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InfinityZero

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Everything posted by InfinityZero

  1. I know I'm being subjective, I hope it's not coming across like I think religion needs to be criticized in metal lyrics or it isn't metal--I'm just saying that the ideologies in metal are what tend to make things like religion, politics etc get criticized or opposed. So I guess I should re-phrase. It's necessary for metal to continue to be a subversive music genre, and so naturally it's going to take a position of challenge when it deals with things about society.
  2. I didn't mention a specific religion because it's up to the individual band, I guess. What I'm saying is that all mainstream systems and ideas are rebelled against in metal throughout the different genres, so it's natural and fitting that religion falls under fire in metal so often, like political systems do.
  3. By protest, I didn't necessarily mean outright political protest in the lyrics. I think that metal created a unique forum of rebellion just through its sound and style if not through its ideology, in a similar way that avant-garde artists of the 1800s created a way of challenging the status quo by messing with tradition and rules of composition, etc. Speaking of religious metal bands, I tend to see that they too are attempting a sort of protest, a challenge to the norm. For example, Christian black metal bands are challenging the idea that black metal must be Satanic, which is in its own way rebellious. Other Christian metal bands write lyrics about how the world is evil but they will hold strong to their beliefs (early Black Sabbath songs like Into the Void and Wall of Sleep were like that), which although I don't agree with it from a religious point of view, is still rebellious in intent. About escapism/protest, I do see it as a way of a musician saying that there can be a more interesting or better life that isn't uber-modern/structured. It's similar to the way the primitivist/impressionist painters were against the idea of modernity and hierarchical social order.
  4. Again, though, you're making an assumption of the motives of people who listen to pop metal bands. I listened to a lot of Slipknot, Linkin Park and other nu/metalcore bands when I was first getting into metal as a little kid, and I still listen to Disturbed/Rammstein every once in a while. Besides, what about bands considered 'true' but at the same time are very commercial in terms of sales? Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Morbid Angel, Megadeth are all very high sellers, for example (and it's usually their earlier albums that make the money, like Covenant with Morbid Angel or Peace Sells with Megadeth). But anyway, when I listened to these bands I was still into heavy metal for the fact that it was heavier, faster and far more unique than music I'd heard before, and it touched me in a very personal way. For example, I was heavily bullied as a kid and I could really relate to Slipknot's super-angry early albums. I don't think that made me a poser--it just meant I hadn't been exposed to the rest of what metal had to offer. But I suppose I can agree with you in part about the Guitar Hero thing, but the reason I can't fully agree is that I honestly wasn't into Slayer or Metallica until after I heard some of their songs on Guitar Hero, and the same thing happened with my brother and his friends. Although we were already into metal, just not familiar with those particular bands, so I guess that's part of the reason we still listen to the genre. I suppose that the people who liked a song or two off Guitar Hero and then didn't pursue metal past that were just very casual listeners, but I've never seen anyone totally take up metal style and aesthetic and just drop it later. I guess that happened a lot in the 80s when everyone listened to Iron Maiden and Guns 'n' Roses? I wasn't around for that, though.
  5. Based on the original post, there seems to be a presumption that people listen to metal for reasons other than the music in the first place. I've honestly never encountered anyone who listened to metal for it's style or something. I have, however, seen a lot of people who say they love metal and listen to Linkin Park/Slipknot etc called 'posers' for genuinely liking that pop side of metal, which I think is ridiculous. I think I'd prefer these 'posers' to purists anyway (unless they can't handle my disliking the aforementioned pop bands )
  6. BlutAusNerd, I'm curious as to why you agree about Slayer's poor writing in RiB (despite their having good riffs here and there) but disagree when it comes to Darkthrone, who pretty much have the same problem balancing riffs and songwriting. Of course, repetition can be used well when variances are subtly layered in (Burzum's 25-minute track of Filosofem is a good example, as are a lot of black metal bands' longer tracks), but I just don't think Dark Throne do it with any sort of depth or creativity and the atmosphere that they're trying to emphasize so much badly suffers for it. I haven't actually heard Blaze, so I can't honestly say it's bad too, but I do own Panzerfaust on vinyl, so I'm pretty familiar with it. I actually reviewed it on Spirit of Metal. It's an okay album, but again, it doesn't go much beyond being pretty standard black metal. Plus, I hate how all the instruments go down in volume every time the vocals come in throughout that album. It's incredibly obnoxious and amateur. I do like the song Sno og Granskog, though. And speaking of Darkthrone, I actually like Fenriz and Satyr's side-project, Storm, a lot better.
