^^^ all of my OG Vine readers will know and appreciate this meme. I couldn’t help myself.
Probably the only good thing that came out of the year 2020 for me was that I turned 21! 21 is a big milestone because this is the age that you can *legally* drink and buy nicotine!! Y’all don’t understand how happy I am that I don’t have to pay an underage fee at shows now, once they are up and running again. Yay on saving $5 and not getting X’s on my hands!!
Like I said before, 21 is a huge milestone, and I wouldn’t have been able to make it to the age of 21 without the help of some of my favorite bands and artists. COIVD-19 has been a hard time for everyone and has put a toll on my mental health. I LOVE to socialize so for an extrovert, like myself, it sucked not being able to hang with the homies!! But the introvert in me has loved binge watching One Tree Hill and That ‘70s Show. While having all this “me time,” I have been listening to more music than ever. I preach this a lot but music is a great outlet for both the listeners and the creators. I find it fascinating that music can help individuals in so many different ways. So today, I will be sharing with you the 21 bands and artists that have gotten me to the age of 21! This list is in no particular order of importance, all 21 of these musicians are equally important and loved by The Saw.
We’re going back to the ‘60s in this blog post! The ‘60s have always fascinated me because this was a time of a huge paradigm shift, aka, the hippie culture. It’s crazy to think that this decade challenged the norms already in place and rebelled against society. During this time, one of my favorite artists emerged, Jimi Hendrix. In my opinion, Jimi Hendrix did play a role in metal because of his techniques on the guitar, and you will never guess who his roadie was. It was Lemmy (Ian Kilmister from Motörhead)! How cool is that?!
James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 and was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His mainstream career only lasted for four years, but he is widely known as one of the most influential guitarists in history (he played a right handed guitar, left-handed)! Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He enlisted into the US Army and trained as a paratrooper but was discharged the following year.
He soon moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and began playing gigs. He later played with Little Richard in the mid ‘60s and he moved to England in late 1966 after he was discovered by Linda Keith. Within months upon arriving in England, Hendrix had several songs hit the UK top ten charts: Hey Joe, Purple Haze, and The Wind Cries Mary. He started to get fame in the US after he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and his album, Electric Ladyland, hit number one in the US in 1968. Hendrix died at the age of 27 on September 18, 1970 from barbiturate-related asphyxia.
Hendrix was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues. He was one of the first guitarists to use a tone-altering effects unit in mainstream rock. This is where he began to influence the guitarists after him because he pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. He expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar and mastered it beautifully. The artists that interested him and influenced him the most were Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
Discography:
Are You Experienced (1967)
Axis: Bold as Love (1967)
Electric Landlady (1968)
Favorite Songs:
Little Wings, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, All Along the Watchtower, Red House, and Castles Made of Sand.
What are some of your favorite Jimi Hendrix songs?
“When this record broke, we were in complete shock and awe over the band’s appearance and sound,” the OG says about Motley Crue’s 1983 sophomore release, Shout at the Devil. “We were listening to AC/DC, Van Halen, Boston, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, and the like; even KISS, with its use of make-up and shock appeal didn’t prepare us for Crüe!”
Mötley Crüe are from Los Angeles, CA, and formed in 1981. The band was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Mick Mars, and vocalist Vince Neil. Shout at the Devil (Elektra Records) dropped on September 26, 1983, and sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks. Many attributes the high sales volume to the record’s (and the band’s) built-in controversy. ’83 was the time just before the PMRC required warning labels on all explicit albums, and Shout at the Devil’s original record cover featured a huge pentagram and photos of the four members in complete costume.
“Every week we were in the record store, looking for the newest record by our favorites, or we’d find new bands to listen to based on record covers. When we picked up Shout, it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen! The cover just drew us in, and we hadn’t even heard any of it! When I got home and played it, and the title track blasted through my speakers, I was hooked! The sound oozed from the record. It was gritty, dirty, and just incredible! It was in your face violent, sexual (straight up, not in innuendos), and overall unlike anything I’d ever heard.”
