Heavy metal. There, I said it. Those of you who are frightened by admittedly ugly sounding music might want to use this opportunity to find new options. So no, you’re not allowed to just read something else. After all, you’ve gotten this far, haven’t you?
An odd smattering of heavy metal’s many-splintered subgenres makes the lineup for the show at the Galaxy in Santa Ana, Calf. The show mixes old-school thrash (Voivod), modern metal (Strapping Young Lad), death metal (Nile), grindcore (Napalm Death) and shock value (Berzerker). These are a collection of sounds that might not make complete sense if not for the widespread interests of metal fans. It also shows the international draw of metal’s underground, with only a single band hailing from the United States. Moreover, this collection of bands can partly be seen as several key links in the chain of heavy metal’s recent history.
Canadian thrashers Voivod have been around since the early ’80s, during the height of that subgenre’s reign. Cast among both the legends and the more commercially successful Thrash 4 of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer, Voivod have reformed after a recent stint of being broken up, regaining their original singer and adding former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. Reports from fans have been few, but people are excited about seeing an old favorite again.
Seminal grindcore band Napalm Death has not only all but created its own subgenera, but also has deeply affected what ’90s death metal would become. They did it without even retaining a true original member from the first album. Bassist Shane Embury joined quickly after the group began touring, but all the other members form the early days have peeled off to other huge bands like the ever-popular Carcass.
Arguably, the first group to meld the anarchistic sounds of late ’70s/early ’80s punk, Napalm Death created very brief, distorted and chaotically disorganized songs that would radically alter death metal, which, before 1984, was far more technically orientated. In short, without Napalm Death, there would be no Cannibal Corpse or other bands that gained so much notoriety. Napalm brought the blast-beat drumming and all but unintelligible vocals into prominence, which became staples of death metal at large.
These shockwaves took their course, and eventually metal became less focused on being as noisy and dissonant as possible. More recent bands have begun to move away from death/grind sounds, creating a further subgenus, which is yet unnamed or even pinned down, though Canadian band Strapping Young Lad could easily typify this ambiguous sound. Using searing guitars and more straightforward drum techniques, along with almost conventional singing, SYL is by far a blending of many different styles present within metal. They have taken the moniker “”extreme”” to describe themselves, but that hardly seems appropriate; maybe modern metal, for lack of a better term. Nonetheless, the group offers a bridge for the massively fractured genre of metal.
Freakish The Berzerker would unsurprisingly be compared to Slipknot for their appearance, with the gruesome masks they constantly use for their personas. Oh yeah, and they call themselves by their involvement in the band; e.g. The Singer of The Berzerker handles vocals. Well, what else do you expect from an Australian industrial/death metal band? It’s not a combination that connotes anything straightforward.
Nile, the headliner, has been hailed as the shining hope for American death metal, melding atonality and melody with ancient Egyptian sounds. They are also the youngest band, putting out their first album back in 1995. Recently putting out “”In Their Darkened Shrines,”” their follow up to the explosive 2000 release “”Black Seeds Of Vengeance,”” Nile has an almost completely new lineup, retaining only founding member guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders.
Though the new album has been widely praised, it seems to be lacking the critical acclaim that its monumental predecessor generated. Some have cited a lack of progression forward, and momentum can clearly be heard through the discography up to “”Black Seeds.”” Regardless as to whether or not “”Darkened Shrines”” represents a regression of a pause, Nile still provides some of the most exciting death metal right now, and the legions of fans they have garnered from their hectic touring schedule will endurably agree.
Nile stands at the forefront of this lineup in many ways, playing music that has incorporated the last 20 years of metal into its sound. In a genre that moves fast and replaces its own movements every few years, we can catch a segment of history at one time. From early thrash through the development and continued reproach of death metal, these bands connect to each other by means of their historical significance and common musical lineage. More than just another tour, metal fans have the opportunity to glance in two directions at once: not only seeing where their music has come from, but also hinting as to where it is going.
Nile, Napalm Death, Voivod, Strapping Young Lad and The Berzerker perform at the Galaxy in Santa Ana on Jan. 23. Call for more details at (714) 957-0600.
