Metal music today: what's wrong with it?

[glassjaw7]

Some is good and some is terrible, just like every other genre of music, and just how it was in every other decade. You can't just say metal today sucks, because bands like Opeth, Deftones, Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend, Down, Trivium, Tool, Periphery, Feared, Keith Merrow, Nevermore, Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Sikth etc. have loads of talent.

Screaming isn't for everyone but it definitely has its place in heavy music, and some music wouldn't be as fitting to the concept and overall feel of what the songs are trying to convey without it. Imagine Pantera if Phil wouldn't have gotten more growly and extreme with his vocals, yeah he sounded cool singing those castrated high ass notes on Cemetery Gates, but when he does that blood curdling scream at the very beginning of Trendkill, it makes me want to punch someone in the face and eat babies! Isn't that what metal's all about? It's about attitude and doing your own thing regardless of what people say. So in that regard, I can see how all the trendy this and that-core bullshit isn't metal, it's just lame kids who aren't creative trying to copy everyone else.

But there are still some amazing and original metal bands out there that do it right! I mean what do ya want, friggin David Lee Roth in spandex again singing over the modern heavy music? (no offense to anyone, I love VH ) Just sayin, metal started by going as extreme and low and mean as it could possibly get at that time. Well, it has progressed and evolved into what it is now with the 7 and 8 string guitars and amplifiers available, and it's only natural that vocalists will keep pushing their vocal chords until they blow a fucking gasket. That's metal! Grow with the times, sift through the bullshit, and find the good ones.

 

[TheMagicEight]

 

[Spaceboy]

Here's something you haven't heard before!

0:54

 

[The Hoff]

Where is todays Over The Mountain or Crazy Train? Where is todays IronMan? Everyone is dark and heavy but who is really writing a seriously heavy tune that can still be played on the radio? The only current metal band that does anything for my is Nevermore and the vocals can be a little difficult to listen to.

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet-I didn't read through the whole thread...

Really "new" metal these days can't receive the same sort of popularity. Not so wide-streamed. The business has changed so drastically since the Internet has become the main source of music distribution/listening/etc. Plus it has allowed many bands to have a relatively decent career even though they aren't known by the world, they are able to receive that "local band" status (loyal fans-enough support to make a basic living) nationwide. Look at bands like Black Dahlia Murder for example.

I don't know....just my .02 cents. Although I'm a bit biased due to the fact that I'm a fan.

 

[The Hoff]

Strong bad, nice. I used to watch these all the time. It has literally been years now though...they still producing new ones?

I should check that out again some time.

 

[madrigal77]

All I know is anything thay has "core" in the genre title is the absolute worst crap I've ever heard. I'd literally rather listen to Justin Beiber.

 

[The Hoff]

All I know is anything thay has "core" in the genre title is the absolute worst crap I've ever heard. I'd literally rather listen to Justin Beiber.

Are you a death metal type of guy who never wants a breakdown to disturb your death metal or are you just against that kind of music altogether?

 

[madrigal77]

All I know is anything thay has "core" in the genre title is the absolute worst crap I've ever heard. I'd literally rather listen to Justin Beiber.

Are you a death metal type of guy who never wants a breakdown to disturb your death metal or are you just against that kind of music altogether?

Not really, though I do like stuff such as Gojira and Opeth. And yes, breaks in the sense that "core" music tends to use are more gay than Richard Simmons.

 

[Ola Englund]

There is nothing wrong with metal today. Still Pantera is my fave metal band of all time, but I still enjoy a lot of the newer bands that are out today. Textures is a good example of new metal I love!

 

[OldSkoolNJ]

Like any music genre it all eventually becomes generic, just like the tons of shit that came out in any other era or genre..
It reminds me of the 80's era with loads of excess generic shit, then the thrash/death,industrial,grunge,Nu metal, pop blink182 thing..

May be it is me but it seems like there is a lot of excess generic out there today just like the 80's & grunge era's..
I do not see many of these bands sharing much great success like the genre's before though because it does sound the same this time around maybe..
Same thing goes for me with some of these older bands releasing new stuff, didnt like it then and still do not like it now..
In the mean time i have the old stuff to listen to with some newer stuff but not much


If you dont like it,or you like it/ love it and they are having fun doing it , I do not care as long as I dont have to listen to it..

I have to admit though I have never skipped so many opening bands at shows in my life as I do these days..

 

[steve_k]

Bad vocals, bad guitarists. Good drugs cover it up though.

 

[guitarmike]

Solo's are always overrated by those that can't play them

I think what us old timers miss is the craft of writing a song. A well written song. I know we're talking metal but what new bands out today can write songs like Led Zep, Styx, Kansas, etc? Crafting a song where all parts fit is a lost art in popular hard rock/metal. That is the point. You have to listen to prog metal to get any sophistication in writing. Even the laughed at hair metal had well written songs amongst the crap. Listen to a white Lion song, I hate the singers voice but they really had good melodies and hooks, Vito Bratta is very underrated.

