The Future Of Metal

Mark Hunter of Chimaira has, apparently, questioned the future of metal. He stated, in and interview with Noisecreep:

“Our tier of bands, our wave, (Killswitch Engage), Lamb Of God, we were the last legitimate new style of music to come out of metal,” says Hunter. “There hasn’t been anything new. Where’s the next Slipknot or Metallica or the next band that takes over and changes what heavy metal is all about and gets everybody interested in it again?”

Well, I have an answer for him. I can see a band capable, potentially, of taking over the world. But I'll come to this later, as this a far more interesting question he has raised than it might seem at first glance.

First, that is a very Americanocentric viewpoint. While metal was once largely limited to the UK, US and Germany, it is now a global phenomenon. Although in the UK and US, Slipknot are totally enormous, they are not quite so dominant in Europe. If you don't believe me, look at it this way. Slipknot headlined Download. It was, however, their first ever headlining bill. On the Dutch and Spanish legs of Sonisphere, they were support to Metallica. Granted, pretty much everyone bar Maiden plays second fiddle to 'Tallica, but the point stands: Slipknot were NOT big enough to headline.

There has, however, been one band during Slipknot's time that Mark has missed out. One band DID conquer the world. As much as I hate to admit it, having hated them since I first heard them, Limp Bizkit were the biggest name on the planet in 2001. That band has come along, even if they went out of fashion faster than beer gets drunk at a Municipal Waste gig. Let us not forget either how big System Of A Down became. Far more than Lamb Of God, Killswitch or any others from the NWOAM that never happened, System DID reinvent what metal could do, adding the Armenian elements to the music and proving, as Dimebag did, that you can have only one guitarist. And they did it despite being overtly political and alienating the mainstream- they survived an attempt to be blacklisted over Chop Suey, remember.

But this is also ignoring the varied global market that now exists within metal. While Slipknot have been bringing their evolution to all corners of Britain and the States, other bands have got huge in their own markets. The Finns may not go quite as batshit for the Nine as us Brits, but they DO go mad for Nightwish. Tuomas Holopainen is as bigger deal in his home nation as anyone you could possibly name in the UK music world. Power metal and it's variants, of whom Nightwish can be considered, mean bugger all in the UK and America, but are frequently giant on the continent. But the mention of Scandinavia brings me on to a yet wider point.

Black Sabbath. Judas Priest. Iron Maiden. Metallica. Pantera. Slipknot. This is how Mark appears to be defining the evolution of metal. Ignoring his Limp exclusion, this misses out some rather key progressions.

Yes, all of those bands have, at the time of their emergence, redefined metal, and ended up absolutely colossal- and rightly so. But other trailblazers have been no less- and in some cases, far more- evolutionary than these bands. The rather bizarre German quartet of Sodom, Destruction, Kreator and Helloween all redefined metal in the eighties- although the latter did so very differently. The Teutonic thrash trio showed that Slayer had not marked the limit of how heavy you could go, or how evil you could sound. Helloween proved that you really could be THAT fast and still be melodic and beautiful. The extreme sub genres evolved, with such luminaries as Death, Carcass and Mayhem showing different ways to be brutally heavy. At The Gates and In Flames showed how that heaviness could incorporate melody. And this is my point.

Redefining metal and being utterly huge are not linked by default. Although Emperor's reunion may have led to a Wacken headlining spot, no extreme band is ever going to dominate the world- the extreme moniker would be inaccurate if they did. But they do redefine metal, and are just as important to the mainstream evolution as the very biggest bands. Don't believe me? Here's how.

The death metal bands were an evolution of the heavier end of thrash. Melodeath evolved from death metal. The NWOAM bands are heavily influenced by melodeath. Or, put simply, Slayer led to Death, Death led to At The Gates, At The Gates led to Killswitch Engage. I can hear the pedants screaming about my oversimplification, but that's not too far off how we got to some of the biggest bands around- including Mark Hunter's Chimaira.

