the dark casual steampunks.

[Argus Fairbrass]

I'd like to ask a question that's quite close to my heart. Seeing as there are obviously some metal fans here. Some one in another thread was wondering why there are not more Steampunk inspired Metal Bands out there. I know there are some in the Gilded Age collective, but I haven't seen any sign of it filtering through to better-known Metal Hammer/Terrorizer artists yet. I personally think a lot of them still don't know about it. Or if they do, they haven't quite figured out how to assimilate it shall we say.

Of course Rush have blown a big brassy whistle with their new tour!

So here is my question.

Would you like to see the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Ozzie Osbourne, Slipknot etc etc. Wearing Steampunk on their sleeves, and using the term in interviews? Or do you think that would be the beginning of the end?

Btw, I'm not trying to start a debate about what's true metal and what's not. I've grouped those Artists together purely for their Celeb Status. And yes I'm aware that some of them, particularly Rob Zombie, have done work with arguably a pretty steamy vibe anyway. That's kind of the point. It would be a no brainer for some of them to do it.

But I would underline (if I'm wrong please correct me) that to my knowledge, none of them have used the term, or openly aligned themselves with the subculture....yet!

And as we're throwing in cool Vids, here's my contribution!

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Helpless Corpses Enactment

Which I still can't find in HD!

[Rt Hon Septabarius Cogge]

I wouldn't like to see an established band turning round and saying "actually, we're now xxxx" - the bands you mention already have an established style and fan base (some of whom will be, or like, SP, no doubt), so why would they want to do this, and risk alienating their existing fans? On the other hand, I've no problem with anyone saying "I like this style, I'm going to explore it"

[Puck]

I may not look it, but inside is a Goth struggling to break free from my ribcage.

I adore Romantic era type settings, with snow (or is it nuclear ash?) falling down and resting on charred black trees, while a woman in an enormous black mourning gown strolls through the path, walking the lone road from life to death. The rotting hands of those lost along the way reach out to her and cry for mercy, but she knows better than to trust a handshake from the Devil.

Inside, I am terribly morbid.

[nicromanov]

punk ,i think you and me would get on like a burning church

[Tajhan]

I might fit in here, somewhere on the border, I never considered myself dark enough to be goth despite my love of the macabre and found steampunk to be a comfortable inbetween most of the metal I listen too would be classed as Cello Metal, some of which certainly sounds VERY steampunky. In many respects I think these are far more natural steampunk sounds than say Abney Park as they've been doing it for years.

[NazT]

.....Would you like to see the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Ozzie Osbourne,.... Slipknot etc etc. Wearing Steampunk on their sleeves, and using the term in interviews? Or do you think that would be the beginning of the end?

I'd like to see some Steampunk metal that is of the same style as those listed above but I'm not sure I'd want those actual bands to switch over to Steampunk. COF, Dimmu Borgir, and Rob Zombie are certainly dark enough for my taste.

[Argus Fairbrass]

.....Would you like to see the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Ozzie Osbourne,.... Slipknot etc etc. Wearing Steampunk on their sleeves, and using the term in interviews? Or do you think that would be the beginning of the end?

I'd like to see some Steampunk metal that is of the same style as those listed above but I'm not sure I'd want those actual bands to switch over to Steampunk. COF, Dimmu Borgir, and Rob Zombie are certainly dark enough for my taste.

Agreed, but I don't think they would switch over. I think they will inevitably do what they've always done if SP becomes as popular with the Goth and Metal set as I suspect it will.
Lets take Cradle as an example. It wasn't so long ago that they took on influences from Cyber Goth. Quite inevitably because it became a big thing in the scene. Inspiring bands like Kovenant,who also used Sarah as a vocalist.

They adopted it more into their image than their music, and admittedly it was the sort of dark cyber Hellraiser type look they went for on stage. They never wrote any songs repetitive enough to be pure dance tunes, but I do remember a techno remix being done of one of their tracks however. And I do remember it being a bit of a bone of contention with one of em, cos all the others were listening to a lot of techno and EBM privately, and he was old school metal and hated techno haha.

Korn would be another classic example, they certainly adopted a more industrial sound and image later on than the Adidas hip hop influenced sound and image they started out with.

