Where are the metal bands?

[Godspeed Trio]

Killer be Killed ...are what pop metal should sound like.

 

[Kmonk]

The problem is that metal has evolved into vocals which are screamed to the point where they are virtually inaudible, guitars that are loud, out of tune and lacking melody and drummers that rely on triggers.

 

[BioWeapon]

metal and being big doesn't go well hand in hand ... I mean to be big you need to be shallow and simple. Like Metallica, they are pretty much a joke compared to what they once were.

Where I live, it is the capital of Metal. Québec ! There is a lot of metal band that are seriously something and almost every big act stop here instead of Montréal ( like Dream Theater )

Québec? La capitale du metal? Hmm... je dirai plutot les pays scandinaves et européen du nord, non?

Then again Beyond Creation are from QC I think. So yeah, Quebec is fairly metal-friendly. Just food for though, here's a map of metal bands per 100000 people!

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[Clef_de_fa]

Québec? La capitale du metal? Hmm... je dirai plutot les pays scandinaves et européen du nord, non?

Then again Beyond Creation are from QC I think. So yeah, Quebec is fairly metal-friendly. Just food for though, here's a map of metal bands per 100000 people!

Invalid Link Removed

Yeah I know Norway is the biggest places for Metal ( Norwegian black metal is unbeleivable up there ... some band member have gone to jail because they murdered or they burned a Church etc ) and Germany has a very huge metal festival. But here in Canada, Québec is pretty much the place. We gave birth to Beyond Creation, Cryptopsy, Voidvoid just to name a few.

 

[Thomas Kievit]

THIS

The problem is that metal has evolved into vocals which are screamed to the point where they are virtually inaudible, guitars that are loud, out of tune and lacking melody and drummers that rely on triggers.

 

[Worldeeeter]

What is called "metal" now is not the same as what metal was in the 80s. Just like the "punk" bands that are out now are nothing like the real punk from 78-86.
Metal still exists, but it has a new sound, and about 475 subgenres that are not metal at all, but bear the name for some reason.
I hear some metal that I like these days, but I have heard nothing that bears any resemblance to the "old guard" (Slayer, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Metallica, Testament, etc.).

 

[wolfkeller]

What I see, IMO, most of these bands these days simply are not good song writers. They can play but they are not very creative. I see all this negative about so called pop music of which I do not like, yet the elements that make any song good are the same... Memorable. A cool chorus, a vocal melody, a certain riff. Metal, no matter how heavy, with those elements has the potential. Slayer, Metallica, exodus, venom, entombed, type o negative priest, maiden ect ect all have these. I see local bands and much of what is out there and the songs suck. It all washes together and there is little that stands out. The new crazy thing to do should be standard E tuning!

 

[wolfkeller]

Genes Simmons said a good song is good be it on a guitar or a kazzoo! All the gain, aggression and down tuning won't make a song good. Even pantera and euro death metal has sing along chorus!

 

[LoudBadBass]

People keep writing that no metal bands are playing the sort of music that they used to or singing or writing good songs or melodies or choruses or whatever and I just shake my head. It's all still out there. Go to most metal labels' webpages (Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Century Media, Relapse, Season of Mist, Candelight, Peaceville, Profound Lore, Napalm, Prosthetic, etc.) and check the roster of artists and you will find a huge range of diversity from the stuff you love to the stuff you are sure is killing metal.

The thing is that most of those labels are independent. I think that Metal Blade is distributed by Sony, but otherwise they don't have the clout or distribution of a Sony/Universal/Warner. And with almost all of radio, TV, and live venues owned by a handful of huge media conglomerates you can bet that they are mostly interested in playing music that they distribute.

It's not that no one is playing metal -- old school, new school, classic, extreme, experimental, whatever -- it's that no major distributor cares about metal because it doesn't sell well compared to pop, hip hop, r&b, and country. It's not lack of merit, it's lack of market.

 

[Tituscrow]

The Sword and Red Fang are two of my favorite heavy bands, and they're relatively new.

You just gotta look beyond radio-play. The era where metal bands became the biggest bands on earth is pretty much over.

Yep. Along with Baroness, Kylesa, Gojira....

