Thoughts on Opeth, the Internet, and the state of metal today

[Risquit]

I'm showing my age here, but it used to be as a fan of metal, your favorite bands were way beyond distant. When I was younger, there was no way to get as close to the bands as we can today. Iron Maiden, my favorite as a kid, played arenas, not clubs. And before the Internet, we had to wait for Hit Parader, Kerrang, or Cream magazine to tell us stories about Judas Priest's upcoming album, or what kind of guitars the guys in Saxon used.

What I'm trying to get at, is that metal fans today are lucky in the fact that we can actually talk to some of our heros, find out that they just had a baby, or that their tour to Chile was cancelled because some promoter fucked up.
And with metal (real metal, of course, nu metal's popularity doesn't count) being not as popular as it once was (once again, arenas vs. clubs), we can see a band like Opeth in a more intimate setting...and maybe get our CDs signed. Never saw Rob Halford wait around after a show for that!

Best of all, maybe, is the interactivity we have with each other in forums like this. As fucked up as things get here sometimes, we all have found a place to talk about our favorite band(s), and maybe learn about new ones. My CD collection has grown as a direct result from recommendations from some of you guys (Katatonia, Agalloch, Diabolical Masquerade, Anathema, etc.).

Your thoughts?

 

[Anti-Everything]

Three cheers for the information age. Best thing to ever happen to music.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

opeth is cool
internet is great
good metal is hard to find

 

[Tyrmthaais]

Definitely love the Internet's ability to spread information about new (well, to me) bands and best of all, being able to download a sample from their website and what not. I'm all about the club setting too, I saw Iron Maiden in an arena 2 summers ago and they put on a great show and it didn't even compare to when I saw Lacuna Coil last November in a club setting and they were terrible with crowd interaction. The closeness definitely makes metal that much more special to me. Also, as crazy as forums can get, I really enjoy hearing other fans opinions and such.

 

[Protected Witness]

opeth is cool
internet is great
good metal is hard to find

 

[etotheipiequalsminus1]

Three cheers for the information age. Best thing to ever happen to music.

Overexposure can destroy a band's artistic integrity, and the ideas they sought to uphold at the beginning of their career can become distorted. However, the internet is great in that you can log on and get some sound samples of rare bands etc.

The internet is useful and not useful in many, many ways. Everytime I search for something I have to sift through mountains of contentless websites that people made for the point only of making a website.

 

[RavenousDaemon]

It's not like the underground is getting overexposure from the internet... and without it, those bands would be too underfunded to continue making decent music, what with the few additional fans it may scrounge up. If it weren't for the internet I would never have even known the underground existed, let alone listening to anything with any talent whatsoever. Overall the internet, as I see it anyway, is raising the quality of metal. Just my thoughts.

 

[NFU]

Opeth is a good band, indeed...the best out there right now id say.

Internet has helped metal a bit, but id say word of mouth and live shows have helped more. However, the ability to hear bands from getting sound clips or mp3s helps in finding out whos worth buying and whos just hype *cough* metalcore *cough*...

Most metal out right now is garbage. Only a handful of bands are doing anything remotely important or worth listening to in general....

It seems like the only way to really enjoy the metal scene as a whole right now, is if you cant get enough of "the metal sound"...otherwise youre going to be bored to tears....

maybe im being harsh...but i used to be very into metal, and thats how i currently feel about it now.

 

[etotheipiequalsminus1]

Opeth is a good band, indeed...the best out there right now id say.

Internet has helped metal a bit, but id say word of mouth and live shows have helped more. However, the ability to hear bands from getting sound clips or mp3s helps in finding out whos worth buying and whos just hype *cough* metalcore *cough*...

Most metal out right now is garbage. Only a handful of bands are doing anything remotely important or worth listening to in general....

It seems like the only way to really enjoy the metal scene as a whole right now, is if you cant get enough of "the metal sound"...otherwise youre going to be bored to tears....

maybe im being harsh...but i used to be very into metal, and thats how i currently feel about it now.

Agreed.

