A METAL COMMENTARY
Below, you will read a commentary on the state of metal as it was, is now, and shall be in the future... Feel free to email me/flame me with your comments. I always enjoy the feedback of like-minded fans, as well as the folly of those who try to defend the "nu-metal/false metal" breed (i.e. - the non-believers).
If you are anywhere near my age (30-40), perhaps you can relate more to what you are about to read. Only a true fan such as I would take time to go through with this, so please read it all. I don't expect many teenagers or twenty-somethings to agree with my views, but then again, I don't really care... I am merely stating my opinion and what logically seems to me to have caused the great "fall of the metal empire" during the 90's, and the consequences of which we're still paying for...
WHAT WAS ...
The question I hear most often from people who hear stuff from my music collection is, "Where do you find this stuff?!?" Well, first off, let me explain that since first hearing Sabbath's "Iron Man" in 1973 or so, I have been permanently transformed into a manic heavy metal junkie. At the ripe old age of 10, I decided that this was the music I loved. All through the 80's, my buddies (you know who you are) and I spent every last dollar we had at the time on any metal record we could find. Of course, we would all buy different stuff, and then tape it for each other. In this way, we formed a "union" of metalheads that spanned across the country. This became the so-called "tape trading network" that so many of us embodied. Of course, there was a fair share of crappy purchases, but the number of good choices far outnumbered the bad (well, for some of us... )
In those days, we would buy albums (as I'm sure many of you did, as well) based on:
a).
the band itself and their previous history,
b). the album cover (who could resist KISS "Destroyer" , DIO's
"Holy Diver" or Mercyful Fate's "Don't Break the Oath"?!)
c). a combination of both or neither (i.e. - pure f'ing luck!).
It didn't take long for the collection to grow by leaps and bounds, and before you knew it, you had run out of room and needed a second cabinet or a bigger shelf. Then cassettes became more popular due to their ease of transportation, and soon those were piled everywhere as well. It was an age of sheer excess, and as the quantity went up, the quality, of course, went down. It became increasingly important to consult metal mags such as Kerrang!, Metal Forces, Hit Parader etc for reviews to steer us in the right direction. This was in addition to the all important "word-of-mouth" factor on what was hot at the time. We would listen to our favorite bands, and worship the musicians that created such masterfully arranged, emotionally charged and well executed compositions. There never was, and as far as I'm concerned, never will be, a greater period in history for heavy music.
As time went by, the sheer overabundance of lackluster bands selling millions of records (remember Poison?) contributed heavily to the decline of metal's popularity. There was a glut on the market, and metalheads grew weary of getting ripped off by lame purchases. So, suddenly, along comes Nirvana, and BOOM! Just like that, grunge is born, displacing metal, seemingly overnight, as the next big thing.
As we all know, grunge had it's 15 minutes of fame, and it was covered by every bar band (including my old band, WHITE RAVEN) ad nauseum...to the point where I refused to play it. It quickly ran it's course for me because, for one thing, it all sounded incestuous. All the singers tried to sound like Kurt Cobain or Eddie Vedder. The guitar players suddenly forgot how to tune their instruments (or play them for that matter) and guitar solos were conspicuously absent in most of the songs. It got old REAL fast! Then, the effects of the media would start to take their toll circa 1991...
WHAT IS ...
Everywhere you turn in this great country, we are being subjected to media overkill. It's frightening to witness what kind of control the large corporations with millions of dollars to blow on advertising can exercise over the weak, impressionable consumers of this day and age. I can see it everywhere; "reality" TV, musical trends, commercials, advertisements, fashion statements…it never ends. Luckily, I do not, nor have I ever, followed anyone's idea of what they think is "in" at any point in time. Good music never goes in and out of style! I do not possess a sheeps' mentality that allows these media moguls to manipulate and shape the way I act and think, what I buy, or what I should believe. Why should I? They turned their backs on real metal bands with the advent of grunge! Fuck them! What can they possibly know or care about what I like? Their only focus is on how to devise a way to separate me from the cash that's in my wallet. Don't be fooled...all they want is your money - they could give a rat's ass about the bands themselves. They're just their tools used to separate YOU from your hard earned cash.
