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belphegor2014
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:20 pm
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 11:33 pm 
 

I used to be very into this genre and then stopped listening to it because it’s too heavy and sounds too evil to be enjoyable. Think Proclamation, Black Witchery, Teitenblood split etc. Just black metal and death metal are basically like art. They sound great. E.g. Vader, Belphegor etc. Bestial Black Metal on the other hand just sounds filthy and like it’s from the pits of hell and it’s way too relentless. Does this genre attract certain people like satanists who want to listen to sacrifices demonic invocations etc? Just not my cup of tea anymore. It puts me in a depressed mood afterwards because it’s way too dark. On the other hand if I don’t listen to it and listen to something like Belphegor I feel great but don’t feel like a true metalhead for not liking the heaviest genre of metal.

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GoatBoat
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2016 2:33 am
Posts: 135
Location: Laos
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:32 am 
 

I think war metal or whatever the common name of it is now is pretty accessible for people who enjoy grindcore, the heavier end of death metal or anything with that 'wall of sound' effect to it. If you don't like that style, you probably won't like the subgenre. What bands did you listen to?

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LegendMaker
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:24 am
Posts: 1872
Location: France
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:53 am 
 

belphegor2014 wrote:
I feel great but don’t feel like a true metalhead for not liking the heaviest genre of metal.


Based on your post in general, but especially that last part, I get the feeling that you're a teenager who got into all the stuff you listed for all the wrong reasons. Not because you were actually into it, but because you wanted to like it, possibly to impress someone or get along with a certain group of people, or whatever else.

Listen to what you like, stop listening to what you don't like, and even more so don't listen to anything that makes you feel bad, let alone depressed. Go explore other bands and genres within metal and beyond, find out what else makes you feel great, and how great, and listen to that.

Just in case someone actually got you to believe into the pathetic bullshit I quoted above (even if it's an idea you put in your own head yourself for some reason), I'll be clear: being a "true metalhead" is not at thing, except as a joke maybe. Even if it were a thing, it would be of basically no importance whatsoever compared to feeling good and not forcing yourself to do anything, including listening to stuff that makes you depressed. Also, a "true metalhead", if it existed, is definitely not someone who listens to "the heaviest" or the mostest evilest or whatever unimportant immature shit. It would be someone who truly loves metal, regardless of what type of metal or what specific band. You'll meet people along the way who will tell you half-jokes like "if you don't like Album X from band Y then you're a poser" and you need to learn right now that the answer to that is "fuck off". "cool story, bro" (edited because I don't want to encourage you to be mean either, even to dumbasses).

I hope this helps. Perhaps in a few years while listening to an old Judas Priest album or something, and feeling fantastic about it, you'll look back on this day and have a laugh about what you used to think mattered or not regarding music (or art in general).
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I would like to hear some recommendations of black metal bands/albums that sound depressive, yet sad and melancholic at the same time.


Last edited by LegendMaker on Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Gravetemplar
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
Posts: 4652
Location: Antarctica
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:57 am 
 

I just wanted to say that while I understand why people say Teitanblood are a war metal band, I don't consider them to be war metal at all (I don't have a problem with people calling them war metal though). They are black/death with heavy doses of doom, crust, thrash, etc. The songs aren't short, they incorporate a lot of atmosphere (drone/ambient/etc) in their songs and the lyrics don't focus on war, nuclear holocaust or anything like that. Also the most notable difference is that they are actually good (ok, that was a joke because there's a lot of shitty war metal). Their lyrics are also goat-free as far as I know.

Sorry about that, just needed to vent out. I just thing there needs to be a distinction between regular war metal (Revenge) and bands like Vassafor or Teitanblood. I would be OK if we ditched the whole "war metal" term to be honest because it's silly and most of the times I use it in a derogatory way.

Other than that, yes, black/death/whatever you call it is definetely too much for most people. Hell, most extreme metal is too much for most people.


