outgrowing metal

[tedvanfrehley]

That's a good point, METALCHEMIST. I think you do grow out of the Hero Worship aspect of metal as you get older. You are exactly right in that the emotion and energy of the music become what matters while you don't care so much about the image, and having some sort of personal connection with the artist. (to a point... Gene Simmons and Edward Van Halen are the two celebrities who could make me shit myself) So your relationship to metal changes if that makes sense but your love for it stays.

 

[Bryant]

If you don't "outgrow" metal, people start to respect you. Of course that all depends on how you present yourself and your love of metal as well as your "face." I am not joking when I say your "face." Some people give different vibes by the way they look. I have a "friendly" face and I can wear a Slayer t-shirt to a grocery store and a little old lady will come up to me and talk about my curly hair.
My former classmates are amazed I am still a metal-head after all of these years and those preppy little girlies (that are now women more or less) don't know what to think of me, but it is in a good way.

Bryant

 

[Big D]

I got into metal late. (18) But 15 years later I am as much into metal now as I was then. My tastes may shift from time to time and I can listen to stuff outside of metal but I will always be a metalhead at heart. The things that attracted me when I was 18 are still appealing to me and probably will be for years to come.
Besides which, I stuck with metal through the dark days of Grunge and now it's making a comeback I want to enjoy the good times too.

 

[Static]

I think that if I had never discovered metal through discovering such amazingly unique metal bands like Arcturus, Opeth, Maudlin of the Well and In the Woods there would be a high chance I would eventually grow out of it. Say I'd only found bands like Slayer, Death and Emperor (which are all actually bands I really like ) I'd probably one day grow out of the sheer-aggression of such acts. But now that I've fully explored the genre of metal, from all angles, and discovered incredible bands of all shapes, sizes, colours and tones...some intense, some softer and more artful, I really can't ever see myself fully moving away from it. Metal has about 10X the amount of quality to offer the average joe who simply thinks it is 'just noise'.

IMO, most people that 'grow out' of metal do so because they simply have NOT explored the genre sufficiently. They get into nothing but aggressive metal (and not artsy or more progressive metal that twists the metal 'norm'), and upon finding their tastes softening, move onto something else. People who do this are probably just trying to be cool or 'alternative' for a bit, or are in a process of mental maturation, and put too little effort into actually discovering that metal is incredibly diverse, and more than just 'aggressive noise'. They want a quick fix of anger and that's all they let themselves have, before moving on.

Myself, I've simply found out how much it can offer. I've got my extremely aggressive metal (Slayer, Kreator, Nile), which I can temper and mix with something more progressive (Opeth, Maudlin of the Well, Atrox), to get a full listening experience out of metal. Knowing all that I know now about metal, growing out of it would be a waste of a few years of my life and something that just isn't going to happen...possibly ever.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

If you don't "outgrow" metal, people start to respect you. Of course that all depends on how you present yourself and your love of metal as well as your "face." I am not joking when I say your "face." Some people give different vibes by the way they look. I have a "friendly" face and I can wear a Slayer t-shirt to a grocery store and a little old lady will come up to me and talk about my curly hair.
My former classmates are amazed I am still a metal-head after all of these years and those preppy little girlies (that are now women more or less) don't know what to think of me, but it is in a good way.

Bryant

I totally agree with you there, I'm the same. I have a baby-face (I get called "cute" alot hahaha, can be a good thing coz girls like "cute" haha) so even when I'm decked out in leather, torn jeans & a metal shirt with my hair out really big at the shops or whatever, old ladies and stuff will still come up to me to ask directions or what time a bus comes over somebody who's dressed alot more "neatly", because I have a friendly harmless looking face.

I don't think people are as shallow & judgemental about how you dress as they are made out to be. My mum always gives me a hard time saying "people think you're a hooligan dressed like that" but they actually don't think that at all. It's all about your face really, and I'm a friendly person always carrying a smile. Most people really couldn't care less if your jeans are torn or you're wearing a Megadeth t-shirt.

 

[JonnyD]

I stuck with metal through the dark days of Grunge and now it's making a comeback I want to enjoy the good times too.

Dude I know what you mean those were some ruff times I was in High school during those days lol I was a freak cause I was a Metal Head but did I care FUCK NO the way I saw it they didnt deserve to have metal it wasnt written for them lol

 

[SkullCave]

If I ever grow out of metal, stop listening to it, or whatever, which I highly doubt will ever happen, I'd rather someone cut my balls off....Maybe that's a little extreme, anyways, METAL 'TIL I DIE!!!

 

[The saYer]

I´ll never "outgrow" Metal. It seems the more years that pass the more I love it. As if I could love it anymore than I did the first time I ever heard the song that started my Metal journey. I firmly believe that Metal is in the blood, maybe you might go through some years now knowing about it but when you do hear it it strikes something inside. It starts a flame that never goes out. For those people who "grow" out of it, they never really had it in them to begin with.

I am glad to hear that, and with that, I got the answer that I needed, and the one that I wanted to hear. I will take metal with me through all eternity.

 

[SpiritCrusherBTR]

I can't way I've ever been as passionate about anything besides metal. It makes me ultimately comfortable and happy, you know? No matter what kind of day you have, metal will always be there to be a release. I am musician and I want to spend my life as one...even if my band never becomes a huge, huge hit, I do have a very clear musical vision and I will follow it. No matter what, it will always be in my life. Even since I've gotten into metal my tastes have changed, but just to more diverse and more unique sub-genre's of metal. It's a defining characteristic and without metal I wouldn't feel I am myself. Metal is with me for life and beyond!

