What Are You Listening To?

[AlSymerz]

Manifest Destiny - All Life All Minds

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

 

Love that ENT

 

Death Crusade - Znów Płonie Niebo, Polish death/crust

 

Swordwielder - Wielding Metal Massacre, Swedish crust

 

Sea of Shit - S/T, crust/pv Chicago

 

4 hours ago, Thatguy said:

The new FEN will be released today. Are you worthy?

God I hope not.

[Dead1]

Asphyx - Last One On Earth

[Thatguy]

1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

God I hope not.

You know the answer.

[Arioch]

Hammerhedd - Grand Currents (2020)

These youngsters are very inspired! Always a pleasure to listen to their album.

[RelentlessOblivion]

7 minutes ago, Dead1 said:

Asphyx - Last One On Earth

Such a good album, shame they weren’t able to find that magic more consistently

 

NP: Obtained Enslavement - Centuries of Sorrow

[Hungarino]

13th Moon - Abhorrence of Light

[agamerwholovesmetal]

Born again (1983) - black sabbath

 

[Kristiko]

Dream Theater - Images & Words (album)

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Mothflesh - Machine Eater

GOAT-52: MOTHFLESH - Machine Eater | goatlordthrecords (bandcamp.com)

I don't know what I was expecting going into this blind, but it certainly wasn't this. I really don't understand why you'd take that low chewy guitar sound and then stutter-step nearly everything you play. Outside of some choruses the chords just don't have time to resonate. A lot of those choruses are way too slick and clean. It isn't exactly metalcore, but it's certainly not even approaching death metal. Is this what they call "groove" metal. Honestly the best frame of reference I can give would probably be Lamb of God's As The Palaces Burn. Not for me at all. Man could they do themselves a huge favor by taking a little Euro melodic influence here and there. It doesn't have to be Edge of Sanity's Crimson. That'd be too high a bar to clear. You might end up with something like In Flames Reroute to Remain (*blech) or Soilwork maybe. Again, not exactly my cup of ectoplasm, but it needs something.

8 minutes ago, Kristiko said:

Dream Theater - Images & Words (album)

Everything right and everything wrong with DT in one album. Thank you for not posting that terrible cover art to.

[SurgicalBrute]

Infernäl Mäjesty - None Shall Defy

old-school death thrash from Canada

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

2 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Is this what they call "groove" metal?

Another term that has no meaning. I've heard it thrown around and applied to all kinds of different shit none of which seems to have much of anything in common with any of the rest. Really wish people would stop using the term as if it were an actual sub-genre of metal. It's not.

FWIW I would call that Mothflesh djent btw. Just modern generic and shitty sounding. Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't born any later than I was. 

 

NP: Coffins - Beyond the Circular Demise, Japan 2019

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

FWIW I would call that Mothflesh djent btw. Just modern generic and shitty sounding. Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't born any later than I was. 

Yeah it became pretty clear to me by the end of the album they have a very flirtatious chemistry with modern anthemic choruses a la Unearth or something even more melodic, but their djentiness keeps them from fully committing to it.

 

I have an odd relationship with djent and Meshuggah. I do really like a good portion of their work, but for some reason when they release an album that people claim "revitalizes" their sound, odds are it's an album where I just kind of break from them. I don't have to tell anybody how impossible it is to understate their importance to the modern metal scene. The one a lot of people loved for supposedly balancing their older and newer approaches Obzen just couldn't connect with me, and not for lack of trying. I thought Koloss was actually a pretty decent full length and pretty representative of their sound. Chaosphere can be tough on the ol' musical brain sometimes just figuring out how to count it, but it's nowhere near as difficult as people make it out to be. I loved the twenty minute single song EP 'I'. I thought Immutable was kinda dull in the way it usually leaves its freakier extra beat guitar stuff for the resolution of the riff while they use their tried and true bag of tricks to double back, overlay, resolve and solve the remainder back the way they came. Nothing wrong with it, but you kinda know where it's going after a few songs.

 

NP: Lord Belial - Rapture

Rapture | Lord Belial | Hammerheart Records (bandcamp.com)

Ladies are like "Please help us Scratch. We didn't know these tribal tatoos would go out of fashion."

Edited July 7, 2023 by Nasty_Cabbage
Typo

[Serpentboi1992]

[Kristiko]

Paradise Lost - Symbol of Life (album)

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Chevalier - A Call to Arms

A Call to Arms | Chevalier (bandcamp.com)

It seems there's at least three different covers for this EP depending on which issue you get for some reason. Still sounds really good to my ears. Heavy Chains describes it as speed metal. I'm content just calling it trad. or heavy metal.

[AlSymerz]

5 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Another term that has no meaning. I've heard it thrown around and applied to all kinds of different shit none of which seems to have much of anything in common with any of the rest. Really wish people would stop using the term as if it were an actual sub-genre of metal. It's not.

Why not?

I've never understood the rules of genre creation, but there is a hundred a fifty trillion genres and sub genres of metal, why can't one of them be groove metal?

It is because it's not a sub genre but a genre all on it's own? (after all M-A lists over 7000 bands who primarily call themselves groove metal and that doesn't include noted bands like Anthrax and Pantera who have had groove metal listed as their second or third genre)

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 minute ago, AlSymerz said:

Why not?

