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What Are You Listening To?

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BlutAusNerd Newbie

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Re: What Are You Listening To?

'Contrived' doesn't mean 'non-existent'. Obviously, the overtly commercial mix of melodeath and post-hardcore/modern screamo isn't to many people's taste here, but the metal's still definitely there, regardless of how it's incorporated. I think the metal in Converge, Dillinger and Hatebreed's sound is more than just a small influence. I'd actually argue it's closer to a 50/50 metal/hardcore ratio for them, whereas from the 1 Ringworm album I heard it was more like 70% hardcore, 30% thrash. But heh, what do I know? It's fucking awesome heavy music and that's all that matters to me.
It might as well, pop and metal are oil and water with opposing goals, ambitions, and sounds, so the pop elements essentially cancel out any metal influences those bands may have had. The same goes for any attempt to fuse a genre of music with pop, pop/punk has a little punk in it, but that doesn't mean it's punk, pop/country has a little country in it, that doesn't make it country, etc... What we are left with are gimmicks rather than fusions, pop with twang, pop with fast strummed power chords, pop with chugging guitars, and in much the same way that donning corpsepaint does not make a band black metal, using harmonized guitar leads does not make a band metal or metalcore. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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It might as well, pop and metal are oil and water with opposing goals, ambitions, and sounds, so the pop elements essentially cancel out any metal influences those bands may have had. The same goes for any attempt to fuse a genre of music with pop, pop/punk has a little punk in it, but that doesn't mean it's punk, pop/country has a little country in it, that doesn't make it country, etc... What we are left with are gimmicks rather than fusions, pop with twang, pop with fast strummed power chords, pop with chugging guitars, and in much the same way that donning corpsepaint does not make a band black metal, using harmonized guitar leads does not make a band metal or metalcore. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Well, we've debated about this stuff loads and it doesn't really matter anyway, but I don't think a pop influence necessarily negates the other musical styles being used. I think the determining factor is how big the pop influence is. Someone like Asking Alexandria, I agree with you; the pop influence pretty much overrides any other genre in the band's formula; same with someone like Linkin Park imo. But, Trivium, I reckon the metal element outweighs the 'pop' in their sound (I'd also argue here that a band utilizing a more commercial approach doesn't instantly put them into the 'pop' category). Incidentally, I think it's the same with punk. Descendants and The Ramones could technically qualify as pop punk, but with the punk being more prevalent and the pop serving as little more than a means of injecting some melody, I still think these guys should be considered punk bands. There's a million miles between what they do and what, say, Blink 182, later Green Day etc. do. Putting Blink 182 in the same category as Descendants doesn't seem right to me, in the same way Trivium shouldn't be placed with AA. Then you have Deftones who have quite a considerable pop influence in much of their material, but that doesn't 'reduce' them down to a pop band and it doesn't take away from the sheer depth of their music. I'm not a Trivium fan, btw, and obviously we all draw the theoretical 'lines' between metal, rock, pop, punk etc. in different places. That's just my take on it.
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Iceni Newbie

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'Her Silence' by Sculptured. Very nice stuff just now, this might be the best material I've heard from the album so far. I'd say Amaranthe have a lot of pop in their sound, but it's almost too much for me to believe that they're not trying to do something other than create a straight fusion of pop and 'modern metal'. It certainly could be done better; the growls are lousy and the male vocals aren't that great. However, it does come across as fun and enjoyable, so I have only a modicum of shame in admitting I like The Nexus.

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BlutAusNerd Newbie

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Re: What Are You Listening To?

Well, we've debated about this stuff loads and it doesn't really matter anyway, but I don't think a pop influence necessarily negates the other musical styles being used. I think the determining factor is how big the pop influence is. Someone like Asking Alexandria, I agree with you; the pop influence pretty much overrides any other genre in the band's formula; same with someone like Linkin Park imo. But, Trivium, I reckon the metal element outweighs the 'pop' in their sound (I'd also argue here that a band utilizing a more commercial approach doesn't instantly put them into the 'pop' category). Incidentally, I think it's the same with punk. Descendants and The Ramones could technically qualify as pop punk, but with the punk being more prevalent and the pop serving as little more than a means of injecting some melody, I still think these guys should be considered punk bands. There's a million miles between what they do and what, say, Blink 182, later Green Day etc. do. Putting Blink 182 in the same category as Descendants doesn't seem right to me, in the same way Trivium shouldn't be placed with AA. Then you have Deftones who have quite a considerable pop influence in much of their material, but that doesn't 'reduce' them down to a pop band and it doesn't take away from the sheer depth of their music. I'm not a Trivium fan, btw, and obviously we all draw the theoretical 'lines' between metal, rock, pop, punk etc. in different places. That's just my take on it.
I actually agree with you, which is why I phrased my examples as "pop mixed with X", the pop is the dominant element in these bands. The song structures, sugary choruses, the total lack of anything menacing or aggressive, KSE, Trivium, As I Lay Dying, etc... are pop groups. I don't think more simply minded melodies or basic structures have to ruin things, but pop's only goal is to exploit the ease of those elements with as little backing substance as possible to provide shallow appeal to a massive audience for high sales, and this is contrary to the goal of any other genre of music. If this is the center of the sound with only superficial characteristics added on to create the illusion of flavor and creativity, but this is akin to putting chocolate chips on a turd. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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