The Best Modern Metal Albums

Released November 2006 following a three-month recording stint this was the album which put melodic and anthems metal on the map. Full of extended chord voicings, harmonically intricate arrangements and wonderfully complementary twin guitar parts twinned with moments of brutal riffing; this is an album which, as guitarists, skews our perception of the limits of metal guitar composition. Axemen Adam Dutkiewcz and Joel Stroetzel break away from formulaic rhythm parts to craft melodies which interweave with each other and often support the lead vocal. There are also frequent creative uses of harmonic pinches and squeals - anyone who has seen the band live will be familiar with the, sometimes competitive, pinched harmonic to and fro between Dutkiewc and Stroetzel.

‘As Daylight Dies’ was produced (as with all Killswitch’s recordings) by guitarist Adam Dutkiewcz who has a long-standing role as a producer and multi-instrumentalist, having produced for a wealth of fellow metal bands. Dutkiewcz honed his engineering skills at the legendary Berklee College Of Music where he studied bass guitar in addition to production. Interestingly he also started his tenure with Killswitch on drums before switching to guitar allowing him the freedom to develop his, now notorious, onstage persona and stage antics. Fellow axe-slinger Joel Stroetzel was also a Berklee attendee, thus proving the value of a solid musical education for any ambitious player, regardless of preferred genre.

Gear wise - Both Adam and Joel have a long-standing affiliation with Caparison guitars. At the time of recording, Adam’s go-to was his (discontinued) Caparison PLM-3 with an EMG 85 in the bridge and 2 EMG SA single coils. However, his choice of studio guitar for the album was a Caparison TAT loaded with EMG 81s. It was during this period in which he adopted a Parker Fly for live use due to ongoing back problems. The Fly also used for much of the clean tones on the album. Joel is also a long term user of Caparison, favouring the ‘Dillenger’ model in the studio and live. To heavy things, up, the tuning of choice for both the guys is C-G-C-F-A-D (essentially drop D but a whole tone down).

The band have been associated with a number of amps live and in the studio over the years. For the recording of ‘As Daylight Dies’, for the heavy rhythm parts you’re hearing a Diesel VH4 with overdubs/tracking through a Spawn Nitro - with both running through Mesa Boogie Stiletto cabs loaded with Vintage 30s. Clean tones came from the less monstrous Fender Vibrolux and an Orange Tiny Terror. As for effects; a key component was the use of a Maxon OD808 (Tudescreamer clone). This was used primarily for dynamic enhancement - with the gain tamed down and the level boosted and was left on for the majority of the time. Wet lead tones employed the help of a Maxon AD9 delay.

‘As Daylight Dies’ reached #32 on the Billboard Chart - an ambitious position for any metal album.

Possibly the true birth of Southern-influenced Groove Metal as we know it; ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ was released February 1992 as the 6th studio recording from the Texas four-piece. The album title is taken from a well-known line in 1974 horror movie ‘The Exorcist’ (although the film had no influence on the musical content).

From a guitar player’s point of interest, it’s hard to know where to start - from the pristine saturated tone to Dimebag’s unorthodox use of symmetrical scales and dissonant harmonics and groove, blues injected metal riffs, there’s enough to remind you why this band dominated the world of metal during the 1990s. ‘Vulgar’ was a real guitar peak for Pantera fans and you’ll hear that Dime’s solos often received their own section within the song, perfectly structured to give form and melodic purpose within the song whilst also showcasing some technical jaw-dropping playing. Dimebag’s prime Eddie Van Halen influence is more prominent here than ever but delivered with a flair which has remained unrivalled amongst the metal guitar world. Before his death in 2004 Dime’s last words were ‘Van Halen’; mouthed to his brother Vinnie as a way of communicating the high energy performance he wanted to give before taking the stage for what was to be his final show.

There are frequent lessons on the importance of groove/time feel within your riffs, with the blues-based metal equivalent of the ‘less is more’ approach. ‘Walk’ is a prime example of this - the 2 note riff which became an anthemic metal hook. Try tapping your foot along to the track and you’ll notice that the constant triplet feel given by the, often shuffle favoured, 12/8 time. The vitriolic lyrics for ‘Walk’ are inspired by comments from people close to the band who critically claimed that far had gone to the band’s heads following their recent major tour.

Another masterclass lesson we can glean form this album is the micro-level perfection of sync between guitar and bass; during recording, Dimebag and Rex Brown (bass) reportedly combed over every note of the isolated guitar and bass tracks without drums or vocals to ensure that the two were perfectly in sync, both time-wise and dynamically. The end result is so interwoven that it is often hard to hear the separation of bass and guitar on the record.

