There's No Metal Like Oakland Metal

"Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him" (tylerssvtfocushateshim)
11/10/2013 at 02:48 • Filed to: ///Metal

Choice selections from the Bay Area's other city.

High on Fire (love these dudes)

Abscess

Machine Head

and of course, Neurosis

DISCUSSION (9)

Squid > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
11/10/2013 at 03:42

I fucking love Neurosis! Have you listened to Jesus Fucking Christ? It is a punk offshoot of Dave Ed and they are pretty fucking good if you dig punk.

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Squid
11/10/2013 at 03:50

Definitely will check them out. Neurosis has so many side projects it's hard to keep track of them all lol. Punk is a bit hit-or-miss for me but everything I've heard from Dave has been gold, so I'll be expecting Jesus Fucking Christ to as good. Thanks for the heads-up, always love looking for new bands.

Squid > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
11/10/2013 at 03:54

Haha yeah the side projects can get tough to keep track of. JFC is pretty hardcore oldschool punk, not the bullshit candy pop music. I only know of them because my brother-in-law and sister have let them stay on their couch and told me to check them out. The funny thing is that they didn't know of Neurosis before that either. I've been on a Neurosis kick for the past few months.

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Squid
11/10/2013 at 04:34

That's an awesome story with your your sister and her SO haha. Kinda like you I've only recently "gotten" Neurosis. They were always a little too cerebral for me, I couldn't really digest their music. But about a year ago we went on a trans-Atlantic flight and I listened to Through Silver in Blood in its entirety in a dark cabin over the ocean at night and something just clicked. It's definitely thinking-man's metal, but I love Neurosis now. Their songwriting is just ridiculously good, I'd go so far as to call them composers.

Did just check out JFC, digging their stuff so far. Have to hear more of their catalog to get a real feel for them, but seems a good recommendation, thanks man.

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
11/10/2013 at 04:55

Props for posting "Davidian" instead of one of their newer songs. Nice selections.

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Goshen, formerly Darkcode
11/10/2013 at 05:14

Thank you! Haven't been a huge fan of MH's recent work either, The Blackening was really the only album I've liked past The Burning Red. Their back catalog definitely kicks ass so I'll forgive them for Supercharger haha.

Loping Camshaft > Goshen, formerly Darkcode
11/10/2013 at 05:32

Burn My Eyes was one of the first metal albums I remember. Davidian is my favorite workout song. I will say that I wasn't much of a fan of the stuff they did since then, until The Blackening . It's a complete masterpiece. I think it was the best metal album since Master of Puppets (though I tend to prefer Justice ). The only other I'd consider in that group would be a few Pantera albums. I am the world's biggest Pantera fan, but I'd say that for the most part, The Blackening is more well rounded and has a wider range of styles and emotion and themes and musicianship. The followup, Unto the Locust is also outstanding, but maybe not quite as good, but that's like when people say the McLaren F1 is better than an F40.

Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him > Loping Camshaft
11/10/2013 at 08:25

IMO Machine Head always felt like the more grown-up Pantera. I wasn't old enough in the 90s to experience either band firsthand, so in hindsight Machine Head always seemed like a stronger band, Pantera was just a little more accessible so that's why they're so revered. I was a huge Pantera fan a few years ago (still have CFH as my clan tags for CoD and Halo), but Machine Head has kind of replaced them as my go-to workout/get-shit-done band. They're dynamic enough to be interesting but not so complicated you need to think like you would with Opeth or some of the prog-y bands. Personally I think Phil is a better overall vocal talent than Rob Flynn, but Rob's lyrics blow Phil's out of the water. I still have both bands on regular rotation though, dig them both.

Loping Camshaft > Tyler's SVT Focus Hates Him
11/10/2013 at 11:31

I can see what you mean. The reason I am an ardent Pantera fan to this day is they didn't follow the so-called "trend", and Machinehead did. I never got to see Pantera either, but I did see Damageplan and have seen DOWN tons of times (got to meet them in Jan this year). I have also seen MH several times, and they KILL live. MH always put out heavy music, but several albums (with a few otherwise good songs) have a lot of the nu-metal and rap influence that made me write them off.

There really is nobody out there like Phil and he still has it if you've heard his recent solo album. But at least with the last two MH albums, the lyrics are part of why I hold them in such high regard. I love both bands, but in the grand scheme, I love and respect Pantera much more because of their consistency, influence, intensity, and songs.