My point is that metal will be constantly redefined, but that the bands doing it may not necessarily be that popular. Conversely, the most popular and best bands do not really need to be that original. Iron Maiden were hardly revolutionary, coming along later in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal than most. They were, however, the best of them, and the most successful (sorry, Priest fans- I love them too, but the ticket and album sales don't lie).

There are plenty of bands trying new things, I feel. For example, Britain's very own Sylosis and Viatrophy are doing exciting, new and original things based on existing metal. If you haven't heard their albums Conclusion of an Age and Viatrophy, I suggest you do. They're both fantastic, and prime examples of people moving metal on. Chthonic's Taiwanese-infused melodic black metal is another. Metal will continue to evolve, even if the originals are not the most commercially successful.

At the start, I promised to name one band who I think can be totally huge and take over the planet. The list of bands that have done suggest the type of band that can is fairly specific. They can't be too controversial, or they will lose media coverage. They can't be too extreme, as mainstream radio stations won't play them. They need to be able to relate to the younger generation. They need to be good- seriously fucking good. They need huge hooks, both vocal and instrumental. They need to be able to pull it off live. They need major label support, eventually at least. And looking at the list of the biggest bands, it would appear they need to be able to shred. There is one band I can think of capable of doing this. They are not there yet. They need a better album and more touring. But I have felt, for quite a while now, that they will be the Next Big Thing.

That band is Black Tide. Think about it- they sound like a cross between Metallica and Megadeth and Guns 'N' Roses. Fairly big bands, after all. They can shred like fuck. They have a major label. They are young enough to immediately connect to the younger audience in the way a band emerging in their late twenties can't. They sing- not emo moaning or punk shouting, it's pure singing- but with plenty of metal balls. They have hooks. They are good and should get better. And they have the major label push already. I really hope they make it, too. My one fear is that they'll go heavier and lose mainstream coverage, which would be a shame as they're exactly at the right level to be utterly enormous.

My overriding message, Defenders Of The Faith, is that metal is more popular than ever, has a stronger, more varied, more widespread array of bands than ever before, and that's without the emerging generation having their own giant yet. If Mark Hunter's worried about the future of metal, give him the names of Sinocence, Viatrophy, Sylosis, Sworn Amongst, Evile, Bleed From Within or dozens of others not from the UK as evidence that we're not doing too badly. And there is room to get better. That next big thing will come, whether it's Black Tide or anyone else. No one saw Black Sabbath getting anywhere, yet forty years on, here we are. As long as we keep finding new music, as long as we keep going to gigs, as long as we want to play music and form our own bands, heavy metal will survive.

Defend The Faith.


Oh, and if you wondered why I ignored Linkin Park when talking about huge bands, it's because THEY'RE NOT METAL!!!! Only kidding. Actually, it's more that they're the band that I do not see lead on to other rock and metal. I know plenty of people who love Hybrid Theory but would never touch Powerslave or Vulgar Display Of Power. The people I know who like The Black Album or Significant Other would do.

Five Finger Death Punch- the next biggest band in metal... whether I like it or not

Well, a week on, and the album polls are still irritating me with their wrongness and the bleaters claiming "that's not metal". Metal Hammer have polled Five Finger Death Punch's sophomore effort War Is The Answer at number 16 for 2009. The band are even on the cover this month. Those two of you who read my previous blog will notice this particular LP missed out on my top 20. Why would I leave out a record like this when I'm clearly a fan of straight up, no nonsense heavy metal?

I think part of my problem is who I hear when I listen to them. I hear the groove of DevilDriver (good start), the rhythmic sense of Spineshank (and for all those scoffing, I still like The Height Of Callousness), the aggression of Phil Anselmo (awesome) and- and this is where they spoon it completely- the commercial simplicity and vocal content of a beefed-up Nickelback. For want of a more eloquent expression, fail. Total, complete and so-epic-Dream-Theater-seem-like-Napalm-Death fail. I unapologetically hate Nickelback, and it this is, in part, why 5FDP get my hackles up.

