be missed.

So, My Wife Dragged Me to Two Concerts This Year...

I assume this is all in retaliation for dragging her to see Slayer.  She got us tickets to see two concerts which do sort of fit in here.  She has been going through a little bit of an 80's rock obsession, and in particular the hair bands.  I don't really get it either.

The first one came on the same night as our return from Las Vegas and was Def Leppard, Foreigner, and Night Ranger.  Going into the concert, my familiarity with the latter two bands was somewhat limited.  My mom used to listen to Night Ranger a lot, so I knew a number of songs pretty well, only one of which they actually played.  I had heard of Foreigner before, but did not really know any songs by them, or so I thought.  You see, Foreigner is mostly well-known for songs that make you stop and think "Huh.  I had no idea that was Foreigner."  Songs like "Cold as Ice", "Double Vision", "Jukebox Hero", "Head Games", "Hot-Blooded", and "I Want to Know What Love Is".  Def Leppard arrived at around the same time as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and did have a metal-ish album early on.  But they don't play any songs from that album because there are not any big hits there.  They played all of the songs you would expect from Def Leppard.  All told, this was not a bad concert, but I certainly would not have picked it out.

As if that was not enough, we went to see Alice Cooper and Motley Crue a couple of weeks ago.  Now this one was a little more interesting.  Alice Cooper was a big influence on other shock rock acts over the years and Motley Crue has some undeniably metal songs.  Alice Cooper was first to hit the stage and he played all of the songs you would expect from him: "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "School's Out", "Feed My Frankenstein", "Billion Dollar Babies", and "Poison".  His stage show was still very impressive despite his age.  The typical stage antics were there as well, the fencing foil with dollar bills stuck on it, the snake, the guillotine, the straitjacket, and the Frankenstein's Monster.  Motley Crue took the stage and played all of their big hits as well.  Vince Neil completely flubbed the lyrics to "Dr. Feelgood", which is one of the songs I actually really like by the band.  They did play "Shout at the Devil" and "Looks that Kill", which are also much more metallic tracks.  Tommy Lee did have a revolving drum set that moved across the auditorium on a track, often "playing" upside down.  I am not convinced he was actually playing.

The major frustrating part about the Alice Cooper/Motley Crue concert was that there was apparently a bomb threat and security (which was understaffed) was patting down everyone that came through the door.  This meant a nearly hour-and-fifteen-minute wait to get in from the time that we arrived.  Alice Cooper started his concert late and we made it just a few moments before he took the stage.  There were still a ton of people behind us that must have missed out on a lot of his show.

Neither concert was bad.  I have a new respect for Foreigner, though I am not likely to pick up any albums any time soon.  I did enjoy the show by Alice Cooper and can definitely see where groups like White Zombie, Marilyn Manson, and Gwar got their ideas.  Motley Crue sounded pretty good despite fucking up "Dr. Feelgood".  I would not have chosen to go to either concert myself, but I had a good enough time.  My wife was happier than hell and that is all that matters.  Now, next month, I will be seeing Black Sabbath.  That is one I am excited about.   

I'm Back After a Long Hiatus

Sorry, I have been very busy with work.  I have a ton to catch up with.  Let's start with the concert I attended this summer: Slayer and King Diamond.  And Hellyeah too, but they suck.

I went to Council Bluffs, IA for the Rockstar Mayhem tour which only included the main stage bands, not a huge deal though I would not have minded seeing Jungle Rot.  Nevertheless, I was not going to pass up a chance to see King Diamond and Slayer for the first time.

I missed The Devil Wears Prada which is absolutely okay with me.  My wife and I both had to work the day of the concert and had to stop at Raising Cane's for some chicken fingers before heading to the concert.  I would not have minded missing Hellyeah either, but we managed to make it to their set.

Hellyeah was about what I expected.  The singer, previously from Mudvayne made one of those "metal saved my life" speeches which is kind of meh.  The music was pretty bland.  I have never been a big fan of Hellyeah.  I just think they are kind of boring personally.

