The New Wave of Heavy Metal Music

In recent years, heavy metal music has made a transformation. Back in the late 80's, heavy metal music was considered to be for "stoners" or "burn outs". At least, that's what they called them where I am from. Anyway, heavy metal bands back then consisted of groups such as Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slayer and Anthrax. These bands paved the way for heavy metal's rise in the 90's. Metallica was, and still is, a mainstay with the heavy metal community. However, in the late 90's and early 2000's, heavy metal began to get old a bit. Bands started mixing in rap with metal and heavy metal music sort of lost it's identity.

Recently though, a new type of heavy metal has emerged. It's a much more aggressive and angry form of music, very different than your average Metallica or Pantera. There is much more of a "growl" to the singing and lyrics, and bands seem to play much faster and heavier, if that is even possible. Also, the band members are much more talented than in the early stages of heavy metal music. Remember when there was always one or two band members that were just kind of "there", and weren't exactly the most talented? Now, every band member seems to be at the top of their game in playing their specific instrument. Gone are the days of the lead singer that didn't play an instrument. Granted, there are some bands where the singer still doesn't don and instrument, but the majority of them play bass or lead guitar.

Some of these new wave metal bands include Lamb of God, Trivium, All That Remains, Shadows Fall and Opeth. Each of these bands has their own unique sound, but don't stray too far from the fast, heavy sound that make metal what it is. It's aggressive, and gets a message across. However, I'm not a big fan of the "growling" vocals that almost every band incorporates these days. I like the music, and the fact that these guys are very talented, but the lyrics aren't like they used to be. Lamb of God does a lot less of the growling that other bands do, and they play pretty fast. Of these bands, Opeth probably does the most growling, but I feel like they are the band with the most talent.

Too a point, I can overlook the growling if there is great music being played over it. Opeth is a perfect example. These guys are amazing musicians and record epic songs that often last over 9 minutes. There are a lot of changes in the tempo, and it's almost like they take you on a journey with each song. The singer has a good voice when he chooses to actually sing, but often times he mixes in some growling, which degrades the song for me.

On the most recent album by Trivium, the singer has changed his voice. It's a welcomed change in my opinion, because he did a lot of darker growling on past albums. The musicians are good, and they make some great songs. As long as the singer sticks with this new adopted style of singing, I'm a fan! All That Remains and Shadows Fall don't do as much growling, that's for sure. I feel like these two bands are pretty similar in their songs and style of play. They play fast, heavy and put in quick lyrics on top of it. Even though a lot of their songs sound alike, they each bring their own flare to the table.

Heavy metal music is a far cry from the days when Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slayer and Anthrax ruled the scene. It's definitely not your daddy's heavy metal! Maybe I'm just getting old, but I truly miss the early years of this genre of music and have a hard time getting into the new wave metal bands. But, if there wasn't change, then metal might have died an early death a long time ago.