New Article/Scratching The Surface

Scratching The Surface
By Eric

Trivium, Korn, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Bullet For My Valentine. Each is a band that has achieved Immense commercial success as a "Heavy Metal" act. We've all heard them. And for all of you who liked them, it was probably your first introduction to Metal too. I'm willing to guess you went out and bought a bunch of their CDs, probably a good bit of their merchandise, and maybe even went to a show.

I'm also willing to guess the first time you told another "Metalhead" about it, they called you something along the lines of a poser. Want to know why? Because, those bands aren't really Metal. They're all Mainstream bands who only have a very vague Metal influence. (Unless we're talking about Trivium, Killswitch Engage, or Bullet For My Valentine, but more on them later) This means that they aren't Metal. Take Korn or Slipknot for example. Both are "Nu-Metal", which takes influence from Metal, Alternative Rock, and Rap. But you don't see Rap fans running around praising Korn for being a good rap act. That's because having an influence of something (and in the case of the Metal aspect, a small one) isn't just enough to classify you as that genre of music.

"But Eric, what about Trivium, their like super hardcore Thrash!?!?!?" No, not by a long shot. Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine, and many other bands like Job For A Cowboy are what is called "Metalcore." Basically, it means that what we have is a Punk band doing a horrible impersonation of their Favorite Metal bands, and Trivium is a perfect example. Their song "Anthem" uses a riff that seems a bit too similar to Meagadeth's "Skin O' My Teeth" to be a coincidence. You might say "You Fag, they grew up Listening to Metallica/Meagadeth/whoever, of course they'll sound like them." Well you know what? Metallica grew up listening to Diamond Head, but when I listen to them I don't hear something that sounds exactly like what Diamond Head has written. There is a difference from taking influence and blatantly copying the riff that someone else wrote. Taking influence would imply that you liked what say, Metallica had done, so your wrote something that, although Fast and Heavy, was still distinctly your own music.

At this point, you probably think All this article is about is bashing these bands. Well, it's actually to encourage you to go check out the bands other than just the ones MTV thinks are good looking enough to put on the air. You know why Trivium steals riffs from bands like Metallica and Megadeth and At The Gates? (Other than having no creative ability) Because those bands are Good. (Or great, depending on who you ask) Maybe instead of being annoyed by everyone making fun of you for liking Trivium, why not try looking up At The Gates, and see why Trivium thought they were so cool. Or look up Metallica and other Thrash bands. There is so much more to Heavy Metal than a bunch of Sell outs ripping off better bands. If you have trouble finding a New band to look at, as a friend or Relative who knows more about the Genre. No Metal friends? Ask me or any other internet people with a legitimate Grasp on the Genre. If you'll stop bothering us about bands we don't like, we'd be more than happy to give you some recommendations. No internet? Then try some of the CDs we review. I'm sure you'll find something you like, since Metal is one of the most varied forms of music there is. But above all, I want to encourage you to go out and think for yourself musically. If after you've listened to many underground bands
and you still like Korn or Trivium, that's perfectly alright, and if you don't that's fine too. It's only annoying because so many people choose to simply to believe whatever MTV or VH1 throws at them and call anyone else wrong, whether they are or not. (Metal isn't the only Genre victim to this,
sadly. My sympathies to Punk Fans,) don’t let the media tell you who to like. Think for yourself, form your own opinions. Most of all, don't just lie back and let yourself be another poser when you could just as easily be more educated, and probably find more music you like too.