HEAVY METAL is dead in the U.S.

[Dr. K]

That's what Anthrax Drummer, Charlie Benante, said during an interview for the Heavy Metal Heaven Website.

Check this out: http://heavymetalheaven.mysite.freeserve.com/page3.html

What do you think about it?

Ciao!

 

[SLAYER85]

metal aint dead, its just underground, i mean stuff like death/black metal are really pumping out some great records nowadays, metals just changed and went underground, but it aint dead.

 

[speed]

I read that, and he agrees with me that metal has no rock stars- the point that only a few people agreed with me with on a thread last week. Not that i am trying to say i am right or anything, just that it is a serious issue the metal community needs to address, before it slips into oblivion of poor sales, and few tours.

 

[Episteme]

Well, death/black metal really isn't heavy metal. Heavy Metal is alot about the image and the rockstar attitude, just the point speed has made in a thread a week ago or so... But I'd rather keep the rockstar image to a minimum, not being elitist because I'm not at all... Besides I think heavy metal would be a regression in the current underground metal scene, we could always watch The Darkness or something

 

[TheGraveDigger]

Heavy metal isn't dead in the United States, Anthrax is dead in the United States. I am a fan of older Anthrax and some of their latest album We've Come For You All but its true. They say rap metal and hot topic metal rules everything. Funny how years ago they wanted to be known as the ones who pioneered rap metal. Metal is not dead in the United States, it's just not what it was but its rising again. Look at Ozzfest you have legends like Priest and Slayer and you have the amazing Dimmu Borgir on the bill too. If Anthrax were on Ozzfest they would be saying metal is alive and well here. They need to stop worrying about being rock stars and concentrate on making a really great metal album again and maybe they will get somewhere.

 

[Life Sucks]

Metal isn't dead in the US! The US leads the world in death metal.

 

[Bush]

bullshit

 

[Generation_Speedkill]

If he's refering to mainstream metal in American, I agree, but I think he's overlooking a lot of good metal in the states. While there isn't very much of a black metal scene, death metal is still alive in well in the underground. Plus, look at the wide variety of style among great American metal bands today:

Hate Eternal
Symphony X
Vital Remains
Nevermore
Nile

 

[WIntersReflection]

It depends on if he means do we have a lot of "Famous" bands or if he means there are NO bands. So long as there is a single metalhead writing music in the basement somewhere in the USA, then metal is not dead imho.

I am sickened with mainstream music anyway for the most part. I hate the way radio, tv, and advertisement controls who is heard by the masses and who they feel is "cool" to buy. Most people simply do not understand music, some would if they ever got a chance to hear it. Metal does not conform to the image they are trying to sell at the moment... Its not really surprising metal heads think too much. Ugh.

The internet is a wonderful thing, it allows us to find easily all those bands that the tv, radio and advertisements ignore. Almost all of the best, most beautiful bands. True, I sometimes have to order these by bands by mailorder but hey, so long as I get them I don't mind the extra time.

Fame, image, its the music that matters and that is definitely still alive.

 

[SADUDE]

This is the euphemistic equivalent of saying that there is no money to be made. These fraudulent claims are made when there is no demand for [insert tired ass band]'s "music."

 

[Destroyer Of Orden]

Metal is going unbelievably strong in the U.S. it's jsut not quite as potent and mainstream as it was in the past... I believe full-heartedly that will change in the future. Metal stays whilse everythign else comes and goes.

 

[EyesToBleedFrom]

Generation Speedkill:

The picture in your signature is badass.
Averse Sefira is awesome.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Metal is going unbelievably strong in the U.S. it's jsut not quite as potent and mainstream as it was in the past... I believe full-heartedly that will change in the future. Metal stays whilse everythign else comes and goes.

What in the fuck are you talking about, everything else does not come and go.

 

[Destroyer Of Orden]

It's an expression man... everythign coems and goes and metal stays strong.. heh heh it's just an expression. For me, passions come and go, but metal is always something that I love

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Oh you said it an a context that made it seem as if you were talking about on a social level, troughout the US...

 

[King Fear]

Honestly, I don't care. I'm European, I mostly listen to European/Fennoscandinavian metal, I'm getting all the digipaks with bonus tracks, and all the right bands are touring here. What more could you ask for?

But from an oustider's perspective, I have a feeling that the "upper underground" scene (read: bands signed to labels like Nuclear Blast or Century Media) are growing in the states. Until recently, those bands only used to tour Europe, now they're playing the States as well, and also sell a couple of records there. To give a few examples, there's Dimmu and Lacuna Coil on Ozzfest, Arch Enemy playing way more dates in the States than in all of Europe, heck, even totally European sounding bands like Blind Guardian did a US tour for their last album with some success, I hear.
So I guess there is potential for "mainstream" metal in the States (after all, all the bands I mentioned regularly reach relatively high chart positions in Europe) - Mr Benante just shouldn't infer the status of metal in general from the status of his own band.

 

[Destroyer Of Orden]

Just because it will never be what it was does not mean it can't be even greater. It will jsut be different, that is what I think. I think that one day people will wake up and rememebr everything that it was for, and the impact it had on all music.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Honestly, I don't care. I'm European, I mostly listen to European/Fennoscandinavian metal, I'm getting all the digipaks with bonus tracks, and all the right bands are touring here. What more could you ask for?

But from an oustider's perspective, I have a feeling that the "upper underground" scene (read: bands signed to labels like Nuclear Blast or Century Media) are growing in the states. Until recently, those bands only used to tour Europe, now they're playing the States as well, and also sell a couple of records there. To give a few examples, there's Dimmu and Lacuna Coil on Ozzfest, Arch Enemy playing way more dates in the States than in all of Europe, heck, even totally European sounding bands like Blind Guardian did a US tour for their last album with some success, I hear.
So I guess there is potential for "mainstream" metal in the States (after all, all the bands I mentioned regularly reach relatively high chart positions in Europe) - Mr Benante just shouldn't infer the status of metal in general from the status of his own band.

Good point I hadn't thought of. I know bands like Arch Enemy and Lamb of God have their videos on MTV2 and my cousin told me he saw a comercial for the Lamentation's DVD by Opeth on MTV the other day, so I mean it is getting bigger. I mean I know a handful of Opeth/Emperor/Dimmu Borgir fans pluse some hard core folk who like stuff like In Flames, Soilwork ect, so it is becoming more known in the US. But I only know one other person whos totaly into metal like me...

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

But I only know one other person whos totaly into metal like me...

Yeah me too. Theres people that like metal but they arent metal heads at all. I know just one metal head, and its my keyboard player.

 

[5thSeason]

metal isnt dead in the US. Granted there havent been many good bands to surface here in the last couple years (shadows fall, and beyond the embrace are the ONLY good ones IMO), but there are bands that have been around for a while and are doing quite well like Nevermore. There are lots of oldschool bands that are still going strong - iced earth, slayer, testament, and there are rumors of a Death Angel reunion AND an Exhorder reunion.

Lots of the european bands are starting to get large followings in the US right now. Just because we havent produced many good bands in the last few years doesnt make metal in the US dead, its better than ever!