Why Do You Like Obscure Metal?

[Helm]

It just happens that more obscure bands speak to me, but it's not a rule. Everybody and their mom love Fates Warning and Candlemass but that doesn't stop me from proclaiming my ever-lasting alligience to them.

I wanted to make a similar topic for quite a while because I wanted to adress a distinct issue of HOW people listen to obscure metal and what they're hoping to gather from it. 99% of obscure metal is not very unique, no matter how great the vocals or riffs are. Are most people happy with 'variations of a theme' endlessly?

[humus]

I'm a historian and that also shows in my music taste. I like to dig deeper than the average person, or in this case, than the average metalhead.
I don't ignore any 'famous' bands though, some of my favourite albums are very common and well-known ones. But there are many forgotten gems in the underground and I take pleasure in discovering them. Sometimes one can but wonder why band X became famous and why band Y never got past that one demotape...

Are most people happy with 'variations of a theme' endlessly?

Yes. Originality is overrated. Just because a band brings something new doesn't mean it's good music. Look at Bolt thrower, they release album after album in the same vein and I love them all. While on the other hand, there are countless examples or classic bands that wanted to release something experimental or original and which becamse totally worthless because of that.

[khiijol]

for the same reason that i like non-obscure metal, i like good music. some good bands make it, some don't. i'd like to hear the ones that don't

[Fucking Åmål]

Because obscure metal is many times better than known metal.For example Black Hole is the best doom metal band together with Candlemass.
Credo is the best Russian LP
Adramelch-Irae Melanox is the best Italian LP
Thunderway are damn perfect.
Norway Rips(88 )-excellent stuff the best compilation ever.
Witchhammer-1487 the ultimate headbanging band?
Turbo and Kat i can`t live without them
Tyrant(Ger) because they are my favourite band ever
Some examples...

After that who needs to listen anymore to overrated for me bands like Black Sabbath,Saxon,Metallica(that doesn`t mean i don`t like them but if you ask me f.ex is better Black Sabbath or Black Hole?I would have laughed with you because the answer is obvious...)

[Black Axe]

Because obscure metal is many times better than known metal.For example Black Hole is the best doom metal band together with Candlemass.

Candlemass? You mean early Candlemass, maybe. Mostly their debut.

[Kelly]

Candlemass? You mean early Candlemass, maybe. Mostly their debut.

I've seeeeeeeeeeen the raaaaaaaaainbow's eeeeeeeeend!

[ION BRITTON]

Candlemass? You mean early Candlemass, maybe. Mostly their debut.

I've seeeeeeeeeeen the raaaaaaaaainbow's eeeeeeeeend!

I am raptured i CANNOT pretend!

[caminantenocturno]

Because the I love the form of music and most people don't bother buying/supporting it so it's forced to become obscure.

Yeah, especially when the bands are going for something different, are exploring actually something new ... like Psychotic Waltz (RIP) did ... that's what I like about the 70s: you could do a lot of experiments and be successful anyway ... I mean Led Zeppelin sold more albums than the Stones (albums, not singles!) and did experiments no group nowadays would even dare to think of ... do that and you're condamned to be more or less "underground" or "obscure" whatever you'll call it ...

[Avenger]

"Thrill of the hunt".

[wyzard]

Personally speaking,I'd say that as the years go by,I love obscure underground metal more and more.Let me point out that I used to listen almost kinds of metal,even grindcore(not anymore).It's as if by magic,something that forces me to discover unknown,non-active bands by now.The examples of underrated bands are numerous.I also think that there are solid metal treasures from all over the world which await you to dig and find them.

[nabel]

It does not make difference to me if it is obscure, mainstream or something between. If I like I listen to it.
But usually these more or less obscure bands have that rough, uncompromised sound, as more mainstream bands have expectations from their labels = more compromises in producing etc. But that's not the case for every band of course!

And that uncompromised attitude and "flame burning inside" is the thing that attracts me in so called obscure metal.

[DeathMetalWeenie]

[quote="nightsblood"]Are you a completist that just HAS to hear Everything?
Do you think major releases by big bands are too tame/watered down or tha anything released in more than 1,000 copies is just not tr00?
Do you like being able to one-up others with how rare your albums are?

