Iron Maiden

[Red Baron 0]

Lamb of God > Shadows Fall.

[Slayer 0]

Oh, Corey's gonna fite you now

[Slayer 0]

I see him reading this thread, he's cracking his knuckles as I type

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

That's just fucking wrong and you know it.

[Slayer 0]

Corey can jam out to LoG, as well as A7X, on the new Guitar Hero!

[snuffbox 0]

Lamb of God > Shadows Fall.

 

Judging solely by the one time I saw both bands (I dont own any of their cds) I would agree with this. Though, to be fair, LoG got to play longer & the Shadows Fall singer did get a VERY loud chant of "Dimebag" going amongst the audience. That was neat.

[Rendclaw 0]

Oh sure, just tug on the metal fans heartstrings to get them on your side. There's playing to the crowd and then there's pandering to them. When I went to see Nickelback, they did some of that, but from what I understand Chad knew Dimebag a little bit, so a ten minute tribute one of the most influential metal bands of the early 90s wasn;t quite so cheesy.

 

I have just given up on the metal bands of today. Its all one-finger chords, detuned guitars and growling like a constipated grizzly bear. I think that Fear Factory might have started it, but at least they were innovative. They singer harmonizing with the keyboard line was decent, and they had a good metal guitarist. I saw them open up for Maiden back in '96 and it was interesting.

 

I gave A7X a try, I really did. No dice. Shadows Fall had a thing or two going for them when I saw them at Ozzfest, but again, there was nothing that caved my skull in, like the first time I listened to Vulgar Display of Power or Master of Puppets. Its all to fucking formulaic to actually be any good. The closest thing that has done so is Disturbed of all bands, and I fucking HATED them at first. Actually, add Godsmack onto that list.

 

As for the current state of metal, I blame Fred Motherfucking Durst. I wish I could go back to 1992 or so and just kill him in his sleep.

[Red Baron 0]

I'm being serious as well.

 

Outside a few Shadows Fall songs, I really find them boring. Lamb of God, I can listen to Ashes of the Wake any day of the week.

 

Still, neither can touch Mastodon.

[snuffbox 0]

Why are Godsmack and Nickelback even being mentioned?

[ZGangsta 0]

Oh sure, just tug on the metal fans heartstrings to get them on your side. There's playing to the crowd and then there's pandering to them. When I went to see Nickelback, they did some of that, but from what I understand Chad knew Dimebag a little bit, so a ten minute tribute one of the most influential metal bands of the early 90s wasn;t quite so cheesy.

 

I have just given up on the metal bands of today. Its all one-finger chords, detuned guitars and growling like a constipated grizzly bear. I think that Fear Factory might have started it, but at least they were innovative. They singer harmonizing with the keyboard line was decent, and they had a good metal guitarist. I saw them open up for Maiden back in '96 and it was interesting.

 

I gave A7X a try, I really did. No dice. Shadows Fall had a thing or two going for them when I saw them at Ozzfest, but again, there was nothing that caved my skull in, like the first time I listened to Vulgar Display of Power or Master of Puppets. Its all to fucking formulaic to actually be any good. The closest thing that has done so is Disturbed of all bands, and I fucking HATED them at first. Actually, add Godsmack onto that list.

 

As for the current state of metal, I blame Fred Motherfucking Durst. I wish I could go back to 1992 or so and just kill him in his sleep.

Yeah, cause I want to see one of the guitarists from Nickleback play Dime's stuff.

 

As for today's metal bands, I think you're being a bit harsh, a lot of them can play. There's Lamb of God, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Trivium, etc. Might not dig that sort of Metal (I'm not a huge fan) but a lot of them are pretty technically proficient. The whole drop-D, one finger power chord metal I associate with 90s nu-metal more than today's stuff.

But it looks like someone needs to rock some Dragonforce.

[cd213 0]

Oh sure, just tug on the metal fans heartstrings to get them on your side. There's playing to the crowd and then there's pandering to them. When I went to see Nickelback, they did some of that, but from what I understand Chad knew Dimebag a little bit, so a ten minute tribute one of the most influential metal bands of the early 90s wasn;t quite so cheesy.

 

I have just given up on the metal bands of today. Its all one-finger chords, detuned guitars and growling like a constipated grizzly bear. I think that Fear Factory might have started it, but at least they were innovative. They singer harmonizing with the keyboard line was decent, and they had a good metal guitarist. I saw them open up for Maiden back in '96 and it was interesting.

