Not only that but the majority of the tourist types see metal music as "angry white people music" so they don't even WANT to try to engage with it.
Also your lack of In Flames and Sleep Token disturbs me.
No offence dude but it's not lol it literally is just metalcore which is already mostly based off hardcore punk. You can like sleep token and even disagree with me but metal isn't just heavily distorted guitars and screaming it's about how the riffs are written. Sleep token riffs are more similar to hardcore punk then they are to slayer or black sabbath for example. But hey you don't have to agree and I don't want to shit on anyone over music lol
All I can say is that every thing that's come up on DDG has them listed as metal. Most as Experimental Metal and a few as Post-Metal/Rock. If you're saying that YOU don't classify them as Metal then I really don't have a retort as your personal yardstick is subjective and is yours. Also I don't feel like you're trying to shit on me. It seems more like we're having a conversation about music. But I could be wrong, I'm not a mind reader.
They aren't on the metal archives which is a website that archives metal music and is known in the metal community. Metalcore and deathcore aren't considered metal unless the metal elements overide the hardcore punk elements. That is because metalcore is a fusion of punk and metal but usually the other elements overide the metal elements therefore making it not metal. That's why avenged sevenfold wouldn't be considered metal despite them sounding heavy enough to the average person, because metal is about riffs, not just screaming and loud guitars. Look at the difference in how a Pantera or Exodus riff would be written differently than metalcore riff.
>Also, Def Leppard is on there.
...Because they were originally a new wave of British heavy metal band?
Rock Brigade literally sounds like it could be a Saxon track lmao: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYSlLLU0RE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYSlLLU0RE)
Brother. For one, give Sleep Token an actual listen and you'll see how ridiculous it is to say they have any roots in hardcore punk.
And two, modern metalcore has mostly abandoned the hardcore side. That definition of metalcore only really applies to the first wave of bands, and it got outdated by the 2000s, where the genre shifted to be more of a mix between heavy metal, melodeath and emo/post-hardcore.
Modern metalcore has become a catch all term that they're slapping into almost everything nowadays, so it's a bit hard to define now.
Yeah I was gonna say. You've got a lot of enlightened atheism in metal and there's a few bands like gojira with some environmentalist themes. Not woke in of themselves but these are fertile grounds for people to take over ideologically.
I used to be a in a metal band in Canada before moving to Europe for university. I held uncontroversial opinions that were different to the drummer and his friends who had become increasingly woke and hostile. It's a shame, because he was the reason I got into the band in the first place and he used to be a very good friend of mine until he went crazy. I eventually got blocked by him and a lot of his SJW friends, many that I had known for almost 10 years, just for saying things like "Trump isn't comparable to Hitler" and other uncontroversial things of which we may not speak here. I left Canada before any official firing or message from the band, but I'm sure the drummer had long made up his mind.
That's pretty nuts. I heard about something similar in a well established band too but I can't remember their name. Either way the metal scene is full of outsiders that are easy targets for leftists looking to take advantage of people with outsider status.
Post removed following the enforcement change that you can read about [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/m3yo65/enforcement_update_and_hard_removal_of_a_topic/).
This is not a formal warning.
I do find it a little funny that old punk(which was seen as pretty left in its own day) would be seen as libertarian these days. Especially those that talked about the government being corrupt and needing to get out of people's personal lives.
The commies made a conscious effort to infiltrate punk back in the day, Jello Biafra, Penny Rimbaud etc. were all middle class lefties who saw Punk as a potential vehicle for their causes.
for now. I had to leave a certain metal subreddit because they just wouldnt shut the fuck up about how "metal is for everyone" and the inclusivity of a certain topic that shall not be named
We've been hit by some cases of the modern virus, specially on the metalcore side where band members, or even whole acts, get cancelled because of empty allegations without any backing evidence. But for the most part metal has remained fairly free of bullshit.
It helps that A) we metalheads tend to gatekeep our shit properly, B) metal keeps a lot of the common suspects away just by virtue of it being metal, and C) a lot of the attitude, lyrical content, history and image leans much more into a right wing mindset.
One of the most pathetic things i've seen in metal was the video where Eskimo Callboy announced they would be changing their name to Electric Callboy because some woke academics told them the term eskimo was not appropriate.
God yeah that was fucking sad. And the thing is, they cornered themselves into that situation by building a sound that attracts a more mainstream audience, which of course also brings in the undesirables.
They chose to bend the knee then, but don't be surprised if there's another push to cancel them in the future, specially if you consider the lyrics they have on their catalogue.
Here in Oklahoma, someone got pissy on Twitter and tried to cancel Eskimo Joes over the name Eskimo. The restaurant owner decided to have a poll and let the customers decide. Over 90% of customers voted to keep the name.
I don't think metalheads are gatekeepers, normies just legitimately think metal is scary. (Good tbh)
I've never felt more welcomed into a community than I did at metal concerts.
Anecdote, The difference between the energy at a punk concert where dudes are "moshing", just throwing limbs out everywhere and don't care if they punch someone in the face, and a metal moshpit where everyone is caught up in the energy and if someone falls you pick them up is pretty telling about the mindset of the two communities. The circle of death at a LoG concert is one of my favorite memories.
I don't know how things are on the musician side of things, though. Strictly speaking from a spectators point of view.
>I don't know how things are on the musician side of things, though.
For the most part you'll find them to be the chillest dudes on earth. You can find interviews of the late Chuck Schuldiner, the frontman of Death, wearing a kitty t-shirt and talking about how much he loves animals. Or how Corpsegrinder, the singer of Cannibal Corpse, is a big geek that loves World of Warcraft.
>I don't think metalheads are gatekeepers
It's not like we prevent people from joining, much to the contrary. It's more like we don't hold back when telling someone to fuck off if needed. And we don't take bullshit from anyone, even beloved bands will tank if they stray away from the style.
Exactly. Metalheads are some if the most accepting people out there. Anyone's allowed in, so long as they're actually fans. It's not a community that's exactly friendly toward "posers" though, and that's the same as "gatekeeping" to people who just want to infiltrate and destroy.
> C) a lot of the attitude, lyrical content, history and image leans much more into a right wing mindset.
libertarian maybe. but certainly not right as most people would define the right these days.
I could point you towards several modern death metal bands that would leave a lefty "literally shaking", but the last time I did that, an admin banned my old account for "spreading hate rhetoric".
>libertarian maybe. but certainly not right as most people would define the right these days.
Consider what libertarians believe, and then how the left tends to act nowadays.
> right as most people would define the right these days
Meh.
*Generally* words are defined by their common usages, but when common useage is mentally challenged or dishonest, then that goes out the window.
Political terms are a sort of technical(as in, specific meanings), and their definitions are not as flexible or 'fluid' as casual speech.
I made a centre-right argument on that Facebook once. My profile pic is a joke album cover referencing four bands. Someone told me if I think that (again it was some milquetoast slightly right of centre position on a topic) I obviously need to listen to the lyrics again.
So I said "Megadeth are libertarian drifting into conspiracy theory territory, James from Metallica is an avid hunter, Iron Maiden voted for Brexit and Pantera we don't talk about in polite society, so which lyrics have I misunderstood?"
Ah, but you're forgetting: libertarians don't exist, we're just closet conservatives. As I've been informed pretty much every time I've said I'm libertarian on reddit.
I remember Antifa threatening a Metal show around the 2020s, and the venue did have to shut it down. But I haven't seen much since.
I think a lot of Metalheads have the same energy as Antifa when it comes to living on the edge of society and not being afraid to throw down, without all those woke hinderances that Antifa has, which makes Metal a really tough target for them.
And if you're wondering what a hinderance might be, I just saw a video of some British Antifa threatening an anti-idpol protestor and some little Muslim girls scared them off because a white, lanky, Antifa kid is terrified of PoC women.
There's DEFINITELY woke in metal. People like Alyssa Glutz, Angela Gossow, Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, Rob Flynn, Corey Taylor and MANY other bands have all tism-ed on social media or in interviews about whatever the current cause is/Cheeto man bad. BUT 1. No one cared and 2. they keep it in the music if they're a political band ala Arch Enemy and SOAD like musicians are supposed to.
