Since the entire extreme metal sub-genre is typically overlooked, I’ve decided to list five pivotal bands that have shaped the sound, lyrics and aesthetics of extreme metal from the early 80s to present-day. So I humbly present to you my picks for the most important architects of metal’s darkest, most iconoclastic sub-genre:
Bathory: Bathory’s self-titled debut record marked the true birth of the black metal sub-genre, transforming black metal from the tongue-in-cheek occult posturing of Venom into a sober, artistic pursuit. Lo-fi production values, epic Viking lore, eerie atmospheric passages – Bathory’s enigmatic founding member Quorthon (RIP) almost singlehandedly forged a template that would inspire legions of Scandinavian black metal bands.
Possessed: Ratcheting up metal’s evil quotient with ultra-low guttural vocals, songs about ritual sacrifice and images of giant flaming upside-down crosses and blood-splattered human skulls, Possessed made their 80s Bay Area thrash metal counterparts look like half-assed part-timers. Not to mention that the final track on their seminal debut Seven Churches, “Death Metal,” would coin an entire sub-genre to be.
Carcass: Featuring over-the-top song titles like Genital Grinder, Cadaveric Incubator of Endoparasites, Crepitating Bowel Erosion – Liverpool’s Carcass introduced a brand of extreme metal was at once absurd and clinically precise, and sent most 80s extreme metalheads to their local medical libraries to find out exactly what the hell “crepitating” meant. Pioneering so-called “grindcore” along with fellow Brits Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower, Carcass’ sound was brutally raw, impossibly fast and indeed grinding.
Death: Death leader Chuck Shuldiner (RIP) was the Bach of extreme metal. Eschewing the primitive for the progressive, Chuck and Co. took the brutality of Bathory, Posssessed, Autopsy etc. and added complexity, virtuosity and lyrical depth, proving that extreme can also be elegant. And with album titles like Spiritual Healing and Human, death metal was now about more than decapitation and limb dismemberment: it was a social commentary.
Enslaved: Who said extreme metal couldn’t be spiritual? Hailing from the fjords of Norway’s rugged westcoast, Bergen’s Enslaved began their career amidst the pack of Norwegian black metal bands that exploded in the early 90s. But by decade’s end they had matured into an eccentric blend of black-meets-prog-meets-folk metal, with lead growler/bassist Grutle Kjellson recounting Norse mythology in long-extinct dialects. Recent albums Ruun and Axioma Ethica Odini demonstrate that extreme metal can be a vehicle for both savage aggression and oral history, suggesting a brave future for metal’s most transgressive sub-genre.
Want to see a special “lost” episode of the Metal Evolution series dedicated to nothing but extreme metal? Check out www.indiegogo.com/extrememetal to see what killer perks you can get for helping make it a reality!
]]>
Death’s classic 1993 album Individual Thought Patterns is the latest of the band’s catalog to get the remixing and remastering treatment, with an upcoming reissue due out on October 25. You can now hear two tracks off the release, “Trapped in a Corner” and a cover of Possessed’s “The Exorcist,” over at GuitarWorld.com by clicking here.
]]>
Primus released their first album of new material since 1999′s Antipop last month. Green Naugahyde also featured the return of drummer Jay Lane to the band. To mark this event, here are Revolver contributing writer J. Bennett’s picks for the top five Primus songs.
“To Defy the Laws of Tradition”
Album: Frizzle Fry
For the first few bars, the opening track from Primus’ 1990 studio debut sounds vaguely like one of Metallica’s early instrumentals—until Les Claypool takes it into circus land with one of his trademark slap-bass grooves. Sample Lyric: “What if Christmas didn’t come this year/And no one paid for Christmas cheer?/Who would cry the biggest tear/The child or the store?”
“Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”
Album: Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Of Primus’ many character-driven tales, this 1991 single remains one of the band’s most distinctive and heaviest songs, thanks to Claypool’s video-game-like bassline and former Possessed guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde’s demented squalls.
Sample Lyric “Jerry was a race car driver/And he drove so goddamned fast/He never did win no checkered flag/But he never did come in last.”
“Tommy the Cat”
Album: Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Primus’ unlikely collaboration with chain-smoking piano man Tom Waits (who voices the titular feline) was also featured in the 1991 movie Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.
Sample Lyric “She knew what she wanted/She was lookin’ for that stud bull, the he cat/And that was me.”
“My Name Is Mud”
Album: Pork Soda
Claypool pounds out an ultra-rubbery bassline and takes on the persona of a drunken, homicidal gravedigger on this classic 1993 single.
Sample Lyric “Six-foot-two and rude as hell/I got to get him in the ground before he starts to smell.”
“Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”
Album: Tales From the Punchbowl
Contrary to popular belief, this Grammy-nominated 1995 track is (unfortunately) not a reference to Winona Ryder’s nether region.
Sample Lyric “Wynona loved her big brown beaver/And she stroked him all the time.”