I like heavy metal. I have loved it since I was a kid. The best heavy metal albums all have this structure to them, a certain style that is as predictable as it is compelling. They start with a killer opening track – Blood and Thunder by Mastodon, Battery by Metallica, Aces High by Iron Maiden – designed to set the scene, establish the mood, install presence. Then you get the second track; bigger, nastier, longer, harder. Using those same albums as an example, you have I Am Ahab, Master of Puppets and 2 Minutes to Midnight, respectively.