 

[MURAI]

haha I think they think, "you aren't a metal fan" and I'm thinking at the same time..."son..put down that Korn cd and pick up some REAL metal!" haha

Indeed

 

[Burkhard]

Even though my musical taste has definitely changed over the last 10-15 years (in the sense that nowadays I listen to much more non-metal stuff from different musical genres than I used to way back then and I´m always looking for new discoveries) and even though I hardly buy any new metal albums anymore, I don´t think I´ll ever "outgrow" metal. I might have "outgrown" some albums, which simply don´t appeal to me anymore as they once used to (don´t ask me why!) and I might have "outgrown" some bands who I once liked very much in the sense that I stopped buying their new releases - either because I didn´t like the direction in which they developped their style or because their new songs simply didn´t appeal to me as much as their older stuff did, even if they didn´t change their musical style. This doesn´t necessarily mean that I didn´t like their new songs at all, but if I can choose between a "good" and a "very good" album, I´ll usually opt for the latter. Over the about 20 years that I´ve been listening to metal now, I´ve bought a few hundred metal albums and if I buy a new metal album nowadays, it usually has to sound different from any of the stuff I already own. I don´t need another copy of something I´ve already got in my record collection (unless it is better than the original!). Luckily, I still find some new metal albums which do sound different and which I do like - though very rarely.
But even if I didn´t find any new interesting metal albums anymore, I wouldn´t stop listening to metal, because even though there are some albums I´ve "outgrown", there are still many I like as much as I once used to. I may listen to many of my old metal albums only once or twice per year, but that´s mostly because there are so many to choose from and because I usually listen to albums I´ve bought recently much more often than to those which I already bought several years ago. (An exception to this rule is obviously Fear Of God´s "Within The Veil", because since its release in 1991 it has always made it into the Top 10 of my yearly playlist.)

Sometimes it might also happen that there´s an album I haven´t listened to for a long time (i.e. one, two or even more years), then - for some reason - I put it into my CD-player and think: "Hey, what a great album, I should listen to it more often again!" It´s something like re-discovering some "forgotten" gems. E.g. recently someone had started a thread about Coroner and reading through the posts I thought to myself: "Haven´t listen to them for quite a long time." So I picked up the tape (I always recorded my vinyl albums on tape) with "R.I.P." and "Punishment For Decandence", listened to it and went like: "That´s fucking brilliant! I should listen to them more often again. Such a shame they split up!"

I think that I wouldn´t want to sell even most of those metal albums I´m rather sure I won´t listen to anymore because I have "outgrown" them. I mean, in many cases there are memories connected with these albums which refer to the times when I listened to them first, so perhaps selling these albums would be like selling some of those memories. Hey, I still have got my Abba-albums from my pre-metal era, because they remember me of my childhood days! I guess that´s what you call nostalgia. Well, some might prefer to call it sentimentality, but I don´t care.

 

[Hawk]

I can't even imagine my life without metal. ???? Going to gigs and buying new albums is part of my life.

 

[Destroyer Of Orden]

I personall cannot ever imagine losing interest in metal... I do not believe it to be a thing TO outgrow. That is like saying it was some immature habit in the first place, rather than (in my case) a way of life. I understand that tastes change... but to me it would be jsut that, a change in taste, not a maturation of any kind.

 

[CRUSADER747]

I could NEVER outgrow Heavy Metal! I used to have long hair, and I also used to wear tight jeans and heavy metal T shirts. :Smokedev: Unfortunatly, when you live in a small town (where there arn't many rock fans), some people make nasty comments, and you are made fun off. People don't treat you with any respect, they just look down on you. So i got my long hair choped off, and bought lots of smarter new clothes. But my taste in music hasn't changed, i still blast out metal on my stereo, and i still go to heavy metal concerts now and again.

 

[Lord of Delusions]

While at the tender age of 31, I can't say that I have outgrown metal, but my tastes have shifted a bit. I don't deal with the thrash and death metal very well anymore. But there are some core groups that will always give me goosebumps, and that is what it is all about. As far as new metal goes, I can't say I have bought any albums from new bands in quite a while. A time came in my life when I couldn't buy all the albums that I used to. Other interests were draining my wallet, like cars, and girls. I still listen to rock/metal radio, and in fact its the only station programed into my stereo! I do like to listen to other things, though they don't stray to far from the rock genre. Even some of the pop-punk stuff catches my ear from time to time. But outgrow it, never. Like what was stated before, if you don't have it now, it was never yours.

 

[Officer Nice]

I'm in my 30's now and I started listening to metal when I was 15. It's my roots.

I've grown up a lot and changed a whole lot since then and I've seen metal
change in so many ways since then. You can never truly leave your past
behind or let go of your roots. I still really love all the old metal I was into
back in the day but these days, and maybe it's just my age or my old-ness,
but sometimes the newer material coming out th4ese days just doesn't compare
to what was coming out back in the day..FOR ME. I like Nevermore and
the Gothenberg scene and some Angel Dust...but I don't dress metal and
and I don't go to many shows anymore bcuz I have a slight hearing loss from
all the club shows where I headbanged against the stage next to the amps
but also because the crowds these days arent what they were back in
the day. I'm still fanatical and opinionated about metal as I've always been
but my time with some of those metal things is done and I walked away from
them and let the subsequent generations have their time and let them own it
with pride the way I did.