Metal Reviews

Hi everyone

I have noticed that when takling metal with friends one of the first things i ask about bands that i dont know is what label they're on. I always consider bands on labels such as roadrunner to be worse then lables like spinefarm. I sure many of you do to, mainly because its true, but also because roadrunner are very commercial, and how us metalheads hate commercialism! The reason for me posting about this is because i was shocked when i found out that spinefarm are owned by universal records, the same company who owns roadrunner. I just found it scary to think that spinefarm could end up like roadrunner! We would loose out on so many bands of the future through a capitalist drive for money and not good music! Ok, a little unlikely, but when roadrunner were starting out as roadracer they were a similar label to spinefarm (similar!). A few big bands changed that! If you ask me its already happening, bodom?nightwish?both becoming ever more comercial (but respect has to go to nightwish for putting that letter online!!!showed us that they not all about making money).

Don't know if you guys will find this interesting or not,but i did and thought i would share it with you. Hope i'm not telling you stuff you already know or has been posted before(i couldn't find anything like this in any other threads)

Btw, i'm not a newbe, i just prefere to read rather then post.

Post some more dude!! Welcome to the forums.

As for your post, uhhh... Spinefarm will never sell out. Actually I have no clue about these kinds of things either. I just enjoy the music.

Sell out? You mean they will never consciously overlap the market niche of other subsidiaries in the company.

Exactly. The point of Universal owning both Spinefarm and Roadrunner is to make money from as many markets as possible. What would be the point in them both selling the same product?

Illusions of individuality, basically.

Listen to underground labels like Supernal and Peaceville. Good stuff, there. And welcome aboard, BTW.

Norma Evangelium Diaboli. Nuff said.

i'm most interested in Firedoom and Ipecac right now.. isn't Peaceville the doom-death label? hahaha

Ipecac are great. East West Blast Test, mofo.

Yes, but a lot of very cool stuff as well.

Haha, I am often wearing an Earache t-shirt... I ignore the fact they have Addiction Crew and Autonomy...

ah I'm not sure I share your enthusiasm for Peaceville.. I checked out the roster and Pentagram were the only band I could muster anything more than an "ugh" for. I guess I don't hate Katatonia or Opeth (?) though.

Darkthrone are on there, no?

oh yeah, haha. Darkthrone. I can't remember when I last listened to Transylvanian Hunger though, they're a pretty good "no real need to listen to us" band..

Autopsy were on Peaceville too.

I was really just highlighting the point that universal owns them both. Its very unlikely that spinefarm will sell out, it's probably just a responce to the growth in metals popularity of late. Its quite a testement to how well universal do their job, having covered so many areas of all genres.

Your all right about spinefarm not wanting to tread on roadrunners turf, it would make no sence.

I'll check out all the labels you guys recomended. Thanks!

and At the Gates... plenty of great bands!

Please dont speak for me. Also I'm the same as NESS I dont know labels to well, I listen to a band, I like them or I hate them no matter what label they are a part of.

But yeah, welcome to MR!

Well, if commercialism means changing your musical style to make more money, then i can't see any sensible reason not to hate it.

I was more or less reacting to the fact that he suggested (or it seemed) that we should all hate roadrunner just because they have some commercially accepted bands, but I do know they have Nightwish and 3 Inches of Blood, whom I love. I also see nothing wrong with being a commercial-ish band, I like alot of commercial bands.

But, if a band goes from say, kickass thrashing to like Punk/pop or something just so they can make more money, then yeah that sucks and I dont agree with it.

It was clearly a sweeping generalisation, however, i do believe for that most part that it is ture. But of course, you are right, we should listen to bands based on musical merit, not trivial things such as what label bands are on. Unfortunatly, the point i was making is that i, like many other metalheads (not you of course!!) do judge bands on what label they're from. Which is why i wanted to let people know that spinefarm are from the same family as roadrunner!