Poll
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Favorite Metal Genre
I'd like to know you're favorite genre of metal. Simple as that. Please explain why you like that genre and you may list some of your other favorites as well.
Mine is (Melodic) Death Metal. It combines harsh Death vocals and singing with a heavy, but melodic sound, which shows that metal is more than just screams and banging on instruments.
I also like Power Metal and a bit of Nu.
Well, you can't exactly treat death metal and nu metal as just 'metal', they're worlds apart. In fact most subgenres of this subgenre are relevant, it's when you start getting into the sub-subgenres like...I dunno, ''viking metal'' or whatever you call it, then it starts getting silly.
Ask me this question two or three years ago, I woulda said all of the above, but thrash and death in particular. Nowadays, the little metal I listen to is limited to specific bands who kick the living, genre-transcending crap out of all the others. Opeth, Sepultura, Meshuggah and Dark Tranquility, take a bow.
Originally posted by Deathblow
Well, you can't exactly treat death metal and nu metal as just 'metal', they're worlds apart. In fact most subgenres of this subgenre are relevant, it's when you start getting into the sub-subgenres like...I dunno, ''viking metal'' or whatever you call it, then it starts getting silly.
I don't treat them the same, I treat them as metal. That's what they are, that's what I call them. I just treat them as different kinds of metal. I'm not insecure enough to need labels, I can tell the difference by myself. It's not like I'm classing their sounds the same, they ARE worlds apart, but they don't need labels to show that. Only idiots can't tell the difference, and I don't cater to those. I'm a music fan, therefore the genre doesn't matter to me enough to get into subs.
I don't plan that I'll meet someone who will ask "What kind of metal?" because if you're asking those questions then labels matter to you, and if labels matter to you in music then you aren't into music beyond superficiality anyway.
-AC
I think that's a little harsh. I'm not a huge fan of endless variations of categorisation, to say the least, but I for one do appreciate subgenres, and if there's anything you've learned about me during the year or so you've posted here it'll be that my attitude towards music is as far from superficial as anyone's.
Yes, sometimes it's needless, but I find it makes life easier, especially when trying to describe a band's sound to someone who hasn't heard of them before. Likewise, if someone said to me a band was, for example, ''fast industrial-influenced thrash that occasionally touches on death metal subject matter'', I'd already begin to build up an idea of what the band is like. It may not be a perfect way of describing an art-form as endlessly diverse as music, but if it works for some, it can't be completely disregarded.
Originally posted by Deathblow
Yes, sometimes it's needless, but I find it makes life easier, especially when trying to describe a band's sound to someone who hasn't heard of them before. Likewise, if someone said to me a band was, for example, ''fast industrial-influenced thrash that occasionally touches on death metal subject matter'', I'd already begin to build up an idea of what the band is like. It may not be a perfect way of describing an art-form as endlessly diverse as music, but if it works for some, it can't be completely disregarded.
Precisely. I don't need life made easier because I don't regard anything to do with music as a chore. If someone asks me what Opeth sound like I'll say they're a metal band but emphasise that they're nothing like other metal bands. To go into too much detail sets up a preconception that will likely end up removing from the listening experience than if someone goes in expecting a "a metal band" and not knowing much else. If "They're a metal band" turns someone away because they need that nailed down description, then chances are that they're not too head first about music. If you're willing to miss out on a great band or artist because they're metal or whatever, then I refuse to believe you're worthy of anyone taking the time describing it to you. It's almost as bad as spoon-feeding.
I'm not against describing a band's sound, I'm against putting them in a genre with other bands who sound absolutely nothing like them, which ruins the concept of genres anyway.
"Opeth are heavy metal." "So they're like Metallica?" "No, not really."
"Opeth are death metal." "Opeth are death metal? So they're like Deicide and Morbid Angel?" "No, not really."
It's stupid, the one true thing they are is a metal band. You're not doing them any discredit by calling them such, it's what they are.
If you're going to say "Opeth sound like..." or "Opeth remind me of..." and then enter describing what you personally hear in their music, then fine. I don't see the point in subgenres and I never will.
-AC
That's all very well and good, and I'm not saying I disagree with you, but when it comes down to it, if someone asks me about a band, I don't see the point in complicating things by automatically assuming the person in question is as versed in musical lore as you and I. Granted, placing any kind of technical description upon Opeth is pointless, but the same can't be said of all bands.
Long one short, if I meet someone at a gig, someone I've never spoken to in my life, and they ask me who else I'm into, and I name a band they haven't heard of, I'm not going to start rattling off a bunch of comparable bands he/she may not have heard of or be as familiar with, when I could just start with ''In Flames, ok well they're basically melodic death metal'', and go from there.
Starting on common ground, that's what I think subgenres are useful for. Much easier to expand on than another band the person to which you are explaining may never have heard of.
I personally prefer to start with nothing than a base that possibly doesn't even apply to the band in the first place. I never have a problem explaining a band's sound without genres, to be honest. I'm descriptive enough not to have to do that.
I'd rather give someone a description that is my own rather than a preset base subgenre.
I personally view them (subgenres) as pointless because I don't need/want to "simplify" things. If you do, then they obviously have purpose for you. I believe them to hinder more than they help.
-AC
Originally posted by Alpha Centauri
I personally prefer to start with nothing than a base that possibly doesn't even apply to the band in the first place. I never have a problem explaining a band's sound without genres, to be honest. I'm descriptive enough not to have to do that.I'd rather give someone a description that is my own rather than a preset base subgenre.
I personally view them (subgenres) as pointless because I don't need/want to "simplify" things. If you do, then they obviously have purpose for you. I believe them to hinder more than they help.
-AC
As I said before, it depends on who you are describing to, not how good you are at describing.