Decibel's October Issue

[Occam's Razor]

Tools all around. Mudrian claiming that Wolfmother has anything to do with black and death metal is insane and idiotic.

I have Teeth Of The Hyrda here for reviewing. They claim to be "70s black metal"

 

[Some Bastard]

NYC NPR on "Hipster Metal."

I almost get a courtesy plug here.

Listening to this show even I have to admit this is stretching it a bit

What makes it weird is that as far as I know this discussion is not going on over here at all (The Netherlands that is). And nobody here considers Wolfmother or Isis as Metal, let alone 'hipster'

 

[Jim LotFP]

Listening to this show even I have to admit this is stretching it a bit

Dave and his first article LotFP article were mentioned in print, by name, in Decibel... and people writing for them have commented on the second article on message boards (so did the guy interviewed in this NPR piece). While it is possibly be incorrect (who knows what other people are giving Decibel grief), it's not a stretch to think Mudrian had Dave in mind when mentioned "genre police."

What makes it weird is that as far as I know this discussion is not going on over here at all (The Netherlands that is). And nobody here considers Wolfmother or Isis as Metal, let alone 'hipster'

So this is in print on newsstands across America, on the airwaves nationwide on National Public Radio... you still sure we're all just paranoid?

 

[Some Bastard]

So this is in print on newsstands across America, on the airwaves nationwide on National Public Radio... you still sure we're all just paranoid?

Try to see it from my point of view. A lot of the rock magazines here exist since before the days of 'extreme' Metal i.e. since before there was a segregation between the worlds of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Magazines like the Dutch Aardschok and the German Rock Hard are basically Rock & Metal-zines that cover everything from thrash to grindcore to traditional to prog to glam to melodic hard rock to punk/hardcore to emo etc... That's always been the case and its never been a problem. If you're only into the extreme stuff you can just skip the pieces on Iron Maiden or Hammerfall and go straight to the articles on God Dethroned or Anaal Nathrakh. Of course we've got hardliners here too, for who everything that's not released on a moldy cassette is too mainstream but they've got their own (often self-made) sources of information. My perception is that generally people here know what they like. Wolfmother is a band that is reviewed in both those Rock & Metal-zines and the mainstream press but nobody in their right mind would ever call them Metal. They stole a lot of riffs from old Hard Rock bands so it's only fair those rock zines pay some attention to them but overall they're more popular in the 'alternative' music scene. They also play only the Big mainstream festivals, not Graspop or Wacken. Metal people here have no interest in them (no wonder since I think they're amazingly bad).

Do I think you're paranoid? I don't know because this is almost like a scene report from another planet. What is the actual problem? Does it just bug you that they're abusing Metal's name? Or do you think eventually the indie kids will take over?

From what I can tell your Metal scene is somewhat different from here, a bit more purist, sectarian and protective. Or is it just this forum?

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

I can't speak for Dave, but my own concern is that a genre that's got enough internal problems of its own may not survive yet another round of mainstream appropriation.

Plus, I'm tired of going to shows and finding them crawling with emo faggots who don't know how to behave.

 

[DBB]

Much of the 'movement' consists of people that figured out that NSBM is a good label under which to keep making the same crappy hardcore they cut their teeth on - they're at least as 'false' as crap like The Sword

I am in no way prepared to discuss this at length at this moment. I could be very quickly, but I have intentionally not removed everything from the backburner because I cannot devote the time to it and must keep it in the background bubbling and burbling like some long-simmering foul goulash in a crockpot. But I can say that I am aware of gradations and distinctions (as the use of the designation “NSBM-lite” above indicates), and will be choosing a selection of representive bands that cover a spectrum and outlining the differences and similarities between acts who are tagged, embrace, and utilize NSBM.

It is going to be a diatribe on some levels, but it is not going to be a senseless one. I need to make it count, and that requires precision as opposed to painting with a broad brush.

I have Teeth Of The Hyrda here for reviewing. They claim to be "70s black metal"

Ugh. I remember taking a cursory look at this band, and I am not surprised that this would appear in the press material. Black metal is now a term with a certain cachet among some crowds (there is a reason Brandon Stosuy opened up his Pitchfork column with the review he did) and everything that is solid will melt into air. Reminds of when Metal Blade re-released the Trouble catalog for the first time in the mid-90s and the advertisements were claiming that The Skull was a foundational album in the grunge movement. Of course, Slagel was sitting on industry forums desperately trying to link metal, alternative and grunge in order to stay afloat, so it is not surprising.

While it is possibly be incorrect (who knows what other people are giving Decibel grief), it's not a stretch to think Mudrian had Dave in mind when mentioned "genre police."

I am not a megalomaniac, but I like to think that when he draws out the word “true” like it is something poisonous that my venomous pen is prodding the back or front of his mind.

 

[Some Bastard]

I can't speak for Dave, but my own concern is that a genre that's got enough internal problems of its own may not survive yet another round of mainstream appropriation.

Plus, I'm tired of going to shows and finding them crawling with emo faggots who don't know how to behave.

I have often accused DBB and Jim LOTFP of 'romanticizing' things. I don't know, maybe I'm doing the same thing when I state that I honestly believe good music will survive everything.

