ChaosResolved
02-10-2006, 08:08 AM
The Future of Rock: Bongs Sold Separately
Just like life, music moves in circles. For some odd reason, 21st century rock music thus far can’t free itself from the 1980s – a tragedy considering the 80s provided the worst rock music in history, and now we have to relive it all thanks to bands finding it necessary to pay homage to the musical genius of Poison and Motley Crüe.
So, really, thanks a ton to Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, all the other crappy metal bands, like Bleeding Through, Shadows Fall, and Eighteen Visions, which are nothing more than disgraceful thrash rip-offs. This rant only covers hard rock; let us not forget this sudden obsession with new wave, creating an equally disturbing development in the world of rock: nü-new wave. Does the world need more bands like Wham, A Flock of Seagulls, and Culture Club? No, the answer is it does not.
Nü-new wave aside, this metalcore genre that has become so popular is becoming a parody of itself, much like nü-metal did during its final stages of existence, it has become stale, uninspired, and simply seeks any dollar it can squeeze from the industry and Hot Topic fanatics. With this in mind, where is the world of quality hard rock heading?
The answer isn’t where you’d expect it: stoner rock. That’s right folks, follow the trends, follow the signs, and follow the marijuana because stoner rock is making a return to the hard rock scene, and it’s bigger, stronger, and more motivated than ever before.
But before we can embrace the second coming of stoner rock – the first occurring in the early-to-mid 90s – we have to know the history of the genre. First and foremost, all respects and acknowledgments must be made towards Black Sabbath who essentially created the genre with their heavy, dooming mixture of sludgy, down-tuned guitars and dark, evil lyrics. While Sabbath inspires nearly every stoner rock, doom metal, and grunge band, other influences are added and mixed per individual band, ranging from 70s boogie rock and blues-rock to 80s thrash and death metal.
Now understanding stoner rock’s essential roots, it’s visible and audible to understand the great circle of life, which, by the way, I originally learned from the great Mufasa. Hard rock in 2005 saw the release of many quality stoner rock albums, like High On Fire’s Blessed Black Wings, YOB’s The Unreal Never Lived, and Queens of the Stone Aged’s Lullabies to Paralyze, not to mention releases from Fireball Ministry, ASG, Clutch, and Goblin Cock. Even former whiney emo kids in the Open Hand turned to stoner rock for a surprise record in You & Me. Stoner rock’s influences could be found even in non-stoner releases throughout 2005, like Lorene Drive’s Romantic Wealth and – dare I say – even in the lowly My American Heart’s The Meaning in Makeup, stoner rock-inspired riffs could be heard.
As 2005 concluded, 2006 opened up just as quickly and efficiently with numerous anticipated stoner rock albums including Kemado Records’ the Sword, who will debut with Age of Winters, the Eagles of Death Metal’s Death By Sexy, Witch’s eponymous debut, and Scissorfight’s Jaggernaut, as well as expected releases from Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Atomic Bitchwax, Mastodon, and possibly AGE, which includes members of the now disbanded YOB.
While these bands range from the moodily dark to the extravagantly silly, there’s no denying that a second wave of stoner rock is on the verge of breaking through to the big time. Open Hand, for example, exemplifies the trend towards the desert sound made popular in the 90s by bands like Kyuss.
Although Open Hand are essentially diet stoner – THC free – their realization to ditch the monotonously worn sing-scream formula for something untapped, and unrealized was essential for the progression of hard rock and more specifically, stoner rock. Honchos at Trustkill should realize this if they haven’t already because frankly, Trustkill released only one quality album last year in Open Hand’s You & Me; and numerous media outlets were acknowledging You & Me as Trustkill’s best release ever, which says something about Trustkill’s roster full of mediocre metalcore bands. Believe it or not, of all bands, Open Hand may have jump-started the stale hard rock scene; hopefully, Trustkill and other influential labels will realize it before the time has come and gone to act.
With newcomers like the Sword and Witch gaining huge hype surrounding their respective debuts, numerous veteran stoner rock acts releasing material in ‘06, and the recent trend of emo and power-pop bands borrowing from stoner rock influences, hard rock music looks to be putting down the mascara and picking up the bong.
-Kamran Rouzpay
Relative Links:
Generative Genres: Grindcore (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6135)
Review: YOB-The Unreal Never Lived (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=3632&oldreview=0)
Review: Goblin Cock-Bagged and Boarded (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=6981&oldreview=0)
Review: Open Hand-You and Me (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1561&oldreview=1)
Review: Queens of the Stone Age-Lullabies to Paralyze (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1627&oldreview=1)
Review: High on Fire-Blessed Black Wings (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1477&oldreview=1)
Review: The Sword-Age of Winters (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=7985&oldreview=0)
Just like life, music moves in circles. For some odd reason, 21st century rock music thus far can’t free itself from the 1980s – a tragedy considering the 80s provided the worst rock music in history, and now we have to relive it all thanks to bands finding it necessary to pay homage to the musical genius of Poison and Motley Crüe.
