Randy Blythe Says There Will Never Be Another Metallica or Iron Maiden
Music is no longer the cultural focal point it once was, long ago usurped by video games, myriad internet distractions and a whole lot more bands than there ever were, divvying up listeners’ attention spans into ever-thinner slices of pie. For those reasons, Lamb of God frontman, surfer, photographer, activist and philosopher Randy Blythe agrees with me: there will never be another metal band as popular as Metallica and Iron Maiden.
The topic came up in an interview with 90.3 WMSC, in which Randy was asked which newer bands he thinks could become the genre’s torch-bearers when Metallica and Iron Maiden retire. He didn’t posit any up-and-comers he thinks could take that mantle (other than Gojira, who he concedes are hardly new), instead explaining why he doesn’t think any bands from our scene will ever grow that big again:
“I have no idea. I don’t know if Metallica is going anywhere. I think you’re starting with a faulty supposition. I don’t know if Iron Maiden is going anywhere. And we aren’t going anywhere; I mean, we have another good while in us. I really don’t think Metallica is going anywhere, bro. I think they’re kind of eternal; it’s what they do.
“And eventually, we’ll all stop, yes – eventually. When I can no longer do what I need to do live, which is physically exhausting. Nobody wants to see me stand up there like a lounge singer – I’m not that pretty – so I’ve gotta be a maniac.
“I don’t know who would be the next legacy bands. I mean, I love Gojira – they just get better, better and better. But they’re not that much younger than us, I don’t think. They’ve been doing it a good long while. So I have no idea – I have zero clue.
“I will say I don’t think there’s ever gonna be any more Metallicas or Maidens because it was a different time, and there was a whole lot less music then. And these were kind of like progenitors of the type of music we play, and there weren’t that many of them, so a few bands really stood out. Now there’s a bazillion freaking bands. I think the music scene is really big, which is good, but it’s also problematic particularly for younger bands trying to make it, ’cause you have to work twice as hard in just an ocean of music… It didn’t use to be that way, I can tell you that much.”
Some of Randy’s comments above echo what Randy has been saying for years: that he doesn’t want to be performing anymore as an old man. I’m also not surprised to see him show a sense of awareness that his band won’t ever reach the heights Maiden or Metallica did.
When we’re talking about promising up and coming bands in the metal scene, a handful of names are often tossed around including Code Orange, Knocked Loose, Rivers of Nihil, Vein and others. But as big as Metallica? Naw, no way, Randy’s right… I don’t see it ever happening, not even close. The music is too brutal, the scene too splintered, and there’s other shit for people to do with their time. Naturally, if you disagree, sound off below!
[via Ultimate Guitar]