King Diamond was next to the stage and they sounded amazing.  King's voice got stronger as their set rolled on and they played some great songs.  They did not play "Don't Break the Oath" to the dismay of one fan that kept screaming for them to play it.  I did enjoy the inclusion of some Mercyful Fate tracks.  The decorations were a nice touch to the stage and King made things very entertaining with his onstage antics.

I ran into Kelly from Full Metal Attorney and we spent some time catching up.  It was the first time I have actually seen him since law school.  We chatted about the bands and other concerts we have been to and laughed at my wife who was reading the first Game of Thrones book during the concert.

Slayer took the stage and played a blistering set hitting all of the typical Slayer tracks.  "Raining Blood", "Angel of Death", "South of Heaven", and "Dead Skin Mask" all were played.  I was a little disappointed about the lack of "Seasons in the Abyss" personally, but that is a bit of an oddity in the Slayer catalog.

All in all, it was a great time.  I don't get to too many concerts these days, but I had to make it for Slayer and King Diamond.

Blog Update

My plan is to get back to posting soon.  I am very sorry for bands that have sent me stuff that I have not responded to.  I will try to get to everything.

Decisions, Decisions

A couple of weeks back I missed an opportunity to see At The Gates, Pallbearer, and some other groups.  I was a little bummed by that, but it turns out there are three upcoming concerts that I would love to go see.  Unfortunately, I can't justify the expense in seeing all three so I had a decision to make.

Here are the choices:
1.  Judas Priest with Saxon.

2.  Volbeat with Anthrax and Crobot.

3.  Mayhem Fest featuring Slayer and King Diamond.

As much as I would love to see Judas Priest at some point (and I probably won't get another opportunity), I don't really care much for Saxon.  I saw Volbeat opening for Megadeth a few years back and don't care for Crobot, but Anthrax would have been interesting.  Ultimately though, Mayhem Fest was the way to go.  A lot of the other bands there are terrible, though I do enjoy Jungle Rot.  But I cannot pass up an opportunity to see both Slayer and King Diamond.  I may not have another chance to see either of them.  So I made my decision.  I will probably just show for the last two bands, have work and all that since the concert is a Tuesday and two hours from home.

Fuck the Grammys

Call it morbid curiosity.  I really do not give a fuck about the Grammys, but I find myself checking out who won the Best Metal Performance Grammy each year.  Usually I do not even see the nominees until that night, but I check it out anyway.  This year saw Tenacious D win the Grammy for Best Metal Performance for their version of Dio's classic "Last in Line".  That is fucking ridiculous.  A cover version of a song written 30 years ago by a joke band headed by actor Jack Black is not a very good representation of where metal is today.  I'm not even mad about it, the whole thing is just so ridiculous that it defies explanation.  I would prefer it if the award show would just drop the Metal Performance Grammy altogether.  They have no idea about the genre and don't seem to care.  What's the point?

Odota: Fever Marshal (2014)

Some time ago I reviewed an album by a band called Talbot.  That was a pretty interesting sludge/doom album that I really enjoyed.  I was recently contacted by the former drummer/vocalist from the Estonian band to take a look at his new project under the name Odota.  Having enjoyed Talbot, I was eager to see what Odota had to offer.

Odota is actually quite dissimilar from Talbot, which is definitely not a problem.  It was just a little surprising.  Where Talbot played murky doom metal, Odota plays sludge-laden black metal with a bit of a psychedelic tinge to it.  It is fairly similar to the terrific Silencing Machine by Nachtmystium.  The experimental elements add a lot of depth and intrigue to the otherwise straightforward black metal riffing style.  The vocals are more aggressive black metal-style rasping which fits well with the music and distinguishes it from being too much like Nachtmystium.

