I have this love/hate relationship with the deathcore genre. On one hand I really like some of the bands in the mix and on the other I really hate the genre all together.

The problem is that there are so many deathcore bands out there and it’s become so trendy and I feel that a lot of the bands out there doing it are doing it for the sheer popularity of it. That and perhaps it’s easy. Some are so simplified that they are more hardcore in the metal sense that their music isn’t really all that technical and the only thing that holds it in the “death” genre of it all is the lyrics and vocals.

I think a lot of bands are mistakenly thrown in to the genre and there are others that are extremely technical that deserve more credit that they get because they are thrown in to the deathcore cesspool.

There are the bands that over-do the breakdowns and other bands that their songs sound like one big run on sentence. There are the ones that try to be too technical with their lead rhythms and it takes away from the rhythm and makes the music stale. It’s nice when I find a deathcore band that has found the comfortable medium of these two problems and can make it all flow.

See, Deathcore is like the new Nu-Metal. It’s hated by many and loved by many more. Some people want to listen but are ashamed or afraid that their metal reputation will be tainted if they admit to liking a deathcore band. Like most bastard genres, it started out small and then multiplied like rabbits when it started to become popular.

So as I said. It’s really a love hate thing going on here, just like nu-metal was. There were some really cool bands that you liked but you didn’t like the genre as a whole because it was being ruined by so many wanna-be’s. I think over time it will phase itself down to the bands that really matter and the rest will just be myspace bands again, wondering what the hell happened as they return to their day jobs. If they have fun doing it and put their heart in to it while it lasts, then good for them. If they’re just out there because they think it’s the cool thing to do then they deserve to be forgotten.

(Image: ©MetalMartyr.com)

Post from: Metal Martyr

I was in my mid teens, working as a dishwasher during the time. My coworkers were all in to the grunge thing and were neo-hippies to boot. We had a prep room where we would prep food and had a cd player in there to listen to music while we worked. I would often get ridiculed for my music and get the typical “Kill your mother, kill your father!” mocking when they walked in to the prep room while I was working. I would either turn it up louder or change it to something a little heavier, darker or evil sounding. I didn’t mind grunge so much, but disliked a lot of people that listened to it for their total lack of having an open mind. Most of them were in to it because it was the popular thing at the time.

During that time you had to already be an established band or release an album of epic proportion in order to survive. Even the ones that struggled or didn’t pull through during that era still live in our hearts. The bands on this list were the ones that survived by releasing truly amazing work and deserve the recognition. I know I’ve missed a load of albums that deserve to be on a list of this sort, but keep in mind it’s just “10 Metal Albums” and not a “Top 10″ list.

Flotsam And Jetsam: Cuatro. Released in 1992, Flotsam And Jetsam were a radio hit band and had already been on the scene for almost 10 years when Cuatro was released. Their fourth album and their fourth bass player, Cuatro took a slight step away from their the thrash metal roots. Often overlooked and forgotten about, Cuatro was and still is a great album.

Anthrax: The Sound Of White Noise: (1993) Anthrax’s first album with, in my opinion their best singer, John Bush previously of Armored Saint, The Sound Of White Noise had so many killer songs on it. Beginning with Potter’s Field, Only, Room For One More, Packaged Rebellion, the list goes on until the end.

Iron Maiden: Fear OF the Dark. Released in 1992, Fear Of The Dark is never considered one of Maiden’s best albums but it’s not their worst. Sure it may not be a classic like most of the 80’s albums, but it was one of their best of the 90’s and has plenty of great tunes on it. This was also Bruce Dickenson’s last album before his return to the band in 1999.

Death: Individual Thought Patterns. Death’s 3rd release in the 90’s came in 1993 with Individual Thought Patterns. I bigger, cleaner sounding album than any one before it. ITP was my first taste of exceptionally technical death metal. If there is one subgenre of a subgenre you could label Death as, it would be Progressive Death Metal. Chuck Schuldiner always raised the bar a little higher with each album, but Individual thought patterns took it up a few notches.

