Saturday Shuffle: Overkill, Behemoth, Mayan, Armored Saint, Maiden

Kind of a heavy theme to this week’s shuffle. Let’s get it going…

Overkill, “Loaded Rack.” From the album ReliXIV (2005). This was a pretty uneven record for Overkill, but “Loaded Rack” is one of the better tracks. It’s got that old-school Overkill feel and a some memorable hooks and melodies.

Review: Black River, "Black 'n' Roll"

In recent years, a few hard rock efforts from members of black metal groups have crossed my desk. I’m not really sure what the connection between black metal and old school hard rock is, but apparently there is one. The latest is Black ‘n’ Roll from Black River, featuring members of Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Neolithic and Rootwater.

There’s one problem that I’ve come across with most of these offerings – the vocals. One of the reasons that I’m very choosy about the extreme metal that I listen to is that in so much of it, the vocals seem to be almost an afterthought.