Revolutionary Metal of the 21st Century

I understand metal is not preferred, or even liked at all, by many, but I find a lot of metal artists have very intriguing messages and are rather articulate when it comes to their vocabulary in comparison to a lot of music floating around in the mainstream. The theme I'd like to focus on here is the revolution we have at hand in these times of mass corruption. As John Adams stated in a letter to Jefferson, "What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people..."

I find and rather enjoy a significant amount of metal surrounding this topic and voicing opposition to the corruption that many are becoming aware of.

Such as Silent Civilian...



And Killswitch Engage...



And All That Remains...



And Across the Sun (one of my favorite bands, who happen to share their initials with my favorite site )...





Yes, all here fall in the "metalcore" subgenre, but it's metal nonetheless. I'll be adding more over time. Feel free to comment or even add some more!

In my day the band with a clear political message that seemed revolutionary was Sacred Reich.

Sacred Reich - Surf Nicaragua.

The Human Abstract- Nocturne
Impressive album. One of my favorites because the drummer is appreciably technical. Passable vocals, but killer band.



August Burns Red- Chasing the Dragon
One of my favorite bands. The music is so brutal yet still musically impressive. The drummer is not too shabby.



In Flames- I'm the Highway

Similar to the previous. This is another of my favorite bands.

reply to post by jlm912


Nice. I really like ATS haha.

none of the bands any of you posted are really metal. except the one inflames video.

the rest is metalcore/hardcore.

this is real metal...

youtu.be...

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please if this didnt post correctly, could someone fix it for me? i can never get these to work right..

reply to post by halfoldman


yours is real metal too.

Lovin' it, friends.

How about some All Shall Perish?



"For in the midst
We, We see a glimpse
Of mass oppression coming to take our lives
They can't take our fight
We're living free of monarchy
Brothers take hands
Its our time to give this nation its only chance
Not one step back
A true man will take a stand
Liberty rings
Echoing through the streets the beginning of everything
Take pride for this is the picture we must live by or die, Or die
[They're coming, They're coming]
Begin to light we must ignite we creed to fight begin our night
Wake up the dreamers we demand the need of rights"

Rings true to the patriotic agenda


Or maybe something from the NuMetal spectrum?

Flaw, a softer song if you will...



"I'm balling up my fists
Waiting here defenseless isn't pacifist,
It's ignorant, and cannot be allowed"

Or the frontman's next band, Five.Bolt.Main...



"Push us back in corners and
make us fight you for our lives
Turn us into martyrs and
sneak up from behind"

reply to post by XelNaga


lol call a square a square, but it still classifies as a rectangle

nice selection, though

im in a new thrash band, no music to share now (i don't want to put it on youtube) but eventually you will hear our first album

first song on the album, lyrics;

Red (Restricted:Entry Denied) - The Natural Disasters
(not as in storms, but as in people are a natural disaster walking the earth)

look around, think about what you see, hold that thought in your mind now let it be,
do you live your life in reality? or are you another fool with the human disease?
now think, how can this world change? in this day and age where everyone's minds shrink,
one day you people will know, what you had in your hands but decided to let go.

theres more, but thats just a taste-test.
i'm usually very humble about myself,
to me it's some of the best music i've ever heard, in general, not just metal,
it will be a metal revitaliser and looked at for generations imo...

reply to post by jlm912


well if you want me to i can always make a thread talking about the distinct differences between various genres of metal and the form of music that tries to be metal (i.e. metalcore)

but youre right. a square is a square.

even though there is a distinct difference between metal and metalcore.

reply to post by XelNaga


Diction is set by interpretation and common* definition. Label as you must to understand. I welcome you to elaborate* on the error you see in my judgement of definition in the OP right here in this thread. No need for a new one.

How could I have neglected Lamb of God...



"Ask me why I hate
Why I've prayed to see the nation that I love disintegrate
And gladly give my life
The revolution regenerates
In honor of the strife of those who've died
In generations before for your blood stained glory
I reject you
I deny you
I defy you to continue"

And from a more recent album of Machine Head's collection

And another from MH



"All that they needed was
A pretext, war's next.
Heads to the chopping blocks,
And our necks are next.
For those who died,
Who fought for our rights,
Whose children now slaves,
They're turning in their graves"

Check out these songs, the music is pretty brutal but its awesome and the lyrics speak for themselves, contrary to "devil music." I was gonna post some Tool but that should be obvious.

Lyrics here:
Inherent Obsecurity



Skepsis

I'll throw some Throwdown in the mix...

I guess I'm confused. I thought this topic was about metal bands from the 21st century with lyrical themes that focus on social issues, but it seems like people are just posting whatever they want. If it truly is the former Nevermore is always a good way to go. While they've been around since before the turn of the century the majority of their work is from the past decade. Timelord also have a few songs regarding revolution. There are plenty of other bands these ones are just the ones sticking out on the top of my mind. If you're just looking for interesting bands from the 21st century you can't really get more "revolutionary" than Unexpect.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Yes, thank you for staying on-theme, the former being the focus of the OP several posts were astray, but being an eclectic metal-head, I wasn't complaining

I keep forgetting the page reloads when you star. It keeps interrupting the videos (facepalm.jpg)

reply to post by Xcalibur254


I'm digging the mix of melody and dissonance from Unexpect. That's the first I've heard of 'em.

Chaotically epic \m/

reply to post by Xcalibur254


Nevermore!!! i love them, a lot of good political stuff on the Politics of Ecstasy (hence the name lol) it's hard to think of some newer songs off of the top of my head, i've really been getting into brutal under ground death metal recently. Some older bands that still apply in my opinion are Testament and Megadeth. Both very political in the late 80's early 90's.

reply to post by jlm912


Check out their newer album. Its songwriting is a little more developed and the balance between melody and chaos is more refined. You'd probably also like Sigh.