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Music > Columns > Blood and Thunder 
Harvey Milk Blood and ThunderThe Best Metal Albums of 2008[10 December 2008] By Adrien Begrand1 A central tenet of metal music, from day one, has been To Sound As Imposing As Humanly Possible, but ironically, the more extreme metal gets, the more desensitized we become to wave after wave of bands trying to out-brutalize each other. But when we do get a record that pulls it off successfully, well, we practically swallow a teabag. Such is the case with Atlanta’s Harvey Milk, whose fifth album plumbs the collective imaginations of five truly sick individuals, spewing out the most emotionally taxing, sonically devastating record to come out in years. A take on rock ‘n’ roll from a gutter rat’s grim perspective, Life bleeds anguish and rage, filtering Southern rock and blues through a morass of sludge, all the while adding a savage dose of dark humor that can only come from someone who’s truly hit rock bottom. “Good Bye Blues” and “Skull Socks & Rope Shoes” deliver some of the best blues riffs extreme music has heard since Eyehategod’s Dopesick, “Roses” glories in its own self-loathing, and “Motown” turns out to be an ingeniously twisted exercise in conventional pop song structure, but opener “Death Goes to the Winner” steals the entire record, its plaintive Christmas tale morphing into menacing interpretations of “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “A Day in the Life”, and ending on the bleakest note possible. Bands can sing about gore, horror movies, and Satan all they want, but nothing is as genuinely scary as what true hell awaits us on this thrilling, exhilarating, one of a kind masterpiece. 2 Like Meshuggah’s ObZen, Opeth’s ninth album isn’t so much about breaking new ground than continuing to refine its signature sound, and Watershed sees the band excelling on all levels. No longer the stop-start exercise that frustrated some critics of the band, the distinct dynamic of goth-infused death metal, progressive rock, and acoustic interludes is more seamless than ever on the epic standouts “Heir Apparent” and “The Lotus Eater”, while Mikael Åkerfeldt’s own growth as a singer is noticeable on the entire record, his clean melodies more confidently sung than ever. The new members, drummer Martin Axenrot and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, add a flamboyant touch the band has never had before, but it’s keyboardist Per Wiberg who continues to slowly emerge as an integral part of the current incarnation of Opeth, his solos on “Hessian Peel” and the gorgeous “Burden” adding richness to the compositions, while his from-out-of-nowhere funk turn in “The Lotus Eater” is inspired. 3 For all the attention the much-hyped At the Gates reunion got in 2008, vocalist Tomas Lindberg’s other band was worth paying equal, if not more attention to. Staunch devotees of the “D-beat” hardcore punk pioneered by Discharge, a very strong metallic influence has crept into Disfear’s sixth album thanks to the addition of former Entombed guitarist Uffe Cederlund and producer extraordinaire Kurt Ballou, the end result a high-octane, unrelenting slab of rock ‘n’ effin’ roll that, dare I say, out-Motörheads Motörhead. Heresy to some hardcore fans, Ballou’s clean mix actually works wonders, as frenetic tracks like “Get It Off”, “The Cage”, and “Phantoms” carry themselves with a metal swagger, Cederlund letting loose some actual, honest-to-goodness guitar solos, “Fast” Eddie Clarke style, and Lindberg spewing out his surprisingly perceptive lyrics in his distorted roar.4 With a project like Ocrilim, Mick Barr’s biggest problem was that his flashy, repetitive shredding style was too free-form, his compositions at first sounding self-indulgent, and ultimately boring. Krallice, his black metal band with Behold…the Arctopus guitarist Colin Marston, turns out to be exactly what he needed, as his tremolo picking style is held in check by the genre’s parameters, and what we get in the end is extraordinary. Not only is this an album of towering, grim beauty on par with Burzum’s Hviss Lyset Tar Oss, but Barr and Marston bring a level of technical skill and mathematical complexity in their playing that most of us would never had thought would fit in the more moody, ambient confines of black metal. Staunchly traditional yet wildly inventive at the same time, it’s extreme music at its finest. A marvel.5 2005’s From Mars to Sirius was the kind of breakthrough in America that all European metal bands crave, but for all the critical acclaim, plum tour slots, and Sirius airplay, it still felt like Gojira was still a young band on the cusp of something big. With their fourth album, however, the French foursome walks among the metal elite, perfecting their unique blend of post-thrash and death metal. Aided greatly by an immense, organic sound (perfectly suited to these avowed environmentalists), The Way of All Flesh focuses more on the muscularity of the riffs and tribal drumming, yet is presented in such a way that makes it seem surprisingly accessible, encapsulated perfectly by “Vacuity” and “The Art of Dying”. 