That was a very arrogant, self-richeous and insulting post Arasmus.
First of all, any person who will listen to only genre and intentionally dismisses others is mistaken. Be it metal, or rap or country or classical, they are inevitably missing out and are limiting their mind. That is a mistake.
From this point on, I am not talking about close minded people.
Do you agree music is an art form?
If so, then we can continue this conversation. If not, you're probably alone here and should seek debate on that question instead.
So, music being art, the meaning and feelings evoked by the piece is contingent only on the observer. Agreed?
This statement should apply to any art form. Take for instance painting. Would you use your same elitist argument at a gallery? Would call other enthusiasts "stunted" for liking a certain style or artist more than another? Would you say to someone, that painting sucks and you're a fucking idiot, teenage-minded fool for liking it? I don't think you would. Some people pay money for splashed paint on a canvas. Or some fucking red dots or something. Others like Impressionism or Realism. One is not objectively better. Nevertheless people can more easily walk through a gallery and appreciate many different kinds of painting, while still having favorites. It seems that people have a hard time doing that with music.
I would say that at least 50% of my favorite bands would be considered metal. I think I have a pretty good knowledge of music in theory and practice. There are a lot of classical, jazz, blues, folk, bluegrass songs that I LOVE! Even a few hip hop and electronic songs that I can dig. BUT, I happen to appreciate metal the most. It has a certain feeling and power to it that other styles simply do not. It is true, many metal lyrics are ridiculous, (this is by no means exclusive to metal either, eg. Phish, Elvis, almost all country). I listen to those songs more like they're intrumentals, where the vocals are another instrument. I don't throw in Dying Fetus for poetic inpiration. But that doesn't mean a band like that is worthless. I might not listen to them very often, but they're not automatically worthless. I think Bob Dylan has some excellent lyrics, but the music is complete SHIT in my opinion. I don't call Dylan fans stunted idots though.
And there are some metal bands that have interesting/stimulating and inspiring lyrics. And you cannot reasonably say that metal bands are without talent. Some metal is brilliant. Either from a technical standpoint or emotional or both.
Take bands like:
Opeth
Anathema
Earth
Decrepit Birth
Death
Witchcraft
Enslaved
Sunn O)))
I believe any person who listens from an objective standpoint will see value in music like this.
Are metal heads dumb for loving metal? FUCK NO! Is it dumb to say metal (or any other genre) is the ONLY good music? FUCK YES.
Metal is great and I'm so glad for the people in the scene, the bands, and the music that comes out of it. If you think it's childish Arasmus, I think it would do you good to get your head out of your ass and re-evaluate your opinion.