Angry Metal Guy

It’s hard to make this kind of broad list, I just want to say that from the get-go. How do you do this? Do you choose your favorites, or do you choose the genre defining records? Because saying, for example, that some of the following records are really genre defining wouldn’t be true. On the other hand, these are the records that when I go back and look at the 2000s I think of pretty immediately as some of the best stuff and the things that I keep coming back to.

But the 2000s have been an interesting time for metal in a lot of ways. One of the things that happened was that death metal and death metal-influenced music really hit the mainstream in a lot of ways. For the first time since the 1980s there were larger groups of young people who really started getting into metal and there is an entire generation of musicians who have been influenced by the heavy metal of the 80s and the underground of the 1990s (particularly black and death metal). While I believe that metal is on the ebb again (in a popular music sense) and will once again retreat underground to lick its wounds and come up with something fascinating, interesting and new, the 2000s have been a great time to be a fan of the genre.

This list is going to take a lot of hits. I can already hear some of them, and some of them will come out of left field. But, as usual, I refuse to apologize for my taste. The focus on “magazine metal” bands will probably irritate some, and others will argue that my choices from one genre or another aren’t representative of the best of that genre during the period (specifically death metal in this case). But when I look back on the last 9 years, these are the ones that stand out. And trust me, there’s some stuff that I wish I could get on there, but I didn’t include an honorable mentions section since I expanded the list to 15. But there are some amazing records (Moonsorrow‘s Hävitetty, Anata‘s Under a Stone with No Inscription and The Conductor’s Departure, Agalloch‘s The Mantle, Turisas‘ The Varangian Way, Necrophagist‘s Epitaph, Ásmegin‘s Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, Absu‘s Tara, Rhapsody‘s Power of the Dragonflame, Anathema‘s A Fine Day to Exit, Nile‘s Black Seeds of Vengeance, Otyg‘s Sagovindars Boning, Obscura‘s Cosmogenesis, Watain‘s Sworn to the Dark, Akercocke‘s Antichrist, Enslaved‘s Below the Lights are just a few of my major oversights) that came out during this period that haven’t ended up on this list and I’m aware of that.

Anyway, I hope you find this list enjoyable, shocking, provocative and maybe even dead on. Backwards this time…

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In case you had forgotten–here’s how awesome Turisas is:

That is all.

Iron Thrones – Visions of Light (2008)
Rating: 5.0/5.0 – Perfect
Label: Unsigned – Get the CD FREE at IronThrones.com

It’s maybe just me that falls for this kind of stuff, but sometimes bands just jump out of nowhere and bite you in the ass and present to you their own version of exactly what it is you appreciate in the music that surrounds you.  In this case, what it is in the underground scene that still appeals to you even though you’re getting old, bitter and disconnected from a lot of the modern bands that people are pissing themselves over.  Iron Thrones are just that band, that band that makes you jealous as a musician, that makes you excited about the future of metal and makes you totally, ridiculously confused as to why on earth they’re unsigned!

This is easily the best unsigned record I’ve ever heard in my entire life, and giving some of the mediocrity that’s been working its way out of other labels, I’m just really surprised that this band hasn’t gotten picked up yet.  At their root I’d probably call Iron Thrones metalcore, but that wouldn’t do them justice.  While their vocalist is definitely a hardcore vocalist (in the veins of Burst, and Cult of Luna), the music is just so much more advanced and interesting than anything I’ve really heard coming out of the metalcore scene (well, maybe that’s not entirely true if you consider a band like Dillinger’s Escape Plan or Between the Buried and Me to be metalcore bands).

“So get to it already, jackass!” you’re saying.  I can hear you.  Know that I don’t like it.  Anyway, so basically the thing with these guys is that they’re immensely excellent song-writers.  The music  sounds to me like an incredibly excellent blend of Opeth style riffing and some acoustics with Cult of Luna feel and vocals, while incorporating much of the Gothenburg Swedish metal style into some occasionally break-downy hardcore.  The sound goes between some pretty  heavy sounding death parts, to the 6/8 swing of acoustic parts and heavier parts with beautiful harmonies.  The vocals are never misplaced, and the parts flow smoothly in between them with perfect segues.  Sound complicated?  Well, if you’re having trouble imagining it, it’s probably because you’ve never heard anything quite like it before.  However, the mix of excellent groove, technical passages and good guitar work is blended together into fairly long, but not at all boring songs, which ebb and flow until the album is over and leaves you wishing it was still going.

I was also incredibly impressed with the production on this, especially since these guys are unsigned.  I gotta say, it definitely helped to listen to a record that sounded professional from the get go even though the band doesn’t have a real label and, well, if I were an A&R guy, I’d be jumping at this band.  In essence, I can’t imagine that I will not be hearing more about this band unless they fall to the fate of other excellent bands who left before their time–the badly timed breakup.  If these guys can pull off what they do so superbly on this album live, I’d suspect they’re a shoe-in at a good label.  And hopefully they’ll go on tour with In Mourning and Opeth.  That would be totally fucking sweet.

