Why Metal?

[AFairJudgement0]

So i assume b/c we post on a metal forum that the majority of you are metal fans of varying degrees. Im just interested in what ways are you attracted to the genre, for how long, and maybe why you chose metal?

Ive been a metal fan for a long time, but as a kid I was a big punk rocker. I guess the aggressiveness of punk never really reached the level that metal could obtain and that is, I guess, my main reason for loving metal. I guess now that Im a bit older and gone through all the progressing stages of musical taste, that Metal seems to be the right place for me. I will never deny my early influences in rock, punk, jazz, etc. because I still listen to alot of that stuff, but for the most part metal seems to be the most satisfying genre of music for me.

There is something about the atmosphere, sheer brutality, and aggressiveness that continues to surprise me, and i love that. Does anyone have any thoughts on why you prefer metal?

 

[Slayer101]

I guess how I got into metal was my dad, he was/is a big Metallica fan, and Black Sabbath, Rush, etc. And then there is my stepdad who is real big into death metal, and he is the one that turned me on to Opeth, and various other death metal bands such as Morbid Angel and Obituary. I sort of just found the rest on my own. Metal is what sounds good to me, I do like other genres of music just not as much as metal.

 

[Scourge of Malice]

I like the dynamics a lot of bands have. I like music to have sides of beauty and rage, and some bands (like Opeth) are able to pull this off nicely. I think I listen to more non-metal bands overall though.

 

[Guttmann]

I like this music genre for few reasons:
cant deny it, Pose. going to a place full of people, wearing black and with long hair... it has its affect i love to know that people might look at me and get a little scared.
another thing is aggression, which kind of relates to the pose, but not really. I like the brutality of metal (opeth's master's apprentices, Betzefer's early grave, etc.). beside that kind of DM brutality there's another kind. one you can hear in Agalloch, Opeth....

its just all good!

 

[FUBAR]

Metal seems to amplify emotion to extremes, i like that.

 

[Travis]

A number of obvious reasons.

It's creative. You don't always hear the same predictable song structures and chord progressions as you might in other genres. Metal also tends to have a lot of room for melding with other genres, as we often hear.

It's aggressive; it holds conflict. I thought up a pretty good way to explain this to non-metal people who think metal is just a lot of noise and anger - If a book had no conflict, it would be entirely resolution, would that be worth reading?

It's more often than not a musician's music. We generally see and hear more instrument proficiency in metal than you would in commercial rock, 12-bar blues, etc.

I think the rest is just a matter of taste, I guess

 

[whenharlequinsfall]

first metal band i got into was when i was about 12, i was listening to pop-punk crap which i thought was bad-ass at the time, like blink 182 n sum 41 (i am so sorry).
Then i was listenin to the radio and heard enter sandman and it blew my mind. then i went and asked my dad if he liked any metal and he gave me led zeppelin 1-4, sabbath bloody sabbath, and deep purple - machine head. i then went and brought metallicas back catalogue and have been hooked ever since. ( i burnt my sum 41 and blink 182)

its almost like every good metal band have, for lack of a better work...groove. Its something i never get sick of, i can find a metal album for every mood i could ever be in, and thats what musics about for me

 

[Kenneth R.]

this is gonna sound like most of the other replies so i'll keep it short:

passion + intensity + dynamics

 

[LightningLixxx]

Comparison of rock and metal:

Led Zeppelin - people go crazy over their "satanic messages" that you really have no clue exist unless you're told or listen to it backwards yourself.
Pretty much any death/black metal band - nobody gives a fuck if they say something like
"Ram your religion so far up your ass
Till it becomes just a thing of the past
Trample the cross and you cave into hate
Bible basher I'm destroying your faith"

Metal wins.

 

[DEMIgOD]

I like metal for the atmosphere most of the recording show. (expecially bands like old Ulver, Weakling ect) you cant get that feeling and sound from any style of music. It takes me to another place.