This was an important time in Metal history, Glam Rock began here, with the edgy sounds and lyrical content of Crue and Twisted Sister. In fact, Nikki Sixx, before forming Crüe, was in a band (“Sister”) with legendary vocalist Blackie Lawless, who would go on to form the infamous band, WASP. Before Glam turned into Big Hair Rock (Cinderella, Britney Fox, etc.) and Pop Rock (Poison, Ratt, etc), it was raw, dark, and (ironically) real. Hey, if it weren’t for Glam Metal (in all its forms), there would have been no rebellion against it, by bands (starting with the letter “M") like Metallica, Metal Church, and Megadeth, etc.
“Shout opened the door, for me, to extreme music. It was less mainstream, radio rock and more underground, less publically acceptable Metal. Crüe changed the game through sound, appearance, and content. Twisted Sister was the first time I had ever heard cussing in a song (F-bombs). Blackie Lawless and WASP pushed all of that to the extremes with song titles, live performance props, and lifestyles! Crüe was kicked off their first KISS tour by Gene Simmons, and Twisted Sister and WASP were continually band all over the world. It was glorious!!”
Favorite Songs: Shout at the Devil ; Looks that Kill ; Ten Seconds to Love
Rating: a perfect 10/10!
What are some of your favorite songs off of Shout at the Devil?
The first time I saw Cryptopsy was a few years ago at Ziggy’s in Wilmington when they played with Cannibal Corpse and Obituary on Valentine’s Day! What a great bloody Valentine! They sound so good live and the crowd loved them. I kept laughing during their set because when the singer would growl into the mic, I could see his tongue wiggling around and I have never seen that style of vocals before. I have been listening to Cryptopsy for years, all thanks to my dad! The OG metalhead knows what’s good within death metal.
Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that formed in 1988. At first, the band was named Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and was created by drummer Mike Atkin, guitarist Steve Thibault, and vocalist Dan Greening. The band released several demos, but when Atkin left to continue his musical career in speed/thrash metal, the band changed their name to Cryptopsy.
In 1993, they released their debut demo, Ungentle Exhumation and it caught the attention of a local label, Gore Records. With the release of their debut demo, Cryptopsy gained attention in the Canadian death metal underground scene and also received attention from Invasion Records, a German label. After several lineup changes, the band signed to Invasion Records, but due to financial problems (thanks to the label), Cryptopsy was soon left without a label to support their tour. But have no fear!!! Their album gained attention of Dutch label, Displeased Records and were picked up!
They released one of their most popular albums, None So Vile, on Swedish label Wrong Again Records, and this album became a staple piece of brutal death metal. This is not surprising because if you have ever heard this record, then you know it is a absolute MASTERPIECE!!! The album cover is sick, too. 10/10 album cover.
Cryptopsy has had SO MANY lineup changes throughout the years, but the current lineup is:
Flo Mounier (drums)
Christian Donaldson (guitar)
Matt McCachy (vocals)
Oliver Pinard (bass)
Discography:
Blasphemy Made Flesh (1994)
None So Vile (1996)
Whisper Supremacy (1998)
And Then You’ll Beg (2000)
Once Was Not (2005)
The Unspoken King (2008)
Cryptopsy (2012)
Favorite Songs:
Sire of Sin, Graves of the Fathers, Crown of Thorns, and Dead and Dripping
What are some of your favorite songs? Have you seen Cryptopsy live?
What’s going on Butcher Crew? It’s ya girl, The Saw, and I have a very fun game for us to play! I never liked Jeopardy because I could never get the questions right for the answer that was given. But, this one I WILL be successful at, not only because I am formulating the questions and answers, but because it is about metal!!
Let me first explain how the game will be played:
· First, I will make a statement and your response will be something along the lines of “Who is _______?”
· Second, the correct answers will not be listed below (because I know y’all will be looking for an answer key. The Saw knows all of your moves, because I am, in fact, The Master Butcher. Hehehe). Next week, I will give out the answers to the questions in another blog post.
Let the games begin!!
1. This band, is originally from Buffalo, New York, but moved to Tampa, Florida to be enveloped in the emerging Death Metal scene.