*************************************************************
I am not a completeist. With 87, 653 bands to choose from and 30 million titles to choose from my favorite mail order company...I am only interested in the top 100 bands from every subgenre, of HEAVY METAL.

And after that point your just cracking into the second - division of the 3 rate. And you can keep working until you end collecting all the way down the 9th rate acts. The copy cats of the clone bands who mimick, the copyccats of the rip-offs, who copy the knock offs.

Yeah I do think Major label releases are watered down affairs, because those labels want to sell 3 to 30 million "units", of each album. Sure there is some heavy metal on Major labels that has molten metal riffs and will tear off your face, but for every one of those albums. I can point out a few hundred examples of bands, who sold-out, and released trend albums, based on the corporate rock trends, at the time the band was on a certain label, at a certain time.

A really killer metal release should only attract a couple of million fans. Soceer moms and PMRC types should "balk" at wanting to get your CD, lp or cassette, if you are wanting to play heavy metal the traditional/ true/ real metal way.

The idea of going to the record store every week is not to get rare albums, but to get the albums you know will shape the future of heavy metal, and to avoid the collectors market down the road.

No I am not happy to see my favorite artist to have there albums only pressed in 1000 CD units. Because if there are 30, 000 reviews of a CD, all over the internet that is pressed in 1000 units. Then what the fuck is going on with that, just journalist copying other journalist, to seem cooler than the next guy. Reminds me of seeing a billion Motorhead t-shirts in my life-time, but I know Motorhead sells more t-shirts than LP's and CD's.

As for people who STILL have the rare albums from the 1980's congradulations. I switched to CD in 1997, and that was a huge total mistake....whoa. I can not go back to vinyl, because I can not imagine how much it would coast to go back in the other direction, to Picture disc, Vinyl and demo tapes... It was the hatred for the cassette, that caused me to switch to CD. I still have cassettes (and a tape deck). I learned my lesson on cassettes, back that stuff up with a 2 deck system.

I wish bands did not suffer in cult status obscurity, but if they can not catch a major break, and move up the food chain, on everyones want list world wide, then they will only be know to the original fanbase.

I wish bands that sell 300, 000 can sell 3 million records and bands that sell 3 million records, I wish they could move 30 million units.

I collect bands that are original and heavy...as long as they are based on writing good music with memorable riffs, and excellent singing and stellar musician-ship.

I am always wanting to have my favorite bands to have popularity and success, so there albums can get a re-edition, so I can retire the geniune article

The only people interested in the "music business", who like the music I like are bootleggers. The labels like Shrapnel, will never repess there back catalouge form 1983- 1987...so I am expecting alot of bootlegs until problems like that gets resolved.

I am expecting stellar reissues, from the classic era of 80's metal. (1980-1991) but now reissuse labels like Molten Metal and High Vaultage Germany have became disfunct.

[Herkus Monte]

No I am not happy to see my favorite artist to have there albums only pressed in 1000 CD units.

As long as I have (and can listen to) one of those CDs I don`t care. At all.

[Northwinds]

I was fortunate to be a teenage back in the late 70s early 80s. It was a different lifestyle. Local bands had cult followings and there was record stores everywhere. We had a band and we would play everywhere we could. Even illegally in bars when we were underaged, school dances, Battle of the Bands competitions, fairs, wherever we had enough access to power was fair game as we had our own PA

Word of mouth was really the only way to discover new bands or even promoting your own. Unless you had a local record store that stocked JEM imports, metal was tough to find. I was fortunate that I had World's Record in Albany for a shop to buy from. If it was out there, it passed through that store. I lived in Amsterdam, NY at the time (Triffid, Czar, M-16, Blotto, Ice Water Mansion, New York Flyers, Mayhem, Parallax, The Rods, Raising Cain etc... were our local bands)

If I could take a time machine back, I would in a heartbeat. The World was a very different place then and Metal was pure and raw

[Vinny Black]

Why...because it's obscure!

Cover art you don't get elsewhere, strange song titles and "harmonic" structures from "beyond".

It's a land of mystery, a place of fantasy and science fiction, dragons and fables...
Shite, I'm getting carried away here, you can actually get most of that from a more known act. But anyway, you know, well...