AAAAAhoy there! I’m back with episode six of my musical lovefest! Last time I spent some time looking at soundtracks. For this edition, I’ll be sharing my first big experiences with the music I fell in love with in the mid-90s and to this day still crush these bands frequently. Where I can I’ll share one of the first songs I heard and loved and if they’ve released something recently a newer song.
As I made my way through high school I naturally became friends with the kids that wore the baggier pants who shared my love of heavy music. Through them, magazines and Much Loud I found a world of music I cared for and it felt like every single album that was released was bigger and better than the last.
One of the first bands I found was Cannibal Corpse. This was a band doing things different than the other metal bands I was enjoying. The vocals crushed compared to Megadeth or Metallica.
Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face (1992)
Cannibal Corpse – Code of the Slashers (2017)
Of course from Cannibal Corpse we got the death n’ roll brutality of Six Feet Under. SFU has been a fav for me from the first time I heard their debut album Haunted.
Six Feet Under – The Enemy Inside (1995)
Six Feet Under – Slaughtered As they Slept (2017)
One band who I grew to love with the release of Chaos AD and then Roots was Sepultura. They were on my radar before but those two albums cemented my love of them. Shortly after Roots was unleashed, Max Cavalera left the band splitting allegiances.
So for this, I’m going to split it up. First, we have two outstanding Max Cavalera led Sepultura songs.
Sepultura – Refuse/Resist + Territory (Live) (1993)
Sepultura – Straighthate (Live) (1996)
While Max went and formed Soulfly, Sepultura recruited Derrick Green as their new singer. I’ve actually enjoyed this version of Sepultura. It’s a different musical beast.
Sepultura – Sepulnation (2001)
Sepultura – Come Back Alive (2003)
As mentioned – Max formed Soulfly after leaving Sepultura. I finally saw Soulfly years later in Vancouver and it was one of my concert highlights. Max played the Soulfly hits, the Sepultura hits and it was just a stellar show.
Soulfly – Eye For an Eye (1998)
Soufly – Ritual (2018)
At the time that I started to discover these bands, Ozzfest became a staple in the summer touring the world. I was never able to go to Ozzfest, nothing came anywhere close, but through the Ozzfest album, I was able to experience a bit of the carnage.
Ozzfest and Much Loud continued to introduce new bands to me. Through Much Loud, I discovered an industrial-metal pioneer. I did get to see Fear Factory live as well as meet several of the band members. Dino was friendly, Burton – not so much.
Fear Factory – Replica (1995)
Fear Factory – Cyberwaste (2004)
Through Fear Factory and Ozzfest, a number of heavier bands became known to me through their record label Roadrunner Records. For many years Roadrunner was the be all end all for my metal world.
Of course one of the staples of Roadrunner was Type O Negative. One of my all-time fav bands, TON was a different kind of heavy.
Type O Negative – Love You To Death (Live) (1996)
Type O Negative – September Sun (2007)
Much Loud continued to introduce me to new bands, two of them became constant staples. Coal Chamber and Drain STH were a different heavy. Coal Chamber ended up breaking up and Dez the singer formed Devildriver who I really dig. Drain STH released two albums before calling it a day.
Coal Chamber – Loco (1997)
Coal Chamber – I.O.U. Nothing (2015)
Drain STH – I Don’t Mind (1997)
Drain STH – Enter My Mind (1999)
Much Loud was hugely influential in introducing me to bands. At this time I still had no internet to bring the world of music to me. So Saturday nights for that half-hour was fundamental viewing for me.
Through them, I found Black Label Society and Machine Head.
I first heard Black Label Society and didn’t know initially that Zakk Wylde was the main man. I knew he was the guitarist for Ozzy but again, with limited news sources and no websites to jump on and read information as we have now, it was a bit before I found out this news. Black Label Society was the first concert me and my wife went to after moving to the lower mainland and my first concert at The Commodore Ballroom. At one point they turned the lights on and opened the window blinds as they’d reached curfew and Zakk said he didn’t care and played for another half hour, resulting in a $10,000 fine from the city. The concert was phenomenal.
Black Label Society – Hey You (Batch of Lies) (1999)
Black Label Society – Fire It Up (2005)
Machine Head has been a band I’ve dug since day one. They always put out solid heavy music and their reinvention a few years back was fantastic. Their latest album didn’t really connect with me, but I’m intrigued to see what Robb has up his sleeve. I did get to see them open for Slayer and Megadeth a few years back and really enjoyed seeing them crush it live.
Machine Head – Davidian (1994)
Machine Head – Aesthetics of Hate (Live) (2007)
Alright, well I’ve said a bunch about a bunch of bands that I’ve dug over the years. I’ll leave you with three bands that interconnected for me. These three bands played a big part in my musical life for many years. Korn, Deftones and Snot. I became a fan of Korn when my friend years ago Stefan brought the CD to one of our floor hockey nights. He’d got it from his brother I believe and once it started I was blown away. Since then they’ve had some hits and some misses but Korn was my first heavy metal show and will always have a spot in my musical library.
Korn – Blind (1994)
Korn feat. Skrillex – Get Up! (2011)
Back at this time Korn and Deftones were frequently marketed as being best friends, two bands that hung out a bunch etc. I enjoyed the first number of Deftones releases but lately haven’t been too much of a fan except for the occasional single.
Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove It) (1997)
Deftones – Minerva (2003)
So here we are – at the last band I’ll chat about. Snot. Snot was a game-changer for me. I think it was a combination of the metal and punk and Lynn Strait’s swagger, but Snot became my favourite band. Their first album Get Some was released in 1997 and had Lynn’s dog Dobbs on the cover. They appeared on Ozzfest and were building a following. Then they went into the studio to record their second album. On December 11, 1998, Lynn and Dobbs were killed in a car accident when a truck ran into the car Lynn was driving.
I was devastated at this turn of events and hearing this news. To this day I listen to Get Some a few times a month, have their second album which I’ll chat about in a minute and their live album.
I actually ended up getting to see them when they reformed and had Tommy Vext sing for them. It was amazing to hear the songs live.
Snot – Stoopid (1997)
Snot – The Box (1997)
Following Lynn’s death, it was announced that a group of his friends would perform on the album and the music that had been recorded would be used. The album was released in September 2000 and was called Strait Up and featured a guest list of singers that was incredibly impressive.
Snot feat MCUD from Hed P.E. – I Know Where You’re At (2000)
Snot feat Brandon Boyd from Incubus – Divided (An Argument For the Soul) (2000)
The album spawned a hit single with “Angel’s Son” performed by Lajon Witherspoon from Sevendust as well as Clint Lowery on guitar and the members of Snot. The video starts with a silhouette of Lynn and Dobbs running on the beach and that scene gets me every time.
Snot feat Lajon Witherspoon & Clint Lowery – Angel’s Son (2000)
There we go. I hope maybe I’ve introduced some bands to you or re-introduced you to some bands you’ve maybe put off listening for some time!
Until next edition, keep the tunes cranked!
Steve
Steve Stred
Steve Stred writes dark, bleak horror fiction.
Steve is the author of the novels Invisible & The Stranger, the novellas The Girl Who Hid in the Trees, Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, and the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun.
On September 1st, 2019 his second collection of dark poetry and drabbles called The Night Crawls In will arrive. This release was specifically created to help fund the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant.
Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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