Print Music Media To Be Usurped By Twitter And The Blogosphere?

Decibel writer Christopher R Weingarten at 140 Characters Conference

Decibel writer Christopher R. Weingarten says the printed music review is dead in the internet age. In an extremely interesting speech given at the 140 Characters Conference in New York, Weingarten, a freelance music writer for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Revolver and The Village Voice, states that with Twitter and blogs the medium of printed reviews are unnecessary. He believes as people can either read reviews as soon as the record company shifts the promo CD, or better yet download the album itself, people have no need for printed reviews. He says, “You don’t need a critic to tell you if something’s good. You can listen to it.” (Watch the video above)

With online music media maturing at the rate it is, and reviews often being one reason why someone buys a magazine, print music media disappearing or shrinking to the point of evaporation could be a real scenario.

However, the music magazine – metal publications like Metal Hammer, Decibel, Terrorizer, Revolver, Kerrang and Rock Sound included – will stay alive and prosper deep into the future and there are many reasons why.

Devin Townsend: ‘Heavy Music Is A Defence Mechanism’

 

Devin Townsend

Devin Townsend is seemingly incapable of giving a bad interview and a recent conversation with website Stream of Consciousness keeps the form. Devin made an interesting suggestion, that many people use heavy music as a ‘defence mechanism’. When asked about the heavier edge for forthcoming record Deconstruction he explained some fans reacted negatively to the mellow tones in Ki, his most recent album. That they only liked Devin’s heavier output caused him to question why some people choose to like only heavy music.

 

Honestly, at the root of it, I think humans are really terrified and I think a lot of people who really love heavy music love it because it’s a way for them to protect themselves. If you put this thing forward and are like “I’m going to scare people with my music”, then no one’s going to get to the root of the fact that maybe it’s just you that are terrified and that’s your way of protecting yourself, that’s your defense mechanism. It’s one thing to say, “Oh I’m mad at God”, but maybe you’re really just mad at your father, you know? And I think that all these themes… that’s the thing that’s really interesting to me about heavy music now it’s like yes I love heavy music absolutely, but man to think that’s the only thing that I’m able to offer and that’s the only thing that certain people are willing to accept from me?  You know, it’s not like I’m pissed off about it, but it’s kind of like are you sure you really want to know why you really like this with the exclusion of everything else?

Devin raises a pertinent point and it’s interesting that it is being discussed. It’s worth outlining that he’s not claiming all metal fans like the music due to misplaced anger, only that the more narrow minded elitist may be using it as a barrier and unnecessarily blocking out other music. He explains further:

Lessons In Musical Progression From The Rotted

The Rotted

Metal fans can be incredibly precious when it comes to their favourite bands. Whereas in the realms of pop music a performer is gazed upon with wonder when their record company forces them to “re-invent” themselves, anything greater than a slight shift from their original core values can cause metal fans to abandon their once favourite acts.

Although it might seem petty, this is acceptable to a point. It’s only fair that in the relationship between band and follower that the artists maintain the same essence that drew those people to being fans in the first place. Like it or not the first few albums are almost a contract between the band and their fans; a statement of intent declaring who they are and what they’re about. So it’s no surprise when a band moves their boundaries that fans shout their opposition. It’s fair to expect a Megadeth album from Megadeth, not a venture into radio rock.

A band like Slayer, for example, established themselves as a heavy thrash band in their early albums and that’s how it has stayed. They have developed, but not by changing their style completely. They’ve always been heavy thrash but their song writing skill has improved, creating a better more rounded version of their core style. As a result Slayer as one of the biggest metal bands in the world has remained a constant.

There is another way, however, to appease the masses while still allowing a band the ability to diversify, and The Rotted have it exactly right.

Future Legends Of Metal 1: Chimaira

It’s only logical to wonder who will be the Judas Priests and Iron Maidens of the next generation. Bands who are trying to grab your attention now will be name dropped by younger acts down the line as the impetus for their musical journey that will in turn inspire others. It’s hard to know now which bands might be future legends of metal but it’s possible to make an educated guess…

Chimaira (2001-Present)

Chimaira

As you take in the positive press for their brand new album, The Infection, it slowly becomes evident that Chimaira are carving a legacy for themselves. Their fifth album in eight years has grabbed another set of high ratings and deservedly; it’s yet more improvement upon their already respected song writing skill. It seems despite potentially dangerous swerves from course they have persevered where others would fail and have always remained on the tip of metal fans’ awareness. Constantly improving musically while staying true to their post-debut sound, Chimaira have kept their fan base and relevance despite the scenes and trends they have seen pass. 

They might look unlikely heroes as they stand, after all they aren’t selling stadiums or frowning from the cover of every magazine, but a respect is slowly building. While the snobbery that is rife in the metal community caused many to push Chimaira off their radar five or six years ago due to being on the roster of the genre’s largest label, Roadrunner Records, the band still gained a solid fanbase and wrote even sturdier albums. When Roadrunner declined their option on the band after the self-titled LP, the group moved to current label, Nuclear Blast, a place where metal elitists could finally begin to drop their prejudice and the band received the respect they were due.

