Metal!! \m/

Metal is the best music genre ever!! Haha that is from my point of view and many other metal heads out there but most of you might not agree with me and that's ok. Watching the documentary "Metal- A Headbanger's Journey" for the umpteenth time has inspired me to write this. Metal isn’t like any other music which is why I love it so much. Anthropologist/Metal head Sam Dunn asked the question: Why has heavy metal been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned? He concluded that “Metal confronts what we’d rather ignore, it celebrates what we often deny, it indulges in what we fear most and that’s why metal will always be a culture of outsiders.”

I wrote about Metal music in one of my essays last semester. It has something to do with how the mass media has affected our lives and I chose to write about music but I think I went too far talking about metal hahah. Anyway, I want to share with you an extract of the essay:

“ Personal identity and personal relationships are perhaps the most significant reasons of my resort to heavy metal music. One of the things I love about heavy metal music is that the lyrics are so honest, meaningful and inspiring. Most of the metal musicians write their own lyrics which are based on their social, domestic and childhood problems and they send very strong messages to troubled people just like them who listen to their songs. Their messages are very powerful and inspiring in that they tell us not to give up hope or not to commit suicide but to face the world with a strong attitude and to ignore the ones who hurt us. This is very personal to me because it has made me the person I am now- ignorant to those who have hurt me and emotionally strong. I also relate to the lyrics and the musicians because we go through very rough times in life and they have proven that by being strong and not taking in the abuse by other people, we are survivors of a cruel world. People who listen to metal music religiously and take it personally have been called “metal heads” and I am proud of being one. There is a stereotype on metal heads that they are usually very troubled people, in that they have been abused socially or domestically and also mentally disturbed. I found that this is partly true and is a universal feature of metal heads around the world. I can relate to these people because we belong to a distinctive “metal community” and we listen to metal music for the same reasons. We listen to metal music to get away from the harsh reality and to enjoy ourselves to the music we find refreshing. However, some would not listen to metal for the same reasons, I am not being oblivious to those who listen to metal but are not troubled in the same way.

To me, metal music is my salvation, my sanctuary, my inspiration and my best friend because it has always been there for me through the hard times in life and that it has repeatedly reminded me not to give up hope and to be strong. Yes, metal music is often labeled ‘angry music’ and metal heads express their anger through music. It is something that we can always resort to. There are however some who interpret the music wrongly and end up committing crimes and doing very bad things. This is absolutely what metal is not about. Violence, chaos, anger and anarchy portrayed by metal music is just something for us to resort to through the music. I also listen to metal music for entertainment because I love the heavy sounds of the double-pedal drums, the heavy bass sounds and the powerful riffs of the electric guitar. Metal musicians have inspired me to pick up a guitar and learn to play it with passion. I find the music very invigorating and dynamic and this is what I like to indulge myself in for relaxation, entertainment and satisfaction. There has however been awareness on “Satanic Black Metal” music which I also listen to but this is not because I am a Satanist but because I enjoy listening to the music. We do not have to believe in the lyrics but frankly, I find the lyrics very interesting. Satanic black metal bands that I listen to such as Dimmu Borgir and Gorgoroth just to name a few, have extremely blasphemous lyrics but it does not mean that I am against Christianity or any religion but it is just because I enjoy the music and that I find this whole Satanic scene very interesting. “

There. That is my explanation to why I love metal music so much and I just think that people need to hear it from a metal head’s point of view. If you have your own opinions, that’s ok because we are entitled to our own opinions and we are all different. We may not like the same music but that does not mean that we have to draw boundaries and not live together in peace. I think that is a load of bullshit because people who think that way are narrow-minded and utterly stupid. Differences define uniqueness. Like what Mali said, peanut-butter cannot go with peanut-butter…I forgot what it was exactly but it has something to do with peanut-butter shit hahaha. My point is that it does not mean that when two people do not share the same interest, they cannot bind. That is bullshit bullshit bullshit and I promise you that one day you will realize this. Crap, what the fuck am I going on to now? Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this, whoever you are. ¡Qué vivo el Metal! \m/