welkyn

So I've just finished and released the first full-length for this project: "Celtic Legends Volume 1", including some old, mostly new material. Definitely for fans of epic, folkish metal. https://storrsson.bandcamp.com/album/celtic-legends-volume-1

Portuguese BM has always been solid, as far as I've listened. They had the best take on the whole "DSBM" thing too, much preferable to me compared to the American style... Digging the Irae album so far, I'll listen to the others when I have time! Here's my contribution to the Portuguese scene, haha - I did vocals with this guy for some of his releases:

That's a good list man Welcome to the forum, enjoy your stay!

One of the things that I've noticed (sorry if this has already been pointed out) is that a lot of the good metal coming out nowadays has the same spirit, the same vibe as the good metal that was coming out in the '80s and '90s (and late '70s, for that matter). So I don't think it's a case of metal being inherently "better" in the "golden age" - there's a load of shit metal from the '80s and '90s, loads of demo-level bands that never got anywhere because they really weren't all that good, musically speaking. At the same time, there's comparatively a lot less of the '80s metal spirit around nowadays (though obviously that's picked up like wildfire in the past 10-15 years). Even some of those crappy demo bands back in the day had more oumph in their music - there's a ballsiness and sense of power that was picked up on and communicated in the '80s, which diminished a bit in the '90s (recording techniques, reliance on increased gain/distortion over "heavy playing" etc.), but then got brought back in the '00s with a lot of these "retro" bands and people working out that you can't just play through a million pedals to get a heavy sound... There's something in the way of playing and the kind of riffs, too, which makes heavy metal "heavy".

Cheers Natassja Got a new one out just yesterday, "Freedom We Claim" - here's the youtube link:

Totally, if you're talking about "NWOBHM bands," i.e. "New Wave of British Heavy Metal Musicians," then Priest are too old school to fit the bill. Rocka Rolla is '74, don't know if many people even considered whether most bands were "heavy metal" back then! But I think, if you're going on albums, then Defenders of the Faith, Screaming for Vengeance, British Steel etc. fall within that category of "New Wave of British Heavy Metal Music," even if the band is an older band. I mean, if they'd changed their name to "Prudence Yeast" in 1980, would that have let them to fall into the NWOBHM category - assuming they released the same music? I dunno, I always thought of NWOBHM as a style more than a collection of bands. That's how people today are calling their music "NWOBHM" even though, technically speaking, we're 25+ years on from the actual event! Maybe you call it "trad metal" at that point - but Priest were "trad metal" before NWOBHM was a thing...

I consider Priest, at the very least, to be part of the NWOBHM movement because they championed the style. Not really Sabbath or Motorhead, because they didn't produce albums with the classic "NWOBHM" sound (to my ear, at least).

I answered this in another thread, here's the full text: The reason metal appeals mostly to a male demographic is because the warriors of the world are constituted, predominantly, by males. Historically speaking, females were in the vast minority amongst members of war cults, but there are historical cases of female warriors. In Ireland and Scotland we had the Ban Gaisgedaig, who were all-female trainers of young nobles - these women were regarded as some of the best fighters in Europe. But the vast majority of fighters in the field would've been men, mostly "older boys" - between 18-20 to around 25. A lot of people died. People who got beyond their mid-20s would very likely settle down on some land at some point (either inherited, bought or seized), would get a wife, raise children, and join in war efforts seasonally if the people voted for it. But they wouldn't be part of the war cult any more. The war cult was all year round, camping/poaching in Summer, hosted in halls over Winter. Same tradition stretched from Iberia up to Scotland, over to Scandinavia and the Baltic, down into the eastern Steppes (Ukraine), across the Black Sea into Anatolia (Turkey), and westward again all the way through Thrace, the Balkans, the Alps, Gaul, and everywhere in between. Greece and Rome were exceptions to this norm in that their states forbade war cults at some point in their history, opting for standing militias and/or full military instead. The war band ethos was maintained in most of the rest of Europe up until the early middle ages - tended to be a result of Christianisation, as you might expect. Elsewhere in Eurasia it was maintained as far up as the past few centuries. In some places it seems to have survived as a cultural affectation, not so much as a functioning military wing. But the tradition is ubiquitous - practically the same traits turn up in different ways all over the world (this is by no means an exclusively Eurasian phenomenon) - so it makes sense that it would try to emerge in some way in the present day, especially considering that the usual channels are completely blocked up - intentionally, I might add. We can't up ship, leave property behind, go to the woods to hunt and forage and fight enemies for our countries, for so many reasons that I'd need my own thread to talk about it (do not tempt me, you will regret it). Heavy metal is actually a really good outlet for the natural warrior spirit in Man - mostly in men, but sometimes in women as well. And heavy metal women are fucking cool, if I may say so. Heavy metal reflects timeless virtues in many respects - steadfastness and strength, holding your own, being true to yourself and your kin group, brotherhood, loyalty, many of the things which people have already mentioned here. And it's inherently antithetical to the "global zeitgeist" of depressive consumption, surrender of power, and self-obsession. It's a big "fuck you" to the establishment - bigger than hippies, punk, rave culture or faux-anarchism. Heavy metal says "you're gonna die, motherfucker - just like me - but I don't mind." It's a harsh acceptance of reality, allowing for primal joy, the thrill of exertion towards survival - warrior culture, strait out of hunting culture. Male culture - and there's nothing wrong with that. Could've been the females that did the hunting and the fighting, but it wasn't. I think we kind of have to work with that rather than trying to cover it up. Men are built for war because they've fought; women are less so because they haven't done it as much. I don't see why people have a problem with this, but clearly they do - I chalk it up to fundamental pussiness, and suggest that they get into a war to sort it out. Hope the history lesson puts some things in perspective!

