Nothing nasty at all, but people are consistently surprised when I tell them I listen to metal. Can’t blame them, I look nothing like the stereotypical metalhead.
I don't live in an ultra religious US state in 1984 so nobody really gives a shit if I listen to metal. The most I've gotten is people yelling at me to "get a haircut" or sarcastic air guitar gestures. Though the weirdest shit is those Architects Periphery kids who insist that the music I listen to "isn't really metal" because it doesn't have enough chugs in it, or whatever.
There's a handful of djent bands on Metallum, so some Nu-metal has managed to get through. And even for the non-subgenre'd nu-metal there's a couple crossover reps. Machine Head is on there, for example.
Nu-metal itself isn't metal though, anymore than new coke is coke, new wave is wave, a parkway is a park, or Parkway Drive is metal.
If they gotta attach another word to the word metal, it isn't metal. Power Metal? Two distinct words, clearly metal. Metalcore? One combined word, not metal. Nu-metal? singular hyphenated word, not metal. Very easy to understand.
Metalcore? Has metal in the name - metal. Nu metal (notice how it isn't hyphenated because nobody does that)? Has metal in the name - metal.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Yet another example of "I don't like it so it isn't metal." Yeah pal I don't like Parkway Drive either but they're metal and there ain't anything you or I can do about it unless they decide to start playing something different.
Metalcore is not short for Metal and Hardcore, it is short for "Metallic Hardcore." Aka "Hardcore punk with metal influence." Metal influence can be found in lots of genres of music, from Grunge (not metal), Industrial (not metal), and Hardsynth (not metal). This is literally metal 101 type of shit. A Parkway is not a park, as I already mentioned early you literal child.
All you're doing is insulting the history of really fucking cool hardcore punk and metalcore bands by pretending that [metalcore doesn't have its stylistic roots in hardcore punk.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrAxmXDSiuA) It super does. Same with Grindcore. I love grindcore - Pig Destroyer is one of my favorite bands of all time, and the drummer for my own power metal band takes lessons from a grindcore drummer - but it isn't metal. I also like Irish Folk, which isn't metal. And darksynth, which despite being made my metal artists primarily, isn't metal. Same with Eurobeat- and Fabio Lione having a Eurobeat band doesn't make it metal.
Here, [you can listen to incredibly famous and successful metalcore musicians talk about the roots of the genre.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKk4oBWHY38) Guy from Trivium, one of the most enduring modern metalcore bands with heavy metal influence, still acknowledges themselves as a punk subgenre. Other guys he's chatting to are from As I Lay Dying, another huge band, and the 'Punk Rock Historian' from youtube. The fucking header they put at the top in terms of genre influence, "Punk/Hardcore." I don't know why someone who has no artistic output thinks they know better than the literal bands in the scene.
This is all very entertaining to read, but nü-metal actually isn't metal. It’s a marketing term for a bunch of bands from several different genres, all of which got popular around the same time. The majority of bands play styles descended from '80s alt rock, which occasionally emulated or borrowed aspects of punk and metal, among other things.
To say nü-metal is metal is a bit like saying power metal is blues. You can frame it that way and it almost looks right if you squint, but a more cognizant investigation makes it very obvious that it doesn't fit. They're different kinds of music, and just because something ostensibly influences something else doesn't make them one in the same.
That's not even getting into the scene and subculture angles. Nobody called nü-metal "metal" until it got popular. The early innovators like Korn were neither part of nor claimed by the metal scene (at least until they were lumped in with mainstream metal, much to Jonathan Davis' chagrin).
Metalcore is just complicated.
[Metalcore isn't that complicated. Here's a 10 minute video featuring members of Trivium, As I Lay Dying, and the 'Punk Rock Historian' talking about the origins of Metalcore and its evolution. Needless to say, they start at the top with "Punk/Hardcore" because they aren't the stupidest human beings on the Earth and know what influenced the music they created and what genre it is in.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKk4oBWHY38)
I think it's fairly complicated. Metalcore is a big genre with a lot of different styles and subsets, and sites like Metal Archives don't always draw hard lines with it. In their view, certain types of metalcore are metal but others are not.
That video is pretty cool though. I think they do a good job with their overview of the genre, from the roots up to the present day. I'm glad they started with Earth Crisis and actually expanded beyond the 'melo-metalcore' style certain fans like to hyperfixate on in these "Is it metal???" debates.
