All Droned Out

  I wanted to take some time and do a post on my favorite genre right now.  This drone, stoner, sludge, grungy metal.  Its got so many names but its basically great stuff.  There are a lot of really good bands in this genre and I wanted to shine some light on these guys.  Maybe you'll like one or two and get in to them as well.  Some of them are heavier than the others, some are more progressive, and some are softer with more melodic hooks.  None the less they all have great vibes that I think any metal fan can appreciate so here they are.  There are probably a lot more in this genre that are good these are just the ones that I'm in to right now.

Electric Wizard

Electric Wizard are the starters of stoner metal in my opinion.  There are others like Sleep, or Kyuss but none of them are doing like Electric Wizard.  They are from  Dorset, England, and had their first studio release in 1995.  They have been kicking it strong ever since, and have released some essential stoner, drone metal releases since than.  There are a few albums that were said to be the landmarks of this genre and they are great albums none the less so I recommend checking out Electric Wizard for sure.  They have 7 studio releases to date.  I recommend   Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics..., and Dopethrone.  These are by far their best efforts. 

Electric Wizard - 1995                                                  Come My Fanatics... - 1997

Dopethrone - 2000                                                                               Let Us Prey - 2002

We Live - 2004                                                            Witchcult Today - 2007

Black Masses - 2010

Mastodon



Mastodon are a progressive drone metal band from Atlanta, Georgia.  They formed in 1999.  They incorporate a lot of progressive elements into their very aggressive guitar, and vocal presence.  They have released four studio albums since their inception, and have progressively gotten better on each record.  Every record explores something new from sounds, technique, to concepts.  They are very conceptual which is fine with me.  I like having to read and learn about what a band is talking about in their music.  I've known about these guys since their Laviathan release in 2004 which was a really great album.  I highly recommend them if you like very spastic articulate drumming, and fast crunchy guitar work.  Their vocals are spread out throughout the entire band almost.  So in any one song you may hear three different vocalists singing.  Which is great cause that just adds more texture to works.  So give them a listen you won't be sorry

Remission - 2002                                                         Leviathan - 2004



Blood Mountain - 2006                                                Crack the Skye - 2009

High on Fire

High on Fire stems from Matt Pike.  The mastermind behind the stoner metal band Sleep in the 90's.  With their staple in the stoner metal genre in the nineties as Sleep its only natural that High on Fire would have a huge foot in it now, and that's no under statement.  High on Fire have released some great metal albums since their start in 1998.  They have released five studio albums and really are bringing a great needed crunch to heavy metal.  I highly recommend getting Snakes For the Divine.  The whole album is top notch from start to finish.  If you like lets see a mix between Motorhead, and Mastodon you'll love High on Fire because that's exactly what they are really. 

The Art of Self Defence - 2000                                                            Surrounded By Theives - 2002

Blessed Black Wings - 2005                                         Death is This Communion - 2007

Snakes For the Divine - 2010



Kylesa

I discovered Kylesa not but maybe a few months ago and really was thinking how could I have missed these guys.  They were formed in 2001 from Savannah, Georgia.  Their stuff is really innovative and rich with a sound scape that surpasses the majority of the bands in the drone, sludge, stoner stuff.  They incorporate a lot of psychedelic, ambient, elements, with this heavy chug.  The drums are another thing that really sets them apart as well.  They have two drummers with full sets.  It adds a major ambient drumming sound that frequently pans from right to left when listening to them.  They are a lot of fun to listen to on head phones.  Sometimes I listen to them with just one headphone in and really soak up where the sounds are coming from.  They are really a headphone record band.  These guys do their craft well and I wouldn't be without them on my ipod from this day forth.  They have five studio records so far, and their 2010's Spiral Shadow is by far their best one.  I highly recommend picking it up.

Kylesa - 2002                                                                                      To Walk a Middle Course - 2005

Time Will Fuse Its Worth - 2006                                   Static Tensions - 2009

Spiral Shadow - 2010

Bison B.C.

Bison B.C is fairly new to the game but show great promise.  Their 2010 release Dark Ages is a great metal record.  It shows their potential for heavy greatness.  It is one of the better records of 2010, and I recommend giving them a listen.  They have released three records since 2007, but I feel they have it in them to keep going for a good while and keep giving us good crunchy metal. 

