I hope ya'll enjoy!! This is gonna be the only video I make on this topic, I prefer to stick to the genres I know best, but I just had to get this video out of my system since I've been wanting to make it for so long haha Artists who's music was used in the background: .m0lly (insane sound design, go support on bandcamp) Opal Vessel, Grimbeard (first album) haircuts for men, Kretan, 100hurts, pharmacist, Mario Kart OST, Nfract, some of my stuff, Armored Core OST, bl00dwave, Machine Girl, D-Jahsta, Super Metroid OST, Silent Hill 3 OST, Domination, Virtual Riot, Doom OST, and uhhh I think that's it! Go support! Also since you're taking the time to read all this, there was a joke that I cut from the video that I put up on my socials! So if you wanna see some cut content that felt too mean to leave in, go check it out lmao - Thank you for watching!!🖤
I finally think you hit the nail on the head for why I've never been as big a raver as a metalhead. I don't dislike edm or dub music and I've always loved that 2010s era of album artwork. But unlike metal/punk/emo/rap there's not a definitive look or style it mostly just kiffes other fashion styles from more established genres. That's why I find myself often returning to metal and punk and blending those fashions with other things. There is a distinct enough look that is a baseline you can work off of and mix with other stuff to create something new. Where as edm is just kinda a grab bag of whatever. And isn't visually distinct on its own. I love wearing my crustpunk tripps I've made with my battlejacket and adding a wizard hat as the goth metal wizard. It looks cohesive but has elements from different groups. But there's no baseline men's edm look that isn't douchebag with light up fingers.
I'm gonna add a 2 second sub-drop to my new death metal song so Dubstep articles can write: "Pagefire goes DUBSTEP? Don't stop at the drop on their new dance single"
Crustbag's such a good video essayist that I watched a half-hour video talking about a genre I don't listen to and was engaged the whole way through. What a legend
as a fan of the channel and someone involved in the dubstep scene - whether it's making dubstep, art (for album covers/visualisers etc.) & owning a label of my own, this video is SO cool to see from you. There's some things I would like to give me two cents on so that people less familiar with the scene (long comment incoming). First things first the VAST majority of dubstep artists operate outside the festival sphere, and there is a HUGE disconnect between regular dubstep shows and festivals. Most of what you covered here, especially in the stage production section, would be considered festival dubstep. So, while festival dubstep relies heavily on stage production, smaller shows really rely on the culture of the genre and the energy of the crowd. The culture of the fans originates from the original dubstep scene in the UK (pre-skrillex) and actually an offshoot of that style is still present in the form of the sub-genre "riddim" or "trench". Contrary to what you said in the video, these smaller shows with far less production tend to be those with the most energy, even being the preffered option by bigger artists like Virtual Riot and Leotrix. If you don't believe me, watch the Nimda set at Fast Music Factory, the Dveight set at Nexus in Paris and VKTM b2b SANZU at the smaller stage of the Summoning of the Eclipse festival. All of the previously mentioned are readily available to watch on youtube. There are some nuances here like Rampage in Belgium taking a step back on stage production for some of their shows - namely open air. I think something important to also note is the art of the genre. Due to halcyon and its influence on the scene, we've seen a vast improvement in the quality of the art in the genre. A step back from the standardisation seen previously from labels and an emphasis on artist intention. While really good, this has also sort of been a double edged sword for the whole scene. As you mentioned, dubstep really has a lack of identity, while this means there are alot of unique styles (such as the infekt artwork at 4:21), this also leads to people not trying to be themselves and instead copying other styles, when really what we want to see is inspiration from one to another. While watching the video, I was having a conversation with Canoto (the guy behind the track with the artwork at 11:55) and he was struggling to find an art style that is both interesting and really what he wants. He and I make art together very often and he is quite the talented dude and to see him struggling with something like that really puts into perspective how bad the lack of identity is. Anyways, I would LOVE to see more edm coverage from you cause the overlap between the almost fully electronic dubstep-adjecent scene and less produced metal-adjacent scene is something that is really interesting. tl:dr dubstep cool you should give it a try probably
This is unrelated to the video but it's nice and refreshing to see a metal fan who actually appreciates and is knowledgeable about edm instead of being all "But it's electronic so it's not real music!!!". I think a lot of metalheads don't realize how similar the two genres actually are to each other, and there's definitely a lot of things that metal could borrow from edm if they wanted to bring something new to the genre (Well maybe not the fashion, lol).
I also got into heavy music because of dubstep. I started off listening to drum n bass with artists like Dieselboy and Current Value and then eventually got into dubstep because of a Cyberoptics song called "Cube". My favorite dubstep artists to this day are D-jahsta, Code Pandorum, Kram, Cruel Reaction, and Venom (not the black metal band, a minatory producer by the same name, tho i like the band too). I've actually had a lot of friends of mine relay a similar experience of getting into dubstep and eventually moving to extreme metal and punk genres. What happened with me is, over time a lot of the really heavy shit that I liked from the dubstep scene started to fade away during the Squadstep and Briddim era, which caused me to lose interest and move more towards extreme metal genres. *Edit:* Holy shit I didn't expect Kretan to get mentioned here, you just made me really nostalgic.
Seeing a Dieselboy mention in the wild is awesome. He's close friends with my aunt, so I got to meet him as a kid during a ski trip. I remember him being very into Squidbillies and he could make a very mean plate of spaghetti.