This is a band who SOUND, to my ears at least, completely commercial. Their riffs are so simplistic it's agonising. I'm not asking for every riff to sound like Gojira- I put Municipal Waste in my top 20, remember- but 5FDP seem to think of a simple, accessible riff, strip anything out of it that might require effort to listen to and then make that into a song. Not because, as the peerless Dimebag proved, simple riffs are frequently the best, but because it's more likely to sell records. I have no problem with bands being commercial or commercially successful. I'm a huge Metallica fan, after all, and proud of it. But I don't want to FEEL like I'm listening to an album which is more interested in sales than in pride in what the artists have achieved.

And it's here that I realise what my biggest problem is- I have simply grown a mite too old and cynical for 5FDP. Had War Is The Answer been released as little as two years ago, I would probably be raving about it as much as everyone else seems to. In particular, if I'd heard it when my Disturbed love was at its height- when they were touring Ten Thousand Fists- I'm sure I would now be in full praise of Zoltan, Ivan and the others. But in the recent years, I've simply heard too many bands who seem more genuine about what they do- bands who, when they sound derivative, make me feel that they do it out of love for their predecessors, not because they want to sell records. That, and my musical taste has simply got heavier than 5FDP go.

There is, however, one genuine problem with Five Mingers Butt Munch (as I call them when they annoy me more than curry powder in my underwear) that I stand by, that I will not admit is merely down to me being a cynical, miserable old sod. All the lyrics seem to be about relationships. Ivan Moody, I remember saying in an interview with Hammer, does this because he feels that everyone can understand this. What? You're releasing music that is mainly aimed at teenage boys (and blokes like me whose passport says are in their twenties but in many ways are far less mature) and you think that the lyrics that are going to mean most to those lads are about the relationships of a man in his thirties? Bollocks! It's because sex sells, and you know it. It's because anything about drugs, violence, politics or religion are immediately going to remove certain radio stations as potential publicity sources, and you now this too. Those subjects will also alienate certain sections of your potential fan base, and you know that as well. The subject of personal struggles has been done to death and has almost become a tabboo subject in the rock world. And don't try telling me that your favourite bands all sang about relationships, because very few metal bands have. You did it for the money. And that realisation irritates me hugely- I don't mind if you want to make money, but I don't wan't to be able to hear the dollar signs.

Having said all that, I have absolutely no doubt 5MBM will be utterly enormous. Perhaps not Slipknot size, but Disturbed big certainly. They can thrill live (even I admit that) which will snag a big audience. They will get radio airplay (outside the UK, obviously) which will get more. They will be wanted by big bands to tour with them- at least for now- which will make them bigger still. And most importantly, they do write catchy, infectious, heavy and genuinely good songs- even if I despise them. So they have everything it should take to become huge. And the media going ape for them might help too.

Once again, like when I saw Slipknot become huge when I was a teenager, I will miss out on it all. I'll be sitting in the corner listening to the new Keep Of Kalessin, Kamelot and Rhapsody Of Fire albums. Unlike ten years ago, however, I won't be scratching my head and wondering what's going on. I didn't get Slipknot- and still don't- but I bore them no malice. Now, I'll be grinding my teeth and moaning into my bitter, because I know PRECISELY why they're taking off.

I await the torrent of abuse for how wrong I am.

Now kindly go and pre-order Fear Factory's Mechanize. Because I'm so excited about that, I'm onto my third packet of Tena Lady today. And it's not metal.

Why Top 20s are a waste of time.

Well, we're into 2010 now, which means there's been a slew of everyone with a keyboard giving their opinions as to what were the 20 best albums of 2009. This can be fun, comparing opinions with music fans and perhaps picking up a few tips on records you missed. A quick perusal of the usual magazines, blog sites and youtube has rapidly pointed out a few that I missed, just like last year. I, for reasons I can't quite fathom, completely ignored the new Dark Funeral album, which a number of people have listed in their top 20. I am clearly in need of a 500,000 blast-beat service for missing this album, as what I've heard is great. This is why these lists are a bit of fun and worth doing- A. They point out good records I may have missed, and B. They remind me I need the aforementioned service. What really irritates me more than sand under the foreskin is the bleating and bombast that goes with it, and has compelled me, after years of resisting, to start this blog.