Earthbound - 2007                                                       Quiet Earth - 2008

Dark Ages - 2010



The Sword

The Sword are from Austin which is cool so I checked them.  I was hesitant at first because the alternative sense is very big here and I was just assuming they were going to sound like all the other bands here in Austin.  Boy was I wrong.  These guys have a real classic groove that I am really digging.  They sound like a cross between Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Blue Cheer.  These guys rock, and I'm liking it.  Their 2010 release Warp Riders is a really great record.  From sound, to vocals, to concepts.  Its really a solid groovy album.  They are fairly new to the scene, but like Bison B.C. show some great potential. 

Age of Winters - 2006                                                                         Gods of the Earth - 2008

Warp Riders - 2010

HowL

HowL are a heavier take on the drone metal.  They definitely have a darker side to them, with their lyrics, and vocal style.  Its in your face loud and heavy.  They are fairly new also, but I'm really digging their 2010's Full of Hell.  The artwork on the album is great as well.  The cover is just metal all the way.  So if you in to heavier crunch, and a darker lyric I recommend checking this band out.  They just released their debut this past year so they are pretty fresh. 

 Full of Hell - 2010

Isis

Isis is considered a jazz fusion group.  They were formed in Boston in 1997, but moved to California.  I think they have elements of a lot of different vibes to their intoxicating sound.  These guys really incorporate many different instruments, and have a huge plethera of music on every album.  They are no longer together,  for they decided to end it after their last tour this past year, but their music still remains strong as a solid experimental metal band.  They are really fun to listen to on headphones as well, as there will be many different sounds and things going on throughout the records .  Give em a listen, and you won't be sorry. 

Celestial - 2000                                                            Oceanic - 2002

Panopticon - 2004                                                        In the Absence of Truth - 2006

Wavering Radiant - 2009



Baroness

Baroness are another great drone, sludge, progressive metal band from Savannah, Georgia.  They are really good and duel harmony guitars, while adding a heavy crunch to their metal.  They albums have a wide range of distortions, and vocal patterns.  They are very poetic, and majestic at times.  Their albums are both concept albums which seems to be a common thing in the drone metal world.  Their 2009 release The Blue Record is their most experimental effort so far.  With heavy aggressive guitar work, to an ambient progressive feel, and soft acoustic melodies that this album really gives you a well fit metal album with a little of everything on it.

Red Album - 2007                                                     Blue Record - 2009

The Ocean

The Ocean are from Berlin, Germany and they are an experimental metal band.  The are pretty progressive, and have a classic presence as well which I much appreciate as well.  The sound pallet that this band achieves is very interesting, and full of texture.  The artwork to their albums look like just fun conceptual art.  I like their vibe a lot.  They are another headphone record.  Listening to them with one headphone is interesting because the way they put their material together is fun to hear one thing on one side and than listen to it again and listen to it on the other, and hear a bunch of things that you missed.  Put them together and there are wondrous amounts of texture and color to the music. 

Fluxion - 2004                                                                 Aeolian - 2006

Precambrian - 2007                                                      Heliocentric - 2010

Anthropocentric - 2010

So there you go the 10 bands that I am really digging right now in this genre of metal.  All of them have similarities, and things that set them apart from the others.  I really think that this genre has great promise for being around for a long time.  The classic vibes that a lot of these bands incorporate I feel are being sifted out in most of modern metal today which is such a shame, but that's just me.  I love classic metal and feel that these guys really pay homage to a lot of it while keeping it fresh and new.  So I hope you found at least one of these bands interesting enough to check out on your own.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy.

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow Review

   Kylesa is an experimental sludge, doom, drone metal band from Savannah, Georgia.  I discovered them officially maybe a week ago from Pandora.  I had heard of them before but never really paid much attention to them.  I heard a few tracks off of Spiral Shadow and was blown away at the intense sound that these guys have although while keeping a small amount a finesse to it.  They are really a great drone metal band that I think you guys should really check out.  There are aspects of this band that really set them apart from the others in their genre of metal.

