Metal Reviews

To listen to the genres fathers is an activity that brings us to another time, as these bands labored and toiled to bring the scene as it exists today. Many of us look for great new acts, but do they measure to the founders of the genre they perform in? With all of the progressive, experimental, and genre defying tags out there, what if any of these qualities add up to a band that is truly uniaue, and not the product of a momentary fixation. Do you see sny newer bands establishing themselves as long term names, and for the old schoolers what could newer bands do to improve their overall quality?

Thrash metal is done, there isn't going to be any real new bands that can top what happened in 80's thrash metal. There will still be good releases but thrash metal already happened if you ask me.

There were quite a few good releases in Death Metal in the 2000's, one band that comes to mind that really upped their game with their past 2 releases is Hypocrisy, Virus and A Taste of Extreme Divinity are two excellent modern melodic death metal albums.

Black metal? Black metal also has room to develop and theirs still great releases coming out, one band that really has stepped it up a notch is Deathspell Omega. Sargeist is writing classic black metal and really out did themselves with "Let The Devil In."


I have a friend that was really into black metal starting in 97, who really doesn't keep up with much of the new bands, or even older bands who still are coming out with quality releases. I feel like he's missing out because their have been some great releases the past 10 years in metal.

Thrash has had it's day, true.
One of the biggest reasons that I prefer black metal over most all modern day metal is because, unlike thrash (which I love dearly), it has never lost what made it so special. It was and remains underground, where it belongs. The same aesthetic that was part of Hellhammer's' Apocalyptic Raids, the first three Bathory albums and others lives on in bands like Darkthrone, Mayhem, etc. and those that followed... for all the talk of "first wave, second wave, and so on", there really aren't any distinct waves, in my view (although the terms are usefull in categorizing eras); that's not to say that there hasn't been a slight shift in sound and style, just that it evolved, albeit very slightly. This is most evident when comapring the "first and second" waves. Beyond that, it upholds all that was deemed true and honest back in the day, even so far as deliberately taking the minimalist, do-it-yourself approach.

In short, black metal (to me) is carrying on the tradition established by the 80s underground (including thrash of course), more so than any other genre currently out there, with a few exceptions. Witchaven being one of them, as well as a few other black / thrash hybrids.

And, yes I am painfully aware of this attitude's many detractors, but naturally I don't care.

imo avoiding new music is dumb, but older trends have a certain sound to them that nowadays bands can't completely replicate, and if that's a sound you like, then I can understand only listening to old school stuff.

This basically makes sense. I do sample a lot of the newer stuff out there, but feel more comfortable in the 90s sounds generally. By trying to make an effort with new listens while not bashing things I've never heard I don't see how generally preferring an older sound could be criticized.

The old stuff sounds better for the most part.

New music sound clicky, mechanical and often lacks the dynamics of the old stuff. I suspect it's the usage of modern digital recording media compared to old fashioned analogue stuff used up to the 1990's.

Modern metal is also generally too layered. And the stuff that sounds less layered and more primitive is blatanly trying to do that so sounds contrived.

And most new bands struggle to write memorable riffs.

Hence I'd rather listen to old stuff (up to late 1990s) over the newer stuff.

I hate when bands do what I want them to do.

It's more that they miss the point and it ends up sounding wrong at worst or extremely generic at best.