My wife (who likes metal but isn't really a die-hard fan of it) came with me to a show in which Neurosis played and she thought it was hilarious that the vocals consisted on unintelligible barking and shrieking while the in-between banter with the crowd was extremely polite and appreciative. It is nice, though, to see bands that show their appreciation to the crowd and let their music do their talking for them instead of carrying on as if they're TOTALLY BRUTAL~ 24/7.

The last thing I did that was remotely "Br00tal"..... Was take a dump that made the water in the toilet dissapaear.

I don't know if they're "relying" on it so much as A - they probably talk that way anyway and B - audiences expect it.

I've stopped going to as many shows as I used to for this reason. It does get real annoying.

I don't respond well to being yelled at in any venue.....

Don't yell at me at work
Don't yell at me at a concert
I don't want to go to a church where the preacher yells at me from the pulpit

Just play the music and stop talking so much.

two thoughts

1. Hormones will drive the young to make as much loud noise as possible, and older people whose testosterone etc. have waned will find it annoying. I do agree that the constant need for some sort of progression of "harder and faster" has resulted in increasingly annoying music. I personally feel that we reached a point of diminishing returns some time ago now, but that's just what someone my age would be expected to say, eh?

2. Twenty years from now the Brootal generation will be making exactly the same complaint about their kids music, which I'm guessing will be alternating bursts of pain and pleasure sent directly into their audio nerves by implanted micro-chips or something. It can only end when the testosterone etc. drives people to listen to sounds so brutal that they are actually rendered sterile by the noise. Hey, it could happen, right? We can always hope.