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dmiller458

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I came of age musically during the 70s. Growing up in Michigan, it was Detroit garage rock that defined hard & heavy guitar rock for me every bit as much as the holy trinity did.

I love metal because I love rock & roll. And I love metal because I love music. But I'm a rock fan first, a metal-head second. I still love commercial rock even though nowadays seems like you've gotta search through a lot of chaff before you find any wheat.

I never understood the visceral hatred many have/had for glam metal, alt/nu-metal or metalcore. They're the redheaded stepchildren, but they're also the "gateway drug" of metal. If someone starts off with Avenged Sevenfold and they eventually find their way to Agalloch; then IMO A7x have served their purpose.

Punks are only punks until they become studio pros. Alternative rock was only alternative until it became mainstream. Metal is the troo rock alternative. It's biggest and still most underground sub-genre in all of rock.

It's strange to think of metal as having a mainstream. But we've seen black, death, doom, drone, glam, power, progressive, sludge, speed, stoner, alt/nu, -core, etc. slowly get folded into the metal mainstream. But even when metal albums are at the top of the US and UK charts, it'll never be fully incorporated into the rock mainstream.

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Welcome to MetalForum, one place where the inmates are well and truly running the asylum.

 

A thought provoking intro to be sure. I suppose metalheads view bands like a7x and trivium as distilling the sound for one thing. On top of which it seems fewer and fewer actually make that transition from such bands on to what would be judged 'actual' metal. I know the guys I grew up with listened to those bands for a couple years in high school before moving on to the next trend and now it's whatever rules the billboard charts or whatever.

 

I got serious about music in the early 2000's. Metal was honestly the first genre which captured my attention. From there I branched into hard, classic, and prog rock, blues, a bit of jazz, a bit of punk, and classical. Pantera, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Metallica were my gateways though.

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6 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Welcome to MetalForum, one place where the inmates are well and truly running the asylum.

A thought provoking intro to be sure. I suppose metalheads view bands like a7x and trivium as distilling the sound for one thing. On top of which it seems fewer and fewer actually make that transition from such bands on to what would be judged 'actual' metal. I know the guys I grew up with listened to those bands for a couple years in high school before moving on to the next trend and now it's whatever rules the billboard charts or whatever.

I got serious about music in the early 2000's. Metal was honestly the first genre which captured my attention. From there I branched into hard, classic, and prog rock, blues, a bit of jazz, a bit of punk, and classical. Pantera, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Metallica were my gateways though.

As I said, I love metal because I love music. I love blues, country, folk, and gospel. I like jazz and classical. But I love rock and R&B the most.

Most of my friends think that music started the day they first turned on a radio and that it ended the day they graduated high school (or college). I always wanted to hear what was coming out tomorrow.

When I younger, we expected our rock stars to be rock stars. Metal used to be all over the US and the UK charts. Now it seems that any commercial success is suspect. I don't have a problem with Avenged Sevenfold going number one. I'm glad to see even mainstream commercial metal on top. I just wish that it was with better music.

When Volbeat and Ghost (BC) started to take off, I was surprised because I didn't know that Scandinavia produced bands that commercial. But almost anything would sound commercial compared to extreme's low-fi production and atonal dissonance.

I always wonder how far the sound move from the conventions of rock and still remain metal. At what point is it really avant-garde or free jazz that's merely dressed up in leather and whorspe paint.

Maybe the momentum will have to swing full circle for a while. Blues metal? Country metal? Psychedelic metal?

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11 hours ago, dmiller458 said:

As I said, I love metal because I love music. I love blues, country, folk, and gospel. I like jazz and classical. But I love rock and R&B the most.

Most of my friends think that music started the day they first turned on a radio and that it ended the day they graduated high school (or college). I always wanted to hear what was coming out tomorrow.

When I younger, we expected our rock stars to be rock stars. Metal used to be all over the US and the UK charts. Now it seems that any commercial success is suspect. I don't have a problem with Avenged Sevenfold going number one. I'm glad to see even mainstream commercial metal on top. I just wish that it was with better music.

When Volbeat and Ghost (BC) started to take off, I was surprised because I didn't know that Scandinavia produced bands that commercial. But almost anything would sound commercial compared to extreme's low-fi production and atonal dissonance.

I always wonder how far the sound move from the conventions of rock and still remain metal. At what point is it really avant-garde or free jazz that's merely dressed up in leather and whorspe paint.

Maybe the momentum will have to swing full circle for a while. Blues metal? Country metal? Psychedelic metal?

I think that's exactly what metalheads are thinking. The music bands like a7x craft simply doesn't stack up. If they truly act as a gateway that's great but like I said it is not often the case. Orthodox metal probably won't see the kind of commercial success it did during the eighties ever again.

 

As for how far it can be pushed and still remain metal there are plenty pushing the boundaries and have been for the last twenty years or so.

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5 hours ago, dmiller458 said:

IMO no one's been pushing any boundaries for over 10 years. What boundaries are left?

I still think bands push the boundaries. A band like Portal for example playing avant-garde metal bordering on pure noise. Ulcerate's technical and dissonant brand of avant-garde death metal also blurring those sub-genre lines. Plenty of creativity about the place.

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7 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

I still think bands push the boundaries. A band like Portal for example playing avant-garde metal bordering on pure noise. Ulcerate's technical and dissonant brand of avant-garde death metal also blurring those sub-genre lines. Plenty of creativity about the place.

It appears that folks on this forum have already made up their minds on every possible topic.

13 minutes ago, natassja7 said:

Have you actually listened to the album..?

That might be why I bought it.

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3 minutes ago, dmiller458 said:

It appears that folks on this forum have already made up their minds on every possible topic.

That might be why I bought it.

I beg to differ but I think the Folks on this forum have extremely open minds about every topic.

Perhaps you should listen to it again then.

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6 minutes ago, natassja7 said:

I beg to differ but I think the Folks on this forum have extremely open minds about every topic.

Perhaps you should listen to it again then.

I disagree. I think that most metal heads are narrow-minded (I include myself in that). Help me out here. Please gimme your take on Babymetal and Ghost (BC).

I'm listening to it right now. It's kickass. Kickass is enough, kickass is plenty. But I don't hear anything groundbreaking.

16 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

 So dmiller458, you deride the lack of expansion in other members' band references after you have managed to so far reference, Volbeat, Ghost and Avenged Sevenfold. 

The fucking irony.

I said that I'm a rock fan. I still like commercial rock. I think that commercial rock - and metal - when it's done right is just as valid and just as vital as anything in the underground.

And while I didn't mention that they're my favorite band, but I did mention Agalloch.

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