Why is heavy metal so important?

[Board]

I think once a person gets "into" metal, there is no turning back.

I agree with Chileanmetal that this is not always the case. I think I got into metal around 1990/1991 with Guns N' Roses and Iron Maiden. From there I started listening to stuff like that (mostly only those two) all the time. Around '93/'94 I became a little interested in hip hop when Snoop Doggy Dogg came out with his first LP. It lasted maybe 6 months or something before I started listening to metal full-time again!
In '97 I once again became interested in hip hop and I kind of skipped metal to listen to hip hop full-time. Hip hop was my life for a couple of years, but when I started looking for the originals (99% of the music in hip hop is stolen from old records) I realised that that music appealed much more to me. Although I still liked the music Hip hop became more & more boring as time went by and now that entire genre is indifferent to me. I started listening to metal again while still listening to 70's funk and stuff, but now metal is something that I simply listen to for the music. In '96 metal was more or less my life. I wore Type O Negative or Morbid Angel shirts, wore black pants and read stuff about northern mythology. I still wear Type O Negative t-shirts sometimes, but I don't really care for other aspects of metal than the music. I don't care for lyrics, images and so on. I have baggy pants and wear Dickies shirts, have around 9mm hair and so on. If you saw me you would think I listened to hip hop and rides a skateboard (which I also do and have done for around 10 years), not exactly a guy who would listen to Marduk.
I also listen to psych rock and shit from the 60's/70's, but I don't wear psychedelic clothes and stuff. I listen to music and music is my biggest hobby, but I only listen to it for the music and nothing else!

 

[AngelWitch73]

Metal IS Life.

 

[arcova]

Originally posted by Board

I have baggy pants and wear Dickies shirts, have around 9mm hair and so on. If you saw me you would think I listened to hip hop and rides a skateboard (which I also do and have done for around 10 years), not exactly a guy who would listen to Marduk.

I am not really sure if there is a defined metal look. I mean, don't get me wrong, when you have an aggregation of metal heads the over ruling look will be long hair, band shirts, and black as the usual color of choice. Even I go to shows dressed a "certain way" that I would usual not dress in day to day life. I am sure that it is that way for pretty much everyone else within this hypothetical metal aggregation.

My second thought, going off the above quote, is that if you look at the 3 biggest metalheads I know, including myself, you would never suspect any of us as metal heads. My one guy friend looks like a skater, pretty much like Board described himself, which you would never suspect to be a faithful fan of Maiden, Virgin Steele, King Diamond, etc. My other friend is the clean cut, jock type who looks like he would know more about the mets and closest he would get to "metal" would be Load. Yet he's the one that actually got me into metal back in High School by exposing me to Priest, Maiden, Megadeth, etc , and knows more about it then anyone else i fucken know. And that brings me to myself. I've been more or else described as a "shore kid" looking hippie. My boyfriend told me when he first met me, my look made him think I listen to Phish, Dave Matthews, Indigo Girls type stuff. Of course I've proven him QUITE wrong since... but I guess it just goes to show you...

don't judge a metalhaed by his/her cover