"The Official Metal Appreciation Thread®"

Come on, admit it. Nothing quite gets the blood going like a bit of metal does it? And I'm not inciting some kind of "my genre is better than yours" riot; I've a fairly eclectic musical taste, and have a degree in music which taught me to appreciate all forms of music, not just the ones I choose to listen to. At its basest form, however, metal as a genre is purely about raw emotion and presenting that energy to you, the listener. Not many popular forms of music can claim this as their sole intent; hip-hop is (was, technically) about expressing the views of black youth in a predominantly white America, R&B (and dance, natch) is generally about getting down with oneself... you get the idea. Whilst all music can conceivably have an emotional impact on you, the point I'm making is that metal as a whole is solely about pursuing this as an art form.

Try listening to Anathema without getting a lump in your throat, try not to be marvelled by the monumental technical excellence of Opeth, try not to be convinced that Zach de la Rocha tells the same truths as Chuck D. Every genre has its heros, but metal I feel doesn't quite get the credit it deserves. Incidently, Chuck D is to feature on the Channel 4 documentary "The Voice" about important vocalists in our time; ten to one Zach won't be on there. Nor will J.B., nor will Matt Barlow, nor will Chuck Shuldiner. Ten to one, in fact, most people won't know who these are. But you know who Chuck D is, right?

So, metal warriors of the world unite; no other genre provides so much food for the soul, whilst simultaneously getting absolutely zero reward from the musical appreciation societies. Hell, just look at "Later... With Jools Holland"; they had Metallica on once you know? Meh. Don't let that put you off; stand firm and pronounce metal as your God! We'll still be singing when they've all gone home...

Oh, and for God's sake, put down that Darkness album. Deary me...

I vote Platinum!

[MH]

Agree with everything you said Freylis but who is Chuck D?

ooh ooh, and Burzum. That was a great band. His recent escape from prison was hilarious.

Chuck D is the lead vocalist from Public Enemy. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest MC's in the genre, as well as being a hugely outspoken advocate of racial integration, and peace in general. A thouroughly scary, though massively well-meaning gent from the hip-hop world.

vermin wrote:
Neurosis. Arcturus. Windir. Will Haven. Dødheimsgard. Ulver. Darkthrone. Immortal. Gorgoroth. Cult of Luna. My Dying Bride. Red Harvest.

OK... :)

Neurosis: I prefer Nasum and Converge tbh, though any noise/screamo is good for me! :) Have you heard any Nostromo by any chance?

Arcturus: Yep.

Windir: ? Not heard of them, what they like?

Will Haven: Yep, though not so much recently.

Dødheimsgard: Heard of them, but not anything by them.

Ulver: Oh my, yes.

Darkthrone: Ditto. I like Hate Them, though I thought Plaguewielder was a little too rock'n'roll for them. Should let Carpathian Forest stick to the black'n'roll stuff.

Immortal: Again, a big fat yes.

Gorgorath: Same boat as Dødheimsgard I'm afraid.

Cult of Luna: New album's cool, but the first is a little Isis-lite.

My Dying Bride: Buy the new issue of Terrorizer; they have a new track on the CD... :)

Red Harvest: Yep, though I prefer Aborym for techno-black metal.

Damn, I could go on and on myself; you'll have to email me! I haven't got any mates who are into serious metal. I miss uni... *sniff*

As for the latest Anathema album, I actually think it's their second-worst behind Eternity. I just found it really boring, especially after the masterpiece that was A Fine Day To Exit.

MikeD wrote:
ooh ooh, and Burzum. That was a great band. His recent escape from prison was hilarious.

LOL, first I've heard of this. Did they catch him again or is he still running wild trying to start his "perfect world" of Vikings and dragons?

Anyway, I like a bit of metal, though mostly not as extreme as the stuff you lot've listed. I like a bit of Will Haven, but most of the rest I've heard of but don't listen to.

I suppose most of my tastes would be considered more "alternative rock" than metal, like Deftones, A Perfect Circle etc. The new Machine Head album's worth a listen, beats the living crap out of their last effort and they were stunning on their last UK tour!

Anyway, yay for metal! \m/

Nowt wrong with some Darkness laddie, sometimes we've just gotta rock on and throw some shapes.

Been listening to some Arch Enemy recently. Not a million miles away from later Carcass really, but that's no surprise with Arnott in the band. Nothing amazing really, but there 1999 album (the last one before the lass joined on vocals) is damn catchy for such heavy stuff.

