Metal Monday: Metal Urban Legends

posted in: Features • Rock

The metal world, historically, has been known mostly as an insiders-only club. People on the outside don’t usually get metal, and people on the inside can rarely communicate what exactly it is about metal that is so compelling. As Sam Dunn says in Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, “Ever since I was twelve years old I had to defend my love for heavy metal against those who say it’s a less valid form of music. My answer now is that you either feel it or you don’t. If metal doesn’t give that overwhelming surge of power that make the hair stand up at the back of your neck, you might never get it, and you know what? That’s okay, because judging by the 40,000 metalheads around me we’re doing just fine without you.”

Just because you don’t “feel it,” though, doesn’t mean that you have to go on misunderstanding things about the genre, the people who make metal music or the people who enjoy it. I’m here to dispel some pretty common rumors and misconceptions around the metal world. Perhaps you’re someone who might think some of these sentiments are true, or maybe you know someone who does; whatever the case, it’s time to learn a thing or two.

1. Metalheads are all violent oafs (see: moshing)

First, not every metalhead participates in moshing. Second, not all metal is even appropriate to mosh to. (Can you imagine moshing to Black Sabbath? I know I sure can’t.) Third, while moshing is a pretty violent activity, most people participate willingly and (to the surprise of many) aren’t actually out there to hurt each other. Countless times I’ve been at a concert with mosh pits and seen people slipping or falling in the pit. Before you jump to any conclusions, these people aren’t trampled”surrounding metal brethren always protect the fallen comrade, helping them to their feet and out of the pit (or to continue moshing, should they be in proper condition). To an even greater end, the few cases in which I’ve seen the most negligent and reckless mosh pits have been crowds full of people who were “fringe metalheads””i.e. people who don’t listen to metal bands primarily, who focus on the most accessible of metal styles and/or who rarely attend metal shows. Believe it or not, there is an unwritten code amongst metalheads to protect themselves and their fellow moshers.

2. Metalheads are all Satanists

If you’re one of the people who happen to subscribe to this particular belief, you definitely need to take a close look at things. While I have no specific data to cite, it is quite apparent to anyone inside the metal world that a majority of metal spawned is completely secular. If I had to list the top religions associated with metal music, Satanism wouldn’t even be in the top three”atheism, Christian-based faiths and pagan beliefs all rank higher. Among the metal world, there is a very dense and well-represented community of bands who support Christian-based faiths. In fact, a member of one of the most obviously anti-Christian bands is a devout Catholic”Tom Araya of Slayer (it should be noted that Kerry King writes a vast majority of the lyrics for the band)”which Sam Dunn covers in Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. Dunn’s documentary actually features a lengthy section that covers religion and its ties to metal.

The church arsons in Norway during the early 1990s, one of metal’s most controversial and talked about events, are partially responsible for this misconception. Marred by exaggerations and biased tabloid media, the inspiration behind these actions committed by a small sect of the Norwegian Black Metal community have been fiercely debated in the two decades since. Rather than recount all of these different angles, it’s probably best to just watch this video that captures just about all of the different sentiments among the people involved. Arguably the most important thing to take away is this: the acts of a few should not speak for many.

(if you’re itching to learn more about black metal, its history or its culture I would recommend the VICE Documentary True Norwegian Black Metal or Until The Light Takes Us )

3. Metal is only about sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, gore and evil

Tipper Gore. Does that name ring a bell to you? If you’re someone who has an intense interest in metal or happened to be a teenager (or older) in 1985, the name is probably familiar. In 1985 Tipper Gore, via the Parents Music Resource Center, cracked down on music that featured explicit imagery in either its lyrical content or visual content (the issue wasn’t a metal-specific and targeted artists like Prince, Madonna, AC/DC, and Judas Priest). The trouble for metal, historically, has been that the most lewd or offensive bands have”be it the offensively demeaning hair metal scene or the heinously grotesque brutal death metal bands, or the ever-strange GWAR”received the most attention.

Whatever metal scene you look at, the key facets of the genre have been long misunderstood by the public as a whole, and misrepresented by extremist members of the community. Sound familiar to anyone?