Top 20 of 2010: 16 - 20

Finishing up my Top 20 of 2010 (besides the honorable mentions of course) almost brings a tear to my eye. It's been a year full of ups and downs - both personal and within the musical soundscape. The year was rocked by the monumental deaths of Ronnie James Dio (Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Solo, Heaven & Hell) and Peter Steele (Carnivore, Type O Negative), and I'm sure others. But we move on, being stronger and more metal with each passing day.

16. sHEAVY - Disfigurine
One of my favorite bands, and another act to release two albums within one year, sHEAVY continues to do the seemingly impossible: consistently evolve their sound, and yet stay the same. Eight albums in, and I can still hear the basic influences of Black Sabbath and Kyuss that was present on the first record. Disfigurine keeps up the tradition of a sHEAVY album every two or three years, except that this time, it was predated by the sonically different The Golden Age of Daredevils, which was released in May of this year. You see The Golden Age of Daredevils was given birth through the group competing in the RPM Challenge, held every February, which holds that musicians of all genres complete a full album (10 songs or 30 minutes) within the month. There are lots of applicants, and one of the bands I like quite a bit, Snailface, is directly from this challenge. Anyway, so sHEAVY joined the challenge, recorded The Golden Age of Daredevils and decided to release it (why not, seeing as you've already recorded it). The album from the RPM Challenge was a bit different then previous LPs from the group so I was a tad worried about their future, but all my worries were cast aside after I heard Disfigurine. The group picked up a new guitarist, so the sound has evolved a bit, this album being more straight-forward stoner rock, then their very doomy predecessors, but it's still all good. It's just the beginning of a new chapter for the band. While Disfigurine is not their best release, how could I compile a list of the best albums of the year without including these amazing rockers?

Bands I Love: sHEAVY

Also seen on Heavy Planet:

Because I don't feel like going into a whole Retrospective of sHEAVY and their works, I am starting a new segment of The Klepto's Guide To Awesome Music: Bands I Love. This gives me a chance to write a smaller article about a band that I cannot help but rock out too every time they come on. A band like sHEAVY.

So far the only real thing I've told you lot about sHEAVY has been a video of their song "Savannah" (which indecently, is the song I have stuck in my head right now, which made me want to write this article), so I'll give a little bit more information about the group:
The band is from Canada, and formed as many bands do; with the intent of doing covers of their favorite bands - in this case Kyuss. After some time and a name change (originally being called Green Machine) they started writing original songs and put them onto the EPs Reproduction and Slaves To Fashion. Many of these songs made it onto their first LP, Blue Sky Mind, released in 1996. They got a record deal, and followed these releases with seven full-lengths, with two being released this year alone.

Video: sHEAVY - "Savannah" (Live)

While the songs "Savannah" is not my favorite sHEAVY song, it is still a good one, and the choices are limited as far as sHEAVY music videos go. It's a live version, but the sound quality is pretty decent, and seems to be semi-professionally done. One thing I didn't like about this video is that you can tell that the singer is forcing his voice to be in the winy-high pitched style that he sings (and live it doesn't come off 100%). I don't know about you, but I always sorta assumes that was just the way his voice was, and they were making the best of it. Not as a gimmick or some stunt. I still love the band, but now I am hesitant to see them live (hell who am I kidding I would totally go!).
Well, that being said, enjoy sHEAVY playing "Savannah" live!