The Alice In Chains album is called “Dirt” and the actual title track lyrics are even heavier than “godsmack” arguably. Amazing album and band though. So heavy live too. Thanks for shouting them out.
I love Alice, and I would agree Dirt is a heavy album that dives deep into a personal hell. Facelift is definitely bluesy. Their self-titled album has a weird sound to it but it works. Listen to Over Now and Jerry’s guitar is out of this world.
Absolutely. Theyre heavy in their own right. Especially to call them grunge since they get lumped together. Definitely the heaviest band in that scene at the time.
There used to be this pro shot live video on RUclips of them opening with “It Ain’t Like That” in a club and it might be the heaviest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t find it anymore.
I think another important aspect of Pantera was Phil’s willingness to deliver harsh vocals to really sell their performance. You can hear this on songs like Fucking Hostile, Slaughtered and Suicide note pt 2 where he shrieks and hits high notes that can hurt one’s voice but the way Phil delivered them made the songs even more intense. The downside to this though is that can damage your vocals in the long run which is why he said in interviews he can’t sing Cemetery Gates anymore, but Phil did give us some standout vocals that were blistering and a never ending assault on the listener.
Strapping Young Lad. Devin's early music was not only sonically crushing & intense, it was emotionally harrowing too. Amazing stuff. Shitstorm, Home Nucleonics, All Hail The New Flesh, Bastard, OMFG... so many beautiful, ear shredding mindfucks.
I definitely agree that groovy, slower, crushing heaviness always ultimately hits harder than just raw noise. I think the ultimate example in my mind would be Black Tongue.
Yeah I saw black tongue in a small pub in Bolton and people were going hard as fuck because it was so heavy. The owners of the pub had to come out and practically fight the crowd to save the pub and PA from destruction haha
Godflesh is my personal pick. I get that they may not be the "heaviest" nowadays, but their influence is inarguable. Kirk Hammet even called them the heaviest band of all time. When I'm in the mood for a heavy album, nothing beats Streetcleaner. Older Gojira comes closer than most, though.
I saw them 3 times waaaay back in the day, one of those times was a religious experience. I saw their actual first show in the States and it was really bad. They had equipment and sound man issues and wound up walking off the stage after the second song. "Godflesh don't hear, Godflesh don't play" and walked off. So disappointing but understandable.
in the wake of Trevor Strnad's suicide some of his lyrics really catch your eye. While he was easily one of death metals best lyricists and storytellers he was also one of the best front men of all time, bringing such passion, joy, and love to the scene. Knowing what we know now and the pain he was in it really brings to light the songs Receipt and To Breathless Oblivion. Receipt has such lyrics as: "Have you ever tasted it? Metallic barrel placed in it? Do you possess the gall to pain all those in life you’ve touched? Failure, I renounce our tenure This venture has drained me I ask thee grant self murder’s bliss My conscience has begged me to end this horrendousness Wrap rope so tightly ‘round my neck and twist Suicide be my guide The only thing I will get right in this life My appeal shall not be denied My place - now secured My home - the other side I never belonged here I never did ask if I could join this world collapsed A hell hath awakened and now I choose sleep So let this razor get the better of me" which genuinely feel as though they are written from a person with those experiences and thoughts. To Breathless Oblivion has the chorus of: "beyond those cursed stars above lies the answer that I seek on the backs of bullets rides my name longing to kiss my cheek resentfully decline retire this hated life without guilt I break these veins carved with salvation's knife" Trevor is a tricky one to ask though because with his knack for lyrics and storytelling its hard to truly know if it was just his raw talent to tell a narrative or if this was where he was at the time. Either way its hard to overstate how heavy TBDM could be.
I was thinking of TBDM for most part of the video, they check a lot of the boxes… those 9 albums Trevor did are brutal, a perfect mix between cosmic horror, satanic witchery and the dark side of the human mind. R.I.P Trevor Strnad
I always get in arguments with friends over this. I think TBDM is heavier than a lot of their compatriots. The lyrics, the sonic depth of the music, the changes and way it all flows like a story. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.
Trevor was a lyrical genius, the best front man. he conducted thr crowd like a master conductor just working his orchestra. I fully believe it was a combi of a English major with an insane vocabulary and insane talent forestry tell mixed with a man who's been dealing with depression since he was a child. The one thing I know for do sure is this world fucking sucks without him. The Black Dahlia Murder fuckin saved me when I was in the Army and had all that shit hanging on me. Thr Black Dahlia Murder are the heaviest band because they have everything, insane vocals, melodic rhythm, super fast drums, amazing guitar work, and the best vocals of any band.
@@CL053DC45K37 totally second that motion! and believe me when I say that I’d tried tones of bands and styles of metal searching for the heavyest of heavys but always come back to The Boys. HEARTBURN FOREVER!
That is exactly what I was going to write! Acid Bath does it musically and lyrically. Even their acoustic songs like "Bones of Baby Dolls" and "New Death Sensation" have some of the heaviest lyrics I've heard! Good point, dude!
All their lyrics are constantly edgy and disturbing af (even worse when the kite string pops is based on irl events) and they all play amazingly and dax vocals are arguably the best in the genre
I think you hit it with the contrast argument. “This Love” by Pantera was the first song I personally heard were the singing and tempo changed so drastically and it sounded so insane to me at the time.
The minute that elitists shit on this album (which absolutely has one of the all time greatest opening tracks, ever)? Was the second I recognized just how fucked the metal scene could be. And I was literally 12, at that time. ruclips.net/video/LVREKUVRoEQ/видео.html
JD on Korn’s selftitled.. THAT’s fucking heavy. The anger, the crying, the screaming, the growling, the lyrics, the sobbing, the imagery, the drugs, the producer who triggered JD, and 20+ years later making amends with the past.. That’s brutal af.
So glad you mentioned Crowbar. They're one of my favorite metal bands. I love how Kirk and the boys are all about playing low and slow in a way that works through the misery, rather than wallowing it, like so many of their sludgy peers.
@@axeltejeda175 just checked them out… maybe if they weren’t playing through a Marshall practice amp it would be a bit more bearable. Sounds like the worst parts of acid bath lol.
They have plenty of songs that speed up the tempo for a good mosh. Going to see them for the first time right down the road this month. Been listening since 98.
I am shocked you didn’t mention Korn “Daddy” as one of hardest songs, lyrically, just on the fact that it took him decades to even go back and play that song live. He was reliving all that trauma and pain, an they still put it on their CD. Your videos are amazing, an totally agree that what makes a bad hard is not always who can play the fastest.
@@Cr0wsMurd3r totally agree. Coming from someone who, did not suffer sexual trauma, but physical, it really speaks and allows you to vent your own anger. Sometimes it is hard to list to that some, depending on my mood.
There was this Spanish nu metal band called Skunk DF that came out with what was very obviously a "Daddy"-inspired song in 1999, but without the personal story instead of being super bleak and heavy it was kinda like just a protest song against child abuse, like someone needed to make a stand against that. I always found that darkly funny
No one I know seems to agree with me but "A New Level" is the heaviest song I''ve personally heard. That main chromatic riff hits me like a truck every time.
Cattle Decapitation satisfies a lot of your main criteria. They have that contrast to which you were referring in the middle of the vid in which you mentioned Suffocation and "Thall", and not to mention they achieve this by tuning to E flat standard. Travis Ryan can easily compete with the deathcore vocalists you mentioned thereafter (and his "cleans" add to the aforementioned contrast) that are in that arms race of vocal extremity (if anything, I'd say he is the most obvious influence on Will Ramos just by listening). Lastly, they satisfy your criteria of lyrical heaviness because while they don't write about incredibly personal subjects we can all relate to, they write about humanity's ecological choices in a very compelling way, and there are certain select songs that can make you emotional (see Lifestalker, Your Disposal, Pacific Grim, and the title track of Death Atlas, for example).
Cattle decap is absolutely amazing and my favorite band. Monolith to Humanity checks off so many boxes in terms of heaviness. Maybe not the heaviest band of all time but they are up there for sure. Insanely fast and intense parts along with crushing slams and weird time change ups and an awesome vocal contrast make them stand out. Truly an amazing band and some of the best death metal ever made imo.
Heaviness is the combination of tone and intent. Outside of those things it becomes a little like sports; once the emotional impact is eschewed in favour of prowess and very “meta” heaviness techniques, it just stops being heavy and becomes about tropes.
To me botch is one of the heaviest bands. Their grooves and breakdowns almost force movement. Loads of contrast and unpredictable switches from fast to slow and quiet to loud. Also it all has a very human feel which as a musician I find quite impressive and is more often than not lost in music that focuses that much on technicality.
oh man, the breakdown/solo part on C. Thomas Howell As The Soul Man is merciless. that double tapped solo is unlike anything I've ever heard, and then the vocals come roaring back in...
Lamb of gods 11th hour. The lyrics are about an alcoholic on his deathbed. So dark and heavy and relatable. Also knowing Randy’s relationship with alcohol at that time it hits so hard knowing this came a from a deep place within him
Chimaera is an excellent band. One of my favourites. Well balanced riffs, heavy, intelligent lyrics and just enough rock mixed in to make it very accessible.
I think the band that really needed mentioned at the end was Knocked Loose. They're the perfect blend of emotionally driven, lyrically intense, disgustingly heavy music there is. A Tear in the Fabric of Life wraps up so much of the stuff you mentioned in this video into one borderline perfect EP.
Knocked Loose is insane. I thought Shade of Blue was the heaviest they can go. But their latest EP blew me away. Bryan is easily one of my top fav vocalists
Great band Knocked Loose. I would also say Gatecreeper. They are death metal and they are great. Has the best parts of Morbid Angel and Pantera somehow. It’s got groove and the vocals are not ridiculously guttural, but somewhere between a Randy Blythe and a John Tardy.
As ridiculous as this might sound, for me Dethklok is up there for alot of the combined reasons you mentioned. Their contrast between melody and crushing riffs, groove, fluctuating tempos, the way Gene Hoglans drum patterns (cmon, its gene hoglan) mesh in sync with the riffs and the overall musicality to it just get me going much harder than any of the brutal bands out there. Despite them being a joke / parody, their music is unironically some of the best out there to my ears.
I really like how you've explored heaviness beyond the typical tropes (blastbeats, growls, etc.), I think The Downward Spiral is a great example of an album that is heavy but not in the traditional way, first of all it's a concept album about a man giving up all hope and descending into insanity, you have songs like Mr Self Destruct and March of the Pigs that are fast and aggressive with the noisey industrial stuff (forgive my lack of music terminology) adding a whole other dimension to it, tracks like Piggy or Closer which are groovy but with very eery unsettling lyrics and Hurt which is probably the most depressing song ever written, and when you consider that Trent Reznor was a heroin addict when writing it and it was recorded in the same house that the Tate murders took place you end up with an album that is genuinely quite uncomfortable to listen to and provokes a very weird emotional reaction.
