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

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

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 88: Skeletonwitch

They have not been around for a real long time, but Skeletonwitch has made a big impression on me. They get thrown into the thrash revival scene a lot, but that does not really make that much sense to me. First of all, they are not really a true thrash metal band. They have a lot of black metal influences, talking first wave black metal here. Secondly, they are a lot better than the Warbringer/Evile/Merciless Death groups. Skeletonwitch has a knack for great, catchy songs with great riffs and interesting solos. I am eager to see this band continue to grow.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BREATHING THE FIRE

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 87: Sigh

I don't think it's controversial to say that Sigh's music can be a little weird at times. The highly experimental avant-garde metal band never puts out the same album twice in a row. The band's foundation is in black metal but they have added lots of elements of other types of music into their sound for years. Their latest two releases included a lot of symphonic and classical music. One thing is for certain, Sigh is always interesting.

FAVORITE ALBUM: HANGMAN'S HYMN-MUSIKALISCHE EXEQUIEN

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 86: Sepultura

Sepultura was probably the first extreme metal band I really got into. I first heard them on a Tribute to Black Sabbath album covering "Symptom of the Universe". I was pretty impressed. I actually got into them when they were a bit past their prime. Roots was the first new album I got by them and I was blown away, at the time. However, I soon discovered their amazing past releases when they were one of the best brutal thrash metal bands out there. Even better was their proto-black/death metal material. Sepultura is now just a shadow of their former selves, but their early material still stands today as some amazing extreme metal.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BENEATH THE REMAINS

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 85: Scar Symmetry

When I discuss liking Scar Symmetry, I am referring to their first three albums while Christian Alvestam belted the vocals. Even though Alvestam did not do much of the songwriting and was not an original member of the band, Scar Symmetry really lost their way after he left. But enough of the bad, Scar Symmetry is one of the most infectious melodeath bands ever. They had such a knack with melodies that MetalSucks writers used to refer to them as "Death Jovi". Their first three albums were terrific examples of melodic death metal. Unfortunately, they have not been as impressive since.

FAVORITE ALBUM: PITCH BLACK PROGRESS

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 84: Satyricon

Satyricon does not seem to get as much recognition as some of the early second wave Norwegian black metal bands. I could be wrong, but I do not see their name mentioned as often as Emperor, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, or others, but Satyricon is every bit as worthy. I actually like Satyricon's early material better than a lot of the material by some of those other bands. They had a unique take on the genre and were more than just an extreme metal band. Their later material is still impressive, despite being much more in the black 'n roll style. No matter when you can produce music as catchy and impressive as that.

FAVORITE ALBUM: DARK MEDIEVAL TIMES

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 83: Satan's Host

I considered Satan's Host for this list even before hearing their latest album, but they were barely off the list. I liked their take on black/thrash/death whatever metal quite a bit but just not quite enough to make it here. That all changed with their latest release. Their new album is so incredible that it stands as the favorite to be the Album of the Year for me this year. Satan's Host has always been driven by Patrick Evil's guitar heroics, but this release was on a whole other level. The reunion with original singer Harry Conklin of Jag Panzer brought so much more to the table musically as well. Like I said, they were in the running to make this list before, but with this album, they sealed it.

FAVORITE ALBUM: BY THE HANDS OF THE DEVIL

My 100 Favorite Metal Bands Pt. 82: Rotting Christ

I was aware of Rotting Christ for quite a long time prior to finally checking them out. Like some others, I was a little put off by the band's name, not because I felt it was blasphemous (it certainly is, but that does not bother me), but because I felt that a band with that ridiculous of a moniker really could not be taken seriously as musicians. I was wrong. Rotting Christ are stunning musicians with a flair for melodies that is unmatched by almost any other band. Their music is truly unique, taking black metal, gothic metal, and Greek folk elements and throwing them all together. Since I discovered them, they have quickly jumped into my Top 10 favorite bands, not just my Top 100.

FAVORITE ALBUM: NON SERVIAM