Paradise Lost’s Greg Mackintosh: ‘Mainstream Metal Now Is Safer Than Pop’

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For a while now, there has been an interesting sentiment expressed by some metalhead celebrities, and that is that pop music is far more rebellious and innovative than metal.

For example, Ishan – one of the most innovative minds in black metal – feels that The Weeknd is far more “edgier” and “experimental” than the modern metal scene (link to the story can be found below).

More recently, Paradise lost keyboardist and guitarist Greg Mackintosh recently made a comment about mainstream metal being “safer” than pop music.

During a conversation with Metal Injection, Mackintosh reflected on the band’s 1997 studio album One Second (which featured more electronic elements).

While reflecting on this release, Mackintosh says that the desire to incorporate those electronic elements was an effort to create “rebellious music.” While he goes on to talk about One Second in more detail, he mentions the following about mainstream metal music:

“Really [One Second] was rebelliousness, which sounds kind of back to front because metal is supposed to be the rebellious music. To us it was starting to become a bit stagnant and not rebellious. As it turns out, it’s become… I mean, mainstream metal now is safer than pop music. It’s all got the same production, the same everything. It’s kind of just like lukewarm water.”

Now obviously Mackintosh is not referring to all of metal, just your radio-friendly metal bands.

A lot of mainstream metal – while it may sound cool – does involve a conventional approach to songwriting and rhythm; it is when you start to go deeper into the genre – into the underground – where you will find bands and artists creating super unconventional and unique works.

Take the likes of Imperial Triumphant – their brand of technical and jazzy black metal is nothing short of extraordinary. Or take the noisy deathgrind of Full of Hell, or the captivating ferocity and dread-exuding atmospheres of Primitive Man. These bands, and many others, are creating lots of incredible music.

What do you make of Mackintosh’s comments?

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