Stop that shit, EmeraldEdge. Subject closed, he doesn't like extreme metal because he's cool and all, we got it. Better talk about other things or this thread gonna be locked real soon.

i dunno about you guys, but when i started listening to metal i actually began with extreme metal, and had to work my way back to thrash and classic heavy metal because i thought it was too soft in the beginning.

You kid, need to fuck off and grow up.

Firstly, liking extreme metal more doesn't mean you abandon listening to all other forms of metal. I like steak much more than pizza, it doesn't mean I will never visit Domino's again. What you're thinking of is something called a false dichotomy, which you might learn about in school next year in fifth grade.

Secondly, you claim to have an impression that this is a place where not liking extreme metal doesn't get you "respect, homie!" , yet if you pay attention you're the only who's brought up anything remotely related to the idea of a kvlt-o-meter, listening to this or that so people will think highly of you. The only pompous ass in this thread is you. Especially coming from a guy who wants to throw $100 away to the Church Of Satan to get "respect, homeboy!" from other Satanists.

It's cool to see most of the older metalheads in this thread are digging extreme metal. I know one older dude who refuses to listen to anything with harsh vocals, especially black metal(dude's a christian, but fuck that, so am I and my favourite band is Emperor).

Thank you for the comment Abominatrix. Like I explained in my post, almost every level of metal I found interest in took time to "get into", even the early stuffl like Mercyful Fate, Slayer, Bathory, Venom, etc. Then death metal, then black metal, etc. And I don't like ALL extreme metal bands. I like bands that have something unique to offer and have some kind of tunefulness to their delivery. And I don't listen to ONLY metal! That would be a pretty boring existence. I will always have a special place in my heart for all the early bands I discovered in each genre, like Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Bathory, Destruction, etc. for the early days, Dismember, Unleashed, Entombed, Morbid Angel, etc. for death metal, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Burzum, etc. for black metal, Righteous Pigs, Napalm Death, Pungent Stench, etc. for grind, etc. And I'm still always looking for new bands that will stick with me in the long run like those bands. It's tougher these days, but they're out there. Everyone gets the point. This kid needs to realize that people grow, people progress and over time, tastes in music expand into very unexpected directions. If anyone would've told me back in 1987 that 13 years later I would be DJing hard techno and acid techno dance music to glowstick swinging ravers, I would've laughed myself into the local mental institution!!! hahaha! I absolutely HATED anything with an electronic drum beat back in those days, but then I discovered NIN, Ministry and the almighty Godflesh and I grew to love the powerful precision of the properly programmed drum machine. Never say never because you might miss out on something amazing.

And this forum is one of the most open minded, laid back places to chat with fellow metalheads. If I commented on DJing techno music on the NWN forum, I would've received a huge backlash from a lot of self righteous closed minded metalheads. Not saying EVERYONE on the NWN forum is that way, but I found it to be an unfriendly place and enjoy the EM forum MUCH better. Great, open minded, INTELLIGENT people to communicate with in a non-hostile environment.

EmeraldEdge9832, take the advice of the people on here and just don't be so quick to judge and keep your comments constructive and well thought out, instead of lashing out and being condecending. You will find some great people and learn something new, learn of new bands, etc.

huh .. that's interesting. How does that work out? I'm guessing it's similar to the fact that I listen to some Branikald and am very non-nazi: riffs trump dogma.

Edit: Wrong box.

Some people don't take the lyrical content of some bands seriously. It's like a horror movie for them and the lyrics are secondary to the music and the feeling it evokes. I like some early Graveland, but I'm the furthest thing from a National Socialist. If someone can enjoy the music of a black metal band and still be a Christian, that says a lot about a person and their intelligence. I wish more people were like that instead of casting judgement.

I feel bad for ThePoop! His thread got completely hijacked! I hope ThePoop got the responses he/she was looking for when the thread was started.

I don't. I always thought they were boring. I would rather listen to early Anthrax or early Megadeth instead.

There are so many things wrong with this post, but rather than derail the thread even further, I'm willing to fight it out with you in a PM.