Last edited by Gravetemplar on Thu May 21, 2020 6:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Lord_Jotun
Veteran

Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 5:02 pm
Posts: 2747
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:51 am 
 

Teitanblood are (were?) associated with that scene due to their demo and early splits, when they played a much more primitive, raw and simplistic take on black/death metal (some sort of Von on steroids with ARCHGOAT vibes), definitely close enough to the "bestial / war" aesthetic which was just starting to enter its own revival. By the time they reached their first full length they had morphed into a wildly different beast, and it's probably no coincidence that it was right around this time that they stopped sharing members with their close associates Proclamation (who, on the other hand, carried their obsessive Ross Bay worship to the forefront of said wave), yet the association followed them for a while. A somewhat similar case occurred with Weapon (Canada), who featured several veterans of their country's extreme scene in their lineups but never got close to "war metal" despite being firmly rooted in the black/death genre.

I find such vague terms rather annoying myself, but I think "war metal" serves its purpose for brevity's sake to distinguish the primitive, "bestial" and pre-subgenre separation extremized approach from the more (comparatively) calculated and generally more technically proficient recombination of black and death metal which occurred later - that is, the Sarcòfagos and Blasphemys vs the Behemoths and Belphegors.

Concerning the OP, I think this genre was very much meant to be "too much" for most people, even among metalheads. I've mentioned Sarcòfago and it's plain to see their goal was to be as over the top as possible - they were a clear influence on early Mayhem, and we all know what Euronymous wanted them to be. I'm fine with it until bands completely discard any semblance of songwriting and musicality under the excuse of being as "extreme" as possible, dismissing any criticism with "you're too much of a poser pussyfag to get TRUE BESTIAL ANNIHILATION" and similar tryhard bullcrap.
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HviteGuden
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2019 11:24 am
Posts: 348
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:57 am 
 

Gravetemplar wrote:
I just wanted to say that while I understand why people say Teitanblood are a war metal band, I don't consider them to be war metal at all (I don't have a problem with people calling them war metal though). They are black/death with heavy doses of doom, crust, tharsh, etc. The songs aren't short, they incorporate a lot of atmosphere (drone/ambient/etc) in their songs and the lyrics don't focus on war, nuclear holocaust or anything like that. Also the most notable difference is that they are actually good (ok, that was a joke because there's a lot of shitty war metal). Their lyrics are also goat-free as far as I know.

Sorry about that, just needed to vent out. I just thing there needs to be a distintction between regular war metal (Revenge) and bands like Vassafor or Teitanblood. I would be OK if we ditched the whole "war metal" term to be honest because it's silly and most of the times I use it in a derogatory way.

Other than that, yes, black/death/whatever you call it is definetely too much for most people. Hell, most extreme metal is too much for most people.

If to name Teitanblood a war metal band, than it's truly a one of the most specific bands in this subgenre. Actually, the problem of war metal is in its narrow potential for realization. A lot of bands there sound the same, that's why this kind of music is often boring. Those bands, who are somehow able to be more ingenious in this genre, are the best there. Except Teitanblood, those are the likes of Beherit, Ride For Revenge, Archgoat, Anal Blasphemy, for example.

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Gravetemplar
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
Posts: 4652
Location: Antarctica
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 5:39 am 
 

Yeah, I agree with the previous posts. A lot of bands sound the same and I'd rather listen to stuff like Vassafor, Teitanblood, Malthusian, Auroch, Mitochondrion, etc. Even the last Diocletian album was pretty boring and I really enjoyed Gesundrian.

I've also been enjoying more grindcore oriented bands like Knelt Rote and Hissing lately.

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Substantia_Nigrae
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:42 am
Posts: 254
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 5:44 am 
 

I thought War Metal addresses bands such as Axis Of Advance, both aesthetically and lyrically.

