Quote:
|
I mean that they invented the whole style that the Norwegian bands used, not black metal in general. I mean that if Bathory hadn't developed black metal as they did, black metal may have just stayed an uglier version of thrash metal and may have died out when death metal came along.
|
Bathory, especially the first album, are central and amazing; but I don't get this worship over Norwegian black metal. The 2nd generation, in particular, had as it's major contribution to the genre a series of idiotic, headline grabbing actions. Even if we don't debate the quality of some of these bands, look at what followed - a horde of me-too bands.
Quote:
|
We might have a mildly popular sub-genre of thrash metal that was influenced more by Sarco***o than by Metallica. But without such ground breaking and genre defying bands as Bathory and Celtic Frost, I see no reason to believe that black metal would necessarily have evolved to the uber genre it is now.
|
It may not have become as popular, but there's no shortage of bands that are tapping anything but the Norwegian vein - Midnight, Black Witchery, Barbatos, Conqueror, Revenge, Angelcorpse, etc. You know, bands that recognize punk/grindcore roots of black metal.