From: cmgeorg@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRIS MICH GEORGOULIAS)
Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.metal.heavy
Subject: Re:This Got Really Long (was: Speed Metal: Alive or dead?
Date: 16 Oct 92 22:09:26 GMT
Reply-To: cmgeorg@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRIS MICH GEORGOULIAS)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Originator: cmgeorg@c00581-1403br.eos.ncsu.edu


In article <92289.162247JVI100@psuvm.psu.edu>, <JVI100@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
|>      I have had a concern for a while about whether or not Speed Metal
|>  is dying out, despite the fact that Thrash/Death Metal/etc.. seem to
|>  be proliferating. I could be wrong about all of this, but let me
|>  explain my reasons for concern.
|>

Personally I think that these styles have been exhausted beyond their potential.
Just like Death Metal has been for the past 2+ years.  I think that there are
some great things to be said for speed/thrash bands but you don't have to beat
a dead horse (no pun intended) before it's time to call it quits.  

I'd like to say right off the bat that I find more similarities between speed 
and thrash then between death and thrash.  I even interchange the two without 
fear of mis-categorizing.  IMHO death metal is the biggest bunch of worthless 
repitition that the music world has ever witnessed. I realise lot of people like
the stuff and I'm not trying to offend anyone, but come on. I am an experienced 
listener of speed/thrash/punk/hardcore (many types of fast music) and I can
hardly tell one death/grindcore band from another, muchless differentiate 
between songs or albums.

Again I'll point out that the best works of this absolutely tapped out genre are
the last two Sepultura albums.  Those are all you ever really need.  Everything 
else is just too fast or too growly (probably both) to be any different from 
the rest.  And do you know *why* people love these albums?  They are fast when 
they need to be fast and slow when they need to be slow.  Speed doesn't make an 
album good, likewise, just being slow is no high point either.  It's the careful 
blend that gets people going.  

Grindcore band members can't pace themselves with one another.  The drummer will 
play the fastest followed by the guitarists then the vocalist.  But there's no 
way in hell the later two can keep up with the speed of a drummer playing as 
fast as possible.  So in the end you have a song that sounds as if it were mixed 
from three other tracks.  Absolutely no collaboration between the members to 
make a song that's really worthwhile.    

Look at some of the classic bands like Death Angel and Exodus.  You can hear
the obvious differences between each DA album.  The first album was right in the
style of 86-87; fast, blaring, and lyrics about death and the like.  Every album
since has been a progression of the last.  And yes, I guess that might mean 
slowing down a bit.  It doesn't mean your still not shooting for a "speed" 
oriented sound but moreso that you'd like to be a little more intricate.

It seems that these guys figured out that playing super fast and screaming about
evil and mayhem make for a short lived career.

Exodus had a great debut album with some of the best riffs speed metal has ever
produced, but these guys fell into a rut.  I won't try to pin it on the vocalist
change but that may be a factor also.  Their last two albums were absolutely
pathetic (this greatly affects my choice to try the new one out).  I mean, how
much can you rehash the same old sound?  When a band has no more potential then
it's time to move on.  Either to a new twist or to a different kind of music.

The same can be said for Kreator.  I guess that Mille and the boys couldn't
get "Extreme Aggression" out of their heads before they made the new album
from the mold of the last.  Actually, the same can also be said for Destruction.
Their last was a complete flop.  Except for the "My Sharona" cover.  Actually,
this could build my point a bit.  They exhausted their style but when it came
to covering this song they did a terrific job, new twist on an old theme.
*Now* the song sounds like something I'd like to hear.  Megadeth's newest falls
victim to rehash as well.  I'm glad I don't own it because when I first heard
"Skin of My Teeth" I thought it was "Liar".  Likewise, the same goes for another
song that sounds like one off of "Rust in Peace".

Testament, Metallica, Megadeth,....most of the old "heavies" have opted to shoot
for musical talent and again it seems like slowing down was the only way to 
achieve it.  (Although I thought the last Megadeth and Testament albums were
disgraceful.)  All of these guys have fast songs and slow songs.  I think that
when a band like this reaches a certain level they can write something more
melodic and slower and somewhere deep down the speed "feeling" is still there.

Maybe not so much with the new stuff but consider Metallica's "Sanitarium"
and "Fade to Black".  Slow, but you know it's way powerful and still "speed
influenced."

Suffice it to say that as far as "speed metal" is concerned I'm sort of finished with
looking for bands that have substance to offer. The potential has been 
exhausted, and there's no sense in trying to find the miniscule bit of 
uniqueness that may or may not be present in every band.  Take it from someone 
who knows. Rehashed music gets really old, really fast.  You may not agree with 
me now, but someday you will.  

As just a suggestion check out some: punk, hardcore, industrial, and gothic 
music (if you haven't already). You'll be surprised with how much you can relate
to this stuff.  There's no need to branch out with top 40 or eMpTyV.  Just look 
in the "alternative" section at your local record shop.  This catch-all category 
can offer hundreds of bands that have uniqueness and originality with a theme
you can understand and music you can appreciate.  If you don't believe me just 
consider that it took nearly 5 years for the rest of the metalheads (and the 
world) to discover Ministry.  People even think they're some new metal band.  
Listening to an industrial influence can quickly open you up to a TON of other 
great bands WITH originality AND great songs.  Thanks god my friend got "The
Land of Rape and Honey" when it came out and let me have a listen.  Music was
never quite the same after that.  The speed I craved with a twist that was
new to me.

-Chris

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++                                                                           
 +      Chris Georgoulias                                                    +
 + North Carolina State University                                           +
 +     cmgeorg@eos.ncsu.edu                                                  +
 +                                                                           +
 +                                                                           +
 + "Aah... who cares about school...who cares about life...who cares about   +
 +  me.  Not me, that's for sure!  Look!...(punches himself in the head)..   +
 +  ...I just don't care!"                                                   +
 +                                       -Vyvian,  The Young Ones            +                                             
 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++