Metal Reviews

So I was listening to As I Lay Dying the other day and thinking, "What a shame it is that most metalheads don't like these guys, because they are purty awesome." In fact, I somehow got the fool notion into my head that they are writing some of the best riffs in extreme metal these days. If anyone cares to call me a dumbass, please do so, but then maybe you'll listen to "Upside Down Kingdom" or "Anger and Apathy" and hopefully take it back.

But that isn't what this post is about. That got me to thinking about the other extreme metal bands that are around these days, and then, the state of metal as a whole. When was the last time a band put out a truly landmark release? Not just a great album, but a metal classic a la Rust in Peace or MoP in importance. Where are we most likely to see the next metal classic come from?

Genres I think are going nowhere:

-Heavy Metal: Slough Feg is the standard of awesomeness, but other than them, heavy metal seems pretty stagnant...cool new bands like Enforcer are almost entirely premised on re-capturing an established sound

-Death Metal: pretty boring...Opeth is the only band I can think of making landmark releases these days. Immolation is good, but are they really doing anything important?

-Power Metal: Blind Guardian is cool...nothing exciting happening here for me, though...

-Thrash Metal: a lot like heavy metal. Overkill put out a good record this year, but it's nothing new. Honestly, I think thrash is most interesting right now in how it's being incorporated into metalcore. Vektor is the only band I can think of with serious potential.

Genres that are exciting right now:

-Black Metal: Now we have something. Tons of bands putting out interesting new stuff: Alcest, Deathspell Omega, Krallice, Petrychor, Cobalt, Agalloch, WITTR. Peeps might say these bands aren't black metal...I dunno, at least it's interesting music

-Metalcore: maybe personal bias, but Converge, TDEP, and yes, As I Lay Dying are all making music that treads new ground for metal

-Progressive: DT-styled prog isn't going anywhere, but bands like Mastodon, Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero, and Opeth are all playing different styles of prog that are all exciting in their own ways.

-Sludge: Maybe the most exciting genre, IMO. Kylesa, Mastodon, Baroness, and all those American bands from the South are making stuff that's never been heard before, and is classic-quality material to boot


Now, this assessment is not so much about which genre is "best", but just about which genres have the most interesting stuff going on and are pushing the boundaries for metal. To me, black, sludge, and metalcore are going to be the genres from which we see the landmark releases/classics a la Rust in Peace in the coming years. Is anything in today's metal scene even exciting at all, in your opinion? What's the most exciting band in metal? Basically, where is metal going right now? Would love to hear your guys' thoughts.

EDIT: also, my genre assessments are based on what's been happening in 2010, maybe 2009...so don't go saying that death metal is exciting because of In Their Darkened Shrines

I think you're spot-fucking on, to be honest. Especially about the power metal, even landmark bands like Sonata Arctica are doing more prog than anything. Metalcore looks the most promising, if we can keep the fucking core-hipster-kiddies out of it.

Pretty much agree too. I'd also speculate that power/thrash/death/heavy metal have stricter rules for what falls under their categories, which is why they're not going much of anywhere, while black/metalcore/sludge/prog metal are much more open ended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN1j_LKMPss

This is breaking new ground? Hm.

I'd also suggest that just because you haven't heard anything exciting from Death Metal doesn't mean Death Metal isn't exciting - you didn't mention Ulcerate, for example. What's the future of Metal? Well, Metal will continue exactly as it currently is, with bands both pushing boundaries and re-exploring new sounds, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm as excited by a band like Decrepitaph making old-school death metal as I am by Ulcerate making whateveryouwanttocalltheirsubgenreof death metal. If Thrash fans want more of the same, who are we to say they're wrong? I'm certainly not going to start rejecting any genre out of hand, although I'd suggest that Dillinger have transcended metalcore and are something else entirely, allowing nearly all the rest of the genre to be safely ignored. ( )

If nothing else, I hope 2011 sees the Deathcore phenomenon retired.

I happen to enjoy AILD. They happen to put out some quality metalcore stuff.

And here I thought 2010 was a great year for metal, silly me.

Agreed on DEP and the Ulcerate mentions. But honestly death metal was pretty weak in 2010 minus the Fleshgod EP. Sludge and black metal are where it's at right now. Honestly, I've given up on thrash metal minus a few bands like Vektor and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. And power metal has always been lame.

Just because a band isn't creating some new subgenre doesn't mean they aren't exciting. As noodles said, if a heavy metal band starts "pushing boundaries" then they are considered Prog, same with power metal. So you can't really make the argument that those genres aren't progressing.

