the Good 2012

After a year of moaning about things I supposedly love to an indifferent internet, it is always good to end the year on a positive note and there have been some real highlights for me personally this year. I would like to think this has been reflected in my end of year review for The Sleeping Shaman and the fact that this year I actually completed a top ten of best albums (compared to last years 7).

This won't be a list that everyone will agree with having spoken to various folks about the things released this year, but hey, it's an opinions game as always and this is mine:

10. Testament 'Dark Roots Of The Earth'




One of the greatest triumphs in recent rock history has to be the recovery from the Germ Cell Seminova strain of cancer by Testament frontman Chuck Billy. In 2008 I should have seen them play the small tent at Download, but in my defence I was very, very drunk and it seemed like such a bad idea.
The Foundation of Damnation however was a great comeback album and in 2009 I got to see them open for Megadeth and Judas Priest and they were by far the best band that evening.
This year saw them solidify their rightful place among thrash heritage with the release of 'Dark Roots Of The Earth'. Backed by drum titan Gene Hoglan and once again accompanied by one of the biggest egos to pick up a guitar in Alex Skolnick as well as original members Eric Peterson and Greg Christian  - it equals FoD in terms of majesty and goes toe to toe with classics like The Legacy.
Testament have delivered in Dark Roots another example of why they have been criminally over looked in comparison to the much over hyped Big Four, like Exodus, they are still making albums that kill the old way.
The only thing that gives me pause is the unnecessary, but not entirely unpleasant cover of Iron Maiden's 'Powerslave'… which is slightly weird.
Debate rages on about whether blast beats have any place on Thrash album like this; Er, yeah, cos they sound fucking great. Check the album out on Spotify or something if you don't believe me.

9. Black Magician 'Nature Is The Devil's Church'



Anyone who doesn't miss Cathedral is a chump.
There I said it and I wish I had paid them far more attention than I did when they were going.
The debut release both on Shaman Recordings and for Black Magician 'Nature…' goes some way to filling that gap. There are times on this album where they hit the heights of the earliest Cathedral recordings with it's crawling slow doom and a decent, but not plagiaristic vocal rasp.
Don't think for one minute that the band is a direct replacement for Lee Doran's departed heroes, Back Magician are very much their own band as well as giving the nod to their influences. This is seventies influenced, Hammond Organ flavoured, folk tinged Doom music for people who like their music dark and twisted.
This isn't here for the sake of nepotism, granted it doesn't throw up any new surprises to the doom genre, but what 'Nature…' does is deliver a quality listening experience that is both refreshing and timeless in it's genre.
Check it out - it's great. Better yet check it out on blood red vinyl, it's a thing of beauty.

8. Arc Of Ascent 'A Higher Key'



Spacey, stoner, prog, doom rockers Arc of Ascent delivered the follow up to their 2010 album Circle of the Sun this year and it was a belter.
At the risk of blowing my own trumpet here (oo er misses) rather than rehash it here, check out my review for The Sleeping Shaman, which was also featured on Roadburn festival's website as album of the day.
The Higher Key

7. Author & Punisher 'Ursus Americanus'



I'm a big fan of Tristan Shone and his Author & Punisher project.
His ventures into music and performance art are truly exciting in a musical and visual sense.
Again I am copping out slightly here but in a bid to convince you all at the end of the year that I can be a serious writer, here once again, is my review for The Sleeping Shaman.
Ursus Americanus

6. Shadows Fall 'A Fire From The Sky'



This is an album I have come back and back to this year.
In all honesty I thought the Shads would be joining God Forbid and Ill Nino on the list of formerly good bands I will not be listening to new material of anymore. However with the release of AFTS in the middle of the year my spirits were buoyed by the fact the band seemed to remember who they were finally. Sure they have accessible, almost beautiful melodies on tracks like Nothing Remains where guitarist Matt shows that frankly he is a better vocalist on backing than a fair few of his contemporary's lead singers, but then they have the full on death attack of tracks like the title song.
This album was a joy to listen to from start to finish, Bay Area influenced thrash, flavoured with a touch of hardcore breakdowns, gruff and clean vocals without veering into the Emo/Screamo bollocks territory and a production value and artwork that make it an album to be bought rather than stolen.
To cap it off they were awesome in the small tent at Download - one of the highlights of the weekend. Welcome back Shadows Goddam Motherfucking Fall.

5. Therapy? 'A Brief Crack Of Light'



People who know me well would have probably expected this release to be a little higher.
In truth I love Therapy? I actually went into a length rant on a football forum recently because someone on there filed Northern Ireland's finest under 'Bands From The Past Who Used To Be Great'. I felt obliged to inform them that Therapy? have not only churned out an immersive number of albums since Troublegum in 1995, but they have also been critically acclaimed.
Numerous times.
Yes, I know… my life is full of wonder.
Anyway, following 2010's incredible Crooked Timber album and the previous high quality outings I was expecting this one to leap out of the stereo and grab me. It didn't.
Instead Therapy?  produced one of their more quirky, off kilter, harder to listen to records and I struggled with it until I saw them back in April and they played a couple of tracks live. Since then the album has clicked and some of it is a real eye opening joy.
It'll never be my favourite album, but it has run pretty close this year for the sheer unexpected pleasure that connecting with this album has produced.

4. Neurosis 'Honor In Decay'



Put simply, Neurosis are great and this album is yet more proof.
Don't Believe This Me?
Try this one.
Never easy listening this album was surprisingly accessible for one of theirs - less dense than Given To The Rising, more mellow than Through Silver In Blood, yet as complex and dark as you could hope for, it was a close run battle for third.

3. Deftones Koi No Yokan



Winning the competition for most irritating title of the year Koi No Yokan (Premonition of Love) is the second album not to feature original bassist Chi Cheng as he is still in a semi conscious status following a near fatal car crash. However the comeback album Diamonds Eyes saw long time friend Sergio Vega step in and help the band produce a body of work that, compared to the two previous below par albums, put the band back on a critical upswing.
If that album drew comparisons to their earlier works, then Koi No Yokan offers a direct comparison the seminal White Pony album. Incredibly atmospheric with riffs as heavy as concrete elephants, swirling ambient electrics, angular rhythms this album cements their return to firing on all cylinders.
That said I was skeptical the first time I heard it, but this album is definitely a grower with immediate stand out tracks like Leathers slowly being replaced by the far superior Gauze and Rosemary that keep adding layers of depth and dimension to the listening experience.
Simply put, this album is one of the best of the deftones career, yet alone year.

2. Lamb of God 'Resolution'



It seems strange to think back to the beginning of the year and Lamb of God were actually in the media for their music… anyway for those who have short memories before they became an advert for how corrupt a justice system in a former Soviet Block country can be, they actually released an album called Resolution.
At the turn of the year this was exactly the thing needed to knock Machine Head's Locust of top spot on my stereo and LoG delivered one of their finest albums since The Ashes Of The Wake. Seemingly more focused than Wrath, more diverse and forward thinking than Sacrament, this was a massive statement of arrival in the big time. Lamb of God made an album that cemented their place at the top of the food chain - the likes of Ghost Walking and Insurrection are anthems made for festival pits, King Me is a monster of a track that towers over previous epics and they open with a sludge/thrash one - two punch to the face.
It's a shame this has been forgotten in the saga of the year. It has now been confirmed that Randy will face trial in February of next year, I hope that this is a matter that can be concluded quickly so LoG can get back out on the road and tour this album as the set at Download was far to short to do Resolution any justice.

