I was looking through my last post, and I saw that I mispelled "Pantera" as "Panera," which is really funny. In an totally unrelated Pantera note, I watched some old "Beavis and Butthead" episodes the other day, and there was a funny Pantera video. Beavis and Butthead looved Pantera. Beavis goes on a long riff about how "Pantera's dad must have really kicked his ass. . . DON'T TALK LIKE THAT TO YOUR SISTER PANTERA! TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE PANTERA!"
Mike Judge is a genius.
While I'm all full of metal, I thought I'd list my ten favorite favorite metal bands. I'm kinda thinking through my "metal triad" idea, and I thought it'd be fun. Also, lists are fun. Well, they are fun to make anyway. . .
1. Slayer- definately on the METAL part of the triad. In fact, they pretty much define the METAL part of the triad. Atonal, brutal thrash metal with lyrics about murder, war, and Satan. Intense enough to fool people who don't know better that it's death metal, but it really, really isn't. It's as dense and brutal as that, but not quite the same thing.
Slayer is kinda like blues. They do variations of the same thing every time, but they put enough new spin on it to make it new. And nobody has more raw brutality in their sound as Slayer. This is mostly because they have a really, really, great drummer (Dave Lombardo) who can accent a beat in ways that are uncomfortable and exciting instead of the typical Death Metal bludgeon fest.
Bludgioning is okay too, but it's less cool that what Dave Lombardo does.
2. Mastodon- Metal with punk sprinkles. Sludgy wads of racket mixed with proggy bombast. Bottomless waves of cool. And another GREAT Drummer. Braun Daillor seems to be playing drum rolls all the time, which is generally a stupid idea, but he's Braun Daillor, so it works fine.
3. Pig Destroyer- punk metal with METAL sprinkles. Imagine having someone drill a hole in the back of your head while they sexually molest you. That's kinda the effect these guys are going for. RAAAAAAAAAAOORODOOAOAOEODOOAOOEO!!!!!!!!!!!!
On a more serious note, the guitar dude from this band, Scott Hull, has several grindcore bands he's been associated with over the years, most of which have heavy "obvoxious prank" overtures, but this is his "serious band." It's pretty scary sounding stuff. Completely great. They don't tour much, as Scott Hull has a day job. I really wish they'd get out to Iowa.
4. Entombed- METAL with odd flirtations with everything you can imagine. Hyper influential Swedish Death Metal band that started when the dudes were teenagers and has gone on to a long, diverse career. Some of the detours they've made haven't really been particularly productive, but their best stuff is as good as it gets. Their first three records are as good as Metallica's first three records.
5. Emporer- METAL. Norweigan black metal at its best. Sounds like a jackhammer at first, but sounds like a symphony when you get used to it.
6. Meshuggah- METAL. Complicated experiements with time signatures with convoluted lyrics about humanity merging with technology played with the greatest possible brutality. "DETROY ERASE IMPROOVVEE!!!"
One of my intellectual interests is postmodern science studies. Meshuggah is kinda interested in the same things I am, but they yell a lot.
Also, they play detuned EIGHT STRING guitars. Roar.
7. Metallica- METAL with mainstream metal sprinkles- thrash metal that evolved into mainsteam metal/alternative rock. There first three albums are essential. After that, the records got spottier while they flirted with mainstream rock. I'm not in the "those fucker's sold out" camp actually. I think it's fine that they fooled around with alternative rock and classic rock since I get the idea that they sincerely like that stuff, and they had kinda defined a certain school of proggy thrash metal during the eighties. After you make "Master of Puppets," you gotta branch out. I'm really glad that they made "Death Magnetic" though. James Hetfield's vocal melodies are underrated, and the new record really shows off the best of the "more sophicated songwritery" side with some good old thrash metal kicks.
"Load" really is pretty bad though. I liked it when it came out for some reason. I do rather like "Until it Sleeps," although it's be better if Chris Cornell sang it.
8. Satyricon- METAL. Old school Norweigian black metal that evolved into a groovier mainsteam meatl band.
9. Cephalic Carnage- punk metal/ METAL- These guys are really, really brutal and heavy, but really, really funny. You can't ever tell what's serious and what's goofy, but it's all fun. And really, really heavy.
10. I'll save this spot for the progressive U.S. black metal underground. Wolves in the Throne Room, Xasthur, and Nachtmystium are pretty much where it's at right now. Really, really smart guys playing atmospheric, staticy music that is oddly pretty.
Wolves in the Throne Room have one of the more intelletent and serious takes on religion and neo-Paganism in metal. Lots of bands sing about that stuff, but these guys are worth taking a little more seriously. Their music is really pretty if you are used to black metal.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Metal RAAAAOOORRR!!!!
Went to see Mastodon, Dethklock, High on Fire, and Converge a couple of weeks ago in De Moines.
That's a pretty badass lineup. About as good as any I can think of. Until that Slayer/Meshuggah/Emporer/Gorgoroth/Dillinger Escape Plan tour gets off the ground I'll have to consider this a pretty ideal metal show. 'Bout as good as it gets in fact. For real ya'll.
