It’s another Saturday night and you’re walking down the city streets. The streetlights illuminate the hustle and bustle of people going in and out of clubs, bars, and restaurants. You notice how different types of people seem to congregate at different places. Twenty-something hipsters flock to the hottest dance clubs, gays and lesbians mingle at the homosexual clubs, and middle-aged business people wind down the day with a drink at a fancy bar. Even bikers have a spot where they can be with ‘their own kind.’ You start to wonder what it all means when you come across a buzzing club entrance. Young men with girl-length long hair are standing outside smoking cigarettes and sharing a laugh. There are teenage boys in skinny jeans, girls with dyed black hair and holes in their pants, and seemingly out of place old guys who simply refuse to cut their mangled mops. “What planet do these people come from?” you wonder. What social group is represented in this eclectic mix of misfits? You decide to find out, and pay the cover to enter a dimly lit, smoke-filled concert hall. You feel out of place but you stick around to see the band play. When the music starts, you wonder what you have gotten yourself into. The singer is growling into the microphone like a demonic bear, the guitarists are thrashing around in seizure-like fashion, and the drums are an incessant blast of noise. The people in the crowd are banging their heads and some people are even punching and kicking the air in some sort of bizarre dance.
This is the world of metal music. Metal, death metal, hardcore; the different names assigned to the hard-to-distinguish subgenres are a whole other story entirely. The real issue of interest is why some people gravitate to this seemingly grotesque, bizarre form of music and why others publicly attack the genre because they feel it is detrimental to adolescents and society as a whole. Sure, some people like rap, others like rock, and some people even like country; but do people really like this loud, violent attempt at creative expression? The answer is yes. In fact, you can go just about anywhere in the world and find a metal scene, although it may not be easy to track down. While the United States has arguably the largest metal scene, masses of metal fans can also be found in Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Sweden, South Korea, and just about any country where people listen to modern music (i.e. rap and rock). Therefore, the movement isn’t limited to a specific place or region, but is an international community of metal fans.
So what is it that brings this wide range of personalities together? The answer to this question is difficult to pinpoint. Is it a love for the music shared by all the listeners, a desperate plea for social interaction or attention, or is it a common experience that pulls in listeners of all ages, races, sexes, political affiliations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Every listener has his or her own reason for attaching him or herself to a style of music that largely goes unnoticed by the greater public. Some are searching for a healthy outlet for emotions or feelings they feel they can’t release in any other way. Other listeners identify with the underground or anti-mainstream nature of metal music. Music reflects the human experience that goes into its creation and allows the listener to understand the important events that define his or her personal experience (Mulder et al. 515). Whatever the reason for listening, however, metal listeners feel a connection to one another that goes beyond the music and even beyond the social distinctions and boundaries that attempt to define them.
Before we can continue to probe the link between metal music and the collective social identity of metal fans, it is important to get a basic background of what metal music is, how it sounds, and where and when it originated. Despite its dynamic evolution over time, metal of all periods and subgenres share a few common traits: loud electric guitars characterized by heavy amplified distortion, fast and dynamic bass lines, and heavy hitting drum beats that are fast to match the overall tempo of the music. Metal bands tend to consist of a lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassist, drummer, vocalist (the term “singer” is not usually applied to metal), and at times even a keyboardist. Syncopated, or quick and punchy, lead guitar riffs are backed by a “chunky,” powerful wall of sound from the rhythm guitar. Fast, heavy bass lines combine with rapid-fire drumbeats to create a powerful rhythm section that gives the guitar melody support and energy. A good example of a modern metal song that incorporates all of these aspects is “Truth of a Liar” by August Burns Red. Running lead guitar riffs are backed up by powerful minor chords in the intro, giving us a good idea of what modern metal sounds like.
The guitar is without a doubt the key element of metal music, and a great deal of guitar showmanship exists in the genre and even drives its evolution. The desire of metal guitarists to be ‘the best that ever lived’ led to the development of more difficult guitar techniques, louder guitar sounds, heavier distortion, as well as other guitar nuances that stimulate the progression of the music. In fact, the evolution of guitar playing is closely linked to the evolution of metal. Without guitarists pushing the limits of the guitar and redefining what a guitar could do, metal would have never developed into the music it is today. Many musical analysts have noted the strong connection between classical music and heavy metal. Some of the greatest and most influential guitarists, including legends such as Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen, were well steeped in and heavily influenced by their study of classical music.