Hey, edm enjoyer here. I stumbled into your channel from the tour poster vid being recommended to me, and this was a really awesome and insightful video, especially coming from an outsider to the rave scene! You really did your research and I appreciate it a ton. The metal and edm communities seem to have so much in common and vids like this give me a sense of solidarity between our scenes. XD A few notes: -I actually really love smaller raves and in many cases prefer them to larger higher production value ones. Yeah the spectacle of large edm festivals is absolutely awesome, but after spending time engaging with my local scene, as well as the online rave scene over on vrchat (that’s a whole thing I could talk about for hours lol), there’s nothing that really beats the intimacy of smaller raves. It’s much less about the spectacle and more about the people, the culture, the music, the djing (which I’ve really grown to appreciate the artistry of after learning to dj myself). It’s not as bland of an experience as you might think. -You made some good points about edm logos. I think there’s definitely plenty of logos out there with staying power, such as all the ones you mentioned yourself, and those that have that staying power are absolutely eeeeverywhere. Like man I used to draw the Porter Robinson kaomoji and Madeon adventure chevron in the margins of my notes in high school. 😭 My cousin used to slap bassnectar stickers on literally everything he ever owned (at least before the allegations… rip). I can’t tell you how many excision, liquid stranger, illenium, etc etc logos I see when I go to raves, there’s definitely a small few artists who reeeeally get the branding side of things right, and I always appreciate it when I see it. -EDM JERSEYS SUCK THEY ARE SO UGLY LMAOOOOOO thank you for validating my opinion I’ve always found them to be so corny 😭 -You are absolutely correct about cover artists, vjs, lighting techs, etc. needing to be credited more, thank you for speaking up about this. I may not be a huge metalhead or anything at the moment but you’ve definitely earned a new sub dude, keep up the good work! ❤
I came here from TikTok, I have absolutely no previous knowledge on any of the themes this video is gonna cover but that short TikTok edit managed to hook me up and I will watch this whole thing and I know I'll love it.
I don’t know who would be curious, but the “Dubstep, Weed, and Jacking Off” shirt at 21:16 is by a brand called Haunted Starbucks who designs “ironic” fashion.
love that u giving light to edm and dubstep/riddim and shit, feel like not enough people recognize it as being the literal extreme metal equivalent of edm. wouldnt be into heavy music if not for skrillex, the goat forever
The fashion thing is so real, the only reason I'm well dressed well is because I'm queer, there is no dubstep fashion aestetic I'd know of. I personally suggest: lets put RGB stripes on clothes like punks put spikes 'n' shit on em, let's go gamers, let's make it happen lmao
I'm so glad to see another metalhead talk about dubstep (which are my 2 favorite genres) the energy of both genres and stages presence all the way to thee fandom is very similiar to undergroud metal genres, great video man!
You know your music taste is built different if back in 2011 something like this happened to you: You show your friends brostep for the first time and they say: "Wtf, this just sounds like a T-rex screaming in my face!", and you just thought to yourself: "So?! Imagine a T-rex was actually screaming in your face. Wouldn't that be the coolest thing in the world?"
It's really interesting watching this from a European perspective. I live in Germany and my techno loving friends and I (a goth/sometimes metalhead) have almost exactly the same wardrobe. Go to the major techno clubs and everyone is wearing all black and combat boots. I feel like in some ways the dark frutiger aero look never fully left. There's not a lot of crossover between the metal and techno scenes even here though.
the whole "just have the label logo as the cover art for every track" thing was even more egregious is the house and dnb scenes back in like the 90s/2000s. roule and crydamoure (labels owned by the daft punk guys) were especially bad about it. back in those days electronic dance stuff was underground enough that a lot of releases were just vinyl records put out in blank sleeves because the labels didn't have enough money to do actual covers. a lot of them had a lot of cohesion with the center label on the record though, especially strictly rhythm which always had this brick wall graphic in different colors
Coming to this video quite late but I figure it's worth mentioning. Most of the album artwork and logos in the genre's peak was done by Solid Soul (Eric Hallquist). I used to follow him on Facebook waaay back in the day and it cannot be overstated just how much of the genre's aesthetics can be attributed to him and him alone. I'm fairly positive he was the sole artist for much of Firepower Records' distribution, and unfortunately he was remarkably hard to track down as he is credited almost nowhere online and finding his complete portfolio anywhere seems next to impossible.
Solid Soul does incredible work and was definitely the most prevalent in that time. But before Solid Soul, there was a artist called "Beau Sinister" who did a large chunk of Firepowers artwork as well as lots of other heavyweight artists in the space. Unfortunately it was discovered later on that a large portion of his artwork had a lot of assets within them that were stolen from other artists without their permission. Once this came out, Beau was dropped from every label and artist and Solid Soul became the new go to guy for that art style.
Its crazy that I was fully able to sit through a half-hour video about a genre I couldn't care less about without getting bored once, your videos have been improving so much Mr. Bag, keep up the good work!
I would love to see this for nu-metal tbh cause despite most of it being mediocre to bad, it’s so fascinating in its lifespan and even it’s more recent revival.
THISSS The amount of kids discovering left, shortie, cheese, Chico science, nervepitch and a bunch of other underground nu metal bands is really beautiful tbh, the aesthetics of each band is also what really fascinates me as well since it contrasts so hard with the mainstream nu metal aesthetic
Thanks for taking me back to my college days with this breakdown! (I’m an old) Back in 2010 I got to see Skrillex on tour with Foreign Beggars and 12th Planet and that was the first time I ever saw the pillar/screen projection visualizers and it blew my mind. Sonny even had a mo-cap suit on so the aliens/robots would move on screen with him.
