How do you explore your metal?

This may be a peculiar question but how do you broaden your knowledge of metal and the various bands out there - do you put more emphasis on the latest bands that are the buzz of the metal scene (whether on a mainstream or underground level) or do you approach your new discoveries holistically, listening to bands / albums because they are good rather than for the fact that they are new.

I always find myself in this dilemma because whenever I buy albums, more than half of my purchases are of older bands and older albums - I like discovering new bands too but I almost never focus just on the new stuff or new albums. I always feel like I am missing out and I'm now trying to come up with a way of balancing out my purchases between old and new (though it is always more tempting to delve into the past than to go with the latest buzzing band).

I'm curious whether any of you feel the same and how you go about keep up to speed with the many new bands.

I like going to B&N and reading some of the Metal magazines (Terrorizer, Decibel, Zero Tolerance) and rooting through the Reviews and "new talent" sections...then I take pics with my phone of reviews & album covers that pique my interest, then I go home and look them up online.

I regularly read terrorizer and powerplay magazines and I subscribe to metal hammer.

I don't really spend a lot of time on the net really due to time constraints and a bit of laziness lol. Apart from this site which I've discovered some great bands by reading some of the threads on here.

Metal hammer tends to keep me uptodate on what's happening with the more mainstream bands that I listen to whilst terrorizer and powerplay heavily feature many more obscure bands. Sure they have the bigger bands covered but powerplay in particular has the best album review section in any mag ever. They cover a whole spectrum of stuff from classic rock to black/death metal.

With the above being my info sources when it comes to purchasing albums I do focus heavily on older more established bands however I'm fortunate that I do have a career which affords me a decent amount of disposable income and compared to most other hobbies and interests listening to music can be quite cheap. This means that I will basically buy any album I like the sound of. If its sh1t then it gets filed away, if it's good I'll dip into the bands back catalogue. I've discovered loads of really cool bands just by blind purchasing based on an album review.

I also go to a lot of gigs and will chat to people and buy a lot stuff on recommendations.

If you can find it, UK mag Zero Tolerance is really cool...

I read some boards for new bands and existing ones I didnt know about.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

If you can find it, UK mag Zero Tolerance is really cool...

I would endorse this as I've read zero tolerance and it is quite good. I like that it's a5 in size and feels like a well made fanzine (for those of us old enough to remember the days of tape trading and fanzines lol).

If I remember correctly it does tend to focus on black and death metal and it's coverage is good, ranging from well known artists to never heard of before bands.

As I said above powerplay really is the best mag I've ever come across for those whose tastes can range across a broad spectrum of genres from classic rock to death metal.

I usually discover new bands thru magazines such as Classic Rock, which give you a free CD which each issue, also on this board and when we do Swap CD's, etc.

I mostly buy older bands etc, and very rarely do I buy discs newer bands and I do need to add more newer bands that I enjoy in my collection.

i usually just buy whatever is big on MTV & Entertainment Weekly.

mc666 wrote:

i usually just buy whatever is big on MTV & Entertainment Weekly.

I use Teen Beat for reference

mc666 wrote:

i usually just buy whatever is big on MTV & Entertainment Weekly.

But do you buy most of your music from Walmart?

Pretty much through here, a coupla other websites and more recently, Classic Rock magazine.

I'm not as interested in discovering 'new' bands so much anymore as I am with catching up on older stuff that I might have missed. If something new catches my ear, I might wait a bit longer than I used to in order to let the hype settle down and see if it holds up after time (and to get it cheaper used ). There are a few 2011 releases that I'd like to get, but probably won't till the new year for that reason. I try to cut down on my 'blind purchases' these days. Theres always exceptions to that rule though.

I started totalling up my cd acquitions for this year and only 20 or so out of almost 200 were from this year and even fewer were 'new' bands.

mc666 wrote:

i usually just buy whatever is big on MTV & Entertainment Weekly.

You most love the new of Mice and Men metalcore CD that all of hep cats at Hot Topic are into!!!

this board itself has been very helpful to me

mc666 wrote:

i usually just buy whatever is big on MTV & Entertainment Weekly.

As for me, I just kinda keep my ear to the ground as much as I can and if something sounds like it'd be up my alley I try and make time to check it out. I gave up worrying about being the first guy on the block to hear/own the newest, latest, coolest, tr00-est, Kvlt-est underground steele a long time ago...

