10 Bands & Albums That Defined The Late 2000's Metal Scene For Me

Lately I've been on a nostalgia binge, listening to some specific bands from my late teens back in the years 2007-2009. The thing with my music listening is that I'm a "genre dweller" - I get in mood for a specific genre which I will listen to for a few months straight. I don't know why that is, but it's how my musical mind and cravings work since forever.

So why the late 2000's? It was a very special time with many unique experiences, dark as colorful ones. Without diving too deep into details, let's just say I was in my best teen years (17-19), playing in a band, havings fun with friends, seeing girls, playing video games and, of course, listening to a lot of metal. Naturally some bands just left a deeper mark than others, seeing as my music often works as a soundtrack for life.

This time period was also where I had finally left my comfort zone. Back in 2006 I was what I call an "ass-tight conservative metalhead", meaning I only listened to specific metal and/or bands. My thing was strictly sticking to 80's metal only. Mostly because it was, and still is, the number one metal sound I love and consume.

Another thing, however, was my distaste for modern metal during the 2000's. I just thought there were too many whiny emo bands and inseparable metalcore bands at that time. I ended up judging the entire metal scene for being that way. Around 2007 things started to change for me as some modern bands started to go more "old school" or "real metal". It opened my mind up to new bands and music that I had previously ditched.

With that said, here are 10 bands that defined the late 2000's for me, specifically the years 2007-2009, and what albums that I first discovered and/or loved the most by these bands respectively. Let's go!

• Machine Head

Album: The Blackening

As far as I can recall, Machine Head was probably the first modern metal band to help me break out of my conservative view on metal music. The funny thing about it, however, was that it wasn't their then-new album The Blackening that did it - it was their debut album Burn My Eyes. My love for Pantera at the time made me dig into the early Machine Head stuff, which later led me to their newer material.

My buddy Big D played The Blackening back at his place when I visited at some point and I noticed the thrashy riffing and great soloing. After that, I was hooked. The band as a whole has been kind of hit-or-miss for me, as I really can't stand their nu metal phase, but their early as well as latter day stuff is definitely something I'm a fan of.

• Cavalera Conspiracy

Album: Inflikted

I have fond memories of this project and release getting unleashed upon all of us. The much anticipated reunion between the Cavalera brothers was probably one of the biggest hypes of 2008. My buddy Big D and I, who were huge Cavalera-era Sepultura fans, were ecstatic about it. When the album's debut single "Sanctuary" dropped, I remember hitting play for the first time and we just lost our shit.

These days I can feel like this particular album, or even the project as a whole, maybe wasn't as good as I initially thought it was. The years haven't been as kind to it as it's been to lots of other releases from that era. Inflikted and Soulfly's Conquer were the last "Max Cavalera albums" I truly enjoyed. Ironically, however, the modern Sepultura has surpassed Max's projects during this decade, which is something I never thought would happen back in 2008.

• DragonForce

Album: Ultra Beatdown

I was probably one of very few people who never got into the whole Guitar Hero craze that strongly defined the mid-to-late 2000's. Nonetheless did I know DragonForce from that particular franchise. I don't recall much regarding of what I initially thought about them, but when I discovered the Ultra Beatdown in early 2009 I really fell for the video game-esque album art. I was hooked!

Sure, there were some cheese, wankery and other weird stuff going on in DragonForce's music at the time, but I kind of took a liking to their crazy-sounding Nintendo metal. I'm normally not a fan of power metal (except for Helloween), but something just works very well with DF for me. It's like a beam of pure energy that hits you up and gives you a kick. These days I am a pretty big fan of DF and I even like their current singer even more. The Ultra Beatdown, however, kind of remains a favorite album for me. Whether it's nostalgia speaking or not, I'm not quite sure of.

• Chimaira

Album: The Infection

I remember hearing Chimaira a few times throughout the mid-2000's as they were somewhat "more metal" than other bands in their genre. I agreed. It wasn't before 2009, however, when the band released their somewhat conflicting album The Infection that I truly took a liking to them. I remember playing the zombie game Left 4 Dead a lot at the time and I thought the album cover reminded me of the game (the music fitted well with the game as well).

I know some fans don't like this album all that much while others love it. It was too slow, too doomy and whatever for some people, but that's what I personally love about it. For me it's just the ultimate Chimaira album, even though I love most of their stuff except for the debut and, to some extent, also the last album Mark Hunter did with all-new members. A very heavy but also sadly overlooked/underrated band within the genre and scene at the time.

• Strapping Young Lad

Album: Alien

I loved few, if any, modern bands of the mid-2000's as much as I loved SYL. The extreme metal machine by mastermind Devin Townsend had it all - a mix of brutality, melody, atmosphere and humour. I sadly can't recall how I got into the band, but I suppose it was either through my buddy Big D or through Sweden Rock Magazine. When I first listened to Alien, which I'm fairly certain was the first album I heard, I just loved how crushing it sounded.