Carcass: Heartwork. In 1993 Carcass were criticized by a lot of long time fans as breaking away from the grindcore sound and heading in more of a death metal direction. You can actually hear that transition in Necrotism, but regardless of what specific sound direction Heartwork took, the sound was amazingly clean, fast and ferocious. Still quite underground and unrecognized by the outside world, their Heartwork video put them on the map all around the world.

Entombed: Wolverine Blues. Another album criticized by their fans due to a lesser death metal feel and more of a “Death N’ Roll” sound to it, Wolverine Blues was still a great album. It may not have been fast but it was still heavy as all hell and punchy enough to be a classic. The title track and others such as Hollowman, Full Of Hell and Out Of Hand, you can’t go wrong with this album.

Suffocation: Pierced From Within: Suffocation released their last album for a long time in 1995. Pierced from within was the best sounding album of their first 3. The production was cleaner and Roadrunner Records was taking off like a bat out of hell. Unfortunately this was almost the end of Suffocation as touring as a death metal band at this time was barely livable income. 9 years later the legacy would begin again.

Fear Factory: Soul Of A New Machine. Before Nu-Metal actually had a name there were bands like NIN and Fear Factory releasing albums in the early 90’s. I don’t think it was until Korn’s self titled release that people started to truly hate what was to become a monster mainstream metal genre. Soul Of A New Machine was just considered a new metal band with their first major label release. Not an album that catapulted them in to the nu-metal world like Demanufacture, but a great album.

Helmet: Meantime. Helmet’s 1992 release introduced a slightly different sound to the metal scene. Coming out of NYC, The post hardcore band still brought a slight hardcore sound to them with stop-and-go riffs that were heavy enough to be called metal and a sound that was still raw enough to keep them out of the mainstream. Most people can only name one song from Helmet, that being Unsung.

Sepultura: Chaos A.D. Another band that was raising the bar with every release was Sepultura. With a consistently small change of sound to each album, Sepultura released, arguably their best album with Chaos A.D. in 1993. This was also a turning point as we saw more down-tuning that ultimately lead to Roots, the worst album of the Cavalera, Sepultura era.

Metal never died during the grunge era and it was never mainstream. Hair metal/glam rock was sort of mainstream, but the metal we love with the ferocity, controversy and darkness was still well underground. If anything Grunge did us a favor by decimating glam and weeding out the bands that weren’t quite good enough to make it. Sadly there were some bands that were good enough but fell to the mass-marketing of grunge. No big label wanted to sign another metal band when grunge was the money maker. Lucky for a lot of metal bands there was still the independent labels like Roadrunner, Metal Blade and Nuclear Blast that knew that grunge was only a fad and believed in their metal bands and fans. Every genre has it’s fads and trends, but sooner or later they die or fade away and the true warriors and torch bearers of that genre keep marching strong. The rest end up on VH1 classics…

(all images: Amazon.com)

Post from: Metal Martyr

Recently I have been forced to upgrade my current music player software (Zune) and although the new software is slightly more stable, I have been less than enthusiastic about it. I recently went to their “marketplace” to check out their selection of metal and was not very surprised that I had to go through the Rock genre to even see metal as an option. If I wanted I could have chosen Dancehall, world or Spoken word two much more well known genres but I guess people just assume that anything with a electric guitar can be classified under the same thing. This kind of pissed me off from the start. I know most places view metal as rock’s bastard child with some guy named Beelzebub, but seriously have we not differentiated ourselves at all from Kelly Clarkson (who was labeled under rock)?

Next I went to the metal sub-genre, and not that I was surprised, but the top ten artists were in this order: Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Korn, Sublime, Queen, Blink-182, Static X, Green Day, And Disturbed. Seriously. Blink 182? Metal.?  What the hell is up with our popular culture? I mean I don’t want metal to be the “in” thing, because if it was I probably wouldn’t like it, but I don’t want people to automatically think that I listen to Blink 182 or Papa roach when i tell them I listen to metal.

