Amorphis

A well established Finnish metal act who are at their best an "Opeth-lite".  A little cheesier at times with some out of left field pop melodies mixed in from time to time...Another band with a long under the radar career with varied sounds throughout, beginning as progressive death metal band and currently as a folk/pop metal act.

Dax Riggs

Finally time for a new post.  Today's focus is on the many faces of Dax Riggs, who began his career as a teenager with the NOLA-based Acid Bath, before moving on to Agents of Oblivion, Deadboy and the Elephantmen, and now as a solo act.


First up...Acid Bath, who released 2 highlight packed albums that have really aged well considering how young the band members were and the era in which they were recorded(mid 90s).

Agents of Oblivion saw Dax moving away from his metal upbringing and trying to redefine his sound.

Next up is the duet project of Deadboy and the Elephantmen, which was a much rawer sounding version of The White Stripes.

And for his solo work, the sounds of Deadboy remain, but with little less of the Stripes sound....possible more of a Black Keys influence on the work.

Revocation

In the 1980s a host of bands on the west coast created a sound that combined elements of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Punk that became known as Thrash Metal...  As the 90s came and went thrash's popularity had faded, but honestly, there were no new bands playing thrash at a level.  Even the legends of the genre had moved on to different sounds or found themselves re-hashing the songs they had previously written.   A brief exception from an old-school band would bubble up to the surface occasionally, most noticeably Testament's "The Gathering" in 2000.  But, in terms of solid thrash metal, it had felt as if the genre had evolved and moved on.  The sound could be found in a host of other sub-genres, but the days of albums like Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' and Megadeth's 'Rust in Peace" were long gone.  Then within the last few years a group of young bands heavily influenced by these classic albums surged forward, and their sound has been dubbed "re-thrash".  Now, as that name implies, a lot of these bands are very derivative.   Happy to simply imitate their heroes and sound like a cross between Metallica and Slayer or a better produced Exodus album many of the bands are struggling to push their own style into the music.   But, as is usually the case, the cream is starting to rise to the top and there are a handful of bands with true promise coming out of the scene.  While their sound isn't currently accessible enough to ever expect to see the success of Metallica or Slayer, for fans of the old thrash sound it's nice to hear some talented new bloods on the scene.   Below I'm listing a few samples of one of the better young bands, Revocation from Boston, MA.  They have some death metal leanings, but at the end of the day, they are still a solid thrash metal band featuring some of the best guitar work in the genre.  If you like what you hear, they have a new album coming out on August 16.

And here's one from Testament's underrated classic, The Gathering. 

The Builders and The Butchers

I love it when bands defy genres.  Groups that aren't easily categorized.  One of the newer groups that I've discovered that have a range of influences that work their way into the band's sound is The Builders and the Butchers.  Are they folk?  Country?  Indie?  Americana?  Who knows and who cares?

The Mad Scientist - Devin Townsend

Sorry, for the slight delay between posts....little things like work and life got in the way.   Since the last post one of the true music artists that exists today released two albums.  Devin Townsend, whose biggest claim to fame was as the frontman for Strapping Young Lad and as producer of albums by Lamb of God and Soilwork, has a body of solo work that is unmatched in its variety.  For the life of me I can't think of a more eclectic musician.  It's hard to believe that his output is created from the same brain.  Prior to 2006, I was only aware of his work with Strapping Young Lad, a band that was cool to see live occasionally and had a song or two that I really liked.  While I enjoyed them, they still blended into the extreme metal genre without standing out too much.  Then I saw him open for Opeth under his "Devin Townsend Band" moniker promoting the release of his then newest release "Synchestra"...I was blown away.  

Now, even if those samples aren't you're cup of tea, bear with me.  After getting Synchestra I delved into Townsend's other solo releases.  His solo projects have been released under a variety of different names(the most recent being a 4 album grouping released under the name The Devin Townsend Project).  I was stunned that he had made his name by something other than his solo efforts.   From mellow relaxing numbers to the most extreme metal possible with bits of jazz, bluegrass, and polka mixed in for good measure all touched with a stroke of genius and Townsend's bizarre sense of humor there's no other artist that he can be compared against.  His work is truly unique.  Sure, he's ripping off old blues chords, but he's ripping them off in ways no one else has. 