Throughout the years since I have continued to listen to this band a lot, as well as Devin Townsend's other endeavours. These days I tend to fancy their 1997 album City above all others, but SYL's 2000's material is still some of my favorite brutal metal of all time. It's just a shame that Devin's got bad feelings and memories about that time period in his life, as I think none of his other projects have been quite as kick-ass.

• Trivium

Album: Shogun

When Trivium burst out on the scene with their 2005 album Ascendancy, I was naturally one of those people who hated it (because I heard "Dying In Your Arms" and thought they were emo af). When I went to see Iron Maiden live in 2006 they had Trivium as their support act. Needless to say I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Unbeknownst to me, however, they had grown their hair out and just released The Crusade, from which album they mostly picked the songs off.

My concert experience with Trivium changed my mind and I found The Crusade to be quite a decent album, even though the Metallica plagiarism was painfully obvious. But when Shogun later dropped in 2008, things really hit the fan. The album was Trivum going for their equivalent to Machine Head's The Blackening, except with a possibly even better end result. I still love that album to this day and I just find it sad that none of their subsequent albums haven't been nearly as good in my opinion.

• Megadeth

Album: United Abominations

I was a huge Megadeth since my earliest days of becoming a metalhead but I always tended to stick to their earliest albums (Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying? always being the great favorite). Some of Megadeth's albums, however, always sounded rather mediocre to me, with their late 90's and early 2000's albums coming to mind in particular. The System Has Failed showed great promise but I always felt that Dave wasn't quite "there" yet. Something was still missing.

When United Abominations was coming out I remember being extremely hyped because the cover art looked kick-ass. I also remember hearing "Sleepwalker" some time before the album dropped, solidifying my hype as the much needed return-to-form for the band. The album was everything I wished for. The only downside was the unnecessary re-recording of "A Tout Le Monde". When the band followed up with Endgame in 2009 it was even cooler, but after that they would descend into mediocrity once more.

• Lamb of God

Album: Wrath

My buddy Alex got me into LoG back in 2008 because he was a big fan of Chris Adler's drumming style (which kind of makes the band in some ways). Since I was listening to a lot of Pantera at the time, the style of LoG's music was a natural fit for me. I remember being kind of lukewarm towards the 2006 effort Sacrament, which I still am to this day, but I really liked 2004's Ashes Of The Wake. Shortly after I started listening to the band, however, they announced Wrath which got me hyped.

I remember the album being marketed as being more "raw" and very aggressive (duh), which I didn't object against. I had a rough time the last few weeks before it dropped, being so hyped it drove me nuts. When the album finally landed on the shelf I went and bought it, played it and got my ass kicked. It became my favorite LoG album and it's managed to uphold that title ever since (VII: Sturm Und Drang came close, though).

• Devin Townsend Project

Album: Addicted

After listening to SYL for a few years I naturally followed Devin Townsend into his next project, which happened to be his as-of-now defunct Devin Townsend Project. I remember the project initially being intended for four different releases, with Ki being the first and later followed by Addicted, both in 2009. The former never did much for me. I know a lot of people love it, including by buddy Big D, but it's always been too mellow and too instrumental for my taste.

Addicted was a whole nother story. I remember my first few times listening to it, thinking about how it sounded as if SYL had become a pop band. I love 80's pop music and to my ears, Devin's music has always had some strange 80's "undertones" to it. I fell in love with the album except for one or two songs, but the good ones were really great. It remained my favorite DTP release until 2016's Transcendence, which is one of Devin's top-3 most fantastic outputs in my opinion.

• Dethklok

Album: Dethalbum II

It took me a long time before checking out Metalocalypse. By the time Dethalbum II arrived, I had only watched whatever scenes my buddy Big D had showed me. For two years, however, he had tried to get me into 2007's The Dethalbum but to little avail. I just didn't get the fuzz or like its production style/sound. The successor sounded a whole lot better production-wise and the songs appealed to me a whole lot more.

In a way I find my relationship to Dethklok's music a bit ironic. I didn't like the first album which so many people hyped and praised. The second album seemed to be not as well-embraced, but it was the one I got completely hooked to. Then a few years later the third album arrived, by which time I had watched the show dedicatedly, and I didn't really like that one either (the drums and guitars sounded thin and farty af). The third album also seemed to be more loved than the second one to me. For me, however, nothing comes close to Dethalbum II and it was a damn fine album in my opinion.

Another 7 Great Metal Records Of 2016

Some of you might have read my top-10 list of the best metal records of 2016, which I posted shortly before last year's end. In that article I mentioned how I haven't really dug too deep into the music released in 2016. Well, I certainly have done a lot of diggin' through last year's releases this year (so far) instead, and guess what - I did find some more great records!

So what I did with my top-10 list was that I chose an actual top-10, but I also mentioned quite a bunch of other records and why they didn't end up within the ten best. Because they were already mentioned (somewhere in the article) I won't include them again. Instead I will simply bunch together another seven great metal records, albeit in no particular order this time, all released in 2016.