2. This band (could it be said) is the RUSH of death metal? (Hint: RUSH is a three-man band).
3. This band influenced The Saw’s DJ name. (This is easy, if you get this wrong… well… I am disappointed).
4. This Canadian Death Metal band won a Juno (equivalent to the U.S. Grammy) for best album of the year in the “heavy metal” category in 2015.
5. This legendary guitarist lost the tips of two fingers in a factory accident.
6. This band, played one of their final shows at the Carolina Rebellion in 2017.
7. This band, told you to “Steal This Album!”
8. This band, created a publicity stunt for their upcoming record back in 2014, where they made it appear that their lead singer was kidnapped and held hostage.
9. After the death of their original singer, this band got a new singer and released a self-titled album which was not popular amongst fans.
10. This band’s original name was Naked Toddler before they changed it to the name that they currently have now.
How do you think you did on these questions? Would you want more Jeopardy questions?
You already know I gotta highlight one of the best deathcore albums, in my opinion. This is one of the albums that got me into heavier music and it is still one of my favorite albums to this day. I already have a band of the week out on Suicide Silence, you know The Saw got y’all!!
The Cleansing is the debut studio album by Suicide Silence and it debut at No. 94 on the Billboard Top 200, selling 7,250 copies within the first week. This album became one of the best-selling debut albums in Century Media’s history. This album is noted for its unique engineering style, because it was tracked live in-studio as opposed to track-by-track. After the intro, the first song on the record is Unanswered, one of my favorite songs. This song has some solid riffs and Mitch Lucker’s trademark vocals make this song a very well-constructed opening track.
Each of the songs have a set of lyrics that stand on their own; some of the songs are about religion, others about money and greed, and some about the human race. This record is nothing but a beating, it’s like sensory overload. This album will beat you into the ground with no remorse and will leave nothing behind. Some critics have stated that this album is nothing new, but the early 2000 era was a prime era for the deathcore realm. So many bands from this sub-genre were upcoming bands, so of course they are going to be influenced by one another. Despite the criticism, this album opened the door for Suicide Silence, and helped them develop their skull crushing sound. This style of music is for an acquired taste, but if you love getting beat to death (by music, of course) then this album is definitely for you!
Favorite songs:
No Pity for a Coward
Unanswered
Girl of Glass
Bludgeoned to Death
Rating: 9/10!!
What are some of your favorite songs off of The Cleansing?
Ahhh, Suffocation. One of the OG’s of death metal. Unfortunately, I have never seen them, even though I had the chance to my senior year of high school! So, what had happened was (queue Kevin Hart voice) prom night was the same night of the Suffocation show, and I was trying to convince my dad to let me go to the show instead of prom… I was going to wear my prom dress and everything!! But, I did end up going to prom and it was LAME!!! I left 20 minutes in. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve but I do think it’s a funny story and that’s all that matters.
Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York. Suffocation received fame and attention with their 1991 debut album, Effigy of the Forgotten, which became the staple piece of death metal in the ‘90s. The band was formed by vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarists Guy Marchais and Todd German, bassist Josh Barohn, and an unknown drummer.
Suffocation’s death metal style is influenced by grindcore. The band uses outrageously guttural vocals with a bottom-heavy guitar foundation, blistering speed, and unmatched brutality, with intricate songwriting. This band is a solid member of the Technical/Math Metal segment, with various time signatures, blast beats, and pure grooves in every single song!
Current Members:
Terrance Hobbs (lead guitar)
Derek Boyer (bass)
Ricky Myers (vocals)
Charlie Errigo (rhythm guitar)
Eric Morotti (drums)
Discography:
Human Waste (1991)
Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)
Breeding the Spawn (1993)
Pierced from Within (1995)
Souls To Deny (2004)
Suffocation (2006)
Blood Oath (2009)
Pinnacle of Bedlam (2013)
… Of the Dark Light (2017)
Favorite Songs
Pierced from Within
Funeral Inception
Bind Torture Kill
Have you seen Suffocation? What are some of your favorite songs?
