Poll: On the topic of Heavy Metal

[Doomdiver]

I'm more of a punk guy myself but I respect and appreciate the talent, musical and creative skill that goes into pretty much all genres of music.

As for metal specifically I wouldn't choose to listen to most of it but I can listen to it if it is playing in the background. When it all comes down to it, it depends more on the style of the band rather than anything else.

On the argument of whether screaming, and metal in general, is easy to produce I would argue that it is just fanboyism in a different for than we are used to on a gaming forum. People always seem to think their preferred genre is always the one that takes most work to produce music for. To produce a good metal album takes skill as well as an understanding and appreciation of the genre, the same with punk, the same with techno and the same with all genres really. Pretty much all genres have their own unique skillset which can be as equally tricky to master.

To summarise, people should really stop criticizing something that they don't really understand. Just go and enjoy the music you choose to listen to but respect other music! Diversity is a great thing!

 

[wordsmith]

I'm a rap fan, but I've not come in here to mindlessly slam Metal. Some of it's not actually that bad (Alestorm etc.). What I dislike is the "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" (as the OP put it) in some songs, for me it takes away from a song if I can't understand it (although, that said I *do* listen to Twista, and you're lucky if you can catch every word in his songs first time without a lyric sheet...). In all, done well, Metal is a listen-able to genre of music.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I personally view it as the modern and true evolution of music. Classical, blues, rock, and now metal.

That's a little arrogant isn't it? Calling one genre the 'true evolution' of music is a bit like the stance all religions seem to take. It's too narrow, especially considering the presence of indy, pop, rap, funk, dance and so on. There's a wealth of other music out there and most of it's actually pretty good (except Crunk, whoever came up with Crunk needs to be locked in a a room and made to listen to Handel's Messiah 50 times in a row).

Anyway, I'm a bit out of love with metal at the moment.
As a genre it seems to have fallen into the same ruthlessly corporate, self parodying rut that Hip Hop's in. There are plenty of extremely good bands out theres, but equally there seems to be thousands of indentikit 'metal' bands in every sub genre, singing perfectly executed but predictable and vacuous songs about nothing.

I like this. I especially like the part about hip hop because everything you said on the second paragraph could be applied to that genre, which is a shame really, but you just have to ignore all of the crap.

I however am enjoying most bands that aren't too heavy (ironically enough) in the heavy metal and metal genre itself. Right now though my favourite band is an alternative metal band, Skindred, but I did like some of Opeth's lighter material when I listened to it not too long ago.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

-snip-

P.S. I'm pretty sure it was Lil Jon who created or at least pioneered the crunk genre, and while I would never usually say there is a bad genre out there (because it works for club scenes and whatnot, and in the clubs I've heard worse) he should be burned at the stake.

'Wanna get burned at the stake Lil Jon??'

'OOOKKAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!'

 

[Ghost]

An ever evolving genre., purely because it is many genres under one name.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

I like some of the more mixed metal: Korn, Tool, Rammstein, and RATM being examples. Korn, while a great band by itself, spawned one of the worst and most unoriginal genres of all time: Nu-metal... Bleh. Tool is a mix of alternative rock/metal and progressive metal, plus really odd music videos...(How I love Tool's music videos). Rammstein is considered "Industrial" Or "dance" metal (Although I would consider Rob zombie to be more dance-y) which incorporates techno influences into slow, hard riffs. Rage Against The Machine incorperates Rap lyrics well (hear that Linkin Park?)...
But Classic 70's Heavy Metal still kicks ass.

Agreed.

Also, I love Iron Maiden and Slayer. And Dimmu Borgir (you heard me right, elitist douchebags).

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

I understand it perfectly well and I'm glad I don't possess such a useless technique. Your opinion, though not explained blatantly, would dictate that you probably possess a uniformed opinion in favor of such a style of Metal based on your defense of it. In that case, yours would be equally useless.

Nobody has to care about either of our opinions, it's their choice.

Uninformed opinion of what? I listen to more music than I'd wager you even know of.

All you have to go on is the fact that you don't like extreme metal, and trying to say something "sucks" or "takes no talent" just because you don't like it only illustrates your inability to understand it and the true lack of valuable input you could possibly give on the subject. Any style of music takes talent to perform.

You obviously have no understanding of how the music in question is performed, nor why anyone else would enjoy it, and quite a lot of people do. That's not an opinion, that's a fact.

 

[Ghost]

Old metal is shite

no comment.

anyways, anyone see flight 666? i thought it was immense, roll on DVD release!

 

[Lord Kofun]

DragonForce is not heavy metal. I don't care what anyone says. It's a cheesy, wimpy version of Metallica played at 8x speed. Sure, they're fast, but that's it.

What the heck do Dragonforce and Metallica have in common at all, other than being metal (power and thrash) bands?

Granted, you're not going to care what I say, but when it comes to Dragonforce's musical classification, you're <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9jEizkEdis>quite clearly wrong.

Sorry, friend, but if you can't see any similarity between the two, the only thing I can think of saying is this: Look at their song structure.

Stereotypical intro > solo > stereotypical verse > solo > solo > solo > solo > stereotypical outro.

Looks a lot like Metallica, except LONGER.

 

[NeutralDrow]

DragonForce is not heavy metal. I don't care what anyone says. It's a cheesy, wimpy version of Metallica played at 8x speed. Sure, they're fast, but that's it.

What the heck do Dragonforce and Metallica have in common at all, other than being metal (power and thrash) bands?

Granted, you're not going to care what I say, but when it comes to Dragonforce's musical classification, you're <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9jEizkEdis>quite clearly wrong.

Sorry, friend, but if you can't see any similarity between the two, the only thing I can think of saying is this: Look at their song structure.

Stereotypical intro > solo > stereotypical verse > solo > solo > solo > solo > stereotypical outro.

Looks a lot like Metallica, except LONGER.

I think it looks more like Blind Guardian. Or Nightwish. Or Yes. Or Finntroll. Or Iced Earth. Or Disturbed.

So, basically, Dragonforce uses a common metal musical structure, but makes its musical interlude longer between mid-chorus and final chorus. Yep, they're totally Metallica ripoffs.

 

[ccdistancerunner]

Bullet for My Valentine FTW!

 

[Fearzone]

I thought you meant the magazine.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Unless it's a Malmsteen or a Vai. They can fuck off.

Don't get me started on those two. It's just music theory in practice, no emotion or feel. I'm a fan of John Petrucci's work with Dream Theater, and he can sometimes descend into wankery, but more often than not, he knows how to write a good riff and solo.

 

[vxicepickxv]

I enjoy metal, that is to say some metal. I find that a lot of bands tend to just mindlessly bash around trying to make as much noise as possible.

I tend to enjoy the more punk styles of metal, in particular a lot of the older Metallica, Megadeth and the like.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

I knew before reading the replies that all of them would involve splitting hairs. None the less,

Folk-Metal is the best.

 

[Lord Kofun]

So, basically, Dragonforce uses a common metal musical structure, but makes its musical interlude longer between mid-chorus and final chorus. Yep, they're totally Metallica ripoffs.

I guess I didn't say what I meant as clearly as I had thought. I am not saying that DragonForce is a Metallica ripoff. I am saying that they play LIKE them. In their song structure and solo style, mostly, but in other smaller things as well.

 

[Ishnuvalok]

Speed metal does not fall under heavy metal.