I also feel like I could alter my top-10 of 2016 a bit, but I don't really want to or have the energy for it. Just enjoy an additional seven recommendations down below.

• Tarot - Reflections

Actually kind of more like 70's hard rock, but I'll let it pass as metal (it's got its heavier moments). I definitely feel this like some bastard child between Uriah Heep and Manilla Road, but also with sweet soundscapes/atmospheres reminiscent to that of Deep Purple and Rainbow. A great one!

• Inquisition - Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith

Black metal wasn't actually my biggest craving in 2016. I'm the kind of music listener who delves into more of one particular style at the time and stay in there until I get bored for the time being. I simply didn't get any larger cravings for black metal last year. This one, however, did eventually show up on my radar and I gave it a try. It's my first listen to this particular band I enjoyed it a lot.

• Deströyer 666 - Wildfire

I've been aware of this band for a long time and had heard some stuff a bunch of years ago, but I never was an active listener or fan of theirs. This one sounds great, however, as it reminds me of some darker thrash bands as well as bands such as modern-day Watain. Some really great tunes and overall a solid album.

• Spell - For None And All

Probably my favorite one on this list, and definitely one that would've ended up in my top-10 of 2016 if I had heard this one earlier. Late is better than never though. This stuff is really good. Think of a hard rock-ish heavy metal sound around 1980 (actually anytime between like 1978-'82), like Rush meets Ozzy solo or something along those lines. These guys also recorded the album with analogue equipment, which I think resulted in a great outcome. Fuck Pro-Tools and "Drumkit from hell".

• Trap Them - Crown Feral

A so-called "Entombed-core" album with relatively short and straight-to-the-point tracks filled with rage and heavy-ass guitars. This shit will totally rip you a new one!

• Gatecreeper - Sonoran Deprevation

More "Entombed-core" but compared to Trap Them this is somewhat more true to the death metal aesthetics, in my opinion. Lots of heavy double bass assault on this one. If you like metal sounding like a sledgehammer swingin' at your head, this will satisfy your needs.

• Grey Wolf - Glorious Death

Some old school-style (true) heavy metal. Nothing extra ordinary but does a great job at what it's supposed to be. Definitely better than most modern run-of-the-mill wannabe:s playing old school heavy metal.

10 Epic Metal Songs

Today I'm gonna be tackling ten of the most epic metal songs I know. By epic I don't necessarily mean in its literal sense, e.g. songs with lots of orchestral strings and huge soundscapes and whatnot. In my view, an "epic song" can mean it's just a huge, bombastic, great composition. Like the song is a journey, or has a great build-up which makes it moody and powerful.

Bear in mind, though... This is not a list of chronological order, nor a list of the "10 best". It's simply just a collection of ten favorite epic songs of mine. But why keep on draggin' this out, let's get started!


10. Power Trip - The Hammer Of Doubt

Probably the best riff-mad thrash/hardcore act out there today. This is the closer on the band's debut. Eerie intro with an old movie sample put in, riff fest, hardcore-thrashy breakdowns, and then a fading intro of just bliss. "Manifest Decimation", in-fucking-deed.


9. Bathory - Blood On Ice

Bathory, or Quorthon, didn't exactly fall short on epic numbers. Very much the opposite in fact. However, this one always was close to me. You can really the spirit of this song come to life.


8. Faith No More - The Real Thing

Although this excellent band is argubly most known for their song called "Epic", I as a fan always found many of their album tracks to be of better value. This is without a doubt my favorite FNM song. Pretty long, quite repetitive, but very powerful.


7. Jane's Addiction - Three Days

Probably not a song non-fans would recognize or associate this band with, but for fans this is not rarely their most ultimate track. "Three Days" has been said to be made of three songs put together, each of all describing one of three days which the band's lead singer experienced (I believe the album art also depicts this, but don't take my word for it).


6. Iron Maiden - Hallowed By Thy Name

Maiden certainly is another of those bands which doesn't fall short on epic songs. This is undeniably the most known classic epic piece from them, and for good reason.


5. Type O Negative - Love You To Death

A case of a song perhaps not being epic in its literal sense, but there's no other love song which is more powerful than this, in my opinion. This is truly one of my favorite songs of all time. Just listen, feel the build, and all the fucking whiney emos from ten years ago could only wish to make something as powerful, real and genuine as this. This, this is love and heartbreak truly put into music.


4. Devin Townsend - The Death Of Music

Closing Devin Townsend's first solo album, Ocean Machine, it's just a clear proof of what amazing talent this man would come to provide for the twenty years ahead (so far). It's a long and repetitive piece, but very powerful and emotional. The end game of it is just the epitome of epicness. This live clip only further proves it, as the man himself has goosebumps singing his own words. That's how epic this is.


3. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath, one of the truly best bands of all time, if not the very best. The first album, the first song, the title track. No other band in history launched their musical career in a better way than Sabbath. This song is the birth of metal.