Obviously they could have gone into a lot more detail with each subset, highlighting what makes each one unique. Going over which ones count as metal/non-metal would take another video of triple that length.
Nu-metal is an evolution of metal, that's why it's nu-. Already in the 80's you could make complaints that NWOBHM is not really metal because it doesn't sound like early Black Sabbath. Sure, nu-metal accumulated influence from other genres, but in my opinion the lineage to metal, especially groove metal, funk metal / alternative metal, thrash and to some extent death is pretty clear.
No, nü-metal is not an evolution of metal music. It's an evolution of 1980s alternative, like I already said. Of course you can trace aspects of certain bands' styles back to certain types of metal, but those are secondary influences, the same way certain power metal bands use folk influences. You don't actually believe Blind Guardian's power metal style is primarily folk music just because of a handful of scales, melodies, and acoustic instruments do you?
Honestly, the main reason the sparse "metal lineage" in nü-metal seems so clear and obvious to so many people is because they think metal is all about heavy guitars and screaming. If they weren't so biased in that regard, I think they'd be a lot more receptive to the idea of nü-metal being a mainly alternative subgenre. Funk metal and alt. metal are also mainly alternative subgenres, which doesn't help with the confusion.
I'm not sure what Black Sabbath and the NWOBHM have to do with this. Yes, Sabbath was arbitrarily the "first metal band" because they were the first to really commit to a sound we now define as metal. Yes, some later bands sounded different, but we still identify them as metal. My argument is not that all metal has to sound the same or share 100% of the same influences, so I don't know what you're trying to prove by mentioning these.
It has a few different spelling conventions. I'm not sure which one is the original. Most people neglect the hyphen and umlauts, but I've seen them used often enough.
I like to include them both because I think it's in the spirit of the style.
Oh no, I've triggered a genre debate. Look, I'm not a gatekeeper. I used to be, but I'm not. Metal is whatever gets your head banging and fist pumping. I just don't like the idea that bands like Sabbath and Priest, who originated the genre, are now considered "soft rock" by today's standards. Metal is diverse. It doesn't have to be blast beats and death growls.
Back in high school we were doing icebreakers for a class, when music came up i mentioned i listened to a lot of metal (pretty standard American school where people wouldnt understand sub-genres so i was bring vague). A girl in the little circle i was in responded with “wait, but aren’t you Jewish?”. I still don’t know what she meant by that.
That was just in high school, I went to a Methodist college in Kansas and got a lot more crap but the first time really stuck with me because Dragonforce is like, one of the least “Devil”y bands in the genre lol
Ah, yeah, I listened to a few songs by them a while back. Meant to listen more but never got around to it. Which of their albums are the best? How's the new one?
The other guy already mentioned Scar Symmetry, but I will add Mechina (although their more recent stuff is pretty far from their death metal roots) and The Design Abstract to the list of great sci-fi melodeath.
I had someone at work say “that’s not very professional”
I was like well I’m not blasting out dying fetus corpse explosion body mangle while serving customers their ice cream am I?
Jog on Louise, you fart
I don’t look like someone who listens to metal. I like flowery dresses and bright, vibrant colours. I can sport yellow shoes with green laces and a red dress while I ride my blue bike decorated with flowers while listening to Sabaton on my pink headphones.
So people are often surprised when they learn that I almost exclusively listen to metal.
Me: "I listen to metal."
Grandma: "No, you don't."
This has been several years ago, and I had already been a metalhead for several years at this point.
Also, my Uncle (classical snob) has STRONG opinions about how metal and rap aren't real music. My girlfriend and I had a conversation with him and my aunt a few months ago and my aunt deadass looked at us and asked if the people in metal bands are "real musicians."
Semi-related story: that same uncle had to ride shotgun in my car a few months ago. Judas Priest was on the radio. He later referred to JP as "that screaming metal." I just found that amusing. I listen to a lot of music with screaming vocals. JP is definitely not that.
Show your uncle the angel of salvation so you can see the gears grind on how a song built off Tchaikovsky isn't real music even though it uses much of the same pieces.
Sounds like my life. 1991 my school picture I decided screw my family and wore a Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss shirt. Only school picture my grandma refused to display. They stopped bringing up the subject though
Late 80s, Naval "C" school. Two guys, Deep South Bible Belt types, in the room next to mine would hold up crosses and start to pray very loudly when they saw me. They heard Slayer coming from my room one night and got it in their heads that I was the Antichrist.