Tomorrow won't be like yesterday, its just too bad it is worse (at least with the music industry).

Mike

That's what my dad was saying about 80s music back in the 80s...

My Grandfather was probably saying the same shit to my dad about Zep and Floyd...

lol, this exactly. What each generation considers great writing changes right along with the music. If you keep an open mind, there have been a lot of great hard rock/metal bands in the last 5 years even.

Not exactly

There is a consistent theme of quality in music that goes back 100's or years that is missing in most of today's music. It has little to do with each generation,s scorn of the next's music. What is missing in most of today's music is quality. That goes across all genres, not just metal. Music is pushed as a commodity for the purposes of making a quick buck, not for the sake of the art. That has changed, and that is what I believe is the real problem. Show me a well crafted, well done song in any style and I can appreciate it even if I don't like the style. Yes, there still is great new music out there, it is sadly, no longer at the top as it once was.

 

[EXPcustom]

Some times when I see the kids and their Emo/Screamo vocal based metalcore bands at the local dive I just want to go up there and give them each a good spanking.


I do kind of like crabcore though.

 

[jlbaxe]

Show me a female guitarist with chops AND songwriting skills and I'll be thoroughly impressed, though I have yet to see any.

Lita Ford comes to mind. From the 80s but she had cool songs, guitar skills, and was freakin' HOT!!!! Go back to the 70s and she was ripping it up in The Runaways.

Not to many out there today, that I can't think of right now, doing what she was doing.

+1 and Gwar, Dora Pesh

 

[threadkiller]

1. Lead guitar. The guitar is not a percussion instrument. Some good melodic lead guitar out there, but not nearly as much as there used to be.

2. The "fun" factor. Look at Ozzy or 80's metal. It had a certain goofiness/jokey quality. It's was present then too, not just because we are listening to in 20-30 years later. Lot's of people taking themselves way to seriously lateley IMHO

 

[EXPcustom]

God damn kids!

 

[Spaceboy]

Solo's are always overrated by those that can't play them

I think what us old timers miss is the craft of writing a song. A well written song. I know we're talking metal but what new bands out today can write songs like Led Zep, Styx, Kansas, etc? Crafting a song where all parts fit is a lost art in popular hard rock/metal. That is the point. You have to listen to prog metal to get any sophistication in writing. Even the laughed at hair metal had well written songs amongst the crap. Listen to a white Lion song, I hate the singers voice but they really had good melodies and hooks, Vito Bratta is very underrated.

Tomorrow won't be like yesterday, its just too bad it is worse (at least with the music industry).

Mike

That's what my dad was saying about 80s music back in the 80s...

My Grandfather was probably saying the same shit to my dad about Zep and Floyd...

lol, this exactly. What each generation considers great writing changes right along with the music. If you keep an open mind, there have been a lot of great hard rock/metal bands in the last 5 years even.

Not exactly

There is a consistent theme of quality in music that goes back 100's or years that is missing in most of today's music. It has little to do with each generation,s scorn of the next's music. What is missing in most of today's music is quality. That goes across all genres, not just metal. Music is pushed as a commodity for the purposes of making a quick buck, not for the sake of the art. That has changed, and that is what I believe is the real problem. Show me a well crafted, well done song in any style and I can appreciate it even if I don't like the style. Yes, there still is great new music out there, it is sadly, no longer at the top as it once was.

No, the music is still fine, you've just turned into a grumpy old fart.

 

[glassjaw7]

There is nothing wrong with metal today. Still Pantera is my fave metal band of all time, but I still enjoy a lot of the newer bands that are out today. Textures is a good example of new metal I love!

Textures

 

[sinfish]

I forced myself to listen to some metal yesterday on my cable tv metal radio station. Most of it was recent, within the last couple of years.

I was weaned on the Randy Rhoads Ozzy, which I know isn't considered heavy by today's standards, but certainly was then.

I gots ta tell ya, the stuff I heard was pretty much shit. Clickety-click kick drums, a preponderence of muted chug notes (whatever the lowest string on the guitar happened to be tuned to), and the vocals....

Gracious, there wasn't a melody to be found in the vocals. Just a bunch of screamers droning into their mikes. Such originality.

Who here likes this stuff and can you name a couple of metal bands that are actually good?