2. Amon Amarth - Embrace Of The Endless Ocean

I know a lot of people has got shit to say about this band, and quite frankly I don't care. I fucking love Amon Amarth! People do, however, seem to miss out on the greater tracks of theirs, only focusing on tracks which were made singles/into music videos. It makes me a bit angry with them, as this song is better than anything they ever put on video. My family descends from ancient swedes so maybe I am just biased, but I really feel the sorrowful yet courageous last journey of vikings in this.


1. Watain - Waters Of Ain

Without a doubt the most epic song of all time. No more words are needed.

In retrospect: DEATH ANGEL

Welcome to the first installment in my new series "In retrospect:". I will make a short career-spanning discography review of bands where I comment on every album they've done, or at least those albums which I know and listen to. So today I thought I was gonna start with a band that I am actually listening to a lot at the moment, and one of those bands are the old Bay Area thrash metallers Death Angel. I'm not gonna drag on any further, let's dig in!


1987 - "The Ultra-Violence"

The band's debut album is undeniably what most thrash metal listeners associate Death Angel with, and for good reason. This album is nothing but killer - it's legendary! The whole album is a non-stop thrash metal assault with simplistic but very effective riffing, and the production is just one of those perfect examples of where the production actually suits the music like a battle jacket on a headbanger. It's simply just one of the very best thrash metal albums ever made, and should be at least top-100 best metal albums of all time for any metalhead.

Favorite tracks: Thrasher, Mistress Of Pain, Final Death


1988 - "Frolic Through The Park"

A rather unintentionally controversial second album. This album has met a lot of criticism from fans, and critics as well (but who gives a fuck about what them tools think anyway), and perhaps a bit unfairly so. I mean, I personally don't like this album very much, never did, but that's also after hearing their debut album first. I mean, they really peaked with the debut and I imagine it was hard writing, recording and releasing an album (just as good) in just one year after the debut. It's not really a bad album, but it's rather too tame and not nearly as memorable as the debut.

Favorite tracks: Bored, 3rd Floor, Guilty Of Innocence


1990 - "Act III"

The bands third and last album for a long while before their reunion. Now this album partially picks up where the last left off, but it's also a natural progression for the band. Here we get to hear that Death Angel obviously is a constantly evolving band and that is something I can totally respect. However, just like the previous album, this one tends to fall a bit short in quality and interest compared to the debut.

Now, to be fair, this album is a lot more diverse and experimental than the debut, fusing together funk riffing with the thrash, and even having an acoustic ballad. It's a complete different album, but still I always felt this album left much to be desired. Some songs are just too boring, but I am a big fan of Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mordred, so the funk elements are a welcome refreshment to my ears.

Favorite tracks: Seemingly Endless Time, Stagnant, Discontinued


1994 - "The Organization" (BONUS)

After Death Angel split up around 1991 or so, all the guys except for lead vocalist Mark Osegueda went on to form The Organization, an alternative/funky metal band named after a song on DA's last album. Since it still basically is Death Angel without Mark's voice (the other guys sang regularly as well), it's kind of what I imagine the band would do after Act III. It feels like a natural progression and I actually like this one more than Death Angel's last two albums (up till that point). They did a second album before splitting this project up as well, but I've never managed to track down and/or hear that one.

Favorite tracks: Free Burning, Policy, Bringer, The Past


2004 - "The Art Of Dying"

The band's comeback album. This is the album I know the least so I can't perhaps give a completely justifying opinion on it, but from what I can say this is basically a thrashier continuation of where the last album left off. The reason why I don't know this album that well is simply because it doesn't appeal that much to me, to be honest. The few times I listened to it it felt a bit run-of-the-mill.

Favorite tracks: The Devil Incarnate, Spirit


2008 - "Killing Season"

This album and the previous one kind of remind of that Frolic to Act III scenario all over again, where non of the two are really anything that special, but at least the latter is an improvement from the former one. This album did raise my hopes for the future a bit, and I think this is an overall better album and where the band is starting to find itself again.

Favorite tracks: Dethroned, Soulless, Buried Alive


2010 - "Relentless Retribution"

Before this album, some members left the "family business" that used to be Death Angel (everybody was cousins), and in came some fresh and unrelated blood. I don't know what went down in the band or why some of the guys left, but musically I find it to be a good thing. With this album I think that Death Angel really returned, and this is finally the closest album quality-wise to The Ultra-Violence. With that said, this is by no means TUV pt. II, it has a different and more modern thrash sound going on, but it's fucking kick ass!

Favorite tracks: Claws In So Deep, Truce, This Hate, Opponents At Side


2013 - "The Dream Calls For Blood"

The band's follow-up to Relentless Retribution had left me torn between high hopes and fear that the band would once again come to a "Frolic scenario", but no, the band did not let me down. For the first time in the band's career, I think they actually managed to follow up a great album with an even slightly better one. This album is kind of similar to the previous one, but a bit heavier and better I believe. I don't know if this tops TUV, but if I would ever play it to death, then I'll always have this one to call my favorite instead. They also did a kick-ass cover of Black Sab's "Heaven And Hell" where Mark really gets to shine with his great stronger-than-ever vocals.

