Can someone explain death metal's appeal?

[BRI]

^True. People may call it mindless noise, but anger and hatred are as passionate emotions as love or joy.

 

[Powers]

I'd love to hear a death metal love ballad. Juxtapsotion between music and subject matter would be intense.

 

[Braighs]

^Nectar/Black Rose Immortal

"I SWEAR...I WILL ALWAYS LOOOVE YOOOU!"

 

[Tubbs]

I must be different from everyone else... the first time I heard a death metal band I loved the vocals! I even got into death metal an entire year before Opeth, so I just added them to my awesome catalog of pwnage. It sort of depends on who you live with, too. My 3 brothers have all been big metalheads for the longest time now and they all listen to the same stuff basically.

There are slight differences: (I won't say their names because nobody cares)

Brother 1: progressive metal, black metal, progressive death metal (opeth!), and melodic death metal. no straight-out death metal though...

Brother 2: death metal, progressive metal (huge Dream theater fan), likes many of Opeth's songs but I wouldn't say he's "addicted" like bro 1.

Brother 3: death metal, progressive metal, and some more mainstream crap.

Brother 1 and 2 both play guitar really good, and number 1 is in a band!

This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. Oh well, I guess I'm trying to say go get some relatives involved in stuff like this and spread the word! Death metal is invigorating and pumps you up! Opeth is different, they are really fun to listen to and only pump ya up when they need to! A band like Morbid Angel is good if you want to go flip out or something. Yeah, you could easy-listen to all of this but it's not as fun in my opinion... concerts are the best. Right up front!

EDIT: Wow, I just read my post and it sucks. Oh well

 

[Powers]

I guess.

 

[Header]

Before I heard Opeth I was into Six feet under (not really, anymore;-)), Bloodbath and Sepultura and stuff. So I already was into Death Metal voices, but when I heard Blackwater Park, at first I always waited for the clean vocals because I was surprised how beatiful they were. It took me a time to get into the Death Metal voice, too... but now I'm adictive... (right spelling? )

 

[Ermz]

The appeal of it to me is in the 'take the piss' sense. I don't take Death metal seriously, as a genre. I do think it's cool for humour value... you know the idea of 'it's so bad that it's good'.

So every now and then I just get into the mood for a style of music so extreme, bombarding and heavy that only death metal fits the bill. So I only listen to pure DM ocassionally.

 

[Powers]

Take the piss? This boi needs some Mano'war!

 

[Kenneth R.]

death metal is one of my favorite types of music to play loudly, as it provides me interesting reactions from non-listeners.

 

[Powers]

Open mindedness is the name of the game I listen to Nile and stuff, and then two minutes later i'll listen to Sinatra & The Rat Pack. But i like both just because it's damn good music, in different ways but both damn good.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i completely agree- just look at my last played bar

 

[screamformechicago]

Alright mate, what you first have to realise is that Opeth isn't death metal. It's prog metal, which means it takes influence from death, black metal and prog rock (of course all of these genres take their influences from other genres apart from metal).

Hmmm...I can't say that I agree with your classification, especially that prog metal somehow derives/takes influence from death and black metal. Progressive metal came first, so it can't derive from death metal. That's why I'd tend to agree with the statement that Opeth are death metal with progressive influence. So a progressive death metal band. That seems to make the most sense to me.

 

[Powers]

I was unaware prog metal came first. Explain further please?

 

[The Baying Of The Leper]

The thing about Mike's vocals is that he actually pronounces words that are understandable, as opposed to a gutteral growl or high pitch scream that nobody has a fuckin clue what this guys actually saying. It always amuses me seeing a death metal vocalist up there reading his "lyrics" from a bunch of scribbled notes in his hand, and you could get up there just growl off any fucking thing that comes to mind and no one would be anywiser to the message of the song!

I'm not a big fan of death metal, but melodic death metal takes my fancy. Bands like In Flames and Opeth have cool riffs and melodies, mostly understandable vocals and even clean vocals in their songs. The thing I can't stand in in death metal is a long monotonous mash of blast beats and indistinguishable growling. But IMO Mike has the best death metal vocals I've ever heard, and one of the best clean voices I've ever heard too.

 

[Hypnos]

This should be all you need to see:

 

[Riryoku]

Progressive metal came first, so it can't derive from death metal.

That's stupid, and barely makes any sense.

When I first heard death metal vocals, I was willing to listen to them, but I was actually kind of afraid of them for a while, lol. I was a bit o' a progressive Dream Theater-ish metal fan before I got into Opeth, and somehow, I decided to pick up a CD, thinking "wow, a death metal band with good lyrics and clean singing, this just has to be good". Now, I can listen to pure death metal without batting an eye, really.

 

[screamformechicago]

I was unaware prog metal came first. Explain further please?

Well, of course these kinds of conversations about what stemmed from what are up to differing interpretations, but this is how I see it...

Blues led to rock 'n roll, which led to rock, which led to progressive rock and hard rock...

Heavy Metal is the child of prog rock and hard rock...

Prog Metal acts like Queensryche, Kings X, Fates Warning, Savatage, and Dream Theatre all have their origins in the early '80s.

The way I look at it, death metal is a descendant of thrash metal, and didn't really come into existence until later on in the '80s with bands like Death, Possessed (who, to be fair, existed in the early 80s but didn't put out their first record in 85 or 86 i think). In any case, I don't see death metal as a clearly defined genre until 85 or 86, whereas I think prog metal, with its direct descendancy from prog rock bands like Rush has a slight edge on the timeline. But hey, that's just my opinion. My point was simply that I think Opeth is more properly described as progressive death metal. If I had to pick one of the two adjectives, I would pick death metal as its primary influence. There's a hell of a lot more death than progressive in Opeth, although I appreciate that they are stretching the death metal genre.

Oh, and am I imagining that Mike identifies Opeth as a "death metal band" in the documentary part of Lamentations? I could be mis-remembering.

 

[screamformechicago]

That's stupid, and barely makes any sense.

I'm sorry that you don't understand the point I'm trying to make...how sad for you that you have to get grumpy about it. Show some respect for an old man who's been around the block once or twice, will ya?

My point was in response to Powers' statement that prog metal somehow derives from/has as it's influences death metal, black metal, and progressive rock. I disagree with that statement, and used as one reason I disagreed the fact that progressive metal existed as a genre a bit before death metal did. Even if I stipulate that prog metal and death metal developed at the same time, I still disagree with Powers saying that Opeth should primarily be classified as a progressive metal band on the basis of style, lyrical content, and the intention of the band itself.

When Mike talks about influences, he mentions Morbid Angel (death), Bathory (viking/black), Death (death), Voivod (cyberpunk), and Mefisto (not honestly familiar with them). And as I said before, I recall he identifies Opeth as a death metal band.

 

[Powers]

He might do and in that case i'd have to agree they are, but if it were me i wouldn't call them that.

As for the bands you mentioned, i've never considered any of them prog metal (although i should really listen to them more). To me prog metal's a pretty recent thing, starting just a few years after the Gothenburgh Death and Black Metal and taking a lot of influence from both.

Also taking the Scandanavia folk influence far further than BM ever took it and of course engaging the prog metal which no one else was doing at the time (or so i thought). Of course with opeth no making it big after 12 years i feel prog metal is going to come in to its own.

Sadly the more famous it becomes, the more mainstream influence it takes on and the less progressive it gets, catch 22 kind of.

As for thrash i completely agree.

Mikeal by the way has said previous that the bands to biggest influences are Morbid Angel and Camel.

 

[Pain While Urinating]

Death Metal was an acquired taste for me.
I like it.