Metal's Becoming a Cliche

[oniman7]

My girlfriend and I went to see a friend of ours in a show earlier today. He used to play bass for a very well known local alternative rock band, but they split up and the singer and one guitarist went one way, while everybody else got a new singer and become a progressive/death metal band.

We showed up at 7, and from 7 until 10:30, I could not have told you when the bands changed if I was outside. The whole night was double bass, walls of distortion, diminished scales, and god awful screaming. Typically I love metal -- depending on when you ask me, my favorite band is Tool, Opeth, Protest the Hero, Dream Theater, etc. I wore my Slipknot shirt to the concert. But the state of metal here is really sad and makes me think. I love those metal bands because they bring something musically that I love. Even at the heaviest, they have a sense of melody. The local bands all seem to imitate that, without actually knowing what they're doing. Most of the bands are just really low drop tuned power chords, and 80% of each song is one long breakdown. I've grown to dread breakdowns just because of their overuse lately.

I realized earlier today that whenever I do a show, I go out fully expecting to come across at least one terrible metal band. I'm surprised now when I look at a line up and it's not more than 50% hardcore bands. It just feels like almost everybody who plays an instrument anymore just decides to form a cookie cutter hardcore band. It's become a cliche. They're becoming the talentless wall of noise that people have been calling them for years, and taking over local music so much that I haven't been to once local show that hasn't been filled with them.

I'm new to the local music scene, and my band plays rock and metal, but I really need a break from all the hardcore stuff. Most local shows I go, I end up sitting outside half the night because I can't stand the bands inside. Guess I just needed to rant about that.

[Dubista]

You've just noticed now?

I jest, of course. My opinion on metal bands is that it is a complex and very technical genre that can be amazing IF DONE RIGHT. But it seems like 90% of metal bands I see are just in it for the "baddassery" factor that it gets them.

funny that you mention that cliche thing though, I remember one time I was with my sister, who is about 14 to a recital at a school with uniform and as soon as she saw the band pull out their pointy guitars, she said "oh dear".

[oniman7]

I'm pretty much just getting into the music scene. But I've been to a couple of shows before, and I used to make fun of the terrible "hardcore" bands before, but compared to how they've been lately, I want the old ones back. And to make it worse, a ton of local bands just started disappearing. They've been breaking up, going on hiatus, cancelling gigs, etc. It's great for my band, who will play any gig with enough notice (and sell more than the main act ) but we're left with other bands who will also play any gig, and the talent is missing most of the time.

[Rockingbird]

I hear you on that. I'm no big fan of alot of the new stuff that's coming out.

[UnfortunateTony]

Most metal bands are metal just for the sake of being metal. There's no musicality involved, just tune as low as possible and play really fast. Makes me sick when people put these crappy bands in the same genre as bands like Black Sabbath.

[oniman7]

I love Black Sabbath. I even occasionally like some really heavy bands. Right now I'm digging Periphery and Mudvayne. But there's so much skill involved in bands like that, and then I go into a small venue and have my ears blasted out by the same D power chord (If I'm lucky, they'll tune to something different, like C or A)

[fourstringdrums]

My band rehearses in a dedicated music complex and our style of music is the minority. 97% of the bands are death metal and EVERY ONE of them sounds exactly the same. What's worse is that none of it is even remotely any good. On most occasions when we are in the hallway signing in we hear what seems to be 3 bands playing at once only to realize it's the same band. It seems that the primary goal is to see how much complicated unorganized garbage they can all play at once, like Meshuggah only without the talent.

[Etchbass]

God, I hate local hardcore/pop/punk bands. They're all the same *****y band around here, and that's almost all we've got here in Buffalo, too. The worst part is, kids seem to love that garbage!

I've figured out their recipe if you would like to start one yourself:

1. get the biggest most obnoxious amp you can find
2. play power chord circle of fifths, with everything dimed on said amp
3. make sure drummer can play blast beats
4. singer is only allowed to sing major scale notes
(ex: Sooooool Faaaaa Soooool! mi re do, mi re do, meeeee reeeeee doooooo! Sooool faaaa soooool! Faaaa mii ffaaaaa miiiii reeeeee, Dooooooo!)
6. let drummer sing backup vocals, but only fifths and octaves
7. bass player stays solely on root, 5th and octave, occasionally throwing a 7th in during a fill.

Done. Now your a famous hardcore band making thousands of dollars. Congratulations.

It's really hard sometimes being one of the only indie rock bands around here when everyone seems to want to listen to the worst music ever.

My general rule of thumb is this:
If the music you are listening to requires a lifestyle change, or requires you to act a certain way and hang out with a certain group of people, then the music probably isn't very good.

[DeathFromBelow]

90% of ALL music sucks, regardless of genre.

Deal with it.

