I had no idea... Amigan metalheads?

[that_punk_guy]

Where have you been? ;-) I think metalheads outnumber other music fans on here, they're certainly the most vocal. :-D

I have been known to lend my ear to the odd bit of metal. And in the spirit of name-dropping:

http://www.sendmoreparamedics.com

Totally zombie-obsessed lyrics, they're pretty funny. Check out the song 'Driven To Destruction'.

As for that Exodus record, I doubt Red will have it, because it's "anti-American" ;-)

I've yet to be introduced to Exodus.

[that_punk_guy]

I have the live Nailbomb record, there are a couple of studio tracks on the end too. It's pleasingly intense, some of the songs sort of remind me of the Ratos De Porao cover Sepultura did in terms of the approach.

I love the irony of releasing (the biggest cash-in of all cash-ins) a live album and giving it that name though. Plus it's hardly commercial suicide to kill off a side project when you're in the greatest metal band on the planet at the time. Heh. ;-)

Still, it pees all over Soulfly, that's for sure. It's nice to hear stuff from Max before he changed his entire political schtick and decided he'd make bad Christian music. In my mid-teens he was my hero. Such a disappointment. :-(

[that_punk_guy]

redrumloa wrote:

Max? Christian music? Are you sure you're thinking of the right person there?

Hmm.. I don't think he went overly christian besides dedicating an album to God. I didn't even think about it.

"Pressure building on my soul, I ask God to take control."
"Give God thanks and praise!"
"Just let my soul fly free and let me be the one God wants me to be."

- 'Flyhigh'

"God knows, and you will too."
- 'Boom'

"And God will guide me."
- 'Back To The Primitive'.

Also, the cover image of their first record with Max as Christ the Redeemer, and the religious images all over their records.

But it's not that that bothers me. I like other bands who reference Christianity (notably Mineral.) It's not even so much that musically he's content to regurgitate Seps riffs and write incredibly inane lyrics.

Sepultura always brought a conscientious challenge to the injustices of this world and as Max says at some point on the Chaos DVD (I think it's on the second video) never fogot where they had come from. (The interviewer had said that when people escape the poverty of the third world, they tend to become blind to it and pretend it's not there.)

Now, I think that's happened. His lyrics are personal and self-centered, and when he tries to work outside of those parameters he bluffs it by paying "homage" to (ie. pissing on the memory of) Sepultura. He's not playing it straight anymore, he's not for real. He's become lazy and egotistical.

"Only I guide my Inner Self."
"Let me be the one God wants me to be."

Which lyric appeals most to you?

I guess i should step in as the resident SoulFly fan here and defend them. SoulFly is NO Sepultura, but it isn't all bad. As a matter of fact I like most if it. Songs like Bleed are extremely heavy and Sepultura-ish (Well take out the stupid 10 seconds of Fred Durst rapping that is..ooh god what was Max thinking). I have all 3 of their albums and overall it is very heavy. It's not completely heavy though, there are some melodies thrown in and musically it goes all over the spectrum. However Max's voice is still Max, and the overall them is still heavy metal, very heavy. I can only think of one song that is so bad I have to turn it off. "In Memory of" is terrible, some other member of the band rapping through the whole song.. uuuh.. Overall it's pretty good stuff.

Jim, I hope you don't take it as a personal affront when I ask this. ;-)

It seems to me a lot of the time you measure the quality of a record by how "heavy" it is, of course as a metal fan that's important, but is that really more important than the quality of the songs and the integrity of the artist?

[that_punk_guy]

Vincent wrote:
It's just a pity that Seps haven't been able to get out of Max's shadow though, they're stuff is better than Soulfly, but still not a patch on Max + Seps.

Did we ever discuss 'Roorback' when it came out? I was so excited for that, and I've listened to it about 5 times since I bought it. Um, that was May 2003. :-(

I can't get into it at all. 'Nation' is amazing though, definitely better than anything Max has mustered post-Seps.

[that_punk_guy]

Okay, you totally misunderstood my intentions, I wasn't trying to flame. You don't have to be on the offensive all the time, you know. :-)

Heh... anyway, by way of explanation:

redrumloa wrote:
That's one line from it. another is "F*** all your B***S***.". Hardly a sunday hym for church.

Okay, sure.

But that doesn't nullify the religious content.

Also, the cover image of their first record with Max as Christ the Redeemer,

Huh? I think that's a bit of a stretch.

Ummm nope, it's not even an assumption. It was intended to mirror the statue in Rio. He also name-checks it in the song 'Brasil'. ("O Cristo Redentor").

It seems to me a lot of the time you measure the quality of a record by how "heavy" it is

I'm a real metalhead, I like heavy. It's not the only factor, but I usually like my metal angry and f***inkg heavy.

is that really more important than the quality of the songs

The quality of the songs is what is pleasing to one's ears. As with any music you either get it or you don't get it. I've already stated I thought old Sepultura was better than Soulfly. I don't know why your so hung up on Soulfly though. Did Max kick your dog in the balls or something? :lol:
[/quote]

Ehhh no, I was just trying to explain the Christian thing.

and the integrity of the artist?

First off what makes you think there is something wrong with Max's integrity? You may not like his current music, but that's a fry cry from integrity.

Again you're right, but I already made that distinction in my above post. I'm not sure what else I can say about that without repeating myself. The passion isn't there so he sticks to the template to keep the money rolling in regardless. Which is fine if you want to keep buying the same record.  

Secondly, I normally don't give 2 sh**s about the artists themselves. There are a few exceptions like Burzum and Metallica. They are below contempt and will not see a penny of my money. But besides that I don't care about them or their celebrity status. They make a product I like, I buy it. They make a product I don't like, I don't buy it.

Since an artist's work is ultimately an expression of themselves, I tend to place a certain amount of importance on who's creating it. (NB: I don't mean I think they are particularly important themselves, just how they express themselves.)

Generally, you can hear it in the music. You can tell when someone's not there emotionally. If that's not important to you, then that's cool. I just think angry metal sounds angrier and better when the band is actually angry. :-)