Classic bands are ageing out of the scene. Black Sabbath are gone, Motorhead are gone, and Slayer have announced their imminent retirement. Judas Priest are touring without either of their original guitarists, and Foreigner – okay, they’re not metal but hear me out – have performed entire tours with zero original members. And let’s face it, metal is a business. For the industry to remain sustainable, we need new bands stepping in at the entry level and we need existing bands to fill out the ‘pretty-damn successful, but not Metallica-successful’ tier.
This is where it gets real interesting, as we see long-established bands stepping up to a new level in their careers. Take Trivium, for example. Their fanbase continues to grow with each album cycle and they’ve just completed their most successful UK tour ever. Next year marks their 20th year as a band (although their first record came out in 2004) and while I don’t think they’ll reach Slipknot or Metallica level arena tours, I think they’ve got a damn solid career stretching out just as far ahead of them as behind.
Who else is ready to rise up to this bracket? I’d say Northlane are one big crossover song away from even bigger things. Perhaps a song in the right movie soundtrack will push them over the edge. They’ve certainly got worthy material. And of course you’ve got Parkway Drive and The Amity Affliction, who are both great examples of Aussie bands with consistent and persistent fanbases. As we’ve seen recently, Gojira really seem to have levelled up even though some fans were disappointed in the direction of their most recent album. They’re still a powerful live band who win new fans with every festival appearance – one of those ‘whoa, I hadn’t checked them out before and now I’ve gotta buy a shirt’ bands.
Mastodon seem to have found their level: their Crack The Skye and The Hunter albums gave them the kind of career jump that Trivium seems to be enjoying now. I don’t know if they’re necessarily going to grow their fanbase much higher than it is now – which is pretty damn big, but I think it’s just about where it belongs.
What’s really interesting to me right now is the success of Ghost. I remember first hearing about them a few years ago. I remember being told about this great new band who had a Sabbath-meets-Blue-Oyster-Cult vibe and were totally into Satan. They were gonna be huge. Then, when everyone finally heard them, there was a lot of skepticism. Many were a little iffy about Ghost because of the gimmick. But with the release of their new single ‘Rats’ from the forthcoming album Prequelle, even the most reticent of my metallic buds have come around. Not everything Ghost does is gold, but they have enough great songs now that they’ve got a hell of a setlist – pun not intended but gleefully acknowledged – and I think we’re definitely going to see them step up to a higher level when Prequelle comes out.
Which bands do you think are on the verge of hitting the next level?
