Albums You Hated On First Listen, But Grew to Love

Has there ever been an album that just did nothing for you the first time you heard it, but that album has grown on you? I have had more than a few.

SEPULTURA: MORBID VISIONS
The most obvious of these is Sepultura's Morbid Visions. I first heard this album when I was just beginning to get into Sepultura. Of course at the time, Sepultura was more of a groove/nu-metal band, so when I heard this proto-blackened death metal album, I was shocked and frankly disappointed. However, over the years, this has become one of my favorite Sepultura albums. Its rawness and brutality is the reason.

SAXON: INTO THE LABYRINTH
One of the biggest bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the late 1970's/early 1980's, Saxon is also one of the few bands from that scene to have put together a long and productive career. Nevertheless, for some reason I was just not totally impressed with this 2009 release upon the first time I heard it. However, its catchiness eventually caught up to me. This is not a completely metal album, more of a borderline hard rock/metal album and that's probably what caused me to dislike it at first.

EDGUY: TINNITUS SANCTUS
German power metal band Edguy is kind of a weird group. I expected something along the lines of Primal Fear, Blind Guardian, Helloween, or Gamma Ray when I picked up this album, but that is definitely not what I got. What I got was something similar to Saxon's release, more of a hard rock style with little to none of the typical elements associated with German power metal. It was their sense of humor and their ability to write a good song that drew me in after my initial disappointment.

VANDERHOOF: VANDERHOOF
This was an album I received in a lot of cut-out CDs I bought from a seller on ebay one day. It was not one of the main drawing points, and in fact I had never heard of the band. Vanderhoof is the side project of Kurdt Vanderhoof, guitarist for Metal Church, so I expected something similar to Metal Church's style. Vanderhoof though was created for the guitarist to play a style more along his main influences, which was Deep Purple-style hard rock/heavy metal. It took some getting used to as I was never the biggest fan of Deep Purple, but this album really is pretty damn good.

GARDENIAN: SINDUSTRIES
After hearing their Soulburner album, I decided I kind of liked Gardenian's brand of Swedish melodeath. It was poppy and infectious, but still pretty decent, so I picked this album up cheap. This was a complete departure though, experimenting with progressive song structures and longer songs and abandoning many of the more accessible elements of their sound. The album was challenging and different, but eventually that is what appealed to me. To the point that I realize this is the better Gardenian album.

Let's open it up. What do you think?

Ridiculous Song Titles: Aborted Fetus: "Aquarium with Dead Souls"

I recently received the new Aborted Fetus album, a slam band from Russia. Sometimes, it's just fun to look at some of the song titles from these bands and this is an excellent example. It brings up questions:

How big of a tank do you need for dead souls?

What do you feed dead souls?

What kind of filtration system is necessary for dead souls?

What kind of pH is needed to help dead souls thrive? Freshwater, brackish water, salt water?

What are dead souls compatible with? For instance, my wife and I have a ten-inch long black ghost knifefish. Can I keep my dead souls with it? Apparently they like to kill angelfish, so I am concerned.

Initial Impressions: Pathology: Awaken to the Suffering

I recently started listening to a lot of slam death again, after a few months hiatus from it. And when I went to the music store to see about getting the new Anthrax album, they also had the new Pathology album. I enjoyed their last album quite a bit so I decided to get this one.

First off, it's pretty bizarre to find a slam death album in a store like Hastings, but that has more to do with the weird fact that Pathology is on Victory Records, a well-known hardcore label. Also, Pathology is a bit more accessible than most other slam death, a point that I discussed at length in the review for their album last year.

Pathology exists on the border between slam death and plain brutal death. The riffs are definitely influenced by Devourment but there is a lot more going on musically as well. For one, you will actually hear the occasional guitar solo in Pathology's stuff. This has basically always been the case with Pathology, the band really is not easily pigeonholed as a simple slam band as groups like Abominable Putridity or Katalepsy or Vomit Remnants. They utilize a lot of slam parts, but there has always been more to it than that.

Pathology is also more accessible than other slam bands because of their lyrical focus. Pathology is not devoted to gore and misogyny, opting instead to focus on other matters. Song titles like "Media Consumption", "Society's Desolation", and "Opposing Globalization" probably will not appear on the next Putrid Pile record.

With all that said, Pathology is a decent band and this is a decent record. There is a lot going on here. Huge fans of Suffocation probably are not going to be terribly impressed because the band does not do some of the things Suffocation does as well, but in a slam context, this is a pretty good album.

