Controversial Metal Opinions

[Iceni]

I kinda like Amaranthe's latest album... From an 'analytical' standpoint the band is pretty bad - you could easily point out that they're not doing much original, and what they're doing that's original is bad. Their female singer sounds very generically poppy, the male vocalist is also poppy and heavily autotuned and their screamer is below average. Their rhythms are also very easy and the melodies in general are catchy but in the bubblegum pop and Caramelldanssen vein. Nonetheless, I find myself enjoying 'The Nexus' in general, despite its serious flaws. The synthesis seems well-done even if it is a bit of an inappropriate marriage. The songs are also quite memorable if fairly similar. It's hard to tell whether they're honestly trying to do a straight-faced combination of silly pop and metal - as if they're actually making an avant-garde outing - of if they're just trying to cash in as much as possible. Their first album was definitely worse because it seemed to borrow tropes from both genres and was worse for it. There's another band that people though was a great pop-metal 'progressive hybrid' - Mutiny Within. Despite the hype they turned out to be a Scar Symmetry clone and a very bad one at that. By contrast 'The Nexus' seems sincere, in its own weird way. I hear enthusiasm which suggests the band are a lot less cynical than their first album would have suggested.

[Ghouly]

Okay, I'll bite. My controversial opinion... I think Pantera is kinda crap and I never got the appeal :/

[Iceni]

Okay' date=' I'll bite. My controversial opinion... I think Pantera is kinda crap and I never got the appeal :/[/quote'] Me neither. Is there any Ayreon that's decently heavy? People keep touting them as paragons of prog (incidentally Paragon is a fairly good traditional power metal group) but I don't see what they're on about.

[Ghouly]

Me neither. Is there any Ayreon that's decently heavy? People keep touting them as paragons of prog (incidentally Paragon is a fairly good traditional power metal group) but I don't see what they're on about.

None of it is especially heavy or metal, save for the human equation, I'm afraid.

[Iceni]

None of it is especially heavy or metal' date=' save for the human equation, I'm afraid.[/quote'] Oh. Well that's bad news then, because I thought 'The Human Equation' was pretty light. The song 'Loser' is awesome but unfortunately I suspect that's all I'll ever get from them.

[FatherAlabaster]

Here's one from me: solos. Fuck guitar solos. They're almost all garbage. Even the really well-done ones rarely add anything to the song. There are a handful of guys whose solos I like, but they're the exception, and their solos don't always fit the songs either. If all you want is to show off technical prowess, and a solo is the only way you can think of doing that, you're doing it wrong. Solos ruin songs more often than they help them for me.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Controversial Metal Opinions

Here's one from me: solos. Fuck guitar solos. They're almost all garbage. Even the really well-done ones rarely add anything to the song. There are a handful of guys whose solos I like' date=' but they're the exception, and their solos don't always fit the songs either. If all you want is to show off technical prowess, and a solo is the only way you can think of doing that, you're doing it wrong. Solos ruin songs more often than they help them for me.[/quote'] I don't seek out solos, nor do I mind their presence most times. Trey Azagthoth's solos really add to his songs though, as do Bob Vigna's, Andy LaRocque's, Hank Shermann/Mike Denner, David Gilmour, etc... One of my favorite solos ever is in Freezing Moon, because it totally enhances the already awesome atmosphere of the song, more should take that approach. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Iceni]

Here's one from me: solos. Fuck guitar solos. They're almost all garbage. Even the really well-done ones rarely add anything to the song. There are a handful of guys whose solos I like' date=' but they're the exception, and their solos don't always fit the songs either. If all you want is to show off technical prowess, and a solo is the only way you can think of doing that, you're doing it wrong. Solos ruin songs more often than they help them for me.[/quote'] If the solo lasts for ages then they can do that, yes. Otherwise they don't do much either way. Maybe you'd like Magnitude 9 and Threshold, those two groups have solos that fit better with the song from what I can tell. 'Oceanbound' by Threshold has one if I remember, at 4:35. JDYazuHuFhY

[FatherAlabaster]

Cool. That solo is reminiscent of Chris DeGarmo's stuff, to me - he's one of my exceptions, along with Gilmour (love Gilmour!), Alex Lifeson, some Dimebag, some Jeff Loomis, and even a bunch of Hammett's solos on older Metallica. I'll also throw in James Murphy's leads on Cause Of Death, and melody lines from Schuldiner, Akerfeldt, and the Katatonia guys. It's not technique that impresses me; it's melodic choice and song structure. So for me, if any lead melody doesn't add something unique to the song, it's already a flaw. Kerry King and Michael Angelo Batio are destined for the Pit Of Despair.

