Why do people like metal so much?

[Watershed]

I listen to a wide range of music (I've had Happy Hardcore Radio on for the last few hours, for example), but I enjoy metal the best, from clean vocals, to growling, to screaming. I guess I like it for the aggression, and the energy. It helps me vent frustration. But there's also beauty in it, especially those bands that treat it as an art (Eyes Set to Kill and Alesana come to mind. Both have two singers: one clean, and one screamer/growler)

Thanks for the recommendations. I just checked out Eyes Set to Kill on Spotify and they're ace! Will have to listen to Alesana later as well.

OT: I love most metal but I'm more into prog or melodic metal, so I love bands like Dream Theater, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and InFlames. Dream Theater have clean lyrics, you might enjoy them if you can get used to songs that last 15 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYYEcIf0QP8

 

[Durxom]

-snip-

yes there is more of it its called power metal and its awesome i suggest listening to kamelot and blind guardian if you enjoy hammerfall.

also i never got this type of metal where they all sound like their pigs with throat cancer. screaming whee whee like a pig =/= cool

I would just like to say, thank you everyone for sharing your opinions on this and letting me know about all this these other sorts of bands. And while I still don't like the whole growling voice part of it, I can still appreciate the people for liking metal in general for all the instrumentals it all has. I'm probably going to go over to the store today and pick up a CD or two now thanks to all the suggestions.

And at least now I know the type of metal that I like now xD

 

[FlipC]

Yes, I already know there is a metal thread going on, but I'm wanting to ask a specific question with this one.
--snip--
So in ending, why do you like metal so much? and also, can you recommend any that is more closer to my tastes?

Because it's malleable, durable and sometimes can be very shiny... oh you meant the music well in that case because it's malleable, durable and sometimes can be very shiny.

See that could have been funny if Blandman hadn't beaten me to it... Damn you Blandman [shakes fist] ;-)

For me I like the fast beat, I like that although each thread can be repetitive the total threads are often merged to produce something complex that my brain likes to try and pull apart. Likewise I prefer lyrics I can understand to that end I think some of the classics still stand.

 

[the Dept of Science]

I like metal, but I dislike metalheads. In total I have about 20 metal albums (a mix of classic metal and new stuff that has got critical acclaim outside of normal metal circles, like Mastodon, Sunn O))), High on Fire and Boris) because I think metal is good for a certain mood or situation. Getting yourself pumped up, when you're angry, when your driving on the motorway etc. On the other hand, variety is the spice of life and there are just a lot of times when metal doesn't seem to fit the mood. If I'm relaxing, some indie pop, folk or jazz is probably better. If I'm at a party, some pop, classic rock or electronica would be better.
Also, a lot of the time I find that metal has become too formulaic. Palm muted lower strings, cromatic scales, blast beating, dark lyrics, either growled or screached vocals, very fast guitar solos, heavy distortion, lots of technical skill. For that reason, I think its only good in small doses, and have to vary it up with lots of other genres.
On the subject of technical skill, first of all I think it can be overrated (its in no way necessary for a song to be technically skilled in order for it to be good), and secondly I think you can find just as much of it in jazz, folk, electronica, indie rock (post-rock/math rock) and rap.

Heavenly

Heavenly?

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

For me, it's just because I do. I can't even put my finger on why metal sounds good while nothing else does.

It's not just heavy stuff, either. I'm just as at home with Slipknot or Megadeth as I am Foo Fighters or Stone Temple Pilots. I do draw the line at screamo, though. I can't handle most of Slipknot's older stuff because Corey screams too damn much. I listen to music to hear singing, not screaming. Any yahoo can scream.

Funny thing, not every yahoo can scream. The screaming you hear in metal and all that emo stuff is quite hard to do without blowing your voice. Something to do with singing from the stomach.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

And while I still don't like the whole growling voice part of it, I can still appreciate the people for liking metal in general for all the instrumentals it all has.

Just as a side-note: What preconceptions do you have about singing and music making in general?

The reason for asking is because a lot of people who dislike growling vocals often maintain that "real singing" is supposed to sound "clean", "pretty" or "beautiful".

And I for one wish to say that they are wrong in this regard. Not that they are wrong to not liking growled vocals (we all have different tastes of course), but the preconcepion that singing or musical art in general is supposed to sound "pretty" or "clean" to be good music is a false one.

