How do you think metal is shaping up in it's sixth decade?

OK, so how do you think metal is doing nowadays? Is it in a healthy position or do you pine for the days of yore?

For myself I think metal has never been healthier in certain respects, with the cross-pollination of different genres allowing for a variety of sounds unheard back in the 70's and 80's. The comparative ease with which material can be recorded and released due to technological advancement also allows more artists to set their visions down and get them out into the public arena and although this can mean a lot of dross gets put out, it also means that artists who weren't necessarily in the right place at the right time can also be heard. No longer do they need some label A&R man to give the green light for them to lay down a few tracks in the hope of garnering a profit, they can often accomplish it without leaving the comfort of their own basement!

Sure, I miss the days, especially during the mid-eighties, when classic albums were seemingly issued on a weekly basis, but metal was a very conservative genre back then and diversion from the accepted norm was often frowned upon. Metal seems a much more liberated style of music nowadays with a huge variation in styles and most people could probably find something that appeals to them beneath it's umbrella. We would be hard pushed to like everything that gets lumped together as metal and there may be plenty that is distasteful to us personally, but never have we had more choice.

But that's just my view, what do you think?

Metal is no longer at the groundbreaking classic heights of the 80s, but it's still growing healthily as one of the most diverse music genres around. Personally, the 2020s might just be an epic decade for the metal that I enjoy. With so many mostly great albums I've discovered in 2020 and 2021, especially in the last third of the latter year, this seems like a promising start to an era that will make sure metal doesn't die right off like it almost did in the 90s. Here's to greater years of metal in the future!

Overall I think Metal is in a very healthy place, since most of the new releases I check out are on the better-than-average side of the scale. You don't have to look too far to find some quality music in pretty much any Metal genre, with only a few genres like Progressive Metal feeling like they're lagging behind a little bit. 

I think where Metal loses its luster is with what is actually popular and known outside of enthusiast circles or diehard music fans. The massive Metal bands of the 70's and 80's have withstood the test of time and are regarded as being just great music in general, from Slayer to Black Sabbath. Nowadays though, with streaming and YouTube being the main source of music for people, it's really strange seeing what actually has millions of views/streams since it doesn't match up with what people who spend more time diving into the genre enjoy. Every time I check out a lackluster sounding album that I wouldn't go back to, I occasionally look it up on YouTube for whatever reason to see it has hundreds of thousands or even over a million views. The genre is much more bloated than its ever been just due to the accessibility of creating music in general, which is an amazing thing, but albums and artists that are marketed towards the algorithm are always going to float to the top regardless of quality. Despite there being thousands of amazing bands out there, I was once in the dentist's office and he said "Oh, you listen to Metal? I love Avenged Sevenfold!" 

I think my point here is, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, if you were a Metal fan when the genre was first beginning, you were listening to some amazing albums that are still held in high regard today. Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Metallica: all of these classic bands floated to the top and garnered mainstream popularity. The early 2000's were solid in this regard too, with bands like Mastodon and Gojira being names that everyone knew that were producing some top quality material. In the 2020's though, it feels like Metal is better and more varied than ever, but you really have to dig for it. Most of the immensely popular albums that hit the mainstream are from bands that I would consider past their prime, like modern Gojira, Mastodon, and Iron Maiden to name a few in 2021. Some random person on the street isn't likely to know who Oranssi Pazuzu or Ulcerate are despite them being two of the hottest modern bands in terms of consistently amazing output, but I would imagine most people would have known who Iron Maiden was back in the day. It's a much different landscape and despite Metal always touting its image of underground rebellion, I think it's more underground than it ever has been at the moment. Zero Metal or Rock albums are making the "Billboard Top Whatever" in terms of sales, and most of the high quality music goes unnoticed. 

I generally agree with the consensus here. I'm very much onboard with the quality & diversity that the current crop of metal artists seem to be producing in spades. We don't have any hugely popular yet fairly commercial sounding subgenres flooding the market to taint our impressions of what metal is these days like we have at certain times in the past but that also means that we're not seeing huge amounts of new fans being introduced to the scene either. Metal Academy's ongoing struggle to build a sizable contributing membership in an ever-shrinking metal market is as strong an indicator of that as any but you don't have to look very hard to find a scintillating new metal experience. I do have to mention though that the metal festival scene doesn't do the market any favours by consistently producing lineups that are focused purely on past glories rather than giving any sort of exposure to the current crop of potential stars. This is obviously an indication of what the market wants to hear of course & it's another sign of a metal scene that's generally regarded as having peaked many years ago but it'd be nice to see some promoters taking some risks occasionally.

