Doom said:
I agree, I don't really see where you're coming from JK.
What, being able to compare the US with the UK? OK, are you sitting comfortably?
Here goes....
This country probably does have a lot more people into the more mainstream commercial metal bands than the rest of Europe, but that's no different from the US. Most of those bands ARE American. And it's not like the underground "scene" is non-existant here.
I'll tell you forever and a day, you do NOT get shows/tours in the UK like you do in the US.
First of all, while you get Bloodstock UK and crappy download festivals, the USA, meanwhile, gets ProgPower, NE Hardcore Fest, NJ Metal Fest, Milwaukee Metal Fest, Heathen Crusade, Chicago PowerFest, etc etc. Basically many more festivals. There's one coming up in Chicago with Manilla Road and Winterhawk...I forget the name of the fest.
When bands tour Europe, the UK are lucky to get a tour stop and even then it's just in London.
There are ACTIVE underground scenes here going on: old school (Slough Feg, Hammers, The Sword, etc), Black Metal (Leviathan, Xasthur, Ludicra, Wolves of the Throne Room), and so on.
There are MANY more on-line distros based in the US catering to a US customer audience than there are the UK. I see that the UK has Supernal and a couple of others but nothing to the extent of The End, Red Stream, etc.
There are DEDICATED radio stations here that play "metal/rock" during the day, and these are terrestrial (so I'm not talking XM or Sirius, where they themselves play every metal under the sun). There is not a SINGLE radio station in the UK that will play anything even close, unless it's something like the Friday Night Rock Show at midnight for 2 hours (Tommy Vance RIP).
I moved from London to the US and access to metal became EASIER. Living in NYC area means I get all the shows I want whether it be the upcoming shows from Dissection, Emperor, Celtic Frost, or traditional US tours from bands like Manowar, Iced Earth, etc pretty much anything under the sun.
Re: bars, yeah I don't know of any "metal bars" but in this day and age of internet jukeboxes, there is never a night we go out where we're not playing anything that exists on the net, whether it be Maiden or Obituary. So any bar can now play any music.
Regarding high street stores, I would put Vintage Vinyl up against any store in the world when it comes to metal selection -- it is like the DisneyLand of heavy metal CDs -- all completely underground selection, i.e., not typical Maiden, Priest, and other Virgin Megastore fodder. It's like going to The End Records + Dark Symphonies + Deathgasm and seeing all those CDs staked up on shelves, ready for the picking. And that place is 30 minutes from my house.
Seriously, I read Terrorizer and look at the back of the mag for upcoming events and it's laughable. The thing that makes it even more hysterical is that this is the country that gave birth to metal!!
Man, I could keep going...
