Who shall bear the torch?

[Reign in Acai]

Any new bands where the members dont have grey pubonis? Seems like every act that drops a release has been around for two decades. Cant think of any off the top of my head.

Also solely not referring to just a solid release by whipper snappers, but a band that has some name value in the underground ala Agalloch 15 yrs ago. Young Destroyer666 types. Donde estan?

I cant think of a single band new band that can headline a tour and fill the venue to the rafters.

 

[einride]

i meant to do basically this thread at some point but it was to be titled "are we classic rock yet?" and i was going to compile data on average age of the headlining bands on metal festivals the past 20 years or so

because it's fifty years later and spoiler alert: the headliner is still judas fucking priest

---

of course there are kids playing metal but is it Happening? are they fucking shit up? do they have the Fire in their Hearts? does anyone care? should they? imo usually it's just that a bunch of 16 year olds discovered kreator again, which is a fine thing, but ya know...

by and large, the kids are not really into metal or playing in rock bands these days anyway. metal seems like it's alive because everything is simultaneously alive and popular now that the internet exists and even the nichest of niche interests will eventually find their own subreddit, but by and large it's irrelevant.

it's with metal like with basically everything else. does jazz still exist? yes. is anyone ever going to jazz into the public consciousness and break boundaries again like miles davis or duke ellington or ella fitzgerald or louis armstrong? probably not.

here's what's up: we are jazz now.

it's all been done and we are no longer popular music so there are basically two roads you can take: 1) retro-revivalism or 2) going Art Music and being really really niche and weird and nerdy and selling 500 albums by preaching to the already converted. you don't fill venues to the rafters by being fluisteraars and making a black metal album about flowers that makes a bunch of 40-somethings write reviews on bandcamp. much like modern jazz artists can't sell out their own living rooms, despite playing more notes and having more key changes and better production and more pro tools than miles armstrong ever had.

i don't know why people readily accept that so many other genres had their heyday in a certain era but metal is supposed to live and innovate and stay relevant forever. metal had real, true evolution from about 1970-2000 which is one hell of a good run but no, we are done. we are classic rock now. it's okay to be into people rehashing dead genres if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside but we are a walking corpse.

look at the lineup of any festival, to the extent that they even exist (because again, kids by and large don't go to rock festivals anymore) -- it's consistently a 30th anniversary high school reunion party. there are no bands that will have the same impact of the 70s-90s bands because of the same reasons that no one cares if you play like the sex pistols today. no one cares. we done.

 

[J.]

The days of filling clubs or stadiums is long gone, especially for new bands. With the advent of bandcamp, covid, and teens with everything at their fingertips, metal as a movement is done. Trust me, I have a teen. We are old.

Plus, the idea of a "band" is dead. With a lot of new bands being 1 or 2 dudes playing all instruments. (No offense, Erik)

Even when I go to the gym and it's majority 20 somethings, they all wanna hear the latest WAP or nigga filled anti racist rant rap song while we lift weights. When the coach plays mainstream 90s rock, sure they know the words like I know the words to old Bon Jovi.

To answer your question, Ive been impressed by Shylmagoghnar. Theyve released two highly praised albums. The dedication and heart seem to be present. They will probably never tour, its 2 dudes, but I revisit the albums often and find new things each listen.

Also, Obsequiae.

 

[einride]

Plus, the idea of a "band" is dead. With a lot of new bands being 1 or 2 dudes playing all instruments. (No offense, Erik)

oh, none taken, i'm very aware

 

[Krilons Resa]

I have so many thoughts swirling in my mind about this topic right now but am unable to fully flesh them out to write a semi-coherent, full length rant on it at the moment.

But yeah, the true grit, middle finger in your face, fuck you, raw, rock-oriented band is nearly dead....at the moment. Everything is cyclical so we shall see what the future brings. As far as creating new genres that are relevant though, naa...shits been done. I just want that raw fucking passion that tightens my skin, makes my hair raise, and makes me exclaim about how THESE KIDS "GET IT." Society is kind of veering off the road more and more so we'll see what happens. There are too many distractions these days for kids though and I doubt that many are getting together with instruments and jamming around, putting shit together like kids were back in the day. I gotta think they'll be a backlash at some point though and the stretched rubber band snaps back.

Also, as far as Erik's point about jazz, yeah the heyday of the 30's-60's are long gone but Jazz (wtf is Jazz anyway? - another topic entirely) has been REALLY pushing the envelope over the past decade. There is some absolutely groundbreaking, insane music being created, especially within the NYC creative scene, Chicago, and various areas in Europe. It's very niche and will never be mainstream but my point stands.

