Why Metal music makes us happy

[MalevolentJim]

And DO NOT tell me "Oh you get used to it after a while" or "I can totally understand what they are saying" because that is a downright filthy no good stinking lie and you know it.

Nobody likes extreme metal on first listen.Nobody. It only makes sense that the fans are fans because they became desensitized to the screaming.OR they listened to softer bands (aka Slipknot or Avenged Sevenfold) who didn't scream as much.I found that after a long time of listening to those bands, I needed something heavier, more aggressive.So I eventually became an extreme metal fan.

Otherwise, while I was in the middle of the Slipknot/A7X stage I'd have shared the exact same opinion as you. And no, I don't understand the lyrics sometimes.I don't care either, as it's not what the main focus of the music is.It's the energy it's creating with the sound thats whats important in extreme metal and most hardcore rock.

EDIT:

Considering I'm going to THIS:

Seeya there buddy! This is my 3rd year going

 

[blankedboy]

I honestly don't care what genre of music a song or band is from, as long as it's good I'll listen to it. All these 'WAAAH THIS GENRE IS MISUNDERSTOOD' and 'WAAAH THIS GENRE SUCKS' and 'WAAAH MY GENRE IS BETTER THAN YOURS' arguments are just starting to get really pathetic. Who cares what genre it's from -.-

EDIT: The captcha had an accented 'e'. wut

 

[Nickolai77]

I tend not to like death, black or other extreme forms of metal because of growling or screaming vocals. I just doesn't sound nice, listening to most extreme forms of metal for more a few minutes makes me feel mentally sick, i just don't like the sound of it. I can however listen to screamo-growly vocals fine for a few seconds. I can appreciate it if screamo-growly vocals are part of the song being used for a purpose (e.g-to highlight pain or anger) but i quickly turn the song off if the entire song is growling vocals.



My tastes in metal lies roughly around the symphonic/power and prog metal zone (e.g: Tyr, Delain, Edguy, Blind Guardian and Ayreon) but i also like other heavy metal bands such as Rammstein and Iron Maiden, and a few select songs from other bands such as Der Apokalyptischen Reiter (probably one of Germany's best kept secrets) Eluvite and Megadeath.



(This song exemplifies about as far as i can go with screaming vocals)

Also, just dumping a few nice songs for the sake of it:

 

[Peter Donaldson]

me too!!! well not that album but morbid angel

 

[Zarmi]

Heavy fucking metal, all the way to the promised land of rock. The expression you brought, might actually be just why I love it as much as I do, it's the expression of chaos through order. And it just feels great. I think metal is great, but because it is what every other music genre is not. Pure. Fucking. Awesome.

"Metal. It is the roar of a thousand engines, howling with promise of satisfaction. It is the power of ten thousand exploding suns, and it kicks so much ass that even Duke Nukem would be ashamed." Qouted for truth.

 

[unoleian]

Do you 'get' metal and/or extreme metal?

I'd like to think I "get" metal, to a point. I much prefer something a little more melodic and understated than the grinding guitar static and double-bass hammering of what I think of when I think of "extreme" metal. The likes of Slayer are not a happy sound to my ears, and frankly I just don't like that sort of sound, and anything akin to it.

Are you a fan? Are you indifferent? or does it make want to scream 'ARGH TURN IT OFF!'?
I grew up on a heavy dose of progressive metal and the likes of nu-metal back when the sound was actually in style. The likes of TOOL, Korn, White Zombie, early Mudvayne and early Staind fueled my adolescence, so I do hold a fondness for those styles of metal. They are not my first choice for listening these days, but I keep them on standby in my iPod because sometimes I do desire those kinds of sounds. However, like I said, I just don't like really heavy, grinding, noise. I never enjoyed Slipknot or Slayer or the likes of Cannibal Corpse or what have you, just not for me. To that, I would say "Turn that off!!!" if I had a choice in the matter.

If you are a fan, tell us why and how it makes you feel to throw on some good old blast beats and death growls
Since I'm not really a fan, I can't really comment on this. But what little heavier music I've enjoyed has always made my face scrunch up in a strange sort of smiling anger every time I listen to it. I might even mildly headbang. Maybe.

To finish, I shall leave you with some sexy melodic death metal to make your eardrums happy

[--video--]
^Okay, that wasn't too bad, but a little too aggro right off the bat. I don't think it made my eardrums happy, it's just not the sounds for that job. It just doesn't do it for me, anymore. Somewhere along the way I developed a fondness for music of the electro persuasion, and I just can't look back anymore. Those are the sounds that make me happy. Strange, that I can get all kinds of down with the grinding static-like synths and deep bass sounds of, say, Justice (first thing I thought of), but the gridning, static-like guitar and thumping double bass of metal, well.....just not that into it. Go figure. *shrug*

 

[Julianking93]

snip

I completely agree with you, Miracle!
I always feel great when listening to metal. Sure, it sometimes gets me angry but never to the point of hurting something. Just a sort of release as you described it. I love listening to metal (progressive in particular) when in a good mood as it just helps me feel even better than I was. Even if it's angry release of emotions, it's good to get those feelings out ^-^

I can tell you for sure that listening to any amount of my personal god [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ws_h-xVI7U], I feel much happier.

