Why We Like Metal

When you think of music, what usually comes to mind for Generation Y tends to be of the rap, reggae, R&B, and Bubblegum Pop Genres. However, what is often forgotten, and frequently looked down upon is perhaps the least understood and most diverse offshoot of Rock and Roll: Heavy Metal. But hey, we like it that way.

This well known but oft-sneered at genre saw its roots begin to grow with songs by the Beatles and others in the 60's, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and several others throughout the 70's, and then exploded to popularity during the 1980's as hair and glam metal. The 80's also provided the most progressive and experimental phase of the music, as the genre split into several sub-genres such as Thrash, Death, Doom, Speed, Power, and Stoner metal, among others. During the 90's, each of these had pioneering bands who pushed the limits of these pre-defined boundaries, and began to condense them with disregard to the established paradigms of sound. This includes the development of Grunge, for all you Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots fans out there, which is the other offshoot of Punk Rock and Metal's fusion together.

But the history of this sound is almost completely irrelevant if no one wants to listen to it. Metal has always had one thing going for it that other music is lacking; that is, it expresses anger and disillusionment, alienation, the feeling of injustice, and the pressures of society. It whisks you away to a fantasy world, either negative or positive, which is a wholly different theme than can be found in COuntry and the like. Metal also has a tendency to push cultural buttons for the sake of pushing buttons, which would appear to be a part of human nature. I'm sure Freud would agree.

I can attest that when something very upsetting has just happened to you, it's actually soothing (believe it or not) to put on the heaviest and hardest album you own, and just let your emotions run their course. There's just something about the heavy bass, the screaming guitars, the monster riffs, and the intense drumming that takes you out of your pain and reminds you that you're not alone.

Those of you with friends who almost exclusively listen to metal will be able to attest to this fact: Though metal heads will be your strangest friends, they tend to be brotherly and loyal, especially if you listen to similar music at least on occasion.
Perhaps this feeling of brotherhood among metal heads comes because most people who listen to this music have similar pressures or goings-on in their lives, and rather than being united by the content of their music, the music is a tool to unite them through the shared challenges they face. Fans of other music will have a harder time accomplishing that with their peers, as their musical equals are friends merely because they like the same popular music; they likely come from different backgrounds with extremely different lives. I suppose you could say there is more empathy among metal heads. Talk to a country fan and tell them a messed up story from your life. They will usually express shock. Repeat the same to a metalhead, and you get a reaction equivalent to "Same Shit, Different Day, do you need some help? Here's what I did in that situation" because most have been through it before.


To truly be a metal head, one cannot simply enjoy the music. You have to be part of its world, its atmosphere. Only then can you understand why people enjoy this sort of music.