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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 7:43 am 
 

Black metal is definitely a sprawling, intertwining, overlapping and complex mesh of different aesthetics, and not all of them will appeal to everyone who's into the genre. I've been listening to extreme metal for 17 years, and I've never enjoyed war metal as anything but a brief, occasional distraction.
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droneriot
cisgender

Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 1:17 pm
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Location: Spahn Ranch
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 7:47 am 
 

I like a lot of the music, but only the music. The image that the scene is so big on, they look like satanic juggalos with their over the top clownish get-up.
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Timeghoul
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:00 pm
Posts: 419
Location: Hello from the gutter
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:06 am 
 

I believe a big draw are people who are Satanists/Devil Worshippers. They want music that expresses their views. It was that way for early "Satanic" bands like Venom. The person has to be drawn to heavy music. Very few people that I have known went straight to heavy music. For myself I progressed into the heavier music. I started off in the 1970s listening to my Father's music like the Doors. I progressed over the years into heavier and heavier music. Overall I would say the majority of people just want heavier, more extreme music. They don't necessarily care about the lyrical content. They just want something really extreme.
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~Guest 394415
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:49 pm
Posts: 421
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:20 am 
 

.


Last edited by ~Guest 394415 on Mon Feb 10, 2020 4:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gunslinger21
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:11 am
Posts: 424
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:07 pm 
 

You know, I was in a CD shop with an old friend years ago and we were in our silly kvlt black metal phase and trying to outdo each other with finding the darkest stuff. He came running over to me in the shop with a second hand black witchery CD, so he bought it for like 14 bucks and popped it in the CD player in his car on the way back to his place. Years later I was over at his joint and we had grown up a bit since then, I found the old CD and played it on his laptop. He had such a sullen look on his face when he said "why the fuck did I buy that", and I just couldn't stop laughing.

I admire their dedication and ferocity, but some of those bands songs are just so fucked, lol.

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LunarisIsDead
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2019 6:14 pm
Posts: 199
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:38 pm 
 

The short answer is yes. There's a reason extreme metal is as niche as it is, and it's the same reason it's called extreme metal. But remember, just because a genre of music is harder to get into and listen to doesn't necessarily mean it actually has more substance. It just means that you have to work more for that substance.

But more importantly, that doesn't mean those who enjoy it are any more devoted fans of music than someone who doesn't. Listen to the music YOU like, and stay away from stuff that you don't, ESPECIALLY if it makes you feel bad.
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FLIPPITYFLOOP
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:09 pm
Posts: 1436
Location: CHRAWNA, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:49 pm 
 

Considering it's a much dirtier, filthier and more aggressive version of your typical black and death metal, it may just be even more of an acquired taste than usual.

Myself, I like some of it but after a while I need something with more melody - not necessarily "melodic XXX metal" but something where the riffs themselves are more audible. As much as the energy is insane, the production muddies up a lot of the riffs so they just sound like BWOBWOBWOBOBWOBWOBWOBWOBOWBWO with blast beats. Same goes for a live setting, in my experiences anyways, though I still enjoy the shows. I saw Covenant Montreal back in 2018 and there were a LOT of bands like that playing, and they were all really good on stage. That in mind, I started to get a little numb after a while, and when Sabbath Assembly came on much later it was the perfect palette cleanser (even though I'm not huge on the band themselves).

Dark Descent has their fair share of war metal, but also bands that have dabbled with that that type of vibe but don't go full-in with it. Adversarial, Phobocosm and Ritual Necromancy come to mind. Rites Of Thy Degringolade are pretty sick too, and are another good example (though they're on Nuclear War Now!). Their guitar player looks a lot like Jon Nodtveidt too - that totally threw me off at first :lol:

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FLIPPITYFLOOP
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:09 pm
Posts: 1436
Location: CHRAWNA, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:52 pm 
 

FLIPPITYFLOOP wrote:
Rites Of Thy Degringolade are pretty sick too, and are another good example (though they're on Nuclear War Now!). Their guitar player looks a lot like Jon Nodtveidt too - that totally threw me off at first :lol:


As a fun side note, the Dissection song "Son Of The Mourning" from the Into The Infinite Obscurity EP has a strong war metal vibe to it, and IMO is better than a lot of war metal I've heard. Makes me wish Jon had another project that did more of that stuff, because he was seriously fucking good at it!

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Sick6Six
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:01 pm
Posts: 1987
Location: Woodstock, IL
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:58 pm 
 

belphegor2014 wrote:
the heaviest genre of metal.

