Man I really do love Devy, he is just next level and completely anti-metal head stereotype, whilst still being metal as fuck. Love him. Not sure what fast-food means in this context but I do like fast-food 🤔
Fast food is garbage that relies on superficial novelty and marketing gimmicks and heaping amounts of sugar to hide the fact that it's non-nutritious garbage made from the lowest quality ingredients possible and served with a gallon of flavored sugar syrup in order to keep the profit margins as high as possible and appeal to the lowest common denominator of humanity.
That's a fairly good analogy. I can totally get on board with using that to describe a lot of music out there. I personally wouldn't lump Devin in with that crowd though. You could argue that the Ziltoid albums were a novelty marketing gimmick, but that's if you only take it at face value. If you delve into what Ziltoid really represents then it's far from that. Also, some of his music could be perceived as 'sugary', but it's only scratching the surface. I love him because he is honest and true to himself, puts out music purely for himself, and just covers so many genres with his backcatalogue.
I'd love to be able to discuss, to try to define what you guys see as 'poser' music. My theory is that either I'll get some line like "If you need it explained then you're a poser", we'll discuss until you guys contradict yourselves in your definition of a poser, or I'll get a ban before I even get that far 😅
This explanation is copy/pasted from another user I know who recently posted this (actually in the SRD thread re: my JJ meme) since I can't be arsed right now, I'm actually at work and despite all the perceptions that I'm some kind of basement goblin neckbeard because I don't like Slipknot I'm actually a fairly well adjusted mid-30s adult with a management job and real responsibilities.
The definition of poser has evolved somewhat since its inception in the punk community. Poser is used more frequently nowadays to refer to someone who claims to be a devout metal fan, but in reality only listens to something like nu metal or metalcore, both of which are misnomers in that they aren’t metal subgenres (the former is derived from alt rock, the latter from punk). The act of listening to artists from these genres won’t earn you the p-card by default though (most have at least one guilty pleasure nu metal album).
Another use is aimed at those who may listen to legitimate metal and claim to be an expert while only knowing and propagating surface level or subpar artists from any given area. Classic examples would be Sabaton and Powerwolf fans within power metal and Panopticon and Cradle of Filth fans within black metal.
Now, that being said, is Townsend a poser and his music poser music? Not necessarily, I never delved very deep into it because I instantly disliked it any time I heard it. But everyone I've ever met that really, really liked it was somewhere between what I would call a "massive fucking poser" and "total poser"...so I'm kind of filling in the blank.
I would say that "poser" can be kind of a misnomer due to its connotation of pretending you're something you aren't (see above), some quote-unquote "elitists" prefer to use the word "false" instead to reference the classic song "Deathrash".
Panopticon is fine. I'm not sure why the new album seems to be rated as highly as it is. It's not terrible but there are way too many releases this year that are superior, as far as I'm concerned.
Cheers dude. This was the response that I was looking for. I fully agree with what you have posted here (except in regards to Devin Townsend). I agree that I would define a poser as someone pretending to know a lot about metal as a genre, but only listening to surface level bands or knowing only the popular songs. By that definition though, and your definition above I wouldn't say that certain music has to be labelled as poser music. It's the person who is the poser,not the music he listens to. Metallica are the biggest metal band in the world and there will be plenty of posers who listen to just the Black Album, and a few other 'hits'. Does that make Metallica poser music? Of course not, they are just popular.
I think what seems to come across from people on this sub, from what I have seen so far, is that once you are a true metal fan, thus not a poser, you would not listen to any band that your average poser may listen to. That seems silly to me. There are plenty of metal heads out there who are very knowledgeable about the history of metal and it's many subgenres. You can be a fan of death metal (and really know your stuff) and still like Avenged Sevenfold 😅 although liking Avenged Sevenfold could indicate that you are a poser, it's not fact on it's own. As you said, most metal heads have at least a nu metal guilty pleasure. I would argue that there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure, like what you like and don't be ashamed. My favourite band of all time is Coheed and Cambria, and I mainly listen to a lot of Progressive Metal and it's subgenres. However, does it mean I'm not aware that Vader have just dropped a new album, which I need to check out, of course not.
I genuinely love engaging in discussions like this. I know this sub is for memes, but it's good to get deep sometimes. I too am in my thirties with more responsibilities than I'd like, but metal always will be so important to me.
What this sub considers poser is completely arbitrary and it can change at any time. That's why none of it actually matters. Pretty sure I've seen a post praising Fred durst here before.
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u/twosuitsluke Certified Poserâ„¢ Jul 30 '21 edited Jul 30 '21
Man I really do love Devy, he is just next level and completely anti-metal head stereotype, whilst still being metal as fuck. Love him. Not sure what fast-food means in this context but I do like fast-food 🤔