State of metal 2016

[scorpio01169]

Ok guys, we have discussed this many times in the past, but let's talk about a different aspect of metal aside from production. About the state of metal as far as writing and what the fans are looking for.
When I listen to old bands, I kinda want to hear what made me like them in the first place, yeah I like when they progress as better musicians, but when they totally change their style, that bothers me.
When I listen to new bands, I want to hear originality and not so polished robotic sounds. With that being said, do you think the state of metal as getting better, getting worse or stagnant? Have we done ourselves to death or can we offer more?
Your opinions please.

 

[Ermz]

Some of my favourite records are being written these days, so I'd say the creative state of metal is doing quite well. As always, you just need to know where to look. You generally have to wade through tonnes of generic throwback or trendwave bands in order to find something interesting.

 

[Keregioz]

Personally, each passing year I'm having more and more difficulty finding decent music to listen to. My aversion to growling/screaming/brutal vocals (or whatever else you call them) certainly doesn't help, nowadays it seems that everyone's a "singer", so why waste time finding someone who can actually sing. There are occasions where I'm kinda ok with it (soilwork and scar symmetry come to mind), but generally speaking brutal vocals can totally ruin my enjoyment of the music even if the writing is decent (insomnum is a recent example).

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Metal is a saturated style and without ideas. Like kereziog said, nowadays there is idea that prevails a lot and we see a lot, that a band who have someone singing, the majority of people says that ruins the song. Even if the singer is great. So in most of people mind, modern metal is all about screaming because singing it´s not welcome anymore, of course this comes from younger people minds most than older people.

Anyway, besides that, every shit has been explored to death and beaten to death, it´s very hard to come with something interesting and fresh. Something that I find also very annoying it´s the very low tuning that almost all the bands are using today. Standard D, C or drop D,C and even 7 strings can sound interesting enough but for fuck sake, low G, F, E? In my point of view it´s utter ridiculous. I cant find enjoyment and interest in a guitar playing in the same frequency as a bass.

This are some aspects that really annoys me but I think that the main problem about bands today, again I am talking about modern bands, doing their idea of modern metal it´s that sometimes they put so many shit into a song that nothing stick in our head after a listening. Some music seems and sounds like some random technical wankery on a guitar, without any sense of musicality in the composition, if I can call composition.
So sometimes I hear a song and I think to myself, what a fuck I did just hear? Is this for real? Like the aliencore style. I cant even....
But even outside those very technical styles, people seems more interested in writting complex shit just becase they can rather than because the song asks. A lot of bands seems to fight each other to put out the most complex shit they can, instead of doing something memorable.
One more thing in my opinion is that nobody nowadays seems to care about doing interesting transitions, again seems like random riffs joined together, sometimes a I hear black metal riff or a death metal riff and without any sense of flowing comes a riff of other style, sometimes in the most akward way. I still remember when bands wrote their shit thinking in a way of doing their transitions that sounded like real music with the sense of flowing along with the song not the shit nowadays. The number of bands that dont know how to play their shit live and all the quantized shit in the studio, also helps the shitfest that music is today.

Unfortunately isnt just metal, the other day the radio was playing in my work and I was hearing a guy singing and there was a guitar supporting the vocals in a most predictable and boring way that I can think, the progression on the guitar was so unintersting that almost did my hears bleed with displeasure. The thought that came to mind was, what the fuck happened to the music?
Anyway the music is less and less interesting almost in every style. Of course that are some good things here and there but the amount of shit and talentless and uninteresting shit nowadays are so big that we have to dig hard to find some gold. So in conlcusion, I really miss the days where the music was alive and with good health.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

After the 90s it's been pretty advisable for anyone with good taste to ignore the top 60% of popular metal. There are exceptions (Periphery, Animals as Leaders, BTBAM, Deafheaven, Revocation), but most of it is and has consistently been derivative and boring. When I was in high school it was all the Gothenburg and Hatebreed ripoff bands; now it's djent.

The other 40% of stuff that's a little more obscure and usually on Bandcamp is fantastic though, and sites like Invisible Oranges do a great job of pointing it out. Sometimes you can find it based on a producer (everything Colin Marston touches, for instance, is absolute gold- see Immortal Bird's EP from last year and Artificial Brain from 2014), other times a label (Profound Lore, for one). Cloud Rat and Harrow would also fall into this category for me.

edit: also, Throatruiner from France. They have all the label's albums available online as free, legal downloads for some insane reason.

There's always going to be shit, and there's always going to be innovative and fun metal if you look hard enough.

 

[~BURNY~]

There were already tons of bad metal even bands back in the days. We just forgot about it and recording material has become much easier and cheaper nowadays so it helps flooding the "metal scene" with copycats and useless shit.

That being said, as you grow older, you also have a better grasp of the constant massive recycling of musical ideas so you become a lot more picky as a result.

 

[SocialNumb]

Yeah, I think it's old fart syndrome. Also, I looked up Throatruiner and can you believe it? Not one porn image. Amazing.

 

[Terminus]

Not enough trickle-down taco riffs.

