METAL for ART-metallers

Did you ever hear that track, Louis?

I got the us pressing of the Alcest vinyl in the mail today.
Really liking new Nachtmystium, anyone else like that?

oh and the albums by Ascend and Pentemple belong on this thread

Runhild Gammelsæter - Amplicon isn't really metal but is scary as fuck. Different to the Thorr's Hammer stuff she did with Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley way back when she was 17.
It's out on Utech if anyone cares.

i care. or i'm curious. is it just processed vocals or what?

Well the vocals re the same scary screechy stuff as on the excellent Khlyst album.

Btw there's a Khlyst dvd of a live performance coming out.

hey, do you still read ilm, siegbran? because this speculation from way upthread (and the simpler days of 2003) didn't really come true, did it?

On the other hand, nothing really new has come out of metal in the last five, six years (compared to the abundance of new ideas in '85-'95) so maybe these kind of bands can live up to their promise of taking metal in a radical new direction.

nothing comes to mind, really. maybe om tapping into the indian classical vibe?

nothing comes to mind?!?!?! i'm not in a listy mood but for heaven's sake someone else PLEASE take this

Siegbran is still around

AVANT-GARDE METAL

A Brief And Incomplete History Of An Ongoing Experiment

http://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=67

yeah, nothing really does. plenty of bands mixing up little bits of this-and-that... which I like! but I honestly can't think of a record from the last 10 years or so that sounds like nothing I've heard before.

and about that link...
Avant-garde metal has not slowed down; in fact, it has only continued to evolve and expand. Bands like KAYO DOT, JESU, ISIS, DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA, SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM

is this really the best we've got? jesu and kayo dot are basically similar takes on formulas THE PEOPLE IN THE BANDS developed like 10-20 years ago! isis are hardly doing anything new too.

and on that "record from the last 10 years" thing I said... that's in the metal world. I mean, it's not like these kinds of records are popping left and right in any genre, but more than most other genres, metal is all about taking what you liked about a couple of bands and doing your own thing with it.

again, nothing wrong with that!

lol, "not that there's anything wrong with that"
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l256/gswyers/Seinfeld_not_that_theres_small.jpg

nothing comes to mind?!?!?! i'm not in a listy mood but for heaven's sake someone else PLEASE take this

metal has taken exactly zero radical new directions since '03 - especially when you compare things, as Siegbran did, to the convulsive '85-'95 times. There are plenty of good new metal records for sure. None of them that I can think of are really breaking any new ground. I like heavy metal a lot, so that's generally fine with me - innovation is exciting but isn't necessary for me to really enjoy something.

If you honestly think you can make a list of people who've been really breaking down doors since '03, you are mistaken.

There doesn't seem to have been a lot of door-breaking-down going on lately, but it's not like the genre's stagnant. Anaal Nathrakh/Frost & Deathspell Omega have put out interesting albums since '03. Among others, I mean...

You're on the "cranky old man" kick this week, aren't you, John?

he'll never beat gorge at that game.

what would someone have to do to take metal in a "radical new direction". that's what i want to know. i guess we would know it when we hear it.

Years later, this thread still has a very stupid title.
-- xhuxk, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 9:16 PM

im guessing that was actually scott?

oh yeah that was me

I'm going to grossly over simplify and ignore the actual music completely and say a lot of the distinctions between art-metal and real-metal is down to fashion and trends.

There are people who like the basic sound of metal (which is common to both) but are too hung up on being cool and clever to let themselves enjoy real-metal because of some of its coincidentals like leather studded jackets and concept albums about angels being raped.

Then there are real-metal fans who don't care about looking cool, but tend to fall for metal cliches themselves.

...and they dont like anything thats "arty-farty"

herman, have you heard the new hey colossus album yet? just playing their last one and remembered that they had a new album coming out.

i find metal politics and debate and poseur/hipster talk entertaining. or about as entertaining as i used to find punk politics and debate and poseur/hipster talk entertaining way back when.

i find it entertaining cuz i feel so removed from it all. i've been a metal fan for decades and almost all my metal listening has been completely solitary in nature. meaning: 95% of the metal i have listened to in my life i've listened to ALONE. and i rarely ever talk about metal in real life. it's completely personal to me. as is most of the music i listen to. which is why i always have to remember not to make blanket statements about WHY anyone listens to anything. unless they tell me why, i have no idea. i can guess why people who haven't listened to a lot of metal are drawn to certain things within the genre, but they are just guesses. i also don't think that people who are seen as dabblers have to somehow show respect for the genre in some way that pleases the "true" fans. like, they have to leave an offering of good will and faith before they are allowed to partake in the black bounty of heavy metal. fuck that. fuck the faithful. you want to know about all the cool, weird, and avant garde metal out there that is all fucked up and psychedelic and filled with non-metal elements? i'll tell you all about them. be glad to. my pleasure. also, you should really subscribe to Decibel.

You're on the "cranky old man" kick this week, aren't you, John?

LOL Jeff OTM, pretty much when shit gets busy around here I get cranky

Scott, I haven't yet. I think it comes out in August. Will be buying it though. I think pre-orders opened for the cd a few weeks ago. Great band.

...i also don't think that people who are seen as dabblers have to somehow show respect for the genre in some way that pleases the "true" fans. like, they have to leave an offering of good will and faith before they are allowed to partake in the black bounty of heavy metal. fuck that. fuck the faithful. you want to know about all the cool, weird, and avant garde metal out there that is all fucked up and psychedelic and filled with non-metal elements? i'll tell you all about them. be glad to. my pleasure.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

FO' REAL.

yeah you guys should still listen to some goddamn cannibal corpse and that's the truth and even my less-cranky friend scott knows that's the truth. people who listen to fusion but never listen to straight-no-chaser jazz are missing the fuck out.

but it doesn't sound like deerhoof or anything so be ready for that.

this is the stuff that was seriously blowing my mind last week. i'm way old school:

Dance Music of the Renaissance for Recorder, Dulcian, Crumhorn, Viola da Braccio, Viola da Gamba and Lute (moderne, susato, gervaise, phalese, franck, hassler, attaignant, demantius)

Francois Couperin - Lecons De Tenebres (early 1700s churchy stuff for countertenor, tenor, viola da gamba, and organ and it is AWESOME. completely hypnotic.)

