We are now over half way through 2021. Whilst we cannot say the world is in much of a better place than the dumpster fire of 2020, we certainly seem to be heading in a better direction. The return of live shows and festivals here in the UK is a huge plus – heavy metal is simply not the same without the live experience. The events of the past 18 months cannot hold back the might of the holy metal masses.
The UK has also been on the forefront of some great metal albums too. Hell, worldwide 2021 has produced plenty of standout albums to match the stellar quality of the first quarter of this year. So let’s break it down and see what has happened in the second quarter of this year.
Engage Fear Factory Phase 2
Industrial metal titans Fear Factory have had their share of inter-band drama over their career. That drama finally ran its course this year with vocalist Burton C Bell finally quitting for good. However, not before his vocals were recorded for their new album Aggression Continuum. Sounding as glorious as ever with his trademark angel/demon vocals, the next phase of Fear Factory has a job on its hand to compete.
Do they go for a vocalist similar to their long time frontman, or something completely different? Burton has such a distinct and easily recognisable voice I am not sure anyone can really come close without it sounding inferior. My 2 cents, a totally new direction is the way to go. But who knows!
Review: Fear Factory – Aggression Continuum Album Review
Three Times the Glory
Of all the collaborations that we see across the musical world, has a single collaboration of members from a single band been quite as glorious as with Helloween? The German power metal originals decided to pull off the mega-collab and combine all 3 of their glorious vocalists past and present on their new self-titled album, and its as glorious as riding a flying white unicorn over the Himalayan mountains.
Original vocalist Kai Hansen brought back a taste of old glory, but it is the twin powerhouse of Andi Deris and Michael Kiske that really steal the show. Michael Kiske was but a young whippersnapper when first joining Helloween back in 1986, but even more remarkable is that his voice sounds as powerful and triumphant as ever still today. I have my ticket to the Pumpkins United World Tour when it recommences. Do you? Of course you do.
Review: Helloween – Helloween Album Review
Return of the HM2
An announcement worthy of the lord of the underworld himself. The behemoth pedal producer Boss announced a Waza re-release of their legendary pedal. For those who were around for the birth of Swedish Death Metal, the Boss HM-2 pedal defined that sound.
A terrible to average sounding distortion pedal that no-one bought and was in production for less than a decade – which for boss is 100 years less than a normal production cycle. However, a certain Swedish band called Entombed turned all the dials to max and it transformed into a snarling, rasping beast worthy of metal royalty.
Bloodbath are probably the band that has mostly kept the Swedish chainsaw tone relevant for the past couple of decades. However with bands like Frozen Soul and Necrot recently releasing albums using the old school buzzsaw tone, are we destined for an explosion in use following the excellent decision by the folks at Waza? One can hope. It is officially out now, so I hope you already have one.
Article: Boss HM-2W: Return of the Buzzsaw
UK Standing Out
2021 has produced plenty of stunning albums, and UK metal has always provided albums worthy of the global stage. Djenty deathcore VEXED released their debut album Culling Culture. Managing to take all the typical aspects of modern metal, and gel it all together in inventive and creative ways to create something truly original.
Post-hardcore upstarts As Everything Unfolds also released their debut album. Sitting somewhere on that modern blurry line between post-hardcore and metalcore, with the melodic choruses intertwined with screaming downtuned chuggy passages.
Death Blooms brought the savage nu-metal swagger on their EP Fuck Everything, which While She Sleeps fifth album contain to pump out the metalcore bangers. Modern symphonic metal from Skarlett Riot with their third album Invicta, blending their own unique way and spearheaded by their frontwoman Skarlett Drinkwater.
UK thrash royalty Evile have undergone a soft reboot on their 2021 released Hell Unleashed, with Ol Drake back to lead the way. An album so brutally fast and aggressive your skull will visibly depress under the sheer weight of the destructive riffing.
Article: 6 Killer UK Metal Albums of 2021 (so far…)
Wham, Bam, Thank You Slam
The most deliciously brutal of musical savagery, Slamming Brutal Death Metal is not for the feint of heart. But once you head down the death metal sub genre rabbit hole, you inevitably end up at the most extreme end. Some of that aforementioned putridity came in the form of Beta Bacteria with their latest EP release Drowned in Discharge. 14 minutes of pure filth and destruction.
Defleshed & Gutted, Devour The Unborn, Slamentation and Inhuman Atrocities joined forces on a multi release of devastation. Mostly closer to slam core than pure slam (to get further down the sub-genre pit), Excruciating Malformations Of Abhorrent Descent is your antidote to a basket of monotony filling every day life. 16 tracks of sheer slamming brutality, tying together a whole community of slamming death metal fans.