I totally agree, and that's why I put in the bit about liking some Branikald despite the content. Just to be clear, I wasn't asking "How's that work out" in the sense of "I don't get it .. ". I was wondering about his personal take on the potential conflict. Those can be pretty interesting stories. I only know a couple Christians who will even cautiously approach the topic, let alone listen to the music, let alone PREFER it. Yes, it says a great deal of very positive things about the 'fella indeed.

Well, I'm 31 years old. Into the metal since 2002. Through my experience I examined almost all genres of metal, but my preference is more molodic metal stuff: Heavy Metal, Trad Doom Metal and some Gothic Metal. Allthough I appriciate the greatness of Black Metal bands, like Drudkh and Progressive Death Metal, like Edge of Sanity, I always find myself not comfortable with growls and screams.

Like this poster said, it's like watching a horror movie. Liking splatter films doesn't equate to believing it's right to carve people up with big knives. My own personal faith isn't as dogmatic as many other Christians, or so I like to believe(no pun intended). As Marcus Aurelius said, "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will judge you on your good deeds and not your piety. If there are gods and they are unjust, waste no piety on them. If there are no gods at all, you will have lived a just life and your children will remember you fondly. Live a good life." Enjoying black metal(a ton of it I might add) has nothing to do with being a good or bad person. If God is indeed worthy of my praise, he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. If he did, he's being petty.

While I agree that people should listen to whatever excites them, I don't think there's anything particularly praiseworthy about a christian listening to black metal, nor would I blame someone who has an ideologically opposed perspective for refusing to condone or experience such art voluntarily.

Right. You wouldn't, for example, call a jewish person narrow-minded for refusing to get into NSBM.

I've gotten more insight than I could have hoped for. Some really good posts from the veterans! It's pretty interesting to read all the different perspectives, but it seems as though that metal itself has evolved pretty closely with the tastes of the metalheads who enjoy it.

Since I started the thread I have continued to listen to nothing but old school metal. I think certain extreme people need the most extreme music which is why I instantly latched on to modern metal when I started out and also why the early stuff didn't appeal to me. Just wasn't extreme anymore, and so I looked passed it. From my perspective and from what I've read it seems as though that's why the older metalheads listened to Sabbath, Judas Priest, Maiden, Megadeth (or whatever), because it was so extreme for the time. Personally that was absolutely key for me in order to finally appreciate older metal: listening to it through the perspective of someone from that era. Its made me realize that theres a lot more to being "heavy" and all in all made me a lot more proud to enjoy metal.

There certainly is a lot more to metal than heaviness, such as atmosphere and songwriting, etc. And it appears you've gotten that so cheers

Will turn 44 next month. First "heavy" record was 2112 a few years after its release. Saw Iron Maiden/Accept on Powerslave tour, Metallica with Cliff, Slayer on RIB tour, and hundreds of other shows. Traded tapes heavily, and knew many of the big-time traders around the world. Did a zine and wrote and drew for many other zines. Was sent a copy of Deathcrush when it came out. So there's my "cred" for what it's worth.

Just have a couple of random points. The definitions of metal have evolved over the years and will continue to do so. In the '70s, anything from Sammy Hagar to Foghat to Pat Benatar were called HM, by someone in the music press, somewhere. In the early '80s there sprung up a distinction between the older metal bands (Sabbath, Priest) and what was now called "power metal," which was Metallica, Armored Saint, Nasty Savage, and generally any band heavier than Priest or Maiden. Around '85 or '86 was when genres like thrash, death, and doom started to become codified. As far as most people were concerned, bands like Celtic Frost and Slayer were straight-up DM. Black metal was almost ANY band that had Satanic/occult lyrics and/or image, no matter what musical strain of metal they were playing. Some bands labelled BM in reviews included Medieval, Metal Church, Running Wild, and even Tankard! It probably wasn't until the rise of DM and then BM in the early '90s that the genres were pretty much locked in. Before that, the terms were very interchangeable.