Converge is a respected extreme hardcore/deathgrind (although people who are really into grindcore don't think so)/metalcore band who are on a hot streak right now. There new recored is the best reviewed album on metacritic right now. A great band. Basically a metal band playing hardcore punk and screaming through a distortion pedal. Takes skill to keep that interesting for an hour. They kept it interesting. Lots of neat texture, lots of gut level force, lots of energy.
They did THIS for an hour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utT0lLC6d5Q
High on Fire sounds like Motorhead wearing battle armor. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89h-X-tZa_w
Mastodon sounds like force of nature. It's so knarled and intricate, but the loud metal sludginess of it keeps you from being able to hear everything. And Braun Daillor makes the drums sound like they are exploding. A great, great band. You can certainly play "spot the influence" when their records (there's a dash of Iron Maiden there. . . a little Neorsis there. . . ) but nobody sounds like Mastodon. They really do sound like some kind of organic monster metal.
They played their new record (a concept album about Braun's sister's suicide, Bill's head injury, and Rasputin) straight through while they projected pictures of stars and monsters on a giant screen behind them. It was totally awe inspiring and oddly poigniant. I've been in the tank for those guys for a while now, but I'm pretty much a fanboy geek now. Godalmightydamn. They are something special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCnHLJDInE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKfDDzVgiXY
Dethklock was awesome and silly. We laughed, we yelled, we threw up Devil horns. They were sort of the headliners, but they were really more like dessert after the more substantial (if less accessable) band that came before them. They really are very good though. You want to see a really funny show from a really good death metal band, go see 'em.
Then we staggered outside and went and ate eggs. A great evening.
P.S. One of the funny things about metal is that it's all subgenre-ed up to the point where the vast majority of people who like extreme music are weirdly narrow minded.
Which lead me to my metal triangle theory. . . . . .
There's sort of three groups. There are the METAL genres (black metal, death metal, thrash, Doom Metal), the punk genres (grindcore, metalcore, extreme noise music, whatever Converge is, math metal), and the mainstream extreme metal (alternative metal, metalcore, power metal, melodic death metal).
People tend to gravitate toward one or two of those groups. Not all three. Most bands fit somewhere between two of those categories. A few bands do actually manage to be all three. Sepultura was an alt metal band with strong death metal roots and they played a lot of hardcore punk inspired music. But most metal fits them categories. Slayer is METAL. Mastodon is METAL with some punk sprinkles. High on Fire is METAL. Metalica is METAL with mainstream sprinkles. Naplam death is punk metal with METAL sprinkles. Pig Destoryer is punk metal, as are all of Scott Hull's bands. Trivium is mainstream extreme Metal. Underoath is mainstream extreme metal.
I'm METAL/punk guy. I like old school death metal, black metal, and extreme noise music. For the most part, I think metal that has mainstreamness is shitty. That doesn't mean metal can't have melody, but I like songs about Satan, Vikings, or sex criminals. I don't care about your problems with your parents or your girlfriend and I don't care about how tough you are. I really really don't. Some bands are good enough to transcend the category they fit in. Panera is pretty much mainstream extreme music with METAL sprinkles (alt-metal with thrashy guitar playing and more aggressive than usual singing), but they were very, very good. Not GREAT in my book, but they certainly were orinical, and nobody can begrudge Dimebag's guitar playing.
My preference for the more extreme end of the stick means that I don't really need a big metal collection to be happy. I've got a smattering of the classic Norweigian Black Metal records, so I don't need much more from that genre in my record collection. Although do I have completely unreasonable enthusiasm for the genre, so I'll pick up one every now and then when I'm in a decent record store. (re: when I'm in Atlanta or Lexington). I LOVE old school death metal, but really, how much does anybody need? I've got some Entombed records, some Celtic Frost, and a few complilations. That's about as much as any sane person needs.
And I LOVE that genre.
We won't even get into grindcore. If you've got "Scum" and an agraphobic Nosebleed record you've got the general idea.
And I really like grindcore.
The reason I'm on about this is that Mastodon and Dethklock attract a contingent of really hardcore METAL people who hated Converge and have managed to post lots of nasty comments all over the converge videos on youtube, which is mostly funny, actually, but it's odd. These people come to see a BAND THAT WAS CREATED TO PLAY THE SOUNDTRACK FOR A CARTOON and get all indignant about the "mainstream emo shit" that Converge (who are way over on the punk side of metal) played.
People I ask you, does this sound wimpy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIB9Cai5kZ4&feature=related
Now, for some poeple it'll sound annoying, but for the love of God, they're doing it AS HARD AS THEY CAN!!!!!!!!!
They can do it pretty hard by the way.
Of course, I would be writing bitchy comments all over the place if I had to sit through Trivium to see Slayer or somebody.
