Rolling Metal Thread 2012

I do think actually in metal it's not the case that people are as irritatingly "early stuff better" as they're reputed to be. If you browse Metal Archives, you find people writing impassioned defenses of late Mercyful Fate records, Paradise Lost gets a fair shake from the aggregate rating every time right down to the most recent one, inter alios, and I don't think this is just because fans are writing the reviews - it's fans who're supposed to be the ones stanning hardest for early stuff, right? It's just that there's also bands like Katatonia, who completely lose sight of their vision, and metal dudes I think get more aggro about that when they think there was a really good & original band who started to suck

metal fans will buy anything basically. in multiple formats. forever.

i mean, in a good way.

What bothers me about metal fans, and was a huge stumbling block for me when I made my first attempts to really invest time in it, is that a lot of fans I'd run into would sneer at newcomers without a handle on the "classic era" or w/e. I mean, I would have loved to have been on the tape-trading circuit in 1988 and been able to follow the gestating Florida death scene or w/e, but I was stuck in the middle of Central Illinois where metal lived and died in two camps that broke down to basically Van Halen or Metallica and you were fortunate if you ran into someone who might've known about the existence of, say, Cannibal Corpse. With no record stores that gave a shit about metal and nowhere to discover it, I missed out on some key developments. So when I tried to really get into it again when I was finally in college and surrounded by smart metal fans, I was disappointed to constantly run into people that gave me shit and wouldn't take me seriously for not being intimately familiar with Obituary's demos.

Anyway, I like that the internet finally caught up to where I could experience all that stuff and hear all of it (sadly divorced of time and context), figuring out my tastes and understanding how the genres evolved. But I think the internet has also forced these tr00 fans to find new ways to sneer at their "inferiors" since they can no longer just say "lol oh you've never heard the Mantas demos" to feel superior, since any jack with an internet connection could find them in minutes. I feel like now those type of fans that just NEED to be snotty about their tastes cling to their "first album was better" as some sort of way to justify that they've been REAL fans for LONGER.

And obviously there are tons of bands where their first shit really WAS better, but I think you can clearly see on RYM or Metal Archives or wherever when someone is just using that argument to be all challopsy. I don't ever feel that from the ILM metal crew and thats a huge part of why I feel comfortable talking about metal here, even when I feel infinitely less knowledgeable than some of you super smart dudes that have been around the scene forever.

I do agree with Phil, I've been arguing with "first album is better" metal fans for a good 25 years now. There are loads of people who don't think that way of course, but the ones who still do sure as hell are vociferous about it. As metalheads we tend to romanticize, often overly so, those first impressions bands left on us, I think that's a big reason behind it. I still catch myself checking to see what "old stuff" my favourite bands are playing on tour.

I've found myself saying "the first stuff was better/best" a lot. But I don't think its a rule, it just so happens to be so, regardless of genre.. Being tired of the argument I think has more to do with bands getting tired and putting out shitty music than it does fans holding on to nostalgia and the good old days. A lot of people like a band at its rawest and purest and most pissed off, and thats usually the first record. But sometimes that rawness is too raw, and undeveloped un focused.. (the 1st Sepultura comes to mind) It goes back to that 'you've had your whole life to do your first record, and you've had only a year and a half to do your second'...

but it really is something that bugs the shit out of me - the implied refusal to allow bands to evolve or grow.

i think you got the wrong person there.

People like you are everything that's wrong with metal.

lol

how dare I have an opinion!

I only listen to the 1st song on the 1st demo

A lot of
people like a band at its rawest and purest and most pissed off, and thats usually
the first record. But sometimes that rawness is too raw, and undeveloped un
focused.. (the 1st Sepultura comes to mind)

this sums it up quite nicely. esp bc i have always thought that the 1st sepultura was a weak record.

baroness song on their website is v. "....."

bands really need to stop cleaning up their vocals because i don't want to know what dumb shit you are singing about

how come bands never start off as blustery indie-rock affairs and end up doing sludgy hardcore stuff a few albums later? always the other way

The "first album is the best" phenomenon is a form of survivorship bias. Thousands of bands make shitty demos/debuts, never get to make a second.

baroness song on their website is v. "....."

holy shit, you weren't kidding

Reports are that "Take My Bones Away" is the heaviest thing on the record. I also think it's the best thing they've ever done, but I'm a well known hater.

