Atlanta black/death metal band, Withered, formed in 2003 and have duked it out in the club scene for almost five years. They released their first full-length, Memento Mori, in 2005 and their follow-up, Folie Circulaire came out yesterday. To celebrate, singer and guitarist Mike Thompson wrote us a guest blog about how to help lost, wandering music fans see the light.
After perusing many metal sites, band pages and magazines, I realized how ridiculously huge and widespread the world of “metal” really is nowadays. Not that this is really a revelation for me, but more of a reminder -- especially when considering how rapidly things have grown just over the last few years.
It’s nice to see such a surge in metal fandom, however it often comes at a cost to us “veteran” metallers. And, unfortunately, the quality of music has suffered greatly. Now, maybe this is a necessary evil to broaden the appeal of the music and reach larger crowds. Either way, it really sucks when you’re someone who is used to innovation and progression within the metal scene and you’re constantly being slapped in the face with watered down crap. I mean, s--t, innovation is what metal used to be all about. The problem is that today’s metal culture perpetuates and rewards trendiness, and a lot of innovative bands that should be getting their due credit are getting lost in the sea of mediocrity.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a few (and I mean a few) bands that are somehow able to stay innovative and original while gaining the recognition they deserve. And I do realize that a lot of the more generic “metal 101” bands are responsible for the creatio of new, young metalheads. And, sometimes, we’re lucky enough to have a few of these new metal fans finally cast off their heavy metal training wheels and do what the rest of us did back 10 or 15 years ago -- start looking deeper and deeper into the underground to discover new and groundbreaking music. It’s a lot of work, but it always pays off.
This discovery used to be spread via word of mouth or just by going to small metal shows in town. My friends and I used to drive 30 to 40 minutes every other weekend just to hang out and see what was happening at the local metal club. It seems that people won’t go to shows at all unless the radio or maybe Jagermeister tells them to. I’ve known a lot of really great bands who eventually break up or quit playing altogether because they fought tooth and nail for what they believed in, but there were only a few people to support them. It’s a tragedy and a shame when there are 100 other bands playing the same damn breakdown every night and they all sell out the clubs.
So, I think this is a call to action for my fellow veteran metallers. I think it’s up to us to try and provide some guiding light to all these young’uns. Now, I’m not saying we need to declare war on “false metal." That s--t will kill itself once people mature and realize how empty and manufactured it is. Next time you’re at the record store and you see a kid wearing a shirt from the latest “Verb the Noun” band, strike up a conversation and see if they’re into anything a little more viable. If nothing else, maybe you can send them to a cool band’s MySpace page or something. We need to see more metal fans graduating from heavy metal preschool and demanding more from all the bands out there. The scene is healthy, let’s drive some innovation.
As a starting point, I’m gonna throw a few amazing bands at you folks to try out and see if they do anything for you. Now, keep in mind that a lot of this may be abrasive at first so give it a chance. If you pick up an album, listen to it on your own and without distraction. Be sure to give it a few spins. You should definitely check out the following bands. I’m just gonna name a few off the top of my head as examples and keep in mind, this is for the newbies out there or anyone who hasn’t heard of these bands. Please ignore politics or religious standings for the time being. This is an exercise in broadening musical horizons.
Black/Death metal: Arkhon Infaustus, Grave, Behexen, Necrophobic, Watain, 1349, Enslaved, Gorgoroth, Nachtmystium, Weakling, and of course Withered.
Doom/Sludge/Metalgaze: Zoroaster, Mouth of the architect, Jesu, Rwake, Neurosis (true pioneers, get Through Silver in Blood).
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