A Bard’s Eye View: Come Back!


Come Back!

Bands that are Gone, but not Forgotten

 

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Interestingly enough, the two bands that inspired me to make this post are (accordingly to Professor Wikipedia) still making active.  Winterlong, who I thought was long done, released an album in 2015 and Falconer, who played their last performance at ProgPower in Atlanta, Georgia, is still listed as active.  But, nevertheless, I am still interested—WAIT A MINUTE, HOLD THE MOTHERFUCKING PHONE!  That Winterlong album in 2015 is from…a DIFFERENT Winterlong and Spotify has done messed up.  Winterlong WILL be included.

Anyhoo, I am interested in bands that are no longer creating music and I wish they would.  This week I will be showcasing that.

WINTERLONG (SWEDEN)
Last album: 2006

Finding just about anything from Winterlong on YouTube is exceedingly difficult.  Not necessarily because of copyright laws, but because these guys aren’t exactly selling out Madison Square Garden.  Luckily, I was able to find this song to share with you so you can understand that sense of loss that I am experiencing from this band.

EMPEROR (NORWAY)
Last album: 2001

Ushering in the second wave of black metal, Emperor was at the forefront of the genre.  This song is from their last release, a testament to the sound that they had adopted for years.  Every now and then, the band gets back together for tours and festivals but the days of Emperor albums are long gone.  Ihsahn does pretty cool solo stuff and I am expecting another 2016 from him, but Emperor will always have a legacy.

EXHORDER (UNITED STATES)
Last album: 1992

It’s an enigma how these guys were completely overlooked while Pantera was given such a high profile to success.  Nevertheless, Exhorder was only able to release two albums before falling into obscurity shortly after Pantera rose to fame.  To me, there is no question that Cowboys From Hell was completely derivative of the Get Rude demo released by Exhorder in 1986.  In any case, they were a major influence in the general evolution of groove metal being born out of the thrash roots in the 1990s.

EYEDEA & ABILITIES (UNITED STATES)
Last album: 2009

Michael Larsen, was the Eyedea while Gregory Keltgen was the Abilities, a collaboration of an emcee with a large vocabulary and a DJ with mad skills.  It was pretty evident that in 2009, Eyedea was going through some pretty fucked up shit.  It was only a year later that the 28-year-old was found dead.  DJ Abilities is still out there and doing stuff but Larsen is gone.  There’s a saying in the  Rhymesayers’ community: “Great Eyedeas NEVER die”.

KYUSS (UNITED STATES)
Last album: 1995

Ask any stoner rock aficionado what the quintessential stoner rock band is and nine out of ten of them will mention Kyuss within their list.  Before the days of Queens of the Stone Age and The Eagles of Death Metal, Josh Homme played guitar in this desert rock band called Kyuss.  There is still a lot of bad blood behind the dissolving of this band, but I will always appreciate this sound.

Next week, I’m talking about bands that changed their names and the various sounds that accompanied them with their change.  Look forward to that and I look forward to seeing you!

Yeah, that’s right, I know what you’re doing, and you are disgusting

-Ryan

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