Indie Metal

[Sammaellofi]

I ind of checked out of popular metal when Metalcore was at it's peak and the emocore bands with shiny outfits started showing up.  What is Indie Metal?  Is this some new god awful movement I didn't notice?  If someone just wants to post some quick youtube videos, I can fill in the blanks.

[Iron]

Generally speaking, it is the appropriation of metal (usually black metal) instrumentation for the purpose of conveying ideas that said instrumentation was not designed to convey, i.e, the same set of ideas that Modest Mouse communicates. Like rap-metal, jazz-metal, and other evolutionary dead ends, it is what happens when some demographic gains a passing interest in metal but fails to appreciate that the genre's technique and content cannot be disentangled from each other.

It ranges from this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO_EuNDCSZs

Basically standard/generic black metal mixed in a superficially 'seamless' way with music derived from Sonic Youth.

To this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WnbcLaWzXw

Emo/indie/hardcore melodic phrasing with some sort of shoegaze influence.

To this, at worst:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDzt6yI3Dw8

Gross butchery of the most outwardly 'obvious' elements of various styles, all cut and pasted together and subordinated to inane autotuned pop music.

[Sammaellofi]

Thank you.  I was assuming it was what most of these crappy cross-overs were filed under.  It is good to know your enemy.

[tardocaust]

After 20 of Montreal’s most epic indie metal bands showcased their headbanging fury over five rounds, the final five bands will duke it at the Corona on June 8. The five finalists are Bookakee, Dark Century, Hollow, Spelldown and Trainwreck Architect.

http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/06/07/montreals-top-5-indie-metal-bands-duke-it-out-for-slots-at-this-summers-heavy-mtl-festival/

[Nightspirit]

Today I heard this band Ash Borer that wasn't too bad. When the songs were clearly Black Metal, it was engaging at least. Other people (with bad frames of reference) have been making a big stink about them for ages, and it seems like they're a higher caliber of hipsterdom or best case scenario they're on a very fine line between which side of the fence they want to fall on.

But I did like it for what it was, when it was good.