Emo is not a lasting thing. It is not really a 'kind' of music, it's a fad. Trendy haircuts, a name that's like half a sentence and riffs borrorwed from Fugazi and At The Drive-In. That's the formula, and it's a succesful one. For now. Like grunge and funk-metal it will blow over. The indie kids will find another bandwagon to jump on. Metal will still be alive and well.

At least that's what I think...

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

I am in no way prepared to discuss this at length at this moment. I could be very quickly, but I have intentionally not removed everything from the backburner because I cannot devote the time to it and must keep it in the background bubbling and burbling like some long-simmering foul goulash in a crockpot. But I can say that I am aware of gradations and distinctions (as the use of the designation “NSBM-lite” above indicates), and will be choosing a selection of representive bands that cover a spectrum and outlining the differences and similarities between acts who are tagged, embrace, and utilize NSBM.

I look forward to this with interest, though I'm not sure how many distinctions there really are to be made. NSBM pretty much breaks down along geographic lines. There's an Eastern European scene that is pretty much purely black metal, draws its influence primarily from Burzum, early Emperor and Graveland, coheres around Vinland Winds, No Colours, and, to a certain extent, Supernal, and is 'National Socialist' only by inference and iconography: and there's a Western European/American/Australian scene that is/was centered on Panzerfaust and Resistance Records (and smaller labels that got most of their distribution through those entities), is descended largely from Absurd and the American 'hatecore' movement and is much more explicit in its racial and political content (partly because it is distributed mostly out of the US - and thus out of the reach of European censorship laws - and partly because of the recent hardcore incfluence). I suppose another distinction could be made for Graveland and Burzum - bands with NS related political leanings whose music and conceptual themes largely reflect other interests.

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

Emo is not a lasting thing. It is not really a 'kind' of music, it's a fad. Trendy haircuts, a name that's like half a sentence and riffs borrorwed from Fugazi and At The Drive-In. That's the formula, and it's a succesful one. For now. Like grunge and funk-metal it will blow over. The indie kids will find another bandwagon to jump on. Metal will still be alive and well.

There's a major difference here - grunge hit at a time when their was a flourishing and creatively vital underground - black metal and death metal were doing pretty revolutionary things at the time - so the only real damage that was done was done to the already bloated corpse of thrash metal lol: wouldn't want to offend Dave's delicate semantic sensibilities). There's no comparable underground now to allow metal to survive yet another round of fragmentation and appropriation. That doesn't mean it won't survive, just that I'm not terribly optimistic.

 

[DBB]

Dave and his first article LotFP article were mentioned in print, by name, in Decibel... and people writing for them have commented on the second article on message boards.

Just so everything is out on the table for folks keeping score at home, the second article did create some discernable waves in print here and here.

But nothing on the scale of the first article (there were many veiled jabs at me in the reviews here and there in the following months), since a lesson was learned.

 

[Jim LotFP]

Just so everything is out on the table for folks keeping score at home, the second article did create some discernable waves in print here and here.

Fucking awesome. Not as awesome as getting "anonymous" pissed off phone calls from a label person (I recognized their damn voice, dduuhhh) about a review of a band not even on their label... but probably more awesome than a death threat. Although that was cool too.

heh.

"My hate mail is bigger than yours" is a fun game to play:

 

[Some Bastard]

Just so everything is out on the table for folks keeping score at home, the second article did create some discernable waves in print here and here.

But nothing on the scale of the first article (there were many veiled jabs at me in the reviews here and there in the following months), since a lesson was learned.

O K

You seem to have this obsession about that Decibel magazine

So, what's the real story behind all this?...

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

Ah, based on those links, it would appear that decibel is obsessed with Dave.

 

[Some Bastard]

Yeah, they're obsessed with each other. GET A ROOM YOU TWO!!

 

[Some Bastard]

O K

You seem to have this obsession about that Decibel magazine

So, what's the real story behind all this?...

I was drunk when I posted this and didn't bother to check out the links so I guess I should apologize

You seem to have struck a nerve with them. Funny, but other than that I think you're both wrong. It's the wannabees versus the purists. They're wrong for trying to be something they're not, you're wrong for taking them seriously. I mean Wolfmother? Pelican? Come on!

It takes dedication to be a Metalhead (and despite our constant argueing I definitely can't deny you guys are a dedicated bunch ) and those Decibel guys are not dedicated. They're too busy nudging and winking and being 'ironic' for that.

Mind you, I like Pelican but over here you won't see a lot of Metal kids at their shows. They're considered post-rock or stoner. The Dutch Metal crowd doesn't give a rat's ass about bands like this.

But it's probably an American 'problem'. Think I'll go over to the local Metal pub and ask people how they feel about 'Hipster Metal'. They'll either think I've lost it or I'm fucking with them

 

[wildfyr]

 

[DBB]

Time to update your scorecards on all fronts.