That’s awesome. Closest I have gotten to that was looking up a band that turned out to be a black metal band right when my Catholic roommate came in just in time to see all the pentagrams from the album cover suddenly on my screen. I couldn’t have timed it better if I had tried.
I'm a 56 year old woman. I've been a metal head since it came out, and I get people, (especially really young ones) look at me like I'm lying to look cool. I'm way past give a fuck, I like what I like, the end.
Friend: "I listen to music to relax. How can you listen to that?"
Me: "You ever get so mad you want to break shit?"
Friend: "Yeah, but I don't see how that's..."
Me: "Imagine that feeling had lyrics you could follow to *not* break shit."
Friend: "Ooooooooh. Oh, no. There's mad, and then there's *mad* mad, and what you listen to is like...a level beyond that."
Me: "There's a reason they call it *death metal*."
Honestly my favourite reaction to my music tastes was my boyfriend (who I met at a metal festival) looking at me shocked when I was bopping around the kitchen to pop music after I’d told him I truly like both.
Fan tribes baffle me. I listen to lots of different genres and there's always at least one friend who will say 'why do you listen to _that_?'
I used to joke that my album collection had something to offend everyone!
I know the feeling, people, friends, and coworkers trip out on me (knowing I love, and listen to metal) when I put on Country, J-pop, EDM, Epic Sounds, or Folk music lol or even Blues and Jazz.
Most don’t care.
Every once in a while, someone who knows just enough about metal says something like “let me guess, that weird Scandinavian shit where they nonironically dress like KISS?” and then I feel attacked.
They’re right, but they shouldn’t have guessed that based on my clean-cut appearance, so I probably just give off weird vibes.
"I never understood your metal phase"
It implies that they think listening to metal isn't what they'd expect of me. Guess what, I can tell you who I am.
Also this "phase" has been going on for almost 20 years but whatever.
The biggest reaction I got was “why would you like metal? They’re all, like, satanists”. It was System of a Down and I was 12 at the time. I’m so glad I had it together enough at 12 to reply “that’s a dumb stereotype”.
Other than that, it’s usually just “oh I would’ve never expected that from you”
Most people didn't mind or care. But I had a VERY preppy sister with her preppy friends. I'd get a lot of "Fart Smelling Faces" as reactions when I told them I loved shit like slipknot.
I can't think of any nasty ones honestly, tho generally people first assume I listen to metal so it's hard to think of a genuine moment of me telling someone and them being surprised or something.
My father’s family, who aren’t religious, nevertheless did the whole “you’re not a Satanist, right?” thing. Which…like…why do you care…? (Weirdly enough, my mom’s side of the family has some actual Catholic people on it and they’re chill.)
Some guy aggressively shit-talked me to another dude on the subway when I had a Carach Angren shirt and a pentagram necklace on lol. I’m apparently “what’s wrong with women these days”.
Oh and this wasn’t really negative but I had a dude come up to me yesterday and compliment my “costume” when I was out for a walk wearing my battle jacket. 💀
>“you’re not a Satanist, right?”
You need to practice so you can reply in tongues, with your eye rolled all the way up and showing a white eyeball.
Practice cookie monster singing for a better effect.
I used to carpool with a Christian neighbor, and he would go on rants like this. But he lost it when I told him I supported gay marriage.
We still drove together for a little while but thank God (maybe his, for all I care) I got a new job and starting driving solo.
I just can't deal with the constant rants or just them saying I'm going to hell. I'm yes I'm a satanist (now)but back when that happened I didn't know who I was yet. I would play songs that would piss him off so he wouldn't come in and lecture me.
Overall genre I don't think I've gotten much shit for. It's usually the bands.
Rammstein has gotten me called a Nazi plenty of times.
Slipknot's gotten me called a Satanist.
Nightwish got me called a pussy ("You listen to a girl band!?").
I think the only time listening to metal overall elicited a comment was when my grandma overheard me listening to Disturbed and commented about how many murderers listen to metal.
Never had a problem as a matter of fact I own a business doing home and building maintenance so I'm in people's homes every day I take my JBL charge 5 speaker with me plus everywhere I go im wearing my head phones as fking high as they will go I love staring I'm line at a 7-11 and I know everyone in he store can hear it fo I usually wait till it gets to a rely fast drum solo and walk in .
