I saw a tweet about a month ago and then a follow-up yesterday from Guitar World. On their website an English guitarist bemoans the state of metal. He makes some very good points. Read it here and here. The gist of it is something I agree with, that many metal bands have forsaken melody for sheer speed or noise or image or whatever. The second of the two posts is actually much better I think. I have always fallen on the Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden-y side of the spectrum of metal. I like a song that I can tap my toe to or hum along with, be it metal or power pop or alt country or whatever. Good songwriting is something that trumps all genres.
Individuality is an interesting idea and something that is missing from a lot of bands. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are both in the same band, but they have a unique sound and I can tell who is doing which Maiden lead, if I try hard enough that is. Kirk Hammett sounds like Kirk Hammett (mainly because he is usually playing something completely different than the rest of the band). Maybe I am just not as well-schooled in modern metal, but from what I hear it is just a wall of noise. There's a place for that sure but it isn't my thing.
The image thing I don't know what to say about. Image has been a part of rock n roll forever, so I don't really subscribe to that. If a guy wants to wear a dress on stage or be wrapped in spandex or whatever more power to him.
Where I disagree is that there are indeed plenty of metal bands that still practice the "old school" variety of melodic metal. So to re-inforce that, here are my five favorite metal records of the year.
Sorrow and Extinction by Pallbearer - Heavy, sludgy Sabbath-inspired metal.
De Vermis Mysteriis by High On Fire - Fast and heavy and relentless. Reminds me of Slayer, but not as scary.
Yellow & Green by Baroness - More Sab-metal. These guys had a terrible bus crash while touring in Europe earlier this year. Thankfully nobody was killed, though the band were pretty beat up. Excited to see them on the road again.
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II by Earth - Slow and melodic instrumentals.
Apocryphon by The Sword - More Sab-inspired metal. A bit more goofy but the best record they have done since their debut.
No comments:
Post a Comment