Metal

[Gamezilla]

Speaking of Celtic Frost, how good was Monotheist for a comeback album?

I heard that it was a wonderful comeback for them.

 

[Dejeray]

Whoaaa.... the new Arch Enemy actually isn't that bad and I'm not a fan usually by any means. Hooky, yet very very agressive. In all fairness I am still only on the first track,so iiI guess we'll see where it foes from here.

UPDATE: ehhh, I got bored halfway through the album. It's okay I guess.. not as good as I thought it'd be though.

 

[Gamezilla]

Whoaaa.... the new Arch Enemy actually isn't that bad and I'm not a fan usually by any means. Hooky, yet very very agressive. In all fairness I am still only on the first track,so iiI guess we'll see where it foes from here.

UPDATE: ehhh, I got bored halfway through the album. It's okay I guess.. not as good as I thought it'd be though.

I like Arch Enemy to some degree, but the chick scares me.

 

[HotRhymez]

Okay, I have a serious question this time, what exactly is "metal"? Like, what makes a song metal? Do they use metal instruments? Sorry I know I sound dumb I'm just curious..

(I'm not trying to troll, I sincerely want to know.)

 

[Dejeray]

Well Slim, there's no specific instruments in metal. Although the most common are Drums, Guitar and a bass, the genre is not limited to them by any means. Bands in the past have also chosen to add keyboards, violins, cellos, horns, flutes, other forms of percussion as well as vast amounts of other instruments.

I know you didn't ask about this, but iI just wanted to clarify. Metal does not only limit it's lyric content to senseless violence, blasphemy and gore. While I am well aware that there are plenty of bands with such lyric content, there are many with very different subject matter.

Lyrics can range from:

-Ancient Egyptian culture
-Gothic Romanticism
-Mystical Lore
-Spirituality
-Nature
-Depression and Despair
-Politics
-Personal views about the world
-Psychology
-Abstract concepts

and much much more.

I don't exact;y know how to word how something is "metal" so I'll let someone else take that part.

 

[Apex]

I think to classify something as metal you need to listen to its actual sound.

 

[Gamezilla]

Okay, I have a serious question this time, what exactly is "metal"? Like, what makes a song metal? Do they use metal instruments? Sorry I know I sound dumb I'm just curious..

(I'm not trying to troll, I sincerely want to know.)

It was a term made for the music a long time ago. Back when Led Zeppelin and guys were playing Harder Rock, but I really don't know where the term came from. It's just been known as a much Harder form of Rock for a long time.

 

[12ogue]

I like: (Some aren't metal =) but I like em)

Children of Bodom
Trivium
Pantera
Metallica
Sex Machineguns
Dream Theater
Chimaira
In Flames
Iron Maiden
Bullet For My Valentine
As I Lay Dying

 

[Qyöt27]

It was a term made for the music a long time ago. Back when Led Zeppelin and guys were playing Harder Rock, but I really don't know where the term came from. It's just been known as a much Harder form of Rock for a long time.

The application of the term 'Heavy Metal' has more stories about it than you can shake a stick at.

The initial distinction between Rock and Metal is that Metal either dropped entirely or ramped up certain other elements (often blues influences and overall distortion or the role of the bass in the group) common in Rock music of the time, which caused a shift. Blues elements were gradually shed, especially by the time the later New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Thrash eras came around, although you'll still see acts with heavier blues influence. Coincidently, Rock itself also went through a similar transformation, since most popular Rock these days is not descended as much from 50s, 60s, and 70s Rock as it is from Punk (by way of Post-Punk and later, Alternative Pop/Rock, from which Grunge emerged), which likewise excised most of the blues influences from the music.

Basically, it comes down not necessarily to what instruments there are, but A) how they're played and B) certain commonalities with other definitively Metal acts. Generally speaking, yes, Metal is harder sounding than the average Rock output, but then again so are other types of music like various genres of Punk.

