Skullet and Hammer-Communism Crushing Metal

Here's my first exposure to Strapping Young Lad. I saw this video when I was 19 sitting around my moms living room because I had just broken my collarbone at show. With no way to go to shows use or the internet, I had to rely on Headbanger's Ball for any form of music beyond what I owned. Back then though I wasn't a cannabis user to these guys appealed to me on a different level. My affinity for them only grew with the introduction of the sweet leaf.
What I loved musically was the downbeat, pounding drums and circular riffs between fits of blasting. This thrash tune is for head banging and circle pitting.
I love the video for two very simple reasons. Devin Townsend has an Iron Chef shirt and there are fucking robots with hammer arms crushing skulls. Truly metal.

Industrial Stoner Thrash Metal of Yesteryear

I've already posted one of their songs before, but since it's Thrash Madness Month I'm giving a link to the whole album. Before anything else though big, uber shout outs to Angrychairs for posting the SYL discog. They have tons and tons of other great stuff there. Check them out if you haven't.
"The New Black" is the last Strapping Young Lad studio album. Devin Townsend has been releasing cycles of his own solo stuff that I haven't heard yet but am interested in at some point. The songs really run the gambit here with all kinds of different tempos, themes and atmospherics not only between songs, but in every song itself. It's all totally industrial stoner thrash, but these guys took it up a notch on this album. Everything is really top level from production to songwriting and onward. I have to comment on Gene Hoglan's sick drumming here. Devin Townsend told him what to play, but man he executes it well. As well as Devin sings and slays on the axe.  There are so many stand out tracks for me, but I know different people will like other songs more and I can say this with absolute authority because of the massive variations. Use "Anti Product" as an example, with it's mid 90's ska GWAR/Le Scrawl ska/jazz break. And the clean singing of "Almost Again". I don't usually like this however. I like a cohesive straight runthrough album that blasts, pummels, drills and beats me. "The New Black" really hits all the highs, lows, valleys, skies, nether plains and most aspects of reality in music. Or maybe that's the cannabis you have to consume to rock the fuck out. Either way I recommend this highly emotive and fucking thrashed out album. You should check out the 3/4s grind "The Long Pig" if for nothing else the sick bass riff. Don't hear those enough!Other personal repeat listen tracks are the duo "Polyphony/The New Black", "Decimator", "Far Beyond Metal" and "Monument". One features a manish thing with a dick that has teeth and mandibles. You know the one. If you don't, "You Suck". See what I did there?



Oh, you ironic pop-rock fuck! Don't you fuck with metal!

Thursday Song To Do Bong Rips To

Despite it being Thursday which is before the weekend, I'm gonna do one of these because Metalsucks has been putting up boring songs again.
Anyone that's ever heard a few Strapping Young Lad songs knows it's metal for stoners. Devin Townsend only recently having stopped smoking cannabis himself.
Everyone in this band is in at least three other bands, so there's not a lot of room for mediocrity. A lot of the SYL I like is pretty thrashy, and they have some weird dense stuff I'm not fond of. But these guys can write some really intersting mid-paced songs too, like "Monument". It carves out this groove with a marching snare with some pick scraping odd riffing. It's just fast enough to be up-beat and keep something on you moving. Finger drumming, head bobbing, the works. There are some other good songs on "The New Black" but this is by far one of the best.
The lyrics below are not from this song, they're from "Relentless" off of the "SYL" album. 


Bombs away, bombs away, everything is in it's place!