Power, Speed, and Heavy Metal list part 6

Again the original list I made can be found here- http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html
and eventually I will compile all these smaller lists into one massive one.




Liege Lord
Genre- Power/Speed
From: United States
Formed in 1982
Albums to check out- *Freedom's Rise*, Burn to my Touch, Master Control
Notes- Originally started as a Judas Priest cover band and went on to become an incredible USPM band with three great releases.


Gravestone
Genre: Heavy/Rock
From: Germany
Formed in 1977
Albums to check out- Victims of Chains, *Back to Attack*, Creating a Monster
Notes: Originally started as a rock band, move to heavy metal by the early 80s. Eventually became known as 48 Crash.

Abraxas
Genre: Power/Prog
From: Germany
Formed in 1985
Albums to check out- *The Liasion/Tommorow's World*
Notes- The album The Liasion was released in Japan but not Europe but re-released under the name Tommorow's World. There are a couple US bands called Abraxas(one plays death metal and the other is a black metal band)

Anvil
Genre: Heavy
From: Canada
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- Hard 'N' Heavy, *Metal on Metal*, Forged in Fire, Strength in Steel
Notes- Originally started as a band called lips. Went on to be a very influential metal band. Released a film documentary called Anvil! The Story of Anvil in 2008

Sanctuary
Genre: Power
From: United States
Formed in 1985
Albums to check out- *Refuge Denied*, Into the Mirror Black
Notes- When the band broke up, vocalist Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard went on to form the band Nevermore.

The list goes on (part 5)

Eventually I'll just mash all the posts in one huge list when I am done. Original list I made can be found here. http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html



Helloween
Genre Speed/Power
From: Germany
Formed in: 1983
Albums to check out- *Walls of Jericho*, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I and II
Notes: Hugely popular power metal band from Germany. Pretty much started the whole modern day euro power metal thing that we know today. Their first album was more speed metal than anything though.

Riot
Genre: Heavy/Power/Speed
From: United States
Formed in: 1976
Albums to check out- Fire Down Under, *Thundersteel*
Notes: Influential band to heavy metal, speed metal, and USPM. When Riot disbanded temporarily, some of the guys started a heavy metal band called Narita who released one demo before they got Riot back together.

Titan Force
Genre: Power/Prog
From: United States
Formed in: 1987
Albums to check out- *Titan Force*, Winner/Loser
Notes: There were rumors that they were working on a new album after they reunited but nothing has come out.

Fates Warning
Genre: Power/Prog
From: United States
Formed in: 1982
Albums to check out- The Spectre Within, *Awaken the Guardian*
Notes: One of the most popular USPM bands out there. Their albums that were released later have more of a prog sound.

Jag Panzer
Genre: Heavy/Power
From: United States
Formed in: 1981
Albums to check out- *Ample Destruction*, Thane to the Throne, Mechanized Warfare
Notes: Released one of the best power metal albums ever in Ample Destruction. You probably want to stay away from the album Dissident Alliance, though.

The list continues... day four

As always, the original list I made of some of my favorite bands from these genres can be found here... http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html



Angel Dust
Genre: Speed/Thrash
From: Germany
Formed in 1984
Albums to check out- *Into the Dark Past*, To Dust You Will Decay
Notes: Later reformed as a modern melodic power metal band. Their first two albums are quite rare and pretty pricey.


Cauldron Born
Genre: Power
From: United States
Formed in 1994
Albums to check out- Born of the Cauldron
Notes: Their vocalist and style changed on their second album, which is not as good as their first in my opinion.


Taliön
Genre: Power/Speed
From: England
Formed in: 1988
Albums to check out- Killing the World
Notes: Created by members of the band Tröjan

Griffin
Genre: Power/Speed
From: United States
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- *Flight of the Griffin*, Protectors of the Lair
Notes: One of the pioneers of US Power Metal. Flight of the Griffin is a classic of the genre.


Blind Guardian
Genre: Power/Speed
From: Germany
Formed in 1986
Albums to check out- *Battalions of Fear*, Follow the Blind, Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations from the Other Side, Nightfall in Middle Earth
Notes: One of the most popular power metal bands in the world.

