Metal improving in 2007

[Svmmoned]

It is a small improvement indeed.
New Immolation is better than Harnessing Ruin.
Some great and crazy riffs populate this album
but those loud nu metal leads which they start to develop since Close to a world below are still here in excess and simplify their music. Some grooves and disssonances also sound like taken from nu metal definition. It's the structures that made Here in After Death Metal albeit sound is similiar to those
hybrid albums they relased later.
I see some analogy to new Slayer.
They try to keep their trademark sound or feel but made flat structures within music itself. Also by plastic aggression in music and "angry" lyrics following trend of describing hot topics and isuess of U.S. they can only comunicate on very limited levels and mostly with morons.

New Suffocation is also better than previous relase.
They didn't wimp out. That's good. But there's no need to do that because their new audience (metalcore) isn't that far from their current style and attitude(well, they are New Yorkers so it's natural i guess).They may call Suffocation s/t a Pierced from Within 2 but still while it has quite large amoun of great stuff from that album, it has also some terrible and shameless parts. I think, that they just begin to degenerate into some form of metalcore/Biohazard type of music, or as a alternative, they will continue on relasing spiritless repeatings of themselves(like Immolation). Maybe there is no escape from your native scene influences?

[Svmmoned]

Anyway Born for banning took for example of improvement bands that made improvements on metal or was at least good a decade or so before.
I think that they can't improve anything anymore.
Who cared what will be next move of Thrash bands when Death were at its greatest and with yet another genre becoming more visible to audience?

Popularity creates various pressures and temptations with various effects on music.

I would appreciate if someone can show me some examples of improvements(and describes them) in metal(especially DM) over last five years.And my intention here is not mockery or talkin' about how metal gone bad, but real hope to find something worthy.

[esoteric]

Doom metal has become a parody of itself that is basically indie rock at this point. Avoid.

How so? Skepticism has improved since the excellent but inconsistent Stormcrowfleet, Warning just released the best doom metal album in 5 years. Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus are back in form with their new ones. Esoteric and Runemagick are still strong.

[Annihilaytorr]

None of those releases are any different than the usual modern fare apart from extra care taken to dupe the clueless into believing they are anything but product. Looks as if its worked on some.

[Ageless_Stranger]

I'm looking forward to the new Summoning ep and hopefully a new Darkspace album.  Otherwise, I can't think of anything.

[Annihilaytorr]

I'm looking forward to the new Summoning ep and hopefully a new Darkspace album.  Otherwise, I can't think of anything.

That is about it for me as well, but even still, I don't find myself listening to these bands as much as the classics.

[Arctic Sun]

That is about it for me as well, but even still, I don't find myself listening to these bands as much as the classics.

You done with your bellyaching yet, or are you still under the impression that the subsiquent echoes are of any more worth than what elicited them?

We get it: metal is in an uncomfortable transition state, with an unfortunate consequence being sub-par material.  Acknowledging that as a simple fact is a major drawing point of this forum - not a launchpad for metal forum menstruation.  Your endometrial stain is becoming unpleasant....

[Mjollnir]

"We get it: metal is in an uncomfortable transition state"

I don't know about that. Metal is pretty much declining, as with other genres such as classical music, and punk which is not producing work like it has in past days. I am not sure what you infer will happen after this "uncomfortable transition."

[kontinual]

I am not sure what you infer will happen after this "uncomfortable transition."

That's partially what we are here to discuss, yes?

[oscar the cat]

We either help fix, or continue whining. It's easier to whine and you can do it while the TV's on.

[More Celt Than Sassenach]

We either help fix, or continue whining. It's easier to whine and you can do it while the TV's on.

so far you seem to be whining on peoples tenancies to whine.

[Thamuz]

Or you could be like me and play the pseudo-elitist who points out that everyone else is full of excuses because I'm an empty shell with an inferiority complex to boot.

That sounds fun. Where do I join?

On a more, ahem, on-topic note of the 'newer age' bands I enjoyed the rabid tribalism of Dark Tribe (see the reviews on M-A for more info), Nokturnal Mortum's effort in using the guitar as a fully-integrated folk instrument to celebrate triumph on a post-war level (I guess 'Dol Guldur-ish in this perspective) and Black Funeral's eastern Asian inspired mystical primitivism.

I have admitedly lacked much interest in much else over the past five years though, perhaps through my apathy towards discovered Metal material that I haven't yet heard these days.

[DaniVikernes]

Let me see...

The new Mayhem for me was rather boring, I was never much for them anyway but I was hoping to hear something interesting.

I got the slowed down version of Drudkh's Anti-Urban which sounds kind of odd but I found the proper version and from what I can see they are good for what they do but they will remain stagnant in my eyes.

Graveland's Will Stronger Than Death is another example, well produced music but rather stagnant sound and has been for a while.

I've only listened to it a few times yet but the Fortið album, "Völuspá Part II - The Arrival Of Fenris" is quite good, Fortið is one of the best "Viking Metal" albums that actually does give a real strong Viking feeling.

Only recently found Kroda, whilst I am not a huge fan of Narrow Squirting Bowel Movement, I think this album was pulled off quite well.

One of the best releases for me so far has to be Lifelover's "Erotik", at first I wasn't really sure what type of metal it would be but after a listen It really sunk in, very unique and a big improvement I would say.

Same with Shining, whilst I think what Kvarforth did was a bit stupid and trendy you can't deny that he makes some excellent music, very well done.

As for the new Watain, again I do not really like this kind of Black Metal. The quality of it was much better with better production and less muffled vocals but the overall feeling was rather boring.

Still need to listen Angantyr a few more times, same with Forgotten Tomb

I would say on a quality level it is improving as it becomes much easier to record music but the actual music itself is becoming quite mediocre. I personally do not care about the quality so long as it is loud enough to here, the "kvlt" thing has been over done, but there is the odd band that manages to pull it off without sounding like another Darkthrone clone.

[ozz]

New Monstrosity is above average and the new Immolation is their best since Unholy Cult (which was quite good).  Vigna's guitar playing and Shalaty's drumming make the Immolation worthwhile alone; I honestly think it's quite a bit better than Suffocation's eponymous release.  

I could see how people might dislike Monstrosity's latest, though.  But honestly, outside of these two releases there hasn't been much of anything of merit.  Drudkh's EP "Anti-Urban" was okay.  Akercocke's "Anti-Christ" was a fucking abomination... who knows how the year will turn out, just do what I do and listen to old stuff

[Arctic Sun]

It seems that a big part of the stagnation problem is the idea that metal has become hopelessly aware of its own image and sound.  As a result, there's a poisonous consensus of what it ought to sound and look like.

That said, it seems a little counter-productive to be pitting everything against classic releases as an all-inclusive evaluation:  there's obviously somewhat of a necessity to do as much in some capacities, but when comparison becomes a source of coercion it gets to be pretty hard to sympathize with folks who are bent out of shape over a lack of anything new and exciting.  

The essence of black and death metal is both beautiful and complex, so why dumb that down with naiveness by expecting a novel means of expressing it to arrive in the blink of an eye?  Metal has bested itself through gradual evolution on numerous occasions in the past - a disruption of (or ignorance towards) that process as the result of little more than impatience seems pretty myopic.