I don't think their is one, and "heaviest" can mean so many different things. I remember being a kid and searching for the "heaviest and fastest" music, and it's very silly. I would call Belphegor pretty up there on the heavy scale, they are just polished and have a warm/uplifting sound much of the time. They still fucking shred and blast as relentlessly as anyone. I do enjoy a lot of raw, evil, dark, depressing sounding stuff as well, but usually I prefer things that have catchy or melodic riffs. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2TLvMNJmJY

I also enjoy a lot of the lyrical content these days, where when I was younger I thought some of it was too offensive sometimes. I tend to agree with a lot of the anti-religious / anti-human lyrical concepts now. I think it may attract atheists more than actual Satanic worshippers, many bands are atheist and use Satan as a symbol.
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Eradicatedseraphim
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 5:42 am
Posts: 257
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:43 pm 
 

I don’t think it’s too “extreme” just highly monotonous and in the case of Black Witchery and Revenge laughably boring. The vocals are one dimensional, the brutality wears thin without memorable riffs, and the constant simple riffs and blasting which sounds like a winning formula can’t really hold up for more than 3 songs. There are some great band with elements of the style that can write better songs notably Teitanblood, Impiety, and Bestial Raids- but the style by and large just doesn’t do it for me as it’s more focused on blasting and simple songs
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~Guest 454771
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2018 8:01 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:48 pm 
 

To answer the thread title, depends how you define people. It's obviously too much for most people since most people don't ever get into extreme music. It's too much for most fans of lamestream metal. For true metalheads it's different though. Although they might not prefer the bestial brutal black/death style I've found that true metalheads who are obsessive about USPM or prog metal or whatever, they aren't disgusted by it and understand why many of their metal compatriots enjoy it. Of course as we should all know, part of being a true metalhead is determining for yourself what your metal preferences are. Don't feel bad for not enjoying the same thing the same way you did when you were younger! We're all getting older with ya.

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Metal Shark
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:54 am
Posts: 1066
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:30 pm 
 

In that most of it sounds, to me, like an angry vacuum cleaner? YES, it can be a bit much. But I still like a LITTLE bit of it, just like with grind.

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blackmantram
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2010 12:51 pm
Posts: 997
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:46 pm 
 

It's just like pretty much every other genre, where just a small sample of all the bands playing it are legitimately good.
Nice to see some Teitanblood appreciation. I remember being scared when I listened to Purging tongues. It felt like watching evil dead for the first time as a child.

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Oxenkiller
Veteran

Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:42 am
Posts: 3613
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:36 am 
 

blackmantram wrote:
It's just like pretty much every other genre, where just a small sample of all the bands playing it are legitimately good.
.


That sums up how I feel. There is a fine line between total unintelligible chaotic noise and raw, ultra lo fi noisy (but still catchy) riffs. Some bands get it right; most of em don't quite get it.

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Xenophon
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:07 am
Posts: 1184
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:14 pm 
 

HviteGuden wrote:
If to name Teitanblood a war metal band, than it's truly a one of the most specific bands in this subgenre. Actually, the problem of war metal is in its narrow potential for realization. A lot of bands there sound the same, that's why this kind of music is often boring. Those bands, who are somehow able to be more ingenious in this genre, are the best there. Except Teitanblood, those are the likes of Beherit, Ride For Revenge, Archgoat, Anal Blasphemy, for example.


Gravetemplar wrote:
Yeah, I agree with the previous posts. A lot of bands sound the same and I'd rather listen to stuff like Vassafor, Teitanblood, Malthusian, Auroch, Mitochondrion, etc. Even the last Diocletian album was pretty boring and I really enjoyed Gesundrian.

Just like most sub-sub-genres of metal, there are a flood of more obscure bands that have a more conservative sound, and most of the more unique-sounding bands or bands that are more on the fringe of the sound are among the more well-known ones like the ones you both mentioned (although there are popular war metal bands that are sonically not very unique too).

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IamDBR
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 2:58 am
Posts: 1462
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:26 am 
 

It is. The balls to the wall extremity & rawness is one thing. I personally find most bands in this niche to be way too limited, conceptually & musically. Same thing with alot of slam/brutal death, goregrind. Most of it has devolved into a meme; simplified Suffocation breakdown riffs with weird vocals, shitty drum machines & samey ott gory cover art.