Finally someone talks about this, thank you so much for making this video, I've been a long time basshead ever since 2012 and I will admit the inconsistent aesthetics have grown on me a lot over the years, but it's still fun and interesting. Watching this video has been so fun as much as it might have been making it. Especially the Dark Frutiger Aero which goes super hard, I never knew that's what it was called even though I have seen so many Frutiger Aero vids on here lately. But that's not my only gripes that I have though, when it comes to the much more obscure artists (yes there are hundreds of them) I often find a common pattern with how so many stage names sound so similar to each other and I get so confused a lot of the time. Like I get making a stage name is difficult but like can we get some names that are distinguishable from each other please? XD I can name several examples of this if anyone would like me to. Overall though this is an amazing fantastic video, your channel is awesome, keep up the banger content, great work
Phenomenal video and well researched, dubstep culture thanks you 🙏🏼 Also I was just gonna comment that I was sad you didn't mention Halcyon in the label section and then boom, saved the best for last 👌🏼
Oh my, he's literally me frfr. That new intro absolutely bangs btw! Also for any crusty baggers, go listen to yvm3, dust and Harsh'. Minatory as a whole tbh. Very Metal-adjacent... sometimes.
Can't believe you didn't say a single word about Destroid! Highest production value and fully integrated theme/aesthetic for a live performance ever in this genre...truly impressive even above and beyond what you showed here
@@crustbag yeah sure, I just meant I felt like they at least deserved to be highlighted and mentioned specifically, especially considering the innovations insofar as their actual live performance and stage show...really changed the paradigm for what people expect from a "live EDM" show! But overall as somebody who was heavy in the scene from 2011-2015 or so, and have occasionally kept up with it since, I really appreciated your takes on this! Surprised I haven't seen more people looking at it like this, there's def plenty there lol
@@crustbag also appreciated your perspective as a metal kid on the similarities of the scenes...ever since I got into harder more industrial-sounding EDM I've felt like the connections are obvious (not to mention collabos like Korn w/ Skrillex & KtN). I wish there was less division and people focused more on the massive overlaps between the subcultures and the music itself...stupid to see people fighting over shit like whose tastes are better (and lmao @ the kid talking about metalheads "copying" headbanging culture 🤣). Anyway, I'd love to see a major heavy EDM/metal festival, I think it would be a huge success and I'm surprised it hasn't really been done yet AFAIK...definitely more in common there than with jam bands which is the traditional blend! 😝
As a huge fan of both the metal and edm scenes, I feel like the metal scene is far more comfortable with its identity and doesnt necessarily clamor to find the next new trendy gimmick only because it isnt quite as commercialized and financially driven as the edm scene can be. Like you said in the video, small raves with weak spectacle and performance aspects can so often be way worse than the smallest low budget basement rock shows. Edm shows often work on a “bigger is better” mentality, which requires bigger funds, which means more cash needs to flow, which means marketing teams are going to do everything they can bring in more ppl and get conversations going, even if that means trying out loads of weird merch, aesthetics, marketing ploys, etc. Just discovered you on tik tok btw. Just subbed homie 🤙
Thank you for making this video. As somebody who is heavily invested in underground dubstep and all metal, it's nice to see somebody able to talk about both genres in a nonconfrontational way. I hope you make more of these dubstep videos at some point, because you did a good thing here.
this was an incredible video about EDM's weird history with art, distribution, and culture. i can say a lot about the journey with it during high school and going into adulthood but the genre has always had the weirdest place in my heart, almost like its nostalgia or something waiting to break my expectations of music even further.
thank u. as a zoomer who mostly loved dubstep and metalcore at 10-14 i always loved this era and it’s aesthetics. this is the era of dance music that formed so much of my personality XD. (side note, shout out to anyone who watched that dead space thumbnail dubstep comp)
This earlier aesthetic was hell to me back when it was everywhere, the robot skulls with green lasers remind me of a very specific type of creep you could only encounter working the late night shift at the nearest convenience store to a shitty rave.
THAT VIDEO AT THE TOP AT 0:29 WAS MY FAVORITE VIDEO ON EARTH WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I downloaded the whole file onto my ipod and would listen to it on repeat at restaurants and shit
LOVEEEE THIS VIDEO! I know practically nothing about dubstep/just a bunch of other genres (and as a rivethead I probably should 😭) but GOD this was so entertaining and I learned a lot too ^_^ 10/10
Completely agree with the fashion. More distinct genres and scenes within electronic music really do have their own thing going on (think Berlin Techno scene where everything is a mix between bondage and the Matrix), but Dubstep and "EDM" fashion is really all over the place
this video was such a trip: me listening intently, and aggressively agreeing because these are topics/opinions I don't have anyone irl to discuss this with, but then also almost not being able to take you seriously with the occasional pre-made 3D intros in the background
shout out to LINK, I think visually his coercion is my favorite. his early releases fall into another category you didn't really touch on, which is just random woman looking into camera, but he would eventually start a motif of chain links that really was just *chefs kiss*. his newest release still has this chain motif, but with a new art direction that seems... interesting?
Pashminas used to be the mark of someone who was actually into the scene and the culture. They got more use being a shield for doing coke and ketamine in the crowd but now i feel like its one of those generic items people think they have to be wearing
In a lot of your takes you seem to have completely missed out on the massive role the influence of psychedelics has had in the music, the aesthetics, the fashion, the interests of the fanbase,, all of it...it's def a huge factor!
hey I loved the videos, I'm fascinated by this subject and I had never thought about the aesthetics of the covers or even the clothes. I think that nowadays bringing a visual show during a dj show is essential. I'm myself learning 2D and 3D animation for a concert I'm performing in April in front of a crowd who've probably never heard Dubstep. not only do visuals make it possible to create a visual identity during the concert, but they also make it possible to accompany and embellish music by creating true coherence between what is heard and what is seen. not to mention the difference it makes to the public. In any case, great video, I'm subscribing!
it's incredible how similar in some sense metal and dubstep are sometimes like i could see some thall metal converted into dubstep. idk it's hard to explain
Oh hell yeah a dubstep video.. as a part time dubstep producer (more like getting frustrated over my overy speciffic imagination of what type of sounds I want to make and not quite getting there while finding different sounds I arrange into a drop and leaving the project alone for the rest of iternity and therfor going back to making more simple trap type beats for dark trap artists and other evil eintities) am IN LOVE with a lot of the fritty harsh sounds and heavy basses that remind me a lot of heavyer metal (when we look at tearout dubstep for example which takes inspiration of more heavy metal breakdown patterns and rhythms aswell as the principal of post processing on their sounds.. Like a lot of amplification not jst distortion and using an impuls response (mostly as convolvers) for a more reverbous tail on these gun shot basses... Which also take inspiration of heavyer metal guitar chugs which also some tiomes get associated with machine guns. Since I dont know how I started my sentence imma leave it at that.. people will probably understand and my eyes are tired from another hour long session of trying to make some dope bass shots and staring at a screen.