   Spiral Shadow is their 5th studio album and was released this past year in 2010.  It by far is their most experimental effort yet.  After their Static Tensions release they were getting noticed by a lot of people critics, and fans alike.  It was one of the better releases of 2009.  This album though they really pushed the ambient psychedelic feel to it I feel.  It really is a headphone record.  The small little things you hear in the background that you might miss if you were just listening to it on a stereo.  This album really explores their keyboard, and mixing abilities, but while not over powering the over-all vibe of the album.  When the first track comes on its very intimate and mellow and sets you in the mood for a nap, and than it just takes off in this aggressive frenzy of sound and moves you through what will be Spiral Shadow.  Their special edition release really shows how they record, and they really have a classic sense of recording.  They use an assortment of probably 50 to 60 different peddles to get their very dense thick distortion sound.  They really know their effects, and the way to combine them together perfectly to get their sound.  Their classic favor is much appreciated from me b/c I feel that with the advances in technology and the different popularities in recording these days everything is going very digital, and sometimes made easy for the artist, and these guys don't take the easy road for sure.  Which commends a certain amount more respect than the others doing it the modern ways.  Spiral Shadow explores many different aspects of their music abilities which hasn't been done to this level on previous releases.  From the guitar tones, to the keys added in as one of the main instruments, and not just a filler or accent to the song, but like I said not over taking the songs in anyway.  Everything seems to mesh very well. 

   The drums are another thing that really puts me away.  They have two drummers with full sets playing in unison.  Which really hasn't been done like this before.  It sounds really tight and together on the record, and watching these guys do everything on cue to the last note is truly amazing.  The drums have a very big in your face presence on the record.  They designed the record around the drums.  They got them recorded and sounding really good first and formulated the rest of the record around the drums.  Watching them play live is really a sight to see.  When Carl McGinley, and Tyler Newberry start playing together its like watching yourself play in the mirror, but every once in a while you reflection will go and add a little something on its own to put the song together.  Phillip Cope, Laura Pleasants, Corey Barhorst, Carl McGinley, and Tyler Newberry really make a great team together with their definite staple in the drone metal world with Spiral Shadow.  I will continue to be a fan of them from this point on.  I also recommend checking out Static Tensions as well it has a lot of great things throughout the record as well.  I gave this album a solid 9.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy.

Here are some of the tracks from the record.  I highly recommend listening to record in its entirety for the way the track fallow one another is really placed very well from start to finish. 



