Too much metal?

[Demilich]

Are those older stats reliable? How many bands were around back then that haven't made it on to MA?

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Nile is awesome. I mean an egyptian theme inside of metal? Coundn't get much more awesome than that. Atfer 4 months of not liking them due to the vocals I finally grew on them.

But anyways I have to agree. Too much metal albums are coming out this year and I coundn't care less about probably 1 out of 30 of it. Slayer came out with a good album if you ignore the lyrics (which I am good at thank God). Deicide's new album is my pick for the best album of the year. Blind Guardian's new album is pretty good. Lamb Of God (I'm a fan) released a disapointing album to some but it was good for me. And In Flames my favorite band was good but not as good as Soundtrack To Your Escape. They steped down on their heavyness but still it's good (to me). A lot also found it disapointing. Demiricous came out with a good thrash metal album and thanks to MTV2 (yaaay I'm glad) they are becoming well known even on their first album. I'm sure I missed some. But anyways. As for the other metal bands that are unknown. They need to wait in line until some bands come out with bad albums. That way those bands can become popular and the next big thing.

Yeah Nile's vocals SUCK. BORING.

 

[MasterOLightning]

Are those older stats reliable? How many bands were around back then that haven't made it on to MA?

You bring up a good point. I imagine that there's a fair amount of bands that didn't get past the demo stage, and never got full lengths out. Split-up bands from that era still get added once in a while.
Even if the stats aren't precise, I think they still get the point across.

 

[OldScratch]

I've heard around 80 albums from 06, maybe more. Mainly downloaded and I can certainly tell you I disliked plenty of them. But I also found some fucking GEMS...perhaps it's because I'm rather new to metal (2003 basically) that I enjoy the modern metal scene more than a lot of people do, but I don't find the genre of metal to be very stagnant at all; the people that say this are just too lazy to go find new stuff.

Your explanation goes a long way toward explaining the comparatively negative or ambivalent attitude some of us have about the 'scene' today. I have been listening to Metal since at least the early 80's. Thus, the perspective is completely different. Of course there is still some great music being made(IMHO) likely more than I'm even aware of.
But as a percentage of the whole, much of it is just rehashed, ripped-off or just painfully familiar. The bulk of what I see peddled today has not only all been done before, but in more cases than not, it was done far better - it was original, it was fresh, adventurous, unique. There is clearly a lot of talent out there...but there isn't that much creativity or individuality it seems.
You are probably right about a degree of "laziness" about searching out new things...but when eight out of ten things you hear leave you cold, it's tough to get really excited about the latest-greatest metal fad-band(or sub-genre for that matter) to come down the pike!

 

[Jrgen]

But as a percentage of the whole, much of it is just rehashed, ripped-off or just painfully familiar.

I find that to have been the case in the 80s as well. And if the amount of bad albums and innovative new material is proportionally the same, then that means there is a lot more good and original material today.

These numbers are of course also affected by the fact that it is much cheaper to produce an album today than it was in the early 80s.

 

[metal_wrath]

Too much metal, or not enough metal fans????? This will probably always be the case. And the metal work ethic is very strong as usual, so there is many "production" in the scene, which is good... This is best demonstrated in the song "Heavy Metal Machine" by Steel

 

[Mutant]

nevermind

 

[The Bringer]

Why don't we look at how many releases a year there are for other genres? I think we'll find out that there are actually very little amounts of metal releases.

 

[cookiecutter]

perhaps it's because I'm rather new to metal (2003 basically) that I enjoy the modern metal scene more than a lot of people do

I think I also fall into this category. I've only been into metal for about a year now, so I guess I haven't become jaded and bored with things yet.

 

[Alongside Death]

(because at least 3000 of the 3200 - 3500 releases that hit the shelves this year will suck)

Yeah.

Why do you people assume that 3000 of 3200 releases will suck without even checking those 3000 fucking albums?

 

[Demilich]

who has time to listen to listen to an average of several new albums a day for the entire year?

 

[Alongside Death]

If we don't have time to listen to those 3000 releases then why we're saying that they suck?

 

[The Bringer]

Some of the best releases I've found are obscure releases no one has ever heard of. I wish I had time to listen to all 3,000 releases a year has to offer. I am sure I'd be listening to completely different bands then I already do.

 

[metal_wrath]

Some of the best releases I've found are obscure releases no one has ever heard of. I wish I had time to listen to all 3,000 releases a year has to offer. I am sure I'd be listening to completely different bands then I already do.

Make it happen....


Btw, I am also fairly new to metal, for about a year and a half

 

[Alongside Death]

Wow, and I thought I am new to metal.

 

[The Bringer]

Make it happen....

Impossible. I am currently trying to listen to all the releases I've missed through the 90's. Lots of money and lots of time I don't have between studying, being a husband (soon a father) and doing my writing.

 

[Saparmurat_Niyazov]

^ Exactly. And when it comes to music, I will accept only the highest quality, so that means at least 90% of all albums released in the past year, metal or otherwise, do, imo, suck.

 

[Jrgen]

^ Exactly. And when it comes to music, I will accept only the highest quality, so that means at least 90% of all albums released in the past year, metal or otherwise, do, imo, suck.

But you won't know which unless you listen to them all.

 

[The Bringer]

...I will accept only the highest quality...

Well I'll accept anything that I think is good to my ears. For example the Nex Perpetui Regis demo is very cool even if it is low quality compared to say... Hypocrisy.

 

[hibernal_dream]

And if they're of the highest quality, they'll eventually be recognised on a forum such as GMD, even if it is a few years later. That's why i'm sceptical about new metal - not because I don't think it will be good, but I won't sift through thousands of bands when people here will do it for me.

On the M-A point, do those releases include EP's and MCD's? I think those are a lot more popular now than they were back in the 80s.