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My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 51: Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy does not really fit in with either of the major Swedish death metal scenes. Too melodic to fit in with the likes of Dismember, Entombed, and Grave, but too brutal and heavy to fit in with Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and At The Gates. That is just fine though. Hypocrisy has always done their own thing. Lead by the sinister vocal talents and amazing songwriting talents of "Evil" Pete Tagtren, Hypocrisy has put out a number of classic albums. Featuring lyrics much more influenced by science fiction themes has also helped to separate them from their countrymen. Hypocrisy is a very original and influential band and deserve their place on this list.

FAVORITE ALBUM: HYPOCRISY

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 50: Helloween

Back when power metal was, well, powerful, Helloween formed. They are largely
considered a pioneering band in the style and with good reason. The German band was a direct influence on Blind Guardian, among others. And thus the European power metal style was formed. Helloween continued to put out great albums, although they have certainly released a few lackluster ones as well. Their output today though is just as good as it has ever been.

FAVORITE ALBUM: WALLS OF JERICHO

Initial Impressions: Hate Eternal: Phoenix Amongst the Ashes

I must have been asleep the day it was decided that Hate Eternal would be the critical darlings of the death metal world. Metalsucks and Decibel both have major hard-ons for the band. I can't say that I really agree with the fellating these band get, personally. Don't get me wrong, I think they're decent, but they have never really been a favorite of mine. To me, they have mostly been a standard, run of the mill death metal band.

The biggest problem I have always had with Hate Eternal has been the production. The drumming is always much too high in the mix, to the point that it really drowns out everything else going on. Which would be okay if the drums were doing something truly interesting, but they aren't, it's just blasting. It would still be okay if the music wasn't doing anything interesting. Honestly that's hard to tell, because it can't be heard over the blasting.

So, I was curious to hear this album, based on my relative disdain for the band in the past, King of All Kings notwithstanding. I will say the band has grown. Musically, there is some interesting stuff going on for the most part. Of course the blasting drums are still very much present which does detract from the music. Of course at other times it can be pretty awful, such as the opening riff to "The Art of Redemption" which would not sound out of place on a Dillinger Escape Plan song. By the way, I hate The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Hate Eternal is definitely an intense band. And very few other bands can match their brutality and energy. Unfortunately, this all becomes a bit overwhelming when not even the sparse melodies can ever really be heard. I still don't get the love this band receives, but this album is decent enough. It just won't make my Top 10.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 49: Grave

As a big fan of Swedish death, it should be no surprise that the three big bands from the scene made it onto this list. Grave is a heavier band than their countrymen Entombed and Dismember. Their focus is much more on brutality. They do have the buzzsaw riffing style that their brethren do, but it is much heavier and distorted. Grave also features a more extreme death metal vocal style. Grave did go through a bit of a slump in the late 1990's but returned with a vengeance just a few years later and are now as heavy as they have ever been. Grave was also the first Swedish death metal band I was exposed to from their appearance on the Celtic Frost tribute album. They also somehow appeared on the local rock radio station.

FAVORITE ALBUM: INTO THE GRAVE

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 48: Grand Magus

There has been a trend in recent years for bands to play music more reminiscent of 1980's era heavy metal. One of the best such bands is Sweden's Grand Magus. Playing a style that calls to mind a combination of Cirith Ungol and Judas Priest, the band has a knack for incredibly catchy songs and infectious riffs. Of course the other great aspect of the band is vocalist JB whose voice is particularly powerful and fits the music very well.

FAVORITE ALBUM: IRON WILL

Initial Impressions: Primordial: Redemption at the Puritan's Hand

I have been listening to Primordial for a few years now, ever since discovering their 2007 album. I identify with Irish music, being Irish myself. It has always had a bit of a heart-wrenching quality to it. Primordial takes this quality and applies it to their own brand of extreme metal.

Although it has been a long time since Primordial's music could really be classified as black metal, they do still have their moments when their aggression comes through, most notably on "God's Old Snake". The riffing on that song is as close to black metal as the band has gotten in several albums. A.A. Nemtheanga even resurrects his raspy black metal voice on this track.

Most of the rest of the album is similar to the band's most recent output. Melodic, yet crushing and emotional. Primordial has always been a band of contradictions. They can put out an absolutely menacing track and then immediately switch gears to reflective and somber in the blink of an eye. The track immediately after "God's Old Snake" is a particularly noteworthy example of this. "The Mouth of Judas" is a long track, but the emotion keeps it listenable. Nemtheanga has never really sounded as vulnerable as on the verses of this song.

Primordial is Nemtheanga's band. Without him, they would likely be quickly forgotten. His distinctive vocal style fits in so well with the music that it practically becomes the music. Oftentimes I find myself missing what is going on musically because Nemtheanga's voice is so impressive and trance-inducing. That is actually kind of a shame because the band has really outdone themselves on this one. They sound better than they ever have before, and that is saying something.