Cathedral – best gig I ever went to. Cathedral at Manchester Uni in 94 (or maybe 95) on the Carnival Bazarre tour. Great gig and the support band Mourn were great too – doom metallers with a top notch female singer called Caroline. All of us who went ended up buying Mourn's CD while we were there.

Iron Maiden (of Course)

Cradle of Filth – listen to them when I need a good laugh.

Purple, Sabbath, Led Zep etc. Proper music.

Dream Theater are a favourite too as is Megadeth.

Am not just into metal though like all kinds of stuff.


Edited by Harry  at 15:00:29 14-01-2004

TOOL

AENIMA

Best. Album. Ever.

In Flames

\m/

M E S H U G G A H

I've never considered Tool a metal band, myself. I'm aware, however, that millions do!

Have any of you heard Vintersorg's new album "The Focusing Blur"? It's totally nonsensical, bizarre stuff, but great nontheless. The pretentious git!

Oh and, Freylis, Windir are a nice folky black metal band. I think you'll appreciate the album "Arntor".

Edited by Gorgoroth_II at 18:05:20 14-01-2004

Edited by Gorgoroth_II at 18:07:13 14-01-2004

"I love Rhapsody."

Would that be wise thing to say in front of metal fans?

vermin wrote:
He's back behind bars.. heh. Thankfully. Can't say I like Burzum much myself. A bit too uh.. blech. The same dislike that I have for Kovenant. If anyone will understand that better. Probably not .... Although you can't really call Kovenant metal anymore.

Much love for Deftones (except the Back to School EP), APC and Machine Head. Heh.

Yes, he is bacj behind bars.
In a nutshell the story is this:

He was on perole and decided not to return. SO basically the country goes in full alert. And a day later they find him driving towards Oslo in a stolen vehicle packing extremely heavy weaponry, hahahaha.

Later his mother told the press/police that he ahd written her a letter about death threats he ahd received in prison and therefore decided to disappear. Cracking job he amde of that :-)


Edited by MikeD at 18:16:43 14-01-2004

I like metal but I hate all the death/black metal, I can't stand it.

Anyway my favourite "old school" metal band are Metallica even if their new album was a load of crap.

Here's a concise list of metal bands I like:

Deftones
Black Sabbath
RATM(more hard rock I suppose)

More of a grunge(not Nirvana)/hard rock fan now that I think about it.

/wonders off wondering if anyone else still like's grunge.

Old metallica, old sepultura. Is there anything new out there that's interesting?

haven't listened to Metal for quite some time.

vermin wrote:
Also the story about the dead guy that got his head stolen from the Chapel or wherever suddenly springs to mind.. heh. Don't know why. Lovely country this. Much fun to be had. Cutting heads off corpses with crude tools and all..

My favourite story will always be the one of dead's death. Where Euronymous supposedly made a necklace from some of Dead's skullparts and then put a few pieces of his brain through his stew and ate it.

Not sure I believe it, but it's a nice story.

vermin wrote:
Pining for the days of Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets are yeh?

...Yes.

The new(est) Napalm Death album "Order of The Leech" is a great return to form, albeit with overly pro-tooled drums. I still prefer Scum/FETO-era Napalm.

Edited by Gorgoroth_II at 19:05:44 14-01-2004

/offers a chair.

You'll need to sit down for this.

I was so ill over Xmas my ticket to go see Maiden never got used. Earls Court.

Gutted wasn't the word.

For me it's Maiden and RATM, both of which demonstrate some superb guitarwork. That's enough for me. If I can imagine playing it, and it moves me, I'm sold.

My big sis went to see *gah* *spit* Nickelback. Ve' bland to my ears, no soul, no anger, no power and no message.

As for The Darkness, the world is split. Personally, I like 'em. They make me laugh, and they can play. Got some live Knebworth vids and they are definately gonna be one to watch for the big stadium stuff.

I share your pain Nem. I couldn't afford to go see Maiden in Manchester last month. First time I've missed them playing here since the Fear of the Dark tour. *sniff*

But I had a *ticket* Harry. Paid for and everything.

/stares into far distance with pre-occupied look.

Fuck.

I know ;-)

MikeD wrote:
Is there anything new out there that's interesting?

Oh, Good Lord man, loads! The new Seps album for starters is just about the best thing they've done since Chaos A.D. If you like your old-school, check out Exodus' new album Tempo Of The Damned... or try any one of Ritual Carnage, Iced Earth or Nevermore.

