Top 10 Metal Comeback Albums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs1eSvWJDYY

Suffocation – “Souls to Deny”

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Now that the metal world is eagerly anticipating new music by Eyehategod, Godflesh, and maybe Anthrax, comeback fever is running high. The conventional wisdom is that comebacks are cash-ins that are artistically DOA. But it doesn’t always have to be that way.

Let’s define a comeback album as one that comes after (a) five or more years since the previous record, or (b) a weak predecessor. These were the first 10 good such records that came to my mind. They all fit into category (a), though a few could also fit into category (b).

I am missing many more. Which ones would you add to the list?

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TOP 10 METAL COMEBACK ALBUMS

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10. Asphyx – Death…the Brutal Way

I actually have mixed feelings about this record. Martin van Drunen’s vocals are peerless, the guitars are half-interesting and half-well-meaning, and the drumming is distractingly weak. If a band is only as strong as its drummer, where does that leave us? This is like basketball players who, for offense and defense, are great at one aspect but terrible at the other. Is Asphyx the Dennis Rodman of death metal?

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9. Autopsy – Macabre Eternal

Maybe this isn’t a surprise, since the last Abscess record was overachieving, and the killer The Tomb Within EP was probably the real comeback record. Still, these guys are a million years old, and they haven’t been Autopsy since Clinton was President. Yet they’re tearing it up like they’ve still got something to prove.

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8. Deceased – Surreal Overdose

Has anyone heard this record??? It rules! It’s weird to hear Deceased with such clean sound, but these jams are detailed and hungry.

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7. Atheist – Jupiter

After all the hippie shit and Kelly Shaefer’s live transformation into death metal’s Bret Michaels, I don’t think anyone expected Jupiter to be so kick-ass. It’s like friggin’ universes exploding.

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6. Exodus – Tempo of the Damned

The last Exodus record with the H-Team and Steve “Zetro Souza” was one mean riffing machine. Andy Sneap’s mixing sound wasn’t played out yet, and Exodus hadn’t sounded this big and bad since Impact Is Imminent. Bring back Zetro!

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5. Suffocation – Souls to Deny

This is one of my all-time favorite death metal records. It’s the last organic-sounding Suffocation album, and the songs are tunnels of twisting, turning riffs. Suffocation aren’t usually considered to be “atmospheric”, but I totally get lost in this record. SOOOOOOULS!

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4. Accept – Blood of the Nations

I don’t think anyone saw this coming. After a dreary run in the ’90s, Accept ditches Udo (or maybe the other way around), finds a relatively unknown singer who sounds kind of like Udo, and comes back with a clutch of tight, memorable anthems. Some will be lodged in my head for years to come.

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3. Forbidden – Omega Wave

Hopefully this record doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of the music industry, as it is a major statement on par with Forbidden’s first two records. Many metal bands are technical now, but most don’t write technical songs that actually mean something and stick in the craw. “Progressive” is not a dirty word here; it’s a defiant sign of life.

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2. Celtic Frost – Monotheist

Who would have guessed that Celtic Frost would return after a 16-year gap between studio albums to make some of the heaviest doom metal ever? As Celtic Frost v.2.0, Triptykon also represents a monumental comeback: the dissolution of a revered name and the construction of a new brand from scratch. It’s never too late for rebirth.

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1. Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue

You lose one of the greatest singers ever, and you dare to reform with a new guy who ends up doing the AIC name justice? Ballsy. These jams are still stuck in my head and heart. Jerry Cantrell is the man.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

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Goreaphobia – Mortal Repulsion

Not technically a comeback, since this is the band’s first record – but it’s basically a comeback, since the band made its name in the ’90s. I am glad these guys are back bringing the black/death depth and dirt. The new record Apocalyptic Necromancy looks to continue this late-life renaissance.

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Cynic – Traced in Air

Not technically a metal record, but one I like better than Focus, a metal record that wanted not to be one. You have to follow your own path and not conform to the expectations of others, and Cynic took many years to do that. If Focus is the struggle between artistic ambition and metal boundaries, Traced in Air is taking flight after knocking down barriers.

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