This is a definite contender for the Top 10 at the end of the year. Primordial keeps getting better. I thought it would be tough to top To the Nameless Dead, but this certainly comes close.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 47: Gospel of the Horns

Longtime readers know that I am a huge fan of the Australian black/thrash/death scene colloquially known as "war metal". As such, a bunch of these bands have made it into this list. Gospel of the Horns is one such band. Gospel sounds a bit like a thrashier Destroyer 666, which makes sense because one of their members was from that group. Of course this means I am definitely on board. Their music would be a fitting soundtrack to a particularly brutal battle. Gospel has only released two full-length albums, but after splitting up for awhile, the group is back and reportedly going to release another one. I, for one, cannot wait.

FAVORITE ALBUM: REALM OF THE DAMNED

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 46: God Dethroned

The Dutch band is expected to call it quits at the end of this year. What a wild ride it's been though. I first took notice of the band with their 2009 album, which was an absolutely epic look at a particularly bloody World War I battle. Their prior blackened death metal material sounded a bit more like Behemoth's recent work, but Passiondale and Under the Sign of the Iron Cross are more of a mix of the aforementioned blackened death and Swedish death. That style is probably more appealing to me personally.

FAVORITE ALBUM: PASSIONDALE

Initial Impressions: Psycho: Pain Addict Pigs

Singapore is not a country with a real rich metal scene, other than the very impressive Impiety. Well, now add Psycho to that list. I first heard about the band from a review in Decibel that described them as a horror metal band, which is not really a thing. At any rate, when I ordered my Satan's Host album direct from Moribund Cult, I felt like adding something to it, so I decided to go for this one as well. I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Despite forming in 2005, this is the band's first ever release. The music is a little crude and raw, but that could also be intentional. This is not meant to be pretty music to begin with. Decibel is right that the band is clearly influenced by horror movies. The band includes quite a few samples from low-budget cult horror movies such as "The Wizard of Gore", which probably is not exactly the biggest selling point. Impetigo also sampled from that particular movie.

No, the real selling point is that Psycho, for being such a young band, really knows what they want to accomplish with their music and they do just that. This is absolutely filthy death metal with an old school flare, with no real melodic attempts. This is just completely raw. The lyrics certainly reference horror movies and even tell some tales of their own, and the music is designed to provide the atmosphere for the often grotesque and macabre lyrics.

Psycho has a bright future. I am looking forward to seeing where this band goes from here.

EDIT: Apparently, you see the name "Penny Torture" and the pics from the liner notes with a woman standing between four men, and you think that must be Penny. Apparently not. I apologize for the confusion.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 45: Goatwhore

Sometimes bands can completely take themselves out of ever having any mainstream exposure with a particularly ridiculous or offensive name. Goatwhore is a perfect example. Their music really is not so offensive that they would fly completely under the radar, although it is certainly aggressive and angry. But it's their name that has completely taken them out of ever receiving much publicity other than metal magazines. Which is just fine. The band was formed by ex-Acid Bath and Crowbar guitarist Sammy Duet, who wanted to find a way to explore more extreme forms of metal. Boy did he ever succeed with Goatwhore, the sludgy black/death/thrash outfit from the swamps of Louisiana.

FAVORITE ALBUM: A HAUNTING CURSE

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 44: Flotsam and Jetsam

Flotsam and Jetsam is a bit of an overlooked thrash metal band from the 1980's. Most of their exposure comes from the fact that they were Jason Newsted's band before he left to replace Cliff Burton in Metallica. The band was from Arizona, so they really were not a part of any of the major thrash metal scenes. Nevertheless, Flotsam and Jetsam is a damn good band. Combining thrash and American power metal, they were more on the melodic side than many of the other bands of the era. Singer Eric A.K. is a great vocalist with a soaring voice and the guitar work of Edward Carlson and Michael Gilbert has been underrated. Their debut is a great album, and also the only full-length with Newsted.

FAVORITE ALBUM: DOOMSDAY FOR THE DECEIVER

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 43: Fear Factory

Fear Factory is a band that I first got into early on in my formative years as a metal head. They got some play on the local hard rock radio station and appeared on a couple of soundtracks that I liked. So I checked them out. Their earliest material is a perfect blend of death metal and industrial metal. Fear Factory's singer Burton C. Bell is also largely credited with being a pioneer in the clean/extreme vocal style. Bell's voice was the first thing that stuck out to me, but Dino Cazares's guitar work was also top-notch for the style. Though their material after Obsolete is hit and miss, they are still an important band in my metal history. They were also only the second band that I liked enough to get a t-shirt, after Sepultura.