What can we as metal heads do to differentiate ourselves? Do we have to kill Papa Roach and Linkin Park and send their bodies to the popular media with notes saying “Real Metal doesn’t give out free maxi pads with concert tickets”? I don’t know, but Fuck… I honestly think this is where black metal came from. People that didn’t want to be associated at all with those soft-rock pussies.

Giles

This got made me curious to see how iTunes handles the same thing. Whenever I go to iTunes. I have never just searched by genre before. At first it was the same thing; I had to go to “Rock”, which brought up some decent names on the page. I don’t know if this is because of the iTunes Genius that looks through my library and kind of matches up similar music or if it’s just like that. Of course there were some of the cock-rock names there too and the top 10 was a rock top ten. I figured I’d just do an outright search of “Heavy Metal”. This brought up quite a bit of relevant artists, but it also brought up a bunch of hair metal bands from the 80’s. Just about everything was called heavy metal back in the 80’s to include Bon Jovi, Poison, Warrant, etc.. Sometimes when I tell people that I listen to metal music they say something like, “Oh, like Poison, Kiss, Guns N Roses?” and I’m forced to give a simple, yet almost snobby “NO!” Most metal fans of today that grew up in that era of metal would like to forget those bands or at least not have them lumped in with the real metal bands. I’d prefer to call them glam rock or whatever, just not metal. I almost prefer it when people think of metal in the totally Satanic and gory way as opposed to glam and cock rock.

So I can feel your pain Giles. I wouldn’t want people to think that Blink 182 is metal any more than the old school punks want Blink 182 lumped in with the “punk” genre. Papa Roach claims they are heavy metal and even said that their new album is their heaviest yet but the new single is as usual, very catchy like an after school special song. I imagine the rest of the album blows too. Some places know the relevance of separating metal from rock just as much as it’s important to separate R&B from Hip Hop. They don’t always get it right but at least they try. What I think the issue is with the sub-genre thing is that media outlets like iTunes and Zune probably never thought about separating them in the first place and if they had to do it now it would take a lot of time to do so.

Metal will always be the bastard child of the music genre and when it has those little spikes where it gets popular for the moment, there will be bands that want to jump on the wagon and ride it until it’s wheels fall off. It just shows how out of touch the corporate media is with heavy metal. It’s also sad that some bands consider themselves metal.

By the way…the killing Papa Roach and Linkin Park thing? Not a bad idea.

(Image: Zune Logo)

Post from: Metal Martyr

Image ©Metal Martyr 2009

Post from: Metal Martyr

Mike from Strait Jacket Union, a newer metal blog, wrote an article about some of his favorite metal songs that feature keyboard. Strait Jacket Union is just making tracks on the metal blogosphere, but is worth checking out and adding to your RSS. One of the favorites on Mike’s list is Firewind’s Breaking The Silence from Alligiance, featuring Tara Teresa. He doesn’t forget to mention that Tara is a beautiful woman, as you can see from the video below.

Post from: Metal Martyr

• Byzantine breaks up…3 days after they release Oblivion Beckons.
• Light This City break up before releasing the last record.
• Arsis changes members more than their underwear.
• The Black Dahlia Murder lose a guitarist…steals one from Arsis.
• Phil Demmel of Machine Head passes out twice on stage.
• DJ Sid from Slipknot breaks both of his feet…keeps on trucking.
• Joey Jordison breaks an ankle, cancels UK shows.
• Nachmystium gets booted from the Opeth tour for undisclosed shenanigans.
• Kristen Randal shows her boobs…and they’re only slightly better than Amy Winehouse’s.
• Winds Of Plague drummer Jeff Tenney abruptly leaves the band mid-tour. Says he’s tired of seeing Kristen Randall’s boobs.
• Gwen Stacey singer Bobby Oakley leaves the band…cites that he’s going to sing for Mary Jane Watson.