Traditional, Speed, and Power list day 3

Original list can be found here (and is still being updated) http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html



Axehammer
Genre: Power/Heavy
From: United States
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- *Lord of the Realm(EP)*
Notes: Released a few demos and an EP in the 80s, released their only full length in 2005


Iron Grey
Genre: Heavy
From: Belgium
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- Metal Item(demo)
Notes: Pretty obscure heavy metal band from Belgium. Only released a demo and appeared on a split with a couple other bands.

Tokyo Blade
Genre: Heavy (NWOBHM)
From: England
Formed in 1982
Albums to check out- Tokyo Blade, Midnight Rendezvous, *Might of the Blade*
Notes: Pretty well known NWOBHM band with a few very good releases.


Judas Priest
Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM), Speed
From: England
Formed in 1969
Albums to check out- Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather, British Steel, *Screaming for Vengeance*, Painkiller
Notes: One of the most popular and influential metal bands of all time.


Battleaxe
Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM)
From: England
Formed in 1979
Albums to check out- *Burn this Town*, Power from the Universe
Notes: They recorded a third album but it was never released.



Grim Reaper
Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM)
From: England
Formed in 1979
Albums to check out- *See You in Hell*, Fear No Evil, Rock You to Hell
Notes: One of the giants from the NWOBHM scene.


Saxon
Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM)
From: England
Formed in 1977
Albums to check out- Saxon, *Wheels of Steel*, *Strong Arm of the Law*, Denim and Leather, Power and the Glory
Notes: I really can't pick which album is better between Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm of the Law, so check out both. Saxon are quite a popular heavy metal band, and have a wonderful discography.

Morgana Lefay
Genre: Power/Thrash
From: Swedem
Formed in 1986
Albums to check out- Symphony of the Damned, Knowing Just as I, The Secret Doctrine, *Maleficium*, Sanctified, Grand Materia,
Notes: Power metal band from Sweden with some thrashy stuff mixed in. The band split apart and Charles Rytkönen and Tony Eriksson lost the rights to the band and started a band called Lefay.

Heir Apparent
Genre: Power/Heavy
From: United States
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- Graceful Inheritance
Notes: Their second album is quite drastically different from the first. Graceful Inheritance is a gem though and everyone should check it out.


Warfare
Genre: Heavy(NWOBHM)/Speed
Formed in 1982
Albums to check out- Pure Filth, *Metal Anarchy*
Notes: Very punk influenced(more so than a lot of NWOBHM bands) heavy/speed metal.

Trad/Speed/Power list day 2

The original list I made of some of my favorite bands of these genres can be found http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html




Brocas Helm
Genre Heavy
From: United States
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- Into Battle, Black Death, *Defender of the Crown*
Notes: Underrated heavy metal band. Only released the three albums and some demos and singles. Gained more popularity with the rest of the world when two of their songs were on the Brutal Legend soundtrack.


Metal Church
Genre: Heavy/Thrash
From: United States
Formed in 1980
Albums to check out- *Metal Church*, The Dark, Blessing in Disguise
Notes: One of the most influential bands in all of metal.


Mercyful Fate
Genre: Heavy
From: Denmark
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- *Melissa*, Don't Break the Oath,
Notes: Hugely influential to traditional metal bands, thrash metal, and black metal. Vocalist King Diamond went on to have a successful solo career as well.

Running Wild
Genre: Power/Speed/Heavy
From: Germany
Formed in 1976
Albums to check out-Gates to Purgatory Branded and Exiled, *Under Jolly Roger*, Pile of Skulls, Black Hand Inn
Notes: The originator of "pirate metal" and the best.


Iron Angel
Genre: Speed/Thrash
From: Germany
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- *Hellish Crossfire*
Notes: Very underrated German speed/thrash metal band. Only released two albums.

The big list of Power/Speed/Traditional Day One

Just going to be picking the bands from the list at random...When I refer to the word Power Metal, you should know I mean old 80s power metal, german power metal, USPM, and what I call REAL power metal, not the europop happy nonsense you hear today.