Since the beginning of the 90's, when grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam arose from nowhere, the musical climate for heavy music in the U.S. has gone south amidst a downward spiral of epic proportions. To illustrate a point, I have purchased 4 major label releases on CD in the last 3 years, yet in that time, I have fortified my CD collection by almost 1500 CD's. Thank God for independent labels! What does it mean? Simply put, major record labels would not give the time of day to bands that are not considered "trendy" enough or "profitable" (i.e. - flavor-of-the-month enough) to get signed. Therefore, there were VERY few albums of true metal on the majors during that time. Here's the mathematical equation:
Lack of real talent + shitloads of marketing + gimmicks = $$$$$$$$ for the major labels.
Hmmm….now you know where all the GOOD heavy metal went - underground! Well, luckily for me, I stumbled on to these underground, independent labels around 1993 when everything was going to hell. And through the years, they have proliferated and become a huge, sprawling network of underground breeding grounds for real, classic and traditional heavy metal bands and the fans that support it! This is where metal never went away! Out of sight, out of mind never held more true. Obviously, if the smaller labels have limited marketing budgets, they cannot afford to plaster every magazine cover with advertising, bombard the radio with promos of their new releases, or pay "eMpTV" the money to play their bands' videos. It's all part of the machine, and it's painful to sit idly by and watch it happen. Only recently have you seen anything besides the usual type bands getting exposure; you know the drill - short hair, rap influence, multiple piercings, guitars tuned to the key of ass, singers that either sound like a bad Eddie Vedder/Kurt Cobain/Layne Staley impression or choose not to sing at all and just scream/barf into the mic 100% of the time, depressing songs about how everything sucks and wrecking shit...it's getting old. and lame! When do people start looking for other options in music? Are we really that lazy to the point that we are spoon-fed this stuff and are satisfied with it? Look at Ozzfest...what a disgrace! This could have been such a huge opportunity to showcase some really great European (and U.S. bands too - yes, they DO exist - JAG PANZER, ICED EARTH, NEVERMORE are prime examples...) true metal acts in an effort to promote truly great bands, but instead they choose a pile of useless shit bands that SUCK beyond belief, but from a marketing standpoint are great!! What a waste. Ozzy was once an idol of mine, but lately his wife has turned him into the biggest cash cow puppet in the industry.
WHAT IS TO BE...
It's a telling story in parts of Europe, South America, and even Asia, where record sales are an indicator of what the U.S. has become in terms of musical climate. Look at the top 100 records in countries such as Germany, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Spain, Brazil, Japan…just about ANYWHERE outside the good ol' U.S. for that matter. What will you see? METAL! For instance, in Sweden just last week, an underground metal band (to "newbies" at least) called CHILDREN OF BODOM debuted at #1 ! NUMBER ONE, I SAID!! Now, to put this in perspective, take a look at the top 100 chart for U.S. sales... not only does it not contain ONE real metal band, it contains hardly any ROCK music in general!! Holy shit, our country has fallen prey to the Ebonics disease of (c)rap, dance B.S., and faggy boy bands. What the hell happened to all the good music, you ask? They are all signed to European labels (with the exception of a few really good U.S. labels like Century Media and Sentinel Steel Records). If you were a REAL metal band (not nu-metal, teenybopper rapcore bullshit) and you were about to sign a record contract, what would you choose? - a label based in Europe, where metal record sales are still flourishing, or in the U.S. where few people even remember what the term means anymore!? Even ICED EARTH, arguably the best metal band from the U.S. since METALLICA (before they sold out), recently signed on with SPV/Steamhammer in Germany!! Man, I hope they sell 10,000,000 records with their new release just so the band can tell Sony/EMI/Elektra/A&M/ whoever to go pack it in their ass when they come crawling back to sign them...
We've
been being duped for too long, people. It's time to wake up and realize
that there are bands 100 times better than what you hear on your radio
or see on eMpTV, that's for sure! Dozens of them! To find out who they
are and what they sound like, do some surfing to the sites I have posted
in the "links" page. There you will find info and descriptions
of who they are and, in most cases, have downloadable soundfiles on
their homepage. It's not that hard. I really believe that over the years,
we have become too complacent with what's being offered (read: force
fed) here in the states. We're contributing to the downfall of real
metal music each time we buy a CD from the major labels or tune in to
eMpTV. We're playing right into their hands, becoming the grease that
oils their greed machinery. Check out some of the stuff I have up on
the site, and if you like it, buy some of their discs. I know some of
you have already, and are glad you did. After all, life is too short
to listen to shitty music...