So, really, thanks a ton to Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, all the other crappy metal bands, like Bleeding Through, Shadows Fall, and Eighteen Visions, which are nothing more than disgraceful thrash rip-offs. This rant only covers hard rock; let us not forget this sudden obsession with new wave, creating an equally disturbing development in the world of rock: nü-new wave. Does the world need more bands like Wham, A Flock of Seagulls, and Culture Club? No, the answer is it does not.
Nü-new wave aside, this metalcore genre that has become so popular is becoming a parody of itself, much like nü-metal did during its final stages of existence, it has become stale, uninspired, and simply seeks any dollar it can squeeze from the industry and Hot Topic fanatics. With this in mind, where is the world of quality hard rock heading?
The answer isn’t where you’d expect it: stoner rock. That’s right folks, follow the trends, follow the signs, and follow the marijuana because stoner rock is making a return to the hard rock scene, and it’s bigger, stronger, and more motivated than ever before.
But before we can embrace the second coming of stoner rock – the first occurring in the early-to-mid 90s – we have to know the history of the genre. First and foremost, all respects and acknowledgments must be made towards Black Sabbath who essentially created the genre with their heavy, dooming mixture of sludgy, down-tuned guitars and dark, evil lyrics. While Sabbath inspires nearly every stoner rock, doom metal, and grunge band, other influences are added and mixed per individual band, ranging from 70s boogie rock and blues-rock to 80s thrash and death metal.
Now understanding stoner rock’s essential roots, it’s visible and audible to understand the great circle of life, which, by the way, I originally learned from the great Mufasa. Hard rock in 2005 saw the release of many quality stoner rock albums, like High On Fire’s Blessed Black Wings, YOB’s The Unreal Never Lived, and Queens of the Stone Aged’s Lullabies to Paralyze, not to mention releases from Fireball Ministry, ASG, Clutch, and Goblin Cock. Even former whiney emo kids in the Open Hand turned to stoner rock for a surprise record in You & Me. Stoner rock’s influences could be found even in non-stoner releases throughout 2005, like Lorene Drive’s Romantic Wealth and – dare I say – even in the lowly My American Heart’s The Meaning in Makeup, stoner rock-inspired riffs could be heard.
As 2005 concluded, 2006 opened up just as quickly and efficiently with numerous anticipated stoner rock albums including Kemado Records’ the Sword, who will debut with Age of Winters, the Eagles of Death Metal’s Death By Sexy, Witch’s eponymous debut, and Scissorfight’s Jaggernaut, as well as expected releases from Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Atomic Bitchwax, Mastodon, and possibly AGE, which includes members of the now disbanded YOB.
While these bands range from the moodily dark to the extravagantly silly, there’s no denying that a second wave of stoner rock is on the verge of breaking through to the big time. Open Hand, for example, exemplifies the trend towards the desert sound made popular in the 90s by bands like Kyuss.
Although Open Hand are essentially diet stoner – THC free – their realization to ditch the monotonously worn sing-scream formula for something untapped, and unrealized was essential for the progression of hard rock and more specifically, stoner rock. Honchos at Trustkill should realize this if they haven’t already because frankly, Trustkill released only one quality album last year in Open Hand’s You & Me; and numerous media outlets were acknowledging You & Me as Trustkill’s best release ever, which says something about Trustkill’s roster full of mediocre metalcore bands. Believe it or not, of all bands, Open Hand may have jump-started the stale hard rock scene; hopefully, Trustkill and other influential labels will realize it before the time has come and gone to act.
With newcomers like the Sword and Witch gaining huge hype surrounding their respective debuts, numerous veteran stoner rock acts releasing material in ‘06, and the recent trend of emo and power-pop bands borrowing from stoner rock influences, hard rock music looks to be putting down the mascara and picking up the bong.
-Kamran Rouzpay
Relative Links:
Generative Genres: Grindcore (http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6135)
Review: YOB-The Unreal Never Lived (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=3632&oldreview=0)
Review: Goblin Cock-Bagged and Boarded (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=6981&oldreview=0)
Review: Open Hand-You and Me (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1561&oldreview=1)
Review: Queens of the Stone Age-Lullabies to Paralyze (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1627&oldreview=1)
Review: High on Fire-Blessed Black Wings (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=1477&oldreview=1)
Review: The Sword-Age of Winters (http://www.decoymusic.com/index.php?content=reviews&reviewid=7985&oldreview=0)