For three days I hit the road with Raleigh’s own Abuse., a vicious hardcore act that plays brutal power violence with no time left between songs – just a stripped down, speedy hellstorm of chaos. Being one of my favorite Raleigh bands, I knew I had to hit the road with these dudes once they announced that they would be going on a 3-day mini-tour over winter break. The dates were announced: the dudes would first play in a basement in New Brunswick, New Jersey, another basement in West Philly, and a record store in DC by the name of Smash Records. After the out-of-town dates, they would play a homecoming show at The Berkeley Cafe.

The first day we woke up at around 8AM and filled up the van the guys had borrowed from a friend. After 2 1/2 hours of listening to nothing but black metal and hardcore, we were in Richmond. Richmond, being an awesome place for records, was a stop we had to make on the 9 hour trip to Jersey. After scoring a bunch of sick finds, we were back on the road.

Making hardly any stops, we took on the next 6 hours of the trip and landed ourselves in a residential area by a university in New Brunswick. The guy who lived at the house helped us bring in all the gear and get familiar with the house. The bands that played that night were Godswallower (NJ), Loose Ends (NJ), and Abuse. Moving between the merch table and the show room, I was able to catch most of the sets. Godswallower played a nice mix of blown-out grind and heavy doom. Not bad at all for a first show! Loose Ends was a local hardcore act that drew in a lot of local ragers. Abuse.’s set was super tight and brutal. Considering the show was in a basement, the sound was pretty good!

After the show in NJ, we went and got some of the most delicious (and cheapest!) Mexican food I’ve ever had with a friend who had been selling records out of his distro at the show. He was nice enough to let us stay at his swanky apartment and use his shower. He kindly sold me an awesome old Green Day EP. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to flip through his extensive record collection – we had to get up early the next morning to go to New York City.

Although there were no Abuse. dates in NYC, we found it necessary to go since 2 of us had never been before. Driving in Jersey was difficult, but finally we made it to a small parking lot by the Newark train station where we could park for 12 dollars for the whole day. After much confusion, we managed to make it on the train to Brooklyn from Newark. Though cold and drizzly, we all managed to have a great time in NYC. We went to Generation Records, Trash and Vaudeville (some “punk” store we had heard about on TV that we wanted to visit for laughs), Times Square, and a whole bunch of other places in the city. Times Square was incredible – I found myself constantly taking pictures, not caring at all that I looked like the biggest tourist ever. We took a bunch of funny pictures, one being a picture of all of us in Times Square with the Marines. A friend commented on the picture when it was posted on Facebook: “The few, the proud… Abuse”.

We made it out of the city at around 3:30 PM so that we could make it to the Philly show. Although we didn’t see Fresh Prince, we did manage to have a great time at the show. It was in a basement with a bunch of awesome local bands: Callous, Congenital Death, and Bad Side. Callous played grimy sludge, Bad Side played fun hardcore punk, and Congenital Death had a great mix of crushing female screams and speedy fastcore. The crowd turnout and reaction were both GREAT and I can honestly say it was (crowd-wise) the best night of the tour. After the show everyone came up from the basement and danced to Funkadelic. I would definitely like to go to Philly again, especially since by the time we had arrived there that afternoon it was too dark to get a good look of the city.

Click here if you want to watch the full set from Philly!

After Philly, we had plans to stay at a friend’s house in D.C. 2 1/2 hours later, we finally made it to D.C. and crashed immediately. We had plans to see a little bit of D.C. and take a look at the record stores in Baltimore the next morning. Waking up at about 10 AM, we headed straight to Sticky Fingers Bakery after having a nice chat with one of the dudes who lived at the house. I got myself a delicious quesadilla while the other dudes had some bagels. Sticky Fingers is definitely a must-stop in D.C. for vegeterians and vegans!

After getting a bite to eat, we made our way to Baltimore to check out Celebrated Summer Records. To say I was astounded by their selection in vinyl is a total understatement… From new releases to the rare record you always wanted but could never find, Celebrated Summer has it. Shout out to the owner for having the coolest record store ever and to the super nice employee for giving us the inside-scoop on the Baltimore music scene.

