Yeah, most of the money comes from merch like shirts, and the tour tickets, but the albums are the essential thing which makes them sell...
I actually feel the same way and would like to see that. Not saying I want them to go crazy and wear silly costumes, but it'd be cool to seem some sort of evolution and variation. I completely agree. Publicity and more fans does bring in more idiots, but who cares. Let the idiots listen, it shouldn't effect your enjoyment of the music or the band. And as for the new album, I expect it to be just as divisive amongst existing fans as any of their new albums - if not more so. But with that aside, I expect it to be great, with really quality songs and a lot of depth, even if on the surface it may seem more catchy and whatnot. Afterall, isn't that a mark of great songwriting? You can oversimplify things, yes. But you can also make them overly complicated as well. The best songs strike a balance between the two, somewhere between instant hook and long-term depth. Are some amazing songs hard to digest on the first listen (or more)? Definitely. But that difficulty of listening, in of itself, is not what makes it good. And many songs that are hard to listen to and understand at first (if not always), are NOT good. Exactly. Getting more popular doesn't necessarily mean dumbing down your sound (though some bands end up doing that). It can also mean getting more people exposed to music that has more depth than most popular music. And sometimes, an album just sells really well because it IS really good, and not because it got commercialized and the band sacrificed quality for sales. For instance, just as an example, "And Justice for All" by Metallica. Definitely. At this point, albums are useful promotional tools for getting people to see a band live, rather than the primary source of income.
As I see it, the point here is that metal becoming more popular or mainstream isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be. For example, a lot of black metal shows have a very special atmosphere, which is as important, or even more important than the music itself. A lot different than your "basic metal/rock gig". It's hard to explain, but these pics from a recent Watain show maybe hint a little. The point being, that the atmosphere and the whole ritual would really have watered down if the place was full of 15-year old scene kids doing moshpit or some shit like that. Of course this doesn't apply to every metal band, but becaming "too" popular or mainstream can be a bad thing.
Fck i want to see Watain live Whole popularity comes with internet too. Normally people maybe live their whole life without knowing anything about metal, but you have youtube where you can randomly run across to metal. But yeah to older fans it's hard tu understand how can somone like new stuff more than the old ones.
Behemoth isn't even nearly as close to gaining mainstream popularity as Children of Bodom. They've gotten more popular in the last few years, but they're still not that close to being mainstream.
But it's still a lot more popular than any other blackened death metal band. But seems like this mainstream "issue" is mostly for new extreme metal bands. Slayer for example is one of the most popular metal bands ever, but no one thinks it's mainstream. Deicide is also quite known for being a death metal band, but it's probably the "legendary" factor that saves these bands.
Interview (in Finnish) with Jaska and Janne, broadcast today on Yle, but the recording can only be heard in Finland, so if any Finns here would care to listen and report anything of interest, would be cool http://ylex.yle.fi/radio/ohjelmat/x-ryhma/rundi/rundi-children-of-bodom
^^Thanks for the info, had no idea. Listening to them now, let you know if something interesting comes up.
thats a LOT of stuff to translate but alot of it is about what has happend to them on tours, what was the best tour, etc etc nothing about the new album :G
^ Don't worry - I wasn't really expecting anyone to translate the whole thing, just tell us if there was anything interesting/new/amusing/whatever in it about anything, not just the new album
I suppose that's true. I agree that it might be the 'legendary' factor, or perhaps just because these older bands have paid their dues, gained credibility and been innovators to some extent.
Well there were many funny stories. Apparently sometimes Roope, while everyone else are still sleeping, tends to be awake and clean the tourbus and go by bicycle to everywhere etc. Janne and Jaska said that its quite interesting and amusing sometimes just to follow Roope during the day. What comes to the new album, they said that this was the first time when they werent there on the spot when the album was being mixed. But they received the songs by email and everyone listened them through and told their opinion and Janne said that even though it was first very weird, it turned out to work quite well. Btw, apparently there is some stuff in the newest Soundi. Can't get it before the beginning of the next week but since Im then enjoying my holiday, I could translate it if someone else doesnt do it first
Well I think the quality of the mix in the samples is very good, you can hear the keyboard in the back and you can hear the notes Henkka is playing in WIWI with his bass which is amazing. Rest is up to how they make their instruments sound and what kinda songs they compose.. so no complaints about the mix based on these samples.. What I can tell is Shovel KO had that actual COB spirit in the sound, while WIWI does not. I just hope it sounds brutal and atmospheric like Shovel and not like WIWI which sounds warm and kind / commercial.
See, when you don't always ask the same old questions, the whole interview is a lot more interesting to watch. Thanks a lot Wilkinson!
^^Thanks for posting, cool to have a bit different interview There was a small article about COB and the new album in Sue-magazine. Not really worth translating, all the stuff you already know. But one quote from it said by Janne: "They complain in the internet that nowadays we are just touring all the time in the States so we decided to begin the tour for the new album from Europe. The gigs in Finland have became very important waypoints for us since we don't play there so often anymore."
Exactly! Hahah, I don't think I've ever seen any band get asked what they're doing for the holidays. Joulupukki drives a Volkswagen - you learn somethin new every day!