Anyways, I like metal because I like metal. I like what it is. I love some of the more "original" bands out there, like BTBAM, Baroness, and PTH, but I can sit back and enjoy the heck out of the new Overkill album just as well.

In short, quality > originality.

No you're lame.

I can agree with the first post with the exception of metalcore. Converge and TDEP are too different to be labeled just metalcore. Other than them there is certainly nothing exciting happening there. Especially not AILD. That song you mentioned was just textbook metalcore. Nothing new there.

The state of metal is just fine. It always was, it always will be. There are just too many bands and too many talented individuals for it to be any other way. When people complain about the state of metal, they are mostly sending a message about shifts in their own musical preferences, rather than about metal itself.

As far as landmarks are concerned, it's a bit early to tell. I believe that albums that will achieve that status are being released every year. In the last 6-7 years there have been albums from bands like Deathspell Omega, Immolation, Reverend Bizarre, Solitude Aeturnus, Manilla Road, Destroyer 666, Negura Bunget, Brocas Helm, Anaal Nathrakh, Slough Feg and a few others that I personally would consider landmarks, but only time will tell. It also depends of one's understanding of the term landmark. For me, it's not necessarily something that creates new genres or subgenres (after all, RIP or RIB didn't), but rather something that towers over most releases through sheer quality and an unique and very personal approach to the genre it belongs to.

Regarding As I Lay Dying, they are not doing anything groundbreaking or incredible yet. However, I do think they are quietly pushing metalcore, thrash and even a bit of death metal into uncharted territory. Listen to a song like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qJni67mkBw

Classic material? No...but new and interesting? I would say so. I guess appreciating them requires not rejecting the entire genre of metalcore offhand, which some are you inclined to do.

But, As I Lay Dying are not really that important.



I agree with this, totally. This is why I do not think that a band like Ulcerate, while definitely pushing the boundaries of DM, really do anything to make death metal a genre with "potential". Personally, I do not see death metal putting forth any legendary releases in the near future--the kind that make us go, "Damn, 2004--that was the year SMRC came out." At least, 2010 definitely did not have anything in that way for death metal, and I would challenge you guys to think of a truly landmark DM release from the past three or four years.

I think the only release of 2010 with that kind of staying power would be Marrow of the Spirit. 2009, probably just Crack the Skye. Something like Ironbound or Zad's Decrepitaph might be pretty badass, but is anyone going to give a shit about it five years from now? Next year, even? Releases that are based around revival of past styles are doomed to transient relevancy because, by definition, they reflect the state of metal as it was 20 or so years ago. The genres I defined as "exciting" are the ones I see as defining metal in 2011.

Last good album they did was Shadows Are Security. They hit a peak and used to be one of my favorite bands back in highschool. The last two have been very boring and terrible.

As for the rest, I don't really care to comment. This was the only thing that caught my eye.

Ummm Akercocke, Ulcerate, Fleshgod Apocalypse are all doing some groundbreaking death metal off the top of my head.

We should only listen to metal that came from the 80's glam era and old school thrash.

All one has to do is listen to the underground instead of namedropping the obvious upper tier acts in a paltry effort to make a case for his obvious lack of knowledge of the current state of metal.

Such diplomacy Steve. Let me say that I was very surprised to see heatseeker of all people diagnosing the state of metal, since I thought he was one of those people that had evolved beyond the genre. I guess no one here can ignore their first love.

Good Solid album. They are starting to mix a bit of everything in their sound. But if I have to choose a metalcore band that mixes death, groove, core, and thrash into one pure solid package, it would be Living Sacrifice. The Infinite Order is the slightly better album IMO. Besides they been doing this longer than AILD, even longer than Killswitch.

Teehee. Yeah, I'm still a metalhead. Especially as of late, even though I didn't listen to very much metal for a while there. I think maybe because of that, it's assumed that I still don't know anything about metal, which isn't true.

But, I'll admit that death metal is more interesting that I had originally assessed. I hadn't heard of Fleshgod Apocalypse, and they sound pretty cool. Akercocke hasn't put out an album in like three years, though. I wouldn't say that they're a bright spot in the DM scene of 2011 because of that. I still don't think that death metal has as much going on for it as those other genres I named, though.

Anyone else remember the times when black metal was considered the most stagnant genre of metal? Man I feel old.

Now it is the exact opposite. I have witnessed it.