I've never understood the rules of genre creation, but there is a hundred a fifty trillion genres and sub genres of metal, why can't one of them be groove metal?

It is because it's not a sub genre but a genre all on it's own? (after all M-A lists over 7000 bands who primarily call themselves groove metal and that doesn't include noted bands like Anthrax and Pantera who have had groove metal listed as their second or third genre)

This is how it works Orca. You can consider bands and albums to be any sub-genre you like. Whatever makes you happy. You wanna call Anthrax groove metal, be my guest. I would not agree, but they're not a band I've listened to in many many years so why would I care? Likewise if James Thomas and Deadovic want to call Pantera and other bands "groove metal" they're welcome to do that as well, I can't fucking stand Pantera so again, why would I care?

Now personally I do not recognize "groove metal" to be a bona-fide metal sub-genre. I consider the term "groove" to be a descriptor like "melodic" or "progressive" or "blackened" that can be applied to modify other sub-genres. And that's because so many of the bands that pick up that groove metal tag are either already part of another sub-genre or they don't seem to fit squarely into any one specific sub-genre so in what I consider laziness people just say "fuck it, we'll just call 'em groove metal."

But again, that's just my opinion. If you consider "groove metal" to be a bona-fide, full-fledged, standalone metal sub-genre then good for you. Knock yourself out as we say in the states. I myself happen to have my entire Overkill library tagged as "blood metal" in my MusicBee and no one is ever gonna tell me any different. You can call them thrash metal or groove metal or Jersey metal or biker metal (guess that'd hafta be bikey metal for your mob) or hammerhead metal or wreck your neck metal or powersurge metal or fatal if swallowed metal or skullkrusher metal or whatever the fuck your little ocker heart might desire. Because sub-genres are a personal thing. 

Try to remember when I go on one of my little rants about sub-genres or any of my various pet peeves, that it's just one man's opinion. Everything's subjective anyway, remember?

[AlSymerz]

I don't want to call Anthrax groove metal the world does, remember everything is subjective and not just one man's opinions.

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

I have an odd relationship with djent and Meshuggah. I do really like a good portion of their work, but for some reason when they release an album that people claim "revitalizes" their sound, odds are it's an album where I just kind of break from them. I don't have to tell anybody how impossible it is to understate their importance to the modern metal scene.

You will probably not be surprised to learn I hate them. I remember years ago buying Catch 33 on the strength of glowing reviews without having heard it first. Big mistake. It was my introduction to the band and it sounded to me like they were playing the same song and the same riff for 45 minutes. Thought it must've been a fluke so then at some point I tried some other stuff of theirs people had rec'd to me and it was even worse.

I mostly like stuff that's in 4/4 time, or maybe sometimes stuff will be in 3/4 time, but that's as exotic as I really wanna get with rythyms. I don't care how magnificent or superhuman the drummer might be, I don't want to have to do math or work that hard just to listen to some music. I just want to have it make sense to me the first time through so I can bang my head. 4/4 gets that done for me. I can see Doc shaking his head over there. I'd bet the farm he digs Meshuggah's shimmering pulsating oddball rythyms.

[Thatguy]

24 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

I don't want to call Anthrax groove metal the world does, remember everything is subjective and not just one man's opinions.

😃

I have no clue what groove metal might mean. Almost all music - even quite abstract music - has a groove of some sort and the groove is what makes yer head nod. And individual bands have their own individual groove.

2 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I can see Doc shaking his head over there. I'd bet the farm he digs Meshuggah's shimmering pulsating oddball rythyms.

How right you are. Most of Meshuggah's songs are in 4/4. They just disguise it well.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

22 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

I don't want to call Anthrax groove metal the world does, remember everything is subjective and not just one man's opinions.

 

Do they really? I've never heard anyone call them this in my entire headbanging life. Machine Head maybe, they'll get called that, but not the 'Thrax.

[agamerwholovesmetal]

2 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

😃

I have no clue what groove metal might mean. Almost all music - even quite abstract music - has a groove of some sort and the groove is what makes yer head nod. And individual bands have their own individual groove.

this is how google defines it

Inspired by thrash metal and traditional heavy metal, groove metal features raspy singing and screaming, down-tuned guitars, heavy guitar riffs, and syncopated rhythms. Unlike thrash metal, groove metal is usually slower and also uses elements of traditional heavy metal.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, Thatguy said:

😃

I have no clue what groove metal might mean. Almost all music - even quite abstract music - has a groove of some sort and the groove is what makes yer head nod. And individual bands have their own individual groove.

How right you are. Most of Meshuggah's songs are in 4/4. They just disguise it well.

Yes groove is most definitey a good thing, I love music that grooves. 

 

They are playing in 4/4 time you say? 

[AlSymerz]

3 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

😃

I have no clue what groove metal might mean. Almost all music - even quite abstract music - has a groove of some sort and the groove is what makes yer head nod. And individual bands have their own individual groove.

Groove is in the heart

 

2 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Do they really? I've never heard anyone call them this in my entire headbanging life. Machine Head maybe, they'll get called that, but not the 'Thrax.

Anthrax and Pantera are the only two bands I've really heard named so. I was surprised when I first heard Anthrax was groove metal but having not really followed their music since the 90's I have no idea.