There are plenty of red-hot metal bands out there if you know where to look.

As for the mighty Meshuggah, I've seen them at a couple of festivals with big crowds, and whilst they were awesome - naturally - it's nothing compared to seeing them in a club. Nothing.

 

[BioWeapon]

As for the mighty Meshuggah, I've seen them at a couple of festivals with big crowds, and whilst they were awesome - naturally - it's nothing compared to seeing them in a club. Nothing.

Question.
What was it about the clubs that made it so much better? Sound quality? Better view? Less moshing?

 

[Tituscrow]

Question.
What was it about the clubs that made it so much better? Sound quality? Better view? Less moshing?

Better sound, better view, longer set.

Mainly though, nothing but Meshuggah fans in the crowd.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

What I see, IMO, most of these bands these days simply are not good song writers. They can play but they are not very creative. I see all this negative about so called pop music of which I do not like, yet the elements that make any song good are the same... Memorable. A cool chorus, a vocal melody, a certain riff. Metal, no matter how heavy, with those elements has the potential. Slayer, Metallica, exodus, venom, entombed, type o negative priest, maiden ect ect all have these. I see local bands and much of what is out there and the songs suck. It all washes together and there is little that stands out. The new crazy thing to do should be standard E tuning!

I like it when I'm surprised, when there is some creativity in song writting and I think many new band includ very interesting ideas. The other side is no standart structure which may alienate a lot of people.

as for mélodies, I hear melodies in more technical player, when it is just a wall of sound ( where both guitars and the bass all play the exact same thing ) then yeah it became very simplify by having only two melodies at once instead of guitar one, guitar two, bass and vocal doing different things.

One of the band that I posted in earlier post ( Beyond Creation ) play in standart tuning ... they are hard to follow ( fretless bass, 7 and 8 strings guitars )

 

[BioWeapon]

Better sound, better view, longer set.

Mainly though, nothing but Medguggah fans in the crowd.

Oohh okay. Thanks for the insight!

 

[Tituscrow]

Oohh okay. Thanks for the insight!

Apologies for the drunken typo.

 

[Kragnorak]

Metal still exists, but it has a new sound, and about 475 subgenres that are not metal at all, but bear the name for some reason.
I hear some metal that I like these days, but I have heard nothing that bears any resemblance to the "old guard" (Slayer, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Metallica, Testament, etc.).

To be fair, what you just called the "old guard" are a bunch of thrash metal bands. Even back in the day, they were their own subgenre. Back then standard heavy metal was more like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

One of my bands is keeping that old-school thrash spirit alive btw:

 

[Kragnorak]

People keep writing that no metal bands are playing the sort of music that they used to or singing or writing good songs or melodies or choruses or whatever and I just shake my head. It's all still out there. Go to most metal labels' webpages (Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Century Media, Relapse, Season of Mist, Candelight, Peaceville, Profound Lore, Napalm, Prosthetic, etc.) and check the roster of artists and you will find a huge range of diversity from the stuff you love to the stuff you are sure is killing metal.

The thing is that most of those labels are independent. I think that Metal Blade is distributed by Sony, but otherwise they don't have the clout or distribution of a Sony/Universal/Warner. And with almost all of radio, TV, and live venues owned by a handful of huge media conglomerates you can bet that they are mostly interested in playing music that they distribute.

It's not that no one is playing metal -- old school, new school, classic, extreme, experimental, whatever -- it's that no major distributor cares about metal because it doesn't sell well compared to pop, hip hop, r&b, and country. It's not lack of merit, it's lack of market.

Everything LoudBadBass says is true. He knows!

 

[TonyP-]

Well...Agghh...That is interesting...Baby Metal huh...

Some how I feel that this is easily perverted by people that belong on a government watch list.

This is more my speed from Japan.

 

[chuck norriss]

There are plenty of good metal bands still playing. Off the top of my head: Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Gojira, August Burns Red, Norma Jean, ISIS, Animals As Leaders, Lightning Bolt

RUSH isn't metal but they're not pop caca

 

[chuck norriss]

+1 for Avatar, I was lucky enough to open for them when they came through my town. Awesome people and fantastic music. Their latest two records are my favorites.

they kind of remind me of korn.