The metalhead in me (II)

So, in the last post I was talking about my metal background, how much fun it was to be in a metal band, and how my catalogue of familiar metal bands grew larger and more badass. I became the kind of person who would read comments like " I don't trust anyone who doesn't like Slayer (Mike Patton)" and get it, even endorse it, haha!

I belong to the type who understand metal, but I can't say I like all of it equally. There's one aspect of certain types of metal that makes it hard for me to enjoy it thoroughly: the singing, that's where I draw the line. I don't mind rough vocals, I actually quite enjoy them, but when the vocals lose the melody, then I lose interest in the song as a whole and start focusing on particular bits, like the guitar riffs, or the drums, and that's when it dawns on you how crazy some of that music is from the technical point of view. ¿Morbid Angel's drums?... I mean, ¡dude! Let alone pretty much every single guitarist in the genre.

Now, let's tackle the question that common folk (by that I only mean non-metalheads) are dying to ask when exposed to this kind of extreme music for the first time. You can see an expression of disgust in their faces, like they just ate something very sour, and also of confusion... They mostly wonder WHY? Why so loud? Why so fast? Why so heavy? Why so angry? Why are they trying to scare people?

I guess lots of people think metal music is the opposite of nice, and to an extend, I agree. The point is, nice is not exclusively the goal when you're making art, you're mostly expressing yourself, and life can be anything but nice sometimes, right? Some kinds of Metal explore dark corners of the human experience and make something out of it, it's all there anyway ("just because I don't say it don't mean I ain't thinking it", as Mr Mustaine would say), why not deal with it? Reality is still stranger than metal, so I don't really find it scary, rather say it's food for thought. I think Slayer is in order again (two things: first, Mike Patton knows his stuff, let me tell you, and second, this video is not an apology of anything so don't even go there):

I'm gonna finish my post by telling how I got the idea for it in the first place. My darling Bo was telling me about how listening to Paradise Lost's Gothic and Morbid Angel's Blessed are the Sick albums helped him to cope with his father's death and the unbearable sadness that came with it. He used the word "rescued", actually. That's quite something.

The healing power of music knows not about genres, I guess is my point, and every music style has a "soul" regardless of us understanding it or not. It's a matter of keeping an open mind. Take a look at this last video, it will lighten you mood. A new genre is coming: Banjo Metal!