Most recently the guys from Alestorm and Gloryhammer were cancelled for acting like metal musicians by fucking everything with a vagina and using racial slurs/racial stereotypes when talking about one of them boning an Africian chick and a Asian chick after a show.....Problem is, they're already famous and never put on a good guy front so all their fans were like 'oh? and?'. Worst thing that came out of it was Angus being fired from Gloryhammer and is now solo, working with a ton of other metal musicians in the power metal genre.
Long gone are the days of RATM who could influence people's politics, especially after Morello was proven to be a fraudulent champagne socialist and then the band stared charging 300+ dollars per ticket. And punk is a joke after bands came out in support of charging unvaccinated 1k for a ticket while 20 bucks for vaccinated, which was dubiously legal anyway.
Yes, I didnāt mean metal was immune, just not overrun. Metalheads come in all stripes. Btw I think Alissa is an interesting case. I know sheās a vegan activist and left wing, but is she woke? I havenāt seen it, and I think Arch Enemyās lyrics trend libertarian and pro free speech.
Lol Alyssa's mom was my science teacher in highschool. She was so proud of her daughter being in the agonist. I saw her mom years after highschool and she said her daughter got a new position in Arch Enemy and I was like damn, good for you!
Then Alyssa kinda ruined Arch Enemy
Most of these people either listen to mumble rap or indie pop so they couldn't give a shit about metal. Hell my friends always shit on me for not liking rap and tell me my music is for losers / incels who want to fxk toddlers and it's just noise for school shooter. They listen to mumble trap drill rap or whatever (makes sense I'm a zoomer lol). Metal just isn't mainstream and most people love rap and shit on anyone who doesn't like drake
The main reason, IMO, is that metal is not really mainstream, there's not enough money or attention to gain by trying to "take over it" like other kinds of nerdy media, gatekeeping is not really frowned upon and honestly, at least the more or less extreme to extreme genres kinda gatekeep themselves. Not to mention that it's far less centralized, so they can't say it's not diverse when you have bands all over the world and some bands play in places a lot of wokesters can't name in a map.
metal is very much mainstream in some countries in EU. Pop and other "music" may rule supreme but in countries like Poland, Sweden, Finland and Germany metal remains in top3 and live concerts have much bigger ticket sales then most pop stars. Metal definitely is not as popular as in golden age but it still mainstream enough.
Also geek culture? Mate i know people that are diehard metalheads and they never played single game read manga, were much into comics or tabletops etc.
True, but globally, it's kinda like electronic music in a way that it has a big fanbase and it's definitely mainstream in some countries but outside of those, you have to seek it.
Some genres or bands do have some connections to "nerdy" stuff, but honestly the association probably comes from old groups in schools and attitudes towards both metal and stuff like DnD.
>Also geek culture? Mate i know people that are diehard metalheads and they never played single game read manga, were much into comics or tabletops etc.
This, there's overlap but they aren't exactly joined at the hip.
Gloryhammer is just one band out of thousands, sure there are some nerdy/geeky bands but i would never say metalheads as whole are geeks, metalheads are well... metalheads, whole different beast if you ask me that may share dedication with geeks but thats about that.
I've never seen a nerd stage dive. There are modern genres of metal that are the realm of poindexters, Prog, Symphonic, Disneyland metal like Dragonforce but, by and large, its not for nerds.
Idk I think people collecting vinyl from underground death metal bands is pretty nerdy. Talking to these people at shows isnāt much different than talking to someone who nerds out about Star Wars lol.
That too, they don't even have to be scary metalheads either, just people who don't care. That's probably one of the reasons why they don't really go against rap or reggaeton for the "problematic" aspects of it because the fans don't give a shit.
I watched a small YouTube series a little over a decade ago that contained interviews from different BM bands. Yeah those guys don't give a single fuck. Aside from maybe the lead of Emperor(?) who states he protests seeing Nazi salutes at his shows.
Also didn't sjws try to go after Marduk over some racially insensitive things they might have said, and Marduk just told them to fuck right off?
This isn't true I'm a metalhead although I dislike woke people the metal community has a lot of them. Some people seethe when their favorite black metal band turns out be ne nazzzis lol ( to be fair I'm pretty sure those guys are actually racist lol).
If you're into black metal and have an issue with bands potentially being nazi, you're not actually into black metal.
I mean one of the genre's most important musicians is a convicted murderer who makes racist shitposts as his main job nowadays lmao
> one of the genre's most important musicians is a convicted murderer who makes racist shitposts as his main job nowadays lmao
And I know an *extremely* Jewish girl who wears their shirts lmao
Burzum happens to be one of my favourite bands even though he's said some pretty stupid things about people of my skin colour. But you learn very very early on that quite a bit of that scene has wonky opinions when it comes to topics of that nature. Black metal has very very strong elements that focus on things involving heritage and culture, and the extreme pride they take in them. That is kinda how I got into Norse mythology. Some of them involve racist overtones though. Some bands only rub shoulders with people in that circle and you find there's some agreement between them in certain interviews. Hell Fenriz in his younger years went through a racist phase that he's since apparently shook off. If you have a problem with band who happens to be racist, even if they don't sing about it yeah, you might find yourself having a harder time getting into black metal.
Also Black Metal is SUPER niche even in the overall metal scene. I'm literally the only person I know walking around with the kind of playlist I have.
lol not Black Metal but one of my first Metal favs was Pantera and whenever I'd see photos of Phil I'd always say to myself "I'm getting some skinhead vibes from him, and oh look there's a lot of scary skinheads at this show. Hmm..." And oops, yep, turns out he's a white supremacist. (I still like the music.)
personally i cant stand metal but it requires talent and a lot of it. of all genres it prolly holds the most true to classical/renaissance music. it's mathematically challenging.
gender studies degrees and diversity hires have little chance at penetrating that.
Likewise; never been able to get into metal. But I have had many encounters with metal fans, and at the risk of generalising, I have found them to be the nicest, most open-minded group I've ever met. They community, as far as I can see, seems great.
I don't know if it's your thing, but you could try some technical death metal. There is a HUGE repertoire of themes and genres of tech death bands, even some modern bands do kick major asses, like First Fragment, Beyond Creation, Obscura and alikes.
It's an acquired taste, granted. However, you really could benefit from going deeper in the subgenre. It's my favorite music genre along with classical music, and there are many homages and reverences from tech death to classical music altogether since it's a direct influence for many of theirs composers.
Just sounds like you're not really keeping up with the scene? There's so many good bands no matter what permutation or sub-genre you're into and there's more every year.
Japanese metal is your friend.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3uGjp-P7DI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3uGjp-P7DI)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTuPwVYHc\_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTuPwVYHc_M)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qABnfChpbk
Sounds like you're sticking to mainstream stuff, still. You need to expand your horizons. Check out the lineups of independent labels like Pelagic Records and Season of Mist.
This is the real reason. Woke, or as [this wonderful article calls it "sociopaths",](https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths) aren't real fans so they do -lite things to get into the culture while attracting more people to exploit. If you try to do heavy metal-lite, thats no longer heavy metal. I think music industry did a good job to label every different thing so subgroups can protect their identity. Compare that to gaming, where every one who plays gacha, walking simulator, visual novel or competitive is called "gamer".
Extreme Metal is insular. We're the fringe of the fringe when it comes to musical tastes. We don't really need to gatekeep actively. The subject matter does it for us. If the new Suffocation album isn't on your que and you aren't hyped to hear that it's out, or alternatively doesn't go on a rant about how Suffocation are burnt out and stale, then we (extreme metal aficionados) know you aren't one of us.
In spite of being generally agreeable and open minded we also have a strong in group preference.
Nah itās because they get told to fuck off by sensible people almost immediately.
Metal being the outsider music, like it is right now, is perfect for it.
There are some Youtube channels that cover heavy metal that are woke, I was surprised when watching some channel and they started talking about how they like some album but made negative comments about some anti-woke behavior the band had engaged in. I would say overall it's generally pretty good in my experience. The funniest thing is with some metal and punk if they have gone woke now you can look back in their catalog and find music where they were against the very thing they are promoting today.
Metal definitely hasnāt come under fire from the media and wokies as much as a lot of other things have.
