rolling 2024 heavy metal and boutique blast beat thread

xpost I feel like a traditional heavy metal band COULD become big again, not by 80s standards, but by 21st century standards. Ghost at least started like a NWOBHM-esque band before going poppier. and the Canadian band 3 Inches of Blood seemed to want to become that next big heavy metal band, they cracked the Billboard Top 200 and Canadian charts, they opened for Maiden and Metallica, their albums were well received*, their drummer beat up the guy from Saxon....and then they disbanded for 11 years before they could grow any further.

*I hate Cam Pipes's vocals

Maybe it's just my own perspective based on not reading Revolver, but it feels like over the last however many years, underground metal has dominated the discourse to the point that not only can trad/power metal bands not get a fair shake at all from US journalists, but anything that's not black metal, death metal, or metalcore/deathcore isn't even considered metal at all. Witness the fact that 80s bands like Ratt, Warrant, and Poison don't have Metal Archives pages. (Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe and W.A.S.P do, though.) So there's really no way for a melodic but heavy band to even build up a support base in the metal press, such as it is.

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Monday, April 15, 2024 1:22 PM bookmarkflaglink

my perspective too and it drives me insane. "extreme or go home" is just the most boring way to be to me, and I say that as a dude who eats death metal like Corn Pops. when there are still a significant number of traditional heavy metal/epic metal bands out there making quality music. it's had quite the revival, and it's more inspired than the thrash revival ever was.

like I keep running into a growing number of revisionist metalheads who are essentially saying it outright isn't metal at all and that's nuts. I remember some shitlord black metal musician hearing In Solitude's second album and saying "what does this crap have to do with metal?" in Decibel magazine, and it's like....did you miss out on 1969-1987? or something.

in honor of this thread, listening to nothing but Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Saxon, and Blitzkrieg

my friend Ed, who I saw Satan with, when I complained about this, shook his head and said "I don't think these people realized that NWOBHM bands WERE the 'extreme' metal bands when they came out. metal itself was extreme!"

Ghost will probably end up being the sole traditional flag bearer in mainstream rock/metal, because it's skewing crazily towards surreally mediocre deathcore right now. I can't see the metal my generation grew up with ever becoming as big ever again.

As for 3IOB, they're doing reunion shows in Canada this year, and holy moly they've been selling out fast. They had to move the Montréal show to a bigger venue. A lot of us have missed that band like crazy. And big Cam Pipes fan here!

I don't think it's realistic to think any big new metal bands to sound or be like the 80s bands you grew up with. If nu-metal is anything to go by, it almost certainly will be something we all hate but the kids love it.

I feel like what's popular is cyclical though. Nu-metal have way to metalcore and then deathcore seems to have taken over slightly but there's no reason a more traditional band can't do it.

Perhaps Maiden/Priest need to retire first to leave a vacuum though

I do think the people who listen to deathcore/metalcore who are averse to traditional heavy metal object to what they see as the datedness of the material from the 80s, what they think is cheesy production, perhaps the vocals being too 'dramatic' for them.

but I feel like when the sound is modernized a bit they're more amenable. two of my good friends always said they hated Priest and Maiden and stuff like that, they were more into the deathcore-y/nu-metal stuff, and the new Priest came out and both were like "wow this is actually really great", and it's cos Rob is shrieking, and it sounds slick and full.

i'm sure a new sound will come along that takes off at some point. I don't see an old fashioned sound taking off other than to people like us who lapped up Ghost, Uncle Acid, Witchcraft, In Solitude etc

Personally I find metal as it is perfectly fine. It's the heavier rock groups that's lacking IMO

As weird as it may sound, I don’t think Slipknot get ENOUGH credit for innovating and experimenting. Their last album was great.

I have yet to hear a single song by Slipknot. Maybe I'll give them a shot.

If you do, try the debut album and 2019's We Are Not Your Kind (the one I was talking about above; I forgot they put out one more after that).

like I keep running into a growing number of revisionist metalheads who are essentially saying it outright isn't metal at all and that's nuts. I remember some shitlord black metal musician hearing In Solitude's second album and saying "what does this crap have to do with metal?" in Decibel magazine, and it's like....did you miss out on 1969-1987? or something.

liking the new Early Moods record

yeah it's awesome

It really is great, even better than the debut imo. Glad to see some love here.

after several listens to the Necrot, I'm comfortable saying they've taken a big leap forward and are one of the genre leaders now. I loved both the first two albums, so it isn't like they were bad before, but this one just seems to have a level of songcraft that is much improved while not sacrificing the punch-in-the-mouth sonics of their sound. they've elevated themselves without actually leaving the confines of their core sound.

I think a big part of the reason is Sonny Reinhardt - his guitar solos aren't the squiggly-wiggly 'demon from hell' kind, they have a melodic sensibility not terribly removed from what Matt Pike does, so even though I would never call Necrot melodic, his leads allow the songwriting to explore more dynamic territory.

