"Maturing"

I don’t like the way publications (and bands themselves) often talk about a band “maturing” when they start making less intensely heavy material. And I see it said a lot when bands start writing more for radio too.
Simply softening your sound as you get older isn’t maturing. Diluting your sound with pop formulaicity to tailor it for the lowest common denominator isn’t matiring.
Maturing is carefully honing your sound and meticulously perfecting it in its weak spots and continuing to strengthen its strong spots.
Opeth making more retro-prog-rock material without death growls is not “maturing” from their progressive death metal roots. They had an incredibly mature sound and execution very early on in and throughout most of their career. Music publications talking about heavier music like it’s something to mature from and grow out of for artists just reinforces stupid notions that it’s exclusively appropriate for similarly less mature people, which is not the case.
Likewise, Bullet for My Valentine neutering their metalcore roots and churning out soulless radio metal to jump on board the Bring Me the Horizon bandwagon is not maturing.
If it’s just getting harder to maintain the same energy and vibrance into older age, that’s okay, and understandable, just say that.
If it’s just about hopping on board the latest trend to get airtime and inattentive streams, trying to paint it as maturation is only going to rile people upset with the shift in sound up more.

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