There is some more on the man with no name:

In mid-2006, some self-appointed genre purity watchdog, Decibel hater, and Elmer Fudd wannabe called The Sword “a creature of the industry created to introduce the 2006 Metal Fashion Collection.” What he really meant to say was that, in a few short months, the Sabbathy ruminations on the Austin-based quartet’s Kemado debut, Age of Winters, won the hearts of incalculable hordes, some of whom still might not know Bruce Dickinson from Bruce Willis.

Blurb for # 38 in Decibel’s “Top 40 Albums of 2006” by Rod Smith

I’m glad to see he pulled the “Metal Fashion Collection” line for a quote, and some people think I don’t have a sense of humor.

Then there is some related business matters from the same issue that you need to pencil in:

Kemado Records has reached an agreement with RED distribution to distribute the former’s catalog and future releases in North America. Next year will see releases from two of the label’s major acts, The Sword and Dungen, Kemado’s Tom Clapp, Director of Business, commented, “our new agreement with RED will allow us to take greater control of all aspects of our artists’ development, while continuing to have the close relationship that we have with our artists.” In other words, expect to see even more of The Sword real soon! OMG!

“Scrap Metal” Decibel January 2007

So, to sum up, it is a brave new independent era in Kemado’s history.

Todd Martens “Kemado Switches Distribution With An Eye On Establishing Own Brand” Billboard October 28, 2006

Long derided as a "fake indie," New York-based Kemado Records' founders are hoping to shed the term with a new distribution deal. Effective immediately, Kemado's releases will be handled by Sony BMG's RED Distribution, and the label hopes to establish its own brand, one that's independent of outside help.

Kemado had most recently been linked with Disney-owned Hollywood Records, which provided marketing, promotion and manufacturing for its releases. The label started in 2002 as a production company and soon landed a distribution deal with Palm Pictures.

"It was a weird stigma," Kemado co-founder Tom Clapp says. "We were in the indie world, but people thought we were an imprint. There's been a misconception for a long time. We've been an independent label from the beginning. We just had an unusual start to things."

Kemado is home to psychedelic rock act Dungen and Black Sabbath-inspired band the Sword, among others. The label's two-year deal with Hollywood expired in August, Clapp says, and he was planning to have the label self-sufficient by then.

"There's always a problem going through another label," he says. "You're not the top priority and even with the best of relationships, the mandate coming down from the top is not to push Kemado every day."

Aside from the outside impression that Kemado was a pseudo-indie, little things started to annoy Clapp. He mentions a time when Kemado's name was left off a video credit on MTV or the fact that Kemado releases were not eligible for Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart, as Hollywood is distributed by Universal Music Group Distribution.

"The lesson through all of that was that you have to have your own people out in the field doing stuff," he says. "About a year into that deal, we started hiring people and got ourselves ready to make a move."

Yet, despite the end of the high-profile Hollywood deal, decibel has good reason to state that we can “expect to see even more of The Sword real soon!”

”226 Music Group, Inc. Signs a 3 Year North American Distribution and Marketing Deal With Sony Corporation's RED Distribution and RED Ink.” Business Wire June 10, 2005

226 Music Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that the company signed a distribution and marketing agreement with Sony owned RED for North American retail distribution and RED Ink for North American marketing services.

The initial three year contract provides for distribution and marketing services in retail music stores including Tower Records, Virgin Megastores, FYE, Musicland, Sam Goody and mass merchandisers such as Target, Best Buy and Walmart. In addition to the traditional retail distribution afforded to 226 by RED, a large percentage of CDs will be sold online as well and RED's digital division will sell 226 music via electronic download.

Todd Martens “TRUSTKILL'S MAJOR PUSH: INDIE LABEL DOES MARKETING FOR MAJOR LABEL METAL ALBUM” Billboard September 9, 2006

Sometimes an independently released album isn't so independent at all. An example of a major label cleverly working with an indie is happening right now at RED Distribution.

The debut from metal band Bullet for My Valentine, "Poison," has sold 84,000 copies in the United States since its Feb. 14 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Indie Trustkill Records has spearheaded all the marketing for the album, and the band is heavily featured on the Trustkill Web page.

But Bullet for My Valentine is not a Trustkill act at all. The band is actually signed to Jive Records, part of the Sony BMG family.

"Bullet for My Valentine is one of the releases I'm most proud of right now," RED GM Bob Morelli says. "It was a Jive signing completely, and they utilized us and one of our labels to use the cachet and the marketing expertise of Trustkill."

Trustkill founder Josh Grabelle says he had his eye on Bullet for My Valentine before the act signed to Jive, but decided not to sign the group. He notes that Sony BMG labels call him "all the time" to similarly downstream artists, and he has passed every time except for Bullet for My Valentine.

"Shhhhhhhh, be vewy vewy quiet; I'm hunting wabbits, hehehehehehe!"

 

[BenMech]

the stomach churns.

I did see that Kemado blurb in Decibel, and was waiting for your reaction

 

[DBB]

the stomach churns.

I did see that Kemado blurb in Decibel, and was waiting for your reaction

I particularly enjoy how Martens makes no connection between the two articles he wrote for Billboard. The trade is full of tools and they are only going to get sharper.

 

[Professor Black]

Ahaha, I feel like there should be a mission to get Dave's name into Decibel. Like saying "bababooey" on someone else's newscast.