Since the year is near it's end, I've made this thread so that we can discuss what has been happening in the last 10 years in metal. Every decade so far had something characteristic, so let's see why future melancholic generations would like to live in the 2000 -2010's (how do you call this decade  the 2 00's ??)

I think the most obvious characteristic has been the whole pagan/viking wave, but also a lot of changes in how Death Metal or Power Metal sounds. The appearance/increase of popularity of melodic genres of metal, a re-interpretation of atmospheric Black Metal and ...deathcore(Nothing to do, it's there) .  Don't even want to remember the nu-metal plague in the beginning...but ignoring the mainstream, some great music was made.
Which are the most influential bands of the decade?  I'd say Children Of Bodom, Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Nightwish, Cradle Of Filth, Rhapsody, In Flames, Behemoth - each to their own genre.

Also, bring some speculations about the following years. From my perspective, I think the Folk Metal is going to Die out a bit in time (only consacrated bands will remain) and I can see a small revival of progressive and more people getting into the experimental genres, like post-rock and The Black metal/shoegaze type of thing (bands like Alcest, Agalloch) .

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When in Danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, Scream and shout.

I would have to say the most significant thing that has happend this decade was the rise of Deathcore. Its popularity has risen so fast over this last decade. All the other "core" genres have risen aswell but I think that it is Deathcore that has risen the most. Also I have noticed that some of the lines between some sub genres have been blured. Such as the line between Deathcore and Death Metal. I Declare War and Job For A Cowboy are examples. Also there have been an increasing amount of bands that like to combine Metalcore traits with Melodic Death Metal traits. This I think may be the next big wave "when it comes to the Core genres" Some examples of this would be new bands such as Before The Torn and Becomming the Archtype. Also the new Techno Grind and Techno Deathcore popularity have been starting to rise recently. But i'm not really sure that it will take off in the next decade... but who knows. But I guess I have to wait and see

Many of the main trends and events in metal are already named above but some I would like to talk about.

First of all: the undenyable rise of Metalcore and Deathcore. How much you might Hate it: they are there and quite prominent. It seems to mix already with several other genres like techno and Melo Death. Probably this won't be a staying genre. You can derive it from the fluctuating popularity of many bands: first albums= Mass attention, later albums= forgotten, silent, less attention...

Secondly: Pagan wave, been very popular and several great albums have been made from bands like Equilibrium, Ensiferum, Korpiklaani... If heidenfests and Paganfests keep existing this won't Die out too fast.

Then: Shoegaze BM, interesting genre that opens the way to BM more easily. bm has become SLIGHTLY more accessable. - I managed to introduce my teacher of French to modern Alcest and... she liked it -. This will certainly rise the first coming years and probably stagnate or Die out again.

Like Raina said: DM and Power Metal undergone changes. Many good bands became known to the great public of metalheads like Sabaton, Bloodbath, Hail Of Bullets, Rhapsody,...

I would call the last decade both the decade of loss and rebirth:

Loss: we lost many great metal icons like Dio, Peter Steele, Paul Gray,...

Rebirth: bands came back or released better albums after several sloppy ones: At The Gates toured again, Anthrax too. I just name a few... Behemoth made their strongest albums,...

Let us see what 2011 brings, A Happy new Year for everybody here on SoM

 
I was just about to type what you said there but my internet Fucked Up .
 
I totally agree with you about the combination of Deathcore/Metalcore with Electro grind and Melodic Death. Although I like the Metalcore/Melodic Death at the moment, I am not fond of the Deathcore Electro Grind. Some bands are good but alot of it is shit

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I remember having fun once, it was terrible...

Also i think the re-birth of Thrash Metal in the early part of the decade deserves a nod too, bands like Municipal Waste and Warbringer really revitalized the scene throughout the world, i do have to agree that Deathcore has had a Huge rise in popularity especially within the last several years, and in some regards, i see that Metalcore is losing some of their mainstream appeal to the new "heavier" breed of -core music. As far as single bands go: Behemoth has probly become the most notable band in the Death and Black Metal sub-genre (i wasn't thrilled with that new album of theirs at all, but they've made a name for themselves Ever Since Demigod).
and we have definantly lost many good musicians this decade, Vitek along with all the aforementioned.

