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.

Top-10 Best NWoAHM / Metalcore / 2000's Metal Bands

YO:es! I hope y'all doin' alright. I was going through a regular music listening session and thought I'd a list of my ten favorite NWoAHM (New Wave of American Heavy Metal) bands since I've never done that. Simple as that. Now, for those of y'all who don't know, the NWoAHM movement was the metal wave that came in the early 2000's, a.k.a. metalcore (as most people know it) and overall modern and newer metal bands.

These likes will be from the 2000-2010 scene (as there's a huge movement of so called Deathcore going on these days, rather than ol' metalcore), and it does NOT necessarily have to come from the USA. I'm not really a huge fan of the genre as whole compared to, let's say death metal, but there are a bunch of bands that are pretty fuckin' rad, so check this list out, alright?!

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10. The Browning

First one out to kick off this list is The Browning. They're an English band, at least I believe so (not 100 % sure) and they currently have two albums under their belt. Besides having a rather...shitty name, which could be easy to make fun of for elitists, they're pretty unique as far as their sound goes: combining electronic music with groovy death metal stuff. They're even signed to the old death metal label Earache.

Album(s) to check out: all of them (pretty much the same deal).

9. Austrian Death Machine

Some of you might say, "what? An Austrian industrial, ehm, death metal band?", but no. As some others of you probably know, this is Tim Lambesis (of As I Lay Dying fame) side project based around all the amazing quotes and movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The sound is pretty laden with thrash, but is probably still more accurately described as thrashy metalcore for the purists. I placed 'em as number nine since the music is not actually THAT good or original, but the Arnold Schwarzenegger themes are fucking awesome and will sure trigger some laughing. This is now on hold though, since the bad boy ex-christian Timmy tried to kill his wife and now most likely receives lots of wood in prison.

Album(s) to check out: "Total Brutal" for music, "Double Brutal" for the themes.

8. Mutiny Within

I like to relate this band's situation to that of all the many glam bands in 1990, just when grunge was right around the corner. These boys unleashed their debut in 2010 just as metalcore was more or less on a steady decline, and the current and still strong retro wave of metal was picking up speed. I loved their self-titled debut and its progressive influences along with some 80's style shredding and power metal vocals.

Unfortunately, they probably came too late and went by mostly unnoticed. They also had shitloads of label troubles and got dropped, disbanded, reformed, put out another album, but I just don't quite like it. It's missing all the essential cores that the debut has, so these days, after hearing how their sophomore album turned out, Mutiny Within could've just remained disbanded for me and left that one debut album to its legacy.

Album(s) to check out: S/T (Mutiny Within)

7. Machine Head

It's up for debate whether or not they should be included or not. They were around in the 90's already, and were well known back then already as well. While I also like their 90's stuff more, they still put out some great albums later on as well, and one of those albums played a very large role in the metalcore movement in the late 00's. While they always had a signature sound, they also constantly progresses and do something new, for better or worse. Personally, I just don't think they ever matched their hardcore-furious groove metal they put out in the 90's, but their post-90's stuff goes from some rather bad to some pretty awesome albums anyway.

Album(s) to check out: "The Blackening", "Burn My Eyes" (90's album, though)

6. God Forbid

A massively underrated band of the 2000's metal scene. God Forbid is another band that was really good, melodic, heavy and aggressive in a nice mix. Their use of multi-vocals also made them sound a bit like Mastodon, which in book is a very cool thing. I would rate them higher than Trivium judging by the albums mentioned below, but unfortunately God Forbid made some not-nearly-as-good albums early on in their career.

Album(s) to check out: "Gone Forever", "Earthsblood", "Equilibrium".

5. Trivium

This band is probably the closest thing to a Metallica type-band in this bunch. They share several similarities as far as music, vocals and album progression goes. Their fan base is pretty torn apart because of this, though maybe in even more camps than Metallica's fan base. Some fans love their early stuff where they looked emo, some people like their middle stuff which was a lot thrashier, and some like their more recent stuff.

