define the genre "metal"...

[Blitzkrieg]

I'm in the middle of an online, message board arguement about "metal" as a genre, and I need you guys input on how to define "metal".

I absolutely blasted a guy for saying "metal is just heavy punk" in reply to my saying "you ppl don't even know what metal is", but then I thought to myself, what am I gonna say when they ask me to define it!

I need help! ARGH!
All input welcome.

 

[The Wanderer]

why waste your time? its not going to go anywhere.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

nah, it is going somewhere, the arguement is with ppl I know about the local music scene, and there are NO metal bands in this town at all, the closest thing is some heavy-ish bands that cover nu-metal crap. I MUST prove these ppl wrong, and show them that metal is more than just "heavy punk" or whatever they think it is.

I am not asking for the meaning of life, just what some of you guys think "metal" might mean, or how you would define it personally.

 

[locutos]

you can't really define metal as a whole, just think of True Black Metal and Epic Metal / Gothenborg Death Metal. First one straight Riffs, second one ass-kickin' guitar-skills and a dynamic playing, how do you put them under one roof? Or True Metal and Grindcore, they don't have much in common

 

[opacity]

when thinking of so-called punk bands such as Offspring, Blink 182 etc., I cannot see any similiarities with metal at all. they want to be sarcastic and sort of freaky but to me they're just plain stupid. there's neither attitude in their playing nor skills nor energy or force/power - it's only some more noise blasted into the air.
even the most unimportant "evil" blackmetal shithead has more attitude than any of these "punks"

 

[Buxter Blay]

Why do you listen to the others ???

 

[Killgore Trout]

I've heard people say that punk is just poorly played metal. Now metal is heavy punk? I started listening to hardcore/punk for the energy, anger, and sheer power of the music. I started listening to metal for the same reasons. Nowadays some bands that would consider themselves punk could play at a metal show and nowbody would no the difference. I seem to recall the term "Extreme Music" being thrown around somewhere. We should throw out the tags metal and punk and go with that one. You either play to the extreme, whether that be technique, ingenuity, or ferocity, or you don't.


JUMP AND I WILL FOLLOW

 

[HarmonyDies....]

I would define it in two simple words "The Best"

 

[Adam]

I never could see the similarities between metal and punk either.. Until i listened to In Flames' song Embody the Invisible for like the 50th time, and i realized it sounds exactly like a punk song!

 

[Hylian]

Well, I can't really define Metal, but I can show you how to tell them that Nu-Metal (I prefer to call it NO-Metal) isn't Metal at all.

1) Metal has a meaning, not just "fuck fuck fuck".
2) Metal musicians RESPECT their fans, they don't go on stage like "SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU MOTHER-FUCKERS!", etc...
3) Metal musicians are SKILLED musicians, not people who grabbed their instruments and decided to see how much noise they could make with them.
4) Metal has Melody/Harmony.
5) Metal doesn't have ANYTHING to do with shitty rap, or hip-hop (unlike Nu-Metal).
6) Metal is a cult, Nu-Metal is a trend.
7) Metal isn't noise, it's agressive. Nu-Metal isn't agressive, it's noise.
8) Metalheads HEADBANG, they don't jump around kicking each other.
9) Metalheads have respect for each other! The community stays together!
10) Metalheads know what a double bass is. This is hard to believe, but I showed "Silent Night, Bodom Night (Live In Japan)" from Children Of Bodom to a nu-metal freak around here to show him what true music was, and his comments were: "Man, that music sucks, but the drummer is a damn machine gun! he doesn't stop!" And while saying that, he was moving his arms around like when hitting a snare drum, thinking that's how they did the double bass.
11) Metal musicians know how to make SOLOS!

 

[Drexle]

Errr, that definition of Metal (as opposed to "nu-metal") doesn't really do much for me. I mean, if all metal has harmony and melody, how do you explain the death metal bands who sound like they do nothing but bang drums and play random guitar notes while the lead vocalist goes on gurgling about bloody corpses? Doom metal fans aren't generally likely to be headbanging because of the pace and mood of the music, and that particular strain of metal has plenty of bands who don't use solos. Would the whole Varg Vikernes killing Euronymous have happened in a community where everyone respects each other?