Done with Doom (my full move out of The Fallen genres (except Sludge))

It's time... The time for me to finally say farewell to the dark depressing doom/gothic metal! I'm moving out of pretty much all of the doom/gothic metal bands I've listened to (in the past and the present), along with stoner and drone metal releases if any, but sludge metal I would still keep (more about sludge later on in this post). Why am I doing this, you may ask? Well it's quite a few reasons: I've already moved out of The Fallen, when I was switched into The Gateway. I don't listen to a lot of the doom/gothic metal bands I have anymore and want to get them out of my playlist to make space for more bands, and any new Fallen discoveries in the past couple months are just "bucket list" entries. My taste in doom/gothic metal has confused family and friends from the outside world who see me as an upbeat happy guy. And lastly, the virus has really put me in "5 stages of grief" kind of emotional phases, and I'm currently entering the depression stage, at this point. Here's how I would describe my stages:

Denial (March-August 2020) – The first reaction is denial. In this stage, I was shocked about the virus beginning to infect our reality. I even wrote a fictional story about if the virus won its battle against civilization with the fiction-acknowledging understanding that the virus wouldn't really cause the end of the world and hoping it will go away soon. The story can be found as part of this review: https://metal.academy/reviews/5715/6250

Anger (September 2020 - February 2021) – I've realized the virus is still continuing, and so I've become frustrated, even at proximate individuals. That's what fueled the fire those bad experiences that could have actually resulted in someone's d- I mean, passing (fortunately nobody got hurt, let alone d- passed, otherwise I would be in jail) (see the "Metal Expansion" section and the second half of the "Metalcore" section of my History of Heavy Metal book review: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/699)

Bargaining (March-July 2021) – The third stage involves the hope that I can avoid the cause of anger, part of it being my interest in the death metal subgenres. Basically, the "negotiation" was to exchange my death metal interest for a "death"-less calmer lifestyle with less serious trauma.

Depression (August-maybe October 2021?) – During the fourth stage, I was at despair, realizing the virus is still here and taking so long to go away, with my mother predicting that the virus might be endemic and we might have to live with it for the rest of our lives. In this state, I feel a bit mournful and sullen, and the doom/gothic metal isn't really helping me there, making me feel a little more depressed than before, along with uncertainty about how "perfect" I can be after a big mess-up elsewhere. Fortunately, I'm doing fine, and so is my family. But it's good to avoid going down that void before it gets worse.

Acceptance (maybe November 2021-beyond?) – I haven't reached this last stage yet, but it all depends on the inevitable future I might have to embrace. The virus may be tough, but quoted from its Wikipedia article, "People dying may precede the survivors in this state, which typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable condition of emotions."

To show the doom/gothic metal bands that I listen to and used to listen to but will move away from them on October 29, here are the ones I still have:

Lamb of God (NOT in the Fallen at all, but I am getting tired of their groove/thrash metal sound and the controversies associated with the band, such as their earlier deathgrind incarnation Burn the Priest, the Prague incident, and their ban from performing live in my own country Malaysia)

Moonspell

My Dying Bride

Paradise Lost

HIM

Katatonia

Type O Negative

Ava Inferi

Charon

Officium Triste

Woods of Ypres

KYPCK

Grand Magus

Saturnus

Dolorian

And here are the doom/gothic metal bands from my earlier epic metal taste:

Within Temptation

After Forever

Lacuna Coil

The Gathering

Anathema

Theatre of Tragedy

And remember these releases I submitted to the Hall to be removed from the Fallen (via separate judgement submissions):

Battlelore - Evernight (2007)

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun (2014)

Yeah, I wanted to make sure those releases weren't labeled gothic metal or stoner metal, respectively, which is really true! Do you think I would ever wanna submit an album to be removed from a clan just because I don't like the clan?! No way!! And why did I worry about that one Mastodon album being in the Fallen, but not their earlier sludge metal albums? Because sludge metal is the only Fallen genre I still wanna keep. I'm letting the sludge metal stay with me because of its hardcore roots and post-sludge is closer to the first half of its name. Any albums I've reviewed from doom/gothic/stoner/drone metal bands I don't listen to will be gone too. My self-promise and all these changes will be effective as of October 29 to begin a new doom-free era. It was depressively fun while it lasted. Farewell soon, The Fallen....

I'm sorry to hear you've been doing it tough Andi. We're all here for you if you ever want to talk. COVID has been a major challenge for every one of us (some in very different ways to others) & I can assure you that you're not alone in feeling depressed about the whole situation.