Albums That Have Not Stood the Test of Time: Sepultura: Roots

I am listening to this album as I type this. I remember being absolutely blown away by this album when I first heard it. It was my favorite album for quite awhile. I had just recently discovered the band when this album came out. It was the most brutal album I had heard to that point. What made it even more interesting was the use of tribal drumming, something that had not been done as effectively prior to this album.

So what happened?

Well for one, I discovered the band's back catalog was much more interesting. Their early raw, brutal thrash was one of the influences on the formation of death and black metal. In general the band put out better material earlier in their career.

Secondly, Max Cavalera left the band soon after this release and the band went straight downhill from there.

Third, and most important, my tastes have changed. You see, this is basically a nu metal/groove metal album at its core. It may be dressed up a little bit, but the music is mostly simple and dumbed down. That was not what Sepultura created earlier on. The riffs were simple and non-melodic, the guitar solos were basically gone and there were few, if any dynamics.

So no, Roots did not stand the test of time.

Initial Impressions: Anthrax: Worship Music

I can't believe I am saying this, but what a shocking and pleasant surprise we have here. The trials and tribulations of Anthrax recording this album had taken on an almost Chinese Democracy scale. The revolving door behind the mic was a soap opera in itself with both of the band's major former singers coming and going a number of times each and the band seemingly settling in with unknown Dan Nelson for a time until the stress became too much for him and he left. That was quite a run-on sentence but it pretty adequately depicts the weirdness of the whole situation. Of course Joey Belladonna came back once more and took over for good.

But enough of all that. When it came down to it, Anthrax has returned with their best album since probably Sound of White Noise. I liked John Bush as a singer, but he never really seemed to fit into what Anthrax was all about and was a much better fit for his other band Armored Saint. That said, the first album with Bush was pretty good and it was not until later that the band had a precipitous fall from grace.

As for the music itself, Anthrax's trademarked crunch is back in full force. The songs for the most part are fairly melodic, but Scott Ian and Frank Bello complement the melody nicely with some heavy rhythmic riff work. While this is not as heavy of a thrash metal album as the band's early material, it still fits in nicely as a melodic thrash metal album in the vein of Testament's work.

Joey Belladonna actually seems to sound better with age. I have not been a big fan of his style, but his work on this album is smoother and not nearly as shrill. He does some fantastic work on these songs.

There are a few missteps along the way. The track "Judas Priest", despite a decent riff ultimately comes off clumsy and the album does drag a little at times. But overall, this is an extremely impressive return by one of the Big Four. It is the band's best material in a long, long time.

In Remembrance of Those Who Died on 9/11

What is Going On Here?

I apologize for the dearth in posts lately. Work has kind of caught up to me and I don't have as much time to blog right now, much less listen to new music. So, what's going on?

I am working on a brief for the Nebraska Court of Appeals. I also have been preparing a number of cases for jury trials. Hopefully some of this will get done in the next few weeks and I may be able to get back to posting more often. I hope.

Just bear with me. If anyone has a band they want reviewed, feel free to contact me.

Underrated Albums: Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith

Okay, I know, Judas Priest is absolutely one of the biggest names in metal. They were hugely influential on just about everything in the genre from the sound to the look. Yet, in all that, I really do not hear a lot of praise for this particular album.

Maybe it's because it did not have the catchy anthem like "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" or "Breaking the Law", although I will argue that "Some Heads are Gonna Roll" is on par with both of those tracks. Maybe it's because of the homosexual double entendres like "Jawbreaker" and "Eat Me Alive". I don't really know.

I believe this is quite possibly Priest's best album, with only the possible exception of Painkiller. It is an amazing and complete album. Every song on here is fantastic, there is absolutely no filler.

I rediscovered this album a few weeks back when I was listening to it in my car and had to listen to the track "The Sentinel" about four times in a row. I don't know quite what grabbed me about that song, but I have come to believe it is the band's best song that no one talks about. "Freewheel Burning" is yet another classic that gets kind of dismissed a lot.

So yes, if you want a great Judas Priest album that is representative of their more classic, metallic sound, I would recommend this one.

Field Guide to Retro-Thrash Metal Bands

I am a fan of thrash metal. I believe I have made that fairly clear throughout this blog. Retro Thrash has emerged in recent years, and though it's day in the sun is receding somewhat, I felt it would be a good idea to expose some of the groups for those seeking out new metal.