 

I gave A7X a try, I really did. No dice. Shadows Fall had a thing or two going for them when I saw them at Ozzfest, but again, there was nothing that caved my skull in, like the first time I listened to Vulgar Display of Power or Master of Puppets. Its all to fucking formulaic to actually be any good. The closest thing that has done so is Disturbed of all bands, and I fucking HATED them at first. Actually, add Godsmack onto that list.

 

As for the current state of metal, I blame Fred Motherfucking Durst. I wish I could go back to 1992 or so and just kill him in his sleep.

Yeah, cause I want to see one of the guitarists from Nickleback play Dime's stuff.

 

As for today's metal bands, I think you're being a bit harsh, a lot of them can play. There's Lamb of God, Mastodon, Children of Bodom, Trivium, etc. Might not dig that sort of Metal (I'm not a huge fan) but a lot of them are pretty technically proficient. The whole drop-D, one finger power chord metal I associate with 90s nu-metal more than today's stuff.

But it looks like someone needs to rock some Dragonforce.

 

Dragonforce rule all! I am also a BIG fan of Sonata Artica, Nevermore and ICED MOTHER FUCKIN' EARTH. IMO John Shaffer (man behind IE) is one of the most brilliant song writers that gets no recognition. And for proof of that listen the Gettysberg and read along with the lyrics. A 30+ minute 3 song epic on the Gettysberg war, when the lyrics stop and the music takes over, John writes what the music means.

 

I had a conversation with a friend of mine that is in a band on why Euro-metal isn't big here and he came up with a great point. he said "it too complicated." He meant the cords on the guitar. Most American metalheads don't want something that is too hard to follow. That why these great bands from other parts of the world are not big here. The only exception is H.I.M. (who I hate) and that's only because Bam is pimping their shit.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I think it has more to do with personal pride, actually. I'm a fan of thrash and death and punk, and I'll definitely agree that I prefer the American bands over their European counterparts. There's actually a quote I use to explain this, and it's from SLC Punk:

[American bands] do it harder, faster, and with more emotion.

That's something I actually believe in. When I hear European metal, I hear amazing technical proficiency. Musicians that know what they're doing and excel in their abilities. But when I hear American metal, I hear musicians that feel as though they just NEED to do this. I get a sense of urgency in American metal that I don't with European, a sense of energy, which is why I prefer my heavy music from the States.

 

Fuck Dragonforce. They have solo's and...well, that's it. They're Stratovarious only a little faster. Slayer will actually explain it better as to why they pale in comparison to many slower power metal acts, but I believe he'll explain it along the lines that Dragonforce just plays fast whereas other power metal acts will actually write full songs.

Iced Earth is alright, but there's too many songs of theirs that I feel are there for the sole purpose of letting Schaeffer show off his abilities. That's all fine and dandy if your name is Joe Satriani, but when you listen to a band for the songwriting and not the technical precision it becomes grating.

 

Rend, check out Shadows Fall's second album, Of One Blood. It's their best work, almost sounding European save for a few songs, and there's rarely a dull moment. Plus...Fair does more than just scream about his life as a vegan and his spirituality. There's a lot of Shadows Fall songs I don't care for, most of it from The Art of Balance and the radio tracks from The War Within. You should really listen to "Those Who Cannot Speak," because it's almost the perfect Shadows Fall song. It has a pure epic sense, a good breakdown that blends metal and hardcore wonderfully, and it runs under 6 minutes (I believe it's actually under 5, but still: a short "epic" nonetheless).

 

And don't knock Drop-D. A lot of good bands have played in Drop-D or even lower and don't resort to just strumming a one-finger chord or doing a bastardized White Zombie riff without the groove and with extra simplicity. Nile, anyone?

[Epic Reine 0]

To me, H.I.M. just sounds like a heavier version of The Cure. I like The Cure and all but can't stand this band.

 

Lamb of God are ok, saw them live this past summer with Slayer and they were awesome but haven't heard much from them on record but are decent from what I did hear.

 

Shadows Fall is a band I can't get into but I've been meaning to listen to them again as I shrugged them off on the first listen.

 

Dragonforce sucks. Helloween and Jag Panzer are the power metal kings.

