When I was in high school (2006-2010), metal/death metal/deathcore/metalcore was fairly mainstream. Even normies at my school were somewhat familiar with metalcore acts and had attended a few shows.
Local bands were a thing, and local band members usually attained some sort of social status automatically, even if they were dweebs.
Today, it seems like heavy music has lost any kind of cultural relevance. Any sort of metal fashion aesthetic is met with a sad or embarrassed cringe. Deafheaven had a little bit of relevance there in the normie-sphere for a bit, but that seems to have already died.
So what's going on with metal? has it been replaced by soundcloud hip-hop or what?
Deafheaven actually hasn't been relevant for almost 5 years. Their last album was horribly received by comparison.
Ian James
OP here I should also add:
Hardcore seemed to become popular from 2012-2015 or so, but that also seems to have died, and also had a much weaker presence than the metalcore fad from 2006-2010.
Bands like "Counterparts" and "Harms Way" were pretty popular, but I never hear anything about those bands anymore.
Sumerian-core is still doing its thing, but it looks like even their old core fan-base is kind of bored with them at this point.
I spent some time looking through new heavy-music albums today and I didn't really see anything that had much hype around it.
This only applies to the USA as well, I don't know what's going on in Europe
Nathaniel Roberts
Yeah Sunbather was the last "Metal" album I can think of that had any mainstream presence. They actually performed at "Pitchfork" festival and other shitty normie stuff like that.
Besides that, I can't think of any heavy acts who have generated any excitement outside of the metal echo-chamber, or even within the metal echo-chamber.
The people I know who used to like metal are now into soundcloud rap, and that seems to be the genre that Generation Z likes too.
Lincoln Taylor
hoo baby Cassidy Banks looks a lot better in still images than she does in motion.
Daniel Adams
>Today, it seems like heavy music has lost any kind of cultural relevance. Any sort of metal fashion aesthetic is met with a sad or embarrassed cringe. You should see all the emerging rappers wearing band shirts.
Metal was never popular it just seemed that way at that point in time in your life. If anything Metal hit its peak in the 80s. But its true big acts are kind of gone now. I think if anything all the crappy bands are the reason that Metal died. Its the kind of genre were a bunch of high school kids made a bunch of mediocre bands. If you look at the bands back then most of the band members were really young.
Jace Adams
The last Death Grips album was actually very metal
Zachary Perry
That was a punk album.
Josiah Hernandez
To each their own. I'm not invested either way.
Evan Wilson
>it just seemed that way
I don't think so, there was a lot of commercialization going on between 2006-2010.
Bands like Suicide Silence, BMTH, August Burns Red, ect. ect. Hot Topic was selling their shirts in every mall, and the aesthetic around that genre of music was popular around schools and stuff.
Most of the bands from that period have broken up or lost all of their old fans now. I don't think they are pulling any new fans from Gen Z either.
I don't even know if Gen Z likes any heavy bands. I know djent was popular with younger kids for a little bit, but the aesthetic around that is...pretty autistic. So I think that's already dead.
Parker Richardson
Death Grips definitely had an aggressive and heavy sound to it, but I don't think they are connected to metal in any way.
Bentley Robinson
Cassidy banks is a goddess
Mason Phillips
Well OP wants to know what the new Sunbather is and my answer is Bottomless Pit. If Vektor had any substantial crossover appeal then I'm not aware of it. Those are my two suggestions for last year.
Tyler Walker
Bottomless pit was popular in the avant garde-ish genre, and sunbather was also, so I can see the connection between those two.
But I don't think Death Grips has any connection to the metal scence. You would never see Death Grips on the same line-up as Suffocation or something.
Aaron Bennett
I'm also fine with the answer that there is no new Sunbather
But BP is the closest we have
Adrian Davis
I think the growth of social websites helped a lot of those emerging bands out. However those bands were not making the amount of money the bands from the 80s were making. Very few band I can think of that could sell out an arena from that time. Bands like Tool, Marylin Manson and Nine Inch Nails etc. All these bands were formed in the early and late 90s.
Austin Powell
The last thing i can think of that got some kind of hype was maybe that last Nails album? I dunno. I think the biggest problem now is that most rock based bands have 2-3 year album/tour cycles. Rappers put out multiple albums within a year and just dump single after single which are recorded for cheap while many rock bands stick to the album format which is costly to release and record.
