The Metal Advisor

Re: lamb of god No, no. I didn't interpret it that way at all. You're fine. Man, where is the thumbs up icon when I need it? @Apoca: There are some bands that have done the groove metal thing "right" (or at least that I like). What's "right" is subjective anyway. You may want to check out Overkill's Killbox 13 because it is absolutely fantastic. I think you will like it. I'm glad the 'kill has recent returned to thrash metal, however.

Re: Iced Earth ^ Contrary to the popular opinion on Iced Earth, I liked Ripper in the band the best. Sadly, Iced Earth has been on a downward slide for a number of years. A shame really because Schaffer used to write some really epic riffs.

Re: Morbid Angel I adore the first record, as well as Covenant.

Re: lamb of god I mean the chugga chugga groove. We can thank Pantera for that whole mess. Nah, if you like it, more power to you.

Re: What Are You Listening To? Saori@destiny - "Collage" Sounds like a club through my audio setup and Ultrasone Pro 900s.

Re: lamb of god More accurately a fusion of groove metal and metalcore.

Re: Shit Music Nice point on how pop music changes, but many, many songs have had that same simple structure for years. *once again shrugs* There's even metal that uses simple structure. There's really nothing wrong with it because not everyone aims to be overly "progressive" or has a desire to compose a lengthy song with tons of sections and musical directions. Of course, you could make the argument that many pop artists don't write their music, which is very true. On the other hand, some are actually quite talented and write their own material. All it really boils down to is personal musical preference. You like modern pop, you don't like modern pop. *shrugs yet again* But yes, I took an electronic music class in high school, and I was taught any music made for enjoyment was called "pop" music. Music that was made to be broaden a genre by introducing something new or to be innovative was referred to as "art" music. I don't know that I always agreed with that, but it does have a point. I'm glad you like electronic music. I thought you were taking a swipe at it when you said some artists don't even use real instruments. You'll have to excuse me on that one.

Re: New here Hey now, I don't like the majority of metalcore, deathcore, etc. either, but I'm not about call it poser garbage. It's not cool to rag on someone's music preference. Anyway, welcome. Have fun cruisin' around the forum. I hope to see you around quite often.

Re: Ban the user above you! Banned for calling me stupid.

Re: Electronic At the moment, I'm really into Capsule, a Japanese electronic duo. They putz around in many of the electronic subgenres. This is probably their most well-known track, if you can even say they're well known. LA37DbXmx9E Some other great tracks... SRQT5J7Ju_Q FHRFDmE9snI 9uI3CsXIE2A _TNZaaQ6Ekc

Re: Ban the user above you! Banned for being stupid. I hope you don't take this seriously...

Re: Shit Music Hehe, just logged in! Like I said, most pop is very superficial with pretty much no change from song to song. Some people who listen to mainstream music like repetition, little variation, and a familiar sound. Pop provides that. I don't see the reason to be angry about the song structures either as it's a typical pop song structure. *shrugs* Just listen to something else. Pop is like any other mass produced media. People want something that requires little to no focus to listen to, and they often want to hum along with catchy lyrics (Of course you're not going to see extended instrumental sections. Duh.). It's not going to be incredibly deep or complicated, and it isn't going to appeal to all "real" music lovers. Edit: Also, there is nothing wrong with electronic music. Don't you diss that.

Re: Shit Music What you're describing is typical of American pop. I'm pretty big fan of electropop from another culture (e.g. not American pop), and the groups I listen to aren't in that vein. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist though; it's just uncommon. However, I vaguely recall seeing an "underground" artist that was a bit suggestive. Underground for a reason, no? Since we're past that, listeners could be singing along with a catchy melody mindlessly. I've seen it plenty of times. Hell, my sister sings along with pop lyrics that I find rather distasteful, and she doesn't think any of it. She isn't letting pop do the thinking for her either. It's just a subconscious thing for her based on a simple melody. In the end, it's largely a superficial form of music produced for the masses (I'm not going to make any generalizations here by saying all). Of course it isn't going to have any depth and meaning. It's going to support what sells and always will: sex. For the record, I loathe American pop, so I'm with you there. But you should chill out, Iceni. You sound like a bitter old man. Music will be music, no matter how much you dislike it. (Personally, I think this thread is stupid. I'm not going to rag on music I don't like. It just ain't my taste. Simple as that.)

Re: Katy Perry - With Power Metal If you're listening to pop for lyrics you're doing it wrong. In all seriousness though: I know it might seem a bit odd to say underground pop, but there might be an artist out there that has meaningful and/or has decent lyrics. You never know.

Re: Guilty Metal Pleasures I don't have a guilty pleasure, metal or otherwise. I like what I like and have no regrets about it.

