In all honesty modern metal has turned more into an unhealthy obsession with getting everything mapped to a grid, heavily down tuned, and as generic/formulaic as possible.
true. Also, everyone uses the same amp modellers. No one has to work out how to get a tone or steal a lick as its all there for you on the internet. Int he 70s and 80s guitarists had to figure it all out from the album and try to do it themselves. In doing that they came up with things of their own. And yes, I'm a grumpy old man.
Metal has become cookie cutter there are no New Bands that dont sound like they are remaking songs from the 70's , 80's & 90's . The EVH , DeMartini , Lynch , Rhoades , Vai , Satch kinda Guitarist are all to old . I am almost 60 now to old to make Music and Tour so where are the next Gen of Showoff Electric shredding Guitarist coming from ? They aren't IMHO .
Except heavily down tuned, еverything else seems to be the same for pop, disco, etc. (everything mapped to a grid, as generic/formulaic as possible) nowadays. I would add autotuned and edited aswell.
@@DeadShred9 I dunno you heard the strange Afro Cuban style metal coming out of Miami, freaking nuts! th-cam.com/video/H-ojmOh12eQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HIvJurUTfDwJJZJa CC is in English
Also, guitarists have access to an endless variety of guitars, amps, pedals, and modellers, yet they all sound the same. Back in the day, all there were Strats, Gibsons, and Marshalls, and everybody sounded different. Figure that one out!
@dogdays7120 Things evolve and grow but even back then, some of the subgenres we see today were getting started. Hell, 75% of the metal subgenres that exist can be attributed to different sections of Black Sabbath's career during the 70s.
I agree fully that modern metal is not memorable. In 20 years nobody will be talking about the djenty chug chug bands we have today, BUT they will still be talking about Sabbath, Priest, Metallica, and even Van Halen.
@@dbo0729 Jinjer. They are fantastic musicians, writers and composers doing some very creative, unique shit that draws from many sources. Yeah, there are exceptions.
This started happening once all new bands started copying what Meshuggah were doing since the mid '90s. It frankly gotten old and tired now, seriously...they all sound the same.
Like the other commenter said, this isn't new. Neo Classical shred was about being as technical as possible, thrash metal was about pushing the boundaries of speed adding punk elements to it, death metal came from people being bored with Thrash and wanting something more extreme, black metal, goregrind, and brutal death metal all came about from bands thinking the mainstream death metal bands had "sold out" and weren't pushing boundaries anymore. Metal after the 70's has always been a dick measuring contest.
I don't like Tech Death at all. Very impressive but boring as hell. I like a good hook I can head bang too! Bands like Killswitch Engage and Trivium do it well! IMO 🤘🤘
It’s funny because the other genre that I can think of that part is it does the same thing is jazz. They want to play all the notes all the time and then they discount anything different, get over yourselves
My response to young people blindly typing "old man shouts at clouds" is always "young person yells at phone". Young people are probably WORSE for the whole "HOW DARE YOU NOT SHARE MY WORLD VIEW, I WILL NOW SHOUT ABOUT THIS TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN ON TIKTOK AND INSTA!!" jfc the lack of self-awareness of irony levels of the youth is insane.
Metal thrives on contrast and dynamics. Metal with space, dynamics and melodies feels so much heavier to me than stuff trying to be absolutely brutal for the whole song. When folks turn any genre into a contest of how many notes per second people can play, something is lost. We don't need contests, gatekeeping or obsession with subgenres.
Funk are you suggesting that metal musicians actually start writing goods songs again? Anyone who wants actual songs that are sung and not growled where you can actually make out the notes and rhythm being played is a normie poseur dame it!
@@off6848yeah for real I’ve been doing a deep dive into sludge and doom which I haven’t listened to since the 90s. It sucks people find it boring, some sludge really has groove to it.
Come on, nothing against different musical taste, but for Christ Sake, Sabbath can be so freaking boring. Starting with a good riff and by the end of it ... I am just sick of hearing the same thing over and over and over again without much variation. Repetition might legitimize, but Sabbath sometimes feels like it sedates instead. Which is the same kind of problem really that Henning is talking about. Not enough change to make it interesting. With that said, Paranoid is still one of the greatest songs ever.
Was never a huge Sabbath fan but seeing them live a few times in the last decade or so heightened my appreciation. I was surprised at how heavy and enjoyable their music was!
I constantly joke that I’m working on an album that’s tuned so low only whales can hear it😂 I’m closer to 60 than 50 now, I’ve been playing for 46 years, most of it has been playing metal, which is always my music of choice. I’m currently recording an album with a guitarist that I last played with in 1992 (and he’s edging closer to 70 than 60) and it’s a METAL album. Melodic, riffy, time changes, dramatic, sweeping majestic soundscapes, dynamics, harmonies, and absolutely NOT snapped to a grid, no sample replacements, no Sturgis sound packs. Real drums, real guitars tuned down 1/2 step through real amps. No auto tune. Metal is classical music on the wrong instruments. It invokes many tones, textures, & timing and sometimes the most brutal crushing thing is a well placed clean part or silence. I’m documenting the process and the first installments will be up on my TH-cam in December.
Agree wholeheartedly! Blistering guitar without melody and dynamics is just blistering guitar. What we remember years later are the melodies and the groove. No recognizable melody or groove, no memory.
I can agree with you, I grew up listening to stuff from AC/DC to Marduk and Morbid Angel. Personally I think now days bands do not write memorable stuff, they only focus on heavy detuned parts but the state is pretty stale. Old extreme metal bands yes they had growls /screams and detuned instruments but they had melody and song structure to them, this is why they are still going today. And btw I am not that old, class of 93.
I agree, most innovative music I've heard recently is out of Miami from a Cuban guy adopting Afro Cuban percussion instead of blues th-cam.com/video/H-ojmOh12eQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HIvJurUTfDwJJZJa CC is in English if you're curious
@@ascendtranscend3812this right here is a perfect example of why experimental metal is ass and never becomes popular this right here answers your question about why everyone copies the same stuff
"Metal" for me is a community. We have a "metal" community here in western Sydney, Australia where everyone accepts all vaguely heavy rock/metal genres. Everything from psych rock / thrash / doom / metalcore / grindcore, you name it. We all love it out here!
Supporting other fans of metal has always been foundational to the metal scene, even when you’re not necessarily a fan of the same bands. The metal community has always strived to be inclusive, not exclusive. If this is being lost in the lyrics, message, and vibe of new metal fans that will is disheartening to hear. Hopefully that’s not the true trend. 🤘🤘
Japanese bands have taken the torch now. One of the best examples is Lovebites, deeply rooted into the metal of the 80/90's like Maiden, Priest, Helloween, Metallica and more. Their music is melodic and technical with a female operatic style singer. They're a favorite of a lot of the older metalheads.
If I hear someone scream and/or growl for an entire song, I don't even perceive it as heavy. My hearing channel for vocals just adapts to the growl and it starts to sounds normal. And since the growl is the same throughout the song, the entire song sounds the same and has absolutely no dynamic. It starts to sound as if someone is chatting about yesterday's Tupperware party in a very deep voice.
Haha, that's kind of what I thought when first listening to Meshuggah in the early 90s after reading about this very heavy exciting new band ...that turned out to be somewhat hypnotic but overall just insanely boring.
That comment is a bit ignorant and uninformed. There are several different ways to project screaming vocals. Sure there are does who just grunt the same way through a song but I would say a screaming vocalists today can be just as diverse as a clean singer.
@@rickardmoller7824 But what does it help if I hate all of it?! Seriously, the more technically refined harsh singing got the more boring I found it. And the really extreme vocalists are maybe good for a quick laugh but it's always nothing but a novelty to me.
