When black metal was only a twinkle in the eye of the public, Darkthrone were… well, playing death metal under the name Black Death at the time. But in 1991, they changed their name and created the music we all know and love them for. With the release of their new album The Underground Resistance (out now on Peaceville Records), the dynamic duo continue to show the world what black metal is all about.
Clive Burr, Iron Maiden drummer from 1979 to 1982, may not have been in the band for a huge amount of time when you take into account how lengthy and successful their career has been, but you only need to look at the albums that came down during his tenure to see how much of an influence he has had on metalheads all over the world. That trifecta of Iron Maiden, Killers and The Number Of The Beast are some of the most important metal albums ever created and Burr’s signature drum sound is plastered all over them. The band released the following statement concerning his passing:
Hey everybody, it’s Shjon Thomas and Ryan Mattheu from The Deadstation! We’re a dystopian progressive metal band based out of Boston, MA. The awesome guys at Heavy Blog have given us the opportunity to write another article on whatever we wanted… so we put on our thinking caps and tried our hardest to narrow down the infinite possibilities to ONE idea.
We decided to list five bands that are, in our humble opinion, the FIVE MOST IMPORTANT bands in metal right now. These bands are the ones who are shaping metal music of the future, by kicking major ass in the present.
We have to reiterate though that this is just our opinion, and that we are not stating it as fact in any way! Everybody will have their own opinion on this subject, and they are all just as valid as ours.
In fact, why don’t you post YOUR list in the comment section below! We love to hear about what bands people are digging these days.
If you’re interested in checking out The Deadstation, you can download our free EP “Episode 01” here. It was mastered by the one and only Jens Bogren (Devin Townsend, Opeth, Katatonia)!
So anyways… here we go!
Eek! A mutant fern growth!
Nobody has really bothered to scribble about this topic, even though it is a pretty well known and widely acknowledged phenomenon, so Happy Metal Guy takes it upon himself to re-inform the masses why we all know worshiping Satan is for losers! Please bear in mind though, that Satan itself is not to be blamed for the huge levels of loserdom that will be made fun of in a while. Instead, the honor goes to the everyday “Satanic” black metal nerd who thinks he or she is too tr00, kvlt, and kool for Nintendo. Social stigma and limited appeal aside, Satanism is a religion much like any other mainstream religions, such as Christianity; and like any other religion, Satanism could do with followers with actual faith in its philosophy rather than dyslexic geeks whom simply scroll all the way to the bottom of the software license agreement and click ‘Agree’.
Lapko01. Dragons
02. Life Is Life
03. River Venom
04. Waves Are Crashing
05. Gallows
06. Friends Are Flowers
07. A Promise
08. Catcher
09. Girls Say Yes
10. Love Is Sick And Wrong
When searching for new music it is not always a good idea to pick something out on a whim. There are an endless amount of bands out there, making countless hours of music, and only so much can be worthwhile. However, when the bands you’ve fallen on for years and years continually let you down over the first quarter of a new year, sometimes the unknown is exactly what one needs to re-spark that energy and love of music that is so important to people in this line of work. Enter Lapko, a finnish alternative rock band whose latest release seemingly fell into my hands from thin air, as it were. I can’t recall who turned me onto them, but my disinterest in most things metal as of late propelled me to listen to their latest album, ΓΟΛΕ (henceforth referred to as LOVE), and it was the perfect thing for this cynical little man in a time of need.
My long suffering girlfriend thinks metal is ridiculous. It’s understandable — it’s not for everyone, it’s intentionally obtuse and she at least tolerates my hobby in small doses. All well and good but I can’t say I haven’t tried to show her how deep the rabbit hole really goes and, once in a blue moon, we make a bit of headway. One artist, in particular, that doesn’t incite instant derision is Devin Townsend, whether it be the subtle and delicate tones of ‘Feather‘ or the shuffling boogie of ‘Bad Devil‘. So naturally, I snapped up the chance to drag her along when Devin bought his Unplugged set to the unlikely destination of Bournemouth.
