The end of a metal era...?

[ScottCash]

This is just "thinking out loud" but does anyone else here feel like we are at the end of an era or the beginning of a new one for Metal music?

I went throught the same thing back in the late 80's when every band that had radio play was built from a cookie cutter approach that eventually led to the pop-metal genre's demise. I'm not saying there isn't any talent out there, it just seems like any 14 year old kid who can play three power chords and scream his head off has figured out the formula for metal these days.

Maybe it's just me but the foundation of music, and I do mean ALL music, is melody. Without melody it is just noise. I like heavy riffs, blast beats and screams and growls in moderation, but the bands that are churning out indiscernible chord progressions with incessant screaming seem talentless. All this leads me to believe that the listener is going to demand something new, unheard of, different....soon, very soon.

What do you think?

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Good question.

Metal will survive one way or another, and though it may sound different than it does today, it will always include drums and a guitar.

-Genius, who has no experience predicting the future

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

I see what you mean, but I don't think I really agree. Sure there are a lot of talentless bands playing metal by numbers, but I think there are some really great innovative bands out there right now.

I just recently watched an old short interview with I think Scott Burns (? Not sure) where he complained about all the carbon copy DM bands in Florida, you already mentioned the 80s pop metal, in Massachussets we have so many Metalcore bands it's silly, I think music is always like that, and the good bands are just outside of the trends, and that's who we listen too anyway. So I don't really feel like there's a new level of crap around, and I'm also very excited about some of the new metal I'm hearing.

Perhaps people wanting to hear something new will just make some of these innovative bands that have been ignored for years, more populer. For their sake I hope that's what happens.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

All the bands ripping Meshuggah will die (and it seems like 1 band out of 2 today, the other half ripping Opeth or Soilwork)... and they may bring them in their fall...

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Most of the bands that try to rip off Meshuggah just can't do it. So yeah, they suck and will probably die. But I think some bands who are incorperating the Meshuggah sound into a different setting are just broadening the sound, and I think that's pretty cool. (I'm thinking of "Threat Signal" and "Textures")

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

You're right, I should have said "Most bands", not "All", cause that's true, some of them (very few) will manage to "incorporate it" and get their own "sound" (a few already have).

 

[ScottCash]

It just seems to me that every decade or so there is a band that changes the direction of the genre, for instance...

70's / Sabbath,
80's Maiden-Priest,
Late 80's GnR,
90's Pantera, C.O.C.,
2000 - ? Suggestions ? I can't really think of anything "earth-shattering or ground breaking" that transcends many different fans. Maybe it is because the internet has broken the Metal Genre into so many sub-genre's? There will probably never be another super-band.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I would say :
80's Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Slayer, Death...
90's Pantera, Fear Factory, Dream Theater, At The Gates, Emperor...
00's Soilwork, Opeth, Killswitch Engage, Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir...

 

[metalkingdom]

I'm still waiting for metal to make a comeback...

 

[KeithRT99]

to me it seems like metal is overrun with meshuggah and soilwork copies, aside from all the metalcore/at the gates copy bands.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Say what you want to say but I'll HAPPILY take all these metalcore/soilowork/meshuggah clones over that NU METAL poser Korn wannabe metal trash that polluted music from the mid 90s.

 

[egan.]

Say what you want to say but I'll HAPPILY take all these metalcore/soilowork/meshuggah clones over that NU METAL poser Korn wannabe metal trash that polluted music from the mid 90s.

Agreed....however none of those bands are selling millions like korn did.

 

[Skyweaver]

Evergrey, Into Eternity

 

[IronApe]

I think someone's forgetting something, most of all that other band... what's their name... oh yeah...

DEATH




I think some guys out there really brought something new to the scene (Randy, Chuck, Dime), and some are yet to come, but some have seen those days and are still bringing it on (Bjorler, Loomis, Ammot). Metal is evolving, some may think it's dead or polluted, I just think it's changing and thank god (or satan, at your will) it's still here. Think about what our parents used to listen...

