The Top 10 Metal Albums of 1994

Forty years later,  it's time to take a look and honestly assess what were the ten greatest metal albums from 1984. This is not being weighed on album sales, as some of these did not fare that well upon their release but gained ground over time. All of these have stood the test of time, but some are better than others, which is why the number one album is where it sits, and number ten is where it is. The ranking is based on two main factors I was listening to them back when they were released, the impact they had when I heard them, and how well they have stood the test of time for the past forty years. Unlike lists I make today where it;s based more on how much I listened to them over the year, the results here are more cumulative, though the album I listened to the most in 1984 is on here. 

10-The  Melvins - "Stoner Witch" 

Notorious for being a band that does not like being defined. If there was an album that was going to define them it would be their 1994 classic.  It is drenched and experimental in its weighty lumber, but, still has almost Kiss-like grooves giving the song ample swagger.

   

9-Machine Head- "Burn My Eyes"

They took thrash and gave it the 90s grooves it needed to survive the grunge era. Pummelling and catchy, in how they make freedom ring with a shotgun blast. The drumming is off the charts. Some songs are more bangers than others but this album held up over the years. 

   

8-Emperor- "In the Nightside Eclipse" 

This album introduced me to the second wave of black metal from the 90s. There was more orchestrated melody, than the more punk-sounding lo-fi blast fest that Darkthrone was dishing out at the time, and even in Europe bands like this were relegated to the backs of metal magazines. Not the band's best album but it sets the stage for what is to come while doing something more convincingly Satanic than what death metal bands were doing.

   

7-Tiamat- "Wildhoney

No longer just a death metal band this album is influenced by both Pink Floyd and Feilds of the Nephilim. It was ahead of its time. Listening back to it, you can hear where some of the production holds it back though this has aged well and gives the album charm.

   

6-Testament -"Low"

An underrated album by an underrated band. James Murphy had big shoes to fill when he stepped in and he brought a heavier sensibility to things, as well as Tempesta's playing dialing it in. Chuck Billy's voice sounds great and they managed to stay relevant past the 90s which is better than most of their peers were doing at this time. 

5-Pantera - "Far Beyond Driven" 

When this album came out I did not like it as much as "Cowboys" or "Vulgar", it's not as melodic and Phil's vocal delivery is more one-dimensional in comparison. It's heavy as all hell sure. The guitar playing is what grew on me over the years to hear how well-written this album is. This album is all Vinne and Dimebag.With Phil only shining on songs like "Becoming'. It holds up over time.

   

4- Korn -"s/t"

This album changed the game. It's taking the number 4 spot as it did not age as well as the top three albums. They brought groove up from the underground scene, when this album came out they were touching with Sick of It All in small punk clubs. They were onto something different. However this album just sounds like 1994 where the top 3 are more timeless, but this is still a great album, regardless of what this band turned into.

 

3-Kyuss-  Welcome to Sky Valley

The top 3 albums are all great in their own right. This is almost just grooving fuzzed-out rock,  it does not feel like metal until it's turned up loud enough. But by 1994's standards and underlying tension of the bass lines it qualifies and went on to influence the entire stoner metal genre.

   

2-Cannibal Corpse- "The Bleeding"

The best death metal album from one of the genre's best bands, perhaps the most defining of the current sound of death metal. The only reason it is not number one, is because the album in the number one spot might not be as heavy, but they are more dynamic, and melodic, and wrote two of the best metal albums of all time, so it's a close call be here we are, that does not take away from how great this album. The number one death metal album of 1994 for sure.

   

1-Acid Bath - "When the Kite String Pops" 

Swampy sludge metal would be an oversimplification as so many other elements are in play. dark and ominous, songs like "Dope Feind" have real menace as they are coming from a genuine place. The interplay of harsh to-sung vocals is great and there is not a band that ever did that sort of thing better. The songs have stood the test of time better than any other album on this list. Sure they can get some semblance of the band back together thirty years later ,, but it will never be what happened here in 1994.

