Is Knowing The Roots Of Metal Important?
by 
Metal Martyr on September 1st, 2008
I read a post on Headbanger’s blog where they were talking about The Red Chord’s Guy Kozowyk about the new wave of deathcore and metalcore bands of today and how oblivious they are to the roots of where their sound comes from.
The Red Chord’s combination of death metal rhythms and hardcore screaming are clearly the kind of stuff deathcore bands have embraced, but Kozowyk’s main gripe is that the new breed are inexperienced, unskilled and unfamiliar with the history of extreme metal. Put an album by Death, Corrosion of Conformity, Morbid Angel or Napalm death in front of your average deathcore MySpace band and they’ll probably be unfamiliar with the trenchant, heartfelt torrents of sound within. More disheartening, a lot of the new acts seem completely uninterested in exploring anything that surfaced before the dawn of metalcore.
This brings up a great point. Seriously, most of the kids I see at some shows are young and I can almost guarantee if you asked them about some of the classic death metal bands of yesterday. When I went and saw Salt The Wound, Dance Club Massacre, The Demonstration, and Carnifex awhile back there was a girl there maybe about 17 or 18 with Carnifex T-Shirts that said “Death Fucking Metal” on the back and I seriously doubt she knew anything about Death Metal and had no ambition at all to explore the roots of Death Metal. Even at the Thrash And Burn it was the same. Clueless. You know what most of these kids would probably say is some shit like “Who cares, those are old bands. They aren’t important, stop living in the past.”
I don’t think it’s important to know these roots in a sense that you need to in order to be cool or more metal, but to check out where the sound comes from, maybe show a little respect and discover some of the most brutal bands to ever grace our ears. Before I started writing for this blog I went through a time where I was really not that interested in some of the new acts in metal and I missed out on some great bands for too long. Now I have to play catch up and just writing here and searching news stories and cd reviews I have discovered so many great bands that I love. However I don’t forget some of the bands that were the foundation of my love for metal. Not to repeat names, so I’ll add a few to the ones that Guy K. already mentioned. Grave, Carcass, Entombed, Deicide, Unleashed, Sepultura etc., These are a few of the metal bands of the extreme nature. Without these bands none of the metalcore and deathcore bands of today would not exist. These new bands and fans are like orphans that have no idea who their daddy is.
Image Source: ©Metalmartyr.com
Tags: Guy Kozowyk, headbangers-blog, the roots of metal. extreme metal, the-red-chord| 2.9 |
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POSTED IN: Editorials & Announcements
6 opinions for Is Knowing The Roots Of Metal Important?
That Other Guy
Sep 2, 2008 at 3:34 am
Being myself an 18 year old, still schooling teen, I personally think, it’s hella important to know and understand the roots of metal…
There aren’t many people that i know of who don’t actually know, or appreciate the metal of yester-year, in fact most of the people i know prefer the old school over the new whether it be thrash, death or classic. The kind of tools that don’t appreciate the old are pretty rare as far as i see.
and with my rant over, i’m going to listen to Death’s ‘Scream Bloody Gore’
Sep 2, 2008 at 8:46 am
Don’t think that I’m Picking on the teen metal fans. That’s not what this is about. I think it’s more of the scene kids that don’t have a clue. When I young and finding new bands, if I saw a person with a t-shirt of a band I never heard before I would usually check it out. Hell, there are still bands out there that I find every now and then.
Good mention on Death. They are one of the founding bands of death metal. I will add Obituary, can’t forget Cannibal Corpse, and let’s not forget Celtic Frost.
Sep 3, 2008 at 1:00 am
It’s not only about music, I think knowing roots is important, cool and good for myself.
Still more favorite music! Isn’t it fun?
To feel and share passion with my favorite artists, that’s exciting. Only me?
That Other Guy
Sep 3, 2008 at 1:08 am
Good point, although most of the time i don’t consider those scene turds to be real people. ;p
I’m a bit like that myself… i always find myself checking out some new band, today i found ‘The Haunted’, got ‘At The Gates’ front man… some pretty awesome metal.
I love my death metal, all the old stuff really… not very often you get a modern kickarse death metal band… however i did find Bloodbath curtouesy of Australias ‘Full metal racket’
Sep 3, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’m loving Bloodbath. The new EP UNblessing The Purity is awesome and I think they are supposed to be releasing a full length album sometime.
That Other Guy
Sep 4, 2008 at 2:56 am
Yeah… the new Bloodbath album titled ‘The Fathomless Mastery’ is set for release, i believe on september 30… correct me if i’m wrong.
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