• All That Remains Cancels remaining US tour dates Thanksgiving week due to vocal issues with Phil Labonte.
• Gorgorath’s Gaahl almost, slightly, kind of admits that he is a homosexual.
• Axl Rose released Chinese Democracy.
• Scar Symmetry loses a singer…hires two more.
• Metallica released an album that wasn’t really all that bad.
• Divine Heresy fires Tommy Cummings and an alleged assault takes place later on.
• Tommy Cummings is hired by funk-metal band Snot to fill the shoes of the late, great Lynn Strait. (That was a totally unintentional rhyme)
• Limp Bizkit reunion rumors float around…for a day.
• Celtic Frost break up again.
• Gas prices rise to over $5.00 a gallon and bands start to drop off tours left and right.

The list goes on but these are just the ones I could think of right now. If you can think of some more, please feel free to fill it in the comments section. Other than that, it’s been a great year in metal. 2009 can only get better!

Post from: Metal Martyr

I kind of touched base on this before and I really hate to do it again but I’m going to anyway. This article is also going to be all over the place and my spelling might suck and my grammar may be worse, so just bare with me. And just to warn you…this is a bit long because I wanted to explain everything without someone jumping in my sh*t before understanding it. However I’m sure there are some people that will only read a bit and start rapping their fingers, typing up a flaming comments.

Last Friday I posted a press release on Soulidium front-man getting permanent fangs and him saying “Fangs are the new Tattoo.” I though this was a stupid statement because most of the time when someone gets a tattoo it has meaning and other times it’s because they liked the design or art. Piercing are the same way. Do I believe that you can take it too far? Yes and no. I say yes because some people think that getting a tattoo makes you more metal and the more tattoos you have the more metal you look. Some get all sorts of flash tattoo and sleeve up their arms to “better” their image as a rock star. Tattoos can be kind of addictive as well as piercing’s. Not in addictive way that crack, meth, or heroin can get you but in a way where you get one and just want another one. To some people it’s guitars, some cars and some…tattoos and/or piercing’s. Some like the pain of enduring a piercing or tattoo. Some get these to express themselves. 

Self-expression. They say silence speaks louder than words. True in a sense but nothing says “I’m starving for attention” like going overboard with your “Self-expression” like trying to look like a human leopard…or in this case Nosferatu. I have tattoos and I’ve had piercing’s. Tattoos can be covered to an extent and piercing’s can be removed. However permanent is permanent. A bit more on the permanent thing is to comer a bit further down so keep reading before you spout off at the mouth.

So do you have to have tattoos, piercing’s, and/or fangs to express that you’re into metal music? No…god no. In fact I have found that people around you will gain more interest in metal music when they have no idea that you are a metal-head and finds out later. Let’s face it, when someone that doesn’t listen to metal thinks of a metal head they think of long hair tattoos, piercing’s, etc. Why? Because that’s what they see on TV and movies. That’s what they have seen in other places. When they find out that you’re in to metal they actually have a thought that maybe it’s just not as bad as it’s made out to be, which we know it’s not.

Why do so many people feel they have to wear a “Metal uniform”? I think that is why metal has grown so much over the past few years because a lot of bands have changed and just started focusing on the music instead of the look. Sometimes when you over-do it and try too hard to look metal you end up looking like a poser. Most will see this when they grow a little older. When you are younger it is all about trends and the look. Some of you may be saying “I’m not trendy!” Take a look at yourself, your friends, the people you hang around and some of the bands you look up to. Are you wearing similar clothing? If you answered “Yes” then you’re trendy. It may not be the same trend as the people that you don’t conform to but you are still conforming to a trend. Is this bad? Not really, it’s human nature.

