When I saw Matt this past weekend we were talking about new threads and well I had this one planned so here goes.
Branching off of Matt’s 90s metal thread I began thinking about album and bands that were very important and influential to their respective subgenres. So the first two I came up with were Dream Theater – Images and Words and Cathedral – Forrest of Equilibrium.
I first heard DT on a Concrete Music sampler that ‘Pull Me Under’ was on and was just floored by this band. It reminded me somewhat of Queensryche and Fates Warning but not in that same way Hittman or Oliver Magnum did. That tape was played so much that it finally snapped. My punk rock girlfriend at the time was so happy when it did, she hated that kind of stuff. I then picked up the album and was completely blown away. Then I saw the video on MTV and well it was certainly a square peg in those days. Steve Isaac tried to get into catch on but really didn’t, or so we thought. Who would have thought it would become such a cornerstone.
It was also something odd within what I was mostly listening to in 1992-stuff like Sub-humans, Agnostic Front, and The Exploited. I’m sure I was the only guy wearing a Dream Theater shirt at a 7 Seconds show.
Still that album would open the doors for many progressive metal bands to follow. And where would Peter Morticelli be if Dream Theater never put out that album? After that album progressive metal bands came out of nowhere is if they were being manufactured (Magna Carter Records).
Sure DT is more boring now than watching snails race, but you can’t deny those first three albums and how ‘Images’ changed everything. I personally believe Fates Warning and to a lesser degree Queensryche owe some props to that album.
On to what is STILL one of the heaviest and best doom metal albums of all time Cathedral – Forrest of Equilibrium. I remember reading small mentions that the former singer of Napalm Death was starting a new band but straying away from the punkish fused grindcore and going into doomy realms. At the time doom was still not very well defined, sure there was Candlemass and Trouble and I can think of some others but Cathedral opened the door wider than ever before. The debut seemed to go somewhat unnoticed it seemed but by the time of the follow up EP ‘Soul Sacrifice’ it was on. Lee and the boys hit the bong, added in some groove that seemed to capture some major attention. The MTV videos helped and every stoner was jumping on the “disco super nova”
It all started with ‘Forrest’ and that album still reigns as one of the most important doom albums of all time.
Another important band was Fear Factory. The band balanced a line between industrial and death metal, but to their credit they helped to keep metal alive through the 1990s in the U.S. Regardless if you like them or not you can’t deny their impact.
My first exposure to the band I was at 16, basically a punk leaving in my car. One day at Chad Davis’(Hour of 13) house. He was jamming a lot to one of the first two demos, I don’t remember which. Well that year I tried to order the album and had a hard time finding it, well it was not released until the following year. When I finally got it I thought it was so brutal but not death metal. Being a fan of Skinny Puppy and Ministry and thrash and death metal Fear Factory were just the perfect blend.
I saw the band a few times after that on some small tours after that. I would have never thought they would have taken off like they did. Once they were gone I just thought they did what they were meant to do and certainly left their mark on metal, similar to what Faith No More had done.
I feel this one certainly has to be mentioned has well. It seemed I had been waiting so long for something to come out of Sanctuary. I read about Warrel Dane forming a new band but it seemed like I was reading about it for so long that it was not ever going to happen. Then it did. I was living in Michigan at the time where I went out to a small indie record store and ordered the debut Nevermore. When I returned home I had no idea what to expect, but when that opening kicked in it really KICKED in. Still to this day no album has ever had the effect of that opening. It was the third Sanctuary album but different, modern, but like nothing else at the time. After a few follow ups Nevermore would have somewhat created a new sound of progressive power metal and revived power metal in the U.S.
This topic also made me think of bands from the 90s that did not get the credit they deserved or at least not then; the two that immediately come to mind are Cynic and Skyclad.
I first heard Cynic on demo back in 1989 from my cousin in Florida, he turn me on to several things like Believer and earlier Pestilence. I spend a week at his house back then and he introduced me to so much death metal. Still I was a little more impressed by his neighbor who owned every album by every hair and cock rock band imaginable. But I did manage to return home with a lot of death metal, though it still was not that happening for me. I would forget about Cynic until ‘The Breed Beyond’ compilation would come out and a friend would have it. Later that year the ‘Focus’ album was released and seemed to fall on deaf ears. Well some of the death metal scene got into to it, seems they were the only ones hip to it. For those of us in the know we knew how amazing it was, yet none of us knew what to make of it.
The album eventually became extremely difficult to find but was eventually re-issued one all the progressive metal dorks discovered it like a decade after from which it was originally released. I believe the debut did not have any impact in the scene in the early days because progressive metal fans are a very trendy group and I believe they were afraid of something associated with death metal so it was just dismissed. Now it can be seen the impact and influence Cynic has had, one could argue the band has even kind of started its own branch of progressive metal.
Then there is the mighty Skyclad. No one can match the greatness of this band. They were always and still are one of a kind. Folk metal before there was “folk metal” or pagan metal”. After the term became a buzz word Skyclad still did not get their just dues.
I was a fan of the first two Sabbat albums when the came out. Somehow I missed the third one when it came out, but hey a key element was missing from the band at that point anyway. When the first Skyclad ‘Wayward Sons of Mother Earth” was released in 1991 it was like the proper third Sabbat album. Through the next couple of Skyclad releases you could hear the slow evolution into what the band would become known for, but it was ‘Prince of the Poverty Line’ where Skyclad had truly come into their own.
This band should be raved about by fans of many subgenres, certainly those in the folky circles.
