How important is a band name?

[JayKeeley]

If Emperor were called "Dogballs Alpha", but their music, cover art, and lyrics were exactly the same, would people still percieve them in the same way? [And yes, I include the albums before Prometheus ]

Also, what about awkward sounding East European names, like Drudkh or Negura Bunget? Does this add to the 'mysticism' surrounding the band? And if so, have bands caught on, now purposely going for the weirdest sounding name possible, even if their music is simply derivative?

Survey: If you see a list of unknown bands in a catalog, do your eyes tend to focus in on the 'weirder' sounding names? I wonder if it [inadvertently] doubles as a good marketing tool to attract new fans.

 

[NAD]

Emperor would suck ass no matter what they were called. :Spin:

I like cool sounding band names, but it really doesn't matter much. Besides the fact that most metal band names are pretty silly anyhow, can't get much gayer than a names like Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Carcass, etc. Those are just silly man!

EDIT: Oh, I generally stay away from misspelled band names, poor grammar and spelling is irksome.

 

[J.]

GAIkTHROUGH is the best band name.

 

[matt99_crew]

Well I would never pick up an album by Frantic Bleep myself without someone first telling me it's great. And it is.

Best use of a name: ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Or something to that effect. I've never heard them but always remembered the name.

 

[lurch70]

Well the Euro band names, most of them anyway, mean something in their native tongue.

What I don't like is purpousely undecipherable logos. Never understood this ...

 

[Hell Mike]

An interesting name and a good artistic logo can grab my attention

 

[Crimson Velvet]

Same here. That was one of the reasons I was attracted to black metal in the first place.

 

[spaffe]

If the band name is extremly silly (Killing Moon, Eternal Death, Morbid Beast etc) I'll probably stay away. Perhaps the band in question settled for the name in their early teens and then it's kind of understandable since changing it later on, once it's "known", would be pretty much of a hassle. The best names are the simple ones (Immortal, Enslaved, Emperor) but I don't care very much as long it's not horribly bad. I mean I'm not ashamed of telling anyone I enojoy a band called "Hate Forest"

 

[MFJ]

Spaffe, did you know that one of Vintersorg's first bands was called "Masticator"

v. mas·ti·cat·ed, mas·ti·cat·ing, mas·ti·cates
v. tr.
To chew (food).
To grind and knead (rubber, for example) into a pulp.

v. intr.
To chew food.


.... I just happen to find that slightly amusing.

 

[NAD]

I have several non-metal friends that really enjoy Hate Forest but they still laugh at the name.

 

[lizard]

Masticator is pretty stupid. If you aren't from an english speaking country but you decide to have an english name, wouldn't it kinda make sense to ask an american or a brit or an aussie or a canadian if it sounds stupid? Pink Cream 69?

The same with stupid album titles. I mean, Rabbit don't Come Easy?

 

[spaffe]

Spaffe, did you know that one of Vintersorg's first bands was called "Masticator"

Haha yeah, another of his early bands was called Cosmic Death. And speaking of bad band names in general, the goth band Christian Death comes to mind

 

[JayKeeley]

It's funny when you let band names sink in because after a while "Hate Forest" just doesn't sound that bad. And then, when you stop to think about it.... comedy gold!

It took me 2 years to muster the nerve to check samples for "The Lord Weird Slough Feg".

 

[Hell Mike]

Cosmic Death>other Vintersorg projects

 

[J.]

how bout this one:

Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis

no, for real: http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=24539

 

[NAD]

hahahahhahahahaahahaha that's so ridiculous.

I'm surprised more bands aren't signs instead of names, like Prince. Hmm, that's probably why because the association would be to Prince.

 

[matt99_crew]

That band should change their name to Ink Blot Cum Shot

 

[noisefan]

I was talking with a friend in a large record store and she was somewhat ashamed that she was buying bluegrass music. She seemed less embarrased after I showed her the Pig Destroyer album I was buying.

A name surely adds a dimension to the music but really it's the music that matters most. Names like The Melvins and Sonic Youth seem pretty generic yet they're both extremely original and influential groups.

 

[MFJ]

Cosmic Death>other Vintersorg projects

havent heard them!

 

[Hell Mike]

havent heard them!

That might have been an exaggeration since the early Vintersorg stuff is great, but it's very possible anyway. Listen here