Music Non Stop: What The?!?!? moments

So as you can tell as a reader of this blog, I tend to listen to all different genres of metal. There are tons, but I will save that for later. Today I want to talk about those songs that made me say "What the..?!?!?" I listen to metal for a few things; fast drumming, heavy riffs, and of course those awesome mind-blowing guitar solos. But even now and then I am taken aback by some songs I hear from some metal bands.

I think the first "what the ?!?!?" moment came when I was listening to Anthrax. Now, Anthrax was one of the first bands I listened to when I got into metal. Plus they were part of the Big Four of thrash. So imagine my reaction when I heard Bring the Noise with Public Enemy.
Now I had heard Aerosmith and Run D.M.C. before, but this was different. This was a metal band covering a rap song. It was totally brand new for me. Add on the fact that Scott Ian raps in it...unbelievable.

A side note this song. This, in my opinion, is the birth of nu-metal. Bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, P.O.D., and a ton more probably wouldn't have existed without this song.

As shocking as that was, it was still a metal song. You can't deny that by listening to it. Fast forward to the mid 90's. Metal was all but dead thanks to grunge. Metallica toured for years on The Black Album, then took some much needed rest. So when they released Load, expectations were high. Say what you will about The Black Album, sell out, too formulated, whatever. At it's core it was metal, maybe not thrash, but metal. Songs like Enter Sandman, Of Wolf and Man, Through the Never, and more were all fist pumpers. Nothing Else Matters and The Unforgiven slowed it down a bit, but they didn't seem too out of place. So when Load came fans were pissed. Load (and Re-Load) were more hard rock albums than metal. They had some great riffs, but no thrash out moments. But if that wasn't a big enough shock there was this...

Mama Said. Metallica doing a country song. Yep it's true. It's not a bad song, but it's Metallica doing country (note the cowboy hat from James)! As time has gone by, the Loads have become classics to most fans. At the time, they were out of place. Now you can listen to them and be blown away by the layers in the music. The Outlaw Torn, Bleeding Me, Thorn Within, Fixxxer, Low Man's Lyric, and Where the Wild Things Are are all classic songs now.

But Metallica doesn't take the proverbial cake for this thread. That honor belongs to Deadlock. Deadlock is a vegan melodic death metal band, with a female lead singer. Yes all of that is true. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me when I hear a "what the ?!?!?" moment.

It began with their album Wolves. This is classic melodic death metal. When I put in on my top 10 of 2007, I said it was like At The Gates with Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) on vocals. Let me add there is a male vocalist too, but what makes Deadlock different is that the female doesn't do the operatic vocals. So I am listening to Wolves, really liking what I hear when I run into End Begins. Great song, sounds just as good as the others and then you get to the 2:30 mark

techno? with metal? I think the worst part for me was that I was actually a little disappointed the techno part was over. But the way it blended back into the melodic death metal and solo was amazing. When I play this song in class, it always gets a reaction.

Now the following year Deadlock released Manifesto. It was good, but it didn't grab me the way that Wolves did. I think it was the shock of a few of the songs on the album. It starts off with the techno track The Moribund Choir vs. The Trumpets of Armageddon.

The opening vocals on this song mirror word for word the first words sang on Wolves. Now this video plays the first few seconds of Martyr of Science. I did like how they sort of did the whole techno into metal thing again. What can I say, it works for me.

The first song that really hit me as a "What the ?!?!?" moment was Fire at Will. Now, I mentioned how I like those guitar solos, so imagine how I felt when I heard a saxophone solo. That's right a saxophone solo. I thought I was back in the 80's when that opening note hit my speakers. The thing that was really shocking was that it was played right after a killer guitar solo. It's about the 3:30 mark


You would think that would take home the prize. It doesn't. Deathrace does. Deathrace starts off like a classic death metal song...even down to the drum pattern. So there I am on my treadmill listening to this song for the first time and I get to the 4 minute mark and the song kind of skips. I'm thinking it didn't rip properly when I ripped the album, I wish...

a rap!!! nothing else just rap! Not like Anthrax and Public Enemy where it still had a metal foundation. This was just rap. I literally almost fell off my treadmill when I heard this. Now I give rap this, you can understand what they are saying right away, unlike metal. So if the rap isn't bad enough, they are rapping about animal rights!!! Once again, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise because they are a vegan melodic death metal band!
For your reading pleasure (cursing and all)

Animals can't speak but we can...

Look at the peak of evolution the food chain leader
Looking like the freight that he's chauffeuring to eat up
Ain't that some wack shit rolling to the shambles
Acting as a cab bitch slaying loads of animals
Imagine you all was cannibals and mankind the cattle dude
Locked up in a box small enough to get in rampage mood
I fucking disagree with the price and the fee
That these beings have got to pay so we can feast and fucking eat
I'm one with all fauna the animal persona
Raw and distinctive the beast master warned you all
Keep roughhousing and I will be the karma
For acting too supreme make me have to armour up
Testing chemicals and genocide to foreign species
Acts of our society so sick son believe me
We got to keep it real how the fuck would it feel
Locked all ya life behind rolling bars of steel

This is a story about this man in a slaughter house
Took me on tour and showed me all his whereabouts
And in my lurking doubts
He starts to light a cigarette and starts drinking on a genuisstot
You greenpeace fools we handle your food
And if you like fast food
Here's some examples for you
Livestock cows in dead, destroyed milk they use burger king meat
What they feed to the streets, no time to negotiate
Blood fills their death, when their alive when they breathe they lungs aspirate
You like veil, this will spoil your meal
The baby confined to no light and food and that's real
Respect to Islam for eating no swine
Here's some waist pits we use to feed them there time to time
He expressed no pain for four weeks pain a cut in the juggler-vain
Is something yo, I can't explain

By the way, despite what I said about Deadlock, I am really hoping they put an album this year. They do make some really great music and keep you on your toes while you listen.

So there you go. Some of my "what the ?!?!?" moments. I will probably have more as I listen to more music.