My favorite album will by the band will have a * next to it. A lot of these bands have lots of good albums, but I am just going to post a few of my absolute favorites.

Stormwitch
Genre: Heavy/Power Metal (with a big NWOBHM influence)
From: Germany
Formed in 1979
Albums to check out- Walpurgis Night, *Tales of Terror*, Stronger Than Heaven
Notes. One of the originators of true power metal in my opinion. Has a nice NWOBHM influence.

Tröjan
Genre: Speed Metal
From: England
Formed in 1982
Albums to check out- *Chasing the Storm*
Notes: Members of this band became the band Taliön.


Wolf
Genre: Heavy Metal
From: Sweden
Formed in 1995
Albums to check out- Wolf, Black Wings, *Evil Star*, The Black Flame
Notes: One of the bands in my opinion that helped revive the new wave of traditional metal scene.


Attacker
Genre: US Power Metal
From: United States
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- *Battle at Helms Deep*, The Second Coming, Soul Taker
Notes: One of the biggest and most popular bands from the USPM scene.


Savatage
Genre: Power Metal, Heavy, Progressive
From: United States
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- Sirens, *Hall of the Mountain King*, Edge of Thorns
Notes: Very influential and popular band for many genres of music. Also Jon Oliva helped form the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.


Omen
Genre: US Power Metal
From: United States
Formed in 1983
Albums to check out- *Battle Cry*, Warning of Danger, The Curse
Notes: One of my favorite power metal bands and a huge band from the USPM scene.

Black Knight
Genre: Heavy/Power
From: Canada
Formed in 1981
Albums to check out- Master of Disaster(EP), *Black Knight* (compilation)
Notes: Heavy/Power metal with female(and male) vocalists. Not very well known, but very good.


Manilla Road
Genre: Heavy/Power
From: United States
Formed in 1977
Albums to check out- *Crystal Logic*, Open the Gates, The Deluge
Notes: Simply put, one of the greatest metal bands of all time.

Skid Row
Genre: Heavy Metal
Formed in 1986
From: United States
Albums to check out- Skid Row, Slave to the Grind
Notes: Always gets lumped with glam, hair metal, hard rock (which drives some metalheads away without giving them a chance) but they are definitely heavy metal and worthy listening to if you haven't given them a chance for whatever reason.

W.A.S.P
Genre: Heavy Metal
Formed in 1982
From: United States
Albums to check out, W.A.S.P, *The Crimson Idol*
Notes: Another one of those bands that gets lumped with the hair metal scene, but actually plays heavy metal and has some great albums out there. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't for whatever reason.

Adolf Castle
Genre: Power (with some folk elements)
From: Russia
Formed in 1992
Albums to check out, *Really Crazy Germans*
Notes: Only released the one album as far as I know. Eventually changed their name to Castle. There are rumors that Cyril Thor might start the band up again.

Going to organize my list of power/speed/trad bands

The original list can be found here...http://truestofthetrue.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-list-of-traditional-speed-and-power.html

Gonna put some albums to check out, the type of music, and albums you should check out. Gonna do a few bands at a time.

My twenty favorite NWOBHM albums

Was tough to narrow this down to ten so instead here is a list of twenty, which was still difficult to narrow down. In no order... my twenty favorite NWOBHM albums.

Witchfinder General- Death Penalty
Satan- Court in the Act
Iron Maiden- Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden- Killers
Cloven Hoof- Cloven Hoof
Tank- Filth Hounds of Hades
Motörhead- Overkill
Witchfynde-Cloak and Dagger
Tokyo Blade- Tokyo Blade
Angel Witch- Angel Witch
Saxon- Wheels of Steel
Saxon- Strong Arm of the Law
Diamond Head- Lightning to the Nations
Judas Priest- Sad Wings of Destiny
Judas Priest- Screaming for Vengeance
Venom- Black Metal
Venom- Welcome to Hell
Blitzkreig- A Time of Changes
Tygers of Pan Tang- Spellbound
Girlschool- Hit and Run

R.I.P Ronnie James Dio

May 16, 2010 was a sad day, not just for the metal world, but for all of music. Even a few days later, I still can't believe it. Dio was perhaps one of the most talented and influential singers in metal. He has been making music for over half a century and his music has touched us all in some way or another. We always used to wonder what Dio's songs were about, he certainly had a very unique writing style, and I think he knew we would all interpret the songs meanings in our own way.

