The Judas Factor put the insanity back into hardcore. Ballads in Blue China is everything the bio claims it to be: Noisy, sincere, emotional, and artistic.
Unlike punk or ska covering an oldie-but-goodie to show their influences, a swing band “doing their interpretation” of a timeless classic is legit. I think.
There’s an incredible depth to the violence, passion, and beauty on Enslaved’s Blodhemn. Few metal bands rival Enslaved’s musical complexity and originality.
For all of my bad choices in this life, I never decided “Hey! I’m gonna start a really crappy industrial band called Crocodile Shop and put out some records.”