Let's discuss "dark" metal.....

[great_kthulu]

See, I've heard that complaint about Moonspell before, and honestly I've seen/heard people complain about the same thing when talking about Novembers Doom. It seems that a fair amount of people out there are turned off by the fact that bands like ours cover alot of different musical ground, where one song is almost straight death metal, and the next is more gothic doom, and the next is a soft ballad, and so forth. The funny part for me, is that this is what I LOVE about bands like Moonspell. When bands can be that diverse while still retaining an overall sound that still is identifiable, I think that's impressive and interesting. And it's what I've always strived for too. Bands like Led Zeppelin and The Beatles covered so much musical territory yet their songs were always unmistakably their sound. Now it seems like you're expected to pick a very specific genre and sound and stay put. I find that extremely boring. What makes Moonspell and Katatonia and their ilk so interesting to me is that you never know exactly what the next cd, or even the next track on the disc, is going to sound like when you first hear it. You know (or hope) that it'll still retain their overall signature sound, of course, but from there on it's basically a surprise, more of a journey, and that's what keeps me interested. Don't get me wrong, I love plenty of bands who do one or two things and never really stray from that, when it's done well it can be very rewarding too. But if all metal bands were to follow that strict formula, well I think I'd find myself getting much more bored with this general genre of music very rapidly.

Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I've seen people comment that they're disappointed that the whole ND cd didn't all sound more like "Rain", or sound more like "Autumn Reflection". I appreciate that they like what we did on those songs, believe me. But I think part of what makes those songs so good is that we DON'T just write those same songs over and over again.

In any case, as I stated before, for me the genre of Dark Metal tends to encompass those artists who cross those various lines while still maintaining an overall dark and heavy vibe and sound. It definitely seems like it's a love it or hate it thing with alot of metal fans, where people either really appreciate it's diversity and such, or people hate it for that very same reason.

I 100% agree!

 

[Farlo]

Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I've seen people comment that they're disappointed that the whole ND cd didn't all sound more like "Rain", or sound more like "Autumn Reflection". I appreciate that they like what we did on those songs, believe me. But I think part of what makes those songs so good is that we DON'T just write those same songs over and over again.

honestly this is one of the reasons why i like ND and Woods of Ypres so much is the variety of sounds. You guys can go from something that crushes you with the heaviness and follow it with something that is almost brooding. its the variety that keeps me listening.

 

[Meanspark]

I always enjoyed their music. Not sure if the band is still active.

 

[NvmbrsDoom5]

honestly this is one of the reasons why i like ND and Woods of Ypres so much is the variety of sounds. You guys can go from something that crushes you with the heaviness and follow it with something that is almost brooding. its the variety that keeps me listening.

Woods Of Ypres are a very good example, you're right. They go from something very doom-y to something black metal-ish to then a song like "Wet Leather" which has elements of Finnish hard rock to it, yet every song sounds unmistakably like WoY throughout. That's part of why I love that band.

 

[Novembers Paul]

I love Woods of Ypres cuz David gives the best back rubs.

 

[Jasonic]

Larry - I understand how you guys might be frustrated by my statement. As I said though, I was speaking solely from seeing them live. I am not familiar with them on disc. I can certainly see how those not as familiar with the ND catalog might say the same about you guys.

Though, your live sets are always a good representation of your current sound. For example, you probably aren't going to whip out "Aurora's Garden" live anytime soon. (Not that I would mind it).

I kind of had a similar reaction to the time you guys played with UneXpect. Good band, but it was hard to relate to their sound, not being familiar with them, because everything was so different.

My comment was more about not being able to relate to Moonspell based on how they represented themselves live, which is night and day different from ND going from "Rain" to "Autumn Reflection" The core is still there. I didn't connect to any core Moonspell sound, from their live set.

 

[Jasonic]

Woods Of Ypres are a very good example, you're right. They go from something very doom-y to something black metal-ish to then a song like "Wet Leather" which has elements of Finnish hard rock to it, yet every song sounds unmistakably like WoY throughout. That's part of why I love that band.

Exactly!
And this is what I love about ND as well.
The core sound is always present, regardless of what direction a song might take.

 

[Trashhead]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huw8dr9274U

 

[Jasonic]

Barren Earth are very good.
I discovered them when browsing the Peaceville site a while back.
They are touring with Finntroll soon I think.