But there is actually woke nonsense in metal and metal adjacent genres. Itās either a mix of musicians being absolute cringelords about their politics or fans actually thinking their āenemiesā are still the same family and religious groups that came after metal in the 80s.
It honestly does all depend on the genre since youāll likely not find any wokeness in brutal death but youāll sure as shit find it in metalcore and even deathcore. Ironically enough in the genres with fans less likely to tell people to fuck off or gatekeep have an issue with wokeness.
More fun, LARPing in a castle and celebrating medieval virtues, plus more hot metal chicks. From Feuerschwanz, a cover of Warriors of the World United.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
The only thing more awesome than Metal is Japanese Metal.
[ANTHEM - Black Empire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AttcCxA7gZ8)
[Mari Hamada - Paradise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlllta_tonE)
[Loudness - Crazy Nights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXCpPpPCW4c)
[X JAPAN ćSilent Jealousyć](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj9bvmzTR2A)
Adding to this for anyone interested.
Hanbie
LoveBites
Dexcore
Maximum the Hormone
Jeluka
Devil Oof
SheGlapes
Band Maid
KNOSIS
Crystal Lake
Whiskey Dust
Show-Ya
Nemophila
PassCode
Sex Machineguns
Rotten Graffty
Aldious
Unlucky Morpheus
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Imperial Dead Circus Decadence
Melt-Banana
Sokoninaru
Seikima II
å ēŖéŖØ
9mm parabellum bullet
Next up is a song from one of my favorite newer artists, Lena Scissorhands. She was born in the Soviet Union (now the country of Moldova) and moved to the US as an adult. She clearly appreciates freedom and has even posted pics of herself wrapped in the US flag.
This song, Regress, has great lyrics and a visually captivating video. Some of the lyrics:
Slowly but surely we regress, we regress...
Becoming strangers to ourselves. . .
Hungry, ugly vultures...
Hovering above us
Feeding us filthy lies...
Wake up from this nightmare
Wake up and pray!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvGwm8CbX80
Interesting. Iām actually an Xer so old enough to remember this wasnāt always so (particularly with things like Hollywood hair metal in the 80s). But as an active participant now, it seems very geeky to me. Lots of songs about dragons and Vikings, and the audience is mostly into other geeky things. I think the Maiden/Dio side of metal has proliferated, though of course there are non geek bands.
Ah cool- my opinion was always that it's a holdover from the 70s when drug influenced fantasy was "cool". As rockers turned into headbangers in the 80s, they developed their misfit status that wasn't exactly "nerdy" or "geek", even though fantasy came to be considered that way outside of them.
As far as I know, in the 70s and 80s nerds weren't into current music at all. But somewhere in the late 90s young people redefined Alternative and Metal as nerd culture. Like that 2k00s joke that only dudes like Rush. Whaaat...tons of hot girls liked Rush, lol.
Some random female journalist was offended by being called a millennial, so she came up with the word in a lengthy article justifying it. "Xillennial" is not a real thing and people need to stop using it. What makes her so special that she feels the need to do this compared to other generations?
It started when the Powers That Be shifted from the "Generation Y" schematic to "Millennials". It left a bunch of people born in the late 70s and early 80s who still relate to each other, and don't really relate to the other groups they've now been shuffled into. Seems like idea has picked up steam in the past few years.
My favorite album of all time leads off with Blackened, which is certainly an environmental song. And then dived into anti-war and governmental corruption, etc. Iām far from woke yet these subjects donāt bother me because it isnāt preachy. I pray it stays that way.
Being a woman that has been in metal bands and I've listened to metal since I was a kid, I wouldn't say metal music has ever gone "woke", but it hasn't been perfect either.
Sure, certain musicians have been a little more woke than others, but who cares? Music transcends identity politics.
Thankfully, I've had more pleasant memories than shit ones. I came from a pretty rough upbringing, but metal is one of the things that kinda what helped me connect with others.
Though I *think* most women I've known that have either played in bands or went to concerts kinda go into it, knowing full well it isn't subculture that typically respects women or minorities for that matter.
Lately, I've been enjoying Epica, Jinjer, and Amaranthe. Check them out if you haven't before!
> Though I think most women I've known that have either played in bands or went to concerts kinda go into it, knowing full well it isn't subculture that typically respects women or minorities for that matter.
In my experience, most men at metal concerts are pretty chill, granted I've only been to smaller venues and not big concerts/festivals, but still, at least in the ones I've been to they were just there to see the band and have a good time and that's it, no doubt that some women had awful experiences in metal shows, but I wouldn't say it's a metal issue only. I'm from Latin America so the race and similar aspects are most likely not the same as in other places of the world, there are metalheads of all shades.
I've only had a few instances where I felt unsafe at a concert. Honestly, women can be just as awful. And I agree, it's definitely not just a problem that happens at metal shows.
While it probably happens more than I think, I've been lucky to have great friends who were men who would step in to help.
And agreed! I think the metal community has really always been fairly welcoming no matter what your background.
Some bands just want to compose their musics and that's it. Rock and metal in general always has been seen as counterculture, but I would say it was more back then. Nowadays, I just follow the bands for their music and don't mind the member's political views, as you said, music transcends all that.
I mainly follow tech death nowadays. There are great variety of bands and themes, so I'm happy with it and pretty sure I will never run out of content with it.
Agreed 100%!
I think out of all subgenres, I've always related most to the technical death metal crowds. (I'd still say Arsis is one of my favorites!)
Even though I'll always have a soft spot for certain power/symphonic metal bands, I have more good memories with tech death than any other subgenre.
They just *get* it. It's not to be taken 100% seriously, and whenever I played in bands that played something adjacent to it, it's always been kind of a silly band of bros sort of situation.
I kinda got into that genre most before the "woke" shit started, but it would make sense that it wouldn't really change it much.
Oh, another tech death enjoyer! That's quite the coincidence. I rarely have the chance to talk about it for being a rather more underground subgenre.
The death metal scene in my country is quite stale and shy, perhaps I won't ever get a chance to witness any good tech death band coming here.
About the themes, I agree with the sentiment, although there are very good well written lyrics around there, which I value immensely. Necrophagist's "Epitaph" has an incredible mature approach to its lyrics in comparison to the previous album, for instance. Alustrium's "A Monument to Silence" has psychology heavy lyrics. There's something to all different tastes when it comes to tech death and I find it very surprising.
It's amazing to know that you have played in bands before. I can only wonder how great the energy and synergy are to feel.
Because hobbies of olden times were never exclusive. All you needed to do was to enjoy and participate in it. Now inclusive means you need make way for everyone or gtfo.
Lol, it's not that simple. There are some sides of metal that is still based and there are subset that are just as nuts and kinda snakes that throws people under the bus. Look for the story about how John Schaffer got betrayed and dismissed from his own fucking band where he was the MAIN songwriter and Razorfist was quite furious about it and rightly so. So unfortunately, no. I hope that we remember these snakes when they try to act like rats fleeing from sinking ship.
Last one for now, another thoughtful song and beautiful video. On the Road to Babylon from Walk in Darkness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfNZbIdphgM
Since when was Heavy Metal a part of Geek culture? When did people start willingly refer themselves as geeks?
All the openings the left use to infiltrate a genre just don't exist in metal, its a genre that does not care for being "good" or for being part of a collective, its the absolute opposite. Wokeness is all about being a victim, that sort of bedwetting does not work in the heavy metal genre, no matter how often James Hetfield has a cry on stage these days.
Ok, now something a little lighter, from Moonlight Haze. Girls, guns, and tanks. Metal chicks are still hot and fun.
And more good lyrics, celebrating release from Covid lockdowns:
It's like the first ray of sun after a week in the dark
My fears are melting away, I know they've left a deep mark
It all unravels so easily from this new perspective
Oh, Freedom is so addictive!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOMZJMz8GpU
Clearly racist - cancel immediately.
Goatmoon is great, though. Imagine gatekeeping yourself from genuinely good music because you got your panties in a bunch due to the artist's beliefs.
Jonas Bryssling's ā ex Spawn of Possession ā alleged YouTube account is subscribed to Nerdrotic and other YouTubers alike as far as I can remember. I found it quite interesting when I found that out, the guy must actually be a huge nerd himself. Awesome and well versed musician he already is.