Completely agreed dude, I just went to a gig where the first 2 bands sounded like they played the same song for 40 minutes each. I have no idea what any of the songs were called, or what the lyrics were, or remember even a single riff. Because they had zero riffs. I was bored out of my mind.
It’s funny how bands like Carnivore, Biohazard etc were mainly tuned to E standard (maybe drop D) and the tonality is amazing. I was shocked to find out Deicide’s LEGION was E standard and that album has such groove you automatically assume it’s tuned down to Hell.
To me it seems like "metal" became more about the sound than composition. I feel like you could take an 80s pop song, give it the modern metal sounds (drop tuned guitars, clinical drums, djindjindjin bass, and too many vocal layers) and everyone would be creaming their pants how metal or heavy it is. I often hear some new metal band and often think "its just radio rock in a metal costume".
I have to agree with Henning. Most modern metal is quantized to death, triggered drum samples with all nuance sacrificed for speed for the sake of speed.
I was born in 1996, when I was 12 (in 2008) I started playing guitar. When I was 14 (in 2010) I asked my guitar teacher for more of a challenge, and he introduced me to Metallica, Guns n Roses, and AC/DC. So I grew up in my teens with that, and was (and still am) fascinated by Metallica. Which led me to discover Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio, Pantera, and to me, THAT is metal. In recent years, I also started to love Gojira and Jinjer. That's also metal. But my problem with moder metal is this: WHERE IS THE GUITAR SOLO?
As a riff junky myself, I can sympathize. Lots of modern tech bands have trouble making memorable riffs and songwriting work together with the dissonance. But thankfully there’s a ton of more underground bands still making memorable, riff centric metal. Check out Crypt Sermon, Eternal Champion for more melodic metal with clean vocals, and for extreme vocals there’s tons of black metal coming out of countries like Finland that worships the Riff; Horna, Satanic Warmaster, Havukruunu, etc. There’s tons of great modern metal still being made. You just have to dig through the crap since there are way more bands than there were 20 years ago.
Clearly old man yelling at cloud. And I 100% agree. Let us yell together: Let your damn Metal groove. Let it bloom. Give it space. Best Metal band therefore: Pantera. Groovy AF.
I am 53, been a metalhead since my early teens. Yes, I am an old fart. I love the sound of modern dropped/low tuned guitars. But I really can't get on with modern vocalists, at least the men for the most part. The women vocalists are killing it!
@@TMJ-YT I can't comment on Shoegaze since I don't know enough about it, but people are already nostalgic for Dubstep (not "brostep" like Skrillex, but more so stuff like Benga, Skream, Digital Myztikz, etc. My guess is you'll just have to give it a few more years and people will be nostalgic for Skrillex type stuff as well) and it's also become widely acceptable to openly praise Limp Bizkit whereas 10 years ago everyone would rather be caught dead than admit they ever owned a single one of their albums or even had one of their songs on their mp3 player back in the day.
I kinda had the same conversation with my bass player. He asked why I dont like the all scream/growling metal. But I love the Deftones. Its because they sing and have dynamic vocals as well as screaming.
When I was growing up in the 90’s I’d say I was into Metal. Not today. Metal to me was ‘Megadeth, Metallica, Pantera, Priest, Sabbath, Anthrax, Slayer and Maiden’ etc etc. Compared with today’s Metal bands those bands are almost Rock/Hard Rock. You can’t knock new bands just because they are not to our liking (most of them are not unfortunately) as music needs to evolve. And each generation needs to have their thing. We were very lucky in the amazing quality of new shit we grew up with. The modern stuff is just not for me and I agree with Henning (imagine that 😮) there’s no melody. And the vocals? 🤦♂️.
I think you are right! I'm a 90s Kid and listened to Bands like System of a down, Pantera, Metallica, Sepultura, Korn, Rage against the machine, Faith no more,...I miss the grove, the Innovation, the creativity and all the emotions that where in the sound, not just Aggression!
Groove is starting to come back slowly, but it's still mixed with blast beats and more modern feel. My favorite right now is slaughter to prevail. These guys are constantly growing soundwise. Check out Behelit and kod, their most recent songs
There’s way too many bands that over compress the shit out of their music, but thankfully some have caught on that dynamics helps make their music stand out; check out Blood Incantation and Horrendous. Great examples of metal with actual dynamics in their recordings.
I'm 37, I've been listening to metal since I was 12 in 1999. I grew up in the heyday of Metalcore, and most bands had their own sound that stood out from one another, even though they were part of the same sub-genre they had their own identity musically. You heard Killswitch Engaged you knew who it was, or when you heard As I lay Dying you knew it, or Every Time I Die, theres no strong comparison between them. Today, I can no longer differentiate bands anymore, they all sound virtually identical to one another. Because of this I've been listening to a lot of older bands preferably from the 90's which led me to my now favorite Album of All time, The Gallery from Dark Tranquility. Now, I listen to bands like Katatonia, Opeth, At The Gates, In Flames, Novembers Doom, The Gathering, Death, Candlemass, Throes of Dawn
We're all old men now, Henning. I am pushing 50. I try to unite metal, to me metal is metal. I had a guy recently troll me trying to shame me for not being able to gravity blast at 210 bpm, whether I can or not, he didn't think I can. As if I even care what he thinks, I stopped trying to prove myself 25 years ago. More to the point, I am not the one uploading supposed live drum audition videos to join a band.
I'm with you 100% on this.. Astute observations .. I would say the "soul" has been lost ... Most of what comes out today, won't be remembered 20, 30 even 40 years from now.. Let alone next year..
Really good points and you're correct. Nowadays the bands - guitarists don't even have their personal - unique tone . There's so much processing in the studio, that most of the new bands sounding the same. I would listen the old stuff any day, but most of the new bands aren't my cup of tea and im not saying it to downgrade them. They just aren't my thing.
In your compilation I did recognize the In Flames song immediately.....but you have a point. The only argument I can make, is these were just small snippets of the songs. Some....not many....like 2 will leave that breathing space for dynamics
I'm 51 and have been into metal since I was around 15. I probably listen to more new metal now than I ever have, when I was young I was listening to more 70s rock too. These days I listen to lots of European melodeth and progressive metal. My ratio is definitely more new to old. Yet I still love Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Maiden. I do think that too many modern bands over rely on downtuning and extended range guitars to provide the heavy - rather than writing good heavy riffs. But that's not to mean those guitars aren't valid - just that many guitarists aren't making the best use of them. A heavy riff in E-standard is still heavy, but it takes skill to compose something like that, compared to just bashing away on an eight-string. On a separate subject I see plenty of metal "fans" claiming Maiden or Sabbath aren't metal. As though harsh vocals and extended range guitars are the only thing that are metal. If you claim the work of Tony Iommi isn't metal then I've no time for you. Metal is a broad family, a welcoming family, and there's no place for ignorance and gate keeping.
@@ericv7720 I think it’s goofy for grown-ass adults to identify as “metalheads” and fuss over what is and isn’t metal. 😄 Just enjoy the music you enjoy without all the juvenile nonsense.
Im sorry but Meshuggah has a ton of memorable riffs, and have been around for many a moon. They are kind of the exception since they are one of the first bands to do it the whole low droney thing. I agree that modern metal has too much emphasis on low guitars and crazy drums, specifically too much kick drum. As a bass player I find it annoying that everyone is constantly trying to step on my toes. It is also super ironic that Animals as Leaders is one of my favorite bands since they have no bass player and have one of the most cluttered drummers around. But they do have dynamics.
Yeah, you actually put my feelings in proper words. I actually quite enjoy listening to these kinds of new "low and broooodal" kinds of metal from time to time... but then afterwards I feel just like after scrolling through random instagram reels - I remember almost nothing.