BONDED BY BLOOD
Habitat: Pomona, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Early Exodus gone progressive metal
Best Output: Exiled to Earth

DEVASTATOR
Habitat: Somewhere in Florida
Defining Audio Characteristics: Blackened Thrash metal steamroller
Best Output: Nuclear Proliferation

EVILE
Habitat: Huddersfield, England
Defining Audio Characteristics: Middle-Period Slayer-style crunch on steroids
Best Output: Infected Nations

GAMA BOMB
Habitat: Newry, Northern Ireland
Defining Audio Characteristics: 1950's pulp sci-fi lyrics over Anthrax-meets-Suicidal Tendencies style party thrash
Best Output: Tales from the Grave in Space

LICH KING
Habitat: Amherst, Massachusetts
Defining Audio Characteristics: Goofy party thrash with a preference toward lyrics about zombies, sci-fi movies and cereal?
Best Output: Necromantic Maelstrom

MERCILESS DEATH
Habitat: Canyon Country, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Dark Angel-style rifftastic thrash metal performing the soundtrack to a particularly gory George A. Romero movie
Best Output: Realm of Terror

NOCTURNAL FEAR
Habitat: Detroit, Michigan
Defining Audio Characteristics: The Motor City Sodom
Best Output: Code of Violence

SKELETONWITCH
Habitat: Athens, Ohio
Defining Audio Characteristics: Mastodon covering early Venom and Hellhammer
Best Output: Breathing the Fire

TOXIC HOLOCAUST
Habitat: Portland, Oregon
Defining Audio Characteristics: The bastard offspring of Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory out for revenge against the society that spurned it
Best Output: An Overdose of Death

WARBRINGER
Habitat: Newbury Park, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Brutal thrash in the vein of Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint, and German bands meeting the sound of an epic tank battle
Best Output: Waking Into Nightmares

Initial Impressions: Deceased...: Surreal Overdose

Deceased... has been around since the mid 1980's, which is kind of surprising. They were at the head of the American death metal movement, but never really got the notoriety that groups like Death, Possessed, and Morbid Angel did. Perhaps this is due to the band's relative isolation, Virginia has never really been known as a hotbed of metal activity. But, Deceased... is still kicking, contrary to the band's name.

This is the band's first album since the monumental 2005 album As the Weird Travel On, but the band has definitely not lost a single step in that time. Their particular brand of Motorhead-meets-Death metal is on full display here once again. Deceased... do their thing and do not concern themselves with trends. This is still metal that unapologetically sounds like mid 1980's proto-death metal.

All of the songs are fast-paced with a crunchy edge to the riffing style. This is heavy and aggressive metal that is raw and incredibly powerful. King Fowley remains the most impressive drummer/vocalist in metal, something pretty rare.

The lyrics are fairly typical for the band: B-movie horror stuff and zombies. This is the band who did a concept album covering George A. Romero's zombie movies. Deceased... takes great glee in these topics and the music matches the subject matter incredibly well.

This is once again a terrific album by one of the most underrated bands in metal today. This is a definite contender for Album of the Year.

Flashback Video: Prong: "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck"

Going away for the weekend. Enjoy this great video from Prong. This was one of the few great videos I remember from the early 1990's.

Bands That Would Sound Just as Good Without Vocalists

My wife and I were driving home late last Sunday night from the State Fair and Kamelot was in the CD player. I mentioned that Roy Khan, the vocalist was no longer with the band and that I wondered what they would do. My wife said that she felt the band really did not need a singer and that she would be very interested in hearing them without one. So that got me thinking.

What are some bands that would sound just as good without vocalists?

Here's a few off the top of my head and I would like to open this up to some discussion.

DECREPIT BIRTH
I mentioned in my review of their last album that they really did not need a singer. I stand by that. Decrepit Birth's music is technical and complex and it would not suffer at all without a singer. In fact, their singer really holds them back because he is somewhat of a one-note grunter and his vocals do not add anything at all to the music.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE
I happen to like their vocalist, but I really do think this band has the technical and melodic chops to go full-on instrumental. They symphonic elements would be allowed to seep into the listener's attention even more. It would be a very interesting experiment and drive that orchestral death metal sound even farther.

METALLICA
Some of Metallica's best songs are instrumentals. "Orion" and "The Call of Ktulu" are the most notable examples. Obviously James Hetfield is not going anywhere, but what would the band sound like without him on vocals and just playing music? I think it would be pretty damn good actually.

AHAB
Or really any funeral doom metal band, but I list Ahab because they are my particular favorite. This is similar to Decrepit Birth in that the vocals really do not do much to add to the music. Things would be just as depressing and atmospheric without the vocals, and indeed possibly moreso.

Anyone I am forgetting?

Initial Impressions: Fleshgod Apocalypse: Agony

I reviewed Fleshgod Apocalypse's most recent EP earlier and highly enjoying what I heard, I was very much anticipating this new album. The Italian band did not let me down.