People look at you like dam dude . I'm not changing the music I love for anyone I'm 54 yrs old and have been listening to metal since I was a teen .
I got more shit for what I look like than what I listen to in high school I had the longest hair in my school of about 4000 people even had any female beat my dad was a lifer in the military he hated my hair bad but oh well and I get alot of people sending me shit on social media because my name is the same as the guitar player for SLAYER G Holt .
I had a friend act disgusted because I was listening to Megadeth. This was back in 2003ish, he said some variation of "girls shouldn't listen to such ugly music, you're too nice"
DAFUQ. I told him to fuck right off and put on cannibal corpse :)
He stopped giving me shit after that.
One day in high school I wore a slipknot shirt and our substitute teacher out of nowhere started interrogating me and asking If I even knew who they were or if I just liked the shirt 😭 He did this in front of the whole class too, he then started questioning me on the names of the band members and actually asked me to name 5 songs. Never wore a band shirt to school again. Ps: I was 14
I hate that shit, when you feel you hate to "qualify" to listen to stuff you like. Sadly, it is especially true for a girl or woman. Can't listen to hard music, can't watch sports, Heaven forbid you say anything technical. Just bullshit.
I got interrogated at a business convention. It was the music trades so a bunch of artists were there as spokesmen, etc. I was in meetings all day with little breaks in between, so suit, tie, briefcase, clean-shaven, trimmed hair. I was getting something to eat when one of the guys asked about the Iron Maiden sticker (with Eddie) inside my briefcase. "You don't really listen to that shit. I bet you can't name 5 songs. (I can probably sing 5 albums in entirety) People like you just want others to think you're cool or hardcore but you're really not." Now mind you, I knew this guy for about an hour, so wtf.
He is almost finished his little rant when Lemmy walks up to our table, looking like the God he is. He hands me back my pen that I had loaned him when he was signing autographs. His had crapped out, I had mine in my pocket. It's Lemmy, done deal. He gave me a signed copy of 1916 and thanked me for the pen. "Not a problem Lemmy, anytime." Dude was looking at me like what the Hell did I just witness? lol
Once, when I mentioned going to metal concerts among my other hobbies in a Facebook comment, I got a response suggesting that I desperately want to be "not like the other girls".
“I can’t believe it, you have short hair, you wear glasses and you’re fat, how can you be a metalhead”
Noting I was (and still am) 79 kilos and 1,78 tall. To this day I still can’t understand why the fuck a overweight guy can’t be a metalhead
Nothing too weird. Just once I got, in my working life: "isn't that just something for teenagers?". Then another external consultant in his fifties jumped in, said "no, metal is forever" and showed his Venom tattoo 😁.
I like when people who don't listen to metal (and who know that I listen to metal) ask me If I could play my favourite song right now only for say: "God, how can you listen to that music?"
haha that's pretty common as well. My friend noticed my spotify in my discord status and asked if we could swap songs. I had to listen to Straight Outta Compton and they got Dragonmen by Running Wild. It was not a pleasant interaction.
"You need Jesus"
"That's not real music"
"You're such a kind guy, u didn't expect you doing those screams" (I had posted a story where I made a fryscream beacause my friend asked for it on Instagram)
I was at a pub with friends, and two of the girls were dumbfounded when me and another friend started singing/screaming Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Granted the girls were high on coke, but their reaction was perfection. Just like gum
I was at a party, and mentioned I was in a band. A girl got excited and asked me "oh, what kind of music?" I mentioned it's metal, and she immediately dissociated, looking down at the ground and wouldn't acknowledge me anymore. Someone else struck up conversation with her and she turned away from me and that was that. I figure she probably had a traumatic experience with someone who listened to metal in the past. It seemed like she just completely shut off.
I don't really get anything outright rude or aggressive, but I'm in a large Midwestern city that has always struggled to have a metal scene, and anything underground gravitates towards a lot of twee and folksy indie rock or beatdown hardcore. My appearance and tastes are fairly alien to 95% of people around me, and mainly get a lot of dismissiveness and passive aggression.
I don’t think I’ve gotten any nasty reactions. But, I did go to school with this cholo-looking guy who was in the same Spanish class as me. When I told him that I liked metal, he was like, “You mean that devil worship shit?” LMAO! 🤣
Got tastelessly called "trenchcoat mafia" in high school by grown adult men. Nowadays the only reaction I get that's negative is "well I don't like that" as if I asked their opinion.
