A Decade of Music: Pt.1

Heavy

For this one, I’m going to go with anything from hard rock to the various sub-genres of metal, and things in between. This is a completely biased and limited list. The only rule I’m giving myself is that I’m limiting my decision to one album per band. That said, here’s some personal highlights of the 2010s.

“Wait for the Siren” by Project 86 is exactly what you want from the band. It’s hard rock and catchy, with wonderful guest vocals from Bruce Fitzhugh and Brian Welch. Something of a concept album, drawing on various elements of war in times past, it gives plenty of anthem songs to pump you up or just to rock out to. Favorite songs would be the pump up “Fall, Goliath, Fall” and the haunting “Ghosts of Easter Rising”.

“Horseshoes & Handgrenades” by Disciple just edges out another of their albums, of the two in contention for me. I’m more of a fan of the heavier albums and there was only two in my opinion, of that decade. That said, this one has a lot more groove to their heavy songs than their “Attack” album. Disciple always makes very biblical music, which I appreciate, since much that passes as “Christian” music these days is very vague. They even throw in some historical work with “The Ballad of St. Augustine” which is a fun song. The radio ballads on the album are fine, but not particular favorites. “Shot Heart ‘Round the World” and “Battle Lines” are standout songs for me.

“True Defiance” by Demon Hunter is what gets the nod here. This was a hard decision, both because they’re my favorite band, but also because they don’t seem to be capable of releasing a dud. Importantly, I used the cover for the deluxe edition, because one of the extra songs “I am a Stone” is an excellent ballad. “Crucifix” and “We Don’t Care” are particular favorites. This album is both one of their more overtly theological albums, and one of their most culturally castigating ones, which are two things I appreciate.

“Fallen” by Stryper is my pick. The 2010s saw the band deliver a 1-2 punch much like they did back in the 80s with “To Hell With the Devil” and “Soldiers Under Command” which is an impressive catching of lightening in a bottle twice, 30 years apart! Their other good album from this decade was “No More Hell to Pay,” but I think the songs on “Fallen” are overall stronger. The opening track “Yahweh” is a wonderful example of exactly what Stryper is all about: soaring high vocals, harmonized guitar solos, and preachy (in a good way) lyrics. In fact, I went to a concert in 2016 which was the 30th Anniversary tour of “To Hell With the Devil” (AMAZING) and one of the individuals was complaining about how preachy Petra (they were an opener) was, and said that while Stryper was the same way, they had the musical chops to make it worth it! I think the first two tracks, “Yahweh” and “Fallen” are probably my favorites.

“Machines of Our Disgrace” by Circle of Dust came out of nowhere. This industrial band had been broken up since 1998, and Klayton (more famously of Celldweller) just decided to bring back this band to add to his ridiculously prodigious musical output. I appreciate how much cultural critique is done on this album, particularly of the futurist and post-human trends in science and technology. The production values are high, and shows just how much experience Klayton has gained in the almost 20 years between this album and the last one. It’s hard to pick a favorite, as there are no low points on the album. It was definitely worth the wait, even though I didn’t know I was waiting!

“Extreme Power Metal” by Dragonforce represents a welcome return to form. For a while there I felt like they weren’t going to survive the perils of a vocalist change. This album proved me wrong, thankfully. The band is known for their two blisteringly fast guitar players and the soaring vocals of their vocalist(s), along with the more playful side of the power metal genre’s lyrical themes. All that is here in spades, along with a surprisingly good cover of “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion (no, really). “Highway to Oblivion” and “The Last Dragonborn” are my favorites.

“As The World Bleeds” by Theocracy wins the tough battle of their two albums. Speaking of the power metal genre, I have definitely got to mention this band. The opening song of this album is epic. “I Am” is 11 minutes long, and filled with biblical references and energy culminating in a finale of sorts where there are multiple vocal lines layered on top of each other. If you could only listen to one song by the band, it would probably be that one. That said, the album doesn’t exactly slow down from there. Another favorite would be “Nailed” which should tell you exactly where the band falls on the subtle to explicit spectrum of Christianity.

