A few thoughts on the evolution of metal.

[skeptik]

I disagree that there are no "truer" forms of Metal.

 

[Mort Divine]

Post-metal is nothing more than a bullshit term for bands that mix post-rock and sludge.

 

[mutantllama]

I don't think the cap has even been neared. I can imagine it getting a lot faster and darker and more extreme. I also think there's a whole lot of brand new territory metal can have, it just takes people to think beyond everything they've heard before. Only time will tell if I'm right or not.

.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

I disagree that there are no "truer" forms of Metal.

You would, weirdo.

 

[skeptik]

"True" in the sense of music that most closely retains the original values (both musically and conceptually) of the genre is a perfectly legitimate classification.

 

[Life Sucks]

I agree with those that said that the boundaries have been reached in extremity defined as brutality/heaviness (seemingly the most common interpretation of the term applied to metal). You really can't get any more extreme than bands like Devourment. If there were a band with gravity blasting 50% of the time, blasting 30%, and 20% slow passages with heavy as fuck chugging slam riffs, with fast as fuck complex riffs during the fast parts, it would sound ridiculous even by brutal death standards, and it wouldn't necessarily sound more extreme than the most extreme bands we have now. So, as others have said, metal won't get any more extreme, but just branch out in new directions, creating news sounds. Metal has been around long enough now that it is fully developed; it has finished growing, with the boundaries in terms of extremity already set.

 

[waif]

"True" in the sense of music that most closely retains the original values (both musically and conceptually) of the genre is a perfectly legitimate classification.

True.

In America, everyone just wants to play metalcore

Not true.

I don't think the cap has even been neared. I can imagine it getting a lot faster and darker and more extreme. I also think there's a whole lot of brand new territory metal can have, it just takes people to think beyond everything they've heard before. Only time will tell if I'm right or not.

True. But there is a cap, and we aren't that far away - eventually it turns into indecipherable sludge.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

"True" in the sense of music that most closely retains the original values (both musically and conceptually) of the genre is a perfectly legitimate classification.

Meh, OK.

 

[Einherjar86]

I noticed this topic earlier and forgot to reply, so I feel as though I've missed a great deal. However, the OP mentioned that metal doesn't seem to be changing as much today in genres such as thrash and other extreme forms. I believe that it is changing, it's just happening too slowly for us to notice. We can hear the changes in metal of the past because it's already happened and we can actually visualize it audibly (haha, I know that's weird). There are changes happening now, but it will take some time before we're able to notice them. I'd even venture a guess that ten years from now we'll have witnessed a number of changes in the sound and performance of metal. Hopefully most will be for the better.

There are always bands playing music in a new way or form that slightly changes the way a genre can be interpreted. Bands like Primordial, Wolves in the Throne Room, Kiuas, and Amorphis are changing the ways that metal is played, blending different genres, and trying new approaches. Granted Amorphis and Primordial have been around, but are very revolutionary. Wolves in the Throne Room and Kiuas are more recent, but are really doing a lot for black metal and power metal, respectively. They are the newcomers. In ten years' time, new up and comers will have listened to those bands (and hopefully lots of others) and will revolutionize metal in a new way. It might seem like we're nearing the end of all that can be done, but I believe creativity is unlimited.

 

[Alter]

The indie scene has been looking at black metal for a while now.

 

[waif]

really? woa. I always associated indie with trendsters and posers...

 

[skeptik]

Black Metal is also associated with trendsters and poseurs.

 

[Zephyrus]

Pretty much any genre of metal and rock, basically.

 

[Alter]

Than you are really fucking stupid.

 

[The Ozzman]

Than you are really fucking stupid.

lol

 

[Alter]

I was not speaking grammatically.

 

[JontRevolting]

Fans of the music are what keeps it alive IMO and they will always find new and interesting ways to put their own spin on things,some do well others don't,Hail Metal!!

 

[Zephyrus]

Than you are really fucking stupid.

Any genre or sub-genre of rock or metal, which have any success, will have both leaders and followers. It's all too easy to view the followers through a negative lens and condemn their lack of originality.

 

[CitizenKane]

Well last night I was laying on my bed and wondering what is happening to metal right now.

First of all, how much more extreme can metal get? Ever since the beginning of the genre it has always been getting more extreme, with a few exceptions such as power metal, etc. Were people who first listened Black Sabbath did they think "This shit is extreme!" and did they think that it couldn't get any more extreme? Then bands like Venom came along and made things more extreme, and made the lyrics darker. Then thrash came along with bands like Kreator and Slayer. I wonder what peoples thoughts were when they first heard Hell Awaits for the first time. Then Death metal started growing. Bands like Morbid Angel came. Then you have the second wave of Black metal with raw production like Transylvanian Hunger. But is it possible to get anymore extreme than now? Also things got darker. Look at Candlemass. They had a very dark atmosphere for their time.



Heres another thought. Big genres like Thrash, death, black, power, etc. aren't being developed like they used to. Since when was a big genre made? Don't get me wrong, they are still being changed every day. But they aren't being created. I wish I was around when they were being created, and heard it for the first time.

Anyways, those are just a few thoughts in my head.

*edit* I think this is the best post I've ever made!

you could argue that Drone is a new and evolving sub-genre, Sunn O))), Boris etc.. perhaps?

 

[waif]

Any genre or sub-genre of rock or metal, which have any success, will have both leaders and followers. It's all too easy to view the followers through a negative lens and condemn their lack of originality.

That's different from trendsters and posers, though...I mean people who are into music not for the music but for the popularity. There are no brutal death trendsters, although there's plenty of unoriginal brutal death.