When I saw Heaven and Hell in the summer, Dio was full of energy on stage and his vocals were still as powerful as ever. You would watch him on stage and it was easy to forget how old he actually was. It was probably one of the best live performances I had ever seen.

Let us remember all the great stuff Dio did (not just musically, but the humble, kind person he was, and for all he did for the very world) and let the memory of him forever live on.

Gustav Holst the most metal orchestra composer of all time.

Gustav Holst was most famous for his orchestral suite, The Planets. Why is this relevant to metal?

Well if you listen to the first movement of the suite, Mars Bringer of War, you will hear a very familiar sound.



Where have you heard that in metal? Let's look at all the metal bands that have used that riff or a variation of it....


Diamond Head- Am I Evil?
Judas Priest- War
Symphony X- The Divine Wings of Tragedy
Savatage- The Prelude to Madness
Overkill- Who Tends the Fire
Nile- Ramses Bringer of War

Mars Bringer of War wasn't the only part to be used in metal. Bathory used the melody from Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity.

Other bands that have paid tribute to Mars.... King Crimson's The Devil's Triangle and Rush's Jacobs Ladder. I believe some bands like Led Zeppelin have paid tribute to Holst in live performances as well. There are probably other bands who have used a variation of Holst's epic sound.

Ozzy vs Iommi

About a year ago Ozzy decided he was going try to sue Tony Iommi. I believe this thing is still going on. I can't see why he would sue... is Ozzy running out of money or is his wife just pulling the strings as he's the puppet? How much more money can Ozzy need? Can't he just go do another solo album or go embarrass himself on TV some more if money is all he cares about? BLACK SABBATH WERE BETTER OFF WITHOUT OZZY. Yes, it's harsh, but it's the truth. Ozzy will never be a part of Black Sabbath ever again, no matter how much he wishes it.

Now let's think about it for a second. Ozzy left Black Sabbath to go do his own solo thing. Why should he get a cut of the profits when the band did so well without him? Ozzy went as far as to claim his vocals were the thing that made Black Sabbath so popular and he wants 50% of the profits Black Sabbath made, all while claiming the profits should be "equally" spread amongst the band members. Now I'm not a math expert, but something there doesn't add up. You want it spread equally, yet you want 50%? So basically, Ozzy wants a huge chunk of the profits from a band he isn't even a part of anymore. I will say this right here, right now, it was the RIFFS that made Black Sabbath so popular. Even on Ozzy's solo stuff, there were great riffs. Ozzy's latest album is pretty funny because Ozzy himself is the weakest part of his own solo project.

I hate to be the one to say it, but Ozzy was perhaps the weakest and worst vocalist that Black Sabbath ever had. Black Sabbath went on to do the best albums they could ever do without Ozzy, and all he really did was hold them back. Yes, the early Sabbath albums were good, but if they continued like that, it would have gotten very old very quickly. Dio being a more versatile vocalist, allowed the band to write better music. My favorite Black Sabbath albums come from the Dio years. I think Ozzy knows this new Black Sabbath was better without him, and he's upset over it.

If you still think I am wrong, consider this. Ozzy never wrote any of the songs for the band when he was in it either. Basically all he did was sing, and like I said, he was probably the worst vocalist they ever had. Ozzy is really just tarnishing his legacy more and more, and the "prince of darkness" is becoming even more of a joke. Ozzy should have stopped while he was ahead. Ozzfest is a joke of overpricedcrappy nu metal bands followed by them wheeling Ozzy out so he can get about halfway through War Pigs before they need to wheel him off the stage again. His reality show was a joke, and made him and his entire family look like spoiled idiots. His latest albums have been jokes. Seriously, when was the last time he released a good solo album, the early 1980s? The biggest joke of all? Ozzy thinking his "vocals" were what made Black Sabbath so famous.