Album Sale Injustice: Burning Human 190 – Impending Doom 4,300

Impending Doom, Burning Human

More popular bands outsell less well known acts all the time. No surprise. What is amazing is when an inferior band outsells a superior one by more than 22 times; even more amazing when that inferior band are on a smaller label. That’s the case between average christian deathcore band, Impending Doom and brilliant death metal band, Burning Human. It’s enough to make you seriously doubt the metal-buying public.

When you hear that Burning Human, the death metal side project of Jason Bittner from Shadows Fall, sold only 190 copies of their long-delayed album Resurrection Through Fire in the first week of release, compared to the 4,300 copies christian deathcore band, Impending Doom shifted of their latest record The Serpent Servant in its first week, it seems crazy.

Impending Doom aren’t a terrible band, but they’re one of that recent troupe referred to as death metal when they’re distinctly deathcore and, just like tons of other young bands, like to have themselves a Meshuggah-moment in their songs now and then; none of which are particularly inspiring. Burning Human on the other hand feature Shadows Fall’s impressive Jason Bittner and the quality of their material far outshines that which Impending Doom have put together. Impending Doom are on Facedown Records, a small independent christian label, while Burning Human are on Koch Records, America’s #1 independent record company.

So, why did Impending Doom, an uninspiring band with the small leverage of Facedown outsell a better band with heavy weight of Koch Records?

Fear Factory’s Return

Within the last few days Fear Factory have ‘reunited’. The old inverted commas are there because can it really be called a reunion when only two members of the classic line up are present?

Dino Cazares and Burton C. Bell have brought Fear Factory back from the semi-grave (not sure they actually split up in the first place) and grabbed Byron Stroud and Gene Hoglan for the bass and drum spots respectively. While they are excellent choices for those instruments, and should have any metal fan psyched to hear the material they’ll come up with, why have the two most obvious choices been over looked? Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera.

Are Podcasts The New Tape Trading?

Stories about the golden days of tape trading are rife within metal lore. Band members, A&R reps and writers talk about the thrill of opening a padded package back in the day and lapping up the contents as it bubbled from their worn out double tape decks.

Those of us unfortunate/fortunate enough to encounter metal in the modern day have never had the chance to experience that particular excitement. For as great as MySpace can be there’s a certain amount of envy tied to the thought of the exhilaration tape trading produced. Although the internet allows a hugely advantageous dissemination of music, in turn it strips away all of the mystery. The shock of hearing Napalm Death’s Scum for the first time, for example, would be immensely stunted if you could browse the band’s personal profiles at the same time. It’s often the mystique surrounding a band or a recording that makes it so magnetic.

It seems modern bands feel the same also. Earlier this week the great Metal Sucks reported that Trivium’s, Matt Heafy asked fans to burn a top ten CD of the band’s music, pass it on to friends and encourage them to do the same from his Twitter page. Heafy said: “Make tons of copies, pass it to everyone. Let’s recreate the tape trade virally and all that shit.” While that’s a great and active way to promote your band’s music, sadly it’s unlikely to trigger the glory days of tape trading.

But, does that mean you’ll never have the chance to listen eagerly to a hand-picked and lovingly recorded selection of underground metal? Perhaps not.

Ozzy Is Paid Homage In Hollywood Undead Track

It appears Ozzy Osbourne’s metal classic ‘Crazy Train’ has gained a tribute from the most unlikely of sources – LA crunk metal crew Hollywood Undead. The masked rappers used the opening riff from the Ozzy song, rewriting it for keyboard in the lead track ‘Undead’ from their recent album Swan Songs. See for yourself (NSFW):

Machine Head Used To Look Really Ridiculous

The year was 1999, nu-metal was at its mainstream peak, and Machine Head had just released ‘The Burning Red’. Unfortunately, for said release Machine Head decided to forget their reputable past and, for a tiny portion of time, sell out. The result, as we can see with the benefit of hindsight, was quite appalling:

Robb Flynn went from looking like a 90s post-thrash legend to wearing neon orange tracksuit jackets, and the whole band took a step too far into the bizarre baggy jeans, cyber-punk-hair abyss.

Dave Mustaine’s Relationship With Terrible Lyrics Set To Deepen

Judging by Dave Mustaine’s latest update we’re in for some more odd lyrics on Megadeth’s forthcoming album – based on some dubious track titles. Names in the pipeline include ‘How the Movie Ends’ and ‘This Day We Fight’. The latter doesn’t sound so bad until Dave tells us it was, “influenced by the ’Lord of the Rings’.” Oh dear Dave, oh dear.

‘How the Movie Ends’ sounds about as epic as Coundown to Extinction’s ‘High Speed Dirt’, the four-minute homage to…sky-diving. OK it’s not a terrible thing to write a song about if you’re maybe obsessed with sky-diving but why do you think people would want to listen to your heartfelt lyrics recounting your experiences?

There’s no disagreeing with Mustaine’s musical abilities, his huge influence on metal and his penning of some freaking stunning riffs but if we’re being honest this isn’t the first time Dave’s subjected us to choice lyrics.