To illustrate, perhaps I should list my top 20. This is not open for debate, I don't think I'm right and other people are wrong, this is just to illustrate a point.

20. Job For A Cowboy- Ruination

19. Anaal Nathrakh- In The Constellation Of The Black Widow

18. Municipal Waste- Massive Aggressive

17. Dark Moor- Autumnal

16. Marduk- Wormwood

15. Shadows Fall- Retribution

14. Malefice- Dawn Of Reprisal

13. Slayer- World Painted Blood

12. Sinocence- Scar Obscura

11. Sonata Arctica- Days Of Grays

10. DevilDriver- Pray For Villains

9. Xerath- I

8. Paradise Lost- Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us

7. Viatrophy- Viatrophy

6. Ex Deo- Romulus

5. Mastodon- Crack The Skye

4. Behemoth- Evangelion

3. Fairyland- Score To A New Beginning

2. Immortal- All Shall Fall

1. Lamb Of God- Wrath

I'll just pause for four of the seven people reading this to leave in disgust at my appauling taste (or, more accurately, that my taste doesn't exactly match theirs) and for you remaining three to wipe the spittle that appeared on your monitor as you swore in vituperation at my patent wrongness. Clear? Can I get on with it now?

My point is, I am clearly wrong. I appear to be the only Megadeth fan who doesn't like Endgame, so I'm wrong for not putting that at number one, let alone not in there at all. I'm clearly wrong for including three power metal albums as "that's not metal!" (if you don't think I'm being ironic by now, you'd best leave) and for the virtual abscence of death metal barring JFAC who apparently "aren't metal" either. I'm clearly wrong for not including all the hardcore-related stuff that I probably would love if I had the time and money to track down.

What I'm trying (in my rambling and long-winded way) is that everyone- EVERYONE, even Dom Lawson- who puts together a top 20 is totally wrong. Especially me. Why? Because music is about taste. Do I genuinely think Fairyland released a "better" album than Mastodon? No. Do I enjoy Score To A New Beginning more than Crack The Skye? Yes. Do I think that anyone who disagrees with me on that is wrong? No. That I appear to be in the minority for this last viewpoint is what seriously hacks me off.

The aforementioned esteemed, venerable, righter-than-me Mr Lawson said in his most recent blog "If you don’t own a copy of Endgame yet, get to it. It was the finest metal album released in 2009 and one of the finest of the decade. Any other opinion is idiotic". While I suspect there may have been more than a touch of irony in that statement, you could replace Endgame with a host of albums and find hundreds of people who would genuinely believe that statement to be true. Last year I did a "best album of '08" video for youtube due to chronic boredom (Amon Amarth's Twilight Of The Thunder God won, if you wanted to know) and roughly two thirds of the comments it received were less repeatable variants on "you're wrong", "you're gay" or "that's not metal".

When will these morons realise it's just a fucking opinion??? Do they genuinely think my little 'Devil-makes-work-for-idle-hands' DIY video was a threat to the entire heavy metal movement because it included Disturbed and ignored Cynic? Do they actually care about music if they only listen to something because it belongs to a scene? Are they so backward and ignorant that the only response they can emit to a difference of opinion is homophobia?

Sadly this is what these lists reveal- many heavy metal fans are as stupid, ignorant and prejudiced as those who we, as metal fans, like to think of as stupid, ignorant and prejudiced for their refusal to listen to rock music. And all of these lists- every last one, even Beez's- they are all wrong, as taste can never be right or otherwise.

To stop sounding like a miserable old bastard, I will now go and order two albums I haven't got that have appeared in numerous top 20s- Dark Funeral's Angelus Exuro pro Eternus and Every Time I Die's New Junk Aesthetic. Because THAT'S NOT METAL!

Now kindly piss off.

Next week- exactly why I don't like Endgame, and why Five Finger Death Punch are going to be the biggest band in the world... whether I like it or not...