You can't underestimate the influence hardcore punk had on the underground metal scene. There were hundreds and hundreds of "speedcore," "thrashcore," and "deathcore" bands, mostly teen metalheads who were attracted to the extreme speed and danger of HC, and incorporated it into their thrash/death background. Out west bands picked up on the L.A. HC bands, while on the east coast (especially NJ), bands brought in the NYHC mosh sound.

Most music lovers I know with any brains don't fall out of love with a genre, they just add to to or put it away for while, and are always receptive to new sounds. It's the flakes and wannabes who will jump into a scene, only to abandon it for something else that becomes trendy. We called them POSERS (heh). Personally, I got burned out on Latin America DM rehearsals and freakin' funk seeping into the metal scene, and explored other stuff for a while, but I kept most of my vinyl, zines, and tapes, and later came back to metal with fresh ears.

Providential that I should happen upon this topic at directly this point in the conversation, hehe.
When I was a kid my mom was severely anti-rock music. One time we were in a grocery store, and I caught my eye on a colourful Guns 'n' Roses shirt someone was wearing. I remember telling my mom I liked the picture on it, and she said "I don't want you listening to that stuff because you'll end up killing yourself.'' Back then I thought she was over-exaggerating, but now that I've been deep in the Suicidal/Depressive Black Metal scene for several years now, I can at least say that her worry was not altogether unfounded. Even if she didn't know quite how unfounded at the time.
Apologies, I digress somewhat.
Not too long after that incident actually, I was sent up to Canada (we were living in Georgia) to spend some time with my dad. Much to the chagrin of my mom and dad, someone introduced me to Guns 'n' Roses, AC/DC, Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper. Later on Metallica too, but most of that would come a while later.

I first became aware of extreme metal through the radio evangelist Bob Larson, whom my dad listened to religiously (pun entirely intended). I was 11 at the time, my mom was pretty over protective of me when I was a kid, so it probably goes without saying that when I first heard little soundclips of Cannibal Corpse on Bob Larson's show, I wasn't exactly sure what to make of it (or in other words, I thought they were possessed).
Fast forward a year or so, til I'm 12, going on 13.
A friend of mine at school (this is back in GA, btw) had informed me of a radio show that came on Friday nights. I was into grunge back then, Kurt Cobain had just died, and Smashing Pumpkins was my favorite band. So, imagine what the look on my face must have been when I turned the radio dial and heard them growling.
I remember turning it back quickly to the alternative radio station. Safe. lol
My curiosity had gotten the better of me, either that or it was just simply the arousing intoxication of doing something completely against the wishes of all the responsible adults in the house.
I turned it back to the metal show. They introduced a new song that had just been released by a band called Entombed. The song was "Wolverine Blues."
I thought it rocked. I just listened to it and drew pictures at my desk as it played. Afterwards, they played a song by Danzig. I was already familiar with Danzig somehow, I think someone had given me a tape.

Now, I know it seems I'm off topic perhaps, but I do have a point.
Even though I grew up in the South, I wasn't really crazy at all about the Southern culture or music. But, it wasn't that long before I became introduced to the slower aspects of extreme metal, namely Doom/Death Metal which was highly prominent back in the day (remember when Death Metal almost became mainstream?).
It started off with Death Metal, or Doom/Death, but gradually I started hearing a little of this and that here and there.
I had started (my first) Death Metal band, I had friends who were metalheads, friends who were punks, friends who were Goth, etc. I think I was constantly absorbing anything new I found musically back then. My friends were always showing me music, and I was always showing them shit too.... The first time I became aware that Glenn Danzig (my idol since Eighth grade) had also been the frontman of The Misfits, my life began to change... "...like, noway!!!" lol

It wasn't really until I started getting older that my senses began to actually crave something that I could only find in Doom and Sludge, and I still get that craving often. My appreciation for the slower (Southern) extremity has only flourished with age. I can listen to Eyehategod and completely see how they sound akin to a mentally-ill-Black-Sabbath-drunk-and-on-meth"... but I can also see the genius in that.

Thanks goes out to Bob Larson for inadverdently sparking my interest in extreme metal.

*wink*

-M.