#getoffmylawn

 

[einride]

Also, as far as Erik's point about jazz, yeah the heyday of the 30's-60's are long gone but Jazz (wtf is Jazz anyway? - another topic entirely) has been REALLY pushing the envelope over the past decade. There is some absolutely groundbreaking, insane music being created, especially within the NYC creative scene, Chicago, and various areas in Europe. It's very niche and will never be mainstream but my point stands.

ya but this was pretty much my point, too

like i said, you can become a nostalgia act or you can go even nerdier and more niche -- just know that no one except the already initiated will ever care and you will not ever quit your day job or sell out a stadium again

i mean i don't give a shit if judas priest headlines wacken for 50 more years, that's fine, i'm actually all for metal growing up and becoming serious nerdy art music

 

[Krilons Resa]

ya but this was pretty much my point, too

like i said, you can become a nostalgia act or you can go even nerdier and more niche -- just know that no one except the already initiated will ever care and you will not ever quit your day job or sell out a stadium again

i mean i don't give a shit if judas priest headlines wacken for 50 more years, that's fine, i'm actually all for metal growing up and becoming serious nerdy art music

Indeed. I knew it was also embedded within your point as well. I just really needed to state how creative and forward-thinking the jazz scene has been for the past decade. lol

 

[Ellestin]

being fluisteraars and making a black metal album about flowers that makes a bunch of 40-somethings write reviews on bandcamp

sup

 

[Krilons Resa]

Even rummaging through a bunch of music at a kickass B&M music store is slowly dying these days.

Blows...

 

[Ellestin]

To answer your question, Ive been impressed by Shylmagoghnar

I'm seeing this band pop repeatedly as a Youtube recommandation and assumed they mortgaged their grandma or something to pay up for topping the algorithm ad vitam. You sayin they're good?

 

[Krilons Resa]

It's probably all happening right under our noses but we are all too fucking old to realize/appreciate it, tbh.

It's just not we are used to.

 

[J.]

I'm seeing this band pop repeatedly as a Youtube recommandation and assumed they mortgaged their grandma or something to pay up for topping the algorithm ad vitam. You sayin they're good?

Lol. Yeah, they are good imo.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Like it or not, this is what it sounds like. A sign of the times.

LOL

Honestly though, imo, Pile are doing a great job of doing it within the Rock spectrum.

But, I still stand by my statement that even if it is indeed happening, we'd all just poo-poo it to death anyway. Just face it, we're getting old.

 

[Reign in Acai]

But yeah, the true grit, middle finger in your face, fuck you, raw, rock-oriented band is nearly dead....at the moment. Everything is cyclical so we shall see what the future brings. As far as creating new genres that are relevant though, naa...shits been done. I just want that raw fucking passion that tightens my skin, makes my hair raise, and makes me exclaim about how THESE KIDS "GET IT."

This is what new metal is lacking. Where's the bands with the fuck you attitude? Its just a bunch of bedroom black metal by fucks who dont drink, tour, or have anything controversial to say in the least. Everyone is Kvlt correct, its all just so milquetoast.

Ye would think an up and coming band could appeal to the masses both musically and image wise. Everyone is safe, dont want to offend. Antifa yells at venue promoters to shut it down, and instead of holding gigs in a junk yard, acts just capitulate and take it in the keister.

Waterdowned gigs, waterdowned albums, band mates playing PS5 instead of knocking byke Foster's whilst jamming in a garage. Da fuq is going on? Youth is wasted on the young. That adage is more prevalent than ever.

Cant imagine what a millennial nursing home is going to look like.

 

[Tide In Mind Out]

Like em or not, Jinjer is a relatively young band that's steadily getting more popular. Their next US tour is already selling out in some locations (with no guarantee that the shows will even happen).
Plus y'all would bang her, right?

 

[J.]

that was pretty bad, but i can see where they would be popular. combo of arch enemy and lacuna coil, with meshuggah ish type riffing

the entire crowd was white dudes

 

[NAD]

When I was playing countless shows from 2013 to 2018 I was very involved with the Local Underground Metal Scene and I can say that I was toward the older end of the age spectrum in my mid- to late- 30s. Most of the dudes were 20something and very, very excited to be a part of the movement.

That being said, no band sounded "new," they were all variations on the genre themes we have all known and loved for ages. The kids are alright, but fresh new sounds... I couldn't even tell you a single band.

I am completely okay rehashing my youth until I kick off this planet within the next 0 to 33 years though, doesn't bother me at all. I've rarely read authors that didn't die decades before I was ever born, the past is forever alive.

 

[Krilons Resa]

Cant imagine what a millennial nursing home is going to look like.

Ha!!

 

[Doom]

I'm seeing this band pop repeatedly as a Youtube recommandation and assumed they mortgaged their grandma or something to pay up for topping the algorithm ad vitam. You sayin they're good?

Have a listen to I Am the Abyss, such a good album opener.