Death metal performers and fans

[Psykoma]

I've just seen children of bodom (3x), amon amarth (1x), opeth (2x) and angra (1x) (yes, not death metal, I know).
The bands seemed so much fun.
Bodom would always be moving in and out of each other and just joking around (alexi even tried speaking french for us (in quebec) )
amon amarth were always smiling (they tried the french too, and generally joking around. They literally seemed so happy to be there.
Angra was fun because it was a really small crowd so we were allowed literally to sit on the stage while they played. The guitarist even used a wireless guitar for one song and literally ran through and around the crowd while playing. So much fun.

But my favorite by far was opeth. Not only because it's my favorite band, but also because Akerfeldt is *hilarious* inbetween songs. Whether he's doing a comedy routine for a few minutes, or teaching the audience how to do death growls, he is just awesome.


Although the crowds have been very hit and miss for me. For the opeth/bodom/amon amarth concerts, there have been the occasional mosh pits, and they've always been horrible for me. No matter what, I always get stuck inbetween the 3-4 ridiculously rotund fans jumping around. So ick.

 

[peruvianskys]

I think the stigma is dumb, but it's understandable at least.

 

[sunsetspawn]

Although the crowds have been very hit and miss for me. For the opeth/bodom/amon amarth concerts, there have been the occasional mosh pits, and they've always been horrible for me. No matter what, I always get stuck inbetween the 3-4 ridiculously rotund fans jumping around. So ick.

Moshing at Opeth? Surely you jest! Last time I saw Opeth the crowd stared in amazment and wonder the whole time. Now the last time I saw Nile I almost got my head caved in.

 

[WaReloaded]

All that I need to say is that George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher, lead vocalist for Cannibal Corpse, is an avid WoW player and a family man. He even has the Horde symbol tattooed on his forearm.

I love Death Metal and I'm not a sociopath, I hate the misconception.

Corpsegrinder's tattoo in clear view.

Spoiler

 

[MisterGobbles]

Most people who listen to death metal are geniuses. A lot aren't, but that's the general consensus I'm seeing.

I think your friend meant more along the lines of the mosh pits are the show, which can be extremely dangerous and definitely aren't for anyone. I've never been to a dedicated death metal show (saw The Contortionist with a bunch of prog bands but that doesn't count), but I'm seeing Cannibal Corpse next week and I expect the pits to be absolutely insane.

But really, these metal bands are extremely nice, social people, and the people are go are generally cool too. We just all get a little crazy when the music starts playing.

 

[MutetheDrunk]

I can't take them seriously.
"Death Metal". "Cannibal Corpse". "Children of Bodom" (I mean, really? Naming yourself after a murder? CHILDREN OF SOME GUY WHO MURDERED A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS!). "Dethlok". It's a fucking joke.

There's also Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, and Opeth. I'm not really a death metal person myself, I prefer folk metal. Anyway, I don't listen to Cannibal Corpse, but at the same time I think these guys were having fun when coming up with their name, and their material. You probably know this already, but Bodom is a lake, it can't be a male or be capable of giving birth. I personally don't see the problem in taking inspiration from a murder case/urban legend. It's sort of like a "watcha gonna do" type of thing. As for Dethklok, you're spot on, it is indeed supposed to be a joke.

 

[MisterGobbles]

Well, death metal is my favourite musical genre, and I do admit I am mostly anti-social. That doesn't mean I live in a basement with a sacrificial altar and plotting murder sprees (sure, that might be more of a black metal stereotype, but it still applies). I think the big problem with all of this is a clash of cultures. A lot of people listen to music solely for the voice and lyrics. With death metal, vocals and lyrics take a back seat, since every little detail is often treated as a whole equally. So lyrics aren't meant to be the focus and the be-all and end-all. So people who don't have this line of thinking go in with the idea everyone listens to such music to hear lyrics concerning murder, gore, destruction and many other extreme things, when really it is meant to simply support the music itself.

At least that is one of the theories I have come up with. It might also be because of the general appearance death metal fans take. I myself have very long hair, often wear military-style clothing and black work boots. When I walk around town, I sometimes attract odd looks from people, like I am something completely unknown to them. This by itself also conjures up incorrect rumours and ignorance I suppose.

Pretty much. I mean the music itself is aggressive as well, but people who assume the lyrics and vocals are the main focus are missing the point completely.

We listen because of this:


And sometimes the lyrics can be pretty deep and thought provoking, when they're not about killing people.

Also, I look like an innocent nerd wearing black band t-shirts. Nothing threatening here.

 

[Vault101]

Most people who listen to death metal are geniuses. A lot aren't, but that's the general consensus I'm seeing.
.

really?

I dont know..I used to like some metal but I'm really not into the genre

 

[DragonLordSerge]

I think the metal community as a whole has great ppl that are often just looked at sociopaths or like some one pointed out satanist but theres great christian metal divine fire comes to mind to me the metal community is like a big family and while most are good ppl that will treat you like a brother in the mosh pit there are asses that set churches on fire

 

[Ando85]

I found something very interesting about the band Slayer. Though not death metal per say I guess it fits into thrash metal, but that is beside the point.

The band is very anti-religion and anti-Christianity. Hell, one of their albums is "God Hates Us All". The thing is the lead singer Tom Araya is actually catholic. Though it might seem hypocritical he puts his own beliefs aside for his band. The lyrics really don't reflect how he really is as a person and his beliefs.