That's a pretty badass lineup. About as good as any I can think of. Until that Slayer/Meshuggah/Emporer/Gorgoroth/Dillinger Escape Plan tour gets off the ground I'll have to consider this a pretty ideal metal show. 'Bout as good as it gets in fact. For real ya'll.
Converge is a respected extreme hardcore/deathgrind (although people who are really into grindcore don't think so)/metalcore band who are on a hot streak right now. There new recored is the best reviewed album on metacritic right now. A great band. Basically a metal band playing hardcore punk and screaming through a distortion pedal. Takes skill to keep that interesting for an hour. They kept it interesting. Lots of neat texture, lots of gut level force, lots of energy.
They did THIS for an hour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utT0lLC6d5Q
High on Fire sounds like Motorhead wearing battle armor. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89h-X-tZa_w
Mastodon sounds like force of nature. It's so knarled and intricate, but the loud metal sludginess of it keeps you from being able to hear everything. And Braun Daillor makes the drums sound like they are exploding. A great, great band. You can certainly play "spot the influence" when their records (there's a dash of Iron Maiden there. . . a little Neorsis there. . . ) but nobody sounds like Mastodon. They really do sound like some kind of organic monster metal.
They played their new record (a concept album about Braun's sister's suicide, Bill's head injury, and Rasputin) straight through while they projected pictures of stars and monsters on a giant screen behind them. It was totally awe inspiring and oddly poigniant. I've been in the tank for those guys for a while now, but I'm pretty much a fanboy geek now. Godalmightydamn. They are something special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCnHLJDInE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKfDDzVgiXY
Dethklock was awesome and silly. We laughed, we yelled, we threw up Devil horns. They were sort of the headliners, but they were really more like dessert after the more substantial (if less accessable) band that came before them. They really are very good though. You want to see a really funny show from a really good death metal band, go see 'em.
Then we staggered outside and went and ate eggs. A great evening.
P.S. One of the funny things about metal is that it's all subgenre-ed up to the point where the vast majority of people who like extreme music are weirdly narrow minded.
Which lead me to my metal triangle theory. . . . . .
There's sort of three groups. There are the METAL genres (black metal, death metal, thrash, Doom Metal), the punk genres (grindcore, metalcore, extreme noise music, whatever Converge is, math metal), and the mainstream extreme metal (alternative metal, metalcore, power metal, melodic death metal).
People tend to gravitate toward one or two of those groups. Not all three. Most bands fit somewhere between two of those categories. A few bands do actually manage to be all three. Sepultura was an alt metal band with strong death metal roots and they played a lot of hardcore punk inspired music. But most metal fits them categories. Slayer is METAL. Mastodon is METAL with some punk sprinkles. High on Fire is METAL. Metalica is METAL with mainstream sprinkles. Naplam death is punk metal with METAL sprinkles. Pig Destoryer is punk metal, as are all of Scott Hull's bands. Trivium is mainstream extreme Metal. Underoath is mainstream extreme metal.
I'm METAL/punk guy. I like old school death metal, black metal, and extreme noise music. For the most part, I think metal that has mainstreamness is shitty. That doesn't mean metal can't have melody, but I like songs about Satan, Vikings, or sex criminals. I don't care about your problems with your parents or your girlfriend and I don't care about how tough you are. I really really don't. Some bands are good enough to transcend the category they fit in. Panera is pretty much mainstream extreme music with METAL sprinkles (alt-metal with thrashy guitar playing and more aggressive than usual singing), but they were very, very good. Not GREAT in my book, but they certainly were orinical, and nobody can begrudge Dimebag's guitar playing.
My preference for the more extreme end of the stick means that I don't really need a big metal collection to be happy. I've got a smattering of the classic Norweigian Black Metal records, so I don't need much more from that genre in my record collection. Although do I have completely unreasonable enthusiasm for the genre, so I'll pick up one every now and then when I'm in a decent record store. (re: when I'm in Atlanta or Lexington). I LOVE old school death metal, but really, how much does anybody need? I've got some Entombed records, some Celtic Frost, and a few complilations. That's about as much as any sane person needs.
And I LOVE that genre.
We won't even get into grindcore. If you've got "Scum" and an agraphobic Nosebleed record you've got the general idea.
And I really like grindcore.
The reason I'm on about this is that Mastodon and Dethklock attract a contingent of really hardcore METAL people who hated Converge and have managed to post lots of nasty comments all over the converge videos on youtube, which is mostly funny, actually, but it's odd. These people come to see a BAND THAT WAS CREATED TO PLAY THE SOUNDTRACK FOR A CARTOON and get all indignant about the "mainstream emo shit" that Converge (who are way over on the punk side of metal) played.
People I ask you, does this sound wimpy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIB9Cai5kZ4&feature=related
Now, for some poeple it'll sound annoying, but for the love of God, they're doing it AS HARD AS THEY CAN!!!!!!!!!
They can do it pretty hard by the way.
Of course, I would be writing bitchy comments all over the place if I had to sit through Trivium to see Slayer or somebody.
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