I can give you a historical/ethnocultural description if you like, which at the very least accounts for significant trends that have arisen within metal over the past 50 years. Heavy Metal is old school "warrior culture" bubbling up from underneath a plastic system of control. Long story short, the guys 'n gals that used to protect folk from thugs are no longer allowed to do so (by law), and those thugs - the meanest of them, at least - have ended up crawling their ways into positions of power (difficult not to see this nowadays with all the leaks and scandals showing what a bunch of predatory crooks our politicians are). In the absence of normal release mechanisms, we channel natural violence into heavy culture (and heavy drinking/consumption...) The prevailing emphasis on altered states of consciousness (incl. drug consumption), the forms of ritual gathering (gigs, festivals and so on), the deification of cultural heroes, and even the tendency towards dark clothing, face paint, internal symbolism and shock/horror aspects are all traits of warrior cults. The "corpse paint" of Norwegian Black Metal is even directly related to the war paint worn by north Alpine tribes in the centuries surrounding the ascension of the Roman Emperors - Immortal referred to it as "war paint" earlier on before capitulating to popular sentiment more often than not. But the tradition is based on the same idea - the point is to look like a corpse, like an undead warrior, risen from the grave to bring death to the enemy. It's ancient psychological warfare. I shouldn't have to add that these ancient war cults would have involved predominantly young men, a brotherhood-based society, subversion of wider cultural norms, "heterodox" spiritualities and so on. Literally, the heavy metal subculture is the old war cult reborn in the modern age. We're not allowed to kill bad guys any more (most of them are government officials) so we keep ourselves going with culture and kinship. A lot of metalheads train with weapons or in hand-to-hand combat, a lot of them are interested in ancient culture, mythology, and fantasy, we've got a lot of wargamers and computer gamers who like medieval or Tolkienish settings and so on - to me, it's pretty clear that it's war cult. And that it should produce this loud, brazen, anti-stupidity, ultimately very real music (that's what "heaviness" is - the degree to which music reflects reality), makes complete sense in that context. We have descriptions from Roman times of Germanic warriors yelling a barritus - that is, a deep guttural sound reflected off the back of shields to present a wall of heavy noise to the enemy. That's fucking metal.

Hey guys, long time no see! I've been moving about for a while so I haven't been on the forums in ages (again). Been working on some music in the meantime, thought I'd share it here. I know there are some old school fans on the board Let me know what you think!

Haha, holy shit, another one XD I know someone else (besides me) who's exactly the same way. Funny that...

Black Metal documentaries: Mayhem Documentary Satan Rir Media Another Mayhem One Det Svarte Alvor A lot of the rest of the BM ones are either tackier, less informative, or otherwise not as interesting as these, though I've definitely missed a load out. If you're like me and find '90s BM culture a bit funny, check out the Belgian one as well, it's on youtube! Death Metal documentaries: Death Metal Special '93 Thrash Till Death Could probably find more but bit pressed for time right now, will post back later with any more I dredge up :)

I went to the Hague once or twice, seemed like a really nice city (as far as cities go..) Better than Amsterdam for me, anyway I'm currently in London after having lived in Edinburgh for 6 years, but I'm soon to be moving to Hereford, thence on to the Forest of Dean/Wye Valley kind of area if I can get my shit together. Should be nice... Not a fan of big cities and the like, it's a bit jivy being in London atm but we're a way out of anywhere major so it's not too bad. It still smells though, there are no stars, foul windz and way too much traffic noise for my liking. I miss quiet Edinburgh, but will enjoy even quieter Herefordshire soon enough

Hey man, not sure how much I could help but just want to say your first track there is really good, the sound is fine as far as I'm concerned and the riffs and song structure are great! Would love to hear this stuff when it's finished What kind of thing did you have in mind for vocals? Could give it a shot at some point if you're interested.

God damn, just got back from a weekend with my extended family and they're all mad punsters... Thought I'd escaped that shit XD Cheers everyone! Looking good around here, some really cool stuff people have been talking about