I don't see any of them smoking pipes, wearing tweed, writing songs about dirigibles and calling each other old bean any time soon.

But to be honest I don't do that either. But Cthulu, The War of the Worlds, Victorian Gothic? not to mention the fact that some of the modern SP fiction includes things like vampires, werewolves, loads of what we might term goth reference basically it's the victorian era, impossible to avoid. And I don't think they are goimg to have a prob with the concept of dark industrial old school machinery either, especially not Rob Zombie haha.

I don't think it's going to happen yet purely because I know a lot of them are out promoting new albums that haven't touched on SP. But by the time the next albums and vids are being made?

And obviously there are new SP inspired metal bands out their right now, and if they do well, these guys are too business savvy to pass up the chance to raise their profiles a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I think they'll do it because they'll love it, but a little publicity never hurts, especially given how screwed the music bizz is at the moment.

I could quite see Danny in a black Pith helmet actually, well he does like his Carry on Movies 

[Auntie Ludmilla]

Hello, I've nothing particularly to add to the discussion at the moment, just checking in, as this thread seems to be a natural place for me to skulk, being a wearer of both black and brown..... And I've been listening to a lot of Corvus Corax and Cultus Ferrox recently,so I'm guessing they come into the sub genre of battle metal...? I lose track of all the ruddy sub genres.

[TimeTinker]

Quote from: NazT on November 16, 2010, 09:43:00 AM
Quote from: Argus Fairbrass on October 18, 2010, 04:38:18 PM
.....Would you like to see the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Ozzie Osbourne,.... Slipknot etc etc. Wearing Steampunk on their sleeves, and using the term in interviews? Or do you think that would be the beginning of the end?

I'd like to see some Steampunk metal that is of the same style as those listed above but I'm not sure I'd want those actual bands to switch over to Steampunk. COF, Dimmu Borgir, and Rob Zombie are certainly dark enough for my taste.

Check out The Men's superb Rammsteinesque rendition of Silent Night on their Christmas EP.  Absolutely superb.

[Lord Wraste]

Thought I'd take a moment and pop by, as I hadn't yet.

Today was a long day, so I tried to reward myself with a new eggplant purple shirt to go with my lipstick, but I couldn't find one, so I got my self two new eyeliners instead.

I really like my Steampunk black and jewel-toned colors. I honestly think it's a matter of attitude and style rather than pallet.

Now to find goggles that don't smudge the eyeliner....

[Prof. Divinatum]

AHHHHHHHH, I have at last, found a home!  My dream home would be one of stone exterior with dark mahogany or cherry panelling on the interior walls, large stone fireplaces, coffered ceilings, etc. etc.  Were I to only have one room available to me, it would be a large room as above filled floor to ceiling with books, my writing desk in the center, and a comfortable place of repose before the fireplace.

Oh, and I love long, dark coats, cloaks, etc.

[Argus Fairbrass]

Wow, this club kinda petered out pretty quickly huh. Anyway, just to breathe some life into it, even though I did post this elsewhere a while ago. I still feel a Darksteam wave is bubbling just under the surface, but it's gonna take some heavier music than what's been done so far to push it through.

Only time will tell I guess.

Cradle of Filth interview, Paul Allender guitarist of metal band, live concert tour 2011

[Jupiter Harsh]

for those of us who want to do away with the false titles and names ,yet wish to add steampunk into there lives .
all are welcome ,esspecially if you like long black coats ,dark wood rooms and have a natural tilt to the darker side of things

You scoundrel! you must have stolen and read my as yet un written biography! 

[Semper Victoria]

I adore Romantic era type settings, with snow (or is it nuclear ash?) falling down and resting on charred black trees, while a woman in an enormous black mourning gown strolls through the path, walking the lone road from life to death. The rotting hands of those lost along the way reach out to her and cry for mercy, but she knows better than to trust a handshake from the Devil.

Inside, I am terribly morbid.

Someone mentioned Romantic post-apocalyptic snowy backdrop? And desolate woman in long mourning gown trying to find her way? Oh yeah, and dark metal with a Steampunk name to boot? Merry Christmas: Nemo (it does become quite loud).

I am exploring the exact formula of steam, punk, and goth that I would like to have, but I definitely love a darker palette and am always happy to see others who like other colors than brown . If Steampunk is "Goth left out in the sun too long", would the reverse be true...leave a Steampunk in the shadows too long and (s)he turns dark?

