New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal: anyone following this movement?

[Kforcer]

Basing its name off of the legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal that spawned the likes of Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Tokyo Blade and Diamondhead, the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal is a movement that began around 2016, I want to say, of various bands attempting to revitalize the classic heavy metal sound of the late 70's and 80's.

Curious if anyone else has been following it with any interest.

These were a few of the bands that stood out the best to me:

Raptor, with their single Anvil:

The female-fronted Fire Strke:

Snakebite:

And the fantasy-oriented Validor:

 

[KawhiDoh]

There was a period there where I was trying to get into it. Can't remember which year, I think it was around 2014.

I remember enjoying bands like Cauldron(saw them in concert) and remember hearing about bands like Stryker, Enforcer, Skullfist, White Wizzard(they were good too) etc.

Didn't hold my interest for too long.

I came to the conclusion that, sticking with Trad Metal really limits your sound. And that, by it's very name is the genesis of Metal. So, it's been done to death already. There are better, older bands than what I've heard.

Not that you can't make a great Trad Metal album these days, look at Unleash The Archers with Time Stands Still or Apex(those aren't pure Trad Metal albums, but Power and Trad Metal are so similar already), but, trying to fit that mold or stay true to that style too much can get old and unoriginal.

Kind of like pure Power Metal.

These days you gotta mix genres and see what comes out of it. Otherwise you're pigeonholing yourself and limiting your sound.

 

[Kforcer]

There was a period there where I was trying to get into it. Can't remember which year, I think it was around 2014.

I remember enjoying bands like Cauldron(saw them in concert) and remember hearing about bands like Stryker, Enforcer, Skullfist, White Wizzard(they were good too) etc.

Didn't hold my interest for too long.

I came to the conclusion that, sticking with Trad Metal really limits your sound. And that, by it's very name is the genesis of Metal. So, it's been done to death already. There are better, older bands than what I've heard.

Not that you can't make a great Trad Metal album these days, look at Unleash The Archers with Time Stands Still or Apex(those aren't pure Trad Metal albums, but Power and Trad Metal are so similar already), but, trying to fit that mold or stay true to that style too much can get old and unoriginal.

Kind of like pure Power Metal.

These days you gotta mix genres and see what comes out of it. Otherwise you're pigeon holding yourself and limiting your sound.

I love power metal, for example, I'm a huge fan of Blind Guardian, Hammer Fall, Helloween, Heimdall, etc., but even though I'm a fan of the genre, I feel like a lot of it is too fast, too high and too symphonic to the point where you get numb to things that are supposed to give the songs weight and meaning and a lot of the storytelling that is crucial to the genre becomes lost. That was part of what got me into looking at the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal. Some of the better bands don't seem to have that same commitment to speed for speed's sake or for constantly singing as high as you possibly can. They have that traditional metal sound but are a little more stripped down.

But I definitely hear where you are coming from. Trying to recall the sound of an era, especially an era that spawned giants like Maiden and Dio, as well as tons of high quality lesser known acts like Riot, Running Wild, etc., can run the risk of either paling in comparison or just being redundant. I am definitely finding myself enjoying many of the associated acts though.

Have you checked out Wytch Hazel? You might like them, they are bit different, they are more 70's than 80's in their sound, they have a very medieval vibe to them and I think they definitely have a unique style, even though you can definitely hear their influences.

 

[Steve-French]

I think it's cheesy as hell, but still super awesome if that makes any sense. I prefer guttural lyrics with my metal, but the falsetto stuff is okay.

 

[Kforcer]

I think it's cheesy as hell, but still super awesome if that makes any sense.

Makes perfect sense. Traditional heavy metal has just always been my go-to workout music. That's part of why I look to things like power metal and the NWTHM; from the necessity of finding new stuff to workout to. Somewhere In Time or Holy Diver never get old, but it can still be energizing to hear something new that is still able to strike a similar chord.

Some of the NWTHM bands have fairly rough vocals. Validor and Greywolf are two that come to mind. Well, rough by my standards anyways. I almost never listen to thrash metal, so I might have a different notion of guttural.

 

[Kaybee]

I think the problem with genre "revival" bands is that they get too stuck in trying to copy other bands from that era right down to the production and sound like a weird mishmash almost parody instead of a genuine effort to be their own band. The first two bands listed imo fall into that trap, the third maybe less so (though mainly helped by modern-sounding production), and with the fourth band Validor being a good example of adding a few elements (rougher vocal style, double bass) that really show that while they are obviously heavily influenced by NWOBHM they didn't just step out of a time machine from 1980.

 

[Satanical Eve]

I like a little bit of the New Wave of it but most of the bands sound like derivatives of others that have come before them.

My favorite genre right now is is Doom Metal and especially its Stoner Doom subgenre. When it came to that style I always listened to Sleep, Kyuss and Electric Wizard and that is going as far back as 1998 in 9th grade. I never really delved deeper into the genre as a whole until around 2015 and It's slowly become my favorite genre. I will be honest Doom Metal today has a decent amount of bands that all sound similar but I find even the ones that sound similar still sound great.

Some of the bands I fuck with right now

 

[Kforcer]

Forgot to mention one of the greatest of the NWOTHM bands, Gygax:



You can hear the Thin Lizzy influence, certainly, but I'd say that they are nonetheless a pretty unique--and awesome--band. Nobody who ever rolled a 20-sided dice will need to wonder where they derive their name from, but for the rest of the world, they are paying tribute to Gary Gygax, the legendary creator of Dungeons and Dragons.

 

[Crawler89]

No thanks, 90% of traditional metal back in the day was awful and generic as hell, it was just the good ones that broke through and were memorable.
Death/Doom/Sludge etc...gimme all that noise

 

[nicapica]

Oh god another sub genre.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

I don't get it, the first song sounds like if the South Park guys were parodying NWOBHM

The second one is better but the chick is trying way too hard

I don't know what it is, vocals too much in the forefront or something

 

[SalvadorCollie]

I’ll check this thread out, I drifted from metal in the mid 2010’s, got hardcore in Nile, Kalmah, SYL, Enslaved, BTBM etc before turning into a pussy and getting into modern psychedelic rock / indie (broad genre, but they have their gold)