Now look at things in a performance and entertainment point of view. Bands like Kiss, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Gwar and countless Black Metal bands. They hold true to entertainment gimmicks (I hate to call it that) or stage props such as make-up, masks etc.. They do it for entertainment value. It works for them, but they don’t go hanging at the local bar, or out with their families and friends dressed in their stage gear. They shed it and enjoy life off stage. I honestly thought the days of dressing like vampires and zombies was over years ago. Marilyn Manson still dresses like his stage-self when he goes to events and such but I seriously doubt that he dresses like that on his days off when he’s out and about the world. I think we have all gone through phases in our lives when we try to be something we’re not and sometimes realize it soon enough before looking like a total ass, like the millions of “gangsta” kids that know nothing about the “Thug Life”. Dressing the look they see on MTV or BET and talking the talk and would probably end up pissing themselves if they got dropped off in “Da hood”.

I went through a very short phases when I was 19. I got into The Misfits because of a friend. I really dug the old Misfits stuff and liked the new Misfits material and went to a few shows. And I also started to get into some Old School Punk. I started to try dressing the look within reason but soon realized that I was starting to look like a poser like all the other wannabe punks, so I just went back to being my metal-head self because I never really abandoned metal and the I never grew up during the old school punk scene so why bother trying to be something I’m not. I had a co-worker in the Marines that said to me “You don’t have to look the look in order to enjoy the music because in the end that’s what it’s all about.” He said “I like gangster rap, but I’m not a gangsta so why try to look like one.” That kind of helped my young, ignorant mind absorb it and after that I promised myself that I would never again be or look like that which I hated…a poser.

I don’t know how many times this has to be said. You don’t have to go overboard trying to make yourself look metal. You can enjoy the music, style and attitude all the same by being yourself. You go to metal shows and you see all sorts of people young and old, clean cut and rough cut. It doesn’t matter anymore what you look like. Be yourself. I’m not telling anyone how to dress, do what you want to do but if your trying to get attention then don’t go crying about it when it’s the type of attention you don’t want. The kid that was wearing the Cradle Of Filth t-shirt with the masturbating nun, calling Jesus a cunt wanted attention, that’s why he bought the shirt. He got attention, but it was from the cops. I don’t think he should have been arrested for it, but he got the effect he was going for. Shock Factor. The cop was shocked and offended and arrested him. In my personal opinion t-shirts like this should be better left to wear at shows, not on the street where young children can see them. If you offend a priest, cop or an adult that is one thing, but young children do not need to be exposed to masturbating nuns and/or the word cunt. When you have kids you will understand.

If you’re just a fan of metal you will grow out of “The Look” eventually. Take a lesson from the Yuppies. Who are the Yuppies? Yuppies are hippies that grew up after the scene had died out. They realized that community living and living as a hippie could only take them and their families so far. So they cleaned themselves up and most of them got corporate jobs and some make 6 figures. Do they still listen to their hippie music? I bet they do. They realized that in order to make a solid living that you sometimes have to conform a little and actually work hard. They also hold true to their hippie ways and values without having to look the look. When you get out of high school or college you’re going to want to find a good job. If you start a family you need stable income. Most places will not hire someone that looks like the poster child for Hot Topic or Vampirefreaks.com.

Now remember what I said about the permanent thing? Have fun while you’re young, get tattoos and piercing’s and have fun, but sometimes you need to know where to stop if you don’t have a guaranteed shot at being a professional musician, roadie, tattoo artist etc.. Sadly we live in a world where you will be judged on your outward appearance. Everybody does it and you can not tell yourself that you have never judged someone that way at one time or another. You try not to but you still do. When you get tattoos it’s not a bad idea to know where to stop, like below the neckline and above the wrist line. Tattoos on faces do not impress employers and will ultimately look really bad when you grow old. As far as piercing’s go, most will close up or at least shrink back to a normal size when jewelry is taken out. When you have huge gauge rings and loops in your ear like a native African or South Americans (don’t ask me what tribes), and you decide to take them out, your ears, nose and lips don’t quite shrink back in to place and when you’re 60 years old your grandchildren may hang Christmas ornaments on you’re face when you’re sleeping. People too often think about the now and not the then. Yes, please, live for the moment but don’t forget that you won’t be young forever. You can stay young in your mind but your body will eventually start to sag, bloat, shrink, whatever. Like I said, I’m not trying to tell anyone what to do. Just give it some thought before impulse takes over and you regret it later.

