OK, so I have finally prepared myself mentally to even begin to approach this monumental bastard of a task. What a year 2012 has been! As I have said previously, it seems like most bands in the world of rock and metal have really raised their game this year (there are exceptions...to follow). Bands old and new alike have released top quality statements of intent (albums if you prefer). Bands once close to being written off, by me at least, such as Cradle Of Filth and Deftones have come back with a vengeance, and the new upstarts are seemingly out to prove a point. Either way, the bar has been well and truly raised in 2012.
I can honestly say that I have never known a year with so many great releases. I didn't even know if I could do it, but after 6 weeks of headaches (literally) and headbutting (virtual) walls, here it is for your perusal. I have to admit that even after making this a top 30 as oppsed to a top 20, there are some albums that it really pained me to exclude (I may post this list later if anyone would be interested?), but it needed to be done for quality control purposes - there was just such a volume of great albums that I had to remove anything that had anything even apporaching too much "filler".
I am going to attempt to compile a Spotify list - if I can figure out how - containing a playlist of recommended songs from each album as this was suggested to me by more than one person and does seem a more sensible idea than posting endless links that most people won't bother clicking on. For now, however, YouTube links it is...I have also noted the genre of each band, so you only need to click on those that you think might be for you.
Of course, the temptation with a list of this type would be to name loads of underground/obscure artists to attempt to look cool and knowledgable (which I am, obviously), but I have listed the albums that I enjoyed and continue to enjoy the most. besides, I have nothing to prove to anyone in that respect (do I?) and I am a little too old for that type of playground elitism.
So, finally and with no more arsing around, here we go.
30. Testament - Dark Roots Of The Earth (Thrash)
Song: Rise Up
29. Forefather - Last Of The Line (Folk Metal)
Song: By Thy Deeds
28 . Orange Goblin - A Eulogy For The Damned (Metal/Stoner/Doom)
Song: Death Of Aquarius
27 . Hexvessel - No Holier Temple (Dark Folk)
Song: Are You Coniferous?
26. While She Sleeps - This Is The Six (Metal/Hardcore)
Song: False Freedom
25. The Mercy House - A Broken State Of Bliss (Hard Rock/Grunge)
Song: Greed
24. Therion - Les Fleurs De Mal (Symphonic/Orchestral Metal)
Song: Initials B.B.
23. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol (Gothic Metal)
Song: Tragic Idol
22. Be’Lakor - Of Breath And Bone (Melodic Death Metal)
Song: Remnants
21. Baroness - Green / Yellow (Progressive/Stoner/Sludge)
Once considered to be pretty much a "boys only" realm, the role of the death, black and grind metal vocalist has recently seen an influx of able-throated ladies who can more than hold their own with their male peers. Of course there is still the a minority of idiots who have a patronising and sexist attitude towards them, but let's face it, this is just down to insecurities and the unfortunate downside of the patriachal society in which we still live. Anyway, I'm getting too serious here. Back to the point.
Even though there were female vocalists in the metal scene long before her, I would say that it was Angela Gossow who really opened the floodgates and influenced a new generation of young female (extreme) metal fans to pick up a mic. Of course, in the late 90's/early 00's there were already a number of strong female (vocal) role models to be found in bands such as Tura Satana, Otep, Human Waste Project, Kittie, etc, but Fraulein Gossow was about to take things up a notch. In fact, this was the first time that I had heard a woman tearing up her vocal chords in such a way. I freely admit that when I picked up my copy of the new (at the time) Arch Enemy CD "Wages Of Sin" in 2001, I was aware that they had hired a new vocalist but when I saw a photo of the band in the album booklet, I just assumed that the woman pictured was a backing vocalist. A few minutes into the second track I still couldn't work out where the female vocals were (yes, shockingly ignorant, I know). Once the penny dropped though, I was surprised but I'm sorry to say, still a little sceptical. I needed to "see" this for myself before I fully accepted that this slightly built young woman was the growler I was hearing on the album - although these days, when compared with some of her peers, her vocals seem almost a little 'tame'. Well anyway, after seeing the band live in Birmingham the same year, I was both convinced and converted (and I was not the only one). No longer was the predominant role of a woman in a metal band that of bassist (just how many bands have or had a female bassist back in the day - I wonder why that is?). The new breed of extreme vocalist was here.
Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy)
Now, I am not going to sit here and type out an exhaustive list of extreme metal bands (although I probably could, if challenged) with a female singer - what would be the fun in that?. Instead, the three songs below are just a small sample of what the extreme ladies of the modern era have to offer.
At the tail-end of the 90's there were a growing number of bands playing what is now often termed "groove metal", which is sort of a post-thrash sound with elements of the nu-metal scene of the time (early Korn and Deftones). Bands such as Skinlab and Dearly Beheaded (both relatively unknown and under-rated in their own right) and their ilk released an array of quality albums at the time. There was, however, one band which stood way out ahead of the pack. That band was Pissing Razors, a charmingly named oufit hailing from El Paso, Texas. Although their later output was a little weak by the lofty standards they had set for themselves, the (un)holy trinity of albums "Pissing Razors", "Cast Down The Plague" and "Fields Of Disbelief", all released between 1998 and 2000, are and were outstanding metal releases which never really achieved the sales/success they should have, but isn't that often the way.
Sounding like they had been ingesting a steady diet of Sepultura, Machine Head, Pantera and Fear Factory, Pissing Razors should have been a force to be reckoned with, but instead seemed to have been around a few years too early and would have slotted nicely in with bands such as Lamb Of God and DevilDriver in the mid to late 00's (and today's) scene. They certainly deserved to reach a much larger audience, but alas it wasn't to be and the band disbanded in 2004. if you like your metal with a groove and a mid-tempo thrash edge you can headbang (slowly) too, this is the band for you.
I have often thought about doing a list like this, but have considered it too unrealistic an undertaking. I mean, how can I possibly choose just 10 albums? But the more I have been thinking about it, these shouldn't take much, if any thought. If they are supposed to be the albums you can't possibly live without then how many can there be? (well actually, 12 as it turned out).They don't have to be the "best" albums in your collection, just your favourites, right? The one thing that I did notice while making this list is that a lot of the albums are from the 90's. Now, this certainly isn't to say that the 90's were the best period for music in any way, but is more of an indication of when I didn't have the money to buy so much nusic, the internet wasn't so much of a big thing and obviously I was still discovering music in a big way. These days, it's a case of point and click and you have new music. Back then it was buying it or a friend making you a CD or tape (remember those?). You also have to take in to account that music had more time to "sink in" back in the day for the reasons mentioned above. I would listen to one album for months on end (sometimes years), so of course it is more likely to stick in my mind. Some of the albums here have been selected for sentimental or personal reasons as much as for musical quality, so please refrain from insulting my choices/attempting to correct me ("that is not the best album by...."), but feel free to add your own. In fact, I encourage it. Come on people. Let's share the love. So any way, here we go:
Carcass - Heartwork
Favourite track: Heartwork
In Flames - Come Clarity
Favourite track: Crawl Through Knives
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Favourite track: Painkiller
Angel Witch - Angel Witch
Favourite track: Angel Witch
Skid Row - Slave To The Grind
Favourite Track: Riot Act
Korn - Korn
Favourite track: Ball Tongue
Skyclad - Irrational Anthems
Favourite track: No Deposit, No Return
Kvelertak - Kvelertak
Favourite track: Blodtørst
Pitchshifter - www.pitchshifter.com
Favourite track: Genius
Killswitch Engage - Alive Or Just Breathing
Favourite track: Temple From The Within
Prodigy - Fat Of The Land
Favourite track: Firestarter
Therapy? - Troublegum
Favourite track: Screamager
Foot note: There are almost certainly albums that I should have put on this list, that I didn't think of, but I will have to live with that. This was compiled in 20 minutes, and I wrote down the first ones to spring to my mind. I figured that the ones I think of first, must be the most important. Flawed logic? Definitely! But what the hell. Every song here gives me goosebumps and makes me feel good.