6 What started as an abrupt change in direction five years ago has become the most graceful metamorphosis from extreme metal to progressive rock since Voivod pulled off the same feat 20 years ago, and these Norwegian veterans have outdone themselves on their tenth album. Unlike Nachtmystium’s considerably more blunt approach, Enslaved displays their progressive tendencies much more subtly, songs like “To the Coast” and “Reflection” alternating between icy atmospherics and warmer melodic movements, while the majestic, mellow “Ground” sees the band treading completely new ground, mining early-‘70s Floyd and early-‘80s Rush with jaw-dropping results, led by the sumptuous lead vocals by Herbrand Larsen.7 On the heels of the middling Catch Thirty-Three, the only blemish on an otherwise sterling career, the Swedish greats righted themselves in spectacular fashion, unleashing an album not preoccupied with experimentation with song structure, instrumental innovation, and drum programming, instead focusing solely on honing their distinct, inimitable sound. Elements of the band’s recorded past abound, vicious exercises in thrash (“Combustion”) giving way to churning slower exercises (“ObZen”) and the mind-boggling cadences of “Bleed”, but while lesser bands might end up regressing by returning to their roots, Meshuggah, while acknowledging the past, continue to drive metal music toward the future. 8 Striking while the iron was still hot, Andrew Curtis-Brignell wasted no time in preparing the follow-up to last year’s inspired Mourner, and Caïna’s third album one-ups its predecessor by a considerable margin. The ambition that made Mourner such a head-turner is still there, but Temporary Antennae is far more cohesive, Curtis-Brignell displaying remarkable growth as a songwriter, his black metal quickly giving way to daring forays into darkwave, 1980s goth, and shoegaze, while delivering some of the most thoughtful, indelible lyrics you’ll ever hear from a Satanic metal band. In barely a year, he’s established himself among the forerunners of a bold new movement in black metal.9 With Blake Judd continuing to wash his hands of the underground US black metal scene from which his band spawned, Nachtmystium’s Assassins is an even bolder venture than 2006’s attention-grabbing Instinct: Decay, embracing the full-sounding production of Sanford Parker, and most notably, the more sedate sounds of Pink Floyd. Judd’s references are far from subtle (Black Meddle, “One of These Nights”), but for all the blatant Floyd worship, the songs themselves are extraordinary; while the lengthy “Seasick” and the breathtaking “Code Negative” are effectively sedate progressive rock jams, “Ghosts of Grace” and “Your True Enemy” show just how potent this band can still be. 10 Three years ago Steve Brooks’ idea to incorporate more melodies into his music resulted in one of the catchiest stoner rock albums ever released, and the heavily anticipated follow-up takes things several steps further. So much so, in fact, that it’s mind boggling that Meanderthal hasn’t yet become a crossover success. Not only do you have the immensely satisfying contrast of soaring harmony vocals and monstrously heavy tones, but Torche also tosses in some Dischord-style angularity, textured guitar melodies, and the kind of hooks that the Foo Fighters want to pull off, but never could, as evidenced by the brilliant “Across the Shields”. 11 Not precious enough to lure indie scenesters, a little too eclectic for traditional metal crowds, Wetnurse find themselves in an odd little niche, but it’s one that only they occupy, as their second album is completely one of a kind, straddling metal, hardcore, and avant-garde all at once, yet remaining disciplined enough to know when to sit back and let their songs breathe. Vicious, lucid, abrasive, and undeniably catchy, it’s a sound that’s frustrating for us writers to pin down, and all we can say is, “Just check out ‘Life at Stake’.” Which you should do.12 The fact that it took 15 years for Cynic to follow up its seminal debut Focus was reason enough to have fans crossing their fingers that the new disc would at least measure up somewhat, but not only does Traced in Air sound like not a day has passed between releases, but it’s actually the superior album. Far more preoccupied with the hybrid of jazz and progressive rock, the death metal element is toned down considerably, and the music is the better for it, the arrangements far more fluid, Paul Masvidal replacing the robotic vocals of Focus with dreamy, vocoder-tweaked melodies.13 In what was a terrific year for pagan metal, it’s fitting that the most fervent Viking band of them all came through with the best album of its career. Always adept at neck-snapping riffs and rousing choruses, the Swedes finally deliver the kind of massive production this music deserves, as Jens Bogren has the band sounding monolithic, from the mighty, layered roar of drinking horn-toting vocalist Johan Hegg, to the bracing, instant fan fave title track, to the surprisingly stoic “Free Will Sacrifice”, its throttling double-kick beats underscored by mournful melodies.14 Hearing Genghis Tron’s frantic Dead Mountain Mouth two years ago, one could sense that the threesome had the potential to do some extraordinary things on subsequent records, but to take things this far? Sure, the grindcore with programmed beats remains the foundation, but the band is now toying with actual songwriting dynamics, adding contemplative passages to create tension, vocal and synth melodies to entice the listener, and even creating a towering epic in “Relief” that reads as a bizarre combination of Tool and Squarepusher. And to think this is only their second full-length. 15 The Brooklyn band’s ascent has been rapid over the past three years, but so revelatory is their third album that it feels like they’ve only just now started to find their own identity. Their blend of the visceral sounds of the Jesus Lizard and Big Black with the more expansive tones of Isis have always been compelling, but The Ruiner is especially brave in how it opens up the band’s sound to accommodate the astonishing vocal range of Julie Christmas, who steals the show on such harrowing, enthralling tracks as “Cooker”, “Invisible Ink”, and “Stranger”.
