Revolver Magazine: 50 Heaviest Bands

[Mike]

in theory you could make the case that speed is the single most important factor in being a metal band, don't you agree?

Nah, I LOVE doom metal.. so I can't say that it's important, and look at Nevermore, not all of their songs are fast, heart collector, sell my heart for stones, in memory, dreaming neon black, sentient 6. none of these songs are realy fast, and these are just off the top of my head.

 

[eaeolian]

Nah, I LOVE doom metal.. so I can't say that it's important, and look at Nevermore, not all of their songs are fast, heart collector, sell my heart for stones, in memory, dreaming neon black, sentient 6. none of these songs are realy fast, and these are just off the top of my head.

Nevermore's "doomier" aspect is one of the reasons I like them so much, actually - the into of "Politics of Ecstacy" is one of the heaviest things ever...

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Nah, I LOVE doom metal.. so I can't say that it's important, and look at Nevermore, not all of their songs are fast, heart collector, sell my heart for stones, in memory, dreaming neon black, sentient 6. none of these songs are realy fast, and these are just off the top of my head.

ah, ok well i meant "proper" metal band, or a "pure" metal band. someone just made a topic saying TGE was the best "pure" metal record of the past 5 years. sure, songs like sentient6, sell my heart for stones are slower and more experimental and theyre great songs, but the entire rest of the album is brutally heavy stuff deeply rooted in thrash like born, acid words, bittersweetfeast, psalm of lydia and the title track.

 

[FretsAflame]

Everyone has roots devy. It's undeniable. I think we can all agree that they may not be as heavy as everything else happening, but they brought a lot of it to the table. Heavy metal isn't just in what you play, it's in what you do. Go tell Dee Snider that he's not heavy metal and he'll probably add another assault charge to his record for you.

The point is there's more to music than just being heavy for heavy's sake. Regardless, metal isn't any one thing.

Why the fuck are we even talking about this?

 

[Chromatose]

Plus I'm of the opinion that fast and loud is the complete opposite of what "HEAVY" music truly is, but of course that's my perspective. Slayer may be a "heavy metal band" but they lack that specific density of sound that makes something "heavy" in my opinion, more akin to a zippin' zany flea circus. So, again, it's all objective and, the biggest point, is all referential to a self imposed ideal of what the norm is, and what is comparitively heavy in regards to that point. The heaviest bands in the world are typically not even considered "metal" by most, that metal image itself distorts the self-imposed "metalhead's" reason in most arguments.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

It's that antecedent "heavy" on "Heavy Metal" that confuses everyone so much ^_^

 

[metalkingdom]

Fucking well said Frets and Chromatose!!! I've heard many times even the term "heavy metal" was derived from Led Zep's name.

 

[Chromatose]

It's that antecedent "heavy" on "Heavy Metal" that confuses everyone so much ^_^

all genre's are antiquated and have no application in today's musical universe! I would say "pop" maybe had a longer run for usefulness, but now even "poppy music" can be quite obscured from the mainstream's appreciation radar, and not cared for in the least (i.e. JULIAN COPE)

They began as marketing tools and marketing tools alone, and the point bands succumbed to the trend, all was lost!

 

[Chromatose]

Fucking well said Frets and Chromatose!!! I've heard many times even the term "heavy metal" was derived from Led Zep's name.

I haven't heard that one! Anything is possible. The common one I always hear is the steppenwolf "heavy metal thunder" line as the beginning.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Plus I'm of the opinion that fast and loud is the complete opposite of what "HEAVY" music truly is, but of course that's my perspective. Slayer may be a "heavy metal band" but they lack that specific density of sound that makes something "heavy" in my opinion, more akin to a zippin' zany flea circus. So, again, it's all objective and, the biggest point, is all referential to a self imposed ideal of what the norm is, and what is comparitively heavy in regards to that point. The heaviest bands in the world are typically not even considered "metal" by most, that metal image itself distorts the self-imposed "metalhead's" reason in most arguments.

interesting. so in your opinion, what is a "heavy" band? crobar? isis? sabbath?

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

Everyone has roots devy. It's undeniable. I think we can all agree that they may not be as heavy as everything else happening, but they brought a lot of it to the table. Heavy metal isn't just in what you play, it's in what you do. Go tell Dee Snider that he's not heavy metal and he'll probably add another assault charge to his record for you.

