I listen to a lot of music. But two genres that are near and dear to my heart have to be rock and metal. So without further ado, let’s get cracking on some of my favorite acts (both past and present). The following are in no particular order.
Trivium
Rob introduced me to Trivium. These guys are a fantastic group. With six albums under their belt and another on the way, this group from Orlando, Florida are young, hungry, and very talented. Their latest album, Vengeance Falls is a solid auditory assault and one of those rare albums I can listen to from start to finish. My personal favorite from the album is their song, “Villainy Thrives.” It makes me want to break something. In a good way. With solid vocals, sick guitar riffs, and some amazing drum-work, Trivium is not a band to be missed. I definitely want to check these guys out live. Expect more great things from this band, as they keep getting better and better.
AC/DC
With a title citing one of their famous songs, there’s no way I couldn’t mention these guys. They’re a rock icon. Every time you think AC/DC has faded out of collective consciousness, they come back. And there’s a reason for that – these guys are fucking awesome. While I haven’t checked out their latest album, their hits like “Thunderstruck” and “Whole Lotta Rosie” with countless others have cemented them among the rock gods. Despite losing Malcom Young to dementia along with various health problems, and possibly their drummer to some other strange issues, Brian Johnson and Angus Young, now in their 60s, are still kicking ass on tour. I had the pleasure of seeing them twice in 2008 and they did not disappoint. Do yourselves a favor and check them out live as they’re currently on tour. And pretty much any of their albums are great. So have at it!
Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer
I listed all three of these bands because they have Maynard James Keenan is a musical genius with a haunting voice you’ll never forget. Tool is where he launched his career, and probably my favorite of the bunch, with their album Lateralus being one of my favorite albums of all time. For about two years, I listened to their track of the same name, “Lateralus” on a daily basis. The album in particular is beautiful, and has a positive message – discussing things from letting go of grudges to growing as a person. Their live concerts are amazing, with some of the best light shows you’ll ever see.
On the slightly more mellow end is A Perfect Circle. I haven’t seen this act live, but I imagine they’re solid. Thirteenth Step and Emotive are great works, and definitely worth your time. One of my personal favorites is “Gravity” though there’s countless others.
Closing out Keenan’s various projects is Puscifer. More experimental than anything, I’m not even sure I’d classify this as rock. But it’s good. Definitely weird and different, but good. Check out “The Humbling River” to get a taste of what Puscifer has in store for you.
Static-X
Wayne Static passed away on November 1st, 2014. With his death, metal lost a great artist. His genre was self-dubbed, “Evil Disco”, though I’d say it was industrial metal. Either way, his music rocked. I was fortunate enough to see Wayne on his Wisconsin Death Tour when he went through Atlanta on April 18th, 2014. He played the entire Wisconsin Death Trip album, along with various hits. And it was amazing. He was great live. And sounded just like the record. “Behemoth” has to be one of my favorite songs of his. But almost all of his stuff is good. With six albums under their belt, Static-X was prolific, to say the least. They were also one of the few bands to remain consistently good. Something most acts fail to maintain as the achieve success. I definitely miss Wayne and hate that he’s no longer with us. But his music is. And it kicks ass.
Volbeat
Let me start off by saying I hated Volbeat when I first heard them. I was a snob, wondering why the hell these bozos were on the radio. Hailing from Denmark, I couldn’t get over the lead singer, Michael Poulsen’s voice. Then I heard “Doc Holiday,” and the band finally won me over. I also stopped being a prejudiced dick (in that instance, at least). I had the pleasure of seeing these guys in 2014 when they toured through Atlanta and they were fantastic, sounding just like their records. I was also incredibly touched by Poulsen’s humility on stage. He told us how excited he and the band were to have their latest album, Outlaw Gentleman & Shady Ladies reach Gold status in the U.S. He then proceeded to give a young girl in the audience a Volbeat t-shirt (having the crowd carry him towards her) and even invited the kids and their parents to rock out on stage with the band as they closed out. If you want something different but decidedly metal, check these guys out. They keep getting better and better. They’re still touring, and I’m already taking the missus to their concert on April 27th as they continue to tour.
Black Sabbath
First off, I’m talking Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne. I love Black Sabbath. Without them, there may not be metal today, as they has such a huge influence on the genre, practically kicking it off. Part bluesy, part death metal, Black Sabbath is often some dark shit, with “War Pigs“ and “NIB“ being some of their more popular hits. But the band also has some more lighthearted stuff, with songs professing their love of weed, to others about wizards of all things. Regardless of whatever Ozzy’s singing about, their riffs are simply out of this world. One of my personal favorites is “Supernaut.” Do yourself a favor and check out their Greatest Hits with Ozzie as it’s a good sampling of the band at their prime. Then get all their albums because they’re fantastic!
Amon Amarth
My brother’s written about Amon Amarth multiple times. That’s because they’re awesome (and not just because the band’s name is that of Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings). Hailing from Sweden, these guys are Death Metal at their finest. I also hated them at first. Like Volbeat, I couldn’t get over the lead singer’s voice. Particularly the growling/screaming. But amid the animal-like grunts of Johan Hegg’s vocals, I came to learn a lot about Vikings and Norse mythology. That’s all Amon Amarth sing about. But I love it. You’d think they’d have run out of material NINE albums in. But Amon Amarth keeps trucking, singing about drinking, rape and pillage in new and interesting ways. Can’t praise these guys enough. And like some of the other bands mentioned, they’ve remained surprisingly consistent across their records. I missed them when I was in Las Vegas a few years back, but hope to catch them live sometime as I imagine they put on a solid show. Their latest album, Deciever of The Gods is a solid sampling of what they’re capable of, though my personal favorites are Twilight of the Thunder God and Versus The World, with their song, “…And Soon the World Will Cease to Be,” ranking my favorite of all their songs.
Well folks, that closes it out for this week. Don’t think I’m done though. We’ll be continuing this discussion on some of the best damn acts in rock and metal! Let me know in the comments below who you’d like to see. If I haven’t heard of ‘em, I’ll give ‘em a listen!
-ty
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