There are some exclusively experimental tracks here, most notably "Staked Plains", that kind of drag things down a little bit.  I don't really understand the desire to throw in mostly atonal, noise tracks onto albums, but then it is not my decision.

I'm not really sure if there is some sort of lyrical theme here or not.  I do not have any access to any lyrics sheets, but the song titles seem to lead to the conclusion that this may be a Western-themed albums.  We have words like "marshal", "horse thief", "plains", "eagle", and "rattlesnake" in each of the titles.  Kind of odd choices really.  I suspect this is the first ever Western-themed psychedelic black metal album in history.

I thought this was a pretty decent release.  It is hard not to compare it to Jarmo Nuutre's other band, and I think it falls a bit short of Talbot.  But it is a very good effort and it will be interesting to see what this band can do in the future.

Vanagloria: La Dinamica del Miedo (2014)

Power metalcore?  Powercore?  What would you call this?  Whatever it is, it is definitely a unique take on a couple of metal genres.  Vanagloria is a Spanish metal band that actually got their start playing plain old power metal, well there is not really anything plain about power metal.  Over time though, the band began incorporating more modern, mainstream metal influences to the point that we get to this.  The promotional materials describe it as black/death/thrash, but I am not sure that really accurately reflects this, maybe power/thrash, but there are some definite breakdowns at times.

Well enough about the genre, what do we have here?  The riffing style is at times edgy and aggressive, and at others incredibly melodic.  The band makes liberal use of keyboards and techno/industrial elements at times, particularly in the intro track.

The vocals are definitely on the extreme end for this style of metal, but not all power metal features particularly melodic vocal styles.  Just look at Helstar and the weird Finnish groups like Children of Bodom and their ilk.  On occasion, the vocals are delivered with a more extreme backing track, or the vocalist actually uses more extreme vocal styles at times.  There was also a female guest vocalist on one track which brought quite a bit of dynamics to the track.  The vocals are all in Spanish, which is not surprising.  My Spanish is a tad rusty so I have a little bit of trouble figuring out what they are singing about.

Despite the disparate styles of metal combined by this band, the songs were surprisingly cohesive.  There are definitely some unusual things going on at times, but the band is talented enough to keep things from turning into a mess.  In fact, the album is quite interesting.  It is likely one I will need to hear a few times to really get a good idea of what is going on.  But it was definitely good enough to bear repeated listens.

Top 14 of 2014

It has been a pretty bad year for me on this blog.  I have been a little burned out as I have been very busy with work.  It has been hard to find time to listen to new music as much as I would like.  I have been really bad with bands contacting me.  I still heard a lot of great new music though.  And I managed to put together a Best Of list.  Here we go:

14.  AT THE GATES: AT WAR WITH REALITY

The reunion of the year finds the pioneering melodeath band releasing their first new album since the landmark Slaughter of the Soul.  At The Gates manages to recapture the spirit of that album without remaking it.  Sure a lot of bands copied it over the years, but At The Gates still manages to sound fresh, even after all these years.

13.  SEPTICFLESH: TITAN
Other bands have come around that do what Septicflesh does better than them.  Rotting Christ does Greek mythology better and Fleshgod Apocalypse does symphonic tinged extreme metal better.  Nevertheless Septicflesh keeps going and they still do their thing damn well, as evidenced by this terrific album.

12.  OVERKILL: WHITE DEVIL ARMORY
If I had to name a favorite thrash metal band, I would honestly have to consider Overkill at this point.  Mostly due to the fact that the band has never really softened their sound.  Sure they were groove metal for a little while, but they were still good.  And they continue to put out amazing, kickass thrash metal albums.

11.  GOATWHORE: CONSTRICTING RAGE OF THE MERCILESS
Slightly disappointing after the terrific Carving Out the Eyes of God and Blood for the Master, this is nevertheless still a very strong album.  Goatwhore continues to put out uncompromisingly brutal metal.  They get more extreme with each release.