Spending most of the day in Baltimore, we tried our best to beat traffic so that we could make it to the D.C. show at Smash Records. On the bill was Vile Faith (a bunch of cool high school kids playing their first show) and raging hardcore act Human Shield. The turnout was great and we had the opportunity to check out the records. Alex, Abuse.’s vocalist, got a superb copy of Bathory’s “The Return…”, which I was (and still am) extremely jealous of. Human Shield’s drummer got Morbid Angel’s “Domination” – also an awesome find! Smash Records is definitely one of my favorite places to go to whenever I visit D.C., so I was glad to know that the show was there. The set Abuse. played at this show (music-wise) was definitely my favorite of the whole tour. It was nothing but pure, hateful hardcore. I shamelessly raged from behind the merch table. The dudes who lived at the house we had stayed at the night before were kind enough to let us stay the night again. After the show we got food and chilled.

The next morning we left bright and early at about 7AM because the vocalist had to make it to work by 2PM. In addition to that, Abuse. also had the homecoming show that night with touring bands Recide (TX), Breakout (TX), Manic (GA), and Desist (local ragers, first show!). The show that night was awesome! The touring bands were super nice guys. I missed Manic the last time they came through Raleigh… that was definitely a mistake. Recide, Breakout, and Manic were some of the best hardcore punk bands I’ve seen in a long time. Desist put on a great show as well. I can’t wait to go to future shows with them on the bill.

To round things up, I had an incredibly fun time being sweaty in a van with 4 other guys for 3 days. Abuse. are the coolest guys ever and I am very thankful to have been their merch guy on this tour. Thanks to everyone who gave us a place to stay, the other bands that played, and of course the people who came out to the shows. We had the best time going up north and being treated with superb hospitality. Thank you so much.

-Possessed

Two members of Raleigh’s metal mastermind Colossus will be in — and hopefully not pillaging — the studio this Thursday at 11 a.m. for an interview with yours truly.  And, yes,  that is 11 a.m. — a little shot of Chainsaw at lunch time never hurt anyone.  The band will be promoting their new EP, as well as their show at The Pour House Thursday night.

I have never seen Colossus live, but if you’re lucky enough to come out on Thursday (as I will be), I strongly recommend you bring a large bowl because when it’s all said and done, your face will probably melt off.

Colossus

Ok so it is June… but it isn’t my fault that May kicked ass. I mean seriously. I graduated from NC State, saw my family, and went to some of the best local shows I have been to in a while.

I had planed to attend several big shows in the weeks following graduation, however, I was sadly only able to make it to 3 shows featuring 8 bands. But what great shows they were.

Click on any picture to go to the full Gallery

May 15th: Cat’s Cradle: Hey Euphony, Whole Wheat Bread, MC Chris

This show was a mystery for me going in, because I was not familiar with any of the acts; also, I had never been to Cat’s Cradle before.

Now on to reason I was interested in the show- Whole Wheat Bread

May 20th: Cat’s Cradle: Maylene and The Sons of Disaster, Clutch

I had looked forward to this concert for months because Clutch has been one of my favorite bands for the last few years. Native to Maryland and with more than 10 albums to their credit, Clutch passes through the Triangle roughly once a year; and unfortunately does not allow photography at their shows. This year’s show, while fun, was a bit of a disappointment from previous times I had seen them. The mosh pit broke out fast, but disappeared just as quickly as it had started, the lead singer didn’t have much to say to the crowd, and it was difficult to see the band due to an unusually tall audience. I dare to say metal/hard rockers Maylene and The Sons of Disaster put on a better, higher energy performance.

May 27th: The Pour House: Black Skies, Caltrop , Colossus

This show featured some of the best Raleigh has to offer in hard rock and metal, and I hate myself for not realizing what pocket I had put my camera in. It wasn’t until Colossus took that stage that I realized that I hadn’t left my camera at home.

Black Skies is from Chapel Hill and was celebrating the vinyl release of Hexagon (5/26/09).  I look forward to seeing more this band in the future because I’m not entirely sure about how much I enjoyed the performance. Part of it was the stage presence of the band, part of it was the annoying buzz that was feeding into the mix from a bad cable. However, I do encourage people to check out their music none the less.

Caltrop, also from Chapel Hill, is the embodiment of local music history with members having been part of Hazerai, Pegasus, El Sucio, The Ladderback, and Valient Thorr. Caltrop produces a hard rock jam band feel that just oozes potential. The band’s LP, World Class, lives up to  its’ title fully.

