I must admit, all my favorite metal records are from the 80's to mid 90's. there is an organic groove to these records, musicians playing off each-other. sure there are subtle mistakes, production may be poor, but this is their charm. real and raw.
Another thing I like is how some bands had more broader influences. Tom himself said that he was influenced by 80's goth such as Bauhaus, which partially led to Monotheist's sound. Samael's Passage brought in industrial influences, even though a lot of the stuff after that is kind of crap. And for a more punk example, one of Amebix's biggest influences was Killing Joke
Even in the 90's, one example is Deftones, Chi Cheng played bass, as Chino Moreno said, in his own" tempo signature" (cuz if you heard while he playing, he was out of beat almost every time), but that's the beauty on it, those little imperfections making the music as it can be: human.
The interviewer looks uncomfortable. I suppose it was not the answer he was expecting, but I agree with Tom. Even if there are excellent musicians nowadays, in general there is a lack of energy in most Metal bands.
@@primalmythic386Absolutely, in the late night/midnight they (and some still) played so many underground bands (metal, punk, goth and even at the time cause the genre was no so big here in México, Hip-Hop, reggae and lot of "counterculture" music).
100% right about everything. The genre has been coopted by corporations and made marketable and mainstream and accessible. The music no longer has to truly captivate you, it's produced with the sole purpose of being digestible to broader audiences. The true underground still exists but it will never have that bombastic sense of rebellion, that experience of creating or even listening to something never before experienced in the music world. That analogue rawness is something that must be pursued now, it's niche, and won't come with that feeling of innovation ever again like it did when heavy metal first hit the scene.
I agree I honestly don’t have nothing against kids who enjoy a slipknot or korn or whitechapel but it’s just not for me. It’s just my personal taste but if you people enjoy than i respect that
I'm 51 now. All I gotta say is that the 80s & 90s were the best years of Metal. It was literally all so fresh & new. All I see now are young kids who romanticize my generation with their high tops, tight jeans, dreaming about a time before they were even born. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to keep the scene alive, but it'll never be the same.
True. Also if people had denim vest with the patches in mid 90's to early 2000's, it was rare and like just continue to the 80's. It wasn't a fashion show like today with thousands of different clothes to choose, all designed to look retro.
Political correctness killed metal. Slayer, Type o Negative, Mayhem, Marduk and so many other bands wouldn't have a chance to develop in today's modern-day liberal fanaticism.
@@kingpriapatius5832Yeah, do remember though that a lot of metal was rebelling against ilogical conservatism. Extremes are always the problem, people go from being annoying conservatives about family-at-all-costs and against anyone different, to almost forcing the political correctness. Both extremes are bad. I've been recently seeing a lot of "conservative" metalheads which to me is insane and almost an oxymoron.
I love this commentary on heavy music; anarchy, passion, revolution, and energy. The imperfection of fire and dirt. I fucking love this description of what metal music embodies as a sound and form of expression! This man is speaking the truth like no one can or will! 🔥🔥🔥
Modern metal has become soulless. All of these artists are simply slaves to technology, and as a result metal has become one of the most conservative & safe forms of music.
Unfortunately every genre sound old, looking at the history of rock music you can see a path, a change every 5/6 years in style, approach, sound. Psychedelic rock, progressive, hard rock, punk, new wave, hardcore, metal, dark wave, post rock etcetc. Every genre or sub genre added something new or was a reaction to the previous generation, now music sounds conservative and revivalism is the key, how many tv shows or bands that sucks to the 80s nostalgia do we have today? I think that the problem is much more deeper than metal, even pop was much fresher, pets sounds from the beach boys played with odd time signatures, unusual instruments, strange recording techniques, it was much more free and unpredictable than fucking heavy metal today despite the pop label.
This dude puts the same passion in his spoken words as he does his music. I've been a fan since the BEGINNING. He's one of my biggest influences of all time, if not the BIGGEST.
I was trying to explain this recently to a producer whom I think is part of the problem. I think I will send him this video. Tom said exactly what I feel about a lot of modern bands. Most even have the same tones on drums, bass and guitar. Same mix too. I need raw and chaotic.