I also like the Song Somewhat Damaged for this reason as well. The way the song makes you feel like you’re descending into madness with the singer is always cathartic for me.
Eraser and Mr Self Destruct are so heavy that they should be industrial metal rather than rock. Also, I love TDS but I cannot listen to it anymore because the theme is too much.
Downward Spiral is more of a classic for sure, but I'd say Broken is the heavier album sound wise and still has a lot of the same unsettling nature as tds. It blew my mind back when I was on the quest for unconventional heaviness.
@@5ycey7.n.84 I just thought that TDS showed a bit more contrast between different displays of heaviness, only slightly though, Broken is the one I revisit more often tbh, it's an industrial metal masterpiece and quite an extreme EP in its own kinda way
@ghost mall Somehow I never noticed that's what the sample was haha, but yeah so many bands have tried to do what NIN do but none as well as Trent Reznor, the guy is a genius.
I grew up listening to grunge, which I never thought of as "heavy" until recently. Like you said, it's not all about blast beats and toilet vocals. The lyrics and imperfections attributes to the rawness/heaviness of the music. When I heard Korn's first record, it blew my mind. THAT was heavy as hell. The lyrical content was extreme, the vocals were unlike anything I've ever heard, and the instruments were raw, yet groovy as hell. From there I guess I've had that "natural" heavy growth and started enjoying the metalcore and deathcore scenes. Today I give almost any type of music a shot. And bands like Lamb of God, Lorna Shore and Gorjira are some of my favorites, and they are all super heavy. But I still enjoy (or long for?) That old school Raw, heavy shit that was the groundwork for my tastes today. I still revisit Korn, Alice in Chains and Nirvana on the regular, because it just hits the heavy spot sometimes when my favorite modern bands don't.
Check out Admiral Angry for some raw just downright crushing heaviness. Most of them members are in Black Wall Sheep and their first 3 albums are also intense.
Great video, just surprised you didn't mentionned the math core/tech metal genre as Dillinger Escape Plan, Psyopus, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravangaza , The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Ion Dissonance, The Chariot, Carbomb, Frontierer, etc
Acacia Strain has always been the heaviest band I’ve listened to. The lyrics and how Vincent delivers them, coupled with the guttural chug of the instruments. Lines like “Not even your children are safe” and “This is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper”. It may not work for everybody, but I dig it.
@@charliekirkpatrick695 I’ve noticed that too. I still enjoyed the most recent stuff, but it definitely is lacking in places compared to their earlier work.
I feel that Meshuggah will always be the heaviest band out there. It's just something with their sound that is untouchable, just take clockworks or born in dissonance for example, it hits like a truck in the face. And, the album(The violent sleep of reason) is recorded live so there is that too.
Meshuggah is not only as heavy as you can get short of crossing over into death metal. But, similar to Pantera, they also created their own unique groove. Not sure if there's a #1 but they are one of the best of all time.
Really appreciated the Life Of Agony mention at the end there. They're pretty heavy yet don't get regarded as such cause the vocals are grungy so it's nice to see some love for them
My favorite "heavy by way of overwhelming detail" style death metal band is Weeping Birth, a one-dude project from a dude better known for also being Mirrorthrone (similar sound but black metal instead of death). It doesn't attempt to sound in any way real--everything is obviously digital besides the guitar, but it's all pushed to a beyond-human intensity that uses the inhumanity to contribute to just how overwhelming and chaotic the sound is. It finds a way to actually sound somewhat unclean and insane even though you know every note had to have been specifically placed. On the sludge-heavy side, Gojira's To Sirius is my singular go-to track. The riffs are just so fucking good.
I definitely think bands sound heaviest and most interesting when they either go raw and real, like playing an album live off the floor with minimally edited overdubs, or when they go the opposite route and make something batty and insane on a computer that you could never conceive of just by jamming with guitars and drums. A lot of bands take the boring middle route of editing and computerizing everything to be super precise but still using arrangements and techniques that a skilled live band could pull off.
Hard to find but Deeds of Flesh - Human Sandbags was a truly unique blend of the aspects mentioned …Same with Suffocation- Effigy of the Forgotten…Can’t leave out early Pyrexia too
Not to be "that guy" but Godsmack was on AIC's album "Dirt". It was the song that created Godsmack the band. Edit: what makes a band heavy to me is confronting real life problems with realistic approaches and the vocalist at least understanding that they are not a God.
What you mentioned about emotion is why Slipknot’s first two albums are still to this day so heavy to me. It’s not a particular technique or style, just that they go in there and let it all out. So much hate, pain, and sorrow thrown in a blender and put on a tape. So even if you don’t know the stories they’re telling, you can FEEL them. Another thing I like is the fact that Corey’s vocals are a lot easier to understand than typical death metal. Rather than thinking it sounds like a demon, or bowel movements, it just sounds like a dude suffering. Because that’s what it is. And lastly, as you mentioned, dynamics play a part too. They allow some down time, and even throw in a melody here and there, which make it hit harder when the crunch comes back in. Aight, that’s enough for now.
Their self titled album was recorded as a band live. That's part of the reason its so heavy. I forgot who in the band said it, but Ross Robinson was screaming in their face, hitting them, and do other stuff when they were recording. So he was just amping them up. Having them all in the same room, all playing together, and with Ross fucking with them definitely made it a lot harder sounding. Just a great album as a whole.
Scissors, off of slipknot's self titled album, is probably the heaviest track I can honestly think of. So raw, deeply sad lyrics, and a vocal performance so aggressive that Corey couldn't take it and started puking. That's fucking heavy to me.
I agree so much and it kinda pisses me off when people say slipknot fans are just too weak for death metal, I love death metal and death core, but tracks like sic, eyeless, surfacing and heretic anthem are just more heavy In my opinion
may i humbly suggest Thou? the combo of pure, crushing tone, diaphragm-ripping vocals, acerbic lyrics, and how the band locks into rhythms to play with this unstoppable synergistic energy at both crawling and bracing tempos is just crazy. i think it goes way beyond “does this sound filthy/extreme”, though they are extremely filthy.
I've only listened to a few deathcore bands because they all sound very cheesy, and they all sound so similar. The Cleansing was actually really good though, and definitely my favorite deathcore album.
untouchable IMO. Focused on simple gross stank face riffs and no melodeath influences. Too much deathcore has the melodeath or the technicality which just makes it less heavy lol.
That album is the epitome of deathcore for me. The production sounds perfect and the fact that it's live makes it even more amazing. Raw, harsh and heavy af
When it comes to "heavy", Crowbar always comes to mind. Listening to them just feels like raw impact. Another few bands to take that even a step further are Primitive Man and Thou.
Korn gets a lot of shit but you can't tell me that their first 2 albums aren't insanely heavy. The guitar tone is brutal. The atmosphere and lyrics are really dark. Lyrics about real personal shit. My favorite Korn album is Follow the Leader but the first 2 are just insane.
I totally agreed with this whole video, I think musically the groove stuff and anything with breakdowns is extremely heavy because of the primal reaction we have to the space between notes. I think your example for Alice in chains is a bit odd (the album is dirt not Godsmack btw) I think the opening version of nutshell at MTV unplugged is crushingly depressing as Layne was litterally dying and singing about dying alone. I think bell witch combines both deep depressing reality with crushing musicianship and is the best example imo. While you can't exactly hear the vocals, the actual bass and drum combo envokes such despair that I felt my body go limp when I heard them for the first time, you can really hear the sound of someone who's lost a friend on their album mirror reaper and it's the heaviest shit musically and lyrically. Also numb little bug is an amazing song, it's so relateable yet catchy kinda like hey ya by Outkast
@@charliekirkpatrick695 oh man, Bell Witch are amazing, especially when you consider that it's just bass, drums and vocals. occasional keys on the quiet parts.
Heaviness is very subjective. From a purely music perspective Ulcerate, Nails, Trap Them and other bands like that hit me very hard, while from a lyrical bands like Blacklisted and other hardcore bands do it for me. With a mix of emotional lyrics and heavy music there is a great variety of bands and genres like Whirr, Nothing, Deafheaven and especially Oathbreaker with their album Rheia, which hit everybody in the emotional guts that I talked to about it.
Knocked Loose live is one of heaviest bands I’ve ever experienced. But, I think Gojira’s energy is top notch in my opinion. It’s a toss up between those two bands for me.
It's so interesting that what makes the heaviest band is in the eye of the beholder. The heaviest song in the world for me is Dracula with sunglasses by Burnt by the sun, but I know so many people would disagree but it's just what tickles that brutal itch for me
I always found slower, sludgier metal to be the heaviest stuff i could think of. I dont really like Morbid Angel but God of emptiness is like an auditory lead blanket. Having said that i recently discovered Lux tenebris by The Secret and its the heaviest Black Metal ive heard
Always makes my day better when I see a Punk Rock MBA video. Keep up the great work Finn. You're awesome. I've recently gained an appreciation for suicide silence. I never cared for deathcore (liked a song here and there), but looking back on them, they definitely paved a way for a generation.
@@lightningmonky7674 I've honestly tried. It has a lot of elements in metal I like. The songs where the drums are louder than the guitars ruin it for me. If I here the cymbals overpowering the guitar, I just can't listen to it. Ive ran into a lot of deathcore like it. Don't get me wrong. I respect the genre though
@@lightningmonky7674 I'm open minded about it, but more often than not I find it to be just a worse version of Cryptopsy or Aborted with breakdowns that just kill the pace of the song through a chuggy riff or bog standard slammy brutal death metal riff. Though I do find myself digging some of the more symphonic or blackened deathcore bands that have been popping up lately.
@@Gerd0 that's pretty funny cause that's the kind of deathcore I stay away from 😭🤣 different strokes for different folks I guess. And yeah aborted's old stuff is pretty cool but I really haven't liked the second half of their career has sounded really boring to me
This video presents a nice way to analyze, appreciate and classify bands in different levels of 'heaviness'. It success in opening a friendly debate, in which everyone will 'throw' out there, their favorites heaviest bands. Many interesting playlists could be generated based on the selected criteria of 'heaviness'.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. Especially how "super brutal" death metal stops being heavy. It just turns into a wall of noise and is practically relaxing at a certain point! I think if I had to pick one band as "the heaviest band" it would probably be The Acacia Strain, for the reasons you listed. They have incredible contrast including speed, grooves, brutality, soft parts, etc. And that contrast combined with the sound and tone of their vocals and instruments makes them very heavy for me. I think to an extent, Spiritbox is up there too, because their guitars are tuned down ridiculously low (which doesn't always mean heavy) and Courtney's vocals are so raw, combined with the fact that they have a lot of contrast and a lot of ambient/noise stuff in the background that makes the whole thing feel heavy in an ethereal way. Obviously there are many bands you could consider heavy and I'm sure I'll change my mind later, but that's where my head is at right now.