The Sound Circus is a hidden gem of a venue — small, intimate and, despite it’s unorthodox layout, a great place to host gigs like these. Everything fell into place nicely, the venue was packed but it didn’t feel busy, the atmosphere was incredibly chilled and the only real queue all night was the one to get in. With that in mind, the hour wait for Danny Cavanagh of Anathema was simply a minor inconvenience.
Armed only with a loop pedal and an acoustic guitar, Cavanagh opened with a soulful and heartfelt rendition of Iron Maiden‘s should’ve-been-a-balled ‘Wasted Years‘ before trawling through a set of Anathema classics, including a particularly potent version of ‘Flying‘ from A Natural Disaster. Making great use of the loop pedal as a makeshift drum machine, the entire performance flowed beautifully and was a great exercise in showing exactly how good a songwriter and musician Cavanagh really is. To close, a mass sing along (including the guitar solo) of Metallica‘s ‘Nothing Else Matters‘ set the tone for the night perfectly — calm, collected and still fun.
Natur
01. Head Of Death
02. The Messenger
03. Goblin Shark
04. Decion
05. The Servant
06. Vermin Rift
07. Spider Baby
08. Mutations In Maine
Some bands were just built for vinyl. They just exude an air of legitimate fascination for a simpler time when the only bands that mattered wore a uniform of denim and leather and every great album came packaged as either a gatefold vinyl complete with liner notes and gorgeous artwork or a cassette tape that would get magnetised simply by existing in the same post code as a fridge magnet. Natur are one of those bands — from the moment the distinctly cheesy wind sound effects of the title track kick through the speakers, you’d be justified in saying that the only thing missing from the listening experience is that distinctly warm vinyl fuzz.
Naglfar01. Téras
02. Pale Horse
03. III: Death Dimension Phantasma
04. The Monolith
05. An Extension Of His Arm And Will
06. Bring Out Your Dead
07. Come Perdition
08. Invoc(H)ate
09. The Dying Flame Of Existence
Black metal is a curious beast. I didn’t even think to delve into this misunderstood genre of metal until I heard Mayhem’s debut record and the most recent release from Krallice, which I reviewed. It really is more of an acquired taste; something that the palate must be prepped for. When I first discovered metal, I was into Metallica and Iron Maiden, not Dimmu Borgir and Burzum. However, when your first taste black metal on a palate that is prepared for it, you will receive a healthy, hearty, and heavy treat.
It would appear that here in sunny auld England that it is none other than national ‘No Smoking Day’, an event which I, as a non-smoker, have no interest in at all. But after spending an entire day surrounded by non-smokers re-educating me in great detail on the horrors of it and smokers rebelliously lighting up right next to them – well, I think I need a cigarette.
Thankfully though, Iron Maiden have got that covered for me. With a direct dosage of their sincerely epic NWOBHM, the band has released a live version of the ‘Blood Brothers‘ (from their classic 2000 comeback album Brave New World) taken from their upcoming live DVD En Vivo!, set to emerge later this month. En Vivo! was filmed last year in Chile, no doubt to capitalise on the rabid fanbase that the band has in South America, and contains a mixture of the bands latest work and some of their greatest hits, naturally. The world could probably get by without another live Iron Maiden DVD seeing as we get a new one every two to three years, but live is where their music really works and you, as a discerning metalhead, owe it to yourself to try and see them at least once because, even though you’re surrounded by thousands of people, it’s amazing how much of an intimate and brotherly atmosphere they manage to pull off. So grab your lighters and your mid-90′s ripped t-shirts and join in!
[via Metal Insider]
- DL
Christian Mistress01. Over and Over
02. Pentagram and Crucifix
03. Conviction
04. The Way Beyond
05. Possession
06. Black to Gold
07. There is Nowhere
08. Haunted Hunted
09. All Abandon
There’s nothing like revisiting classic albums that defined metal as it is today. For example, if you were getting into metal and you listened to Black Sabbath‘s eponymous debut, you’d have a real hard time believing it was released in 1970. Metal has definitely come a long way, but sometimes it’s just good to look back. Then you have bands like Christian Mistress, who bring the old style, and make it new again. Christian Mistress is a female-fronted stoner metal band who channel southern rock, classic Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Thin Lizzy to create a very traditional, yet unique taste on the stoner metal genre.