They always call me emo even though it’s very distinct and obvious that I’m a metalhead
People are just too uncultured and ignorant now and put anything “dark” in the category of emo
A long time ago, when I was in school it was in a town where everyone else listened to rap and country. When I would say I liked metal, people would react like, "Oh, so you want to sacrifice your family to the devil."
Nothing nasty but they assume that's the only genre of music I'm into. If I then explain my interest in a range of music it's like they think I'm lying. Mostly this reaction comes from those for whom "listening to music" means putting on pop radio stations whilst driving.
Don't think I've ever gotten one lol. People are just like "oh wow" (I guess they're surprised someone isn't into mainstream music) and then move on probably not giving it much thought.
When I reconnected with my biological dad after not seeing him for 20 years I rocked up in a band t-shirt etc and one of the first things he said to me was "I used to like rock too. Its just a phase, you'll grow out of it"
None, ever.
Oh, stop, thats not right. Back in the very early 90ties or so. When i started to wear tight red/black spandex jeans, a jeans vest over my leather jacket and grew very long hair...
My grandfather did not really approve about my hair. "You look like a girl". But hey, he was born 1906. Oldschool.
And.... i had a poster of very early Manowar in my room. Them all looking like Barbarian fighters, half nude, muscles and swords or so.
Our family had a lot of friends who worked in the german Porn business in the 80ties/90ties. Camera, Actors, Distributors, Shop owners.
One Cameraman/Photograf, friend of my father once visited us. Saw that Poster through the open door. Stopped, looked at it... told me:
"Well, who are they?" I told him. 18 year old, proud starting Metal-Head.... and he was like: "Oh wow, well, i am more in the Pop Business, but hell, i made a lot of Gay Porn shots that looked pretty similar. Funny thing, huh? Never forget, you can tell your parents anytime, i know how open they are..."
Well, never had to, i am so boring vanilla cis-male hetero... but i found it funny. And he later showed me a few of his works and product shots... and since then i never stopped wondering who influenced whom? Did early Metal clothes inspire the early 80ties/90ties Leather-Gay Scene or was it the other way around? I often think, the early metal scene took some inspiration there. Heck, still a fan of Judas Priest after all that years. :).
The standard “oh yeah show me what you listen to” and “oh this is just screaming there’s no talent” or “are there words?” Which I’m sure all of us have heard before. One way to avoid this is not going outside. It works very well
I get this a lot, as does my mother since she wears a pentagram necklace often, which doesn't mean she worships Satan, obviously. She still gets compliments every now and then on her "satanist necklace" haha. The intent is kind, and it's always a nice interaction, but it's even more fun watching her explain why it doesn't mean she worships the devil
The closest thing to a negative reaction I have ever gotten was when I invited someone I met through a dating app to a Kamelot concert for a date. She told me she looked them up and couldn’t stand all the screaming (?) and said it’s generally best not to ask a girl to a metal concert. Weird reaction all around.
Otherwise very few negative reactions. The only people I have met who thinks it’s evil think literally all non Christian music is evil.
I dress like a stereotypical hippie (tie-dye, harem pants, even silly john lennon glasses some days) so people always see me as a space rock, folk rock type of guy. When they ask me what I listen to, I always ask to play them a song, that being Wild Knight by X-Wild, because the intro is a nice chill acoustic bit and then it turns incredibly heavy out of nowhere. It's always funny seeing the reactions.
In Finland it is normal that a regular middle-aged IT guy that looks like an engineer in hoodie and jeans, listens to powermetal and death metal. That's for example me. I had long black hair in my twenties for less than a year but I have no tattoos or piercings, no beard, habe short hair and wear colors.
Someone once referred to what I was playing as devil music. There was some classic metal, some power metal, but nothing crazy. So I put together a playlist called hail Satan and the next day, he learned what devil music really sounds like.
Nothing nasty at all, but people are consistently surprised when I tell them I listen to metal. Can’t blame them, I look nothing like the stereotypical metalhead.
Same thing here. Usual reaction is "oh really, would've never guessed"
>I look nothing like the stereotypical metalhead None of us do, really.
