Controversial opinions on metal

[Satanstoenail]

Being able to shout and do the occasional high-pitched scream

I think there's more to his voice than that, especially as they progressed. My fave Araya vocals are on South of Heaven, where he mixes it up and uses melody a lot more.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Ok Araya isn't the "best" vocalist, but what thrash vocalist is? I think his voice fits for Slayer and that's all that matters really.

Limiting things to just barking/semi-harsh vocalists, Don Doty and the above mentioned Demolition Hammer guy are both easy. Holy Terror's Keith Deen, while fully capable of great clean vocals, can also pull off the rapid hardcore-ish shouting quite well.

 

[Der Morgenstern]

As long as I can say Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, and Annihilator's vocals are all so bad I find the bands unlistenable.

wut

 

[Manic Ferocity]

The only band not overrated in the big four is Slayer. Anyone who thinks Slayer (circa 80s) is overrated should probably stop listening to metal.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

The only band not overrated in the big four is Slayer. Anyone who thinks Slayer (circa 80s) is overrated should probably stop listening to metal.

80's Slayer is overrated. Show No Mercy is hilariously immature at moments; riffs like Antichrist's intro riff and Die By The Sword's chorus riff are hai-I-just-got-this-GuitarPro-program-and-tabbed-my-first-riff-wut-do-u-guise-think? bad. I mean seriously bad. Even Lombardo sucks on that album. Fight Till Death has that awesome tremolo-picked proto-death riff, but as a whole the album is amateur. The later albums certainly continued their influence on extreme metal, but at a cost of terrible inconsistency. And their drummers are were their only good musicians.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

This debate is Über-gay. I stand by my original opinion that thrash vocals generally sound like shit, just like hardcore vox do. Just toneless shouting. I still like the music, but thrash metal is some of the most boring music from a purely vocal standpoint.

 

[Mort Divine]

You make the mistake of assuming that amateur means bad.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

A lot of the absolute best metal out there is immature. I sometimes wonder if we're listening to the same genre.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

This debate is Über-gay. I stand by my original opinion that thrash vocals generally sound like shit, just like hardcore vox do. Just toneless shouting. I still like the music, but thrash metal is some of the most boring music from a purely vocal standpoint.

I'm not talking about singing from a technical "who has the best range, sustain, blahblahblah" standpoint because aside from power/thrash bands it doesn't matter. But "toneless shouting" should at least have some energy or anger directed towards whatever they're shouting against tonelessly. It is hard to find a decently well known thrash band with less impassioned shouting than Tom Araya.

A lot of the absolute best metal out there is immature. I sometimes wonder if we're listening to the same genre.

There's good and bad immature, true, but the bad on Show No Mercy is hilaribad. Tormentor is probably the best example. The intro riff admittedly does have a cool Candlemass-y doom sound to it for about the first two seconds of it until Lombardo fucks it up with his terrible drumming, and then it descends into dance land with that cheesy Do-do-do Do-do-do riff. Seriously, that riff makes me want to do this:

, mockingly. I laugh every time I hear it. Then come the lyrics, which could be glam metal if you removed the occasional reference to violence and rape. Seriously, it's about as thrash as Live Wire. Not that it has to be thrash; Jump in the Fire is an awesome song despite being a bit rockish itself. Tormentor is just shit.

And I realize that's just one song, but a lot of the album feels like that to me. Die By His Hand (chorus aside), Fight Till Death, and Black Magic are great songs but a lot is forgotten-demo-band worthy.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Come fucking on. Hell Awaits has some of the most hellish shouted vocals I've ever heard that even put some death and black metal bands to shame.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Come fucking on. Hell Awaits has some of the most hellish shouted vocals I've ever heard that even put some death and black metal bands to shame.

Those are among his best vocals (I haven't listened to the album in close to two years and a quick listen reveals that they are fairly good), but he still doesn't do much. It's basically the exact same voice on the later albums, maybe with a little more youth. He's still boring as a whole.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

Hell Awaits is great for its overall atmosphere. The vocals do have a nice frantic quality, but I still put them towards the bottom of the list of highlights for this album.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

Hell Awaits is one of the indestructible pillars of fucking metal and I don't know why any self-respecting metal fan would go longer than a month or two without thrashing the fukk out to it.

 

[Omni]

80's Slayer is overrated. Show No Mercy is hilariously immature at moments; riffs like Antichrist's intro riff and Die By The Sword's chorus riff are hai-I-just-got-this-GuitarPro-program-and-tabbed-my-first-riff-wut-do-u-guise-think? bad. I mean seriously bad. Even Lombardo sucks on that album. Fight Till Death has that awesome tremolo-picked proto-death riff, but as a whole the album is amateur. The later albums certainly continued their influence on extreme metal, but at a cost of terrible inconsistency. And their drummers are were their only good musicians.

No.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

There's good and bad immature, true, but the bad on Show No Mercy is hilaribad. Tormentor is probably the best example. The intro riff admittedly does have a cool Candlemass-y doom sound to it for about the first two seconds of it until Lombardo fucks it up with his terrible drumming, and then it descends into dance land with that cheesy Do-do-do Do-do-do riff. Seriously, that riff makes me want to do this:

, mockingly. I laugh every time I hear it. Then come the lyrics, which could be glam metal if you removed the occasional reference to violence and rape. Seriously, it's about as thrash as Live Wire. Not that it has to be thrash; Jump in the Fire is an awesome song despite being a bit rockish itself. Tormentor is just shit.

And I realize that's just one song, but a lot of the album feels like that to me. Die By His Hand (chorus aside), Fight Till Death, and Black Magic are great songs but a lot is forgotten-demo-band worthy.

*Die by the Sword

I honestly don't see how Slayer's lyrics on Show No Mercy are any more immature than any of their other albums (or any metal band for that matter). Everything else you said is just superficial nitpicking.

Maybe it's just me but I can't understand how you can be into metal and not like Show No Mercy. Along with Hell Awaits and Haunting the Chapel, I believe it is among the finest examples of metal.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Hell Awaits is one of the indestructible pillars of fucking metal and I don't know why any self-respecting metal fan would go longer than a month or two without thrashing the fukk out to it.

Because it's a backslash album.

\
Good--->Crap
(Track Progress)

 

[Manic Ferocity]

HamburgerBoy--->Shit taste

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I honestly don't see how Slayer's lyrics on Show No Mercy are any more immature than any of their other albums (or any metal band for that matter). Everything else you said is just superficial nitpicking.

Maybe it's just me but I can't understand how you can be into metal and not like Show No Mercy. Along with Hell Awaits and Haunting the Chapel, I believe it is among the finest examples of metal.

True, their lyrics are fairly lol-worthy anyways. Still, nothing like "Afraid to walk the streets / in the coldness all alone". That is something that should be followed with "The blackness of the night / inflames my flesh and stones", followed with "Hoping for relief / from the urge I feel inside". And then Rob Halford moaning about jawbreaking cocks.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

Because it's a backslash album.


Good--->Crap
(Track Progress)

Well, I agree that the balls-shatteringly excellent side B doesn't compare to the immaculate and peerless side A; but it doesn't really matter.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Aren't you due for listening to a four minute chug fest?

@HamburgerBoy