I've always been a big lover of heavy metal and all of the subsequent sub-genres of it, having grown up listening to Metallica, System of a Down, Tool, and Fear Factory regularly. Throughout the years, my taste for metal has evolved in many ways, branching out from the Nu-Metal/Thrash/Progressive Metal sub-genres that I cherished.
I became, and still am, enamored with the Melodic Death Metal scene, as well as many Death Metal bands. Today, I wanted to take a break from politics, culture, and philosophy to share with you some of my favorite Metal albums that helped cultivate my love for this kind of music.
1. Ziltoid: The Omniscient by Devin Townsend (2007)
Like how I came across many albums and musicians, I was introduced to the work of Devin Townsend and to the first Ziltoid album through a friend of mine. This heavy metal space opera represents everything I love about Townsend, from this madness and aggressiveness that he brought from Strapping Young Lads, the "pop/rock" tinge he showcased in DTP's "Addicted" album, and the soft eloquence he's shown in DTP albums such as "Ki", "Ghost", and "Casualties of Cool".
The plot of the first album revolves around the character of Ziltoid the Omniscient in his quest to conquer Earth and defeat Captain Spectacular and the last remaining humans, spurned by his desire for the "ultimate cup of coffee". He chases the humans to N9, attempts to employ the aid of the Planet Smasher, and then seeks the council of the Omni-dimensional Creator in an attempt to clear up his confusion about creation and the universe he lives in. At the end of the album, it's revealed that the entire story was a daydream from a coffee shop employee, who is promptly broken away from the daydream by his boss and some annoyed customers.
Aside from the plot, there are many things that set apart this album from your average metal album, or even any album. For one, the drum tracks used on the album were created using a computer program that Meshuggah's Tomas Haake created, called Drum Kit from Hell. He also utilizes a technique that is called the "wall of sound", which creates a very rich and heavily-layered atmosphere to the music. This technique is notably showcased in the Ziltoid track "By Your Command", especially during and after the part of the track where the Earth's military commander is speaking to his troops about the oncoming attack from the Ziltodians.
2. ...And Justice For All by Metallica (1988)
*Insert Big 4 debate here* Metallica has been my favorite band out of The Big 4 of Thrash Metal, mainly because they didn't rely so heavily on the Punk Rock aspect that defines what we know as Thrash (particularly 'Bay Area' Thrash Metal). Even though this departure has come to bite them in the ass in the more recent albums, it set them apart from bands like Testament, Megadeth, and Death Angel (kinda) through the exploration and fusion of other musical genres into Thrash. Although I first came to know them through their all-time hit "Master of Puppets", as everyone and their mothers probably have, I fell head-over-heels in love with "...And Justice For All" and the album's hit track, "One".
Given that the album has been out for almost 30 years now (HOLY FUCKING SHIT), I won't go into the heavy details about the album, its creation, or any of that jazz. However, I think it's important to note that this album was the first that Metallica produced after the tragic death of their fellow bandmate, Cliff Burton, and was also their first album with bassist Jason Newsted on board. Also of note, because Lars, Jimmy, and Kirk were still sore from the death of Cliff, they gave Newsted quite a bit of shit according to Newsted himself. Another fun fact, for those of you who know of or are avid listeners of Tenacious D, the song "One" was what they revered as "the greatest song in the world", which prompted them to try and fail at creating a song that was better than "One". This ended up leading to one of their popular songs, "Tribute", which (as the title says) is a tribute to this magnificent song.
3. N by Norther (2008)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this Finnish Melo-Death band, this is what I would consider their last album made (because, like St. Anger, I sweep Circle Regenerated under the rug and refuse to acknowledge its existence). This isn't the most groundbreaking Melo-Death album, but it definitely kicks ass and flaunts what it truly means to be a Melodic Death Metal band. The track that swept me off of my feet was "Frozen Angel", which was unfortunately redone in the album whose name I shall not speak of. It encapsulated the morbidity, aggression, and atmospheric songwriting that I now come to expect from Melo-Death bands, swinging from haunted main verses to remorseful choruses and bridges. This song was also featured as the theme song of a film called "V2: Dead Angel".