Favorite tracks: Left For Dead, The Dream Calls For Blood, Execution / Don't Save Me, Succubus


2016 - "The Evil Divide"

The band's new album released merely two weeks ago (of this date today, obviously) and the third album with the "new" line-up. While probably being sliiightly less to my taste than the previous album, this one is still really good and a solidification that Death Angel is in grate shape and one of the best old school thrash acts still left in the game. This album also once again slightly differs from the previous efforts, embracing a bit more of the modern metal sounds. Actually, this in a bit of hardcore influences here and there and is at times reminiscent of (the awesome) Chimaira's Resurrection album, which was also produced by Death Angel's now long-time producer Jason Suecof, so perhaps that is not too far fetched. I have very high hopes for Death Angel's future!

Favorite tracks: The Moth, Father Of Lies, It Can't Be This, Wasteland (The Mission cover)

Top-10 Most Overrated Metal Bands

Yo everybody! I've been listening to a lot of stuff lately, particularly thrash metal, and I've been thinking a lot of how some bands are really overrated. Particularly in thrash there are many bands to be found that meet that criteria. I'm sure you're already on to a few of those which I'm about to talk about. But instead of dragging my shit any further, let's start looking the actual overrated metal bands (of all styles).

***Just note***This list doesn't necessarily intend to make these bands appear as bad ones. Just overrated in some kind of sense, which I will also describe in their descriptions respectively.

***Extra note***If you xpected to see some shitty band that is missing, then maybe it's just so shitty that I simply don't listen to it altogether. Examples: Limb Bizkit, FFDP, Slipknot, etc.


10. Iron Maiden

To start off this list I'll go with my very first favorite band in metal. Now, Iron Maiden is awesome, most of us agree on that, but many of us also cannot deny the fact that they're very, very repetitive. I mean, how many galloping bass lines can you make songs out of? Many, apparently. Also, let me just point out that my favorite songwriter in Maiden is Adrian Smith.


9. Sepultura

Another great band ... until "Roots" came along. I absolutely love Sepultura pre-"Chaos A.D." and post-"Kairos", but most of those records in between there were not at all my kind of metal, and my opinion says that I don't understand how "Roots" (in particular) could become so popular.


8. Van Halen

An absolutely amazing quartet of musicians, both the Van Roth and Van Hagar eras, although I never ever liked the Van Hagar era. I listened a lot to these guys during my first few years as a headbanger, and while they're perhaps not that "metal", they still apply to us metalheads, I believe. But what happened is that they did an awesome debut record, and went straight downhill after that. The other David Lee Roth-fronted albums all had a few songs each of interest, but not really that much worthy of noting (although the musicianship was always great).


7. Kreator

Three words plus one equals? "Pleasure To Kill" = awesome. I love that record. The one before it, the debut, was pretty okey as well. However, after PTK I just don't know what the fuck happened. I just find the rest of their stuff to be very boring thrash. Also, "Extreme Aggression" is one of those classic examples of what kind of sound/production a metal record should not have. It just strips away all the weight from the music. It's supposed to sound heavy, right? Well, it fucking doesn't.


6. Morbid Angel

Much like the Kreator of death metal to me. "Altars Of Madness", of course, is an awesome classic. After that I just thought they lost it. I know many people like a few more records they did, but I just don't think they could ever match the success of their debut ever again.


5. Metallica

"Oh, what an obvious choice!", I can hear you thinking. Well, people are right about Metallica being overrated. Partially. Their first four are fucking awesome, I will always love them. However, post-"...And Justice For All" they've been most mediocre or outright bad. I mean, I understand why people love the first four albums, but that's not enough to make them as big as they indeed are. So yes, they are one of the most overrated metal bands. Plain and simple.


4. Sodom

Oooo, now I'm starting to invade on dangerous territory. I am very well aware of how much appreciated Sodom are with metal fans, but I simply could never really understand the fuzz about them. I found it even harder after hearing "Agent Orange", their perhaps most loved and well-known record, because to me it just sounds like a manifest of stolen riffs. I can hear Megadeth, Sacred Reich and other stuff in that. They just never came along as very original to me. With that said there still are some stuff I appreciate, like "Tapping The Vein" for instance. That one is pretty cool.


3. Exodus

Now I'm slowly conquering just about every thrasher's closed-minded ego here. If any band on this list were plain out bad, then that one band certainly is Exodus. I can honestly say that I've never ever understood what so many people see in their music. To me, they just sound so goddamn fucking boring. Unimaginative riffs, uninspired songs, and worst of all are the extremely cartoonish B-rate vocals a'la Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (Overkill) style.All I can say whenever I hear Steve "Zetro" Souza, at least in Exodus (he was pretty good in Tenet), is "thank Satan that Testament got Chuck Billy instead". I honestly did not even think that the widely acclaimed "Bonded By Blood" album was anything special. Thanks but no thanks, Exodus.