 

[superbatranger]

Do you 'get' metal and/or extreme metal?
Sometimes I spend all day listening to melodic death metal, so yes I get extreme metal.
Are you a fan? Are you indifferent? or does it make want to scream 'ARGH TURN IT OFF!'?
Judging by the musical content of my Zune, I'd have to say I'm a fan. I don't know why, but it just gives me so much energy.
If you are a fan, tell us why and how it makes you feel to throw on some good old blast beats and death growls.

Because it all just pumps me up. In some songs, I get chills, the good kind, when listening to it. Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and just jam like crazy.

 

[MalevolentJim]

snip

I completely agree with you, Miracle!
I always feel great when listening to metal. Sure, it sometimes gets me angry but never to the point of hurting something. Just a sort of release as you described it. I love listening to metal (progressive in particular) when in a good mood as it just helps me feel even better than I was. Even if it's angry release of emotions, it's good to get those feelings out ^-^

I can tell you for sure that listening to any amount of my personal god [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ws_h-xVI7U], I feel much happier.

I am LOVING all the Devy-Love on this forum right now!

 

[Julianking93]

I am LOVING all the Devy-Love on this forum right now!

There's more Devy Love here? Fuck yeah!!!! But really, how could you not feel great when listening to this?

 

[Tennou486]

I do get extreme metal. Morbid Angel, Gorgoroth, Cannibal Corpse etc. All great. When I need a really big energy boost to get through the day, the more violent sounding and extreme it is, the better.

 

[Nouw]

Do you 'get' metal and/or extreme metal?
I love Metal since I'm very tolerant with music, favourite genre is Symphonic Power Metal. Rhapsody of Fire and Luca Turilli mostly. So yeah I like to think that I 'get' metal, it's a lovely musical genre.

Are you a fan? Are you indifferent? or does it make want to scream 'ARGH TURN IT OFF!'?
I'm more of a listener to metal than a fan. I am a fan of Power Metal though, once again Rhapsody and Luca.

If you are a fan, tell us why and how it makes you feel to throw on some good old blast beats and death growls
I just headbang or listen to it calmly, the type I listen to is the kind you hear on battles so it makes me want to grab a sword and charge screaming.

 

[Tennou486]

Slayer is death metal?

Some people classify them as death metal. They did have a big part in the development of the sound and chaotic feeling of it, so it makes sense in some cases.

 

[Josh Diaz]

did you know most people who listen to metal actually have a higher iq than those who listen to classical music AND it has the most sub genres of any genre of music plus who doesnt love songs about exploding heads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImGYCe6qwFA

 

[Josh Diaz]

well it thrash real thrash unlike thos wanna bes mettallica

 

[PurpleLeafRave]

Metal (particularly Death Metal) is probably the most mis-understood popular music genre I can think of, and has been since I was a kid in the 80s jumping up and down on my bed to Obituary and Slayer.

*Snip*

I love you. I'm going to show this topic to my parents.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

One of the reasons it may sound boring is that most of their songs are mainly based around the same four chords, speaking as someone who knows most of their material on guitar. I personally like it and find it catchy, but a lot of places will have parts that you could swear was from another song by them.

As for the singing, yeah the vocals can definitely get annoying. Shadows sounds better live in my opinion, and Zacky V. should really just keep away from the mic. He also looks like one of those goddamn street punks from the 90s.

Also, just curious, what would your definition of pop metal be? Attack Attack?

yeah, it's not like hey're bad or anything, just nothing about their music jumps out a me> I actually did see them live supporting Metallica a year and a half ago and I (and all 6 people I went with) just sat there during their set going 'meh'. It was like we all thoguht they weren;'t doing anything that Guns N Roses and Skid Row didn't already do better. But hey, it's all down to taste. I can certainly see the appeal!

Pop metal to me would be stuff like Type O Negative (yeah I know they're kinda goth too), Devin Townsend's latest album, Rob Zombie, Linkin Park. I enjoy a lot of it!

 

[Deathlisk]

I listen to some metal, manly death. Though for the most part I want the music to have a certain finesse.
Listen to bands like Opeth, In flames and Soilwork.
Only one of those have real finesse though.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

The reason people like metal is because of the music, and usually not the lyrics, (well non death metal any way) if you took out the lyrics, and put it better singers with comprehensible language (or no singers at all), it would sound better even to you.

That's a rather arrogant assumption to make about me and other fans and it's also very, very wrong.

There are plenty of bands who do both, mixing gutteral screams with melodic singing, such as Opeth or Strapping Young Lad, and I enjoy the growling parts just as much as the singing.

The actual singers do nothing for the songs except make them worse and alienate people from the genre.

Again not true. A lot of people enjoy the sound of growled or screamed vocals. If people didn't enjoy it no-one would do it.

There was a study on this about 4 years ago, but I can seem to recall were it was from (it said 80% of a group of 10000 people who considered themselves metal heads agreed that the songs sounded better with out the screemo. (i think is may have been in new scientist magazine but I am not sure)

I my self am into the genre but when I found out that I could take out the lyrics on some songs, I simply listened to the music with out the singers.

I would imagine that study was performed by either

a) Idiots

or

b) People who didn't like the stuff in the first place

I love me some death growls, bro!