On a side note, I HEAVILY recommend going to see Heaven and Hell live if you get a chance. They put on an amazing show. I also recommend their album, The Devil You Know. They can name themselves whatever they want, but this is the TRUE Black Sabbath, and the people with a clue know it.

My opinion on the big four of thrash metal.

I always see this brought up, and people are arguing which of the four is better etc. Here is my opinion on who is the best between Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. All four bands have some good albums, and all four have some not so good albums, (or terrible albums in the cases of Anthrax and Metallica) and each of these four have experimented a bit with slightly different sounds.

I'd put Slayer ahead of the other three. Slayer's first couple releases are much better than anything the other three bands have ever put out. Show No Mercy, Haunting the Chapel, Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, are such classics of metal. Slayer released so much good stuff in the 80s, released some good stuff in the 90s although weaker than their older stuff, and their stuff of this decade isn't the worst stuff you've ever heard, especially when you compare it to some of Metallica's or Anthrax's later albums.

Then you got Megadeth. Killing Is My Business...and Business Is Good was a solid speed/thrash release. I prefer some of Megadeth's more recent stuff to Slayer's, Metallica, and Anthrax's most recent stuff. Megadeth had some great albums, but their discography isn't as good as Slayer's in my opinion. If I had to pick five or ten of my favorite albums from the big four, it would be dominated by Slayer. One of the things I thought that held Megadeth back was that Mustaine's vocals could get pretty annoying at times. Risk was a terrible album, it was Megadeth selling out, and can best be described as pop metal Megadeth. In fact, calling it anything metal is kind of stretching it. This is just a hard rock album much like anything that Metallica ever did for the last 20+ years. After Risk, Megadeth seemed to learn their lesson. You can't say the same about Metallica though.

Now it comes down to Metallica and Anthrax. Both started out with some good albums and both have really awful later albums. I'm gonna put Metallica ahead of Anthrax. Metallica sort of went on a steady decline, getting worse with each album. Anthrax experimented with lots of different stuff, but rarely was it ever good, and usually it was really pretty bad. I'd say Metallica has mroe good stuff out, while Anthrax has more bad stuff, despite Metallica doing pretty bad hard rock albums for the last twenty years. At least Metallica never attempted rapping. Don't get me wrong, I actually like some rap(good rap, not this pop shit that gets shitted out lately) and I'm not bashing the genre, but Anthrax shouldn't have even attempted that. Terrible. Newer Anthrax also isn't really my thing.

So in case you didn't want to read all that. Out of the big four of thrash, I think Slayer is the best, followed by Megadeth, followed by Metallica, and lastly there is Anthrax. No one is denying the influences these bands had on metal, or even calling any of these four bad, just really ranking them in my opinion. All four have some great albums in my opinion, and all four have some bad albums.

Ten best metal covers and five best metal covers of non metal songs

Ten best metal covers...like mosts of my lists, these aren't in any particular order.


Jag Panzer- Children of the Sea (Black Sabbath cover)

Overkill- Death Tone (Manowar cover)

Dan Swanö- Melissa (Mercyful Fate cover)

Deceased- Black Metal (Venom cover)

Sodom- Don't Walk Away (Tank cover)

Emperor- A Fine Day to Die (Bathoy cover)

Holy Grail- Exciter (Judas Priest cover)

Wolf- Die By The Sword (Slayer cover)

Rage- Fast As A Shark (Accept cover)

Twisted Tower Dire- Port Royal (Running Wild cover)


Five best non metal songs covered by metal bands

Sanctuary- White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover)

Tygers of Pan Tang- Love Potion No.9 (The Clovers cover)

Coroner- I Want You (She's So Heavy) (The Beatles cover)

Judas Priest- Diamonds and Rust (Joan Baez cover)

Trick or Treat- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cindy Lauper cover)

The origins of power metal

Many people call Dio, Iron Maiden, and Helloween the pioneers of this genre, but there were power metal bands that existed before them. Two bands come to mind. Heavy Load, a power/heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1976 and released their first album in 1978. Many describe Heavy Load as Heavy Metal, Epic Metal,Power Metal, or all three. Stormwitch also comes to mind. Stormwitch formed in 1979, but released their first album in 1984. There were heavy metal and hard rock bands who existed before that who had a major influence on the genre, but I would call these two bands one of the first. If you know a band that undoubtedly played power metal that existed before that, hit me up. I'm counting Rainbow as more heavy metal and a huge influence rather than actual power metal.


