Vindicating Metal

The purpose of this blog over the coming weeks is to explore one of the most misunderstood and enduring subcultures in music, heavy metal. I thought I'd start off this blog with a little history.

Heavy metal has been described by many to be mere "noise" but it covers a huge variety of complex sounds ranging from the melodic to the downright brutal. The genre developed in the late 60s and early 70s with bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and of course the band who many consider to be the originators of metal, Black Sabbath. During the 70s the blues influences were ditched for a more fast paced style adopted by bands such as Judas Priest and Motorhead. In the 80s more complex music styles arose with bands like Iron Maiden,from the new wave of British metal, and Metallica who were a thrash based band gaining popularity. During this period glam-metal bands like Motely Crue and Poison also came to the fore. With the advent of grunge things looked grim for the metal genre in the 90s. However the death and speed metal scenes continued on underground and harder bands like Sepultura and Pantera gained notoriety. In the mid 90s came the nu-metal scene with bands like Limp Bizkit and KoRn, combining elements of different styles such as hip hop (in the case of Limp Bizkit) with the raw sound of metal. In the new millenium metal has continued to grow in popularity and complexity with symphonic metal, which uses orchestral arrangements and operatic singing to create a more lush sound, growing out of the gothic genre of the 80s and 90s. Bands like Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and Nightwish have become extremely popular in the mainstream as well as amongst heavy metal fans.

Heavy metal fans themselves have also been judged by many in society as aggressive, drug abusing, Satanists thanks to the portrayal of the culture in the media. During the 80s a battle was waged between the music industry and the PMRC (Parents Media Resource Center) over the lyrical content of heavy metal. They claimed that the music encouraged suicide, aggression, sexual promiscuity, aggressive behaviour, drug abuse and dabbling in the occult. This view is a simplistic generalisation that is based on a literal (often incorrect) reading of heavy metal lyrics. It is a view that has endured even until today aomongst people outwith the subculture with many viewing metalheads with fear. This blog will hopefully go some way towards enlightening the readers about the appeal of heavy metal to its fans and refuting the simplistic views of the media towards it.