Trademarks such as death-growl vocals and vicious blast beat drumming have caused the term “heavy metal” to be associated in 2011 with the most guttural sounds that can be produced by mankind. It’s very easy to forget that prior to the mid-1980s emergence of subgenres like death metal, black metal, and grindcore, the phrase “heavy metal” mainly was used to describe bands that were still very much grounded in traditional rock music, but focused more on a fascination with the dark side. The heavy doom of Ozzy-era Black Sabbath, science fiction-influenced lyrics of Blue Oyster Cult, and epic soaring melodies of Iron Maiden were examples of what often came to mind when you mentioned that early genre.
This year has seen a strong resurgence in metal bands that throw back to the pre-blast beat, pre-death vocal era. It is very easy to simply rehash the sounds of those eras, but the following five bands rise above and are shining examples of a movement bringing rock back to metal.
5. In Solitude
Sweden’s In Solitude harkens back to the early 1980′s thrash-rock sound of Melissa-era Mercyful Fate. Vocalist Pelle “Hornper” Ahman gives listeners a peek at what King Diamond would sound like if he never went into falsetto vocals (to us, that’s a good thing). But In Solitude is not simply a Mercyful Fate tribute. They also pepper their newest album, The World. The Flesh. The Devil, with touches of classic NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal).
Dutch rockers The Devil’s Blood bring to mind what Jefferson Airplane’s sound would have been if they abandoned their love of psychedelic drugs for good old-fashioned Satanism. A very warm sound has marked every release by the band so far, allowing full justice to be done to the haunting vocals of the woman known only as “F.” The band’s upcoming release, The Thousandfold Epicentre, is one of few hotly-anticipated metal releases remaining on the 2011 calendar.
Continue reading: Five Bands Bringing Rock Back To Metal – Los Angeles Music – West Coast Sound.
Tags: Graveyard, Heavy Metal, In Solitude, Jason Roche, Los Angeles Music - West Coast Sound, Occult Rock, the devil's blood, The Thousandfold Epicentre
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 6:22 pm and is filed under 2011, Playlists, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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