Back when I was in school I would get music through friends to check out. I also bought tons of magazines which I still have a lot of. After high school I kind of dropped getting the magazines and used the internet a lot. Eventually I came across this website called Media Club. They sell Mp3s but for much cheaper than Itunes. You can but whole albums for no more than $2. The quality is really good as well. They have everything broken down into categories like Metal then it will have every sub category like Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal etc. I would spend hours upon hours on that site. It doesn't have every single band but its really close a lot more than Itunes. I haven't really used the site as much as I used to because I have just been so consumed by the bands I already own I really need to catch up and learn to like what I have. Theres thing I haven't even listened to just because I wasn't in the mood yet (stupid). I swear by that site.

Other than that this board helps out a lot as well. Especially when we do the comp swaps, which btw some people never reviewed their cds eh hemmmmm olafsto . Thats another great way to learn new bands. I still have a friend or 2 that I talk to and see all the time and they recommend new bands to check out. Not necessarily the newer metal bands but stuff I never heard of or even thought about. A lot of the newer bands I tend not to like. Actually any of the newer groups I started listening to aren't Metal at all.

I read about new stuff here, and in magazines (Scream and Sweden Rock Magazine. Sometimes Classic Rock).

When I started to read Scream Magazine, around 1997 or so, I felt so out-of-the-loop, and quickly srtarted to catch up on anything new at the time. Bands like Iced Earth and Gamma Ray where there all along, even though metal was a dirty word during the mid- to late '90's. Then Hammerfal broke, and metal was suddenly cool again. They brought with them a whole slew of newer bands, and I tried to keep up as best I could. But nowadays I've sort of giving up on newer bands, for 2 reasons: 1. Fewer and fewer bands really move me. It's rare that a new band can match most of what is already in my collecton. 2. I've began to move backward in time instead, filling the wholes in my collection, and listening to older stuff I missed back when.

I try to keep up to date with bands I like, but even that is a task these days.

Wayne wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

If you can find it, UK mag Zero Tolerance is really cool...

I would endorse this as I've read zero tolerance and it is quite good. I like that it's a5 in size and feels like a well made fanzine (for those of us old enough to remember the days of tape trading and fanzines lol).

If I remember correctly it does tend to focus on black and death metal and it's coverage is good, ranging from well known artists to never heard of before bands.

As I said above powerplay really is the best mag I've ever come across for those whose tastes can range across a broad spectrum of genres from classic rock to death metal.

It does tend to focus on more "extreme" Metal, but it's more wide-ranged than it sounds...from more somber/quiet stuff like Tenhi & Ulver to Metal like Ghost to really nasty sounding/looking Black Metal...

1. projects from musicians' whose other work I have enjoyed
2. SNAKEPIT magazine
3. Metal-Archives recommendation central forum
4. friends
5. other bands mentioned in reviews of bands I like
6. bands with a significant buzz on various music forums

Usually from here or other boards and blogspots I lurk around at. I subscribe to Decibel magazine. Sometimes I'll pick up an issue of Terrorizer. And sometimes some friends will recommend something to me I haven't heard.

nevermore wrote:

Usually from here or other boards and blogspots I lurk around at.

me too. Its a good thing I dont have to pay Toho and Eyesore a finders fee. I take a good look through the playlists - there are some really good tunes goin on here.

exact33 wrote:

nevermore wrote:

Usually from here or other boards and blogspots I lurk around at.

me too. Its a good thing I dont have to pay Toho and Eyesore a finders fee. I take a good look through the playlists - there are some really good tunes goin on here.

LOL! I do the same thing - look at the playlists and the new additions thread and check out some of the bands that look interesting

I usually get mine from various places but I stay away from the mainstream it's to much the same thing. I do alot of research and explore these boards, mags, ezines, word of mouth.......


Wargod

As I live in country South Australia, I have minimal access to metal gigs, radio stations, record stores, or even a scene as such -there's almost noone here who enjoys the same music, so options are somewhat non-existent! I get some great recommendations here and on some other sites about bands I enjoy and others in a similar style, and occasionally on youtube. As my tastes in music extend well beyond metal (though it's still my first love!), there's an ever increasing list of albums and artists to check out! in terms of buying and shraing ideas on metal, it's all online for me!

Youtube
Type in band I like, scroll through related videos

I swear it works. Plus, not like I could find a better way.

word of mouth (either from friends, people at shows, or people on message boards), browsing collections (metal-archives, "best of" lists, personal collections, last.fm selections, music blogs, review archives, etc), or some other form of trawling the net. theres a good mixture of old and new in all of that, though ive got a ridiculous amount of ground still to cover.