Here's an Arctic Monkeys query that just went nowhere.

[At Home 0]

4 guys signing about shooting the shit on the New England coast with chimey guitar lines

Right, you described what it is, but that doesn't mean that it's good. It's such an artificial and contrived niche, bordering on gimmick: "oh, finally. What I've been waiting for. A song about shooting the shit on the New England coast." Songs about California, I get. Songs about the South, I get. Who was clamoring for a musical snapshot of Martha's Vineyard...that takes cues from Senegalese music? It's like the Manatee Idea Balls of indie.

 

Well describing something doesn't mean that anything is good. If you don't like it, that's fine, but other people do like it, and all I'm trying to say is that perhaps it's a good change from what's going on. Who knows? Maybe some of the people who listen to them on MTV will do a google search for them, find P4k, and pick up, oh, I don't know, a Walkmen CD.

[Nighthawk 0]

Reminds me of Nelly's "You ain't from Russia, so bitch why you rushin'."

[Guest Brady's Torn ACL]

Now that I like.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'll admit I was somewhat intimated by the regulars here. Probably for good reason though, since if I had posted here when I first joined I would have been saying something like "Oh man, how good are Killswitch Engage, guys? Seriously, the best. Also Lamb of God or somehting." Then Agent and Corey or someone like that would've crucified me. It would not have been good times for jwest27!

 

Killswitch Engage no, but I do remember people here maybe even Corey, liking Lamb of God. I mean, for fuck's sake, Corey was all obsessed with Shadows Fall for the longest time and their biggest appeal is that their lead singer has ridiculously long dreads.

Certainly wasn't me that liked Lamb of God. I remember saying that they were good live when I saw them in '03, but the only songs by them that aren't complete and total shit (think Coal Chamber with poorly-done Slayer/Pantera riffs thrown in) are "11th Hour" and "Redneck" (which I only like because it's grown on me due to the rest of my band loving it). But Shadows Fall? Sir, listen to Of One Blood and the second half of War Within: they're a band who CAN be fucking incredible, but choose to just play lame pseudo-thrash/generic metalcore to attract the masses. Good for them, they chose that path, but it pisses me off when a band can do more than just rest on their laurels. There's 3 or 4 songs off of each of their albums that are really worth listening to, and everything else is pretty much just filler.

 

If anything, hate my taste for absolutely loving everything Unearth does. Best band I've ever seen live besides Gwar and maybe Slayer (one of the few bands that have opened for Slayer and NOT been jeered by a good portion of the crowd), and the music has so much raw thrash energy with the guitar work of European melodic death and the crunching breakdowns of US hardcore. There's not a song by them (besides on the first album, which is really just a big demo of what's to come) that I don't like in some way, shape, or form. Even the piano instrumental "Aries" is so haunting and beautiful it works perfectly in contrast to the rest of The Oncoming Storm, and the instrumental "Big Bear and the Hour of Chaos" at the end of III: In the Eyes of Fire is great.

[King Kamala 0]

Hey I saw Czech dissed Graceland on the other page. Fuck you Czechers! Maybe it's the forty year old man in me but that's one of my all-time favorites!

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'll admit I was somewhat intimated by the regulars here. Probably for good reason though, since if I had posted here when I first joined I would have been saying something like "Oh man, how good are Killswitch Engage, guys? Seriously, the best. Also Lamb of God or somehting." Then Agent and Corey or someone like that would've crucified me. It would not have been good times for jwest27!

 

Killswitch Engage no, but I do remember people here maybe even Corey, liking Lamb of God. I mean, for fuck's sake, Corey was all obsessed with Shadows Fall for the longest time and their biggest appeal is that their lead singer has ridiculously long dreads.

Certainly wasn't me that liked Lamb of God. I remember saying that they were good live when I saw them in '03, but the only songs by them that aren't complete and total shit (think Coal Chamber with poorly-done Slayer/Pantera riffs thrown in) are "11th Hour" and "Redneck" (which I only like because it's grown on me due to the rest of my band loving it). But Shadows Fall? Sir, listen to Of One Blood and the second half of War Within: they're a band who CAN be fucking incredible, but choose to just play lame pseudo-thrash/generic metalcore to attract the masses. Good for them, they chose that path, but it pisses me off when a band can do more than just rest on their laurels. There's 3 or 4 songs off of each of their albums that are really worth listening to, and everything else is pretty much just filler.