[IncX]

Originally Posted by Etchbass

My general rule of thumb is this:
If the music you are listening to requires a lifestyle change, or requires you to act a certain way and hang out with a certain group of people, then the music probably isn't very good.

when i decided to play metal, i was in highschool and i wanted to rebel from conformity and hive mentality...

nowadays, metal really is a CLICHE.

there are so many rules and code of conduct, that it is a lot worse than normal life.

and worse of all .... THERE ARE NO CHICKS IN A METAL GIG! *grumble grumble*

[oniman7]

Originally Posted by IncX

when i decided to play metal, i was in highschool and i wanted to rebel from conformity and hive mentality...

nowadays, metal really is a CLICHE.

there are so many rules and code of conduct, that it is a lot worse than normal life.

and worse of all .... THERE ARE NO CHICKS IN A METAL GIG! *grumble grumble*

I didn't listen to music until I got Guitar Hero in 7th grade and realized that I really loved the stuff that was on there. As a really small child, my dad would play stuff in the car like Creed and Korn, and my mom would play Linkin Park and Evanescence. So, when I got Guitar Hero, I realized I loved Metallica and Slipknot and all that and it went from there. Before that, if I listened to music at all, it was mostly country. Now I love metal because it's awesome. It's about the music for me. I very rarely mosh, if at all.

Like I said, I had my girlfriend with me, so the lack of girls wasn't a problem.

[PrinceCinnaBoot]

I remember I once who had a friend really into the local scene, and listening to, you know, GOOD music, I had no idea what hardcore was. As it just so happened, the local scene was pretty much all hardcore.
He then convinced me to let him into my band, and slowly, he started adding breakdowns, screaming, and (get ready) basslines that "weren't too distracting." Because those same three power chords were so important, you know?
Now, I'm not Troy Sanders, but we weren't TERRIBLE beforehand, either. But, every band practice, we came one step closer to ****. Screaming, noisy, untalented ****. Those days haunt me.

[DeathFromBelow]

Originally Posted by IncX

and worse of all .... THERE ARE NO CHICKS IN A METAL GIG! *grumble grumble*

You should move to Europe.

At the gigs I play/see, there's about a 50/50 split between chicks and guys.

Good times...

[steveksux]

Nobody would dispute that metal's becoming a cliche...

The interesting question is: which cliche is best for metal!

Randy

[oniman7]

Originally Posted by steveksux

Nobody would dispute that metal's becoming a cliche...

The interesting question is: which cliche is best for metal!

Randy

The cliche that metalheads are too stupid to know what the best anything is and constantly have to ask?

[Etchbass]

Originally Posted by DeathFromBelow

90% of ALL music sucks, regardless of genre.

Deal with it.

That's actually a really good point.

It's so easy these days for anyone with a computer to plug in, record an album, and make it available for the whole world, REGARDLESS of genre.

To be fair though, hardcore music really, really sucks.

[Venom of God]

I was huge on metal back when I was 15 to 21, and still like a bit now, but I think you have to be VERY fussy. Also you have to remember that there are so many styles within metal that you can go to a metal gig and hate every band there (even if they're good at what they do). I'll never tire of the classic Australian stuff like Gospel of the Horns, Destroyer 666, Grenade and Destruktor though! I'll pass on any of this modern rubbish with it's chug chug breakdowns and ridiculous circle pits.

[oniman7]

Originally Posted by Etchbass

That's actually a really good point.

It's so easy these days for anyone with a computer to plug in, record an album, and make it available for the whole world, REGARDLESS of genre.

To be fair though, hardcore music really, really sucks.

I won't say the genre sucks. I will say that it probably has the highest ratio of terrible bands to decent ones. There are a couple bands I like that could be called hardcore, but more often I find them listed under something else (mathcore? Artcore? What do those even mean?)


Oh, and coming here is Suicide Silence, a band I really can't stand. They're really a tight group, so I can't get them on not being skilled, I just can't stand listening to them. And I have to go with my girlfriend, who has tonsil surgery two days before and will be spitting up blood and on Loritab (sp?) so she needs someone with her. I'll let you know how that goes...

[Etchbass]

Originally Posted by PrinceCinnaBoot

I remember I once who had a friend really into the local scene, and listening to, you know, GOOD music, I had no idea what hardcore was. As it just so happened, the local scene was pretty much all hardcore.
He then convinced me to let him into my band, and slowly, he started adding breakdowns, screaming, and (get ready) basslines that "weren't too distracting." Because those same three power chords were so important, you know?
Now, I'm not Troy Sanders, but we weren't TERRIBLE beforehand, either. But, every band practice, we came one step closer to ****. Screaming, noisy, untalented ****. Those days haunt me.

LOL!!!!

[AdamJames306]

In my experience, this is the case for just about any local band or scene, not just metal. The truth of the matter is, most local bands suck. They start local, and they stay local for a reason. And they mostly lack the musical inspiration to create something new and unique, so they fall into the same pedantic, recognizable patterns as the other bands in their genre. The "cliche," as you called it.

The bands that ARE able to transcend this typically don't stay in the local clubs and bars for very long.

That being said, I'm with ya. I've been a lifelong metal fan and the local stuff is just unlistenable. Horrible tones, utter lack of melody, and boring songwriting seem to be hallmarks of the genre. And I'm gonna hurl myself off a bridge if I have to see one more guy in camo shorts and converse sneakers pounding away on something pointy.

Dimebag had the goods. You're just a guy in camo shorts with the gain set way too high.