Recently, I read an interview with former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, where he discussed how, in the 90s, metal fans couldn’t admit to liking Nirvana. It was true then, and to some extent, it remains true today. Many metal enthusiasts either don’t want to listen to anything outside of metal or at least don’t want to admit it. This doesn’t apply to everyone, but it does to many.
The same goes for ABBA. Timo Tolkki from Stratovarius mentioned that in the 90s, he couldn’t tell anyone he liked ABBA. In the 70s, many dismissed ABBA as frivolous pop music. Indeed, the band played pop, but in hindsight, ABBA’s melodies were, and still are, in a league of their own compared to many other 70s pop melodies.
This attitude extends to metal musicians as well. Many bands playing old-school death metal in the 2020s wouldn’t dream of incorporating anything other than traditional death metal into their music. Fortunately, some think outside the box, as the English saying goes.
Then again… Who am I to dictate the right or wrong way to proceed? AC/DC has essentially been making the same album over and over for over fifty years, and few people wonder, “Why don’t they try something new?” AC/DC is AC/DC, and that’s how it should be.
You know, there are reasons for everything. If a band’s primary job is being a band, and each member has a family to support and a mortgage to pay, it’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to change their style drastically. They have to make a new album every three years and then go on tour to earn money for food and rent. It’s a job like any other, though perhaps different from 95% of other jobs.
This is one of the main reasons I’ve never wanted to be a full-time musician.
Firstly, what on earth would I do in my free time if I made music for at least eight hours a day?
Secondly, I currently value the freedom of making music more than ever. I can calmly think about new songs, experiment, and fail many times before I have an album’s worth of material. I have a loose schedule (I hope to have about half the songs for the upcoming album ready by the end of this year, or at least four songs), but schedules can change because I’m only accountable to myself.
And I can also say: the album will feature a variety of music. Mostly metal, and heavy and dark at that, but also influences from bands like Cardiacs, Spock’s Beard, Alcest, Porcupine Tree, Panic Room, and Tinyhawk & Bizarro. There will be orchestral, symphonic, and dark melodic death metal. It will be melancholic, but not gothic. Let others who prefer that genre create gothic metal.
Or, actually, who knows what the album will ultimately sound like? The final outcome could be anything. I’ve only written songs for half a year or so… And I have one song that will definitely be an integral part of the album. For the rest of the songs, I have some ideas and thoughts, but they can change.
I do know that the last EToS album was released over ten years ago. Which in the world of music is forever. And this isn’t even going to an EToS album but something entirely new, as these songs aren’t going through the usual EToS songwriting process. Far from that. It’s going to be something completely different. Or, at least, different.
So…. Getting back to the thought I started the post with. Think of a hundred years from now. Few of us will still be alive then. Will people care about what music you said you listened to? Probably not. Listen to what you want. Be yourself. Be creative in your own way, because nobody else will. Don’t hide your light under a bushel.
A question for you:
Is there a band you just can’t admit to liking?
Jarmo Puolakanaho 