Britain's significance in metal

I probably spelled it wrong, but you get the just.

Lately I've been pondering why Britian seem to have fallen off the metal radar, as it were. The English bands pretty much invented the genre, and ruled it for decades. But nowadays, what role does Britain have in the metal world? What was the last band from Britian who mattered?

Discuss.

Quote :

I probably spelled it wrong

You did, but I fixed it.

Quote :

What was the last band from Britian who mattered?

Ummm.... DragonForce? (Yuck. Bad example. Nevermind.)

Cradle of Filth?

Since 2000 there aren't any. My Dying Bride is somewhat popular along with Dragonforce but both started before 2000 I think.

Evile seemd poised to make a big splash in the New Wave of Retro-Thrash, but seemed to have petered out. I'm not sure if the death of their original bass player had anything to do with them losing their momentum or not.

Their first album was aces, but the 2nd Infected Nations, eh, not so much. After that, they pretty much dropped off my radar. They put out a 3rd album in 2011, but I haven't heard a note from it.

Popularity-wise, I'd say Bullet For My Valentine...

I don't know why but we haven't really produced any major heavy band of merit for a long, long time and it is bizarre. Even in the thrash era our contribution was b list (although pretty good) with Onslaught, Sabbat, Napalm Death etc. I put it down to the fact that we as a nation are nowhere near as Rock orientated as the U.S or elsewhere in Europe, it's all dance/electronica (where we are still very, very good) or indie stuff (we have our moments).

Still, were a tiny little Island off mainland Europe and we have given the world Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Motorhead. Your welcome!

Oh and Def Leppard. We're really sorry about that.

And Mumford and Sons.

I'd say CARCASS were the last important band from there.

Too much wussy music coming from over there. U.S. bands were heavier (but around the PANTERA-era this degenerated into a parody).

Dark Horseman wrote:

And Mumford and Sons.

I like them!!

Mumford & Sons are awesome! In my top 3 of bands I want to see live.

Of course they have been around since the mid-90s and have never made an impact on the US market, but for straight-ahead kick ass heavy metal I think they fit the bill nicely.

S.D. wrote:

Of course they have been around since the mid-90s and have never made an impact on the US market, but for straight-ahead kick ass heavy metal I think they fit the bill nicely.

I'd agree with Orange Goblin. Carcass and Napalm Death are important as well.

I wonder if the fact that the big bands are still around that they sort of kill the market for the younger bands?

nevermore wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Of course they have been around since the mid-90s and have never made an impact on the US market, but for straight-ahead kick ass heavy metal I think they fit the bill nicely.

I'd agree with Orange Goblin. Carcass and Napalm Death are important as well.

Choppers and muscle cars. That's British!!

They sound awesome.

T-Roy wrote:

Choppers and muscle cars. That's British!!

They sound awesome.

Mopeds and MiniCoopers just wouldn't have the same impact. And yea, Orange Goblin are awesome!

Unfortunately I try to think about Britain as little as possible these days. Black Sabbath and Judas Priest of course are my huge exceptions, they're too good to be British. That's why they were so discontent. Oh, and classic British prog, all of whom were from space.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

T-Roy wrote:

Choppers and muscle cars. That's British!!

They sound awesome.

Mopeds and MiniCoopers just wouldn't have the same impact. And yea, Orange Goblin are awesome!

We both had the exact same thought.....but I beg to differ.
THIS IS METAL !!!

kmorg wrote:

I wonder if the fact that the big bands are still around that they sort of kill the market for the younger bands?

That definitely affects the AOR/Melodic Rock market. As long as Journey and Styx and Foreigner and Def Leppard, and to a lesser degree Harem Scarem, Jeff Scott Soto and Ten, and are still touring and putting out albums, it definitely takes away potential attention for smaller bands.

If you're not on Frontiers, don't release an album in the same month as any of these bands...you'll get ignored.

Quote :

I wonder if the fact that the big bands are still around that they sort of kill the market for the younger bands?

My first initial thought was who needs new bands when the old guard is still carrying the banner so strongly.

Tons of great new thrash bands - if that can be considered significant. Gama Bomb immediately comes to mind.

The market isn't there basically. That's your answer. Judas Priest found that out on their world tour. Metal is dying.

Metal is not dying, its the live shows that are dying.

Redline is a band that I have been listening to since Mr. Electric started a post about. To my knowledge this is their first album, and they definitely are from Britain, according to their FB page.

https://youtu.be/AvNgs2cgt7Q

Beyond that, I would say Porcupine Tree. Fantastic proggy-metal.

Lurideath wrote:

Metal is not dying, its the live shows that are dying.

The majority of metal bands better hope that isn't the case. Metal doesn't really sell records any longer, the live shows are the only thing keeping many of these bands together. If the shows dry up then they're toast.