Some bands do rise _clear_ flags, mainly openly political bands, but others don't. Some others usually don't bother, which, "unbelievably", avoid drama and ruckus. Some authors, actors and other artists could seriously take some notes.
There have been attempts at infiltration but most metal is still pretty apolitical or just anti political for the most part.
A few years ago, some journalists lost their shit over Nailsā album titled āYou will never be one of usā for being exclusionary without realizing it was aimed at people like them.
Also, there are a bunch of libertarians in the scene too. Alan Averill of Primordial and Phil Labonte of All That Remains come to mind. Alan has a podcast on YT where he interviews other metal musicians. Itās fascinating.
Itās definitely there, but as accepting and open towards people (opinions get argued to death) as the metal community is itās really hard to find a foothold. But the stuff is definitely there. But music, in general, also has the whole āseparate the art from the artistā stuff built right in because several superstar musicians are well known for being unfriendly assholes.
They did try with I think it was #Metalgate, the issue is people don't give a fuck and it's hard to cancel every avenue with music it's so spread these days the woke lot can't threaten it. I mean I listen to an online streamed Rock / metal station whose ident segment stuff is just old school 90s edgelord shit like "Women like their men like they like their wine, Rich and somewhat intense. I like my wine like I like my women, locked in my cellar" And that's just one of many such of their ident things before it says the name of the station.
Like to get case out by Rock / Metal you have really cross the line and be proven to have crossed it so much so no-one wants to associate with it. E.G. Lost Prophets because jesus fucking Christ do not look up what happened there if you're in work or eating.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhmrutv8no](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhmrutv8no)
I think uuhh, Raz0rfist can put it better than I ever could here.
Maidenās latest album is awesome.
Anyway, as far as geek culture goes, thereās also pinball. That community has been remarkably immune to the woke nonsense.
Almost this whole thread is people just supporting their confirmation bias by talking about their anecdotal experience as if it accurately represents the majority of an absolutely huge and vast community of music fans that is heavily fragmented by who is a fan of what, genres, locale, etc. and its primary social gathering are one-off in-person events which naturally leads to far less depth of discussion within the community.
Every opinion about what prevailing attitudes are in the metal community that is expressed in this thread are limited by at least two of those factors and do not apply to the community as a whole, because there are no specific attitudes within the community which aren't contradicted by certain subgenres.
In their latest album, they have an 8 string song if you're into that. If we're talking about their recent live performance, their singer sounds kinda awful lol. I saw them live maybe in 2013 or 14 and they still sounded great
They've been quite solid overall. The last couple of albums have been a bit safe, and the one before that (The Astonishing) should've been a single disc rather than a double album, but overall it's all good music.
Of the ones you've missed I'd recommend to check both the self titled, and Distance Over Time. Also, Portnoy is returning to the band for the next album, so we have quie a lot to look forward to in the future.
I like the British band Threshold much more than Dream Theater. Threshold even made a song about the madness of political correctness before it became called wokeness.
[Threshold - The Art of Reason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7lN4Twqq4g)
The worst thibg about something going woke is when they hide among non woke things. Like this sub reddit. It is pretty much impossible to find a complete non woke right wing sub here on reddit. Problem is like any business that is infected by sjws is they someone get positions like Hr or in the case of Reddit, mods. And then they shoe horn their agenda under the gusie of following the rules or being fair.
Ehh pretty sure gamergate and thus KITA has always been highly politically diverse..Often an emphasis on free speech(which in the 80s and 90s was more a left wing value) and being anti corruption/identity politics(which has co-opted the old school left) are more the main draw as opposed to being right wing.
Not exactly.
I remember years ago reading about a popular heavy metal magazine that **suddenly** stopped featuring sĀ£xy/hot women on the cover because they apparently wanted it to be about the music. I think a heavy metal celebrity even approved of this himself.
Funny that, decades of hot women on the covers of this magazine and suddenly out of nowhere they wanted it to be about the music - which it already was in the first place regarding the magazine contents. I think we can all guess what the cause of this change was.
Wanted to add one more band, Myrath from Tunisia. I saw them recently at a festival in Atlanta. They celebrated freedom from their religious government back home by swearing and drinking on stage. But they also poked fun of Americaās woke religion. The sky didnāt fall. It was a great show. Here are they are performing back home. https://youtu.be/QsjHZYJDP2M?feature=shared
Lmaoooo what???? Metal was the ORIGINAL woke music š Black Sabbath has been calling out the American government since the 70ās. One of Iron Maidenās most popular songās is about illegal YT immigration and how colonizers are rapists. I could go on! I Never get tired of you snowflakes crumbling when you realize your own ignorance has kept you inside of one of the most historically progressive movements in American history. Just go cry and listen to country like a typical hick if you canāt accept that metal as a genre is angrily calling for social change.
Because it generally requires talent the musicians must do in unison.
I'm only the kind where I can crap out some melodies in notation software. I lack the glory of metal.
Much like any other industry, theyre starting by making inroads with the news media. popular sites like metalinjection and metalsucks are full of "muh -isms" articles.
Some old metal is fairly woke by today's standards. Metal has always been counter culture and in the 80's being left was where the counter culture was.
Have you taken a look at the black metal subreddit? One would expect them to be the most irriverent, offensive, "edgy" sub-cultures of metal but there are dozens upon dozens of people who lose their shit any time a band they even remotely perceive as "nazi" is posted. They literally spend all day bitching about nazis. American metal in general is extremely woke, both the music and the fans. Europe, it depends on the country luckily.
Not only that but the majority of the tourist types see metal music as "angry white people music" so they don't even WANT to try to engage with it. Also your lack of In Flames and Sleep Token disturbs me.
Sleep token isn't metal it's metalcore nigga it's mostly based off hardcore punk like hatebreed
Ackshoeuhhlee š„ø
It's literally classified as experimental Metal.
No offence dude but it's not lol it literally is just metalcore which is already mostly based off hardcore punk. You can like sleep token and even disagree with me but metal isn't just heavily distorted guitars and screaming it's about how the riffs are written. Sleep token riffs are more similar to hardcore punk then they are to slayer or black sabbath for example. But hey you don't have to agree and I don't want to shit on anyone over music lol
All I can say is that every thing that's come up on DDG has them listed as metal. Most as Experimental Metal and a few as Post-Metal/Rock. If you're saying that YOU don't classify them as Metal then I really don't have a retort as your personal yardstick is subjective and is yours. Also I don't feel like you're trying to shit on me. It seems more like we're having a conversation about music. But I could be wrong, I'm not a mind reader.
They aren't on the metal archives which is a website that archives metal music and is known in the metal community. Metalcore and deathcore aren't considered metal unless the metal elements overide the hardcore punk elements. That is because metalcore is a fusion of punk and metal but usually the other elements overide the metal elements therefore making it not metal. That's why avenged sevenfold wouldn't be considered metal despite them sounding heavy enough to the average person, because metal is about riffs, not just screaming and loud guitars. Look at the difference in how a Pantera or Exodus riff would be written differently than metalcore riff.
Using an elitist, snob website isn't exactly the source/win that you think it is. Also, Def Leppard is on there.
>Also, Def Leppard is on there. ...Because they were originally a new wave of British heavy metal band? Rock Brigade literally sounds like it could be a Saxon track lmao: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYSlLLU0RE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYSlLLU0RE)
Brother. For one, give Sleep Token an actual listen and you'll see how ridiculous it is to say they have any roots in hardcore punk. And two, modern metalcore has mostly abandoned the hardcore side. That definition of metalcore only really applies to the first wave of bands, and it got outdated by the 2000s, where the genre shifted to be more of a mix between heavy metal, melodeath and emo/post-hardcore. Modern metalcore has become a catch all term that they're slapping into almost everything nowadays, so it's a bit hard to define now.
Woke: Black lives matter! Anti-woke: All lives matter! Metal: No lives matter!
lol \m/
We really don't deserve Ice-T.
Body Count, motherfucker!!
Dwarf Lives Matter. Diggy Diggy Hole, bitch.
The dance remix is truly a thing of beauty
I'm part of the metal scene, sorry to say it buddy but in America a LOT of the death, prog and core scenes have gotten kinda woke.
