Metal is getting worse and worse

[Shask]

metal isn't dead, but it's been on cliche life support for over 2 decades; and it smells bad too.

modern formula. quantize, quantize, quantize then just tune down to subsonic levels, overload with gain, lose any note separation and clarity, add cookie monster vocals.


metal jumped the shark in the '00s

I got blasted the other day on a different forum for using the term "Hot Topic Metal" for that 2000's era "metal".

Yeah, it has been hard to find things since 2000 in general that I REALLY like as much as stuff before that, but there are some things here and there that stand out.

 

[Shask]

I find it hard to listen to younger metal bands. Maybe it’s just that metal has always been pushed by people of the same general young age and I’ve aged out from being younger and looking up at those guys, to being older than them and now seeing newer metal bands as a bunch of children wearing their dads’ jackets playing pretend and trying to look tough. It’s just lame.

Then again there’s also a trend I’ve noticed, where metal has tended to fall away from right hand-centric strength and ferocity, and more into left hand-centric grace and dexterity, and that sound, while technically neat I guess, just isn’t as moving to me.

I have been more into stuff like this lately. Way more interesting than a lot of the traditional stuff you hear these days.

 

[RaceU4her]

What’s great these days is there is now instant access to every band and album from the past via streaming, there’s more endless “new” music for me than I’ll ever have time these days to catch up on, I’m really not concerned with what washed up bands 30 years past their prime are still doing

 

[Holy-diver]

I’m in a weird spot because I’m a lifelong metal guy and old death metal will always be my favorite. I can’t really gel with a lot of the newer DM that everyone shares. I get it’s supposed to be raw but I’m not a fan of having it sound shitty on purpose

 

[DrewJD82]

I really like the music on this record, but the drum production gets really fatiguing for me. I dig a lot of the vocals but I can’t help but miss what I know Keith would do with it. Jordan is like the Iommi of hardcore, just years of riffs and ideas that almost always deliver.

You check out Keith's new band, Many Eyes? There's some cool tunes on the album but it's a bit more straight forward stuff, more so than ETID, IMO. I actually got this album in the same 10 minutes I found Better Lovers as I hadn't known either side had done anything since the split.
Love the lyrics in this song, though, cracked me the fuck up.



I know Jamey Jasta had a big hand in Many Eyes, I believe he essentially had a band of writers and hooked Keith up with them.

 

[errrrrl]

I have been more into stuff like this lately. Way more interesting than a lot of the traditional stuff you hear these days.

They came and played here in Honolulu in January, I took my youngest... it was.. interesting... perhaps the happiest pit I've ever seen?

 

[Shask]

They came and played here in Honolulu in January, I took my youngest... it was.. interesting... perhaps the happiest pit I've ever seen?

How can you be sad moshing to a song called "Today's a good day and so Epic" ?

 

[RaceU4her]

perhaps the happiest pit I've ever seen?

i gotta give that to Gutulax

 

[errrrrl]

i gotta give that to Gutulax

I never heard of these guys before... I dig the riffs and stuff, looks like a good time!

 

[RaceU4her]

I never heard of these guys before... I dig the riffs and stuff, looks like a good time!

i find the lyrics very touching

 

[skoora]

You check out Keith's new band, Many Eyes? There's some cool tunes on the album but it's a bit more straight forward stuff, more so than ETID, IMO. I actually got this album in the same 10 minutes I found Better Lovers as I hadn't known either side had done anything since the split.
Love the lyrics in this song, though, cracked me the fuck up.



I know Jamey Jasta had a big hand in Many Eyes, I believe he essentially had a band of writers and hooked Keith up with them.

It’s definitely a case of the split produced two bands not as good as the original, but Better Lovers has more going on for me musically.
ETID just had such a great way of going from hardcore to rock to melody and back again.

 

[strungout82]

I never heard of these guys before... I dig the riffs and stuff, looks like a good time!

They are the most famous band from Czech Republic these days. Nothing but a pure fun.

 

[Metalhex]

As much as I love riff based metal. I do like metal that is more atmospheric and not so riffy, too. This "band" here is some self produced bedroom warrior. But i like how its sounds like symphonic/atmospheric with black(?) metal elements. The music I've been writing lately draws influence from this dude.

I know its not most people's tea here

 

[stephen sawall]

 

[JimAnsell2]

My biggest problem with a lot of new metal is that to me everything sounds like extreme eq'ed plug ins, clicky drum loops, and some kid doing a shitty impression of 90's euro black/death metal singers from europe. its redundant, its forgettable, its a genre where everything has been done to death. i still love my classic favorites, but i've moved on.

 

[JonPearson1994]

If you want seriously impressive right hand acrobatics, you need to listen to Wes Hauch on Alluvial:



That's a right hand that will beat your ear drums to dearh

 

[Jack Luminous]

If you want seriously impressive right hand acrobatics, you need to listen to Wes Hauch on Alluvial:



That's a right hand that will beat your ear drums to dearh

Great band ! Tickles my jaded ears pleasantly !

 

[JonPearson1994]

Great band ! Tickles my jaded ears pleasantly !

Yep, I appreciate that they are playing actual metal music that still feels like it fits in 2026. It doesn't sound like a nostalgia act, but it has all the best parts of heavy stuff from years past.

 

[BeZo]

I just saw the band Oxygen Destroyer last night at my local metal bar. It was ripping fast death metal with a bit of an old school Death vibe to it. I hadn't seen or heard them before last night, but they tore it up. I guess they just released their third album.

 

[Holy-diver]

My biggest problem with a lot of new metal is that to me everything sounds like extreme eq'ed plug ins, clicky drum loops, and some kid doing a shitty impression of 90's euro black/death metal singers from europe. its redundant, its forgettable, its a genre where everything has been done to death. i still love my classic favorites, but i've moved on.

It’s weird cuz it’s either clicky ultra clean sterile sounding stuff or buzzy mushy “raw” crap that sounds like a 30 year old demo.