Adam Morales
Nah, Nails is still echo-chamber. I mean maybe they did have crossover appeal but I didn't see that at all. Agreed though lots of hype and enthusiasm. I mean they were featured in the fucking Ghostbusters remake but still.
Christopher Brooks
Even if metal/rock bands were putting out tons of content, I don't think anybody would care.
Heavy music has lots it's edge. It isn't fun or sexy anymore. Breakdowns are old news. Guitar solos are old news. Many of the metal venues have closed down as well.
Soundcloud-type rap seems to be more fun for people right now. They like the aesthetic and they like the atmosphere of the different rappers.
Michael James
Metal is still fucking huge but right now not much "normie-sphere"
Angel Powell
Also, I kinda thought that nails album was a flop.
I remember opening one of the music videos and it was just some try-hards saying "You will never be one of us" into the camera. Then the song starts and the dude is like screaming about he's "tr00" and posers need to gtfo... Yet he works in IT at a corporation. ok.
I didn't hear much about the album either. People were kinda stoked for like a week and then I never heard about it again.
I guess that stupid "This is hardcore" festival still gets a lot of attendees though
Levi Richardson
can you tell me which albums or bands are huge right now within the metal scene?
One band that I just remembered that people like are "Chon". Also Animals as Leaders always seems to have a solid fan-base.
Thomas Nelson
2015 - Perdition Temple 2016 - Vektor
Samuel Gonzalez
Forgot pic
Easton Turner
None of these are metal, though. One good example of a metal band which is "huge" is Gojira. But it seems to me that most people who posted in this thread are oblivious to the fact that metal won't feature too often the news outlets they probably use for music, so they may jump to the conclusion that metal is dead. Metal is still going strong nowadays, it's just that it doesn't get much media attention. A lost of old bands from a lost of subgenres are still active, there are a lot of new bands putting out albums. If you want, I can give you some examples of big/good metal albums released in the last few years
Chase Anderson
Do tell.
Angel Gray
Sleep is getting pushed very hard in the "normie-sphere" right now.
Oliver Lewis
So you're saying Gojira are pulling in audiences and selling albums?
Gabriel Foster
Yes. Hell, I've seen them live twice, the last time this year, and there were a lot (and I mean it) of people at the concert (especially teens/young adults) Doing it immediately. Pic related is one of this year's big metal albums
Hudson Parker
Artificial Brain's new album isn't even that good.
Sebastian Green
Yeah, basically the internet killed it, because now nowhere is provincial, and metal is a thing of the provinces, because - let's be honest - it's a stupid person's idea of clever music. It can be handled ironically or with intelligence, but the bread and butter of the genre was people who can be impressed by bombast, sheer volume, and showboating. Nobody's that unsophisticated any more, so metal's dead.
Henry Hall
metalcore etc. was the current "alternative mainstream" fad back then, something those kids could listen to that felt they were too cool for "regular" pop. today, trap and cloud rap have replaced it in that role almost completely
Gavin Bailey
>emerging rappers wearing band shirts. Ironically, and to appropriate what isn't for "their culture".
Kevin Smith
>2017 Wolves in the Throne Room - Thrice Woven Paradise Lost - Medusa Ulsect - Ulsect Dodecahedron - Kwintessens Pyrrhon - What Passes For Survival Mastodon - Emperor of Sand (not as metal nowadays, but they got really big in the last few years) >2016 Vektor - Terminal Redux Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis Oathbreaker - Rheia Wormrot - Voices Blood Incantation - Starspawn Bolzer - Hero Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones >2015 Tribulation - The Children of the Night My Dying Bride - Feel the Misery Leviathan - Scar Sighted Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu Mgla - Exercises in Futility Enslaved - In Times Leprous - The Congregation Cruciamentum - Charnel Passages >2014 Panopticon - Roads to the North Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus Mastodon again Triptykon - Melana Chasmata Teitanblood - Death Godflesh - A World Lit Only by Fire Blut aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry
These are examples of big metal albums, not necessarily good (I will say that some of these I truly enjoy) I said big, not good. I agee with you on that
Xavier Howard
Pallbearer was very big in 2014 and they toured with Deafheaven
Brayden Allen
...
Robert Nguyen
No, the thread is about cultural relevance.
The thread is about cultural relevance, this is just a list of words, nobody on Sup Forums but you knows that these people exist.
Angel Cruz
>Nobody's that unsophisticated any more Hmm..I kind of agree with this.
