Justin M. Norton over at Invisible Oranges has been killing it this week. Yesterday, he wrote a really great piece about entitled “Why Ghost Matters,” which you should definitely check out, especially if, for some reason, you’re still not convinced that those Swedes are the real deal; now, he’s unveiled his list of the Top 10 Metal Lyricists, which, I imagine, will cause exactly the kind of shit storm that makes the internet so damn fun in the first place.

And, hey, I don’t agree with all of his inclusions (although I certainly agree with some of ‘em, like one Mr. J.R. Hayes from Pig Destroyer). But, again, the debate is what’s so much fun about these kinds of things. Lists don’t really “mean” anything — they’re just the opinions of one individual or a group of individuals. But what’s great about them is that they get people thinking; even if you disagree with the choices, you have to figure out a way to articulate exactly why you disagree with the choices, to hopefully come up with a retort more sophisticated than “You’re wrong and you’re a douche for disagreeing with me.” (Although, clearly, some internetters fall back on that “reasoning,” too.)

Check out Norton’s list here, then come back and let us know who your own favorite metal lyricists are in our comments section. Two of my personal poetic heroes who I think definitely deserve to be on this list: Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and The Red Chord’s Guy Kozowyk. How about you cats?

-AR

Thanks to all the commenters who pointed out that I left a ridiculously awesome to worship at the alter of Pig Destroyer off of my list yesterday: this below video.

In case you’ve never seen it, the short version is that vocalist J.R. Hayes’ mic died in the middle of a performance at CBGB, so the dude just keeps yelling… and is so loud he can still be heard over the music. That seriously might be the single most metal thing that has ever happened in the history of time and space.

Holy shit, do I fucking love this band.

-AR

1. They’re called Pig Destroyer.

Click to read more…

Scott Hull is the fuckin’ man dude. Aside from his God-like contributions to Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Anal Cunt (does this dude have a talent for being in bands with awesome names or what?), he also has some kind of top-secret government computer job, which probably means he’s reading this and ordering a wire tap on my phone even as I type this. Or, at the very least, that he’s the one responsible for hacking Metal Sludge. Scott Hull don’t suffer no Enuff Z’Nuff songs.

ANYWAYS, Lambgoat is now reporting that Hull has his first solo album, Requiem, coming out one June 10 in the US and June 16 everywhere else:

“According to Relapse, “Requiem sees Hull explore his long-time love for movies and cinema score in the form of a beautifully crafted piece of work’…

“Advance song titles from the album include: ‘Consequenze,’ ‘Visita all’ospedale,’ ‘Morte sul treno,’ and ‘Il funerale di Bonnie.’”

“Il funerale di Bonnie” is already the best song title I’ve heard all year. The other titles apparently translate to “Visit to the Hospital” and “Died on the Train,” which are, um, well, I dunno.

The audio samples currently avail on Hull’s MySpace page aren’t very grindy or even very metal at all – in fact, that hospital visit track kind of reminds me of a Tangerine Dream song – but I guess there’d be no point making a solo album if it was just gonna sound like Pig Destroyer without J.R. Hayes and Brian Harvey (and Blake Harrison, I suppose).

But here’s the really interesting part of this news: the cover art refers to the album as an “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.” If Hull is making a movie to go with this music, I’ll pee myself.

-AR