In my 2015 post The Top 12 albums that shaped my musical life I covered the first two waves of albums that shaped my life: The very first one in the mid-80's and when I rediscover metal in the mid-90's. Now I want to reflect on waves 3 (mid-2000's) and 4 (early 2010's).
Wave 3: 2005-2007
Christ Illusion by Slayer (2006)
I was living in the US and I was bored with the radio friendly and classic rock that I was listening to there. So I decided to explore heavier stuff. One of the critics that I respected at the time elected this album as one of the best of the year. And even though I had Show No Mercy from back in the day, I never got into it. Well, I loved Christ Illusion and next thing I know I finally discovered Reign in Blood, the whole discography and the rest is history. Since then, Slayer is one of my favorite bands.
The Roundhouse Tapes by Opeth (2007)
Wave 4: 2011-2012
The Hunter by Mastodon (2011)
I had never heard of the band when The Hunter was released and it took me one year to understand it and get into their sound. Better late than never! The thing is, this is one of their weakest album, so you can imagine as I discovered they were even better than I thought. These days it is one of my favorite modern bands.
Koloss by Meshuggah (2012)
I was hypnotized by this album! I listened to "Do Not Look Down" more than 70 times just in my PC. But the real game changer was seeing them live! What an experience that is! After that, they become a favorite band! One of the best metal shows of this decade. Looking back discovering their disco was a welcomed pleasure!
Periphery II: This Time It's Personal by Periphery (2012)
I saw an interview with John Petruci talking about Periphery who were opening for Dream Theater. I watched "Icarus Lives!" on YouTube and was really impressed. But instead of buying the debut, I got their newest release at the time and Periphery II became my album of the year. I really like all the albums that followed it.
The Parallax II: Future Sequence by Between the Buried and Me (2012)
This was actually my first BTBAM album and I love it for that. After getting into Periphery, I bought a ticket for a show of both bands together. BTBAM was promoting Parallax II. So I listened to it and to Colors. From there I started to dig their whole discography and like all the other bands in this wave, they became one of my favorite modern prog bands.
Atlas by Parkway Drive (2012)
Despite being a fan of Killswitch Engage for sometime at that point, overall I was not yet willing to try bands who were considered "anything-core". But those Aussies' very metallic metalcore convinced me to give it a try. It worked and from there I have embraced their full discography and added a few metalcore bands to my list of favorite modern bands.
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Wave 3: 2005-2007
A classmate and the guitar player of my band at the time, suggested to me to check Opeth. I got two tracks from the live album from iTunes: "Windowpane" and "Bleak". I remember being so impressed and I was sure they had two singers. Even though I loved those songs for some reason I only came to explore the full discography with the release of Heritage in 2011 (during my fourth wave of discoveries).
Ascendancy by Trivium (2005)
That same friend also suggested Trivium as the "next Metallica" or something. "Like Light To The Flies" became a personal favorite. Luckily I started with what's arguably their best album yet. Other songs are also great. They didn't become as big as we expected. But the most important thing is that it opened my mind to give a chance to new modern bands.
The End of Heartache by Killswitch Engage (2004)
That same friend also suggested Trivium as the "next Metallica" or something. "Like Light To The Flies" became a personal favorite. Luckily I started with what's arguably their best album yet. Other songs are also great. They didn't become as big as we expected. But the most important thing is that it opened my mind to give a chance to new modern bands.
And finally the same guy invited me to see Killswitch Engage live. I will never forget the powerful performance from Howard Jones, Adam Dutkiewicz's killer riffs and most importantly the mix of screens and clean vocals. I was caught by surprise and was really impressed. As a result, Killswitch Engage was a perfect way into this style of metal. Years have passed and to this day is one of my favorite bands.
The Blackening by Machine Head (2007)
I had only heard about the band until they opened for Heaven And Hell in 2007, I think. So I got a couple of songs via iTunes "Halo" and "Imperium"...love at first sight. I had no idea that The Blackening would become such a classic record and until today their best album by far. It was a good start!
I had only heard about the band until they opened for Heaven And Hell in 2007, I think. So I got a couple of songs via iTunes "Halo" and "Imperium"...love at first sight. I had no idea that The Blackening would become such a classic record and until today their best album by far. It was a good start!
Wave 4: 2011-2012
I had never heard of the band when The Hunter was released and it took me one year to understand it and get into their sound. Better late than never! The thing is, this is one of their weakest album, so you can imagine as I discovered they were even better than I thought. These days it is one of my favorite modern bands.
I was hypnotized by this album! I listened to "Do Not Look Down" more than 70 times just in my PC. But the real game changer was seeing them live! What an experience that is! After that, they become a favorite band! One of the best metal shows of this decade. Looking back discovering their disco was a welcomed pleasure!
I saw an interview with John Petruci talking about Periphery who were opening for Dream Theater. I watched "Icarus Lives!" on YouTube and was really impressed. But instead of buying the debut, I got their newest release at the time and Periphery II became my album of the year. I really like all the albums that followed it.
This was actually my first BTBAM album and I love it for that. After getting into Periphery, I bought a ticket for a show of both bands together. BTBAM was promoting Parallax II. So I listened to it and to Colors. From there I started to dig their whole discography and like all the other bands in this wave, they became one of my favorite modern prog bands.
Despite being a fan of Killswitch Engage for sometime at that point, overall I was not yet willing to try bands who were considered "anything-core". But those Aussies' very metallic metalcore convinced me to give it a try. It worked and from there I have embraced their full discography and added a few metalcore bands to my list of favorite modern bands.
Follow BeMetalaways Spotify Playlist with upcoming metal releases
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