1. Vision Of Disorder 'The Cursed Remain Cursed



I have got to admit several came close this year. LoG, Deftones and Neurosis could have all been contenders for the top slot this year, but one album for me stood head and shoulders above the rest and that was The Cursed Remain Cursed.
Having spoken to a few people about it, a view was expressed that it was a '90's Hardcore album'… they are not wrong about that in a sense, it is.
However it is a very special one.
Not only is it a damn good album and a reminder to your Nu Metal's, Metalcore's and Emo's how good really heavy, melodic metal music can be at a time when everything seems so soulless, but it is also an incredible comeback from a band who never fulfilled their potential the first time around.
I have waxed lyrical elsewhere about this album, but no other piece of music has made me as joyous this year. The sheer face melting anger, the off kilter melodies.
Maybe it's because it reminds me of being 19 again. Maybe I have just had the kind of year which at times could make St Frances of Assisi kick babies and from the moment Loveless came on I was granted an outlet for all that frustration and aggression. Maybe I am just so glad that a band I once thought gone forever was back and not only making albums again but making some of the best material of their career.
They were always head and shoulders above anything released in the nineties and for me there is only one album with as many play counts on my iTunes this year.
It is this one.

So that's it.
Another year bites the dust.
Providing we all survive through today next year promises to be a bumper one again.
Early interests include a new Alice In Chains album, a preview track is already streaming online, Tool are reporting that material for a new album is 'half done' which means maybe, maybe next year, but more likely 2025.
Maiden are returning to Donington 25 years after headlining for their first time and will be playing the Maiden England set - this will be the musical highlight of my year.
And History Towers faves Earthtone9 will unleash the Pledgemusic funded new album.

But I can't go without commenting on the breaking news that Lost Prophets singer Ian Watkins has been arrested and charged on pedophilia.
In a rare moment of considered thought, the British justice revolves around the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' and as such I shall abstain from passing comment on the case, but having met Watkins several times I thought he was a cunt before all this.

Right, if this is it folks I'll see you on the lake of fire, because if I am fucked for writing this, you are sure all damned for reading.
Catch ya in the New Year...

The Bad 2012

As I may have hinted over the course of the last year some of the things present in the metal genre have been less than stellar; some times I swear I listen to things just to have an informed opinion of why I dislike it, when in reality it would be a far better use of time and fair better for the blood pressure to not bother listening and let it go.
However, I feel if I didn't I would be stuck at a gig or at a party with someone who says to me 'let's go watch Bring Me The Horizon/Parkway Drive' and the next moment I have weighed in fifty quid and I am standing in a room wondering why I am being raped in the ear by a bunch of douchebags who spent more time on their hair than they did on crafting anything resembling a good song.
Yes people, I do it for you.
And as I can't pretend I am okay with it, I do it in a way that will never get me employed as a writer for any music magazine, so why should I stop now?

Without further ado the The Bad of 2012...

10. God Forbid/Ill Nino 'Equilibrium'/'Whateverthefuckitwascalled'


 

It has to be a bonus tie at number 10.
Why? Well simply from my perspective because both of these bands used to be so damn good that I loved them. A lot.
Ill Nino's Revolution Revolucion and One Nation Army were awesome examples of Latin flavoured Nu Metal that made a lot of other releases post Millennial look and sound shit and as I wrote the other month God Forbid's Gone Forever and Constitution Of Treason were blinding examples of some of the best the Metalcore genre had to offer. However both bands have stumbled on since these releases becoming increasingly irrelevant - first trying to chase the big bucks and then reverting to their roots to try and keep the fans they had.
This year they both released records that I had actually forgotten about until I checked the list of albums released.
Albums so nondescript, they may as well have not released anything.
I'm not kidding - Nonpoint isn't anywhere because they weren't quite good enough to make the top ten best of, Papa Roach weren't in the bad or the ugly list with Connection, because they were just themselves - these are in this top ten now because they are so lame and uninspiring I could have probably sat in silence for two hours and had more musical stimulation.
Both have released amazing albums before, but these are so bland and forgettable the best thing I can say about them is they didn't send me into a fit of rage like some of the others on this list.
Why? Why? Why?
So utterly pointless it is the equivalent of a hermit trying to spice up his sex life with a danger wank.
I'd say avoid, but even if you didn't you probably wouldn't remember bothering.

9. Spineshank 'Anger. Denial. Acceptance.'





Sadly unlike the above two, I remember this one. Much in the same vein Spineshank released the incredible 'Height Of Callousness' and the slightly more accessible and Grammy winning 'Self Destructive Pattern'. Both these albums I still play to this day. Johnny Santos has a great voice despite looking like a Goblin from Lord of the Rings and the band created some bruising but effective music to accompany it. Raised by Dino Cazares in a test tube and released on the world as a baby Fear Factory they evolved into a decent band until years of being stuck on a bus with each other took it's toll and they split.
Like every other fucker in recent years they decided to reform and this year added a new album to their back catalogue.
And it is, unlike Ill Nino's Enigma or Dead World or 45 minutes of my life wasted or what have you, very memorable.
Memorable for the fact that Spineshank were a well honed machine. A precision cut tool. Now they are just a poor shadow of themselves. From the lack of Roadrunner funded production, to the ring rust of all the performers, to the clumsy attempts to replicate themselves Anger. Denial. Acceptance. is almost an appropriate chart of my reactions - No they are not that shit now! Oh my God I can't believe they have ruined their own legacy. Okay, this is shit, I'll listen to their old stuff and ignore this album.

8. Speaking of Fear Factory. 'The Industrialist'





What the fuck is going on with the once great industrial pioneers?
Having kissed and made up with Dino. Burton and the Fat Mexican booted out Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond 'the human drum machine' Harrera for Strapping Young Lads thunderbroom and tub thumping merchants for the release of 'Mechanise'. Those who cared (bar me it seems) thought this was a great comeback album despite not buying it and it set the scene for this years next instalment of the continuation of Man vs Machine concept albums released by a band who have absolutely, in no way shape or form painted themselves into a thematic corner.
This years take on a story that was old before they made Terminator 3, was, well more of the same. Only no one outside of Burton and Dino seem to know who is in Fear Factory anymore but it's not Gene Hoglan as he's gone to play for Testament.
Picture the scene, spooky mechanical samples, digital sounding drums, thrashing riffs, a guttural roar, a rushed sounding clean chorus.
Yep sure as the Terminator keeps coming back, a paler copy of itself, so do Fear Factory, carrying on for the sake of carrying on, no new ideas, no skilled execution, no friggin imagination.
This release is as cold and dead as the heart of the machine.

7. Adrenaline Mob 'Omerta'




Who? Yeah I know...
Remember Mike Portnoy? Skin beater and founding member member of Dream Theater who decided he wanted to put his band of 25 years on hold so he could join Avenged Sevenfold? Only AX7 didn't want him to join and Dream Theater decided they wanted to carry on, preferably without the asshole who essentially tried to write off their day jobs?
Well if you aren't familiar with that tail of hubris you spend less time reading about Metal than I do.
Which is probably a forgone conclusion at this stage.
So anyway, old Portnoy needs a new gig and hey preseto, Disturbed go on hiatus.
The guitarist from Disturbed comes out and states they are taking a break from the band and he is going to get his rocks off doing Adrenaline Mob.
Who sound like a watered down, middle of the road Disturbed, only with a slightly more famous drummer.
Yes that's right a more average Disturbed.
In fact, that's harsh. Adrenaline Mob's debut made me long for 'Paint My Bottom Blue And Call Me Shirley, Woo, I'm Fucking Nuts, Me' Mad Davy Draiman from Disturbed.
That bad.
I'm sure there is a crack in the ass of America that needs to be filled by sub Nickelback, sub Disturbed rock - the kind of place where Godsmack and Creed are hailed as musical nirvana, but really? Dream Theater must be pissing themselves laughing from behind their pointy prog rock guitars.