10.  EX MORTUS: SLAVES TO THE SWORD
Ex Mortus bring a lot of symphonic and classical influences to their style of riffing.  The solos in particular display these influences.  The band even goes so far as to cover "Moonlight Sonata".  Seriously.  The rest of the album is unapologetically cheesy and metal as fuck.  It's campy and fun, and we need that once in awhile.

9.  INSOMNIUM: SHADOWS OF THE DYING SUN
Finland's Insomnium are easily one of the best melodeath bands still going.  Their somber and melodic style comes as a welcome change from some of the other groups in the genre.  This is yet another melancholic masterpiece from the band that just keeps getting better.

8.  LORD MANTIS: DEATH MASK
Easily one of the most controversial albums of the year, particularly due to the album's insane cover art, Lord Mantis's third release is also one of the year's best.  Their take on filthy rotten sludge metal puts a lot of the mainstream sludge acts to shame.  Those who refused to check it out due to the cover are missing out.

7.  GRAND MAGUS: TRIUMPH AND POWER
Grand Magus makes this list every year they release something.  That should tell something about the quality of this band.  They just continue to put out terrific album after terrific album.  They are quite simply on of the best traditional metal bands going today.

6.  CORPSESSED: ABYSMAL THRESHOLDS
First of all, awesome name.  Secondly, awesome death metal album.  Corpsessed reminds me most of groups like Angelcorpse and Teitanblood, filthy, disgusting death metal that blows everything else out of the water.  This is just the band's first full-length album, which is shocking because they sound like seasoned veterans.

5.  VADER: TIBI ET IGNI
Vader is simultaneously one of the most consistent and most underrated metal bands in the world.  They just never seem to get the respect and notice that they deserve.  Every single album by Vader is terrific and the fact that the band has been doing it since the mid 1980's is astounding.  This is once more a very strong album in typical Vader take-no-prisoners style.

4.  TRIPTYKON: MELANA CHASMATA
Triptykon was the release I probably looked most forward to this year.  After all, their first album was my Album of the Year and it did not look at all like this would be a disappointing sophomore album.  While I do thoroughly enjoy this album, some of the songs seemed to be a little too similar at times and the band was often comfortable plodding along.  Certainly not the case with the opening crushing track.  All in all, a great album, but one that pales in comparison to the first one.

3.  MASTODON: ONCE MORE 'ROUND THE SUN
I have always liked Mastodon, but none of their releases have been so great that I listened to them frequently over and over again.  Until this one.  This album features some of the catchiest songs I have heard all year.  Mastodon seems much more focused on crafting songs rather than the meandering psychedelia the band once used frequently and they are that much better for it.

2.  BEHEMOTH: THE SATANIST
One of the most hyped releases of the year managed to exceed even my expectations.  Behemoth has always been a favorite band of mine, but some of their releases have lacked dynamics, focusing instead on simply blasting away.  This release is incredibly dynamic and therefore blows away everything the band previously released.

1.  INNSMOUTH: CONSUMED BY ELDER SIGN
The debut album by this Australian death metal act is incredible.  Dark and mysterious with an obvious Lovecraftian influence, the album features twisted riffs and psychotic, gibbering vocals.  It is one of those death metal albums that simply grabs you on the first listen and will not let go.  I have mentioned that certain death metal albums, particularly lesser-known ones, sometimes have an intense quality that makes it difficult to turn them off.  This one has that same quality.

EP Briefs (I Need to Catch Up)

I am trying to clear out some emails here and figured since these were all shorter releases that a quick paragraph would suffice.  I found myself enjoying all three releases for different reasons, so don't take the brevity of the reviews as an indictment against them.

CREINIUM: PROJECT UTOPIA (2014)

Creinium is a technical extreme metal band from Finland.  It definitely starts out kind of weird, with some ambient synth work and some imposing narration but then kicks it into gear on the next track.  Creinium continues to use a lot of keyboards, giving the band kind of a death metal Dimmu Borgir sound, or a more technical Luna Ad Noctum.  The band combines a number of different metal genres into their sound, making a precise description somewhat difficult.  The keyboards are really the star here as they distinguish the group from others.  Without them, there would not be a whole lot to talk about.