 

[Nico]

I think that metal fans are getting lazy. Of course I'm probably a grand example, using the internet to discover most bands I listen to, and downloading tracks and the such, as opposed to getting out there and discovering them... but considering my location is pretty remote from most of whats going on in the world, the internet has been invaluable.

Although most people who post here have decent live metal scenes in their regions, I'm thousands of kilometers from the nearest city with a metal scene. That's why I'm trying to set one up myself, through my magazine and parties/gigs, even though there's only 1 local metal band. Metal needs support, and scenes create that support.

 

[Evil Ernie]

Wouldn't it be of the Internet, I would only listen to Metallica and such. I wouldn't even know Opeth exist, even if they came to my hometown several times.
I used to be an old school metal fan, but I'm getting more interested in the new metal scene day after day. I think there are some pretty solid bands growing up, and I'm glad to see that the metal world is still evoluting, and has a promising futur.

 

[Draehl]

I think the internet has mostly helped metal.

P2P programs in particular I feel have helped. While these programs generally hurt already popular acts I think I read something about P2P helping lesser known acts. They give them exposure they wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

 

[Nuk3m]

ID have to agree with Ris's comments about the numetal scene lol but mostly with the interactivity it makes the gig a whole lot better when when one gets to chat with the guys after and so on.

 

[Tyrmthaais]

Originally Posted By Elek
I think the internet has mostly helped metal.

P2P programs in particular I feel have helped. While these programs generally hurt already popular acts I think I read something about P2P helping lesser known acts. They give them exposure they wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

I've read that the opposite happens and the less popular artists lose sales and such, while the most popular artists' sale boost with the P2P sharing... in theory you're right and it is supposed to help lesser known bands get attentionbut from what I've read about studies done, it doesn't help.

 

[Reign in Acai]

Whoever says good metal is hard to find needs to look alot harder! I'm discovering 1-2 new kick ass bands a day. It's almost to the point where my list of albums to buy is so backlogged I might have to take a hiatus from all internet metal discussion and research just to catch up. So get off yer lazy asses you blokes... (And I say that with nothing but the most profound respect and admiration) I love you all...

 

[Demoke]

I'd be curious to hear of your thousands of recommendations, for I also agree that the metal scene is rather crappy (with some honourable exceptions). I think that the Internet has helped metal in general, and underground bands, in particular, in that more people have got to know them than otherwise. Still, a different and interesting discussion woud be about mp3s in general. I must be too old school, but I've never ended up loving a band from mp3s, but only by having the real CD with booklet and so on in my hands.
I also very much like reading posts by members of a band I admire. That's really cool. So is to exchange posts with you guys (that's why I am fucking addicted to this board) and I've also got advise on new bands and some friends I chat with on MSN from time to time.

 

[Illnath]

The way I learn about Metal is through the internet, where I read reviews of various bands. If the album get a good review then I check them out. That’s how I got to know Agalloch, In the Woods, Green Carnation and so on.

I remember back when I was 16 years old, I liked loud music, but I really had no clue about metal. The band that really got me into metal was Opeth. ironically the first Opeth song I heard was In the Mist she was standing. And I was hooked.

Most music I hear now is Metal and some Rock.

My favorite band is still Radiohead, It has been for a very long time.

 

[ucsbdude]

Much love y'all *thumps chest*

 

[ethereallights]

I think the internet has done a lot for communicating and has made a world a more connected place, and I often wondered how people recieved news back in the 60's and 70's about underground music and things like that.

Metal is in a state of regression. A lot of bands out there share so many similarities with other bands that it's almost pointless to even acknowledge there presence. I'm all about progression in music and a lot of bands are just doing basic power chords and blast beats.... for example Dimmu Borgir..... Dimmu had three good albums (For All Tid, Stormblast, and Enthroned Darkness Triumphant) but there last albums share all the same qualities, dynamics, song writing styles, and are basicly simple and have been done before. And a lot of bands are like this. Had early albums that had relevence and could have developed into something greater, but just sits still in one place and often times do whats been done before.

 

[NFU]

im not lazy...but most metal now just isnt good. Its very repetative, or rehashed or boring.

Often well executed, and extreme, or whatnot...but i need more than that these days. Most metal just wont do it for me anymore.