BlogSeptember 9, 2014 8:44 AM ET

God Forbid co-founder explains demise of 'New Wave Of American Heavy Metal'

Former God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle has penned an interesting blog post regarding the apparent demise of NWOAHM (aka New Wave Of American Heavy Metal). Compelled by the recent (or imminent) ends of bands suchs as Bleeding Through, Shadows Fall, and Chimaira, Coyle attempts to explain why it's happening, and why "you shouldn't be surprised."

Among Coyle's assertions is that NWOAHM has a "youth dilemma":

Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed once told me that your audience recycles every 3 years. What he meant was, you have to constantly replenish your fanbase or the band will die on the vine. People move on, have kids, become too busy to go to shows all the time, change tastes, etc. Young blood feeds the heavy music beast. God Forbid had this problem pretty early on when we decided to move away from the hardcore scene musically and alter the type of bands we toured with. I knew it would happen. Ever since around 2005, our audience stopped attracting younger fans it seemed. I think this problem plagued several of the bands in the genre, but not the more successful bands. All That Remains, As I Lay Dying, and Trivium had tons of young fans. Shadows Fall and Chimaira had a problem of attracting youth as well. Deathcore bands like Whitechapel and Scene bands like Asking Alexandria seem to have majority teenage fans. There is clearly a generational gap on several fronts that our bands could not figure out how to breach.

Coyle also says that "it is supposed to happen"; everything goes in cycles, including your favorite music:

For example, watch the C-level Hair Metal bands on VH1's Metal Mania at 3am, and you'll witness a swath of has-beens who fell by the wayside. Look at the lineups for Ozzfest in 2000-2003 and it's a mass graveyard of Nu-Metal bands you probably don't ever remember like Twisted Method, Endo, Pulse Ultra, and No One. I could go on. Even Thrash Metal of the 80's, which NWOAHM is compared to the most, saw its downturn, where many of the smaller acts disbanded due to the turning of the tide with the emergence of grunge in the 90's. Speaking of grunge and alternative of the 90's, even the big bands like Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkin, Weezer, Faith No More and Rage Against The Machine broke up (for a time), just because they were over it. Hell, even Nirvana and Alice In Chains broke up because their singers died. Pussies.

You can read the full piece here.

21 comments

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anonymous 9/9/2014 6:05:53 AM

Barring the fact that God Forbid sucked after their first record, he does make some pretty legit points. The main problem early 2000's metalcore had was oversaturation. As soon as labels saw any profitability in heavy music, they pushed it as hard as they could to try and capitalize on it while it was still popular. Now that no one gives a shit, bands are either breaking up or touring and simply playing live sets of the album that got them to where they are in the first place.

anonymous 9/9/2014 6:15:41 AM

^^^gay^^^

anonymous 9/9/2014 6:47:12 AM

Trustkill records. Say no more

anonymous 9/9/2014 6:51:51 AM

The main problem with the downfall in music period is the fcking internet. It has ruined everything. Bottom Line.

RickRock 9/9/2014 7:08:56 AM

Welcome To Lake Nobody Cares

anonymous 9/9/2014 7:34:57 AM

the real problem is that kids today listen to shit.

anonymous 9/9/2014 7:45:40 AM

The real problem is that none of these early 2000s metalcore bands got played on the radio. This is why Clear Channel and other dirtbag corporations owning all of the radio stations is bad news. God Forbid would have attracted those younger fans if your local Fox Rocks station had played them instead of Godsmack.

ineedmoresalt 9/9/2014 7:48:32 AM

Twisted method LOL

anonymous 9/9/2014 9:06:01 AM

Just be Converge and none of this will happen

anonymous 9/9/2014 9:14:52 AM

godsmack>>>>>>>>>>gay forbid

anonymous 9/9/2014 9:48:03 AM

Surprisingly a good read

anonymous 9/9/2014 4:53:43 PM

Pulse Ultra was fcking awesome.

anonymous 9/9/2014 7:49:09 PM

This guy seems bitter.

chicken_gang_bang 9/9/2014 11:17:12 PM

I agree with the statement about the internet killing it all and the other statement that god forbid is the suck

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:05:04 AM

The main problem is God Forbid didn't progress with music. It's not that younger bands came out and stole younger crowds, it's that younger bands such as Whitechapel came up with music that was a little bit more intense, more aggressive, and most importantly of all progressive.

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:05:57 AM

If you music doesn't progress neither will your band. When you come out with the bar that you set for your first album you have to exceed it every time you release another that you set. The Internet didn't kill music a matter fact it killed the profit that was in it. No longer can shitty bands get big from album sales.

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:08:15 AM

It made bands get bigger so that they can attract a larger audience at shows. However it also flooded the market when it came toward similar sounds. I respect a band for taking a different route than a specific scene, however you took that route because you wanted to be different. If you can't roll with the punches quit.

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:09:12 AM

I don't see any problems with bands such as Amon Amarth, Children Of Bodom, Slipnot (with the exception of recent drummer changes), Meshuggah, Lamb Of God, Morbid Angel, etc. They roll with the punches, have a loyal fan base, and progress with music. If you're still making music that hasn't progressed don't get mad of the turn out.

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:12:41 AM

As a musician it's called writers block, sometimes it lasts longer than others. Another factor is your performance, if it is a 10 and your music is a 5 you nights have a better chance. However the older bands get sometimes it's hard to remove yourself from your current mindset, you have to keep raising that bar.

anonymous 9/10/2014 9:13:24 AM

The moment it falls off is the moment you as a band will to (because bands can only stay alive now by touring). Again there's no disrespect intended not am I a number 1 fan of any of the bands I listed, I'm just stating the obvious.

anonymous 9/10/2014 8:48:05 PM

really? id listen to determination over anything from white chapel, it actually has some depth and replay value.. every one of white chapels albums sounds the same, same old formula.. shit gets old after a while, unless you rode the short bus