The opening track is an instrumental that sets the stage for the crashing frenzy of the first proper song. The intro is made up of some impressive orchestral buildup. The orchestral elements then continue throughout the rest of the album. It is a major part of the band's sound, but it is not overdone as Dimmu Borgir has become guilty of. Fleshgod Apocalypse does a fantastic job of making the orchestral sections sound completely natural, as if death metal and symphony orchestras had always worked together. Not many other bands could have pulled this off. In fact, the entire album has the feel of an epic metal orchestra.

The more metallic portion of the band's music is basically progressive death metal. The vocals are delivered in a rough, fairly typical death metal growl. However, there are moments of clean singing which sound an awful lot like ICS Vortex's clean parts in Dimmu Borgir. That was probably the idea and it comes across great here. The clean vocals soar over the utterly bombastic music.

All told, this is a very interesting album. The music is fantastic and everything works well together. Fleshgod Apocalypse are a rising young band and have a very bright future.

Initial Impressions: Revocation: Chaos of Forms

The re-emergence of thrash metal over the last decade has resulted in bands of varying quality. The best bands are those that are not simply rehashing past sounds. Revocation is one of these bands.

Revocation is not simply a thrash metal band. For one, they are far more technical, drawing most of their thrash metal influences from groups like Heathen, Watchtower, and others. The band also has significant death metal influences from other technical groups like Atheist and later Death that shine through at times.

Revocation has built on the success of their last album and has become more complex and interesting music-wise. They play around with some gang vocals at times and some non-metal influenced moments such as a heavily jazz-inflected instrumental toward the end of the album. This is most certainly not a recycled thrash metal album from the 1980's. Revocation incorporate their diverse influences into a fluid and ever-changing monster of a sound.

If there is one complaint about this band, it's the vocals. The vocal style is unwavering metalcore-ish shouting. It just does not really fit the more forward-thinking style of metal present in the music.

Revocation definitely make a lot of noise. This is an extremely vicious full-on attack from the young band. The future of the band looks bright. Hopefully they will adopt a different style of vocals and they can rise to the top of the American metal scene.

Initial Impressions: Septicflesh: The Great Mass

I really enjoyed Septicflesh's last album, and I really enjoy this one. However, I think the band is starting to lose their identity a little bit. When I think of a Greek extreme metal band with some symphonic elements, but not overpowering the music, Rotting Christ is the first band that comes to mind. This is not to say Septicflesh sounds exactly like Rotting Christ, but this album is a little too close.

Of course, I am a huge Rotting Christ fan, so this album definitely does it for me. But as I said, there are definite differences that set Septicflesh apart from Rotting Christ. For one, Septicflesh exists more on the death metal side of the metal continuum, whereas Rotting Christ is more of a black metal band at their core. Secondly, Septicflesh's symphonic elements make up more of their sound than Rotting Christ. The band is much more of a symphonic extreme metal band, somewhat in line with groups like Dimmu Borgir. And I have now unintentionally referenced both bands listed on the "For Fans of:" sticker on the cover.

This is definitely an epic, dark album. The music is almost eerie. Definitely pluses in my book. It's almost like a dark horror movie soundtrack. Something supernatural and otherworldly with sinister and evil elements. That is just the kind of visual effect I get by listening to this album.

The only downside is that this album is missing a "Sunlight Moonlight". The song from their last album was almost romantic and pop-inflected. There is no counterpart on this album, which is fine, but I really enjoyed that song and wondered if the band could replicate its success.

Despite the similarities to Rotting Christ and Dimmu Borgir, Septicflesh retain their own identity, at least for now. This is a very impressive album, possibly better even than their last.

Underrated Album: Meshuggah: Contradictions Collapse

It's kind of hard to label a Meshuggah album as underrated as the band has their fanboys who slobber over virtually everything they have ever done, but notice the word "virtually". Now, I have made clear that Meshuggah is not one of my favorite bands, they did not rate at all on my Top 100 list, nor were they mentioned in my honorable mentions post. But this album is an exception to that as well.

This album has only been reviewed once on the Encyclopedia Metallum, as opposed to at least ten on each of their other albums. It is certainly an overlooked album in Meshuggah's catalog. Perhaps this is because it came before the band really achieved their trademark sound. But it is almost criminal.

Controversial opinion: This is Meshuggah's best album.

At the time of this album, Meshuggah was more of a technical thrash metal band, rather than the more groove-oriented technical sound they have popularized. It is the riffs that really drive this album. It is not as impressive from a musical theory standpoint as their later work with the drum polyrhythms and all that other stuff, but the guitar riffs are simply incredible. Guitarist Fredrik Thordendahl is the big star of the album, able to switch from riff to riff with ease.

