Another sign that I'm a product of my time: thrash metal.
Seriously. How can anyone take the phrase "heavy metal" seriously anymore? Grunge killed it, and its resurrection by way of metalcore and heavy alternative and nu-metal bands has been slapdash. But I do. And the single word "metal" can provoke me to debate (not that much can't these days).
But here's where metal was undeniably metal. Not the cheesy Halford-worship or bastardized Kornesque crap--the real thing. San Fransisco Bay Area thrash, unadulterated by popular acclaim.
Forbidden.
and they're good live, too:
I could go on for hours about music, but I shouldn't. Not right now. I have too much nothing in my head.
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7 comments:
These guys remind me of Nuclear Assault. Which isn't a bad thing.
NA were basically the East-Coast version of these guys. But I always preferred Forbidden and Dark Angel.
I miss being young and stupid and thinking these bands were the most profound entities ever.
Dark Angel. Damn. I miss those guys. Thanks for the memory jog, I need do a little search to see if I can find anything from them.
Not much on YT for Dark Angel--just a bunch of bad bootleg.
Unfortunately.
Just have to say, though--Dark Angel were maybe the best technical thrash band ever. Those guys made a mosher want to kill.
I have to say, I don't really mourn the loss of "heavy" metal to grunge. Why, because grunge was really a hell of a lot better, in my eyes. Give me Soundgarden and Pearl Jam over Whitesnake and Warrant any day. Chris Cornell kicks David Coverdale's ass to the curb and the entire world is better for it, except that we don't get to see nearly as much of Tawny Kitean. Although, if she is making headlines like this:
http://seriouslyomg.com/?p=977
perhaps we are better of not seeing any of her these days.
I have a lot more respect for the speed/thrash metal folks, even if they are not going to displace Foo Fighters on my favorite playlist.
Nobody can really pin down what a "heavy metal" band is, and who qualifies. I'd consider Soundgarden and Alice in Chains more metal than Warrant (who may be just a hard rock band). There's no question that Master of Puppets-era Metallica was metal, but how about now? Seems to me they just write pop songs since the black album.
Same goes for Motley Crue. I think it's clear that the first two albums were metal, but from Theatre of Pain on they were a hard rock band--and often a cheesy one at that (if I ever hear "Home Sweet Home" again it will be too soon.
Grunge, to me, was more hype than substance. Some Nirvana was pretty good--same with Pearl Jam. But a lot of Nirvana was meandering junk. Some good songs came from Tad, Mudhoney, Catbutt, and a few other grunge acts--but not too many. I appreciate grunge for what it did more than for what it was. Much like punk.
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