2. Slayer

And now I've officially pissed off every metal around the world. Well, honestly, I know I don't have. I actually think it's relatively common to see metalheads express their distaste for Slayer these days. Not that I don't like 'em, fuck no, I love Slayer! Don't get me wrong, they're fucking awesome! I especially love the "Hell Awaits" album, but everything up till "Divine Intervention" is very good, really. It's just that they lost their steam after that, and there are so many other bands that do or did a similar thing to what Slayer did, but even better. I mean, "Reign In Blood" is by far the most overrated thing about Slayer. Ever heard Dark Angel's "Darkness Descends" album, or Kreator's "Pleasure To Kill"? Pretty much the same thing, only way better, and both of those were (also) released in 1986. Catch my drift? Very good band, just not that good.


1. Nirvana

And the crowned king of this list is none other than the grunge kings Nirvana. I'll admit that I at one point in time did listen to them, a bit (like five songs), when I was like 12 (I am almost 26 now). As I grew up, however, they sound like nothing but children's or angsty teens' "punk" rock to my ears. I'm not overly too fond of grunge otherwise either, but I do love Alice in Chains in particular, and I enjoy listening to some earlier Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone as well. But Nirvana? No. Once again, they're not really a metal band, but since grunge is generally affiliated with metal and its fans, I chose to include (and crown) them for this list.

...

I hope you enjoyed this list. Remember, this is just my opinion. It doesn't mean shit to you, just like yours means shit to me. But it can be fun to share and discuss. Well, this is my invitation to discussion, agreement or disagreement.

Peace! //J.

Metal fans: why are they all douchebags?

For many years I have wondered why metalheads are like they are. I mean, has it ever occurred to anyone else that most metal fans seem to be impossible do deal with in one way or another? It certainly has to me. While I personally don't think there is anything better than metal music, I certainly cannot fucking stand its fans.

I'm 25 years old and I have been a fan of metal music since I was a small kid (metalhead parents ftw), but you know, I've really been it since I was 12 - that's when I really got an interest in music and a the most notable step out of childhood and into teenage angst. Ever since then, for 13 years, I have met countless metalheads through my different schools, friend circles, concerts, and most notably through my old band. Among all those countless metal fans I ever met throughout the years, I can probably count on just one hand how many I could stand being around for more than a minute or two. Don't fucking ask me why that is.

I'm going to make sort of a list of which types of metalheads that I found the most annoying throughout the years so far, just to clarity which type they are and what the fuck the problem is with them.

-------------

1. Emos

Remember these kids? I certainly do, unfortunately. What is fortunate about them though is that they're mostly gone these days! Being 15 in 2005, I was in the middle of the fucking trend when basically everyone was supposed to be a fucking depressed wreck. Since when was it ever "cool" to feel sad and ill. I mean, just that is enough to prove how fucking stupid that movement was.

I lived in a medium size Swedish city at the time where the emo(tional) scene was really blooming. Walking in my school corridors and around town, there were always a lot of emos to be spotted. They even had this fucking kiosk boutique which they always hanged outside. It was fucking annoying seeing their black fringes everywhere, but what was the most annoying thing about them was how fucking poser they were.

Now, I am a person who look at depression seriously, viewing it as an illness which can most certainly be devastating for the subject. It's not a thing to joke around about or to use as a (posed) lifestyle choice. Yet, most of these fucking kids were cutting their arms and shit. I remember briefly befriending a few of the local emos, all of which were rather middle class or upper middle class kids without any troubles whatsoever. They even admitted to me that the arm cutting was just for show - a pose.

I was so fucking angry and disgusted by these morons. I came from a really rough fucking background with alcoholic and abusive parents, no money, often no food, and so on, but I never sat down, whining and cutting my wrists like a wimp. Yet these kids, who had all I had not, were posing as "depressed and suicidal" teens. Kiss my ass. I'm so fucking glad this trend mostly died out. Now we can (easier) tend to the real depressed people who needs the help and attention.

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2. Posers

Maybe a rather obvious choice, but who doesn't hate pose(u)rs, right? At least I do. Now, let's just be clear on this matter: a poser according to me (and this article) is not a glam fan. Sure, a glam fan can and probably will pose before a camera more than a thrash fan would. However, that is not how I view this shit, like "a glam poser in the eyes of a thrasher". No, thinking like that is also posing in a way. Real posing to me is a person who pose as a metal fan, but does not really listen to or like the music in reality.

Throughout the years I've met a through people like this. It's like, "wow dude, you're a metalhead, right? Right?!". I'm just thinking that if they were real metal fans, they would most certainly know it by my hair, band shirts, battle jacket, leather jacket, and other clothing choices. It's just so fucking obvious some people pretend to like the same music as you, and I just wonder why, what's the point of it?