So in 3 weeks time, I saw 4 local bands and 4 non-local, nationally touring bands. Beleive me, the local bands certainly held their ground and put forth some great acts; and not all of the national acts were that great. Going to these shows made me think about the nature of concerts, and to a certain extent, music itself. Perhaps the biggest difference between great music/concerts/bands and everything else, is the experience one walks away with. A show by a great act makes the audience walk away pumped up,  or full of memories and opinions of what they just experienced; a show by a not so great act does not. Part of why this is, is the reason people go to the show in the first place, and part of it is the showmanship of the band. When I went to see Hey Euphony, Whole Wheat Bread and Clutch, I walked away feeling as though I had experienced something. However, if I hadn’t stayed for Colossus, and had simply gone home after seeing Black Skies, I may not have felt the same way.

Part of what causes this differentiation in experience lies on the individual at the show, and the other part lies on the shoulders of the band. Colossus, Whole Wheat Bread, Hey Euphony, and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster showed up to perform; not to simply play a gig, but to rock out and have an awesome time. Now this isn’t to say that the other bands didn’t; perhaps the crowd just wasn’t into it, or came to see someone else.

It is for this reason that I ask everyone that goes to support local music, to be active at it. Don’t just go to a show to have a couple beers, hang out, or just b.s. around: Go to the show to have an experince. Get into the music, the people on stage, and the people around you. For the love god, dance, hand bang, jump around, or whatever else comes to mind. Just don’t stand there with a stick up your butt and bounce your head like a bobble head doll. One thing that bands like Colossus, Red Collar, and other local bands excel at, is bringing the audeince to the edge of thier comfortable “chill” zone and pushing them into having an awesome time.

I’ll admit I don’t really know much about the Internet, other than it’s a great place to find videos of walruses playing saxophone. So, I really didn’t really know too much about WKNC blog until very recently. I guess I was just so enthralled watching those walruses. But, when a series of skateboarding injuries plagued me over the past few weeks, I decided that now would be the time to start contributing to this thing.

As I just alluded, I skateboard. I skate just about every day and it is truly my first love in life, as sappy as that sounds. I even got my DJ name because my girlfriend suggested using some trick terminology for my on air moniker – “DJ Inward Heelflip” never quite caught on. But, getting back to skating, I figured my first post could be a playlist to skate to. You see, I usually listen to music while I skate, and in the eight or so years I’ve been riding, I’ve amassed quite a collection of tunes that complement some shred sledding.

You’re going to see a lot of different types of music in these mixes. When people think skateboarding, they generally think punk rock, and that’s true to a certain extent. Punk rock has definitely played a role in skateboarding’s history and it will continue to do so in the years to come. But other forms of music, such as heavy metal, hip-hop, and alternative rock, are just as much a part of skateboarding culture. Who could think of anything better to blast than gangsta rap while sliding some ledges? What complements hitting huge handrails quite like Slayer? Variety is the spice of skate life, and so are these mixes.

So without further ado, here’s Switch’s first skate mix. I’ll try to put one of these up every few months or so (along with a photo of yours truly), in addition to blogs about grunge, punk, and whatever else. I know it’s not walruses playing saxophone, but hopefully this mix will put some gnar back in your bloodstream.

1.) Valient Thorr- “I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Your Soul Forever”- What a way to kick off a playlist! These guys are Triangle locals, even though they claim to hail from the planet Venus. With how hard they play, I believe they really do come another planet, because few Earthlings can step to Thorr’s brand of full speed ahead rock n’ roll. They got their start playing skateparks in rural North Carolina and one of their songs made it into the soundtrack of the world famous Skate videogame. You can’t get much more cred than that.

2.) Zebrahead- “Check”- This one I remember hearing on a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game when I was younger. Ever since then, I’ve associated it with getting gnar- either in the real world or the pretend one. “Check” also shows how that 90’s rock/rap thing could have worked out pretty well, given the right circumstances.

3.) GOB- “Can I Resist”- I first heard GOB when I was watching this skateboarding show on T.V. when I was like twelve. Ever since then, I’ve been stoked on these Canadians. Yes, I like pop punk. I don’t care what you think about it.