Heavy metal began as a departure from the blues-oriented rock of the 50’s and early 60’s. Modern metal has its roots in the United Kingdom in the mid-1960’s, when rock’n’roll was still in its infancy and many bands were pushing its limits. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple are all credited with being among the first ever heavy metal bands, but Black Sabbath arguably has had the most direct and long-lasting influence on the evolution of the genre, and specifically Black Sabbath front man Ozzy Osbourne has always been a prominent figure in the genre (Metal Roots). One song that captures the spirit of metal’s beginnings is “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. This song showcases one very important aspect of metal: dynamics. The song starts off slow before building up, letting off slightly, and then building up again for the finale. In the 1970’s, bands like Judas Priest, AC/DC, and Cheap Trick continued to cross the boundaries that defined the rock music of the era (WikiPedia). Guitars became louder and more distorted and drumbeats became increasingly heavy and fast. “T.N.T.” provides an example of the powerful, distorted chords and the hard-hitting drums that were a big part of metal in the 70’s. Angus Young’s highly influential guitar playing is showcased in the solo, while his brother Malcolm’s rhythm playing is a great example of metal rhythm guitar in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
In the 1980’s, the music created under the single genre distinction of heavy metal began to diversify into many, vastly different styles of metal. Bands like Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, and others were taking “glam” or “hair” metal into the mainstream musical world of pop while thrash metal acts like Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth were taking heavy metal to new heights (No Life ‘Til Metal). It was also during the 80’s that underground metal genres began to spring up in which more extreme elements were incorporated into the music to create a darker, more brutal sound that is most similar to the styles of metal played today. If we listen to “Black Magic” by Slayer, we begin to hear the drastic changes that developed in metal during the 80’s. The most dramatic changes can be heard in the vocal style and the lead guitar. Screaming or growling vocals, shrill guitars, and mind-boggling fast drumbeats characterized the underground movement that would later become a subgenre known as death metal.
Now that we understand what metal is, we can ask why so many metal fans find it attractive when it seems to have little in common with mainstream music that appeals to many more millions of people. I believe metal emanates a feeling of togetherness or solidarity to people who feel alienated, outcast, or otherwise on the fringe of society. In their article Heavy Metal, Identity and the Social Negotiation of a Community of Practice, Snell and Hodgetts state that, “Consumers of Heavy Metal music are regularly portrayed in public discourse as misguided, anti-social, and potentially dangerous outsiders” (430). The music gives its listeners a means to express their inner selves in a way that is peaceful and constructive. Snell and Hodgetts point out that dressing a certain way, frequenting a specific place such as a bar or club, and listening to a certain style of music are ways that people can form bonds, whether real or perceived, with complete strangers (430). This has the effect of creating a sense of community or shared experience. This shared experience in turn leads to the formation of a collective social identity. Metal fans may come from all walks of life, but they share a passion for the music that dissolves their cosmetic differences. The feeling of being a part of a larger group or movement that is bigger than oneself can have a powerful impact on a person. To someone that feels alone or isolated, this could change his or her entire outlook on life. They begin to see that they are not alone, and that they aren’t that different from the people around them. With age you might grow out of the clothing or the haircut, but you still feel the connection to those around you that share your experience.
For anyone that enjoys music, listening to music can have therapeutic effects. I know that, in my own experience, when I let frustration and stress get the better of me I can listen to music to help me calm down and see straight. As I close my eyes and listen to the music, I feel the tension in my body release and my muscles relax. This is the comfort that metal fans, and fans of all music for that matter, are looking for when they go out to a show or pop in their headphones. While metal may not bring a peaceful easy feeling to everyone who hears it, it does for some and this is the purpose of its existence. Snell and Hodgetts write that metal fans “retreat from the public domain into more private sub-cultural spaces to gain social support, experience acceptance, and remind each other of what they have in common” (431). The concept of “experience acceptance” is especially interesting. It is as though, through listening to the music, metal fans are collectively saying, ‘we are the way we are and it’s perfectly alright and even beautiful.’
The collective social identity of metal fans is a mechanism through which the listeners can reassure themselves of their self worth and their place in the world. Music of any kind is an outlet for creative expression, and metal is just a unique form of self-expression. Metal music allows for the sharing of a common experience among fans that have similar feelings or ideas. It is this collective sense of identity that creates a nurturing environment of acceptance and support. The music creates the community, which creates the identity. This is what draws the fans into the music.
Works Cited
Metal Roots. An Aural History of Heavy Metal, 1 Dec. 2004. Web. 12 Mar. 2010
Mulder, Juul et al "The Soundtrack of Substance Use: Music Preference and Adolescent
Smoking and Drinking." Substance Use and Misuse 44 (2009): 514-531. EBSCO.
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No Life 'Til Metal. History of Heavy Metal, 8 Feb. 2006. Web. 13 Mar. 2010
Snell, Dave, and Darrin Hodgetts "Heavy Metal, Identity and the Social Negotiation of a
Community of Practice." Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
17 (2007): 430-445. Wiley InterScience. Web. 12 Mar. 2010.
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WikiPedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Heavy Metal Music, 21 June 2009. Web. 13 Mar.
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