“At 40 years young, Judas Priest’s sophomore record Sad Wings Of Destiny is about as Olde as Yer Metal can get. As metal music is now a complex, deliberately inaccessible web of micro-genres, I can see how the average metalhead today might have a hard time relating to a record like Sad Wings. And though it shames me to say it, it took me a while myself.” This here is a true classic.
“I’m not the staff member you’d expect to write a retrospective on Symbolic, or any other Death release for that matter. When Chuck Schuldinger died and took the golden age of death metal with him, I was six years old and had no concept of what a riff was, could never experience the bizarre fun-house mirror that was ’90s metal as it happened.” Timeless albums care not about age.
“The passage of time can seem like it’s moving so fucking fast that its almost surreal when sorting through candidates for the Yer Metal is Olde feature, and then suddenly realizing a significant album has crept up to a milestone anniversary which cannot be ignored. Such was the case when it dawned on me that Meshuggah’s groundbreaking sophomore classic Destroy Erase Improve celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015.” Some things can be destroyed, but not improved.
“As a burgeoning metalhead, I was stuck between three worlds: the moshability of hardcore, the relentless speed and savagery of death metal, and the morose, downtrodden danciness of goth music.” And then Demanufacture happened.
A loving retrospective on Dissection’s classic opus is long overdue, and here it is, with love and fanboyism galore. One of those special albums that needs no introduction…. is olde.
“”Spirituality” is a word that causes many people to assume the focus of the coming conversation will be one of a religious context. But I find the word to be broader than that (so does Webster’s Dictionary).” And this old chestnut has a lot of spirit.
Yer Metal Is Olde is a recurring thing that we’re using to fill up space while we whip our new reviewers for reviews of new the material that we assigned them, but they can’t seem to figure out how to turn in on time. The idea was spurred on by the swath of amazing and classic records that are turning 10, 20, or 30 this year. It’s crazy to think that all the stuff that we worship is really as old as it is. Time moves quickly, but these classics never seem to lose their shine. Still, their enduring quality doesn’t change that your favorite metal is fucking old.
“Genre-defining albums don’t come along every day – or every year – so when they do pop up, it’s important to take note of them for future generations like me. When The Gallery saw release in 1995, so many moons ago, I was not really prepared to appreciate its artistry due to a preoccupation with jaundice.” Prepare for some yellow journalism.
“Drunk drivers fucking suck. On January 23, 1997, Acid Bath bassist Audie Pitre and his parents were killed by one who blew through a stop sign, ending one of the most creative sludge bands in the history of metal music, let alone in the New Orleans, Louisiana music scene. On a more personal note, it also ending one of my all-time favorite bands.” But at least there was a small silver lining.
“We all know about Entombed. One of the most important metal bands to have emerged from Sweden, the band defined and developed the “Stockholm” death metal sound by bringing together their hardcore punk influences with new ideas from the US and UK’s fledgling death metal scenes. We know this – it has been documented in countless interviews, retold in hundreds of magazine articles and even in a few books. So instead of repeating the story for the umpteenth time, I’m going to tell you why I don’t like this album.” Wait, what??
