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Homegrown headbangers
The Massachusetts metal scene — and beyond
BY SEAN RICHARDSON

When MTV’s Headbangers Ball went back on the air six months ago, metalheads across the country pumped their fists in celebration. Now, the franchise is expanding. The new two-disc compilation MTV2 Headbangers Ball (Roadrunner) has joined the soundtracks to Freddy Vs. Jason (Roadrunner) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Nitrus) as the season’s top metal samplers. And the inaugural MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour hits the Palladium in Worcester this Friday with headliners Shadows Fall, Lamb of God, and Killswitch Engage. If there was ever any doubt that metal could prosper on MTV2 in 2003, there isn’t anymore.

Fans who remember Headbangers Ball’s original 1987–1995 heyday will notice a familiar duality on MTV2 Headbangers Ball. Back then, the show was preceded by Countdown to the Ball, which served up cuts by Bon Jovi and Def Leppard as an appetizer for a meatier main course of Metallica and Megadeth. Thrash devotees showed their distaste for the pretty-boy bands by adopting the mantra "death to false metal" — meaning that Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were too wimpy to be considered metal. These days, thrash has given way to hardcore and death metal, just as hair metal and its immediate successor, grunge, have given way to new metal. But when Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage fans bitch about the Godsmack and Staind hits that kick off MTV2 Headbangers Ball, they’re singing an old tune. That stuff isn’t metal, goes the prevailing logic, it’s rock.

Their followers might not always get along, but the four bands that form those two opposing factions have at least one thing in common: they’re all from Massachusetts. Godsmack and Staind are both on the road in support of their third consecutive platinum albums; this weekend, they’re sharing the bill at the enormous Voodoo Music Festival 2003 in New Orleans. Those two groups seem set to stick around for a while, but the rise of Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage — who were the loudest buzz bands on the OzzFest 2003 second stage — signals a fundamental change in the power structure of metal. Unlike most new-metal acts, they don’t do souped-up grunge. Instead, they mix the ferocity and the DIY work ethic of hardcore with the technical prowess and the melodic flair of vintage thrash. No wonder people are starting to rave about the new wave of American heavy metal.

The current Shadows Fall single, "Destroyer of Senses," is the second MTV2 hit from their 2002 album, The Art of Balance (Century Media). It’s got all the trademarks that made the band regional faves long ago, including frontman Brian Fair’s intense growl and guitarist Jonathan Donais’s impassioned shredding. "The sweet taste of self-destruction/Waves of purity wash away the memories," sings Fair, examining his love/hate relationship with every metalhead’s favorite vice: alcohol. The band empty a few pint glasses themselves in the video, which features a fitting display of home-town color: it’s snowing behind them when they play.

Killswitch Engage are also two singles into their most recent album, last year’s Alive or Just Breathing (Roadrunner). Their latest, "Fixation on the Darkness," appears on MTV2 Headbangers Ball with vocals by current frontman Howard Jones, who took over for Jesse David Leach after Alive or Just Breathing came out. As the video shows, the track is suitable for moshing, but it’s also about as radio-friendly as the new breed gets: the majestic chorus sets Zen-like lyrics to swooning melodies. The band stick to that formula on the Freddy Vs. Jason cut "When Darkness Falls," the first new song they’ve released since Jones arrived.

Several other Massachusetts metal bands are poised to join Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage on the national stage. Unearth appear on MTV2 Headbangers Ball and will open the first half, including the Worcester date, of the MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour. They also just signed a contract with the legendary label Metal Blade. Original Shadows Fall frontman Philip Labonte’s band, All That Remains, just finished making their second album for Prosthetic and are playing Bill’s Bar on Monday December 8. Jesse David Leach’s new band, Seemless, are preparing to release their first disc on the Albany label Losing Face and are opening for Scissorfight and the Dukes of Nothing at the Middle East on Halloween — yes, the same night Killswitch Engage are in Worcester.

THAT’S ONLY THE TIP of the iceberg — there’s no question that Massachusetts is at the forefront of the new wave of American heavy metal. But here’s a look at five more choice newcomers from around the country.

Three years ago, Richmond’s Lamb of God put out their first album, New American Gospel (Metal Blade), and it earned them a ton of favorable Pantera comparisons. Their new As the Palaces Burn (Prosthetic) is bursting with real metal cred: produced by cult hero Devin Townsend, it features a guest appearance by famed Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. What’s more, they recently appeared on Headbangers Ball to announce their new deal with Epic, a signing that makes them the first of the new breed to join forces with a bona fide major label.