Each genre has their place among my heart, if only a song or two. My current mood usually sets the tone for if i listen to metal or not. Same goes with other styles of music. If i was in a "rock out no fulling around just listen to straight up guitar music" type mood, i wouldnt put on a explosions in the sky disk, just as if i was in the mood for singer songwriter material, i wouldnt put in morbid angel. A matter of mood and taste.

However, metal my favorite? Hardly.

 

[all_sins_undone]

passion + intensity + dynamics
sounds good to me

 

[i aint play this]

Love the style, maybe my favourite type of music...too bad the whole genre is plagued with far too many shit bands/copycats

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

Love the style, maybe my favourite type of music...too bad the whole genre is plagued with far too many shit bands/copycats

yea true but most genres are plagued with this problem in some form or another..

 

[Kenneth R.]

Love the style, maybe my favourite type of music...too bad the whole genre is plagued with far too many shit bands/copycats

= 99% of all music ever played.

 

[i aint play this]

yea true but most genres are plagued with this problem in some form or another..

yeah, the same can be said about other genres no doubt but good lord usually the copycats in metal try harder than usual, the level of unoriginality and plagiarism is impressive, just look at the thousands of power metal, black metal and nu metal bands and it will give you an idea of the whole problem...metal certainly wins the trophy when it comes to quantity over quality

 

[Effigen]

i diDnt ch00se metl, met0l choz me!!!\m/

 

[i aint play this]

= 99% of all music ever played.

Take the 80's goth/post punk bands as an example, countless bands from that era were mostly high quality with their own musical personality, i mean...Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, The Smiths, Fields of the Nephilim, etc...you could actually TELL the difference between them. The same can be said about seminal prog rock bands like Yes, Genesis, Crimson, Camel, Rush, Floyd, etc...once again, they all belonged to the ''same'' genre but they all developed their own style and are highly respected for being huge innovators. But metal? there is always like, 4 or 5 really original bands in each subgenre and 373737237 copycats, fucking ridiculous.

 

[LightningLixxx]

Take the 80's goth/post punk bands as an example, countless bands from that era were mostly high quality with their own musical personality, i mean...Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, The Smiths, Fields of the Nephilim, etc...you could actually TELL the difference between them. The same can be said about seminal prog rock bands like Yes, Genesis, Crimson, Camel, Rush, Floyd, etc...once again, they all belonged to the ''same'' genre but they all developed their own style and are highly respected for being huge innovators. But metal? there is always like, 4 or 5 really original bands in each subgenre and 373737237 copycats, fucking ridiculous.

:agreecompletely:

 

[Hubster]

Above all reasons imo, metal is honest: it makes no compromise for how it expresses things, and breaks barriers without effort.

 

[outerone]

Why metal, im not sure but its a good question. I never made a concious desecion to listen to metal but when I was 10 I heard some Iron Maiden and Metallica and nothing in music had touched me the same before that. After that it was Metallica full blast (and some G n R) for a few years untill I hear black metal. I was so blown away by a few songs, the marriage of beauty and darkness so perfectly.

I loved that black metal had this deep sense of melody (which is so important to me), and it crafts it with pure darkness and agression. The albums that truly blew me away were Amorphis "Tales from the..." and Kovenant "Nexus...".

And now some 300 scandinavian metal albums later, my collection is mighty great.

Later I have discovered many other music styles and artists, bands like Radiohead and Sigur Ros who are also mind blowing. But still the top of my all time list is mostly metal. Theres just something deep and personal there.

I actually had this epic conversation last nite with my dad (who I respect as having great knowledge of music) about trying to get him to understand why I listen to metal. I mean he is a true music fanatic, everything under the sun, well except metal, he just doesnt like it. But I played him Opeth's "Reverie-Harlequin Forest" on some nice speakers and a glass of red wine. I told him to listen to that and still tell me that metal is all lame. Well after he did give up and he admitted that that song was pretty great. He still didnt like the growls but...

So why metal... there was just something epic about the music that captured my soul. I admire things that have great passion and in metal I think there is a lot of burning passion that breaks violently through the music.

wow, long post...