Obviously the masses are retarded, but at the same time, people are not impressed by "heavy breakdowns" or "really cool guitar solos" or "wow a clean jazz part!!!11"
The band that comes to mind is "Between the Buried and Me". Probably the most well-respected bands in the heavy music genre for their musicianship, but even their shit is a bit low-brow...because it's still just...overly-technical instrumental parts and try-hard musical ideas. 10 minute songs with 3 minute jazz interludes. Stupid shit like that.
Because of the internet, nobody finds that interesting anymore...I think?
Well, the youth-energy also did a lot of fun stuff with heavy music during that time. You had those bands like "Enter Shikari" and "iwrestledabearonce". That sort of thing. So I think that was something special and unique for a short time.
Good list, but I wouldn't say any of those bands or albums have any sort of presence in the normie-sphere. It's more stuff that I see blogged about on metal websites and shilled on YouTube.
I also liked that new Mastodon album, and Pyrrhon is cool.
Christian Williams
Another appropriate example, thanks. They are getting even bigger, touring Europe with Paradise Lost
Jackson Richardson
>Dodecahedron kek
Matthew Robinson
Total fucking lies.
But either way Pallbearer toured with Deafheaven in 2014/15 which addresses OP
Jace Hill
No prob and I dont think they exactly qualify but it's another close example.
Carson Barnes
>Because of the internet, nobody finds that interesting anymore...I think?
I think that's why, yeah.
Alexander Gomez
I agree with you to the extent that it has an image problem. Anyone who listens to metal knows it's not just bombast / sheer volume showboating. Even if the majority of the genre is stale as shit.
But the only way to find the worthwhile music albums is to listen to it in the first place. The thing is it just doesn't look appealing to young people. The old fans are just listening to what they grew up with and young people don't find any appeal in a music genre that has been ridiculed with has one of the most, for lack of a better word, socially oblivious sub-cultures.
The only relevance its getting is in the fashion sphere and barely any at that. If you walk into an H&M you might find some metallica/maiden/slayer designer t-shirts, but the people who wear those might have maybe heard enter the sandman or run to the hills a few times just like the art design.
Chase Flores
Metal was only a mainstream, mass market thing in the 80s and you know what that lead to. A lot of bands we'd prefer to forget.
Hunter Thompson
I don't see anything wrong with metal being a niche genre. Why does music even has to have "cultural relevance" or some shit? Does it really matter?
Jeremiah James
What are the lies? That OP clearly mentioned cultural relevance and was asking about that, or that the words you typed are literal whos to anyone not in the bubble? Nobody said the metal subculture is dead, because subcultures never die unless something drastic happens, the point is that the relevance is gone. For all I know all the bands you listed bar Mastodon are figments of your imagination, they have zero cultural footprint among anyone but the initiated.
Jonathan Cruz
Some of the things I listed appeared on sites like Pitchfork and Vice, pretty normie to me
Nolan Brooks
>Is metal dead? No it's fucking huge >Is metal dead in mainstream? Right now yes it appears to be.
Adam Torres
It saw somewhat of a revival in the late 90s and early 2000s. in the form of nu-metal.
But what i think the OP is talking about is; even throught the 90s and 2000s some normies had some passing knowledge of metal music, even if it was just children of bodem. Now normies have an active disdain for anything metal-related.
William Garcia
This guy gets it
Jaxon Reyes
I think they're just starting to feel like old farts.
Dominic Young
Metal is certainly dead in the USA media mainstream circles. All white guilt and leftists are dickriding black culture so hard right now, all you Americans care about now is nigger music.
Camden Scott
What country do you live in?
Eli Bell
Op here again
>normies have disdain for anything metal
The strange thing is that I grew up playing in metal bands, and now even I have a disdain for anything metal.
It didn't just happen over night. It slowly happened until one day i watched a metal music video and thought "wow... this is pretty fucking stupid".
I think metal has become culturally tone deaf. Nothing in metal is edgy or exciting anymore. Vocalists are still droning on about the same old boring garbage.
I used to feel like metal bands had something somewhat interesting to say. Even normie bands like "born of Osiris" got into that illuminati stuff around 09, which is when that was becoming popular on the internet. To me, that showed they were somewhat in tune with what people were thinking or interested in.
Today they are still droning on about anti-Christian stuff, anti-religion stuff, mythological stories maybe, or some kinda cringey political stuff. Nothing you won't hear in a vanilla college course.
I remember mastodon wrote blood mountain on acid, and it sounds like it. It feels like it. It feels different, it felt raw and honest... and new.