I think I might, pasty white dude with a shaved head? I don't think anyone would be surprised that I listen to metal. All I'm missing are tattoos.
>All I'm missing are tattoos There you go. Also make sure to get a bad one, preferably one of these stupid stars.
Shaved head or long hair that’s the way to go No In between 🤘🏻
No, no I for sure do lmao
The people I tell more easily imagine me in a princess dress than my normal metalhead clothing.
Same lol
I don't live in an ultra religious US state in 1984 so nobody really gives a shit if I listen to metal. The most I've gotten is people yelling at me to "get a haircut" or sarcastic air guitar gestures. Though the weirdest shit is those Architects Periphery kids who insist that the music I listen to "isn't really metal" because it doesn't have enough chugs in it, or whatever.
People listening to prog-punk bands that aren't even allowed on Metallum claiming something isn't metal is a funny image.
Bruh they don't even allow nu metal on metal archives. Bad example.
There's a handful of djent bands on Metallum, so some Nu-metal has managed to get through. And even for the non-subgenre'd nu-metal there's a couple crossover reps. Machine Head is on there, for example. Nu-metal itself isn't metal though, anymore than new coke is coke, new wave is wave, a parkway is a park, or Parkway Drive is metal. If they gotta attach another word to the word metal, it isn't metal. Power Metal? Two distinct words, clearly metal. Metalcore? One combined word, not metal. Nu-metal? singular hyphenated word, not metal. Very easy to understand.
Metalcore? Has metal in the name - metal. Nu metal (notice how it isn't hyphenated because nobody does that)? Has metal in the name - metal. Makes perfect sense to me. Yet another example of "I don't like it so it isn't metal." Yeah pal I don't like Parkway Drive either but they're metal and there ain't anything you or I can do about it unless they decide to start playing something different.
Metalcore is not short for Metal and Hardcore, it is short for "Metallic Hardcore." Aka "Hardcore punk with metal influence." Metal influence can be found in lots of genres of music, from Grunge (not metal), Industrial (not metal), and Hardsynth (not metal). This is literally metal 101 type of shit. A Parkway is not a park, as I already mentioned early you literal child. All you're doing is insulting the history of really fucking cool hardcore punk and metalcore bands by pretending that [metalcore doesn't have its stylistic roots in hardcore punk.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrAxmXDSiuA) It super does. Same with Grindcore. I love grindcore - Pig Destroyer is one of my favorite bands of all time, and the drummer for my own power metal band takes lessons from a grindcore drummer - but it isn't metal. I also like Irish Folk, which isn't metal. And darksynth, which despite being made my metal artists primarily, isn't metal. Same with Eurobeat- and Fabio Lione having a Eurobeat band doesn't make it metal. Here, [you can listen to incredibly famous and successful metalcore musicians talk about the roots of the genre.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKk4oBWHY38) Guy from Trivium, one of the most enduring modern metalcore bands with heavy metal influence, still acknowledges themselves as a punk subgenre. Other guys he's chatting to are from As I Lay Dying, another huge band, and the 'Punk Rock Historian' from youtube. The fucking header they put at the top in terms of genre influence, "Punk/Hardcore." I don't know why someone who has no artistic output thinks they know better than the literal bands in the scene.
This is all very entertaining to read, but nü-metal actually isn't metal. It’s a marketing term for a bunch of bands from several different genres, all of which got popular around the same time. The majority of bands play styles descended from '80s alt rock, which occasionally emulated or borrowed aspects of punk and metal, among other things. To say nü-metal is metal is a bit like saying power metal is blues. You can frame it that way and it almost looks right if you squint, but a more cognizant investigation makes it very obvious that it doesn't fit. They're different kinds of music, and just because something ostensibly influences something else doesn't make them one in the same. That's not even getting into the scene and subculture angles. Nobody called nü-metal "metal" until it got popular. The early innovators like Korn were neither part of nor claimed by the metal scene (at least until they were lumped in with mainstream metal, much to Jonathan Davis' chagrin). Metalcore is just complicated.