Totally agree with you Henning. I had a symphonic/folk metal band with a female singer and a female keyboardist wich sang also backing vocals. No Screaming, just singing. Also we used standard six sting guitars with standard tuning, sometimes Drop D. We had pretty difficult times to get Gigs at the beginning because all the Promoter guys said we were too soft, we are not metal enough etc. When we were playing, everyone was positively shocked that melodic stuff can be heavy.
I had the honour of watching Periphery, Coheed and Cambria, Leprous and Intervals recently in Brisbane Australia. I have to say that the most memorable band for me that night was Leprous, which strangely enough, is the band I had heard the least prior to the concert. I guess they were the most memorable for me because they were the most dynamic. I agree with Henning that today's metal is way too compressed, and the fact that everybody uses the same presets in QC or Fractal also contributes to removing personality to each guitarist.
I love videos like these. I am very much a modern progressive metal enjoyer but I love hearing the perspectives of people who have been into the genre far longer than I have and before I was even alive. While it feels like a lot of those people are so closed minded when it comes to this new stuff. Calling Djent and all that “riff salad”. Claiming there is no objective structure and stuff like that. It gets old fast but it’s still fun to hear what people have to say especially when they have stories and experiences to tell
This is why most of the modern metal I listen to is doom or related sub-genres. It's nice to hear notes and chords ring out. It gives the listener a chance to soak it all in. Live doom metal is so satisfying. Absorbing the fuzz and all the textures produced by the amps. Feeling the vibrations of the low end all throughout your body. Sometimes music that's too fast or complex doesn't give the brain enough time to process and appreciate the sounds because by the time you hear a note, a thousand other things happen before you get the chance to really enjoy it.
After you demo’d/reviewed the ESP LTD M-1007B ET guitar, I ordered one and followed as people received theirs and did videos. I came across Guitar Hoarder. He has a really unique style of chugging. Myself I am old and influenced from a different era, but appreciated his approach.
I saw Death to All this summer and other than being blown away by how awesome it was, I was surprised and encouraged to see SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE!!! People that weren't even alive when Chuck died. There is hope for the future of metal! The metal genre has a habit of ouroboros'ing itself with gatekeeping and elitism, but there are still folks of all ages that identify with a melody or a groove.
I want metal to go back to James Dio style of singing and also early Ozzy metal. I want melodic and singing about dragons, and witches! Yess something with a groove.
Great point really. Not just metal, but rock in general has this problem. The lack of groove makes the rock genre inferior in comparison to music before year 2000 in any genre. It's the main reason rnb and hip hop hits hard and thriving because it's groovy and you can remember the tunes.
Very valid observations close to my own. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the so to say music (and not only music) consumtion habits of people have changed in a way that memorability is not important any longer. You just put on your wireless headphones in the morning and let spotify to fill in every moment of your day with preferably neutral white noise-like stuff which keeps you comfortably numb till the day is done. Just like in their lives people don't want these "in between notes" moments anymore and music just follows - fill the "empty" space, compress, forget about dynamics, don't let them breath or they may come off the hook...
Well said! I find most of modern metal stuff boring as hell. Yes, the guitarists are shred gods. The drummer insanely fast. But they all sound pretty generic and seem the have the cookie monster in their line up. Not every piece of music need lyrics, but if it has those, I want to have a chance to understand them.
I remember having a conversation with a friend back in the 80's, probably 1987 or so, and my friend was saying that Dio was "true" metal, and I can remember thinking that he was right about that, heh.
When I grew up(in Sweden)we called it hardrock.Judas priest,iron maiden,black sabbath,rainbow,dokken,accept,scorpions,europe,van halen or metallica,it was all hardrock.
We remember what we like. Plain and simple. 20 years later people will remember what they like. I was born in 89 too late for the Beatles and ccr, but as a kid, that's what my parents listened to, and i can still pick them out just from a couple chords or words.
So many songs that are made today will have like 7 different hooks and riffs crammed within a minute and have 2 breakdowns and it's so frustrating because there ARE genuinely good ideas in a lot of songs but so many musicians are afraid of actually picking and choosing and committing to something so they just cram it all in one song and don't allow it to breathe
Finally someone gets the points ;) Thanks Henning, you basicly summed up the issues I have. No geat hooks and everything is overloaded with stuff. Sometimes less is more. I always prefered a aaccentuated double base insteed of having a double base running the whole song.
OH F*CK YES HE SAID IT OUT LOUD! Can we please get groove back to metal? Can these modern metal guys listen to just like... Three songs of Pantera, and three of sepultura? I promise you kids, that sh*t will blow your mind.
There are people who would say "no riff - no metal". But a riff does not do it alone. Riffs exist in many music genres like funk, jazz - and looking back even in classical music ("ostinato"). On the other hand I've noticed a trend to tag every band playing hard music as "metal" like a seal of quality. - They're good so they have to be "metal".
We live in an ocean of bands, styles, riffs, instruments, genres, subgenres, techniques, images, screens, platforms, new albums, new gear.... Here's the main difference for me (if you were born after 2000, there's hardly any chance for you to understand what I'm about to say): In the 90's and 80's, you had to BUY PHYSICAL ALBUMS... Cassette tapes, vinyls, then CDs... It COSTED money... In fact, EVERY ALBUM was more expensive than your monthly Spotify subscription... Therefore, an album had to have VALUE!... You would sit down and LISTEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF IT... Nowadays, young people pay $15 a month, listen to 1/5 of an opener, then go to the next album, and the next, and the next... In this fractal structure of ever evolving constant novelties on all levels... No albums are having real impact. They're not even getting 5 minutes of attention... The time of GREAT bands is gone. The time of the sea of shit has arrived. And yes, the groove is GONE. Mostly.
Hey Henning 👋 I am 63 growing up Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Kiss ,was Metal my mom said Kiss was devil music 😂 these days honestly I still listen and play 70's 80's 90's some new stuff but not much some new metal is really good and put together really well some is crap as a kid of the 60's i had a wide spectrum of music around me rock,country, spainish ,blues,pop, the 70's music exploded it was amazing time bro i could keep on blabbing but i wont,excellent topic Henning appreciate u man..👋💪🍺
It is funny. When you buy your first album in 1979 (Live Killer) and then are part of the whole hard rock / metal scene through the 80s. 1984, Freewheel Burning - gee, that was brutal. Back then, ha ha. And besides Thrash metal in all its variations, when 1990 Painkiller comes out and we all thought again - THAT is brutal. AND a great song (kind of the point the old man tries to make). Sure, not comparable to what happened in the decades to follow, but... you know what - I am so glad I had the joy and wonder following the development of metal through the decades. Cheers!
Honestly since like 2007 I've been into the heaviest genres it's some of my favorite music BUT the only guitarist I pay for on patreon is actually out of your era. He approaches things in ways im not used to and shows me what metal used to be and can still be. Great music is timeless and it's very possible these new bands are dime a dozen and forgotten while the classics live on. Give the scene 10 years and it will do a full 180 back to hair metal solos. Black dahlia murder is actually gravitating in that direction in some of their new material.
Brutal really can be memorable and classic. I love the modern growly and djenty metal (besides classic metal), but the most brutal album I am always coming back to is: Pantera - far beyond driven! Riffs for ages! In general, it is the variety in metal I love.
Modern metal is often so heavy that it's actually not heavy anymore. Your heaviest riff in a history of mankind is only really heavy if it has some not so heavy stuff around it (or inside of it). It's really strange that there was a space for melodies in Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, Suffocation and lots of other older brutal as f**k death metal bands music, but modern metal thinks it's better then that.