54, equally so, I agree. Dead-simply put: Imperfect is perfect. Since it is ALIVE!!! Not "technologised" (Deadited" (read it as dead-edited) as it is today.
Probably my favorite concert I've seen live was Black Sabbath on their Cross Purposes tour in Feb 1994 at the state theater in Detroit, MI. with the Iommi, Butler, Tony Martin, and Bobby Rodinelli line-up, with Motorhead & Morbid Angel opening up. It was in a very small concert hall and was BY FAR the loudest and heaviest concert I've ever been to. I couldn't hear hardly anything for 3 days afterward. I saw Black Sabbath again (or Heaven & Hell) as they called themselves at the time since Dio was back in the band for the 3rd time at this point) in March 2007 at the John Labatt arena in London, Ontario Canada with the Iommi-Butler-Dio-Appice line-up, with Down & Megadeth opening. This is my favorite line-up of the band, but unfortunately they were in such a huge place this time, and I was on the complete opposite end of the building from the stage, the sound wasn't nearly as good as when I saw the band in 1994 at the small concert hall in Detroit. And this time there was tons of lighting & sound technicians all over in the center of the arena floor between me and the stage which was distracting as well. I'll take the bare-bones but louder than hell concert I saw them at 1994 over an elaborate but poor sound quality of a huge arena any day. But getting back to the topic here, I absolutely love Celtic Frosts Live 2007 Wacken concert. The sound is fantastic, probably the best I've ever heard from them they really are a great band. I had most of their albums back in the 1980's, and the most recent one I purchased on CD was Monotheist which is just as good as most of their old songs and very heavy as well.
It may be true in a sense, but there's also an inevitability to it. There's no chance for any band to have the same sort of impact or emotional feeling when there have been tens of thousands of metal songs written since the 80's. We're all also older and have heard and seen so much there's not even a chance for something to stand out like that.
I disagree. Although what you're saying is true, it's not what Tom is commenting on. He's talking about what heavy music stands for and embodies as a form of expression. Rebellion, fire, anarchy, and the raw energy of passion. Including all the mistakes and nuances of imperfection that define that energy. He's saying that this energetic spirit is no longer with the music, that it's far too perfected, technical, and over-produced to embody the raw energy it attempts to represent, but instead it fails to deliver or truly convey this spirit. What he is talking about is sort of like an expressive kind of symbolism or metaphor through sound. While I still enjoy much modern metal, he is right about it not living up to the authentic energetic message it stands for as a sound.
He said it best when he described the modern metal sound as "sterile". I am amazed at the technical skills of some of these bands, but the music is generally over-processed and flat with no feel to it at all.
It's the record companies that killed the dirt the booze and the blood of the rock n roll spirit. Bands are just an investment now, nobody wants to invest in a rebellious "fuck you" band that will smash their gear and cause a scene it's not good business.
Punk rock died with Green Day and Rancid. It was a place and time in history and that place and time have moved on. Jello Biafra of the DK's says the same thing,it's impossible to be a "punk rock" band in 2022.
@@E.C.2 Agreed. Punk rock means different things to different people, but nowadays I just see a bunch of sidekicks to their own uniforms rehashing formalaeic, dime a dozen, cookie cutter stuff. Not interested in it.
I've been following Tom since 1984. I was in a new and used record store in downtown Portland Oregon in the first album that I saw in the heavy metal section was hellhammer for $3 best three dollars that I've ever spent now I have everything he's ever done
the black metal was introduced to the USA with a hollywood film lords of chaos. all of the sudden e-girls were "black metal". 🤣 Black metal didn't even have females in or listening to it for decades. it was about kicking the world in the face when it tries to kick you (like punk was). an now the e girls an noobs talk down upon some of the founders. like you are satan an they are some christian mad they burnt churches down. the movie was so far off from what it was it was made to be a feel good teeny bopper film. even the people portrayed in the movie have pretty much all spoken about it an say its trash; including the bands they worship. but things get co-opted by the trendy masses an then you go from things like punk being about 🖕🖕🖕💥💥💣💣💀💀 to blink 182. in fact i always said early black metal was just punk rising again.