4.) Pearl Jam- “God’s Dice”- Vedder and company hit the jackpot with this post-90’s return to hard rocking. Hey, I couldn’t help but throw in some grunge love in here.

5.) Beastie Boys- “Triple Trouble”- Quick straight rhymes and some British accents over a beat sampled from the Sugarhill Gang’s legendary “Rapper’s Delight”? Only New York’s favorite sons could pull that off. Perfect for some skateboard break-dancing, B-boy.

6.) Aerosmith- “Back in the Saddle”- This was probably the first band I ever listened to while skating. Back in those days, I would strap a CD player around my hand when I went out in the streets. Needless to say I broke about five of those things. Thankfully we have iPods now, so I can get my classic rock outlaw vibe from Aerosmith worry free.

7.) Flogging Molly- “The Kilburn High Road”- I don’t condone skating while under the influence, but if you’re going to do it, this is you song, laddie.

8.) The Pixies- “Alec Eiffel”- Trippy, but with all the melodic power that made this group the godfathers of modern rock music.

9.) Queens of the Stone Age- “Go With the Flow”- Alternative rock, whatever that means anymore, with lots of muscle behind it. I recommend you take the title literally.

10.) Bad Brains- “Don’t Bother Me”- A classic hardcore punk anthem. Seriously raw skating needs seriously raw music, and Bad Brains never fails to deliver the latter.

11.) Children of Bodom- “Triple Corpse Hammerblow”- I’m not a huge metal head, but when I heard one of my favorite skaters, Chris Cole, going on and on about this band in interviews I had to check them out. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. Put this song on before laying waste to some big stair sets and handrails, Viking style.

12.) Bad Religion- “Requiem for Dissent”- This track from the Los Angeles old guard is another solid tune meant for fast skating. Activism never sounded better.

13.) The Ramones- “I Wanted Everything”- A skateboarder’s staple band since the 70′s. Somewhat heavier than the typical hits you hear by the Ramones, but this one’s still just as catchy.

14.) Anti Flag- “Got the Numbers”- Probably one of the most positive players in punk rock music today. Great music loaded with the proactive messages we seem to be lacking these days. And with skateboarders well outnumbering all the branches of the United States military combined, we’ve got the numbers as well.

15.) The Heartaches- “Rock n Roll UFO”- There’s just no better song with which to end this list. Clocking in at only two minutes, this is complete skate-inspired rock n’ roll chaos. If dropping in to the deep end of a backyard pool has a sound, it’s “Rock n’ Roll UFO.”

Hope you enjoyed the first of Switch’s skate mix. Now stop blogging and start shredding!

Picture: heavy-power metal holocaust by ~redalakchiri on deviantART

It is a GREAT time to be a metal head. There are so many new albums coming out this year, as well as concerts touring the US.

Out of all the years I have been a metal head, the 08-09 year has been one of the best. I have seen Symphony X playing with Into Eternity and Epica. I have watched Iced Earth play with Into Eternity. I have seen Suffocation. I have seen the almighty Carcass play with Suffocation, Aborted, and 1349. I have seen the black metallers Watain. I will be seeing Soilwork with Darkane and Swallow The Sun. Soon I will see Kreator with Exodus, as well as Dragonforce with Cynic. I have never seen so many great concerts coming through. I didn’t get a chance to go see At The Gates with Darkest Hour, but they toured as well.

The only thing better than concerts this year was albums. There were so many great albums released in 08-09.

Alestorm-Captain Morgan’s Revenge
Avantasia-The Scarecrow
Ayreon-01011001
Ghenghis Tron-Board Up The House
Death Angel-Killing Season
Boris-Smile
Meshuggah-oBzen
Zimmer’s Hole-When You Were Shouting At The Devil…
Korpiklaani-Korven Kuningas
The Sword-Gods of the Earth
Arsis-We Are The Nightmare
Belphegor-Bondage Goat Zombie
Dominici-O3:A Trilogy, Part 3
Kalmah-For The Revolution
Warrel Dane-Praises To The War Machine
Deicide-Til Death Do Us Part
Testament-The Damnation of Formation
Moonspell-Night Eternal
Cryptopsy-The Unspoken King
Kataklysm-Prevail
Ihsahn-angL
Opeth-Watershed
Pyramaze-Immortal
Sabaton-The Art of War
Norma Jean-The Anti Mother
The Human Abstract-Midheaven
Dragonforce-Ultrabeatdown
Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy
Iced Earth-The Crucible of Man
Amon Amarth-Twilight of the Thunder God
Swallow The Sun-Plague of Butterflies
Evergrey-Torn
Battlelore-The Last Alliance
Psycroptic-Ob(Servant)
Jeff Loomis-Zero Order Phase
Bloodbath-The Fathomless Mastery
Unearth-The March
Darkthrone-Dark Thrones and Black Flags
Darkane-Demonic Art
Cradle of Filth-Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder
The Faceless-Planetary Duality
Cynic-Traced in Air

