Written by Spirit of dead on 31.01.2016 at 00:54

I think if mainstream metal goes, there is one less gateway for new fans. And that's a huge gateway. How many of us got into metal via Metallica, Korn, System Of A Down, Slipknot, Trivium, Lamb of God etc?

I agree, bands like those were the 'gateway' for me and my friends. Listening to Korn on the radio in 3rd grade I immediately knew I liked heavy stuff. From there I listened to Linkin Park, System of a Down etc. and eventually found Metallica and soon after the Thrash Metal genre. The rest is history. But if it wasn't for the poppy metal stuff it would've taken much longer for me to find the more underground bands, perhaps several years later than I did.

Also. Metal, especially modern metal, is becoming more and more an acquired taste just like beer. You need the budweisers/pilsners(just like watered down metal) to ease you in and eventually you work your way up to stouts/IPA's - heavier/complex stuff - or whatever. The first time I heard Amon Amarth, CoB, even Rhapsody of Fire, I was too overwhelmed by the sounds to really enjoy it. But a few years after listening to the 80's classics and these bands started sounding better and went on to become some of my favorites. It took even longer to enjoy DM and Black and I still only dabble in those genres. I know some people are different and can dive right in but for many this seems to be a common enough experience.

Great read. Metal at this point is at an odd stage. It is indeed shrinking, and dying in a mainstream light. Hell, theres virtually no new Rock bands out there anymroe either. But on the obverse, the underground is growing, and bands are experimenting more and more. So overall, I don't care much, metal is going exactly in the direction I want it to go. Don't give a rats ass if it hits the mainstream again. All the cheaper merch and tickets are for me.

Written by AngelofDeth on 29.01.2016 at 21:54


If demand isn't down then why aren't modern metal bands selling out arenas like the old classics are? Amon Amarth, arguably the most recognizable/popular modern metal act still goes on club tours in the US while the older bands continue to fill up stadiums around the world. Also, other music genres continue to burst into the mainstream despite the fact that music sales are down across the board, regardless of specific genre. How do you explain all this?

Didn't want to get dragged back in, but hey...

Are you saying Amon Amarth should be filling Madison Square Garden? Most recognizable modern metal act? And maybe older bands are simply more popular as their music impacted multiple generations? Maybe they draw bigger crowds abroad because "abroad" gets less shows?

And you clearly didn't read my prior points as I addressed the mainstream issue. I will reiterate.

Metal rose in the mainstream "back in the day" because the demand was high and it sold enough units that suits allowed it in to capitalize on it. Image-heavy metal vids were perfect for fledgling MTV. The end result of metal's success was it was co-opted and turned into glam metal to make $$$. Thrash got some airplay, late at night or on Headbanger's Ball, but it was all powerballads and pop-metal during the day and on the radio.

Even death metal got so big in the early 90's the suits came in, not realizing the genre had hit it's sales ceiling and was overrun with mediocre copycats.

Now...

Even Megadave sells shit, despite being popular. Why? Because the internet. Because we have a generation of Veruca Salt's. Why pay for it when you can score it for free.

And before"tape trading" comes up, consider this.

If you wanted a tape you had to track down someone who had it, which might have been via snail-mail. They had to copy it to another tape - a process which takes at a minimum the length of the album. Then deliver it -the whole process could take a month, depending upon who you were requesting from and where they lived. This was done as it was the only way to acquire those albums, mind you.

Now, in the time it would have taken me to dub a 45 minute thrash album in the early 80s, even with my crapPY internet connection I could find and download a half dozen albums or more. And no need to worry about delivery time or diminished quality.

Any band's work is essentially available for free, and you can get it faster than a pizza delivery from your favorite local place, without even having to get off the couch and put on pants.


Metal, anti-mainstream in it's general direction, will not be heard on mainstream medium so long as the money is not there.

To paraphrase Bob Marley, "No money no play."


If Amon Amarth were selling 300,000 units, the labels would come sniffing around for 'em, just like they did Carcass (a much harsher band), back when music actually sold. If Amon Amarth sold 300,000 units and signed to a major label, you'd hear them on the radio. If they sold 1m units, they'd be in heavy rotation.

The only thing I truly think will kill metal is censorship. I don't think it's necessarily on decline the nature of metal and the visibility of the scene has changed, but that is generally true for the entire music industry.

The thing that will truly kill Metal will be Islam, unless we start having Islamic Metalcore Bands that will sing for the glory of Allah

^ ??

Written by Karlabos on 07.02.2016 at 13:13

^ ??

how is deadone banned and not him?

Why would I be banned? Because "stormers" here are bunch of liberal pussies that get easily offended by everything? Do you want "Safe Spaces" and "trigger warnings?" :

Written by Rasputin on 07.02.2016 at 03:44

The thing that will truly kill Metal will be Islam, unless we start having Islamic Metalcore Bands that will sing for the glory of Allah

I do not mind if you are racist and xenophobic and anti Islam, but please have some explanation for this statement. It doesn;t make any sense. Is it a joke statement or serious?