Image details: International Tattoo Convention served by picapp.com

In closing, I’m still fairly young at 32. I don’t feel I have to prove to anyone how “Metal” I am or how true to the scene I am. I’m a metal-head through and through and I don’t have to dress like Dimebag Darrell, Kerry King or Alexi Laiho to make a statement. I just have to be me and enjoy the music. In the end, everything else will die off just as any other trend does, but the music will always be there.

Post from: Metal Martyr

ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET, the Swedish band featuring  former THE CROWN vocalist Johan Lindstrand, has set Grim Tales as the title of its third album, due October/November via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will be recorded beginning on June 1 at the Black Lounge Studios in Avesta, Sweden with producer Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY).

Commented Lindstrand: “Grim Tales is starting to shape up. Rehearsals are going great and time is ticking towards a nice studio session. We are fully prepared to make the best possible ARMY album yet and at the end of this year we will prove that to you all. We can’t wait to unleash this monster upon you all. So check it out when it’s done, will ya?!”

Grim Tales projected track listing (in no particular order):
01. Misfit With A Machinegun
02. Cursed By The Knife
03. Saint Lucifer
04. Bastards Of Monstrosity
05. Dominator Of The Flesh
06. A Date With Suicide
07. Make Them Die Slowly
08. Bonebreaker Propaganda
09. The Frisco Reaper
10. Death Makes It All Go Away

ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET vocalist Johan Lindstrand recently issued the following update:

“We want to thank all of those who sent their guitarist applications to us. There were like 50 people applying for the job but of course there can be only one. Cool dedicated people from all around the globe showed interest. You know who you are!! THANK YOU!!!

“Although it seems like the whole planet wants to play with us we have decided to get a guy that lives nearby and is able to hang out with us as well as rehearse on regular basis. A guy that we knew from before and that has helped us out on several occasions with different ARMY-related stuff. The guy is named Mattias Bolander and is a great choice for us. He is extremely talented as well as a great friend and is 110% dedicated in what we do. May he be happy and healthy in the ARMY for a long long time.”

One Man Army’s Myspace

One Man Army Official Website

Image Source: One Man Army’s Official Website

Post from: Metal Martyr

Kolossus, the new album from Norwegian metallers KEEP OF KALESSIN, is available for streaming in its entirety at the band’s MySpace page. Due in Europe on June 6 and in North America on June 10, the CD will feature the following track listing:

01. Origin
02. A New Empire’s Birth
03. Against The Gods
04. The Rising Sign
05. Warmonger
06. Escape The Union
07. The Mark Of Power
08. Kolossus
09. Ascendant

In addition, Kolossus will include a BONUS DVD that will include live sets, album and band documentary, behind the scenes, and other killer material that only you’ll be able to watch by purchasing the album!

For more info on Keep Of Kalessin click on the links below

• Keep Of Kalessin Myspace
• Keep Of Kalessin Official Website

You can pre-order Kolossus Here

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

In the metal industry these days, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. What I mean is that metal fans are never satisfied one way or another. Through all the changes that have gone through metal over the year, there is always something that aggravates us as fans. Let me explain…

In the beginning all metal was created equal. Through innovation and evolution it has changed in order to keep thriving and satisfying the fans hunger for something bigger and better. As thrash and speed metal started to get big, a big fat, wet, cat crawled out of a trash can and glam rock was born. Glam rock took over the scene and metal as we knew it was put in the shadows for the moment. We still knew it was there and supported it but it wasn’t so much in the public eye. When it was it was always a bad thing like some schmuck off-ing his best friend while listening to his favorite metal band, while glam rock probably spread more STD’s than a big city crack whore. Men looked like women, pants were tighter than a most women’s, yet these guys were seeing more ass than a proctologist. Am I jealous? Nah. It was time for something new though. Even glam rock fans were getting bored and very tired of choking on Aquanet fumes.