Re: Jackyl You're right. Jackyl isn't a metal band, but rather a great hard rock band. Love 'em. Jesse James Dupree is a heck of a vocalist.

Re: What Are You Listening To? Capsule - "Reality"

Re: Katy Perry - With Power Metal I did a metal cover of this song for a theater class last year in college. It's actually a very fun song to metalize.

It would be nice to see some love for this album other than the little bit I've given it. ------------- It's always puzzled me how much hate Kreator's Endorama gets. I won't argue that it wasn't a complete change in style from their normal, revered material. In fact, nearly all '90s era Kreator experimented with different sounds, and largely deviated away from thrash metal roots. Sometimes experimentation can be a success, though most of time it results in an outrage of sorts from fans (see Morbid Angel's newest record for an example of a failure). For the most part, I view Kreator's various sound changes as a victory, particularly this album. It's safe to say Endorama is a hook-filled journey through the realms of hard rock, skillfully infused with gothic influences. The album does have at least two metal tracks called "Shadowland" and "Soul Eraser," but that's the closest you're going to get to a thrash metal sound. Endorama marked the return of Ventor who was responsible for bashing the skins on the band's deservedly labeled golden age material, so a good majority of Kreator's fans were hoping for a true return to form. Well, crap. I guess I just answered my own question there. Silly me, that's why some fans dislike it so much. Anyway, the hooks scattered throughout this album are quite sublime and really aren't characteristic of Kreator in any way, shape, or form. You're not going to find aggressive chorus lines and verses here, but rather (dare I say) pop-influenced catchiness that's just downright infectious. You shouldn't fret though, as this isn't outright pop; it merely rivals the genre in memorability and sensibility. The usual Kreator fan will likely argue Endorama is watered-down comparative to Terrible Certainty, Coma of Souls, Pleasure to Kill, and other fabulous work from the German thrashers. However, in typical fashion, I'd like to counter that. It's perfectly acceptable to conclude the music on this record is generally more simplistic in nature, but to discard it on a level of "Oh, well this isn't as fast" or "This doesn't have any double bass" is pretty darn laughable, not to mention unfair. And yes, according to my recollection I have seen those used as "arguments." In any case, this album isn't the slightest watered-down in the area of song writing. It's actually really tough to write a decent hook, let alone one that has the sensibility of pop, and then shoehorn it into a metal song. As a general rule of thumb, metal fused with pop is pretty crappy and usually not really metal in any sense either. Taking a listen to Endorama, you'll find this record isn't even trying to be metal, which is a huge plus in my book. There are some very nice guitar solos littered across the album's landscape as well, so we clearly haven't lost anything there. Ventor's drumming is toned down and more subdued, a total surprise to me, and Mile's vocals are often whispered, at times closer to actual singing as opposed to his normal bark. I suppose Kreator does have a softer, welcoming side. We just don't get to see it much. It would be travesty for me to hide the fact that this is one of my favorite Kreator albums. No, I'm not an older, been-there-since-the-band's-inception devotee, but I do indeed favor the quartet's golden age material over the experimentation period (1992 - 1999) and modern age albums (2001 and on) just like those fans. If this record didn't have the Kreator moniker on the cover, I'm willing to bet people would be all over it, metal fans or not. Now here's an idea: how about we give it the attention it deserves? Just make sure you delve into this album with an open mind. This is still Kreator, albeit a wee bit different. -TMA See the original post @ The Metal Advisor with my favorite track "Tyranny" here: http://metaladvisor.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-you-hatin-bro-tma-takes-look-at.html

Re: What Are You Listening To? Agalloch - "She Painted Fire Across the Skyline Part 2"

Re: Metal Forum Mascot I have some ideas for the Gothic theme, but let me throw them into the melting pot for a bit. I'll get back to you.

Re: What Are You Listening To? Dark Hall - "Changing Weather"

Re: Metal Forum Mascot My bad. I didn't even see it. I wondered what everyone was referring to. To be honest, I'm impressed with your skills. It looks quite good. I think the orc/orgre/beast is perfect for a stereotypical power metal fantasy concept, but it could probably use some major tweaking for other metal themes. On the whole though, it looks great.

Re: Metal Forum Mascot Apologies for the late response. I've been busy lately. I assume you mean for stoner metal, so I think the dude smoking a joint would be fine. It would be neat if he was gathered around a turntable with mascots from other metal bands (for example: Eddie from Maiden or Chaly from Overkill). It would be like the old days when people met up to shoot the breeze and put their favorite records on. Of course, we might run into copyright issues from bands if we did that, but I don't see why fan art of other mascots couldn't work. Just a thought.

Re: Metal Forum Mascot ^ It's supposed to be funny. Lighten up!