6. Lacuna Coil 'Dark Adrenaline'



I'll open this by saying that no matter what Christina Scabbia is still hands down a babe. A total babe.
But before I get too Wayne's World on you, the new Lacuna Coil album is awful.
I felt (not unjustly) that the previous effort Shallow Life crossed the proverbial Rubicon into terrible, jangly, pop metal and now here on their latest release they promised they would get 'darker and heavier' again. The resultant mess is that the band flops around like a proverbial ragdoll caught between trying to regain some credibility with their old fans and keeping one eye on the commercial aspect of their career trajectories.
Sure it's heavier, but Andrea Ferro's male vocals sound watered down, Scabbia sounds like she is trying to emulate Sharon whatserface from Within Temptation and it sounds forced.
It's like the band went to America on the back of Comalies and got caught up with all the hype surrounding Evanescence and decided that despite existing for longer, being one of the biggest selling artists on Century Media (at the time), being better and more credible, they had to dumb themselves down to appeal to the American market.
I listened to this entire album with a pained expression on my face. And it's 18 fucking songs long… 18 songs!?! Who the hell needs to release an album that long? What's worse is one of the songs is a cover of R.E.M's 'Losing My Religion' a song synonymous with the band that wrote it. So why cover it? It was bad enough when they covered Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence', but thankfully that one was shorter.
Candlelight reportedly tried to sue illegal downloaders of this album earlier this year, well fuck that, they should have sued Candlelight for allowing this to come out.

5. Soundgarden 'King Animal'



I went into this the other week so I won't hammer the point home again.
I think people so desperately want quality bands that personally I believe it is a case of mass hysteria in some cases. So here is a story about mass hysteria instead:
A penis panic is a mass hysteria event or panic in which male members of a population suddenly experience the belief that their genitals are getting smaller or disappearing entirely. Penis panics have occurred around the world, most notably in Africa and Asia. Local beliefs in many instances assert that such physical changes are often fatal. In cases where the fear of the penis being retracted is secondary to other conditions, psychological diagnosis and treatments are under development. It is becoming increasingly clear that these forms of mass hysteria are more common than previously thought. Injuries have occurred when stricken men have resorted to apparatus such as needles, hooks, fishing line, and shoe strings, to prevent the disappearance of their penises. An epidemic struck Singapore in 1967, resulting in thousands of reported cases. Government and medical officials alleviated the outbreak only by a massive campaign to reassure men of the anatomical impossibility of retraction together with a media blackout on the spread of the condition.

4. Serj Tankian 'Harakiri'



System of a Down always had the ability to divide people's opinion.
Myself, I didn't like the first album when it came out. It wasn't until years later I went back and listened to it and it grew on me. I still don't dust it off that often now. However for one glorious moment the stars aligned for SOAD and Toxicity was fucking huge. Admittedly there was a large portion of Post 9/11 confusion in there and coincidentally timed lyrics. Plus the racist element of America immediately seized on the beards and skin colour and the slightly Anti-American stance and said 'terrorist'. Then there's the fact that Serj sounded like a goat despite being one of the finest vocalists around at the time.
After that there was the stop gap third album, the slightly contrived double album, the tales of drugs, internal fighting and the hiatus, Scars On Broadway and Serj's solo career and the 'will they? won't they?' reunion.
Why am I bringing this up now?
Because it's interesting. Unlike Serj's solo career.
System were always more than the sum of their parts - Darren Malarkian complemented Serj well before he got his John Lennon complex and their vocal interplay was great. The guys backing them were superb musicians.
Alone Serj is just uninteresting… he always seemed to balance out the crazy Malarkian moments, the ying to the crazy yang, the soaring voice next to the insane chatter, here apart from 30 seconds which sounds like Chop Suey I hated it for it's stark reminder of what the world is actually missing.

3. Hellyeah 'Band Of Brothers'



I'm not sure how I can adequately express my feelings about Hellyeah.
I loved Pantera, I like(d) Mudvayne (although their last few releases have been iffy to say the least and Nothingface were pretty damn good too and no one can deny that it is good to have Big Vin back behind a drum kit. Frankly the guy was probably rich enough to never have to do it after the sadly missed Pantera and the not at all bad Damageplan; the guy was probably entitled to never step on stage again after the horrific events of 2004, not to mention extremely lucky to be alive.
Hellyeah was born somehow and the first album is good, the second one less so and the latest one…
I think the best word I can describe it as is charmless. Utterly charmless. The music is lumpen and the lyrics hamfisted. It is a wonder how much milage they can get out of they 'Oooo we're Cowboy Rock n Roll Outlaws' vibe.
Especially when 3/4 of them aren't Cowboys from Texas, or even Hell(yeah).
I get the feeling the remaining band members are probably looking at each other and grinning because they are sharing a stage with one of their heroes. It's a rare thing a drummer evolves into a great song writer (Dave Grohl being the exception) and here just proves that. The first album was kinda fun, the second the material a little thinner and on this release it feels like a collection of noise for noise sake.

2. Steve Harris 'British Lion'





I was going to give this slot to Linkin Park's 'Living Things' but frankly they are not even remotely Metal anymore so the whole review would be a creative rehash of the following bile, Chester Bennington's Whiny voice, Mike 'Windmill Arms' Shinoda's wannaJay-Z impression, Go-Bots, universally bland shite.
So British Lion heroically steps into it's spot. Those of you familiar with me will know that Steve Harris is pretty much my musical hero. Having formed Iron Maiden on Xmas Day 1976, 'Arry Arris has ploughed the long road to global success by steering the Irons his way, and his way it has been - axing of countless band members including the original voice Paul Di'Anno, either you are with Harris or you are protected by Rod Smallwood because he knows you are the best pure Metal vocalist going.
And here's the rub with British Lion; apparently they were a band who Arry tried to take under his wing about a billion years ago, but like Dirty Deeds, Lauren 'Hot, but not musically talented' Harris, and a host of other bands he has been involved with, they aren't very good.
I spoke about Adrian's album on the Ugly list… that tried to be different, to push boundaries, step outside the box yadda, yadda, yadda. This, however is dated, bang average pub rock. Having been working on this since 1996 apparently (which was when Dickinson released the forward thinking Skunkworks album) this has taken Chinese Democracy levels of time to produce (admittedly Harris has been slightly busy in between) and the result is a resounding 'Meh'.
Unable to release under British Lion, this became a Steve Harris album and in truth it is a band collaboration, but there is little to suggest the muscular gallop of Iron Maiden in the soft rock conjured up by the band.
The crowning glory though is the singer. Harris' choice to replace Dickinson with Blaze Bayley was a poor one, his reluctance to face facts and get the Air Raid Siren back was a worse one. This guy… well, he is just awful.
Weak voiced, he just sounds strained all the way through on British Lion's awkwardly average fare.
Pains me to say it but if it hadn't had the words 'Steve Harris' on it, I would have never looked twice.

