Metal Culture and the Music Scene

During my discussions about the different genres of metal in my blogs, I have left out the vast majority of metal bands. These include the likes of Ratt, Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, and so many others. This is because when I talk about a genre, I highlight bands that feature the topic being discussed. If I went into a total in-depth analysis, the post would be a novel. The genres I have covered are abridged views of what they are, what to expect, and why they are significant to the history of Metal Music. To me, they are just fun to talk about.

The Fan Base:

The fans of metal music cover a wide variety of people from different genders, faiths, ethnic backgrounds, and countries around the world. Metal does have a distinct fan base, the outsiders. Metal was never meant to be pretty or conform to any standard of popularity. Most fans happen to be people who may not fit in or conform to the norms of society. They can find solace in this music and other fans like them. But if you had to, it’s pretty easy to point out a metalhead because they wear their pride loud and proud. They usually wear their favorite band’s t-shirt everywhere, and for most, metaling it up for a show can be simple or complex. The metalhead standard attire is denim and leather.

The Scene:

Within the music scene there are many artists that influence each other. Whether they’re contemporaries, old bands that inspire new bands, or vice versa there are defining bands of any genre. These bands that define each genre or subgenre are usually the most successful. For example, Metallica is the most successful Thrash Metal band. But you can hear the thrash metal sound as early as the band Anvil, which was in the late 70’s early 80’s. Of course there can be more than one successful band in a genre. In thrash there are the big 4, which are Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. The point is that every movement has their Beetles and there are many other bands which don’t receive the notoriety or spotlight they deserve.

Another thing that is common is the clash of different genres of music. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was met with the opposition of Punk music which was coming out at the same time. While Punk took the spotlight for a short time it eventually imploded on itself. NWOBHH took over and continued on showing its longevity. I am not bashing punk music. Its music has its place in the history of metal. There are bands that have survived and are still around today. It’s just that the movement of punk was just go out there and play for the moment. It was not going to live a long sustainable life. Punk music’s message of anarchy is awe inspiring but didn’t have much staying power. Punk songs themselves don’t have the intricacy and complexity of metal music that was combating it.

During the 1980’s when MTV was still music television and when Glam ruled over the normal MTV airplay, there was a special program for other types of metal to get on MTV. This event was known as “Headbanger’s Ball”. This outlet allowed the bands that wouldn’t have had commercial airplay, get their videos played to the audience. They featured special guest hosts and making cameos on the program, such as Ozzy Osbourne.

The Event:

While most other music genres can have dance incorporated with the music, metal strays from traditional dance. Metal has two primary motions for the music. The Headbang and the Mosh Pit (of course there is the every popular stage dive and crowd surfing as well). The head bang is fairly simple but has many variations. There is the normal headbang, the side to side (this is when your neck is so tired from the normal headband but you still want to headbang), the varying degrees of the bodybang, and the windmill. For a more comedic twist on headbanging, Jared Dines has created a video of 10 ways to headbang (for beginners)

Mosh pits were incorporated into Metal from punk music. This ‘dance’ is better described as an event. It has many people running around jumping into each other. There are four different kinds of mosh pits, although two of them are variations of each other. There is the closed and open pit. This is essentially whether the people are close together or spread out. Depending on the density of people, you can tell which is which, but essentially they are circle pits that have people run around. The next is more of a unison of a tightly packed crowd and more looks like a wave of people than a traditional Mosh pit.

Of course there is an etiquette for moshing. If someone is down (falls), it’s up to the nearest person to help get them up. Also, not to drag a person who doesn’t want to mosh into the mosh pit. While a mosh pit may seem harmless, it can be dangerous. Injury can occur and it is advised not to bring anything of value, importance, or that can be broken easily into the pit.

There is one mosh pit that I haven’t talked about yet, and that is the most deadly of them all. “The Wall of Death”. There is only one way to describe this certain type of pit. Two sides of people clashing against each other, like they are reenacting a civil war battle without weapons.

Metal is more than a style of it’s a way of life, a religion even. This notion comes from the innate tribalism of Metal music. And for many a fan, going to a concert wearing denim and leather, and moshing, is like going to church.