What's interesting about this album, and what transpired during and after the album's production, was the connection between Petri Lindroos, his fellow bandmates, Aleksi Sihvonen, and Jari Maenpaa. Around 2004, Petri joined a band called Ensiferum, which his bandmates didn't appreciate him doing. They wanted him to focus solely on Norther, but ended up forcing Petri to quit the band in 2009. This was after Jari Maenpaa quit Ensiferum in 2004 to start his band, called Wintersun, which allowed Petri to fill in the position and continue to play for them to this very day.
Aleksi Sihvonen then filled the position of vocalist in light of Petri Lindroos' departure, but the band shortly broke up in 2012 shortly after the release of that horrible, horrible album. He continues to play with a band called "Medicated" and has done several features for various metal bands throughout the scene. So, even though all of the drama within Norther and Ensiferum blows, it lead to some great albums made from Ensiferum and was the catalyst for the creation of Wintersun (which I guess is a fair enough trade).
4. Heroes by Sabaton (2014)
Sabaton is a killer band that needs no introduction in today's metal scene. They're a Swedish Power Metal band that writes albums based on the most badass battles they could in their research of history. This particular album, however, was the first that they've written that focused on individuals and squads/platoons/brigades/etc. rather than battles as a whole or leaders like Sweden's Charles XII (better known by the song Carolus Rex). This was the first album produced after the majority of the band's members split from the band to pursue their own interests, which happened after the album Carolus Rex was released.
Despite Joakim Broden's limited vocal range and the band's tendency to release songs that sound fairly similar to previous ones they've put out, there's no denying the ferocity and energetic atmosphere that the band put towards both their albums and in their live performances. Heroes is a great example of what brilliant work and the excellent musicianship bands can put forward, even if their range and overall capability is limited. Although their works revolve around battles and war, they make it clear that they don't glorify the act of war, but honor those who fight for their country and die for what they believe in. This is made well known in the song "Inmate 4859", which revolves around the story of Witold Pilecki, a Polish soldier told to infiltrate the Birkenau/Auschwitz concentration camps, only to be sold out by the Polish government and executed by Soviet Russian forces.
5. Mr. Bungle by Mr. Bungle (1991)
I would be unforgivably remiss if I didn't mention this fantastic work of art! Anyone who knows me well enough know that I consider only two people to be musical "gods": Devin Townsend and Mike Patton. There is no defining this album into one, set subgenre of music other than "Avant-garde Metal", which doesn't do it any justice if you try to compare Mr. Bungle with the likes of Tactile Gemma. Although the band had produced 4 demos beforehand, this was Mr. Bungle's debut album under the label of Warner Bros.
A fair warning, it's probably not the best idea to listen to this album while under the influence of any sort of hallucinogens or possibly any other substances. This album is balls-to-the-walls aggressive, attacking at your eardrums with fry vocals, screams, squeals, and all other manners of noise that I love it for! A fun fact about this album is that the first track, "Quote Unquote", was originally named "Travolta". Due to legal threats from the actor himself, they ended up changing the name to what it is today.
The song contains two samples from the movie, Greasers, and lyrics also reference the famous anti-war novel "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo (which was also the influence for Metallica's One). The music video shot for Quote Unquote was banned from MTV because it showed band members hanging from meat hooks (all while dressed in costume) and had "disturbing, scary images". Either way, this album is probably my favorite go-to when I'm in the mood for music, with my favorite tracks being "Carousel", "My Ass is On Fire", and "Girls of Porn". Another funny side note is that, in the track "Girls of Porn", contains several samples from porn films and a sample from the movie Robocop, which was the "It's Not My Problem" commercial where the host's catch phrase was, "I'd buy that for a dollar!"
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