Lightening the melodic load part II - staying in The Infinite while freeing myself from the more melodic bands I don’t listen too often anymore
As many of you might know, I’m really trying to focus on developing a heavier, more modern taste in metal (metalcore, modern progressive metal, alternative metal recently, etc.), but I know some you really like when I listen to the more melodic bands I used to and still have, and have motivated me to revive it with more of those kinds of bands. I appreciate the sentiment, but the melodic side of my passion isn’t as strong as it was over 5 years ago and I want my modern side to be more dominant. Nevertheless, I find myself still listening to and enjoying some bands a lot, so it wouldn’t make sense to move away from it all during that strong point. So, here’s a good way to compromise: My time in progressive metal will continue with heavier, modern, non-instrumental bands, but I’ll get rid of any of the more melodic bands that are still in my playlist in the present and bands that were in the past because I truly haven’t listened to them as much as I wanted to in the past 6+ months (other than one or two reviews (even a couple feature release submissions) and occasional track submissions for playlists), and in some cases, copyright issues when sharing those songs on YouTube. Not only that, it’s also to make space for more bands in the future. Anyway, here are the bands I will move away from next week:
The Contortionist
Nevermore
Queensryche
Fates Warning
Animals as Leaders
Liquid Tension Experiment
There are some more bands that also I will move away from in my earlier epic metal taste, and it’s quite a lot that I plan to sacrifice, but hey, I don't listen to them as much as I used to over 5 years ago, so this move is not too much I would regret. So here they are:
Avantasia
Epica
Nightwish
Rhapsody of Fire
HammerFall
Ayreon
Dream Theater
Symphony X
Evergrey
Pain of Salvation
Star One
Gamma Ray
Blind Guardian
Sonata Arctica
Luca Turilli's Rhapsody (including Turilli/Lione album)
Battle Beast
Also, a few albums I reviewed from bands I don't listen to that was just part of a challenge will be gone too. Don’t worry, like I said, I’m still staying in progressive metal and there will be more bands and activities related to The Infinite (including reviews, playlist track submissions, feature releases, etc.) in the future, but I’m just moving away from the melodic bands I’m not into anymore, effective April 15. Farewell soon to those bands...
PS: Here's the link to a special Spotify playlist based on those bands: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gr2GyvxhSsxwr8itceSSB
Andi, I think we can all do without any more of these threads. I think I speak for all of our regulars when I say that no one else is too concerned with what styles of music you listen to so you don't need to justify your listening habits with anyone other than yourself. Metal Academy is widely promoted as the best place to discover new music & as long as you keep awarding "melodic" metal releases 4/5, 4.5/5 or 5/5 ratings then you're gonna see people thinking that this is the sound that you really dig & suggesting similar releases to you. It's really that simple. It's your rating system that's the reason that people make these recommendations to you as your scores often don't seem to have much of a reflection on your interest in the release in question. Take this month's feature releases for example. You awarded both the Slice The Cake & War From A Harlots Mouth releases a very solid & respectable 4/5 (which for anyone else on the site would mean that you've made a new discovery & very much enjoyed those records) but then proceeded to call them flawed & say that you won't be returning to those bands. This doesn't compute for the rest of us as a 4/5 rating is a very good result indeed. In fact, a quick look at your profile page shows me that an astounding 65% of all of your ratings on this site have fallen within the 4.5-5 star bracket which is generally reserved only for the most elite classics & 89% score at least 4/5. Given that we don't have a large contributing membership as yet this sort of scoring will always skew our charts towards releases that you have rated, not to mention our end of year clan awards. Now, Ben & I don't like to dictate to people on how they should rate their music as we strive for the most inclusive environment possible but you have to admit that this is a pretty major difference compared to someone like myself who has a 4.5-5 star rating percentage of just 13%. In fact, I would guess that all of our regulars would sit at below 20% in that regard.
I'm also confused by your position on what subgenres (or sub-subgenres) you're limiting yourself to here. Based on your feedback over the last couple of years I would suggest that some of the bands you're looking to move away from sit amongst your favourites in all of metal (Leprous, Opeth, etc.) so I can't fathom why you would want to distance yourself from them. You're very quickly running out of subgenres here & will likely end up only listening to melodic metalcore shortly at this rate (which is fine if that's what you want to do of course). Why this agenda for "developing a heavier, more modern taste in metal"? Most of the bands & subgenres you've stuck with aren't in any way heavier than the subgenres you're giving up either to be honest. In fact, a lot of the alternative metal & melodic metalcore bands you seem to be digging of late are amongst the more melodic & commercially focused in the whole metal spectrum which has seen some of our regulars struggling with your feature release submissions in recent months. I can only think that our definitions of the words "heavy" & "melodic" are different.
Let's be clear that I'm not intending to take a dig at you here so please don't take offense. I'm just looking to open your eyes to the perception you're leaving us with.
I have been trying to go the heavier modern route since starting my interest in metalcore and wanting to focus on that and modern progressive metal rather than power metal and melodic progressive metal a few years ago. At that time, I was tired of my taste going full-on melodic and wanted to refresh with heavier and modern sounds. It was great that you all kept recommending these Guardians releases based on my earlier ratings, and those helped me revisit my epic metal past. Those power metal and melodic prog-metal releases have indeed been enjoyable, but enjoyment isn't forever. If I lose some mood for some bands, I can move towards other bands and choose where to stay. And when I make these threads, it's kind of a warning so any changes wouldn't seem too abrupt and end up causing more confusion.
I have thought about your comments about my prog-metal favorites, Daniel, and you're right. A few bands like Leprous, Opeth, and Voivod have been my favorites in progressive metal for a couple years. While some of each band's albums are very melodic with one or a few being non-metal or close to non-metal, their earlier releases have some extreme elements, especially Voivod's 80s speed/thrash era. That's heavier than a lot of power metal or melodic progressive metal, I'm not sure what I was thinking! So I'll keep those bands (Leprous, Opeth, and Voivod) with me and continue listening to them for as long as I can enjoy them. However, those other 4 bands will still be out. I can do without those bands being very melody-focused with half of them being all-instrumental...