Outlets for Metal:
When it comes to being an outsider, as in someone who doesn’t
join in the popular mainstream trends, it can be hard to find like-minded
individuals who share your tastes in media (books, music, movies, etc.). Back
in the day, you would have been hard-pressed to find someone with similar
interests. In most cases you would have had to go to a show of band that you
liked and socialize with the other concert goers. Small underground specialized
newspapers and magazines would have been another way to keep in touch. In large
cities, people used to live in the same communities so they could congregate
together. Today with the internet, it is much easier to get connected no matter
where you live. You can find hundreds if not thousands of people with similar interests.
Today, there are many websites and social media pages devoted to metal bands
and their music. Each of these outlets are for metalheads by metalheads. There
are additional websites for the hard rock and classic rock fans.
A classic media method with staying power is through print
media, specifically magazines. Photo journalism is still a popular medium. They
give the reader a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes as well as the
overall story. While some magazines from the heyday of the 1980’s have sadly not
survived into the new millennium, many are still around. These magazines still
publish physical copies that can be found, but also have their articles on
their websites.
Podcasts and Radio are two more popular outlets, although
the latter of which mostly you’ll have to look to satellite radio. Other media outlets
include the mediums of television and documentary movies. There are more TV shows
and documentaries now on the subject of metal music than there has ever been.
Most of these are documentaries cover observations on Metal as music genre, or Metal
culture and the effect it has on people’s lives. For movies there are
- Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
- Anvil! The Story of Anvil
- This Is Spinal Tap
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
These movies range from a journey of what metal means to
most fans, a documentary on a band, a mockumentary or rockumentary, and an
observation on the music scene. Other than feature length pictures, on the
small screen there are television shows like:
All of which happen to be on the VH1 Classic television channel.
Today, there are more options available to find and explore heavy
metal music in every medium, but it can be overwhelming at times. To immerse
yourself in this music and culture, the best way is of course to “get it from
the horse’s mouth”, or in laymen’s terms to talk to other metal fans to get
their personal perspectives.
Sub-genres:
My previous posts on the subjects of sub-genres were very
fun to do, but mostly fruitless because they were overviews of different
perceived styles of metal. Sub-genres from my perspective are too confining. They
try to label or control a band’s creativity or style to a medium. This is true
for all types of music or other art forms. Artistry doesn’t come from doing one
type of thing over and over again. It is an evolving living thing. Creativity comes
from adding or taking away certain things to change the art, or to come up with
something that is entirely original and unique. Thus, the thought of
categorizing artistic creativity is ludicrous. Trying to confine an artist to a
certain style limits their possibilities for growth. In my earlier posts, I was
not trying to portray the bands as having only one style. I was merely pointing
out that some of their music fits into the category being discussed. For
example, Iron Maiden would be categorized as New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
If you analyze their more recent albums, you can clearly hear the progressive
direction that Iron Maiden has taken. Ultimately a band chooses their own musical
direction.
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