I went to a death metal show that happened to have 3 noise artists in the lineup up 16 bands and they all had at least something to do with extreme metal… I don’t know why this was so interesting to me I just thought I would throw that out there since you mentioned it.
I can totally relate to that intro, skrillex was my introduction to non conventional music and started my obsession with extreme music even though it arguably isn't that extreme.
In italy we have a different kind of rave scene, raves are illegal t.a.z., zones that are occupied for a period of time, and for that length of time we have the rave. Usually multiple crews with different sound systems get together. Of course there are smaller raves with one sound and huge festivals with thousands of people and many different kinds of sounds. Raves here are free, of course you pay drinks and food, but usually only the parties that are collecting money for some cause have an entry fee
My absolute favorite thing is album covers that have a consistent style through an entire discography. Dance Gavin Dance and August Burns Red are the first examples I think of.
I loved this video. Ive been a designer in the bass music space for over 10 years, and I agree with almost everything said about the art side of it all. Until now I never knew there was a name or term to describe the early art style of 2009-2012 Dubstep. Its something me and my other design friends who also work in that style have discussed but a name was never found. ✨Dark Fruitger Aero✨ definitely my favorite visual aesthetic. Its also by far my favorite style to design in, its generally where my brain goes immediately when someone tells me to "wing it".
I knew instantly when you mentionned Subtronics artstyle that you'd mention Svdden Death's, I remember back in 2022 I saw him live at Ile Soniq and something pretty fitting happened, as his show went on and his visuals were playing on the LED pannels and the moving lights were using a lot of red and whites, over the following minutes the sky just went dark and cloudy and it could not have been any more fitting for his set, I'll always remember that Edit: Thanks for giving us audiovisual technicians a shoutout for working behind the scenes lol
I knew what Frutiger Aero was, but never heard of Dark Frutiger Aero. I've been learning a bunch of art stuff, mostly Y2K and it looks like my work is cut out for me. Thanks for this. Super informative. Subbed.
Hey man, have you heard about Wigger Slam ? Try Infectious Jelqing & Arseny ,. Also, do you like Peelingflesh by any chance? Love your content, soooo much better than any metal youtuber out there. U the GOAT bro!
I’d love to see your thoughts on the color bass sub genre at some point. It’s pretty cool, especially because it tends to have a more cohesive aesthetic as a scene compared to say, riddim
I hope ya'll enjoy!! This is gonna be the only video I make on this topic, I prefer to stick to the genres I know best, but I just had to get this video out of my system since I've been wanting to make it for so long haha
Artists who's music was used in the background: .m0lly (insane sound design, go support on bandcamp) Opal Vessel, Grimbeard (first album) haircuts for men, Kretan, 100hurts, pharmacist, Mario Kart OST, Nfract, some of my stuff, Armored Core OST, bl00dwave, Machine Girl, D-Jahsta, Super Metroid OST, Silent Hill 3 OST, Domination, Virtual Riot, Doom OST, and uhhh I think that's it! Go support!
Also since you're taking the time to read all this, there was a joke that I cut from the video that I put up on my socials! So if you wanna see some cut content that felt too mean to leave in, go check it out lmao - Thank you for watching!!🖤
you should probably pin this :)
I finally think you hit the nail on the head for why I've never been as big a raver as a metalhead. I don't dislike edm or dub music and I've always loved that 2010s era of album artwork. But unlike metal/punk/emo/rap there's not a definitive look or style it mostly just kiffes other fashion styles from more established genres. That's why I find myself often returning to metal and punk and blending those fashions with other things. There is a distinct enough look that is a baseline you can work off of and mix with other stuff to create something new. Where as edm is just kinda a grab bag of whatever. And isn't visually distinct on its own. I love wearing my crustpunk tripps I've made with my battlejacket and adding a wizard hat as the goth metal wizard. It looks cohesive but has elements from different groups. But there's no baseline men's edm look that isn't douchebag with light up fingers.
I'm gonna add a 2 second sub-drop to my new death metal song so Dubstep articles can write: "Pagefire goes DUBSTEP? Don't stop at the drop on their new dance single"
lol
Careful, we don’t wanna write the next doom ost don’t we?
and thus, cybergrind was born
who up crusting they bag?
ME ME ME
I all ways be crustin my bag!!!!!
Memememe my bag is SO crusty
Conditioning made me too tired to😞
I’m too busy Robbing my Riggle
when i got the notification i started crusting so hard
Hi worstie
@@sKinCollectoromg hi :3
@@sKinCollector HEY IM UR WORSTIE
@@n015y hi
Crustbag's such a good video essayist that I watched a half-hour video talking about a genre I don't listen to and was engaged the whole way through. What a legend
I am neither a metalhead nor a raver but I subscribed to his channel anyway
I LOVE BURIAL!!!!!
you
now this is a certified coolea classic
Coolea is a certified bag cruster?!?!?
hiiiii love ur videos
Same
"the human equivalent of a burnt vape wearing a rick & morty hoodie" you have such a way with words
CRUSTING THE BAG RN!!!!!
as a fan of the channel and someone involved in the dubstep scene - whether it's making dubstep, art (for album covers/visualisers etc.) & owning a label of my own, this video is SO cool to see from you.
