As trends shift and trends pass us by, heavy metal music remains popular with a passionate fanbase. Headbangers never tire of its anger and joy – whether Ozzy Osbourne has reignited his comeback or Meshuggah has introduced polyrhythms.
Witchtrap picked up where Destruction left off with Infernal Overkill by producing this raw blackened thrash track, pure merciless slaughter straight from 1985.
Painkiller by Judas Priest
After it seemed as though Judas Priest had abandoned British New Wave Heavy Metal for digital synthesizers and commercial devices, this album came as an unexpected shocker. Led by drummer Scott Travis and featuring K.K. Downing’s first recorded guitar solo since 1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny album.
After applying lessons learned from their two prior albums, The Priesters increased the tempos and aggression for this album, creating songs that approached speed metal territory. One iconic example is “Title Track,” an epic metal blast made up of double bass drumming and shredding guitar riffs featuring Travis’ complex drumming style as well as Rob Halford’s malevolent vocals that would later come to define his sound.
Painkiller stands out among metal classics for more than its fast pace alone, though. While its uptempo songs serve as arena-ready anthems, their brilliance pales in comparison to its instrumental fireworks: Glenn Tipton’s blistering leads, Downing’s diabolical riffage, and Travis’ jazz-trained double bass assault all combine into an incredible musical maelstrom that never lets up.
Older fans might complain about the lyrics being corny and silly, but this doesn’t have to be seen as negative; this album marks a revitalized band teaching thrash and speed metal bands something, while simultaneously reestablishing themselves as protectors of true heavy metal. While not the most significant Judas Priest release ever, it certainly ranks highly.
A Night at the Opera by Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden’s A Night at the Opera is a haunting and disquieting song that tells of a Phantom who lives beneath Paris opera house in its catacombs. Spanning over seven minutes long, A Night at the Opera features intricate guitar riffs from Adrian Tibbetts as well as Bruce Dickinson’s powerful vocals for added authenticity and is sure to please fans of heavy metal music alike. It makes an excellent addition to any collection.
Accept pioneered the expansion of metal bands during the early Eighties. While many bands still adhered to blues rock conventions, Accept took an innovative approach with their album Balls to the Wall; its twin lead guitars were razor sharp; Udo Dirkschneider sang his trademark gravelly croon; production featured leather, chrome, and steel elements; while its lyrics conveyed visions of toxic masculinity through torture, sodomy, and piles of dead bodies that quickly established it as an influential classic metal song.
As metal evolved, it began to appeal to an increasingly broad spectrum of listeners. Bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper embraced its raw, sleazy sound while Motorhead introduced punk rock aesthetics with emphasis on speed. But Cannibal Corpse truly put metal into darkness territory by crafting songs like an audial snuff film. One of their iconic tracks – “Hit Her With the Hammer” by Cannibal Corpse – features relentlessly crushing lyrics about crushing helpless victims with sledgehammers!
Mayhem are well-known black metal band, yet not many people talk about their 1987 EP Deathcrush. It is an epic collection of dark crushing songs that demonstrate their uncompromising and raw approach to genre music; Chainsaw Gutfuck stands out as an especially unnerving track!
Killing the Dragon by Dio
Heavy metal music has long been seen as an unforgiving genre with aggressive themes. Classic works from iconic bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Pantera have long evoked feelings of isolation and destruction; but there’s much more to the subgenre than meets the eye – from cannibalism and sexual deviancy lyrics all the way through cannibalism, rape, self-mutilation and sexual deviancy there are deplorable lyrics hidden among its depths.
Ronnie James Dio was known for his incredible vocal abilities before joining Black Sabbath; when they added him as their frontman, the heavy metal world took notice of their talent and quickly made them one of the most beloved bands ever. Thanks to Dio’s unique sound and medieval imagery, Black Sabbath became one of the world’s most successful rock acts ever; later he would also release 13 solo albums as well as appear on MTV reality show The Osbournes.
Mastodon was already making waves when they released their sophomore full-length, Remission, just two albums after debuting. Through sharpened jagged noise shards that feel fresh, brutal and unrelenting–like “March Of The Fire Ants” or the sprawling closer “Effigies Adorned In Flame,” their impact proved that Mastodon were no ordinary band.
After an amazing year for thrash metal that featured now-classic albums from Destruction, Absu, and Sodom; Colombian trio Witchtrap emerged with their powerful debut, Sorceress Bitch. The album’s blazing title track would leave your ears bleeding; its aggressive sound would come to define their style over time.
Sorceress Bitch by Witchtrap
Witchtrap released their debut full length album Hell Attacks Productions in Colombia back in 2002, before Ordealis Records licensed it for vinyl release later that same year in Japan. This classic old school thrash is very reminiscent of bands such as Bathory or Celtic Frost; with fast, aggressive guitar riffs backed up with catchy choruses from vocalist. Sloppy gritty production adds an authentic vintage sound; my only gripe would be his Colombian accent sometimes noticeable during vocalist solos but this doesn’t affect my enjoyment at all.
After the sloppy, yet enjoyable production of their debut, this album sounds more refined. This might be related to their change in vocalist; their new one seems to have more control of his voice. Riffs remain catchy but seem more focused than on their debut release – this thrash album remains outstanding but perhaps isn’t as memorable as some of their other work.
If this album had been released 20 years earlier, it might have become a cult favorite, but now it simply falls into the vast pool of thrash metal albums that honor tradition while more likely than not fading from memory than becoming treasured gems. That being said, I still recommend this to fans of the genre; my only reservation regarding scoring higher for it being that its riffs seem somewhat familiar while not trying anything too different from their throwback playbook.
Follow The Hollow by Soilwork
Metal has evolved since Black Sabbath first graced audiences with their music, yet remains grounded in brute force and primal aggression. Over the decades, artists like Judas Priest donned denim and leather; Metallica spun into an eye-popping blur; Korn added exotic rhythmic punch; while Avenged Sevenfold graced them with powerful melodies – yet all variations retained an element of hyper-masculine strength in their music.
2002 saw a new generation of metal bands emerge ready to strip music back to its essential elements – and in style. Their songs explored dark imagery such as demons, alienation, depression and suicide – giving these groups the ability to take metal music to new heights.
Mastodon quickly established themselves as one of the most influential metal bands of this decade with their ground-breaking debut that seemed designed by an algorithm. March Of The Fire Ants and Trampled Under Hoof were instrumental tracks that brought together disparate sounds into cohesive wholes while Brann Dailor’s relentless drumming provided an unyielding rhythmic foundation.
Death Core stood out among death metal acts for remaining true to its roots of brutal death metal with this album that perfectly combined death metal, jazz and progressive elements of their musical backgrounds into an engaging work that proved metal could be just as sophisticated as any other genre of music.