 

And yea, BFMV totally sucked when I saw them with Maiden. Typical emo band only louder. That's all they are.

 

As for today's metal, while it can never touch the great metal band of the 80's, there are some worth looking out for such as Trivium, Mastodon, and 36 Crazyfists.

[Slayer 0]

Slayer will actually explain it better as to why they pale in comparison to many slower power metal acts, but I believe he'll explain it along the lines that Dragonforce just plays fast whereas other power metal acts will actually write full songs.

Why did you hand an argument off to me only to take it right back? You Indian giver

 

As for the Euro vs. American metal bands, I'm not sure where the whole "vs" issue comes from, as most of my "underground" (for lack of a better term, meaning non-MTV metalheads) metal friends, as well as myself, enjoy both.

 

If you're talking the MTV kids, then that's pretty easy, as most Euro-metal tends to write about fantasy, ethereal, or literary themes, which of course isn't going to fly with the "arrrrgh I'm so ANGRY" American nu-metal kids... though now it seems we're at the next evolution where the angry kids have hit the latter end of their manic-depressiveness and nu-metal has given way to the emocore "arrrgh I'm so EMOTIONAL" (witness BFMV and HIM)

 

As for good drop-D metal, don't forget most of Nevermore's work this decade

[cd213 0]

Slayer will actually explain it better as to why they pale in comparison to many slower power metal acts, but I believe he'll explain it along the lines that Dragonforce just plays fast whereas other power metal acts will actually write full songs.

Why did you hand an argument off to me only to take it right back? You Indian giver

 

As for the Euro vs. American metal bands, I'm not sure where the whole "vs" issue comes from, as most of my "underground" (for lack of a better term, meaning non-MTV metalheads) metal friends, as well as myself, enjoy both.

 

If you're talking the MTV kids, then that's pretty easy, as most Euro-metal tends to write about fantasy, ethereal, or literary themes, which of course isn't going to fly with the "arrrrgh I'm so ANGRY" American nu-metal kids... though now it seems we're at the next evolution where the angry kids have hit the latter end of their manic-depressiveness and nu-metal has given way to the emocore "arrrgh I'm so EMOTIONAL" (witness BFMV and HIM)

 

As for good drop-D metal, don't forget most of Nevermore's work this decade

 

I wasn't trying to make a "vs" argument. I'm just saying that most metal fans in the US (meaning MTV fans, I should have been more specific about that) can't handle it.

 

Nevermore, I abso-fucking-lutly love. I went to last years Gigantor at Jones Beach and they played at 4p.m. I was upset since I got there at 4:30 since the ticket said the show started at 6p.m. When I went to the signing for Nevermore I brought up the fact that I was upset about it to one of the members (can't remember which one) and he said he was very upset about it as well. They were told they would be on later, I guess Dillinger Escape Plan had to go on later (they sucked!!). I got there for the end of Nevermore's set so I at least got to see some of them. They ROCK!

[snuffbox 0]

Dragonforce. Heh.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Aye, Slay. How could I forget Nevermore's work?! Well...excluding Enemies of Reality, which I think even Nevermore regrets, that is. This Godless Endeavour is an overlooked classic, dare I say. On par with, if not better than, Dead Heart in a Dead World.

 

Epic, thanks for the Helloween love. Them and the other band you mentioned, Jag Panzer, are the only "big" power metal acts (as in: you could go to a record store and find their albums) I regularly enjoy. Slay, I'm still searching for a fucking Onward album! I listened to "Witches Winter Eternal" for the first time in nearly a year the other day, and I blew my load. It was all gooey, dear God was it disgusting.

 

Lamb of God's only redeemable quality is their stage presence. That's a big reason, IMO, why better - technically and brutally - death metal, metalcore, and thrash metal acts don't get as much attention as the well-known bands: they're boring live. I still remember seeing Morbid Angel open for Slayer and Pantera years ago, and how fucking bored I was during the whole set. Cannibal Corpse at SotU was the same story: a legendary metal band with a live show that boils down to Alex Webster doing a ton of windmills and Corpsegrinder placing one foot on the feedback amp and growling like a motherfucker.

