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Herkus Monte wrote:Maybe it is not overrated, but I`ve never heard a bad word about the Finnish metal of the 80`s

I was just about to mention this when going through the thread; I often find the Finnish scene overrated (mostly by Finns themselves, what a surprise).
I am a big fan of Sarcofagus myself but all the rest are just so unoriginal and boring. Okay, OZ has a couple of good songs and Santa Lucia is great but that's pretty much it for me. In thrash metal I don't even see anything worth mentioning... I think the Finnish culture really oppresses imagination, creativity and uniqueness and therefore we mostly have worthless copy bands.
I've also come across a lot of hype about Swedish heavy metal in the recent years and don't really see it worth all the praise. Silver Mountain, Gotham City, Heavy Load? Good stuff but not ground-breaking. But then again, it's probably only my personal tastes as I really appreciate the French scene of the same time...
Oh and Japan - No thanks.

All scenes are rubbish.

Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

chatzial wrote:

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

This could be applied to every mention here though. The only scenes that I see highly regarded on probably a daily basis are the US and NWOBHM. What you have seen and what I have seen are also two different things. If we are going to get into technicalities here then maybe it's best that I change the thread title to just "Poor Metal scenes of the 80's" or something along those lines.

Avenger wrote:

chatzial wrote:

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

This could be applied to every mention here though. The only scenes that I see highly regarded on probably a daily basis are the US and NWOBHM. What you have seen and what I have seen are also two different things. If we are going to get into technicalities here then maybe it's best that I change the thread title to just "Poor Metal scenes of the 80's" or something along those lines.

I thought that you liked technicalities
Anyway what i mean is that calling Greece's '80s metal scene overrated is like calling (for example) Polish '80s metal scene overrated. There were actually not that many Greek metal releases back in the '80s.
'90s metal scene is a totally different ball game.

chatzial wrote:

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

I have to say that I like most of the Greek 80s releases that I have heard. Northwind is unique and probably my favourite, first Vavel is very good, Exoristoi, Nigel Inc., Rust and Mystery are also good, Raw Silk is quality stuff (if you are into that kind of music) and a few more that I cannot remember....I think they had a special charm.

As for German scene I think it was one of the best ones. They created some typical styles, from Accept-like HM over Helloween-like Power Metal to Kreator-like Thrash.

Nightcrawler wrote:I think they had a special charm.

Agreed. I think Vavel is pretty awful, though .

I don´t quite get the negative comments about the japanese scene (too flashy/ridiculous?), on the other hand I feel indifferent to many french bands - the classic heavy metal ones, that is. Their death/thrash usually is high class.

The Knell wrote:

Nightcrawler wrote:I think they had a special charm.

Agreed. I think Vavel is pretty awful, though .

I don´t quite get the negative comments about the japanese scene (too flashy/ridiculous?), on the other hand I feel indifferent to many french bands - the classic heavy metal ones, that is. Their death/thrash usually is high class.

I like Vavel. I listend at first to their second album which I really did not like back then and my expectations were not high for the first album. But after listening to it, I was really surprised. Some really fine songs and the ballad is fantastic imo!

About French scene, yes , I also remember listening to many bands which did not impress me at all...But Steel Angel, Excess and Firstaid are all stunning and I need to hear more to judge better!

I guess Japan is mostly disliked because of the vocals. Musically I don´t hear anything negative. Breeze Least is my favourite, never heard a similiar album.

I actually like the SouthEastern Asian scene very much. I think all the Malay and Indonesian bands had a typical sound (I´m talking about the Metal songs of course, not the ballads which unfortunately fill 80% of an album). And the vocals give them a special touch!

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects

Why even say that when it seems the thread wasn't going to turn that way anyway? Jeez, you even snipe at other users when they haven't posted anything.

daniel wrote:Japan [...] for sure...

NOPE!!

Ernest Thesiger wrote:

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects

Why even say that when it seems the thread wasn't going to turn that way anyway? Jeez, you even snipe at other users when they haven't posted anything.

Because every single time I mention the word "greek" I seem to get my inbox flooded with claims of racism from the same 4-5 guys that don't know what criticism is.

It's a precautionary measure. Sad but necessary.

chatzial wrote:

Avenger wrote:

chatzial wrote:
Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

This could be applied to every mention here though. The only scenes that I see highly regarded on probably a daily basis are the US and NWOBHM. What you have seen and what I have seen are also two different things. If we are going to get into technicalities here then maybe it's best that I change the thread title to just "Poor Metal scenes of the 80's" or something along those lines.

I thought that you liked technicalities
Anyway what i mean is that calling Greece's '80s metal scene overrated is like calling (for example) Polish '80s metal scene overrated. There were actually not that many Greek metal releases back in the '80s.
'90s metal scene is a totally different ball game.

I understood what you meant the first time. However, what I'm saying is that no one really praises any of these scenes on a regular basis anyways so my post fits in with the content of this thread. I can probably count on one hand how many times I have seen hype over countries like Portugal or Finland for example.

Nightcrawler wrote:

chatzial wrote:

Avenger wrote:Before this turns into a tear-fest of racism accusations from the usual suspects I am going to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the people from this country personally but rather the MUSIC of the BANDS that came from the country.

Greece gets my vote hands down. There were a couple of demo only Thrash acts at the very end of the decade that were alright and perhaps Spitfire and Rust are also mid-range good but the rest is very mediocre and often wrongly described as "Power Metal". The country may have a strong fan base but 99% of the bands were completely forgettable.

Not totally disagreeing with you but an overrated metal scene means that it is rated high by most. I really don't think that Greek '80s metal scene was rated very high, not even by Greeks. Yes, there are some great records produced in the '80s but Greece's metal scene mainly developed in the '90s.

If you have to choose a scene that was highly rated by fans but was a bit overrated, it was the German Metal scene imo.

I know that these days most will say that the NWOBHM was overrated but if it weren't for NWOBHM's indluence maybe metal in the'80s would never be so big.

I have to say that I like most of the Greek 80s releases that I have heard. Northwind is unique and probably my favourite, first Vavel is very good, Exoristoi, Nigel Inc., Rust and Mystery are also good, Raw Silk is quality stuff (if you are into that kind of music) and a few more that I cannot remember....I think they had a special charm.

As for German scene I think it was one of the best ones. They created some typical styles, from Accept-like HM over Helloween-like Power Metal to Kreator-like Thrash.

Bands like Northwind and Raw Silk aren't Metal in my book.

Avenger wrote: Bands like Northwind and Raw Silk aren't Metal in my book.

Yes, but I guess that most of us here do also like Hard Rock or AOR