There's some things I would like to give me two cents on so that people less familiar with the scene (long comment incoming).
First things first the VAST majority of dubstep artists operate outside the festival sphere, and there is a HUGE disconnect between regular dubstep shows and festivals. Most of what you covered here, especially in the stage production section, would be considered festival dubstep.
So, while festival dubstep relies heavily on stage production, smaller shows really rely on the culture of the genre and the energy of the crowd.
The culture of the fans originates from the original dubstep scene in the UK (pre-skrillex) and actually an offshoot of that style is still present in the form of the sub-genre "riddim" or "trench".
Contrary to what you said in the video, these smaller shows with far less production tend to be those with the most energy, even being the preffered option by bigger artists like Virtual Riot and Leotrix. If you don't believe me, watch the Nimda set at Fast Music Factory, the Dveight set at Nexus in Paris and VKTM b2b SANZU at the smaller stage of the Summoning of the Eclipse festival. All of the previously mentioned are readily available to watch on youtube.
There are some nuances here like Rampage in Belgium taking a step back on stage production for some of their shows - namely open air.
I think something important to also note is the art of the genre. Due to halcyon and its influence on the scene, we've seen a vast improvement in the quality of the art in the genre. A step back from the standardisation seen previously from labels and an emphasis on artist intention. While really good, this has also sort of been a double edged sword for the whole scene. As you mentioned, dubstep really has a lack of identity, while this means there are alot of unique styles (such as the infekt artwork at 4:21), this also leads to people not trying to be themselves and instead copying other styles, when really what we want to see is inspiration from one to another.
While watching the video, I was having a conversation with Canoto (the guy behind the track with the artwork at 11:55) and he was struggling to find an art style that is both interesting and really what he wants. He and I make art together very often and he is quite the talented dude and to see him struggling with something like that really puts into perspective how bad the lack of identity is.
Anyways, I would LOVE to see more edm coverage from you cause the overlap between the almost fully electronic dubstep-adjecent scene and less produced metal-adjacent scene is something that is really interesting.
tl:dr dubstep cool you should give it a try probably
all of this is true, thank you for this
@triakismusic Seriously, I would attend a lecture series on EDM and Dub if you were the one giving it.🤘🤓
The Dark Frutiger Aero style is to EDM as cartoon monster T-Shirts was to 2000's - early 2010's metalcore.
For sure
bring back the dark frutiger dubstep aesthetic, those covers were so sick
This is unrelated to the video but it's nice and refreshing to see a metal fan who actually appreciates and is knowledgeable about edm instead of being all "But it's electronic so it's not real music!!!". I think a lot of metalheads don't realize how similar the two genres actually are to each other, and there's definitely a lot of things that metal could borrow from edm if they wanted to bring something new to the genre (Well maybe not the fashion, lol).
I also got into heavy music because of dubstep. I started off listening to drum n bass with artists like Dieselboy and Current Value and then eventually got into dubstep because of a Cyberoptics song called "Cube". My favorite dubstep artists to this day are D-jahsta, Code Pandorum, Kram, Cruel Reaction, and Venom (not the black metal band, a minatory producer by the same name, tho i like the band too). I've actually had a lot of friends of mine relay a similar experience of getting into dubstep and eventually moving to extreme metal and punk genres. What happened with me is, over time a lot of the really heavy shit that I liked from the dubstep scene started to fade away during the Squadstep and Briddim era, which caused me to lose interest and move more towards extreme metal genres.
*Edit:* Holy shit I didn't expect Kretan to get mentioned here, you just made me really nostalgic.
Seeing a Dieselboy mention in the wild is awesome. He's close friends with my aunt, so I got to meet him as a kid during a ski trip. I remember him being very into Squidbillies and he could make a very mean plate of spaghetti.
Hey, edm enjoyer here. I stumbled into your channel from the tour poster vid being recommended to me, and this was a really awesome and insightful video, especially coming from an outsider to the rave scene! You really did your research and I appreciate it a ton. The metal and edm communities seem to have so much in common and vids like this give me a sense of solidarity between our scenes. XD
A few notes:
-I actually really love smaller raves and in many cases prefer them to larger higher production value ones. Yeah the spectacle of large edm festivals is absolutely awesome, but after spending time engaging with my local scene, as well as the online rave scene over on vrchat (that’s a whole thing I could talk about for hours lol), there’s nothing that really beats the intimacy of smaller raves. It’s much less about the spectacle and more about the people, the culture, the music, the djing (which I’ve really grown to appreciate the artistry of after learning to dj myself). It’s not as bland of an experience as you might think.
-You made some good points about edm logos. I think there’s definitely plenty of logos out there with staying power, such as all the ones you mentioned yourself, and those that have that staying power are absolutely eeeeverywhere. Like man I used to draw the Porter Robinson kaomoji and Madeon adventure chevron in the margins of my notes in high school. 😭 My cousin used to slap bassnectar stickers on literally everything he ever owned (at least before the allegations… rip). I can’t tell you how many excision, liquid stranger, illenium, etc etc logos I see when I go to raves, there’s definitely a small few artists who reeeeally get the branding side of things right, and I always appreciate it when I see it.
-EDM JERSEYS SUCK THEY ARE SO UGLY LMAOOOOOO thank you for validating my opinion I’ve always found them to be so corny 😭
-You are absolutely correct about cover artists, vjs, lighting techs, etc. needing to be credited more, thank you for speaking up about this.
I may not be a huge metalhead or anything at the moment but you’ve definitely earned a new sub dude, keep up the good work! ❤
I came here from TikTok, I have absolutely no previous knowledge on any of the themes this video is gonna cover but that short TikTok edit managed to hook me up and I will watch this whole thing and I know I'll love it.
i didn't realise how different the US aesthetics were to UK aesthetics in rave culture. very interesting, thank you!
