To a non-metal listener, describing this genre would probably boil down to mentioning Metallica and Iron Maiden as well getting the sense that the genre is a misfit in musical culture: an underground, aloof movement that seldom seeps through into wider society’s spotlight. So before you continue reading, briefly type the keywords ‘heavy metal’ or ‘metal music’ into google or images. What you’ll find might surprise you.
In reality, when you decide to explore a little further, you’ll find that Metal and Hard Rock have not only survived since the late 20th Century but have roared and blasted their way well into the new millennium: there are a seemingly endless number of bands both large and small, thoughtful and intelligent personalities, impressive projects, brands and communities that have existed under the noses of mainstream music listeners so much so that their depth of creative work could potentially overwhelm other genres by size alone were they to be realised.
Additionally, a colossal collage of sub-genres have evolved to the point where they’ve almost dictated the direction of where music should go: what should it address; how might it represent the issues of our times? This wealth of content might sound the same to the initiate of the genre but once dug deeper the diversification of it all risks leading one to partially forget that mainstream is even there!
How can this be? How has a movement whose sound and speech is so different to that of everybody else’s retained its presence and influence, often right in our faces with its violent tempo and seemingly non-standardized progression of chords?
It is loved BECAUSE it is so different
Backstory: the most common verdict we give to wider society today is that it as loud, fast paced and energetic. It’s like an endless machine of mass production and consumption where you constantly need to be alert and consistently need to be prepared. You cannot talk about certain taboo subjects and you shouldn’t show emotion in public as it is perceived as a bit weak and awkward.
In this extremely invasive environment music is blared out from everywhere: supermarkets, shopping malls, town centres and car radios often times when we don’t really want it to.
Now, since we live in a society where we’ll find diverse races, nationalities and a wide age range artistic tastes, this music has to be suitable for as many people as possible. That’s the definition of mainstream: this means the tempo, the chord progressions, the sounds and topics of the most popular genres have a tendency to be simplified.
A mainstream musician must make music that is easy to produce, meaning sometimes not much talent or thought put into it compared to less popular genres like classical music or jazz. He or she must often keep the beat simple via relying on well-proven chords such as the famous Four Chords (see Axis of Awesome). They must preferably make minimal use of sounds, and perhaps most visible of all the aspects, the subject must typically be vain and easy to understand: love is great/not great, you can’t judge me/ I’m the best/ not the best, let’s party hard etc.
This is not to say there is any shame in this. There isn’t. For many people this is fine, especially if they don’t take much interest in music as an art form anyway, but for some this repetitivity and lack of depth is frustrating and notably alienating.
From here you could probably deduce that if metal is so popular in the face of mainstream it is likely because the genre succeeds in giving where the most popular genres fail to give.
In fact asking the question, ‘Why is metal still so popular?’ is much the same as asking, ‘what is mainstream?’
What constitutes a Metal song then?
Trick question!
The answer is you’ll never know what it will turn out to be. And by extension the construct of the group and album as well. Though some obvious standards can be observed such as guitars, drums, vocals, screams, mosh pits during concerts, black clothing and lyrics concerning negative topics, any list of ‘metal must-haves’ doesn’t extend any further and what is listed are unto themselves not a given. But here are a few reasons as to why people appreciate this kind of music
- What mainstream lacks in diversity metal addresses with a variety of different chords, tempos and song lengths in its content taking listeners on a journey.
- Mainstream music is comparatively easy to make but Metal players have to be experts with the instruments they play. This genre is notoriously difficult! And when the audience can both see and hear the amount of skill needed to play a song they know the creators really care about their work. It is authentic and of high quality.
- The lyrics to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal songs are often anything but vain, commonly citing important subjects of our era as well as personal crises and notably feelings of alienation. The genre lives and breathes emotional intelligence! It faces the anger and sadness head on rather than choosing to suppress them.
The unknown is the name of the game in this underground world. And there is another driving force that fuels this genre and keeps people flocking to concerts…
It’s therapeutic
There’s an Irony that persists around the existence of heavy metal and hard rock born out of the perception that if you listen to it, the violent sounds and angry vocals will make you angry. Furthermore, it will sustain or nurture any anger you already feel. However, a study done a while back in Queensland University concluded the exact opposite: it actually makes you calmer!
The effects of listening to the genre can actually be equated to methods such as meditation, ASMR or listening to other relaxing musical genres like classical. This again is thanks to what the genre is about: coming to terms with negativity in an in-your-face kind of way. When you are angry or just full of energy and need to calm down, listening to the highly energetic and enraged genre matches your emotions thus giving you a medium to take it out on.
You may have noticed the key answer to the question by now: this type of music is so commonly misunderstood and a key theme that is found in many metal songs is alienation; a medium for the estranged to relate to. These are not isolated properties but cause and effect.
If people who condemn such a genre need to someone to blame for the existence of it, they need only look into a mirror: it thrives because it is misunderstood!
If there were no misunderstanding and ignorance of certain problems in society, there would consequently be no frustration nor alienation and such an underground movement would never exist in the first place. The prevalence of such music shows that there still are those who feel this way, be it in a small way (misunderstanding is quite common) or in especially large amounts.
It is impossible to determine whether Hard Rock and Metal are here to stay. Music does evolve just like culture. But what appears certain is that in a free society there will always be an underground art platform such as this for people to find a sense of secreted and secluded comfort.
Image: Exit Festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_(festival) /
Quod Idea 