 

Better metal bands would get the attention they deserve, IMO, through not only publicity (let's face it: if a band is on Roadrunner, they're gonna be on MTV and their album's going to be pushed harder than band who's on Metal Blade or Century Media, and that's solely because of Slipknot's success, as well as Roadrunner's history in the late 80's/early 90's of some solid releases that garnered a decent amount of mainstream attention), but also a much better live show. That doesn't mean necessarily go the way of Gwar, but do something to keep fans entertained that aren't already into your music.

 

You know who's better than Lamb of God, but plays similar metalcore with a big ol' heaping dose of nu-metal influence? The Red Chord. Only they do it better. Same with Chimaira. And Dry Kill Logic. So why aren't those three bands on the same level as Lamb of God?

 

...if you can't already tell, I really fucking hate Lamb of God...

[Slayer 0]

Never thought my chance pickup of Evermoving back in '01 would be such a big deal now

[Red Baron 0]

Why do you hate Lamb of God Corey, it seems that you hate their fans, but not the band itself.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Because they're a fucking commercialization off of the music that I've been listening to for the better part of the last 10 years. It's the same reason I hate KoRn, Slipknot, Trapt, and every other nu-metal act. It's just toned down metal for the MTV youth to get their little fucking hands on. I used to be of the belief "if it's heavy, it's good," but that changed quickly when I started realizing that most heavy bands that get attention...suck fucking ass. Lamb of God is one of them. Randy's vocals are awful (beyond the Chris Barnes so-bad-it's-good sense), the guitars are uninspired in every song I've heard by them save for "11th Hour" (which seems to be the favorite LoG song from the fans of the band I've met IRL), the drumming tame compared to what passes as mediocrity in most death metal bands, and I can't even hear the bass because the production is so nu-metally/rap-oriented where the mid on the bass is all the way down it's embarassing. They're fucking poseurs making a buck off of something they only care about because "yo, dude, it's fucking phat." The ONLY difference between them and Otep is that Otep takes herself more seriously.

[cd213 0]

As far as the Euro metal bands go, I don't know if you heard Dream Evil. I was at a used CD store and found their first two albums and loved them. Their 3rd album, The Book of Heavy Metal is their best album by far. I can listen to that album all day, every day. I find their music to just be fun to listen to. It's very much like party metal. They do the whole epic metal thing, but they don't take themselves seriously. They just like to play metal for the fun of it, and it comes across in the music.

 

I'm not big into groups like Slayer, Lamb of God and other bands like that. As you can tell I'm more into the epic, story driven bands. I love learning about knights and dragons and stuff, so that type of music rules for me. I'm also a big Dio fan (recently got back into him after not listening for a while).

 

I know I'm going to get shit for this, but I am also a BIG KoRn fan. I have listen to them since their debut self-titled album dropped in 1994. I haven't been there since day one, but I have been there since day 3. I'm not one of those little MTV kids that like them from their newest stuff. I loike the newer stuff (some more then others), but I have been a fan since the beginning.

[Slayer 0]

By contrast, I thought Dream Evil went downhill following the awesome Evilized with the lackluster BOHM.

[cd213 0]

By contrast, I thought Dream Evil went downhill following the awesome Evilized with the lackluster BOHM.

 

I guess to each their own. I'm not saying that Evilized or Dragon Slayer are bad. I love them both. I just think that Book is better, at least for my taste. I love the upbeat, fun sound that they have on the album. Plus I think that the title track is just a great song to get pumped up to.

 

I can't wait for their new album to drop, I think on Oct 31, but I'm not 100% sure of the date.

[Guest Felonies!]

Metal albums drop?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Only power metal albums.

[Slayer 0]

That was uncalled for

[Red Baron 0]

Corey you've really become an elitist.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

You call it elitism, I call it not liking what Ross Robinson and all of the other suits want to call heavy metal. I don't mind that these bands exist, I just wish their fans weren't so fucking adamant that they're the best or the heaviest when neither is true. It reminds me of when I was with my ex Heather and all of her friends were into Slipknot, and I had to go into great detail whenever they asked me why I didn't like them. Trust me, I ripped them apart A LOT worse than I rip Lamb of God apart, and I actually don't mind Slipknot that much. Mick has some awesome riffs and Joey's an amazing drummer, and Corey's voice works for the band perfectly.

[Red Baron 0]

You still haven't answered my question.

[Henry Spencer 0]

This question?

 

Why do you hate Lamb of God

 

It appears to me he gave a rather thorough answer to it, in no uncertain terms.