Yer Metal Is Olde

Yer Metal is Olde: Carcass – Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious

Yer Metal is Olde: Carcass – Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious

“Few bands in extreme metal history are as respected and revered as Liverpool’s legendary Carcass. The trailblazing innovators and genre pioneers began their career in humble fashion as a scraggly trio of youths hell-bent on creating the most disgusting and reviled music the world had ever experienced.” Carcass nostalgia.

Yer Metal is Olde: Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time

Yer Metal is Olde: Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time

“A month ago, I wrote about my first-ever experience that opened the doorway to the wonderful world of metal music. Many of you wrote back about your first exposure. Today, I get the pleasure of inaugurating the album it came from into our hallowed Yer Metal is Olde! halls. I am, of course, talking about Somewhere in Time, the oft-maligned sixth full-length from Metal Gods Iron Maiden.” Timeless.

Yer Metal is Olde: Cryptopsy – None So Vile

Yer Metal is Olde: Cryptopsy – None So Vile

“The life of a metal drummer is one of near saintly asceticism. Your kit is about ten times heavier – and more expensive – than the six-strings that your guitarists snapped up off of craigslist. It breaks constantly and takes about half an hour to set up on stage, and while you’re busting your ass carting it around the rest of the band just loafs about because they’re too stupid to help set it up properly. And when you finally get to play it, nobody can see the intricacies of your cymbal work or the incredible sweatiness of your torso because a bunch of Rapunzely assholes are standing in front of you on stage. It would be a thankless task were it not for the dedicated few fans that really appreciate your craft. Kronos is such a fan.” The man loves a good beating.

Yer Metal Is Olde: Sodom – Obsessed by Cruelty

Yer Metal Is Olde: Sodom – Obsessed by Cruelty

“I’ve been prolonging the YMIO article for Sodom’s debut Obsessed by Cruelty for months now. All year I’ve been trying to come up with the words that would do it justice. What “justice” that may be depends on the listener’s perspective. To these ears, this thirty-year-old debut is one hot mess of an album. But now that Sodom’s newest release, Decision Day, is upon us, I find the courage to pull Obsessed from the stockades to give it another listen.” The obsession may be olde, but the sodomy still burns.

Yer Metal Is Olde! Anathema – Eternity

Yer Metal Is Olde! Anathema – Eternity

“Of thousands of metal bands, there are few that have changed as drastically as Anathema. First blazing trails as a death-doom band and party to the so-called ‘Peaceville Three,’ they underwent a softening into what can be described as doom or goth rock. Their deathy innards stripped away, this mid-era is what some regard as their strongest output given they retained their darkness and evocative atmosphere but with subtler music. Since the turn of the millennium they’ve mellowed yet further into an unusual but compelling amalgamation of alternative rock, airy prog and dreamy pop. I’m here today to discuss my favorite Anathema album, one from the mid-period: Eternity.” The evolution of sadness.

Yer Metal Is Olde! In Flames – The Jester Race

Yer Metal Is Olde! In Flames – The Jester Race

“So the comment I made on Grymm’s piece on losing your metal virginity may have been intentionally provocative. I resented the proposition that everyone distinctly remembers their first exposure to heavy metal as I do not: I’ve always been exposed to it so can’t recall a precise occasion. While this is true, and as I later conceded, the story is quite different with regard to extreme metal. The first death metal that I heard and loved which was itself derived from metal was The Jester Race by In Flames.” I remember now, I remember everything….

Yer Metal Is Olde: King Diamond – Fatal Portrait

Yer Metal Is Olde: King Diamond – Fatal Portrait

“Do you ever pop in an album that reminds you of a specific time or place in your life? There’s been a lot of talk of “first times” around here, but this is me with every album I ever buy. I remember where I was when I bought my first album as much as I remember where I was when I bought yesterday’s album. And I especially remember my first King Diamond album.” The King is olde but still bolde.

Yer Metal Is Olde: Morbid Angel – Blessed Are the Sick

Yer Metal Is Olde: Morbid Angel – Blessed Are the Sick

“Let’s go ahead and acknowledge this up front: of all the big-name old school death metal bands, Morbid Angel has arguably fared the worst. Sure, they had a few stumbles over the years – 1995’s Domination had some serious clunkers, and 2003’s Heretic was supposedly singlehandedly responsible for getting the group dropped from Earache – but the real deathblow came in 2011, with a little record called Illud Divinum Insanus.” Are you still morbid?

Yer Metal is Olde: Samael – Passage

Yer Metal is Olde: Samael – Passage

“1996 was a weird time for metal. That year many bands decided to abruptly switch logos on us, and whenever that happens, usually the music gets a lot more “creative” (i.e. tame) and a whole lot less metal. I remember seeing an ad for Samael’s Passage in an issue of Metal Maniacs and immediately got worried. Gone was the pentagram-infused logo and the Eric Vuille painting of Jesus with his crown of nails coming out of his head, and in their place was a logo that was fresh off of Microsoft Word and a picture of what appears to be the moon.” A bad moon was arising.

Yer Metal Is Olde! Voivod – Angel Rat

Yer Metal Is Olde! Voivod – Angel Rat

“Released just a few months after Metallica’s self-titled record, Angel Rat finds Voivod among the earliest adopters of the slower, stripped-down approach that most thrash bands took in the 1990s. The album could almost qualify for our ’90s Metal Weirdness column, except for the fact that Voivod have always been weird (and would get even weirder as the decade continued).” Let that freak flag fly!