Porcupine Tree - In Absentia Review

  I discovered Porcupine Tree through Opeth.  I got real into Opeth, and started doing some research on the band and just tried learning everything I could about them, and came across this guy Steven Wilson on numerous occasions.  I didn't think much of it I though maybe he was just a producer that the guys liked using or just a guest musician from a band they liked.  When I actually paid attention to what he contributed to Opeth I was surprised so I had to check him out.  He produced, and contributed backing vocals, guitar, and keyboards to Opeth's album Blackwater Park and Damnation which Blackwater Park is by far one of their greatest albums.   
  Steven Wilson really has opened my pallet of tastes in music from progressive rock, indi rock, soft acoustic contemporary rock, psychedelic rock, jazz fusion, ambient, to more hard core metal.  I have checked out bands just because they were mentioned in an interview with Steven Wilson that I watched, and loved them.  His music intuition is far above any one persons I have ever seen.  He has such a wide range of tastes, and abilities that its no wonder he has so many projects going for him.  Steven Wilson is a music workaholic.  He doesn't admit that its him being a workaholic, he is just doing what he loves which is right, but he never stops doing something with music weather it be with Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, I.E.M. (  Incredible Expanding Mindfuck ), Bass Communion, to his solo project.  Every work of his is so different in so many ways.  I highly recommend checking out Blackfield, and his solo stuff.  They are truly amazing.  When I went to check out Porcupine Trees material I was blown away at how much stuff these guys have put out on the last 20 years.  They have 10 studio albums, 4 live albums, 4 EP's, and 3 compilation albums.  Staring from 1991 to now.  That's a lot of stuff in that amount of time.  Not to mention that's just Porcupine Tree.  All the other projects as well have numerous releases.  So he is a very busy man.  Steven Wilson is such an awsome person to listen to talk about music, and what moves him.  He is brilliantly smart, and innovative with everything he does.  This is just a portion of the information that he has done.  I hope that maybe this review turns you on to something of his or even this album in particular b/c this is my favorite Porcupine Tree album.  So now to the album haha.
  In Absentia came out in 2002 and is their 7th studio album.  For me from start to finish this album has you by the hand the whole time.  Its like running through a musical painting with everything in it from, heavy distorted aggressive riffs, to melodic piano, and sprinkled with soft intoxicating melodies.  This album definitely for goes in numerous directions throughout the record.  For instance the first song right of the bat starts you off with a crunching prog metal piece.  When the soft part comes in after the intro heaviness its hauntingly good.  Blackest Eyes is one of my favorite tracks off the album.  Than Trains comes on and its this soft acoustic wonder.  That to me I would play this song while driving down an old dirt road going really slow during the summer without a care in the world and enjoying the air.  Now comes this angry march Sound of Muzik.  That while not being very heavy seems to give me this since of power and I just nod my head to the beat the whole time and listen to his truly in your face message.  The progressive drums are just amazing.  Gavin Harrison is one of the great drummers of today.  He was featured on my top 20 drummers of all time.  So now you go though a few prog rock tracks that really keep you going until you get to the wondrous Heartattach in A Lay By.  The eary mantra that this song gives you will send chills down your spine.  His voice grabs you and pulls you into the spiral of sounds and melody that will bring you to a place in your head you never thought existed.  I listen to this song and get lost in everything that's happening slowly but surely.  And finally the end saddening I know but man they end it well.  Collapse the Light Into Earth gives me a since of confidence that tomorrow will be better and the day after that, well who knows what will be there for me, but that's the beauty of life.  Not knowing whats in store and playing the game a little.
  This album really has changed my life almost.  It really made me look at what music meant to me.  If a few guys could do something like this and put their heart and soul into it, and it come out like this there's gotta be something powerful and needed in music that I think most of today's pop culture, and big heads of the world have forgotten about.  Music is a way of life.  It moves you in so many ways.  Backwards, forwards, deeper, nowhere, somewhere, there, here, and anywhere your minds wishes to go.  Music is the way.  We need to start remembering that.  i recommend this album for everyone in the world.  There is something there for every person big or small.  So of course you guys know I give this album a 10, and this album is one of my favorite albums of all time and will be for a long time.  It will be hard to top, and if anyone were to do it it will probably be Steven Wilson anyway.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy.

      

Here are some tracks from the album enjoy I know I have.

Sorry they don't have a studio version on this thing but this live version is pretty powerful

2010 Top 10

  I wanted to put together a top 10 list of my 2010 grabs.  Its taken me a while to do this because I wanted to put them in some sort of order from the ones I liked the most, to least.  A few of them I got after the new year in 2011, but I'm still going to count them which I usually don't b/c if I didn't get them in 2010 when they came out than they weren't real high on my list to get anyway.  But I'll put them in order from top 1 to 10, and than my 3 runner ups.  I'll also include the list of ones that didn't make the top from best to worst.  So hear it goes.

10. The Sword - Warp Riders

9.  Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy

8.  Demon Hunter - The World Is A Thorn

7.  Soilwork - The Panic Broadcast

6.  Deftones - Diamond Eyes

5.  Fear Factory - Mechanize

4.  Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.  High on Fire - Snakes For the Divine

2.  As I Lay Dying - The Poweless Rise

1.  Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadbra



  So now here are the 3 runner ups to my to 10.  These were great releases but I just felt that these other 10 were just a little bit better.  So maybe these guys next album if just as good or better Will be in my top 10 next time.  So here they are.

3.  Bleeding Through - Bleeding Through

2.  Exodus - Exhibit B: The Human Condition

1.  Ozzy Osbourne - Scream

  So here are the releases that didn't make it this year.  Now some are still decent releases, and some are just not good at all, but I try and keep all of my buys b/c lets face it if I bought it, it was good enough to listen to, and who knows you guys may disagree with me on a few of these. Maybe they should be higher, lower, or even in the top 10 for you, but like I've said before its what I think so ha.  They are still in order as to best t worst.  So here they are

Soulfly - Omen

Heaven Shall Burn - Invictus

Daath - Daath

Godsmack - The Oracle

Korn - Remember Who You Are

Bullet For My Valntine - Fever

Sully Erna - Avalon



10 Years - Feeding the Wolves



H.I.M. - Screamworks...

Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2

  Ok so there they are, now any 2010 releases that I get after this point will not be included on this list what so ever.  I still have a bunch that I want to get for instance I want to get All That Remains - For We Are Many, Cradle of Filth- Darkly Darkly Venus Aversa, Kylesa - Spial Shadow, Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit, Nevermore - The Obsidian Conspiracy, The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis, and Dark Tranquility - We Are the Void.  Now just b/c I don't have these yet doesn't mean that they are any worse than the ones I do have.  I just wanted those more.  Now some of these guys could probably have been in my top 10 like Agalloch's Marrow of the Spirit. I have listened to that one and really enjoyed it, and the cover is awsome to boot.  So here they are my 2010 releases and how they matched up to each other for me.  Like I said you may think that one should be higher or lower, but this is how I felt.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy.

Fear Factory - Mechanize Review

   I've probably been listening to Fear Factory since their Digimoral release in 2001.  I really liked the drumming, and guitar sequences.  They had this really heavy edge, but also carrying a very melodic undertone that I really enjoyed listening to.  I remember my father saying that their drums are programmed to be that fast.  I said if only he knew what they were really doing he would've taken a hard look at his wonderful polka drumming he was doing at the time.  I remember having to go to those horribly repetitive dances with my parents when I was younger and hating them.  I got lucky enough to put Digimotal in the CD player while we were driving to one to let my father listen to it, and that's the first thing he said.  "Oh these drums aren't real, they are a drum machine.  There's no way he could be that fast".  That lasted for like a minute of being in the CD player before he took it out and said her take this crap back.  I was laughing inside at him and saying no way man this is the real thing.  I got their previous material, and was very surprised at how these guys mesh the heavy death metal techniques, with this melodic industrial sound.  I really think that these guys were some of the starters of genres like deathcore, metalcore, and industrial metal.  Fear Factory has been one of those bands for me that really brought me deeper into heavy metal. 
  They have gone through some major changes, and shifts through-out their career.  Demanufacture is said to be their break through album, and it really is their best one.  When the first track comes on with somewhat of what I can only describe as factory sounds.  Something you would hear in a steel mill, to the intoxicating gallops on the drums.  You know you're in for a treat with this great essential metal album.  They kind of shifted their sound a little through-out the next years.  For instance on Transgression they did that album without Dino's guitar excellence, and Christian Wolbers did all of the guitars, and bass work for that album.  Not to say that that album was bad, but it is definitely different than anything they had done previously.  It also was not praised very well when it came out.  One reason was due to the pore production, and slower guitars than anything they had previously done before.
   So Transgression was the last album to feature original drummer Raymond Herrera, and Bassist Christian Wolbers, and the band went on a hiatus to pursue other interests and projects.  In 2009 Burton, and Dino announced that they would be returning to the studio together for the first time in five years to work on new material for a new Fear Factory album.  I have to say I was super sicked for this because I missed Dino's Fear Factory sound.  He did Divine Heresy which was great by the way.  Really great stuff, but I just missed Fear Factory.  On top of that it would feature Gene Hoglan A.K.A the Atomic Clock who I also feature on my Top 20 Drummers of All Time post.  Truly amazing, so automatically I knew it would be a fast aggressive record that we all wanted.  Gene Hoglan has recreated how the drums are played and idolized for every metal drummer today, so his presence on the album could only be a good thing.  Also Byron Stroud would be contributing the bass for the record.  I highly recommend checking out Strapping Young Lad if you guys like both of these artists because that's where they've been for a while with crazy man Devin Townsend.  When I popped the CD in I heard that wonderful steel mill sound that I Had missed from the start of Demanufacuture for so long.  Than this barrage of fast intense guitar, and double bass frenzy blew my ears away.  They really honed in on the fast side of Fear Factory on this one, but while still having that wonderful mesh of melodic chorus hooks.  So this album for me was a breath of fresh air this year.  I really enjoyed it.  I think around the same time I had purchased H.I.M.'s Screamworks, and Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe 2 and I was super dissatisfied with both those releases.  So this album brought me back to where I needed to be.  I highly recommend picking this album up for sure.  Its a great industrial death metal album.  I gave this album a 9.5 and its well deserved.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy

Here are some tracks from the album enjoy.