In addition, this is the rawest the band has ever sounded. It is not nearly as mechanical-sounding as their later work and actually sounds like a group of humans have produced it rather than a machine.

In short, I am not the biggest Meshuggah fan in the world. Some readers may discount my opinion because of it, but this is definitely my favorite album by the band. And it is unfortunate that it is so obscure.

Initial Impressions: Demonical: Death Infernal

I saw this CD one day while browsing for something interesting and I almost did not pick it up. The album cover attracted my attention, so I knew that it would be metal. However, the name of the band threw me off. Demonical is kind of a nonsensical word and I had concerns that this would just be a deathcore album. Pretty far from it actually. In actuality, this is pure Swedish death.

Demonical was formed from former members of Centinex, a band I was familiar with, but never really checked out. The band has actually been around for some time, this is their third album, but for some reason I was not aware of them. But I am pretty glad I decided to pick this one up.

As I mentioned, this is pure Swedish death. Think the earliest albums by groups like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave for reference points. Grave in particular, because the vocal style is the same very deep guttural roar that Grave's early work was particularly known for. The band pulls off the buzzsaw guitar riffing style that the scene made popular and all of the songs are fast and furious. There are melodic moments, guitar leads and solos play a major role in a lot of the songs, so this is not pure brutality all the way through.

This is a highly recommended album for those that miss the early Swedish death masterpieces.

Flashback Video: Kreator: "Coma of Souls"

Initial Impressions: Autopsy: Macabre Eternal

Not all reunion albums are this good. There have been several in recent years that have been major disappointments. As such, I am sometimes wary of the reunion albums but ultimately check them out anyway. There was absolutely no reason to be apprehensive this time, despite the fact that Autopsy has not released a new album since 1995. They did put out some hints that they would be back with a vengeance over the last couple of years, and that prophecy has been fulfilled.

Above all, this album is fun. If you like a good zombie movie without a whole lot of serious implications that is just mindless horror violence, then this is the kind of album for you. With song titles like "Dirty Gore Whore" and "Bludgeoned and Brained", there is really no other way to describe it. Mindless horror violence, indeed.

Musically, this is the kind of old-school death metal album that we just do not get graced with too often anymore. It reminds me of the Denial Fiend debut a few years back, in that there is plenty of horror imagery, but the band just sounds like they were having an absolute blast playing it. It's almost cartoonish. But then that is the charm of this kind of album. Nobody really takes it seriously. It's entertainment plain and simple. The band members know how to play their instruments, but all of that is just secondary.

This is absolutely one of the most fun death metal albums I have heard in a long time. Welcome back Autopsy.

Interview with Bitter End

Recently I was given an opportunity to review the album of unreleased material from obscure thrash metal band Bitter End. I decided to take the chance to submit some questions to the band about themselves and their interesting history. Read on:

1. Who is Bitter End and what are you all about?

MF: Bitter End was formed in 1985 by me (Matt) and my brother Chris Fox along with our neighbor and badass drummer Harry Dearinger. We were all influenced by the NWOBHM groups, as well as the speed metal bands that were becoming popular at the time, as well as the heavy rock and progressive rock of the late 1960's and early/mid 1970's. Chris and I had lived in Southern California for a couple of years, and had seen the original lineup of Metallica in 1982, Slayer in 1983, and other bands such as Armored Saint and Malice, too. We moved back to Seattle in late 1983, and brought those influences with us.

After a couple of years of woodshedding and writing, Bitter End began playing live shows in 1987. After an unsuccessful attempt to find a lead signer, I took on vocal duties later that year. I became very active in the DIY self-promotion/tape trading scene at the time, and this eventually led to a small international following, which in turn led to a record deal with Metal Blade Records in 1989. Russ Stefanovich joined shortly before the Harsh Realities record was produced in February of 1990, and the group continued playing until 1992, when we broke up. The band members all moved on to other interests, though most of us continued on with other groups/projects.


2. There has not been a Bitter End album in over 20 years. What made you decide to release this record now as opposed to a few years earlier?

MF: Russ was in a band called the Midnight Idols who were on Metal on Metal Records, and mentioned to them that there was some unreleased Bitter End material. They were interested in putting it out, and given that there is a whole lot of interest right now in older bands from that era it just seemed like the time was right to put it out for those people who wanted to hear it.


3. As I understand, most of this material is left over from the last album. Is there any new music coming? How does it compare to your earlier work?

