This is what most others genuinely feel, I presume. If there was a complete imitiation of Black Sabbath's Paranoid, do you think people would shun it because it's overly similar, or would it be embraced among metalheads or being an excellent heavy metal album? I think it's rather obvious that Lamb of God is not liked because their music is considered shitty, not because they're similar to Pantera.

I only heard half a Lamb of God song in the intro for Sam Dunn's first movie. Didn't like it and have no desire to investigate them further. Just thought I'd add that.

God, are you fucking serious? It's a honest observation. One that I wholeheartedly agree with. Get over yourself.

So I must not be a human being cause I enjoy both Lamb of God and Vektor immensely?

I kinda get all this hate towards LoG in these "real methulz" communities though. They have this "badass" attitude and... well, the lyrics are not that intelligent. They are a really nice to group to put into same category as Slipknot and the like. But man they have some great riffs! And at the end of the day that's what metal is all about. What is more, their drummer is one of the better in all of metal. He does some very interesting and just simply good sounding and very groovy stuff in almost all songs.

I never thought they had particularly unintelligent lyrics.
Actually, the lyrics of a lot of songs off "Wrath" are rather good.

Smalley, if you have nothing more to add than this, keep your mouth shut.

The word "probably" implies typically. As far as their drummer goes, the guy is technical and pinpoint in his execution, but he's not overtly interesting at all.

I enjoyed their second two albums, but after that, it just wasn't exciting anymore. It was too clean and "fake", like they are trying to make metal instead of actually making metal.

No, their drummer is pathetic actually.

Nope; TV pulled the stupid "I'm older than you so I'm right, and you're wrong" card, and also just dismissed 3 entire genres of music as worthless. It was a lame thing to write, and he should be called out for the stupidity of it.

I'd like to hear your arguments about this.

There's really nothing to argue about. I warmed up with Lamb of God songs when I first learned to play the drums.

Saying he is one of the better drummers in all of metal is a gigantic overrating. His feel is decent and he has some cool beats but is a generally boring drummer to listen to, and he's actually one of the LAST drummers I would namedrop when it comes to technical skill. Especially when you use the term "ALL METAL".

I'm pretty sure I said something about that in the OP.

I have to be perfectly honest here, lately I've been enjoying LoG less and less. I think I can see the light!

Well, when you can point out the instrumental worth of country, R 'n' B, and pop, then you come find me. He, in fact, did not call them worthless, he just said fans of those styles don't give a shit about the musical prowess of the act as long as they can write (in their own opinion) good lyrics.

Wow that just lame! You should try to have your own opinion/taste in music and have the balls to stick with theme (if not in real life then at least on internet forums).
I'm not saying my taste haven't change since i was 12 years old.
but you just said a week ago you've been loving this band for 7 years!!! and when ppl tell you they suck you change your mind in a second.
And by stop loving a band you used to love for 7 years you think you seeing the light???

Love what you love and don't give a fuck what people say about it!

I hate to admit it, but this guy's right. Don't let majority opinions dissuade you from enjoying things, OP. That's silly.

My sister is one of these bizarre people. She finds music worthless unless you can relate to the lyrics of the song, which has always perplexed me. Needless to say, she doesn't listen to metal or intrumental music.

You're not alone, man. I never got that, either. People don't write music so you can "relate to it." Seems kind of selfish, if you ask me. I don't give a fuck about the guy who's girlfriend broke up with him and left him heartbroken, give me some REAL emotion.

I don't see how self-security and lack of confidence has anything to do with it. The question was posed as to why people hate LOG and people are making guesses at the answer. No need to be so rude really.

[/quote]
AKA, you automatically jumped on to the "I dislike Lamb of God because of X" bandwagon because everyone else hates them. Just like the others have said, just because a group of people hates/dislikes Lamb of God, doesn't mean you can automatically hating them as well.


And just to be honest here, you should have never made this thread in the first place if you were going to be "inspired" by everybody's Lamb of God hatred.

The instrumental worth of those genres isn't something I can prove to you, anymore than you could disprove it to me. It's all pure, personal, subjective opinion. However, there is a way to have an opinion that dislikes those genres while still respecting them enough not to insult the entire styles, or the fans of those styles. I mean, how many ignorant, close-minded, and dismissive things have other people said about metal over the years? Then we're gonna turn around and make that same mistake? You and TV are engaging in metal elitism, plain and simple, and it gives metalheads and metal in general a bad name.

Personally, I don't love LoG.

I like and dislike plenty of music that folks here would/do mock me for, and I don't care. If I were participating in some kind of herd mentality nonsense when it comes to disliking LoG, it'd be the same for all that other music, wouldn't it?

There's nothing more to it than that at all. I just don't like LoG. I'm sure a lot of other people here just don't like LoG, too.

Furthermore, just because it's an apparently popular opinion doesn't mean it requires justification on my part. If anything, it's the other way around... Which is why I'm always bitching about people bitching about """-core""" music on here!

Well, since I'm a bigger fan of blues than I am of metal, where does that leave your argument? I'm not shitting on fans of the styles, I just don't get it. Get your head out of your ass.

It leaves my argument in the exact same place, since liking the blues better than metal doesn't justify being elitist against country, R&B, and pop? If you don't get those styles, that's fine, but you were shitting on those fans, so the same right back at you.

LoG are basically watered-down groove/thrash with metalcore influences and competent enough musicianship, occasional pseudo-political lyrics and the "tough guy" attitude that appeals to mainstream rock/metal fans and ED Hardy/Affliction wearing "bro" types who think they are badass death metal fans. Pretty much the modern day Pantera.

With all that being said (for the umpteenth time), I do not hate the band per se; it's a large portion of fanbase that is terrible IMO. Ashes of the Wake is a decent album for the style, and they have a few other tolerable songs here and there, but it's not something I really have a desire to listen to, let alone even hear, 99% of the time.