Damn dude you are living in a bubble!
You have more choice now than ever. The problem for you is you choose not to look. If Darwin's theory of evolution pertained directly to music you would be the Dodo bird. Don't blame the current Metal scene for your failings. People play what they want to hear. It is a voice for so many now. I like Randy Rhoads and I have respect for them helping shape what we have today. I guess I wouldn't want to listen to only Ozzy/Randy for the rest of my life either. Don't blame the scene for your lack of effort. That is as stupid as saying I don't like Ford trucks. They are all red and I don't like red so Ford's suck.

Metal is bigger than ever before. TV shows dedicated to it, Video Games, Festivals that host 80,000+ people, Metal acts that Sellout Arenas, Death Metal acts that open for Arena acts. Seriously Death playing in Stadiums! You could not say that even 10 years ago. There are more choices now in metal than the limited handful of metal bands in the 70s. How lame would it be if every metal band sounded like Ozzy. I bet there would be NO metal scene left if that were true. (Which I find funny you mention Ozzy as he is 2nd largest sellout in the metal world) If you can't find something good you ain't looking

 

[Inquisitor]

What's wrong with it:

It's angry, ghey, and girls hate it.

If girls like it, then I dont. Its a rule.
Black and Death metal are the only genres of real music (of course my bias, so judge me accordingly henceforth)

I guess I compare musicians to the common *awesome* popular rock ones, and then I barf a bit when I look at a guitar and what is considered popular, so the fact that heavy metal is no longer the main genre means that the outliers have become the chief directors of the scene, and some day, when all y'all are in diapers (and perchance y'are already) an artist will come along following these progressive movements that'll melt faces off, both educated and dumb as shit alike. I probably still wont like them though.

Okay, Certainly, when it comes to metal, there are a host of bands that would cause me to similarly barf up my ham sandwich from Subway, but at least I can recognize them as fringe and enjoy them as a peculiarity rather than THE NORM (and the fact that shitty bands will always be out and about like leprosy). Because THE NORM sucks, no matter how you put it. Rhythm based bands, a peculiarity, but certainly rhythm is vital to music, and the complexities exhibited by some of these bands get my cockles up nicely. Thus I can safely enjoy Meshuggah, Tesseract, Whitechapel, etc. in my own way without feeling as though I am betraying my foundation of music. On the other hand, if you listen to Avril Lavaugne, or Jonas Bros or those acts, I can understand that you'd think modern metal too extreme a genre or just sucky one. Betraying the musical foundations displayed by Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Metallica (know you guys love that one), similarly can cause revulsion and a gathering with your clan of like-minded people (withholding my familiar terms for people like thee) to castigate the creators of these tunes. But I still think that modern heavy metal pays tribute to the ideals of the original pieces even if unintentionally. Maybe its ideological, maybe its musical, maybe its a similar masculine focus, maybe its mindset, maybe its my imagination.

Why does modern rock suck? Modern Classical pieces? Modern ARt? It all sucks. In my opinion. But Bring back the dusty Marshall plexis and get some Vanapro, then you could definitely rock out chez moi. And Fuck the police. If its 60 DB at the edge of the lawn its still legally permissible. I will appreciate your knowledge of Hendrix, your chord formations, maybe your overblown knowledge of your tone, even if by the standards of old acts or by a critical ear/eye you suck. The passion is there, the effort is there, the hatred (insert respectable emotion here) is there. I can appreciate, and even love that. If you suck, Ill be polite and work with you. If you inspire me, Ill try to learn from ye. Just realize that metal is another form of music, that has its own flavors and iron chef tournaments, and then we can discourse long into the jam.

On another note, Breakdowns are meant to be musical. And low notes are meant to be the extreme. Too much of either is not for me. The right amount can turn me on. Same as with anything. Except tits. Never too much. But Dudes singing/playing music about love is not for me. Thats a problem I have consigned myself to have, and they say torment is good for the soul. Violent emotions = screaming, growling, yelling, roaring. The more vicious the better. In ancient times, the guy who could roar better would be awarded something, whether animalistically impressing the ladies or being placed on the forefront of the longboat for raids, guys who sound terrific roaring, full of emotion and otherwise badass are to be considered for those qualities (Opeth is too gay, If I wanted acoustic guitar Id listen to some artist from Hawaii who ladies like, I forget his name). Not how much vibrato, or sustain, or range (though range is important for vox). Judge according to your skills and interests certainly; people tell me open mind, and then I quietly find that mine is more open than their own. Just realize that heavy metal will never die. Just change. A return to the fore is always feasible, and often highly prized by old fuckers or people who think the times of yore have forever passed.

Here are some of my faves

Yeah shitty live video. But reminiscent of shreds of old

Uberschall in awesome action, and the voice of the Baphomet:

Dont like the vocals? Often looking up the lyrics can be surprising, and then you wonder, why cant they be understandable?
Its not meant to be liked or understood by everyone, certainly.