How will MetalSucks ever recover?
16 CommentsTags: All That Remains, embarassment, Gen-Z, Infowars, mainstream metal media, metalcore, metalgate, MetalSucks, milo yiannopoulos, Phil Labonte, public humiliation, sjws
SADISTIC METAL REVIEWS: DEATH OF WINTER EDITION
Always sadistic, never holistic.
5 CommentsTags: Batushka, benighted, cannibal corpse, Harikari for the Sky, ihsahn, nile, Witchthroat Serpent
Decimation: Atonality in Death Metal
Never has there been a word in metal as misunderstood as atonal, allowing all kinds of ridiculous claims since most individuals confuse atonality with dissonance and chromatism.
There are two ways to define atonality, one being the complete lack of tonal character and being reduced to noise like some of Kerry King’s solos or the works of Merzbow. The other definition that interests us here is the complete lack of functional harmony. In simpler terms that implies not having the root note that commands a certain melody. Without a root note, the notes in an atonal melody are not connected by scales, modes or chords.
22 CommentsTags: atonality, chromatism, death metal, demigod, Demilich, mayhem, metal, morbid angel, music theory, sepultura, slayer, suffocation, wagner
OZZY IS RIGHT: “NON-CONFORMITY” IS CONFORMIST, METAL MUST REBEL
Death Metal Underground’s wise founder Brett Stevens posted a thoughtful article last weekend about the duality of exterior and interior being. It describes how in these modern times we’re seeing an illusion of non-conformity that masks the conformity of thought and nature within. This is an effective tactic of those in power be they media, silicon valley, deep state, or (in the case of metal) record executives and journalists: get people to look different, but think the same. This also masterfully articulates why metal is at its lowest creative point in the entire history of its existence: fans and musicians alike have accepted conformity of thought and sound through satisfaction with mere non-conformist aesthetics and culture. And the only way to escape this rut is to violently rebel against everything we have been conditioned to believe is “metal” and “metal culture.”
35 CommentsTags: brett stevens, conformity, death, death metal, destruction, Deus Vult, future of metal, Gen-Z, Generation Z, hessian, metal, metal culture, non-conformity, ozzy osbourne, rebellion, Romanticism, tattoos, Templar, Western Culture
Troll 2 and (the Joy of) Miscategorized Metal
Tower Records and Musicland didn’t seem to have much the other day. So I went by Camelot music instead. I was wearing my old green Slayer demon head shirt. I had built up points at that store, and they gave me a free purple shirt with their logo on it. I hated the shirt and donated it to Goodwill. In the metal section was the cassette soundtrack to Troll 2. I was almost certain this was a mis-categorization. I didn’t have the money to buy it that day and it sold out before I could get my hands on it.
7 CommentsTags: bach, burzum, Camelot Music, Dvorak, guitars, kvlt casettes, metal, Raputin, Richard Band, soundtrack, The Omen, Tower Records, troll 2, trve kvlt
Metal Works as Stepping Stones
Until now, metal works (albums, EPs, pieces, etc.) have been regarded as products, even by those who would assume anti-commercial postures. Why this is so, why the underground metal community still sees albums as products and so judge them in that light, has to do with the history of metal as arising from the general rock business context. Black Sabbath as the foundational metal band followed this path and they were also the first metal band to sell out, though there never was much to sell out. In any case, they did not really know what they had and quickly devolved into rock-ized (standardized) “improvements” on the gold they had struck at first, instead of exploring those new sounds and ideas regardless of the commercial context, regardless of the business prospects (gigs, deals, etc.). We must understand, however, that the ideal of metal beyond rock, beyond trends and commercialism, only arose with the Mayhem cabal. Their commercial activities, it should be understood, were a means to something greater, as can be seen from the meticulous selection of albums that came under the auspices of Deathlike Silence Productions.
3 CommentsTags: black sabbath, consumerism, Deathlike Silence, Demilich, dionysus, mayhem, metal, Philosophy, stepping stones
Death Metal to Save the World
I had a dream about the future. In the future the year was 2018, and I will give you an overview of the prophecy which I saw… shit?
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Tags: Bieber, death metal, depression, drugs, metal, metoo, Pink, soma, taylor swift
“It’s Okay to be White” – The Metal Song
Political YouTuber Finntronaut has uploaded a silly new metal song and video themed after the “It’s Okay to be White” prank that violently triggered thousands of snowflake liberals earlier this season. While the song is not exactly good, it’s a pretty funny take on how ridiculous this culture war has gotten lately here in the U.S.A. Thematically the video takes no political position- it’s just a bunch of goofy satirical visualizations overdramatizing the racial/cultural tensions of this age.
12 CommentsTags: 4chan, alt-right, It's Okay to Be White, metal, nu males, pranks, racism, snowflakes, youtube
Analysis of Death Metal Vocalists
Guttural vocals are the only true vocal innovation in metal as other singing styles are derived from other genres. The growed vocal technique is a combination of multiple frequencies and is harmonically too rich to be treated in the same way as more tonal styles. Since they are different to all that came before them they must be analyzed differently. And as metal continues to be penetrated by the mainstream it is important to understand what should be expected from a vocalist and what each one brings to the table since as humans we are inclined to judge vocals first.
In the spirit of understanding the wide variety that the technique has to offer, take a look at some of the more interesting and/or well known vocalists that death metal has given us throughout the years:
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Tags: Alexander Krull, Atrocity, craig pillard, cryptopsy, Dead, death growl, death metal, death metal vocals, Deicide, disma, Glen Benton, gutterals, incantation, jeff becerra, Killjoy, Mike DiSalvo, morbid, necrophagia, Phil Bozeman, possessed, vocals, whitechapel
Weathering the Storm as a Republican Metalhead
November 8th, 2016. Manhattan, NY. Election night. I was there.
Wading back and forth between a crowd of suits and red hats gathered outside the Fox News building on 6th ave and a similar group gathered a few blocks north outside the Hilton hotel where the soon-to-be President-Elect was present, I celebrated ecstatically as electoral college results came in showing my favorite politician on the cusp of capturing the presidency. All of us were over the moon with excitement and bliss, particularly because New York City had seldom presented a place where support of the man the media branded as Hitler 2.0 could be expressed openly.
While walking home and passing virtually every media truck parked for a mile along the road where America’s next President prepared his victory speech, a young NPR reporter excitedly rushed over to me with her microphone and cameraman after seeing the ridiculous “Trump 2020” pins on my shirt. I agreed to her request for interview and explained why I thought Trump’s non-interventionist foreign policy and realist economic objectives would benefit the country’s middle and working classes. Admitting her surprise to learn that I was a compliance director working near Wall St. and not the basic redneck Trump voter the media had branded us as, she asked if I was excited about the likelihood of supporting Trump being more socially acceptable now that he was president. “Yeah” I said “It finally won’t be taboo now!”
We could not have been more wrong.
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Tags: brett stevens, Brock Dorsey, conservative, daniel maarat, death metal, death metal underground, Decibel Magazine, donald trump, Editor, Editorial, Heavy Metal, imperial, Invisible Oranges, lifestyle, MetalSucks, new media, politics, Republican, right-wing, Trump