I don’t know who would be curious, but the “Dubstep, Weed, and Jacking Off” shirt at 21:16 is by a brand called Haunted Starbucks who designs “ironic” fashion.
love that u giving light to edm and dubstep/riddim and shit, feel like not enough people recognize it as being the literal extreme metal equivalent of edm. wouldnt be into heavy music if not for skrillex, the goat forever
Dubstep can get quite extreme around the Deathstep and Minatory spaces. Jehova by Kram or Kraniektomie by Venom are 2 genuinely brutal songs.
minatory is my favorite genre thats not metal
No but the Dupstep/EDM to metalhead pipeline is so real, amazing video as always!
The fashion thing is so real, the only reason I'm well dressed well is because I'm queer, there is no dubstep fashion aestetic I'd know of. I personally suggest: lets put RGB stripes on clothes like punks put spikes 'n' shit on em, let's go gamers, let's make it happen lmao
I'm so glad to see another metalhead talk about dubstep (which are my 2 favorite genres) the energy of both genres and stages presence all the way to thee fandom is very similiar to undergroud metal genres, great video man!
You know your music taste is built different if back in 2011 something like this happened to you: You show your friends brostep for the first time and they say: "Wtf, this just sounds like a T-rex screaming in my face!", and you just thought to yourself: "So?! Imagine a T-rex was actually screaming in your face. Wouldn't that be the coolest thing in the world?"
It's really interesting watching this from a European perspective. I live in Germany and my techno loving friends and I (a goth/sometimes metalhead) have almost exactly the same wardrobe. Go to the major techno clubs and everyone is wearing all black and combat boots. I feel like in some ways the dark frutiger aero look never fully left. There's not a lot of crossover between the metal and techno scenes even here though.
the whole "just have the label logo as the cover art for every track" thing was even more egregious is the house and dnb scenes back in like the 90s/2000s. roule and crydamoure (labels owned by the daft punk guys) were especially bad about it. back in those days electronic dance stuff was underground enough that a lot of releases were just vinyl records put out in blank sleeves because the labels didn't have enough money to do actual covers. a lot of them had a lot of cohesion with the center label on the record though, especially strictly rhythm which always had this brick wall graphic in different colors
when he mentioned that i was like well Mokum been doing that for 30 years now. and i kinda like it. you'd need a good logo to make it work.
Coming to this video quite late but I figure it's worth mentioning. Most of the album artwork and logos in the genre's peak was done by Solid Soul (Eric Hallquist). I used to follow him on Facebook waaay back in the day and it cannot be overstated just how much of the genre's aesthetics can be attributed to him and him alone. I'm fairly positive he was the sole artist for much of Firepower Records' distribution, and unfortunately he was remarkably hard to track down as he is credited almost nowhere online and finding his complete portfolio anywhere seems next to impossible.
Solid Soul does incredible work and was definitely the most prevalent in that time. But before Solid Soul, there was a artist called "Beau Sinister" who did a large chunk of Firepowers artwork as well as lots of other heavyweight artists in the space. Unfortunately it was discovered later on that a large portion of his artwork had a lot of assets within them that were stolen from other artists without their permission. Once this came out, Beau was dropped from every label and artist and Solid Soul became the new go to guy for that art style.
HOLY SHIT THAT INTRO AHDGSJDBDUHVGY-
THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THE DANG BASEBALL JERSEYS I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY
As a fellow dubstep kid turned metalhead who's weirdly interested in aesthetic trends, I feel like this video was specifically made for me
I still have Svdden Death in my rotation ever since your favourite albums video
FEED MEs teeth stage is a wondeful example of cool stages
Its crazy that I was fully able to sit through a half-hour video about a genre I couldn't care less about without getting bored once, your videos have been improving so much Mr. Bag, keep up the good work!
I would love to see this for nu-metal tbh cause despite most of it being mediocre to bad, it’s so fascinating in its lifespan and even it’s more recent revival.
THISSS
The amount of kids discovering left, shortie, cheese, Chico science, nervepitch and a bunch of other underground nu metal bands is really beautiful tbh, the aesthetics of each band is also what really fascinates me as well since it contrasts so hard with the mainstream nu metal aesthetic
Thanks for taking me back to my college days with this breakdown! (I’m an old) Back in 2010 I got to see Skrillex on tour with Foreign Beggars and 12th Planet and that was the first time I ever saw the pillar/screen projection visualizers and it blew my mind. Sonny even had a mo-cap suit on so the aliens/robots would move on screen with him.
should check out the aesthetics of hardcore techno genres, they took the "cheesiness" of electronic music super far and i love it
Loved this video! You should talk about the phenomenon of masked DJs/EDM producers.
Finally someone talks about this, thank you so much for making this video, I've been a long time basshead ever since 2012 and I will admit the inconsistent aesthetics have grown on me a lot over the years, but it's still fun and interesting. Watching this video has been so fun as much as it might have been making it. Especially the Dark Frutiger Aero which goes super hard, I never knew that's what it was called even though I have seen so many Frutiger Aero vids on here lately. But that's not my only gripes that I have though, when it comes to the much more obscure artists (yes there are hundreds of them) I often find a common pattern with how so many stage names sound so similar to each other and I get so confused a lot of the time. Like I get making a stage name is difficult but like can we get some names that are distinguishable from each other please? XD I can name several examples of this if anyone would like me to. Overall though this is an amazing fantastic video, your channel is awesome, keep up the banger content, great work
Your logo patch just came in, goin straight onto the vest. Thanks for the great videos
Phenomenal video and well researched, dubstep culture thanks you 🙏🏼
Also I was just gonna comment that I was sad you didn't mention Halcyon in the label section and then boom, saved the best for last 👌🏼
Discovered your channel shortly after watching this video. Your content is great
@@Dawn95284 ayee fuck yeah, I've been on a hiatus for a while but I'll be making more content soon :)
Let’s gooo it’s finally out! Also the “Suffocated by abundance” shirt came in a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it, it’s comfy af
Would you like to make a video about your favorite Dubstep Artists? That would be pretty intresting :)
Been watching abt a year so far. Gotta say, this is some top notch shit for 50k. KEEP GOING!
also love the name.👌
I was not expecting Crustbag of all people making a video on dubstep
I've been looking for a video or discussion on this topic for ages.
every time u post a new video its always such a good day
Oh my, he's literally me frfr. That new intro absolutely bangs btw!