  7. Makes sense. I guess I'll continue being devil's advocate and ask why people like Linkin Park (not that I'll attack people for responding, but it could be a good place to take the conversation)
  8. Well, about RiB, Slayer threw out any hint of nuance and songwriting in favour of being as fast and obnoxious as possible for no reason, making RIB a self-parody of extreme music up to that point. It was like thrash metal for cavemen. Although admittedly, I do like Angel of Death. But seriously, listen to RIB again and pay special attention to the guitar solos there as opposed to the ones in Hell Aways or Show No Mercy, and you'll see what I mean about musicianship. And because a lot of metalheads loved the shit out of it, they copied it ad infinitum and a lot of terrible thrash come from it as a result. Darkthrone, for the most part, specialize in taking great black metal riffs and repeating them so much that you never want to hear them again. Almost every song in UAFM sound the same in terms of tone and atmosphere, there's very little variation of ideas or progression that was so well-used in other black metal bands at the time. I suppose the stuff from UAFM is alright if it's heard one song per sitting, but listening to 40+ minutes of it in one go is pretty hard to take. It's like they're the black metal version of Cannibal Corpse. (Except they changed their formula several times throughout their career with the death metal beginnings (Soulside Journey is still my favourite album of theirs) and their crust-punk (still haven't listened to that stuff, though).
  9. I absolutely adore this album cover as well, and the artist. I heard he got stabbed to death a few years ago?
  10. Yes, for the ethos and philosophy of metal, religion bashing is necessary. I see heavy metal as an 'anti' movement to begin with, a rebellious medium through which people express discontent with authority, power and the status quo. Religion is the epitome of these things and from that perspective it makes total sense to want to rebel against it and call it out for the hate-mongering, mind-controlling system that it has been throughout history. Of course, this doesn't equate to outright Satanism (a lot of black/pagan/folk metalheads will tell you that Satan and the devil are also Judeo-Christian concepts and therefore reject that as well). Bands like Black Sabbath are heavily Christian in themes and lyrics as well, despite leanings towards the occult and subversive use of things like the tri-tone and free-form style sections of their earlier records. If metal is not protesting or creating a subversive language or at the very least catering to escapism, it comes off as weak and limp-wristed.
  11. Reign in Blood, the Black Album, and Under a Funeral Moon are terrible albums.
  12. Ugh, the white letters are going to keep me from writing too much then. A few posts and it hurts me to blink. Oh, I'm not saying Cannibal Corpse are good--their issue is that they're sterile. I'm just saying, they haven't compromised since day one. But, speaking of Carcass, I guess it helps my point. They made something quite different with Heartwork and Swansong that risked alienating their previous audience and making less money, but they did it because they wanted it. But their audience flipped out and accused them of selling out when what they really did was the polar opposite. It's sort of like with Opeth. They release virtually the same album over and over and when they make something different like Damnation or Heritage (obviously for personal interest as opposed to money), the fans buy less of their stuff,yet accuse them of selling out and metal heresy. Morbid Angel's most financially-successful album is Covenant with Altars a close second, yet it's considered the purest while their less-successful albums like the weird sludge metal album or that new one that everyone (including me) hates are considered sell-out. I guess what I'm getting at is, the term 'sell-out' is thrown around in a really odd way in metal circles.
  13. I certainly have gotten into Pyha (South Korea) Murmuure (France), Black Cilice (Portugal) and Panopticon (America) recently.And I know they're relatively well-known, but I really love Urfaust and Leviathan, who are both quite unique (Leviathan's originality is more condensed into the album Tentacles of Whorror and Massive Conspiracy Against all Life, though).
  14. I think it depends on what people define as metal, or the subgenre of metal for that matter. Metallica is still a massive seller, as are bands like Slipknot and Disturbed (although I guess they broke up). So some metal does have mainstream appeal, though most sub-genres (like black metal, doom metal) don't. But since those extreme forms of metal tend to aim to stay somewhat outside the mainstream, I think that it's good that they're not selling millions of copies and making MTV videos. And I agree with Woutjinho. Just because a band sells a lot doesn't make them sell-outs. I don't think Cannibal Corpse ever sold out, and look at how many CDs they sell. Also, I'm new here. Is there any reason why I have to type white letters onto a white backdrop? It's torture on my eyes.
  15. Thank Christ I'm not the only one. I joined this site for metal discussion, so I got kinda baffled as soon as I saw Linkin Park in the threads.
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