And that is all 2008. 2009 looks to be as good, if not even better.

Grave Digger-Ballads of a Hangman
Iron Fire-To The Grave
Kreator-Hordes of Chaos
Saxon-Into The Labyrinth
Cattle Decapitation-The Harvest Floor
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder-Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
Sepultura-A-lex
Napalm Death-Time Waits For No Slave
Vision Divine-9 Degrees West of the Moon
Cannibal Corpse-Evisceration Plague
Luna Mortis-The Absence
God Forbid-Earthsblood
Obscura-Cosmogenesis
Hammerfall-No Sacrifice, No Victory
Suidakra-Crógacht
Absu-Absu
Buried Inside-Spoils of Failure
My Dying Bride-For Lies I Sire
Mastodon-Crack The Skye
Wolves In The Throneroom-Black Cascade

It’s a good time to love metal my friends.

Keep The Horns Rising Brothers and Sisters
-Noobhammer

On 1/22/09, Colossus band members  Sean Buchanan and Bill Fisher dropped in during Local Lunch for a quick interview.

Colossus brought WKNC a belated Christmas gift in the form of 2 exclusive, not yet released, songs from their next album that is set to hit the streets in a few months. Colossus played at WKNC & Tir Na Nog’s Local Beer, Local Band on Thursday, January 22nd, with Double Barrel Benefit 5 alumni, Tooth.

Check out Murdoc’s Picture Blog and exclusive review of Colossus’s next album!

You can listed to the songs Kill More Better and The Mountain in the interview below.

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At first, I thought I would try something else for this week’s post…so I forgot my camera at home and went speeding off to Tir Na Nog’s first metal night featuring Tooth and Colossus. Thankfully my brother came through for me and brought his camera (but he didn’t get there until Tooth’s last song). So grabbed the camera from him and snagged as many good shots as I could.

Being a DJ that started out wanting to be a part of the WKNC Chainsaw Rock crew, Tir Na Nog’s first metal night really got my blood pumping. If you sadly missed this show, then you missed one of the most awesome Local Beer, Local Band nights ever. This may have been one of the slightly more tame metal shows I have attended (since it lacked blood, boobs, and a mosh pit), but it was one of my favorite Local Beer, Local Bands none the less.

Tooth: Durham based Tooth released their EP Animality just before playing at WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit 5 last year, and have been spreading their punk metal style around the Triangle since.  According to their bassist, Ryland Fishel, the band has been working on their second album and have recorded some tracks that are set to be released on vinyl soon.

Colossus: Raleigh based metal at its finest. Colossus mashes elements of thrash metal with power metal elements to create hard rock masterpieces. Colossus singer, Sean Buchanan, and guitarist, Bill Fisher, dropped by WKNC’s Local Lunch for a quick interview and to debut two tracks off of their upcoming album that is yet to be named. WKNC also received an exclusive advanced copy of the album to review and play.

Click any picture to view the full gallery.

Click here for the WKNC review of Colossus’s next album.

Click here to listen to the Local Lunch interview with Colossus.

Ok, this has been bothering me for a while. I get crap from the prisoners, from strangers, hell even from our own Caid. WHY THE HATE ON POWER METAL?!?!?!? Seriously, I don’t understand it. Is it because they sing about dragons? Is it cause they sing about fighting in medieval Europe alongside King Arthur? What, what is it? People say power metal is not “brutal” enough, or is “pansy” metal. Why? Is it because they can actually sing and play their instruments with good skill? I enjoy listening to death and black metal as much as the next guy, but sometimes I actually want to be able to understand what my vocalist is singing about, not Cookie Monster vocals with maximum distortion on them. I want to be able to hear a guitar solo that actually uses all six strings on the guitar, not just the one. Is that too much to ask? And I can guarantee you that power metal has been around longer than these other genres and will continue to exist even after those have gone.