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Gothtober's Weekly Play List - Darkest Folk Metal

Folk metal came up in a discussion I had last week, so I decided for Gothober to find the darkest folk metal, which since I always have to make things harder for myself when it comes to these things also has a Halloween like theme in it's lyrics. So this forced me to think out of the box. Some songs like Ulver who got there start as a folk black metal band, maybe not be going by the numbers on their song as it comes from a period when they had begun to branch out though the influence is still there is the melodies of the vocals. Tiamat is another who dipped into folk metal way back in the 90s before it became a thing like it is today, and the song that was chosen due to it's lyrical theme, also deviates into more of a straightforward metal, but there is not a ton of folk metal out there that meets the strict rules I orginally set down and when I begin something like this is can get stuck as a draft unless I force it past my OCD and allow myself to rework the rules since I am the one who orignally made them in the first place, If you  read my work for Cvlt Nation, you know my battle with mental health and can see how it even effects the writing I do here. So now have a listen .



Ruins of Beverast - " I Raised this Stone as a Ghastly Memorial"


 


 Agalloch - "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion"



 


Graveland "Chamber of Wicked Tears"

 


 Empyrium - "The Days Before the Fall"



 


 Tiamat- "Sympathy for the Devil"



 


 Bathory- "The Ravens"

 


Solstafir - "Ghosts of Light"

 


Ulver- "Proverbs of Hell"


 


 Primordial - Coffin Ships


 

Katatonia : "the Fall of Hearts"

The gloomy Swedes have pretty much become a prog band at this point. The Opeth like cadence that builds the opener when the distortion is stomped on makes sense considering the acrobatics the guitars have already engaged in leading up to that point. "In Absentina" ear Porcupine Tree might also come to mind. This is not to say there is not plenty of the band's own DNA all over this song. Jonas' vocals are unmistakable.The album is very crisp from a production stand point, which lightens the shade of gray cast over these songs. Jonas doesn't have the same melancholic desperation fueling his vocals, yet he doesn't stray from his style. He sounds more hopeful, though lyrically the same themes seem to be present. The guitar work on this album is stunning. I am not sure how much of that owes thanks to Roger Ojersson from Tiamat who is another new addition to the band. If you are going to do prog-rock, this is the way to go as songwriting and melody have more value than showcasing chops or trying to create some kind of obtuse sonic puzzle. Their new drummer Daniel Moilanen, does't make me go "Damn, Daniel", but he does play very tastefully around the more progressive part to create more jazz influenced passages. This is a surprise knowing he comes from Heavydeath and other more extreme Swedish acts. The first song that has a Tiamat like sound is "Decima". It has that acoustic 'Wildhoney" tone. The guitar at this point is stealing the show in such a way that it feels like Jonas is just the window dressing rather than focal point. Lyrically there is more in common with "Wish" era Cure than some of the emotional tight spots the lyrics on previous albums seemed to have been squeezed through.

Thankfully things do get darker and more morose for "Sanction". They also get heavier in a way that is more Katatonia. On your tenth album, there is the tug of war between not wanting to dial it in and replicate what you have already done, while still meeting the expectations of long time fans. The perfect balance is struck on "Sanction" which might be their best song since "Night is the New Day". Jonas seems to project his voice more on certain vocal runs like when he sings the word tomorrow. That song sets the bar a little high for "Residual".As a result I am a little underwhelmed by that one. It has more of a "No Quarter" thing going on. Once again the guitar is so tasty you could lick it off your fingers. Four and a half minutes in the pull back in with a pretty good groove. By "Serac" we are starting to get rocked out in a more conventional sense as they get more upbeat. The vocals ride a triumphant wave of hard rock, the actual metal moments on this album are just other dynamic colors being used to paint this picture rather than their mission statement. They ebb and flow into moodier breakdowns. Similar in tone but not as dynamic "the Last Song Before the Fade" doesn't benefit from the dynamic range of "Serac" with only the guitar solo and the bride after it offering a darker diversion.

