This is not a gripe about ProgPower per se, but about the state of metal in general. I am wondering when all of the ideas about what metal is "supposed to be" and the complaints about everyone not sounding enough like Manowar and whatnot are going to end. I personally don't like metal being entirely underground. At least not being as deep as it is. I am certainly glad it didn't sell out with the rest of rock, but I think there is a whole lot holding things back. I mean, if someone who has never heard what I listen to asks me what I listen to, I pretty much have to cringe when I say "Metal", because to those people, metal means something unintelligent, that died a natural death in the 80s and no one ever looked back. It takes a lot of time to get around that perception. It isn't helped by the fact that a lot of the fans are refusing to mature with the music. There are a lot of bands that are doing some really interesting stuff right now. There are a lot of bands that are doing the same thing that has been done 1000 times over again. Try to open your mind a little bit to what is truly the best. I know that will open a whole can of worms with some people, but I think if you think hard about it, you wouldn't listen to metal if you didn't think there was some music which is truly better than others. Backstreet Boys don't hold a candle to Blind Guardian, and they wouldn't if everyone in the world thought they did. Blind Guardian is absolutely better. They are also maturing, though, and writing music that a trained composer would look at, and even if he wasn't into the scene he would have to admit that it was really damn good. Kamelot, Nightwish, as much as it isn't really my thing, Spiral Architect, Symphony X, Virgin Steele, Edguy...these guys are not just making Rock music with double bass pedals- they are writing a better metal, where not every song has to start with rolling bass pedals, even if it is going to be a "fast song"...you can build up to things, and really take the audience somewhere in the music, rather than starting at the end, and just proving that you can play as fast as the next guy.
Ok, I guess my rant is done, not trying to slam anyone's favorite band, but I just am dying to see things really take off, and I don't think that can happen until people inside and outside the metal community can get over what metal used to be, and start making music that learns from the greatest composers ever, and then progresses beyond them...
Ok, I guess my rant is done, not trying to slam anyone's favorite band, but I just am dying to see things really take off, and I don't think that can happen until people inside and outside the metal community can get over what metal used to be, and start making music that learns from the greatest composers ever, and then progresses beyond them...