Metal is nearing a new golden age. There is so much good metal coming out recently. I stopped caring about metal for like 15 years and fell back in love the last couple years. The thing about the past is that we only remember the music that stood the test of time and forget about all the garbage that was released at the same time.
Old man never listened past a blast beat lol. What song is just straight blast or double bass outside of obscure grindcore? lmao? This just sounds like someone who's never actually listened to any of these bands, just heard one part and passed judgement.
I think this is part of why the whole "Argent Metal" (Doom 2016/Mick Gordon stuff) subgenre is so well-loved: it's Groove metal. low tunings, heavy as hell, most of the melodies are industrial distorted synth lines - but it's super dynamic. It's CATCHY.
I’ve been thinking this lately man. Everytime there is a metal song these days with singing instead of screaming and guitars that aren’t down tuned, people call it “pop” mixed with metal. Like you said, by this definition none of the bands like Judas Priest or Motörhead would be considered metal by this generation, I guess they would call it soft rock or pop rock. I’m so tired of everything that’s sung instead of screamed being labeled pop by these kids.
Listen to the Impending Triumph EP, youtube doesn't let me post the links. I think you could love it. It's the best thing that came out last year for me.
But there's still relatively new classic Heavy Metal bands doing amazing music, like Visigoth, Grand Magus, Atlantean Codex, e.t.c., just because it's not popular it doesn't mean it's not there! I don't like modern metal either and I grew up on Sabbath and Dio and Maiden and Priest and Manowar and all that. Heavy Metal isn't dying, you just have to search a little bit...
As someone who is way younger than you, 30 btw. I have to agree. I'm exposed to modern and classic. I must say the problem with most modern metal is the lack of variety in sound unlike when it started and specially during it's peak. Even different sub genres are too similar.
I think the best thing today is that you can find what you like easily through streaming platforms so that you don't have to listen to whatever's popular if you don't want to.
That's why i listen to J.S.Bach It's like Metal without all the bad Stuff and with even multiple Melodies at the same time. 😊 Want an insane Solo? Listen to Brandenburg Concerto No.5 played by Karl Richter! He used a weird Harpsichord that had a 16 foot Register, sounding an Octave lower then a normal Harpsichord. 🤘
Good call. What used to be called heavy metal has now lost its most important adjective, but heavy can be found in any genre, abundantly so in classical music.
Yes. My best experience as a musician was being in a metal band that could actually jam like a 70's band if we wanted to. A lot of metal has become too busy and formulaic to leave much room for improvisation.
Being at Minute 1:48 now and not knowing what you’ll say for the rest of the video: I don’t understand why there is such a weird “my music is better than yours”-Attitude. I don’t care if it’s deathmetal, Heavymetal, NuMetal, HardRock - it’s simply Music! Black Sabbath, Sabbaton, ABBA, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Adele, Dua Lipa - they all have a reason to exist. I love good handmade music. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift, I don’t listen to Death Metal. But who cares! As long as they make the people happy that are listening to them, I cannot care less about the genre!
There’s only 2 genres in my book, music I like and music I don’t! Once you fall down the rabbit hole that is sub-genres of metal then you shut yourself off from a lot of great music that’s going on elsewhere
You have every right to "yell at the clouds" Henning! I have always been a Hard rock and Metal guitar player, and I grew up on that music and have been a listener for 40 years. Bark at the moon was the first "Metal" album that changed my life in 1983. As a guitar player, when I tell people I play metal, I have to explain to them that I play "Classic" heavy metal. Maiden, Priest, Saxon, Def Leppard, Ozzy/Sabbath,Dio, as well as a ton of 80's bands have always been where it's at for me. NWOBHM and "Classic" Metal are the roots, and are still metal, whether the new generation says it is or not.
Every style goes through transformations. Bach and Stravinsky are both found under “Classical” Charlie Christian and Allan Holdsworth are both under “Jazz” Chet Atkins and (gasp!) Taylor Swift are both found under Country It happens. Sometimes for the better … sometimes for the worse. If the music moves you … that’s all that matters.
In all honesty modern metal has turned more into an unhealthy obsession with getting everything mapped to a grid, heavily down tuned, and as generic/formulaic as possible.
true. Also, everyone uses the same amp modellers. No one has to work out how to get a tone or steal a lick as its all there for you on the internet. Int he 70s and 80s guitarists had to figure it all out from the album and try to do it themselves. In doing that they came up with things of their own. And yes, I'm a grumpy old man.
Metal has become cookie cutter there are no New Bands that dont sound like they are remaking songs from the 70's , 80's & 90's . The EVH , DeMartini , Lynch , Rhoades , Vai , Satch kinda Guitarist are all to old . I am almost 60 now to old to make Music and Tour so where are the next Gen of Showoff Electric shredding Guitarist coming from ? They aren't IMHO .
Except heavily down tuned, еverything else seems to be the same for pop, disco, etc. (everything mapped to a grid, as generic/formulaic as possible) nowadays. I would add autotuned and edited aswell.
@@DeadShred9 I dunno you heard the strange Afro Cuban style metal coming out of Miami, freaking nuts! th-cam.com/video/H-ojmOh12eQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HIvJurUTfDwJJZJa CC is in English
Also, guitarists have access to an endless variety of guitars, amps, pedals, and modellers, yet they all sound the same. Back in the day, all there were Strats, Gibsons, and Marshalls, and everybody sounded different. Figure that one out!
I have no idea anymore. I just listen to the shit I grew up with now. The new shit mostly sucks
There are plenty of new bands with that old school sound kicking ass. NWOTHM BABY!
"Your musicians were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
Sometimes, the clouds need yelling at.
People seem to be mistaking sub genres of metal for all of metal
EXACTLY
Amen 💯
... here you go: "sub genres of metal" ... hey its music ... not science
Back in the 70's and early 80's it was just metal. Every metal band was under the genre of metal.
@dogdays7120 Things evolve and grow but even back then, some of the subgenres we see today were getting started. Hell, 75% of the metal subgenres that exist can be attributed to different sections of Black Sabbath's career during the 70s.
I agree fully that modern metal is not memorable. In 20 years nobody will be talking about the djenty chug chug bands we have today, BUT they will still be talking about Sabbath, Priest, Metallica, and even Van Halen.
Sabbath, Priest, Metallica, and Van Halen are still influencing musicians to this day.
I agree but Meshuggah is the exception.
@@dbo0729 Jinjer. They are fantastic musicians, writers and composers doing some very creative, unique shit that draws from many sources.
Yeah, there are exceptions.
Except people have already been talking about Meshuggah for over 20 years. They will stand the test of time
They might be just talking about Eddie and have forgotten the rest ;-)
My observation between old metal and modern metal is that it's changed from a melody focus to a rhythm focus.
We still have plenty of nordic metal bands, which is often melody or even symphonic focused. They are just seem not that popular in america.
This started happening once all new bands started copying what Meshuggah were doing since the mid '90s. It frankly gotten old and tired now, seriously...they all sound the same.
@@Traumglanz The problem is their melodies also became subpar
That is a fairly astute observation, at least as concerns death metal
There’s melody it’s just discordant because that’s how people feel now disjointed
modern metal has turned into olympics rather than music.
This isn't new - It's been that way since the 1980's - when neo-classical shred became a thing.
Like the other commenter said, this isn't new. Neo Classical shred was about being as technical as possible, thrash metal was about pushing the boundaries of speed adding punk elements to it, death metal came from people being bored with Thrash and wanting something more extreme, black metal, goregrind, and brutal death metal all came about from bands thinking the mainstream death metal bands had "sold out" and weren't pushing boundaries anymore. Metal after the 70's has always been a dick measuring contest.