  Adrien Begrand has been writing for PopMatters since 2002, and has been writing his monthly metal column Blood & Thunder since 2005. His writing has also appeared in graphic novelist Joel Orff’s Strum and Drang: Great Moments in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Knoxville Voice, The Kerouac Quarterly, JackMagazine.com, StylusMagazine.com, and StaticMultimedia.com. A contributing writer for Decibel and Metal Edge magazines, he resides and blogs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Blood and Thunder
Castle Walls of Blood and Bone: An Interview with ConvergeBy Adrien Begrand14.Oct.09 With four landmark albums this decade alone, Converge has saved its best work for last. Vocalist Jacob Bannon talks with PopMatters about his music, his art, and his insanely talented band. 
Where Strides the BehemothBy Adrien Begrand13.Aug.09 Begrand talks with Darski of Behemoth, one of the most visually imposing and sonically punishing bands in all of metal, on the eve of the release of their new CD, Evangelion. 
Def and TwistedBy Adrien Begrand29.Jul.09 A band of pretty youngsters from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and a homely bunch of New York club scene veterans. Rock on. |
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Comments
Protest The Hero
Comment by Protest The Hero from Protest The Hero — December 10, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Protest the Hero is insanely talented, but as far as progressive/mathcore/whateveryouwannacallit goes, From a Second Story Window and the Human Abstract actually put out better albums this year.
Comment by Adrien Begrand — December 10, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Harvey Milk is an Athens band.
Comment by Teabag Lady — December 19, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
More hipster bullshit. Popmatters, leave the metal to the experts, please. There wasn’t much good metal released this year but I do know that the Averse Sefira and Arghoslent albums were better than any of this crap. New Enslaved is boring rock music; Krallice is indie-hipster garbage masquerading as bm (a lot of that going around these days). Opeth has always been less than mediocre at best. Harvey Milk have their moments but aren’t what I’d call a metal band, really.
Comment by Mike from Lansing, MI — December 31, 2008 @ 2:21 pm
I think this is a solid list. Not everyone is going to agree on what is and is not metal. Not many people would have included Fear of a Blank Planet last year but this guy did and that album is amazing. My only beef is that Genghis Tron should definitely be in that top 5. I don’t see how you could listen to that album and then think Disfear is better.
Is calling The Mars Volta “metal” going too far? Because The Bedlam in Goliath is 77 minutes of insanity that was for sure the best album of the year in my book.
Comment by DOSE from Nati — February 10, 2009 @ 10:11 pm
No, metalheads in the know tend to agree on what is and what isn’t metal. Those who don’t know their shit usually get it wrong though, you’re right about that. It’s a terrible list. The only decent albums are probably the Harvey Milk (which is heavy of course, but not really ‘metal’) and maybe the Disfear (though that’s pretty disposable Motorhead/crust worship). Of course a top 10 for ‘08 was pretty impossible as there wasn’t much good metal released.
Comment by Mike from Lansing, MI — February 17, 2009 @ 8:37 am
Mike, is metal such a stoic genre that change is impossible and what constitutes ‘metal’ can only be accurately described by you and a small subset of those defined as ‘in the know’. If that is true, then metal will forever remain a stagnant genre unable to mature, experience change, and experiment.
Just know that I whole-heartedly disagree with you. I just hope that most metal fans aren’t as narrow minded as you.