 

That describes practically every "hard rock/metal" (or as I like to call it, Ozzfest metal) band out there! They have a couple good songs and the rest is just filler on every album. I have listened to Shadows Fall and I totally agree with you; but their sound gets really annoying and repetitive after a while. And this comes from someone who thoroughly enjoys thrash metal, too!

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

It's simple music, and I'm glad that people reserved a spot for Vampire Weekend instead of Paris Hilton's album on their iPod.

 

This seems like kind of a false dichotomy or whatever. I really don't think there's a lot of crossover between Vampire Weekend listeners and Paris Hilton listeners. Not like it really matters though, since they're equally mediocre.

 

EDIT: Also, the argument that Vampire Weekend are somehow inherently better than Paris Hilton simply because they play their own instruments and shit is pretty dumb and also super-rockist.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

I'll admit I was somewhat intimated by the regulars here. Probably for good reason though, since if I had posted here when I first joined I would have been saying something like "Oh man, how good are Killswitch Engage, guys? Seriously, the best. Also Lamb of God or somehting." Then Agent and Corey or someone like that would've crucified me. It would not have been good times for jwest27!

 

Hey I like Killswitch...preferably Jesse Leach fronted stuff, though. Of course, that means nothing coming from me!

 

 

I also like Killswitch Engage.

 

*looks at signature and nods*

[Steviekick 0]

I'll admit I was somewhat intimated by the regulars here. Probably for good reason though, since if I had posted here when I first joined I would have been saying something like "Oh man, how good are Killswitch Engage, guys? Seriously, the best. Also Lamb of God or somehting." Then Agent and Corey or someone like that would've crucified me. It would not have been good times for jwest27!

 

Killswitch Engage no, but I do remember people here maybe even Corey, liking Lamb of God. I mean, for fuck's sake, Corey was all obsessed with Shadows Fall for the longest time and their biggest appeal is that their lead singer has ridiculously long dreads.

Certainly wasn't me that liked Lamb of God. I remember saying that they were good live when I saw them in '03, but the only songs by them that aren't complete and total shit (think Coal Chamber with poorly-done Slayer/Pantera riffs thrown in) are "11th Hour" and "Redneck" (which I only like because it's grown on me due to the rest of my band loving it). But Shadows Fall? Sir, listen to Of One Blood and the second half of War Within: they're a band who CAN be fucking incredible, but choose to just play lame pseudo-thrash/generic metalcore to attract the masses. Good for them, they chose that path, but it pisses me off when a band can do more than just rest on their laurels. There's 3 or 4 songs off of each of their albums that are really worth listening to, and everything else is pretty much just filler.

 

That describes practically every "hard rock/metal" (or as I like to call it, Ozzfest metal) band out there! They have a couple good songs and the rest is just filler on every album. I have listened to Shadows Fall and I totally agree with you; but their sound gets really annoying and repetitive after a while. And this comes from someone who thoroughly enjoys thrash metal, too!

 

The thing that made my head explode about War Within was that the B-sides album from its recording sessions was infinitely better.

 

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'll admit I was somewhat intimated by the regulars here. Probably for good reason though, since if I had posted here when I first joined I would have been saying something like "Oh man, how good are Killswitch Engage, guys? Seriously, the best. Also Lamb of God or somehting." Then Agent and Corey or someone like that would've crucified me. It would not have been good times for jwest27!

 

Killswitch Engage no, but I do remember people here maybe even Corey, liking Lamb of God. I mean, for fuck's sake, Corey was all obsessed with Shadows Fall for the longest time and their biggest appeal is that their lead singer has ridiculously long dreads.

Certainly wasn't me that liked Lamb of God. I remember saying that they were good live when I saw them in '03, but the only songs by them that aren't complete and total shit (think Coal Chamber with poorly-done Slayer/Pantera riffs thrown in) are "11th Hour" and "Redneck" (which I only like because it's grown on me due to the rest of my band loving it). But Shadows Fall? Sir, listen to Of One Blood and the second half of War Within: they're a band who CAN be fucking incredible, but choose to just play lame pseudo-thrash/generic metalcore to attract the masses. Good for them, they chose that path, but it pisses me off when a band can do more than just rest on their laurels. There's 3 or 4 songs off of each of their albums that are really worth listening to, and everything else is pretty much just filler.

