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

One of Minor Threats great hits was Guilty Of Being White. Guilty of Being White was about hated merely for being white because of the white races tainted past of slavery, bigotry and the murderous ways of the KKK. Now I’m not saying that such things as bigotry and prejudice don’t exist in this day and age because they do. You’d be a fool to say that everything is fine in the world of race relations today. They spoke out about not blaming every white person for the history of some of our idiotic forefathers. It’s like Jews blaming every German of today for holocaust events.

Minor Threat also screamed out about religion in Filler, alcoholic violence in Bottled Violence, straight edge ways in Straight Edge, Out Of Step and In My Eyes, Self Pity in Sob Story, and Napoleonistic bastards in Small Man, Big Mouth.

Although their recording history is short Minor Threat did enough in the short time they were on the scene to make an impact in the world of Hardcore and Punk. While aforementioned bands like Bad Religion are still carrying a dimming torch, the world of hardcore/punk is still slightly alive and kicking. Hardcore metal and Metalcore (kind of both the same but not really) have lit a new torch and carry it high with more mainstream bands such as Hatebreed, As I Lay Dying, All That Remains and a boatload of other bands, but there is still a huge underground following in major cities such as L.A., N.Y, Boston, and Chicago just to name a few. Where there are hard knocks there is always hardcore.

Now back to Minor Threat for a moment. There is not that many full-length albums out there of Minor Threat, mostly EP’s because that’s all a lot of bands of this type could afford to do back then . What you will find online and at some major record stores and I’m sure some smaller ones is Minor Threat Complete Discography. The complete discography consists of 26 Minor Threat hits. Not much of a discography, I know but an amazing short career of an amazing band. If you every get a chance and are interested in the world of old School Hardcore/Punk I would highly suggest Minor Threat The Complete Discography. It never hurts to expand your mind in the world of music and see where some of your favorite bands got their influence from.

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

Anyway, UA is a collection of cover songs from Punk, Straight Edge and Cross-over bands like D.I., D.R.i, Minor Threat, T.S.O.L and Jeff Hanneman’s side project. Even if you don’t like any of those genres I can almost guarantee if your a Slayer fan you will like Undisputed Attitude. Gemini being the only original on the record is a great Slayer tune and is said to have been excluded from Divine Intervention. Short to say the least, I think this is shorter than Reign In Blood. Fast, brutal and to the point.

Below is a link to Amazon and a Youtube.com video of Slayer playing Gemini live at 1998’s Monster Of Rock. Enjoy

Slayer Undisputed Attitude At Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

Back in the days before the internet, it was very difficult to get your name out there and get signed. You had to go on the road and gig every small venue you could and when you hit the bigger places you could only hope there would be someone there that would have connections and put a good word in for you to a decent label. When this happened the band would often get a recording contract with a signing bonus. They would be required to do so many records and the record company would send them on tour and promote the hell out of them. Most of the time the band would not receive much money from the tours or record sales and would blow their bonus on all sorts of drugs and crap, leaving them broke and looking stupid.

When metal became big in the record industry back in the early 80’s, the record exec’s were signing bands left and right trying to milk their cash cow. Some bands made it big cause they were talented and had a good sound and some…would not. The record label would take a loss and the band would be history. It happened over and over through each of the big genres of rock in the last 30 years. Glam rock and grunge had their days and burned out quick, You still have your fans but the scene just isn’t there anymore. But there is one thing that is completely undeniable. METAL has never died! Glam rock died, grunge died, punk died but got resurrected into an even more annoying punk, BUT METAL HAS NEVER DIED. We have had our low points but never would it become an issue that metal would die out.

Now on to the solution the geniuses at the record industry came up with. Like the 80’s cash cows, the record industry has now decided that since they are not selling as many records, they will sign every crappy band that plays a power chord. Now I’m not knockin’ power chords, I am a power chord fiend. I’m just saying that they will sign just about anyone with a spark of talent. Even if that talent is not original or exciting. They sign all these bands, give them a contract but don’t give them big signing bonuses anymore. They then have to tour every crappy collaboration tour, exhausting themselves, just to make another crappy record to fulfill their contract and fizzle out after a few years.

What I’m getting to is this: Too many bands get signed too easily. Polluting the airwaves and cable tv shows with their garbage, cookie cutter sound of blast beats, noodling guitars and wanna-be death metal vocals. And on top of all of that, a new sub-genre starts every two minutes because of this crap. Perhaps this phase will burn out after a few years. The dust will settle and the bands with the best sound and talent will still be standing in the ashes of this sh*t-storm. We can only hope…

Post from: Metal Martyr