Comment by ENIGMATIC from PEG CITY CANADA — November 3, 2009 @ 10:36 am
“Mike, is metal such a stoic genre that change is impossible and what constitutes ‘metal’ can only be accurately described by you and a small subset of those defined as ‘in the know’. If that is true, then metal will forever remain a stagnant genre unable to mature, experience change, and experiment.”
The concept of metal was outlined from the very start by Black Sabbath. You’re talking about external qualities, not what the music MEANS. Taking the most superficial qualities of metal to dress up standard rock music does nothing good for metal and completely misses the point (not surprising). What is and isn’t metal is defined by the music itself and whether or not it contains the essence of what metal means; it’s not just heavy guitar riffs, there’s ideology in there. Sabbath, Priest, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel, Demilich, Darkthrone, Burzum, are all different from each other and yet are all true metal because they express what metal is supposed to express (romanticism, naturalism, triumph of death/nature, heroic values, exploring/celebrating the dark side of life, etc.). Katatonia, Harvey Milk, Opeth, Anathema, et al, are rock music in what they express. Hence, they fail at being good metal. If that’s what you mean by ‘change’ and ‘experimentation’ (two things that are not inherently good on their own…if it has nothing to say, it has nothing to say, no matter how ‘inventive’ it may be), then have fun continuing to listen to rock music masquerading as metal. Besides, who’s more mature than Morbid Angel? Who’s more inventive than Demilich? Who’s more experimental than Ved Buens Ende? There’s already plenty of diversity in metal, but can you understand the difference in quality between Ved Buens Ende and, say, Solefald? If you can, you may be getting somewhere.
“Just know that I whole-heartedly disagree with you. I just hope that most metal fans aren’t as narrow minded as you. “
Again, it’s not a matter of being narrow-minded (being narrow-minded in regards to bad rock music is not such a bad thing - life is short), it’s all about the quality of music. I’m open-minded to anything of quality. As a metal fan, I don’t like most of the choices here because they aren’t good metal (Harvey Milk is about the only one that fails at being metal but is actually decent rock music at the same time). It’s ok if you like them, I don’t give a shit what you like, but on a BEST METAL ALBUMS list, one can be forgiven for expecting good metal.
Comment by Mike from Lansing, MI — November 4, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
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I wasn’t really referring to the quality of the music, I was mainly talking about what defines metal. Just like indie rock as a genre has no real bounds, I’ve always assumed the same for metal. For example, some of my favourite bands include: Deftones (alternative metal?), Dillinger Escape Plan (mathcore?), and Protest the Hero (progressive metalcore?). I’ve been under the assumption that these are just metal subgenres and do fall under the generic blanket term of ‘metal’.
My question is, who defines what metal is ‘supposed to express’? I’ve seen metal, death metal, deathcore, alt metal, prog metal, metalcore, mathcore, post-hardcore, and whatever. Would you not consider these metal subgenres? They’re definitely not ‘hard-rock’.
Genre categorization is such a stupid business, I don’t see the point in criticizing what someone else thinks ‘metal’ is. To me, it seems like a very loose term.
Comment by ENIGMATIC from PEG CITY CANADA — November 4, 2009 @ 1:42 pm
The music itself defines what metal is. Who decides what it is metal expresses? Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel, Burzum, that’s who : ) And many others. I mean, look at it this way. King Crimson, to pick a band at random, takes influence from jazz but you wouldn’t call them a jazz band would you? Metal has more “rules” than most genres because it’s not JUST music and actually adheres to ideology/philosophy/concept.
I was generally referring to the list in question being of very poor quality anyway and that the metal on here is very watered-down and has more to do with radio-rock than true metal.
I wouldn’t really consider the bands you listed to be metal, btw. They may have some elements of metal, but most of them are coming at it from another scene and lack the essential elements of good metal. DEP is more of a fusion of some modern form of hardcore and prog/fusion. The Deftones are more like a nu-‘metal’ band that listened to a lot of Smiths. I don’t remember what Protest the Hero sounds like. Most of those genres you listed are subsubsubgenres I suppose. Most of them suck though. The main genres of metal are Heavy (Classic/trad), Doom (often can be very close to trad), speed/thrash, death and black. I guess you can throw ‘folk’ in there too but there’s only like 4-5 bands that are worth listening to there and most of the good ones have more in common with black metal. Anyway, if you want to delve deeper into metal, I could give you a list of the essentials.
Comment by Mike from Lansing, MI — November 5, 2009 @ 3:45 pm