has there been a great american metal band since the golden age of death?

well, Immolation are pretty great, tho they formed in the 80s....but if I had more time to think...

like Emperor great? Like Slayer great?

The bar doesn't seem very high. Mastodon.

Absu?

gesundheit!

kidding. i like absu. although i think they would be considered the greatest sumerian metal band. maybe they are the greatest u.s. metal band of the 90's. you are on to something.

Yob.

are harvey milk metal?

It's too soon to be sure, but maybe Arsis. Mastodon had a shot but are in the process of blowing it.

Arsis are very good, but they're not world-beaters. I like Neuraxis better. And yeah, Mastodon's first two were great, but that last album - woof.

They're not great, but 3 Inches of Blood is lots of fun...
"Destroy the Orcs" anybody?

I'd go with EHG for sure, but yeah, once a genre solidifies, even the best bands don't seem "great" any more, I think

Mastodon had a shot but are in the process of blowing it.

How so? Their show I caught this summer was phenomenal and they're coming off their strongest album yet.

I'm going to get pelted with rocks, garbage and decapitated goats' heads for this, but am I the only person who enjoys The Sword?

I like 'em well enough, but I'd hardly consider them "great".

Blood Mountain slayed. Their buddies High on Fire are a legitimately great American metal band.

Agreed on the HoF.

am I the only person who enjoys The Sword?

yes.

also: high on fire, yeah.

Nah, The Sword are okay. Lament for the Auroch sounds like Karp, and that's good enough for me. Faint praise, faint praise.

Question is have there been any great American metal bands in the last SEVENTEEN YEARS? Yes. The answer is yes.

What about the Louisiana bands?

Crowbar?

Acid Bath?

Hell even Down were great for most of an album.

Eyehategod?

Whoops, never mind that last one.

Didn't see Scott's mention upthread.

Obviously Down were heavy Sabbath/Zep plagarizers, but it fucking worked for a little while there.

I saw a High on Fire + Goatwhore show last year and it seemed to be about as good as things have been for awhile.

Shit, I forgot Soilent Green.

Is Big Business considered metal? They're pretty awesome and do a lot with really limited instrumentation.

I don't understand the Goatwhore love. At all. But I don't like Soilent Green, either.

And put me down as liking the Sword, also.

like Emperor great? Like Slayer great?

The bar doesn't seem very high

OTM. Monster Magnet (even though, I have to admit, I've sort of stopped paying attention to them.)

I don't think Queens of the Stone Age are out of the question, either. (I'd have nominated Neurosis, but Scott claims they're "not a metal band," which is silly, and from the '80s, which I guess is possible though I've never heard any of their '80s stuff.)

Hell, I'll take Novadriver over Emperor or Slayer, for crissakes. Which means they are more "great", as far as I care. (But yeah, I still probably agree with Scott's primary thesis -- for real real real extreme extreme extreme who cares who cares who cares metal metal metal in the '90s and '00s, get thee to Europe.)

(As far as "U.S. metal bands lots of metal people think are great metal bands," Mastodon and High on Fire seem like the obvious choices, though. They're okay, though I've never really loved them much.)

And actually, I'm kind of bummed nobody has nominated the Hidden Hand. (Maybe because Wino is considered an '80s guy himself?)

I like select tracks by both Mastodon and High on Fire, but I have a hard time making it through an entire album -- I just get bored. That never happened with (vintage) Metallica, Slayer, Motorhead, Celtic Frost, Venom, etc. back in the day. Granted, I was was young and stupid back then. Now, I'm just stupid.

Since 1990? Kyuss, Sleep, High On Fire, YOB, Mastodon (Blood Mountain is great btw), Isis, Eyehategod, Qotsa,Monster Magnet,Dillinger Escape Plan, Harvey Milk, Converge, Agalloch,Weakling, Om.
Neurosis might've started in the late 80s but the great line up wasnt formed til the 90s.
I'm sure Nile deserve a mention along with Pig Destroyer even if I'm not a fan of either.

x-post yeah Hidden Hand and Spirit Caravan!

'Greatness' to me in this context implies at least some kind of mainstreaming/crossover potential (because otherwise the term is pretty meaningless to me, considering metal's subgenrefication). In that case, The Dillinger Escape Plan were 'it' when Miss Machine came out, I think. I was working in a record store at the time, and the number of superficially 'non-metal' people who bought it was more than conspicuous -- so surely that was the apex of their 'greatness'. Didn't last very long, though (even though they're still a great band; waiting for the postman to deliver Ire Works at the mo).

future potential great bands who only have 1 album and a few eps out so far are Torche and Baroness

I think there's a lot of similarities between the way metal and electronic music work these days: there's so many splinters and subgenres that it's impossible come up with a sound that caters to everyone. I likes me some backbeat, so a lot of the more ambient metal (and electronic...) leaves me cold. For me, High on Fire might be the best loud band working today, metal or not. Den Kensel, I mean, wow. I love how the new album shows him off.

Also, with metal and dance music, you don't have consensus apparatus that you see in indie rock, or even garage punk. You don't have the prestige labels (Merge, Matador, SubPop) that automatically get a new signing a lot of attention (well, there's Relapse). And the upside to this is you don't get the king-for-a-month Pitchfork coronations that make indie rock so damn annoying. Seems like whenever a metal or electronic project bubbles to the top, like Mastodon or Burial, the follow-up gets treated kinda "meh", 'cause the core fans are already dabbling in some other variation. That sort of deep-digging is usually rewarding too, compared to indie.

I agree with bendy on that.

bendy all kinds of OTM there.

good call on Hidden Hand as well, although I really need to dig in deeper.

I can probably accept Monster Magnet, QOTSA, and Mastodon being granted all-access passes unto the vaunted halls of Valhalla, but I'm not really a "modern" metal guy at all, so what do I know. Also, I kinda dig the new Dethklok record--nuff said.

