Post by GL on Dec 31, 2010 15:22:10 GMT -5
Modern Heavy Metal-This one was quite possibly the hardest one to rank, as there were several almost-could’ve-been-placed albums in here, and that’s a fair sign of the amount of quality in the scene at the moment. Overall, I feel good about this one and in the coming weeks, maybe I’ll slide out a few at the back for a couple I missed that’ve been growing on me, so this listing could change by February or March, but at the moment, I feel good about this, and I expect this to only get harder to rank at this time next year, so this is looking to be a good time for this genre that’ll hopefully flourish nicely.
10. Levi/Werstler-Avalanche of Worms
Instrumental albums are usually very hit-and-miss, and this one is no exception. The guitar team from modern-metal hopefuls Daath certainly hasn’t made an all-time great here, as this is just so left-of-center sounding that it’s quite hard to imagine how this would play out with vocals, a defining moment of true instrumental metal, but yet here the various combinations thrown together, from Progressive, Heavy Metal, Avant-Garde, Classical, Jazz and experimentalism to varying heights of success along the way. Several songs are more traditional metal-sounding and offer up an easier access road, while others tend to favor the uniqueness not often associated with the genre and can tend to make the album feel much longer than it really is. All in all, it’s not a terrible album, but a rather hard one at times to undergo despite the fact that it’s amazingly performed and quite effective display of virtuoso playing.
9. Living Sacrifice-The Infinite Order
A bit thrashier version of Metalcore to be found elsewhere on the list, this one was a really unexpected entry that I didn’t think would hold up throughout the year, but eventually it kept growing enough to make the list. With a great brand of Thrash-infused riffing, dynamic drumming and a gruff but still decipherable set of vocals, they’re nothing special but it’s still about how to make that into listenable music, and they do a fine job here. Some of the tracks do come off a bit in the same-y sense, and a few of them could’ve been dropped as they have that filler-only tag stamped all across them, but their better songs are still quite good and that makes them pretty enjoyable at times, but not nearly so to put them higher.
8. Raunchy-A Discord Electric
Frankly, they were bound to disappoint after such an impressive run, and it’s all thanks to one utterly terrible song that had no business being put out by a band who should’ve known better. There are a few other mediocre tracks here, but thankfully, the one I posted isn’t those songs but an example of their better material, which is simple keyboard-infused modern metal with an adherence to melodic choruses that are insanely memorable and quite catchy. It’s far more indicative of their style and are what make them so enjoyable to begin with. Let’s hope this was an aberration and not their current trend.
7. Soulfly-Omen
A bit of a step-back after the full-throttle rampage of their last album that won me over so well, this one is still a perfect example of the aggressive, go-for-the-throat side of the band on a rampage. Managing to maintain the aggression of his former glory days while not tempted to stay rooted there, instead offering to deliver the violence in shorter bursts. This leads to plenty of fun where it’s allowed free reign, but often times sounds like repetitious retreads of the past, and while that’s where he’s obviously content this time, it’s hard not to be curious where they’d be if he really returned to his roots and brought what made him famous in the past to his new project, but that’s not something to weigh an album against, especially one as hard-hitting and vicious as this one. They’re on a roll now, I’d like to see where this goes.
6. Dagoba-Poseidon
Quite possibly the French version of Fear Factory just without the experience and obsession with cybernetics, these guys are an impressive act despite being around for awhile. From the operatic clean-singing, the growling verses, airy, open-ending guitar riffing, precision drumming and a serious attention to distinguishing their songs from each other, they’ve managed to go leaps and bounds above their previous works yet still keeping all those elements present. Perhaps the lack of many of the epics that appeared on the past, this one managing to keep things a little shorter makes it seem like its over far too soon, which could be considered a complaint, but when the music is this good, it’s hard not to enjoy it.
5. Enemy of the Sun-Caedium
Idiotically labeling themselves Progressive/Thrash with Death/Black influences (no, literally, I can’t make that up), there’s very little evidence to think these guys are anything other than a straight-up melodically-infused Thrash Metal with the more modern modus operandi of growling over the verses and clean singing on the chorus, almost effectively called Metalcore though other elements come into play. With a series of big hooks, adrenaline-charged thrash grooves, and a virtual potpourri of music styles woven into the arrangements, with a distinct individuality from the effortless way it mixes in Flamenco acoustic touches and Middle Eastern runs into the mix before going back to the Thrashing madness, right-in-your-face drumming and impressive singing make this a surprisingly promising back in the future.