Helloween came much later, releasing a different kind of power metal. It was energetic, and had more of a pop metal sound. Sure, Helloween might be the fathers of modern power metal, but the real power metal existed before that. As you might have noticed, I prefer USPM and the original power metal over the more modern sound. The older version of power metal was heavily NWOBHM influenced, and was very riff driven.

Helloween's first album was speed metal, but after that they pretty much laid down the foundation for all modern power metal bands to follow. Stormwitch and Helloween were both pioneers of two different kinds of power metal. Stormwitch only found moderate success, while Helloween became pretty huge. To this day, I will prefer Stormwitch to Helloween. Stormwitch's first three albums were pretty fantastic. If you haven't listened to Stormwitch, you really should. I want to smash my head through a wall when people think Hammerfall's cover of Ravenlord is the original.

Heavy Metal and Power Metal are definitely pretty similar, though most metal genres have something in common with heavy metal. Maybe there was power metal that existed before the late 70s. Send me a comment if you know any.

Ten of my favorite thrash metal albums

So tough to narrow it down... so many good albums don't make it. Maybe one day I'll do a "a top 100 thrash albums in my opinion" Anyway, in no particular order, ten of my favorites.

Hydra Vein-Rather Death Than False of Faith
Hirax- Raging Violence
Deceased- Fearless Undead Machines
Metal Church- Metal Church
Sodom- Agent Orange
Dark Angel- Darkness Descends
Sabbat- Dreamweaver
Flotsam and Jetsam- Doomsday for the Deceiver
Exhorder- Slaughter in the Vatican
Overkill- Feel the Fire
Annihilator- Alice in Hell

A big list of Traditional, Speed, and Power Metal bands you should check out.

Just a big disorganized list of bands from those genres I enjoy. Maybe one day when I get some time I'll edit it better, recommend albums too, or go into more detail about these bands, such as where they are from, and the type of metal. Anyway in no order. Some of these are borderline on other genres, but I had to include them.


Stormwitch,Cauldron Born,Helstar,Taliön, Tröjan, Griffin, Dark Age, Wolf, Tyrant, Blind Guardian, Attacker, Helloween, Attack, Savatage, Riot, Titan Force, E-X-E, Omen, Fates Warning, Jag Panzer, Gravestone, Black Knight, Abraxas, Liege Lord, Sanctuary, Manilla Road, Anvil, Iced Earth, Crimson Glory, Skid Row, Metalucifer, X-Japan, Piledriver, W.A.S.P, Manowar, Virgin Steele, Twisted Tower Dire, Adolf Castle, Heavy Load, Gotham City, October 31, Brocas Helm, Grave Digger, Cirith Ungol, Cloven Hoof, Metal Church, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Exciter, Abattoir, Mercyful Fate, Dio, Heaven and Hell, Accept, Running Wild, Atlain, Mania, Scanner, Iron Angel, Chastain, Agent Steel, Rage, Axehammer, Adramelch, Paragon, Iron Savior, Iron Grey, Paradox, Druid, Angel Witch, Tokyo Blade, Tygers of Pan Tang, Girlschool
Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Dark Star, Battleaxe, Satan, Witchfynde, Witchfinder General, Grim Reaper, Demon, Tank, Diamond Head, Saxon, Steel, Savage Grace, Piledriver, Vicious Rumors, Morgana Lefay, Oracle, Axel Rudi Pell, Winters Bane, Heir Apparent, Mystic Force, Warfare, Anthem, Armored Saint, Loudness, Angel Dust, Oz, Witch Cross


That should keep you guys busy. I'm probably missing some stuff, but these are all bands from those genres I enjoy. If you think I left some things out, feel free to put them in the comments.