1. All That Remains 'A War You Cannot Win'



How the mighty have fallen.
I suppose it is comforting in this day and age to know that ATR have a seeming legion of loyal fans.
I am not one of them.
Let me make it clear I have only followed Phil Labonte since Shadows Fall, I have only purchased all their albums until this one, so when I get lectured online by people accusing me of being a 'fair weathered fan' my only response is one of complete mockery.
After This Darkened Heart and The Fall of Ideals, Overcome was a challenging album for all with it's desperate pop inflected tunes, it was also when the rise of Autotune started. For We Are Many was better, but no less tweaked.
This new piece of shit may as well have been put together by the lame pop rock loving cousin of the machine that is now putting together Fear Factory albums.
If any ATR fans find this review and are butt hurt about it and want to come whining and crying on the comments section about 'bands change and need to progress' then let me ask you this:
Is it progression to dumb down your sound to a level of complete predictability?
Is it progression to make your album in a studio rather than be able to reproduce it organically?
Do you like Nickelback?
Cos I fucking don't and that's what it sounds like now at times, and the fact they have scored a tour with Hinder is proof of this descent into the Seventh Circle of Middle Of The Road Mediocrity.
I appreciate it sucks when your favourite bands go South, but trust me better bands than All That Remains have been lost to this along the years.
And that fucking Autotune… there is so much of it all over the place I swear to God that when the solo kicks in on the first song the damn thing is even Autotuned.
This album is a turd, from the artwork, from the press build up, the pro-gun stance which looks even more obnoxious in the face of recent events, from the horrible mawkish lyrics to Stand Up, the dumbass video, the defiant stance against 'internet haters', to the saccharine sweet new material.
I could spend the rest of my days ranting about it, trolling you on your Facebook page, bitching about you on here, but at the end of the day you have made some fantastic music in your time, so I'll leave you with a reminder of that.
But I'll just point out that first week sales are down on the last album…

'I can't remember
The day that you told me
I won't be there, I'm not that strong
Holding these memories
I feel unfolding
This is the last time
Now I'm gone'

- All That Remains 'The Last Time'

Next up the Best of 2013.

The Ugly 2012

Literally no one has ever asked me what an ugly album is.
Having done this for a couple of years now I have put up The Good, The Bad & The Ugly around this time detailing what I have thought rocked and what I thought did not, but I have also put up the third category as well.
Naturally when I first created the segment it was a catchy homage to Sergie Leone's superior movie about men awkwardly eyeballing each other, but it has come to represent a harder to pin down classification for some of the albums I have listened to this year.
Between writing for the Shaman and what I chose to listen to in my own time I have listened to tons of albums this year and for the first time I can actually make a solid ten in each of the categories so I felt it would be a good time to expand and explain myself.
What is an 'Ugly' album in the world of A Brief History of Metal?

An Ugly album is neither Good enough to make the top ten best releases or Bad enough to make the worst, but it worthy of being talked about for good or for bad. Make any sense?

Probably not… but without further ado

The Ugly 2012

10. Southern Badass 'Born In Mud'



Who?
What?
Yeah my thoughts too until the other week when I accepted the album for review. Southern Badass is like Ennio Morricone jamming with Down, Roadsaw and early Metallica. A one man outfit consisting of Arno Bechet and hailing from the humid swamps of… er France.
Essentially a tribute to all things NOLA and Stoner this album is raw and single minded.
And it kicks ass.
Sure it's not the greatest stoner/southern album and there is the same argument that saw Stone Temple Pilots called Stone Temple Plagiarists back in the midst of the grunge explosion, coming as they did from Detroit, but it is unashamed about its desire to plug in, turn it up, drink beer and rock out.
At times it is sublime, at times it is ridiculous. I love the ugly fucker.

9. Ministry 'Relapse'



So mere minutes after the never ending Ministry farewell circus rolled to a stop long enough enough for Uncle Al to finally put out the Buck Satan album he promised back when he was high as a motherfucker, he reformed the band - not a permanent reunion apparently, but a 'Relapse'.
Anyway the album itself is as full on as the George Bush trilogy of Houses of the Mole, Rio Grande Blood and The Last Sucker. Furious full on industrial thrash metal that actually stands as some of the band's heaviest and fastet material.
It was (un)surprisingly good, but whilst Al seems to have focused himself and it is a far cry from the heady smacked up days of Filth Pig, Dark Side Of The Spoon and Animosithwhatever, I still find myself more in love with the Paul Barker era as the man's greasy bass sound dragged Ministry back to the darkness that they thrived on - All the hyper focus on American politics leaves me a little cold.
That said if I had a top twenty this would probably be in it.

8. Kylesa 'From The Vaults: Vol 1'



I don't usually include best of or live albums in these lists (or Iron Maiden's En Vivo! would be seriously bothering the upper reaches of the Good list) but Kylesa's From The Vaults collection throws up unreleased, reworked and rare tracks, not to mention a couple of covers in order to provide enough material for those licking their lips at the thought of a new release.
Anyway as a shameless plug I reviewed it for the Sleeping Shaman so I will point you in the direction of my full thoughts should you want to know in depth what I thought of it.
My Two Cents.

7. Down 'IV - The Purple EP'



To be fair anyone who read my last entry would probably have been expecting Down to end up in a different category... Hell, I did.
I thought mid-way through the year that Down had come to save the end of my year of contrived dreariness by giving me another slab of Stoner/Hardcore/Doom,  but sadly that hasn't proved the case. There isn't anything wrong with 'The Purple EP' let me be clear on that... Witchtripper, Open Coffins are great slices of Sludge, but to me it's just bang average from a band who have the quality to turn in greatness.
I get the concept of releasing EPs, Christ I am still waiting for Tool to follow up 2006's 10,000 Days which was for me literally a lifetime ago, so I am all for shorter listening, more regular releases, major touring, but when I am asked to pay nearly album price for six tracks that it sounds like they knocked out in their sleep then I'm a little disappointed. Sure those six tracks are better than a lot of bands manage on full cylinders, but it just feels lacking.

6. Primal Rock Rebellion 'Awoken Broken'



Earlier this year the Iron Maiden website was alight with rumours about an exciting new project featuring Adrian 'H' Smith Axe God, Heroic Goatee Grower and One Third of Maiden's 'Three Amigos' (well more than one third of the ability...). This project was to feature Mikey Whatisface from On/Off British Technical Metal/Screamo/Math/Whateverpigeonholeyouwanttojamtheminthisweek outfit Sikth.
Well it turns out H is down with the kids. Always one of the more contemporary thinking of the Maiden crew, he put together a project featuring people who probably weren't even sperm when he wrote his first classic, as clearly despite reaching number one in 26 countries (yes, 26 read it and weep) with The Final Frontier, there was an itch that needed to be scratched.
Now, confession time. I have championed a lot of British metal in my time but I have never got well with Sikth. I cant fucking stand them, they sound like a mess and I really dislike both vocalists sound. Mikey is actually a really nice guy though and I wanted to like it to give me a new perspective on his sometimes day job, but sadly it was only passable - there were some great guitar parts (and some very average ones) but I struggled to get past the vocals and I know a lot of other Iron Maiden forum members did too. Admittedly it's not the worst thing to come out of the Maiden camp this year (more on that later), but it very much flatters to deceive.
And the fucking name is awful.

5. Emmure 'Slave To The Game'



I have talked about my love for Emmure's 'Speaker Of The Dead' before and it was sadly little surprise that this years follow up 'Slave To The Game' was a pale copy of the 2010 album. It was simply another round of sledgehammer hip hop influenced deathcore. Musically it treads the same path as before, pug ulgy, punch drunk, breakdown heavy, low brow, brutality.
It's perfectly listenable, it's not bad, but it is simply a case of the songs not being as memorable or simply as good as the ones that preceded it. I'm not massively disappointed, I'm not even sure I expected them to be anything more than a passing fad for me and 'Slave To The Game' merely confirms this.

