Is there anything TRULY EXCITING going on in metal these days?

[General Zod]

I am 100% certain in my belief that when metal seems to be old and stagnant and everything new is bad, it's just me that's grown into an old cranky geezer who's too lazy to scour the underground for the quality hellrippers.

i am almost equally sure that there is a greater share of worthless and unoriginal bands now than there was in the 80's and 90's...

One of my favorite quotes (and it speaks to Mike's point) is by Anais Nin, "We see the world not as it is, but as we are."

A couple of things are true:

• Evolving technologies have impacted the immediacy and availability of music
• Genres go through life cycles and hit peeks and valleys
• As we grow older our pool of experiences expands and fewer things seem new and exciting

It's this last point that interests me. The more music you listen to, the less likely you'll hear something you've never heard before. You guys aren't 16 anymore. I know... that's obvious. But it's also easily discounted during these discussions. Plenty of the music that's no longer "new", is fresh and exciting to folks who are currently 16. Hell, there are 15 year old kids who think Hammerfall invented Metal.

So while it's true, that there isn't much coming out in the way of groundbreaking music, it's also true that there never was.* Rather, you just perceived it that way because it was new to you.

Again, none of this is meant to be enlightening. I'm just making the point that you can't discount yourself from the listening experience.

Zod

*Granted... you guys grew up during the explosion of the Black Metal scene. But the birth of a new sub-genre is rare, and becomes rarer and rarer, as genre evolve.

 

[einride]

One of my favorite quotes (and it speaks to Mike's point) is by Anais Nin, "We see the world not as it is, but as we are."

A couple of things are true:

• Evolving technologies have impacted the immediacy and availability of music
• Genres go through life cycles and hit peeks and valleys
• As we grow older our pool of experiences expands and fewer things seem new and exciting

It's this last point that interests me. The more music you listen to, the less likely you'll hear something you've never heard before. You guys aren't 16 anymore. I know... that's obvious. But it's also easily discounted during these discussions. Plenty of the music that's no longer "new", is fresh and exciting to folks who are currently 16. Hell, there are 15 year old kids who think Hammerfall invented Metal.

i know this

it's like when the kids worship something like NYKTALGIA or AUSTERE, and i don't understand it because to my ears STRID and BURZUM did the exact same thing (but with greater purity, and infinitely better) ten to fifteen years earlier, but from a purely logical standpoint i realize why -- i realize that if people get exposed to the derivation before the original, that's what they're going to have an emotional attachment to.

i have always thought that it is completely pointless to play in a band and be content doing what others have essentially already done. i can somewhat enjoy some clones, but they are not the ones that will get me through my life and be my best friends and favourite albums of all time. i think even those that have not grown up with older bands will eventually also realize that the originals are always the best, much like i listen to tons of bands that were revolutionary before i was even born.

what i think everyone must do in order to not become a jaded-ignorant old grouch who hates everything new by default is to learn to filter out the crap and look in the right places, to realize that metal is actually still going somewhere, and to not be blinded by the fact that almost everything is derivative nonsense. keeping up with this metal scene thing is pretty much full time work sometimes, but sometimes it pays off when you find an OBLITERATION or SORGELDOM. i don't want to be complacent and listen to the same thirty mid-nineties records i know and love over and over, but sometimes it's just hard. i try.


p.s. AUSTERE and NYKTALGIA are both really great for what they are

 

[swizzlenuts]

What about EKPYROSIS - Mensch Aus Gold?

I think it's quite exciting and unique. I've spun this album so many god damned times. Definitely kick ass!

 

[einride]

What about EKPYROSIS - Mensch Aus Gold?

I think it's quite exciting and unique. I've spun this album so many god damned times. Definitely kick ass!

yeah this is a great album with a distinctly unique twist

i think my write-up in the decade toplist thing made it a fair amount of justice actually

 

[Vittra]

I think this has already been touched on in a previous thread (maybe by you Erik), but it seems a majority of the bands doing unique and interesting things (AKA "Hipster bullshit" to most people) currently are either associated with Paradigms or Profound Lore.

One other band that comes to mind is Worm Ouroboros. Spikes may have mentioned them in the past. I've had their CD for a while but didin't give it a listen until last week.

Featuring members that have helped shape legendary Bay Area acts as THE GAULT (one of the greatest acts to ever emerge from the Bay Area) and AMBER ASYLUM, along with featuring members from down-tempo Bay Area death metal grime act WORLD EATER, Worm Ouroboros will bear familiar ground to those familiar with bands such as Amber Asylum, Asunder, and especially The Gault. The Worm Ouroboros debut paints a scenario akin to if The Gault’s “Even As All Before Us” decided to suffocate and seduce 3rd AND THE MORTAL’s “Painting On Glass”, simultaneously.

