What exactly defines music as “accessible”? Here on this blog, we thrive on the most niche of sounds. Dissonant black metal? Oh yeah, we got that for all 12 of you who love it. Epic funeral doom? Of course we have that, and we have it in 20, 30, 40,…
What is it about black metal that keeps us coming back? In the last few years, I’ve personally become a bigger and bigger fan of black metal. Anything blackened has my attention. There’s a certain artistry and aesthetic to it that calls me back. Atmosphere is a huge part of…
If there’s one thing the world needs more of, it’s blackened thrash. In some ways, it’s the original black metal sound. It’s chaotic and raucous, just like we all love our metal. However, it’s also overtly dark and evil sounding, a constant grind on your senses that still has its…
Not every band kills it with every release. A friend and I were recently discussing a question: how many bands can you think of that have 5 objectively good albums? It’s a tough question even if you get past the discussion of what qualifies as “objectively good.” Very few bands…
God, I love blackened thrash. Thrash metal always seems like it could be so evil. Just take Slayer to a logical end and BLAM! You got yourself a stew going, baby. It’s dark and riffy and evil and aggressive and just such a fun trip down an avenue you don’t…
Guys, I really tried with Anthrax. I fully intended to write a defense of Anthrax as a Big 4 band. Ask my girlfriend. Ask the editors. Ask anybody who lets me talk about the blog to them. I really wanted to do that. I had a great plan! I intentionally started the Testament column with “ANTHRAX SUX LOL” because I wanted to write, “And whoever that idiot was who said Anthrax sucks can go play in traffic!” It was going to be so great. Self-deprecating humor is disarming, even if total comment thread dopes can’t understand tongue-in-cheek humor via the written word.
I had listened to some Anthrax records before, so I had some idea of what I was in for. “Sure, there might be some stinkers here, but overall I’ll find what I need.” And then I started listening. And I kept listening. Fistful of Metal. Spreading the Disease. Among the Living. State of Euphoria. When I got to Persistence of Time, a thought occurred to me.
I still can’t defend Anthrax. I just can’t do it.
Few things in metal go together better than thrash and black. Black metal essentially evolved from thrash when the two were initially entwined in the first wave, and the second wave embraced some aspects of it via a full rejection of death metal as “fake”. While that may seem like an extremely subjective reason to disregard an entire group from your community, it did push the two subgenres closer together. Now we have a host of bands who combine these elements to push forth a new extreme metal, and Black Fast is doing a lot to bring the two ideas closer together.
Goatwhore might be the most metal band name in existence. I have a hard time imagining anyone hearing that name spoken in conversation and reacting in any other fashion outside of “oh, that must be a metal band. I’m leaving this conversation. What a bunch of nerds.” Sucks to be them, because they’re obviously missing out on some premium content. Straddling the worlds of death, black, and occult-oriented metal, Goatwhore are as difficult to categorize in this subgenre obsessed musical circle as they are to stop listening to. With musical output that is in equal measure intimidating, playful, heavy, and (dare I say it) fun, Goatwhore have carved for themselves a unique and immensely enjoyable niche in the world of metal. Vengeful Ascension does little to dispel this notion, as the band have here released another excellent album to add to an already solid discography.
Welcome back to our Taxonomy series, where we break down umbrella genres like progressive metal, post rock and doom metal and outline all of the progressions and subgenres that have matriculated over the past few decades. The dissection of thrash metal you’ll find below contains a detailed dissection of the most crucial genre in extreme metal style. Thrash led to incredible innovations over the years, and in turn, a multiplicity of styles has made its way back into the genre’s core traits to form some of the most forward thinking metal coming out today. Seriously, many of the bands mentioned below have released records less than a year ago, and in some cases, less than a month. There’s a ton of ground to cover here, so without further ado, let’s riff on some of the best thrash you can use to mosh in your bedroom.
Blackened thrash veterans Witchery are back, once again with significant line-up changes. These changes, thankfully, embellish the ethos which have made the band, in all their previous installments, vital in their respective field throughout the years. With new vocalist Angus Norder and drummer Christofer Barkensjö now in the fold, In His Infernal Majesty’s Service marks a new chapter in the band’s career, a chapter which sounds as ferocious, angry and evil as ever. It’s business as usual for the Scandinavians, and the horror-themed occultisms coupled with copious amounts of thrashing are all present and accounted for. No pretenses. No nonsense.
