Lightening the epic load (staying in The Guardians while freeing myself from the bands I don’t listen too often anymore)
As you all might know, I’m really trying to focus on developing a heavier modern taste in metal (metalcore, modern progressive metal, alternative metal recently, etc.), but some of you really like the epic power metal taste I used to have and have motivated me to revive it with more bands. I appreciate the sentiment, but my passion for power metal isn’t strong as it was at least 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 compromise: My time in heavy/power metal and The Guardians will continue, but I’ll get rid of some bands that are still in my playlist in the present and bands that used to be in the past because I truly haven’t listened to those bands as much as I wanted to in 6+ months since discovery (other than one or two reviews and track submissions for the monthly Spotify 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:
Riot, Running Wild, Virgin Steele, Crimson Glory, Slough Feg, Lost Horizon, Bruce Dickinson, X Japan
There are also two more bands of a different genre I plan to move away from, but it would be a stunning surprise for you all if I say what those two bands are so soon, so maybe a day before my departure from listening to those other bands. Now, here are some more bands I will move away from next week, from my earlier epic metal taste:
Sabaton, Stratovarius, Alestorm, Edguy, Gloryhammer, Twilight Force, Elvenking, Edenbridge
Also, a few albums I reviewed from bands I don't listen to that was just part of a challenge will be gone as well. Don’t worry, like I said, I’m still staying in heavy/power metal and there will be more bands and activities related to The Guardians (including reviews, playlist track submissions, feature releases, etc.) in the future, but I’m just moving away from bands I’m not into anymore, effective next week, March 1. Farewell soon to those bands...
PS: I'm making a Spotify playlist of tracks from those bands and I will add in the link when it's ready.
PPS: I'm also stopping my 2-week break from The Revolution early, and a thread I'll post later will confirm that.
Check out the description for my latest video (which I plan to keep), and stay tuned for tomorrow morning when I reveal what those two other bands are:
As you all might know, I’m really trying to focus on developing a heavier modern taste in metal (metalcore, modern progressive metal, alternative metal recently, etc.), but some of you really like the epic power metal taste I used to have and have motivated me to revive it with more bands. I appreciate the sentiment, but my passion for power metal isn’t strong as it was at least 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 compromise: My time in heavy/power metal and The Guardians will continue, but I’ll get rid of some bands that are still in my playlist in the present and bands that used to be in the past because I truly haven’t listened to those bands as much as I wanted to in 6+ months since discovery (other than one or two reviews and track submissions for the monthly Spotify 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:
Riot, Running Wild, Virgin Steele, Crimson Glory, Slough Feg, Lost Horizon, Bruce Dickinson, X Japan
There are also two more bands of a different genre I plan to move away from, but it would be a stunning surprise for you all if I say what those two bands are so soon, so maybe a day before my departure from listening to those other bands. Now, here are some more bands I will move away from next week, from my earlier epic metal taste:
Sabaton, Stratovarius, Alestorm, Edguy, Gloryhammer, Twilight Force, Elvenking, Edenbridge
Also, a few albums I reviewed from bands I don't listen to that was just part of a challenge will be gone as well. Don’t worry, like I said, I’m still staying in heavy/power metal and there will be more bands and activities related to The Guardians (including reviews, playlist track submissions, feature releases, etc.) in the future, but I’m just moving away from bands I’m not into anymore, effective next week, March 1. Farewell soon to those bands...
PS: I'm making a Spotify playlist of tracks from those bands and I will add in the link when it's ready.
PPS: I'm also stopping my 2-week break from The Revolution early, and a thread I'll post later will confirm that.
Can I ask you a question please Andi?
You seem to "plan" your listening habits a lot. I am a person who has realised over time that the level of planning of my listening habits I had done of old actually led to me not enjoying music as much as I do when I just organically shift - "go with the flow" so to speak. I might be reading your (multiple) declaration posts about leaving bands/genres behind and I am not trying to poke controversy but do you genuinely still enjoy any of the bands/genres that you are leaving behind? If so, why leave them behind consciously? Is the door open to you returning to them in the future?
So for example you say you want to "focus" on the more heavier side of metal. Is there something that has led you to this or are you forcing a change?
I've enjoyed all those bands/genres I've listened to, but there are some times when I've realized they might not be for me because of my interest for those bands fading and my moral compass pointing at which genres I might not feel comfortable with listening to more based on my mood. For death metal, doom/gothic metal, and black metal, I've left those genres because of my concerns about how those lyrical themes of violent gore, dark depression, and irreligious Satanism (respectively) would affect my outside-world rep, as I'm still this young dude in my early 20s living with my parents and expected to spread positive vibes to other outside-world people I know, and a couple bad experiences triggered that realization. Then there are some bands like those heavy/power metal bands mentioned above that I'm moving away from because after 6 months or more, I've noticed that my interest for those bands went from "some of the best bands ever!" to just "meh, not going anywhere". Part of that problem is, I was way more interested in heavy/power metal at least 5 years ago, then when I was losing steam in those genres, my YouTube pen pal introduced me to listening to Trivium, which got me into revamping my metal interest into heavier genres like metalcore and modern progressive metal, and formerly melodeath and gothic/doom metal. Then a couple years later, here in Metal Academy, when some of you like my earlier epic power metal taste enough to motivate me to revive it, I appreciate it, but the strength of power metal passion just isn't as much as it used to be. Another thing that triggers me is the copyright troubles I might face when, say, sharing on YouTube.
Also here are two more bands that I'm moving away from as well:
Lord
Mastodon (actually a progressive/sludge metal band, no heavy/power metal at all)
I definitely will try to improve my interest in heavy/power metal and progressive metal despite moving away from some bands (with occasional throwbacks to those bands in playlist track submissions), but will I fully return to those bands and the genres I'm straying from in the future? Though that would be great, only time will tell....