One Hour of Metal is where I either put my iTunes on shuffle or tune into a metal internet radio station and for one hour I document what I hear. The good, the bad and the down right awful are always represented with honesty in this segment. Some hours are better than others as you will see in this series. So lets get started shall we?
Brave – Hold On
Off to a great start here with my new favorite band. This song is a total facemelting dose of Celtic infused Prog Metal awesomeness. This was the first song I ever heard by Brave and this has to be one of my favorites. A great way to kick off one hour of Metal broseph!
Cathedral – Ride
The mighty gods of modern Doom Metal! Before Graveyard, before Kyng, before most Stoner Doom Metal bands was Lee Dorian and Cathedral. This song always rips my face off. The breakdown in the solo section always melts my face and Dorian’s vocals just kill me every time. This is such an epically heavy song. Always a welcome song and always a welcome album (The Ethereal Mirror). Ooo Yeah! We Ride!
KISS – God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II
Uggh. Man, I knew this song was lame as fuck when back in ‘92 my mom heard it and said, “Aww, that’s such a cute song.” Yeah, lame as fuck. I dread hearing it live when they play this atrocity. I mean, in all honesty it’s not the worst song ever but it’s just so lame and corny. It does have some decent lyric parts but all in all this song just sucks.
AC/DC – Love Song
Wow. Talk about a stinker. It’s no wonder AC/DC never did ballads. This Bon Scott gem comes from a “rarities” bootleg and it’s one of those songs best left unheard. Matter of fact, I’m going to quit talking about it with hopes that it will go away. Nothing to see here. Move on.
Scatterbrain – Goodbye Freedom, Hello Mom
Scatterbrain was fucking awesome. Comedy metal with a band that could play circles around most of the bands in their genre. These guys were more quirky and off the wall than Ugly Kid Joe but from that same kind of school. I remember seeing them and Ugly Kid Joe together back in the day. It’s a shame that Scatterbrain didn’t make it but this song kicks all kinds of face.
Suididal Tendencies One Too Many Times
I’ve always dug me some ST. “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” has some great songs on it. I always dug their more Metal sounding stuff and this song is just weird as fuck. Mike Muir is a weird motherfucker but he’s creative and original. Just a great, classic ST tune that never gets too much love.
Firewind – Hate World Hero
I fucking love me some Firewind and this song just rules. Gus G and Co have some pretty heavy Dio influence going on but imagine if Dio had Randy Rhoads as his guitarist. I’m not a huge fan of the vocalist but the song itself is fucking stellar and Gus G’s guitar playing is completely facemelting. I need to listen to more Firewind.
Iron Maiden – The Clansman (Live)
Hearing Bruce Dickinson sing “The Clansman” is goddamn surreal. It’s hard to even imagine how shitty of a singer Blaze Failey is after hearing this song. This song just kicks all kinds of fucking ass and Bruce totally makes this song everything that it should have ever been. Absolutely stellar.
Saxon – Rock City
There are very few bands that are as ridiculous as Saxon but goddamn do I love this band. They are so kitschy yelling shit like “Crank it up mama!” and all that. These guys just captured the excitement and young energy of a generation that needed to be understood. No matter how ridiculously corny it is, it’s fucking Saxon and it’s fucking awesome. Always was and always will be!
King Diamond – Cremation
How can you not laugh every time you year the first sung note of a King Diamond song? Without fail, you know it’s going to be ear piercingly loud. The only problem here is that this is an INSTRUMENTAL. And not even a good one at that. Well, it does have a little bit of talking at the end but not good enough. Ugggh, oh well. I guess I’ll listen to “Sleepless Nights” later to get my fix.
Slayer – Seasons In The Abyss (Live)
So Slayer is far from being one of my favorite bands but they do have some pretty amazing moments now and then. This live version from Sonisphere’s Big 4 show is definitely NOT one of those moments. Uggh, it’s like they totally forgot how to play their guitars. They need Gary Holt from Exodus to remind them how to play a real lead. This version pretty much sucks.
Razor White – The Damage Is Done
Wow. Old school New Orleans Metal from 1988. These guys were one of the biggest bands in New Orleans when I was a kid and we all thought they would get huge. Their “Black Demo” from 1988 was heavy as hell and even more heavier than how they looked. This song was one of their big fan favorites and it was such a great, dark, heavy song. Unfortunately their follow up album sucked and was all cheesy and poppy. This demo is still one of my favorites and this song still kicks ass today.
Sabaton – Primo Victoria (Live)
What a way to end this One Hour of Metal. Sabaton not only put out one of my favorite albums this year but they had one of the best live shows I have ever seen. This song totally captures the energy of this band and their rabid audience. This is without a doubt one of Sabaton’s greatest moments. This is something they should be extremely proud of capturing.
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