Where did Folk Metal come from? Who were the originators? This is, for me at least, an easy question to answer. Of course, the first band to openly call themselves Folk Metal (and to receive much derision and ridicule from the music press at the time) was Skyclad. Their debut, "The Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth" was released back in 1991 and wasn't far removed from the Thrash Metal of Sabbat, but with the revolutionary addition of the distinctive sound of the fiddle/violin. Founding member and lyrical pun master, Martin Walkyier was previously the vocalist and song-writer for the band, Sabbat, who were one of the stand-out bands in the strong, but under appreciated British Thrash scene. Sabbat stood out from the crowd due to their clever wordplay and the unique "machine-gun" vocal delivery of Mr. Walkyier. After leaving Sabbat, influenced by the music stylings of Folk Rock band, The Levellers, Martin was inspired to form Skyclad and the rest is (Folk) Metal history.
Much like Sabbat, Skyclad would fail to make much of an impact on the music scene...although this is often the case when the "industry" and the media can't find a way to pigeon-hole a band, or if the music being created doesn't fit in with the zeitgeist of the time (Grunge and the later end of pure Thrash in this case). Time of course, has proved that what they did could and has become a relatively successful sub-genre of Metal and has attracted a decent fanbase. Although Skyclad themselves have remained relatively obscure, the influence they have had and continue to have on Folk Metal bands is obvious. Quite a legacy.
"Mid-era" Skyclad lineup.
Skyclad - "Sky Beneath My Feet" (1991)
There are, however, those who would point out that Bathory pre-dated Skyclad and that founder Qourthon, should receive the credit for kick-starting the genre!? Well, yes! This is a good argument...in a way. Yes, Quorthon was one of the first to write about pagan themes and he was certainly the artist who had the most success with it and was clearly passionate about his Scandinavian roots and its Viking history. The band also had an "interesting", distinctive, Manowar style image. But I don't think it can be denied that for the most part, Bathory were a Thrash/Black Metal band with Prog tendencies. That is why I don't consider them the first true Folk/Pagan Metal band. In later years Bathory would embark on a less aggressive, more folk-influenced direction, but in this case they were followers, not leaders.
Early Bathory promo shot
Bathory - "Twilight Of The Gods" (1991)
On reflection though, I think it is definitely Bathory who had the biggest impact on the genre (much as it pains me to type that) as there are countless bands today who use the mythology and history of the Vikings as a base for their lyrical themes (Amon Amarth, Einherjer, Månegarm...the list goes on almost endlessly), and the scene is much bigger and stronger in Scandinavia. I think that Bathory certainly were and are an important band in the story of Folk Metal but, I think that they had more of an influence on the Black Metal scene, especially bands such as Enslaved and their ilk, rather than on the Folk Metal (musically, at least).
In the next part I will look at the other early bands to embrace the Pagan/Folk sound and discuss the different musical and cultural directions they took.
As we all know, Folk/Pagan/Viking (Battle, Pirate or whatever daft tag you want to add) Metal briefly became flavour of the weak (sorry, Martin) in the late 2000's. Thankfully the fad has for the most part dropped off and the plastic sword waving bellends have disappeared back in to the shadows - the fans back to their Power Metal record collections and the bands back to the obscurity in which they belong.
However, the Folk metal scene is the real deal, has great depth and variety and has been around for at least 20 years, depending on who you think "invented" Folk metal or even what counts as Folk metal. Any how, I digress. Fear not, sons and daughters of Odin (ahem), I am here to help. Over the the next few weeks I will presenting a number of blogs giving a fairly detailed overview of the scene along with the various sub-genres that come under the frankly pretty vague term "Folk Metal", along with recommendations of the bands within this splintered and often maligned scene, that are worth your time and I may even give you a few names to avoid...although that probably isn't necessary.
I'm be talking about the bands who have been plugging away since the beginning of time (late 80's/early 90's to be fair) and who didn't get a slice of the pie when the scene exploded - Skyclad, Thyrfing, Windir etc, the more recent but often under-appreciated - Svartsot, Kromlek, Månegarm, etc (the list goes on and on), the oddballs such as Rakoth and Solefald, the "big" names such as Finntroll, Eluveitie, Bathory, Amon Amarth and so forth as well as the real underground/new blood - Bifröst, Bran Barr, Drakum, Thrawsunblat, etc.
I'm hoping it will be an informative, insightful and useful look at a scene which has a real special significance for me and which I have always felt was deserving of far more respect and attention than it has ever received.
Well, that's it for now. Part one will be up during the week at some point.
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