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Shit yeah!... Shit no, No One likes shit!

Well, even though it was still pretty damn good, I'd have to say the 00's were the weakest decade for metal. I mean, the 70s was when metal was Born, the 80's had thrash and the first wave and the 90's showed the birth of Extreme metal with both the popularization of Death Metal and the infamous second wave. It's hard to beat those out.

Metal bands formed in 2000-2010 showed an emphasis on two things: experimentation (as showed by the rise of technical Death Metal and post-black metal) and traditional sounds (influx of trad metal/thrash metal bands on the scene, with a good deal of them getting mainstream success). The popularizations of both styles could have been predicted, as by the time the 21st century rolled around there weren't many real new paths to forge with metal so bands started integrating non-metal elements into their music or, in the case of technical Death Metal (or even slam Death Metal), just started pushing the genres to their logical extremes.

Which brings me to another aspect of the 21st century that can't be ignored. The blend of Hardcore punk and (melodic) death metal. While its Creation wasn't wasn't in the 21st century, there was a certain style in which is was executed that was, and it was undoubtedly the "metal trend" of the decade. the 80's had glam, the 90's had nu-metal, and the 00's had metalcore. As far as "trendy subgenres" go, metal/deathcore wasn't much better or worse than either nu-metal or glam. We're also already starting to see the Demise of the genre, because not only are fewer metalcore/deathcore bands forming nowadays, we're seeing a lot of the bigger bands either split up or change the style of their music (ex: Job for a Cowboy's shift to a more death metal-oriented sound). I, for one, can only welcome this change. It's about fucking time.

That's just about it for my thoughts. We can only wonder what the next trend will be in the 10's. My bet's on some kind of tech-djent-Meshuggah bastardization genre. Periphery's a precursor of what's to come.

PS: anybody who thinks there's some "pagan wave" of Folk Metal is fucking retarded. Yeah, Eluveitie, Equilibrium, Finntroll, Korpiklaani and what have you have all gotten big, but a) a lot of these bands formed in the 90's you idiots, b) the genre's really poppy and easily marketable which is why these bands are getting major-label deals and c) there's not nearly enough bands playing the style that formed in the 21st century aside from the big-name ones to validate the use of the term "wave". Christ.

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If you are a false, don't entry, or you'll be burned and died!

I tend to think that a ''pagan wave'' did/does indeed exist - I do not understand why the word 'wave' is badly used in such a case - I simply used the term to define a style that is 'trendy' and as popular metal can get -  it's like hair/glam metal in the 80's. Enlighten me please...

Maybe it's not as proeminent where you live, but in Europe it was hugely popular in the last 10 years (I'm sure Panzerjager could confirm that) - the fact that metal has been hugely influenced and infused with folk elements, and that there were hardly any big festivals without a number of Pagan metal bands (let alone Paganfests, Heidenfests, Ragnarok's dedicated to the genre)  is proof to that.  Moreover, I would more often meet a metal kid/teen that likes Pagan metal then one that is into metalcore/deathcore (strangely enough, haven't really met anybody that likes that, now that I think about it...)

While you are right about a lot of the bands starting in the 90's, it is the 00's that brought them to the spotlight and in which the most important albums that define the whole genre appeared. Also, many new bands that play this genre did appear in the 21'st century - just check a myspace and you'll find a lot of bands that started in the last decade.

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When in Danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, Scream and shout.

Also Wish everybody a happy new year, good health and keep it metal.
I  am going on a trip to the mountains, so no forum until after the new year.

In case anybody is angry (but for a damn good reason ) with me this year (maybe Enigmatik ) I officially ask for forgiveness.
 It is a sort of tradition/superstition here to do so, but I've adopted it because I like it.

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When in Danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, Scream and shout.

Talking about the thrash rebirth: don't forget the Rebirth of Destruction, Sodom, Death Angel and most notable: Flotsam and Jetsam.

Oh yeah, and laaz rockit too, though it wasn't really much of a comeback album (Annhilation principle and know your enemy are classics). Personally, After the '80s Flotsam And Jetsam started getting kinda weird... I haven't heard much from their new album yet.

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Shit yeah!... Shit no, No One likes shit!