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View Full Version : Strapping Young Lad - The New Black

DeadEyes
October 31st, 2014, 09:10 AM
The fifth and final album of my favorite band, some extreme industrial metal. While it is my least favorite album I think it's the most accessible.
Extreme metal and accessible sounds like a contradiction but in this case it's a paradox because it makes sense.
You will find some melodic elements and a more commercial guitar sound that will please most metal fans, yet this is metal to the extreme including a lot of sonorities from death and black metal.
This is pure absolute genius.
Typhlosion
November 5th, 2014, 05:53 PM
The fifth and final album of my favorite band, some extreme industrial metal. While it is my least favorite album I think it's the most accessible.
Extreme metal and accessible sounds like a contradiction but in this case it's a paradox because it makes sense.
You will find some melodic elements and a more commercial guitar sound that will please most metal fans, yet this is metal to the extreme including a lot of sonorities from death and black metal.
This is pure absolute genius.

Accessible extreme metal is definitely not an oxymoron, see Anciients or Ne Obliviscaris :P

It's... okay? It feels way too modern/juvenile on some songs, most notably "You Suck". The instrumentation is actually really nice, seeing it's Townsend playing and singing. The lyrics are pretty standard, and sometimes silly IMHO.
DeadEyes
November 5th, 2014, 06:13 PM
Accessible extreme metal is definitely not an oxymoron, see Anciients or Ne Obliviscaris :P

It's... okay? It feels way too modern/juvenile on some songs, most notably "You Suck". The instrumentation is actually really nice, seeing it's Townsend playing and singing. The lyrics are pretty standard, and sometimes silly IMHO.

Two bands I have yet to discover, I'm all in for some more accessible extreme metal so I will have to check them out.
Well, SYL are considered as geniuses by many critics and fans but that's definitely not their best album.
About the whole juvenile silliness, that's part of Townsend's music and while it's usually amusing, it doesn't really fit well in SYL and he even admitted himself he almost spoiled the band with this album.
I still believe it's way above the average metal music but it's nowhere near earlier albums such as Alien and City for sure.