Not all art has to be "pretty", some art do and should be more raw, ugly and even headache inducing. Because the purpose of art is to evoke emotions in the beholder (or in the case of music: the listener). The emotions doesn't have to be pleasurable either. It's just that if you have the ability to appreciate the fact that it DOES evoke particular emotions in a crafty way, then you'll probably find the piece of art to be of good quality in general, even if the particular emotions aren't very pleasurable.

Of course, you might already be well aware of this, but I think it's a decent argument to put out there anyway because people tend to have a lot of preconceptions about what music is "supposed to be" like.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Because it's tough and extremely durable, as well as being highly versatile and can be used for huge range of needs, such as building bridges.

...Wait...you meant the music?

Hehe, you know, those things you mentioned do apply to the music genre as well as the building material.

If I was slaving away at a bridge construction site every day I would have some slipknot blasting through my headphones as long as I didn't do a particular task which I needed my hearing to complete.

In fact, when im out doing something in the workshop, I listen to metal. Few activies are as manly as when you're in a workshop with welding and grinding sparks flying across your body as you're beating/grinding/welding a piece of steel into submission and having some heavy metal music blasting in the background. XD

 

[WrongSprite]

So you like some metal genres and not others? Welcome to the club of everyone. You're not going to like everything, that's your opinion and taste, fair enough. I'm a death/groove/black metal chap myself.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Personally I like thrash metal most, especially Anthrax. I love Anthrax. I also like classic heavy metal/NWOBHM type stuff, like Motorhead, 'Maiden and Thin Lizzy (debatable if they're a metal band though). Of course, I listen to other types (for instance, I'm a massive Mastodon fan, and I've been getting into Kyuss by recommendation of Furburt), but the whole Scandinavian thing takes itself far too seriously and is far too cheesy for me to love it. The image is awful.

To be honest, any heavier than Devildriver and it's really just noise to me.

The stuff I love appeals to me because it's just good. I can't really explain much more than that. The riffs are great, the tone is great, it usually doesn't take itself too seriouly, the lyrics are great, the technical skill is there but not usually too show-off-y.

 

[Durxom]

And while I still don't like the whole growling voice part of it, I can still appreciate the people for liking metal in general for all the instrumentals it all has.

-snip-

While I don't like or generally hate all of the growly voices (some people have made me listen to some that I liked, just can't remember the band name), I'm usually someone is open to all types of music, either it be country, jazz, rock etc. as long as its catchy or click inside my head. Most of the growly voiced metal songs don't seem to hit that one special spot for me, and while a few might, stuff like Hammerfall seemed to have a lot easier time doing it.

So in short, I don't really care what music sounds like, harsh or soft, as long as it hits that one spot, I'll listen to it over and over

 

[rt052192]

what do you mean "you people"?

Well, metal is epic, whereas everything else, with some exceptions, are not

 

[Zorg Machine]

I would classify Hammerfall as heavy rock and Amon Amarth is just the kid of music that I can't stand.
I can listen to any kind of music genre except for metal. There's just something about it that I find annoying and I have never been able to finish a true metal song.

 

[motormind]

I love metal. Especially mercury. You gotta love a fluid in which even bowling balls float!

 

[Bruin]

Because it sends shivers down my spine, and leaves me in awe of the musicians skill.
Because I can relate to the emotion.
Because one moment, it can be soothing and melodic, and the next, harsh and aggressive.
Because I look for more meaning in my music than "Oooh baby, yeah".

That is why I love it.

Because it's loud and the few that truly like it push it onto their other friends that it's good. It's rebellious and the new audience of metal is within the age ranges of enjoying things that are rebellious.

Musically, it's a train-wreck. I think it's more so a genre built off of a belief system, not the music itself, I think.

Personally I'd rather listen to orchestral music than the bellowing and caterwauling of somebody named "Ogre" who doesn't wear a shirt.

If you can call this caterwauling and a train-wreck, I pity you.


No, that music is just cheesy and we should have left it behind in 1990.

Everybody feels as if they can "relate" with metal, for some reason. I've come to the conclusion that everybody has either gone through a traumatic experience that is not dissimilar to a live action version of "Dante's Inferno" or everybody just thinks they have.

Personally, the majority of new metal these days does not interest me. I draw the metal line at Alice in Chains and Ozzy. Like I said, screaming into a microphone is not much different than doing karaoke on acid, running a butterknife across your guitar is almost more boring and less skillful than Guitar Hero and repeatedly playing the E string on a bass is perhaps one of the worst examples of talent there is.