No mention of funeral doom is sad. Ahab, Bell Witch, and Esoteric are some of the heaviest music I've ever heard. When I saw Bell Witch live my whole body shook from the vibration of the riffs and pummeling of the drums
Dynamics are super important in music. One of my all time favorite metal albums is The Satanist by Behemoth, which is pretty sparse at times, but those moments of downtime make the heavy sections feel so much better.
Yep that's another heavy ass album. I saw Behemoth live with Danzig, Blackest of the Black, and they're one of the heaviest I've ever seen. Blew me away.
Gotta throw Admiral Angry in there. I don't know if the lyrics and just insane feeling of torment that comes out in the vocals, is directly because of what Daniel was going through prior to his passing but every song hits hard on that album Buster. Disembodied too. Heroin Fingers coming out in 99 sounding a full decade early.
I happened upon a song called Blasphemian, by Infant Annihilator recently and, once I'd recovered from the shock, I decided that it was hands down the heaviest thing I'd ever heard. It's 7 minutes of unrelenting brutality
As soon as this video popped up I was like hmmm it’s gotta be infant 😂 Aborted would be there, annotations of an autopsy as well (they’re a different heavy)
For me deathcore and groove is what I would call heavy. Gojira for sure is top notch heavy(not sure why but they just are). Lyrics and emotion can make song just as heavy for example: "daddy" by Korn or "love hate love" by Alice in Chains. Hell i remember watching "murder song" by Aurora and holy shit that was heavy and its far from metal. Dissonance definitely helps too.
Really enjoyed this video dude, great conversation that delves into the true “heavy” discussion. So many metalheads think heavy is just as noisy, fast, distorted and growly as possible but I think there’s so much more to it and this was a great watch. Found myself saying “exactly! Thank you!” About 12 times 😂
On the Suicide Silence note, i'd love to see a video on the Mitch Lucker tribute show. That might be an interesting deep dive as to who was featured, and why. That is actually how I found out about Myke Terry, his cover of Distruction of a Statue
Musically speaking I think Meshuggah came up with something that can be called structural heaviness. The overlapping of complex patterns (voice included as an instrument) in different rhythm structures, modes and/or keys, without losing the sense of groove and natural flow is unique to them. The guitar solos are angular and free, for a contrast too. That and JUTE GYTE. Micro-tones are the new heavy arrows.
Meshuggah is one of the heaviest bands imo. They're like a giant block of iron being dropped on your head. There's an elemental brutality about them that just can't be matched.
Im gonna say this and probably get laughed at but Slipknot has the heaviest of all time title in my opinion. What they did on their first two albums are flawless and brought in a new breath of fresh air for extreme metal. Their contribution to extreme metal is even more so than metallica's for thrash. Slipknot is so far ahead of everyone else in the extreme metal category, metallica is relatively loved as much as megadeth, slayer, etc. The music they put on the self titled and iowa is unmatched. Theres nothing else out there that has the passion and darkness behind it like iowa.
My definition of heavy has definitely changed a lot over the years. Like you said, searching for something heavier and heavier was a part of my life for years. I remember when the OG deathcore stuff started coming out while I was in high school, I was like "this is it, this is the heaviness that I've been looking for." Then lots of the newer bands coming out in the genre started to just blend together and I fell out of love with it. So then it was brutal death metal, then regular death metal, then melo-death and so on. At this point in time I really just enjoy some combination of heavy, fast, melodic, orchestral, lyrically compelling and blending harsh/clean vocals. Even though metal is probably 90% of what I listen to, I still love lots of rap, pop, electronic, country and pretty much anything else to be honest. Lastly I just wanted to throw this out there... the last time I had that traditional "this is as heavy as it gets" feeling was when I heard "Second Death" by Black Tongue. That song absolutely crushed my mind! 🤣
Dude, i have the same story regarding metal. Grew up on suicide silence and the whole deathcore era. It wasn't until i heard black tongue that heaviness got redefined to me.
Being in the mosh on a scorching hot day at a festival hearing Knocked Loose play Mistakes Like Fractures for the first time having never heard the band really opened my eyes to what heavy is. The place was torn apart, every single person was sunburnt and dehydrated and still the mosh exploded like a sea of pure aggression! I’ve been to a lot of metal gigs over the last 15 years I’ll never forget that feeling 👌🏼 KL seem to have bottled some key ingredients to what makes a track sound and feel heavy.
I had to scroll too far to find someone else feeling like Knocked Loose was missing from this list. A lot of bands get my blood flowing in the gym, but with Knocked Loose I be ripping PRs on the regular.
"Forget the letters.. just sleep sound tonight pull back the covers without a fight but as we dance by emergency light So pull this switch and see my body twitch a light left blinking on its own And my blood is flowing Down through this machine In hope and desire I hope I expire oh as we dance on this memory Despair has devoured me whole Turn off this machine cause this is the only thing that's keeping me alive." -Hospitality by: Funeral For A Friend For me this is the heaviest song i've heard in life and we used to listen to this album all the time. We had to pull my best friend off of life support in 2020. Most people will never know what it's like to look your best friend in the face and say goodbye forever in this life.
I have to give a shout out to Zao - "Where Blood & Fire Bring Rest". That album is just full of agony, betrayal and hopelessness + the heaviness of the music & delivery. Zao has always been a favorite of mine for the genuine emotion through their music. That band has a long past of painful stories.
Wow Finn, great video! So glad you mentioned Crowbar, Lamb of God, Suffocation and Nile. LoG is the most brutal pit I've ever been in when they toured with Slayer in like 2007. Crowbar so amazingly great and underrated to this day. A couple I think worthy of mention are of course Sabbath and Heaven and Hell (H&H are so heavy omg), Extermination Dismemberment, and Strapping Young Lad like omg so heavy af. Also wanted to mention that Ministry, NIN and Marilyn Manson, though not really known for sheer heaviness, have a handful of some of the heaviest songs I think I've ever heard... no mention of industrial metal in this vid.
Dude, you nailed it. When you combine the music itself + the subject matter, NOTHING you'll ever hear is "heavier" from a real life perspective than Dirt by AiC
I started listening to Korn and I thought they were heavy af when I was young, moved to Slayer, then Cannibal Corpse, but I have to say Lorna Shore is one of the heaviest bands out today definetly.
korn's first few albums (excluding most lead singles on follow the leader) stayed consistently heavy, and didn't need raw noise or horrifying topics to do it (mostly). one of the heaviest imo, but ofc i don't listen to everything
In terms of lyrical content, I'm reminded of the quote from Ihsahn, where he said something to the effect of "The Weeknd is edgier than 90% of metal". This is one massive blind spot for a lot of metal. I have never been someone who listened to lyrics over the instrumental sections of songs, but even I can tell that a lot of people aren't going to respond to a lot of metal lyrics. Bands that have a strong message in their lyrics are going to resonate with a much bigger audience, Gojira being a good example.
This was fantastically done Finn, with some very valid points as always! I think even a lot of metal heads will assume or agree that down-tuning and grunts = heavy. My pals and I discussed this once, and Gallows (Frank Carter era), especially Orchestra of Wolves, recorded in a bedroom, it has that energy and vibe, pure anger and chaos, with some of the heaviest feels I've ever listened to and felt. I think other genres can definitely hit heavy without the typically assumed criteria!
Lyrically, one of the heaviest records I've ever heard is Dead and Divine - Antimacy. Losing the battle with drugs and giving yourself over to it willingly, losing faith, etc. This record covers all of that in a gut-wrenching poetic way. One of the most underrated albums I know of.
I've been loving the band Vitriol. I keep going back to their song "The parting of a neck." It's got agonizing vocals, crazy blast beats, evil sounding guitar, a rlly cool guitar solo.
Really fascinating to bring Alice in Chains into this as just last week I wanted something crushing and heavy and angry and that's what hit the top of my list. Really listening to AiC is some dark shit, man.
I was listening to Electric Wizard's Dopethrone yesterday, first time in a few years. and part of what makes them so heavy is how saturated and huge the guitar and bass sound. like they're so dimed out it just washes all over you and seeps into your mind. I love doom for that as far as fast gnarly shit, Anaal Nathrakh's stuff, and specifically their album The Codex Necro, is just completely grotesque, ugly, hateful industrial black metal/grindcore. it chugs battery acid and spits lava. when it came out, it was like, the endurance-test for everyone who wanted to show their friends something that was like "can you handle this?" but beyond that, the lyrics (at least what you could hear or understand) were all about social problems and hatred rather than ice and caves and the usual black metal fare. it made things feel very real. around the same time there was a band called Axis Of Perdition who mixed more of that caustic black metal with technical weirdness, but also dark ambient passages. their stuff was super inspired by the Silent Hill games and to this day, their album Deleted Scenes In The Transition Hospital is one of the weirdest and most disorienting metal albums I've ever heard. as far as that more... real kind of heaviness you're ascribing to grunge and stuff, a great example of that is Type O Negative (I know, goth band, whatever) whose stuff was amazing for dynamics but also because Pete Steele was obviously on a very dark, bad trajectory. like musically their stuff is very lurching and punishing, but beyond that, the pain in a lot of that stuff is so damn real.
This is a question that I’ve been continually asking for the last 25 years lol my answer has changed but the one band that has never left the conversation is Devourment. Other bands like Early Disgorge (MEX) are also in my list. For me it’s the combination of heaviness musically, artwork, vocals, subject matter, whole overall aesthetic. Devourment’s Molesting The Decapitated, and Disgorge’s Forensick hit this for me now followed with bands like Fluids
I think the experimentation from darko takes away from the heaviness many times kinda like methwitcj.To the grave gets heavier lirically,vocally and musically every time I hear them
Thank you Finn for finally showing the many faces of "heavy". I think for me a band that's heavy will pummel you into some form of state of mind, whether through motion or stillness. In this context my brain usually goes to slower bands like Humanity's Last Breath or something more on the doom side, with shoegaze and post-metal being heavy in an overwhelming almost oceanic sense. For example: bands like Bell Witch get me because you can sit there and listen to 1 hour and 23 minutes of not only riffs but a literal tribute to the life of a man who passed on before his time. Sure you get the whole magic and occult angle, but it makes that fantasy more tangible when relating to how we've dealt with tragedy over time.
If we're going for lyrics, I would have to say Cure for the Enemy by Billy Talent. I watched an interview with them where fans thought it was about war but they corrected them explaining that it's actually about cancer. This hit me pretty hard originally since I had lost a few family members to cancer but, it hit me even harder when I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2019 and again in 2021. I've currently cancer free and that song is almost like an anthem of sorts for me now.