“Extol” by Extol was a comeback album that was a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, they seem to have came back for one album and then disappeared again, but at least this album came out. Nobody does metal quite like Scandinavia and this album proved that one of the godfathers of the genre haven’t lost their touch. The blend of screams and clean vocals in a way which leans toward the progressive end of the genre gives them a uniqueness that I appreciate. When Extol experiments with elements, they always manage to do it well, which is impressive. My favorites are two songs which are quite worshipful (yes you can be heavy and worshipful), those being “Open the Gates” and “A Gift Beyond Human Reach”.

“Awaken” by Fleshkiller is a debut album from a side project by some of the members of Extol. I didn’t know this band was happening, and thankfully a friend told me about it! This album is excellent and is one of those things where you don’t usually get a debut album this good and polished unless you already have veterans. As a general rule, if they used to be in Extol, it’s going to be a good band. Anyway, this album is a good mix of screams and clean vocals in a way that doesn’t feel forced and formulaic. There’s plenty of hope in the album, grounded in the Christian worldview, while not being naive about what life is like, east of Eden. “Parallel Kingdom” and “True Image” are highlights. The latter of those songs is another excellent example of a metal song being worshipful.

“Eclipse” by Wolves at the Gate was a surprise to me. Not because I was unaware of the band, but because I liked the album. I’ve always appreciated the fact that WATG had a more reformed bent in their theology, but I was never really able to get into their music. I guess this album just seems more mature and polished to me, and perhaps a bit more cohesive. Either that or my musical tastes have changed a bit over the years, who knows. Either way, this was an enjoyable surprise. The album experiments with adding instruments, like the strings in “Face to Face” and the piano in “A Voice in the Violence,” and “Blessings & Curses,” and while these are short, they work well. My favorites on the album are probably “The Cure” and “Face to Face.”

“Ceasing to Breathe” by Still Remains was another one of those “gone for awhile, release an album, disappear again” things. This is an album which was heavier than the last time they released music, and I appreciate that. They sprinkle in more catchy-pop-type elements into their songs, and these seem to have worked more on this album than in the past. While this may fall more into the metalcore genre, I think they manage to do it in a way that doesn’t lead to formulaic boredom.

“The Infinite Order” by Living Sacrifice may have been the album I was most looking forward to. This is because they had retired, and decided to come back because they felt the metal scene was getting boring and stale. I went to a show which was a Demon Hunter tour which included Living Sacrifice as a sort of comeback tour, and it was awesome. The opening track “Overkill Exposure” is a great “we’re baaaack” track that is pedal to the metal the whole way through. I appreciate the fact that they tackle things like PTSD on “Rules of Engagement,” nihilism on “Nietzsche’s Madness,” and calling out apostasy for what it is on “Apostasy” to close out the album. Not a bad track on this album from another one of the godfathers.

“Antiseptic Bloodbath” by Tourniquet is the last album by Luke Easter on vocals, and I haven’t been totally sold on their new vocalist yet. The traditional/thrash metal elements which predominate on this album are very enjoyable, and the lyrical/drumming elements of Ted Kirkpatrick are on full display as usual. Tourniquet has never been shy at calling out idols in the culture, and directly replacing them with Christ. “Antiseptic Bloodbath” is the perfect example of that, as it’s presenting the gospel with the reactions of people not wanting to deal with the reality of the cross and the brutality of the truth (while calling out the animal cruelty as they always do). Tourniquet has been throwing in strings/horns/everything long before it was cool for other bands to do it, and there’s plenty of that on this album, along with guest guitarists for long guitar solos. The general rule of thumb is that Tourniquet will do whatever they want musically, for as long as they want to do it, and then move on. This usually leads to a song or two being longer than normal, and that’s ok with me. All the songs are good, but “Antiseptic Bloodbath” and “Fed by Ravens, Eaten by Vultures” stand out to me.

