If you're anything like me, you know that autumn is basically the best time of year. The leaves change into awesome colors, there's literally pumpkin everything out there, the temperature is perfect (ok, at least until early-November), and then there is…you know, Halloween. It's that wonderful time in-between the days where you wish you weren't covered in sweat and the ones where you'd wish at least one grocery store didn't have Christmas music on.
If you live in a temperate zone, you know that fall just has that special feeling and aesthetic to it. It has that great contradiction about it that just as everything is dying, everything looks and feels awesome. Seeing how a similar relationship between destruction and glory defines much of heavy metal, that makes fall a very metal time of year indeed.
Now I know as far as seasons go, winter would seem like a more natural month for metal. Black Metal has fashioned such a grim and frosty image that it's hard to escape this notion. Usually when I think of autumn, I tend to think of Grunge and Alternative Rock first, perhaps because of the onset of "perfect flannel-shirt weather". But there's plenty of great Metal to go along with the season as well, especially in the Doom, Sludge, and Gothic metal categories. So finish raking those leaves and crack open that Shipyard Pumpkin Ale (or UFO, or Blue Moon, or Sam Adams, or Dogfish…seriously they all have one at this point), cause it's time to look at some of the best heavy music for the season!
OPETH "Harvest"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWdCRYEZGE[/youtube]
With their blend of musical movements both heavy and serene, Opeth's music is naturally suited to the atmosphere of autumn. This is especially true for their 2001 classic, Blackwater Park, which boasts songs like "The Leper Affinity", "Bleak", "Harvest". Hell, it even has a song called "Dirge for November".