I don't really hear that with any new stuff coming out. Everybody seems like they are just dialing it in to some degree.
Christopher Clark
Two things you said stand out to me.
>Anyone who listens to metal knows it's not just bombast / sheer volume showboating. >one of the most, for lack of a better word, socially oblivious sub-cultures.
What else is it? And do you think it could exist without the majority of fans who want it to be just that?
I've had two friends who tried to get me into metal, and both times, every evidence they gave me of intelligence in the genre was inferior to examples from music that was actually intelligent that were already known to me. In all cases, they hadn't heard of the stuff I referenced, which was the essential issue - metal had the suburbs to itself. I don't know what happened to the other guy, I lost touch with him, but the second guy who tried to get me into it now mostly listens to electronic music. He hasn't dropped metal, but he mainly listens again to the bands he grew up with, because it meant something to him then.
TL;DR: It's like eating shit for the sweetcorn, that's why nobody with a broadband connection needs it anymore.
Alexander Taylor
Reditt
Carter Carter
They review everything, nobody cares. They pride themselves on covering niche shit that the mainstream doesn't care about. Hipster safari ain't it.
Nathaniel Thomas
Finland.
James Cruz
That's the other problem.
98% of metal are just SJW cucks, and they have nothing interesting to say
People are excited to rally around blacks because of white guilt, and the glorification of the "struggles" in ghetto culture
Jacob Jones
>Today they are still droning on about anti-Christian stuff, anti-religion stuff
Bands in the 80s-90s did that stuff because it was a fuck you to the Moral Majority and PMRC. Taken out of the 90s, Marilyn Manson loses his context and therefore point.
Jaxson Garcia
>t. 99% of all metalheads
Parker Long
Yeah, it's to frighten your parents.
Evan Sanders
Anti-Christian message made sense in that time.
Evangelical neo-cons were fags and trying to censor stuff.
Now the tables have turned, but metal bands have taken the side of corporatism, late-night talk show hosts, and kindergarten teachers.
Nothing badass about that
Liam Peterson
They were mainly trying to censor things that were specifically being said in order for them to censor.
Austin Hernandez
>I think metal has become culturally tone deaf >Today they are still droning on about anti-Christian stuff, anti-religion stuff, mythological stories maybe, or some kinda cringey political stuff. Nothing you won't hear in a vanilla college course.
I couldn't agree more, metal is just stuck in the 80s. Content to point out that religion lead to wars and killed a lot of people. Like we get it. They never explore the concept of religion further than saying "dur religious extremist kill people"
On top of that the community is toxic-ally close-minded. If anything deviates from the "[ metal subgenre + influences from other metal subgenre] metal template" its not considered "trve kvlt".
Metal is on the decline just go to a metal venue, 90% of the people are 27+ y/o. And the young people you do find are alone / dragged others who don't want to be there with them.
All i want is a genre sonically similar to metal; distorted guitar, unorthodox vocals and high bpm, without all the other bullshit. Any suggestions?
Sebastian White
I think the hottest metal bands around now would be Vektor and Baroness
Plus you've got classic acts like Metallica and Mastodon who have recently put out very well-received albums
Jackson Carter
The only thing you've described there that wasn't just as true over a decade ago is the age issue. For the rest of it, you just grew out of it, and nobody's growing into it, that's all.
Justin Garcia
I don't care what others in this thread say
I agree that metal is on the decline. I doubt it will sustain itself in it's current state, because young people don't like it.
But young people don't like it because it's totally fucking gay and almost embarassing to look at or hear. The entire genre is completely disconnected from culture. They don't do or say anything new or interesting. They aren't speaking uncomfortable truths or anything like that, they're just in a big SJW echo chamber
Metal is supposed to be artistic, dangerous, and controversial. It is none of those things now. It's aesthetically cringey with some "cool riffs" and blast beats
Blake Martin
>they're just in a big SJW echo chamber
Like how?
Bentley Edwards
>Metal is supposed to be artistic, dangerous, and controversial. It is none of those things now.
It never was. Nobody goes from listening to artistically challenging music to listening to metal, only the other way round. You grew out of what was always ass.
Robert Robinson
Most metal musicians are rabid SJWs
Obviously hardcore is littered with Antifa members as well
Dylan Scott
Don't Blind Guardian and Mastodon have a solid following and well received albums? Gojira is also a solid one, even had a concert in my nowhere slav country. NIghtwish is melodic metal, and I'd say they'er pretty big, able to sell out arenas.