I love Spirit Caravan so much more than the Hidden Hand that I can't vote for the latter group, even though Wino is truly a god among ants.

And while I love Pig Destroyer, I listened to Terrifyer and Phantom Limb back to back on the train this morning (followed that up with some of Main's Hz just to get my heart back down to a safe rate), and the newer album is just not a patch on Terrifyer, sorry. Each, in its way, lives up to its title; Terrifyer is like being on a roller coaster blindfolded, where Phantom Limb leaves an itch unscratched, because there's something missing but I just can't put my finger on what it is.

"Den Kensel, I mean, wow. I love how the new album shows him off. "

It's Des, but this comment is totally OTM.

er yeah.

So who is doing the uk equivalent of this thread?

Me I guess
Has there been a great British metal bands since the golden age of...

I have been saying for years that Ludicra are the best metal band in America. I can't understand why they aren't as big as Metallica was in '86.

(btw - this is my first post) Hi everybody!

If yr curious, I'm a devout metal nerd with a special penchant for DOOM.

ps - Thanks for the shout out to YOB!

Nate Carson
myspace.com/nanotear

Welcome to us. We're a bunch of characters around here.

Hi Nate. Always great to have more DOOM fans round here. I know your name from somewhere, were you in Witch Mountain and do you post on sr.com?

Ludicra feature members of Slough Feg, right? There's a band who deserve to be huge.

Hi Herman,

Yes, you caught me. I was one of the first SR.com folks (joined before they officially launched back in '99!). And yes, I'm a founding member of Witch Mountain (we're still moderately active). In more recent years I've collaborated with Sunn0))) (I played tympani on White 2) and xhuxk will remember by band Point Line Plane (Skin Graft).

I booked all of YOB's tours and still work with Asunder, Middian, Hidden Hand (til recently), Jarboe, Wolves in the Throneroom, etc.

Anyway, that's enough tooting my own horn for now (but you asked, right?).

Ludicra don't currently share any members with Slough Feg, but they are melodic and from the Bay Area. The thing with Ludicra is that they slay, they write anthemic metal, and the singer and lead guitarist are women. I can't say enough great things about them.

ludicra.org and myspace.com/ludicra (or Alternative Tentacles)

ttfn,
NC

I sometimes post over at sr.com(and Southern Lord as well) as pfunkboy. I alternate posting as Herman/pfunkboy here too.
YOB were awesome and I like Middian a lot as well as the others you mention.

I really, really need to check out Wolves in the Throneroom... all indicators point to me liking them.

and check out Weakling too!

The first WITTR sounds a lot like Weakling (and even has Tim Green production).

The new one on Southern Lord sounds wholly original (that one was produced by Randall Dunn - Earth, Sunn, Asva, Boris, etc).

Fantastic band. But again, I'm biased. I first saw them in a bowling alley with Thrones while I was spinning metal records. I took them under my wing instantly.

That cover art on the first album is beautiful.

Yes, I'm fond of the heavy gatefold and the thick evergreen vinyl.

plus naked

The vinyl of the 2nd WITTR album is supposedly out early 2008. I wish someone would repress the Weakling vinyl, I can't afford $200 for a record.

guys, Dillinger Escape Plan

Not to mention that arguments could be made for Korn or Tool

Especially if you want to talk about bands who weren't just solidifying genres

Dillinger Escape Plan I kinda admire but I couldn't say I love them.

I have been saying for years that Ludicra are the best metal band in America.

i don't know about that, but they're really fucking good. i still think their first album is best, though.

Dillinger keep uppting the ante in different ways with each record. With this record I'm convinced one day they might be a great American ROCK band.

<i>"i don't know about that, but they're really fucking good. i still think their first album is best, though."</i>

Have you seen them live?

there was a great article in Slate on Wolves... that I probably found here. They played at our house but I think I was out of town and missed them.

Nice to see some Middian love as they are from my town and have an ex-roommate of ours on bass.

Dillinger have been going downhill since Dimitri left but "Calculating infinity" by itself is a pretty good shout at greatness.

Love that album...Dimitri sure hated audiences though. When I saw them he threatened to fuck an audience member with a knife, and told the audience to shut the fuck up several times.

Have you seen them live?

nope. haven't had the chance, unless they're one of those bands that tours relentlessly and i never hear about it.

Gentlemen, two cases: Winter and Absu.

i guess i considered winter death-era/late-80's? or was most of their stuff from early 90's. well, they are probably right around there anyway.

winter and absu are/were both pretty great.

If stoner metal is considered for this argument, I think Sleep, Kyuss, and the Melvins (although they started in the 80s) are all worthy of greatness. Each of these groups were innovators as well as bands that cut across metal subgenres.

And just for Obscura alone, Gorguts is one of metal's great bands -- at least in my opinion. (Then again, they're Canadian, right?)

Unfortunately Ludicra has never played east of Austin. I hope to see that change next year. It's a pretty majestic thing to see in a small club.

***

Yes! That WITTR article in Slate made me happy. Was a nice follow up to the Enslaved piece I read in the NY Times...

***

One more entry: Though it's based on only a few releases, I would say that Burning Witch were one of the best and most important contributors to modern metal music from the late 90s onward.

(Then again, they're Canadian, right?)

french canadians.

canada's part of north america

is this any more obvious now?

heh nates first post is in this thread

I was asking this about British metal bands in the last 15 years... Who are they? Electric Wizard, Iron Monkey sure but..

make a thread for it

No one mentioned Type O Negative?

Nevermore, Sunn O))), Wolves in the Throne Room, Deafheaven, Leviathan?

dog latin Great UK Metal bands of the last 15 years?

krallice!!