As for new-school, metal atm is pretty much a hot bed of interesting music. I can probably reel off about 20 band names right now...

Anaal Nathrakh
Frost
Opeth
Anathema
Meshuggah
Ephel Duath
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Spiritual Beggars
Electric Wizard
Enslaved
Solefald
Sculptured
Agalloch
The Haunted
The Crown
Darkthrone
Freya
Cave In
Immortal
Immemorial
Avenged Sevenfold
Extol
Mistress
Isis
Cult Of Luna
Clutch
The Hidden Hand
Akercocke
Mithras

Do I go on? I think you get the idea... it's more a case of how heavy do you want to go, how experimental can you handle, how important is melody vs. rhythm, etc. All the above cover a pretty broad spectrum of what metal means in the 2000's.

Mithras rule!

Bal-Sagoth and Mithras should be plugged to hell, to show the world that British black and death metal doesn't begin and end with CoF panto crap. (Edited by Gorgoroth_II at 21:35:07 14-01-2004

@freylis

Thanks for the list. I must say I do know most of those bands from the old days. And what I've heard of the new Immortal and Darkthrone stuff wasn't too riveting.

Haven't heard any new Opeth though, they were great.

Is Samael still around?

MikeD wrote:
@freylis

Thanks for the list. I must say I do know most of those bands from the old days. And what I've heard of the new Immortal and Darkthrone stuff wasn't too riveting.

Haven't heard any new Opeth though, they were great.

Is Samael still around?

The last album Samael did was 1999's Eternal, though I've not heard it. Immortal's final album Sons Of Northern Darkness is by far their best effort to date, and it's a shame they ended after such a monumental record. Still nice way to go out! And Darkthrone's last album, Hate Them, is another return to form. Opeth on the other hand have gotten better and better with every album, recently releasing two distinctly different albums this year; one of black metal, the other of foly prog. For a band who's first album was 5/5, they're seriously at the top of the metal pile right now.

Gorgoroth_II wrote:
Mithras rule!

Bal-Sagoth and Mithras should be plugged to hell, to show the world that British black and death metal doesn't begin and end with CoF panto crap. (Edited by Gorgoroth_II at 21:35:07 14-01-2004

Mithras do indeed rule! I think British extreme metal is currently in rude health... just check Anaal Nathrakh, Frost, Axis Of Perdition, Bal-Sagoth, Mithras, Thus Defiled, The Prophecy, My Dying Bride... happy* days!

*obviously, when listening to extreme metal, this should read "miserable in a good way" :)

freylis,can cave in really be put under the metal genre of music any more?up to the release of 'jupiter',yes they were very good,but that was some time ago,and there music is much,much lighter nowadays (but i still really like it) to the point labelling it as metal seems quite wrong.
anyway it's very cool to see another A7X fan on this site.'waking the fallen' is the best album released the millenium period,and 'i wont see you tonight,pt.1' is 9 minutes of insane,talented,majestical,melodic heavy music and one of the best songs i have,and will ever hear.peace.




Edited by foreverafternothing at 23:33:29 14-01-2004

Edited by foreverafternothing at 14:50:17 16-01-2004

foreverafternothing wrote:
freylis,can cave in really be put under the metal genre of music any more?

I still think they class as hardcore, and the two often sit side by side. When I declared this thread an appreciation of metal, that also includes hardcore, and industrial, and goth, and even just honest-to-goodness hard rock. Cave In have indeed gotten less heavy with every record, but I agree with you that it's a good thing. I'd also say they're still metal enough to fit into this picture, as are bands like Favez, Rival Schools and Jimmy Eat World. Yes, they're not strictly "metal", but it's the same umbrella; loud, guitar-led, emotional music.

And yea, Avenged Sevenfold do indeed shred. Much better than the similarly-styled Killswitch Engage as well.

I highly recommend you lot all go and listen to earthtone 9 if you haven't done already. They're one of the most criminally underrated bands of the last few years.. off kilter enhancement is a good place to start, got a good hardcore/metal sound with a bit of melody thrown in here and there to keep things interesting.

A band I wouldn't class as metal, but going with the whole 'emotion and energy' thing, Shellac are another great one, 1000 hurts has some of the angriest songs I've heard in a while.

Incidentally is anyone going to this years all tomorrows parties (Isis be playing there)? http://www.atpfestival.com

Edited by no at 10:15:43 15-01-2004