Avant-garde genre? What is it?

[HardSide]

Heard it so many times and read it on websites, yet nobody has a definition for it...

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Well, avant-garde means radically new or original, so I'm guessing bands in this genre are applying new radically new techniques to their music.

One of the best avant-garde black metal bands is Azrael.

 

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

Basically a band that is so radically new or unique that there is no set genre to describe them.

 

[mrweijia]

Different = Avant garde or progressive.

 

[J.]

yeah, but people these day use "avant-garde" to describe any band that is a bit left of center, no matter if they are original or not. I don't like the word, but it seems to be necessary.

 

[CF87]

Any band that is ahead of their time,etc... is avant-garde.

 

[Focusphere]

Very few bands are Avant-garde. Such an abused word.

 

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

Arcturus are really one of the only bands whom the term can actually be applied to realistically.

 

[Nico]

Yeah, basicaly a band thats doing something in a particular genre that 99% of the other bands arent doing.

 

[DE]

The term Avant-Garde is just used to describe things that are "ahead of their time".

 

[mrweijia]

The term Avant-Garde is just used to describe things that are "ahead of their time".

I'd use it as an euphemism:

"Gee, that band was really wierd!"

- "No son, it was avant-garde"

 

[DE]

Yeah, that's what it's sort of descended into. Lots of bands are undeservingly called avant-garde.

 

[Episteme]

You can't say that Maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot aren't avantgarde though. No band really sounds remotely close to them.