Celtic Frosts "Morbid Tales" was one of the first albums a ever had. Together with Bathorys "Blood fire death" it was so aweseome to have been a part of this looking back from today. I am 48 now.
I completely understand what he's saying! Heavy music has NO ROOM FOR YOUR FEELINGS YOUR SAFE SPACES ITS NOT ABOUT ALL INCLUSIVE! BACK IN THE DAY METAL USED TO BE FOR THE FREAKS OR THAT'S WHAT THEY WOULD CALL US AND YOU KNOW WHAT WE LOVED IT LIKE THAT CUZ WE HATED THOSE M************!!!! WE WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM... DON'T GET IT TWISTED I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT NEW METALHEADS OR NEW BANDS I'M TALKING ABOUT HOW KIM KARDASHIAN WILL WEAR A MISFIT SHIRT OR SLAYER SHIRT BECAUSE SHE THINKS IT'LL MAKE HER LOOK COOL SHE CAN'T EVEN NAME ONE F****** SONG!!! WAS SPOILED A BRAT ELITES STAY THE F*** AWAY FROM OUR SCENE!!!!!
I will say this about Hellhammer/early CF, it destroys all those tech death wankery bands. Sure, those bands are more musically proficient, but will never match the power and intensity of bands like Venom, Slayer, Bathory, Possessed and of course Hellhammer and early CF.
There is a kinship among 80s metal heads. I never give money to street people.....never....the other day an old smoked out looking guy was holding a sign that said...SLAYER....i gave tbe bastard $10 at the light, bumped his fist and said keep fighting brother.
I mean, tastes are tastes and that's fine. But spitting on bands such as Arcturus or Enslaved, labelling everything as being too perfect and overly produced (like if Monotheist wasn't extremely produced) because they don't fit the punk and rebellious nature of early black metal, sounds a little bit like what an old fart would say, yeah.
He's not wrong. As usual... the truth is a little bit somewhere in the middle. There are bands coming out nowadays that sound like Guitar Pro turned into real life (Archspire from Canada) and yet there are bands coming out that sound like they were recorded on tape in the 60's (Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats). So, it's both. The ones who like Obscura good for them, the ones who like shit that sounds like it was recorded pre-90's, good for them too, there's room for both in this world...
Happens that many perfectly played metal music is pure shit and is been commercialised to oblivion. Vocals, thematic,concept,intentions are commercial and that includes rubbish like metallica grunge
Tom is so honest...so fuckin honest,and true and loyal ...brings me to tears,I´m trying to play my similiar stuff but nobody uderstads,don¨t give damn what is the majority thinkin´ about.. just doin where my soul leads me ....whatever the majority thinks .....straid forward !!! AND WE KNOW WHAT THE DIRT IS !! DIRT IS ACTUALLY SOUL PRESENTATION OV PURITY
Technical ability isn't the purpose of "heavy music," its the purpose of playing your instrument. Tom never improved as a guitarist, even having to hire a second player. There's no passion without skill.
To each their own opinion, I guess. However, there seems to be something unaccounted for in your argument. If there were no passion without skill, then no one would ever enjoy playing guitar. The beginner doesn’t keep playing because he has to be good at guitar to enjoy it. He plays because he is passionate about it. With that passion comes the desire to be your best. If we all only liked things because we were good at it, then we would be miserable with the amount of hard work required to please ourselves. Then as the rest of guitarists advance beyond our skill level, we may seem bad in comparison, restarting the cycle. If the only way we feel great is to be comparatively skilled, then did we ever enjoy it for the experience? Or perhaps we were only looking at something to be “good” at? Apologies for the paragraph, I am very passionate about music (even though I don’t refer to myself as technically amazing).
