"I don't want to preach, but I would like to see metal become more of a united thing. I'm tired of people breaking things down into categories like thrash metal and death metal. I think people tend to stick to one category, and I want people to support all kinds of bands, whether it be Slayer or Queensryche or Death. I miss the days when it was acceptable to listen to everything from Priest and Maiden to Slayer and Venom." -Chuck Schuldiner
how old are you? no offense, but if you were around when "metal" started to include bands like poison or warrant, you would appreciate the many niches given to metal now! When it started and you said you were into metal, everyone was cool and knew it meant Sabbath, Maiden or Deep Purple, but later when someone said they liked metal I didnt appreciate some knob asking if i had the new Crue Cd or had heard the latest Ratt cassette! So yeah, I blame hair bands for that shit.
I like all those bands. They are still in different categories. They all invoke or cater to different moods.. When I'm happy I listen to upbeat metal, when I'm stoned and tired I listen to Sleep and when I'm angry I listen to pantera, all of which are metal, but without classification, metal would all start to sound the same.
I really get what Chuck was saying here but I don't agree at all. First of all, metal is not being broken in different categories: metal just has become that wide and thus it's only logical that such diverse subgenres have different names. In fact, to try to unify all kinds of metal (and it's fans) is really quite pointless cause the only thing some metal has in common is that it's all categorized under metal. This also makes it quite pointless to worry about new kinds of metal as well as trends because you can't and don't have to like all metal. If you don't like it but other peeps do the best you can do is ignore it and focus on what you do like. Fans of nu metal and Limp bizkit don't give a shit what you think is true. It's about the music of a band and if some people make the mistake to think metal is an absolute thing and other bands need to conform to the true metalheads' image of it... well, you're just waisting your breath. I understand this point of view though, I even had a similar view and also got my panties in a twist when bands like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot emerged on the scene. Instead of thinking they ruined 'metal' (there's not a uniform thing as metal anymore, metal is an umbrella term for lots of different kinds of music) I now see that you shouldn't bother yourself with certain stuff just because it's also metal. Of course I can see the logic in why genres like power metal and black metal are more 'true' than genres with really different styles and other influences like some industrial, nu metal etc. etc. but man, it's always the same song since most black metal fans piss on power metal etc. Most conversations and statements about true metal really get kind of subjective and/or elitist rubbish and ends in the lame sport of bashing what you don't like. All fine of course, but don't expect openminded people (and metalheads too) to take you seriously.
It is easy to categorize all the genres and sub genres and the sub sub genres of metal. They provide us with a label to describe any given band. While the labels are not always accurate, they can at least give us some insight into what kind of music a band is playing, if you know full well that you do not like metalcore, and someone suggests a band to you saying hows its this really sick metalcore band, then you might listen to one song to make sure you do not like it, but your not going to go much further then that. We need the labels, we use labels to define everything in our world. Whats for dinner tonight? Food? No point going further because without labels I could not even tell you what food group this substance happens to be from. Your a vegan you say? That is too bad, I wish I could tell you whats in this substance, but I cant label it. Wouldn't you like to know what is in your food before you taste it? I do personally have a slight elitist additude when it comes to metal I must admit, and I am not very fond of hardcore kids swinging their arms around, but that is just the kind of thing they do. People often heavily judge nu metal bands for example. Slipknot, Korn, Mudvayne are all easy targets. But not everyone can become a metal head on their first time listening to Opeth. I personally started heavy and discovered other stuff along the way, was listening to Lamb of God and DevilDriver before I knew about anything "lighter", but that is not the case with most kids now a days. Nu metal became a gateway for my generation, even people who do not like metal can recognize the name of Slipknot, which means that a larger audience of people is being subjected to a taste of the metal world. I doubt as many people would love metal so much if they did not get eased into it by some buffer bands. They started with a few "lighter" bands and gave them the necessary appreciation to either stick with what they like or explore the genre more. My point being is that labels are necessary, and that arguing over metal genres is pointless. Thanks to the broad range of playing styles, our beloved beast will not be confined to growing in only one direction, but many. With room to grow, our kind will not flutter and die out, but perhaps grow and recruit larger numbers to our cause, who knows, maybe one day the Dethklok scenario could come true.