I guess a close comparison is Vital Remains's Dechristianize. That album is odd in their catalog. Not just because they removed almost all of their black metal influence and had Glen Benton on vocals, but because they had these very epic NWOBHM breakdowns with dual lead guitar solos. Unlike Necrot, I think their execution of these moments were a bit sloppy - they often didn't fit neatly into the song, and the band frequently stopped the song's forward momentum to awkwardly shift into these moments, which were cool when they arrived, but it kinda felt like smashing in a puzzle piece with a hammer. (I say this when Dechristianize is one of my favorite death metal albums of the 21st century)

But it did kind of establish a template for laying in some subtle melodic nuances into an extreme metal sound to open it up more, without turning the band into fuckin' At the Gates or watering down the sound.

It's also more than that though - the riffs on this thing, like, they've always been good at writing riffs that seem to survive fluid-tempo shifts easily, but they just simply hit harder on this one. if there is any justice, people will stop talking about the perfectly fine but overrated 200 Stab Wounds and give Necrot their stature in the scene. which tbh, I think is coming.

xpost - anything else in the Early Moods vein in terms of recommendations would be appreciated, Wytch Hazel finally got too explicitly Christian for me

Do you listen to Crypt Sermon?

i have not heard of them, will check it out!

they are that sweet spot of epic doom which contains a lot of heavy metal influence and the vocalist kinda sounds like a neo-Dio. i love em

Listening to the Early Moods. They really nailed the production on this. Simple and heavy.

Absolutely. Songcraft inspired too.

Wish I'd gotten into them sooner

new DVNE tomorrow, can't wait

new High on Fire and My Dying Bride are wehre I'm at

Def excited for DVNE and High On Fire.

High on Fire not exactly blowing me away on first listen. i get it's not going for 'high octane' like Electric Messiah but a lot of these songs are all at the same tempo with the same drum patterns.

but I need at least one listen to get the 'expectations' out of the way so...we'll see how I feel. it's by no means bad, but the last three or so releases I was a wee more excited on first listen.

Anyone heard this Transit Method album? I am pleasantly surprised. Punky prog-metal, but mostly bypassing anything hardcore - more like a pop-punk group playing Thin Lizzy, Maiden, and Rush tunes.

https://transitmethod.bandcamp.com/album/othervoid

I like the new High On Fire a lot, but I've always loved The Art of Self Defense and thought they lost a little something when they sped up on the second album. This feels like a return to their earliest, doomiest sound. Plus, Coady Willis's drumming is great. I loved him with Big Business and the Melvins and I think he really adds something here. I'm gonna write about it at length in my next newsletter. But this morning I'm replaying the new Necrot.

wow I LOVE transit method. thanks so much

hear some voivod in this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxh-Uuxn9ds

huh, I'll have to give Transit Method another shot. I heard one song back when it was released and thought it was not for me.

very much going to get the HoF another chance, yesterday I was listening in the midst of a really bad anxiety attack but didn't wanna stop listening cos High on Fire.

xpost i think i have bad taste in metal tbf haha

judging by the other stuff you like, I'd say that's not true!

I like that Transit Method song; will check out the album. It's kind of hitting the same spot as Spirit Adrift, for me.

aw thanks and also was gonna ask you and the metal cru - friend and i see that GA tickets are still available for pretty reasonable - Judas Priest: still good live or no?

It's kind of hitting the same spot as Spirit Adrift, for me.

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Friday, April 19, 2024 9:43 AM (thirty-nine seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah actually that's a good call. i love spirit adrift

huh, okay, I love Spirit Adrift, now I'm wondering what I didn't like about Transit Method. gonna give it another go soon.

aw thanks and also was gonna ask you and the metal cru - friend and i see that GA tickets are still available for pretty reasonable - Judas Priest: still good live or no?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, April 19, 2024 10:44 AM bookmarkflaglink

oh most definitely. the show of theirs I saw in 2019 was one of my favs of all time.

I don’t like Spirit Adrift, but I do like this Transit Method song. It’s the Voivod in the sound that’s hooking me.

I just listened to the whole Transit Method album. Most of it kind of sits somewhere between Intranaut and Elder for me. With a tiny dab of Voivod here and there. I could see it growing on me.

*Intronaut

I really like the HoF after one listen. New drummer brings a very different dynamic to their sound. I personally always gravitate to heavy music that is closer in spirit to Melvins—big drums and heavy riffs prioritized over speed (but also not so slow as to be sad doom)

I’m listening to their 2019 album now just to remind myself, and I definitely like the new drummer’s presence a lot more

Speaking of which, I'm hearing good things about the new Melvins album out today.

i don't wanna really hyperfocus on the speed, per se, as my favorite High on Fire is when they're locked into an impenetrable groove, but something just felt off.

starting my second listen now. I should preface I was in the midst of a 2+ hour anxiety attack while I was listening.

also going to play the My Dying Bride, excited to hear the Melvins one is great (my good friend was raving about it).

I don't know what I think about the DVNE album yet, seems harder that before but it always takes a while before they get to me

High on Fire much improved on second listen, though still feeling not quite up to the previous three to my ears. but good, I do like it, the title track is my favorite. going to live with it a bit more and going to see them in a few weeks.

onto the new My Dying Bride now

Oh I didn’t know there was a new Melvins album too!