Tell that to every punk band. Metal is about riffs, atmosphere and being heavy as fuck. If i wanted technicality i would listen to jazz(which i do often). The problem with metal post-90s metal is that the passion, drive are gone. Also, there's something that i have to point out is that nearly all of the bands these days sound like a computer is playing. Its too overproduced. It's not heavy, its not dark or addictive, it's just loud and lifeless.I agree with Tom i want to hear mistakes, feel that the band is having fun. Production is also a serious issue that needs to be thought over about. Like i mentioned above metal, regardless of which genre we're talking about needs to be heavy, raw, and in your face.
You just don't get what Tom was ranting about. Today's metal is all about technical skills over originality, identity, soul and vision. Technical ability is secondary to original artistic vision. Skills are not an end in itself, they just serve to express the vision. Modern bands have the skills but they lack the vision, originality and passion. They are just soulless, mass produced items with no identity of their own. There is passion without skill. Passion and vision are more important than skill. Skill serves passion, not the other way around.
You can have all the skill in the world but without passion you'll never stand out. Skilled musicians are everywhere today, the passionate, original bands are the one's I notice most.
The man's dead on with all his assessments. I'm not that much younger than him and I remember the glory days when metal was indeed crazed and passionate and ground breaking. Celtic Frost were one of my favorite bands back in the day; how eerie and warped and evil they sounded was a major turn on for me. These days, bands all sound alike because they use the same gear, the same Pro Tools settings, the same Kemper settings, the same drum triggers...you get the point. It's overly polished and overproduced and all the real danger and excitement has gone out of it. It's all about the science and not the art. I disagree with Adam Nergal Darski on a lot of things (pretentious black metal hipster that the man has always been), but he's also right about how "extreme" metal is old hat and predictable. I don't even pay attention to it anymore, sad to say. Metal has been stagnant for years, now, and it seems nobody has the courage to break the mold and try something new or something from the heart. Tragic development, isn't it?
Every time a band tries "something new", they are seen as "moving away from the genre" or not having that "passion". There's a lot of comments about that right here, it makes no sense. One thing is the superiority or innovation of the past, another thing is nostalgia. Most people in this comment section are riding on nostalgia.
He's 100% correct and I have huge respect for Tom G. There's no danger involved in this music anymore, no passion and not giving a shit if you fall on face and fuck up a solo. Actually a lot of heavy metal music back then did have a lot to do with jazz in my opinion, the music was much more freer than it is now and what went wrong has a lot to do with the advent of digital recording. Tape was expensive and you couldn't afford to do take after take, so improvisation and leaving artifacts in the mix were the norm and usually that is all for the better. Now it takes several years for bands to release albums...
I also agree as in 2022 I'm now 48 years old with a long white beard and miss the value of bands I listened to (still do) back in the day. There are very few bands I listen to today that are bad ass and that I enjoy and respect. I grew up to Mercyful Fate, Misfits, Subhumans, Slayer etc. and Yes...I can hear the air between sounds as it was more organic and raw BUT produced very well analog. Sure I know you gotta get with the times and now it's all digital but I get it. Punk rock now is super perfect and I don't like it. I guess I'm an old school fart metal head punk rock and old school goth rock and industrial fan and I still play old school video games like atari, Nintendo and all cartridge based and old pc systems and games. Never owned a modern system and probably never will so even in the entertainment industry I'm still old school and I'm happy. Hell I still use charcoal to grill these days and never used a propane tank. So yeah...I totally get it 100% and I'm happy. Great Video! A+++ Thumbs Up and shared.
I like how respectfully he expresses his opinions. He can criticize things without personally insulting anyone. Few people are this well spoken and eloquent with their opinions.
He speaks the absolute truth 💯 if you listen to his early recordings like Morbid Tales it sounds so raw, pure and authentic whereas computer generated metal sounds generic and robotic 🤖
I couldn't agree more. When I buy a new metal album I often buy it on tape (if I get the chance) and play it in my crappiest cassette recorder so I don't have to struggle with all that perfection. I guess also that is why I shifted a lot into shoegaze over the last 10 years.