Fans of Dimebag’s work will, no doubt be familiar with his standing as a Dean guitar endorsee and later switch to Washburn in 1994 when Dean hit a rocky patch. He returned to using Dean again with the launch of the ‘Razorback’ model shortly before his death. On ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ Dime used his Dean ML, ‘Dean From Hell’ ’81 model for all standard tuning parts and his Tobacco Sunburst model for anything down-tuned. Amp wise, he was running into a Randall Century 200 (pre ‘Warhead’ model) and sculpted his tone with a rack-mounted Furman PQ-4 Parametric EQ. He tamed things with a Rocktron Hush unit and embellished some solos with a Vox Wah (again pre signature model) and his faithful; Digitech Whammy.

The album cover shows a guy being brutally punched in the face; according to drummer Vinnie Paul, this unfortunate fella who modelled for the shot was named Sean Cross. According to Vinnie, he was paid $10 per punch and was hit 31 times before the right photo was taken. As with all good stories this one has been speculated on. ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ charted at #44 on the Billboard Chart and, by 1997, had gone Platinum.

Continuing on a Groove Metal trend, this 2006 offering from Grammy-nominated metal giants Lamb Of God takes us on a masterclass of Southern-tinged, groove-based riffs punctuated with atmospheric and ambient clean guitar parts. This album saw the playing of axemen Mark Morton and Will Adler taking a more prominent role and is altogether more guitar-focused and ‘shredder’ than previous offerings from the band - tracks ’Redneck’ and ‘Pathetic’ giving some real stand out guitar moments. The twin guitar parts are a perfectly matched and the metal purist, machine-like right-hand rhythmic prowess of Adler is complemented by the more classic rock and the bluesier edge of Morton. It’s worth mentioning that Mark Morton also has a Country band as a hometown side project and gigs with them when he’s not on tour. This is a great lesson in the impact studying other styles can have on your overall musicianship with the country influences clearly bleeding through and being heard in Morton’s lead playing.

Weapons of choice for Will Adler is his custom ESP signature loaded with two Seymour Duncan 59s. Morton’s guitar of choice is his signature Jackson ‘Dominion’; a chambered mahogany bodied Les Paul style guitar also kitted out with Seymour Duncan 59s. He has stated, however, that his go o studio guitar is actually an original Les Paul ’59 Goldtop which he keeps strictly for recording use only. The tuning on the album is, for the most part, stock drop D, although there is an interesting, occasional use of dropping the high E down to a D too - check out the drones during the opening of ‘Again We Rise’.

All guitars on the album were recorded direct using a combination of a rack Line 6 POS and Amp Farm plugins for ease of monitoring. The tracks were then re-amped through Mesa Boogie Mark IVs and Stiletto in combination with Orange 4x12s and aTech2 Sansamp. All rhythm parts were double-tracked for density and hard-panned left and right.

The 6th studio album from pioneer Machine Head is arguably their finest and sees them at a compositional peak. Songwriting and arrangement is beautifully intricate, combining extended twin-guitar themes in addition to all-out shred. ‘The Blackening’ cemented a triumphant return to a purer form of metal following the band’s questionable nu-metal inspired period and delivers an epic almost prog inspired piece of work with some tracks hitting the 9-minute mark and encompassing complex interwoven sections with melodic lines and some choir-like vocal parts.

Much of the album’s redirection into guitar virtuosity is at the hands of frontman Rob Flynn’s former bandmate Phil Demmel having shared duties in metal outfit Vio-lence until Flynn’s departure to form Machine Head in 1991. Demmel is credited with ‘bringing the shred’ back to the band and really pushing melodic guitar lines and extended solos into the writing process. He has made no secret of his enduring inspiration from Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads and cites him as a primary influence. He has also stated that he was fully committed to giving up on his musical career shortly before receiving the call from Flynn asking him to join Machine Head on tour; a great endorsement for never giving up! Phil Demmel recently split from the band to take on the lead guitar role in Slayer, replacing guitarist Gary Holt who stepped in after Jeff Hannaman’s untimely death.

The tones on ‘The Blackening’ are enormous and well worth exploring. Rob Flynn used his favourite studio amp only, unmodified Peavey 5150 head nicknamed ‘Bubba’ with an Ibanez TS808 Tubescreamer in front to add dynamics and an extra gain stage. Rob’s watery sounding chorused clean tone is very recognisable (check out the opening part of ‘Aesthetics of Hate’) and is courtesy of his prized Electro-Harmonic Electric Mistress Phaser which has been his go-to pedal for some time. His guitar of choice for ‘The Blackening’ was a mahogany bodied custom ESP Flying V which sports a baritone scale length of 27” and an EMG 81 in the bridge, coupled with and EMG-HZ in the neck position.

Phil Demmel also ran his guitars through a 5150 with a good dose of his drive coming from an MXR Wylde Overdrive pedal with a Boss DD-5 digital delay creating atmosphere on his leads. His main guitar is his signature Jackson ‘Demmelition’ model King V.

As a further point of interest - ‘Aesthetics of Hate’ won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Live Metal Performance’. The song is a response journalist William Grim’s article praising the 2004 murder of Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell.

So there we have it; some inspiration to get your ears and fingers in a playing frame of mind! Plus a few fun facts to impress your friends with!