How much Lamb of God end up streamlining their music for the general marketplace remains to be seen, but for now they’re keeping it real: their new single, "Ruin," is one of the most enervating and abrasive tracks on MTV2 Headbangers Ball. "This is the art of ruin," howls frontman Randy Blythe, the coy Shadows Fall reference being a good example of how much darker his perspective is than that of his current tour mates. The band have learned well from the masters: the song hinges on a wicked guitar duel and a frantic drum solo à la Slayer. And the video, in which they perform for a group of horrified Latinos in a run-down church, is an instant classic.

Long Island’s From Autumn to Ashes blurred the lines between metalcore and screamo on their 2001 debut, Too Bad You’re Beautiful (Ferret), which was produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. Now signed to emo powerhouse Vagrant, they recently stormed the pop charts with the new The Fiction We Live, which was produced by rock hitmaker GGGarth (Chevelle, Trapt). They’re currently out with Alkaline Trio, Reggie and the Full Effect, and No Motiv on the Vagrant Tour 2003, which hits the Palladium next Saturday, November 8.

Plenty of emo kids like metal, but the reverse isn’t often the case. So From Autumn to Ashes will probably turn off their share of headbangers with all their relationship songs and mellow interludes. Still, their new video, "Milligram Smile," stars a gnarly old dude like the one in Metallica’s "The Unforgiven," and it proves they know when to kick into a thrash gallop. Frontman Benjamin Perri does the dirty vocals while drummer Francis Mark handles the clean ones, and like kindred spirits Poison the Well, the band create a vibrant punk-metal roar.

Hailing from the SoCal hardcore mecca of Huntington Beach, Avenged Sevenfold are probably the most flamboyant of the new wave of American heavy-metal bands. These guys don’t even pretend to play by the rules: they borrow most of their æsthetic from goth-punk hitmakers AFI, they work with the pop-punk label Hopeless, and they made their new disc, Waking the Fallen (Hopeless), with Godsmack producer Mudrock and former Boston pop guy Fred Archambault. On Thursday November 13, they’re at Axis on the Vans Off the Wall Club Tour 2003 with the Suicide Machines, the Unseen, and Western Waste.

Despite their punk pedigree, Avenged Sevenfold have enough Pantera/Iron Maiden power-metal moments to make Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage blush. Frontman M. Shadows is a talented howler, and guitarist Synyster Gates actually attended Hollywood’s infamous Musicians Institute. Their "Eternal Rest" opens with a piledriving shred-guitar blowout and closes with elegant vocal harmonies and a relaxed groove. In between, Shadows tells a story about vengeful children that’s as creepy as any ancient Iron Maiden parable.

The most bizarre inclusion on MTV2 Headbangers Ball is "March of the Fire Ants" by Atlanta math-metal freaks Mastodon. Guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor started the band after a short stint with Today Is the Day, the veteran noise-metal act led by frequent Lamb of God collaborator Steve Austin. Their first album, Remission (Relapse), came out last year and generated enough buzz that it’s just been reissued with a bonus DVD. Produced by Matt Bayles (Isis), it’s a savage, lumbering beast anchored by Dailor’s superhuman polyrhythms. "Stone grave/Stone engraved," screams frontman Troy Sanders on "March of the Fire Ants," which twitches like Neurosis but isn’t so weird that it lacks visceral thrills. If heaviness is what the kids want, they’ll get it from Mastodon — and MTV2 earns props for throwing their weight behind a band this adventurous.

Meanwhile, Detroit’s the Black Dahlia Murder reside on the extreme edge of the new wave of American heavy metal. Produced by Mike Hasty of the popular Detroit hardcore act Walls of Jericho, their new Unhallowed (Metal Blade) is maximum-impact death metal at its blackest. "A world of terror we create/Maddening howls fill the streets as further spreads the plague," screams frontman Trevor Strnad on "Contagion," their current single. Like Lamb of God, the Black Dahlia Murder filmed their video in a church, though theirs is a more traditional cathedral. Yeah, that doesn’t have much to do with the social commentary in the song. But you can never get enough blasphemy in death metal.

The MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour features performances by Shadows Fall, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, and Unearth this Friday, October 31, at the Palladium in Worcester, and From Autumn to Ashes play the Vagrant Tour at the Palladium next Saturday, November 8; call (800) 477-6849. Avenged Sevenfold play the Vans Off the Wall Club Tour at Axis on November 13; call (617) 423-NEXT.


Issue Date: October 31 - November 6, 2003
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