Standout Albums
The first quarter of 2021 gave us some stunning albums. The second quarter decided very quickly that it was not going to be upstaged, and pumped out more top drawer content. A selection of the best releases below for your musical arsenal.
Fortitude – Gojira
I wondered where Gojira would go with Fortitude. 2016’s Magma took a softer, more straight forward and easily accessible approach than their progressive and death metal beginnings. With Fortitude however, Gojira have managed to encapsulate the progressive and crushing tone of their early work, with the expansive and accessible later work, and melded it masterfully.
Inevitably a band will release a stinker at some point in their career. Or take a musical turn for the worse. Even the greats have not avoided this. Gojira however seem to be immune. I mean hell, they don’t even produce anything that qualifies as mediocre! Everything they touch turns to gold, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
Review: Gojira – Fortitude Album Review
Unstable – Tetrarch
Nu-metal occupied probably the most commercially successful period in the history of heavy metal. Gaining hoards of new fans, and simultaneously pissing off plenty of the existing ones! Taking all the best parts of nu-metal past (sans the cringe Crazy Town-type), and packaging it all together in their growing signature modern style, Tetrarch have encapsulated what made nu-metal so popular.
Lead guitarist Diamond Rowe has joined the ranks of new guitar heroes with some stellar axe work on Unstable. The twin riffing between her and frontman Josh Fore producing some memorable passages to develop some serious neck-ache. Tetrarch have taken a giant leap forward here on their sophomore release. Continuing like this they’re destined to slay through the metal scene.
Review: Tetrarch – Unstable Album Review
Below – Beartooth
Below represents the hardest hitting offering so far from US metalcore crew Beartooth. Bringing an extra does of the heavy – both thematically and musically, and bearing more soul than ever before. Frontman Caleb Shomo has never held back in exposing his inner demons, but I think we can relate to this more than ever in our current climate.
Full of pure, unadulterated energy, emotion, grit and aggression, Caleb Shomo has once again shown his ability as a tormented, but brilliant songwriter. Whether you want to sing your heart out, scream ’till your throat is raw, or just trash your living room, Below has it covered.
Review: Beartooth – Below Album Review
Echoes Of The Soul – Crypta
On their debut album Echoes of the Soul, we have a large slice of devastatingly filthy old school blackened death metal from Crypta. No mainstream appeal, no pretentious bullshit, just full bore death metal brutality. Raw emotion and talent stand front and centre, and showcase a devastating ability to take us back to an era before the polish and pristine of modern metal.
Guitarists Sonia Anubis and Tainá Bergamaschi trade standout death metal riffs over and over again without pause. It takes something special to write a debut album as good as this, and I expect this continue for a long tine. All hail the devestation!
Review: Crypta – Echoes of the Soul Album Review
What to Expect from the Remainder of the Year
As we are already well into July now, I can give you a not so sneak peek that the debut album from heavy metal supergroup Wizardthrone and the new release from German power metal titans Powerwolf are both awesome. If you cannot appreciate Extreme Wizard Metal or the Holy Metal Mass then I’m not sure we can be friends…
Self proclaimed Pure Power Metal, from the realms of eternity, Warkings are set to release their third album Revolution in August. After their rebirth and the fight against the armies of the underworld, it’s time for Revolution under the flag of the Warkings. The four ancient kings, a Roman Tribune, a wild Viking, a noble Crusader and a martial Spartan, raise the red flag and gather their warriors for the next battle!
Party icon Andrew W.K. has been showcasing a new found darker side with his latest single releases following signing with heavy metal label Nuclear Blast. Singles Babalon, I’m In Heaven and Everybody Sins ooze industrial metal, with heavy religious and spiritual symbolism. God Is Partying is destined to be a landmark album in the career of Andrew W.K. and I’m all for it.
In quite possibly the most anticipated album in recent memory, Canadian newcomers Spiritbox are due to release their debut album Eternal Blue in September. Showcasing their unique blend of djenty progressive metalcore, and spearheaded by charismatic vocalist Courtney Laplante, they certainly have a weight of expectation on their shoulders. But based on their stellar single releases so far, they are destined to impress.
After honing in on their USP and producing their signature piece The Silver Scream, Ice Nine Kills have a job on their hands with their upcoming follow up The Silver Scream Part 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. We know all too well the curse that can afflict a sequel. Let us hope this is more Aliens than Jaws: The Revenge….
So 2021 has not let up on the heavy metal front. More great albums, more drama and more glory. Whatever the world circumstances, we can trust the heavy metal community to stand together, and plenty of great albums to come.
Revisit Part 1 – Heavy Metal: The Year (so far) In Review – April 2021
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