Let me give you a brief history of the great genre of dragons. Power metal is a style of heavy metal music combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed or thrash metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a later more widespread and popular style based in Europe and Japan with a lighter, more melodic sound and frequent use of keyboards.

Power metal is today associated with an epic sound tempered by characteristics of speed metal, power metal’s musical forerunner. Power metal’s lyrical themes, though as varied as metal itself, typically focus on fantasy, mythology, camaraderie, hope,  personal struggles, emotions,  war, and death.

Power metal is highly focused on the vocalist, with “clean” vocals being much more prevalent than the growling vocals. The majority of the genre’s vocalists sing in the tenor range, capable of hitting very high notes. There are however many exceptions such as Pyramaze / Iced Earth frontman Matt Barlow, Falconer frontman Mathais Blad, and Sabaton frontman Joakim Broden; they sing in either baritone or bass range, though in certain songs like Creator Failure, Barlow hits very high notes reminiscent of Rob Halford. Power metal vocalists Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray, andHansi Kurch of Blind Guardian record multi-layered vocals reminiscent of Queen, creating a choral effect.

Power metal guitarists and bassists generally play rapid streams of notes, but change chords comparatively slowly, with a harmonic tempo of once per measure or slower. Fast and demanding guitar solos, however, are almost guaranteed.

A number of power metal drummers generally play with two bass drums for added speed, utilizing them to play a constant stream of sixteenth notes with snare drum accents on the beat. This style is fairly common in power metal as in other heavy metal subgenres, though it is by no means universal. Power metal though has become the most prevalent in the use of this technique.

Power metal bands often incorporate keyboards into their musical arrangements, something popularized by Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, though their usage varies from subtle accents to a full-blown melody line. Some symphonic power metal bands such as Rhapsody of Fire, Fairyland and Nightwish have also been known to record with more symphonic elements, and as such, they utilize a full orchestra to fill the role a keyboard plays in other power metal bands.

Notable Power Metal Bands:

3 Inches of Blood

Avantasia

Battlelore

Black Majesty

Blind Guardian

Chinchilla

Circle II Circle

Demons & Wizards

Dragonforce

Dream Evil

Edguy

Elvenking

Excalion

Fairyland

Falconer

Firewind

Freedom Call

Galneryus

Gamma Ray

Grave Digger

HammerFall

Helloween

Iced Earth

Iron Fire

Into Eternity

Jacob’s Dream

Jag Panzer

Kamelot

Labyrinth

Lost Horizon

Manowar

Metalium

Mystic Prophecy

Narnia

Nightwish

Nocturnal Rites

Pagan’s Mind

Pyramaze

Raintime

Rhapsody of Fire

Sabaton

Saxon

Sonata Arctica

Steel Attack

Stratovarius

Symphony X

Twilightning

Vision Divine

Wizard

For More See Here

Aid for History Came From Wikipedia

Colossus will be bringing metal mayhem to Local Lunch on Thursday, January 22nd, for an interview.

Colossus’s Rylan Wilshire & Sean Buchanan will be in studio for the interview at around 12:30pm. Afterwords, Colossus will be playing with WKNC Double Barrel Benefit 5 alumni, Tooth, at WKNC & Tir Na Nog’s first Local Beer, Local Band that will feature Metal music.

For more details about the show, check out the WKNC Rock Report, and don’t forget to tune in for the interview!

Greetings metal community, the Noobhammer here with my top ten albums which smashed the gates with a hammer full of steel.

10. Trenches-The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole

This album was a complete shocker for me. Yet from the instant I popped in the cd, I knew I had something special. This cd combines the heaviness of Isis with the melody and intensity of Haste The Day.  This cd mixes these two elements perfectly into an album that doesn’t disappoint and will continually surprise you and have you listening to it again.

9. Arsis-We Are The Nightmare

This album blew me away with its sheer technicality and intensity. Arsis have always been one of those bands that just shock you with their skills on their respective instruments. This cd is no exception. With a step above United In Regret production wise, Arsis shows us what they can do when they flex their muscles and release that Virginian Death Metal machine.

