# Calling All (Knowledgeable) Metalheads; it's subgenre time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300 "2009-05-22T15:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/21 "2009-05-23T22:47:29Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > Kudos so far. Just spent an hour or so clicking through links and getting my learn on. (That Lair of the Minotaur video is hilarious, by the way. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more). Glad so many have enjoyed the clip. > [@](#): > > A few follow-ups: > > One thing that’s always struck me with this genre in general is the sheer technical skill. Whether you like the music or not, most metal instrumentalists have serious, serious chops. My question then: are they any that _don’t_? The Sex Pistols, for example, were famous for their near lack of musicianship but are revered as a quintessential punk act. Is there an analogous metal band? Or is technicality basically a prerequisite? It’s basically a pre-req, but I always love listening to the early Venom albums. They weren’t exactly what anyone would call “proficient” and the recording quality is pretty abysmal. But without them, we wouldn’t have Slayer or countless other metal bands. They were/are very influential with their look and sound and lyrical content. > [@](#): > > Metal also, I think, is viewed as an almost wholly male genre. While I’m aware there are female fronted bands and female metalheads, is this a fair assessment? Going to metal shows in the late '90s, I was struck by the overwhelming dudeness of the clubs. Has this changed or are you still looking into the audience and seeing a vast majority of males? Shows I’ve been to in the past couple of months were more mixed than not. Devildriver - 65M 35F Opeth - close to 50/50 Queensryche - at least 50/50 if not 45/55 Kreator/Exodus - 70/30 maybe Municipal Waste - 65/35 maybe 70/30 I don’t think I’ve seen a 80M 20F type crowd since going to punk rock shows back in the late 80s maybe, but metal is still definitely more appealing to males than to females. It’s unfortunate, but wadayaganadoo? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/22 "2009-05-24T16:56:16Z")
Another comment on the over genreficaion. While wandering around on YouTube, I found [Roman Metal](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l38JxFUCh0I)! Link complete with cheesy, but awesome, video. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/23 "2009-05-24T17:27:48Z")
Just popping in that I appreciate the thread. Not much to add, which is hilarious because in my circles people think of me as a metal guy, but that’s simply because I love and listen to metal as a genre - but I really haven’t kept up the same way I have with other music - I just got the latest Mastodon and another band called Saviours, but that’s about it recently… Loving the **Blood Island Raiders -** **Bo** , your comment on the YouTube link about them sounding like the first Danzig album: delivered sounds spot on. I love the intelligible, melodic vocals. The “vocal issue” has been one of the biggest things that keeps me from digging into metal - I just don’t do Cookie Monster unless it is just used really, really sparingly - basically like Anselmo used it with Pantera - and led by really great standard heavy vocals. That\*\* Lair of the Minotaur \*\*video - well, whaddya say? Interesting music, growly/Cookie Monster-ish vocals and the cheesiest video you could imagine, in terms of the “performances,” the juxtaposition of warriors with t-shirt wearing metal dudes and the unfortunate editing (sword! headless neck! t-shirt dude howling!). I enjoy enough to make me smile, but not for all the right reasons. I don’t think they are trying to have their tongues in their cheeks - are they? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/24 "2009-05-24T20:41:12Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Just popping in that I appreciate the thread. Not much to add, which is hilarious because in my circles people think of me as a metal guy, but that’s simply because I love and listen to metal as a genre - but I really haven’t kept up the same way I have with other music - I just got the latest Mastodon and another band called Saviours, but that’s about it recently… > > Loving the **Blood Island Raiders -** **Bo** , your comment on the YouTube link about them sounding like the first Danzig album: delivered sounds spot on. I love the intelligible, melodic vocals. The “vocal issue” has been one of the biggest things that keeps me from digging into metal - I just don’t do Cookie Monster unless it is just used really, really sparingly - basically like Anselmo used it with Pantera - and led by really great standard heavy vocals. Yeah, it can take a while to get used to CM vox, and some people’s CM is better than others. It took me years before I could listen to someone like Bolt Thrower or Cannibal Corpse, and while I still may not like every death metal song, I no longer care and often really like the CM vox. But there’s nothing wrong with a good, clean-but-growly voice. Lots of stoner metal has great vocals: [Orange Goblin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEEo-smePjc), [OG again](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJoJjH_Zmck), [Kyuss](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG2D8xNkXDE), [Slo Burn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktjPv9lMYo0) (John Garcia’s next band after Kyuss), [Nebula](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R51_1qePI_E&feature=PlayList&p=BFF63D7C645EB22E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=44), etc. > [@](#): > > That\*\* Lair of the Minotaur \*\*video - well, whaddya say? Interesting music, growly/Cookie Monster-ish vocals and the cheesiest video you could imagine, in terms of the “performances,” the juxtaposition of warriors with t-shirt wearing metal dudes and the unfortunate editing (sword! headless neck! t-shirt dude howling!). I enjoy enough to make me smile, but not for all the right reasons. I don’t think they are trying to have their tongues in their cheeks - are they? Well, [the band had this to say](http://www.lairoftheminotaur.com/site/?p=35) after the video was completed: > [@Lair of the Minotaur](#): > > We’ve spent a long fucking time working this. A year ago, Gary Smithson (directed videos for High on Fire, Exodus, Goatwhore, etc.) approached us at the Murderfest in LA and said he’d like to direct a video for us. I told him, “Sure, but I don’t want to make a normal video…”. > > Here we are a year later. We set out to make an epic metal video/short horror film that truly visualized this blood drenched song. With a limited budget. And a lot of help from friends. Thanks to everyone who worked on this! So I’d say yeah; they knew exactly what they wanted, what resources they had, and they nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/25 "2009-05-25T11:57:47Z")
Ah - more power to them then! ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/26 "2009-05-25T12:30:14Z")
Great links, **Snowborder Bo** , I picked up Orange Goblin and The Refused because of previous posts by you and now several more from this thread. Thanks very much. I think **Ultrafilter** ’s breakdown of the genres was nice and simple and written at a good level for what the OP asked. Not suitable for creating playlists from but good for dipping your toe in the water if you haven’t been keeping up with things. It’s funny to see Opeth at the end of that list as generally unclassifiable because, as I read through, I was wondering where they could fit. They mix bits and pieces of each style wonderfully. Great band. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/27 "2009-05-25T12:34:50Z")
I forgot to add: If you go to [this site](http://www.metal-archives.com/release.php?id=189300) you can read the lyrics to LotM’s **War Metal Battle Master**. I know they are hard to understand when just hearing them for the first time, but you can see that the imagery in the video fits the song lyrics perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/28 "2009-05-25T12:37:22Z")
> [@HongKongFooey](#): > > Great links, **Snowborder Bo** , I picked up Orange Goblin and The Refused because of previous posts by you and now several more from this thread. Thanks very much. Your very welcome. Finding new music is passion of mine, and I’m always thrilled when some1 introduces me to a good band I haven’t heard before. It makes me equally happy to do that for others. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300/29 "2009-05-25T12:51:02Z")
A genre we haven’t mentioned yet that is also enjoying new interest is prog metal. While a lot of it is terrible wanking by over-reaching idiots, bands like [Porcupine Tree](http://www.thesyn.com/porcupinetree/video/) (sorry, the edit version was all I could find of this song)\*, [Lacuna Coil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqwH_3waNgg) and [Mastodon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Vf5syTfmE) have the chops and the songwriting skills to pull of this kind of thing, and the results of their efforts are usually unfuckingbelievable. - - “mogadon” is the UK trade name for prozac [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-knowledgeable-metalheads-its-subgenre-time/497300.md?page=1)