There have been times when I thought to myself the following: What do these guys play? What style is that song? Why did that band change from being (insert genre here) to being (insert genre here)? I hate them now due to what they play (insert genre here). Stop. Where am I going with this? Well, these are just some of the things which pigeon hold bands in certain genres, and just in Metal or Rock, but in almost every musical genre out there. But since I am a Metalhead, and this is a Metal oriented outfit, I will have a crack and what I consider as proper to mention.
We, the fans, have a lot of say regarding what some, including our favorite, bands do, or to be more accurate, we have been very negative when bands we admire change their sound or musicality. So negative in fact, that it seems that we've scared some younger bands from experimenting.
It seems to me that while a PARADISE LOST or a METALLICA can easily bounce back from a switch in genre and come out of it mostly unscathed, newer bands seem to almost fear a backlash if they change their tune. And at times that seems to be our fault, and probably causing a degenerative state. Of course there's the other end of the coin. Instead of changing a genre or being stuck in one, bands tend to experiment or invent, or I should say add several other influences to the current music outline like: "yup, we play brutal progressive blackened death Swedish heavy metal". What the hell does that even mean? But that's another story for another time.
Bands today seem to at times be afraid to experiment; however, there have been occasions where there has been way too much experimentation. Allow me to explain myself, since I've become a writer for this great website, I've had a better than ever opportunity to compare the old with the new, as well as listen to a ton of new bands I've never heard of, gaining understanding of how this business works. There seems to be a recurring pattern of new bands, many seem to pigeon hold themselves, meaning, when a band decides to label itself, like a Progressive Metal group, it almost forces itself into being progressive, reaching points of truly annoying magnitude. Bands that add elements of ANATHEMA, DREAM THEATER and PINK FLOYD, without ever realizing that their ventures caused them to be observed as copycats.
When PARADISE LOST naturally evolved from being Doom / Death Metal to a more Gothic Metal oriented, some have been considering them as one of the forefathers of Gothic Metal, and later to Synth Rock mangle exhibited on "Host", there were folks that got mad, a whole lot of old fans. However, the progression seemed natural, the songs were fluent, they were almost seamless. And that's the whole idea. I'm not talking about just a change in genre; I'm talking about the choice and the decision to reach out for it. To yours truly, music cannot and should not be forced upon, music has to flow, it has to be natural. That's the difference between Rock / Metal and Pop.
IRON MAIDEN never gets old, but the flavor of the day Pop star is usually forgotten, why? Because IRON MAIDEN is natural, and the Pop star of the day is mostly artificial. That's the whole point of it, and that's what some bands just don't understand. Deciding what you play should give you an idea of what you're are going play, but it shouldn't block you from making your music natural, creating a usual progression process that stems from your genre of choice, but at the same time realizing that there's nothing worse than prisoning yourself. In comparison to leading sole artists, bands are not usually a one person show. When I joined my first real band when I was 15, we started out with the desire to play Thrash Metal, and that's what we did, for the first few weeks at least. But slowly the influences came in from all directions and within a few months we were playing Melodic Death Metal with Black Metal influences.
This is nothing more than a message to bands out there. Take my advice or not, that's up to you, but my point is simple, so give it a read. Bands, stop allowing your genre to be dictated simply by your initial decision, don't try to make music that sounds exactly like the genre you chose, don't overdo it, but on the other hand, don't block yourselves from exploration. Throughout history, great albums flowed, breathed, organic, they have been making you listen. Forced albums are boring, they are artificial, and to be honest, they're very annoying.
Open your ears, open your mind, don't force yourself to over-plan, just let the music flow, decide the labeling later, or better, let someone else write about it, and you just keep making music.
