Why has Periphery had more commercial success than Monuments/Tesseract/Etc?

[Ataraxia2320]

It is exactly about the standards. My entire point is that metal as a whole, not even talking about niche subgenres, has not been commercially viable since the late 1980s. Maybe early 1990s when considering Metallica or even Pantera or Slipknot.

Someone is forgetting that Korn and Limp Bizkit were some of the biggest bands in the world for the time period they were in. They were topping the billboard charts and were directly competing with artists like Eminem at his peak. Not to mention Linkin Park.

I would say they were the last GIANT metal band. You still have artists like 55DP and Slipknot who make nice money but the music industry has changed (and I would say for the worse).

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Someone is forgetting that Korn and Limp Bizkit were some of the biggest bands in the world for the time period they were in. They were topping the billboard charts and were directly competing with artists like Eminem at his peak. Not to mention Linkin Park.

I would say they were the last GIANT metal band. You still have artists like 55DP and Slipknot who make nice money but the music industry has changed (and I would say for the worse).

Dont FFDP play arenas?

 

[Emperoff]

Getting started on SSO.

The only relevant response on the thread. No joke. Bulb created a cult following here BEFORE the band was even formed.

They defined a new genre. Everybody else came afterwards. It happens with most genre-defining bands.

Also, they're a very smart marketing powerhouse. Each guitar player is endorsed by a different pickup and guitar company. That is not a coincidence, it's triple market exposure.
Also Bulb and Nolly (although not anymore in the band) have their own gear companies as well. Everything adds up.

 

[gunshow86de]

 

[KnightBrolaire]

got bored and looked at a bunch of those stupid net worth websites. Found this one claiming Misha was blonde, 7' 11" tall and 154 lbs. Also his dress size is L. lmao

 

[bostjan]

2007 was really the last year metal was consistently noteworthy. Bands formed in 2008 or later really don't have a viable career path. Babymetal was formed i 2010ish, but I'd argue that they aren't successful because of their music on its own.

Anyway, Periphery really toured a lot behind their first album, then quickly got their music in video games and started networking with other bands/artists. That is how you succeed at pretty much anything... collaborations.

 

[sakeido]

2007 was really the last year metal was consistently noteworthy. Bands formed in 2008 or later really don't have a viable career path. Babymetal was formed i 2010ish, but I'd argue that they aren't successful because of their music on its own.

nope

Deafheaven formed in 2010. Fallujah formed in 2007 but didn't have a release until 2011. 12 Foot Ninja formed in 2008 but no release until 2012. Humanity's Last Breath 2009. Northlane 2009. Erra 2009. Eskimo Callboy 2010. Orbit Culture 2013. Nothing More basically restarted from scratch in 2014. It's bro metal, but Bad Wolves formed in 2017 and are fucking huge now

Babymetal writes good songs

 

[narad]

Babymetal was formed i 2010ish, but I'd argue that they aren't successful because of their music on its own.

And successful despite their music, even.

 

[Ataraxia2320]

Dont FFDP play arenas?

Which is what I mean when I said they are making nice money. They are near the top of the radio rock genre but a large blip on the music scene in general. Nickleback are the probably only radio rock band who are still crossing over into the mainstream.

 

[chipchappy]

nope

Deafheaven formed in 2010. Fallujah formed in 2007 but didn't have a release until 2011. 12 Foot Ninja formed in 2008 but no release until 2012. Humanity's Last Breath 2009. Northlane 2009. Erra 2009. Eskimo Callboy 2010. Orbit Culture 2013. Nothing More basically restarted from scratch in 2014. It's bro metal, but Bad Wolves formed in 2017 and are fucking huge now

Babymetal writes good songs

Ghost, too. They formed in 2005/6ish but didn't really break until 2009 or 2010

 

[StevenC]

nope

Deafheaven formed in 2010. Fallujah formed in 2007 but didn't have a release until 2011. 12 Foot Ninja formed in 2008 but no release until 2012. Humanity's Last Breath 2009. Northlane 2009. Erra 2009. Eskimo Callboy 2010. Orbit Culture 2013. Nothing More basically restarted from scratch in 2014. It's bro metal, but Bad Wolves formed in 2017 and are fucking huge now

Babymetal writes good songs

I've heard of like two of these bands.

 

[GunpointMetal]

Deafheaven formed in 2010. Fallujah formed in 2007 but didn't have a release until 2011. 12 Foot Ninja formed in 2008 but no release until 2012. Humanity's Last Breath 2009. Northlane 2009. Erra 2009. Eskimo Callboy 2010. Orbit Culture 2013. Nothing More basically restarted from scratch in 2014. It's bro metal, but Bad Wolves formed in 2017 and are fucking huge now

I think most of these bands can probably exist on their music careers, but how many of those bands do you think will have the opportunity to make Slipknot/Korn kind of money, though?

You still have artists like 55DP and Slipknot who make nice money but the music industry has changed (and I would say for the worse).

It's worse for people getting into it thinking they're going to make arena money playing metal, but I think the reality of things being widely known has led to a lot more honest art and music, and it's also made (at least from what I've seen) a lot more locally-successful artists because we're getting back to the idea that you have to work from the bottom up and people are putting in the work. I remember around 2003-2010, there were sooooo many bands that were banking on "making it big" on the internet and just being rock stars and I don't really see that anymore, which to me is a good thing. There were tons of bands that lasted one EP because they didn't get the entirety of MySpace to love their three songs or whatever.

