The Metal/Punk/Rock Thread

[cobra_gordo]

The girl I mentioned in the dates thread who lured me out bowling which turned out to be a family gathering had a younger brother, first time I met him he has a baddass vintage Saxon shirt on, massive black cargo trousers and huge spiked boots. I reckon he'd have been 13 at the time if that. I says "Nice shirt man, how long have you been in to Saxon?!" and he says "Is it a band? I just liked the shirt".

Metal merch is so mainstream that my Mum once accidentally bought a shirt with the Kiss logo in rhinestones once having fuck all clue who they were. You can get Slayer shirts in H&M for fucks sake. Anybody still thinking it's niche is on acid. There's plenty of weird sub-genres that are a bit less accessible but if you look at the doom scene for instance, it's full of hipsters who have latched on to it because it's the next cool thing. A few years ago it was black metal. There's going to be fits and starts, the wankers will still be around and Burzum will never headline Bloodstock.

Edited October 18, 2018 by cobra_gordo

[GlennCullen]

23 hours ago, Egg Shen said:

I went to the Newport show on that tour. Think it was FFAF, The Haunted, Jonah Matranga and The Lucky Nine? Might be wrong about the last band. What a weird bill. That was full on Welsh scenester days, i think they went down well but imagine there many there who hated The Haunted that night.

Jonah doing solo acoustic? Crikey.

[wordsfromlee]

27 minutes ago, KJHenley said:

Jonah doing solo acoustic? Crikey.

I think that was during his OneLineDrawing days. I went to a show on that tour and remember FFAF playing a cover of 'The System' by Far.

[The Gaffer]

I don't think the upper tiers of metal are niche or anti establishment in the slightest but - to play devil's advocate - I still wouldn't say being a metalhead as a lifestyle is a particularly mainstream thing. Everyone loves Metallica and Iron Maiden and you can get their merch in H&M, granted, but I still don't think that's the same thing as actually being a full time metalhead. I don't even consider myself a full time metalhead, even though I listen to it every week and go to metal festivals. That's largely predicated on my taste in large crowds. Going to Download for the first time was such a fun revelation, after tiring of years of festivals where my mates ran around looking to score pills in order to experience this bullshit festival enlightenment and later struggle to recount the acts they'd seen. Don't get me wrong, I was like that before too, but metal fests are so refreshingly free of that stuff that it was unbelievable to me. Here were festivals full of people largely just content with necking cans. They actually went to the stages in anticipation of acts. Moshing is fun. Nobody goes on about chakras. Lovely. 

I still wouldn't call myself a metalhead, though. It seems a bit self limiting. People perhaps fairly assume you sort of only listen to metal. To that end the people who really go for it, patch their jackets and drink in metal bars all the time? It's in the mainstream, but is it really the mainstream? I mean most people aren't doing it. Statistically if you're a college kid in metal regalia nowadays you're probably a bit of an outsider. An outsider with a large subculture to back you up, but still an outsider in that silly, tribal way that can be so important at making you feel cool as a teenager. It's not a bad thing, provided your tribe is decent. 

I think that's how metal as a lifestyle is still a bit left of field. 

The far worse argument that I've always hated is people in general going "well your subculture is all about diversity yet you're all dressed the same!" and then sitting back smug as anything like they've just cracked the fucking enigma code.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Gay as FOOK

[Rey_Piste]

The thing is if you look at something like the Bloodstock forums, there's a lot of vocal black metal fans. They will always complain that a band like Scorpions are headlining, rather than the band that recorded 1 ep only available on 7" vinyl in a Norwegian cave.

They really are in the minority though and if you're going to sell a festival you need the more well known acts as headliners, to bring in the masses.

[Accident Prone]

Every time Radio One plays a System Of A Down or Architects or something, the same snippets of conversation always pop up around the office; "It's just screaming, isn't it?" followed by "Sounds like Satanism music".

So whilst being massively mainstream now (to the point where Metallica and Iron Maiden are classed as 'Dad rock'), it's still just out there enough to confuse Sharon from accounts and Dave the Villa fan.

[The Gaffer]

"Wouldn't listening to that all the time make you depressed?"

 

[King Mal the Glorious]

"You can't understand what they're saying, it's just noise, why do you bother?"

