Best of 2014 in Metal and Hard Rock – Part I

Starting a countdown of the best albums for this year
By Peter Lindblad

Separating the wheat from the chaff from 2014's heavy metal and hard rock is not really difficult, demanding work, but it does call for the kind of stupid courage that comes from drinking heavily.

These are dangerous times in the blogosphere, a wild west where expressing a harmless opinion is likely to set off gunfights of moral outrage and blistering condemnations. This is music, though, a thing that is said to soothe savage breasts and all that. Of course, talking about it can be akin to conversations about politics or religion.

In the spirit of throwing gasoline on a fire, here's a best albums list for 2014, starting with Nos. 6-10. The rest come later. You've been warned.

Cavalera Conspiracy - Pandemonium 2014

10. Cavalera Conspiracy – Pandemonium: What do you want from Max and Igor Cavalera at this point? A reunion of the classic Sepultura lineup? Jake E. Lee has a better chance of getting Sharon and Ozzy to give him writing credits on "Bark at the Moon." Just give Cavalera Conspiracy's Pandemonium a chance. It is devastatingly violent aural chaos, a mad, multi-layered symphony of thrash-metal ferocity and rusted-out, punishing industrial grind for frustrated children of the digital revolution that'll make your head explode.

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls 2014

9. Judas Priest – Redeemer of Souls: Not ready just yet to fly off into the sunset on sad wings of destiny, Judas Priest confounded expectations with this monstrous beast of a record. They sound as hungry as ever on Redeemer of Souls, an unholy communion of epic, expansive melodies with menacing, rugged riffs and electrically charged solos and dual-guitar flights that scream like tortured souls bound for hell. God bless this Priest.

California Breed - S/T 2014

8. California Breed - California Breed: Nobody knew Andrew Watt from Adam before hitching his wagon to Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham – the drummer having bailed on the project just as it was gaining traction, only to be replaced by former Queens of the Stone Age punisher Joey Castillo –  in the vibrant new power trio California Breed. A young guitar slinger with great feel, fiery versatility and raw ability, Watt is the partner Hughes has been waiting for all these years, able to wring out soulful leads, tough riffs and blazing solos with ease on a debut album that pays off with surefire hooks, lean and mean Zeppelin-like stomp and swaggering groove, and some of the best singing of Hughes' career.

KXM - S/T 2014

7. KXM – KXM: Another trio, this one a supergroup made up of King's X front man dUg Pinnick, former Dokken axe man George Lynch and Korn drummer Ray Luzier, KXM came out swinging on their emotionally powerful eponymous debut. Just as happy grinding out rough-and-tumble, slow-burning riffs as he is reeling off sizzling solos, Lynch seems comfortable in the grungy world of KXM, where Luzier's complex drum patterns and Pinnick's grumbling bass provide a pulpit for spiritual profundities, damaged introspection and sharp socio-political commentary.

Revocation - Deathless 2014

6. Revocation – Deathless: Immensely talented, the technical death-metal outfit Revocation upped the ante with Deathless, showing off dizzying musical chops on a record that was both frenzied and brutally heavy. And yet, amid the controlled chaos there are strains of melody that somehow survive all the destruction and carnage going on around them. Down the line, they'll be using the word "seminal" to describe Deathless.

CD Review: Cavalera Conspiracy – Pandemonium

CD Review: Cavalera Conspiracy – Pandemonium
Napalm Records
All Access Rating: A-

Cavalera Conspiracy - Pandemonium 2014

A raging, all-consuming swarm of roaring metallic noise has descended upon the world, and its name is Pandemonium, a fitting title for the latest dose of anger-inducing, teeth-gnashing vitriol from the brothers Cavalera, Max and Igor.

Abandoning melody just as the disillusioned and hopeless might turn away from God, Cavalera Conspiracy delivers their most visceral record to date, combining the heavy brutality of Brazilian death/thrash metal kingpins Sepultura – founded in part by Max and Igor – with the hammering industrial violence of latter-day Ministry.

Every track is a delirious aural madhouse, beginning with the bludgeoning, buzzing hive of activity "Babylonian Pandemonium" and rushing headlong into the pounding "I, Barbarian," with its odd, fun-house guitar effects. Air raid sirens, barking dogs and snippets of speeches contribute to the disorienting sonic melee, flooded with Max's gutteral bellow and blunt lyrical imagery, drums relentlessly pummeling away, down-tuned breakdowns and searing, psycho guitars going off in unusual directions, as if following some insane muse.

Any red meat tossed in the vicinity of the ravenous "Bonzai Kamikazee" would immediately be devoured whole, its pawing, clawed riffs lunging at enemies real or imagined. Charging just as hard, the thundering "Cramunhao" simply overwhelms the senses, growing increasingly powerful and dense. And even when Cavalera Conspiracy is in danger of going completely off the rails – the unhinged insanity of "Scum" and "Apex Predator" being two instances – they are forever grounded in mauling, disciplined grooves that leave discernible trails so nobody gets lost, although it is next to impossible to keep up with the runaway speed of "Insurrection" and the swift, strong currents of energy that carry "Not Losing The Edge." Not to mention the fact that they stuff the record with a bevy of interesting auditory elements, rewarding repeated listens with new textures and discoveries.

One of the most intense and ferocious records to date from the Cavalera brothers, Pandemonium makes Soulfly seem an unnecessary distraction for Max. This is one Conspiracy theory that demands more investigation.
– Peter Lindblad