PINEAL: SMILING CULT (2014)

This is the second post-metal band I have reviewed in the last week.  I suppose "post-metal" would be far too limiting a term, as Pineal clearly has a lot of sludgy riffs with some Alice In Chains-esque vocals as well.  The band is more of a cross between Crowbar, Alice In Chains, Neurosis, and some Tool for good measure.  The riffs are ridiculously heavy and of course slower-paced, and the haunting vocals add a sense of doom and gloom that carries forward through the entire release.  It is an overall dark and depressing release that sounds great on a cold, dreary night like tonight.

CRUSHING AXES: UNDEAD WARRIOR (2014)

Crushing Axes is a one-man death metal project from Brazil, although apparently a session drummer and bassist were used.  The vocals are the major standout.  Sounding something like Nespithe-era Demilich, they consist of deep, frog-like croaking, though not as extreme as the aforementioned Demilich.  The music is fairly simple mid-tempo groove-laden death metal with some interesting lead guitar work on the melodies.  The release in theme and sound does a pretty decent job of capturing the general feel of the catchier work by Amon Amarth.  I would like to see a Brazilian band like this cover some of Brazil's own badass mythology though.

In Memory of Dimebag

This is my all-time favorite Pantera song, and probably Top 10 songs of all-time:


I don't care for much later Pantera, but Cowboys from Hell is awesome.

Ovenizer: Exhibition of Thoughts (2014)

I have never really gotten into post-metal.  Groups like Tombs and Isis were kind of lost on me.  Maybe I just never really heard the right tracks to check them out more.  I did not want to pick something up without really checking it out particularly with that style of music and I guess a lot of that had to do with the fact that I am much more into the ultra-aggressive forms of metal.  The ethereal, dreamlike structures of post-metal don't speak to me in the same way.

So it was with a little bit of trepidation that I dove into this three-song EP from Finnish post-metal/doom trio Ovenizer.  I figured a three-track release would be easy enough to digest though without growing too painful.  I am actually kind of glad I took the chance.  Maybe I was just a melancholy mood when listening to it, but it really did capture my attention and I found myself enjoying it immensely.

It is true that the three song format was easy to digest, but I found myself wanting more.  The songs each move freely with a significant amount of melody and swirling guitar riffs creating a trance-inducing atmosphere.  The vocals are typically clean, though occasionally a death growl emerges.  The vocals though are just complementary to the music.  The band could have just as easily produced the same atmosphere without any vocals at all.

The songs are typically slow and depressive.  The band strikes a balance between the earlier works of groups like My Dying Bride and Katatonia with the heavier works by Isis.  It is a very dark and doom-laden sound that also presents some extremely strong emotions, in particular during second track "Hypnote", the strongest track on the album.

I really enjoyed this release, but the best thing that I can say about it is that it has opened up my eyes to a genre I did not previously get into.

Hellcrawler/Wölfe: The End of Humanity (2014)

Do other forms of music even do splits?  It seems like the only splits I ever hear about are in extreme metal and related genres.  Seriously, are there splits in rap music?  Pop music?  

Anyway, this is a split between two obviously extreme metal bands.  You don't get a name like Hellcrawler in the pop music realm.  Each band contributed about ten minutes worth of music, which does a surprisingly good job of introducing the band to someone like myself who is not familiar with either group.

Hellcrawler has taken the Entombed death 'n roll sound and run with it.  The Slovenien group (that's right, Slovenian) has one full length album under their belt before this split.  Their side of the split is three tracks of dirty, filthy death metal with some surprisingly catchy hooks.  Third track "Green Machine" is a cover of one of the greatest Kyuss songs.  They do a decent job putting their own spin on it.  