Which website is that? Cause http://www.baroness.com gave me an unexpected result.

lol well not entirely unexpected

baronessmusic is what you want

Has anybody else preordered this record? I preordered the CD version and the green T-shirt.

You guys I bought the Jeff Loomis record today because of all your enthusing, mye ars are expecting to be shredded.

i already said i pre-ordered the vinyl
xp

Three seems to be the magic number for my favorite metal albums for Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kreator and Megadeth. Album #2 for Napalm Death, Slough Feg, High On Fire and Mercyful Fate. For Mastodon, Gojira and Hammers of Misfortune I've got #4, Black Sabbath and Neurosis #5, Entombed and Scorpions #6, Opeth #8. Hopefully Baroness' #3 (not counting EPs) will be my favorite.

Entombed?

i can't even think what the hell the 6th entombed album would even be. uprising is the only later entombed i still listen to. and i mostly just listen to it for the first song. unsane rubbed off on them on that album. unsane and motorhead. which is fine by me.

Hellz yeah, Entombed - Uprising. Great album.

siegbran doesn't even want to KNOW about entombed after clandestine. this much i know. i've known this for years, actually.

Uprising is super awesome rad. MOTORDEATH

Maryland Deathfest in one week. Anyone else going?

I'll be there. And at the YOB show in NYC on 5/23. Then I'm home for three days before Scion Rock fest and WM tour. Phew!

got my new decibel with a rave witch mountain review in it. and a picture suitable for framing.

Nice! Will have to check that out. I need to get a subscription...

Saw Narrows, Retox and Early Graves last night.. the sound sucked-ass for EG and Retox, but the drummer for EG, who is a soundman in his own right, totally fixed the sound for Narrows, and they destroyed SF.. EG was great despite the shitty sound and Retox was, egh..

oh rad i fuckin love narrows

yeah... it wasn't packed, like not enough to have that big piece of man meat singer trying to stage dive, but he did it anyway...lol! got the sleepy Sunday crowd going for their set for sure..

It made me realize though... the bands that have that strong root in Hradcore, no matter how far they stray from it, always know how to wake a crowd up and put on a good show, without being pretentious in anyway.. that shit was real, raw, and heart felt.

= danish hardcore??

I really like the song Greenland off the last Narrows album. It's like the country, all weird, fucked up and shit.

The new Grand Magus is really good; hits that sweet spot between classic Judas Priest and Amon Amarth.

Also excellent: the new Dawnbringer. I find Profound Lore's catalog way more miss than hit, but this one's a killer.

May metal roundup: 10 mini-reviews by me, 5 by other folks (and I feel like I'm slipping behind in my listening again):

http://www.rhapsody.com/blog/2012/05/metal

The Grand Magus and Dawnbringer albums are outstanding. Hooky, powerful stuff. A bit silly how the Dawnbringer is a concept album yet no lyrics are included!

And Chuck, that Halestorm album is growing on me.

Oh, and Crazy Lixx is great fun.

Oh man, that Grand Magus record is killer – made me happy I just got a new car with USB capabilities so I can rock out to it while driving.

This guitar:

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/Metaltim/April%202012/bf00b818f8.jpg

Tomorrow: Nasum and Brutal Truth in Philly.
My face: Grinded.

I knew it was a good idea to start reducing my antidepressants at the start of the year. I'm actually getting really excited about the Slayer day of IBYM in London now.

Is anyone going?

Seeing Yob for the first time and the Melvins should be amazing if the new album's anything to go by.

Wish I was going this weekend but will content myself with Harvey Milk tonight instead.

Rockin'. They're usually ace. Seeing them on Saturday.