Whilst I accept that the focus is on output from current sub-genres being the gauge for how well metal is doing I really think the outlets for metal music - whether that is radio, streaming/download services, music shops or online stores - need to pay attention to the whole timeline to date to keep the strength of the genre overall visible.  To my ears at least, having heard shite such as Trancecore, Nintendocore and fucking cyber-grind there is no better argument for us to stop fucking around with advancement and just recognise that there are plenty of sub-genres out there already that will always have albums to discover and whole discographies to plunder.  Notwithstanding that each to their own / wouldn't do for us all to have the same taste blah, blah, blah and all the other nice things I am supposed to say.

Personally, my view of the strength of the genre in the year tends to be indicative of my own experience of everything I have discovered that year (not necessarily released that year) and that is because my experience of metal continues to grow somehow each year.  Granted, it has slowed down since the 90s when I was chasing this ever expanding universe without any hope of ever keeping up, however I will take a few miles of growth of my collection as opposed to the light years of old.

Some excellent points there. One thing that seems plain is, as far as Academy members are concerned, there is still plenty of quality output, but none of it is readily accessible to the mainstream and, in the great scheme of things, metal is still very much a niche scene. It still seems to have a problem appealing to the 50% of the human race that we used to call female (I don't know what the current accepted designation is, sorry) and neither is it the best at self-promotion. However, for the enthusiasts and those willing to dig, there are loads of exciting new releases to add to the already fantastic back catalogues of bygone days and there should be more than enough quality stuff to satisfy even the most rabid metalhead.

I feel like heavy metal is in good hands as we stand in the first half of the 2020s. I can honestly say that my horizons have greatly expanded since joining the Metal Academy back in late 2019 and a large portion of that has to do with everyone's unique approach to heavy metal music. I have found a lot of great music in both the Fallen and Horde clans thanks to contributions by Sonny, Vinny and Daniel and for that I am grateful and I cannot wait to hear what new trends you guys have for us in the future.

However, I would be remised if I did not bring up the very real problem that a lot of musical styles have in regards to nostalgia. Mainstream rock radio stations have a huge issue of not promoting smaller names creating underground traction and would rather play the same AC/DC/Led Zeppelin/Nirvana songs instead of the new Wolf Alice/Cloud Nothings/Frank Carter. It creates a very stale climate where acts like Greta Van Fleet can ascend to the top of the charts without actually doing anything unique. The same problem exists in metal. I have made it clear that modern thrash is not very engaging anymore, and progressive metal is far more interested in copying Dream Theater/Opeth into oblivion than actually being progressive. 

None of this is affected by anyone here at Metal Academy. But what we enjoy in heavy metal music is not going to be the same thing as what gets commercially successful. For as great as Ulcerate's Stare into Death and Be Still was, it isn't a jumping on point and too many would be sacred off by the timbre. I still think it is too early in the decade to declare a decisive sound that will embody the decade, but it needs to be successful beyond JUST the heavy metal community. I look forward to the day when the next band to come along like Bullet for my Valentine was for metalcore in the 2000s, and Alcest was for black metal in the 2010s, regardless of what you think of them as musicians.

It will, in a way, come down to what becomes popular in heavy metal and how popular it will get. There are groups willing to try and one only needs to look at the massive acclaim Spiritbox has received in the last three years as evidence of that. But I know that some will say that accessibility is the antithesis to metal culture; it's meant to be from the other side of the tracks and "not for everyone". Perhaps ironically, these same people also whine about why their beloved genre of music does not get the same amount of sales/streams as the popular trend chasing TikTok song.

I guess I'll end with this: don't ostracize new metal fans because they like the popular metal trend. In my experience, hipster culture is the one factor above all else that has distanced me from popular trends. Acceptance is what leads newbies to expand their listening experience beyond their comfort zone. You never know; the next giant in heavy metal might not even listen to metal at this moment. Just give them time to get there.

I guess I'll end with this: don't ostracize new metal fans because they like the popular metal trend. In my experience, hipster culture is the one factor above all else that has distanced me from popular trends. Acceptance is what leads newbies to expand their listening experience beyond their comfort zone. You never know; the next giant in heavy metal might not even listen to metal at this moment. Just give them time to get there.

Great point there, Saxy. It would be unrealistic to expect new fans to dive immediately into Deathspell Omega, Hell or Esoteric. I doubt any of us jumped straight into the deep end with extreme metal and for us older fans (from the 80s or earlier) it was something that developed along with us as we aged with it. Now there is a bewildering amount of stuff that is termed as metal just sitting right there and I'm sure it can be daunting to get into. Hopefully this is where a website like Metal Academy can help out the newer, less informed fans, but let them walk before they can run and then we won't scare them away.

If the music is good enough and we help to get it heard - the clan playlists are a great vehicle for this if we can get people outside our admittedly small circle to listen - then I'm sure the next generation of metal fan will jump onboard and secure it's future.