Future of heavy music

[linchpin]

I had this discussion today with someone regarding what exactly happens when the "giant" bands finally hang their guitars and mics permanently and who do we have that would take their spot.
When I say giants, I mean the usual such as Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, Metallica, Motorhead, Sepultura etc... I mean there are LOADS of great modern bands out there but are there any you can think of that has that "classic" status? I say that because not all bands aspire for greatness.

 

[TheDepthsWillRise]

Mastodon, Dillinger, Meshuggah, Opeth feel kinda like the godfathers of modern metal to me.

 

[TheBloodstained]

...when that happens the next generation will take over and play music; either their own material or the older artists material. Some bands will make a living as tribute bands etc. etc.!
New bands will get big and gain legend status...

...atleast that's how I think it'll be

 

[J7string]

To me... Metal can go anywhere in just a few years. Opeth and Agalloch are the staples of bands that redefined metal again and again. Opeth being a prog, melodic, jazz, death metal band singing about the forest, and Agalloch being an atmospheric, nihilistic, soothsaying black metal band... And a lot has branched out of this. You have bands like Insomnium which took after Opeth in a sense, and bands like Fen that have an atmospheric black metal feel. As for the really heavy stuff... I don't care for, and I hope people start to lean towards the melodic and masterful side of metal as time passes.

 

[morrowcosom]

Popular metal will continue to get more and more complex, then finally when it has reached a point to where people get tired of listening to it, it will become simpler.

 

[AdamMaz]

I feel as though playing technique and playing styles have little if any room to progress and that the future lies in wherever sound production goes.

 

[bhakan]

Popular metal will continue to get more and more complex, then finally when it has reached a point to where people get tired of listening to it, it will become simpler.

This. Right now everyone is trying to outdo each other in an arms race of technicality, which will build up until the bubble breaks. Afterwards I predict a trend of stoner/sludge type stuff, just like grunge was the response to music becoming too technical and overproduced, we will have a similar trend of simple, lo-fi metal.

As far as bands that will become the next legends, Mastodon is definitely one. They are getting radio play and in the equivalent of the early nineties Metallica phase.

Also, maybe it is just bias from this forum, but I think Periphery have the potential to eventually reach that point. They are influential, and I think eventually one of their more poppy sounding songs, like Jetpacks or Erised could get radio play and make them pretty big. I would not be surprised if eventually, like the big 4 of thrash, we end up with a "big 4" of djent bands that end up making big. Periphery, Tesseract and such could definitely do it depending on how their next couple of albums go.

 

[Metaguitarist]

I agree with Bhakan and would like to add Devin Townsend to the list of "future iconic/classic" bands/artists. I think he's more listenable than most bands on the planet, and he's masterful in everything he does.

 

[Gram negative]

Popular metal will continue to get more and more complex, then finally when it has reached a point to where people get tired of listening to it, it will become simpler.

Thats what happened in the eighties.

metal got more and more about speed and technique, then suddenly, stoners in the desert started making stuff. heavy but simple.

 

[tm20]

this is sort of off topic but just imagine if a band like Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza were selling out stadiums but on a more serious note i would like to see All Shall Perish and After The Burial to reach such a status

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

They'll never die. They'll keep playing

 

[skisgaar]

What ever the future of metal music is, I hope it's not what Meshuggah is doing right now.

What ever the future holds, I imagine Periphery will be in there somewhere, Slipknot will (Very, very) slowly disappear, bands will get less technical, there will be a big return to 6 strings because of one breakthrough band, deathcore will dwindle and die.....

Etc really.

 

[skisgaar]

this is sort of off topic but just imagine if a band like Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza were selling out stadiums but on a more serious note i would like to see All Shall Perish and After The Burial to reach such a status

Oh man, if only. ATB deserve to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger.

 

[Basti]

To me... Metal can go anywhere in just a few years. Opeth and Agalloch are the staples of bands that redefined metal again and again. Opeth being a prog, melodic, jazz, death metal band singing about the forest, and Agalloch being an atmospheric, nihilistic, soothsaying black metal band... And a lot has branched out of this. You have bands like Insomnium which took after Opeth in a sense, and bands like Fen that have an atmospheric black metal feel. As for the really heavy stuff... I don't care for, and I hope people start to lean towards the melodic and masterful side of metal as time passes.

Agalloch deserve to be massive, they really do

 

[spawnofthesith]

This. Right now everyone is trying to outdo each other in an arms race of technicality, which will build up until the bubble breaks. Afterwards I predict a trend of stoner/sludge type stuff, just like grunge was the response to music becoming too technical and overproduced, we will have a similar trend of simple, lo-fi metal.

I really hope a widespread re-emergence of Stoner/Sludge occurs in my life time. I was kinda late to that party unfortunately, and its one of my favorite metal styles

 

[SirMyghin]

I agree that we will probably see something like the end of the 80s. Speed metal and such took the back seat to the simplicity of the Grunge movement. The ground that is being stepped on is by no means new, or original, just a refocus of influence, as gradual increase in technicality, and then a peak. The difference was in the 80s, the technicality made fair sized waves, where now it is a artifact, so small as to not really make a splash.

Oh man, if only. ATB deserve to be waaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger.

This is what I love about this forum: "This band that I like that doesn't seem to exist outside this forum, or niche metal focused communities, should be so much bigger than they are." So much of what is listened to here (an audience which I do not include myself ), is completely unknown in the outside world, but that doesn't warrant an entitlement to greater fame, but instead puts things into a proper perspective. People aren't interesting.

 

[Winspear]

I don't think anything would change? There are the big names in modern metal that will continue, and there are countless new bands copying the sound of the old classics that will continue to do so. Not to mention that the old classic names aren't really doing anything new/good, and their records will still be there when they quit

 

[Ryan-ZenGtr-]

The fate of modern metal will be down to booking agents.

Live performance and merchandise sales are the only way to make money since the digital revolution disenfranchised the record labels (profiteering from loans).

If enough venues can stay open and draw crowds it may still work.
My feeling is the young people of this time are more interested in staying in playing Call of Duty to bother travelling to shows.

 

[Jason_Clement]

Everything will become available on digital exclusively. Records, tapes, CDs...they will become artifacts. And slowly, they will become heresy. There will be record burnings alongside book burnings. All that will be left is whatever made it onto the internet. And then, there will be a nuclear fallout and music as we know it will all but be forgotten. Metal...will die.

Dun...dun...duuuuuuuun.

 

[abandonist]

I'm just going to keep hurting myself on tape - and making it as uncomfortable as possible for people to sit through. I've been doing it for 19 years. No reason to stop now!