“I can’t tell who from who”: Death Angel guitarist on the problem with metal bands today
Death Angel guitarist Ted Aguilar believes that modern metal has an identity problem. He argues that while today’s players are more technically gifted than ever, many bands struggle to stand out from one another.
Speaking in a new interview with Pipeman, Aguilar says that unlike bands of the past, contemporary bands often lack the distinct identities that once defined the genre, even if the scene itself is more active than ever.
“There’s nothing against the metal bands of today, and the good thing about it is there’s a lot of them – maybe a little too much sometimes. It’s oversaturated. And they’re keeping it alive. They’re carrying the torch,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “But I grew up in a time where thrash metal, Anthrax sounded different from Overkill, Death Angel sounded different from Testament.”
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“They had their own sound, but it was thrash. Of course, they were all influenced by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and punk rock, and, of course, Metallica; everyone was influenced by Metallica and Exodus, ‘cause they were in the forefront.”
“But everyone just said, ‘We want that aggression, but our style.’ For example, [Death Angel singer] Mark [Osegueda] doesn’t sound like [Testament singer] Chuck Billy. Chuck Billy doesn’t sound like [Vio-Lence frontman] Sean Killian, and no one sounds like [former Exodus vocalist Steve Souza] Zetro.”
According to Aguilar, the difference isn’t a lack of talent. If anything, he says the technical ability of today’s musicians is “next level” compared to previous generations.
“My gripe about today’s metal, and this is just me and it’s no diss to these bands, I can’t tell who from who,” he says. “And I think metal nowadays, there’s some incredible players – like, oh my God, they could run circles around us, and they’re very talented.”
Unlike in the past where members of a band were often “figuring it out together”, many modern players arrive already fully formed individually, shaped by online learning and solo practice.
“[Back] then it’s just, like, you figured out your instrument together as a band: ‘Let’s write songs. Let’s do covers,’” he says. “In this day and age, and, again, there is no diss, ‘cause there’s amazing musicians out there. Incredible, like, oh, man, I wish I could do it. What’s in the water today that you could run circles around everyone? But it’s just the YouTubers and the influencers or whatnot, where then it’s just, like, you had to figure out, you had to be a band together.”
“There’s something about being in a room together, with everyone learning from each other, bouncing ideas,” says Aguilar, as opposed to players today who “are so used to being by yourself, you don’t know how to click with another musician.”
“That’s the organic way back then,” he continues. “It’s just, like, you get in a room, ‘let’s play’, and you go home and you kept playing. You write, you come back, ‘Hey, guys, I got this idea,’ and you work on it together.”
“Now… There’s pros and cons to everything. Like anything in life. You have the technology where you could write riffs and send it to somebody, they learn it, and you could record. But you still gotta get in a room… There’s a synergy where a human contact – you get to see someone’s face, how they feel about it, what they contribute, and maybe the disagreements or whatever.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