That's a few of my favorites of his back catalog.  Of his older releases, Terria and Accelerated Evolution are my personal picks as his best while I still feel Synchestra is his overwhelming masterpiece.  His latest effort is an epic 4 cd "collection".  4 separate albums, two released in 2009 and two released just last week that display Townsend's full creative drive and scope.  There are also two "mellow" albums and two "heavy" albums.  Though, one is much heavier than the other.  Each of the albums featuring each own set of guest musicians.   2009 saw the release of Ki and Addicted.  Ki was the first of the mellow releases that actually features its share of heaviness, while Addicted is billed as a heavy release, but it actually showcases almost a danceable metal sound. 

The two releases from 2011 were Deconstruction and Ghost.  Deconstruction was promoted as the strangest and heaviest of the project, while Ghost may be the softest output of Townsend's career.  With the releases being so new, I'm still in the process of digesting them...but his work remains as nutty, zany, and talented as ever on the heavy side and hauntingly beautiful during it's calmer moments. 

Rest assured, that even the many samples above barely skim the surface of the man's eclectic work.  For example,  I didn't even preview any of his concept album about a coffee drinking alien guitar hero.  Ziltoid the Omniscient.  Nor did I highlight his time as lead vocalist for guitar legend Steve Vai.   Simply put his creative output is too vast for a single post, but it's worth your time to explore.  Within his work are a variety tastes that won't appeal to all palettes, but there is so much wonderful music that it justifies the few missteps that may not appeal to you. 

Death Angel

Sometimes you miss a band on their first go around.  Be it you were too young when they started or they simply flew under your radar.  Then later, you'd hear about the band and go back and listen and just not understand what the big deal was.  Death Angel was one of those bands for me.  In the scope of Thrash Metal, you could consider them Metallica's little cousin.  Maybe even Testament's baby brother.  A band with a solid reputation, but who never made it out of the shadows of their older relatives.  I would always read posts about the band online and when I would go and sample the music, it just didn't move me.  By the time it reached my ears the production values were dated and the riffs all sounded recycled. 

Then a reunited Death Angel lineup came to town opening up for Soilwork and I saw where they really made their impact.  This is band that delivers the goods live.  Enough that when returned for their own headlining tour later I made sure that I was in attendance.   I still can't go back and really enjoy their original recordings, I missed that part of the experience, but the old stuff comes across excellent in concert.  Also, the band's new lineup released a new album last year entitled "Relentless Retribution" that showcases the bands experience and talents.  It's one of the best thrash releases in years and has diversity within the songwriting that most newer metal releases lack.  The band takes chances that make fans who only want brutality to cringe, but for the rest of us it's a musical treat featuring guest musicians Rodrigo y Gabriela, who are outstanding in their own right.

 

Song #1

At the urging of multiple friends, I'm going to try to keep up a little blog where I'll give my recommendations and reviews of tunes both old and new.  Hopefully I'll even work in some concert reviews and various opinions if I can make them sound less than pretentious.  So, here goes...

If I'm going to start making recommendations I have to start at the beginning, from where almost all of the music I will recommend will stem.  I don't know where this quote is from, if someone knows, please tell me...
"Listen to me, heavy metal is just ripped off blues chords.  You've been listening to stolen riffs your whole life, bitch."  That applies to lot more than heavy metal.  Chances are if it's got a guitar in, it was written and performed first and better by someone from Mississippi, maybe Louisiana.  Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin...they all stole from the blues and every one since has stolen from them. So, the first song has to be a blues song.   Rather than post an artist that most people are aware of like Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters to begin with, I'm going to go with a performance by one of the more underrated bluesmen.  Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Worried Life Blues".

Now, a few years back Clutch, a band that crosses a few genres, took this song and added their own touch to it.

The harmonica in that song is played by Eric Oblander of Five Horse Johnson.   Here's the only clip on You Tube I could find of my favorite song of theirs, "Blood Don't Pay"...