Year in Metal: 2002

BEHEMOTH: ZOS KIA CULTUS (HERE AND BEYOND)
The sixth album from the Polish metal band represented a bit more of a departure in musical style from their previous albums. At this point, the band existed far more on the death metal side of the fence with some black metal influences. Behemoth has always had a very dark sound and this album took that to even more of an extreme. Of course, the twisted Morbid Angel-style riffs, the deep vocals of Nergal, and the mystical and occult lyrics are all present. This is one of my favorite albums by Behemoth.

IMMORTAL: SONS OF NORTHERN DARKNESS
Norwegian black metal goofballs Immortal released their seventh album, and at the time, their final album in 2002. The band would reunite years later, but at this time, this was to be it. This album was a bit more of a streamlined blackened thrash metal album and was a little on the slower side than their previous hyperfast material. Nevertheless it is one of the catchiest releases in Immortal's impressive discography.

LACUNA COIL: COMALIES
I have a bit of a soft spot for this release from Lacuna Coil. The music is fairly standard gothic metal/rock, but it is Cristina Scabbia's voice that makes this one worthwhile. Her sensual crooning is definitely the highlight of this album. This is much more of a romantic metal album than aggressive or angry. This album garnered the band quite a bit of attention and they were often compared to Evanescence, although their music was significantly better.

NIGHTWISH: CENTURY CHILD
I apologize about having two albums from groups with female lead singers that are more geared towards the mall-goth demographic this year, but this is my favorite album by Nightwish and one which my fiancee really enjoys as well. The symphonic power metal band's fourth album featured the first male vocals of the band's career which were delivered in more of a gruff style and some of the darkest music.

SYMPHONY X: THE ODYSSEY
Progressive metal band Symphony X released one hell of an epic album in this, their sixth album. This was the first time I had heard of the band though and was interested in checking them out due to the 24 minute take on the travels of Odysseus after the Trojan War. I have always been interested in Greek mythology and The Odyssey is one of my favorites. Musically, this album reminds me a lot of Kansas's progressive rock albums, with more of a metal bent.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: IN FLAMES: REROUTE TO REMAIN; KATAKLYSM: SHADOWS AND DUST; OPETH: DELIVERANCE; SHADOWS FALL: THE ART OF BALANCE.

BANDS THAT FORMED IN 2002: DevilDriver, Eluveitie.

Lyrical Themes: Greek Mythology

Whew. The big child custody trial is finally over. The judge took it under advisement, so I won't know the results for some time. But at least it's over.

Let's get back into things.

Today's post is inspired by Greek mythology. I've been on a kick lately since I got God of War 3 with the PS3 that my fiancee gave me for my birthday last month. Metal, being a genre with a wide range of lyrical themes, has found a fountain for lyrical content in Greek mythology. And it's not just the Greek bands either. Let's look at some examples. There are tons more than the ones I want to look at obviously.

ROTTING CHRIST: "GAIA TELLUS"
Well, we'll start with a Greek band anyway. This song is about the pre-Titan deity Gaia, Mother Earth, who bore much of the world and its inhabitants prior to the Titans, including the cyclopes.

ROTTING CHRIST: "HELIOS HYPERION"
Helios is the God of the Sun. He was originally a Titan however. Hyperion was another name for the being, as the Lord of Light.

ROTTING CHRIST: "THRENODY"
This song references the River Styx, upon which the dead souls travel to the Underworld, and Charon, the boatman across the River.

KAWIR
The Greek band references several Greek deities on its Ophiolatreia album, with song titles such as "Rhea" (mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, etc.), "Poseidon" (God of the Sea), "Ares" (God of War), "To Pallas" (references Athena), and "Hephaestus" (God of the Forge).

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "BEHEAD THE GORGON"
This is a discussion of the decapitation of Medusa by Perseus.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "THE HYDRA COILS UPON THIS WICKED MOUNTAIN"
The hydra was a nine-headed serpent that was killed by Jason in order to acquire the Golden Fleece.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: "HADES UNLEASHED"
Referring to the God of the Underworld.

SYMPHONY X
The American progressive metal band did an entire album centered around the adventures of Odysseus in trying to return to Ithaca, including run-ins with the Sirens, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, and the army of suitors taking up residence in his home when he returned.

TRIVIUM: "TORN BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS"
A reference to The Odyssey. Scylla was a sea monster and Charybdis was a whirlpool that Odysseus had to navigate through as part of his journey. Similar to the saying "caught between a rock and a hard place."

TRIVIUM: "HE WHO SPAWNED THE FURIES"
This song refers to the Titan Cronos, who ate his children, including Zeus, to avoid his prophesied doom to his children. His wife Rhea fed him a stone instead of Zeus who was then raised in secret until he rose up against his father and freed his siblings.

TRIVIUM: "OF PROMETHEUS AND THE CRUCIFIX"
Referring to Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the mortals. He was doomed by being tied to a rock and having an eagle eat his liver each day. Each day it would grow back.

TRIVIUM: "LIKE CALLISTO TO A STAR IN HEAVEN"
The nymph of Artemis, Callisto was transformed into a bear and placed among the stars after being raped by Zeus.

IRON MAIDEN: "FLIGHT OF ICARUS"
Icarus and his father Daedalus, the architect of the Labyrinth, attempted to escape from Crete by creating wings out of wax and feathers. Surprisingly, the wings worked, but Icarus flew too high and the sun's heat melted the wax holding the wings together, causing him to fall.

