Various Artists - Invaders

Genre metal Publisher Kemado External Links Invaders compilation on MySpace Official Kemado Website

I was walking around the South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, back in March, and the only thing more prevalent than boozy tourists were the compilation CDs. Some record label gofer on every street corner was handing out compilations of bands on their label just in case you were a music industry honcho that possibly or potentially had the power to make one of their bands famous. There were so many it's hard to care

Metal label Kemado Records' sampler Invaders is another matter entirely because of its transcendence. This isn't just a compilation of one label's metal bands; it's the State of The Metal Nation address. Where is metal really going? Listen to this CD, and you'll find out.

Part of the reason why many wonder where metal might be headed is that after nu-metal folded its tent, it left only subgenres of metal and nothing mainstream that the metal sociologists at VH1 could sink their teeth into. (Actually, VH1 has yet to get over hair metal's demise, so who knows what they would think?)

The area of metal that Invaders focuses on is a hesher-friendly sound that acknowledges that there's not much difference between being psychedelic and being heavy. Doomy power trumps thrashy speed.

The stoner goodness of it all shows that metal has moved beyond black leather and back into a t-shirt and jeans. Sure, riff mastery is highly valued but so is a good rhythm section. Instead of the singer trying to outdo the guitarist and vice versa, these are bands that just love to lock into a riff and a groove and go with it. Flashy solos are discouraged.

Included is the medieval ferocity of The Sword, the epic instrumental metal of Pelican, retro rocking Aussies Wolfmother (playing the closest thing on this CD to a hit), J. Mascis side project Witch and Swedish psychedelic hipsters Dungen whose donation pretty much amounted to a medieval flute solo.

For people who are already fans of these bands, the collection includes several unreleased tracks along with album tracks. The future of metal has been decided. If somebody hands you a copy, thank them.