Metal Heads Assemble!!

[BoneSnapDeez]

Holy shit. I didn't realize that Proscriptor, the vocalist/drummer of Absu, once auditioned for Slayer. What a boss.

[AppleQueso]

Absu is from Plano, TX I think. Woo home state.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah, they rule.

The Sun of Tiphareth is one of the first extreme metal records I ever listened to, and what sucked me right into the genre.

[AppleQueso]

The bands that got me into more extreme metal... Napalm Death, Death, and Bolt Thrower I'd say.

...I guess my tastes haven't changed much!

[Sasha_Blue]

My first was Morbid Angel's Altar of Madnass

[brunoafh]

Somehow I've never really gotten into Bolt Thrower even though I'm pretty sure it would be right down my alley. I mean, I've heard them before, but I've yet to sit down and really go through their albums. I should really should sooner or later.

[Forlorn Drifter]

LARP black metal?

Still doesn't explain the girls in the tub...

TRVE NORVVEGIAN VVHITE VVOMEN... or something... I like really pale girls with angular faces and light eyes. Should I be a black metal fan?

Honestly, I think black metal fans aren't really satanic and hateful, they have just come to accept that they are the bad guys in their LARP group.

Just got back from an FFA trip, I need me some metal. Throwing down on some Pentagram right now.

[Menegrothx]

Few pages back there was talk of how metal used to be more mainstream

^Chuck Schuldiner of Death being interviewed on MTV back in 1991. I've never watched MTV (though MTV's Downtown, Celebrity deathmatch and Aeon Flux rule) but from what I've gathered, something like that would never happen nowadays.

[AppleQueso]

Few pages back there was talk of how metal used to be more mainstream

^Chuck Schuldiner of Death being interviewed on MTV back in 1991. I've never watched MTV (though MTV's Downtown, Celebrity deathmatch and Aeon Flux rule) but from what I've gathered, something like that would never happen nowadays.

Yeah in the early 90s death metal was gaining quite a bit of traction actually. Then Earache did the Columbia records deal, and everything went to hell. A couple of bands attempted to simply their sound to appeal to a wider audience, but the result ended up being a sound too extreme for casual listeners and too poppy for death metal fans. I guess the one exception is probably Cannibal Corpse, which remains one of the most popular bands of the era despite the fact that they really aren't all that accessible sounding.

Early 90s was a bright spot for death metal though in terms of popularity. Just like how the early 80s was a bright spot for NWOBHM and the mid-late 80s was a bright spot for thrash. When I talked about the underground "bubbling over," those eras are what I was referring to.

If you want a chuckle, Beavis and Butthead did their usual music video commentary on stuff from Death, Morbid Angel, and Napalm Death.

Somehow I've never really gotten into Bolt Thrower even though I'm pretty sure it would be right down my alley. I mean, I've heard them before, but I've yet to sit down and really go through their albums. I should really should sooner or later.

Those Once Loyal is a fan favorite, but honestly you'd be good with any album besides Mercenary or Honour Valour Pride. Not bad albums by any means, but certainly weaker spots in their discography that you'd be better off checking out later.

A lot of people say the band is kinda one note and every album sounds the same, but I really don't agree with that. There's a clear progression going on from album to album. The earlier stuff very downtuned and kinda "grindy," with plenty of blastbeats and such, and as they progress they add more of a melodic sense to their sound (without ever turning into a melodeath band I should mention) and pretty much drop the blasts entirely. There's a constant emphasis on simple, straightforward riffs with strong hooks throughout their career though.

[BoneSnapDeez]

"Covenant" was on a major label.

Those Columbia Napalm Death and Carcass records weren't very good. And they were still way too extreme for a mainstream audience.

Signing to a major label doesn't always spell success for a metal band. Remember the Cradle of Filth album released by Sony? Exactly.