Also for any crusty baggers, go listen to yvm3, dust and Harsh'. Minatory as a whole tbh. Very Metal-adjacent... sometimes.
Can't believe you didn't say a single word about Destroid! Highest production value and fully integrated theme/aesthetic for a live performance ever in this genre...truly impressive even above and beyond what you showed here
I used footage of them in the background a lot during the live production segment (:
@@crustbag yeah sure, I just meant I felt like they at least deserved to be highlighted and mentioned specifically, especially considering the innovations insofar as their actual live performance and stage show...really changed the paradigm for what people expect from a "live EDM" show!
But overall as somebody who was heavy in the scene from 2011-2015 or so, and have occasionally kept up with it since, I really appreciated your takes on this! Surprised I haven't seen more people looking at it like this, there's def plenty there lol
@@crustbag also appreciated your perspective as a metal kid on the similarities of the scenes...ever since I got into harder more industrial-sounding EDM I've felt like the connections are obvious (not to mention collabos like Korn w/ Skrillex & KtN). I wish there was less division and people focused more on the massive overlaps between the subcultures and the music itself...stupid to see people fighting over shit like whose tastes are better (and lmao @ the kid talking about metalheads "copying" headbanging culture 🤣). Anyway, I'd love to see a major heavy EDM/metal festival, I think it would be a huge success and I'm surprised it hasn't really been done yet AFAIK...definitely more in common there than with jam bands which is the traditional blend! 😝
babe wake up pookie bear uploaded
As a huge fan of both the metal and edm scenes, I feel like the metal scene is far more comfortable with its identity and doesnt necessarily clamor to find the next new trendy gimmick only because it isnt quite as commercialized and financially driven as the edm scene can be. Like you said in the video, small raves with weak spectacle and performance aspects can so often be way worse than the smallest low budget basement rock shows. Edm shows often work on a “bigger is better” mentality, which requires bigger funds, which means more cash needs to flow, which means marketing teams are going to do everything they can bring in more ppl and get conversations going, even if that means trying out loads of weird merch, aesthetics, marketing ploys, etc. Just discovered you on tik tok btw. Just subbed homie 🤙
Thank you for making this video. As somebody who is heavily invested in underground dubstep and all metal, it's nice to see somebody able to talk about both genres in a nonconfrontational way. I hope you make more of these dubstep videos at some point, because you did a good thing here.
I want a Bear Grillz and Party Cannon crossover.
MY BAG CRUSTIN RN
this was an incredible video about EDM's weird history with art, distribution, and culture. i can say a lot about the journey with it during high school and going into adulthood but the genre has always had the weirdest place in my heart, almost like its nostalgia or something waiting to break my expectations of music even further.
0:43 also Diplo apparently produced Rolo Tomassi´s 2nd album (i´m pretty sure skrillex and him talked about that)
thank u. as a zoomer who mostly loved dubstep and metalcore at 10-14 i always loved this era and it’s aesthetics. this is the era of dance music that formed so much of my personality XD. (side note, shout out to anyone who watched that dead space thumbnail dubstep comp)
This earlier aesthetic was hell to me back when it was everywhere, the robot skulls with green lasers remind me of a very specific type of creep you could only encounter working the late night shift at the nearest convenience store to a shitty rave.
I love videos that talk about metal and dubstep together. Plus you edited this video well. Subbed!
1min into the video I remember to make the following joke:
Lol, Skrillbag!
Thank you, I'll be here all night.
I love the aesthetic of virtual riot, sharks, mad dubz, and subtronics the most. Some of these artists have absolutely incredible art.
THAT VIDEO AT THE TOP AT 0:29 WAS MY FAVORITE VIDEO ON EARTH WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I downloaded the whole file onto my ipod and would listen to it on repeat at restaurants and shit
I did some work for Halcyon and Oolacile is literally the coolest and most inspiring guy to work with, love that label to death.
LOVEEEE THIS VIDEO! I know practically nothing about dubstep/just a bunch of other genres (and as a rivethead I probably should 😭) but GOD this was so entertaining and I learned a lot too ^_^ 10/10
Completely agree with the fashion. More distinct genres and scenes within electronic music really do have their own thing going on (think Berlin Techno scene where everything is a mix between bondage and the Matrix), but Dubstep and "EDM" fashion is really all over the place
I don't listen to much electronic music but I would watch more videos about it if you made them. This was really interesting.
this video was such a trip: me listening intently, and aggressively agreeing because these are topics/opinions I don't have anyone irl to discuss this with, but then also almost not being able to take you seriously with the occasional pre-made 3D intros in the background
shout out to LINK, I think visually his coercion is my favorite. his early releases fall into another category you didn't really touch on, which is just random woman looking into camera, but he would eventually start a motif of chain links that really was just *chefs kiss*. his newest release still has this chain motif, but with a new art direction that seems... interesting?