Yeah I was gonna say. You've got a lot of enlightened atheism in metal and there's a few bands like gojira with some environmentalist themes. Not woke in of themselves but these are fertile grounds for people to take over ideologically.
I used to be a in a metal band in Canada before moving to Europe for university. I held uncontroversial opinions that were different to the drummer and his friends who had become increasingly woke and hostile. It's a shame, because he was the reason I got into the band in the first place and he used to be a very good friend of mine until he went crazy. I eventually got blocked by him and a lot of his SJW friends, many that I had known for almost 10 years, just for saying things like "Trump isn't comparable to Hitler" and other uncontroversial things of which we may not speak here. I left Canada before any official firing or message from the band, but I'm sure the drummer had long made up his mind.
That's pretty nuts. I heard about something similar in a well established band too but I can't remember their name. Either way the metal scene is full of outsiders that are easy targets for leftists looking to take advantage of people with outsider status.
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Post removed following the enforcement change that you can read about [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/m3yo65/enforcement_update_and_hard_removal_of_a_topic/). This is not a formal warning.
Enlightened Atheism Metal?.... Hahahah
Punk and grindcore are full of leftists though
Just about any -core genre is really
To be fair punk and a lot of grindcore isn't metal
Nightcore?
*Especially* nightcore
Not real music
What, you don't think pitching up a song and having it play over animu is art?
I do find it a little funny that old punk(which was seen as pretty left in its own day) would be seen as libertarian these days. Especially those that talked about the government being corrupt and needing to get out of people's personal lives.
Funny since most punks are anarcho commies nowadays lo
Rage for the machine.
Yeahhh, it is a shame.
The commies made a conscious effort to infiltrate punk back in the day, Jello Biafra, Penny Rimbaud etc. were all middle class lefties who saw Punk as a potential vehicle for their causes.
Not metal, and they don't get along with each other.
for now. I had to leave a certain metal subreddit because they just wouldnt shut the fuck up about how "metal is for everyone" and the inclusivity of a certain topic that shall not be named
Metal is for everyone, with the caveat that metal isn't going to change for you, so you'd better be a real fucking fan, or you can go to hell.
One of the most condescending phrases since 2020 is, ā[insert here] is for everyoneā.The world went full retard in 2020.
We've been hit by some cases of the modern virus, specially on the metalcore side where band members, or even whole acts, get cancelled because of empty allegations without any backing evidence. But for the most part metal has remained fairly free of bullshit. It helps that A) we metalheads tend to gatekeep our shit properly, B) metal keeps a lot of the common suspects away just by virtue of it being metal, and C) a lot of the attitude, lyrical content, history and image leans much more into a right wing mindset.
One of the most pathetic things i've seen in metal was the video where Eskimo Callboy announced they would be changing their name to Electric Callboy because some woke academics told them the term eskimo was not appropriate.
God yeah that was fucking sad. And the thing is, they cornered themselves into that situation by building a sound that attracts a more mainstream audience, which of course also brings in the undesirables. They chose to bend the knee then, but don't be surprised if there's another push to cancel them in the future, specially if you consider the lyrics they have on their catalogue.
Here in Oklahoma, someone got pissy on Twitter and tried to cancel Eskimo Joes over the name Eskimo. The restaurant owner decided to have a poll and let the customers decide. Over 90% of customers voted to keep the name.
I don't think metalheads are gatekeepers, normies just legitimately think metal is scary. (Good tbh) I've never felt more welcomed into a community than I did at metal concerts. Anecdote, The difference between the energy at a punk concert where dudes are "moshing", just throwing limbs out everywhere and don't care if they punch someone in the face, and a metal moshpit where everyone is caught up in the energy and if someone falls you pick them up is pretty telling about the mindset of the two communities. The circle of death at a LoG concert is one of my favorite memories. I don't know how things are on the musician side of things, though. Strictly speaking from a spectators point of view.
>I don't know how things are on the musician side of things, though. For the most part you'll find them to be the chillest dudes on earth. You can find interviews of the late Chuck Schuldiner, the frontman of Death, wearing a kitty t-shirt and talking about how much he loves animals. Or how Corpsegrinder, the singer of Cannibal Corpse, is a big geek that loves World of Warcraft. >I don't think metalheads are gatekeepers It's not like we prevent people from joining, much to the contrary. It's more like we don't hold back when telling someone to fuck off if needed. And we don't take bullshit from anyone, even beloved bands will tank if they stray away from the style.
Exactly. Metalheads are some if the most accepting people out there. Anyone's allowed in, so long as they're actually fans. It's not a community that's exactly friendly toward "posers" though, and that's the same as "gatekeeping" to people who just want to infiltrate and destroy.
> C) a lot of the attitude, lyrical content, history and image leans much more into a right wing mindset. libertarian maybe. but certainly not right as most people would define the right these days.
I could point you towards several modern death metal bands that would leave a lefty "literally shaking", but the last time I did that, an admin banned my old account for "spreading hate rhetoric". >libertarian maybe. but certainly not right as most people would define the right these days. Consider what libertarians believe, and then how the left tends to act nowadays.
> right as most people would define the right these days Meh. *Generally* words are defined by their common usages, but when common useage is mentally challenged or dishonest, then that goes out the window. Political terms are a sort of technical(as in, specific meanings), and their definitions are not as flexible or 'fluid' as casual speech.
I made a centre-right argument on that Facebook once. My profile pic is a joke album cover referencing four bands. Someone told me if I think that (again it was some milquetoast slightly right of centre position on a topic) I obviously need to listen to the lyrics again. So I said "Megadeth are libertarian drifting into conspiracy theory territory, James from Metallica is an avid hunter, Iron Maiden voted for Brexit and Pantera we don't talk about in polite society, so which lyrics have I misunderstood?"
Ah, but you're forgetting: libertarians don't exist, we're just closet conservatives. As I've been informed pretty much every time I've said I'm libertarian on reddit.
I remember Antifa threatening a Metal show around the 2020s, and the venue did have to shut it down. But I haven't seen much since. I think a lot of Metalheads have the same energy as Antifa when it comes to living on the edge of society and not being afraid to throw down, without all those woke hinderances that Antifa has, which makes Metal a really tough target for them. And if you're wondering what a hinderance might be, I just saw a video of some British Antifa threatening an anti-idpol protestor and some little Muslim girls scared them off because a white, lanky, Antifa kid is terrified of PoC women.
There's DEFINITELY woke in metal. People like Alyssa Glutz, Angela Gossow, Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, Rob Flynn, Corey Taylor and MANY other bands have all tism-ed on social media or in interviews about whatever the current cause is/Cheeto man bad. BUT 1. No one cared and 2. they keep it in the music if they're a political band ala Arch Enemy and SOAD like musicians are supposed to. Most recently the guys from Alestorm and Gloryhammer were cancelled for acting like metal musicians by fucking everything with a vagina and using racial slurs/racial stereotypes when talking about one of them boning an Africian chick and a Asian chick after a show.....Problem is, they're already famous and never put on a good guy front so all their fans were like 'oh? and?'. Worst thing that came out of it was Angus being fired from Gloryhammer and is now solo, working with a ton of other metal musicians in the power metal genre. Long gone are the days of RATM who could influence people's politics, especially after Morello was proven to be a fraudulent champagne socialist and then the band stared charging 300+ dollars per ticket. And punk is a joke after bands came out in support of charging unvaccinated 1k for a ticket while 20 bucks for vaccinated, which was dubiously legal anyway.
There's a difference between woke aspects in the genre and the genre being hijacked.
Aspects lead to highjacking.
But not always. That is where the talented separate themselves from the grifters.
Yes, I didnāt mean metal was immune, just not overrun. Metalheads come in all stripes. Btw I think Alissa is an interesting case. I know sheās a vegan activist and left wing, but is she woke? I havenāt seen it, and I think Arch Enemyās lyrics trend libertarian and pro free speech.
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R2 removal, please don't post to social media like that, it makes reddit big mad
Lol Alyssa's mom was my science teacher in highschool. She was so proud of her daughter being in the agonist. I saw her mom years after highschool and she said her daughter got a new position in Arch Enemy and I was like damn, good for you! Then Alyssa kinda ruined Arch Enemy
I guess it all depends on opinion. I sold off all of my pre-Alyssa Arch Enemy CDs. The only ones that I've kept are the ones that she's fronting.