4. Sylosis 'Monolith'



So one of the touted future leading lights of British metal, Reading's Sylosis have been gathering momentum over the last couple of years and despite suffering the loss of original vocalist Jamie Graham after their first album, they have gone from strength to strength both critically and commercially since guitarist Josh Middleton stepped up to the mic.
This years 'Monolith' continued the trend with a barrage of technical metal and intricate melodies. It's good. Honestly.
It's just... it doesn't really excite.
It's brutal, it's well executed, but I don't really care about it. I wish I could, I want to, but...
I loved their first album and went to see them live just after Josh had become vocalist and they were just loud. On stage nothing really happened and the new material seemed to pass me by. Maybe it was the sound in the place, but after a few numbers we went to the bar and didn't hurry back.
This album is the same, it sounds like a ton of bricks, falling in a calculated manner, the vocals are raw, everything is in it's place and yet somehow it feels like something is missing.

3. While She Sleeps 'This Is The Six'



From one great white hope of British Metal to another. Northern band While She Sleeps looked to capitalise on the good will generated on the back of their 'The North Stands For Nothing' debut with the pummeling follow up 'This Is The Six'.
Much like the previous release, the full length set is an uncompromising barrage of heavy.
The lyrics are delivered in a a throat scrapingly raw style, broken with gang vocal style chants which is at least more original in this day and age than the now standard gruff/clean combo. It is a very well constructed album that rocks along at an absolutely ferocious pace.
I have to tip my hat to them, they are developing into a great band and were by far my favourite when I saw them on the Metal Hammer tour with Sylosis and, well whoever else it was... but I have to curb my enthusiasm and say that it is possibly a little raw for my tastes.
It lacks a certain deftness, it's hard to explain because I have appreciated it every time I have listened to it.
I just can't love it.

2. As I Lay Dying 'Awakened'



I talked earlier this year about how I love AILD and had my reservations about this years 'Awakened' due to the contrasting vocal styles, which is exactly why this very nearly took top slot for me.
Make no mistake this is an incredibly heavy album.
At times this is almost back to the monstrously heavy death metal stylings of their debut album and it is incredibly brutal.
Lambesis' vocals are a savage guttural roar from start to finish and the song writing is almost back to their Shadows Are Security best, but then that clean vocal kicks in.
If anything I find the clean vocal harder to accept than anything else.
The breakdowns could level city blocks, the speed riffs melt your face off, but when nearly every song drops into a big girly chorus it just flat out jars.
The irony here is that by trying to produce something with accessible melodies, they have made an ugly mess of what could have been a great album.

1. Meshuggah 'Koloss'



Jeez, what to say about Meshuggah?
They invented their own genre (mathcore, djent, whatever).
They are unrelentingly heavily.
They are uncompromising.
They released a new album this year.
Meshuggah are kind of like Neurosis in the way that they have gone off into their own bubble that frankly doesn't really care what you think.
A few years ago they released a 21 minute track and called it I.
Koloss in the latest piece of technical brilliance from the Swedish masters of metal so complex they can write maths theories on the time signatures, metal so fucking heavy they downtuned 8 string guitars.
A snarling, hulking tornado of an album...
I admire them a great deal, I have more albums of theirs than I'll probably ever need though and the latest one is simply an addition to that collection. I can't put on one of their albums to relax, I can't get friends round and chuck on the new one in company.
It's like an endurance test, headphones on and be awed by the dizzing heights of creativity they reach.
Music to play in the car when I am in an open minded bad mood.
Some times I need to hear Meshuggah... sometimes I couldn't think of anything worse to listen to.
I'll never put it on without psyching myself up first.
It's fucking brilliant. In small doses.

The next instalment… The Bad.

Taking Potshots At Sacred Cows

For the last six months I have been reading and listening to Phil 'Mouthpiece' Anselmo talking about the new Down release Down IV - Part One, The Purple EP.
Now I love Down - their first album was an almost life changing slab of stoner metal for me. The happy accident of friends in a jam room worshiping at the temple of Sabbath with a side order of hardcore was just simply awesome. Anselmo was one of my favourite metal vocalists of the time and call me a big girls blouse, but I love Phil's singing voice. When he was blowing his voice out for what turned into The Redneck Hate Anthem Project (Superjoint Ritual for those who see no issue with 'A Lethal Dose Of American Hatred's lyrical content) I longed for the lush melodies of Pantera or the smokey witching hour tracks of Down.
Fast forward to 2012 and the New Orleans supergroup embarked on the first of a string of EPs which would allow them to release and tour more.
So what's the problem?
Well over the course of these interviews, when asked why didn't they put out an album, Anselmo has said it's because they are lazy. It takes too long and too much effort for the band to write and record an entire album, they can't concentrate long enough, they get bored.
Well listening to the new EP I would have to agree with them being lazy...

It's six songs, this one is the St Vitus/Sabbath doom flavoured EP... and I find it phoned in. I think it's a little dull. It's almost stock.
Maybe over the course of the run of EPs - next one next year boys, clocks ticking - and they introduce more flavour, more variety the body of work will make more sense, because at the moment it's like they went and recorded six Down template like songs - Anselmo's singing sounds lazy and unremarkable so it will be interesting to contrast this to his up coming solo album.
Pepper and Kirk's riff sound solid, but not remarkable, a shame because Crowbar's last album was jaw droppingly good and much as it's nice to see Animosity era CoC doing well, my heart lies with Pepper behind the mic. Even Jimmy Bowyer's Eyehategod sound refresh and invigorating.
So why not Down?
I guess everyone drops the ball from time to time and at least (in theory) it won't be long before we get new material to agonise over, but this time, Witchtripper and Open Coffins aside Down have left me shrugging my shoulders.

So from the unity of several bands members to the reunion of a true supergroup.
Soundgarden carved themselves a huge piece of the landscape back in the nineties before the wheels fell off.
Badmotorfinger, Superunknown and Down On The Upside were huge releases in my formative years, not to mention the rest of their back catalogue and I genuinely felt I missed out when they split without me witnessing them live.
Whilst they were gone, Cornell released a few solo albums - Morning Euphoria was good, the one with the cover of Billie Jean, not so much and as for the musical misfire with Timberland...
He also fronted former machine raging instrument merchants Audioslave for one incredible and then two dull albums.

Almost last to join the grunge reunion party Soundgarden took their sweet time and this year I finally got to witness them at Download and... well they were boring.
Awful actually, they looked disinterested and played seemingly bereft of passion. I wasn't alone in this and it was almost echoed later when they appeared on Goofy Piano Genius Jools Holland's show to perform some of the songs from the new album and the feedback was not good.
Shit, in fact was one comment from someone who I respect a fair bit for their musical opinion.
As for the comeback album King Animal.
Well it's boring.
It's just weak - the first half is okay, but cannot hold a candle to earlier work and the second half is as boring and as bloated as some of Cornell's solo indulgences.
It was incredibly disappointing, two listens and I gave it back.
I set the mpfree.

Now I do appreciate that this is not going to be a view shared by everyone, I know several people who hold one or the other (sometimes both) albums in high regard and I have seen plenty of favourable reviews for both in the mainstream press.
However I have also seen enough negative reviews from more independent places to know that I am not alone.

2012 has been a poor year for Metal in general. I'll get to a top ten this year for good, bad and what I like to call ugly albums, but that is because I have listened to so much more music. What has struck me is that for the most part is how forgettable much of it is in the mainstream of late - the Metal Hammer top 20 actually reflects this as, with a few notable exceptions, the critics choices are hardly what you would class as chart bothering acts.
Maybe this is a good thing... however the trickledown effect for the rest of the scene will suffer and frankly it won't be those bands getting festival slots next summer... it'll be the ones producing the same old shit.