Out of interest, where does your new relationship with artists like Arcturus & Samael that began their careers as black metal bands fit into this arrangement? I also find it interesting that you've elected to keep your options open in regard to sludge metal when it's the most aggressive & violent of the subgenres The Fallen contains. I would have thought it'd be the first to go to be honest.

And finally, I doubt there's a member on the site whose family & friends didn't question their musical taste at some point. It's a part of growing up as a metalhead. Despite this annoyance though, most extreme metal fans are calm & well-adjusted people who just happen to dig a style of music that takes them well outside of their everyday lives. Their taste in music shouldn't define who they are as a person though. If you're finding that your musical preferences are having a detrimental effect on yourself & the people around you then it's the right call to separate yourself from it. It's worth remembering that music is just a form of entertainment though & shouldn't be taken too seriously, despite how passionate we may feel about it.

I hope you get the result you're looking for. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

I'm sorry to hear you've been doing it tough Andi. We're all here for you if you ever want to talk. COVID has been a major challenge for every one of us (some in very different ways to others) & I can assure you that you're not alone in feeling depressed about the whole situation.

Out of interest, where does your new relationship with artists like Arcturus & Samael that began their careers as black metal bands fit into this arrangement? I also find it interesting that you've elected to keep your options open in regard to sludge metal when it's the most aggressive & violent of the subgenres The Fallen contains. I would have thought it'd be the first to go to be honest.

Despite what I've said about the virus still being around and strong, and me being in the depression stage, I'm actually getting slightly better than I was a month or two ago. The COVID cases are getting lower to the point where we are less restricted and isolated when it comes to going to places, though some restrictions still apply, and with me and my family vaccinated, it's much less of an issue now. I think if it all goes well by the end of the month and my gothic/doom departure, I should be heading into the acceptance stage and live with what reality has to offer. Thanks for your concern, Daniel!

With the slow darkness of gothic/doom to soon be out of my way, this would be a good chance to start building up the upbeat and extreme side of my relationship further, and that Samael album that was the Sphere feature release for last month was a good start. I'm still avoiding bands that are full-on satanic black metal (including subgenres) for my own moral reasons, but if a band is straight-up black metal for the first few albums or releases, and the rest is a genre that I still enjoy, that's OK for me. That's why I still like bands such as Arcturus, Samael, and Enslaved.

The aggressive violence of sludge metal is what sets this genre apart from the other Fallen genres, as that's what it focuses on instead of depressive darkness for the most part. Plus I can't say no to its hardcore roots because my Revolution passion is still strong, nor the post-variant because it's closer to post-metal. I don't mind bringing back some aggression into my life, since I've already left the anger stage earlier this year. And maybe one day I might have the courage to explore a bit of death metal again also, albeit in similar conditions as my black metal rule...

Hey Andi, I'm sorry to hear about your current tribulations with the virus and everything and completely understand the steps you have taken. As I have alluded to before, I myself turned my back on metal completely throughout most of the nineties after an awful family tragedy (which I won't elaborate on) caused me to question pretty much everything about life. I was heavily into thrash at that time and the violence and satanic content of a lot of metal didn't seem appropriate as a form of entertainment just then and so I walked away from it, stopped listening and sold most of my records. I mention this only because, as is now obvious, I came back to it and now enjoy it as much, if not more, than I did previously. So maybe one day when things seem better, you too may return. 

As regards the virus, there were two pandemics in the twentieth century (1916 and 1968) with far higher mortality rates and they eventually ended. With the combined might of the world's scientific community thrown at it, I'm sure it won't be long before COVID is just an awful memory and we can all get back to normal. Just remember Andi, even this too must eventually pass.

Hoping things get better for you soon my friend.

Thanks, Sonny. It is tough to move away from something you enjoy after or during a bad event, but eventually there's a chance to return. I have not yet completely moved out of all metal (except for my couple-week break at the end of last year), and I'm glad to still be in the metal zone, though changes in taste can be adjusted at any time. You'll be quite amazed about how many taste changes I've gone through that involves going in and out of genres. First I was into alt-rock/metal when following my brother's footsteps, then I developed my own taste in power/progressive/melodeath/gothic metal, and later traded the power metal part of my taste for metalcore. However, thanks to the motivation and encouragement from you all, I returned to heavy/power metal and recently alt-metal. So there might be a chance to return to death metal and doom/gothic metal in the future...

So.... 1916 and 1968, huh? The current pandemic started in 2020. If we keep going at this once-every-52-years rate, would the next one be in 2072?? Probably, but hopefully not.

My latest YouTube video has an important description that explains my departure from gothic/doom metal, and then some. Please check it out:

My grand move out of gothic/doom metal commences tomorrow. Farewell, doom......