[Egg Shen]

17 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

I think that was during his OneLineDrawing days. I went to a show on that tour and remember FFAF playing a cover of 'The System' by Far.

Yeh Jonah did his solo thing with his little robot thing. I remember Matt from FFAF coming on to cover a Far tune with him. Strange as fuck lineup. I remember it was a deal where FFAF put together a bit of a dream bill for themelves. 

FFAF fell from grace didn't they? They were genuinely one of the biggest bands in the country for a minute, the fall was pretty drastic.

[WyattSheepMask]

52 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

 

FFAF fell from grace didn't they? They were genuinely one of the biggest bands in the country for a minute, the fall was pretty drastic.

I was never a fan myself, so all I’ve got to go on is what I read about either or onlineor in magazines, but didn’t they have to self-release an album before having to settle on being small indie labels thereafter? That coupled with the dreaded “change in sound”, which killed off contemporaries such as Poison The Well and From Autumn To Ashes

Edited October 19, 2018 by WyattSheepMask

[Accident Prone]

37 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

I was never a fan myself, so all I’ve got to go on is what I read about either or onlineor in magazines, but didn’t they have to self-release an album before having to settle on being small indie labels thereafter? That coupled with the dreaded “change in sound”, which killed off contemporaries such as Poison The Well and From Autumn To Ashes

From Autumn To Ashes suffered from having a failed follow-up to a highly acclaimed first outing and then all the drama regarding the singer not showing up for a bunch of sessions and quitting in the middle of the third album. The first two albums have a distinct sound but the next two all drown together as a bit of a murky mess. Even then, then second album feels a bit tired. Still love FATA to bits though, one of my absolute favorites. I randomly found out earlier this year that the original singer is now a bar man in Washington.

I loved FFAF too but whenever I went to their gigs, no one gave a fuck about any song that was post-Hours and neither did I. Not many bands from that era could keep the hype, quality and consistency past a second album. Taking Back Sunday BARELY scraped by; if it wasn't for MakeDamnSure being such a massive hit  they would've suffered a similar fate as that third album is as dull as dishwater. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Accident Prone

[Dead Mike]

FFAF's last 3 albums 'Welcome Home Armageddon', 'Conduit' & 'Chapter & Verse' are all definitely worth checking out. I saw them a tonne over the years & it was pretty depressing to see people's interest only piquing when they announced they were splitting. These records have got some absolute bangers on them.

[Accident Prone]

1 hour ago, Ralphy said:

i didnt know they had split up, is any of the newer stuff worth checking out?

I miss Finch, underrated band but its a shame they are one fo those bands people only really care about 1 song by (letters to you)

Personally, it's not worth your time but your mileage may differ as @Dead Mikehas pointed out.

Finch were good, but they failed to really shine when a lot of bands were doing that style a lot better, such as Senses Fail and the aforementioned FFAF. 'Letters To You' is still a stonking floor-filler but 'What It Is To Burn' should've been way bigger than it was.

1 hour ago, Dead Mike said:

I saw them a tonne over the years & it was pretty depressing to see people's interest only piquing when they announced they were splitting. These records have got some absolute bangers on them.

Yeah, it was weird to see them playing a small venue in Wolverhampton to the retirement tour the next year where they sold out most dates and were playing Academy-sized venues. But that tour got a lot more attention for two reasons; Hours and Casually Dressed being played in full. I was there at the Manchester leg for CDADIC and it was a su-fucking-perb night, culminating in my first visit to Satan's Hollow (arguably the best rock club in the UK).

[Accident Prone]

Yes! I bought that album based on the good review Kerrang (I think) gave it. I always thought this was a great track;

I think the best album I've bought purely off a magazine review without even listening to anything the band has done prior has to be 'Alive Or Just Breathing' by Killswitch Engage. Fucking hell, it blew my tiny little Korn/Slipknot mind away! I adore that album.

[WyattSheepMask]

I remember that song, but that’s all I ever heard of them, and probably most other people too. They were part of the ‘one and done’ era of Roadrunner Records

See also: Anyone - Don’t Wake Me

Downer - Last Time

and Dislocated Styles, but they don’t deserve a youtube link