I'm not the kinda guy who cared whether or not you're a metalhead just like me. Most of my friends are not. It's just so fucking unnecessary to pretend that you like or are something you're not, just to impress (or whatever) on someone else.

I knew a guy some years ago who completely lacked any kind of self-respect, as well as respect for others.
 This guy was what you call a "real attention whore". He would say, do or pretend being anything just to be accepted by other people (often full friend circles of different stereotypes). If he got into these circles, then he would slowly start putting people "in their places", often pretending being waaay smarter than he actually was. In fact, he was not very educated in the matters he pretended being educated in at all. He could also not take it when you put him in his right place, that is telling him his pretentious act is wrong and correct his claims.

Bottom line of all this is: the particular guy I knew for a while, while not the only poser I've met, was the worst example I've ever met. I honestly think he adapted to around 10 different stereotypes, posing as a fan of each one. In a year, he could go between being a hip-hop fan to being a metalhead to being a rich boy-poser to different political sympathizers, and so on. At the end of the day, the guy always loses his friends over and over. No wonder.

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3. Elitists

The last, worst, and definitely most annoying category of douchebag metal fans I know. I also call them "conservative cunts in metal", because that's exactly what they are. Now, let's clear about this once and for all - by conservative in this sense, I don't mean metal fans with any political affiliation, but with solid conservative opinions of the music. Let me give you an example: people who only listen to "trve metal", or "trve kvlt" and all that shit, and think everything else is "false" or "poseur". Now you think "black metal fans", I suppose, but that's not really the right group of metal fans to target in this matter.

As a fan of pretty much all styles of metal besides nu metal, I have seen the ignorance among fans of all styles. People in metal tend to be fucking closed-minded most of the time. Either they just listen to like thrash or death metal, possibly both sometimes, and dis everything else apart from like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. An example could be: "Lamb of God is fucking gay", and vice versa. I think you get the drift. I've seen this shit over and over. I mean, I can understand if a metalhead has time enough to spend to hate on Justin Bieber or whatever, but why hate metal within metal?

To me, metal music of all kinds except for nu metal are just to similar to hate on one specific sub genre. I mean, it all comes from the same original stew of likes such as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, just that they developed over time and came with new generations. For instance, fans of 80's metal has always had a lot of hate to spread on New Wave of American Heavy Metal (2000's metal) bands, and them back on fans of the old origin styles. I just don't fucking get it. How can one like, let's say Pantera, but not like a band like Chimaira then? This fucking posing within metal is ridiculous.

Most of the metal fans I ever met were of this kind. Elitist fucking douchebags. We would discuss bands like Slayer and Danzig and have a great time, then all of a sudden I maybe ask if they like Faith No More and they lose their fucking minds. I mean, it's unbelievable how some people's attitude takes a turn because you mention liking a band that is not "80's, trve, good", or whatever. After that, you are fucking marked by them as an unworthy metal fan, and they (perhaps unintentionally) start treating you, as a friend, thereafter as well.

So many people that, in the end, never could accept or let go of the fact that I liked other metal than just thrash or whatever. It became impossible to hang around basically all of them because they, after like a year, still would fucking nag like a bitch about it. I have never been able to take any of that fucking shit, so in the end they all could just piss off. It just so fucking stupid that metal fans should argue about this stuff like it's a kid's sandbox or something. Just because I don't personally like nu metal, I don't go around bashing all the fans of it. I respect peoples' tastes and opinions.

Just fucking listen to the music and have a good time, hopefully together!

My Top-10 Thrash Metal Albums Of All Time

Hello, it's been a while! I've been a little busy for the last few months. It was my birthday back in October, and pretty much everyone else I know has got their birthdays during fall as well. My music has changed yet again, too. Right now it's some thrash nostalgia roaring out of my speakers on a daily basis. Back in 2006 I used to be a hardcore 80's thrash fan - not just the big 4, but everybody else too. I used to listen so much to all those old classics, known as obscure, and I thought it would be fun to actually list like my ten favorite thrash records of all time, so I'm gonna give it a try even though it'll be fucking hard... I will also only choose one album per band that will represent them the best from my personal taste.

Oh well, here goes:

#10: Mordred - In This Life (1991)

I was unsure about including this one. It's one of my all-time favorite records, but as much as it's thrash, it's equally as much funk and rap metal. This album is kind of a Faith No More and (the) Red Hot Chili Peppers meet Bay Area-thrash sounding product, which alienated many closed-minded thrash fans back in the day. I love it though, but I leave it here at the last spot to focus on the more "pure" thrash masterpieces further down.

#9: Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984)

Yeah, I tried avoiding Metallica to not appear as "too obvious", but let's be real here: I can't deny the fact that they actually were fucking awesome back in the day. They, along with Megadeth and Slayer, were basically the soundtrack of my life during 2004-2006. This was always my favorite album of theirs, even though I later fell in total love with "...And Justice For All". This was the perfect middle-step between to other awesome albums, bringing the best of what was on "Kill 'em All", and the best of what was yet to come on "Master Of Puppets". I always thought James sounded best vocally on this one as well.

