If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, there was a fair level of AOR hard rock that ruled the music scene. Styx in their glory years, mixed rock guitar from the James Young/Tommy Shaw side with musical theater from Dennis DeYoung. That tension between different styles made for songs a bit different than average, but also created pressures between the musicians. They had at least three concept albums and touched in prog rock during the band early years, later moving towards commercialism.
Without a doubt, Voivod is one of the most strangely influential metal bands of all times. Helping to merge the punk and metal scenes in the early to mid 80's, Voivod set a new standard for obscure, yet relevant, thrash metal. With the upcoming release of their fourteenth studio album, 'The Wake', Maximum Metal is welcoming Voivod to the Unknown Zone to take a look at some of their least popular songs; songs that didn't quite make the "play list" but are hidden gems that may have been overlooked.
Written by: David Loveless, Josh Greer . 9/17/2018
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band that formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington out of the local band the Mob. The original lineup consisted of lead guitarist Michael Wilton, rhythm guitarist Chris DeGarmo, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bassist Eddie Jackson, and lead vocalist Geoff Tate. Themes include: Fantasy, Technology, Love, Politics, and Humanity.
Written by: Greg Watson, Frank Hill, Josh Greer . 6/15/2018
Most all metalheads know that Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio sang for Black Sabbath but the band didn't end after those famous voices departed. They continued on with other vocalists and released more albums of various qualities. Many metalheads, however, are a bit shaky on what happened with the mighty band throughout the last 30 years, so we went a little deeper into the Sabbath catalog and pulled out our favorite tracks, with the extra caveat--no songs by Ozzy or Dio.