Back on topic, where do you even go from there? No melody, almost nonstop blasting, vocals as vicious as can be, barely discernible riffs buried under raw af production, rather simplistic songwriting, themes pretty much limited to all out genocide & nuclear holocaust. A band that gets looked over is Sadistik Exekution. I think their style had more to offer than what Blasphemy & their ilk did.

That being said, I bump some Revenge, Teitanblood, Heresiarch, Diocletian from time to time. It definitely scratches a certain primal urge but I can't listen to it for long without getting bored.

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Milo
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:56 pm
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Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 1:48 pm 
 

It took me eons to understand what Axis of Advance were doing, and an extra eon to actually enjoy their music.
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Lord_Jotun
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:44 am 
 

SadEx had quite an outside the box approach to their chaos that made them stand out. Their music however was quite demanding technically (beyond sheer physical endurance, that is) so it's not that surprising that no bands I'm aware of attempted to really dig into their style and see whether and where it could be taken further.
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shouvince
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Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:11 am
Posts: 3225
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:25 pm 
 

Ilwhyan wrote:
Black metal is definitely a sprawling, intertwining, overlapping and complex mesh of different aesthetics, and not all of them will appeal to everyone who's into the genre. I've been listening to extreme metal for 17 years, and I've never enjoyed war metal as anything but a brief, occasional distraction.


This is pretty much me as well!

I can't stand any of the newer bestial black/death bands because I feel it's heaviness for the sake of heaviness. I get my fix of this genre from the masters who started it all - Order from Chaos. It's discernible yet raw. Blood Revolt was another band but I used to listen to but I guess that's primarily due to Alan's vocals. I couldn't get onto the Blasphemy, Black Witchery, Revenge bandwagon unfortunately.

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Gravetemplar
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
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Location: Antarctica
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:55 pm 
 

shouvince wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
Black metal is definitely a sprawling, intertwining, overlapping and complex mesh of different aesthetics, and not all of them will appeal to everyone who's into the genre. I've been listening to extreme metal for 17 years, and I've never enjoyed war metal as anything but a brief, occasional distraction.


This is pretty much me as well!

I can't stand any of the newer bestial black/death bands because I feel it's heaviness for the sake of heaviness. I get my fix of this genre from the masters who started it all - Order from Chaos. It's discernible yet raw. Blood Revolt was another band but I used to listen to but I guess that's primarily due to Alan's vocals. I couldn't get onto the Blasphemy, Black Witchery, Revenge bandwagon unfortunately.

To be honest, Blasphemy are one of the most overrated extreme metal bands. Sure, the Blood upon the Altar demo is great but Fallen Angel of Doom is not that good. It sounds terrible and they've been milking it for 30 years. I can't stand Revenge either, those burps and sceams are way too funny and distracting.

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kybernetic
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 4:59 pm 
 

I like the early progenitors like Blasphemy as they had more atmosphere injected into the base sound. I suppose Archgoat and Beherit can be lumped into the early formations of what war metal would become. Those are good too for the same reason as Blasphemy.

As for bands like Black Witchery, they certainly have the aesthetics down, but their music is dry as a bone with no atmosphere and no variation. It's the same exact song with the same exact riff played at the same exact speed with the same exact vocal pitch for 30 minutes. It doesn't work.

Later bands like Diocletian I consider quite good, as they were able to incorporate more songwriting variation into the base formula, like surprise doom sections, which really worked well and added much needed flavor. Diocletian has a great atmosphere going, especially their first three albums that really made their music sound menacing and frightening, as if a global apocalyptic war was raging. They're a good soundtrack to the more recent Wolfenstein video games I feel like.
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GTog
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Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:35 pm
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 9:15 pm 
 

OP - Listen to what makes you feel good, and experiment. You'd be surprised. I joined up here in 2006 with the explicit purpose of finding new metal, with no idea what I would like. I kept track of genres, nation of origin, region, etc, just in case that had something to do with it, but nope. You know what I like? What I like, period. What has the power and energy that I think metal should have. What appeals to me.