#8: Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (1986)

This is like my old girlfriend of 2006. I listened to this non-stop after discovering it and the band as a whole. Back then I'd most likely place this as my number one record of all time, and I think I even did that everywhere back then. However, as the years went one I broke-up with it to try on other metal genres and bands, but I still listen to it now and then. Even though it's not really what it used to be for me, it's undeniably an immortal classic that I will have in my thrash heart forever, and if nothing else, it will also be the ultimate album associated with the memories of the 15-16-year-old me.

#7: Overkill - Horrorscope (1991)

With many awesome classics before this one, and many great fucking albums after this one, it's hard to choose one, but this is the one. This was my first Overkill record and I bought it spontaneously. That turned out to be a great call for me! This album is as perfect as it gets with Overkill, I suppose. The tunes are all great with intense energy and thrashiness. It always gets me going. I also totally dig what they did with many tunes here, some examples being "Bare Bones" with it's haunting piano intro building into an epic kick-ass opening to the song itself, the slow and heavy title-track with some neat fucking bass guitar, and the ballad-esque "Soulitude" which is just amazing. An album perfect for moshing!

#6: Sepultura - Beneath The Remains (1989)

Back in late 2006 and early 2007, Sepultura was one of my absolute favorite bands (they still are). I bought their albums in the same order as they came out, starting with "Morbid Visions" and the "Bestail Devastation" EP. It was good and all, but when I heard "Schizophrenia" I was sold! I did not think it could get any better after that, and then I bought this one. Damn. This album is a pure Brazilian thrash assault that I used as a major influence in my drum practicing. Igor Cavalera just got better and better with each album, and this album was to much help for me back then. Now after all these years, with some of them favoring "Arise", I have gone back to this one which is my favorite Sep-album. I love everything about it - the riffs, drums, vocals, energy, sound/production, album cover - everything!

#5: Cro-Mags - Best Wishes (1989)

Originally a NYC hardcore band, Cro-Mags evolved into a thrashy band on their second album. Think a little like an east-coast version of Suicidal Tendencies - darker, dirtier, angrier, more hardcore. This album in particular of theirs is a very cool mix of that New York City hardcore punk mixed with traditional NWoBHM, essentially resulting in a thrash metal album. This album is very much "alive" in its sound, with that raw hardcore-punk energy certainly being present at all times, which gives this album a real good punch-y thrash sound. I also love the guitar and drum sound on this one. It's fat and heavy. Very good album that every thrash fan should have.

#4: Coroner - No More Color (1989)

One of the few well-noticed European thrash bands back in the day, Coroner from Switzerland was what most thrashers called "technical thrash metal", or "tech thrash". I love what they did with their sound, which certainly is unique compared to most other thrash acts. All of their five albums are masterpieces in their own right to my ears, but this one is my most favorite one. The songs here are just perfect in both sound and style, with great riffing, shredding and composing. This album always works perfectly for me when the Bay Area-sound comes in too much at once.

#3: Dark Angel - Darkness Descends (1986)

I don't think that there is a thrash album out there that I've given more rightful credit than this one. Released in the golden thrash year of 1986, this is the real "Reign In Blood", or rather what that album has been wrongfully acclaimed for. In my opinion, this album takes the same concept (extremely fast thrash songs) but just does it so many times better. This album is very fast, at times even faster than RIB, but with full-length tunes, and actually more than two good ones. This one even has got an eight-minute epic called "Black Prophecies" with some great drum fills by my favorite drummer Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan. This album is pure speed-thrash, if I may call it that, in true perfection!

#2: Testament - The New Order (1988)

Testament, my overall favorite thrash band, has made a lot of great records during their career, so it's hard choosing an album of theirs as the definite favorite. This has to be it, though. The first song I ever heard with Testament was "Trial By Fire", my favorite Testament tune since then, and the whole album is heavy, thrashing and hauntingly dark in its atmosphere. I just find it an extremely solid metal masterpiece. I was totally sold on their stuff after hearing this album in its full, and still I find it the most relevant record song-wise when I listen to several of my favorite Testa-tunes in one run.

#1: Anthrax - Persistence Of Time (1990)

I had a hard time actually choosing between this one and "Spreading The Disease", which pretty much is equal in quality to me. I ultimately chose this one because it's more technical and musically interesting, and I'm more influenced by this as a musician than I am by STD. This one also shows that Anthrax was very capable of making long and (more) complex tunes, without losing any energy and quality. Songs like "In My World", "Time", "Belly Of The Beast", and "Discharge" have been played a lot of times throughout the years at my place. I just never get tired of this masterpiece album! Oh, and they also recorded their cover of "Bring The Noize" during this album's recording sessions, which shows even more that they had evolved so much through the 80's.