racketboy.com

I've probably made and deleted like 4 posts by now, all of them things I don't normally even attempt to post on forums.

Things are getting to me right now way more than they should, I don't know exactly why, could be any number of personal reasons, but at this moment I'm perceiving a lot of things as outright personal attacks when they clearly aren't.

Niode, your qualifications don't change my view. I still think your opinion is misrepresentation of the genre as a whole, and ignores well, pretty much all of the genre's merits. Not to mention that I don't take too kindly to the implication that I'm just being trendy because I genuinely enjoy some of it.

I'm not even sure exactly what you mean when you say it's "style over substance" or being "shit on purpose". I assume it has to do with bands like Nargaroth (which I want to mention, is a band I don't care for in the least), with the obnoxiously lo-fi recording and droning, repetitive, and grating songwriting being your posterboy example for what the genre typically offers.

I was probably a bit overly hostile earlier, but yeah. Like I said above. Sorry if I was an asshole.

HeavyMetalMe wrote:Exactly what I was thinking... If you wanna go talk Shit Awl and Gay Bulbs, go somewhere else. US BM sucks anyways.

Here's your best bet- http://thestench.freeforums.org/index.php

Maybe you can buck up while you're there and get into some PE too.

When did I say I only liked USBM? I like all metal, except grindcore and most death metal. As far as black metal, I like bands from all over the world.

corn619 wrote:When I was younger I tried to listen to some, but just couldn't relate or understand the music. My life has plenty of unwanted darkness so I try to listen to music with a more positive jive to it for the most part. I can still get down with some metal bands like Machine Head and Deftones. Hell, I'll even throw some Slipknot on from time to time.

But music like black metal just depresses me for the most part. I just can't get into that stuff. I'm not trying to bust anyones balls but, what do you find enjoyable about black metal? Why do you listen to it? Just a question of curiousity, I'm not trying to start a arguement. People listen to music for many reasons, whats your reason for liking black metal? And how do you relate to the lyrics? Theres some pretty fucked up lyrics in that stuff.

Well I suppose that first of all, you don't seem very familiar with the genre at all. From the bands you've mentioned, I imagine your exposure to actual black metal probably amounts to something like maybe Dimmu Borgir or something, if that. What you're thinking of when you say "black metal" might be something else entirely.

As for what I like about it? Well first of all, on the lyrics, lyrics aren't really much of a focal point in this kind of music. I can easily say that lyrics are probably the LAST thing I bother looking at as far as a band is concerned.

It's kind of hard to quantify something like this though, music is an extremely subjective thing, perhaps more-so than just about anything else I can imagine. Without trying to sound too vague, I suppose you can just say there's a certain "feel" to it that I enjoy. The general atmosphere or mood even, perhaps. Again it's something that's hard to quantify, but it's not really a depressive or even negative thing for me at all. It's not like I listen to this stuff to wallow in misery or anything, it actually more often than not puts me in a good mood. I'm sure others who enjoy this stuff would agree.

I could maybe elaborate more, but as far as metal goes I'm not really much of a huge black metal fan myself, I know my handful of bands and I generally stick to those. There's a lot of crap out there, sure, but that goes for anything.

corn619 wrote:But music like black metal just depresses me for the most part. I just can't get into that stuff. I'm not trying to bust anyones balls but, what do you find enjoyable about black metal? Why do you listen to it? Just a question of curiousity, I'm not trying to start a arguement. People listen to music for many reasons, whats your reason for liking black metal? And how do you relate to the lyrics? Theres some pretty fucked up lyrics in that stuff.

Honestly, the depressing aspect of black metal is a major draw. For me personally, the most enjoyable thing about black metal, or any extreme metal, is melancholy and more than anything, melody.

Unfortunately, the large majority of BM bands are pretty poor excuses for music, giving the genre as a whole a bad name. However, just like with Classical music or Opera (or hell, even video games) there are the hidden gems that are made with passion, raw emotion, and creative originality which can only be appreciated by certain people with a specific taste. These groups or albums are what make extreme music so important to me.

If anyone else is drawn to Melodic Black/Death Metal, PM me, I'd be more than happy to share/chat!

Niode, what kind of music do you like?

Octopod wrote:Niode, what kind of music do you like?

It would be easier to ask me what music I don't like.

I'm not a big black metal fan at all, but I appreciate the fact that a black metal thread exists here enough to respond anyway. In all honesty, I tend to prefer the symphonic, "bastardized" forms of black metal more than anything really kvlt, but I do like the influence of BM popping in other styles of metal, such as gothic or death. I can recall enjoying an album by the band Myrkskog, which was more along the lines of blackened death metal, and more recently Evig Natt, who has an interesting mix of extreme (mostly BM on that end) and gothic metal.

I won't deny that there's some good stuff out there, so as long as I stay far, far away from that minimalist shit. I can't stand that form of BM.

This is the extent of BM that I own except I also have Transylvanian Hunger on CD.

Iskra, which is blackened crust, Order of the Vulture, which is blackened D-beat/crust, and Orcustus, which is the only one of these that is straight BM.

Hope you won't take this too harshly, but:

corn619 wrote: My life has plenty of unwanted darkness so I try to listen to music with a more positive jive to it for the most part.

CRRRAWWWLING IIIIIN MY SKIIIIN!

I can still get down with some metal bands like Machine Head and Deftones. Hell, I'll even throw some Slipknot on from time to time.

Slipknot and Deftones aren't Metal bands.

And how do you relate to the lyrics? Theres some pretty fucked up lyrics in that stuff.

Someone who listens to Black Metal (or probably any Metal) really doesn't care about the lyrics. (Unless they're obsessed with the first wave of Black Metal and have become Satanists.)

Octopod wrote:which is blackened crust

Dear Lord, there's Blackened Crust Punk now?

Niode wrote:

AppleQueso wrote:the "lo-fi" comment was in response to your "shit on purpose" comment.

Again, you don't know anything about the genre, what makes it appealing, or what its merits are. You just continue to spit out your naive perceptions of it, claim it's just "trendy", and then go as far as to claim that people that like it are just being trendy themselves.

Newsflash, not all black metal is minimalist (minimalism, a concept you don't seem to grasp well regarding this music at all), and not all black metal is intentionally recorded poorly.

Don't lecture me on what I do or don't know about music. I teach music to make a fucking living. So take your naive perceptions about my music knowledge and shove them up your self righteous ass hole.

Heh, no offense, but you just reminded me of that scene from Annie Hall...

Man in Theatre Line: Oh, really? Well, it just so happens I teach a class at Columbia called "TV, Media and Culture." So I think my insights into Mr. McLuhan, well, have a great deal of validity!
Alvy Singer: Oh, do ya? Well, that's funny, because I happen to have Mr. McLuhan right here, so, so, yeah, just let me...
[pulls McLuhan out from behind a nearby poster]
Alvy Singer: come over here for a second... tell him!
Marshall McLuhan: I heard what you were saying! You know nothing of my work! You mean my whole fallacy is wrong. How you got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing!
Alvy Singer: Boy, if life were only like this!