A quick list of ten of my favorite USPM albums

I'll try to narrow it down to one album per band.

In no order...


Helstar- Burning Star
Sanctuary- Refuge Denied
Omen- Battle Cry
Jag Panzer- Ample Destruction
Liege Lord- Freedom's Rise
Fates Warning- Awaken the Guardian
Savatage- Hall of the Mountain King
Attacker- Battle at Helms Deep
Griffin- Flight of the Griffin
Crimson Glory- Transcendence

These are all classics in my opinion. Check them out if for some reason you haven't given them a listen.

Five of the worst metal videos you will ever watch

These are classics, and the videos are almost so bad, they're good.

Anyway....

Savatage- Hall of the Mountain King

Incredible song, but the video is just plain bad. Holy shit, is that Frodo? He got kind of old. Anyway the video is dark, blurry, and there is smoke all around, so it's difficult to see what is going on. I'm gonna call that halfling creature in the video Frodo. Some people think it's a dwarf, but I think he's too much of a cowardly wimp and not stocky enough to be a dwarf. So Frodo is walking around a graveyard looking all creeped out, and falls through something. He lands in this underground cave tunnel where Savatage is just randomnly playing their song in really odd fashion. Of course, Frodo is creeped the fuck out by this, and goes running off. The singer saves Frodo from a axe trap, otherwise he might have had to take d6 damage. After avoiding the trap, Frodo is led to this hole that leads to a palace. I guess this is the Hall of the Mountain King. Frodo notices all the treasure and he decides the best thing to do would be to start looting. He somehow misses the huge mountain king who is just sitting on a giant throne. Looks like the album cover. The mountain king opens his eyes and Frodo realizes he is there, and decides it's time to get the fuck out of there. Frodo grabs what he can and tries to run out of there, but thinks against it, so instead he SMASHES THE TREASURE against the ground and takes off. So he runs around, and is eventually led to a treasure box that is buried. He carries the treasure box outside to the surface and opens it up. What's inside? Lots of gold and treasures, but on top of all that is a Savatage Hall of the Mountain king cassette. Frodo picks it up wondering what the fuck it is, and the video ends. Yeah fuck the treasure and gold, I got a Savatage album on cassette.




Immortal- Call of the Wintermoon

Another great song with an awful video. Black metal videos are usually pretty terrible, and when it comes to terrible black metal videos, Immortal are kings. I could probably do a big list of just terrible black metal videos if I wanted. I'm not entirely sure if Immortal were serious when making this video, but it's still hilarious. They run around the forest, in their spikes, and carrying torches and wearing spiked clubs. Is that a fucking wizard hat and cloak? So they run around the forest some more playing hide and seek and making the most ridiculous faces. They then find some castle ruins, play more hide and seek, strike some poses, and make even more weird faces. The highlight of the video is when they "transform" when they notice the moon in the sky. Anyway, if you haven't seen this video, you gotta watch it, and even if you've seen it, you should watch it again because it's hilarious.




Immortal- Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms

Remember when I said above I could make a list of terrible black metal videos? Well I could probably do that list and just use Immortal videos. There are a few "playing black metal in icy area" videos, but I'll choose this one to add here. This video takes place on like a fucking glacier. The band is wearing sleeveless vests, and might as well not be wearing shirts. The video has Hellhammer on drums just drumming away. That's cool and all, but it's pretty funny watching them play their instruments outdoors in the snow. Abbath actually did the drums for the actual album. There's some scenes in the video where Abbath is singing while being frozen in ice, or underneath some ice. Picture that in your head for a second. Yes it looks as bad in the video as it does of the image you just imagined in your head.