 

That describes practically every "hard rock/metal" (or as I like to call it, Ozzfest metal) band out there! They have a couple good songs and the rest is just filler on every album. I have listened to Shadows Fall and I totally agree with you; but their sound gets really annoying and repetitive after a while. And this comes from someone who thoroughly enjoys thrash metal, too!

 

The thing that made my head explode about War Within was that the B-sides album from its recording sessions was infinitely better.

The problem with nu-metal (faux metal, fashioncore, whatever you want to call it, it's all just glorified nu-metal with better instrumentation) is that it's mostly made up of people who WANT to be in a metal band, and just AREN'T. Devil Driver, Otep, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage...they all have their positives, but these are greatly outweighed by the massive negatives. And Shadows Fall? They went from the leader of the pack to 3rd or 4th place in quality in terms of the NWOAHM (a term I dislike, but considering many of the metalcore bands have become much more thrash/death metal with later releases, it does fit) in the span of 2 albums. Of One Blood is genius: it has only a few moments of hardcore, some minor groove, but mostly 80's thrash riffs with Gothenburg-esque melody and harmony. Fair's vocals were also at their peak all too early, as he screamed, growled, sang, and just spoke at all of the right moments. I defy anybody to find many better songs released in 2000 from US metal bands than "The First Noble Truth," "To Ashes," and "Crushing Belial." KSE, who were also at their peak at this period, were vastly overrated, with the bulk of their fanbase being shared with the likes of KoRn and Slipknot (read: false metal). Shadows Fall was cut from a similar mold (which is natural, as bands from the same time period and area of the world tend to sound alike), but geared themselves more towards diehard "true" metal bands (not the complete underground elitists, but those who preferred REAL metal). Then KSE continued to become more pop-friendly, to the point where it was hard not to turn on rock radio stations nationwide without hearing "The End of Heartache." And Shadows Fall? They soon followed this. "Destroyer of Senses" is insulting in its simplicity, as is the bulk of the Art of Balance album. War Within isn't much better, but at least "The Light That Blinds," "The Power of I and I," "Ghosts of Past Failures," and "Those Who Cannot Speak" are worthwhile listens. Really, Shadows Fall needs to focus more on hitting constant doubles and triples, the occasional homerun, and not just throw out a song to get themselves walked over and over again. When they're motivated to write a good song, they can do so (like Stevie said, Fallout has quite a few of them, and even Threads of Life has "Forevermore" and "Burning the Lives" to save it from being completely worthless), but they're resting because they'd rather get by on the now-outplayed "this generation's Metallica" than on our own merits.

 

But really? Unearth is the best of the metalcore/NWOAHM crop, at least in my eyes. Every other solid modern metal band can fit into another niche (I'd consider Black Dahlia Murder much more death metal than they are metalcore, considering they blatantly rip off At The Gates left and right, and Skinless and Engorged are both solid death metal acts, whereas Municipal Waste and Bonded By Blood are, quite obviously, thrash metal), but then there's Unearth's thrash-laced melodic metalcore, and it's just perfect. The breakdowns, albeit all interchangeable, fit perfectly into the song, and are almost never the focus, nor do they disrupt the flow of the song at all. Trevor's vocals, simple screams and shouts, are perfect contrast to the music, and the guitar work of both Buz and Ken helps Unearth stand out from the rest of their scene. The drumming is almost pure old-school thrash metal, with an obvious dose of Dave Lombardo inspiration, but with the kickdown style that has embodied hardcore following Hatebreed and Biohazard.

[EL BRUJ0 0]

LOL gheyassUnearth

[Mik 0]

To answer the original question of the thread: they have some groan-inducing tripe but when they have a good song "...Dance Floor", "Flourescent Adolescent", "Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts"... then it's usually a damn good song (if you're in to that sort of music).

[Smartly Pretty 0]

A Certain Romance is their best track, I think. Their performance of it on SNL was really great, too.

[Mik 0]

"That man right there just yawned." Yeah - I remember that.

 

I like that track as well.