I first heard of Arch Enemy when my dad showed me the music videos for My Apocalypse and Nemesis. We were both in awe of the talent that this band had (and still has). They have melodic death metal down and create beautiful songs that have amazing harmonies by the guitars and vocals. The first time I saw Arch Enemy was at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia. My dad and I traveled down there just to see Arch Enemy! We got VIP tickets and were able to meet the band! They are so nice and down to earth and are very thankful for their fans supporting them through the years.
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band that formed in 1995. The band was originally a supergroup with members from Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. The mastermind behind Arch Enemy is Michael Ammot, (Carcass, Carnage, and Spiritual Beggers) who created Arch Enemy once he left Carcass. This band is known for having some of the best female vocalists and has really influenced women in the metal scene to get more involved. I know as a young girl watching Arch Enemy, seeing a badass female perform high screams and deep low gutterals was great to see and influenced me to do more within my metal community. The band was originally fronted by Johan Liiva, but was replaced by Angela Gossow (a German vocalist) in 2000. Gossow left the band in 2014 to become the band’s manager and was replaced by Alissa White-Gluz (a Canadian vocalist).
Arch Enemy’s musical style has been classified as melodic death metal, but their sound has a unique blend of progressive and death metal influences. Their influences are cited as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Manowar, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, Pantera, Death, Obituary, Carcass, Mercyful Fate, and King Diamond. You can hear these influences in their songs when listening to the melodies and harmonies of the guitars. They have mastered their own sound and I love the progression that Arch Enemy has taken.
Current Members:
Michael Amott (guitarist)
Daniel Erlandsson (drums)
Sharlee D’angelo (bassist)
Jeff Loomis (guitarist)
Alissa White-Gluz (vocalist)
Discography:
Black Earth (1996)
Stigmata (1998)
Burning Bridges (1999)
Wages of Sin (2001)
Anthems of Rebellion (2003)
Doomsday Machine (2005)
Rise of the Tyrant (2007)
Khoas Legion (2011)
War Eternal (2014)
Will to Power (2017)
Favorite Songs:
My Apocalypse, Nemesis, Bloodstained Cross, The World Is Yours, First Day in Hell, The Eagle Flies Alone, As the Pages Burn, War Eternal, and You Will Know My Name.
Have you seen Arch Enemy live? What are some of your favorite songs?
The first time I heard of $uicideBoy$ was my freshman year of college when I was hanging out in one of the dorm lounges with a few friends. My friend showed me this duo because I like “horror-core” type rap; it reminds me of gangster rap (and we all know that’s my jam). The first song I heard was $outh $ide #uicide and I loved their vibe and lyrical flow. Their lyrics are very dark which is why I think I like them so much.
$uicideBoy$ is an American hip-hop duo from New Orleans, Louisiana, founded in 2014 by cousins Ruby da Cherry (left) and $crim (right). They first started reciving attention on SoundCloud (ahhhh, SoundCloud rappers, gotta love ‘em) with their abrasive, self-produced beats, as well as their harsh lyrical content and themes that are primarily about substance use disorder and suicide ideation. They own and operate their own label, G*59 Records, under Caroline Distribution. The duo is considered one of the most popular acts in the underground rap scene and are considered to have a cult following (Robertson, Who are $UICIDEBOY$ and how do they sell out shows around the world?).
$crim was inspired by T-Pain and Kanye West to produce music and his passion increased while attending Delgado Community College where he was hired to DJ parties. Rudy da cherry’s interest in music began when he was seven, playing the violin and then drums at the age of ten. He joined some bands in middle school but left in order to pursue a career in hip-hop. Since Rudy and $crim are cousins and close in age, they had a close relationship and decided to form $uicideBoy$. They made a pact while creating this duo stating that if their music career didn’t work out, they would both commit suicide (No Jumper Interview).
Their underground breakthrough came with the release of 2015 EP $outh $ide $uicide. They gained over 75 million track plays on SoundCloud alone. The duo’s first mainstream charts came with the release of Radical $uicide (2016) that peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Rap charts.
$uicideBoy$ have come under negative criticism by mainstream music critics for their use of abrasive and offense imagery, which includes their name, lyrical content, and behavior. Many of their songs contain devil worship but the duo stated that they use this type of Satanic imagery to signify the negative effects of money, drugs, and other items that could potentially manipulate people (No Jumper Interview).
