The New Golden Age of Metal: An Editorial

All of the proper stars and planets aligned within the universe of metal last year. 2014 turned out to be a banner year for extreme music, due in large part to an influx of independent labels that have severely stepped up their collective game, a general resurgence of the music industry on an international scale, and a steady stream of fantastic metal releases that began right on January 1st. While metal has never aimed to become mainstream, nonetheless, the genre still experienced a boom in 2014, so much so that it has led to some music journalists to conclude that we are now living in a new “Golden Age of Metal” – and I unequivocally concur. Metal is growing again, and though no acts may ever again reach the heights of some of their predecessors like Metallica or Slayer, it sure is hell isn’t stopping some from trying.

Herculean efforts and boundless talents of the bands aside though, 2014 saw the rapid rise in the impact and influence of homegrown, independent metal labels. While “The Big Four” major label conglomerates consolidated again to become “The Big Three” in the early 21st century, smaller metal labels (many of them partly or wholly owned by members of some of the bands themselves) have kept popping up all over the world; and in most cases, the one common thread that they all share is a dedication to commitment and integrity: Commitment to their acts and a dedication to the integrity of the genre (and subgenres therein) of metal as a whole. This is what drives the rising, successful, independent labels of today.

From California’s Unique Leader Records to Philadelphia’s Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, and Germany’s F.D.A. Rekotz to Austria’s Napalm Records, there is a current global surge in devoted and distinguished independent labels, and the causatum has been that more and more metal albums are finding their way into the hands of fans around the world, and in turn, more and more acts’ names have spread faster than at any other time in recent history. Thanks to these upstart labels, an increasing number of metal bands are becoming household names (even to the lay metal listener), and this can only mean good things for the genre going forward.

Similarly, the resurgence of well-run independent labels around the planet has also coincided with the global resurgence of metal in the public’s eye. Thanks to the free and ubiquitous nature of the internet, even bands from far off places like Indonesia, Israel, and Iraq can spread and promote their heavy music to the world with relative ease. Although sharing a lyric video on YouTube is a far cry from having a CD on the shelves of record stores everywhere, there is still no denying that the World Wide Web has had both positive and negative impacts on not only the accessibility of metal, but also on the entire music industry. For some time there, people were honestly speculating as to whether or not iTunes and digital music would cause the extinction of physical copies of albums. Thankfully though, time has shown that this is not the case at all.

Conversely, even though record stores closed in staggering numbers throughout the early 2000’s, by 2014, the sharp decline had levelled off – and now (thanks in large part to the resurrection of vinyl), slowly but surely, the world is realizing that no matter how digitized art may become, people will always crave a tangible, real connection to their favorite arts and artists. To wit, Nooks and other e-Readers may be handy and trendy, but people will still always love the feel and the sound of the turning of a page, too...so real books will still always exist; and so, as cool and convenient Spotify or iTunes may be, metal heads (and fans of all genres of music, for that matter) will still always continue to support their favorite bands by driving to their local record stores – or ironically by jumping onto the internet – and purchasing physical copies of their most beloved albums. ‘Twas always thus, and always thus will be.

Ultimately though, no albums would ever sell in any format if it wasn’t for all of the artists writing and composing the addictively killer music that makes them up – and rarely has an entire year of sick metal music ever been experienced before than what the international metal community was treated to in 2014. Right from the get-go, acts of all shapes, sizes, and subgenres released fantastic album after fantastic album. While the true greatness of each album can (and most likely will) be debated until the apocalypse erases humanity from the face of the Earth, what is not debatable is that the sheer volume of notable and noticeable metal releases in 2014 was completely stupefying. No matter your opinion of the quality of each offering, the total quantity of releases alone had metal communities constantly abuzz the world over.

Literally every continent (with the obvious exception of Antarctica) was represented by solid albums from talented artists big and small: Australia’s Wolfmother released New Crown, Africa’s Lelahell put out Al Insane...The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane, Asia was controversially represented by the infamous self-titled release from Babymetal, South America’s favorite sons Cavalera Conspiracy released Pandemonium, and virtually countless American, Canadian, and European bands flooded the markets and ears of the heavy metal world, including Cynic’s Kindly Bent to Free Us, Behemoth’s The Satanist, and Archspire's The Lucid Collective. On January 1st, Chicago’s Cimmerian (now defunct) unleashed Hollowing, and right up until December’s White Arms of Athena by the band of the same name, every new month brought with it astonishing new releases. I obviously cannot possibly list every release that made waves or turned heads in 2014, but unless you spent the entire calendar year in a coma, if you listen to metal, 2014’s monumental string of epic releases will probably remain etched in your brain until the day you die – just as they will remain in mine.

Truly I tell you my friends and neighbors, we are indeed living in a new Golden Age of Metal. Capable and hard-working independent labels are continually seeking out new and exciting sounds to share, driving the international resurgence of heavy metal in a newly refreshed and reinvigorated manner, the likes of which has not been seen in a great many years; and the end result was an entire year’s worth of memorable metal releases that look as if they will stand the test of time. No matter which subgenre or sound of metal you enjoy, all you need to do in today’s digital world is hop onto your computer and begin searching. The odds are in our new Golden Age of Metal that you will find exactly what your ears ae craving to hear. Music and societal trends will come and go, but metal is here to stay – and thanks to the profoundly phenomenal efforts of metal labels, bands, and enthusiasts around the world, 2014 will be remembered as one of the most incredibly successful years that our genre has ever seen.

KEEP IT METAL! \m/

Geoff Teach

Owner & Editor

Teach’s Class of Metal

To check out what I thought were the best metal releases of this remarkable year, just click here: TCOM’S Best of 2014

#Editorial