We still promise the teeth! A look at post metal

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   Post metal

A genre of music that truly carries the progressive banner. Though, no one can clearly date it, it's widely believed that post metal was started in the mid nineties, when a band called Neurosis released the massive album; Through silver and blood. It featured lengthy songs with angry subject matter, driven by primal drumming, fierce guitar strumming, and a vocalist, neither singing, growling or screaming, but yelling his words with an angry passion. Since this monumental album, huge groups took after the style, but adding new elements, and different genres, and by 2008, the genre itself is as diverse as it's post rock brother.

With Neurosis came two bands that also affected the new metal community, if not more than them. These bands were Pelican and Isis. Pelican, brought the edge Mogwai brought to post rock, they brought the guitar to the front, and never let it down, completely leaving vocals cold in the snow, letting the music lead itself from simple power chords, to intricate arpeggios, and powerful climaxes that was never before heard of. Isis brought the most progressive elements, with spacey lead guitar lines, eerie clean vocals, and intensely slow build ups, the songs will start at a snails pace, to a massive anthemic metal wall of sound, with death metal growls, powerful guitars, and not to mention a keyboardist to create an atmosphere. These three bands influenced a whole new generation of metal bands, and laid down the groundwork for groups to come, these groups would come to play music called post metal.

Group 1: Sludge metal
It's arguable whether or not this group is even post metal, they are more of  some of the genres biggest influences. Featuring what Neurosis first brought, long songs, simple guitar playing and drumming, yelling vocalist, and deep subject matter. Debatably, Isis' first few albums lean more towards this sub-genre rather than what they're playing now, at least until Oceanic with a mixture of both styles they played. The key factor that sets this genres music from the others, are the sludgy guitar chords, a tone very typical of all post metal in general, but these groups tend to use the tone more as a device to layer they're music, and absolutely saturate they're songs with it, creating a very muddy, and edgy feeling. Bands like Dirge take it to the extreme, and let the sludge feedback, during ten minuet DRONE passages, where the guitar will just ooze this tone non stop. Bands under this genre include...
Neurosis
(early) Isis
5ive
Dirge 
Ganon
Tomydeepstego
Ocean
Key album of genre: Neurosis-Through silver and blood

Group 2: Hardcore/Death/Doom influenced
The name says it all, with Isis and Pelican leading the way, the bands drop the narrow style of sludge metal, and add an atmosphere of extreme metal to the mix. This genre started a huge musical revolution, creating dozens of instrumental bands, wanting to play a more artsy style of Doom metal. Band like Omega Massif lead the way with trippy guitar lead lines, and complex song structures, but with the sheer brutality of doom metal. Others delved into a more fast paced style of metal, with an energetic starts to their songs, and explosive endings, typical of the followers of Pelican. All these bands collectively are influenced by the hardcore, and death metal of the nineties, with extreme vocals, and extremely dark attitudes. Key bands of the genre...
(Oceanic+)Isis
Pelican
Omega Massif
Tides
Blackwaves
Empires
Kongh
North
Key album of genre: Isis-Panopticon

Group 3: Eclectic post metal
By the turn of the millennium, the genre was growing fast, and new bands were trying new things, but no one was prepared for Cult of Luna. A Swedish band, of about seven members, featuring keyboards, and even three guitars, created music with the attitude, and intensity of standard post metal, but with a very clean cut edge. Controlled chaos, is what some would call it, with angular guitar riffing, brutal drumming, and strange keys in the background, you might just think this is just another neurosis, but these bands brought something few post metal bands ever tried, clean vocals, and soft sections. Cult of Luna often brings they re songs down to crying guitar arpeggios, and soft keys, for the rest of the band to begin to swirl around, reinventing the word climax. Other bands like Rosetta brought strange recording techniques, where you would have to combine two song in order to get one complete one. Sadly, this may be one of the most neglected forms of post metal, with an opposition saying there is a lack of emotion, and atmosphere. Key bands of this genre are...
Cult of Luna
Conifer
Year of No Light
Rosetta
Callisto
Irepress
Key album of this genre: Cult of Luna-Somewhere along the highway

Group 4: New wave of Post metal
Now in the mid 2000's, many bands are being found, and sadly, some being copy paste bands of the original genre, but very recently, some pioneers, of the genre of metal as a whole have been making music unlike any heard before. Who knows who really started the movement, but groups like *Shels came out more of a prog rock band, rather than metal group, with acoustic guitars, dense atmospheres, and rather convincing soundscapes. Other bands like giant squid kept the sludgy guitars, but left everything else, putting in standard drumming, slow songs, 100% clean vocals, and even strings. Some would argue, this genre is more prog than metal, but I think that's what these bands intended for in the first place. Nothing about theses groups tend to follow the trend laid down by the neurosicans, and completely leave the beaten path to create something very new, and exciting, and may eventually redefine the face of post, or prog metal. Key bands of this genre are...
*Shels
Giant squid
The Pax cecilia
Grayceon
The morningside
Key album of genre:*Shels-Sea of Dhying Dhow

Groups 1,2,3,4: Instrumental post metal
Instrumental bands in post metal make up about half if not more of the genre, and they range from every spectrum of metal as well. There are the Doom bands such as Omega Massif, and Tides adding in the trippy lead line to front stage. Bands like Empires, and From oceans to Autumn creating a less experimental edge, but adding a very modern rock feel. But one of the biggest groups are the highly experimental ones, dabbling in both post rock, metal, and even extrememly technical metal, these bands include Irepress, and Meniscus. Key bands to this genre include...
Pelican
Omega Massif
Tides
North
Irepress
Una Corda
Meniscus
From Oceans to Autumn
Souvenirs young america
5ive
Blackwaves
Tides
Lent0
AND COUNTLESS OTHERS!
This "genre contains somany varying style, but it would be a shame not to add this album...

Edited by schizoid_man77 - February 20 2008 at 23:17

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