The demise of Roadrunner, sorry restructuring, at the hands of WMG is not going to help this.
With the original trio of Wessels, Conner and Jonas Nachsin all resigning this year and the first two jumping ship to set up Nuclear Blast UK you can only hope that Metal is going to have to go back underground to survive once again.
Sure Maiden, Metallica, Korn, Slipknot etc will continue to dominate headlines and festivals, but the drop off after that is massive and with every new band seemingly sounding like a rottweiler gargling it's own balls whilst a thrash band falls down the stairs behind it, you kinda have to wonder where have all the song writers gone?
The ones who haven't just reformed for the payday.

Hell No

Well November seemed to pass in a blur and I notice with shock and horror that my post count stands at precisely zero.In all fairness to myself I wrote the below article in yet another fit of frustration and figured I would sit on it as it was bound to upset some people (crazy restraint I know) but also because I have stepped up in my writing commitment to The Sleeping Shaman lately (well Lee might say otherwise but I feel I have been turning in a decent wadge in the past couple of months) and thought maybe it was time to take writing about music a bit more seriously for my own sake as opposed to bitching about the state of metal.

That said I had a long chat with my man Ollie from Grifter in the last week and came to the conclusion that it isn't that I'm beginning to hate metal, it is in fact that I love it so much that the banal and the mediocre state it is in that would allow things such as a Coal Chamber to happen makes me massively angry. In truth in order to get some reward from the genre it is necessary to look beyond the mainstream - I have reviewed so much quality music for the Shaman this year that I penned an end of year overview without hesitation and yet my later to be unveiled Good, The Bad & The Ugly 2012 has been like pulling teeth despite the fact I have listened to a shitload of music this year.

With that in mind, I felt I would air this article, the idea of filling a void with something that is a pale imitation was very much behind this when I wrote it and still rings true now.

Without further ado:



Now this isn't a missive about the current WWE Tag Team Champions, it's not even about the Brokeback pseudo cowboy musical mess that currently occupies the day jobs of Vinnie Paul, Chad Grey and a couple of others from Mudvayne and Nothingface.



No, this is about the frequent press spoutings from pinch harmonic abusing, homeless stunt double and extended Osbourne family member Zakk Wylde about a possible Pantera Reunion with him on guitar.
Since being fired/sacked/kindly asked to step aside from making every single Ozzy Osbourne album of the last decade sound like the left over from a Black Label Society studio session, wannabe biker Zakky boy has taken to extolling how honoured he would be to play with Phil, Vinne and Rex to honour his 'brothers' memory.




Now there is no doubt that Zakk and Dime were friends by the time of his death the fact is there seems to have been a little artistic license granted in light of the In This River debacle.
In This River first appeared on the BLS album Mafia in 2005. The common misconception is that it was written as a tribute to the fallen axeman, when in fact it was actually written some months before the terrible incident.
Upon learning of Dime's death Wylde dedicated the song to his friend. This dedication would extend to the video in which a pseudo Wylde and Darrell would be depicted as childhood friends playing together.
This apparent airbrushing of history (as neither Dime or Vinnie knew Wylde as children, or until they were supporting Ozzy Osbourne) seems to have lead to this myth that if there is one man who could step onto the stage in Abbott's place it is the BLS mainman, something he has been keen to exploit in the press at every opportunity.

Now let's have it right, I miss Pantera incredibly - they were a band who effected me a great deal as a teenager, I will admit to shedding tears at 26 years of age upon learning of his death. I was fucking devastated and whilst Metal rolls on I do strongly believe the scene is not only missing a valuable headliner, but an innovator, a pioneer and a genuine star of the scene.
For all the arguments, the ugly break up, the patchy last album, three ring circus of a tour and the refusal to leave America following 9/11, I do genuinely believe that if Phil Anselmo had removed his head from his ass and the Abbott brothers had calmed down then Pantera would be together today making music to set this scene alight.
Nathan Gale destroyed that chance and I am afraid it is gone.



The net result is that Vinnie Paul understandably hurts at the loss of his actual brother and naturally the ill will of this fallout lands on the man who suggested in the press that Dimebag should be beaten severely and, as someone who has a long memory for wrongs committed against him, I understand completely.
Anselmo for his part has always been a mouthy dick. He stopped giving interviews in the nineties because of journalists twisting his words and has been accused of racism due to misinterpretation of an on stage drunk rant about 'black on black crime' and at the time he gave the Metal Hammer interview in question he was smacked off his tits on painkillers and/or heroin depending on who you listen to and frankly shouldn't have been held responsible for balling socks yet alone speaking coherently on the sensitive subject of the demise of his former band.

Since the tragic death of Dimebag, Phil has grovelled publicly about how sorry he was if his actions played any part in influencing Gale to go on his rampage, he has cleaned up his act and thrown himself head long into numerous projects including his own solo album which is due to see the light of day soon, the New Orleans supergroup Down, Arson Anthem and his label Housecore Records to name just a few and even managed to make peace with Rita Haney, Dimebag's long time girlfriend.

However what has not happened is gaining forgiveness from Pantera's other founding member.

In the interim Rex Brown who accompanied Anselmo for two Down releases, 2002's A Bustle In Your Hedgerow and 2007's Over The Under, was given an ultimatum when the band regrouped to begin the follow up recordings to clean himself up.
Fellow Down members Jimmy Bowyer, Kirk Windstien, Pepper Keenan and Anselmo had all spent serious time before and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina battling various addictions and it seems Brown's were not good for the productivity of the band.
Sadly this seems not to have been able to work out and Crowbar's Pat Bruders has replaced him on Bass duties - Anselmo claiming that they had tried to help him but he needed to go sort himself out.
Rex himself came out in the press stating he 'was in the doghouse' with Anselmo.
He has since emerged in Kill Devil Hill, an Alice In Chains sounding band featuring former Black Sabbath drummer Vinnie Appice.

Following the demise of post Pantera Abbott vehicle, Damageplan Vinnie Paul understandably took time to return to the live stage having witnessed his brother and the person he had played with his entire life murdered in front of him, he eventually returned with the aforementioned Hellyeah.
Having released a solid debut the Texan and his wannabe Cowgirls from Illinois have sadly released two more albums in the form of Stampede and this years utterly charmless Band Of Brothers.
He has also maintained his stance of refusing to speak to Anselmo, going so far as banning him from the funeral and kept his distance from Rex who was perceived to have sided with Phil in the Pantera split, not to mention falling out with Rita Haney since she made her peace with them both.

So what has this got to do with a reunion?
Well everything, never mind Zakk fucking Wylde. Never mind that every time he comes out in the press about it Anselmo comes out and denies it - the past couple of weeks have been like the build up to Slipknot doing something with the Clown coming out and saying they are going to take their time, Corey coming out and saying he doesn't know if there will be another release and then Joey coming out and saying they have demoed 18 tracks and are raring to go.

The fact is that it would take a fucking miracle to get the three remaining members of Pantera in a room together, yet alone on stage.
And to what end?
Because metal is so shit these days that we need this?
This would not be Pantera, at best it would be a tribute to Dimebag.
Well there have been plenty of those - I would be more moved the next time I see Machine Head dedicate Aesthetics of Hate to him. Again. 
I feel strongly enough that Black Sabbath tote around under the name without the man who kept time for them and he's alive!
Dimebag is dead, he was brutally murdered, no matter how bad you feel or how much you miss him, having Zakk friggin Wylde up there isn't going to make it better.
In fact why even Zakk Wylde?
He was never a thrash guitarist, he never will be - I can see him now legs akimbo with his Les Paul screeching horribly as he mangles Darrell's solos.
Gay Holt would be a far better choice if you really had to.
Christ get a fucking hologram.
Oh wait, him and Dime were such good friends…
Riiight.