“Awakened” by As I Lay Dying is a fascinating album, in light of everything that happened with vocalist Tim Lambesis. Musically, AILD is as talented as the genre gets as a band, if not the most creative. “A Greater Foundation” is almost prophetic to Lambesis, with lyrics like “sometimes we have to watch our whole lives fall apart, before we can then lay for them again a greater foundation.” I appreciate that they dipped more into thrash for this album, with songs like “Wasted Words,” as the metalcore genre can get stale quickly. The post-jail, post-deconversion-conversion-something Lambesis album isn’t great, so I don’t think they’ll reach their past heights, but at least this album and their back catalog is enjoyable.

“Attack of the Wolf King” by Haste the Day is an album which makes me realize how much happens in a decade. I was thinking “surely they’ve been broken up before 2010, right?” Technically, they released another album or two after this one with a reunion group involving their first vocalist, but I always preferred Stephen over Jimmy, controversial though that is. This is a fun album, even though it’s pretty standard metalcore structure. “Dog Like Vultures” and “Crush Resistance” are my favorites from the album.

“Celestial Completion” by Becoming the Archetype was the last album with their original vocalist, and the new vocalist took the band in a more traditional death metal direction and essentially killed the band. That said, BTA was awesome up until after this album. They’re definitely heavy, and could be called progressive death metal, but the vocals were always more easily understandable and enjoyable to listen to than your typical death metal growls. Also, they were very talented musicians, and creative in how they brought in different instruments (hence the progressive). This album was to be focused around emphasizing hope and more positive elements than the metal genre tends to emphasize. It ended up working quite well, and was a fitting conclusion to that era of the band. In a completely random moment, there’s a ska break solo-off in “Cardiac Rebellion” that’s all sorts of fun. “Internal Illumination” and “Elemental Wrath: Requiem Aeternam Pt. 2” would be my favorites, if I had to pick.

“Voices” by Death Therapy is the next band after Jason Wisdom left BTA. They call it an industrial grove metal band. It’s certainly heavy and progressive, so you can call it whatever you want I guess, as long as it keeps being good. The album has plenty of guests, as well as an interesting metal take on an old piece of music from Mega Man. “My Defiance” and “It’s Okay” are my picks for the album.

“Wake” by For Today proved to be a strong conclusion to the band. They didn’t change much on the last few albums, but I appreciate the fact that they never shied away from difficult topics, and were bold about their faith (even if their theology got wonky). Definitely more in the metalcore vein, this album is at least a strong representative of what that genre can be when done well. “No Truth, No Sacrifice” and “Flooded Earth” are the high points here, musically and lyrically.

“Void” by War of Ages is an example of the “if it ain’t broke” saying. They never really change, which makes it a bit tricky to pick a top album from them, as they release albums with regularity. I appreciate the fact that they have seemed to get better on the lyrical side of things, while remaining openly Christian in the message. Now that For Today is broken up, WoA will probably be the only metalcore band I keep in the rotation, as they’re a good band to go to if you need to scratch that breakdown itch.

“Reborn” by Reflection of Glory is actually a band I just recently discovered. This is an especially impressive band when you realize it’s just one guy, and since he’s doing the symphonic metal genre. I actually haven’t listened to this album much, since I’m just exploring his discography and have spent most time with the most recent. But this one is the one which fits the decade category, so I’m going with it. So far, this album is just as good as the previous one. He’s not the best vocalist, but he’s good enough, and for everything else he’s doing it works well. If you’re into the more symphonic elements of music, then definitely give this band a listen.

I think that’s where I’m going to end it. Did I miss some? Probably, but I figure 20 albums is enough to go with. Did I end with 19 and realize that I needed one more? Yes, but that last band is fun and interesting, and different from the rest of the list. So give them a listen, and let me know what you think. Did you have some good albums from this category that I missed? Let me know, as I’m always down to listen to new music!