Jason Perez
Strange, I don't recall Metallica releasing any very well received albums since 1988, do you?
Christian Ward
Like? Also hardcore =/= metal, so it doesn't count
Nathaniel Price
>solid following
OP said: >Today, it seems like heavy music has lost any kind of cultural relevance.
Everything wrong with metal is summed up by the fact that about five people in this thread literally haven't understood the phrase "cultural relevance".
Kevin Nguyen
At the time that Mastodon's Blood Mountain came out, it was definitely something new.
It was instrumentlly impressive, and not just in a technical sense. The music had some post-modern vibes going on and a very atmospheric tone to it
They've never even been able to replicate that album. I think they don't even know how they wrote it, except they were taking acid obviously.
But I have not heard many albums inspired like that, which were so interesting that they broke into the normie sphere
Jayden Butler
>Most metal musicians are rabid SJWs
can you please elaborate, what marks them as rabid SJWs? Isnt metal like the most right-winged genre out there. With bands like Arghoslent and politically extreme black metal projects?
>Everything wrong with metal is summed up by the fact that about five people in this thread literally haven't understood the phrase "cultural relevance". Uh...yeah. Bands are just trying to channel the ghost of 1986 without saying anything that matters to today's audiences.
Jason Williams
Ok, give me an example of a contemporary culturally relevant artist
Gavin Baker
There have been interesting metal recordings, but this is about the essential attributes of the genre. The genre isn't "meant" to be on the level of the exceptions to its rules, which is what that guy was saying.
Brody Nelson
>like?
What are you asking exactly?
Also, most people who listen to hardcore listen to metal and vice versa.
Wolf down, stray from the path, and many others are Antifa members.
I can't name many bands off the top of my head but I used to play in a touring band and about 98% of the people I met in the metal scene were SJW faggots in private
I think I only met one person who was not an SJW
Jayden Phillips
No, we're not doing this shit, there isn't a debate over what the phrase means.
Easton Lee
Like, as in give real examples >Also, most people who listen to hardcore listen to metal and vice versa not really >Wolf down, stray from the path not metal
Henry Jackson
Most metalcore bands are SJWs. The bands with the biggest followings are usually SJWs.
I guess some of the 80's metal bands were right-wing, and black metal bands are right-wing, but metalcore/deathcore/and tech metal are all SJWs.
Popular stuff like "thy art is murder"
Lincoln Morgan
this. the period OP is talking about could be called "myspace-age" or "myspace-core". The first breath of social media but still not so overwhelming like facebook. it helped a lot of bands. I remember my local hc bands getting asked by Malaysian punks if they could print their shirts. Then Facebook came and everything died out. BUT here in Europe hc-punk-metal are still going strong in the social spaces/antifa scene. with lots of great bands like ANF, Eastwood, Ona Snop etc. Sure it is not like the 90s or the first 00s but something is still going
Alexander Evans
>still going strong in the Antifa scene
And this is why it is culturally irrelevant
Luis Fisher
hey Sup Forums dedide yourself. either they are cultural marxist controlling everything or they are irrelevant. they can't be both just to please your logical phallacies. Also, best music comes from left leaning artists, deal with it. right wing artist are a rarity and a rarely good
Michael Clark
> Most metalcore bands are SJWs
metalcore is a genre that is derived from hardcore-punk. Punk is generally more left-leaning. It only makes sense their music reflects that view
also does SJW mean left-winged? Or this there a difference between liberal and SJW?
Liam Evans
>Sure it is not like the 90s or the first 00s but something is still going
That's right, metal bands still exist, like every fucking post including OP's has accepted, the point is cultural relevance. People playing metal in squatted social clubs isn't that, and hc and punk aren't metal anyway.
Jacob Butler
Antifa are culturally relevent as an embrassing clown show
Nathaniel Scott
>Antifa .....
Ryan Miller
SJWs are a brand of left wing politics
They usually harp on the same list of issues
Thy art is murder's "holy war" video is a bit SJW-ish, especially because the guy who wrote the song is a huge SJW.
It is a typical "all religion is bad and Christianity is just as murderous as Islam" type of deal. Then they have videos about global warming as well.
Jordan Thompson
islam is a religion of peace you racist
Juan Diaz
Converge was never political afaik.
Landon Miller
Converge don't make political music, they just make sad-sack low-test music with twangy riffs
The members are probably SJWs though. The dude is a tatt'd vegan