I'm not really a regular fan of theirs - I love their thrash stuff, but I do in fact like one of their more recent works a lot as well, though most fans bash it as their shittiest album. I just think that they can be really fucking good when they head into certain styles of metal, but not everything they've done has suited my taste. Yet, their good stuff is so good it puts 'em in the top-5 on my list.

Album(s) to check out: "Shogun", "The Crusade", "Vengeance Falls".

4. Mastodon

Just a bit like Trivium, Mastodon tend to be a roller-coaster when it comes to music. While I still dislike to describe them as that, because it's not really true, I have to admit that I'm less fond/have a harder time listening to some of their stuff than others. Their earlier stuff, particularly their debut, are not-as-interesting to me as their later stuff. While their most recent stuff is a lot more commercial though, I still fucking like it a lot. But Mastodon's finest work is to be found in their middle era.

Album(s) to check out: "Crack The Skye", "The Hunter", "Leviathan".

3. Lamb of God


These guys don't really need a further explanation. If you don't know, then you're either just a fucking poseur or very late to the party.

Album(s) to check out: "Wrath", "VII: Sturm Und Drang", "As The Palaces Burn".

2. DevilDriver

Out of the bands in this list, this one took the longest for me to "understand". I had some hard times getting into their music before most of the other bands, but it wasn't because it was bad or weird or anything. Now I do know why that was, however. DD has this unique kind of guitar vibe/sound that is pretty special. It really forms their sound to what it is, and I just simply wasn't familiar with anything quite like it before, so I didn't understand their music.

Like so many other bands, though, DD has a fan base where people tend to bash some of their more recent albums, while really favoring their early stuff. I think they're actually fucking good all-around - they progress constantly, but it's always DD and at least some interesting stuff to be found on albums. Guitar-wise, when it comes to harmonic shit, DD takes the cream of the crop in this list. I just love their more clean and ballad-esque stuff.

Album(s) to check out: "The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand", "Pray For Villains", "Winter Kills".

1. Chimaira

And so comes #1 - Chimaira, my favorite band of the genre known as either metalcore or NWoAHM. What I truly love about these guys is the bad-ass sound they've got goin' on, and the riffing is fucking hard, sometimes fast and just killer most of the times. The drumming, particularly that of Andols Herrick, is fucking awesome as well - he knows exactly how to put in all the good shite.

The most important thing that makes Chimaira extra special for me is their electronic department. They use quite a lot of atmospheric electronic effects and sounds to enhance their sound, and it also truly pays off. Compared to so many other bands in the genre, it just adds so much more to the music, and that's all what I'm here for. Chimaira is the Faith No More or Type O Negative or Samael or whatever of metalcore to me. I'm not gonna expand on it any further, but they're just exactly my kind of thing.

Album(s) to check out: "The Infection", "Chimaira", "The Impossibility Of Reason".

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BONUS! Worthy of mention but didn't make the list:

• Himsa

Don't know 'em good enough. Only liked their last album so far, but that is a rather good one though.

• Bleed The Sky

Their debut is a solid album but I didn't like their second and last one at all. Also, they sound a bit too much like a Chimaira clone, which is what partially make their debut likable to me.

• Bleeding Through

I actually like these guys quite a lot, but I simply don't have a good enough look into all of their albums and stuff, so I can't do an honest judgment as a whole. Killer goth vibe to groovy hardcore metal!

• DragonForce

Well, I love their music to be honest, which might come as a surprise to many, "how can anyone like DragonForce?". There are those of us who actually do. However, as they play extreme power metal, I didn't really think the fitted in amongst these other bands, so I decided not to include them. Otherwise they would get a rather high position on this list, but they're too different from the rest of these "hardcore metal" bands, so they will have to do with a "worthy of mention". They certainly are.

• Amon Amarth

 Just like the case with DragonForce, these fellow kinsmen of mine or one of the hugest metal bands of the last and current decade, and I fucking love 'em too. They've got some of the truly most epic songs ever. But while they're often put together with the other bands in this list, they are in fact not metalcore (or whatever) but melodic death metal, so because of that fact I won't place them on this particular list, other than giving them a worthy mention.