The point I think is partially shock value. This is true for a lot of bands. Cannibal Corpse like we discussed already includes some very violent and vulgar lyrics. "I Cum Blood" speaks for itself. It is over the top and extreme, but it isn't meant to be taken seriously. That is what makes it fun.

 

[Psykoma]

Although the crowds have been very hit and miss for me. For the opeth/bodom/amon amarth concerts, there have been the occasional mosh pits, and they've always been horrible for me. No matter what, I always get stuck inbetween the 3-4 ridiculously rotund fans jumping around. So ick.

Moshing at Opeth? Surely you jest! Last time I saw Opeth the crowd stared in amazment and wonder the whole time. Now the last time I saw Nile I almost got my head caved in.

Seriously! Thats what we thought, we went right up to the stage because we were under the impression thay 'oh theres no way anyone would mosh when opeth is up there, it's opeth!'

Then they came on the stage. Started with masters apprentices and oh. My. God. There was nowhere in the standing area safe from the mosh.

On the more mellow songs (or more mellow parts of songs) people would just stare in awe, but get to the heavy parts and total mosh central ensued.

Oh yeah, for the encore on one of the shows they came back out and played Black Rose Immortal *total squealing*

 

[Fappy]

I never realized there were so many metal fans around here until now. This makes me

 

[Zhandarr]

I love the metal crowd. I've expanded my tastes a bit but I'm a metal kid at heart, just because the music and people are amazing. I was at Sonisphere in 2011 and I was wearing a Slipknot shirt on the last day when they were performing, and I walked past a guy who I'd never met before wearing the same shirt. He pointed at the shirt, shouted "HEEEYYYYY", gave me a high five and one of the 3 hot dogs he was holding. It was a good day x]

I love mosh pits myself. The roughest pit I've ever been in wasn't even a death metal concert, it was at a Rise Against gig last November. I've been in pits at Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and Opeth and I don't know why but the RA one nearly destroyed me D: But like mentioned before, the guy who accidentally knocks you down is always the first guy to pick you back up. I fell down in a Protest The Hero mosh pit and about 9 guys instantly grabbed me back on my feet.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Snip.

That has to be the most retarded thing I've ever seen. I didn't know mosh pits were just flailing around pathetically. Also it's more likely M-Ket than MDMA, everyone knows that.

OT: You can't complain about the way the music you listen to reflects on you. The music itself is really intimidating and the band members often are too, even if they are lovable off stage. Then you have the people who actively partake in that idea who then become the image for that genre.

Most music suffers the same fate. You link classical music to the posh, rich and refined; you link rap with gangs and gang culture; you link pop music with young children. It's just the way it works.

 

[Latinidiot]

Snip.

That has to be the most retarded thing I've ever seen. I didn't know mosh pits were just flailing around pathetically. Also it's more likely M-Ket than MDMA, everyone knows that.

OT: You can't complain about the way the music you listen to reflects on you. The music itself is really intimidating and the band members often are too, even if they are lovable off stage. Then you have the people who actively partake in that idea who then become the image for that genre.

Most music suffers the same fate. You link classical music to the posh, rich and refined; you link rap with gangs and gang culture; you link pop music with young children. It's just the way it works.

To be honest that looked like a really silly pit, it doesn't even deserve the name, but you gotta give a flailing man some space to flail, and if people join in, you have a pit.
I like pits, they're absolutely exilerating, amnd a great way to lose steam.
I have only once been scared during a pit, and that wasn't formy own safety. There was this guy just wandering through the pit with his eyes closed, just getting shoved around and punched by people who werent specifically targeting him or anything, they just were pitting. I wondered if he was high, and I should help him out, but luckily he wasn't and after a minute more of taking hits he just left, smiling contently.

Music was crap though, it was some metalcore band that was still starting out, and the quality of the sound wasn't too good either.

 

[TTMichael18]

Music doesn't determine the person. I know Death Metal fans who are wankers, and I know Death Metal fans who are great people. At concerts, there's usually always one dickhead. But even if you're not a fan of the music, it's still good to go. I took my mate to a Bad Religion/Street Dogs/Strung Out concert (he doesn't like Punk at all) and he had a great time.

 

[TTMichael18]

I can't take them seriously.
"Death Metal". "Cannibal Corpse". "Children of Bodom" (I mean, really? Naming yourself after a murder? CHILDREN OF SOME GUY WHO MURDERED A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS!). "Dethlok". It's a fucking joke.

Maybe you should check out Morpheus Descends or Nader Sadek if the other names eek you out.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

You know really I'm surprised no one has mentioned the current situation with Randy Blythe, lead singer of Lamb of God. He's being held in the Czech Republic on charges of manslaughter due to a concert attendee allegedly being pushed by Randy off stage into the crowd where he subsequently died from head trauma. Although video shows a slightly different take (security seems to be the one who pushed the guy).
Anyway... This, to me, is a travesty and Randy is still being held despite having made bail. Moreover I think the negative minority elements of the metal genre are working against Randy at this point, painting a bad picture. Just because someone writes hard edged, dark music doesn't always mean that person is a violent psychopath and neither does it mean the people who listen to said music are that as well. Sure there might be some people who are like that, but it isn't the music that "turns" them into nutbags. Same as video games, movies and books, they don't influence people to become sociopaths. Generally speaking sociopaths exist first, and find things that feed into their traumatized psyches. Blaming music/books/games/movies is just weak.
Anyway, I am holding out that Randy gets off on this having met him outside a concert before Lamb of God was well known and popular, and I just can't see him intentionally harming someone like that. If anything, if he did push the guy, most likely it was more self-defense considering what happened to Dimebag.