Holy S*it !! That's the reason why i always liked Hellhammer instead of Celtic Frost, because of Raw Sound and not too much computer effects on studio production. I'm a multi instrumentist on my own Metal project and on that project i play on a very cheap guitar, very cheap bass and a very cheap drum set. The only amps i use are a 20 years old Tiny Marshall Guitar Amp only with "Overdrive" and "Volume" (nowadays there are new versions on stores) and for the bass guitar i use the BASS Travel powered by 2 AAA Batteries and connected to an old radio speaker. I have done some experiments recording that to my laptop and the sound is almost the early 80s recordings.
Although a few years younger than Tom, he perfectly expresses my views in metal as of many others (I hope) of my generation who experienced the very quintessence of metal back in 80s. My true concern and question however is; for how long will there be such voices reminding the true values of metal? We are becoming minority in our own cosmos while younger people shooting with "ok boomer" crapola which depresses me even more (not because they make me feel old but because I see their inability to express themselves and argue). They put a boatload of modern meaningless bands on a pedestal and they blatantly discredit the concept of frame of reverence.
We're the last of our generation. Our generation was the epitome of Metal. Other generations have other experiences so they love more something else. Trends evolve. But see it from the positive side. Metal lasted a lot of decades. And there are still a few good albums coming out every year. Tom is just trying to "awake" the scene in a way.
@azwris of course there's a lot of interesting releases every year. Death metal has a strong revivalistic wave, the same goes for traditional heavy metal and there's a plethora of great albums from doom metal cosmos with nice analog productions. The ratio of productivity/quality is disappointing in black metal but still there are good albums if you know where to look at. And that my friend I think is the problem. For us good metal must be reminiscent of the old days, but that's not how metal is supposed to evolve. On the other hand I don't see as evolution of metal the work of Gojirra, Rivers of Nihil, Arsis, Cattle Decapitation or Vektor. To quote Tom, Perfect and Sterile. What we need is bands that respect the past and head for the future. Of course I'm an old fart who asks too much and I hope my analysis is incorrect, but I'm afraid there's a dead end ahead.
When the entire Black/Death/Thrash/Speed Metal scene was first born through bands like Venom, Voivod, Mercyfucl Fate, Celtic Frost/Hellhammer, Exodus, Possessed, Razor, Death, Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, etc etc, each band had their own distinct sound - if you heard a Hellhammer song you knew it was Hellhammer; if you heard a Voivod song you knew it was Voivod, so on and so forth but then something started happening in the later part of the 80s, yes, even back then. During the second or third wave of the underground metal scene it was clear which bands influenced the wave coming out during the later part of the 80s and unfortunately most of the bands were influenced by metallicas sound, or perhaps by metallicas growing popularity. A lot of bands started playing beyond what they could on a technical level, a lot of bands over produced their sound resulting in a sterility that made their product lose its original charm. Now of course as musicians they should want to grow, perfect example being Voivod, but in that quest for technical prowess a lot of bands from the original wave lost something incredibly important, their soul. And that whole birth of 'tnbm', well that can just suck my cock and balls.
There's nothing worse than a progressive metal band being technical for the sake of being technical but bands who really know what they're doing like Meshuggah have massively pushed the boundaries of metal much like Celtic Frost did back in the day. They barely seem to move onstage because of the concentration required to execute the playing as well as they do. The truth lies in the shades of grey. I'd like to know his opinions on Nirvana
I could write a novel on this topic but modern bands focus too much on technicality. Metal is supposed to be raw, heavy, in your face, and filled with awesome riffs. If i wanted technicality i would listen to jazz.
come back and show the kids how its done. i remember the 80's metal scene it was rich, chaotic and beautiful. it wasn't just ratt and motley crue it was also celtic frost, venom, entombed and testament. i think today we need the old Guard more then ever, don't be the old guy shacking fist at clouds, be the wise master teaching the young knights of metal. we need you guys still.
of course he is right, is another generation and they follow completly all what the media and Babylon says to them, cultural and musical styles in this sterile epoch, and looks like everyone plays metal to be famous, not to give their personal point of view as before. Underground metal is completly wicked and dangerous and as he says some anarchy lives on it.
