Whoever believes that heavy metal is a dying genre, knows little about music. Metal is still evolving constantly, both technically, musically and conceptually. From the pioneers Black Sabbath to Electric Wizard, there�s a trajectory which has been through different generations and cultural aspects, historical moments and world conceptions. Despite coming from hard rock, metal incorporates cadences and rhythms which are even more crushing. Impulsed by 70s punk, the dynamic of metal became even quicker without leaving aside being stylized and hard. We just have to think of Iron Maiden, Saxon, Jaguar, Budgie or Diamond Head, are strong messengers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. From this warp of bands, the also satanic Venom would appear, who from a dirty and casual sound would shape up the term �Black metal�, which would later become a genre in itself.

Heirs of this tradition, the �Big Four� of the San Francisco Bay area, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, would be the pioneers of Thrash Metal Despite being influenced by the most extreme punk and hardcore, these bands were to maintain the technicalities in their compositions, with complicated and frenetic melodies. Further forwards, the dynamic of the guttural voice would become Death metal, even quicker and darker. Bands which were pierced by the horror of the Cold War used Metal as the spokesman for apocalyptic lyrics which surround the global crisis, an imminent clash of forces and the end of the world. The aesthetic of Black Metal with its search for ancient paganism and the rejection of Christianity, would cause many problems for the members of bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem and Emperor, rooted deep in Norway.

Today the metal dynamics have changed and its explorations are different. Also conditioned by an open market, Internet and independent music downloads in different blogs, the genre has seen the spread of new styles and faces, allowing that hipster kids from Brooklyn like the band Liturgy play extreme metal which borders experimentation and post rock, without paint on their faces, leather or blood thirsty faces. These are post modern times and we can�t forget that. There�s no sacred discourse or purist art genre; purisms are something which belong to the past century.

Amorphis is an example of a band which has known how to mutate down the years and that, in its way, carries on exploring the paths of metal like it has done for many years. Formed in Finland, they�ve explored genres such as death, progressive, heavy and folk metal. Highly influenced by Kalevala, that epic poem on Finnish tradition, Amorphis arrives in Budapest on the 8th of January 2012 to play a concert which will give plenty to talk about. For more information on the concert and the band, visit their official webpage here: http://amorphis.net/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and enjoy this concert as well as the varied musical and underground scene in the Hungarian capital. All the styles are in Budapest, check them out for yourself.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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The most extreme sounds of the German scene are probably electronica and metal. It�s no coincidence that bands such as Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Metallica and Exodus, Thrash Metal greats, swear blind that the European crowd, especially the German one, is much more extreme than the American crowd. It�s so much so that in the 80s, after leaving a Slayer concert in Germany for example, you could find a sea of glass, broken bottles, metals and chains, as well as traces of blood of course, on the stages where this extreme band played. In the same way, the quantity of incredible thrash metal bands which have played in Germany along the years is very long, and some of them are already classics: Sodom, Destruction and Kreator.

The history of electro, in Germany, is also long. You just have to give one single name: Kraftwerk. Formed in Düsseldorf under the name of Organisation, later Kraftwerk, the voyage of this band begins with the most experimental Krautrock, with sweet and travelling sounds, until they became �Menschmachine�, creators of techno before techno, and the rest of inventions which impregnated electronica in the following years. Of course that the debt of Rammstein with acts such as Throbbing Gristle or Einstürzende Neubaten is also, more than obvious. But in the case of these two bands, predecessors the the punk generation, the industrial and the experimentation looked to impact on lacerating levels with the staging and the use of non-conventional instruments, had more to do with a matter which faced the same terms as live performance, outside rock towards the performative.

Now, what Rammstein does isn�t exactly metal or electro, maybe something like rap. How to define a band which uses thunderous guitars, quick phrasings, industrial sounds and a German tone of voice which borders opera, to put it in some way. Rammstein today, is like an invention of the 90s, from the �Trainspotting� generation, and from the years that, for the first time, mainstream became in apparent honest communion with the industry and independent music, which actually never happened of course. Rammstein is part of the �Neue Deutsche Härte� movement, a term invented for the new genre which they were, supposedly, promoting with other bands such as Oomph!, Stahlhammer, Samsas Traum and Megaherz.

Today, the Rammstein experience is bordering parody, and in many cases it�s derisory. Rammstein�s passage in the musical industry, and with its supposed hard and industrial sound, isn�t but the answer that they�re still being distributed by a label like Universal. They�ve sold millions of albums and their apotheosic concerts, full of violent images, drama and special effects, are another live show which is interesting to see if what you want is, of course, that the musical media carries on constructing false gods, false images and generating more sales for artists who aren�t exactly new or refreshing. For more information on Rammstein and their tour, you can visit the following website:http://www.rammstein.de/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest to be able to relax properly after the concert.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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