Honestly, I think the attitude and unfortunate commonness of their average fans irritates a lot of the more "true" metalhead types more than the music/band itself, myself included.

I've strayed away from "groove" metal. Honestly, I just think LOG is run of the mill, Wrath was deceptively boring and Randy's vocals are just horrible. I just can't get into them.

I'm not really any kind of expert in thrash, groove or metalcore here so I'm not going to give anyone a lengthy story about pantera supposedly copying exodus or where LoG's sound is influenced by pantera and where it involves 'modern (whatever that means, like there is a dividing line where you can tack the term 'modern' onto something)' metal. I don't know, I really don't care. I haven't listened to them extensively but they basically just seem like pantera worship with a side of metalcore influnces plus randy blythe. I can see why people who like post cowboys pantera like them and why they get mainstream attention; they tend to hit a lot of different demographics. They're a simple band that I probably would have hated during my 'tr00' phase but now I don't generally see what the fuss is about them either way; I can see why some people just want some burly, macho groove metal I'm not into it at but I can at least see the appeal. I'd much rather be searching for new bands than doing analysis on the metal community opinion on LoG.

Everybody needs to lighten up on this guy.

Sometimes, you love something for years and years until somebody points out aspects of it you never even noticed. Suddenly, the whole thing appears different to you. It doesn't necessarily mean you're caving in to peer pressure or herd mentality or any of that shit, it means your perspective has changed. I can think of countless analogies to illustrate this, but I don't think I need to.

OP: I've gone through similar experiences with bands and entire genres. Even if you really do start to loathe Lamb of God in the right now, I think you'll find yourself going back to them in the future, especially since you've already invested so much of your life in being a fan.

Exhorder.

I just gotta know... real emotion here would be the glory of Valhalla, the glory of metal, and JRR Tolken? Because it's one thing to not be interested in music about common problems, but to pretend that metal is more real because it's less relateable seems, as best, backwards.

Yes, because all metal bands do lyrics about Valhalla, the glory of metal, and fucking J.R.R. Tolkien. *rolls eyes* Though, I would argue that a lot of metal bands that do sing about J.R.R. Tolkien related stuff do it with a lot more passion then pop/country/r 'n' b acts. Give me Rush or Be'lakor any day over Amy Meredith and Kanye West. I'll also take Birds Of Tokyo, 'cause they rock.

He has a point, though. With a few notable exceptions such as politically-oriented thrash, metal's lyrics seem to be consistently dominated by themes of fantasy and escaping from everyday reality and life, be that through apocalyptic scenarios, occult religions, medieval folklore or extreme violence. When you think abut it, it does seem odd to claim that these sorts of fantastical concepts are somehow prone to more emotion and heartfelt interpretation than everyday issues which are actually faced by human beings.

Somewhere I read something about why phantasy is actually metal's chief field of expertise and why it makes it relevant in the first place, but I can't reproduce the line of thought right now. Something to do with romanticism or something.

Doom metal wants a word with you.

Seriously now, a lot of metal deals with unreal scenarios and impossible situations, but most of the time I think its lyrics are perceived that way because of all the symbolism it uses. I'm not saying that non-metal genres don't use symbolism in lyrics but metal tends to pick that notion and take it to the extreme. There's more to metal lyrics than it looks at first sight, unless you're only looking at slam death or goregrind lyrics. There little is to be found really.

There's nothing wrong with relating to a song, though, and writing about break-ups or romance isn't bad in itself - it's just that there are other subjects to write about too, and you're right in that mainstream bands don't usually have 'real' emotion...but I also think that discounting the lyrics is as bad as the people who say they don't like anything BUT the lyrics. Maybe it's my love of literature and whatnot but lyrics are usually a big factor in my listening to a band, almost equal with the musicianship and whatnot - the only over-arching requirement for me is good songwriting, which should always be the most important factor. Not just lyrics and not just showy musicianship where every member gets a solo spot, like some people also say.

heartbreak is literally the cornerstone of literature, BYS. how is that not real emotion? you sound like someone who's never been in a serious relationship. They should use better language, maybe some pretty images, and instead of "telling" they show you, but it's definitely real.

There's loads of metal about heartache and hearbreak! It just tends to be couched in less plain language, which I guess is why some of us find it attractive. It's easy to use a fantasy as a metaphor for something happening in the real world. A smart lyricist will never explain the metaphor to you, either, so you'll always be guessing and finding your own way to take meaning from a poetic piece.

A good fantasy doesn't need to be a metaphor, it stands for itself. Fantastic reality stands in opposition to the pathetic microcosms we build around us to compensate for our powerlessness facing the eternal realities that govern the universe. Fantasy explores those realities, and even though magic is not real in our universe, it can be used as a literary device to personalize unpersonal powers and create meaning in a de facto chaotic and uncaring reality, which should be the point of human culture. Popular music rejects reality by embracing the unimportant, metal embraces reality by rejecting the unimportant. Wait, this was a thread was about LoG, right?

Oops. Didn't exodus eventually get groovier too? Whatever, thrash and groove aren't really my biggest genres anyway. My poorly worded point was basically people are having the same argument they did when pantera came out. Much like pantera was indicative of the direction of 'modern' metal at that point, LoG can somewhat be seen in the same light. This is especially true when referring to the mainstream music press. I don't like either pantera or log much at all, but they really shrink to irrelevance with the explosion of exposure that underground bands have been getting with the advent of the internet; that is if you don't like them, there are tons of other options as opposed to the days where all people had were their local scene and tape trading.

I don't know how accurate my assumptions are though, I was literally 3 when vulgar display of power came out, and didn't get into metal until 2006.