[Iceni]

Check out Threshold, they were the first prog band I ever got into and they're still one of my favorite groups of all time. Another controversial opinion: Angra's boring.

[RelentlessOblivion]

Wasn't it Hanneman who did Slayer solos? either way they are universally awful. I prefer riffs to solos but don't mind a solo in the right place.

[Iceni]

Another solo section I like: uawjxsil9yM 1:24 Iron Savior solos are also pretty good, especially the duel in this song: g7FShb6BWYM Actually, just listen to the whole song, it is one of my absolute favorite metal songs.

[FatherAlabaster]

@RO - nah, him and Kerry split the solos. Hanneman's were better. Not great, but better. The right solo in the right place? Sure. De rigueur, un-thematic excursions that exist only as unimaginative attempts to add interest to an otherwise boringly standard song? Far too frequent in my opinion.

[Iceni]

HammerFall actually have some other good solos if I remember aright.

[deathstorm]

Since we are speaking guitar solos and solos. What keyboard solos. Stands out

[Iceni]

I'm not sure I like any of the really famous power metal bands even though I like power metal. It also seems to me that Sonata Arctica have never been particularly good and have just gotten worse. It's the same deal with bloody Stratovarius, they've not changed a bit since Elements Part 1, which was not good. Kamelot are squarely outperformed on multiple counts by essentially any and all Serenity albums. Masterplan have some decent ideas but overall they are not good. Edguy...Edguy is just arse. As for folk metal: I also think Ensiferum are boring and I've never liked Eluveitie either.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Controversial Metal Opinions

I'm not sure I like any of the really famous power metal bands even though I like power metal. It also seems to me that Sonata Arctica have never been particularly good and have just gotten worse. It's the same deal with bloody Stratovarius, they've not changed a bit since Elements Part 1, which was not good. Kamelot are squarely outperformed on multiple counts by essentially any and all Serenity albums. Masterplan have some decent ideas but overall they are not good. Edguy...Edguy is just arse. As for folk metal: I also think Ensiferum are boring and I've never liked Eluveitie either.

Most mainstream power metal and folk metal bands are awful. Along with melodeath, that's about as commercial as metal gets, and the poppiness really detracts from the good metal elements in most cases. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Iceni]

Most mainstream power metal and folk metal bands are awful.

Sure, but these are bands people really seem to like, especially Sonata Arctica, Kamelot and Stratovarius. Rhapsody seem to be taking a turn for the worse as well last I heard.

[Ghouly]

Re: Controversial Metal Opinions I don't think Sonata has released anything noteworthy since Reckoning Night. Tony's vocals are downright cheesy but my love of the band is all sentimental rather than technical. Kamelot, Rhapsody, meh.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Controversial Metal Opinions

Sure' date=' but these are bands people really seem to like, especially Sonata Arctica, Kamelot and Stratovarius. Rhapsody seem to be taking a turn for the worse as well last I heard.[/quote'] Yes, mainstream bands do tend to be bands people really like. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Iceni]

Yes' date=' mainstream bands do tend to be bands people really like.[/quote'] Sorry, I worded that poorly. I meant they seemed to meet with critical acclaim. By the way, I don't know if the PM system works but I sent you a message about something RtC posted that I think warrants attention. I might have accidentally sent two though, so apologies if you have two of the same message.

[m0shthehellouttame131]

led zappelin are hard rock to me. are they a pioneer of metal? maybe but to me they are certainly not metal.

[Iceni]

Anyhow, to renew the thread: I have a lot of trouble distinguishing between thrash bands.

[SBird94]

Anyhow' date=' to renew the thread: I have a lot of trouble distinguishing between thrash bands.[/quote'] I find that with a lot of the new wave thrash bands trying to sound like the classics. Some are good, I really like Tantara, Municipal Waste, Evile, Mantic Ritual and Fueled By Fire but most of the several other new thrash bands i have heard have tried too hard to sound like their influences. Therefore making them hard to distinguish. The older thrash bands had their own style and upbringing, so i think it's easier to distinguish them.

[Iceni]

The older thrash bands had their own style and upbringing' date=' so i think it's easier to distinguish them.[/quote'] Not for me, it isn't. The bad production doesn't help things. Coroner, Kreator, Anthrax and Exodus all tend to blur together. I thought I was going to like Forbidden but unfortunately they turned out a bit rubbish even on the album everyone said was their masterpiece. Maybe I should try Dark Angel, apparently they vary things a lot and wrote some really good riffs.