The point is there's more to music than just being heavy for heavy's sake. Regardless, metal isn't any one thing.

Why the fuck are we even talking about this?

dee snider isnt metal and if i saw him id tell him that. and, right, metal isnt "one" thing...no one said it was. i simply said that speed is what separates, primarily heavy bands from hard rock bands.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

oh and we're talking about this because it's constructive metal conversation!

 

[Chromatose]

interesting. so in your opinion, what is a "heavy" band? crobar? isis? sabbath?

I tend to shy away from proclaiming Sabbath as heavy in most circumstances without this kind of interesting conversation to take the view into consideration. Let's say that several decades ago, $500 was a lot of money. Today? Not so much, just a drop in the hat. But now calculate in the inflation since then, but at the same time the cost of living. Is that amount then actually on scale with what is the equivalent thereof today. (rhetorical)

Ok, obscure to formulate any useful logic there, but for their time, compared to heavy bands today, Sabbath could potentially still stay ahead of the pack. It's all just opinion in the end.

Now a great example of heavy in the modern world: YOB.
They do not downtune their 6 string guitar, thereby forgoing the trivial aspect of downtuned nu-rifferage being heaviness. The band is an elephant. Not a stampede, but slow and lumbering. Leisurely strolling to their watering hole. Every step is crushing you under their weight, optimizing the force put into each stinky elephant footfall, as opposed to the wasted exothermic energy of pummeling into submission*.


*This can be heavy as well, if executed properly, i.e. SYL

 

[metalkingdom]

dee snider isnt metal and if i saw him id tell him that. and, right, metal isnt "one" thing...no one said it was. i simply said that speed is what separates, primarily heavy bands from hard rock bands.

Dude - you should stop. How the hell can you say "Dee Snider isn't metal"? I can guaranfuckingtee that you wouldn't say that to him either. He'd probaby tell you to stfu and go suck your mom's tit. Speed has absolutely nothing to do with a band being "metal" or not! Give it a rest. You are wrong.

 

[FretsAflame]

Dude - you should stop. How the hell can you say "Dee Snider isn't metal"? I can guaranfuckingtee that you wouldn't say that to him either. He'd probaby rip your jaw off and shit in your gaping face-hole. Speed has absolutely nothing to do with a band being "metal" or not! Give it a rest. You are wrong.

fixed.

And no, speed has nothing to do with heaviness. Speed != heaviness. Sometimes, speed has only the effect of making things annoying. Do you think Dragonforce are heavy? They're fast, so if that's your criteria, then they must be heavier than Nevermore.

Heaviness is simply something you capture, and there are many factors involved. You may be able to get heavier today than Ozzy ever could have, but look at today and look at then.

Let it be said that I'm not a big Ozzy fan btw. I don't like too much old stuff. But you're definitely wrong.

 

[FretsAflame]

I tend to shy away from proclaiming Sabbath as heavy in most circumstances without this kind of interesting conversation to take the view into consideration. Let's say that several decades ago, $500 was a lot of money. Today? Not so much, just a drop in the hat. But now calculate in the inflation since then, but at the same time the cost of living. Is that amount then actually on scale with what is the equivalent thereof today. (rhetorical)

Basically the point I was trying to make, but I couldn't think of a good example. Well put.

Speaking of this, did you know that all things being equal, gas prices today are the same as they were 20 years ago?

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

fuck you guys, are you stupid? speed doesnt have anything to do with heaviness, sure, but it DOES have something to do with whether or not a band is METAL. im sorry, but again, theres a big difference between ROCK AND METAL. metal is aggressive.





prove me wrong, please.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

for a power metal band dragon force is heavy.


you guys are thinking too hard about this. im simply saying, coming from a music perspective, forgetting subject matter, image, etc....just musically speaking, that SPEED separates hard rock from metal. when i hear creed on the radio, they downtune, they play solos, they have multiple riffs per song and aggressive vocals. but thats NOT metal. metal is something like angel of death by slayer simply because it's aggressive musically.

 

[Chromatose]

I thought the convo was about heavy, not what equals metal

 

[MajestikMøøse]

Ludwig Van Beethoven is fucking metal