[Argus Fairbrass]

Hmmm, video not available in my country apparently, still I've seen it enough times. Ah Madame Turunen, It all seems such a long time ago now *sigh*

You've also seen this I take it.

Nightwish - The Islander [HD 720p]

Therion are one of my 'Likes' on Facebook. They seem to be genuinely delighted with their new board game and they're constantly posting about it. Apparently they were approached by the games designer because he was such a big fan.

http://www.megatherion.com/store/item.php?itemid=45

[Mercury Wells]

Re:- the term "DarkSteamer", there isn't anything on the 'net, but there is a website called "Darksteam Project" (they may call themselves Darksteamers though, but I don't know). So it's up you, if you want to copywrite/register the name & meaning.  (btb...I'm not a lawyer)

[Argus Fairbrass]

I believe the gamesite GSteam has renamed itself Darksteam, but I don't think it's an actual movement quite yet.

Anyway I'm certainly intending to have a Darksteamy weekend and I hope you do to.

Happy Halloween y'all!  

Type O Negative - Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare -All)

[Vagabond GentleMan]

This thread was started like a year ago, and only in the past month has it re-animated?

Damn...feel like I missed so much.  Mission statement of this thread makes me sigh in relief...y'all were hiding here this whole time, I guess.

Though I gotta admit, I'm wearing an awful lot of color these days.
And my "Real Name" is an alias.  >shrugs<

Still, I'm a gloomy-ass cantankerous old grump-in-training just waiting to yell at youngbloods to get off my lawn...blackhearted blackguard and all that rot.

Qntal - Blac Lyrics

[Argus Fairbrass]

Recent talk of all things Cyber has put me in a bit of a nostalgic mood. And I'm quite excited about Mass Effect 3, so this video was a pleasant discovery all round.

The Kovenant - Star by Star - Mass Effect

[Mercury Wells]

Where would Opera Metal fit into the grand scheme of things? (Symphonic/Opera Metal)

[Argus Fairbrass]

Well I think that's largely yet to be seen. But as I say Therion have a Sp themed board game, Nightwish have airships in their videos. A folk Metal band called Fintroll were expressing interest in the Sp movement recently. The Romantic period of Opera and Orchestration have links to the Victorian era, as does the Impressionist movement, the significance of which I'm still discovering in my studies.

Essentially the Orchestras grew massive as composisions grew more complex, sometimes up to 200 musicians. Operatic pieces got longer and called for hundreds of vocalists and instrumentalists.

So the vast rich textures and generally dynamic and bombastic sound of many Operatic/Symphonic metal bands today. Would seem to have some origins in what we now consider the Sp era.

If I'm aware of that connection, I'm pretty sure many of them are too, or will be sooner or later.

[Semper Victoria]

Argus Fairbrass, that was the first time I had seen that video! I generally boycotted Nightwish after the sad departure of the lovely Tarja, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the song and the excellent cinematography of the video.

And you are quite right that the huge orchestras and bombastic symphonies of the late Romantic/early 20th century composers, if imagined in a Steampunk history where "electronic" instruments (steam-powered, of course) are invented and used as well, could well result in something a bit like today's symphonic metal. Imagine if Richard Strauss or Wagner had had access to electric guitars!

I tend to believe that Steampunk music is not so much a product of bands who like gears and brown, but rather the music that Steampunks themselves like to listen to as it reminds them of the qualities they find appealing in SP. I'm not going to force myself to like a certain artist just because they are labeled "Steampunk" if I'm not drawn by their musical style. I like what I like, and it might not be quintessential Steampunk but there's common elements that tie them together.

If we're going to flout conventions and go more Darksteam, why can't our preferred music have a darker edge as well? 

[Argus Fairbrass]

Although I still feel that it's early days, I honestly think it's inevitably on the way. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d301HxX5rZI

[Argus Fairbrass]

You go girl! 

http://www.steampunkcouture.com/forsale/c/autumnwinter2011/dark-steam-162/

[Private Weasel]

I'm not sure about dark, but in these cold days, I can't go anywhere without my military greatcoat. Lovely, green, toasty and warm.

Also dashing.