I wouldn’t be angry at all.  For at least like, three hours or something.

As a final note, there is also a psychological idea that implies if something is free that it somehow has less value to the person who is consuming it.  I know that seems weird, but it’s true.  We tend to value things that cost us more, because, well, they cost us a ton.  This album is totally free, and trust me, it doesn’t lower the quality at all.  It doesn’t change the fact that I know I will still be listening to this album in 10 years, and hopefully informing everyone how I was “so into these guys before they were cool.”  What it DOES do is make you want to contribute to the cause.  Which I totally suggest you do.  There are physical copies of the CD available as well as it being available on iTunes.  Go take a listen to it, download the whole thing and if you like it, send the guys $5 (I’ll bet £5 or €5 would make them happier ’cause it’s worth more than the dollar right now).  They’re being totally forward thinking releasing their record for free, and I gotta say I really respect them for doing that.  Especially since the album is so fantastic.

Would somebody sign these guys already!? They're living on somebody's porch, and they're getting uncomfortable...

More proof that Schaffer wishes he were in Iron Maiden...

Iced Earth – The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part II
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Band Website: http://www.icedearth.com
Label: SPV Records

When I finally got my hands on a promotional copy of this record I was very excited because of the obvious news that tinges this record: the return of the mighty Matt Barlow to the Iced Earth fold! As everyone knows, it’s very hard to stay out of music and I’m pretty sure that Barlow’s experiences in the horribly silly cop band that he was in probably increased his desire to keep doing professional vocals. When he surfaced again in Pyramaze in 2006 I was convinced that he would be back to the fold eventually–thankfully I was right. Barlow is back and Iced Earth is restored.. sort of.

The Crucible of Man is a tour de force for this, the face of American power metal around the world. Let’s start with the strengths of this record–the first, and most noticeable difference from the first record in this series (and earlier singles) is the power of the production. Much fuller and thicker, Schaffer managed to avoid the thin, sterile and lifeless production that haunted the first of these two albums (plus, the thin, sterile and lifeless voice that shrieked over the first record is also gone–bonus). However, not only is the production improved but the songwriting is distinctly un-Iced Earth-ish. In the past, when one thinks of Iced Earth, one thinks of stripped down thrash metal with soaring vocals and ripping riffs. These days, that is quite the opposite picture from the Iced Earth displayed on The Crucible of Man. This new Iced Earth is one of many layers, sometimes pounding together 4 or 5 guitar tracks with choirs, orchestrations and a sound that gets bigger and more epic with every moment. Schaffer once said that when he became a good song writer was when he realized that not every song needed to be epic–he seems to have backed away from this on The Crucible of Man.

Of course this brings us to the next, and most important aspect of any record: the songwriting. The Crucible of Man suffers from something that I don’t think anyone would’ve seen coming: a lack of really outstanding or memorable songs. In the past Iced Earth has been very capable of putting out a record with 5 or 6 kick ass tracks that would stick into your memory and haunt your sleep. Sure, there was some filler and some of the worst ballads that anyone has ever heard–but Schaffer had a way of writing memorable, kick ass tracks. This whole album flows really well, from the opening choir track to the epilogue, every song works well with the next–but none of them really stick with you. After my third listen through I was surprised to notice that I really hadn’t hooked on to any one moment throughout the album–except in the track “Something Wicked (Part 3)”, wherein they recapitulate a riff from the original trilogy. The one song I had really noticed was the penultimate track, but that was only for it’s absolute 80s buttrock cheese (possibly one of the worst songs Schaffer has ever produced).. that’s not the best sign.

I think there are two things going on with this–first; Schaffer was tied up mentally when he was writing. He was tied up in telling a story that might well have been just too large for him, and secondly it seems like vocally he was still writing for Ripper Owens which is a major weakness. Barlow’s strength is his personality, not his voice. His voice is great, but all the chorus choirs (which filled out Ripper’s thin vocals) actually detract from the strength and sheer force of Barlow’s tremendous vocals. Now I don’t have a window into how they used to write in Iced Earth, but I was always under the impression that there was a teamwork aspect to things between Barlow and Schaffer, something that doesn’t really seem to exist on this record.

However, of course, in the end the strength of Barlow’s voice and the epic lengths to which this record goes really do overpower the weaknesses. While maybe IE is beginning to sound a bit more like Demons & Wizards than the Iced Earth we remember (given all the chorus choirs), there are still the strengths of a good thrashy IE record–despite the weight of the project nearly snapping the writing. Because the album flows so well, it takes the edge off the lack of super memorable songs, and you can tell that these guys are working their way back to true form. With Barlow back in the fold and hopefully back in the writing process for the next album–I expect to see an amazing record for the next one. I simply wonder if the sheer scope and size of this massive undertaking wasn’t too much for Schaffer, who is a bit of a one trick pony when it comes to songwriting. All-in-all The Crucible of Man doesn’t disappoint–but it doesn’t exactly blow one away either.