I don’t know Bolt Thrower’s history – in fact I’d never heard of them before – so I have no idea of their evolution from grindcore to straight ahead death metal. Maybe that’s something that matters here, but I have no idea.
Tag: Groove Metal
New American Gospel (2000) by Lamb of God
I thought I had read this was a big deal when it came out and then I came to Rate Your Music and saw it had a pretty mediocre rating. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered?
Cowboys From Hell (1990) by Pantera
I know the legend of Pantera but I don’t know their early music. Regardless, it’s hard to believe this band was once a glam metal band. I guess you can hear touches of it here and there if you’re really, really paying attention but, if you listened to this first, and then were told their …
Demanufacture (1995) by Fear Factory
I thought I knew metal relatively well, and alternative metal in particular, but I didn’t know these guys until I listened to Obsolete recently. And, listening to this, I didn’t know it was the same band.
Destroy Erase Improve (1995) by Meshuggah
Metal is a curious thing, a world which values extreme forms of expression but which often doesn’t value diversity of expression. So many metal classics are albums that establish the conventions of a particular sub-genre, which will later ossify into something many people view as inviolable. Not this record.
Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head (1995) by White Zombie
Like so many albums, I am coming to this backwards: I’ve heard a Rob Zombie solo album before listening to this. It’s possible that this colours my experience of this record and will make my review unfair. It’s also possible that I just don’t like what Rob Zombie does nor what his band does, whether …
Chaos A.D. (1993) by Sepultura
I don’t know whether or not it’s because I heard Roots first, a few years ago, or because I have heard so much about this record, but upon first listen to this, I was kind of thinking “What’s the big deal?” Sometimes it’s hard to cast your mind back to another time, especially when I …
Wolverine Blues (1993) by Entombed
As I feel like I write in every single metal review I write lately, the metal world is a bizarre place where esoteric fusions of niches and subgenres get all sorts of attention from fans and critics while much of the rest of the music world continues on without anyone being aware that something new …
Hellbilly Deluxe (1998) by Rob Zombie
At some level I think I just don’t get Rob Zombie. When I’ve heard his music it’s never made much of an impression on me. (I think I enjoyed the video for “Dragula” when I was 17, though.) I absolutely hated House of 1,000 Corpses and so never bothered to see The Devil’s Rejects or …
°BSΩLE+e (1998) by Fear Factory
I have still not listened to all that much industrial metal in my life, given how much metal I’ve listened to, and so I can’t really say where this sits in the evolution of the genre. The only thing I can really say is that it sounds a whole hell of a lot better than …
Urban Discipline (1992) by Biohazard
Finally some rap metal that actually sounds like metal. That is the virtue of the band, I guess. They are much more recognizable as metal.
Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing (1995) by Strapping Young Lad
I know Devin Townsend’s music for one reason and one reason only: I lived in residence in university with his current rhythm guitarist. And so I’ve been given a CD or two and been to some shows. And honestly, I was never blown away. I was always like, ‘this man is really talented, and really …