Damn your video essays are so great! Thank you :)
Pashminas used to be the mark of someone who was actually into the scene and the culture. They got more use being a shield for doing coke and ketamine in the crowd but now i feel like its one of those generic items people think they have to be wearing
This video will age well 5 years from now
Your "Breakdown of ___" Videos are so so well done! And the way you edit is just is own kind of genre... i absolutely love it!!
My favorite youtuber making a video on dubstep when i get into that genre? yes please
In a lot of your takes you seem to have completely missed out on the massive role the influence of psychedelics has had in the music, the aesthetics, the fashion, the interests of the fanbase,, all of it...it's def a huge factor!
hey I loved the videos, I'm fascinated by this subject and I had never thought about the aesthetics of the covers or even the clothes. I think that nowadays bringing a visual show during a dj show is essential. I'm myself learning 2D and 3D animation for a concert I'm performing in April in front of a crowd who've probably never heard Dubstep. not only do visuals make it possible to create a visual identity during the concert, but they also make it possible to accompany and embellish music by creating true coherence between what is heard and what is seen. not to mention the difference it makes to the public. In any case, great video, I'm subscribing!
it's incredible how similar in some sense metal and dubstep are sometimes
like i could see some thall metal converted into dubstep. idk it's hard to explain
Oh hell yeah a dubstep video.. as a part time dubstep producer (more like getting frustrated over my overy speciffic imagination of what type of sounds I want to make and not quite getting there while finding different sounds I arrange into a drop and leaving the project alone for the rest of iternity and therfor going back to making more simple trap type beats for dark trap artists and other evil eintities) am IN LOVE with a lot of the fritty harsh sounds and heavy basses that remind me a lot of heavyer metal (when we look at tearout dubstep for example which takes inspiration of more heavy metal breakdown patterns and rhythms aswell as the principal of post processing on their sounds.. Like a lot of amplification not jst distortion and using an impuls response (mostly as convolvers) for a more reverbous tail on these gun shot basses... Which also take inspiration of heavyer metal guitar chugs which also some tiomes get associated with machine guns. Since I dont know how I started my sentence imma leave it at that.. people will probably understand and my eyes are tired from another hour long session of trying to make some dope bass shots and staring at a screen.
As an epileptic I reeeeally really appreciate the warning at the beginning. Thamc bro 🤝🏻
As a DEEP MEDI fanboy my favorite passtime is to watch vdeos of people talking about post 2010s Dupstep and sulk
I went to a death metal show that happened to have 3 noise artists in the lineup up 16 bands and they all had at least something to do with extreme metal… I don’t know why this was so interesting to me I just thought I would throw that out there since you mentioned it.
thank you so much for shifting from the regular videos to this topic good shit
I can totally relate to that intro, skrillex was my introduction to non conventional music and started my obsession with extreme music even though it arguably isn't that extreme.
The fashion section made me laugh. Great video!
In italy we have a different kind of rave scene, raves are illegal t.a.z., zones that are occupied for a period of time, and for that length of time we have the rave. Usually multiple crews with different sound systems get together. Of course there are smaller raves with one sound and huge festivals with thousands of people and many different kinds of sounds. Raves here are free, of course you pay drinks and food, but usually only the parties that are collecting money for some cause have an entry fee
Omg dude, this video is great! I’d love to see more content on EDM, even if it isn’t directly in your wheelhouse of usual content!
My absolute favorite thing is album covers that have a consistent style through an entire discography. Dance Gavin Dance and August Burns Red are the first examples I think of.
I loved this video. Ive been a designer in the bass music space for over 10 years, and I agree with almost everything said about the art side of it all. Until now I never knew there was a name or term to describe the early art style of 2009-2012 Dubstep. Its something me and my other design friends who also work in that style have discussed but a name was never found. ✨Dark Fruitger Aero✨ definitely my favorite visual aesthetic. Its also by far my favorite style to design in, its generally where my brain goes immediately when someone tells me to "wing it".
Who knew crustbag was into dubstep? Cool!
im so happy you talked about halcyon i loveee that lable so so much
I knew instantly when you mentionned Subtronics artstyle that you'd mention Svdden Death's, I remember back in 2022 I saw him live at Ile Soniq and something pretty fitting happened, as his show went on and his visuals were playing on the LED pannels and the moving lights were using a lot of red and whites, over the following minutes the sky just went dark and cloudy and it could not have been any more fitting for his set, I'll always remember that
Edit: Thanks for giving us audiovisual technicians a shoutout for working behind the scenes lol
I wanna see this about darkwave/postpunk. YOU RULE, btw!
I knew what Frutiger Aero was, but never heard of Dark Frutiger Aero. I've been learning a bunch of art stuff, mostly Y2K and it looks like my work is cut out for me. Thanks for this. Super informative. Subbed.
I love EDM Alba artwork. Very vindicating to see someone make a video discussing it in detail. Good shit.
dubstep was the first genre of music I ever went out and listened to on my own. It's 100% the reason I'm so into extreme metal and punk today
Hey man, have you heard about Wigger Slam ? Try Infectious Jelqing & Arseny ,. Also, do you like Peelingflesh by any chance? Love your content, soooo much better than any metal youtuber out there. U the GOAT bro!
I'd love for you to do more of this style of video for other genres of music like industrial and noise and other weird genres.
I am now happier
I was hoping you'd mention the Excision Shrek visual and you delivered.
Babe wake up, Crustbag uploaded a new "Breakdown of" Video!
ngl with that fashion section I guessed spiked beer can for the main attire
Bro always cooks and never dissapoints with the taste
I'd love to see you do a video on Vaporwave!
Really enjoyed this one crust. don’t be afraid to take on other subcultures and genres logos & merch, your takes are fresh.
I’d love to see your thoughts on the color bass sub genre at some point. It’s pretty cool, especially because it tends to have a more cohesive aesthetic as a scene compared to say, riddim