I don't like much of anything that describes itself of "avant-garde" or "experimental", but Sammath Naur is pretty good. Those who are into "pagan" or "raw" can keep it, but I did find Minas Morgul. Most gothic and doom can go hang itself, but Evig Natt I like.

So yeah, some things you like will come right out of nowhere and it won't matter what the genre is.
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praey
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:35 pm 
 

To echo what others said, I do think the genre is too much for most people, but I also think that's kind of the point. It's supposed to be extreme, abrasive, and unforgiving, an utter blast of aggression powered by blastbeats and buzzy guitars. As others mentioned, that sort of thing can be enjoyable in small doses but wears thin quickly for me and a lot of bands that do it sound the same.

The best bands in the style to me are those that maintain the sonic foundation while venturing out enough to keep it interesting. Archgoat have slightly more discernible guitar lines and excel at those surging, slower riffs; their last album also had quite a bit of variety and was one of the better bestial black metal albums I've heard in quite some time. Impiety are tangentially war metal, I suppose, and I find their music retains the extremity and aggression of the genre while being riffier and most interesting than others I've heard. Likewise Goatpenis is often lumped in with war metal but often employ surprisingly melodic tremolo lines that are far more memorable than almost anything else you'd hear in the genre. Finally, Blasphemophagher essentially took the primitive battering of Blasphemy, used slightly better production, and added huge fucking stomping thrash breaks to create some of the most enjoyable and devastating music I've ever heard. Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I could tell every song apart by ear, but they're still such a goddamn blast to listen to.

Point is, the "pure" war metal can be pretty monotonous, but there are bands out there that take the aesthetic and do something interesting with it. I'll also add that I find Revenge one of the better "pure" war metal bands, if only for J. Read's godly drumming. Whoof.

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CrippledLucifer
Metalhead

Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 5:08 am
Posts: 810
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 5:52 am 
 

DrummingEdge133 wrote:
Later bands like Diocletian I consider quite good, as they were able to incorporate more songwriting variation into the base formula, like surprise doom sections, which really worked well and added much needed flavor. Diocletian has a great atmosphere going, especially their first three albums that really made their music sound menacing and frightening, as if a global apocalyptic war was raging. They're a good soundtrack to the more recent Wolfenstein video games I feel like.

Diocletian put out War of All Against All which one of the best bestial/war metal albums ever, IMHO, thanks in no small part to their more atmospheric, experimental approach and song dynamics (and the killer, absolute hellish vocals by the Vassafor guy). Sadly their latest record is a dumbed down parody of that, and an example of how sheer brutality and endless blasting but lack of compelling songwriting and riffs makes up for boring as shit music. It's a shame but then apparently everyone from War of All and Gesundrian except for the one original member are now out of the band so that's probably the reason for this change of direction.
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Flugeldufel
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Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 4:41 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 10:17 pm 
 

Yes, it is. To 99% of people, heavy metal sounds like a bunch of noise. Black/death/war etc sounds like shit to a lot of metalheads, an even smaller group. Who cares if someone doesn't like it? Listen to it if you like it.

That said, as someone who loves that kind of shit, I think albums in this style should be 20-30 minutes tops. If you need more, put on a different one.

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Osmiumthemetal
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Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 10:30 pm
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PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 2:35 pm 
 

War Metal is a niche of a niche, and most causal metal listeners have probably never heard the term 'war metal' or any of the associated artists. Most war metal in my opinion is just next to that fuzzy edge where music starts to become 'noise' (the genre, not the derogatory adjective). I wouldn't be surprised if people who like 'Revenge' and stuff like that are also fans of 'Ramleh' and the like. It's something that very few people in general enjoy.

Just listen to what you like and don't give a crap what other people say.

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doomicus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:58 am
Posts: 1261
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2020 9:10 pm 
 

Ever so slightly off topic, but I'm surprised at the mostly negative reactions people have towards the latest Diocletian album. It really grew a lot on me and I don't really see a dip in quality when compared to their other albums. It's definitely a two speed album (fast and faster) but the playing is sharper than their previous work, and it is more precise in that regard. Feels more like a surgical stabbing strike to a vital organ rather than the sloppy clubbing of Doom Cult. Gesundrian hinted at this approach, but it is fully realized here I think. Perfect run time for this type of release as well.

