Well, ladies & gentlemen, the end of the world is getting closer & closer. With the incoming impending doom to us all, it’s only natural for us to find something to comfort ourselves when the chips are down. For many of us, music is a natural balm that soothes our souls. On some occasions (including this one), bleak & dark music is the right kind of medicine to use. So, for your pleasure, here are five heavy metal albums to listen to before the end of the world.
5) Septic Flesh - Revolution DNA
Of all of the albums on this list, Revolution DNA is perhaps the hardest to find, where as the other four have been reprinted at some point in time. Although it can be found easily online through digital means (Legal on places like Amazon & other sites with music, or illegal through torrents and other sites. I got mine digitally, if you were wondering), physical copies are incredibly difficult to find (That’s not completely true. There was a 2005 reissue with 3 bonus tracks, but I haven’t found any sign of it. There was also a Japanese release that had two extra songs on it (One song was remastered, while the other was a video edit), but I don’t think I’ve seen a physical copy). It’s never been reprinted, and it was released in 1999 (To put it’s age into perspective, this album is almost 15 years old). These two factors making finding a physical copy, whether new or used, a task that rivals destroying the One Ring.
An interesting fact about Revolution DNA is that it has more of an industrial feel. Before this album, they stayed true to their black/death metal roots, but when Septic Flesh put out this album, their roots were pushed to the side. Their black/death metal roots weren’t completely pushed out of the way, as the dark, growling vocals, as well as the more melodic vocals, are still present, as well as their heavy style of working with their instruments. It’s just that it goes in a more industrial direction. Or, to put it a little more simply: Septic Flesh uses keyboards, as well as guitar effects, to create an industrial album that somehow doesn’t sound like stereotypical industrial music, and least not completely.
As for the songs themselves, I gotta say I liked just about everything on the album. I usually detest metal bands that growl & belch out their lyrics (Ironic, considering the number 3 spot on this list, as well as a few others), but there’s an odd beauty in Revolution DNA. This odd beauty is perfectly captured in the album’s 9th track, Last Stop To Nowhere. If you remember my Top 5 Metaphysical Metal Songs (Click “***” to read that post), you’ll know that I placed the song at the number 2 spot, and with good reason. It’s a very slow, haunting, melodic song, dealing with a departed spirit at a spectral train station, waiting to be taken to whatever dimension he’s been destined to go to. If there’s one particular song I hate, it’s definitely the number 11 track, Android. There’s just too much hissing of the lyrics, not to mention the relatively loud keyboard work. To make matters worse, the two mix constantly, and confused me because the two effects were often at the same volume, making it difficult for me to hear the lead singer.
4) Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Much like Revolution DNA, Draconian Times is a ethereal trip through the cosmos. Unlike Revolution DNA, Draconian Times has been re-released a number of times, the latest of which was the Legacy Edition that came out in 2012 (The Legacy Edition includes the original tracks, as well as some demos, live songs, and a bonus DVD with 3 music videos. I’ll be getting a hard copy of this eventually). Because of the various reprints, not to mention the fact that the album somehow sounds like it just came out in recent years, makes it more enduring than Revolution DNA.
The other thing that makes Draconian Times a great album is the sheer range of each of the songs. From the beautiful chords of piano at the beginning of Enchantment, to the punk-ish vibes of Hallowed Land, to the eerie usage of Charlie Mansion’s voice in Forever Failure, there’s an incredible range within the album. As I stated above, Draconian Times has somehow remained incredibly fresh and new, although there are points within certain songs that do sound a little dated (the guitar work at the beginning of I See Your Face is a good example). Other than the occasional age hiccup, I really recommend Draconian Times, whether it’s for the end of the world or not.
3) October Tide - Rain Without End
I have some difficulties with this album. On the one hand, it’s been reprinted like Draconian Times was (It originally came out in 95, and got a 2nd release in 2008), and is filled with great music (I highly recommend track number 5, Losing Tomorrow). On that same hand, October Tide was a side project of Katatonia, a legendary band within the black/doom metal genre, and their quality of work can be clearly felt in this album. On the other hand...