I still can't decide what's worse on his comment: the part before the comma or the part after

Written by Rasputin on 07.02.2016 at 21:42

Do you want "Safe Spaces" and "trigger warnings?"

no, just the absence of trolling idiots like yourself would do.

Written by Guest on 08.02.2016 at 02:37

Written by Rasputin on 07.02.2016 at 21:42

Do you want "Safe Spaces" and "trigger warnings?"

no, just the absence of trolling idiots like yourself would do.

Like a safe space.

Written by BitterCOld on 04.02.2016 at 17:25

To paraphrase Bob Marley, "No money no play."


If Amon Amarth were selling 300,000 units, the labels would come sniffing around for 'em, just like they did Carcass (a much harsher band), back when music actually sold. If Amon Amarth sold 300,000 units and signed to a major label, you'd hear them on the radio. If they sold 1m units, they'd be in heavy rotation.

I read your post fine and all you did was repeat yourself here.

My question to you was/is why aren't metal bands selling enough units? What is the problem behind the symptom?

We've all been exploring the possibilities as to why this is happening and you came in claiming to know the answer but your reasoning is basically 'metal isn't popular because metal isn't popular', a redundant statement. We know metal isn't selling the units it used to... but why isn't it any longer?

Also, the rest of this shit is way fucking off topic but I can't really blame you guys when someone posts something as bizarre as that... Not sure what the policy on banning people is but attacking other members is probably on the list.

Written by AngelofDeth on 08.02.2016 at 08:26


I read your post fine and all you did was repeat yourself here.

My question to you was/is why aren't metal bands selling enough units? What is the problem behind the symptom?

We've all been exploring the possibilities as to why this is happening and you came in claiming to know the answer but your reasoning is basically 'metal isn't popular because metal isn't popular', a redundant statement. We know metal isn't selling the units it used to... but why isn't it any longer?

I think three major factors are driving declining metal sales:

1. Internet - illegal downloading. This is probably the big one. Illegal downloading is not just smashing metal sales, but overall music CD sales. Music has become a largely worthless commodity in the eyes of many people.


2. Metal is an old and very fragmented genre. It's easier to sell 1 million units to Metallica fans in 1991 when the genre isn't so fragmented. Today those same million fans probably have very different tastes even though it's all metal. A Pig Destroyer or Blut Aus Nord or Rhapsody of Fire fan probably won't care much for a new Metallica album. So big metal acts sell less because their appeal is reduced.


3. Culture change in new generations - I don't think music is as exciting to the new generation as say technology (social media, smart phones, apps, video games etc) or the increasing popularity of "nerd" pursuits (Star Wars, Japanese pop culture, super heroes etc). Basically these kids have a lot more than just music to chose from or to unite them.

Written by Guest on 07.02.2016 at 20:46

Written by Karlabos on 07.02.2016 at 13:13

^ ??

how is deadone banned and not him?

Dead only got banned after he started throwing insults at the staff. At least, the last I saw of him was him ranting at Cold.

Written by AngelofDeth on 08.02.2016 at 08:26

Written by BitterCOld on 04.02.2016 at 17:25

To paraphrase Bob Marley, "No money no play."


If Amon Amarth were selling 300,000 units, the labels would come sniffing around for 'em, just like they did Carcass (a much harsher band), back when music actually sold. If Amon Amarth sold 300,000 units and signed to a major label, you'd hear them on the radio. If they sold 1m units, they'd be in heavy rotation.

I read your post fine and all you did was repeat yourself here.

My question to you was/is why aren't metal bands selling enough units? What is the problem behind the symptom?

We've all been exploring the possibilities as to why this is happening and you came in claiming to know the answer but your reasoning is basically 'metal isn't popular because metal isn't popular', a redundant statement. We know metal isn't selling the units it used to... but why isn't it any longer?

you clearly didn't read my prior post, not the entirety of it before you snipped it.

Written by BitterCOld on 04.02.2016 at 17:25

Now...

Even Megadave sells shit, despite being popular. Why? Because the internet. Because we have a generation of Veruca Salt's. Why pay for it when you can score it for free.

And before"tape trading" comes up, consider this.

If you wanted a tape you had to track down someone who had it, which might have been via snail-mail. They had to copy it to another tape - a process which takes at a minimum the length of the album. Then deliver it -the whole process could take a month, depending upon who you were requesting from and where they lived. This was done as it was the only way to acquire those albums, mind you.

Now, in the time it would have taken me to dub a 45 minute thrash album in the early 80s, even with my crapPY internet connection I could find and download a half dozen albums or more. And no need to worry about delivery time or diminished quality.

Any band's work is essentially available for free, and you can get it faster than a pizza delivery from your favorite local place, without even having to get off the couch and put on pants.

somehow you missed that part.


further, album sales and popularity are two different things entirely.


and I also agree that fragmentation of the scene into genres/sub genres has further hurt Metal's "popularity" as a whole.