8. Battlelore-The Last Alliance

Can you go wrong with Lord of the Rings? The answer is no, no you cannot. Battlelore has proven this by releasing their 5th full length album based off the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. They seem to gain their stride back with this release after releasing the much softer Evernight album previous to this one.

7. The Sword-Gods of the Earth

The Sword have quickly become one of the best stoner bands to ever come out. This cd is no exception. Their best work to date showcases what The Sword do best: Black Sabbathesque riffs that hook you and lyrics that just make no sense but will have you singing along nevertheless. That is what makes this album so great, their simplicity.

6. Sabaton-The Art of War

Sabaton has made a name for themselves as a power metal band that sings about wars. This album though is a album about the art of war. It has Sun Tzu’s teachings throughout it as we hear about Rommel’s Tank Division, the deaths in the trenches during WWI. This cd is just epic with its material and depth. It also has some very catchy songs that will have you banging your head.

5. Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy

The opening lines of this album, “The story is over”, paint the bleak outlook this album has with its concept about a patient who has cancer. This emotionally driven cd is some of the best work Into Eternity has done to date. Stu’s voice really shines on this album as well as Tim’s guitar playing. The mature growth that this band has shown over their last few albums is amazing and makes me impatient for the next album.

4. Avantasia-The Scarecrow

Tobias Sammet’s brainchild guest musician band is one of the best things to hit the metal world with it’s rock opera story and guest singers. I kept coming back to this album alot over the year due to it’s catchy songwriting and “can’t help but make you smile” lyrics. Michael Kiske, Alice Kooper, Jorn Lande, and kai Hansen all appear on this album making it a true masterpiece and hit album.

3. Pyramaze-Immortal

Pyramaze rose from ashes with the great Matt Barlow on vocals bringing out Pyramaze’s true potential and showing us what we all missed when Matt Barlow left the metal world. This cd just wakes you up and smacks you in the face with powerful lyrics and music. This is truly the year of the phoenix for most bands as they rose from the ashes into the spotlight of greatness.

2. Iced Earth-The Crucible of Man:Something Wicked Part 2

This was almost my album of the year just for its sheer genius and beauty that is contained within its walls. This album showed us what Iced Earth truly is, that no matter how many members they go through they can always release a great album. This album though brought back the prodigal son, Matt Barlow back to the folds of Iced Earth. His voice just fits so natural with John Schaffer’s guitars. This showed us the true power of Iced Earth and left us wanting more.

THIS IS IT!!! MY ALBUM OF THE YEAR!!! IT IS……

1. Cynic-Traced In Air

This is it. The big enchilada. Did you really not see this coming? I mean come on I even said that it was the year of the phoenix for most bands, and Cynic is truly a phoenix. They died in ’93 with Focus and were recently reborn with Traced In Air. They have truly made a masterpiece that many will be talking about for the next fifteen years. This album can be listened to so many times, and yet you wish that there was more. That’s how good it is. It wants you to have more and just shows what a truly masterful beauty this album is that many bands could only dream of attaining. These guys deserve the album of the year for writing a true masterpiece that goes along with A Piece of Time.

-Noobhammer

Pelican is a band from Chicago on the amazing Hydra Head Label run and founded by Aaron Turner, founder of ISIS. Other bands on the label roster include Boris, Jesu, Kayo Dot, Lustmord, Merzbow, Zozobra, and Cave In. Past bands include Cult of Luna, Sunn O))), and Neurosis. Many of these bands are ambient drone bands or post-rock bands. Other bands which are similar to these artists are ISIS, Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Anathema, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Adai, Red Sparowes, Russian Circles, The Angelic Process, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, North, Godflesh, and Mountains Became Machines. All these bands are pretty heavy, when it comes to emotional and moving music, and have toured with metal bands. Many metal heads listen to these bands and enjoy them. So is Post-Rock really Indie Music? Or is it just another offshoot of Heavy Metal. I’m going to say Metal, due to the sheer fact that most of these bands have metal roots. ISIS was a doom band as well as Anathema. Justin Broadrick, founder of Jesu and Godflesh, was the original guitarist on Napalm Death’s “Scum”. It just seems to me that Post-Rock should have it’s name changed. In this author’s humble opinion, to Ambient Metal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go work on my Instrumental Ambient Metal Avant Garde band, Renob Sinep.

-Noobhammer