 

[Dylan S]

I know it was released a year ago but I'm still blown away by JFAC's 'Sun Eater'. They have matured so much as a band and I think it's got some of the most original and interesting music on it that I've heard in ages.

As people have said, there is a lot of crap out there, but there is a lot of good stuff, too. With the availability of amazing plugins and being able to record entire albums in a bedroom with a little bit of know how, you have to expect that a lot of crap comes about, but I think it also spurs a lot of creativity and it makes for more music for us to enjoy.

 

[Korwent]

edit: also, Throatruiner from France. They have all the label's albums available online as free, legal downloads for some insane reason.

Funny I'm french and know quite a lot of people from labels/bands etc, but I never heard of them and know very few of the bands they have released things with!
I'll check them more in detail, thanks!

 

[egan.]

There were already tons of bad metal even bands back in the days. We just forgot about it and recording material has become much easier and cheaper nowadays so it helps flooding the "metal scene" with copycats and useless shit.

That being said, as you grow older, you also have a better grasp of the constant massive recycling of musical ideas so you become a lot more picky as a result.

Yeah, I think it's old fart syndrome. Also, I looked up Throatruiner and can you believe it? Not one porn image. Amazing.

These dudes know what's up. There has always been garbage and ideas have always been recycled. You just have to look harder to find the good stuff and look for the good in things you might otherwise dismiss.

 

[Keregioz]

Nobody said that in the old days everyone was great (at least not me), but it was definitely different. With the way recording technology has evolved and the way brutal "singing" has been popularized the last 5-10 years (so everyone can take the easy road), everybody and their grandmother can put out an album. Waaaaaay more trash to wade through if you want to find something decent.

I'm gonna whine again about the singing thing and I'm gonna sound like an old fart (which at 35 I guess I might be) but I can't even count the times where I started listening to a new band and I say "hey, this music is not bad at all!", and then the singer starts screaming like a retard and I close/turn off/delete it on the spot. This definitely wasn't true when I was younger. If you wanted to play power metal or progressive or whatever melodic metal you were supposed to find a singer. Somewhere along the line (with bands like children of bodom getting popular) it became ok to just get your best buddy, who can growl enough without getting a sore throat, as a frontman, which saved you from the trouble of finding an actual singer and, even better, from having to actually write vocal melodies. So, naturally, everyone jumped on that wagon.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

Funny I'm french and know quite a lot of people from labels/bands etc, but I never heard of them and know very few of the bands they have released things with!
I'll check them more in detail, thanks!

A lot of their bands have a hardcore or sludge influence, which I love. Definitely check out As We Draw, Cowards, and Nesseria. As We Draw released an album in 2014 called Mirages and it's absolutely stellar- like a combination of Neurosis, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and The Mars Volta.

 

[Dylan S]

Nobody said that in the old days everyone was great (at least not me), but it was definitely different. With the way recording technology has evolved and the way brutal "singing" has been popularized the last 5-10 years (so everyone can take the easy road), everybody and their grandmother can put out an album. Waaaaaay more trash to wade through if you want to find something decent.

I'm gonna whine again about the singing thing and I'm gonna sound like an old fart (which at 35 I guess I might be) but I can't even count the times where I started listening to a new band and I say "hey, this music is not bad at all!", and then the singer starts screaming like a retard and I close/turn off/delete it on the spot. This definitely wasn't true when I was younger. If you wanted to play power metal or progressive or whatever melodic metal you were supposed to find a singer. Somewhere along the line (with bands like children of bodom getting popular) it became ok to just get your best buddy, who can growl enough without getting a sore throat, as a frontman, which saved you from the trouble of finding an actual singer and, even better, from having to actually write vocal melodies. So, naturally, everyone jumped on that wagon.

I know what you're saying but I think this is a very narrow view of the metal world. If you're really into power-metal and that sort of stuff (which you obviously are) then you need to be able to sing really well. Still, there are good and bad singers, just like there are people who can growl really well or some who suck at it.

Some of the most recognised metal singers in history aren't very good singers at all, but they've still made some incredible music. Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Phil Anselmo (in the later years), etc.

We should always remind ourselves that being a very good growling/screaming vocalist can still take a lot of practise and understanding of musical concepts like dynamics and rhythm, just like being a clean singing vocalist. Many of these vocalists write incredible lyrics as well. I mean, who has more talent? A singer like Johnny from JFAC, Mikael from Opeth/Bloodbath, or someone on the radio like Kanye West?

Some singers can do both exceptionally well, too. Mikael from Opeth is a perfect example.

There is plenty of boring music with growls out there, just like there is plenty of boring music with clean singing vocalists, or even more generic - the thrashy style vocalist with bands who want it to be 1986 again.

I guess I sometimes feel sorry for people when they say they can't stand growls. I don't mean to make fun of them or pity them, but I feel bad that they are missing out on some incredible music.

For what it's worth, I love metal with all kinds of vocals, and I like Psycrence very much.

 

[Keregioz]

Look, growls certainly have their place in metal, I never said we need to eradicate them. Like I said, there are exceptions even for me, but it's has become ridiculous how many bands resort to them as a cop out. I can appreciate that it still takes some amount of skill but please let's not compare it to the skill needed to actually sing...it's not even close.

