Power Metal - Tumblr Posts

This is beautiful.

callout post for Zargothrax, Keeper of the Celestial Flame of Abernethy

okay listen I know a lot of us really love Zargothrax. he started out as a simple peasant weaving baskets in a field and I think that’s really relatable and endearing! but it does NOT excuse his toxic behavior. like everybody knows he’s a sorcerer but nobody talks about how he’s a sorcerer NEFARIOUS, with eyes that burn like fire, and I’m tired of staying quiet about it. why does nobody question the fact that he’s the master of nightmares? shouldn’t we be worried about that?

other problematic behavior:

forged a pact with chaos to bring the Prince of Fife to his doom

as previously mentioned, he’s a sorcerer nefarious, with eyes that burn like fire

slays those who dare oppose the power of his evil desires

wields the Laserblaster

is the dark lord of Dundee

and like that is just for STARTERS. even if a prince destroyed his home to build a kingdom new, does that really excuse the fact that he’s bound to the darkness? that evil lies in his brain? he’s the wizard king, chaos INCARNATE, you guys. we have to think about this stuff and be critical about our faves, regardless of whether or not the dawn of double wizard will reveal his fate.

I want to stress that I have a lot of compassion for the people who grew up admiring and looking up to Dark Lord Zargothrax, master of nightmares, keeper of celestial flame, wizard king, chaos incarnate. I totally get the desire any fan of his has to ride far away to the Fortress of Crail and revive the frozen wizard from his tomb of liquid ice, even if I think fighting to destroy and vanquish the name of the scion of the kingdom is king of taking it too far. not to mention unleashing the celestial flame! I just want people to be aware of who they’re supporting when they voice desires like this and to keep in mind who would be harmed if those goals were ever realized. just keep in mind that he’s a sorcerer nefarious, and he will bring the kingdom to its knees.

yeah.

Elvenking

(One of my favorite bands)

I feel there's some stuff I need to check out in here...

Think my top 5 albums of the year are probably...

Remnants of the Vessel, by Faetooth

Call Down the Sun, by Konvent

Violate Consensus Reality, by Psychonaut

The Saberlight Chronicles, by Fellowship

and...

Shunka Ryougen, by Haru Nemuri

Honourable mentions to Cool it Down, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Myriad by Gaupa, Where's the One? by Congotronics International, making it! by Montaigne, UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU, by Ada Rook, Tlazcaltiliztli by Tzompantli, Rakshak by Bloodywood, and the self-titled albums by Lybica and by Zeal and Ardor.

I tend to come to albums a bit late, so a lot of my listening in 2022 was catching up on albums from the last few years. I have finally listened to Ordalies by Véhémence, which is rad as heck :)

Véhémence - Ordalies Crisix - Full HD Dragged Under - Upright Animals Dynazty - Final Advert An Abstract Illusion - Woe Soilwork - Övergivenheten Lorna Shore - Pain Remains Saor - Origins Ghost - Impera Shadow Of Intent - Elergy

Tutorial for Exploring Metal

New to the genre? Already familiar and just curious? Regardless, I’m here to give a short guide and some tips. Mind you this isn’t a strict thing, more so some suggestions and some (hopefully) helpful advice!

Genres

Now, you might be under the impression that genres are stupid, but in a lot of people’s experiences those labels can be very helpful when describing and finding what sounds you like and don’t like. You want something with keyboards with spooky church organs or choir-like effects? Maybe something more Gothic might be up your alley!

I’m not going to go and describe every genre for you, I’d rather you give a listen and learn the history of genres and to form your own opinions. Wikipedia, despite its flaws, can be a very helpful resource for learning the history of genres and getting at least a vague idea of what a genre might sound like. Hell, you might even find a new band you like out of the bands mentioned on a given genre’s article.

Also, remember, this is all made-up and held only by consensus, form your own opinions on what a genre is and isn’t! It’s okay! Even if someone might call you stupid for your opinion, as long as you’re educated on the history you’re still going to have an understandable opinion.

If someone ever asks you what the first black metal band is, and you say could say “Venom”, and someone might disagree with you and say “No, it’s Bathory”, but those disagreements are okay and neither of you would be objectively wrong. Hell, you’re even allowed to disagree with me and say that these genres ARE objective. Just don’t be a dick about it and you’ll be fine.

Useful Tools

I already mentioned Wikipedia, but that’s not going to be your best resource. Your best resource is going to be the Metal Archives website. Now, one thing I must warn you about before you use it. They don’t allow any bands that they deem to have more non-metal influence than metal influence, because to them it all starts at the riff. If they have one album that is predominately original metal riffs, then it is going to be accepted. What is a metal riff? It’s a “You know it when you hear it” kinda thing. If you hate that, I’m not the one who designed the website. Essentially what this means is that Nu Metal, most metalcore or deathcore bands, “kawaii metal” (as in babymetal, babybeard type stuff), vkei with metal elements (Dir En Grey), industrial rock (KMFDM, Nine Inch Nails), whatever Primus is, Prog Rock (Tool), are not allowed on the archives. Also, please understand that a band being deemed non-metal has nothing to do with the quality or aesthetic of the band, it just means they don’t think they have any albums or releases with predominately original metal riffs.

With that out of the way, let me explain why the website is useful as a tool.

1. If you decide you like a band that also happens to be on the Metal Archives, then it’s going to have a “Similar Artists” tab, which will recommend bands that other people have voted to be similar to that specific band. (Mind you this isn’t completely reliable, for instance, Danzig is at the top of Type O Negative’s Similar Artists tab and they have very few similarities).

2. The forums have a section dedicated JUST to recommendations! It’s called “Recommendation Central”, and if you make an account you can post and ask about recommendations for bands of specific sounds and genres.

3. Avoiding problematic bands. I will elaborate further in the next part.

Avoiding Bigotry

This is a huge concern for people getting into metal, I’ll give some tips on things to avoid.

1. Avoid anything labelled NSBM (National Socialist Black Metal) or RAC (Rock against Communism), as both are heavily associated with white supremacist music.

2. Look at the “Themes” portion of the Metal Archives page for a given band, if it says some shit like “Misogyny”, “White Supremacy”, or “Antisemitism”, then you’ll know to throw it in the garbage.

3. Do a simple google search. I’m serious, sometimes people will make entire write-ups about everything that’s problematic about a band.

4. If you’re really paranoid, look for the lyrics of individual songs before you go and add them to your playlists. Often times albums on the Metal Archives will have lyrics.

If you really loved a band, deep dive into them. My two favorite bands are Type O Negative and Death, and yet I could absolutely infodump about everything wrong those bands have done. 

Don’t be afraid to consider your own values and principles, if a band has problematic themes or a problematic background consider how it might make the people around you feel if you listened to them, especially promoting the music openly. Consider things like, if the musician(s) behind the music project is/are dead, does it matter? If the art is the problem, do I only listen to the songs that aren’t the problem? If the music is bigoted against my identity and I am personally okay with listening to it, does that make it okay? If I am okay recommending a band with problematic themes or backgrounds to another person, should I warn them what they’re about to get into? If I’m okay with listening to music with problematic themes, where do I draw the line, if I even do?

I’m not going to tell you what you ought to think, I just want you to develop your own thoughts and feelings.

With all that said, I will say. If you listen to and/or promote music with White Supremacist themes literally fucking DNI with me. I don’t want to make friends with NSBM fans.

That’s all! Happy Listening!!

Blind Guardian 24/4/2024

Emo's Austin

Photos by me.