Merry Christmas!
Alright, so yesterday I decided to mix things up and talk about my ten favorite bands and why I like them. Without further adieu here's part two of my ten favorite bands.
5. Slipknot
Yep. I'm a maggot and I'm not ashamed to admit it at all. I've been listening to Slipknot since I was ten years old and the more I listen to them the more I fall in love with them. For starters, Corey Taylor is one of the most talented frontmen ever (he has the second highest vocal-range in modern music) He can scream. He can rap. Or he can sing his heart out and make you cry. To have been fronted by only one man over the majority of their career, Slipknot can sound drastically different from song to song.
There's also nine members of the band that are all very good at their own instruments. Joey Jordison was one of the most distinctive drummers in metal. Jay Weinberg is rock royalty and lives up to his name. Mick Thomson makes his fucking guitar talk. Absolutely no one. And I mean no one but Shawn Crahan could pull off playing a beer keg with a baseball bat. This whole blog could be devoted to analyzing Slipknot moments that point out how skilled they are as musicians and showmen. And if I sound like a fanboy, it's completely justified. If there's any band I can think of that deserves to be praised from the mountaintop its Slipknot.
My Favorite Songs -
- The Nameless
- Dead Memories
- People = Shit
4. Disturbed
David Draiman is one of the coolest, most down-to-earth dudes in metal. The dude has told his stories in interviews and in his songs, and he seems like a guy I'm willing to support.
Disturbed also has the honor of being the only band who have no albums I haven' t heard. I own and have listened to every Disturbed album end to end. Many of those albums don't have a single bad song on them. Asylum is flawless. Indestructible is flawless. Believe is unbelievably awesome. Ten Thousand Fists has one or two boring songs but is mostly amazing.
Also, I've noticed that Disturbed does something that Disturbed does something that almost always secures their place on the billboard 200. They release their filler songs as singles. The Night is a decent at best song that tied in with a fucking Wolfman remake. Asylum had songs about the Holocaust, fighting anxiety, depression, and internal conflict. And they all sound better than the Night yet it was the single. "Fire it Up" is so damn ridiculous it seems like a joke song. Yet Immortalized features "Save Our Last Goodbye" and "Never Wrong." You had to buy the album to hear those gems though. So you listen to their singles and say "This is kinda weak sauce but I'll check it out anyway." Then when you listen to the actual album you get blown away. I think the biggest evidence towards this is The Lost Children (Their B-Sides album) which deserved a Grammy for having nothing but amazing songs.
That's clever marketing at it's finest.
Also, I've started listening to so many different bands (most of them not even metal) after hearing Disturbed cover one of their songs. Disturbed is like a gateway drug to different genres of music.
My Favorite Songs -
- Ten Thousand Fists
- God of the Mind
- Dropping Plates
3. Iron Maiden
Tasty riffing. Operatic singing. Amazing live performances. You'll learn something if you listen to the lyrics. These guys are heavy metal legends for a reason. Everyone in the band is literally a guru with more than twenty years of experience polishing their craft. Bruce Dickinson talks and dresses like a walking meme. (Also the fucker flies planes and fences.) Steve Harris is the most cockney businessman / literary expert / smooth bassist this side of Jesus if he did those things and was Cockney. Janick Gers shreds like a motherfucker and holds his guitar like it's Excalibur. Nicko looks, talks and is hilarious. Adrian Smith is a fucking guitar god. And Dave Murray is clearly a human Teddy Bear. Iron Maiden is like a Heavy Metal boy band.
If I had to give one reason that I love this band so much it's that no one in his world but them could make a 20-minute instrumental song interesting. These guys regularly make seven minute long songs and they never overstay their welcome. There's something insanely special about that.
- Hallowed be The Name
- Prowler
- Iron Maiden
2. All That Remains
I'm going to go ahead and disclaim that these bands are listed in the order of which I enjoy listening to them, not by how good I think they are.