Wölfe is definitely extreme.  An odd mix of grindcore and blackened thrash.  The band apparently does not actually name their songs, titling them with Roman numerals only.  The production values leave a little to be desired as the sound is a little too high-pitched and grating.  The drums have that certain St. Anger quality.  The vocals are pretty terrible as well.  I will likely not be revisiting Wölfe.

So, two sides, one really good and the other really bad.  I will definitely be trying to track down some more Hellcrawler.

Cyrax: Reflections (2013)

If I had to pick just one word to describe the sound of Cyrax, it would be eclectic.  I think that is the most accurate descriptor for a band that combines such a wide and varied mix of music into their sound.  The Italian five-piece can go from blues rock to metal at the drop of a hat.  None of which would be possible if the musicians were not all as incredibly talented as they are.

The album starts off with the track "Doom Against True Hell", which features a hefty amount of synthesizer programming to open things up before diving into a much more standard power-chord-driven riff, which is easily the heaviest riff on the release.  That sound is frequently spliced with more programming, some choral vocal lines, and singer Marco Cantoni's howling vocals.  This sets the stage for most of the rest of the songs, which manage to throw a number of other influences in as the album progresses.

Along the way, there are some strange moments which may be considered missteps depending on the listener.  For instance, "My Kingdom for a Horse" features some vocal segments that can best be described as akin to rapping.  Which is strange, to say the least.  Other sections feature more of the choral style, which is typically done quite well.  Much of the album relies on keyboards to drive the melody, which can be interesting when done well, but some of the more experimental sections can be a little strange.  And of course the track "Feel the Essence of Blues" is much more of a blues song than metal, which is a bit of an unusual and rather courageous addition.

The members of Cyrax are clearly talented musicians, which is the only reason that they are able to pull this album off.  It is a very strange and varied release that sees influences from a variety of non-metal genres, as well as metal.  Is it for everyone?  Probably not.  But it is certainly an entertaining and interesting release.

Neoplasmah: Auguring the Dusk of a New Era (2014)

I'll be honest.  The cover art for this one threw me for a loop.  Based on the artwork of a man floating above a pool of water with multiple planets/moons in the background around him, I was thinking the music was going to be some kind of spacey progressive metal akin to Andromeda, Bal-Sagoth, and the like, or at the very least some overly technical metal wankery.  I was not expecting what turned out to be a death metal album.

To be fair, this is much more of a progressive death metal album in the vein of Mithras and Nocturnus.  The bass in particular reminds me very strongly of Nocturnus's classic The Key.  The science fiction theme, complicated song structures, otherworldly bass sound, and deep vocals combine into a cohesive sound that really does give off the feel of a sci-fi concept album. 

Each of the musicians is extremely gifted at their instruments.  The bass is definitely the star of the album but the drumming and lead guitars are also top-notch.  The drumming, while not as complicated as some progressive metal drummers (i.e. no polyrhythms and multiple time signatures) drives the music with its precision and intensity.  The lead guitar work provides a lot of the melody of the songs and can go from almost neoclassical shredding to dissonant chord progressions fairly quickly. 

The vocals of singer Sofia Silva are delivered in a raspy tone that calls to mind Sabina Classen of Holy Moses, who is one of my personal favorite female extreme metal vocalists, so I am on board.  There is not frequently a lot of dynamics to the vocals, but they nonetheless fit well with the urgency of the music.  On occasion the band utilizes clean backing vocals which provide a nice dichotomy to the otherwise more monotone vocal style.

One thing I did really enjoy with this release is that, unlike a lot of progressive metal bands, Neoplasmah craft complete songs, rather than a collection of musical segments.  Songwriting appears to be just as important to this band as showing off their technical skills.  The band takes things one step further by being able to blend all of the songs into a complete album rather than just a collection of separate and distinct songs.

This is an album that sounds better and better with repeated listens.  There is a lot going on musically that can be missed and revealed in hearing it again and again. 