"Shifts" floats past you on a delicate groove. The vocals on this song are especially well produced as Jonas steps into the spot light. "The Night Subscriber" starts off going through the motions until they stomp into the heavy two minutes in.The chorus is not their most compelling, but the punches they do hit work well and the song gets better as it goes."Pale Flag" is a ballad that doesn't really hold my attention. They take you out on a more rocking note with "Passer". The song opens with a guitar solo, so it rocks in the more traditional sense. Jonas sings a little lower, this makes his voice more resonate and I would like to hear more of this from him.I'll go ahead an round this up to an 9.5 as it feels better than "Dead End Kings" to me. I'll see how it grows on me. It's weird as it's not as dark as previous releases, but packs more of a punch.

 

Tiamat : the Scarred People

Once upon a time Tiamat was thought of as Black metal and were mentioned along side bands like Samael. 1994's "Wildhoney" was a game changer for extreme music though the same cant really be said for their new album. The opener and title track is a love letter to the huge man crush they have on Sisters of Mercy, though more rock and less dancing.

The blatant chords leading into the chorus of "Winter dawn" might be dumbing it down for this band , yet as far as old school goth goes they capture the feel. The creep of "384" darkens thing up though not heavy as the kids might think of doom today. It winks at Sisters territory and the chords ring out with menace, but heavy hs become a relative concept and I don't see many goth d.j's wooed but the more ominous tempos and despite when the guitar hit harder it makes me wonder if a new Tiamat album drops in the forest will anyone hear it.

"Radiant star" makes it pretty clear the days of metal are over, it's still an interesting song largely due to the oddly syncopated vocal placement. "The Sun also rises" mixes Pink Floyd with Feilds of the Nephillim, not a new direction. For these guys but it is prefromed in a more concise manner than they have in the past,with ethe leads stealing the show on this one. obviously since 94' the growls are not to be found.

"love terrorist" has more drive and could be most easily called metal. Though it is not harder than Feilds of the Nephilim. There is the weird Pink Floyd refrain, though the songs drifts midway in. If the refrain makes it closer to " the Wall" era floyd the song "Messian Letter" goes in more of a "Division Bell" territory so they know their Pink floyd. The leads here continue to steal the show as they are precise in nailing the David Gilmore school of playing. Not a fan of the " you are my only friend" lyrics or melody in the chorus , even in Pink Floyd's later year the melodies were given more thought but Tiamat isn't Pink Floyd.

They start to rock out in more of a Neil Young sense on "Before another Wilbury" dies which is a quick jam and I wonder if the title is a reference to the Travelling Wilburys. On "Thunder and Lighting" we are back at the Sisters of Mercy feel, this one more dance oriented like "This Corrosion". There's also a little rock to "Born to Die" like what Nick Cave's output in the nineties might have turned out like if he had worked with like Butch Vig. For Tiamat it works and seems like the most personalized song where the bulk of the albu, the tug of war between the Floyd influence and Sisters stays in full swing, I would say David Bowie is the middle ground between those to two but Tiamat misses that not to say , this isnt well crafter and some excellent guitar work through out.

"Paradise" the Pink Floyd fan club rolls out, it another side of Roger waters than The more Final Cut dramatics the song " the red of the morning sun" of the chorus are a nice touch suppose this one is one of the albums darker cuts though there is a lack of sinister . This one does have a little more sense of its own identity , but if we are playing name that influence the point is gointo later Waters Floyd. "Paradise" is very ,uh on of those Waters ballads from the Wall. The guitar work is great, the keyboard part that starts the song could have stood to modulate a little more as the sound gets repetitive. But once again this is about the leads.

So here's what happens to black metal in the golden years, while Tiamat was never Bathory or Celtic Frost I think they played an important role in that era of music transitioning from the nineties. In forming a conclusive opinion about this album I'm having a hard time believing there is nothing really metal about it all and have to accept this as a conscious decision and not that these guys are old and clueless as to what metal is. The great lead playing helps tip the scales on this one.

I had to round this one down to a 7.5, Because the keyboard heavy mix really shoves the lack of metal in your face and insult to injury is this is coming from the guys who put out "Wildhoney" so they set the bar high for themselves. With that said the song writing is for the most part polished and if you are going to mix Pink Floyd with Sisters of Mercy you are at least mixing top shelf ingredients. The result is laid back psychedelic goth rock, which lets face it there not a lot of this sort of thing being pumped out that's not a blatant type o ripoff.