Metal - lifestyle, phase or something else?

[The Flash]

I've seen one here, on this forum. NP likes the new Opeth album but thinks it shouldn't be released under the name Opeth.

*Basing this solely on his posts in the thread "Opeth", he can correct me if his opinion has changed.

 

[Mosh]

That's different though. I don't think that was a sense of betrayal. I'm not gonna speak for him but I always interpreted that as him saying that it's such a huge departure from Opeth's sound that it's not even Opeth anymore. And that's a good point. I haven't heard the new album yet but Heritage was totally different from anything Opeth had done. As opposed to Damnation which ditched death metal but still had traits that were unmistakeably Opeth.

 

[The Flash]

it's such a huge departure from Opeth's sound that it's not even Opeth anymore.

This is where I have a problem. It's the same band, it's the same guy that is writing the songs, it's still Opeth.

Ditch the Opeth example if you want to, I went with it because it's a close one. Many Metallica fans like the Black Album but feel like it's a betrayal to their older stuff.

 

[Night Prowler]

That's different though. I don't think that was a sense of betrayal. I'm not gonna speak for him but I always interpreted that as him saying that it's such a huge departure from Opeth's sound that it's not even Opeth anymore. And that's a good point. I haven't heard the new album yet but Heritage was totally different from anything Opeth had done. As opposed to Damnation which ditched death metal but still had traits that were unmistakeably Opeth.

Yep. Betrayal is a harsh word. It's more... disappointment

Repeating myself but: the things that made Opeth... Opeth, aren't there anymore. No more heavy guitars, double-bass drums, Martin Lopez, growling, no more metal. New album is cool, but shouldn't be an Opeth album.

 

[The Flash]

To be fair Martin Lopez did play on two tracks on the album.

 

[Night Prowler]

Yeah, best drumming on an Opeth album since Ghost Reveries

One thing that I wanted to discuss and no one brought it up so far:

What things about the metal culture annoy you?

Metalheads who behave like children. In front of a concert venue, saw a few of them drunk out of their minds before the show even started, they were chasing and "scaring" people passing by with devil horns and mindless growling And then they wonder why metalheads have bad reputation in public

 

[Mosh]

Ditch the Opeth example if you want to, I went with it because it's a close one. Many Metallica fans like the Black Album but feel like it's a betrayal to their older stuff.

Yea but anyone who likes the Black Album won't say that.

 

[The Flash]

Yea but anyone who likes the Black Album won't say that.

They do. See it quite frequently on the internet.

 

[Perun]

@Night Prowler regarding this thread...

Spoiler

 

[Mosh]

Eh I've never seen that. I only see people who don't like The Black Album saying things like that.

Wanted to mention the Opeth thing: To me, Opeth there are a lot of things that makes Opeth what they are. Heritage didn't really have any of that, and I'm assuming the new album doesn't have it either.
I'm not gonna say they can't call it Opeth, they can call it whatever they want, it's their band. But I totally get the viewpoint of someone who doesn't think it should be called Opeth.

However, I will say that from seeing them live last year the Heritage songs blended pretty well into the set. They sounded a lot heavier and more "Opethian".

 

[Wästed The Great]

I've never seen an instance where a fan feels betrayed even if they like the new sound. That's ridiculous.

Late to the party, but I've heard that from Queensryche fans after Operation:Mindcrime to Empire (especially beyond). I've heard people say that about Maiden after Bruce left-- you have to have heard or seen that. One of my little favs, Riot, pissed people off about 3 albums in a row. --and in each of those instances, people liked the new sound but thought it didn't sound like the old and did feel betrayed. Man, check Riot's Thundersteel then Privilege of Power. Love them both, but really? Its the same band?

I think you'll find lots of fans that feel betrayed by sound/style/'X' member left.

 

[Mosh]

Late to the party, but I've heard that from Queensryche fans after Operation:Mindcrime to Empire (especially beyond). I've heard people say that about Maiden after Bruce left-- you have to have heard or seen that.

I have, but in every instance people feel betrayed and don't like the new sound, but never people feel betrayed and still like the new sound. That doesn't make sense to me either, why would you continue to listen to the band if you feel betrayed by their sound? I can understand thinking "this is a complete different band but I still like it" (opeth in my case) but not "This is totally different, I feel betrayed, but I still like it". If it's offensive enough that you feel betrayed, how can you still like it at the same time? That seems contradictory to me.

 

[Wästed The Great]

Well, let's take Riot. Thundersteel was kinda power metal. Love it. Love power metal. Privelege of Power was kinda jazzy... I love jazz. I felt betrayed because I didn't get power metal but still liked the sound. I can appreciate the new sound yet feel betrayed because the didn't sound a thing like the previous album.

 

[Mosh]

I guess it's a matter of semantics. I might be somewhat disappointed if I really like the band's previous sound (again Opeth for example), but never betrayed, unless I don't like the sound. And even then, I won't feel totally betrayed unless I think it's a direction that they're forcing to attract a larger audience or something. I suppose we mean the same thing though!

 

[Brigantium]

Here goes, then:

What things about the metal culture annoy you?
Tall people! There are way too many tall people in the metal scene.

All of us here listen to metal, but how many of us actually live it?
Are you still as "metal" as you were when you started listening to it (no matter how long ago that is), or you became "normal"?
Not sure how you 'live' metal, other than what you wear and what you listen to! I’m more likely to wear band t-shirts these days, I really wouldn’t have done that at one time, but I’m not interested in metal chick fashion – tbh, it’s nice to associate with a scene that doesn’t place too much emphasis on dressing up. Dunno - any of you go further to 'live metal'?

Are you only interested in the music and not the image, and do you even like the metalhead culture?
Mostly music, I don’t take image very seriously. I don’t differentiate much between metalhead culture and other alternative scenes. Similar sense of humour, strong interest in a particular genre of music, sense of identity based around this interest, willingness to look at life outside of the constraints of mainstream culture...

And do you even consider yourself a metalhead? And why not?
Probably not, listen to a lot of different genres.

I’ve got a question, though. Does anyone think there is a particular set of values which is common to people in the metal community?

 

[Crimson Idol]

One thing I dislike about metal culture - or more particularly, the younger members of metal culture - moshpits.

I'm there to see the band, hearing the music live is great but it's not really enough different to just listening to a live recording at home, SEEING the band is the main reason to go to the live shows. Hence, I want to spend my time looking at the stage, watching the guitarists etc, I don't want to spend it having a bunch of idiots throwing themselves into me constantly.

 

[The Flash]

Good call, Idol.

 

[Night Prowler]

I don't mind moshpits. I wasn't a fan when I was young and skinny, but nowadays I don't mind it. It's usually just people pushing people around, if it's punching I don't like it obviously

 

[Crimson Idol]

If it was a case of just don't get involved then I wouldn't mind, say at a festival if they did it away from the rest of the crowd. But they do it right in the middle, and often the people around them don't want to be involved, let alone have people bashing into them. When I saw Maiden on AMOLAD tour they stopped the gig twice because the crowd was surging from side to side so much, it gets to the point you are trying to make sure you stay on your feet/don't get flailed in the face rather than watching the gig.

It's pretty much the main reason I stopped trying to get forwards in a crowd, I used to go to the railing for every gig, now it's just not worth it.

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

Metal is a phase. It comes and goes.