There is always the Wikipedia article on metal, though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music
(I cringe at the grouping-in of nü-metal toward the end, though)

 

[Gamezilla]

The application of the term 'Heavy Metal' has more stories about it than you can shake a stick at.

The initial distinction between Rock and Metal is that Metal either dropped entirely or ramped up certain other elements (often blues influences and overall distortion or the role of the bass in the group) common in Rock music of the time, which caused a shift. Blues elements were gradually shed, especially by the time the later New Wave of British Heavy Metal and Thrash eras came around, although you'll still see acts with heavier blues influence. Coincidently, Rock itself also went through a similar transformation, since most popular Rock these days is not descended as much from 50s, 60s, and 70s Rock as it is from Punk (by way of Post-Punk and later, Alternative Pop/Rock, from which Grunge emerged), which likewise excised most of the blues influences from the music.

Basically, it comes down not necessarily to what instruments there are, but A) how they're played and B) certain commonalities with other definitively Metal acts. Generally speaking, yes, Metal is harder sounding than the average Rock output, but then again so are other types of music like various genres of Punk.

There is always the Wikipedia article on metal, though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music
(I cringe at the grouping-in of nü-metal toward the end, though)

Great post! All of this is very true. AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Motorhead, and many others were bands who took a very heavy influence from the Blues. From Angus Young and his very hooky and bluesy riffs, to Jimmy Page and his dark sounding abstract form of the Blues with the occasional Spanish sounding licks. This music has always had an origin in Blues, and there is no doubt about it. I have seen many interviews with guys like Alice Cooper or Ozzy Osbourne saying "We were the first one's to claim Heavy Metal as our genre of music!", but it's hard to believe any of them when they are all saying it. I don't think too many know where the term "Metal" originated from, but I'm definitely going to try and look it up.

 

[Citanul]

I don't think too many know where the term "Metal" originated from, but I'm definitely going to try and look it up.

The phrase "heavy metal" was taken from Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild, but I don't know how it came to be used to describe the actual genre.

 

[IAmSethward]

The phrase "heavy metal" was taken from Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild, but I don't know how it came to be used to describe the actual genre.

Writer's started using it as a dig at music like Led Zeppelin and others, but the fans took hold of the name heavy metal and since then it's come to describe the more hardcore music of the genres. Although we wouldn't call these old bands heavy metal today (classic rock best describes them), at the time, it was the most hardcore music of the day and became hated by some, like the heavy metal of today.

 

[NightCrawler13]

I'm starting to get into a Indie Death Metal band that goes by the name of "With Faith or Flames". Really awesome band, and great lyrics. You can check them out on Myspace if you want to hear some of their stuff.

huh, man you got taste!...i checked them out
awesome band..but yahoo music doesnt seem to have anything on them...only myspace

 

[Gamezilla]

huh, man you got taste!...i checked them out
awesome band..but yahoo music doesnt seem to have anything on them...only myspace

Haha, thank you, man. They have a few free downloads at Last.FM's main website. I got about 4 song from there. I wish Itunes carried their music, because they are such an awesome band.

 

[3FT]

I'm a really big metal fan. I have a number of hard-hitting albums that I just can't get enough of (perhaps I should turn the volume down so I don't lose any more of my hearing *chuckles*).

 

[.Sabre.]

I love Rammstein, System of a Down, Anthrax, Nightwish, Sepultura, Metallica and others....yes, I am a metal fan indeed!

 

[NightCrawler13]

my 2 favorites from your list are Rammstein and system of a down

 

[Gamezilla]

Anybody heard of With Blood Comes Cleansing?

 

[NightCrawler13]

ive heard of the band...but never heard a song..i'll check them out on myspace...H/O..not bad..how do you find all these bands?

 

[Dejeray]

Haha, thank you, man. They have a few free downloads at Last.FM's main website. I got about 4 song from there. I wish Itunes carried their music, because they are such an awesome band.

You have a last.fm account? Hit me up! My username's Dejeray.

I've been really digging Unleashed;s "...And the Laughter Has Died" demo lately. Really primative and poorly recorded at times, but it is just so good.