FAVORITE ALBUM: DEMANUFACTURE

Initial Impressions: Satan's Host: By the Hands of the Devil

I have been a big fan of Satan's Host since discovering them a few years back. Of course when I found out about them, they were more of a blackened thrash metal band with raspy vocals and long, riff-driven songs. I was aware of their earlier material with Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin of Jag Panzer from the 1980's, but had not had the opportunity to check it out. Sometime last year, it was announced that The Tyrant was coming back to Satan's Host. I was not sure what to think. I like Jag Panzer, but I also like the blackened thrash output of Satan's Host. What was going to happen? What would I think of this reformation?

Well, to put it simply, this is a contender for Album of the Year.

Holy shit, this is a great album. This is very dark American power metal with some almost death metal style riffing at times. It is aggressive and nasty stuff. The guitar work by longtime guitarist Pat Evil is terrific. Whether it's a particularly heavy riff or an incendiary solo, Evil is truly an underrated guitar master. The guitar really drives the album, as is the case for all of the band's material. This is a powerfully melodic album but still remains dark enough to satisfy those fans of their previous sound.

The vocals are extremely impressive. Conklin has always had one of the best voices in American power metal, and now he brought it back to the darkness that is Satan's Host's music. It matches surprisingly well, even bearing similarities to Mercyful Fate's early material. His soaring style contrasts with the dark and heavy riffing, but it still just sounds great together.

I am particularly impressed with the surprisingly powerful "Fallen Angel", which will likely be among my favorite songs of the year by the end. It is an amazing song that sends chills down my spine.

There is still a lot of time left, but so far, this is the Album of the Year.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 42: Exodus

Dave Mustaine once said that he thought Exodus should be considered one of the Big 4 instead of Anthrax. I do not really agree with him, but it is tough to say he is completely wrong. Exodus's first album was thrash in its purest form. It was all razor-sharp riffs, frenetic vocals, and pounding drums, without a single soft song. Quite simply, Exodus's first album was the perfect embodiment of thrash. The band released several more great albums too before their decline for a few years. They put out good music once again, but after several vocalist changes and now their much longer songs, they barely sound like they once did.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BONDED BY BLOOD

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 41: Entombed

Entombed basically makes this list on the strength of one album, but what an album it is. Left Hand Path is the standard against which all Swedeath albums are measured. It was truly a landmark album. Though nothing the band has done since has risen to that same level, they still manage to put out some decent stuff. It just can not compare to their first album.

FAVORITE ALBUM: LEFT HAND PATH

My Favorite Metal Band from the United States

We have reached the final post in this series. And we close things out with what is probably a bit of a surprise. Yes, I prefer Megadeth over Metallica. I believe that the first four Metallica albums were amazing and probably as good a run as any band out there, but I am considering more than just those four albums. The larger discography Of Megadeth is superior to Metallica's. Megadeth has only released one bad album, compared to three by Metallica. Furthermore, Dave Mustaine was largely responsible for a lot of the best songs recorded by Metallica on their first four albums anyway. One other reason for my preference for Megadeth over Metallica is that Megadeth is better right now. If I had to choose between a new Megadeth album and new Metallica album, I would take the Megadeth album. Endgame was better than Death Magnetic to my ears.

NOTABLE SCENES: Everything.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Too many to name, Metallica gets second billing.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 40: Enslaved

Like Emperor, Enslaved is a bit of a hard luck miss on the favorite spot for Norway. Oddly, I was not much of a fan of the band until seeing them in concert, opening for Opeth with my fiancee a couple of years back. Their live show blew me away and I became a fan. Enslaved is largely credited with taking the Viking metal sound that Bathory created and running with it. They were a bit of a different band than some of their countrymen and peers from the time frame. Their music now bears little resemblance to black metal and is instead more of a progressive extreme metal. I love their most recent stuff, perhaps even moreso than their earlier material.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BELOW THE LIGHTS

My Favorite Metal Band from the United Kingdom

Well, duh. If you need me to explain why Black Sabbath is my favorite English metal band, you are not a true metal fan.

NOTABLE SCENES: NWOBHM, gothic/doom metal, early death/grind.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Akercocke
Benediction
Bolt Thrower
Carcass
Cradle of Filth
Electric Wizard
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Motorhead
My Dying Bride
Napalm Death
Ozzy Osbourne
Paradise Lost
Sabbat
Venom

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 39: Emperor

One of the most difficult countries to name a favorite band from was Norway. I eventually decided on Immortal, but Emperor was one of the bands that was very difficult to pass up. Emperor was the first true black metal band that I ever really got into. Their melodic and symphonic take on black metal was extremely influential and helped spawn a whole subgenre, along with their countrymen Dimmu Borgir. Emperor though has always had much better music. In fact, their second album still rates as one of my all-time favorite black metal albums.

FAVORITE ALBUM: ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK