Extreme Metal

My extreme metal enjoyment ended sometime in the late eighties or early nineties. I went out of the loop and missed out on the rise of death metal, death doom, black metal (second wave) and so on. When I heard these deep, growling, roaring vocals I was dismayed. Whatever happened to singing like Dio, Dickenson, Halford and so on? This is what they call heavy metal these days?

I took a big leap getting into Opeth. That was a few years ago. I accpeted the so-called death vocals and even recognized and admired the talent and skill required to execute them. Then this year I suddenly really got into death metal. I said initially that I liked only melodic death metal but this turned out to not be true. These days I really want to hear technical death metal, but also death doom and black metal.

Now here's the thing. First of all, there are just so many bands out there. Where does one begin? And many of those bands already have a dozen albums or so. It's overwhelming! I watch YouTube videos like Top Ten Death Metal Bands, Top 50 Old School Death Metal Albums, Top 100 Death Metal Songs, and of course similar compilations of black metal and even grindcore and the likes just to educate myself. I watch videos of people discussing albums and sub genres (the Banger TV Lock Horns series has been very helpful) and all these help me to find important bands and albums. But the journey into this new territory has more challenges.

I buy CDs. It's the best way for me to really give my attention to an album not only because I spent money on it but because I have made it "mine". A CD is "mine" once I have decided that I want it. But buying means I am limited to how much new music I can acquire at once. When I check out a band like Darkthrone, Enslaved, Obituary, Cryptopsy and so on, I am faced with the decision of what album or albums to get. Do I buy the debut to see how it all started? Do I buy the "genre-defining album" that makes all the video compilations and lists? Do I buy the highest rated on MMA? Do I buy the latest releases? What I have been doing recently is checking out all of the above by listening on YouTube and then choosing which albums sound good to me first. If I love the album, I want one or two more. If I don't think it's that awesome, I want to know which albums are better.

Ultimately, I hope to own two or three albums by a few dozen bands, so this is a long-term project to be sure. It is like a kind of disease, don't you think? An addiction.

That's all I wanted to express. Feel free to comment. Thanks to everybody who has been readng my reviews and especially to those who have left comments. I feel I have friends here! Cheers!

There is way too much music to be experienced, agreed. I often go to the used music stores and let whatever presents itself to me be the deciding factor but i also actively scout things out and order online. I don't really focus on any particular sub genre but i do find myself working extra hours to afford the luxury of buying as much music as i can stand. Currently i have hundreds of albums on the "to listen to" pile which means i have put the brakes on new purchasing for now because i've run out of room!

It is a godsend for sure because I can just keep clicking on the next band and the next. I'm learning now to have a little more patience when previewing albums. I shouldn't just go, "Sounds good; buy it!" because later I might find it wasn't as good as I first thought. And if there are ten albums in the band's discography, it's nice to be able to listen and choose which one will be my best gateway album.

Yeah, they can often be expensive or hard to find. I decided on getting Obituary's Darkest Day and Amazon was expensive. Discogs had some reasonably priced options but one seller sold the album the day I placed my order and another said he can't find the CD. Then sometimes the classic album is a bit pricy but others are cheaper. Immolation's first two albums are over $20 but some others are under $10.

Nile. I like them!

In the last few years, I've exceeded 100 new CDs each year. My wife would kill me. But I never spend money on much else: drinks, eating out, movies, etc. CDs and the occasional book or article of clothing when necessary. At least Amazon marketplace usually has cheap options. Otherwise I search discogs for the stuff that's too expensive or unavailable from Amazon.

Finding new stuff is exciting like a hunt. I loved doing this back in my junior high school days. It's something that never left me. I have a coworker who knows a lot of European black metal and death metal bands. He also likes punk and grindcore. But technical extreme metal is "stress music" for him. He's good to bounce ideas off though.

Artwork is sometimes what makes me want an album. Heaven Shall Burn's Wanderer stayed in my cart for months because I wanted that mountain photo! Ha ha. But great artwork is part of the joy of having the CD. And prog and metal have the best artwork overall.

Yeah, I should start looking at RYM more. I don't think I use it to its full potential. Thanks for the tip!

I'll try to respond to this one.

In my hometown, the local record shop had a metal section and new releases on Banzai were always exciting. I got into Bathory, Celtic Frost, Kreator, Exodus, Omen, Ruthless, Possessed and many others thanks to that metal corner. Downtown Vancouver was more punk oriented with a lot of punk and alternative stuff in the small record stores.

These days I can find almost everything through Amazon and I have accounts in four countries. Basically, I check out stuff on YouTube and then go to Amazon. If that fails, I got to Discogs. It's so much better than a record store for me because while the record store might have had an album or two by a band, I can usually find the entire discography for sale on line. I find visiting a place like Disc Union not worth it because I always forget what I am looking for or I can't find it, or the price of a used CD in good condition can be more expensive than a new one from the Amazon market place.