Press Shuffle: Metal Melting Pot

posted in: Reviews & Playlists • Rock

We all have our reasons to listen to metal. It can provoke an infinity of emotions, and do so with extreme efficiency. When talking to metal fans, they use words like loud, obnoxious, aggressive, anarchic, dark, ugly, atmospheric, beautiful, even cheesy to describe the music they love. Yet metalheads rarely understand how people can listen to their “mainstream, force-fed garbage” and not appreciate the merits of heavy music. “How can you stand this Beiber kid when there’s music like ours?!” they wonder. But they couldn’t be more wrong.

This week, we’d like to bring focus back to what metal music is all about. Breaking rules, shifting paradigms, twisting values; being a counterculture. Heavy metal is the zeitgeist of the minorities. Ahead, a prime sampling courtesy of the OurStage Metal Channel. Turn your speakers up to 11, apologize to your neighbors in advance, and make your head is a safe distance away from your monitor (you don’t want to headbang straight into it, now do you?).

“No Funeral” – Revocation: The Bostonians strike again with their signature style of deathened thrash, and boy do they deliver! Whether you feel like being being pounded by a relentless assault of drums, have your face melted off by Dave Davidson (who we recently had a chat with) and his shreddy guitar parts or just enjoy pure un-adultered energy pumping into your ears, this song is for you.

“Because Of Me” – Izeovasis: Taking a technical approach to brutality, Izeovasis bring the spastic guitar riffs, blazing fast drums, sterile production and stop-and-go rhythm unison parts; all in the techdeath formula.

“Ad Luciferi Regnum” – Vanmakt: The dissonance of the guitar riffs is unmistakeable. The wall of sound production adds an ominous ambiance to accompany the evil pagan lyrics and the uncompromising attack of blast beats and double bass are a must for any aspiring black metal band.

“Skizophrenia” – Danforth: Enormous slamming riffs followed by ravaging beat down slams? YES PLEASE. Danforth rep the Euro hardcore scene hard with this track.

“Static Pulse” – VYGR: This band is so many things in one”sludgy, atmospheric and, most importantly, heavy as fuck. And it does it all so well; not once does it feel like the musicians are compromising. This is truly a post-metal gem.

“Scars Of My Decay” – Karnak Seti: In the age of countless hardcore bands ripping off At The Gates and sprinkling in breakdowns, Karnak Seti play homage to their forefathers with their own brand of proper Gothenburg melodeath.

“The Fall of His Supremacy” – Deprecated: In trademark american death metal fashion, this track is all about bringing the brutality (via downtuned guitars and blastbeats). What’s even better, it’s performed by one of (if not the best) guitarists in the genre: Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation. No pretentiousness, no messing around; this is straight up slamming heaviness.

Have any tunes in particular that you care to share? Disagree with any of the picks? Want a theme in particular to be Shuffled? Let us know by dropping a comment! Listen to previous Press Shuffle playlists over at 8tracks.com.