 

[Matt Smith]

Maybe it's just me but the foundation of music, and I do mean ALL music, is melody. Without melody it is just noise. I like heavy riffs, blast beats and screams and growls in moderation, but the bands that are churning out indiscernible chord progressions with incessant screaming seem talentless. All this leads me to believe that the listener is going to demand something new, unheard of, different....soon, very soon.

Ah, wisdom. I agree with you 100%. To me, and I know I'm in the minority on this board, when screaming/growling became the norm, it became ten times harder for a band to have a real identity. The singer was the signature of all the great old bands; Halford, Dickinson, Hetfield, Mustaine, Dio, Tate, etc. I'm not saying non-melodic vocalists CAN'T stand out from the pack, but I certainly don't hear it much. Of course, maybe I'm just deaf and old, but play any 10 Headbanger's Ball bands back-to-back, and I probably couldn't tell them apart. People complain a lot about production becoming too "samey" these days, but I think, in actuality, it's largely this phenomenon they're complaining about.
At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to songwriting, and those bands who can write great songs (and I mean great SONGS, not a great riff or a cool drumbeat) will stand the test of time.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

 

[Skyweaver]

I'm with Matt 100% - I miss the amazing vocalists like Ian Gillian, Dickinson, Halford, Dio......its almost 2 generation and theres this void of the vocal Gods......I was listening to Child in Time by Deep Purple - Gillian is simply AMAZING !!!!!

Is the art of vocals lost ? or has the art progessed so much that I just dont recognise it ?

Phil A. in Cemetry Gates showed he had all the right gear to do it, but never went any further with it, just focussed on the "growl"

maybe I've not grown with the music....

 

[JeffTD]

I think that the growls go just like the actual vocals as far as standout guys... There are certain people from both who have very distinctive qualities (Halford, Dio, Ozzy, Dickenson, as well as Åkerfeldt, Speed Strit, Devin Townsend, Tomas Lindberg, etc...), but there will always be the very generic ones, as well.

As usual, the original ones stick out. \m/


You can be an amazing vocalist/frontman and not do clean vocals, I think you guys are missing that point. Guys like the ones I mentioned above absolutely dominate in both areas, and are known more for the heavy than the clean stuff they do.

 

[stringy_]

I go through music phases. One month I'll be heavy into John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Ornette Coleman. Then the next month I'll switch over to Blue States and Thievery Corporation. After that I'll be digging Zep, Pink Floyd, and SRV. Then, finally, I'll go back to Opeth and At the Gates. These days I am spending less and less time with metal.

I'm looking into buying a Ric, a Tele, and an old Bassman. I don't even own a high gain amp anymore.

My playing is changing also. I'm thinking of melodies and hooks instead of metal riffs. I am really enjoying learning all sorts of new soft-synths too. Absynth has me hooked right now.

I'm more passionate about music now than ever.

Conclusion: I am very, very bored with metal...and I have a growing distaste for any metal that I don't have a nostalgic attachment to.

 

[Skyweaver]

I get the point DSS3 and your right the originals like Tom, Chuck, Townsend - all sorta remind of being spawn of Lemmy (who's vocals I've always liked) but how long do we have to wait to hear the new Dio etc ? or will we ever ?

I actually think Metal is now stronger than ever, we see more bands in the genre and more people moving towards the music, bands like Nevermore, Evergrey, Into Eternity are just great

I guess theres probably a gap at the top of the metal heap, Metallica, Ozzy, Motley Crue, Sabbath, Priest, Maiden - those were some of the big names but all in twilight years musically...we just waiting for the "next big thing?"

Maybe globalisation and the internet are having an impact on the way that bands can actually make money and so impacting on their ability to reach that higher level.......

 

[ScottCash]

Maybe that's my problem too...boredom. I'll hear some really cool metal, like a riff or beat and go "wow that is sweet." I'll buy the CD, take it home, listen to it twice and then go right back to my "The Wall" CD. Thank god for the classics. It's funny, Like everyone else on here I'm sure, I had my fill of Zeppelin years ago but on a whim I bought Zep 3 off Amazon and was like, damn! those guys were a great blues band!