I really like how you framed the idea of "heavy". It reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad when I was a lot younger and we were talking about music. I was listening to a LOT of early deathcore at the time and I remember he said in his time Pink Floyd where his definishion of heavy. And he was right the lyrics were heavy, and for their genre they where fucking bleak and a punch to the gut. Definitely changed my idea of heavy after that conversation and helped me open my eyes to a lot more music that are heavy but not metal.
I'm glad you mentioned "Dirt" by AIC, 'cause I think (and have thought) it's one of the heaviest and most emotionally charged albums ever. Without even knowing the subject matter of the vocals, anyone hearing Layne Staley sing can tell what it's about. Phenomenal vocalist BTW. Anyone not familiar, check out "Love, hate, love" from the first AIC record
I dont think speed makes music heavy. Its more about the feeling of impact and depends greatly on the drums and bass. I think the kick drum in EDM is perhaps the heaviest sound we use in music to day. Its litteraly designed to hit you in the chest
Primitive Man is the heaviest band I have experienced - both on record and in live performance. Absolutely punishing sonic hellscapes that are reflected in their lyrics as well.
I’ve got to see all these bands at their peak. Suicide silence in 2008-9 was one of the most crushing heaviest just slimey sets I’ve ever seen. Lamb of gods omerta live gives ANYONE goosebumps, same with pantera riffs just grooved as it gets. Gojira I must say have never made a bad album, they are technical yet accessible and just brutal. A very good mixture. Their success over time has to be considered. But more modern I will say the best metal set I’ve witnessed was architects US tour in 2019 so much emotion and energy. that was the most fun set for me. I’ll throw 2008-2010 the devil wears Prada sets in there for metalcore and August burns red messengers and constellations era, just unmatched energy. These are my opinions and tastes.
For me one of the heaviest bands is defiantly flowers taped to pens. I know skramz isnt everyones cup of tea but the loose lofi production, really emotional lyricism and bloodcurdling vocals is so crushing to me, more so than any death metal band.
Korn hands down. Their early stuff especially the self titled album and Life is Peachy are so heavy lyrically wise, so much aggression in Jonathan Davis‘a voice and Munky and Head’s guitar tone and David’s raw drumming style. The tempos go from groovy and then turn around and pick up speed along with the breakdowns in those albums. Korn in the 90s was definitely heavy
I agree, that first Korn album had some very heavy lyrics. Still their best album. I stopped listening to Korn after Issues (aside from hearing a single here and there and not really being into it) until their latest album which is actually really good. I was surprised that Korn sounded awesome again. Not heavy like that first album but worth checking out if you are an old Korn fan who has forgotten about them for the past 20 years.
I mean even if we go lyrically Korn has nothing on the last 3 cattle decap albums You cannot genuinely tell me any song off self titled hits as hard as Death Atlas or Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts lyrically
Great video. I find King 810 to be extremely heavy. The guitars and his voice are heavy as fuck sonically, the theatrics of some of the sounds they incorporate add a heavy dynamic, along with the empty space in their songs, but what really makes them heavy is the lyrical content and the authenticity of it. I Absolutely agree that lyrical content can really 'make' a song truely heavy.
Here are some gems for you. Gorement, Afterlife, Mangled Torso, Sorcery, or the second Paradise Lost record. Edge of Sanity as well in that category. The first Dismember record and At the Gates “with fear I kiss the burning darkness” are undeniably emotionally heavy
Moor by Every Time I Die has alot of different kinds of heavy to it. While i wouldn't say they are the heaviest band by a long shot, this particular song has an immense weight to it and would recommend any music lover check it out!
Thenks for the vid! Brian "Head" Welch's band Love And Death is one of the most serious formations for me. Both of their albums are a total goosebumps road roller. And the lyrics are brilliant!
I think Lightning Bolt deserves a mention on this list. They manage to be heavier than most metal bands while only having 2 members. But maybe people don't want to consider them because they're too "hip" or "artsy" or "noisy". They've put on the absolute loudest shows I've ever been to. Side note: they didn't know they could multitrack until they're like 6th or 7th album so they recorded everything live.
I don't know about 'heavy', but listening to Lightning Bolt while trying to do anything at all results in me functioning like I'm a tweaker on the verge of meth-binge caused psychosis.
Nails is the heaviest band I know. It’s a combination of fast, aggression, brutal, attitude, and lyrics. Good points about Pantera. I heard Fucking Hostile in the 90s and it blew my mind. I had never heard anything that aggressive before and I was a hardcore music fan. Sold on it instantly.
I've always found "Allegiance" - As Blood Runs Black, "Women and Children Die First" - Remembering Never, and the first two Agony Scene albums to be some of the heaviest albums. Hester Prynne by ABRB is just nasty and awesome! A Life Once Lost "Hunter", From A Second Story Window's "Not one Word..." and "Delenda" always stood out to me as well as a bands that sound so heavy. Also I think those all include most of what you're saying, grooves, breakdowns, riffs, extreme vocals, lyrics, hints of guitar solos, melody, etc. and when seeing them live the volume and stage presence adds an extra edge and that the culmination of all of it makes it heavier. See You Next Tuesday comes to mind too, but closer to just straight up grind and noise. So many other great mentions in the comments. Great topic and execution!
Mick Gordon's soundtrack for DOOM and Eternal! It's got the perfect mix of aggression, groove, heaviness and energy! And it's not appreciated enough! Maybe because it's not part of a scene or the music industry but I bet it drew more people to heavy music than most bands.
Definitely agree! I'd also like to add Mick's track for Fulgore from 2013's Killer Instinct is incredibly brutal and worth the listen. Perfectly conveys that "killing machine" feel for the character.
The Alice In Chains album is called “Dirt” and the actual title track lyrics are even heavier than “godsmack” arguably. Amazing album and band though. So heavy live too. Thanks for shouting them out.
Acid Bubble. Fuck it feels like I'm being crushed by the guitars. They can go heavy either way.
I love Alice, and I would agree Dirt is a heavy album that dives deep into a personal hell. Facelift is definitely bluesy. Their self-titled album has a weird sound to it but it works. Listen to Over Now and Jerry’s guitar is out of this world.
That album is phenomenal
Absolutely. Theyre heavy in their own right. Especially to call them grunge since they get lumped together. Definitely the heaviest band in that scene at the time.
There used to be this pro shot live video on RUclips of them opening with “It Ain’t Like That” in a club and it might be the heaviest thing I’ve ever seen. I can’t find it anymore.
I think another important aspect of Pantera was Phil’s willingness to deliver harsh vocals to really sell their performance. You can hear this on songs like Fucking Hostile, Slaughtered and Suicide note pt 2 where he shrieks and hits high notes that can hurt one’s voice but the way Phil delivered them made the songs even more intense. The downside to this though is that can damage your vocals in the long run which is why he said in interviews he can’t sing Cemetery Gates anymore, but Phil did give us some standout vocals that were blistering and a never ending assault on the listener.
Pantera shits on modern death metal in my opinion. Open chugs tuned to drop A and low growls don’t make you heavier.
@@GordoDustin It sure does make the music sound heavier though.
@@GordoDustin midtera
Nothing is more brutal than Chuck from Death wearing wearing a Kitty T-shirt in an interview
As in that band?
Strapping Young Lad. Devin's early music was not only sonically crushing & intense, it was emotionally harrowing too. Amazing stuff.
Shitstorm, Home Nucleonics, All Hail The New Flesh, Bastard, OMFG... so many beautiful, ear shredding mindfucks.
Came here to say this...
I think Love? is probably the loudest song I've ever heard at any decibel level.
The perfect balance between pretty much everything Finn talks about here imo
@@ayranbarbarian that was My first thought! That song is heavy as fuck the bass alone is thundering ⛈
Just saw him a few months back in London. Was a beautiful concert. Man is so talented.
I definitely agree that groovy, slower, crushing heaviness always ultimately hits harder than just raw noise. I think the ultimate example in my mind would be Black Tongue.
CROWBAR end of Story.
Electric Wizard
I came to say the same thing. Especially the song, Coma.
Yeah I saw black tongue in a small pub in Bolton and people were going hard as fuck because it was so heavy. The owners of the pub had to come out and practically fight the crowd to save the pub and PA from destruction haha
True
Pantera was tuning to drop C in 96 with the Great Southern Trendkill… insanely heavy riffs.
Godflesh been doing that since the '80s.
they had a song in drop G on the great southern trendkill
I thought Dimebag was using a voltage regulator? lol such a boomer fix. Haha.
Godflesh is my personal pick. I get that they may not be the "heaviest" nowadays, but their influence is inarguable. Kirk Hammet even called them the heaviest band of all time. When I'm in the mood for a heavy album, nothing beats Streetcleaner. Older Gojira comes closer than most, though.
I was thinking Godflesh and Neurosis. Not as dynamic as others, but CRUSHING.
Jep
@@harveywolfe7288 🤘
Indeed...streetcleaner ftw... and Jesu
I saw them 3 times waaaay back in the day, one of those times was a religious experience. I saw their actual first show in the States and it was really bad. They had equipment and sound man issues and wound up walking off the stage after the second song. "Godflesh don't hear, Godflesh don't play" and walked off. So disappointing but understandable.
in the wake of Trevor Strnad's suicide some of his lyrics really catch your eye. While he was easily one of death metals best lyricists and storytellers he was also one of the best front men of all time, bringing such passion, joy, and love to the scene. Knowing what we know now and the pain he was in it really brings to light the songs Receipt and To Breathless Oblivion. Receipt has such lyrics as:
"Have you ever tasted it?
Metallic barrel placed in it?
Do you possess the gall to pain all those in life you’ve touched?
Failure, I renounce our tenure
This venture has drained me
I ask thee grant self murder’s bliss
My conscience has begged me to end this horrendousness
Wrap rope so tightly ‘round my neck and twist
Suicide be my guide
The only thing I will get right in this life
My appeal shall not be denied
My place - now secured
My home - the other side
I never belonged here
I never did ask if I could join this world collapsed
A hell hath awakened and now I choose sleep
So let this razor get the better of me"
which genuinely feel as though they are written from a person with those experiences and thoughts.
To Breathless Oblivion has the chorus of:
"beyond those cursed stars above
lies the answer that I seek
on the backs of bullets rides my name
longing to kiss my cheek
resentfully decline
retire this hated life
without guilt I break these veins
carved with salvation's knife"
Trevor is a tricky one to ask though because with his knack for lyrics and storytelling its hard to truly know if it was just his raw talent to tell a narrative or if this was where he was at the time. Either way its hard to overstate how heavy TBDM could be.
Agreed 1000%. RIP Trev.
I was thinking of TBDM for most part of the video, they check a lot of the boxes… those 9 albums Trevor did are brutal, a perfect mix between cosmic horror, satanic witchery and the dark side of the human mind.
