Unfortunately, evolution can be a difficult and dangerous thing for a metal band. Any change in sound in the genre is often met with a swift and ugly response from a large portion of the fan base.
If there’s a template for the way to evolve gracefully, it might belong to Soilwork. That’s not to say that they haven’t seen the backlash as they’ve moved from the Gothenburg death-metal sound to something more melodic and accessible, but they’ve weathered it better than others and continue to pump out great albums. Their latest, Verkligheten (which translates to Reality in English), is no exception.
I’ve seen many in the metal community praise last year as one of the best in recent memory. I’m not going to go that far, but it was pretty solid. My personal best of 2018 list features great records from old favorites, a few awesome new discoveries, and even a good record here and there from bands that I haven’t been a huge fan of in the past.
Then there’s that one mammoth record that made the whole year worth it, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Let’s start with the notable records of the year that didn’t crack the Top 10 …
BEST OF 2018 HONORABLE MENTIONS
JUNGLE ROT – JUNGLE ROT: That moment when you realize that you’ve misjudged a band for years because of their name. They categorize themselves as death metal, and with a name like that … well, I knew what I was getting. Or did I? About a month or so ago, the video for “A Burning Cinder” played as a YouTube ad, and instead of going on to the video I wanted to watch, I played it again. And a third time. More thrash than death metal to my ears, this album spent some time in the lower portion of my top 10 before getting pushed out on a tough last-minute decision.
Shooter Jennings decided to title his return to country music after himself, but it could just as easily be called Junior or Bocephus. Much of the record is simply a love letter to one of his influences – Hank Williams Jr. That’s not a bad thing, though.
The love begins flowing from the very first track, “Bound Ta Git Down,” which is Shooter’s unabashed reworking of Hank Jr.’s “Born to Boogie.” The life experiences recounted in the lyrics belong to the singer, but the rocking boogie-woogie rhythms and melodies are mostly Hank, with some notable influence from Charlie Daniels. Despite its derivative nature, though, it’s still a high-energy and fun way to start this record.
I can count on one hand – with fingers left over – the number of hip-hop acts I get excited about hearing new music from. Cypress Hill, though, is at the top of that list.
I was a metal kid in my early 20s who, with a couple of notable exceptions, hated hip-hop with a passion when I first heard Cypress Hill through a friend and co-worker at the fast-food joint where I was working my way through college. He was a black hardcore hip-hop fan from California, and I was a white redneck metalhead from Louisiana. We often taunted each other, good-naturedly, with our respective music while we worked. That was his intent when he popped a Cypress Hill disc in the little boom box, but there was something about this group that caught my attention. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but they had a different vibe that I really liked – and it didn’t hurt, I guess, that one of the first songs he played was “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That,” which sampled Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard.”
If you take off work, pull your kid out of school and drive five hours to go to a club show, you may have a metal problem.
If you’ve followed my ramblings for the past decade or so, you’ll know my love for all things Christopher Bowes, so there was no way that I was going to miss a U.S. tour featuring both Alestorm and Gloryhammer, even if I had to do all of the above to get there. Which I did. And it was more than worth it.
My dismal 2017 would have been a good deal brighter if I'd discovered this record last spring when it came out. I picked up on the single for "Executed," the first track from their upcoming sophomore release, and I was impressed. This record wears its Judas Priest influence on its sleeve, but it's done fantastically well. Given that it's an all-female band, the comparisons to Doro will definitely come, too, but to be honest, I think these ladies do it better all-around.
What's Hot?
This album is loaded with fantastic guitar riffs from Romana Kalkuhl and Alea Wyss (no longer with the band). I'm going to assume Romana handles the leads on the record, and I give her props, too, for some hot licks. Vocalist Seraina Telli has amazing range, which she shows off right from the start with a glass-shattering scream on "Black Widow" to open the album.
This is Dimmu Borgir's first new music in seven years, and I’ll preface this review by saying that I’m not a black metal fan, and I’m only a marginal fan of the band. My favorite Dimmu tune is “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse,” so if you love the band’s earlier work and black metal in general, you'll probably completely disagree with what I have to say.
What’s hot?
This album is very heavy on the symphonics, and since I’ve copped to the fact that “Progenies” is my favorite song by Dimmu Borgir, it will come as no surprise that I really dig that aspect of it. There’s really not a lot of what I’d call “black metal” here beyond Shagrath’s vocals, and even they don’t always fit the harsh mold you expect. There are also some really nice memorable riffs scattered around the album that I don’t normally associate with the genre. It’s far more symphonic than black, and instrumental album closer “Rite of Passage” sounds almost progressive.
Editor’s note: I’m introducing a slightly new format to try to breathe a little life back into this site. I miss sharing my thoughts on music, but I find myself without as much time to do it these days. In addition, some folks are starting to go to a stream-only mode for promos, which gives me less listening time and opportunity to write the longer pieces. I may still occasionally dig into an album here or there and write something longer, but hopefully these shorter reviews will help me do one or two a week.
Overview
After the outstanding Make Some Noise album in 2016, all-star group The Dead Daisies returns with new drummer Deen Castronovo (Journey, Bad English) taking over the sticks from Brian Tichy and a small tweak in their sound.
What’s hot?
A lot of blues rock influence shows up on this album, starting with a slinky, tasty guitar riff that opens the title track and really showing up on the ballad "Set Me Free." It gives things a very slightly different feel from the straight-up, old-fashioned hard rock on Make Some Noise. That said, there’s still plenty of that sound to go around. Opener “Resurrected” reminds me of something from singer John Corabi’s underrated 1994 record with Motley Crue and songs like "What Goes Around" rock with a vengeance. The band also wears its classic rock influences on its sleeves with a cover of the Stones’ “Bitch,” and a hat tip on the opening of “Judgement Day,” which will definitely remind listeners of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” before it kicks in the high octane rock on the chorus.
There seems to be quite a lot of dislike in the metal world for Machine Head’s latest outing, but in truth, I think it’s one of the most interesting records that the band has ever done.
I get that frontman Robb Flynn is opinionated, outspoken and often gives off an air of self-importance that can make him a tough guy to like. But I’ve got quite a bit of practice in putting a musician’s personality aside and separating it from the music.
I get that some of the songs on Catharsis perhaps don’t sound like Machine Head is supposed to. Honestly, though, that’s why I like it. I’ve never been a huge fan of the band, and one of the reasons is that I find a few good songs on each album and the rest sound kind of the same. Catharsis, as the name would suggest, seems to be a very personal album for Flynn, and as a result it’s more varied and more interesting.