SEPTICFLESH: "NARCISSUS"
We'll finish with another Greek band. Narcissus fell in love with his reflection and could never look away from the pond he saw it in. He was cursed and turned into a plant.

5 Important Bands To Me From 1 Genre: Pt. 1: Power Metal

Huh, there hasn't been much going on lately in the world of metal. No big releases lately, no major feuds, well there have been but nothing much worth commenting on here. So here I am, knowing I need to write something because I've been slacking, but not having much to write about.

Well after brainstorming and glancing through my prior posts, I notice that I have not had much to say about power metal. Power metal is a genre that it took me a little while to get into. Not because I did not care for the music, far from it, but because I have been so focused on the more extreme genres like death and thrash metal.

Power metal is my best friend's favorite genre, but like I said, it took me a bit longer to really get into it. I will start today's post, the first in a new series, with five power metal bands that I got into before I really got into power metal. The point of this series is to look at five bands from one genre that have affected my tastes in some way or another.

1. Queensryche

This band is kind of a fusion between power metal and progressive metal, particularly on their earlier material. Their later material dropped much of the power metal influence but the band was at least as important as Jag Panzer and Fates Warning on the American scene. I have two of their earlier albums and two of their mid-era albums. I much prefer their earlier stuff which is faster, more aggressive, and more emotional than the rest of their material. Geoff Tate has one of the best voices in metal. This was the first power metal band I really got into. The band did not really lead me to any other bands and my tastes mostly remained stagnant from here.

2. Iced Earth
I always liked the album covers for this band but never really knew what to expect from them. I had heard that they were kind of like a thrashier Iron Maiden and this comparison is what lead me to bite the bullet and check them out. The comparison proved to be reasonably accurate. The riffs were very similar to Maiden, except the galloping was not from the bass, but rather the rhythm guitar. Matt Barlow's voice was incredible in its own way. Unfortunately Iced Earth has had some difficulty in keeping singers and Barlow was out of the band for awhile. He is back now, but this has hurt Iced Earth's ability to become the force they deserve to be in American metal. Iced Earth eventually lead me to Symphony X and Blind Guardian.

3. Symphony X
Symphony X is similar to Queensryche in that they are more of a progressive power metal band. I became interested in this band when they released The Odyssey, a concept album about the Greek epic poem. As a big fan of Greek mythology in general, and that poem in particular, I HAD to check this out. The album is great, although it lags in a few places and is definitely longer than it should be. Still, the band sounded like a more drawn out and epic Iced Earth. Not bad at all. Their latest album is a concept album revolving around Milton's Paradise Lost.

4. Children of Bodom
This is kind of an odd band to be here, but once you get past the harsh vocal style, it begins to become apparent that Children of Bodom is indeed a power metal band. The melodic structure, wailing guitar solos, keyboards all are closer to Blind Guardian than to melodic death metal bands like Dark Tranquillity and In Flames that the band often gets lumped in with. At one time, I didn't think music could possibly get faster than Children of Bodom. Some of their songs are still incredibly fast but the band has slowed quite a bit in recent albums. Too bad, they just couldn't keep up the pace. This band lead me to Kalmah, Norther, Skyfire, Destroy Destroy Destroy, and other power metal bands with harsher vocals.

5. Blind Guardian
This is arguably the most important band in the second stage of European power metal. Helloween helped create the genre, but Blind Guardian perfected it. Blind Guardian is one of the most musically gifted bands in metal, after Iron Maiden, and has a great sense of melody and structure. Their early albums are incredible and their later ones still maintain a degree of that early power. This band made it okay to enjoy Tolkien in metal and even wrote a song about Peter Pan. Not many bands can pull that kind of thing off. After Blind Guardian, I became very interested in power metal bands. Some good, some great, some not so great. Blind Guardian though, is still my favorite power metal band.

That's it for this installment.

Metallattorney's Top 21 of the 21st Century So Far Pt. 4

Here is the next set of albums:

#9. INSOMNIUM: ABOVE THE WEEPING WORLD
Insomnium is part of a newer wave of melodic death metal bands coming from Finland, along with Mors Principium Est and Omnnium Gatherum. Insomnium is the best of the bunch. The band combines melodic death metal with death/doom influences from fellow Finns Swallow the Sun. The resulting sound is heavy, yet somber and melodic. It’s slower and not as aggressive, but the atmosphere is often extremely heavy and emotional. Truly a heartbreaking album to listen to, but amazing nonetheless.

#8. KAMELOT: THE BLACK HALO
Kamelot is a very talented and melodic power metal band from the United States. This album came when the band was able to balance their sense of melodicism with aggression and power. It is widely hailed as a classic of the genre, and I agree. This is Kamelot at their best. After this album, they would go a little too soft. They are still not a bad band, but they were better when this album came out. A very catchy and enjoyable release.

#7. ROTTING CHRIST: THEOGONIA
This album was discussed earlier in a post on Rotting Christ’s discography. This album blends gothic metal and black metal elements and throws in some Greek folk elements. It is one of the catchiest albums I have ever heard and is destined to be a classic album from this underrated band. Rotting Christ has gotten a lot of flack from their name and many people refuse to check them out for this reason. These people are missing out on a truly original and interesting band.

#6. SYMPHONY X: THE ODYSSEY
This album was a blind buy for me. I saw that the band did a concept album on Homer’s The Odyssey and decided to check them out. I am very glad I did. The band plays progressive power metal more in the vein of Iced Earth meets Dream Theater with a little more aggression. The album is consistently good throughout, but reaches it’s high point on the sprawling epic 20+ minute closer “The Odyssey”.