Candlemass- Bewitched

The video starts out in a graveyard. Yeah, imagine that, doom metal and graveyards. They carry this coffin as a random chick runs away for no reason. The coffin is so bad looking, it looks like the band threw it together themselves. They reach a tombstone that says "RIP Messiah Marcolin" who was the current lead singer of the band at the time. Of course the coffin begins to shake and smoke, and Messiah pops out to start singing. I'm really surprised Messiah fit in that shoddy coffin, he's not exactly a small guy. So the video has Messiah in his monk robes, with his crazy hair, dancing in the most ridiculous way ever. The same chick from the start is still running away. Yeah, I'd run too. I can't even really explain some of the stuff going on here, it is something you need to watch for yourself. As he sings he does motions go with whatever word he says. He sings "mind" and he points to his head to let us know where the mind is. He says "you" and points at the camera to show he means you. He sings the word "fiddle" and pretends to play an imaginary fiddle. So Messiah goes around with his crazy hair, singing, dancing, stalking people, and turning people into zombies by pointing at them. Then he just sort of dances in front of a bunch of metalhead zombies. During the solo, the guitarist stands in front of a random building that has some orange dragon gargoyle statues. Meanwhile Messiah walks around shoving the zombies for no reason, and they eventually awaken and it leads to one of the most hilarious moments in metal video history. Messiah and his zombie metalheads begin to "dance" and it's so ridiculous it's on par with Immortal's transformation scene in Call of the Wintermoon. Yes, it's that bad.




Judas Priest- Turbo Lover

Judas Priest are an awesome band. If you don't think so, you probably shouldn't be listening to metal. As awesome as Judas Priest are, this video is just awful. Wow. Where do I begin. Everything is either, orange, grey, and purples. The video is just about some dudes on motorcycles, but they got these ridiculous like, skeleton robots coming after them. I know the idea of combining a skeleton and robot sounds pretty awesome, but just look at that thing. What the fuck. So they are riding through this wasteland, and the camera zooms into a sign that says helmet laws are enforced. Who is going to enforce those laws in this crazy wasteland they are in. A few moments later you see a hot chick. Yeah, in a Judas Priest video. Hey wait a second, she's not wearing a helmet. After her! I guess those skeleton robots are the ones that enforce the helmet laws, because they begin the chase. What's more ridiculous than a goofy looking skeleton robot? A skeleton robot on a motorcycle. Then you got a robot skeleton riding a fucking unicyle down the road carrying a short spear and one running after them carrying a giant wrench. "Guys come back, I just want to perform some routine maintenence on your bikes." One of the robot skeletons on the bike almost catches them, so what's the obvious way to kill a robot skeleton riding a motorcyle that's coming after you? Have a guy on the side of the road with a guitar flamethrower, of course. If Judas Priest wanted to make a good video, they should have just shown four and a half minutes of that hot chick straddling and grinding on her bike.

Death Magnetic sucked and Metallica will never make a good album again

If I had to pick a favorite Metallica album, it would be either Kill 'Em All or Ride the Lightning. To me, Metallica just kept getting worse and worse with each album after that straight to St. Anger.

When Death Magnetic came out, everyone was raving about how the "old Metallica" was coming back. Those same people who claimed Metallica were back to their roots think Metallica's self titled is old stuff. Fuck those people. The same people who call up their local radio station requesting Enter Sandman and One every fucking day. Fuck off.

So why won't Metallica ever make a good album ever again? The answer is simple. Metallica when they started were a bunch of young kinds who loved NWOBHM. At that time, Metallica was poor, angry, and drunk all the time. Fast forward this decade and Metallica are rich, happy, sober, and claim that some pop punk shit bands are good. Metallica used to take their anger out on the instruments, and now they just want to make even more money by putting out a poor attempt of them claiming to find their roots again. I preferred Hetfield when he couldn't sing, now he's like a bad country singer, just going on and on with his "whoooaaaa oooooh yeaaaaahs" for like eight fucking minutes.

I've considered Metallica to be more of a hard rock band than a metal band for these last two decades. After Death Magnetic was released, I still feel the same way. At least St. Anger had some unintentional comedic value. It was like so awful it was funny. Death Magnetic does nothing for me though. If Metallica release another album, I won't be expecting much.

Death Magnetic is a big example of the loudness war. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, you can read this article on wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

You can also watch this video by a band called Clipping Death.