4. Heaven Shall Burn-Invictus
One of the best acts to come from Germany in a long time, these guys are just a machine at this point, cranking out some of the best Death Metal-influenced Industrial metal at the moment. Utterly damaging drum work is the keypoint here, but there’s much more to this band at this point, from razor-edged riffs, caustic vocals that make their poignant lyrics all the more destructive, and an overall air of catchiness permeates through the chaos, making this one of the better bands to keep an eye on in the future.
3. As I Lay Dying-The Powerless Rise
Easily an example of a band not really doing anything innovative but just doing an awesome job within their chosen genre, these guys have gradually improved and impressed me due to that. Dropping a lot of their earlier ‘core’ elements in the breakdowns and letting the ‘metal’ found rise to the surface, they’ve gotten faster, more listenable and enjoyable, rising from a guilty pleasure act into a rather solid act. Putting the guitars right up front was a bold choice, making it one of the more effective displays of their style, launching into catchy riffs or melodic breakdowns every now and then, backed up with an excellent drum performance and a better overall vocal performance, relying more on screams than clean-singing throughout much of the album, and while the back-and-forth/call-and-response method is still employed here, it’s fairly tasteful and effective. Should they continue to grow like this, the future looks real bright.
2. All That Remains-For We Are Many
Quite possibly one of the best bands to spring up this decade, gotten more and more impressive with every release, and have now unleashed perhaps their best, if not most certainly their most brutal effort to date. Bristling with many of the metalcore trademarks of growling verse vocals/clean chorus singing, thrash-infused riffs over a pummeling rhythm section, these guys are just about at the peak of the expression due to a welcomed inclusion of classic metal riffs and guitar-hero soloing, whereas many of their forbearers are content with rhythm only. It also helps that just about all the performers are at the top of their class respectively, as the clean-vocals are soaring and melodic while the growls are so far removed from the Death-Metal realm it still retains a sense of decipherability, vice-tight drumming, crunchy and memorable basswork and stand-out guitar pyrotechnics make this a band to lead the genre for years to come.
1. Fear Factory-Mechanize
Now, if in the world of Metal we get reunions like this, it should be mandatory for any act over five years in existence should split up and then come together again, since this here is a prime example of a band at their peak releasing material that showcased how they got there in the first place. The cold, cyber-like keyboards, the pummeling, brutally-industrial guitars, technically-precise drumming and an overall approach that seems to flavor the extreme as well as the utterly memorable and catchy feel and flow of the material feels like the band never broke up at all and just went into an extended hibernation as they focused on side projects, took a few elements from them back to the mother project and launched it again without missing a beat. It all fits like a glove and makes this more than a nostalgia trip, it’s also one of the most punishing records recorded this year.
10. Levi/Werstler-Avalanche of Worms
Instrumental albums are usually very hit-and-miss, and this one is no exception. The guitar team from modern-metal hopefuls Daath certainly hasn’t made an all-time great here, as this is just so left-of-center sounding that it’s quite hard to imagine how this would play out with vocals, a defining moment of true instrumental metal, but yet here the various combinations thrown together, from Progressive, Heavy Metal, Avant-Garde, Classical, Jazz and experimentalism to varying heights of success along the way. Several songs are more traditional metal-sounding and offer up an easier access road, while others tend to favor the uniqueness not often associated with the genre and can tend to make the album feel much longer than it really is. All in all, it’s not a terrible album, but a rather hard one at times to undergo despite the fact that it’s amazingly performed and quite effective display of virtuoso playing.
9. Living Sacrifice-The Infinite Order
A bit thrashier version of Metalcore to be found elsewhere on the list, this one was a really unexpected entry that I didn’t think would hold up throughout the year, but eventually it kept growing enough to make the list. With a great brand of Thrash-infused riffing, dynamic drumming and a gruff but still decipherable set of vocals, they’re nothing special but it’s still about how to make that into listenable music, and they do a fine job here. Some of the tracks do come off a bit in the same-y sense, and a few of them could’ve been dropped as they have that filler-only tag stamped all across them, but their better songs are still quite good and that makes them pretty enjoyable at times, but not nearly so to put them higher.
8. Raunchy-A Discord Electric
Frankly, they were bound to disappoint after such an impressive run, and it’s all thanks to one utterly terrible song that had no business being put out by a band who should’ve known better. There are a few other mediocre tracks here, but thankfully, the one I posted isn’t those songs but an example of their better material, which is simple keyboard-infused modern metal with an adherence to melodic choruses that are insanely memorable and quite catchy. It’s far more indicative of their style and are what make them so enjoyable to begin with. Let’s hope this was an aberration and not their current trend.