R.I.P Trevor Strnad
I always get in arguments with friends over this. I think TBDM is heavier than a lot of their compatriots. The lyrics, the sonic depth of the music, the changes and way it all flows like a story. RIP to one of the best to ever do it.
Trevor was a lyrical genius, the best front man. he conducted thr crowd like a master conductor just working his orchestra. I fully believe it was a combi of a English major with an insane vocabulary and insane talent forestry tell mixed with a man who's been dealing with depression since he was a child. The one thing I know for do sure is this world fucking sucks without him. The Black Dahlia Murder fuckin saved me when I was in the Army and had all that shit hanging on me. Thr Black Dahlia Murder are the heaviest band because they have everything, insane vocals, melodic rhythm, super fast drums, amazing guitar work, and the best vocals of any band.
@@CL053DC45K37 totally second that motion! and believe me when I say that I’d tried tones of bands and styles of metal searching for the heavyest of heavys but always come back to The Boys. HEARTBURN FOREVER!
I could never get into death metal, but I cannot be the only person who dreams of a Cannibal Corpse coloring book.
Listen to thrash first
@@Roses._thornz Any specific band recommendations?
@@jamikatechaos9972 not a huge fan of thrash, but listen to Stormtroopers Of Death, one of the only thrash bands I like.
And Vince Locke could do the illustrations that would be epic btw maybe you should read A History of Violence
@@jamikatechaos9972 Start with Slayer.
Acid Bath is heavy in several aspects that you spoke on. There are heavy parts in the music and it is definitely lyrically heavy. One of my favorites!
Bro Amputated is the heaviest band I’ve ever heard Slam pig hits and skullfuck Lobotomy
Acid bath is amazing rip audie pitre
That is exactly what I was going to write! Acid Bath does it musically and lyrically. Even their acoustic songs like "Bones of Baby Dolls" and "New Death Sensation" have some of the heaviest lyrics I've heard! Good point, dude!
I knew Dax Riggs a little bit back in the day. He’s a kind soul who loves to cook.
All their lyrics are constantly edgy and disturbing af (even worse when the kite string pops is based on irl events) and they all play amazingly and dax vocals are arguably the best in the genre
I think you hit it with the contrast argument. “This Love” by Pantera was the first song I personally heard were the singing and tempo changed so drastically and it sounded so insane to me at the time.
The minute that elitists shit on this album (which absolutely has one of the all time greatest opening tracks, ever)? Was the second I recognized just how fucked the metal scene could be.
And I was literally 12, at that time.
ruclips.net/video/LVREKUVRoEQ/видео.html
5 Minutes Alone as well
@@freedomhardly also, a great FU to those very critics. My favorite album by them by far. Underrated.
Pantera. Full stop. Perfect balance of all the criteria you were considering at the start of the video.
@@tastefulsubstance the breakdown of that song is super fucking heavy and is pretty simple. Gets me every time.
JD on Korn’s selftitled.. THAT’s fucking heavy. The anger, the crying, the screaming, the growling, the lyrics, the sobbing, the imagery, the drugs, the producer who triggered JD, and 20+ years later making amends with the past.. That’s brutal af.
So glad you mentioned Crowbar. They're one of my favorite metal bands. I love how Kirk and the boys are all about playing low and slow in a way that works through the misery, rather than wallowing it, like so many of their sludgy peers.
Bingo!👍🏾
Check out the band Stressball, they sound like Crowbar, and came out of Louisiana around the same time
@@axeltejeda175 just checked them out… maybe if they weren’t playing through a Marshall practice amp it would be a bit more bearable. Sounds like the worst parts of acid bath lol.
They have plenty of songs that speed up the tempo for a good mosh. Going to see them for the first time right down the road this month. Been listening since 98.
@@frankiesparks2868 Going to see them July 30th, been listening since '95, can't wait!
I am shocked you didn’t mention Korn “Daddy” as one of hardest songs, lyrically, just on the fact that it took him decades to even go back and play that song live. He was reliving all that trauma and pain, an they still put it on their CD. Your videos are amazing, an totally agree that what makes a bad hard is not always who can play the fastest.
Yup... That is indeed a heavy song. Especially if you see it live, or live recording.
@@Cr0wsMurd3r totally agree. Coming from someone who, did not suffer sexual trauma, but physical, it really speaks and allows you to vent your own anger. Sometimes it is hard to list to that some, depending on my mood.
Especially the "you raped!, i feel dirty" part, the vocals&guitar are beyond heavy
Was actually waiting for Korn to be mentioned on that last section.
There was this Spanish nu metal band called Skunk DF that came out with what was very obviously a "Daddy"-inspired song in 1999, but without the personal story instead of being super bleak and heavy it was kinda like just a protest song against child abuse, like someone needed to make a stand against that. I always found that darkly funny
No one I know seems to agree with me but "A New Level" is the heaviest song I''ve personally heard. That main chromatic riff hits me like a truck every time.
AMEN!!!
A NEW LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE
Cattle Decapitation satisfies a lot of your main criteria. They have that contrast to which you were referring in the middle of the vid in which you mentioned Suffocation and "Thall", and not to mention they achieve this by tuning to E flat standard. Travis Ryan can easily compete with the deathcore vocalists you mentioned thereafter (and his "cleans" add to the aforementioned contrast) that are in that arms race of vocal extremity (if anything, I'd say he is the most obvious influence on Will Ramos just by listening). Lastly, they satisfy your criteria of lyrical heaviness because while they don't write about incredibly personal subjects we can all relate to, they write about humanity's ecological choices in a very compelling way, and there are certain select songs that can make you emotional (see Lifestalker, Your Disposal, Pacific Grim, and the title track of Death Atlas, for example).
Good band, I should revisit these guys.
They’re my contender ATM for heaviest band on the planet. They are certainly one of the most interesting
Cattle Decap is not the heaviest band there is, and even jokingly entertaining that they might be, it wouldn't be Death Atlas.
RIP Gabe Serbian
Cattle decap is absolutely amazing and my favorite band. Monolith to Humanity checks off so many boxes in terms of heaviness. Maybe not the heaviest band of all time but they are up there for sure. Insanely fast and intense parts along with crushing slams and weird time change ups and an awesome vocal contrast make them stand out. Truly an amazing band and some of the best death metal ever made imo.
Heaviness is the combination of tone and intent. Outside of those things it becomes a little like sports; once the emotional impact is eschewed in favour of prowess and very “meta” heaviness techniques, it just stops being heavy and becomes about tropes.
Solid insight. Really spot on. Thanks!
To me botch is one of the heaviest bands. Their grooves and breakdowns almost force movement. Loads of contrast and unpredictable switches from fast to slow and quiet to loud. Also it all has a very human feel which as a musician I find quite impressive and is more often than not lost in music that focuses that much on technicality.
oh man, the breakdown/solo part on C. Thomas Howell As The Soul Man is merciless. that double tapped solo is unlike anything I've ever heard, and then the vocals come roaring back in...
Lamb of gods 11th hour. The lyrics are about an alcoholic on his deathbed. So dark and heavy and relatable. Also knowing Randy’s relationship with alcohol at that time it hits so hard knowing this came a from a deep place within him
Chimaera is an excellent band. One of my favourites. Well balanced riffs, heavy, intelligent lyrics and just enough rock mixed in to make it very accessible.
Pass out of existence is a masterpiece.
I think the band that really needed mentioned at the end was Knocked Loose. They're the perfect blend of emotionally driven, lyrically intense, disgustingly heavy music there is. A Tear in the Fabric of Life wraps up so much of the stuff you mentioned in this video into one borderline perfect EP.
Knocked Loose is insane. I thought Shade of Blue was the heaviest they can go. But their latest EP blew me away. Bryan is easily one of my top fav vocalists
Couldn't agree more
Fuck knocked loose
Damned Earth might be the heaviest sounding song. Gritty crushing production.
Great band Knocked Loose. I would also say Gatecreeper. They are death metal and they are great. Has the best parts of Morbid Angel and Pantera somehow. It’s got groove and the vocals are not ridiculously guttural, but somewhere between a Randy Blythe and a John Tardy.
I’ll save you some time: it’s Carly Rae Jepsen.
No it's obviously Taylor Swift dude
The hell with both of y’all. Ariana Grande is the heaviest nerds
@@Eragor_ nah bro it's Skeeter Davis
Obviously *red hot chilli peppers* are beyond brutality 😂
Definitely actually Iamnotshane.
As ridiculous as this might sound, for me Dethklok is up there for alot of the combined reasons you mentioned. Their contrast between melody and crushing riffs, groove, fluctuating tempos, the way Gene Hoglans drum patterns (cmon, its gene hoglan) mesh in sync with the riffs and the overall musicality to it just get me going much harder than any of the brutal bands out there. Despite them being a joke / parody, their music is unironically some of the best out there to my ears.
Goddamn right.. Brendan small, gene hoglan, Brian.. Amazing
Brutal
I really like how you've explored heaviness beyond the typical tropes (blastbeats, growls, etc.), I think The Downward Spiral is a great example of an album that is heavy but not in the traditional way, first of all it's a concept album about a man giving up all hope and descending into insanity, you have songs like Mr Self Destruct and March of the Pigs that are fast and aggressive with the noisey industrial stuff (forgive my lack of music terminology) adding a whole other dimension to it, tracks like Piggy or Closer which are groovy but with very eery unsettling lyrics and Hurt which is probably the most depressing song ever written, and when you consider that Trent Reznor was a heroin addict when writing it and it was recorded in the same house that the Tate murders took place you end up with an album that is genuinely quite uncomfortable to listen to and provokes a very weird emotional reaction.
I also like the Song Somewhat Damaged for this reason as well. The way the song makes you feel like you’re descending into madness with the singer is always cathartic for me.
Eraser and Mr Self Destruct are so heavy that they should be industrial metal rather than rock. Also, I love TDS but I cannot listen to it anymore because the theme is too much.
Downward Spiral is more of a classic for sure, but I'd say Broken is the heavier album sound wise and still has a lot of the same unsettling nature as tds. It blew my mind back when I was on the quest for unconventional heaviness.
@@5ycey7.n.84 I just thought that TDS showed a bit more contrast between different displays of heaviness, only slightly though, Broken is the one I revisit more often tbh, it's an industrial metal masterpiece and quite an extreme EP in its own kinda way
@ghost mall Somehow I never noticed that's what the sample was haha, but yeah so many bands have tried to do what NIN do but none as well as Trent Reznor, the guy is a genius.