Very true regards to what he stated with old school heavy metal scene these days (for the most part). Other factor most (young) music listeners don't take time, searching for those hidden modern metal bands still carrying the torch. Playing, recording "old school style" heavy metal music. Hidden in the vast streaming music sea. Lost in the mix with millions of other bands & artists streaming their music on Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc.
He's not wrong. Some of the absolute best albums, songs, riffs and drumbeats were a bit sloppy by today's standards. When bands were pressured to keep studio time to a minimum and there were no shortcuts - some great work was caught on tape with the emotion intact. When musicians who didn't have the intricate chops to shred or time-perfect drumming - they had to compensate with killer songwriting and passion. THAT is metal imo.
I agree completely. I’m not as old as him but I’m 42 and have been a metal head since I was 11. Started playing guitar at 16 and have written my own music off and on over the years. All my music is flooded with mistakes but I don’t care. It’s honest and real. Metal, or music in general, isn’t supposed to be perfect. I listen to older records more then anything modern as well. The production is minimal and the raw energy is present in all those old 70’s and 80’a albums. I can’t stand the over production in todays metal. Not saying there isn’t a lot of good talent out there today because there definitely is. Todays music just doesn’t move me the way older music does. Not just metal but all music.
My contribution in 2014 to the Celtic Frost tribute book. So close to what Tom is talking about here: "I was just another heavy metal kid into Priest and Kiss when I borrowed three albums I'd never heard about before from a new friend: Eternal Devastation, Hell Awaits and Morbid Tales. Destruction and Slayer were of course mindblowingly awesome in their own right, making me tear down my Iron Maiden posters in minutes. But Frost was another beast entirely. There was something beyond the sheer power of the music, something ancient, mystical and Howardesian/Lovecraftesque that propelled my fragile teen mind into twisted worlds of macabre gods and forgotten dreams. "And the perfect creation calls. What will the wind bring these days?" What, indeed? We live in a time when every kid and his grandma can record their band professionally on a laptop, autotune vocals and trigger the drums, or reach millions on a metal blog. To me, the strength (and oh, what power they held) of Celtic Frost was actually in their technical shortcomings, and how they conquered them. It was never about virtuosity or seasoned professionalism, but bending all your limitations to your will and from them craft some of the most crushing and majestic music this planet has ever heard. I honestly think we should stop giving instrument lessons to kids. Just give them all a copy of Morbid Tales and lock them in a room with a stereo and some old Savage Sword of Conan comics. The world of music will never be the same again."
There is a lot of good modern metal.... you just have to search for it. Like Arma, burstin' out, deathammer, bütcher, wraith, midnight priest, anal vomit, nocturnal, noctumeron, etc....
No, it's not good. You just don't get it. Celtic Frost were hugely influential because of how original they were. They may have lacked skills but they had a vision. Bands that you mentioned are completely devoid of originality and in consequence of personality. They are a bunch of walking metal cliches. Their music, their lyrics, their image is typical, boring and predictable. That's exactly what Tom was ranting about.
@@piotrb8434 How do u expect them to be original =)))))))) these bands carry the extreme metal torch... i wont be able to see celtic frost live in 30 yrs, but ill for sure get to experience more deathammer shows. You are dumb if u expect them to be 100% original and also, if u only listen to the old bands, the old school type of metal will die.
I'm from 1967 ...i know too what Tom is talking about ... yes! I have had for 15 a little Studio and i run me dead about this hype, so while i don't realize that Sh*t and i don't reduce my self to my roots! And that was for me my musical dead ... than i don't finished my CD's ...i compose 5 CDs and finished not one! That is tragedy ... a Dismemberment for my creativetry ...i allway hang in the past, about the CDs, i judge them to the new Bands and thair Mix and Master finished CD, but my Sound was diffrent and i can't get ready, i while i'm thinking "My Sound is not good enough". That was a Stupid false Error to me and my self. Today i know it too...like Tom here say!
I Mostly Agree with him. Although will says guys like Kurt Ballou proves you can still produce records that sound great, but yet still keeps the Rawness,Energy and Charm of Metal
True, but then why did he record Tragic Serenades, which, according to Warrior, was to " improve on Horst Müller's original production of tracks from To Mega Therion?"