7. Soulfly-Omen
A bit of a step-back after the full-throttle rampage of their last album that won me over so well, this one is still a perfect example of the aggressive, go-for-the-throat side of the band on a rampage. Managing to maintain the aggression of his former glory days while not tempted to stay rooted there, instead offering to deliver the violence in shorter bursts. This leads to plenty of fun where it’s allowed free reign, but often times sounds like repetitious retreads of the past, and while that’s where he’s obviously content this time, it’s hard not to be curious where they’d be if he really returned to his roots and brought what made him famous in the past to his new project, but that’s not something to weigh an album against, especially one as hard-hitting and vicious as this one. They’re on a roll now, I’d like to see where this goes.
6. Dagoba-Poseidon
Quite possibly the French version of Fear Factory just without the experience and obsession with cybernetics, these guys are an impressive act despite being around for awhile. From the operatic clean-singing, the growling verses, airy, open-ending guitar riffing, precision drumming and a serious attention to distinguishing their songs from each other, they’ve managed to go leaps and bounds above their previous works yet still keeping all those elements present. Perhaps the lack of many of the epics that appeared on the past, this one managing to keep things a little shorter makes it seem like its over far too soon, which could be considered a complaint, but when the music is this good, it’s hard not to enjoy it.
5. Enemy of the Sun-Caedium
Idiotically labeling themselves Progressive/Thrash with Death/Black influences (no, literally, I can’t make that up), there’s very little evidence to think these guys are anything other than a straight-up melodically-infused Thrash Metal with the more modern modus operandi of growling over the verses and clean singing on the chorus, almost effectively called Metalcore though other elements come into play. With a series of big hooks, adrenaline-charged thrash grooves, and a virtual potpourri of music styles woven into the arrangements, with a distinct individuality from the effortless way it mixes in Flamenco acoustic touches and Middle Eastern runs into the mix before going back to the Thrashing madness, right-in-your-face drumming and impressive singing make this a surprisingly promising back in the future.
4. Heaven Shall Burn-Invictus
One of the best acts to come from Germany in a long time, these guys are just a machine at this point, cranking out some of the best Death Metal-influenced Industrial metal at the moment. Utterly damaging drum work is the keypoint here, but there’s much more to this band at this point, from razor-edged riffs, caustic vocals that make their poignant lyrics all the more destructive, and an overall air of catchiness permeates through the chaos, making this one of the better bands to keep an eye on in the future.
3. As I Lay Dying-The Powerless Rise
Easily an example of a band not really doing anything innovative but just doing an awesome job within their chosen genre, these guys have gradually improved and impressed me due to that. Dropping a lot of their earlier ‘core’ elements in the breakdowns and letting the ‘metal’ found rise to the surface, they’ve gotten faster, more listenable and enjoyable, rising from a guilty pleasure act into a rather solid act. Putting the guitars right up front was a bold choice, making it one of the more effective displays of their style, launching into catchy riffs or melodic breakdowns every now and then, backed up with an excellent drum performance and a better overall vocal performance, relying more on screams than clean-singing throughout much of the album, and while the back-and-forth/call-and-response method is still employed here, it’s fairly tasteful and effective. Should they continue to grow like this, the future looks real bright.
2. All That Remains-For We Are Many
Quite possibly one of the best bands to spring up this decade, gotten more and more impressive with every release, and have now unleashed perhaps their best, if not most certainly their most brutal effort to date. Bristling with many of the metalcore trademarks of growling verse vocals/clean chorus singing, thrash-infused riffs over a pummeling rhythm section, these guys are just about at the peak of the expression due to a welcomed inclusion of classic metal riffs and guitar-hero soloing, whereas many of their forbearers are content with rhythm only. It also helps that just about all the performers are at the top of their class respectively, as the clean-vocals are soaring and melodic while the growls are so far removed from the Death-Metal realm it still retains a sense of decipherability, vice-tight drumming, crunchy and memorable basswork and stand-out guitar pyrotechnics make this a band to lead the genre for years to come.
1. Fear Factory-Mechanize
Now, if in the world of Metal we get reunions like this, it should be mandatory for any act over five years in existence should split up and then come together again, since this here is a prime example of a band at their peak releasing material that showcased how they got there in the first place. The cold, cyber-like keyboards, the pummeling, brutally-industrial guitars, technically-precise drumming and an overall approach that seems to flavor the extreme as well as the utterly memorable and catchy feel and flow of the material feels like the band never broke up at all and just went into an extended hibernation as they focused on side projects, took a few elements from them back to the mother project and launched it again without missing a beat. It all fits like a glove and makes this more than a nostalgia trip, it’s also one of the most punishing records recorded this year.