Metal Manic

Victoria Rowbottom
Nov 4 · 2 min read

Metal music, from its beginnings in the 70s/80s, is a genre most find intimidating. I understand that. Bands like Angelmaker, Rings of Saturn, Machinemade God, and Cannibal Corpse, are completely different compared to legendary bands like Metallica, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Anthrax. I find the only real difference to be the sound — we’ve progressed to heavier, more drum-driven music; in the bands I mentioned first, there is the added bonus of screaming, guttural vocals. I have no opinion on which is better; I’ll jam out to Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” the exact same way I’d jam to “Population Extermination” by A Night in Texas. I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that metal isn’t as scary as some may think it is. There’s so much more than your stereotypical long-hair, cigarette-smoking men who scream into a microphone and call that music. Take into consideration the different subgenres of metal: thrash, nu-metal, metalcore (melodic death metal), grindcore, black, and, of course, death. Not all of these sound the same, even though they take influence from similar styles. Korn, who can be classified as nu-metal, sounds way different compared to Nokturnal Mortum, a black metal Ukrainian band. While you may not like one subgenre, you can’t cross out the entire genre. A band like At The Gates, whose style is more technical metalcore, are great if you want heavy, aggression-driven music; however, Saint Vitus, a “doom metal” band, has a completely different sound — slow, gloomy, rhythmic. I feel I can keep listing and comparing bands, but I know it won’t do anything. I’ve made my point. Metal isn’t for everyone, I respect that fully, but I truly believe every genre has at least one good song and I encourage you to listen to something new and maybe change your opinions.

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