Dio-era Black Sabbath

​See also:
*Top Ten Worst Replacement Singers in Rock and Metal
*Ozzy Osbourne vs. Ronnie James Dio: Who's Better?

One of the biggest stories in metal this year is the revolving door for vocalists. Jesse Leach has returned to Killswitch Engage. Iced Earth played their first L.A. show with new vocalist Stu Block last Saturday at Club Nokia. Dragonforce will soon release their first album with new frontman Marc Hudson. We're sure that with these moves, all of these bands hope to end up on the below list of most successful replacement vocalists in rock and metal.

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​See also: Top Ten Best Replacement Singers in Rock and Metal

At the beginning of the year, Boston metalcore giants Killswitch Engage announced that they had parted ways with vocalist Howard Jones, and two weeks ago they announced they were bringing their first vocalist, Jesse Leach, back into the fold. At the very least, it seems a way to ensure they won't show up on our list of the least successful replacement singers in rock and metal. Yes, Virginia, Gary Cherone (above) is involved.

10. Every Dead Kennedys vocalist not named Jello Biafra
Dead Kennedys (2001-present)
Disputes over royalty payments and licensing have left Jello Biafra on the sidelines while the rest of the Dead Kennedys continue to play punk rock festivals as a sad nostalgia act. Vocalists since 2001 have included non-luminaries such as Dr. Know frontman Brandon Cruz, Jeff Penalty, and current vocalist Skip Greer. No singer yet has matched the energy and power that Biafra's vocals gave to these songs. More >>

Terrorizer

​Grindcore band Terrorizer formed here, and their 1989 debut World Downfall was extremely influential. After 2006's reunion album Darker Days Ahead guitarist Jesse Pintado passed away, but the rest of Terrorizer has a new album, Hordes Of Zombies, out February 28th.

Now weirdly, and out of nowhere, an unknown Canadian grindcore group called Collapse has filed is threatening to file a plagiarism lawsuit against them and their label, Season of Mist, claiming a passage in Terrorizer's song "Subterfuge" is lifted from a Collapse song titled "Mechanisms Of Oppression." We call bullshit.

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​Los Angeles power trio Behold! The Monolith's sophomore effort Defender, Redeemist mixes stoner rock, sludge, doom, classic thrash, and black metal into a massive cauldron.

Since forming in 2008, vocalist/bassist Kevin McDade and guitarist Matt Price have been pushing the band forward. But during our interview over hearty plates of mac & cheese at The 101 Coffee Shop in Hollywood, the founding members credit new drummer Chase Manhattan with helping them evolve their sound.

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​Metal isn't supposed to be cheerful. Metal is supposed to be brootal. As a general rule, if it's not Van Halen's "Jump," it should not involve synthesizers. If lyrics don't tend toward evil, they should at least be depressing. Major keys should be used sparingly, at most. Vocal harmonies? Proceed with caution.

Power metal breaks all of these rules. In fact, the one rule of power metal seems to be "don't be metal." Be as un-metal as possible. Smile as your fingers fly across the frets while your vocals soar to the heavens. Fans, wear medieval costumes and spar with swords before the show. Lock arms with your brethren and unite in a Biergarten anthem at an open-air festival somewhere in Europe. In short, be happy.

DragonForce, the London sextet that's been around since 1999, waves high the banner of power metal. But they take "epic" to a whole new level. On the metal scale of 1 to 11, they're more Tufnel than Tufnel himself.

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​There are hundreds of metal bands that have made strong careers out of being dudes in black t-shirts. Having a killer look, though, can help a band build a legend before a single lyric is heard. Luckily, the performers below not only have the most awesome face paint in metal, they also have the songsmanship to back up their awesome images.

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Intronaut's Sacha Dunable, on a stage much larger than the ones he played before

​See also: Intronaut's Tour Diary I: From Playing Clubs to Opening For Tool in Sports Arenas

Los Angeles metal group Intronaut is currently on tour opening for Tool. Last week, guitarist/vocalist Sacha Dunable shared his thoughts on the trip's opening days -- which saw them playing arenas for the first time but also sleeping in their stinky show clothes in a parking lot. Below, he tells us what's happened since.

1/16/12 11:30 am - Clearly, the arena rock lifestyle has gone straight to [our guitarist/vocalist Dave Timnick's] head as he shows up to breakfast at Excalibur the morning after our Mandalay Bay show wearing sunglasses and nursing a 24 oz Tecate. While the rest of us presumably spent our first real party night curled up with a cup of hot chamomile and a good book, Dave got all "VEGAS" with a capital "party." We laughed about it over a greasy buffet feast and hit the road to Arizona.

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Sacha Dunable

Intronaut. (L-R): vocalist/guitarist Sacha Dunable; bassist Joe Lester; vocalist/guitarist Dave Timnick (not pictured: drummer Danny Walker).

​See also: Intronaut's Tour Diary II: Buying Weed in the Middle of Nowhere

Intronaut's thunderous blend of sludge-doom and post-rock (most recently on display in their 2010 album Valley Of Smoke) has earned critical praise as well as tours with metal luminaries such as Mastodon, Isis, and Animals As Leaders. Now, the L.A. quartet has embarked on their biggest excursion to date, opening for Tool on their current arena tour. Intronaut vocalist/guitarist Sacha Dunable kept a diary for us on the first day of the tour, which was this past Saturday in Reno, Nevada.

Hi, my name is Sacha. Eight years ago I started a band called Intronaut with some friends I've known for half of my life. For the next couple weeks, we'll be on tour in arenas throughout North America as support for Tool, which is a pretty significant change from the club shows we normally play. We are only a couple days in on this tour so far and I'm still wrapping my head around exactly what is going on around me, but here's a brief rundown on the madness that was our first day.

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Audio Visual Photography

Agalloch

​In the world of heavy metal, the most critical component for long-term success is a killer live show. Even back in the era before the record industry imploded, the bands that got the most devoted fan bases were the ones that could fucking bring it live. All of the shows below featured bands that did exactly that in 2011.

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Winds Of Plague

​[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.]

Everyone has that one friend with whom intelligent conversation is a strain. You'll never share your deepest feelings with them. Most of your time spent together will comprise of burning things, getting in fights, and lifting weights. But damn if they aren't fun to hang out with anyway. This friend has a likable energy that never flags; an energy that is infectious. When it comes to heavy metal, that friend's name is Winds of Plague.

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