Controversial opinions on metal

[The Ozzman]

Meshuggah is awesome and you all are gay

 

[skeptik]

If everyone thought that metal had reached it's highest form and anything done on top of that would be worse (which is what purist/elitist ideas seem to imply), nothing new would ever come out. And metal may die out, or at the least become very stale.

Elitism as a philosophy is the belief that those who are 'elite', by some given criteria, are those whose thoughts and opinions are deserving of more weight in that they are more knowledgeable and are more conducive to achieving the best result. I think it's pretty obvious that there are qualitative differences between metal bands, so everyone at some level is elitist. Elitism in metal does not imply necessarily that the genre has reached its highest form and that everything else would be worse. Nonetheless, I suppose that that statement is true and would imagine that that statement would find a fair amount of agreement. How many people actually think that metal is today at its creative and artistic zenith? I would imagine not many. That doesn't imply that nobody should create any new music, however. If anything, it implies that somebody should try to prove that belief wrong.

I didn't want to confine the idea to just mixing different styles of music, but rather introducing new ideas/sounds or even rearranging existing elements within the music. Such as something simple like using different effects (wah pedal, flanger, etc...) or not just using the verse chorus bridge format.

This is something that is widely, widely touted by those who are frequently referred to pejoratively as 'elitist'. See ANUS's review of the new Beherit album for an example.

Also, I think the purpose of trying new things is apparent: Either to express one's own inner vision (which may deviate from contemporary peers) or simply because he/she is bored with the status quo. And as always, not everything is going to be good simply because it's different, but that shouldn't preclude anyone from trying.

Sure, maybe people shouldn't be precluded from experimenting for experiment's sake, but that doesn't mean that I want to hear it, nor that I think it was a worthwhile attempt and not a waste of time. Experimentation should be driven by a larger purpose and foundation and reason for its implementation; I would imagine experimentation combined with compositional/ideological meaning has a much higher success rate and signal/noise ratio than unguided experimentation.

 

[Vitor]

Here's a controversial opinion: If you have heard one Meshuggah album you have heard them all. Overall a very boring, repetitive band.

indeed.

my controversial one: death magnetic isn't the metallica that i've known.

 

[-CC-]

Here's a controversial opinion: If you have heard one Meshuggah album you have heard them all. Overall a very boring, repetitive band.

I'll have to disagree wholeheartedly

Put on a song from Nothing and compare it to a song from Obzen, or a song from Contradictions Collapse and compare it to Catch 33..you'll find all those albums to be very different from each other

The only two albums that have strong similarities are Destroy Erase Improve and Chaosphere as they both are very fast-paced with a strong "mechanical" atmosphere (i.e. the samples used, guitar tuning, and lyrical concepts) but the production qualities on those two are on two completely different levels so the albums still sound very different.

About them being boring, well that's an opinion, but the rest was incorrect

 

[Vitor]

Sol niger within is much better than meshuggah.

 

[mutantllama]

I've said this a million times, and I'll keep on saying it, Meshuggah is traincore.

 

[ASD]

Meshuggah is awesome and you all are gay

.

 

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

Experimentation should be driven by a larger purpose and foundation and reason for its implementation; I would imagine experimentation combined with compositional/ideological meaning has a much higher success rate and signal/noise ratio than unguided experimentation.

This.

 

[Satanstoenail]

Meshuggah have a sound that they have crafted and honed from album to album, a sound that is most definitely their own, which is more than can be said for a lot of bands.

 

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

No denying that, but I don't see why that necessarily makes them better or invalidates criticisms, especially the ones being brought up here.

 

[Satanstoenail]

If their sound is not to your taste, of course they are going to sound repetitive and boring.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

Meshuggah have the ability to sound familiar and even repetitive and push the envelope (on a technical level) at the same time. They are actually very nuanced in their song writing.

 

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

If their sound is not to your taste, of course they are going to sound repetitive and boring.

You didn't make that point though; you contended that they have developed "their own style", which, though true in this case, doesn't make them immune from criticism.

 

[The Ozzman]

Yo dawg, I herd you liek english majors in your metal critiques, so we put dodens grav in your metal forum so he can be polysyllabic while he strokes his e-penis

 

[Satanstoenail]

You didn't make that point though; you contended that they have developed "their own style", which, though true in this case, doesn't make them immune from criticism.

I never said it did. It does however make them better than a lot of bands imo.

 

[WCannibal]

But they're still annoying as hell to listen too. Too much chugging and weird times signatures, not enough good songwriting and riffs.

 

[skeptik]

Yo dawg, I herd you liek english majors in your metal critiques, so we put dodens grav in your metal forum so he can be polysyllabic while he strokes his e-penis

I see you're still the same.

 

[TheInsane]

Combustion is a really good track, but overall their discography just sounds like the same thing over and over, with occasional breaks for some catchiness.

I dont agree at all. I have heard all Meshuggah albums except "contadictions collapse" and I would argue that every album has a distinct sound to it. Compare "destroy erase improve" to "catch 33" for xample. Very different feel. Its still meshuggah of course and you can hear it but the difference really is quite big.

 

[VelociBrad]

Here's a controversial opinion: If you have heard one Meshuggah album you have heard them all. Overall a very boring, repetitive band.

Agreed 100%.

 

[Mentok]

I agree also, although I can kind of enjoy DEI every once in a while...guess that's my one album.