I grew up listening to grunge, which I never thought of as "heavy" until recently. Like you said, it's not all about blast beats and toilet vocals. The lyrics and imperfections attributes to the rawness/heaviness of the music. When I heard Korn's first record, it blew my mind. THAT was heavy as hell. The lyrical content was extreme, the vocals were unlike anything I've ever heard, and the instruments were raw, yet groovy as hell. From there I guess I've had that "natural" heavy growth and started enjoying the metalcore and deathcore scenes. Today I give almost any type of music a shot. And bands like Lamb of God, Lorna Shore and Gorjira are some of my favorites, and they are all super heavy. But I still enjoy (or long for?) That old school Raw, heavy shit that was the groundwork for my tastes today. I still revisit Korn, Alice in Chains and Nirvana on the regular, because it just hits the heavy spot sometimes when my favorite modern bands don't.
Check out Admiral Angry for some raw just downright crushing heaviness. Most of them members are in Black Wall Sheep and their first 3 albums are also intense.
@ghost mall Yea alot of Nirvana's songs off In Uterus were pretty heavy.
Great video, just surprised you didn't mentionned the math core/tech metal genre as Dillinger Escape Plan, Psyopus, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravangaza , The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Ion Dissonance, The Chariot, Carbomb, Frontierer, etc
Acacia Strain has always been the heaviest band I’ve listened to. The lyrics and how Vincent delivers them, coupled with the guttural chug of the instruments. Lines like “Not even your children are safe” and “This is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper”. It may not work for everybody, but I dig it.
There’s no heavy quite like Acacia Strain heavy
I feel like since DL left they've lost some impact, but still hit like a truck. Dead walk/Continent/Wormwood are 3 of my fave albums from anyone ever.
@@charliekirkpatrick695 I’ve noticed that too. I still enjoyed the most recent stuff, but it definitely is lacking in places compared to their earlier work.
@@charliekirkpatrick695 what a fuckin era. Saw em half a dozen times back then and it was always insane
JFC! I know others will argue other tracks are heavier, but it's JFC for me. Fucking hell.
I feel that Meshuggah will always be the heaviest band out there. It's just something with their sound that is untouchable, just take clockworks or born in dissonance for example, it hits like a truck in the face. And, the album(The violent sleep of reason) is recorded live so there is that too.
Listen to Mass Worship
Theyre literally heavier meshuggah
They got the groove and heaviness down
Meshuggah is not only as heavy as you can get short of crossing over into death metal. But, similar to Pantera, they also created their own unique groove. Not sure if there's a #1 but they are one of the best of all time.
"Nothing" and "Catch 33" in particular are heavy as fuck.
Totally agree with you good sir, was searching for a comment like yours :D
Really appreciated the Life Of Agony mention at the end there. They're pretty heavy yet don't get regarded as such cause the vocals are grungy so it's nice to see some love for them
Dying Fetus is the best band I have ever seen live. Absolutely perfect execution.
Seen them 2 weeks ago and it was the most brutal concert I've ever been to. Truly godlike. My neck hurt for 3 days after the show.
My favorite "heavy by way of overwhelming detail" style death metal band is Weeping Birth, a one-dude project from a dude better known for also being Mirrorthrone (similar sound but black metal instead of death). It doesn't attempt to sound in any way real--everything is obviously digital besides the guitar, but it's all pushed to a beyond-human intensity that uses the inhumanity to contribute to just how overwhelming and chaotic the sound is. It finds a way to actually sound somewhat unclean and insane even though you know every note had to have been specifically placed.
On the sludge-heavy side, Gojira's To Sirius is my singular go-to track. The riffs are just so fucking good.
That entire Gojira album was life changing for me when I first heard it.
I definitely think bands sound heaviest and most interesting when they either go raw and real, like playing an album live off the floor with minimally edited overdubs, or when they go the opposite route and make something batty and insane on a computer that you could never conceive of just by jamming with guitars and drums. A lot of bands take the boring middle route of editing and computerizing everything to be super precise but still using arrangements and techniques that a skilled live band could pull off.
Mirrorthrone is criminally underrated
Hard to find but Deeds of Flesh - Human Sandbags was a truly unique blend of the aspects mentioned …Same with Suffocation- Effigy of the Forgotten…Can’t leave out early Pyrexia too
Finally I found a comment mentioning pyrexia.They are so heavy.
Not to be "that guy" but Godsmack was on AIC's album "Dirt". It was the song that created Godsmack the band.
Edit: what makes a band heavy to me is confronting real life problems with realistic approaches and the vocalist at least understanding that they are not a God.
I was looking around to see if there was 'that guy' so I didn't have to be 'that guy' haha.
What you mentioned about emotion is why Slipknot’s first two albums are still to this day so heavy to me. It’s not a particular technique or style, just that they go in there and let it all out. So much hate, pain, and sorrow thrown in a blender and put on a tape. So even if you don’t know the stories they’re telling, you can FEEL them.
Another thing I like is the fact that Corey’s vocals are a lot easier to understand than typical death metal. Rather than thinking it sounds like a demon, or bowel movements, it just sounds like a dude suffering. Because that’s what it is.
And lastly, as you mentioned, dynamics play a part too. They allow some down time, and even throw in a melody here and there, which make it hit harder when the crunch comes back in.
Aight, that’s enough for now.
felt the same exact feeling with Korn's self titled years ago
Their self titled album was recorded as a band live. That's part of the reason its so heavy. I forgot who in the band said it, but Ross Robinson was screaming in their face, hitting them, and do other stuff when they were recording. So he was just amping them up. Having them all in the same room, all playing together, and with Ross fucking with them definitely made it a lot harder sounding. Just a great album as a whole.
Scissors, off of slipknot's self titled album, is probably the heaviest track I can honestly think of. So raw, deeply sad lyrics, and a vocal performance so aggressive that Corey couldn't take it and started puking. That's fucking heavy to me.
I agree so much and it kinda pisses me off when people say slipknot fans are just too weak for death metal, I love death metal and death core, but tracks like sic, eyeless, surfacing and heretic anthem are just more heavy In my opinion
@@mother-chugger Scissors is hands down the best track on the whole album imo
may i humbly suggest Thou? the combo of pure, crushing tone, diaphragm-ripping vocals, acerbic lyrics, and how the band locks into rhythms to play with this unstoppable synergistic energy at both crawling and bracing tempos is just crazy. i think it goes way beyond “does this sound filthy/extreme”, though they are extremely filthy.
I was looking for this comment. Thou and Amenra are the heaviest to me. The best way I can describe it is "crushing".
The Cleansing is the best deathcore album. The magic from that live recording is unmatched in the entire genre.
I've only listened to a few deathcore bands because they all sound very cheesy, and they all sound so similar. The Cleansing was actually really good though, and definitely my favorite deathcore album.
untouchable IMO. Focused on simple gross stank face riffs and no melodeath influences. Too much deathcore has the melodeath or the technicality which just makes it less heavy lol.
Not even close... Mitch isn't a god yk
That album is the epitome of deathcore for me. The production sounds perfect and the fact that it's live makes it even more amazing. Raw, harsh and heavy af
I prefer The Black Crown but The Cleansing is still brilliant
When it comes to "heavy", Crowbar always comes to mind. Listening to them just feels like raw impact. Another few bands to take that even a step further are Primitive Man and Thou.
It’s absolutely Crowbar. I listen to plenty brutal death metal but Crowbar hits different
Crowbar is serious fat metal.
Crowbar totally deserve to be on the list of all time.
No idea how "Primitive Man" isn't the final answer to this video's query
Honorable mention to CoC
Bolt Thrower. I continue to be genuinely astounded by how under-appreciated they are.
Bolt Thrower is the ultimate Death metal band imo.
I love that band.
bolt thrower is soooo good
Korn gets a lot of shit but you can't tell me that their first 2 albums aren't insanely heavy. The guitar tone is brutal. The atmosphere and lyrics are really dark. Lyrics about real personal shit. My favorite Korn album is Follow the Leader but the first 2 are just insane.
No
@@AgentBeans just no. No Korn they’re god damn terrible. I’m sorry. I don’t find them to be heavy by any means
@@AgentBeans hey, you can like whatever you like. No need to justify it to a stranger on the internet
@@Bungletronics Korn isn't your cup of tea. That's cool with me. Some have different definitions of what heavy is.
I totally agreed with this whole video, I think musically the groove stuff and anything with breakdowns is extremely heavy because of the primal reaction we have to the space between notes. I think your example for Alice in chains is a bit odd (the album is dirt not Godsmack btw) I think the opening version of nutshell at MTV unplugged is crushingly depressing as Layne was litterally dying and singing about dying alone. I think bell witch combines both deep depressing reality with crushing musicianship and is the best example imo. While you can't exactly hear the vocals, the actual bass and drum combo envokes such despair that I felt my body go limp when I heard them for the first time, you can really hear the sound of someone who's lost a friend on their album mirror reaper and it's the heaviest shit musically and lyrically.
Also numb little bug is an amazing song, it's so relateable yet catchy kinda like hey ya by Outkast
Bell Witch are fantastic, Mirror Reaper is how I first heard them, awesome band.
@ghost mall the time signature on this is so weird, it really makes you feel kind of rushed despite not being that fast.
@@charliekirkpatrick695 oh man, Bell Witch are amazing, especially when you consider that it's just bass, drums and vocals. occasional keys on the quiet parts.
Electric Wizard likes to coin themselves the heaviest band ever and I can't disagree
Electric Wizard's riffs are not talked about enough in my opinion
Heaviness is very subjective. From a purely music perspective Ulcerate, Nails, Trap Them and other bands like that hit me very hard, while from a lyrical bands like Blacklisted and other hardcore bands do it for me. With a mix of emotional lyrics and heavy music there is a great variety of bands and genres like Whirr, Nothing, Deafheaven and especially Oathbreaker with their album Rheia, which hit everybody in the emotional guts that I talked to about it.
Knocked Loose live is one of heaviest bands I’ve ever experienced. But, I think Gojira’s energy is top notch in my opinion. It’s a toss up between those two bands for me.
Saw them both Live together in Oklahoma and you’re absolutely right
both probably really good, only seen gojira but in love with knocked loose in the last year orso, both heavy as fuck in their own way
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe and Love are both two of the heaviest songs I can think of. Gojira goes in.
I can't wait to finally experience Gojira, live. Even if I'm extremely late to that party.
Good answer, that's how I felt about Far Beyond Driven Album by Pantera.
It's so interesting that what makes the heaviest band is in the eye of the beholder. The heaviest song in the world for me is Dracula with sunglasses by Burnt by the sun, but I know so many people would disagree but it's just what tickles that brutal itch for me
I always found slower, sludgier metal to be the heaviest stuff i could think of. I dont really like Morbid Angel but God of emptiness is like an auditory lead blanket. Having said that i recently discovered Lux tenebris by The Secret and its the heaviest Black Metal ive heard
I said it above. Corrupted. Band makes people feel ill live.
Always makes my day better when I see a Punk Rock MBA video. Keep up the great work Finn. You're awesome.
