I really can't blame anyone for hating metal when they get their exposure from headbanger's
ball. Understand that true metalheads
don't call most of that shit metal. Most of it's there just to sell an image. Most real metal is way underground. You really have to look around to find the good stuff since it's an extreme artform that most
people can't appreciate. Chances are that the mall won't carry any
good metal except for bay thrash (basically just
metallica and megadeth, and even there you have to know what you're looking for.) Instead of giving you a rundown of all the awesome metal bands out there, I'll give you some reasons to be intrigued.
1.True metal is based around a
philosophy that one should take action to remake the world as one sees fit. The best example the the phenomenon of black metal. At its beginnings, it was not so much a music genre as an underground social movement, that centered around several bands in Norway such as Mayhem and Burzum. The satanic imagery was used not so much as a litteral reference to
Satan as a symbol of the counteraction to Christian culture. The goal of these bands was litterally to rid Norway of
Christianity and return it to its pagan roots.
People connected with the band did indeed
burn churches, but it was not for shock value, it was what they believed in.
2.Much true metal is more technically involved than any other music except for classical and real jazz. Obviously the drums and guitars and very fast, but also
death metal is strenuous for the left hand because of the number of diffent notes being played and the unusual orders they come in. Black metal is very layered and harmonic and requires a
good understanding of scales and modes. Usually the keyboard parts are very complex. The drumming is also complex, and not just fast, especially with math metal, which is often very syncopated and some bands such as Meshuggah use polymetrics to create an extrordinarily disjointed sound which is difficult for almost anyone to follow. Also the melodic singing is more demanding than most types of music, and even the growling vocals and more difficult to do convincingly than you might imagine.
3.There is more diversity in metal than most genres, everything from the soaring symphonic arrangements of bands like Nightwish and Sonata Arctica to sheer noise and aggression to the barely controlled chaos of the Dillinger Escape Plan to the folk
awesomeness of Finntroll and everything in between.
In short, true metal is not about pretense like most of the modrock and fashioncore popular today. Yes, there are some shitty metal bands out there, but if you can find the ones that are there because they believe in themselves and have real
talent, you
may really start to appreciate them.