Completely correct. Death Metal since the mid 90's has been over produced and boring. It has only gotten worse as technology 'improved'. I like hearing a band sound differently live than on the record, now it all sound like it's being synced with their CD...
I've always felt that way about music (any genre) but especially punk and metal!! Overly perfectionist. Never liked electric drums!!! Yuuckk!! Raw!! Primitive!! Feedback! Raspy vocals etc.
He's such a nice guy, genuine and humble...he's correct in every word...... We've changed very much and for the worst. We have lost the fire...I remember growing up in the 80s and being introduced to Sabbath, Kiss,Rush , Rainbow and Deep Purple early on and watched the transformation of the genre... Ironically, obscura's old drummer plays in Triptykon..
It's a sad inevitable, I thinks. It reminds me of chess. When in the early 20th especially and on thru most of the century it was win at all costs, in spectacular fashion or go down in SCREAMING PAIN AND AGONY... Since computers started helping now every body plays perfectly, playing NOT to win, playing only NoT lose, for the fukking DRAW .......ZZZZZZZZ
Flashback. I was 13 in 1984, growing up in rural Ohio and I used to record the local college radio station on my Realistic dual-cassette boombox every saturday from 11 pm to 2 am because they had a metal show. The only time you really heard metal on the radio besides maybe Ratt, Quiet Riot, ACDC, Twisted Sister, and Def Leppard. Then later I would make crappy sounding mix tapes of the songs I had recorded that I liked lol. But it was great because it was underground music that I couldn't just go buy at Kmart. One night the DJ played "Into Crypts of Rays" and "Procreation of the Wicked", then he apologized for it on the air lol. I thought it was really great and listened to it a lot but I didn't catch the name of the band until I found it a few years later. Soon afterwards I first heard Metallica Fight Fire, Ride the lightening, Creeping Death, Slayer Hell Awaits😮. This new metal coming out at the time was incrediblly heavy and unlike anything I'd heard before. It was great back then because people were like, "what the fuck is this weird creepy music??", and you felt like some kind of weirdo for loving it. Celtic Frost were wayyyy out front of the rest with their sound and innovation. Tom Warrior invented the "death grunt".
That is true. Rock and Roll and Heavy Metal should be and was rebellion against Status Quo and everyday mondaine things. The excitement and danger element is gone. All those new band are lame and boring...
Agree and disagree. You absolutely can’t fault musicians for wanting to explore new territory and exploit new tech. It’s kinda telling that the ‘modern’ bands he likes are essentially just recreating 70s music. Which he at least has the self awareness to acknowledge but like…I don’t want that, personally. The frontier of what’s possible in music is always expanding. Saying heavy music can only be made by guys playing sloppily in a room through cabs is…well, it’s certainly *an* opinion. And people are entitled to it. But it’s by no means authoritatively correct. If that’s where heavy music starts and ends I can’t think of anything more boring. On the flip side, I will absolutely agree that the quest for perfection is also kinda dull and boring in its own way. I know a lot of bands who go through all the effort to do “real” recordings and then edit it so heavily that they could’ve just saved time and money and use MIDI drums. It also becomes harder to hear the soul and character of a guitarist when they’re hyper-edited. Personally, I never got into that shit. I just record on loop until I’m like 80% happy and then I move on. There’s hand-noise, fret squeak, the odd bum note. I don’t care. It’s the life and breath of the song. I do like a bit of that in my music. So yeah, not totally right, not totally wrong.