Mozart - Flute Concerti (in G major K.313 & D major K.314)

Monteverdi - Madrigals (love this too!)

Claude Lejeune - Chants de la Renaissance

Music from the Chapel of Charles V (gombert, crecquillon, schlick)

French Harpsichord Masterpieces (Louis Couperin, Jean-Henri D'Anglebert. another stunner!)

William Byrd - Music for Viols and Virginals (freak folk! byrd was the bomb.)

Antiphonal Music For Four Brass Choirs (gabrieli, purcell, des prez)

Varajase Muusika Ansambel - Hortus Musicus (ancient kickass Croatian church music)

Voices of the Middle Ages - Music From The Gothic Cathedral (Capella Antiqua from Munich. I heartily recommend this album. It's on Nonesuch. Or at least the vinyl is. Just unbelievably brilliant. And still waaaaaay ahead of its time.)

John Taverner - Tudor Church Music (another beauty. and my 1962 stereo copy on Argo sounds amazing.)

Stravinsky - Pulcinella/Apollon Musagete (love this. and another great recording on Argo. academy of st.martin in the fields.)

er, that would be me again.

I listened to a couple of cannibal corpse songs last week via my brother's shared iTunes network, they were actually pretty super! "Sanded Faceless" especially.

i find it entertaining cuz i feel so removed from it all. i've been a metal fan for decades and almost all my metal listening has been completely solitary in nature. meaning: 95% of the metal i have listened to in my life i've listened to ALONE. and i rarely ever talk about metal in real life. it's completely personal to me. as is most of the music i listen to. which is why i always have to remember not to make blanket statements about WHY anyone listens to anything. unless they tell me why, i have no idea. i can guess why people who haven't listened to a lot of metal are drawn to certain things within the genre, but they are just guesses. i also don't think that people who are seen as dabblers have to somehow show respect for the genre in some way that pleases the "true" fans. like, they have to leave an offering of good will and faith before they are allowed to partake in the black bounty of heavy metal. fuck that. fuck the faithful. you want to know about all the cool, weird, and avant garde metal out there that is all fucked up and psychedelic and filled with non-metal elements? i'll tell you all about them. be glad to. my pleasure. also, you should really subscribe to Decibel.

Started c+p'ing bits of this to put in italics and write DING DING DING under, but it kept getting longer and then it was just the whole post

I'm another one who doesn't mind dabbling. I dig particular artists, maybe even record labels, but I don't see why one has to go all-in when it comes to particular genres.

To give an example, I dig Cannibal Corpse too, but only 'The Bleeding' - the rest I've heard, but could take or leave. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I do it with all genres. Some I listen to more than others but I've never been culturally attached to them. Never self-identified as a punk or metal kid or raver or whatever. It would feel ridiculous and would defeat what I assume is the object of doing so by being entirely untrue to myself

xpost: Hmm . . so maybe I'm not the only one who's been alternating Monteverdi and Xasthur!

I'm still a punk though.

I'm just a square, going nowhere

I'm "nu-prog" apparently. Whatever the hell that is. Xasthur is a genius and a genuinely singular artist in the metal scene fwiw.

"Genuinely singular"? see now you're just baiting me. I like Xasthur fine, and I get that he's sort of marketing himself a little different & aware of who's buttering his bread, but there's a baker's dozen one-man black metal bands working the same angle - you won't get the exact same vibe from them, of course, he's got his own personality, but this notion that he's somehow A One-Man Black Metal Band Apart is the sort of coronation-by-indiedom stuff that turns me into Cranky Old Manasaurus.

Which isn't purism - I listen to as wide a variety of shit as anybody, I'd guess - it's if anything an attempt to argue for a much wider net, one which doesn't demand artiness first & foremost.

i loved Manasaurus. their later stuff wasn't as good as their early demos though.

now playing:

http://static.metal-archives.com/images/1/9/9/2/199211.jpg

this notion that he's somehow A One-Man Black Metal Band Apart is the sort of coronation-by-indiedom stuff that turns me into Cranky Old Manasaurus.

Maybe that's just because he's on Hydra Head, which may be less intimidating to some than some obscure kvlt imprint (aside from certainly having a greater profile).

which is why i always have to remember not to make blanket statements about WHY anyone listens to anything.

exactly. but imagine what a desert this place would be if everyone followed your example.

Scott Seward is my hero.

mine too, now.

I'm aspiring to be more Scottlike in this thread while wanting to continue encouraging people to seek out from metal both the things that are different from what they already know they like as well as the things they already know they like (indie self-consciousness, big telegraphed "this is art!" punches as has there ever been a more artful metal album than Transilvanian Hunger? A: not according to me, etc)

Anyhow LJ you might seek out: Arkenstone, Drastus, Velvet Cacoon (v. controversial! many purists think they don't "mean it"! I think they're quite cool), Striborg (now on Southern Lord I think), Haemoth & especially if you haven't already Abruptum.

and I wanna plug Cirith Gorgor though they're not in the this-looks-like-art camp but their guitar work (and tone) are fucking artful as anything.

now playing:

http://img1.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/4/6/1/7/6/46176253245b7619e6c9222d90a40079.jpg

original pressing or you are posing

KIDDING