I don't like Tech Death at all. Very impressive but boring as hell. I like a good hook I can head bang too! Bands like Killswitch Engage and Trivium do it well! IMO 🤘🤘
It’s funny because the other genre that I can think of that part is it does the same thing is jazz. They want to play all the notes all the time and then they discount anything different, get over yourselves
Good quote, from Alexi Laiho I believe.
My response to young people blindly typing "old man shouts at clouds" is always "young person yells at phone".
Young people are probably WORSE for the whole "HOW DARE YOU NOT SHARE MY WORLD VIEW, I WILL NOW SHOUT ABOUT THIS TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN ON TIKTOK AND INSTA!!"
jfc the lack of self-awareness of irony levels of the youth is insane.
Metal thrives on contrast and dynamics.
Metal with space, dynamics and melodies feels so much heavier to me than stuff trying to be absolutely brutal for the whole song. When folks turn any genre into a contest of how many notes per second people can play, something is lost. We don't need contests, gatekeeping or obsession with subgenres.
💯
Gatekeeping would have prevented this plague.
There’s doom and sludge for that but the same people say it’s a snooze fest you can’t win they just want Van Halen 8.0
Funk are you suggesting that metal musicians actually start writing goods songs again? Anyone who wants actual songs that are sung and not growled where you can actually make out the notes and rhythm being played is a normie poseur dame it!
@@off6848yeah for real I’ve been doing a deep dive into sludge and doom which I haven’t listened to since the 90s. It sucks people find it boring, some sludge really has groove to it.
Old as it is, Black Sabbath still rules. It's still beautiful. That's what lacking nowadays, beauty.
Another engaging video! Thanks
Come on, nothing against different musical taste, but for Christ Sake, Sabbath can be so freaking boring. Starting with a good riff and by the end of it ... I am just sick of hearing the same thing over and over and over again without much variation. Repetition might legitimize, but Sabbath sometimes feels like it sedates instead.
Which is the same kind of problem really that Henning is talking about. Not enough change to make it interesting.
With that said, Paranoid is still one of the greatest songs ever.
Was never a huge Sabbath fan but seeing them live a few times in the last decade or so heightened my appreciation. I was surprised at how heavy and enjoyable their music was!
@@Traumglanzlol the CITIZEN KANE of metal.
I constantly joke that I’m working on an album that’s tuned so low only whales can hear it😂
I’m closer to 60 than 50 now, I’ve been playing for 46 years, most of it has been playing metal, which is always my music of choice. I’m currently recording an album with a guitarist that I last played with in 1992 (and he’s edging closer to 70 than 60) and it’s a METAL album. Melodic, riffy, time changes, dramatic, sweeping majestic soundscapes, dynamics, harmonies, and absolutely NOT snapped to a grid, no sample replacements, no Sturgis sound packs. Real drums, real guitars tuned down 1/2 step through real amps. No auto tune. Metal is classical music on the wrong instruments. It invokes many tones, textures, & timing and sometimes the most brutal crushing thing is a well placed clean part or silence. I’m documenting the process and the first installments will be up on my TH-cam in December.
Agree wholeheartedly! Blistering guitar without melody and dynamics is just blistering guitar. What we remember years later are the melodies and the groove. No recognizable melody or groove, no memory.
I can agree with you, I grew up listening to stuff from AC/DC to Marduk and Morbid Angel. Personally I think now days bands do not write memorable stuff, they only focus on heavy detuned parts but the state is pretty stale. Old extreme metal bands yes they had growls /screams and detuned instruments but they had melody and song structure to them, this is why they are still going today. And btw I am not that old, class of 93.
I agree, most innovative music I've heard recently is out of Miami from a Cuban guy adopting Afro Cuban percussion instead of blues th-cam.com/video/H-ojmOh12eQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=HIvJurUTfDwJJZJa CC is in English if you're curious
@@ascendtranscend3812this right here is a perfect example of why experimental metal is ass and never becomes popular this right here answers your question about why everyone copies the same stuff
@@off6848 they're copying the same stuff cause their are wanna be's and not Artist, Gran is art.
"Metal" for me is a community.
We have a "metal" community here in western Sydney, Australia where everyone accepts all vaguely heavy rock/metal genres.
Everything from psych rock / thrash / doom / metalcore / grindcore, you name it. We all love it out here!
Supporting other fans of metal has always been foundational to the metal scene, even when you’re not necessarily a fan of the same bands. The metal community has always strived to be inclusive, not exclusive. If this is being lost in the lyrics, message, and vibe of new metal fans that will is disheartening to hear. Hopefully that’s not the true trend. 🤘🤘
Excellent and how it should be Mate ! Well done !!
@BigTwinRiver sounds nice. Apart from Sleep Token though. They need to be deported
@@BigTwinRiverthat it should be inclusive is true, it always being the intention i'm not sure..
Now that's what it is all about Brad. Rock on!!
As an old 70s-2000s blues,metal,hair,grunge,punk. Player, I'm happy living in the past with the music I love! Thanks 🤘
Japanese bands have taken the torch now. One of the best examples is Lovebites, deeply rooted into the metal of the 80/90's like Maiden, Priest, Helloween, Metallica and more. Their music is melodic and technical with a female operatic style singer. They're a favorite of a lot of the older metalheads.
I love japanez rock,sob lip cream gism
& //L0udπ€§§
If I hear someone scream and/or growl for an entire song, I don't even perceive it as heavy. My hearing channel for vocals just adapts to the growl and it starts to sounds normal. And since the growl is the same throughout the song, the entire song sounds the same and has absolutely no dynamic. It starts to sound as if someone is chatting about yesterday's Tupperware party in a very deep voice.
Haha, that's kind of what I thought when first listening to Meshuggah in the early 90s after reading about this very heavy exciting new band ...that turned out to be somewhat hypnotic but overall just insanely boring.
Except Lorna Shore. Only if orcs have Tupperware parties.
A lot of really "heavy" music sounds a lot like ambient music because of this. And I don't mind that! 😄
That comment is a bit ignorant and uninformed. There are several different ways to project screaming vocals. Sure there are does who just grunt the same way through a song but I would say a screaming vocalists today can be just as diverse as a clean singer.
@@rickardmoller7824
But what does it help if I hate all of it?!
Seriously, the more technically refined harsh singing got the more boring I found it.
And the really extreme vocalists are maybe good for a quick laugh but it's always nothing but a novelty to me.
Completely agreed dude, I just went to a gig where the first 2 bands sounded like they played the same song for 40 minutes each. I have no idea what any of the songs were called, or what the lyrics were, or remember even a single riff. Because they had zero riffs. I was bored out of my mind.
Who are the bands?
It’s funny how bands like Carnivore, Biohazard etc were mainly tuned to E standard (maybe drop D) and the tonality is amazing. I was shocked to find out Deicide’s LEGION was E standard and that album has such groove you automatically assume it’s tuned down to Hell.
To me it seems like "metal" became more about the sound than composition. I feel like you could take an 80s pop song, give it the modern metal sounds (drop tuned guitars, clinical drums, djindjindjin bass, and too many vocal layers) and everyone would be creaming their pants how metal or heavy it is.
I often hear some new metal band and often think "its just radio rock in a metal costume".
Agreed, alot of what they call Metalcore now is simply hard rock with break downs.
Well said Henney. I'm a huge Iron Maiden fan-classic metal band. Keep up the great work mate!
I have to agree with Henning. Most modern metal is quantized to death, triggered drum samples with all nuance sacrificed for speed for the sake of speed.
