Has the metal community prioritised Technical ability over Songwriting?

[Iliketortles]

As a metal fan for 20 odd years, I find myself going over the old stuff more often and becoming very bored of the new stuff within a few spins.

A common theme I see with people online is how they dismiss a band or album/song for not being technical or how easy it is to replicate which - imo - has made modern metal so homogeneous and clean which - while very technically proficient, bores the absolute pants off me most of the time.

A good example is de mysterious dom sathanas. It's an album I have been listening to for 2 decades, yet I still go back to it time and time again. Most of the time I see people commenting that it's so easy to play, euronymous sucks as a guitarist etc. etc. Which brings me to my point, are we prioritising technical ability over songwriting?

[The Heretic]

It either strikes a chord or it doesn't, there is no right or wrong, the only thing I will say is that I hardly listen to or buy anything post 1996 with the odd few exceptions.

[Eoin McLove]

It is all relative to what you are aiming for. Certain bands can make the most simplistic ideas come to life and seem rich with creativity while others think that being simple is easy. Knowing which simple riff has power versus which simple riff is boring takes a good ear. It's also about the energy created by the whole band, making the various elements amount to more than the sum of their parts- to transcend, maybe?

But then, the same is true of complex music. Being highly proficient as a technician is admirable, but if you can't turn a flurry of notes into black magic then you're on a hiding to nothing. Virtuosity for its own sake has a short shelf life whereas complex music that burns with invention,  creativity and vision is going to carry you away.

I personally tend towards more simplistic sounds. Not exclusively, but more often than not the areas of metal where those traits dominate is where I'm snooping around.

As a (limited) musician myself I get a real buzz out of finding a simple riff that mesmerises me. I'll often be fucking around with a riff and it will be getting more and more complex as I search for that magic to appear, and then just change track completely, hit on something incredibly simple and to the point and realise, ahhh, that's it! A simple pleasure, indeed,  but it kind of shows that it's not exactly easy to find a good basic riff, one that has power. Sometimes you need to go on a bit of a long journey to find it.

[Ducky]

I agree that it's a jist a vibe. It either resonates or doesn't.

A lot of my favourite metal bands/musicians are technically accomplished (Death, Cynic, Atheist, later Gorguts, Nevermore, Revocation, Nile, etc.), but that still doesn't stop Under the Sign of the Black Mark being one of my favourite slabs of music ever recorded. Likewise, Sleater-Kinney's "Call the Doctor" is one of my other favourites, and some of the playing on that is downright primitive.

On the flipside, you couldn't pay me to listen to Jordan Rudess and his keyboard widdlings.

[Giggles]

A common theme I see with people online is how they dismiss a band or album/song for not being technical or how easy it is to replicate

People online have a tendency to adopt exaggerated personalities, and behave more moronic than they would in real life.

It's not just metal, you go to almost any forum or online community, whether it be metal, DIY, knitting, bird watching, sports... chances are there is at least 1 gate keeping fucktard in there, that talks in absolutes and thinks that 'their' way or view is the only correct choice.

Personally, I appreciate and love listening to technical stuff. I could listen to shredders all day long - if I'm in the mood for it.
I'll just as happily listen to some ac/dc if I'm in that mood either.

[Iliketortles]

Good points all. I suppose I mean, are bands more worried about the perception of being super technical rather than composing or writing a somewhat "simple" but memorable album.

[The Butcher]

Good points all. I suppose I mean, are bands more worried about the perception of being super technical rather than composing or writing a somewhat "simple" but memorable album.

There's so much stuff nowadays that I'm sure that's the case for a % of technical players. For them, they will be getting the same kick/feeling out of sweeping up and down the guitar as the lad with an acoustic banging out simple chords that gel well together.

If bands are worried about technicalities than they are on a road to nowhere. Same can be said for bands that say they are just going for "creating an atmosphere" - if all the songs are like that with no dynamics or as you say memorable hooks/riffs then forget about it. Majority always goes for the memorable, be it simple or technical. Don't get me wrong, atmosphere can be great when in-built into a riff or song naturally as opposed to forcing it in. Authenticity matters too.

[Bürggermeister]

The song is either good or it's not, I'd argue, and it's probably harder to write a technical song which is musical and flows than it is to do basic verse-chorus-verse-chorus. Like Ducky, a lot of what I enjoy is quite technical but, like everything else, there's a lot more shit stuff than good stuff. The term usually makes me give stuff a listen, but the vast majority of what gets classified as technical these days has me switching it off by the time the first predictable blast section comes in. Compare it to Unquestionable Presence or Control and Resistance or Focus, etc, and what those albums have are great songs which work despite how complicated they are. I've tried to like Obscura, for example, but they just don't have the songs. The song is the key to it all.

I went to Keep It True a couple of years ago to see Watchtower. I went to all of both days, saw lots of young bands playing much more basic old style Metal, some of which was good, a lot of which was predictable and fairly dreary, if spirited, rubbish in the grand scheme of things. Watchtower, though they still sounded like music from the future, had fucking great songs which they didn't allow the technical side to get in the way of. After that, the far simpler fare of Metal Church and Udo playing an Accept set was also fucking deadly, though.

As an aside, the Sneap production sound, which now goes far beyond music produced by the man himself, needs to die, however, regardless of how technical or basic the music is.

[Iliketortles]

Maybe I'm out of touch or whatever but I can't think of a single stone cold classic album that has come out over the last while that i will be listening to 20 years in the future.

[Bürggermeister]

Sure, the bulk of what I listen to is pre-94 but it's not quite a barren wasteland of there these days, there is hope   

[Iliketortles]

There have been good albums but I couldn't tell ya any of the songs names after a day.

There are 10000s of very technically gifted bands however on the composition or songwriting there's very little memorable stuff coming out. 

[Anvil]

I personally couldn't give a crap if music is technical or not.  Indeed as someone who doesn't play any instruments I wouldn't have much of a clue.  But there are still bands and labels putting out good music.

Jesus I dread to think what size of a collection I will have in 20 years, and what parts I will still be listening to.  I do know I will still be listening to MegatonSword when I am out weeding the flower beds (if the knees, back, liver are still capable).