All of the songs in Rain Without End sound too much alike. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the overall vibe of the album, it seems like one long song (To be a little fair, there is some variety with the instruments). Only one song, Losing Tomorrow, is separate from all the others. Despite it being only 2 ½ minutes long, it’s perhaps the most emotionally powerful metal songs I’ve heard in a long time.
One other setback to the re-release of Rain Without End was that there was absolutely no bonuses that came with it. No bonus or reworked tracks, no DVD with bonus features, no nothing. In fact, the only change between the two was the artwork (The original cover looked like a grove of cypress trees damp from the rain against a blue background, while the new cover has a old man near a shack, with an equally dreary atmosphere). That’s really a lazy thing to do to an otherwise impressive album.
2) Metallica - The Black Album
This is perhaps one of the more controversial albums that I’ve mentioned on my blog. To most of the followers of Metallica, this was the album that signaled the band’s decent into mediocrity, as well as showing everyone that they cared more about cash & record deals, rather than music and their fans. I don’t necessarily agree with this: on the one hand, The Black Album does have a more commercial feel, and doesn’t quite have the speed that previous Metallica albums had. On the other hand, I don’t think the band sold out with this album, but I do think that the seeds of selling out were planted with this album. There’s just some underlying feeling of not giving a crap, that it corrupts some of the songs on the album. Speaking of the songs...
They’re pretty damn good. Not just the popular ones (Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, etc), but some of the less popular songs as well (Of Wolf and Man, My Friend of Misery, etc). You can tell that Metallica definitely put a lot of work into the album, but as I said a moment ago, there’s a underlying feeling of not giving a crap in some of the songs. Enter Sandman & The Unforgiven are popular for a simple reason, and that’s putting more power into songs. As least for me, the following songs have the most power in the album:
- Enter Sandman
- Sad But True
- The Unforgiven
- Wherever I May Roam
- Nothing Else Matters
- Of Wolf and Man
Now, this isn’t to say that the songs I didn’t list weren’t bad. In fact, they were all pretty good to listen to. It’s just that they didn’t quite have as much oomph when compared to the one’s I listed above, and perhaps that’s why they aren’t as popular. Regardless, for anyone interested in The Black Album, I recommend given it a listen to.
1) Type-O Negative - World Coming Down
Back in May when I reviewed this album (Click “***” to read that review), I said that World Coming Down was the darkest album Type-O Negative ever produced. Given what happened to Pete Steele during the time (Deaths in the family, drug & alcohol, psychological breakdown), it’s understandable that dark songs would be made. However, I don’t think any fan of the band would expect such a dark, twisted, and downright disturbing album to have ever been produced.
It’s not just the music that has these sinister vibes. The cover of World Coming Down has it’s own sinister vibe, as the band’s usual use of black & green takes a darker turn when compared to the previous 3 albums (4 if you count The Origin of the Feces). Not only does the coloring feel dreary, we got an ethereal-like image of New York City, complete with the Brooklyn Bridge leading into the city, and out towards some unknown destination, but what makes this album cover all the more disturbing is the Twin Towers in the background (It does take a little work to find them, as the top of the city is covered in clouds, but they’re there).
As for the music of World Coming Down, I don’t hate it in the least. In fact, I consider the songs in question to be some of their finest work, and many people who’ve listened to the album also like the music in question. So as not to leave anyone in the lurch, the band decided to add in at least 1 joke track (Skip It) right at the beginning to confuse listeners. However, any laughs the listener might have released disappears once the first official song, White Slavery, begins.
Perhaps the most sinister songs on the album were the three “audio” tracks (Sinus, Liver, Lung). What made these such disturbing tracks was the fact that there was absolutely no singing (Although there was a tiny amount of talking in at least two of them): the emotion & energy were conveyed completely through the sound effects, and left a terrible feeling in the listener.
Even if those three songs weren’t on the album, the rest of World Coming Down’s tracklist is no less dark. White Slavery dealt with the pain of cocaine addiction, to the sorrow of losing loved ones in Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Pete Steele’s sexual fascination of fire within the disturbing yet kinky Pyretta Blaze, every song in this album is filled with death, darkness, and the negative side of life. For my money, World Coming Down represents everything about the end of the world.
Well guys, given how close it is to Christmas, I have 2 end of the year posts for you, and then it’s a break for the rest of the month. I’ll see you all next year, and until then, stay Otaku!
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