I've recently gained an appreciation for suicide silence. I never cared for deathcore (liked a song here and there), but looking back on them, they definitely paved a way for a generation.
I feel bad for anyone who doesn't like deathcore
@@lightningmonky7674 I've honestly tried. It has a lot of elements in metal I like. The songs where the drums are louder than the guitars ruin it for me. If I here the cymbals overpowering the guitar, I just can't listen to it. Ive ran into a lot of deathcore like it. Don't get me wrong. I respect the genre though
@@lightningmonky7674 I'm open minded about it, but more often than not I find it to be just a worse version of Cryptopsy or Aborted with breakdowns that just kill the pace of the song through a chuggy riff or bog standard slammy brutal death metal riff. Though I do find myself digging some of the more symphonic or blackened deathcore bands that have been popping up lately.
@@Gerd0 that's pretty funny cause that's the kind of deathcore I stay away from 😭🤣 different strokes for different folks I guess. And yeah aborted's old stuff is pretty cool but I really haven't liked the second half of their career has sounded really boring to me
This video presents a nice way to analyze, appreciate and classify bands in different levels of 'heaviness'. It success in opening a friendly debate, in which everyone will 'throw' out there, their favorites heaviest bands. Many interesting playlists could be generated based on the selected criteria of 'heaviness'.
I’ll happily listen to Finn talking about anything tbh. He always makes it interesting and throws a few jokes in.
@ghost mall he’s annoying but he makes fair points lol
I agree with pretty much everything you said. Especially how "super brutal" death metal stops being heavy. It just turns into a wall of noise and is practically relaxing at a certain point! I think if I had to pick one band as "the heaviest band" it would probably be The Acacia Strain, for the reasons you listed. They have incredible contrast including speed, grooves, brutality, soft parts, etc. And that contrast combined with the sound and tone of their vocals and instruments makes them very heavy for me. I think to an extent, Spiritbox is up there too, because their guitars are tuned down ridiculously low (which doesn't always mean heavy) and Courtney's vocals are so raw, combined with the fact that they have a lot of contrast and a lot of ambient/noise stuff in the background that makes the whole thing feel heavy in an ethereal way. Obviously there are many bands you could consider heavy and I'm sure I'll change my mind later, but that's where my head is at right now.
No mention of funeral doom is sad. Ahab, Bell Witch, and Esoteric are some of the heaviest music I've ever heard. When I saw Bell Witch live my whole body shook from the vibration of the riffs and pummeling of the drums
Ahab is awesome, gonna check out Bell Witch. Have you heard Abandon, Mournful Congregation, or Loss?
Dynamics are super important in music. One of my all time favorite metal albums is The Satanist by Behemoth, which is pretty sparse at times, but those moments of downtime make the heavy sections feel so much better.
Yep that's another heavy ass album. I saw Behemoth live with Danzig, Blackest of the Black, and they're one of the heaviest I've ever seen. Blew me away.
I think bands that can really display their dynamic range are heavier because they create the contrast for you to experience.
All y’all need some Primitive Man, and Dragged into Sunlight, and Demelich
Primitive Man is disturbing
@@Christian-vq8rd All of them are, in their own unique way.
Gotta throw Admiral Angry in there. I don't know if the lyrics and just insane feeling of torment that comes out in the vocals, is directly because of what Daniel was going through prior to his passing but every song hits hard on that album Buster.
Disembodied too. Heroin Fingers coming out in 99 sounding a full decade early.
The disembodied ep came out in 97, actually
I happened upon a song called Blasphemian, by Infant Annihilator recently and, once I'd recovered from the shock, I decided that it was hands down the heaviest thing I'd ever heard. It's 7 minutes of unrelenting brutality
Agreed but they’re not mainstream so nobody cares lmao.
As soon as this video popped up I was like hmmm it’s gotta be infant 😂
Aborted would be there, annotations of an autopsy as well (they’re a different heavy)
Infant Annihilator should def be discussed more in this convo..
For me deathcore and groove is what I would call heavy. Gojira for sure is top notch heavy(not sure why but they just are). Lyrics and emotion can make song just as heavy for example: "daddy" by Korn or "love hate love" by Alice in Chains. Hell i remember watching "murder song" by Aurora and holy shit that was heavy and its far from metal. Dissonance definitely helps too.
Really enjoyed this video dude, great conversation that delves into the true “heavy” discussion. So many metalheads think heavy is just as noisy, fast, distorted and growly as possible but I think there’s so much more to it and this was a great watch. Found myself saying “exactly! Thank you!” About 12 times 😂
On the Suicide Silence note, i'd love to see a video on the Mitch Lucker tribute show. That might be an interesting deep dive as to who was featured, and why. That is actually how I found out about Myke Terry, his cover of Distruction of a Statue
Musically speaking I think Meshuggah came up with something that can be called structural heaviness. The overlapping of complex patterns (voice included as an instrument) in different rhythm structures, modes and/or keys, without losing the sense of groove and natural flow is unique to them. The guitar solos are angular and free, for a contrast too.
That and JUTE GYTE. Micro-tones are the new heavy arrows.
Meshuggah is one of the heaviest bands imo. They're like a giant block of iron being dropped on your head. There's an elemental brutality about them that just can't be matched.
Im gonna say this and probably get laughed at but Slipknot has the heaviest of all time title in my opinion. What they did on their first two albums are flawless and brought in a new breath of fresh air for extreme metal. Their contribution to extreme metal is even more so than metallica's for thrash. Slipknot is so far ahead of everyone else in the extreme metal category, metallica is relatively loved as much as megadeth, slayer, etc. The music they put on the self titled and iowa is unmatched. Theres nothing else out there that has the passion and darkness behind it like iowa.
My definition of heavy has definitely changed a lot over the years. Like you said, searching for something heavier and heavier was a part of my life for years. I remember when the OG deathcore stuff started coming out while I was in high school, I was like "this is it, this is the heaviness that I've been looking for." Then lots of the newer bands coming out in the genre started to just blend together and I fell out of love with it. So then it was brutal death metal, then regular death metal, then melo-death and so on. At this point in time I really just enjoy some combination of heavy, fast, melodic, orchestral, lyrically compelling and blending harsh/clean vocals. Even though metal is probably 90% of what I listen to, I still love lots of rap, pop, electronic, country and pretty much anything else to be honest.
Lastly I just wanted to throw this out there... the last time I had that traditional "this is as heavy as it gets" feeling was when I heard "Second Death" by Black Tongue. That song absolutely crushed my mind! 🤣
Dude, i have the same story regarding metal. Grew up on suicide silence and the whole deathcore era. It wasn't until i heard black tongue that heaviness got redefined to me.
Bolt Thrower, especially Realm of Chaos. One of the few bands to never make a terrible album.
Agreed. I still prefer Those Once Loyal.
I was lucky enough to see them in the 90’s as a wide eyed young teenager, what a band.
@@iamnotanumber100 Same, I saw them on the War Master tour and they were amazing IMO.
How many albums would you say you have to release to be on that list?
@@callum9693 Probably only 3 or 4, haha. IMO, most bands release something embarrassing after only a couple of albums.
Being in the mosh on a scorching hot day at a festival hearing Knocked Loose play Mistakes Like Fractures for the first time having never heard the band really opened my eyes to what heavy is. The place was torn apart, every single person was sunburnt and dehydrated and still the mosh exploded like a sea of pure aggression! I’ve been to a lot of metal gigs over the last 15 years I’ll never forget that feeling 👌🏼 KL seem to have bottled some key ingredients to what makes a track sound and feel heavy.
Yes sir
“Just One Fix” by Ministry is the heaviest song of all time IMO… from the weight of the lyrics to that punishing guitar line it’s got my vote.
Knocked Loose hands down is one of the heaviest in my opinion. Like Tear In The Fabric Of Life is one of the heaviest things I've heard period.
I had to scroll too far to find someone else feeling like Knocked Loose was missing from this list. A lot of bands get my blood flowing in the gym, but with Knocked Loose I be ripping PRs on the regular.
Primitive Man is probably the heaviest (literally) band today. Also I think Acacia Strain's It Comes In Waves is heavy AF
"Forget the letters.. just sleep sound tonight
pull back the covers without a fight
but as we dance by emergency light
So pull this switch
and see my body twitch
a light left blinking on its own
And my blood is flowing
Down through this machine
In hope and desire I hope I expire
oh as we dance on this memory
Despair has devoured me whole
Turn off this machine
cause this is the only thing
that's keeping me alive."
-Hospitality by: Funeral For A Friend
For me this is the heaviest song i've heard in life and we used to listen to this album all the time.
We had to pull my best friend off of life support in 2020.
Most people will never know what it's like to look your best
friend in the face and say goodbye forever in this life.
I have to give a shout out to Zao - "Where Blood & Fire Bring Rest". That album is just full of agony, betrayal and hopelessness + the heaviness of the music & delivery. Zao has always been a favorite of mine for the genuine emotion through their music. That band has a long past of painful stories.
Preach! Zao is my personal favorite metal band of all time
Wow Finn, great video! So glad you mentioned Crowbar, Lamb of God, Suffocation and Nile. LoG is the most brutal pit I've ever been in when they toured with Slayer in like 2007. Crowbar so amazingly great and underrated to this day. A couple I think worthy of mention are of course Sabbath and Heaven and Hell (H&H are so heavy omg), Extermination Dismemberment, and Strapping Young Lad like omg so heavy af. Also wanted to mention that Ministry, NIN and Marilyn Manson, though not really known for sheer heaviness, have a handful of some of the heaviest songs I think I've ever heard... no mention of industrial metal in this vid.
Dude, you nailed it. When you combine the music itself + the subject matter, NOTHING you'll ever hear is "heavier" from a real life perspective than Dirt by AiC
I started listening to Korn and I thought they were heavy af when I was young, moved to Slayer, then Cannibal Corpse, but I have to say Lorna Shore is one of the heaviest bands out today definetly.
Oh yes definitely Korn, especially when they released the first two albums!
Bound In Fear.
korn's first few albums (excluding most lead singles on follow the leader) stayed consistently heavy, and didn't need raw noise or horrifying topics to do it (mostly). one of the heaviest imo, but ofc i don't listen to everything
Since their in the same vain and age, i wanna mention brand of sacrifice. I Wonder who is heavier, them or lorna
Infant Annihilator is brutal
In terms of lyrical content, I'm reminded of the quote from Ihsahn, where he said something to the effect of "The Weeknd is edgier than 90% of metal". This is one massive blind spot for a lot of metal. I have never been someone who listened to lyrics over the instrumental sections of songs, but even I can tell that a lot of people aren't going to respond to a lot of metal lyrics. Bands that have a strong message in their lyrics are going to resonate with a much bigger audience, Gojira being a good example.