I was born in 1996, when I was 12 (in 2008) I started playing guitar. When I was 14 (in 2010) I asked my guitar teacher for more of a challenge, and he introduced me to Metallica, Guns n Roses, and AC/DC. So I grew up in my teens with that, and was (and still am) fascinated by Metallica. Which led me to discover Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Testament, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio, Pantera, and to me, THAT is metal. In recent years, I also started to love Gojira and Jinjer. That's also metal. But my problem with moder metal is this: WHERE IS THE GUITAR SOLO?
As a riff junky myself, I can sympathize. Lots of modern tech bands have trouble making memorable riffs and songwriting work together with the dissonance.
But thankfully there’s a ton of more underground bands still making memorable, riff centric metal. Check out Crypt Sermon, Eternal Champion for more melodic metal with clean vocals, and for extreme vocals there’s tons of black metal coming out of countries like Finland that worships the Riff; Horna, Satanic Warmaster, Havukruunu, etc.
There’s tons of great modern metal still being made. You just have to dig through the crap since there are way more bands than there were 20 years ago.
Clearly old man yelling at cloud. And I 100% agree. Let us yell together: Let your damn Metal groove. Let it bloom. Give it space. Best Metal band therefore: Pantera. Groovy AF.
I am 53, been a metalhead since my early teens. Yes, I am an old fart. I love the sound of modern dropped/low tuned guitars. But I really can't get on with modern vocalists, at least the men for the most part. The women vocalists are killing it!
I am 33 and can never agreed more!
Almost all the new metal I listen to these days is women vocalists.
i mostly listen to symphonic metal nowadays, mostly female singers. they have catchy riffs, good melodies and are still pretty heavy.
" The women vocalists are killing it! " Hanabie , Nemophila , SAISEIGA .
I agree it's the modern vocals that kill it.
I don't care what kind of metal is "in" - I listen only to metal I like! And I like a lot ...
I listen to metal. It just so happens that I don't listen to any of it post 2006 (or thereabouts), other than legacy artists who are still active.
Just imagine the classic rock stream in 30 years with all the djent material and people going “ahh, those were the days.”
Some eras are deleted from memory. E.g. Fred Durst. Dubstep. Shoegaze.
@@TMJ-YT I can't comment on Shoegaze since I don't know enough about it, but people are already nostalgic for Dubstep (not "brostep" like Skrillex, but more so stuff like Benga, Skream, Digital Myztikz, etc. My guess is you'll just have to give it a few more years and people will be nostalgic for Skrillex type stuff as well) and it's also become widely acceptable to openly praise Limp Bizkit whereas 10 years ago everyone would rather be caught dead than admit they ever owned a single one of their albums or even had one of their songs on their mp3 player back in the day.
@@TMJ-YTShoegaze is more popular than ever there’s even a new term Zoomergaze to explain all of the new bands
I kinda had the same conversation with my bass player. He asked why I dont like the all scream/growling metal. But I love the Deftones. Its because they sing and have dynamic vocals as well as screaming.
As just another old guy I have one question for the new generation of metalheads , how many decades will your songs be iconic? Time will tell.
I think something like Suicide Silence Disengage will continue to be iconic for many decades possibly centuries
When I was growing up in the 90’s I’d say I was into Metal. Not today. Metal to me was ‘Megadeth, Metallica, Pantera, Priest, Sabbath, Anthrax, Slayer and Maiden’ etc etc. Compared with today’s Metal bands those bands are almost Rock/Hard Rock. You can’t knock new bands just because they are not to our liking (most of them are not unfortunately) as music needs to evolve. And each generation needs to have their thing. We were very lucky in the amazing quality of new shit we grew up with. The modern stuff is just not for me and I agree with Henning (imagine that 😮) there’s no melody. And the vocals? 🤦♂️.
i mostly agree and the bands you mentioned are the ones id mention too.
try these bands…trivium architects and arch enemy. youre welcome \M/
@ I like Trivium 🤘
theyre a cut above for sure
I think you are right! I'm a 90s Kid and listened to Bands like System of a down, Pantera, Metallica, Sepultura, Korn, Rage against the machine, Faith no more,...I miss the grove, the Innovation, the creativity and all the emotions that where in the sound, not just Aggression!
Groove is starting to come back slowly, but it's still mixed with blast beats and more modern feel. My favorite right now is slaughter to prevail. These guys are constantly growing soundwise. Check out Behelit and kod, their most recent songs
It's COMPRESSION on all levels. Not just in respect to loudness mastering, but also with the playing itself.
Result: ear fatigue, also on all levels.
There’s way too many bands that over compress the shit out of their music, but thankfully some have caught on that dynamics helps make their music stand out; check out Blood Incantation and Horrendous. Great examples of metal with actual dynamics in their recordings.
I'm 37, I've been listening to metal since I was 12 in 1999. I grew up in the heyday of Metalcore, and most bands had their own sound that stood out from one another, even though they were part of the same sub-genre they had their own identity musically. You heard Killswitch Engaged you knew who it was, or when you heard As I lay Dying you knew it, or Every Time I Die, theres no strong comparison between them. Today, I can no longer differentiate bands anymore, they all sound virtually identical to one another. Because of this I've been listening to a lot of older bands preferably from the 90's which led me to my now favorite Album of All time, The Gallery from Dark Tranquility. Now, I listen to bands like Katatonia, Opeth, At The Gates, In Flames, Novembers Doom, The Gathering, Death, Candlemass, Throes of Dawn
We're all old men now, Henning. I am pushing 50. I try to unite metal, to me metal is metal. I had a guy recently troll me trying to shame me for not being able to gravity blast at 210 bpm, whether I can or not, he didn't think I can. As if I even care what he thinks, I stopped trying to prove myself 25 years ago. More to the point, I am not the one uploading supposed live drum audition videos to join a band.
One thing I love about Exhumed, a death metal band who makes it a point to not use double bass drumming or hyperblasts!
I couldn't agree more Henning.
I'm with you 100% on this..
Astute observations ..
I would say the "soul" has been lost ... Most of what comes out today, won't be remembered 20, 30 even 40 years from now.. Let alone next year..
Really good points and you're correct. Nowadays the bands - guitarists don't even have their personal - unique tone . There's so much processing in the studio, that most of the new bands sounding the same.
I would listen the old stuff any day, but most of the new bands aren't my cup of tea and im not saying it to downgrade them. They just aren't my thing.
In your compilation I did recognize the In Flames song immediately.....but you have a point. The only argument I can make, is these were just small snippets of the songs. Some....not many....like 2 will leave that breathing space for dynamics
I'm 51 and have been into metal since I was around 15. I probably listen to more new metal now than I ever have, when I was young I was listening to more 70s rock too. These days I listen to lots of European melodeth and progressive metal. My ratio is definitely more new to old. Yet I still love Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Maiden. I do think that too many modern bands over rely on downtuning and extended range guitars to provide the heavy - rather than writing good heavy riffs. But that's not to mean those guitars aren't valid - just that many guitarists aren't making the best use of them. A heavy riff in E-standard is still heavy, but it takes skill to compose something like that, compared to just bashing away on an eight-string.
On a separate subject I see plenty of metal "fans" claiming Maiden or Sabbath aren't metal. As though harsh vocals and extended range guitars are the only thing that are metal. If you claim the work of Tony Iommi isn't metal then I've no time for you. Metal is a broad family, a welcoming family, and there's no place for ignorance and gate keeping.
I’m not sure the point of a comments section is to repeat exactly what was said in the video
Fans saying "X isn't metal" is just metalhead virtue signalling. If you have to argue over whether any band is metal, then they are, in fact, metal.
@@ericv7720 I think it’s goofy for grown-ass adults to identify as “metalheads” and fuss over what is and isn’t metal. 😄 Just enjoy the music you enjoy without all the juvenile nonsense.