Grunge suddenly became the staple food for music fans. Torn jeans were a fashion statement, guys stopped shaving and washing their hair or bathing in general. You were either depressed or just playing the roll. That didn’t last very long until it was named “alternative”. It was a slowly dying cow. Alternative is still here and there but not nearly as big as it was back then and probably never will be again.

Punk re-emerged in a new pop kind of form. The new “punks” were instrument extraordinares. They knew how to play their instruments and sing well. But it wasn’t fooling the old school metal-heads. The ones that saw punk die. They knew that 99.9% of these guys were posers. It was quite obvious. Metal needed something new still. Even though in the mid to late 80’s a different kind of metal had emerged out of Florida called “Death” metal. This was more underground and controversial because of the lyrics and cover art on records and often incomprehensible deep, growling, throaty vocals . Some liked it and some didn’t.

As the “punk” scene had it ups and downs (Mostly downs) a new kind of metal was forming. A new metal that sometimes had turn tables, tuned down guitars, and even rapping. A New kind of metal called…Nu-metal. To me it was something new and different. I wasn’t into the bands that did a lot of rapping like Linkin Park. It was tried before and still lives a bit with Hardcore bands like Biohazzard, but Biohazzard did the hardcore/rap (not hardcore rap) thing well. Some metal fans turned a deaf ear to Nu-metal. Even if you fit the nu-metal bill but still had a bad ass metal sound you were still called names and mocked. While bands like Korn, Nothingface, and Slipknot had hard and heavy sounds people still hated them. Nu-metal is kind of still alive but the bands that were big knew they would need to change their sound a bit in order to survive.

The late 90’s started to bring metal back out of the shadows. Hardcore started to be seen more as well as metal and a hybrid called metal-core was born. Metal was getting bigger and the record labels saw it and started to sign every stinking band that fit ‘metal’. Metal genres of all sorts started forming from other forms of hybrid genres making the even more variety in the scene

Today there are a shit-load of metal bands on the scene. Some of them are barely worthy of the ‘metal’ label and some of them are just plain garbage. As metal fans we say stuff like “Cookie Monster” vocals and chuggah-chuggah guitars. We always say we want something new but talk about the good ole days of thrash. A few bands come on the scene playing that good ole thrash sound and suddenly we’re ass backwards complaining about it. Metal fans are such a mix of opinions and we can never agree on the same thing. Some like it tuned down and crunchy and some like it melodic with high pitched squealing solos. Some like the vocals deep and raw sounding and some like them clean and cut. Some like the bottom end heavy, some like it to mix perfectly and not over powering. I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

As metal fans we’re all different. If we all liked the same exact thing we would be the same bunch of dumb-ass, trend following bunch of zombies that the rest of them are. I like what metal has become. What the fans have become. Sure we still get the fans that think they are hardcore or the karate moshers making fools of themselves in the pits but that’s expected. The real fans help each other out in the pits. You may get hurt but that’s part of the pit. Luckily in a lot of venues security can spot out douche bags that cause trouble and escort them out.

Metal is bigger now than it has ever been, no matter what anyone says. It may not be all over the media like Hip-Hop or pop, but it’s there and growing. Enjoy it for what it’s worth. Keep bitchin, keep complaining, keep name calling. It’s normal. But at the same time keep raising your fists to the sky and supporting your favorite bands no matter who does or doesn’t like them. Once you start hating or liking someone or thing just because someone else does….you’ve become one of THEM! Metal fans are never satisfied. We keep the standard high and that’s why metal will never die!

Post from: Metal Martyr