Ok I’ll give someone else a go now.
Branching off of Matt’s 90s metal thread I began thinking about album and bands that were very important and influential to their respective subgenres. So the first two I came up with were Dream Theater – Images and Words and Cathedral – Forrest of Equilibrium.
I first heard DT on a Concrete Music sampler that ‘Pull Me Under’ was on and was just floored by this band. It reminded me somewhat of Queensryche and Fates Warning but not in that same way Hittman or Oliver Magnum did. That tape was played so much that it finally snapped. My punk rock girlfriend at the time was so happy when it did, she hated that kind of stuff. I then picked up the album and was completely blown away. Then I saw the video on MTV and well it was certainly a square peg in those days. Steve Isaac tried to get into catch on but really didn’t, or so we thought. Who would have thought it would become such a cornerstone.
It was also something odd within what I was mostly listening to in 1992-stuff like Sub-humans, Agnostic Front, and The Exploited. I’m sure I was the only guy wearing a Dream Theater shirt at a 7 Seconds show.
Still that album would open the doors for many progressive metal bands to follow. And where would Peter Morticelli be if Dream Theater never put out that album? After that album progressive metal bands came out of nowhere is if they were being manufactured (Magna Carter Records).
Sure DT is more boring now than watching snails race, but you can’t deny those first three albums and how ‘Images’ changed everything. I personally believe Fates Warning and to a lesser degree Queensryche owe some props to that album.
On to what is STILL one of the heaviest and best doom metal albums of all time Cathedral – Forrest of Equilibrium. I remember reading small mentions that the former singer of Napalm Death was starting a new band but straying away from the punkish fused grindcore and going into doomy realms. At the time doom was still not very well defined, sure there was Candlemass and Trouble and I can think of some others but Cathedral opened the door wider than ever before. The debut seemed to go somewhat unnoticed it seemed but by the time of the follow up EP ‘Soul Sacrifice’ it was on. Lee and the boys hit the bong, added in some groove that seemed to capture some major attention. The MTV videos helped and every stoner was jumping on the “disco super nova”
It all started with ‘Forrest’ and that album still reigns as one of the most important doom albums of all time.
Another important band was Fear Factory. The band balanced a line between industrial and death metal, but to their credit they helped to keep metal alive through the 1990s in the U.S. Regardless if you like them or not you can’t deny their impact.
My first exposure to the band I was at 16, basically a punk leaving in my car. One day at Chad Davis’(Hour of 13) house. He was jamming a lot to one of the first two demos, I don’t remember which. Well that year I tried to order the album and had a hard time finding it, well it was not released until the following year. When I finally got it I thought it was so brutal but not death metal. Being a fan of Skinny Puppy and Ministry and thrash and death metal Fear Factory were just the perfect blend.
I saw the band a few times after that on some small tours after that. I would have never thought they would have taken off like they did. Once they were gone I just thought they did what they were meant to do and certainly left their mark on metal, similar to what Faith No More had done.
I feel this one certainly has to be mentioned has well. It seemed I had been waiting so long for something to come out of Sanctuary. I read about Warrel Dane forming a new band but it seemed like I was reading about it for so long that it was not ever going to happen. Then it did. I was living in Michigan at the time where I went out to a small indie record store and ordered the debut Nevermore. When I returned home I had no idea what to expect, but when that opening kicked in it really KICKED in. Still to this day no album has ever had the effect of that opening. It was the third Sanctuary album but different, modern, but like nothing else at the time. After a few follow ups Nevermore would have somewhat created a new sound of progressive power metal and revived power metal in the U.S.
This topic also made me think of bands from the 90s that did not get the credit they deserved or at least not then; the two that immediately come to mind are Cynic and Skyclad.
I first heard Cynic on demo back in 1989 from my cousin in Florida, he turn me on to several things like Believer and earlier Pestilence. I spend a week at his house back then and he introduced me to so much death metal. Still I was a little more impressed by his neighbor who owned every album by every hair and cock rock band imaginable. But I did manage to return home with a lot of death metal, though it still was not that happening for me. I would forget about Cynic until ‘The Breed Beyond’ compilation would come out and a friend would have it. Later that year the ‘Focus’ album was released and seemed to fall on deaf ears. Well some of the death metal scene got into to it, seems they were the only ones hip to it. For those of us in the know we knew how amazing it was, yet none of us knew what to make of it.
The album eventually became extremely difficult to find but was eventually re-issued one all the progressive metal dorks discovered it like a decade after from which it was originally released. I believe the debut did not have any impact in the scene in the early days because progressive metal fans are a very trendy group and I believe they were afraid of something associated with death metal so it was just dismissed. Now it can be seen the impact and influence Cynic has had, one could argue the band has even kind of started its own branch of progressive metal.
Then there is the mighty Skyclad. No one can match the greatness of this band. They were always and still are one of a kind. Folk metal before there was “folk metal” or pagan metal”. After the term became a buzz word Skyclad still did not get their just dues.
I was a fan of the first two Sabbat albums when the came out. Somehow I missed the third one when it came out, but hey a key element was missing from the band at that point anyway. When the first Skyclad ‘Wayward Sons of Mother Earth” was released in 1991 it was like the proper third Sabbat album. Through the next couple of Skyclad releases you could hear the slow evolution into what the band would become known for, but it was ‘Prince of the Poverty Line’ where Skyclad had truly come into their own.
This band should be raved about by fans of many subgenres, certainly those in the folky circles.
Ok I’ll give someone else a go now.
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