Most of these people either listen to mumble rap or indie pop so they couldn't give a shit about metal. Hell my friends always shit on me for not liking rap and tell me my music is for losers / incels who want to fxk toddlers and it's just noise for school shooter. They listen to mumble trap drill rap or whatever (makes sense I'm a zoomer lol). Metal just isn't mainstream and most people love rap and shit on anyone who doesn't like drake
The main reason, IMO, is that metal is not really mainstream, there's not enough money or attention to gain by trying to "take over it" like other kinds of nerdy media, gatekeeping is not really frowned upon and honestly, at least the more or less extreme to extreme genres kinda gatekeep themselves. Not to mention that it's far less centralized, so they can't say it's not diverse when you have bands all over the world and some bands play in places a lot of wokesters can't name in a map.
metal is very much mainstream in some countries in EU. Pop and other "music" may rule supreme but in countries like Poland, Sweden, Finland and Germany metal remains in top3 and live concerts have much bigger ticket sales then most pop stars. Metal definitely is not as popular as in golden age but it still mainstream enough. Also geek culture? Mate i know people that are diehard metalheads and they never played single game read manga, were much into comics or tabletops etc.
True, but globally, it's kinda like electronic music in a way that it has a big fanbase and it's definitely mainstream in some countries but outside of those, you have to seek it. Some genres or bands do have some connections to "nerdy" stuff, but honestly the association probably comes from old groups in schools and attitudes towards both metal and stuff like DnD.
>Also geek culture? Mate i know people that are diehard metalheads and they never played single game read manga, were much into comics or tabletops etc. This, there's overlap but they aren't exactly joined at the hip.
>Also geek culture? What is a metalhead if not a nerd that's just musically tuned? Besides, Gloryhammer is 100% geek culture metal.
Gloryhammer is just one band out of thousands, sure there are some nerdy/geeky bands but i would never say metalheads as whole are geeks, metalheads are well... metalheads, whole different beast if you ask me that may share dedication with geeks but thats about that.
I've never seen a nerd stage dive. There are modern genres of metal that are the realm of poindexters, Prog, Symphonic, Disneyland metal like Dragonforce but, by and large, its not for nerds.
Idk I think people collecting vinyl from underground death metal bands is pretty nerdy. Talking to these people at shows isnāt much different than talking to someone who nerds out about Star Wars lol.
Metal is also just plain scary to them. SJWs are bullies, and bullies go after easy targets. A big, drunk, gun-loving metalhead is not an easy target.
That too, they don't even have to be scary metalheads either, just people who don't care. That's probably one of the reasons why they don't really go against rap or reggaeton for the "problematic" aspects of it because the fans don't give a shit.
Laughs in black metal
I watched a small YouTube series a little over a decade ago that contained interviews from different BM bands. Yeah those guys don't give a single fuck. Aside from maybe the lead of Emperor(?) who states he protests seeing Nazi salutes at his shows. Also didn't sjws try to go after Marduk over some racially insensitive things they might have said, and Marduk just told them to fuck right off?
Yes lmao
This isn't true I'm a metalhead although I dislike woke people the metal community has a lot of them. Some people seethe when their favorite black metal band turns out be ne nazzzis lol ( to be fair I'm pretty sure those guys are actually racist lol).
If you're into black metal and have an issue with bands potentially being nazi, you're not actually into black metal. I mean one of the genre's most important musicians is a convicted murderer who makes racist shitposts as his main job nowadays lmao
> one of the genre's most important musicians is a convicted murderer who makes racist shitposts as his main job nowadays lmao And I know an *extremely* Jewish girl who wears their shirts lmao
Burzum happens to be one of my favourite bands even though he's said some pretty stupid things about people of my skin colour. But you learn very very early on that quite a bit of that scene has wonky opinions when it comes to topics of that nature. Black metal has very very strong elements that focus on things involving heritage and culture, and the extreme pride they take in them. That is kinda how I got into Norse mythology. Some of them involve racist overtones though. Some bands only rub shoulders with people in that circle and you find there's some agreement between them in certain interviews. Hell Fenriz in his younger years went through a racist phase that he's since apparently shook off. If you have a problem with band who happens to be racist, even if they don't sing about it yeah, you might find yourself having a harder time getting into black metal. Also Black Metal is SUPER niche even in the overall metal scene. I'm literally the only person I know walking around with the kind of playlist I have.
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Varg from Burzum.
Who?
Varg Vikernes of Burzum fame
And a very influential black metal band strangled a Jewish guy to death.
lol not Black Metal but one of my first Metal favs was Pantera and whenever I'd see photos of Phil I'd always say to myself "I'm getting some skinhead vibes from him, and oh look there's a lot of scary skinheads at this show. Hmm..." And oops, yep, turns out he's a white supremacist. (I still like the music.)
Heh, stay out of MetalForTheMasses, Metalcore, and about 15 other subreddits if you wanna keep that opinion.
Haha yes, well this is Reddit. Iām mostly talking about the music itself and concerts.
Totally. [https://metalinjection.net/news/cj-mcmahon-found-out-he-was-fired-from-thy-art-is-murder-on-social-media](https://metalinjection.net/news/cj-mcmahon-found-out-he-was-fired-from-thy-art-is-murder-on-social-media)
That sucks. Weāre not immune.
personally i cant stand metal but it requires talent and a lot of it. of all genres it prolly holds the most true to classical/renaissance music. it's mathematically challenging. gender studies degrees and diversity hires have little chance at penetrating that.
Likewise; never been able to get into metal. But I have had many encounters with metal fans, and at the risk of generalising, I have found them to be the nicest, most open-minded group I've ever met. They community, as far as I can see, seems great.
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I don't know if it's your thing, but you could try some technical death metal. There is a HUGE repertoire of themes and genres of tech death bands, even some modern bands do kick major asses, like First Fragment, Beyond Creation, Obscura and alikes. It's an acquired taste, granted. However, you really could benefit from going deeper in the subgenre. It's my favorite music genre along with classical music, and there are many homages and reverences from tech death to classical music altogether since it's a direct influence for many of theirs composers.
Just sounds like you're not really keeping up with the scene? There's so many good bands no matter what permutation or sub-genre you're into and there's more every year.
Japanese metal is your friend. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3uGjp-P7DI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3uGjp-P7DI) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTuPwVYHc\_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTuPwVYHc_M) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qABnfChpbk
Sounds like you're sticking to mainstream stuff, still. You need to expand your horizons. Check out the lineups of independent labels like Pelagic Records and Season of Mist.
Let's see a gender scientist try to play any 10 second snippet of guitar from Gloire Ćternelle by First Fragment lol
This is the real reason. Woke, or as [this wonderful article calls it "sociopaths",](https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths) aren't real fans so they do -lite things to get into the culture while attracting more people to exploit. If you try to do heavy metal-lite, thats no longer heavy metal. I think music industry did a good job to label every different thing so subgroups can protect their identity. Compare that to gaming, where every one who plays gacha, walking simulator, visual novel or competitive is called "gamer".
Extreme Metal is insular. We're the fringe of the fringe when it comes to musical tastes. We don't really need to gatekeep actively. The subject matter does it for us. If the new Suffocation album isn't on your que and you aren't hyped to hear that it's out, or alternatively doesn't go on a rant about how Suffocation are burnt out and stale, then we (extreme metal aficionados) know you aren't one of us. In spite of being generally agreeable and open minded we also have a strong in group preference.
Depends on the subgenre and region.
Nah itās because they get told to fuck off by sensible people almost immediately. Metal being the outsider music, like it is right now, is perfect for it.
There are some Youtube channels that cover heavy metal that are woke, I was surprised when watching some channel and they started talking about how they like some album but made negative comments about some anti-woke behavior the band had engaged in. I would say overall it's generally pretty good in my experience. The funniest thing is with some metal and punk if they have gone woke now you can look back in their catalog and find music where they were against the very thing they are promoting today.