Those aren't gatekeepers those are Posers.
@@fclefjefff4041 Right?
Im sorry but Meshuggah has a ton of memorable riffs, and have been around for many a moon. They are kind of the exception since they are one of the first bands to do it the whole low droney thing. I agree that modern metal has too much emphasis on low guitars and crazy drums, specifically too much kick drum. As a bass player I find it annoying that everyone is constantly trying to step on my toes. It is also super ironic that Animals as Leaders is one of my favorite bands since they have no bass player and have one of the most cluttered drummers around. But they do have dynamics.
Nowadays the metal gatekeepers line is drawn at GHOST, Heavyness > GHOST = METAL AND Heavyness
you explain what MANY actually think and feel
Yeah, you actually put my feelings in proper words. I actually quite enjoy listening to these kinds of new "low and broooodal" kinds of metal from time to time... but then afterwards I feel just like after scrolling through random instagram reels - I remember almost nothing.
I had to go back and listen to "Painkiller" after I watched your video.
I feel refreshed.
Totally agree with you Henning. I had a symphonic/folk metal band with a female singer and a female keyboardist wich sang also backing vocals. No Screaming, just singing. Also we used standard six sting guitars with standard tuning, sometimes Drop D.
We had pretty difficult times to get Gigs at the beginning because all the Promoter guys said we were too soft, we are not metal enough etc. When we were playing, everyone was positively shocked that melodic stuff can be heavy.
The "Its not METAL!!!!" crowd are 12 year olds who are pissed because mom forgot to buy their favorite flavor of pop tarts.
I had the honour of watching Periphery, Coheed and Cambria, Leprous and Intervals recently in Brisbane Australia. I have to say that the most memorable band for me that night was Leprous, which strangely enough, is the band I had heard the least prior to the concert. I guess they were the most memorable for me because they were the most dynamic.
I agree with Henning that today's metal is way too compressed, and the fact that everybody uses the same presets in QC or Fractal also contributes to removing personality to each guitarist.
Leprous are awesome
I love videos like these. I am very much a modern progressive metal enjoyer but I love hearing the perspectives of people who have been into the genre far longer than I have and before I was even alive. While it feels like a lot of those people are so closed minded when it comes to this new stuff. Calling Djent and all that “riff salad”. Claiming there is no objective structure and stuff like that. It gets old fast but it’s still fun to hear what people have to say especially when they have stories and experiences to tell
This is why most of the modern metal I listen to is doom or related sub-genres. It's nice to hear notes and chords ring out. It gives the listener a chance to soak it all in. Live doom metal is so satisfying. Absorbing the fuzz and all the textures produced by the amps. Feeling the vibrations of the low end all throughout your body. Sometimes music that's too fast or complex doesn't give the brain enough time to process and appreciate the sounds because by the time you hear a note, a thousand other things happen before you get the chance to really enjoy it.
I agree totally. I've been thinking the same for years, so it's refreshing to hear it from someone like you! 🤘
After you demo’d/reviewed the ESP LTD M-1007B ET guitar, I ordered one and followed as people received theirs and did videos. I came across Guitar Hoarder. He has a really unique style of chugging. Myself I am old and influenced from a different era, but appreciated his approach.
I saw Death to All this summer and other than being blown away by how awesome it was, I was surprised and encouraged to see SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE!!! People that weren't even alive when Chuck died. There is hope for the future of metal! The metal genre has a habit of ouroboros'ing itself with gatekeeping and elitism, but there are still folks of all ages that identify with a melody or a groove.
I want metal to go back to James Dio style of singing and also early Ozzy metal. I want melodic and singing about dragons, and witches! Yess something with a groove.
Ich wünschte, ich könnt' zaubern und das alles verändern ! Die epische Sagenwelt wiederbeleben.
Ich arbeite dran !
@@ManfredFechter-kc7iy each one of us is trying to do our part! Thank you for your efforts!
Great point really. Not just metal, but rock in general has this problem. The lack of groove makes the rock genre inferior in comparison to music before year 2000 in any genre. It's the main reason rnb and hip hop hits hard and thriving because it's groovy and you can remember the tunes.
Rob you nailed it!!
Very valid observations close to my own. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the so to say music (and not only music) consumtion habits of people have changed in a way that memorability is not important any longer. You just put on your wireless headphones in the morning and let spotify to fill in every moment of your day with preferably neutral white noise-like stuff which keeps you comfortably numb till the day is done. Just like in their lives people don't want these "in between notes" moments anymore and music just follows - fill the "empty" space, compress, forget about dynamics, don't let them breath or they may come off the hook...
Well said! I find most of modern metal stuff boring as hell. Yes, the guitarists are shred gods. The drummer insanely fast. But they all sound pretty generic and seem the have the cookie monster in their line up. Not every piece of music need lyrics, but if it has those, I want to have a chance to understand them.
I remember having a conversation with a friend back in the 80's, probably 1987 or so, and my friend was saying that Dio was "true" metal, and I can remember thinking that he was right about that, heh.
When I grew up(in Sweden)we called it hardrock.Judas priest,iron maiden,black sabbath,rainbow,dokken,accept,scorpions,europe,van halen or metallica,it was all hardrock.
Metal is such a vast genre encompassing so many different styles. That's one of the reasons I love it so much.
Metal is a very wide spectrum, love it all. I have found G4M very good, I used them for quite a few orders.
We remember what we like. Plain and simple. 20 years later people will remember what they like. I was born in 89 too late for the Beatles and ccr, but as a kid, that's what my parents listened to, and i can still pick them out just from a couple chords or words.
This might be the best sundy`s rant so far! Thx for this topic!
I went back to punk rock and have had nothing but fun since
So many songs that are made today will have like 7 different hooks and riffs crammed within a minute and have 2 breakdowns and it's so frustrating because there ARE genuinely good ideas in a lot of songs but so many musicians are afraid of actually picking and choosing and committing to something so they just cram it all in one song and don't allow it to breathe
Finally someone gets the points ;) Thanks Henning, you basicly summed up the issues I have. No geat hooks and everything is overloaded with stuff. Sometimes less is more. I always prefered a aaccentuated double base insteed of having a double base running the whole song.
Summary: Henning prefers Schlagermetal over Athletic Metal. Cue Cindy & Bert, "Der Hund von Baskerville".
komm DU mir mal hier her....
Cindy & Bert hat ja wohl mal gebatscht. Heavier geht's nicht.
Henning weiß aber, wie man Gitarren stimmt, und wird daher dieses Lied gewiss nicht als Ohrenschmaus betiteln wollen 😂
OH F*CK YES HE SAID IT OUT LOUD!
Can we please get groove back to metal? Can these modern metal guys listen to just like... Three songs of Pantera, and three of sepultura? I promise you kids, that sh*t will blow your mind.
There are people who would say "no riff - no metal". But a riff does not do it alone. Riffs exist in many music genres like funk, jazz - and looking back even in classical music ("ostinato").
On the other hand I've noticed a trend to tag every band playing hard music as "metal" like a seal of quality. - They're good so they have to be "metal".
We live in an ocean of bands, styles, riffs, instruments, genres, subgenres, techniques, images, screens, platforms, new albums, new gear....
Here's the main difference for me (if you were born after 2000, there's hardly any chance for you to understand what I'm about to say):
In the 90's and 80's, you had to BUY PHYSICAL ALBUMS... Cassette tapes, vinyls, then CDs... It COSTED money... In fact, EVERY ALBUM was more expensive than your monthly Spotify subscription...
Therefore, an album had to have VALUE!... You would sit down and LISTEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF IT...
Nowadays, young people pay $15 a month, listen to 1/5 of an opener, then go to the next album, and the next, and the next...
