What does everybody think about the possibility of an age limit to playing death metal? Or physically demanding music in general?

There must come a point in one's life when one can no longer sustain 16ths at 240bpm or possess the required dexterity to pull off technical riffs a la Suffocation, Nile, et cetera.

I guess when the likes of Jeff and Kerry from Slayer hit 50+ we'll start to get an indication of the effects on the human body - more specifically the wrist and arm - of people who have played fast and physically demanding music for very long periods of time.

What do you think bands will do? Break up? Adapt to their ever decreasing capabilities?

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I would want to break up, if i cant play the music anymore then I wouldnt want to continue on with that style and embariss myself. I would continue music but if your an established band you dont want to ruin that bands name by changing styles

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just look at metallica. thats all i have to say

I'd tend to agree with you there. Or if I was to change styles, I'd insist on calling the band something else so that people can draw a distinction between the two artistic concepts.

I'm dreading the day when I am unable to play Angel Of Death or Churning The Maelstrom or Enraptured By Evil due to physical incapability.

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Well Karl Sanders of Nile will be 42 years young in a few days, and I'd say he's kicking more ass than ever. No signs of stopping either.

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That's more of an artistic decision on there part rather than a physical deficiency that's beyond their control. I should have put a disclaimer in my original post concerning Metallica becasue deep down I knew they'd get brougt into this argument and that wasn't really in my itinery for discussion.

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wow didnt know he was that old
but damn they seem to be getting faster and faster

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Nile have been around for 15 years now under various guises and I want them to have a legacy similar to that of Priest and Maiden, ie 30+ years of material and touring. Will Karl still be able to churn out Black Seeds Of Vengeance with the same ferocity at 57? It'll sure be interesting finding out!

EDIT: Actually, it was seeing that thread at the Nile boards that inspired me to start this thread. I had no idea Karl was in his 40s - I had him pegged at 35, tops.

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Yeah.
I knew he was old, but I thought that just meant he was in his 30's. He definitely looks like he's in his 30's. He must have so super egyptian powers

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according to the mag terrorizer there was a riff on the new nile album that was such a huge stretch or something that it injured karls hand

eventually he gave up and play the riff a different way i guess

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you never properly loose your skills, you get worse for the first 2 weeks of not playing then just stay at that point till you start playing again

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probably while he was learning the song The Burning Pits of the Duat. Thats one crazy song.

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Oh, that could be Wind Of Horus, the intro riff. I know Dallas plays it like this (fingering underneath):



Dallas' fingers are much longer than Karl's and so I would imagine Karl shifts it up onto the 6th string and makes use of the drop tuning.

EDIT: sorry, didn't see 'new album' in your original post.

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So when you're 80 you'll still be able to keep up with Reign In Blood?

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From an aging standpoint I'd say as long as arthritis or some other disablity isn't present I don't see any reason why age should ever be a factor. And just because the fingers don't fly like they used to doesn't mean they can't still write for others who can do it. Jason Becker comes to mind.
As far as Metallica is concerned I think all the hype and b.s. is what made people fade from them. They came on with a bang and then whined. The music just didn't have the down and dirty feel it once had. When you blow your horn too loud people are gonna cover their ears instead of listen after awhile.

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Who knows, if your fit, healthy and don't suffer from any muscular or mental illness its perfectly pheasable.

my vocalists old man is 53 and he plays nile shit like its nothing. so my vote goes to no restrictions as far as age goes.

I think when you cannot physically do it anymore, stop. Save the dignity. But look at Priest, they ALL can still pull it off at that age.

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everyone will break up and quit by the time they hit 50 or so. peoples voices go, they get arthritis, they gain weight, they get families, etc. very few death metal bands will be touring even past 35 id say. i saw with my own eyes that some people (glen benton) should NOT be allowed to play anymore after about 10 years of touring. he looks like a complete pile of shit and sounds like one too

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There has got to be a physical limit after which your stamina, picking speed and dexterity all begin to wane. Obviously it's going to be different for different folk - which is going to mean that quantifying it is going to be difficult - but I still maintain that limitations will exist regardless of arthritis or muscular conditions, particularly when considering stamina.

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