As for the genre as a whole, and on topic, I think it has roughly the same amount of shit to quality ratio as every other sub-genre of metal (the shit obviously greatly out numbering the quality). I quite like the bare bones approach that a lot of the quality material in the genre can have and the tension that that said material can possess. It becomes minimalistic in a way, scraping away all excess fat--using only the necessary tools to reach its aim. A good chunk of people need the fat for their enjoyment though, which obviously makes the genre not for them.
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CannibalCorpse
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 5:30 am 
 

Come on... "war metal", "bestial metal", "viking metal" - it's 2020 and these genre specifications still suck and they still define nothing but lyrical themes.

Might as well call Sodom "war thrash metal" or Bolt Thrower "40.000k tank war metal" or whatever, you get my point.
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Gravetemplar
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Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2019 10:08 am
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 6:01 am 
 

CannibalCorpse wrote:
Come on... "war metal", "bestial metal", "viking metal" - it's 2020 and these genre specifications still suck and they still define nothing but lyrical themes.

Might as well call Sodom "war thrash metal" or Bolt Thrower "40.000k tank war metal" or whatever, you get my point.

Come on, "War metal" has a very distinct sound and aesthetic associated to it. It's not just metal with war themes: it's death/black with downtuned power chords, unpredictable shredding, fast tempos, short songs and low growls. So no, it's not just lyrical themes. Of coure the lyrics are a big part of the subgenre and some people might use it the wrong way but you still get a pretty good idea of what the band sounds like when it's correctly used. In my case it's usually an "avoid at all costs" red flag.


Last edited by Gravetemplar on Thu May 21, 2020 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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HviteGuden
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2019 11:24 am
Posts: 348
PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 6:37 am 
 

Gravetemplar wrote:
CannibalCorpse wrote:
Come on... "war metal", "bestial metal", "viking metal" - it's 2020 and these genre specifications still suck and they still define nothing but lyrical themes.

Might as well call Sodom "war thrash metal" or Bolt Thrower "40.000k tank war metal" or whatever, you get my point.

Com on, "War metal" has a very distinct sound and aesthetic associated to it. It's not just metal with war themes: it's death/black with downtuned power chords, unpredictable shredding, fast tempos, short songs and low growls. So no, it's not just lyrical themes. Of coure the lyrics are a big part of the subgenre and some people might use it the wrong way but you still get a pretty good idea of what the band sounds like when it's correctly used. In my case it's usually an "avoid at all costs" red flag.

That has been disscussed before in other threads, but, yeah, I gotta agree. War metal is a distinctive mix of black and death metal, often with grindcore influences, with trademark primitivity and imagery. And viking metal, for example, became not necessary nearly at all, after the term "pagan metal" appeared. Viking metal sounds like a narrow branch for it.

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Gameofmetal
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Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 5:57 pm
Posts: 94
PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 8:42 am 
 

Yes, of course. By design bestial black/war metal has always been intended to be the extreme of the extreme and even underground metalheads pretty frequently find it to be too much. It's a pretty rigid genre musically, very relentless with little room for stylistic variation and experimentation.

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Unorthodox
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:08 pm
Posts: 2347
PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 12:52 pm 
 

Gravetemplar wrote:
CannibalCorpse wrote:
Come on... "war metal", "bestial metal", "viking metal" - it's 2020 and these genre specifications still suck and they still define nothing but lyrical themes.

Might as well call Sodom "war thrash metal" or Bolt Thrower "40.000k tank war metal" or whatever, you get my point.

Come on, "War metal" has a very distinct sound and aesthetic associated to it. It's not just metal with war themes: it's death/black with downtuned power chords, unpredictable shredding, fast tempos, short songs and low growls. So no, it's not just lyrical themes. Of coure the lyrics are a big part of the subgenre and some people might use it the wrong way but you still get a pretty good idea of what the band sounds like when it's correctly used. In my case it's usually an "avoid at all costs" red flag.


So, not Bolt Thrower or Cobalt? Interesting.
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