All That Remains has a badass frontman in Phil Labonte. He's an outspoken political commentator. He's fronted both Killswitch Engage and Five Finger Death Punch and was the original vocalist for Shadows Fall. And he just doesn't give a fuck. The lyrics don't rhyme or make sense? Phil don't give a fuck. This album they've marketed as metalcore has mostly country and hard rock songs on it? Phil don't give fuck. People keep claiming he's racist and homophobic on Twitter? Phil don't give a fuck.
Phil Labonte, pictured to the left, not giving a fuck.
© Will Hawkins Photography
Oli Hebert, god rest his soul, was one of the best guitarists this side of Eddie Van Halen. This band has made some less than superb albums, yet Oli refused to do anything but shred, riff, and solo the whole time he played on them. Through nonsensical lyrics, bad production, and abrupt genre shifts Oli Hebert shined as an amazing guitarist.
But if there's one reason why I love this band so much it's because they're good at whatever they're doing (most of the time.) They started off with an amazing melodeath album. They put out back-to-back genre-defining metalcore epics. And despite accusations of selling-out and over-production, their new shit is good when it wants to be. Phil Labonte has proved that he sing, scream, death growl and pig-squeal. Everyone else in the band is either Boston metalcore royalty or at the very least experienced musicians in their own rights. I already mentioned that Phil was in Shadows Falls, but All That Remains also has Bury Your Dead, Diecast and Flatlined veterans among its ranks.
The entire band is so well-rounded that when they do make something bad, it's more like they were having an off-day rather than them just outright sucking.
My favorite songs -
- Criticism and Self-realization
- This Darkened Heart
- The Air That I Breathe
1. Killswitch Engage
Yep Boston's own metalcore gods themselves are my favorite band. With the amount of times KSE, someone from the band, or someone closely associated with them have showed up on this list, this should have been an easy guess.
Killswitch Engage combine positive lyrics with near-flawless playing. I cannot think of a single song I don't like. If I have any complaints with their songs it's that some of them are too short.
The live show that these guys put on is unrivaled. Adam D and Jesse Leach have undeniable chemistry and hilarious dialogue. Mike D is one of the coolest guitarists today. The way he runs around the stage and vibes with his guitar may look tame next to Adam Dutkiewicz, but he is damn near always off the chain. Speaking of Adam Dutkiewicz; the man's stage presence cannot be matched -
Joel Stroetzel makes playing guitar riffs you just know are impossible, look like he's making a sandwich. And he does this while towering over everyone looking like a viking. Justin Foley headbangs and whips his invisible locks smiling ear-to-ear.
I've never listened to a band that makes you want to buy their live performances. But Killswitch Engage does. Adam D is prone to screaming such random shit you can't take the song seriously anymore. It's not unusual for the guy to start barking like a rabid dog during a quiet breakdown.
Jesse Leach is an enigmatic and positive bastard. He compliments the bands he's touring with and the city he's playing in endlessly. Even if their are sound issues, or he's not feeling the crowd, he gives it his all. His lyrics are inspiring. He never ever talks like the punk rock star he is. If you listen to him he sounds like your experienced uncle who always gives you good advice.
Howard Jones was a really good singer, screamer, and stage presence. The guy can captivate a crowd effortlessly. (The only bad thing I can say about him is that towards his last years with KSE he really showed how little effort he needed to do anything. Which started resulting in low-energy, repetitive songs and performances.)
This band truly makes you fall in love with them through how they are. But they also make some good-ass metal.
And Adam D shreds.
All the time.
My favorite songs -
(There's really too many I love to pick a favorite song. I'mma cheat.)
Pre-Howard
- My Last Serenade
- Numbered Days
- Temple from the Within
Howard Era
- Rose of Sharyn
- For You
- Take this Oath
Post-Howard
- Beyond the Flames
- Strength of the Mind
- A Tribute to the Fallen
Well those were my top five favorite bands. They're always subject to change as I listen to music constantly.
Have a good night, bitches.