MF: A lot of this material was actually written after Harsh Realities was done, and would have comprised our second album. At this point, since Chris lives halfway across the country and all of the former members of the group have kids/jobs/etc, we are not writing new Bitter End material at this time. Russ is forming a new project that will likely continue on with the sort of classic metal/speedy guitar oriented stuff he is known for. I am currently in a band called Zero Down that also has a NWOBHM-influenced sound and is in the middle of recording a new record that will be available later this year.


4. Your music sounds a bit like Heathen-meets-Anthrax, sort of a technical party-thrash, if you will. What were your influences in deciding to create music?

MF: Me and Chris grew up on 1960's and 1970's classic guitar rock such as Cream, Zeppelin, Hendrix, etc, and later got into other later groups like Thin Lizzy, UFO, Judas Priest, and all of the NWOBHM stuff before the new wave of American speed metal groups came out in the early/mid 1980's. Harry and Russ had similar influences, and Bitter End hired Russ when he came in to audition and nailed a ton of Randy Rhoads and Yngwie stuff note-for-note, but what really sealed the deal was that he also shared our progressive influences and could also shred "Hocus Pocus" by Focus and "Race With Devil On Spanish Highway" by Al DiMeola - which showed that he was no generic shredder and had a style and set of influences that were all his own.

With regard to the band's influences, we definitely were a lot less punk and/or thrash oriented than a lot of other groups then or now, and I definitely liked guys who could sing a lot more than I did grunters and/or total screamers.


5. Your band is originally from Seattle in the 1980's, so you kind of had a front-row seat to witness the rise of grunge. Was there any fair warning that grunge would soon take over hard music radio and television?

MF: This is an interesting question. We actually played a lot of shows with bands like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, The Derelicts, Coffin Break, etc and it was pretty common for different groups to mix things up like that in Seattle at that time. We always knew that Bitter End was more of a metal band than other more hard rock and/or punk groups, and that this would sort of limit the amount of mainstream radio play we'd get. That said, I think that Soundgarden and Alice were straight up hard rock bands, and that the "grunge" label really didn't apply to them in the way that it did to groups like Mudhoney or the Fluid.

Here's a funny story - I was at the Foundation Forum metal industry convention in LA in 1990 or 1991, and someone commented at one of the panels that the future of hard rock was going to be a fusion with dance music like Janet Jackson's single "Black Cat" which was out at the time. Everyone laughed her off, but boy was she right and were we wrong (unfortunately!).



6. Matt, I understand that you were friends with Layne Staley of Alice in Chains and were once offered to join his band. What can you tell us about that?

MF: I was good friends with all of the Alice guys, and was actually the first writer in Seattle to cover them when I was writing for Backlash (Susan Silver once told me that she heard about them from that article and that's what led her to manage them). There was a point when Alice was considering getting a second guitar player, and I was one of the leading candidates along with Tom McMullen/Gunn (later of War Babies and now with Gunn and the Damage Done) and Jimmy Paulson (later with the Lemons and New American Shame). As it turned out, Jerry decided that he could do it himself, which I think worked out pretty well for them. Every so often, I'll still see Sean K. and he'll ask if I remember that I almost joined the band. Um, yeah, I do!


7. I have once argued that Metallica's Black Album was equally responsible as the rise of grunge in pushing metal, particularly thrash metal, back into the underground. Do you have any thoughts on that?

I wouldn't necessarily go that far - I think that metal tends to be popular in cycles, and that it usually fades in and out of the popular consciousness. Truth to tell, though, most of the speed/thrash metal stuff was sort of self-limiting in terms of how widely popular it could get - Slayer are a great band, but you're never going to hear them on most rock radio stations, so they rely on the classic metal business model of building their following through touring and direct contact with the fans, and fly under the mainstream radar for the most part.

Another story - I went to a special pre release party for the Black Album when it came out, and I couldn't stand it! I wanted the old fast Metallica, and thought it was way to mainstream and mid-paced for my liking. I've since come around somewhat, and think that "Sad But True" in particular is a great song, but it'll never be my favorite Metallica record.


8. Thanks for the interview. Please take this opportunity to promote your album.

Thanks so much for your interest in Bitter End and our music, and for giving us this opportunity to connect with your readers!

Matt Fox

Reader Submission: Meliah Rage: Dead to the World

The album's name may be a reference to the band's overall status with music fans around the world. Despite being around since the mid 1980's and putting out eight full-length albums, Meliah Rage just is not a well-known band. They are just one of those bands whose release of a new album elicits a "they're still around?" response. Part of that may be geography, being a metal band from Boston which is not known for producing a lot of good metal bands, but another part may be that they have put out unspectacular, yet reasonably solid albums for years. They just have not released anything to separate them from the pack unfortunately.