Great take on the whole issue and a lot more balanced than Toms rant. His take reminds me of the stuff Jimmy Page or Tommy Iommi said about music that came out after them. (Maybe they wouldn't have been too fond about Celtic Frost and the likes) Tom and his Co-Musicians have been very influential for extreme metal and there are certainly issues, but in the end it's about taste and the whole thing is a process. He just happens to prefer a certain moment of the whole movement and other people prefer other stuff. That's fine. For me it starts to get a bit off, when the whole scene with all it's sub-genres, bands, musicians and listeners gets stuffed in one box and is labeled as a monolithic block. You can have everything today, from unlistenable raw to hyperclean. Anyone can record anything and release it, with the lowest entry barrier to a mass-market that has ever existed. Imho that is radical, revolutionary and the essence of anarchy. For me, Obscura are heavy, tight and very clean live and in the studio. Yes it's technical, hence the name Technical Death-Metal, which noone has to like. And of course the musicianship now has evolved, why wouldn't it. Otherwise we would be stuck with a constant repeat of the same approach to writing, playing and recording music. Also Punk as a culture today in rich parts of the world is mostly dead, because the counter-culture has become part of the culture at which point it runs out of reasons to exist. That's why Punk in the old sense has to be designed. If there is a new punklike movement it will not look and behave like the old movement. That's how culture works, it evolves, whether you like it or not.
@@antitainer3761 I hate culture, but I love heavy fuckin metal, and I love the bands that are pushing it forward. I also love the bands that are putting out great music in the styles of the past. If you have great songs I really don't give a fuk about their relevance, their significance, whether they are similar to another artist, just, is it good. Does it kick my ass? That's not a popular opinion I realize, but it is mine.
I love Celtic Frost and I think monotheist is an insane album, I also love Babymetal so I see the good in both forms. I love the raw power of Venom,ManowaR and Frost and will always love it...but the perfection of songs like Akatsuki,Syncopation and Arkadia is amazing to me and I have been a fan/player for over 40 years.
Alot of young bands think they are higher up because of how clean they play and how triggered their drums are and that they all look like huge gymbros with beards and spacer earrings, playing recycled metalcore more or less. The doom metal guys play ripoffs all day long, and it still couldnt get a raccoons dick to get hard, because its poorly copied and clearly just another hipster type genre, obscurity and jadedness for the sake of obscurity and jadedness.
Heavy metal + Hardcore was dead by 1993. I was 17 + missed out on 1970-1988 era halcyon days. All of the bands post 2000 sound the freaking same,it's overproduced on top of it.
Wow awesomely stated.. I grew up in a house of order and structure and found metal late in life. I could never be as metal as this guy. I love his vision and the fact he states its his opinion and the way he looks at life and how he lives!! Its his music and his generation, gotta respect that!
Totally right on these thrash and death metal bands. The thrash bands now are mostly overproduced and clean sounding. I love dirty,evil sounding,raw stuff like old Death,Hellhammer,early Bathory,early Venom,Bulldozer,early. There are some good bands playing that style like Maniac,Hammr and some others. So i for that now.
It's a different time, a different era and I'm and old balding fat hairy man. I'm optimistic that right now someone is out there creating some extremely heavy and dangerous music. I'm hoping to unlock the gates and find this musical art that will send chills down my spine the same way that Hell Hammer and CF did when I was much younger......
I agree with him. I've refused so far doing on a lap top. I understand hearing the air...I've heard it. The new.metal is lacking soul man. I'm more of a punk or grunge artist but there are imperfections. I'm human
I very much agree with Tom G.!!! Today’s metal. Well it sucks a lot I haven’t heard any I can stand to tell you the truth. Sorry but that’s how I see it I’ve been a metal fan since 1983 so I think I know what I’m talking about sorry if I’ve hurt any feelings……cheers
He say this, while he was the one whom abandoned the raw sound of Hellhammer and opted for the polished Celtic Frost! (which i still like but not as much as HH). But i do agree to a point with what he've said. An example would be Mgla and their most famous record "Excercises in Futility" which made them famous even to people not fans of the genre of metal, but to me it's my least favourite from their whole catalog, precisley because of how polished it sounds and how monotone the vocals are compared to their previous records, even though the songwriting itself is superb.
My problem with the underground scene is the fact that a lot of the bands' main style is throwback or just paying tribute. I mean, nothing wrong to acknowledge your influences, but to do it every song just makes your music sound even more stale. This is the main reason why I got tired of all those “Motörpunk” bands or some of the newer black/speed bands
