Is extreme metal boring now?
 

I've seen this opinion expressed numerous times throughout my time listening to metal. And I think it makes for a rather interesting discussion. Do YOU think extreme metal is boring? Is all of it boring? Is just the new stuff boring? What makes it boring?


I have been back and forth on this topic. I don't find all extreme metal to be boring. Is some of it? Yes. What genre of music doesn't have boring bands though? That being said there are bands out there that make me change my mind all of the time. I understand the genre is diluted with bands that copy one another, and play the same riffs over and over, don't get me wrong, I understand that. That being said there's bands out there making fresh music, too, doing their own thing. I find that fun and interesting.


All of that being said I think a large majority of death metal being released right now is awful, again my opinion. Granted, I'm not one for the brutal death metal so many bands seem to release, or the overly technical death metal so many bands are releasing. Those two things are not my cup of tea, at all. I like my death metal fast, loud, gritty, and normally somewhat thrashy. And yeah, there are a lot of bands out there making that type of death metal now, but just like with the whole heavy metal, and the thrash revival most of that doesn't appeal to me a lot of it sounds over produced and just doesn't work for me. Not to say I don't like any of it; But a majority of it.. I don't.

And for black metal, yes, a large majority of it is carbon copy bands which are rehashing the same Burzum sounding songs over and over. There are fresh and exciting/fun bands out there though. IE; I find Panopticon to be pretty fun, and pretty refreshing comparing to much of the black metal out there now. It takes a lot of digging to find bands that are refreshing and interesting due to the large amount of junk diluting the genres, but I think that happens within a lot of genres.

By the way, I do understand there are people are there who DON'T like metal, or extreme metal, and that's understandable feel free to express your opinion on why you don't like it. My main interest though was hearing from people who have enjoyed extreme metal at some point in time, and no longer do.

Maybe Im not the best person to ask as music listed as "boring" is usually stuff I like, but I think the last few years have yielded really great extreme metal albums. (I havent really been paying attention as much as id hoped this year though so my knowledge is very much limited).

I dont really know what kind of death metal you like/dislike but bands like Ulcerate, Septic Flesh, Be'lakor, Gorguts, Monolith Deathcult (amongst others) have put out really great stuff in the past few years. So no I dont think the majority of death metal released now is terrible but then again Im not really into the thrashy side of it anyway..

And I think there have been more and better black metal albums recently too. Blood of the Hermit by Mortualia has become one of my favorite albums of this decade of any genre although it would not be difficult to call it boring either. Im a big fan of the droning black metal that seems to be fairly popular right now. Inquisition have put out a couple albums recently that are very good and have a fairly distinctive sound, Murmuure has his lucid, noisy, beautiful album from 2010 that's really really great. Noregs Vaapen by Taake pays homage to an older school of bmetal, The Feral Wisdom by Wormlust has psychedelic undertones, Botanist uses a dulcimer instead of guitars for an incredibly eerie effect, Funerals from an Astral Sphere by Midnight Odyssey is like a celestial journey. All this without mentioning bands like An Autumn for Crippled Children, Sleeping Peonies, Cold Body Radiation, Lantlos, etc who do very cool work with shoegaze or ambient elements. And without mentioning tons of other bands that id like to work into this paragraph but I feel like this has become more of a list than I had wanted to begin with.

And all of this is just since 2010.

All in all, no I dont think extreme metal is in a bad place, in fact I think the opposite. I think its grown exponentially since the 90s and both black and death metal are flourishing with new ideas. I love old school extreme metal as much as the next guy but it cant always stay like it was and im enjoying seeing the branches that are coming from them. And maybe it is harder to find great ones, but thats half the fun.

I think the true definition of 'extreme metal' is difficult for me to pinpoint or make judgement upon, because for a long time I thought it just meant experimental. What defines extreme? Ideology, unusual instrumental stylings, anticonformism in general?

I usually use it as an umbrella term for death and black metal.

I'm like you in the sense I'm probably not the best person to ask; Because, like you said, "boring" appeals to me. That being said don't take my original post the wrong way, I do think there's plenty of great music within these genres being released, and especially black metal. In fact I think black metal is better now than its ever been. Maybe that's because I don't buy into all the "True Kvlt" second wave stuff, I like some of those bands but I don't live by it. I think albums being released now are better than those albums, personally. So I don't think extreme metal is in a bad state, personally, but I've seen that statement thrown around numerous times so I was curious to know what others though.

I was using it like Ninetales said as a blanket term for black and death metal. Should have made that a bit more clear in my original post, I suppose.

Ah. Well in that case, I wouldn't say its boring and I love the shows, but I personally listen to less than I used to. Still listen to plenty but I think every metal imbiber overdoses on that **** eventually, it gets old. There's really only so much that can be done if the band isn't very experimental and few are.

It becomes a less common listen, unless its absolutely your standby genre above all others. And if thats the case, you're more open to new **** anyways.

Yeah. I mean I've only been into metal about 7-8 years; Yet I do at times grow bored with metal. I know there is a lot of variety in metal, and I know people who don't ever seem to grow bored with it, but I love variety. So, yes, I do grow bored over over indulging over a period of time, but I do that with any music genre.

I agree with this (and am taking notes on the releases I haven't heard of). I think the past 5-10 years have actually been kind of a golden age for extreme metal.

Well you said you also wanted to hear from people who don't enjoy extreme metal, and here I am. God help the person next to me who says, as Nine said, "I like extreme metal as much as the next guy", cos I'm the next guy! :)

I love metal but I prefer the power/thrash/traditional NWOBHM and progressive side of it. As anyone here will tell you, I bore everyone by telling them that there's one thing I have to have in my music, and that's melody. I can't stand vocals I can't understand, or music that's played so loud and/or fast that it becomes just a blur. I am, in other words, no Batlord! :rofl:

However the bands I do like --- Maiden, Sabbath, Tygers, Motorhead, Helloween, Stratovarius, Kamelot, Manowar and a ton others ---- all continue to bring out consistently good releases. I recently reviewed Kamelot's latest album and pronounced it "the saddest I had ever heard", and it is. Metal can take you to places a lot of other music can't, and although I understand the interest in and love of extreme metal, it's never been for me. If you want examples of me trying ALL types of metal (even Slipknot!) check my journal and search for "Metal month". You'll see I gave them all a fair shot --- Carcass, Morbid Angel, Kreator, Possessed ---- but it just isn't for me.

So why am I even here in this thread? Where am I anyway? How did I get here, and how do I get out??? :eek: :laughing:

I guess my point is that you can be into metal without being into extreme metal, which obviously has nothing to do with your OP, but it is something of a view perhaps from the other side. Not quite poseur, but you won't find me at any Mayhem concerts anytime soon...

I don't think it's boring. I'm quite pleased that there are some bands mentioned there that I haven't listened too. I'll add them to my list!