In this fractal structure of ever evolving constant novelties on all levels... No albums are having real impact. They're not even getting 5 minutes of attention...
The time of GREAT bands is gone.
The time of the sea of shit has arrived.
And yes, the groove is GONE. Mostly.
Hey Henning 👋 I am 63 growing up Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Kiss ,was Metal my mom said Kiss was devil music 😂 these days honestly I still listen and play 70's 80's 90's some new stuff but not much some new metal is really good and put together really well some is crap as a kid of the 60's i had a wide spectrum of music around me rock,country, spainish ,blues,pop, the 70's music exploded it was amazing time bro i could keep on blabbing but i wont,excellent topic Henning appreciate u man..👋💪🍺
It is funny. When you buy your first album in 1979 (Live Killer) and then are part of the whole hard rock / metal scene through the 80s. 1984, Freewheel Burning - gee, that was brutal. Back then, ha ha. And besides Thrash metal in all its variations, when 1990 Painkiller comes out and we all thought again - THAT is brutal. AND a great song (kind of the point the old man tries to make). Sure, not comparable to what happened in the decades to follow, but... you know what - I am so glad I had the joy and wonder following the development of metal through the decades. Cheers!
I was expecting one of your dogs to come running in when you did your "Arf, arf, arf, arf" low riff demonstration. 🤣
Honestly since like 2007 I've been into the heaviest genres it's some of my favorite music BUT the only guitarist I pay for on patreon is actually out of your era. He approaches things in ways im not used to and shows me what metal used to be and can still be. Great music is timeless and it's very possible these new bands are dime a dozen and forgotten while the classics live on. Give the scene 10 years and it will do a full 180 back to hair metal solos. Black dahlia murder is actually gravitating in that direction in some of their new material.
Brutal really can be memorable and classic. I love the modern growly and djenty metal (besides classic metal), but the most brutal album I am always coming back to is: Pantera - far beyond driven! Riffs for ages!
In general, it is the variety in metal I love.
Modern metal is often so heavy that it's actually not heavy anymore. Your heaviest riff in a history of mankind is only really heavy if it has some not so heavy stuff around it (or inside of it). It's really strange that there was a space for melodies in Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, Suffocation and lots of other older brutal as f**k death metal bands music, but modern metal thinks it's better then that.
Metal is nearing a new golden age. There is so much good metal coming out recently. I stopped caring about metal for like 15 years and fell back in love the last couple years. The thing about the past is that we only remember the music that stood the test of time and forget about all the garbage that was released at the same time.
Old man never listened past a blast beat lol. What song is just straight blast or double bass outside of obscure grindcore? lmao? This just sounds like someone who's never actually listened to any of these bands, just heard one part and passed judgement.
I'd consider Smoke On The Water to be one of the earliest examples of metal without a doubt.
Winger - Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone)
I defy anyone to not call that heavy (and its f**king Winger!!!)
amazing bloody song!
Pull was a masterpiece, and I'm not afraid to say it either.
@jjcollins YES!! ❤️
Winger is Glam Metal with a nice touch of Prog and they rule. Glam Metal, is still Metal.
Well said!
I think this is part of why the whole "Argent Metal" (Doom 2016/Mick Gordon stuff) subgenre is so well-loved: it's Groove metal. low tunings, heavy as hell, most of the melodies are industrial distorted synth lines - but it's super dynamic. It's CATCHY.
I love your rant videos so much.
Definitely agree. Check out Dirty Mosfet, I like to think groove and melody are important in all genres.
I’ve been thinking this lately man. Everytime there is a metal song these days with singing instead of screaming and guitars that aren’t down tuned, people call it “pop” mixed with metal. Like you said, by this definition none of the bands like Judas Priest or Motörhead would be considered metal by this generation, I guess they would call it soft rock or pop rock. I’m so tired of everything that’s sung instead of screamed being labeled pop by these kids.
Shout out to all the Traditional Metal albums out there keeping true Metal alive.
That's why my favourite "hard" metal always includes melodies, clean pauses, speed changes.
Like: Soilwork, Malevolence, Mnemic, In Flames, etc.
"Heavy Trip" - finish comedy film about a Metalband in a small town - I personally don't like Metal, but this movie is marvellous : )
There's a sequel that is going to be released soon; "heavier trip".
Listen to the Impending Triumph EP, youtube doesn't let me post the links. I think you could love it. It's the best thing that came out last year for me.
But there's still relatively new classic Heavy Metal bands doing amazing music, like Visigoth, Grand Magus, Atlantean Codex, e.t.c., just because it's not popular it doesn't mean it's not there! I don't like modern metal either and I grew up on Sabbath and Dio and Maiden and Priest and Manowar and all that. Heavy Metal isn't dying, you just have to search a little bit...
As someone who is way younger than you, 30 btw. I have to agree. I'm exposed to modern and classic. I must say the problem with most modern metal is the lack of variety in sound unlike when it started and specially during it's peak. Even different sub genres are too similar.
I think the best thing today is that you can find what you like easily through streaming platforms so that you don't have to listen to whatever's popular if you don't want to.
That's why i listen to J.S.Bach
It's like Metal without all the bad Stuff and with even multiple Melodies at the same time. 😊
Want an insane Solo? Listen to Brandenburg Concerto No.5 played by Karl Richter! He used a weird Harpsichord that had a 16 foot Register, sounding an Octave lower then a normal Harpsichord. 🤘
J.S Bach is the best of the best.
Good call. What used to be called heavy metal has now lost its most important adjective, but heavy can be found in any genre, abundantly so in classical music.
The problem with the modern (mainstream) metal scene is that it shares much more dna with hardcore punk than the metal bands of the past.
Yes. My best experience as a musician was being in a metal band that could actually jam like a 70's band if we wanted to. A lot of metal has become too busy and formulaic to leave much room for improvisation.
Drone and dissonant is what the 5 string banjo is all about, too, btw. Not to mention the speed and discipline. And brutal.
Being at Minute 1:48 now and not knowing what you’ll say for the rest of the video:
I don’t understand why there is such a weird “my music is better than yours”-Attitude. I don’t care if it’s deathmetal, Heavymetal, NuMetal, HardRock - it’s simply Music! Black Sabbath, Sabbaton, ABBA, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Adele, Dua Lipa - they all have a reason to exist.
I love good handmade music. I don’t listen to Taylor Swift, I don’t listen to Death Metal. But who cares! As long as they make the people happy that are listening to them, I cannot care less about the genre!
YES !!!!
There’s only 2 genres in my book, music I like and music I don’t! Once you fall down the rabbit hole that is sub-genres of metal then you shut yourself off from a lot of great music that’s going on elsewhere
@@MattSwain1 We have both kinds of music: country and western. 😀 SCNR.
You have every right to "yell at the clouds" Henning! I have always been a Hard rock and Metal guitar player, and I grew up on that music and have been a listener for 40 years. Bark at the moon was the first "Metal" album that changed my life in 1983. As a guitar player, when I tell people I play metal, I have to explain to them that I play "Classic" heavy metal. Maiden, Priest, Saxon, Def Leppard, Ozzy/Sabbath,Dio, as well as a ton of 80's bands have always been where it's at for me. NWOBHM and "Classic" Metal are the roots, and are still metal, whether the new generation says it is or not.
Every style goes through transformations.
Bach and Stravinsky are both found under “Classical”
Charlie Christian and Allan Holdsworth are both under “Jazz”
Chet Atkins and (gasp!) Taylor Swift are both found under Country
It happens. Sometimes for the better … sometimes for the worse.
If the music moves you … that’s all that matters.
Actually some of your examples were really fun to listen :D