I afford myself very little. However, one thing I do not ever mind spending my money or time on is discovering new music for myself. I like to go to iTunes and look up a certain band and then see what else it recommends. Through this process I have come to find bands that were in the mainstream and then find the bands that could be like a dime a dozen, but just so happen to be the band I stumbled upon.
As such, I have grown to love southern metal music. Wikipedia has no definition for it, but you would know it if you heard it. Some would call it trash, others call it sludge metal, but I like to label it southern metal. I do not know how to break it down to a style, but you would know it if you heard it. I notice there tends to be a lot of changes in the tempo of the song, with random singing/screaming. Last night, while scouring iTunes, I looked up some bands, and found the list of recommendations. So, below is a quick hit of the southern metal bands' music I own and my quick hit evaluations of them.
Pantera
Probably really the first group from this type that I knew of. The thing is, a lot of their songs could be considered thrash metal, but their later albums, which I enjoy more, tend to go to the southern metal category. A couple songs here and there, mostly "Cowboys from Hell" and "Cemetery Gates" are earlier songs with that hint of the south. I think towards the end of the band's run, Phil Anselmo tried to force his southern metal hand as the songs on The Great Southern Trendkill and Reinventing the Steel sound more like what I would define as southern metal. Phil Anselmo I believe is heavily influential in this category and quite prominent.
Sign of the Southern Cross
One of the new bands I found last night, but I was only able to find one album of theirs from I think 2009. I thought it was Phil Anselmo, but the guy singing could totally be a replacement/stand in for Pantera's front man. He sings just like him it is eary. Fans of Pantera would who have grown up would like them. It almost sounds to me much like the later albums of Pantera - not as good as the Great Southern Trendkill but better than Reinventing the Steel. Thirteen songs for 5 bucks is a pretty good deal, in my opinion.
Superjoint Ritual
Fronted by Phil Anselmo, this is a band whose music sounds like he tried to shove all the sounds into various songs that Pantera would not allow. Some songs are really good, others are just slow drudges. The good is good, but the bad I skip quite frequently. They are just okay.
Down
The last Phil Anselmo fronted band that I know of. He has some other band called Arson Anthem, but I have not heard any of their stuff. Anywho, Down is a great band for a guy who left a better band. This does not happen often. Yet, some of their songs I have in my regular rotation for the past 10 years. Stone the Crow, Losing All, Flambeaux, The Man That Follows Hell, and one of my recent favorites Stained Glass Cross. In all his songs, he is hard to understand, and I can only imagine he is singing about southern things.
Hellyeah
Cheesy name for a band? Perhaps, but their first album it fit. Second album not so much. Their song You Wouldn't Know is not southern sounding, but their other songs are. The singer has some southern twang. Their second album is more southerny, but also done in a much cheesier manner. Good at points, good for a random play of all my songs on the iPod. They could have done so much more, but again for a "side project," it is more good than bad, but only like 55%-45%
Southern Flame
Another new addition to my white trash iPod. I think they are fantastic, but the way the music was recorded makes it very hard to fully enjoy what they tried to present. It was very fresh in my opinion and not more of the same like Hellyeah is. The problem with how it was recorded is that if I put their songs in a shuffle with other songs, I have to make the songs of Southern Flame louder. I hate doing this and tend to just skip past them so I do not get surprised when a properly recorded/engineered song comes on and blow my ears out. It is a shame because this could be more noticed of an album (Whiskey Metal). I only found one album of theirs, but there was 18 songs. Yeah, one is a drum solo, which really shows the weakness in which it was recorded. I understand if it was the band's first album and times were tough, but with my 8 dollars in your pocket, maybe invest in a tape recorder or something. I guess I ended up knocking this band, whereas in actuality I think they are really good. If I listen to just their songs, I really enjoy them. In a mix with others, it is frustrating.
Texas Hippie Coalition
I don't know what the Hell these guys are, but they just wanted a band with the abbreviation THC. Their first album Pride of Texas is pretty good for an underground heavy metal band. It sounds like a mix of Black Label Society and Pantera. Their lyrics I could compare to how a rapper writes lyrics - you know, I'm the best and here's why (most of the reasons are just because he rocks). Simple lyrics, but the music is good. An example - the song Pissed off and Mad About It. Think there is anything complicated about that? Nope. My favorite song of theirs is this one, plus the song River Bottom. Their second album, Rollin', sounds more like a sellout type of album. The first album was kind of refreshing, but they go downhill from there. I recommend the first, but not the second. However, the second album is recorded better, but the quality of the first one is still okay (not as frustrating as Southern Flame's music). The only thing the second album is good for is a crisper version of Pissed off and Mad About.
The Union Underground
A one and done band, and they are probably most notable for having the them song for WWF's Monday Night Raw for a couple years. I think the song was called "Across the Nation." The only album of theirs is called an Education in Rebellion, and they also have a live album, but it is pretty much all the songs from their album plus the Raw song. Oh well. What they made was great. I love them. Bitter Man, Drivel, Friend Song, Revolution Man, South Texas Deathride - all good songs with that hint of southernness. I highly recommend them. The worst part of them is there is no more music!
Pride & Glory
A Zakk Wylde side project, they have one or two songs I like. Zakk has more of southern rock ballads than metal songs on this album. Good if your a fan of his, but that's about it. I can take occassional slow songs, but not an album mostly fully of them that sounds like what a country singer who wants to be a badass would sound like, whereas Zakk can do it naturally.
SoIL
Stupid way to spell their name, I know. However, this is probably one of my favorite bands ever - until the lead singer left. Ryan McCombs, who later went on to Drowning Pool, is one of the most perfect singers. Their first three albums - Throttle Junkies, Scars, and Redefine - should be in your collection if you like hard rock bordering on metal. This guy is one of my favorite front man and actually had me interested in the stupid band Drowning Pool for a little while. He sings their song that says, "This is for the soldiers!" that Brad Lidge from the Phillies used to come out to. Soil is a great band, but with their new singer are just another hard rock band, but better than most.
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