This album continues that string. Once again, Meliah Rage have released a perfectly good album. It's catchy, but it simply does not forge any new ground.

Meliah Rage plays a mix of thrash metal and American power metal. Which means that this has some pretty aggressive riffwork as well as quite a bit of melody. Again, this is American power metal, so it is not overly flowery and cheesy. It retains just enough of a hard edge, and of course the thrash metal riffs certainly help as well. It is definitely a 1980's-sounding metal album, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Things get off to a great start with the fist-pumper "Up in Flames". The band retains this high degree of energy throughout most of the album, slowing down occasionally for a short melodic interlude or chorus section. "Valley of the Shadowless Souls" is the highlight of the album, with some powerful riffs, a strong melody, and some of the most interesting vocals on the release. Most of the rest of the songs fall in line at a medium speed. The band does not deviate far from their comfort zone.

The musicianship is impressive. The guitars really drive the album, which is fairly typical for this style of metal. There are some pretty good riffs present and some damn good guitar solos. The bass plays a very strong role in the music and can be heard thundering along with the riffs. The drums are also doing some interesting patterns.

Overall, this is yet another solid release from Meliah Rage. Unfortunately it is probably not going to break the band to a wider audience. Fans of Nevermore and Iced Earth will probably enjoy it.

Bands Left Off the Top 100

Okay, so now that I am done with the Top 100, I wanted to take a quick moment to reflect on some of the groups that were left off. Even with 100 bands, there were several that I really like that I just did not have room for. So with that in mind, here are some bands that were difficult to leave off:

AHAB
ANGELCORPSE
ANTHRAX
ARGHOSLENT
ARSIS
ARTILLERY
ATHEIST
AUTOPSY
BESTIAL WARLUST
BLOODBATH
CANNIBAL CORPSE
CROWBAR
CYNIC
DAYLIGHT DIES
DEMILICH
DESTRUCTION
DEW-SCENTED
DIO
DYING FETUS
EXHORDER
FAITH NO MORE
HAIL OF BULLETS
HEATHEN
INTO ETERNITY
JUNGLE ROT
KALMAH
KING DIAMOND
LANDMINE MARATHON
MASTER
MAYHEM
MY DYING BRIDE
ORPHANED LAND
PANTERA
PANZERCHRIST
POSSESSED
PSYCROPTIC
ROOT
SABBAT (English band and Japanese band)
SONATA ARCTICA
SWALLOW THE SUN
THE CROWN
TOXIC HOLOCAUST
VOMITORY
WATAIN
WHITE ZOMBIE

Thoughts? Other bands I forgot or that you are surprised were not present?

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 100: Voivod

This is it. Several months of posts and we are at the last band. Finally.

Voivod is weird. I am not sure there is any better word for it. Beginning as a punk/thrash metal band and progressively adding in more and more unusual structures, dissonant riffs, and sci-fi weirdness, Voivod has never really stayed in one place on the musical spectrum for long. Which may cause a loss of identity for almost any other band. Not for Voivod. Evolution is sort of the name of the game for this Canadian group and very few metal bands have done a better job of it over the years. Unfortunately with the death of guitar/songwriting mastermind Piggy a few years, Voivod has seemingly lost a major creative spark. Only time will tell if they are able to overcome this devastating loss. I think it's about damn time some of the band's classic albums get reissued.

FAVORITE ALBUM: DIMENSION HATROSS

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 99: Venom

Venom is hugely influential on a variety of styles of metal. Rising out of the NWOBHM, Venom was much faster, more raw, and apparently evil. The band's stage show was an influence on black metal with their over-the-top faux-Satanic lyrics. More than anything, that stage show just displayed the twisted sense of humor that would come to characterize Cronos and company. Venom also had a major influence on the formation of thrash metal, so of course I am completely on board.

FAVORITE ALBUM: WELCOME TO HELL

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 98: Vader

Vader is an absolutely crushing band. Often straddling the line between thrash metal and death metal, the Polish group is 100% brutality. Their music often has a fair bit of groove to it, but make no mistake, this is not a groove metal band. Vader is fast and heavy as hell. Their songs are remarkably catchy for a band of this style. Vocalist Peter has a distinctive style, which is that of a vicious, snarling roar. Listening to their music is like being attacked by a rabid animal, it is aggressive, chaotic, and deadly. Also important is that the band can translate this menace into a live show very well.

