重金属的头条问题：下一代充满舞台的乐队将来自哪里？

在过去十年左右的时间里，人们经常说重金属正在走向危机。该流派的先驱们已经70多岁了，而20世纪80年代英国重金属新浪潮和鞭打金属爆炸的明星们现在大多已经60多岁了。

Heavy metal is facing a crisis as the genre’s pioneers age and mainstream interest in metal contracts.

随着重金属先驱者的年龄增长和主流对金属合约的兴趣，重金属正面临着一场危机。

The last wave of nü-metal bands to achieve widespread success was in the late 90s/early 00s, with bands like Linkin Park, System Of A Down, and Korn. While there have been some successful metal bands to emerge in the two decades since, such as Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage, and Lamb Of God, mainstream interest in metal has largely waned.

最后一波新金属乐队取得广泛成功是在 90 年代末/00 年代初，其中包括 Linkin Park、System Of A Down 和 Korn 等乐队。尽管自那以后的二十年里出现了一些成功的金属乐队，例如 Avenged Sevenfold、Killswitch Engage 和 Lamb Of God，但主流对金属的兴趣已经大大减弱。

This is due in part to the changing landscape of the music industry, with the singular apparatus of the music industry now a shadow of what it used to be. The streaming business model has also forced artists to essentially become traveling merch retailers in order to break even.

这在一定程度上是由于音乐产业格局的变化，音乐产业的单一机构现在已经成为过去的影子。流媒体商业模式还迫使艺术家本质上成为旅行商品零售商，以实现收支平衡。

Promoters are also hesitant to take chances on unproven bands, especially when they can guarantee a profit with the surefire draw of an expensive headliner. However, this mindset is ultimately stifling the growth of the genre.

主办方也不愿在未经证实的乐队身上冒险，尤其是当他们可以通过昂贵的头条新闻来保证利润时。然而，这种心态最终会抑制该类型的发展。

Promoter Ash Avildsen of Sumerian Records attempted to confront this problem head-on this year by booking numerous up and coming bands for the reactivated ‘Mayhem Festival’ and ‘Summer Slaughter Tour’.

Sumerian Records 的发起人 Ash Avildsen 今年试图正面解决这个问题，预订了众多后起之秀的乐队参加重新启动的“Mayhem Festival”和“Summer Slaughter Tour”。

“I love all the older acts that headline a lot of the rock festivals in the U.S.,” said Avildsen. “But I think it’s a bit naïve to think that there’s not an urgent need to break new headlining bands. When I think back to when I was a teenager in the Nineties, the whole new wave of big bands like Korn and Slipknot were young guys.

“我喜欢美国许多摇滚音乐节上所有的老乐队表演，”阿维尔森说。 “但我认为认为没有迫切需要打破新的主打乐队的想法有点天真。当我回想起九十年代我十几岁的时候，像 Korn 和 Slipknot 这样的新一波大乐队都是年轻人。

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a wave of bands with singers that are in their twenties that can really headline festivals. I feel like we’re finally there with a number of bands, [and] I think Mayhem can really help elevate this era the same way that it had elevated bands 10-15 years ago.”

“我们已经很久没有出现过一波由二十多岁歌手组成的乐队真正成为音乐节的头条了。我觉得我们终于拥有了一批乐队，[并且]我认为 Mayhem 确实可以帮助提升这个时代，就像 10-15 年前提升乐队一样。”

However, his booking gambles didn’t entirely pay off, as the Veil Of Maya-headlined ‘Summer Slaughter Tour’ suffered from middling attendance at a number of shows, while the Bad Omens and Parkway Drive headlined ‘Mayhem Festival’ also turned out to be a bit softer than he likely had hoped.

然而，他的预订赌博并没有完全得到回报，因为以“玛雅面纱”为标题的“夏季屠杀巡演”在许多演出中都出现了中等程度的上座率，而以“混乱节日”为标题的“不祥之兆”和“百汇大道”也被证明是不受欢迎的。比他希望的要温和一些。

There were of course external factors that contributed to the fate of those endeavors, including stiff competition and an unfavorable economy. In fact, the problem of low attendance wasn’t even confined to the metal world, as multi-platinum artists and established festivals were also forced to scrap their plans this year, and next year seemingly isn’t immune.

