Metalbore

Finger nails scraping down a blackboard. A dentist's drill breaking the enamel to burrow into the soft nerve beneath. Feedback squeals as the karaoke singer stands too close to the speakers. Did that make you wince?

Metalcore, or metallic hardcore, or deathcore, or, in fact, any metal subgenre ending in -core is very popular at the moment. Identikit bands are springing up all over the place, each sounding subtly different in musical style, but not so much as you could identify any one of them without knowing who recorded a particular song. Not the songs are drastically different from each other anyway.

The vocalists all seem to sound the same, either with the undeveloped whine of the pubescent vocalist or the uncontrolled screaming of the supposed chorus, it's hard to distinguish any one from the other. With a half-octave range in the clean vocals, and no discernable attempt at musical accomplishment in the screams it would be difficult to classify any of them as vocally gifted.

And to me, it is as bad as any of the toe-curling, wincing, sickening sounds I listed a moment ago.

Now, I am well aware of my curmudgeonly status. I'm sure I'm just too old and jaded for all this. Or at least, that's what I'll be told. But really, I have come to find commercial music (that is, music produced with commercial gain as a principal driving force) and music that imitates it to the point that they become indiscernible to be entirely tiresome. There is little or no artistic merit to it. It's being loud and obnoxious for the sake of it.

Speaking of obnoxious, I have noticed something else. I have been going to metal gigs for a long time. Have I ever been pushed, jostled, unduly molested or in any way inconvenienced by another metal fan? Honestly, no. The pit is there if you want it, and if you don't, you're free to stand as still as you like.

Well, not until recently anyway. If anyone is causing a problem at a metal gig, you can be certain that they are under the age of 23 and think that to be metal they have to be objectionable. The same problems occur at every single "popular" music gig I've ever been to. Fighting in the crowd, beer being thrown directly at other people, barging to the front and shoving other people out of the way. The sort of behaviour that ruins gigs for everyone else.

From bitter experience I have discovered metal fans to be the ones most likely to help each other enjoy the music, and pop music fans to be the ones most likely to behave like wild animals. I know which gig I'd rather go to. But what happens when those wild animals get into something as deliberately repulsive as metalcore? We all suffer for their misbehaviour.

A great example occurred recently. Bring Me The Horizon, a band I have been previously bored to tears by, had the power to their gear turned off when they played Wembley. They said it was because they were "too awesome". In reality, it was because they were trying to incite the crowd to violence. The band then destroyed their own kit. They looked for all the world like stroppy children, although I'm sure in their own minds they were rock and roll gods.

Idiots. They're making it worse for the rest of us who just want to enjoy the music, the atmosphere, the socialising and who don't particularly want to be barged into by kung-fu kicking chavs with floppy fringes.

End of rant.

Bring Me The Horizon streaming new album now!

Bring Me The Horizon are streaming their entire new album, There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret, on their MySpace page ahead of the October 4th release date.

First listen, I'll admit, left me a bit underwhelmed. Possibly because my expectations of it were so high. It seemed that the much promised genre-spanning variety was overwhelmed by their existing post-hardcore sound. Maybe further listening will get me over the first reaction hump.

In other news, I've been listening to Volbeat's latest offering, Beyond Hell / Above Heaven, on Spotify while I waited for pay day to come round, and I love it. Definitely going to splash the cash, as soon as I find someone who has it in stock.

Variety is the spice of life

Over the next few weeks, I shall be looking forward to three new albums by three very different bands. But what makes these albums similar is how very different they are. Not from each other, but within themselves, track by track. In the same vein as Pain Of Salvation's Road Salt One, a mixture of styles is brought together to form a cohesive whole. Not just metal, but hard rock, soft rock, punk and even classical influences.

First up is the venerable Apocalyptica, with their seventh studio album. The cunningly titled 7th Symphony looks set to bring a fresh feel to Apocalyptica's music, with a wide range of styles that marks each song as a unique within the set. I've had a quick listen on Spotify and the results are certainly pleasing. I'm reserving a proper listen and full judgement for the actual release when it plops onto my doormat.

Next is Volbeat with their new album Beyond Hell, Above Heaven. The band are already known for employing a range of styles to their music, with a diverse set of genres including heavy metal, punk and rockabilly under their belts. As well as the genre, tempo and mood of the music changing for each song, there will be several cameos from other artists including Barney from Napalm Death, Miland Petrozza from Kreator and Jakob Oelund from Taggy Tones. Adding these other talents to the mix will certainly spice up the new album.

Finally, a Sheffield band that up until last week I'd never heard of. Bring Me The Horizon have a change of pace in their new, very lengthily titled album, There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret. Having listened to their 2009 album Suicide Season, I'm not all that enamoured with the sound. But it's all set to change. The new album is said to have a huge variety, covering all of the band's influences and personal preferences. It should definitely be worth a listen.