Flint the Dwarf wrote:And who made you the judge of musical prowess? You may like every death metal band ever more than Dream Theater, and maybe they play faster, but that doesn't make them more talented. Speed does not equate to talent. Odd times signatures (ie Meshuggah) does not equate to talent. Being able to growl does not equate to talent. Blazing double bass does not equate to talent.
What screams talent to me is composition, depth, and diversity. Some death metal bands have got it, but I sincerely doubt there are 200 of 'em.
Who made me the judge? I made me the judge, after all music is solely based on opinion, and if you're a logical OPEN-MINDED person you realize that musical prowess comes from many different aspects of a band.
A list of aspects based on my opinions starting with the most important.
1. timing, can't make a song if its off-time
2. creativity, relates with time, tired of hearing 4-4 and 6-4, I like listening to a song and wondering if I'm listening to the same song halfway through it
3. technicallity, also dirrectly relates to timing and creativity, I like to see how many sweep picking patterns a guitarist can throw into a song and how many ghost notes a drummer can hit and how many triplets a bassist can strum while keeping time with each other.
4. Emotion/Captivation, you know when you just got done smokin a blunt and your really drunk listening to music and you're in the zone, the first time in 8 years I've shed any tears was when I listened to 1000 Eyes on one of these particular nights drunk and high, I have no idea why I did this but I'm not ashamed
5. Rawness, how well does the cd sound compared to a live show, manufactured bands piss me off, I'd almost rather listen to Dead to Fall than Beneath The Massacre, granted a lot of the bands I listen to suck live
6. Lyrics, I don't give a shit, I'll listen to Nevermore or Into Eternity, they're great musicians even though their singers are faggy at times
It is extremely hard to come across a band with all these aspects because there are only a handfull, a band may posses one of these attributes but lack another.
I've listened to countless songs from hundreds of different genres and my conclusion always leads me back to technical/melodic death metal.
Bands I suggest you listen to if you disagree with what I say, hopefully they will change your mind. (some of these bands are not death metal bands)
1. Death
2. Behemoth (triggered drummer

)
3. Between The Burried and Me (jazz influence)
4. Vehemence
5. Cephalic Carnage (Lucid Interval, jazz influence)
6. Decapitated (Winds of Creation or Nihilty)
7. Hate Eternal
8. The Dillinger Escape Plan (Calculating Infinity, one of the most musically talented bands I've ever heard, jazz influence)
9. Krisiun (boring and unchanging at times but good none the less)
10. Mastadon
11. Nile
12. Necrophagist
13. Old Man's Child (triggered drummer

)
14. Dimmu Borgir (triggerd drummer

)
15. Pyscroptic (tell me this singer doesn't have talent and I'll slap you in the mouth)
16. Goratory
17. The Black Dahlia Murder (talented but stereotypical)
This list should keep you non-believers occupied for a while