I admittedly haven't heard the bands mentioned other than Amber Asylum, but Worm Ouroboros seems to take Amber Asylum and at points integrate heavier passages into the music seemlessly. Not quite metal, but still worthy of note for this thread i'd say.

http://www.myspace.com/wormouroboros

(If there is interest I can upload the entire album)

http://www.mediafire.com/?tzjuq4tzkyj

 

[swizzlenuts]

Does it count if rock bands are adding more metal into their music? I think this is an interesting path because I'm not seeing very many metal bands that go more rock that are that great.

 

[swizzlenuts]

I think this has already been touched on in a previous thread (maybe by you Erik), but it seems a majority of the bands doing unique and interesting things (AKA "Hipster bullshit" to most people) currently are either associated with Paradigms or Profound Lore.

One other band that comes to mind is Worm Ouroboros. Spikes may have mentioned them in the past. I've had their CD for a while but didin't give it a listen until last week.



I admittedly haven't heard the bands mentioned other than Amber Asylum, but Worm Ouroboros seems to take Amber Asylum and at points integrate heavier passages into the music seemlessly. Not quite metal, but still worthy of note for this thread i'd say.

http://www.myspace.com/wormouroboros

(If there is interest I can upload the entire album)

yes please.

 

[lurch70]

As we grow older our pool of experiences expands and fewer things seem new and exciting

this probably has a lot to do with it more than anything else.

 

[lurch70]

so Dick ... did you check out any artists lately on Aural/Code666 ... the entire label took a very "innovative" turn not that long ago and I think might have some really off the wall releases that you might like.
http://www.auralwebstore.com/store/

 

[einride]

I think this has already been touched on in a previous thread (maybe by you Erik), but it seems a majority of the bands doing unique and interesting things (AKA "Hipster bullshit" to most people) currently are either associated with Paradigms or Profound Lore.

One other band that comes to mind is Worm Ouroboros. Spikes may have mentioned them in the past. I've had their CD for a while but didin't give it a listen until last week.

i was going to make a thread on these guys. it's basically picking up the slack where THE GAULT left off, so anyone who liked "even as all before us" should check out WORM OUROBOROS as well. it's a bit less heavy though but yeah, good stuff

i love paradigms and profound lore, great labels. not spot on 100% of the time, but who is


edit: haha i just read the quote in your post, and it already talked about THE GAULT, well there you have it from two sources then i guess

 

[Vittra]

I will have to check out The Gault at some point soon.

yes please.

Ok, i'll do that when I get home.

Yo Vittra, the Caïna - Mourner you uploaded is password protected. I tried "buttsexwithjonnödtveidt" but it refused to unpack.

Those particular links are just from random google blog searches. I updated it with a mediafire one which should be OK now.

 

[General Zod]

i have always thought that it is completely pointless to play in a band and be content doing what others have essentially already done.

I guess it depends on where you draw this line. At what point are you being derivative and at what point are you doing your own thing?

what i think everyone must do in order to not become a jaded-ignorant old grouch who hates everything new by default is to learn to filter out the crap and look in the right places...

Ironically, that's what led me to Royal Carnage.

 

[lurch70]

so where is the "new" RC?

 

[einride]

here are a few things that i've found pretty exciting lately

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czLRmsz1mmk&fmt=18[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxAQhqZ__lY&fmt=18[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQla6d_GqCA&fmt=18[/ame]

 

[einride]

I guess it depends on where you draw this line. At what point are you being derivative and at what point are you doing your own thing?

the rule of thumb is if you start a band with the intention of sounding like another band then you're not going to make very interesting music

 

[Vittra]

You should add a "most of the time" clause in there somewhere.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

Skagos - Ast

http://www.mediafire.com/?d2dy1tymgy3

Cascadian Black Metal. This band puts WiTTR to shame in virtually every way imaginable. In fact, I only mention WiTTR as a point of reference more so than them being similar, so don't worry about it failing criteria #2.

Okay dude, this is SUPER SUPER GOOD. I just got to the Gregorian chants of Track 2 and I am so god damn sold right now. I am actually doing work for class (thinking that if something grabs my attention then it is doing its job). If the other 2 you recommended are this good, then I shall urinate with glee. Either way, you've totally won this thread so far.

Erik and Lurch: will check those out soon.

Also, I have that Ekpyrosis album/song and have never listened to it. Think I will do that. Today.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

the rule of thumb is if you start a band with the intention of sounding like another band then you're not going to make very interesting music

I am in every way fucking sick of ripoff bands (this goes beyond metal). Though it seems like a lot of time a band will start out by emulating their faves and gradually find their own sound. That, or a band releases a groundbreaking album as their first and doesn't do shit after that.

 

[einride]

You should add a "most of the time" clause in there somewhere.

thats why i call it a "rule of thumb" and not an "unbreachable law of nature"

 

[Dick Sirloin]

Okay dude, this is SUPER SUPER GOOD. I just got to the Gregorian chants of Track 2.

Just realized I was listening to the album backwards. Whoops. I meant "Blossoms Will Sprout From The Carcass."