Their musical style has been described with subject matter such as depression, suicide ideation, sexual content, and growing up in New Orleans. You can hear in their songs that one of their biggest influences is Three 6 Mafia because many of the duo’s earlier songs sampled Three 6 Mafia’s songs.
Even with all the controversies, and criticism of the behavior and lyrical content of the duo, they have stated that creating music is like therapy for them and that even though some may take their songs as emo music, depressed music, or negative music, the duo is just connecting their personal experiences with beats in order to share their experiences and use them as therapy (Open Space: $uicideBoy$). This is nothing new, music has been used as an outlet for not only the listeners, but also the creators. Everyone deals with whatever they have going on in different ways.
Discography:
Gray/Grey (2015)
7th Or St. Tammany (2015)
YUNGDEATHLILLIFE (2015)
High Tide In The Snake’s Nest (2015)
My Liver Will Handle What My Heart Can’t (2015)
Now The Moon’s Rising (2015)
Dark Side Of The Clouds (2016)
Grey Sheep II (2016)
Eternal Grey (2016)
I Want To Die In New Orleans (2018)
STOP STARING AT THE SHADOWS (2020)
Favorite Songs:
$outh $ide $uicide, Kill Yourself (Part III), 2nd Hand, Paris, Runnin’ Thru The 7th With My Woadies, and O Pana!
Have you seen $uicideBoy$ live (I haven’t 🙁 )? What are some of your favorite songs?
Ahhh… Death, the OG’s of death metal. Death was one of the first American bands to play (what would come to be called), Death Metal. They are known as one of the most influential bands that pioneered the genre. Today, they would be classified as the “old school,” traditional type of death metal, but when Death hit the scene back in 1987 with their debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, this sound was new, heavy, and groovy. This record is regarded to be the first death metal record. My dad used to play Death all the time when I was a little girl, he loves Death and always plays air drums, air guitar, and vocals when they come on. We love a one man show!! By listening to Death at a young age, it influenced me to lean more towards death metal and the heavier style of metal. And I’m not complaining about it!
Death was an American death metal band from Altamonte Springs, Florida, that formed in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist, Chuck Schuldiner (RIP). The original name of the band was Mantas but a year later, Schuldiner changed the name to Death. In an interview in 2010, Tim Aymar states that the renaming of the band happened because it allowed Schuldiner to turn his brother’s death into “something positive” (Aymar, Tim Speaks Out) Rehearsal tapes circulated around quickly and established the band’s entrance into the realm of heavy music. Death’s albums were very popular amongst the metal crowd and received positive criticism. Their 1991 release, Human is their best-selling album.
In 1994, Death left Relativity and signed with Roadrunner Records. They released Symbolic in 1995. After the release of Symbolic, Schuldiner broke up Death after tension with Roadrunner Records and focused on his other band, Control Denied. The seventh (and final) Death release, The Sound of Perseverance (1998), was released on Nuclear Blast.
After Schuldiner finished Control Denied’s debut album, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. His condition improved during the process of recoding on Control Denied second release, but the tumor impacted him negatively, leaving him in a vulnerable state. He contracted pneumonia and an hour after being released from the hospital on December 13, 2001, he passed away.
Perseverance Holdings Ltd. Partnered with Relapse Records to re-master and re-issue the Death and Control Denied releases, along with Schuldiner’s earlier work in Mantas. Symbolic was the only record not a part of Relapse’s deal because the rights are still retained by Roadrunner Records as of 2008 (Sobti, K. Navjot, Relapse Records To Reissue All Chuck Schuldiner Material).
The lineup of Death has changed many, many, many, many times throughout the years, and it is hard to keep track. Chuck Schuldiner has remained the sole original member of Death throughout their album releases.
Discography:
Scream Bloody Gore (1987)
Leprosy (1988)
Spiritual Healing (1990)
Human (1991)
Individual Thought Patterns (1993)
Symbolic (1995)
The Sound of Perseverance (1998)
Favorite Songs:
Low Life, Pull the Plug, Symbolic, Voice of the Soul, The Philosopher, Scream Bloody Gore, and Living Monstrosity.