FAVORITE ALBUM: IMPRESSIONS IN BLOOD

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 97: Type O Negative

I will never forget my first impression of Type O Negative. I was in middle school, and was vaguely aware that there was a band out there with that name. I was up late one night and caught their video on some weird show on FX. The video was "Black No. 1" and the it was a black and white video with occasional colors once in awhile. What drew my attention though was frontman Peter Steele (R.I.P.) playing a string bass which he held in his arms like a guitar. Steele was a mountain of a frontman cutting a tremendously imposing presence, with a deep voice to match. Plus the song was good too. I was hooked after that. I have not always been as enamored with their later work through the years, but everything up through Bloody Kisses is an absolute classic.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BLOODY KISSES

Thoughts on the New Anthrax Song

Go here to listen for yourself.

I was not originally planning on checking out the new Anthrax album too much. I have not liked anything the band has done for about fifteen years and I was not expecting to like this either. Anthrax has never been one of my favorite bands, and in fact they did not make it into my Top 100 at all, despite my secondary title being the name of an Anthrax song. However, this song is awesome. Maybe not as great as their mid 1980's material, but it's pretty damn good. It's upbeat and heavy, but still catchy. Anthrax is not trying to be a modern rock band here. This is the thrashiest I have heard them in years. I may have to check this out after all.

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 96: Thornafire

Thornafire, like Apophis, is a band that I discovered a could not believe that more people were not listening to them. The Chilean death metal band has a terrific modern take on old-school death metal. Sounding like a cross between Death, Immolation, and Morbid Angel, but without sounding like they are trying to be a retro death metal band, Thornafire just has a great grasp on the music. Their latest album is in Spanish which does hurt the band just a little bit, but they should still be sought out.

FAVORITE ALBUM: EXACERBATED GNOSTIC MANIFESTATION

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 95: The Gates of Slumber

Over the last several years, traditional metal has made a major comeback. The Gates of Slumber is quite possibly the best of these groups who are looking back to their forebears. The Gates of Slumber though does things differently. There is a much more authentic feel to their music than many other groups. It is this authenticity that makes them a much more interesting group. They are gifted songwriters and can even make a ten minute song seem catchy. I have been more and more impressed with each subsequent TGoS album since their 2008 release. The band is truly one of the best American bands to arise in the last decade.

FAVORITE ALBUM: THE WRETCH

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 94: Testament

People who have known me for awhile probably could have predicted that I would get Testament on this list. Hey, the band recorded my all-time favorite song, "Return to Serenity". I met the band once when they did a signing session prior to a concert, unfortunately I was too young to go to the concert at that time. Testament is often considered a second-tier thrash metal band in the 1980's, and that is potentially accurate. It was not until they released the monster album Low that the band really took off creatively and musically. Testament went on a bit of a hiatus at the beginning of the last decade due to frontman Chuck Billy's cancer struggle, but they made one hell of a comeback in 2008.

FAVORITE ALBUM: LOW

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 93: Suffocation

Suffocation's influence can be heard in a number of subgenres of death metal. Almost single-handedly responsible for the wave of brutal death, technical death, and slam death metal, Suffocation is a truely original band. However, most of the groups influenced by Suffocation have not been able to rise to the same level of quality as the pioneering group. Which just goes to show how truly great Suffocation really is.

FAVORITE ALBUM: EFFIGY OF THE FORGOTTEN

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 92: Sodom

As I stated earlier, I go back and forth between Sodom and Kreator. Sodom had a major influence on death and black metal early on with their raw-yet-endearing debut EP. They later polished their sound and became a thrash metal juggernaut. German thrash has always been more extreme than the Bay Area counterpart, and Sodom is quite possibly the most extreme band of them all. Their music is fueled by their love for Motorhead and punk rock, but they take such a dark and aggressive twist on it that there is no doubt that it is anything but pure thrash metal.

FAVORITE ALBUM: AGENT ORANGE

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 91: Slough Feg

Or maybe The Lord Weird Slough Feg, but I am pretty sure they mostly go by Slough Feg these days. Anyway, Slough Feg is a band that has not gotten a lot of attention for some strange reason. The band has a very old-school sound, sounding to me like Thin Lizzy meets the NWOBHM. They are one of the greatest bands that no one is talking about.

FAVORITE ALBUM: HARDWORLDER

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 90: Slayer

SLAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

FAVORITE ALBUM: SHOW NO MERCY

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 89: Slaughter

For a band with only one official full-length album released, Slaughter sure shows up on this blog an awful lot. Well, I guess that is what happens when your band proved to be a major influence on the creation of death metal. Slaughter was a brutal thrash metal band from Canada who was once described as Black Sabbath playing punk rock. I think their Hellhammer/Celtic Frost influences are very clear personally. At any rate, it is unfortunate that the band only released one album, because it was a great one.

FAVORITE ALBUM: STRAPPADO