This was fantastically done Finn, with some very valid points as always! I think even a lot of metal heads will assume or agree that down-tuning and grunts = heavy. My pals and I discussed this once, and Gallows (Frank Carter era), especially Orchestra of Wolves, recorded in a bedroom, it has that energy and vibe, pure anger and chaos, with some of the heaviest feels I've ever listened to and felt. I think other genres can definitely hit heavy without the typically assumed criteria!
Lyrically, one of the heaviest records I've ever heard is Dead and Divine - Antimacy.
Losing the battle with drugs and giving yourself over to it willingly, losing faith, etc. This record covers all of that in a gut-wrenching poetic way. One of the most underrated albums I know of.
Ive honestly gotta give it to either cattle decaps Death Atlas, or Misery Index - Complete Control
I've been loving the band Vitriol. I keep going back to their song "The parting of a neck." It's got agonizing vocals, crazy blast beats, evil sounding guitar, a rlly cool guitar solo.
Hunt those who run!
Really fascinating to bring Alice in Chains into this as just last week I wanted something crushing and heavy and angry and that's what hit the top of my list. Really listening to AiC is some dark shit, man.
I was listening to Electric Wizard's Dopethrone yesterday, first time in a few years. and part of what makes them so heavy is how saturated and huge the guitar and bass sound. like they're so dimed out it just washes all over you and seeps into your mind. I love doom for that
as far as fast gnarly shit, Anaal Nathrakh's stuff, and specifically their album The Codex Necro, is just completely grotesque, ugly, hateful industrial black metal/grindcore. it chugs battery acid and spits lava. when it came out, it was like, the endurance-test for everyone who wanted to show their friends something that was like "can you handle this?" but beyond that, the lyrics (at least what you could hear or understand) were all about social problems and hatred rather than ice and caves and the usual black metal fare. it made things feel very real.
around the same time there was a band called Axis Of Perdition who mixed more of that caustic black metal with technical weirdness, but also dark ambient passages. their stuff was super inspired by the Silent Hill games and to this day, their album Deleted Scenes In The Transition Hospital is one of the weirdest and most disorienting metal albums I've ever heard.
as far as that more... real kind of heaviness you're ascribing to grunge and stuff, a great example of that is Type O Negative (I know, goth band, whatever) whose stuff was amazing for dynamics but also because Pete Steele was obviously on a very dark, bad trajectory. like musically their stuff is very lurching and punishing, but beyond that, the pain in a lot of that stuff is so damn real.
This video reminded me I haven't listened to Chelsea Grin, Job for a Cowboy, Pig Destroyer, Cretin and The Chariot for quite a while...
Haven't heard a song heavier than "Observer" by Acacia Strain. Pure gold. Change my mind.
This is a question that I’ve been continually asking for the last 25 years lol my answer has changed but the one band that has never left the conversation is Devourment. Other bands like Early Disgorge (MEX) are also in my list. For me it’s the combination of heaviness musically, artwork, vocals, subject matter, whole overall aesthetic. Devourment’s Molesting The Decapitated, and Disgorge’s Forensick hit this for me now followed with bands like Fluids
I would say Darko US and To the Grave are the two heaviest that immediately come to my mind. Lorna Shore is definitely up there as well though.
Really???
I think the experimentation from darko takes away from the heaviness many times kinda like methwitcj.To the grave gets heavier lirically,vocally and musically every time I hear them
Thank you Finn for finally showing the many faces of "heavy". I think for me a band that's heavy will pummel you into some form of state of mind, whether through motion or stillness.
In this context my brain usually goes to slower bands like Humanity's Last Breath or something more on the doom side, with shoegaze and post-metal being heavy in an overwhelming almost oceanic sense.
For example: bands like Bell Witch get me because you can sit there and listen to 1 hour and 23 minutes of not only riffs but a literal tribute to the life of a man who passed on before his time. Sure you get the whole magic and occult angle, but it makes that fantasy more tangible when relating to how we've dealt with tragedy over time.
I love Suffocation. However, I'd say Mortician is one of the heaviest of old school death metal.
I saw Suffocation live and they were great.
@@keithclayton1271 Agreed. I saw them many times in NYC, especially B.B. Kings.
@@christlevania5933 oh nice :) I only saw them once, in Dallas with Shadows Fall.
Yeah, those mid tempo grooves from Mortician are heavy as fuck.
Rose Rose - Brutalize was imo the heaviest death metal album.
If we're going for lyrics, I would have to say Cure for the Enemy by Billy Talent. I watched an interview with them where fans thought it was about war but they corrected them explaining that it's actually about cancer. This hit me pretty hard originally since I had lost a few family members to cancer but, it hit me even harder when I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2019 and again in 2021. I've currently cancer free and that song is almost like an anthem of sorts for me now.
Hell yeah, keep kicking ass
Love that you play the song you talk about right after you mention them. Dont ever stop doing that.
I really like how you framed the idea of "heavy". It reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad when I was a lot younger and we were talking about music. I was listening to a LOT of early deathcore at the time and I remember he said in his time Pink Floyd where his definishion of heavy. And he was right the lyrics were heavy, and for their genre they where fucking bleak and a punch to the gut. Definitely changed my idea of heavy after that conversation and helped me open my eyes to a lot more music that are heavy but not metal.
I'm glad you mentioned "Dirt" by AIC, 'cause I think (and have thought) it's one of the heaviest and most emotionally charged albums ever. Without even knowing the subject matter of the vocals, anyone hearing Layne Staley sing can tell what it's about.
Phenomenal vocalist BTW. Anyone not familiar, check out "Love, hate, love" from the first AIC record
Norma Jean recorded “Bless The Martyr, Kiss The Child” live in studio as well.
I dont think speed makes music heavy. Its more about the feeling of impact and depends greatly on the drums and bass. I think the kick drum in EDM is perhaps the heaviest sound we use in music to day. Its litteraly designed to hit you in the chest
Public Castration is a good idea
Primitive Man is the heaviest band I have experienced - both on record and in live performance. Absolutely punishing sonic hellscapes that are reflected in their lyrics as well.
I’ve got to see all these bands at their peak. Suicide silence in 2008-9 was one of the most crushing heaviest just slimey sets I’ve ever seen. Lamb of gods omerta live gives ANYONE goosebumps, same with pantera riffs just grooved as it gets. Gojira I must say have never made a bad album, they are technical yet accessible and just brutal. A very good mixture. Their success over time has to be considered. But more modern I will say the best metal set I’ve witnessed was architects US tour in 2019 so much emotion and energy. that was the most fun set for me. I’ll throw 2008-2010 the devil wears Prada sets in there for metalcore and August burns red messengers and constellations era, just unmatched energy. These are my opinions and tastes.
For me one of the heaviest bands is defiantly flowers taped to pens. I know skramz isnt everyones cup of tea but the loose lofi production, really emotional lyricism and bloodcurdling vocals is so crushing to me, more so than any death metal band.
Korn hands down. Their early stuff especially the self titled album and Life is Peachy are so heavy lyrically wise, so much aggression in Jonathan Davis‘a voice and Munky and Head’s guitar tone and David’s raw drumming style. The tempos go from groovy and then turn around and pick up speed along with the breakdowns in those albums. Korn in the 90s was definitely heavy
Good call dude. Ahhhh, remember back when Korn was good? Remember that, all those years ago?!?!? I wanna be that happy little kid again lol
I agree, that first Korn album had some very heavy lyrics. Still their best album. I stopped listening to Korn after Issues (aside from hearing a single here and there and not really being into it) until their latest album which is actually really good. I was surprised that Korn sounded awesome again. Not heavy like that first album but worth checking out if you are an old Korn fan who has forgotten about them for the past 20 years.
No
I mean even if we go lyrically
Korn has nothing on the last 3 cattle decap albums
You cannot genuinely tell me any song off self titled hits as hard as Death Atlas or Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts lyrically
Great video. I find King 810 to be extremely heavy. The guitars and his voice are heavy as fuck sonically, the theatrics of some of the sounds they incorporate add a heavy dynamic, along with the empty space in their songs, but what really makes them heavy is the lyrical content and the authenticity of it. I Absolutely agree that lyrical content can really 'make' a song truely heavy.
Here are some gems for you. Gorement, Afterlife, Mangled Torso, Sorcery, or the second Paradise Lost record. Edge of Sanity as well in that category. The first Dismember record and At the Gates “with fear I kiss the burning darkness” are undeniably emotionally heavy
Moor by Every Time I Die has alot of different kinds of heavy to it. While i wouldn't say they are the heaviest band by a long shot, this particular song has an immense weight to it and would recommend any music lover check it out!
Did you see Cave In cover Moor. SO GOOD!!!
Thenks for the vid!
Brian "Head" Welch's band Love And Death is one of the most serious formations for me. Both of their albums are a total goosebumps road roller. And the lyrics are brilliant!
I think Lightning Bolt deserves a mention on this list. They manage to be heavier than most metal bands while only having 2 members. But maybe people don't want to consider them because they're too "hip" or "artsy" or "noisy". They've put on the absolute loudest shows I've ever been to.
Side note: they didn't know they could multitrack until they're like 6th or 7th album so they recorded everything live.
one of the few bands that I heard one track, and immediately sought out their entire discography
I don't know about 'heavy', but listening to Lightning Bolt while trying to do anything at all results in me functioning like I'm a tweaker on the verge of meth-binge caused psychosis.
Nails is the heaviest band I know. It’s a combination of fast, aggression, brutal, attitude, and lyrics. Good points about Pantera. I heard Fucking Hostile in the 90s and it blew my mind. I had never heard anything that aggressive before and I was a hardcore music fan. Sold on it instantly.
I second that
Primitive Man might be close
It’s because Grindcore is heavy as fuck.
I've always found "Allegiance" - As Blood Runs Black, "Women and Children Die First" - Remembering Never, and the first two Agony Scene albums to be some of the heaviest albums. Hester Prynne by ABRB is just nasty and awesome! A Life Once Lost "Hunter", From A Second Story Window's "Not one Word..." and "Delenda" always stood out to me as well as a bands that sound so heavy. Also I think those all include most of what you're saying, grooves, breakdowns, riffs, extreme vocals, lyrics, hints of guitar solos, melody, etc. and when seeing them live the volume and stage presence adds an extra edge and that the culmination of all of it makes it heavier. See You Next Tuesday comes to mind too, but closer to just straight up grind and noise. So many other great mentions in the comments. Great topic and execution!
Mick Gordon's soundtrack for DOOM and Eternal!
It's got the perfect mix of aggression, groove, heaviness and energy! And it's not appreciated enough! Maybe because it's not part of a scene or the music industry but I bet it drew more people to heavy music than most bands.
100% agree
Definitely agree! I'd also like to add Mick's track for Fulgore from 2013's Killer Instinct is incredibly brutal and worth the listen. Perfectly conveys that "killing machine" feel for the character.