Well this is my first real article, and it will be on a subject that I feel, I know a lot about, namely the Heavy metal scene anno 2002.

In this article I will aim towards the pros and cons of the nu-metal (New Metal) bands, and the pros and cons of the "true" metal bands.

Well in my opinion the new wave of metal is not in my taste, I don't like the things they do to the metal, don't get me wrong I like Progressive metal but, I don't like the fact that many bands have a need to rap and scratch on every track, I think many of the American bands that are popular today, is some of the worst bands in the history of metal. I like some of them, not so much that I would invest my hard earned money on them, but they are ok to listen to at a party, where they are the only chance to hear some guitars, instead of those irritating techno tracks, that seem to be the fashion these days.

Some of the bands that I find ok are: Korn and A System Of A Down. These band don't rap as much as some of the other bands, and these two bands seem to have a political message, I know that many of the others may also have political messages, but I don't like the way the play, and I don't want to sound like a total idiot, but I won't ever review any new metal bands in that genre.

Another thing is that I know that we need to provoke to create something new, and I am very aware of this point, that is why I bring it up here. With out someone trying something new, we would still be listening to men beating on hollow trees, I would like to bring your attention to the musicians of the late 60s and early 70s without them, we would probably not have any heavy metal today.
Just take a keyboard/Harmon organ player John Lord of Deep Purple with out his innovative musical skills there might not be any of the progressive metal giants we have today, like Dream Theater and Fates Warning, both are favourites of mine with in this genera.

And another example is Jimi Hendrix with out him there would be no real rock and many of the things he did, helped to create a new kind of music, not because he ever played it, but because of the many people that were inspired by his guitar handling.

And that brings us to today, where we are at a cross road, because I think that it is ok to re-invent the metal scene but not to destroy it with a new genre of music Like Hip-hop I don't like that way of progression, but it seems to me that many do like that kind of music, and that is ok for me, I just don't think it's ok to call themselves for metal fans or even metal bands because it's not metal, it is a hybrid of metal and hip-hop, then go back and call it rap metal, like in the 90s, and let the label Metal be the genre we all hear and love, and let all others be sub-genres.

I like all sorts of different metal like Trash, true metal, power metal, speed metal and progressive metal, and I know that many of the bands I hear may be out of date, but to me their music never will be, and to many others this is also a truth, or else there would be no market for this kind of music, and there is a big market for this music, bigger than I first thought.

Well this is my view on the metal scene at the moment, perhaps in a few years time, I will changes my way, that is the funny thing about taste, it can changes so rapidly that you head will spin.

Stay Heavy.

Written by Mads
Sunday, July 7, 2002