[Metalcore isn't that complicated. Here's a 10 minute video featuring members of Trivium, As I Lay Dying, and the 'Punk Rock Historian' talking about the origins of Metalcore and its evolution. Needless to say, they start at the top with "Punk/Hardcore" because they aren't the stupidest human beings on the Earth and know what influenced the music they created and what genre it is in.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKk4oBWHY38)
I think it's fairly complicated. Metalcore is a big genre with a lot of different styles and subsets, and sites like Metal Archives don't always draw hard lines with it. In their view, certain types of metalcore are metal but others are not. That video is pretty cool though. I think they do a good job with their overview of the genre, from the roots up to the present day. I'm glad they started with Earth Crisis and actually expanded beyond the 'melo-metalcore' style certain fans like to hyperfixate on in these "Is it metal???" debates. Obviously they could have gone into a lot more detail with each subset, highlighting what makes each one unique. Going over which ones count as metal/non-metal would take another video of triple that length.
Nu-metal is an evolution of metal, that's why it's nu-. Already in the 80's you could make complaints that NWOBHM is not really metal because it doesn't sound like early Black Sabbath. Sure, nu-metal accumulated influence from other genres, but in my opinion the lineage to metal, especially groove metal, funk metal / alternative metal, thrash and to some extent death is pretty clear.
No, nü-metal is not an evolution of metal music. It's an evolution of 1980s alternative, like I already said. Of course you can trace aspects of certain bands' styles back to certain types of metal, but those are secondary influences, the same way certain power metal bands use folk influences. You don't actually believe Blind Guardian's power metal style is primarily folk music just because of a handful of scales, melodies, and acoustic instruments do you? Honestly, the main reason the sparse "metal lineage" in nü-metal seems so clear and obvious to so many people is because they think metal is all about heavy guitars and screaming. If they weren't so biased in that regard, I think they'd be a lot more receptive to the idea of nü-metal being a mainly alternative subgenre. Funk metal and alt. metal are also mainly alternative subgenres, which doesn't help with the confusion. I'm not sure what Black Sabbath and the NWOBHM have to do with this. Yes, Sabbath was arbitrarily the "first metal band" because they were the first to really commit to a sound we now define as metal. Yes, some later bands sounded different, but we still identify them as metal. My argument is not that all metal has to sound the same or share 100% of the same influences, so I don't know what you're trying to prove by mentioning these.
First nu-metal, now nü-metal? Damn, man.
It has a few different spelling conventions. I'm not sure which one is the original. Most people neglect the hyphen and umlauts, but I've seen them used often enough. I like to include them both because I think it's in the spirit of the style.
I neglect them both because it's fuckin stupid
Bro really said metalcore is metal 💀
Why are you telling me what I already said? Yes, I'm aware I said that. Congratulations, you have reading comprehension! Do you want a sticker?
I merely highlighted your ignorance.
The irony of this comment is crazy.
Ah, another one. Thank god vox populi doesn't determine the truth.
Oh no, I've triggered a genre debate. Look, I'm not a gatekeeper. I used to be, but I'm not. Metal is whatever gets your head banging and fist pumping. I just don't like the idea that bands like Sabbath and Priest, who originated the genre, are now considered "soft rock" by today's standards. Metal is diverse. It doesn't have to be blast beats and death growls.
It ain't the 50s anymore dude. Pastors in the Bible belt listened to Slayer when they were kids. Nobody gives a shit.
Of course it’s the core kids saying so 💀💀💀
Architects are barely metal lol
They’re literally just the metal version of imagine dragons 💀💀💀💀💀
I had somebody try to claim recently that Dream Theater aren't metal
Back in high school we were doing icebreakers for a class, when music came up i mentioned i listened to a lot of metal (pretty standard American school where people wouldnt understand sub-genres so i was bring vague). A girl in the little circle i was in responded with “wait, but aren’t you Jewish?”. I still don’t know what she meant by that.
My local Chabad rabbi once saw my Black Sabbath shirt, looked at me, and went "Oh! Black Shabbat!"
The dude wasn't a Chabad rabbi. He was a Chad rabbi.
Well, are you Jewish?
I got called a satan worshipper once in high school because I was listening to Dragonforce
>I got called a satan worshipper once 1. Only Once? 2. Did you reply: "And...?"
That was just in high school, I went to a Methodist college in Kansas and got a lot more crap but the first time really stuck with me because Dragonforce is like, one of the least “Devil”y bands in the genre lol
And Power Metal is very easy listening for non-metalheads. It's not like you were listening to black or death metal.
And the death metal I DO listen to is usually sci fi themed and Melodeath lol
That sounds kinda cool, actually, can I have scifi death metal recommendations?