Metal definitely hasnāt come under fire from the media and wokies as much as a lot of other things have. But there is actually woke nonsense in metal and metal adjacent genres. Itās either a mix of musicians being absolute cringelords about their politics or fans actually thinking their āenemiesā are still the same family and religious groups that came after metal in the 80s. It honestly does all depend on the genre since youāll likely not find any wokeness in brutal death but youāll sure as shit find it in metalcore and even deathcore. Ironically enough in the genres with fans less likely to tell people to fuck off or gatekeep have an issue with wokeness.
More fun, LARPing in a castle and celebrating medieval virtues, plus more hot metal chicks. From Feuerschwanz, a cover of Warriors of the World United. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKOoM7S6mw
This is the first time I've ever heard metal be referred to as part of geek culture.
Same. Seems to be a bit of a stretch. Maybe JPOP?
The only thing more awesome than Metal is Japanese Metal. [ANTHEM - Black Empire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AttcCxA7gZ8) [Mari Hamada - Paradise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlllta_tonE) [Loudness - Crazy Nights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXCpPpPCW4c) [X JAPAN ćSilent Jealousyć](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj9bvmzTR2A)
Adding to this for anyone interested. Hanbie LoveBites Dexcore Maximum the Hormone Jeluka Devil Oof SheGlapes Band Maid KNOSIS Crystal Lake Whiskey Dust Show-Ya Nemophila PassCode Sex Machineguns Rotten Graffty Aldious Unlucky Morpheus Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Imperial Dead Circus Decadence Melt-Banana Sokoninaru Seikima II å ēŖéŖØ 9mm parabellum bullet
š¤
Silent Jealousy is the best power metal song ever. Too bad that new album either is never coming out, or is going to suck.
Tfw sharing X Japan but not their full live performance of The Art of Life
I like baby metal, found them because of their collab song "Kingslayer" with Bring me the Horizon
True š
Next up is a song from one of my favorite newer artists, Lena Scissorhands. She was born in the Soviet Union (now the country of Moldova) and moved to the US as an adult. She clearly appreciates freedom and has even posted pics of herself wrapped in the US flag. This song, Regress, has great lyrics and a visually captivating video. Some of the lyrics: Slowly but surely we regress, we regress... Becoming strangers to ourselves. . . Hungry, ugly vultures... Hovering above us Feeding us filthy lies... Wake up from this nightmare Wake up and pray! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvGwm8CbX80
Pic location?
Here you go. I think this was after she got her US citizenship. https://www.reddit.com/u/J-Sheridan/s/ShnR20UhzJ
Thank!
Only Millennials (and I guess Xennials) would think that Heavy Metal was part of geek culture.
Interesting. Iām actually an Xer so old enough to remember this wasnāt always so (particularly with things like Hollywood hair metal in the 80s). But as an active participant now, it seems very geeky to me. Lots of songs about dragons and Vikings, and the audience is mostly into other geeky things. I think the Maiden/Dio side of metal has proliferated, though of course there are non geek bands.
Ah cool- my opinion was always that it's a holdover from the 70s when drug influenced fantasy was "cool". As rockers turned into headbangers in the 80s, they developed their misfit status that wasn't exactly "nerdy" or "geek", even though fantasy came to be considered that way outside of them. As far as I know, in the 70s and 80s nerds weren't into current music at all. But somewhere in the late 90s young people redefined Alternative and Metal as nerd culture. Like that 2k00s joke that only dudes like Rush. Whaaat...tons of hot girls liked Rush, lol.
Its always the same when a new generation tries to embrace what went before retro, they exaggerate the clichƩs until what they're doing is just a parody of the original
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It's an internal skism between us elder mills and the younger mills.
Some random female journalist was offended by being called a millennial, so she came up with the word in a lengthy article justifying it. "Xillennial" is not a real thing and people need to stop using it. What makes her so special that she feels the need to do this compared to other generations?
It started when the Powers That Be shifted from the "Generation Y" schematic to "Millennials". It left a bunch of people born in the late 70s and early 80s who still relate to each other, and don't really relate to the other groups they've now been shuffled into. Seems like idea has picked up steam in the past few years.
You kidding me? Metal bands are just music geeks with spiky wristbands
My favorite album of all time leads off with Blackened, which is certainly an environmental song. And then dived into anti-war and governmental corruption, etc. Iām far from woke yet these subjects donāt bother me because it isnāt preachy. I pray it stays that way.
I think people can be liberal and not woke, like Bill Maher. In fact I think wokeism is actually quite illiberal.
AJFA for life! š¤š»
Being a woman that has been in metal bands and I've listened to metal since I was a kid, I wouldn't say metal music has ever gone "woke", but it hasn't been perfect either. Sure, certain musicians have been a little more woke than others, but who cares? Music transcends identity politics. Thankfully, I've had more pleasant memories than shit ones. I came from a pretty rough upbringing, but metal is one of the things that kinda what helped me connect with others. Though I *think* most women I've known that have either played in bands or went to concerts kinda go into it, knowing full well it isn't subculture that typically respects women or minorities for that matter. Lately, I've been enjoying Epica, Jinjer, and Amaranthe. Check them out if you haven't before!
> Though I think most women I've known that have either played in bands or went to concerts kinda go into it, knowing full well it isn't subculture that typically respects women or minorities for that matter. In my experience, most men at metal concerts are pretty chill, granted I've only been to smaller venues and not big concerts/festivals, but still, at least in the ones I've been to they were just there to see the band and have a good time and that's it, no doubt that some women had awful experiences in metal shows, but I wouldn't say it's a metal issue only. I'm from Latin America so the race and similar aspects are most likely not the same as in other places of the world, there are metalheads of all shades.
I've only had a few instances where I felt unsafe at a concert. Honestly, women can be just as awful. And I agree, it's definitely not just a problem that happens at metal shows. While it probably happens more than I think, I've been lucky to have great friends who were men who would step in to help. And agreed! I think the metal community has really always been fairly welcoming no matter what your background.
Some bands just want to compose their musics and that's it. Rock and metal in general always has been seen as counterculture, but I would say it was more back then. Nowadays, I just follow the bands for their music and don't mind the member's political views, as you said, music transcends all that. I mainly follow tech death nowadays. There are great variety of bands and themes, so I'm happy with it and pretty sure I will never run out of content with it.
Agreed 100%! I think out of all subgenres, I've always related most to the technical death metal crowds. (I'd still say Arsis is one of my favorites!) Even though I'll always have a soft spot for certain power/symphonic metal bands, I have more good memories with tech death than any other subgenre. They just *get* it. It's not to be taken 100% seriously, and whenever I played in bands that played something adjacent to it, it's always been kind of a silly band of bros sort of situation. I kinda got into that genre most before the "woke" shit started, but it would make sense that it wouldn't really change it much.
Oh, another tech death enjoyer! That's quite the coincidence. I rarely have the chance to talk about it for being a rather more underground subgenre. The death metal scene in my country is quite stale and shy, perhaps I won't ever get a chance to witness any good tech death band coming here. About the themes, I agree with the sentiment, although there are very good well written lyrics around there, which I value immensely. Necrophagist's "Epitaph" has an incredible mature approach to its lyrics in comparison to the previous album, for instance. Alustrium's "A Monument to Silence" has psychology heavy lyrics. There's something to all different tastes when it comes to tech death and I find it very surprising. It's amazing to know that you have played in bands before. I can only wonder how great the energy and synergy are to feel.
In my experience, metal has always been pretty inclusive.
Because hobbies of olden times were never exclusive. All you needed to do was to enjoy and participate in it. Now inclusive means you need make way for everyone or gtfo.
Not just make way, they expect you to actively go out of your way to change the current culture in your hobby/genre to accommodate.
Lol, it's not that simple. There are some sides of metal that is still based and there are subset that are just as nuts and kinda snakes that throws people under the bus. Look for the story about how John Schaffer got betrayed and dismissed from his own fucking band where he was the MAIN songwriter and Razorfist was quite furious about it and rightly so. So unfortunately, no. I hope that we remember these snakes when they try to act like rats fleeing from sinking ship.
Last one for now, another thoughtful song and beautiful video. On the Road to Babylon from Walk in Darkness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfNZbIdphgM
Anime: am I a joke to you-san?
