Editors note: This top 5 of list is from Johnny Legion, the man himself. Johnny has a podcast that will be debuting soon, you can keep up with that on twitter @ITVJohnnyLegion. Keep up with the band on their facebook page.
UPDATE: Johnny Legion has been added to StormFest 2015!
V. Decapitated • Blood Mantra
I saw Decapitated last year opening up for Scar the Martyr. So when I saw they had a new album I was pretty stoked. There are many parts that remind me of Slipknot back in the early years. Pure unbridled anger in the form of unrelenting non-stop madness. They hail from the land of Poland, and if the apocalypse had a soundtrack, this album would be it.
IV. Grimace • Self titled EP
I found these guys early this year and started to see the signs of a killer band in its infancy. Even though they are very new, make no mistake that you will be hearing about them in the future. They have a brutal sound representative of a new wave of killer bands coming out of LA in the past few years, such as Butcher Babies.
Their EP being only four tracks, has me waiting patiently for a full album. The songs are viciously heavy with tons of very intricate layers that add a very deep dimension to the overall quality. On top of that the sound engineering is top notch and the mixes sound great.
I highly recommend.
III. The Pretty Reckless • Going To Hell
I didn’t expect this one to hit my radar this year. I have felt their previous stuff was good, but sort of “not quite there” so to speak. But this album threw me for a loop and impressed the s*it out of me.
They have a strong southern heavy rock no bullsh*t base to the songs that is driving and perfect for strippers to dance to. Then they throw in some psychedelic weird sh*t that you don’t expect and it changes the vibe ever so slightly in a really cool way.
Lastly, let’s face it, not only is Taylor Momsen close to goddess on the sexy as hell scale, but that girl has such a killer f*cking voice that really projects real soul in every word she sings. Best tracks I’d say are “Follow Me Down”, “Going To Hell”, and I really enjoyed “Heaven Knows”.
II. Nashville Pussy • Up The Dosage
Nashville Pussy is one of my all-time favorite bands. It’s always turned to f*cking 11 and there is nothing but straight up f*cking rock and roll. It’s not pretty, it’s not polished and it’s dirty to the core. I love every damn song on this album. Enough said!
I. Slipknot • .5 The Gray Chapter
Being a huge fan of Slipknot through the years, I did expect something different than what they delivered. I find that as with the other Slipknot albums, the more I listen to it, the more I enjoy it.
It has many out of the box ideas and sounds that paint a much different picture than what we were used to. Corey’s voice has obviously changed a lot though the years and it’s very noticeable, but not all bad.
One thing that I have noticed and very impressed by it how f*cking tight the band is with their new drummer (allegedly Max Weinberg) they are back to extremely fast, difficult, and somehow stay in time without it becoming too rigid.
The slower songs and samples although different then they have used in the past are very refreshing at least in my own opinion. The three strongest songs on the album (again in my opinion) are “The Devil in I”, “Custer” and “The Negative One”.
I also thought the way they built up buzz through so many different types of media and media outlets was really cool and kept everybody talking about it.
– Johnny Legion