当然，有一些外部因素导致了这些努力的命运，包括激烈的竞争和不利的经济。事实上，出席率低的问题甚至不仅限于金属界，多白金艺术家和知名音乐节也被迫取消今年的计划，明年似乎也不能幸免。

Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson has also spoken at length on the matter, stating last year of the problem metal bands face in breaking out, “the big corporations took everything over, and they’re interested in making money, so they propagate the big headliners, but they don’t bring on the bands that create the drama to create the fanbase, to create the dedication to bring it up.”

铁娘子主唱布鲁斯·迪金森（Bruce Dickinson）也就此事发表了长篇大论，他去年谈到金属乐队在爆发时面临的问题时说：“大公司接管了一切，他们对赚钱感兴趣，所以他们宣传大头条人物，但他们并没有邀请创作这出戏剧的乐队来创造粉丝群，并创造出奉献精神来提起它。”

While Avildsen‘s attempts to elevate new talent to top billing were all-in gestures, the UK are opting for a more conservative approach. Rising British alternative metal outfit Sleep Token have been named as a headliner for the closing date of next year’s ‘Download Festival’. However, the festival is also relying on some old favorites in Green Day and Korn to headline the other two dates of the fest.

尽管艾维尔森全力以赴地试图将新人才提升到最高水平，但英国却选择了更为保守的做法。冉冉升起的英国另类金属乐队 Sleep Token 被提名为明年“下载节”截止日期的头条新闻。然而，音乐节还依靠绿日乐队和科恩乐队的一些老歌来作为音乐节其他两个日期的主角。

Sleep Token being given that headlining spot hasn’t been without controversy, despite the band clearly being able to headline large arenas in the UK and Europe. Andy Copping, founder of the ‘Download Festival’, however feels confident in the band being able to rise up to the occasion, jumping to their defense after some concertgoers decried their booking.

尽管该乐队显然能够在英国和欧洲的大型舞台上占据主导地位，但睡眠令牌被授予头条地位并非没有争议。然而，“下载音乐节”的创始人安迪·科平对乐队能够应对这一场合充满信心，在一些音乐会观众谴责他们的预订后，他跳出来为他们辩护。

In a recent discussion with NME, Slipknot percussionist M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan was asked how he felt about Sleep Token being given the nod to headline next year’s ‘Download Festival’, a festival which Slipknot themselves have headlined numerous times over the years.

在最近与 NME 的一次讨论中，Slipknot 打击乐手 M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan 被问到他对 Sleep Token 成为明年“下载节”的头条有何感想，多年来 Slipknot 自己已经多次在这个节日上担任头条新闻。

“They have their niche and they must be doing their business well,” replied Crahan. “The old me might have torn it down, but the new me, the real me, is just like ‘Hey, it’s always up to the fans’. The fans let the business people know what to do. The fans speak and the business people listen.

“他们有自己的利基市场，他们必须把自己的业务做好，”克拉汉回答道。 “旧的我可能已经把它撕毁了，但新的我，真正的我，就像‘嘿，这总是取决于粉丝’。球迷让商界人士不知所措。球迷说话，商界人士倾听。

“They must be very popular, and you’ve got to remember that there’s not a lot of good music out there. There just isn’t. In my opinion, these days there are so many horrible bands right now. I’ve seen Sleep Token, I’ve watched them for a bit and I’ve downloaded their stuff. They have their niche and they have a fan base.

“它们一定很受欢迎，但你必须记住，那里没有很多好音乐。只是没有。在我看来，现在有很多可怕的乐队。我看过《Sleep Token》，看了一会儿，还下载了他们的东西。他们有自己的定位，也有粉丝基础。

“It doesn’t matter if it has divided [Download fans] because that means 50 per cent are getting what they want. I no longer

“[下载粉丝]是否存在分歧并不重要，因为这意味着 50% 的人得到了他们想要的东西。我不再