“5 Albums That Changed My Life” with David Anderton (Chaos Divine)

On the heels of an excellent new album, Colliding Skies, progressive metal band Chaos Divine is poised to hit the big time. Accurately describing them is difficult, but suffice it to say if you’re a fan of forward-thinking bands like Tool, Deftones, and Karnivool, Chaos Divine will be right up your alley.

Vocalist David Anderton stopped by to give us 5 albums that changed his life and shaped him into the person he is today. Check them out after the jump, as well as their music video for “Soldiers”. Keep up with the band via Facebook.

Metallica – Master of Puppets

As a child I used to tag along on many of my fathers camps (he ran a diving club and was a high school teacher). When I was around 4 or 5 years old I joined my dads year 10 class on a trip to Coral Bay. On one of the bus trips a student shared one of his earphones with me. I can’t remember the exact song, but it was one of the early Metallica ballads, maybe Sanitarium, maybe One. But whatever it was, it was the moment that I realised heavy music was for me. A few years later in primary school our music teacher asked us to play our favourite song to the class. This was a great excuse to get my mum to pay for my first album… Master of Puppets. While the other kids played Hanson songs or worse, I made a bunch of 9 year olds listen to Sanitarium from start to finish.

Metallica – ReLoad

After getting Master of Puppets I quickly became the ultimate Metallica fan boy. Pocket money and chores all went to getting the back catalogue and any other memorabilia I could afford. These guys were gods in my eyes. I was so obsessed I listened to nothing else, as if enjoying something other than Tallica was somehow betraying my idols. When Load came out I was disappointed, it was not my cup of tea. While I could see how musically it was still actually not a bad album, it just wasn’t metal. Then Re-Load came out, I was so disgusted at how bad the album was that it opened up my eyes to other bands.

Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction

Not exactly a big jump in musical flavour but Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction was a bridge to the outside world and to this day is still an album I regularly listen to. The talent displayed on this album is truly amazing; Friedman’s brilliant solos, Mustaine’s hard grooving riffs, Ellefson’s fat bass and Menza’s chops just gel to make something magic. I would also say that Mustaine’s political messages had a big influence on me and have probably inspired me in my own writing. Peace Sells but whos buying!!!!!

Soundgarden – Superunknown

In my mid-teens I came to the realisation that the music that my older sisters listened to was not all crap. Music didn’t have to be technically amazing or super fast to be enjoyed. Superunkown was an another bridging album taking me out of my heavy thrash comfort zone and into the world of grunge. Still probably my favourite Soundgarden album and while it makes me depressed as shit, it’s just such an incredible album. It takes you to some weird place between dreams and reality. Never thought I would get to be on a line up with these guys, which happened a couple of years ago at the Perth BDO.

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Moving even further away from the world of metal, this double album occupied my auditory canals throughout my late teens. It was a fairly dark stage in my life in which Billy’s hatred of the world resonated well. I used to lay awake for hours with both discs on loop. Sadly it’s not an album I really enjoy listening to anymore, not because the music isn’t any good it just that powerful that it doesn’t put me in a great state of mind.

Honourable mentions…
Pantera – CFH, RATM – RATM, Testament – Low, Dream Theater – Scenes from a Memory, Blind Guardian – Night at the Opera, Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark, Cliff Richard – Walking in the Light, RHCP – BSSM, Fear Factory – Demanufacture, Silverchair – Diorama, Vagabond – Vagabond…