Also, I'm not saying that to be a singer you have to have a 6 octave range and impeccable technique. I'm not really a huge power metal fan, and I'm not crazy about the typical power metal style of singing (the kind where the highest note you hit the cooler you are), but I'll take it over growling any day. Some of the singers you mentioned I actually like quite a bit, like Hetfield or Anselmo, and the others you mentioned stand out because they have character and while I'm not crazy about them I can appreciate that.

And, of course, having clean vocals doesn't guarantee you that a band will be good, we're in agreement on that. But on the other hand, like I said, having growling/screaming vocals can easily ruin an otherwise pretty decent band in my opinion, and I guess you'd be right to feel sorry for me that I can't enjoy some bands out there who write pretty cool music. They may have won a nobel prize in literature and write amazing lyrics as far as I'm concerned, if they're screaming them it makes no difference to me. That's what infuriates me.

For what it's worth, I love metal with all kinds of vocals, and I like Psycrence very much.

Well, it's obvious that you have impeccable taste in music then Seriously though, thank you, it's much appreciated

 

[tarbh666]

I haven't listened to an album past 1978 for the last few months. way too many bands now, you wouldn't even know where to start

 

[LeSedna]

This just gave me hope : 8:28 (Selenium Forest - Plini)

I'm disappointed by 2015 as an isolated year, but it still surprised me a couple times. I was the most surprised by Periphery, although the albums don't touch me as a whole, they brought tremendous songs. I'm okay with djenty metal as long as it's emotional ala Tesseract (though I didn't connect with the new album).

I think we're just flooded with generic riffing on youtube, and cheap bands who can't actually play their music online. I just saw one half an hour ago, technically impressive, but also robot-recorded and there is no way this can translate well. I agree with nuno in that most people nowadays just throw technical exercises together. However I don't think there are less talented bands around, we are just flooded by bad music more. In the 70s, you needed a big label to afford a recording. Nowadays you can record yourself with an amazing sound with your ipad, and on your laptop for less than the price of a couple bass string sets.

I'm just surprised by how long this trend of trend-djent is lasting. I was expecting something to happen but we're past the second half of the 2010's and still nothing original as a trend is showing up !

 

[bryan_kilco]

I guess I sometimes feel sorry for people when they say they can't stand growls. I don't mean to make fun of them or pity them, but I feel bad that they are missing out on some incredible music.

This!! I had a friend who loved the music aspect of some of the metal I would listen to but was totally put-off by screaming/growling vocals. This same dude fell in love with Animals As Leaders, which is good for him because I felt like he was just missing out on a ton of great music.

Can't stand the person who says "This shit all sounds the same".......Even one of my best buddies.....we were standing outside burning some wood and cardboard, having some beers.....I had my car parked near so I put some metal on.....then I let him listen to a preview of my bands album which is about to drop.......his first comment was "This sounds just like all the other stuff you just played". Like, really dude?

I really, really think that a lot of times it takes a musician to appreciate metal moreso than any other type of music. And if more people would understand what is actually going on with the guitars and drums, they'd probably get it much easier.

 

[HCL]

Metal hurt itself when it stopped being a catchall term for anything heavy and became extremely narrowly defined. Also when bedroom nerds became a massive part of the fanbase. Take a metalhead to any hardcore gig and watch them sperg out over hardcore dancing/two stepping etc. Then watch the crowd at an Exodus show here:



Something changed and it's strangling the vitality of the genre. However if you look at heavy music as a whole rather than "metal" as it's strictly defined now, it's as strong as ever. The high point was probably 2008 or so but it's still doing great and could get there again with enough good bands.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

I think I understand well what Keregioz is saying. There are good bands that could be great if they had someone actually singing. Of course this is all a matter of perpective but as exemple I can point Soilwork and Scar Symmetry, both bands have a guy who can sing and in those cases, makes a huge difference, really huge. The bands become much more interesting, the dynamics in those bands are much more alive as also the diversity and the riffing style. Someone may not like, I personal love the dichotomy in the vocal department, makes all the experience much more enjoyable than bands that a guy is screaming the entire album.

I love melodic death metal bands and to pick some bands to explain my point of view better. Dark Tranquility and Scar Symmetry are both melodeath bands but Dark tranquility due to the vocal limitation bores me much more faster than scar symmetry. Even if the instrumentals are great in both of them.

So having a guy singing in metal is more challenging that a band that have growling all the way and a for me a band with only growls needs to be really interesting in the instrumental department for me to keep listening them.

When I was younger I couldnt really stand the cookie monster scene but with time I began to understand and take enjoyment of some great bands and I understand and I agree that not every style can put a clean singer there, nobody expects for example hardcore riffs with a clean voice, sounds quite ridiculous but I band that can add both singing style when is well done it´s simply another level of enjoyment.

Then again I am talking of some modern bands nowadays that would benefit having someone singing but of course I am talking about singing, really singing, not the autotune shit we hear today in guys with big beards but with that annoying high pitched girl´s voices. I can live well without that type of singing, if we can call it singing at all.