So, let's recap:

Not all metal is bad, no. Unnecessarily angsty music is bad; of whatever genre, at least that's what I think. If all your songs concern death when the only real death you've experienced is the death of a pet, you should not be making music. And generally the saddest musicians who have felt the pain of loss don't slam their faces into their guitars to assuage the pain or otherwise mold their sadness into something.

It seems to me like a different branch of the black-wearing, never-tanning, spiky-wristbanded "Angry 80s-90s Music" Tree, just beyond "Grunge" and "Screamo".

Not that I think its arch nemesis, Rap, is any better, or their twisted half-brother Pop.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Well I don't like all types of metal. Death core and Metalcore get pretty damn boring very quickly, and I hate nearly all vocalists from either genre. I think a great example of the typical metal vocal style done right is Randy blythe from Lamb of God.
If that was clean singing it wouldn't be half as epic.

I like it when it fits the tone, something grim or relentlessly angry, and with some emotion behind it. Way too many metal bands just have growling for the sake of it, and without any emotion it's nothing. That's what makes it work.

 

[Vilcus]

Screamo and Grindcore (and whatever else is horribly simmilar to them), make my ears bleed. However, the ones where you can hear their lyrics, and they don't just go for that heavy sound are awesome. I also love any song that sounds like I could fight to it.

 

[BlackStar42]

No, that music is just cheesy and we should have left it behind in 1990.

Everybody feels as if they can "relate" with metal, for some reason. I've come to the conclusion that everybody has either gone through a traumatic experience that is not dissimilar to a live action version of "Dante's Inferno" or everybody just thinks they have.

Personally, the majority of new metal these days does not interest me. I draw the metal line at Alice in Chains and Ozzy. Like I said, screaming into a microphone is not much different than doing karaoke on acid, running a butterknife across your guitar is almost more boring and less skillful than Guitar Hero and repeatedly playing the E string on a bass is perhaps one of the worst examples of talent there is.

So, let's recap:

Not all metal is bad, no. Unnecessarily angsty music is bad; of whatever genre, at least that's what I think. If all your songs concern death when the only real death you've experienced is the death of a pet, you should not be making music. And generally the saddest musicians who have felt the pain of loss don't slam their faces into their guitars to assuage the pain or otherwise mold their sadness into something.

It seems to me like a different branch of the black-wearing, never-tanning, spiky-wristbanded "Angry 80s-90s Music" Tree, just beyond "Grunge" and "Screamo".

Not that I think its arch nemesis, Rap, is any better, or their twisted half-brother Pop.

James Hetfield saw a bus fall on his friend and bassist Cliff Burton, and wrote several songs about it. He also wrote the song "The God That Failed" about the death of his mother. Thomas Youngblood wrote the song "Don't You Cry" about the death of his father. So yes, musicians do mold their sadness into something. And no-one said to relate to a song, it has to be about death- I love the song The Cage, which is about freedom.

As many people have said before, not all metal is screaming- Simone Simons, Roy Khan and Tarja Turunen are all classically trained opera singers. I don't know where you get this "butterknife across the guitar" image from- metal songs are definitely the hardest to learn on guitar. I know from experience.

 

[Bruin]

James Hetfield saw a bus fall on his friend and bassist Cliff Burton, and wrote several songs about it. He also wrote the song "The God That Failed" about the death of his mother. Thomas Youngblood wrote the song "Don't You Cry" about the death of his father. So yes, musicians do mold their sadness into something. And no-one said to relate to a song, it has to be about death- I love the song The Cage, which is about freedom.

As many people have said before, not all metal is screaming- Simone Simons, Roy Khan and Tarja Turunen are all classically trained opera singers. I don't know where you get this "butterknife across the guitar" image from- metal songs are definitely the hardest to learn on guitar. I know from experience.

I haven't heard their music.

And you misread my post. I didn't say musicians don't make music about death, I said the majority of those who write songs about death haven't truly felt the pain of it, especially in metal. Writing deplorable songs with overdone lyrics and bad guitar solos being among the most unfitting tribute to your dead of them all. Not that rappers don't do the same in their own style, or Pop stars who recently loss their pet hamster. But this thread isn't about them.

I'm talking about the people who have the audacity to call their work "music" when it's a series of bad shredding solos with the amplifier entirely on "Grain", taking breaks to scream like a howler monkey into the microphone.