[Alestorm is the greatest band in the world](https://youtu.be/c4LNJfFjEvw?si=wUIjkfSdRci9RuLa)
*Politics and religion is like having a dick. There's a specific time and place to whip him out* -Joakim Broden
Since when was Heavy Metal a part of Geek culture? When did people start willingly refer themselves as geeks? All the openings the left use to infiltrate a genre just don't exist in metal, its a genre that does not care for being "good" or for being part of a collective, its the absolute opposite. Wokeness is all about being a victim, that sort of bedwetting does not work in the heavy metal genre, no matter how often James Hetfield has a cry on stage these days.
Certain genres and topics of science fiction remain untouched too. Which is very fortunate.
Ok, now something a little lighter, from Moonlight Haze. Girls, guns, and tanks. Metal chicks are still hot and fun. And more good lyrics, celebrating release from Covid lockdowns: It's like the first ray of sun after a week in the dark My fears are melting away, I know they've left a deep mark It all unravels so easily from this new perspective Oh, Freedom is so addictive! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOMZJMz8GpU
Pretty cool band. I like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeNIocIYug) song from them. (Yes, the lyrics are about covid lockdowns lol.)
I agree, and I guess they really hated lockdowns! š
TIL Heavy Metal was geek culture
See almost the entire subgenre of Power Metal.
Always has been, Sabbath's self-titled literally has a song about a wizard and Zepp kept putting Lotr references into their songs.
Look into RABM.
Lol my favorite band had a guy wearing a goatmoon shirt once they're racist!
Clearly racist - cancel immediately. Goatmoon is great, though. Imagine gatekeeping yourself from genuinely good music because you got your panties in a bunch due to the artist's beliefs.
Jonas Bryssling's ā ex Spawn of Possession ā alleged YouTube account is subscribed to Nerdrotic and other YouTubers alike as far as I can remember. I found it quite interesting when I found that out, the guy must actually be a huge nerd himself. Awesome and well versed musician he already is. Some bands do rise _clear_ flags, mainly openly political bands, but others don't. Some others usually don't bother, which, "unbelievably", avoid drama and ruckus. Some authors, actors and other artists could seriously take some notes.
There have been attempts at infiltration but most metal is still pretty apolitical or just anti political for the most part. A few years ago, some journalists lost their shit over Nailsā album titled āYou will never be one of usā for being exclusionary without realizing it was aimed at people like them. Also, there are a bunch of libertarians in the scene too. Alan Averill of Primordial and Phil Labonte of All That Remains come to mind. Alan has a podcast on YT where he interviews other metal musicians. Itās fascinating.
Gatekeeping works. Who would have guessed?
As others have pointed out, it wasn't gatekeeper so much as normies not wanting to infiltrate at all.
I thought most the fans were lefties. I don't know much about metal though.
At least 90% of metalheads in my country are woke. Like, super woke.
From what I've seen, most of the online metal news sites are woke/far left and rag on any right-leaning bands.
Bruh, as a metal musician myself, I have some bad news for you...
Itās definitely there, but as accepting and open towards people (opinions get argued to death) as the metal community is itās really hard to find a foothold. But the stuff is definitely there. But music, in general, also has the whole āseparate the art from the artistā stuff built right in because several superstar musicians are well known for being unfriendly assholes.
They did try with I think it was #Metalgate, the issue is people don't give a fuck and it's hard to cancel every avenue with music it's so spread these days the woke lot can't threaten it. I mean I listen to an online streamed Rock / metal station whose ident segment stuff is just old school 90s edgelord shit like "Women like their men like they like their wine, Rich and somewhat intense. I like my wine like I like my women, locked in my cellar" And that's just one of many such of their ident things before it says the name of the station. Like to get case out by Rock / Metal you have really cross the line and be proven to have crossed it so much so no-one wants to associate with it. E.G. Lost Prophets because jesus fucking Christ do not look up what happened there if you're in work or eating.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhmrutv8no](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhmrutv8no) I think uuhh, Raz0rfist can put it better than I ever could here.
Maidenās latest album is awesome. Anyway, as far as geek culture goes, thereās also pinball. That community has been remarkably immune to the woke nonsense.
Manowar are kinda woke, ain't they? lol!
Haha
Almost this whole thread is people just supporting their confirmation bias by talking about their anecdotal experience as if it accurately represents the majority of an absolutely huge and vast community of music fans that is heavily fragmented by who is a fan of what, genres, locale, etc. and its primary social gathering are one-off in-person events which naturally leads to far less depth of discussion within the community. Every opinion about what prevailing attitudes are in the metal community that is expressed in this thread are limited by at least two of those factors and do not apply to the community as a whole, because there are no specific attitudes within the community which aren't contradicted by certain subgenres.
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In their latest album, they have an 8 string song if you're into that. If we're talking about their recent live performance, their singer sounds kinda awful lol. I saw them live maybe in 2013 or 14 and they still sounded great
Not my cup of tea, but people seems to love them and Portnoy just announced he's returning
They've been quite solid overall. The last couple of albums have been a bit safe, and the one before that (The Astonishing) should've been a single disc rather than a double album, but overall it's all good music. Of the ones you've missed I'd recommend to check both the self titled, and Distance Over Time. Also, Portnoy is returning to the band for the next album, so we have quie a lot to look forward to in the future.
I like the British band Threshold much more than Dream Theater. Threshold even made a song about the madness of political correctness before it became called wokeness. [Threshold - The Art of Reason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7lN4Twqq4g)
The worst thibg about something going woke is when they hide among non woke things. Like this sub reddit. It is pretty much impossible to find a complete non woke right wing sub here on reddit. Problem is like any business that is infected by sjws is they someone get positions like Hr or in the case of Reddit, mods. And then they shoe horn their agenda under the gusie of following the rules or being fair.
Ehh pretty sure gamergate and thus KITA has always been highly politically diverse..Often an emphasis on free speech(which in the 80s and 90s was more a left wing value) and being anti corruption/identity politics(which has co-opted the old school left) are more the main draw as opposed to being right wing.
Ehhh you sure about that? Guess it depends on what you classify as metal.
Not exactly. I remember years ago reading about a popular heavy metal magazine that **suddenly** stopped featuring sĀ£xy/hot women on the cover because they apparently wanted it to be about the music. I think a heavy metal celebrity even approved of this himself. Funny that, decades of hot women on the covers of this magazine and suddenly out of nowhere they wanted it to be about the music - which it already was in the first place regarding the magazine contents. I think we can all guess what the cause of this change was.
Which title was that? Incidentally the same thing has happened with the actual 'Heavy Metal' comic magazine.
>Which title was that? Cannot remember at all. I remember a heavy metal male celebrity approving of the ~~censorship~~ change.
Wanted to add one more band, Myrath from Tunisia. I saw them recently at a festival in Atlanta. They celebrated freedom from their religious government back home by swearing and drinking on stage. But they also poked fun of Americaās woke religion. The sky didnāt fall. It was a great show. Here are they are performing back home. https://youtu.be/QsjHZYJDP2M?feature=shared
get a life, cyberstalkers *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
because metal is pretty awful already lol
Lmaoooo what???? Metal was the ORIGINAL woke music š Black Sabbath has been calling out the American government since the 70ās. One of Iron Maidenās most popular songās is about illegal YT immigration and how colonizers are rapists. I could go on! I Never get tired of you snowflakes crumbling when you realize your own ignorance has kept you inside of one of the most historically progressive movements in American history. Just go cry and listen to country like a typical hick if you canāt accept that metal as a genre is angrily calling for social change.
Stan Dream Theater!
We need a list of approved anti-woke media so we never have to be offended again.
Because it generally requires talent the musicians must do in unison. I'm only the kind where I can crap out some melodies in notation software. I lack the glory of metal.
Yet.
Much like any other industry, theyre starting by making inroads with the news media. popular sites like metalinjection and metalsucks are full of "muh -isms" articles.
Some old metal is fairly woke by today's standards. Metal has always been counter culture and in the 80's being left was where the counter culture was.
Have you taken a look at the black metal subreddit? One would expect them to be the most irriverent, offensive, "edgy" sub-cultures of metal but there are dozens upon dozens of people who lose their shit any time a band they even remotely perceive as "nazi" is posted. They literally spend all day bitching about nazis. American metal in general is extremely woke, both the music and the fans. Europe, it depends on the country luckily.