 

[sakeido]

I've heard of like two of these bands.

that's a you problem

Bad Wolves has more spotify listeners than Tool.. Northlane and Erra both have more listeners than Periphery, Orbit Culture has 160k and they basically just dropped their first album.. and I forgot all about Spiritbox, who have only been together for 3 years or so, and seem to be blowing up really fast

I think most of these bands can probably exist on their music careers, but how many of those bands do you think will have the opportunity to make Slipknot/Korn kind of money, though?

Bad Wolves has a good shot at Five Finger Death Punch money which is nothin to sneeze at

 

[Masoo2]

I've heard of like two of these bands.

Yeah I was about to say, that's a pretty divisive list. The only ones of those with any real traction outside of smalltime metal communities are Eskimo Callboy (they blew up this past year or so in Europe), Bad Wolves (modern day Breaking Benjamin/5FDP type), and maybe Deafheaven (Sunbather was pretty widely acclaimed).

Nobody knows who Fallujah, 12 Foot Ninja, HLB, or Orbit Culture are outside of small forums like this. ERRA and Northlane yeah I'd kinda agree with, but they're not Bad Wolves mainstream or anything. The whole Australian scene has the chance to become really big due to names like Northlane, Polaris, Parkway Drive, and the newer Lance Prenc-produced wave of bands like Thornhill and Alpha Wolf, but COVID put a hold on some of their chances for needed worldwide tours.

I cannot see a metal band reaching the same levels of Korn/Slipknot/Limp Bizket/Disturbed. Babymetal had their chance, but the initial hype fell pretty hard and now they're just like most other metal bands albeit with slightly broader appeal, shame because they've had some fantastic musicians behind them and the girls can actually sing pretty well for J-pop standards.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll see something happen with Loathe or Sleep Token, but they need a combination of top tier marketing, a return to touring, and wide acclaim ala Deafheaven to get the needed attention to become mainstream.

Is Sirius XM the place to be paying attention to these days for what's truly mainstream? I can't think of anywhere else really.

 

[sakeido]

Yeah I was about to say, that's a pretty divisive list. The only ones of those with any real traction outside of smalltime metal communities are Eskimo Callboy (they blew up this past year or so in Europe), Bad Wolves (modern day Breaking Benjamin/5FDP type), and maybe Deafheaven (Sunbather was pretty widely acclaimed).

Nobody knows who Fallujah, 12 Foot Ninja, HLB, or Orbit Culture are outside of small forums like this. ERRA and Northlane yeah I'd kinda agree with, but they're not Bad Wolves mainstream or anything. The whole Australian scene has the chance to become really big due to names like Northlane, Polaris, Parkway Drive, and the newer Lance Prenc-produced wave of bands like Thornhill and Alpha Wolf, but COVID put a hold on some of their chances for needed worldwide tours.

I cannot see a metal band reaching the same levels of Korn/Slipknot/Limp Bizket/Disturbed. Babymetal had their chance, but the initial hype fell pretty hard and now they're just like most other metal bands albeit with slightly broader appeal, shame because they've had some fantastic musicians behind them and the girls can actually sing pretty well for J-pop standards.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll see something happen with Loathe or Sleep Token, but they need a combination of top tier marketing, a return to touring, and wide acclaim ala Deafheaven to get the needed attention to become mainstream.

Is Sirius XM the place to be paying attention to these days for what's truly mainstream? I can't think of anywhere else really.

I was responding to a guy saying metal bands have no career path, which is just wrong. Lots of bands have "made it" by metal standards after his arbitrary cutoff date. Many have more success than Periphery even without forum presences and fanboy militias.

as far as what's mainstream, you can just look at the Billboard chart. They account for all the modern ways of consuming music (traditional buys, radio play, streaming on most platforms, etc). Metal bands chart all the time. Babymetal's last album is the highest charting Japanese release in Billboard history... made #13 on the main chart.

 

[fantom]

Bad Wolves has more spotify listeners than Tool.. Northlane and Erra both have more listeners than Periphery, Orbit Culture has 160k and they basically just dropped their first album.. and I forgot all about Spiritbox, who have only been together for 3 years or so, and seem to be blowing up really fast

I've also only heard of 2 of those bands. Eskimo Callboy blew up, but they are a total gimmick band. I don't know if it will last. Orbit Culture is meh. I don't think it is a him problem. There is no way to me Bad Wolves is bigger than Tool.

As far as Spotify numbers, why do you assume Spotify is a representative of all music listeners? I think I know 2 people who use Spotify. Using just Spotify as your source of truth will give you sample bias for sure. Some people use Google / YouTube. Some people use Pandora. Some use Amazon Music. A lot of people, especially over age 40, do not use streaming services at all.


Edit: on Amazon, 14 of the top 50 metal songs are by Tool. One of the top 50, a cover, is by Bad Wolves. I don't know if they will do better than Alien Ant Farm making a one hit wonder cover of a 20 year old song, but they definitely aren't as successful as Tool. I say this as someone who hasn't listened to Tool in 20 years and could care less about them.

 

[StevenC]

I've only heard of Northlane because the guitarist posts here.

 

[sakeido]

ss.org

Tiny Reference Pool: The Forum

 

[wankerness]

Yeah, gotta imagine the "still posts on PHBB forums in the year 2021" demographic is possibly even smaller than the "listens to prog metal" demographic! It's too bad since Facebook's hot garbage in every respect.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

Eskimo Callboy blew up, but they are a total gimmick band. I don't know if it will last.

They started as a gimmick band but turned more serious with every album. It’s only with Hypa Hypa that they went back to the comedy stuff cause Sushi(the original frontman) left. They are probably one of the most talented bands I’ve ever come across, I’ve never heard music that covers so many genres performed at that level. It will be interesting where they go with the next album now they’ve blown up. A shame it was during a pandemic where they couldn’t take advantage by touring.