If we didn’t have Van Halen, we wouldn’t have metal and hard rock as we know it. Everything about the band, from the music, composition, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing, David Lee Roth’s stage presence, off-stage partying, you name it. If Van Halen hadn’t been around, rock & metal wouldn’t have been what it was.

Here’s one of my favorite Van Halen tracks, “Unchained”.

I’ve only been a fan of Hatebreed for about 5 years, but I do remember the first time I heard them. Over at my buddy W’s house, music blaring, and something was coming out of the speakers with a thrashy metal sound, a groove, but yet this hardcore aggression and attitude. It was powerful and brutal. It was Hatebreed.

Forced Entry was a Seattle band that didn’t fit what the world came to know of “The Seattle Scene”. Thrashy, technical, and a healthy sense of humor. Brad Hull did all sorts of guitar tricks with whammy bars and pinched harmonics that gave the band a unique sound. The band didn’t last very long, but for those that knew them there was nothing like them.

But that’s just how I spent my summer vacation. 😉

My buddy W introduced me to Opeth. He’s a big Opeth fan. Me? Not so much, at first.

Opeth is unique. They have an amazing musicianship. The songwriting, the composition. It’s unequaled. It’s not the sort of music I’m normally into (I’m not that into death metal), but the “Damnation” album really struck me. It actually took me to listen to their later albums such as “Ghost Reveries” and “Watershed” to get into them (then I went further into the back catalog). It’s the sort of thing where I had to force myself to listen to them (or was just over at W’s house and he was always playing them), and the constant exposure helped me to appreciate them. I do think “Watershed” is an incredible album.

I always told W that if Opeth came to town I’d want to see them live (even before I was a fan). That the albums are as complex as they are, how well do they translate live, y’know? I managed to see them in Austin on the “Watershed” tour and was blown away. The show was incredible. They can pull it off live. Singer, guitarist, and main creative force Mikael Åkerfeldt has an interesting wit about him, so calm and serene yet the songs that come from him… it’s difficult to describe, but worth experiencing live.

There’s a beauty in the music, but also something dark and disturbing. Powerful and emotional. Complex yet understanding basic compositional sensibilities. Dynamic. Combining elements of metal, jazz, folk, blues, grooves, blast beats, but nothing seems unnatural or contrived like they’re trying too hard to be different. Yet, they are different. I know of nothing else like them.

I asked W for something that showcases Opeth. Here’s his recommendation:

You probably don’t remember White Trash. The had a minor hit back in 1991 with “Apple Pie” but for whatever reason never hit it big.

I enjoyed their debut album. It was a mix of metal, jazz, funk… and hell, they had a horn section. How cool was that?

I got to see these guys play at the legendary Hammerjacks in Baltimore. The show was great. They were all about having one big party, but were tight on stage. It was also probably the loudest concert I have ever been to. This was back when I thought ear plugs were just so uncool… I walked out of the club and my hearing was muffled, ears rang for days afterwards. That concert probably did more to damage my hearing that anything else in my life (I wear ear plugs now).

While “Apple Pie” may have been the single, I thought the album had better songs such as “Judge-Me-Do”, “Take My Soul”, “Po’ White Trash”, the bass intro to “Buzz!” was quite cool, “Backstage Pass”, and “The Crawl”

Apparently the band is back together. We’ll see if anything comes of it.

If you don’t have a sense of humor, stop reading now.

Scatterbrain arose from the ashes of Ludichrist, and brought one heck of a sense of humor to metal.

Here’s their video for “Down With the Ship”. How many licks can you identify?

Crowbar was a band I had always heard about but never got into until a few years ago. I remember them being touted as a “heavy” metal band because of the respective sizes of the band members. Hearing how Phil Anselmo produced an album. I remember when former Wrathchild America guitarist Jay Abbene filled in for a little while. Then of course Kirk Windstein’s work with Down.

My buddy W is into Crowbar and played stuff for me. I dug it. Thick. Sludge. Heavy. Brutal. What really sold me on them was seeing them live. They came through Austin. The show was Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Alabama Thunderpussy (R.I.P.), and Suplecs, on COC’s “In The Arms of God” tour. Seeing Crowbar live made me a believer. They crush.

Lazarus A.D. is a new band. I didn’t know about them until I saw them open for Testament. I caught half their set (they went on stage earlier than we expected), but what I did see was most impressive. This band has chops. They may be young guys but they know their thrash metal. The drumming is fast and furious but not overdone (i.e. not just being fast to be fast, blast beats to blast beat). The guitar riffs are melodic, fast, syncopated. Dueling guitars, harmony leads, but the two guitarists have unique styles… while listening to them at the show I thought it was much like Slayer in that regard, with Dan Gapen’s leads reminding me of Kerry King and Alex Lackner of Jeff Hanneman; they’re not a Slayer clone by any means, just that came to mind as I was listening to them. Still, if you like Slayer you will probably dig Lazarus A.D..

I also like their songwriting. Again, these guys know their thrash. They know how to structure songs. You will find your head banging along. Certainly the songs can inspire quite the pit.

Their live show was great. They worked hard to put on a show. Certainly I’d see these guys live again. But until that time, I’ll have to settle of their debut CD “The Onslaught”. They were impressive enough to make me want to plunk down $15 for their CD right there from the merch table at the show. The band was by their merch table meeting fans and autographing the CD liner notes. I got mine autographed, plus had a bonding moment with Alex Lackner. Apparently Alex is a Corrosion of Conformity fan as well; he was wearing a COC shirt that night and also had the COC belt buckle. I had my COC belt buckle on as well. We shared a little COC-fandom. 🙂  Anyway, I’ve been listening to “The Onslaught” ever since I brought it home, at least once or twice a day while I’m working. It rocks. “Every Word Unheard”, “Revolution”, “Thou Shall Not Fear” are choice cuts.

If you want some new metal that isn’t nü-metal, check out Lazarus A.D.:

I stumbled across The Sword a little over a year ago. Austin, Texas might be known as the “Live Music Capitol of the World” but much of the music they stress tends to be of the country and folk variety. Not so much emphasis on heavier music. So when I heard about this heavy band hailing from Austin I thought I’d check it out. Keep Austin Weird and support the locals, right? 🙂

Overall I like The Sword. A Black Sabbath-inspired band, certainly with a lot of homage to the ’70’s but with some thrash inspiration as well. The vocals aren’t the most powerful thing, but it’s hard to imagine The Sword with anything else. Plus how can you not love song titles like “Lament for the Auroch”, “How Heavy This Axe”, “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter”, and my favorite “Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephrians”.

I haven’t had a chance to see them live, even though they are home-town boys. The few Austin shows they’ve had since I discovered them I wasn’t able to make for various reasons. They’ve been on tour with Metallica, which is great for them. Whenever they do come back to Austin, I do want to check them out.

Two videos today. 

“How Heavy This Axe”, so you can get a feel for the band themselves (bell-bottoms and all):

“Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephrians”, just because it’s an interesting concept video.

Down. A super-group of sorts, combining members of Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Eyehategod into something that is unique unto itself. What started as just a bunch of friends jamming together turned into something huge. Something that was to be a side-project but seems to be growing larger than anything else the members are involved in. Is that good? Is that bad? It’s hard to say. I’m happy for Down’s success, but I’m not happy it puts Corrosion of Conformity on the side. Still, Down progresses, keeps working on albums, and I’m happy to hear each one. I’ve seen Down live a couple times, and every “Evening with Down” is always a treat.