Villainy: The View from My Ivory Tower (2014)

Villainy has not been around for very long.  They released their first full-length album in 2013 and then a collection of their demos in 2014.  This is a follow-up two-song EP from the power trio.  I was not previously aware of Villainy, so this is my first experience with the band.

The music is an unholy combination of doom, black, and crust.  The opening track crawls out of the gate with the pace of a snail slinking to its demise.  The pace increases to a more of a deathly gallop before returning to the dirge.  The song definitely has a Sabbathian feel to it, despite the more modern influences.

The second track is a much more fast-paced song that sounds like Motorhead playing Venom.  As a big fan of groups like Wastelander and Thargos, this song really catches my interest.  If this is what the rest of Villainy's material sounds like, I am all in. 

Unfortunately this is just a two-song EP, but it definitely piqued my curiosity to check out more by Villainy.

Sinister: The Unborn Dead (2014)

The Dutch death metal mavens Sinister have quietly put together quite the impressive and long-lasting career despite never coming close to mainstream death metal recognition.  Most of the reason for this is geographical, but it is quite unfortunate all the same. 

This release is a quick, two-song 7" EP.  Both songs are covers with the first being a cover of Grotesque's "Ripped from the Cross", and a second, much more outside-the-box cover of Chicago-based doom metal band Novembers Doom.  Both tracks are presented with the grinding bottom-heavy riffs and pounding drums that Sinister has perfected over their long career.  Vocalist/drummer (?) Aad Kloosterwaard has one of the most extreme voices in death metal, sounding much more like a deep, guttural croak.

There is not much to say about the Grotesque cover.  It is definitely within Sinister's wheelhouse, fast-paced, frenetic death metal.  It is unsurprising that Sinister is able to handle this song capably.  The much more shocking cover is the Novembers Doom cover.  Sinister infuses some clean vocals to capture the mournful tone of the original track.  But the band sounds a little clumsy trying to slow things down and has a hard time conveying the tragedy and loss that Novembers Doom is so well-suited to capture.  Sinister should probably stick to uncompromising, lethal death metal than trying their hand at doom.

So, two tracks, one pretty good, and the other not as well-executed, but certainly interesting.  It is only a two-track EP so it is only recommended for hardcore fans.

You're Probably Wondering Where the Hell I Have Been

I promise to get back soon.  Things might actually slow down here sometime soon.  I just won a Motion to Suppress last week and I have a jury trial in a couple of weeks.  I suspect after the jury trial I will be back.

See you soon.

Kult of Taurus: Divination Labyrinths (2014)

Without a doubt, one of my favorite black metal scenes of all time is the Hellenic scene. Groups like Rotting Christ, Varathron, Ravencult, Thou Art Lord, and others bring a unique melodicism to an otherwise bleak and miserable sound. The bands have a unique style all to themselves and it is a sound that other regional scenes simply do not possess. Kult of Taurus is another of these bands and has been around since just 2007.

The album begins in fairly typical fashion with a largely ambient track. There is some voiceover discussing the nature of mankind that probably comes from some horror movie or other, which lends a nice creepy vibe to kick things off. From there, we are off to the races with the kind of dark riffing this breed of black metal is known for. Musically, Kult of Taurus is probably most similar to Melechesh. There is a strong Middle-Eastern element to the band's sound, though Kult of Taurus do not use the constantly repetitive riff structure that Melechesh uses to great effect. The structure of the songs is very progressive as well, leading to room for experimentation.

The vocals should be discussed. These are not typical black metal vocals in that they are not the typical raspy shriek. Rather, they are delivered in a harsh, but mostly clean manner that is clear and easy to understand. That is not to say that the vocalist is crooning at all. It is still an aggressive and threatening style, it is just not the more typical black metal style.

This is a highly enjoyable release that fits in well with the Hellenic black metal scene. That is one of my favorite styles of black metal and this album is a perfect example of why.