The fact is this 'reunion' shouldn't even be about the guitarist.
It would be about the remaining members of Pantera being allow to mourn/celebrate their band, together.
It would mean far more for Phil, Vince and Rex to sort their issues and be in the same room for the first time since it happened.
For me they don't ever have to step on stage.



Dime is dead.
You can't replace him, as a musician, as a performer, as the heart and soul of Pantera, yet alone an incredible guitarist.
I saw Pantera and I saw Damageplan; to suggest replacing him sullies the memory.

Go watch a DVD folks, no one wanted to see Queen with Adam Lambert.
Zakk Wylde can go jump In This River.

Since I penned the original part of this entry Vinnie Paul has come out in the press and stated that this will never happen. Please let him hold true to this statement.

Metalcore, What's the Score?

So the late Nineties/early Noughties Metal was actually in a fairly healthy commercial state, but creatively it was fucked - over run by baggy jeans, turn tables, white boys trying to rap and a clown in a red baseball cap or Marilyn Manson.
I know. I had a lot of the records as I was DJing at the time.
Like all genres Nu Metal wasn't bad when it first surfaced and a lot of the bands in the first wave or two were quite good, but by the time the genre was bloated and rotting in the harsh light of day most people longed for a bit of musical ability, some solos and a bit of passion as opposed to having Ben fucking Stiller guest on your album to give your self a back slapping celebrity endorsement.
Out of this frustration saw the resurgence of Thrash orientated bands; only because we live in a post modern world that has to put a label on everything (God forbid we couldn't just called it 'Metal'), this new take on a genre whose leading lights still had credence even before the Big Four Cash Grab, Metalcore was born.

Metalcore was given the name because, despite featuring dual guitar harmonies, solos, thrash fast riffing, gruff vocals, it also had incorporated elements of the punk and hardcore scenes such as breakdowns, deep bass parts, empowering lyrics etc so it was essentially a nice media friendly weaving of two Genres 'Heavy Metal' and 'Hardcore'…

Truthfully a lot of the originators of this genre actually had more in common with the Gothenburg Sound that was created by the likes of At The Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity in the preceding decade and the early bands pinned with this tag include forerunners Killswitch Engage, Unearth, All Shall Perish, Walls Of Jericho, Shadows Fall, As I Lay Dying, Lamb Of God, All That Remains, Trivium, God Forbid, Chimaira and Avenged Sevenfold.
Frankly a veritable who's who of my record record collection for the past few years (some noticeable omissions included).
But as with Hair Metal, Thrash, Nu Metal, Emo before them nothing lasts forever and as the whole thing begins (well I say begins… truth is it started a fair while ago) to whiff like Big Foot's dick and a number of key releases have come in the last year I thought I would take a look at the past and present and see if I can still find a pulse.

Before I do I want to cut a few off the list:

Lamb of God - never really a metal core band, definitely aren't now, just lazy journalism. They are a Slayer/Pantera hybrid and have been ever since As The Palaces Burn was released back in 2003.


Walls Of Jericho are a great band, more like a female fronted Slayer. I may talk about them another time as at the moment they are on time out due to Candace Kucsulain having given birth to a baby girl in August 2011.

Avenged Sevenfold - began life as the Orange County Killswitch but had to take a directional swerve when M Night Shadows blew out his voice and could no longer scream and growl Death Metal stylee. Whatever, they were shit then and somehow more shit now, apart from that Natural Born Killer song from Nightmares. Which is a shame because his voice isn't bad now and I like the song he did on the first Slash solo album…

Trivium…. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ahem, moving on….

So that's the the two I can't be fagged to talk about off the list as well as one of my favourite metal acts of recent years and Walls of Jericho… (I say recent I pretty much mean the last nine) so to the remnants.
I should point out that I didn't go out of my way to find the most identikit band photos... it's just a metal thing these days...



Killswitch Engage
KsE started out of the blocks incredibly well with their untitled album (the debut, the good one, not the shit boring one they released last time out) and followed that swiftly with 2003 genre defining Alive or Just Breathing? This period in my opinion represents the best of the bands output, in singer Jessie Leech they had a vocalist who could growl like a demon possessed and sing like an Angel, before it became the norm to jam a saccharine sweet chorus into every bloody song this was like the spirit of Gothenburg and the Bay Area wrapped up in a fresh post modern sound; produced perfectly it was a boot in the face that people who had been waiting for such things since Anselmo hollered 'FUCKING HOSTILE!!!" in your ear way back 11 years earlier.
After that Jessie left due to numerous reasons and he was replaced with HoJo, The Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed, and they recorded the genre busting End Of Heartache album which smashed down the doors to the Metal mainstream at the time and catapulted them into the big time shining a light on Metalcore.
Now since then, followers of this blog will know I have taken almost every opportunity I can to put the boot in to KsE as they became more bloated (to the point of diabetes eh HoJo?), more stupid (lose that cape Adam) and just fucking boring and formulaic. Whilst record sales haven't dwindled general interest and respect has, but now with the return of Jessie this year, the once kings of Metalcore could get back to their roots and are embarking on a State side tour playing AOJB in its entirety. Having seen them this year at Download for the first time with Leech I have to say I am jealous of our brethren over the pond.




There is hope yet for KsE in my opinion.



Unearth
Unearth have always had their roots more in the hardcore sound than the Death Metal leanings of their peers. They like most started out with a brutal sounding debut (The Stings of Consciousness) but it wasn't until the release of their sophomore album The Oncoming Storm that they made people really sit up and pay attention. Uncompromisingly heavy, almost devoid of clean vocals and dripping with luscious guitar parts, it proved that despite the mauling Metal had taken previously, it could still be intricate, classy and still get you diving in the pit.
They followed this up with two solid albums in III: The Eyes Of Fire and The March which trod the same path in a very palatable way, but never quite recaptured that feeling and left you wanting them to push themselves further.
Well last year I got what I wanted and the wheels came off. The Darkness In The Light I talked about at the time, so I won't go on and on, but part of why I loved Unearth was because they didn't weld a pop chorus to every (or any) song. Like Randy Blythe, Trevor Philips didn't sing.
Last years release saw clean singing all over the new album and I have to say it was a shock and not a pleasant one. I have struggled to listen to them since to be honest and I know that others have struggled with this change.
Maybe they'll come good, but at the moment it smacks of desperation.



God Forbid
God Forbid were a little different and in Gone Forever and Constitution of Treason released some of my favourite albums around the year I was made redundant (2005). I remember temping for DEFRA around my birthday and wondering round the grounds listening to these albums and As I Lay Dying's Shadows Are Security (more on them later)
Since then they have been at war with themselves with Doc Coyle the elder brother stating that they needed to get serious or he would be off and following the lack lustre follow up Lifesblood it seemed that time was up for some.
At this time I saw them in Bristol supporting fading Nu Metal stars Ill Nino and was approached by his brother Dallas Coyle holding a sign up asking for coke, shortly after he left the band and was replaced by Kris Norris of Darkest Hour and then some dude called Mick Wicklund.
For me the support gig for Ill Nino was appropriate as, like them, God Forbid have failed to kick on, last years Equilibrium passed by in a haze of indifference, and they seem to fade a little more with each passing release. They keep popping up on tours in America with many of the usual suspects on this entry, but these days I'm hardly beating down the door to listen to anything new they produce.
Which is a shame.



