Metal Reviews

The reason I pose this question here is because my 18 year old son and I had a spirited debate about this subject today. He was browsing through the latest CD's that I have uploaded into my windows media player and he came across the new Paradise Lost CD "In Requiem". He tells me that he doesn't like their CD because it's EMO. I countered and explained that there is a HUGE difference between Gothic/Doom metal and EMO. He sarcastically named the titles of the tracks and exclaimed that any titles bearing those names are most definitely 100% EMO. He went on further to explain that anything with dark, brooding, semi depressing lyrics falls into the EMO category in his music filing system.

So, I thought that I would pose this debate to the learned metal connoisseurs here at metalreviews to help"clear the air' so to speak.

Be kind in your responses, as my son has just joined the metal faithful here and I certainly don't want to deter him from participating on these forums. However, your metal candor will be much appreciated.

Lyrical themes have absolutely nothing to do with defining a genre.

Some of Paradise Lost's mid-period you could make a case for it being "Emo." Personally I'll stick with "suck."

2 definitions:

-emotional hardcore here's a guide

or the definition most people use now, which is basically "anything with dark, brooding, semi depressing lyrics falls into the EMO category"

Thanks for the responses so far.

I guess I just have a hard time picturing Paradise Lost fans as Hot topic rejects with hair swooping down over one eye. I think this was his visual stereotype of the average fan of a band like Paradise Lost. Plus, I never get that "let me fall on my sword" kind of vibe while listening to PL. Who knows? maybe it's just me.

By that definition, Opeth would be emo. Edgar Allen Poe too for that matter. The term can't be so generalized.

Seconded.

Good songs have some amount of emotion put into them and should bring that out in the listener whether it is excitement, anger or sadness. IMO 'emo' was always a self-pitying not just a depressing style. Or you just always say 'emo' music is shit and the new PL is not shit. Argument won.

By that definition with a bit of a stretch, someone could put Burzum into the emo category. Satan forbid.


Emo is just a trend. And an old music genre.

I agree that anything artistic has to derive from an emotional genesis. However, this EMO thing can be exaggerated to the point of being absolutely ludicrous. I don't feel that anything that is true Goth/Doom metal can ever be contrived as EMO at all. I've always felt that the entire "emo" scene was invented by Hot Topic rejects who are whiners looking for attention.

Bottom Line:

When he's in the car with me he'll be listening to "In Requiem" on 11!!

At this point it is though so it doesn't even really have a meaning.

Goth-lite for self absorbed whining pussies.

Which describes Paradise Lost perfectly.

Pity Stefan's gone.

On an emo related note, my biggest issue with it is that it makes me feel like I'm not allowed to be unhappy without feeling like an emo kid. My personal life is not the happiest at the moment, and just talking about it makes feel like an emo faggot.

Hence the avatar, huh? Uncle Zad's ear is always open.

At my school the term 'emo' is used to describe anyone who listens to metal or music that is not necessarily happy. I was called an emo for listening to Nile for christs sake. Iron Maiden was also classified as emo in english class (the topic came up and turned into a whole class discussion)

It'll go away soon. That's what I keep telling myself.

The Hoff signifies my personal life being unhappy? No, I know someone who owns a pair of underwear with that exact picture on the crotch, so I just thought it was funny. I'm probably going to change it soon.

Emo is defined by several musical characteristics that PL simply do not posses. Emocore is emotional post-hardcore, and emo is slightly roughened-up pop punk. You can't tell that something is emo unless you actually listen to it, and same goes for goth rock.

Labeling everything emotional and dark as emo is rather harmful. Just looking at my bookshelf, the lyrics I wrote and at my CD collection, I can tell you that I'm at least 99.9% emo according to the loose, thematic definition. If I just look for the genre emo, I will find two emocore CDs I bought at the age of 16 and don't listen to anymore as they bring back some shitty memories.

Why must anyone cheapen darker aesthetics? Morbid, sorrowful and dark things can be beautiful and inspiring. Listening to something like Draconian makes me 10,000 times happier than listening to something cheery ever could. I'm not doing it to feed a self-pity cycle. I just don't like happy things, bright colours, makeup, jewelery, strong perfumes, big groups of people, heart-warming stories and strongly-flavoured things.

No Dragonforce for you then.