Metal Reviews

Well in the last few week this has pop up a few times so lets see what every one thinks. And remember there is only one right answer!!!

No it fucking isn't. The lyrical theme does not define the genre.

How bout an option for "It's not worth getting your panties in a bunch over"

I agree that it's not a genre, but I don't intend to start an international crusade against the term's misuse like stu.

i don't consider it to be a genre, but one sort of seems to be coming together. I imagine that in the mid-80's if someone was talkign about viking metal , they would say that a lyrical theme a genre does not make. However over time it sort of became its own by sort of feeding off eachother


so no for now, but in the future, perhaps

lol

What can i say, its the bane of my life!

Definately NOT a genre, as the music seems to cover quite a few styles

Hahahahahaha

I do believe that the lyirical theme can define a genre, like for example the first wave of Black Metal, or white metal, and if Running wild get to be Pirate Metal metal i dont see why there cant be Battle Metal bands, but actually all of this genres thing is really fucked up, people come up with new genres every day, i dont think you should pay to much attention to it.

I've nothing against smaller genres, but in metal there already are way more than enough, genres like pagan metal, viking metal, folk metal, forest metal, battle metal, vampire metal, pirate metal and whatever metal can go down the drain for me, name wise.

I remember a magazine like that calling Mastodon whale metal, so I'm gonna go with no.

I agree. But, people come up with just too many genres and most of them are unnecessary. Imagine something like Vampire metal. Sheesh ! Think I'll form a band that sings about whores and invent a genre of metal called prostitute metal.

Most genres don't exist.

Stop reading Metal Hammer Stu.

You will feel better just ignoring that rag and all things it influences.

+100000

I agree, though. "Battle Metal" is Power Metal for homophobes.

@ "Power metal for homophobes."

Does anyone else hate the term viking metal?

wtf? and no, i don't think in this case it's a real genre at all.


i think Viking Metal is a kind of music defined both musically and lyrically, so to me it is a genre, btw.
EDIT - actually i'm not that sure now. Primordial (imo) sound a bit like viking metal but i don't think anyone would call them that.

I like the title dark metal.......mostly because to my understanding it only includes Agalloch, Rotting Christ and Woods Of Ypres

It already exists, it was invented by some band called Metallica.

bu-boom tsst.

I'm sorry, I had to.

And no, Battle metal is not a genre, it is a loose term that can be used to describe a theme or style of metal linked by lyrical content, but not a genre.
I agree with Misha. In my eyes everything should be able to fit into either black, death, thrash, prog, doom, industrial, power and plain 'ol heavy metal as far as 'pure metal' i concerned. Possibly accompanied by adjectives or combinations of the two. Any other terms either denote it's not really metal or someone is trying way too hard to classify it.

The problem is that metal is a scene with a few bands doing pioneering work, and a lot of teenagers / retards copying this. Metal is a genre in which copying another band with only a few changes in timbre is not seen as condescending. So when one band thinks it would be cool to mix Doom Metal with viking-ish chanting and some more stuff, the oversaturated scene will not think "hey, this is already done, so it's no use doing the same", but the general concensus will be "hey, this sounds awesome, lets play something similar". And then two or three bands become twenty or thirty, and critics feel obliged to tag it Viking Metal, because it should be movement now (whereas most metal "movements" excist in complete stasis). If there weren't so many copycat retards, critics would leave it to make up a genre because of one band (although I've still noticed some retards doing this). It's also a big problem that some bands want to leave their mark on the scene, by defining themselves a new style, and later declare themselves the inventors. So I think it's better to keep calling nature oriented Black Metal just so, instead of making a Nature Oriented Black Metal genre out of it. Like Varg once said "why need there be a thousand Burzums? Isn't one enough?".

It lies between Black and Doom, so I don't think it's relevant to name it a new genre if it can be described this easily. I made the mistake a few times though.