Chimaira
It seems a little unfair to lump Chimaira in with Metalcore as they have always been a more pure Metal band like Lamb of God. Their Pass Out Of Existence debut was flavoured with Nu Metal influences, but by the time they stripped down to release the incredible Impossibility of Reason album they were lean and mean and created a huge wave on Roadrunner with the Down Again single.
As with all things they seemed primed for success but if you get the chance to see their DVD The Dehumanizing Process the band effectively fell apart over this album tour and the tour for the subsequent self titled album and were dropped by Roadrunner (quel surprise) and have spent the past couple of years limping on and constantly shedding band members right up until 2011 when they release the surprisingly good Age Of Hell album (free to UK Metal Hammer readers), but this comeback seems short lived as two more band members have jumped ship since then and it seems that even the most hardcore Chimaira fan is probably calling time.



As I Lay Dying
As I mentioned earlier in 2006 AILD release their 3rd album Shadows Are Security. Having seen them supporting my Alaskan favourites 36 Crazyfists on their Snowcapped Romance tour (not to mention seeing a pre-EP release Bullet For My Valentine open) I was moved enough to buy their Frail Words Collapse album.
They were by far one of the heaviest bands of their collective - low on sung melodies but high on Maiden influenced dual guitar harmonies. However after breaking big(ish) with Shadows… the band released An Ocean Between Us - this album is considered their best and saw them collect several accolades including a Grammy nomination, but saw the ratio of clean to gruff vocals creep up.
This is the problem for me, this wasn't too bad on Oceans, but the increase in the two follow ups - 2009's The Powerless Rise and this years Awakened means suffering more of Josh Gilbert's clean vocals and unlike Clint Norris before him, I don't really like them… they are a bit whiny and irritating and whereas they used to be used sparingly, now they are almost Killswitch predictable. Don't get me wrong Awakened is a heavy album and by no means close to the worst I have heard this year, but I am finding myself enjoying Tim Lambesis' comedy side project Austrian Death Machine more these days.





Shadows Fall
Right around the halcyon time of the mid-Noughties Metalcore was hitting it's stride Shadows Fall released one of the best Metalcore albums the genre has produced in The War Within. Having ditched Phil Labonte in favour of Brian Fair (he of the massively long dreadlocks) on vocals after artistic differences following the their debut Sombre Eyes To The Sky, the band established themselves as a rising force recording Of One Blood and the momentum gaining follow up The Art Of Balance.
The War Within cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Chart and topped number one on the Top Independent Chart and even got a slot on Guitar Hero II causing some to tip the Shads as the next successor to the likes of Metallica, however the next two albums (Threads of Life and Retribution) saw them lose their direction a little as the band seemed unsure whether to go for the commercial bucks or stay true to their roots and the results was a listenable, but unremarkable mish mash and it looked like they too may end up another casualty on the metalcore scrap heap.
Fortunately this year saw the release of their latest record Fire From The Sky. Reunited with old pal and cape wearing idiot savant Adam D of Killswitch behind the desk for the first time since Sombre Eyes… this record is a wake up call to all who had written them off.
Back to their melodic thrash best, heavy and uplifting and with a production crisper than a new pair of ironed boxer shorts, Fire… has reignited.




All That Remains
So having been removed from Shadows Fall, ex military man and gun loving NRA nut Phil Labonte turned his attention to making his imagined side project a reality with All That Remains. Having always appreciated his voice more than Fair's it was no surprise that I loved All That Remains and their debut Behind Silence & Solitude, like most of the genres debuts is nigh on death metal raw.
Following a few line up shifts the band released it's sophomore album This Darkened Heart for Prosthetic Records.
In comparison to it's predecessor this is a cast iron classic, again produced by friend Adam D this is as pure metal core as you can get, Labonte's bark broken up by some well timed and flavoured clean vocals without being indulgent.
Sure enough as the genre gained in popularity so the pressures on the band to perform commercially escalated and the resultant album was 2006's Fall Of Ideas, still clinging onto enough credibility in the underground this album Still Remains (oof - where are they now?) the fans classic choice. Although not as good in my opinion as TDH it features several alternative radio friendly hits that propelled them into the same league as Shadows and Killswitch.
My problem with All That Remains from this point is that the clean vocals began to appear more and more and have clearly been tweaked in the studio. Whilst this is no surprise in this day and age, one of the main reasons I love the music I do is that you can go see them live and raw.
It seems that raw is an accurate way to describe Labonte's live vocals and debate rages online as to whether he can actually deliver the clean goods live.
However buoyed by the success of Fall, ATR followed this up with 2008's Overcome and 2010's For We Are Many which have only seen the band move further away from their roots and incorporate more clean singing and less thrash orientated material. Although for the record I enjoy both of these records, putting them on back to back with This Darkened Heart show cases how far the band have gone in the route of putting their albums together in the studio.
Certainly this has seen record sales rise steadily, but when you start to sound produced to the point of Linkin Park you are gonna have to take some stick.

Pro-Tools & Autotune

An album you cannot sing...

Whilst these records have proved successful we stand poised for the release of A War You Cannot Win in two weeks time.
I fear this is probably the last time I will describe ATR as a metal core band. The new single that preceded the album Stand Up is a dreadful poppy, hard rock, entirely clean sung piece of smalchy shit that has been massively, massively studio engineered, with vocals that constantly wobble about as the pitch correction desperately tries to match the music and dipshit, chest beating lyrics.
If this wasn't bad enough, Labonte has repeatedly come out in the press lately spouting bollocks about liberals and advocating gun ownership, big government, becoming a partner in a gunshop, posing with assault rifes and falling out with Rent-A-Commie Tom Morello. Not to mention that the album cover is a piss poor rip off of IronMaiden's A Matter Of Life And Death logo only with assault rifles, with silencers.
In an online interview Phil explained how he no problems offending his fans by speaking his mind.
Well judging by the comments appearing online, a large portion of his fan base has no problems offending him as the backlash over the frankly dreadful Stand Up has seen many claiming to have finished with the band.
Well, I've heard the new album and frankly the clean vocals are processed beyond shit. The album has some great heavy moments (Stand Up notwithstanding) but every fucking song that quivering, digital, annoying clean vocal comes in and it sounds like I am listening to some bullshit pop boy band. In fact listening to it as I write this Asking Too Much makes Stand Up seem like a great track, I mean how fucking far off the note do you have to be for the pitch correction to be so dominant in the weak mix? Not to mention at one point it actually breaks down and Phil sings comfortable in his register in a low voice and you hear his real voice... it sounds fine, then the chorus kicks back in and the whole fucking Autotune multi-layer kicks back in and you could be listening to a different guy.
The whole thing smacks of Pro-Tools and Autotune - there is no way this will ever come over well live. As far as 'music' goes this is the worst thing I have suffered in 2012 and it comes from one of my favourite bands of the last couple of years.
I have to say Phil you should rename your band to to Autotuned Remainstream because you make the dude from As I Lay Dying seem like a pleasure to listen to on this release.
Absolutely dreadful.

Ultimately Metalcore, like Nu Metal, Grunge, Thrash etc before it is clinging onto life itself by finger tips… the fact is that music seems to come in waves, either from bands in the same scene trying to out do each other, record companies wanting their own piece of a fad or bandwagon jumping.
Some of the bands I have listed here have been great and could be again, some are on a downwards trajectory and some will fade from existence and some simply aren't the same bands anymore.

I understand that stagnation equals death - I reviewed the new Neurosis album for The Sleeping Shaman recently so I get that some bands can't or won't stand still and I don't expect them to still be the same, but taking a band like Lamb of God who have not compromised in what they do and are selling in numbers that some of the bands mentioned can only dream of, making some of the best music they have made in their career, it makes some of the decisions made by other bands mentioned here seem a desperate attempt to play the game.
And at least Randy Blythe admits he can't sing.