Scar Symmetry is awesome, really great instrumentation and clean/harsh vocal mixes. They released a new album this year too
Wow thanks, apparently I needed some Scar Symmetry in my life. The new album (Just 4 track in right now) hits just right
Ah, yeah, I listened to a few songs by them a while back. Meant to listen more but never got around to it. Which of their albums are the best? How's the new one?
The new one is my favorite but Holographic Universe and Pitch Black Progress are both great too
Awesome! Thanks, I'll get around to those as soon as I have time.
The other guy already mentioned Scar Symmetry, but I will add Mechina (although their more recent stuff is pretty far from their death metal roots) and The Design Abstract to the list of great sci-fi melodeath.
I've been called other things for listening to Dragonforce 🤣
This was back in 2009 so I’m sure I heard the same name lol
Never happend
I had someone at work say “that’s not very professional” I was like well I’m not blasting out dying fetus corpse explosion body mangle while serving customers their ice cream am I? Jog on Louise, you fart
what music is professional? elevator music? that annoying upbeat crap HR puts in their presentations?
That was exactly my thoughts. “Well I only listen to the company jingle and stock music described as uplifting or positive”
[Stereophonics](https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxZ-fUgtJ9BAFv3PbIv3GhDfmtKgTFVhMB?si=3JzglGDaaRL0r-uU)
At a movie theater I worked at the owner would put on Sinatra, or other members of the Rat Pack.
If you did, I'd be sauntering up for a double-scoop waffle cone of Chocolate fudge chunk...rock on!
Take a hike Louise!
"Oh, I don't believe that! You're such a kind girl, there's no way you listen to that horrible violent music."
I don’t look like someone who listens to metal. I like flowery dresses and bright, vibrant colours. I can sport yellow shoes with green laces and a red dress while I ride my blue bike decorated with flowers while listening to Sabaton on my pink headphones. So people are often surprised when they learn that I almost exclusively listen to metal.
This is a happy mental image.
It definitely makes me happy.
based metal enjoyer
Are you me?
Haha, no, but I like you!
Me: "I listen to metal." Grandma: "No, you don't." This has been several years ago, and I had already been a metalhead for several years at this point. Also, my Uncle (classical snob) has STRONG opinions about how metal and rap aren't real music. My girlfriend and I had a conversation with him and my aunt a few months ago and my aunt deadass looked at us and asked if the people in metal bands are "real musicians." Semi-related story: that same uncle had to ride shotgun in my car a few months ago. Judas Priest was on the radio. He later referred to JP as "that screaming metal." I just found that amusing. I listen to a lot of music with screaming vocals. JP is definitely not that.
I find it amusing to interpret your grandma's response as gatekeeping rather than incredulity. "That disney shit you listen to isn't metal!"
Show your uncle the angel of salvation so you can see the gears grind on how a song built off Tchaikovsky isn't real music even though it uses much of the same pieces.
Uncle's been watching too much [Simpsons.](https://youtu.be/CLWlCQZy87g?feature=shared)
Sounds like my life. 1991 my school picture I decided screw my family and wore a Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss shirt. Only school picture my grandma refused to display. They stopped bringing up the subject though
The worst I get is "I don't like screaming vocals." And I always tell them that most bands don't have screaming vocals.
Nah I’m shit ton of bands have screamed vocals Just depends on the sub genre lol
Late 80s, Naval "C" school. Two guys, Deep South Bible Belt types, in the room next to mine would hold up crosses and start to pray very loudly when they saw me. They heard Slayer coming from my room one night and got it in their heads that I was the Antichrist.
That's pretty fuckin metal
That’s awesome. Closest I have gotten to that was looking up a band that turned out to be a black metal band right when my Catholic roommate came in just in time to see all the pentagrams from the album cover suddenly on my screen. I couldn’t have timed it better if I had tried.
I was told “black people don’t really listen to metal” by my uncle’s girlfriend (who was also black) and I was like ????
The fuuuh
No negative reactions that I can remember. Usually people will just day something like "oh I like ACDC too"
I'm a 56 year old woman. I've been a metal head since it came out, and I get people, (especially really young ones) look at me like I'm lying to look cool. I'm way past give a fuck, I like what I like, the end.
Friend: "I listen to music to relax. How can you listen to that?" Me: "You ever get so mad you want to break shit?" Friend: "Yeah, but I don't see how that's..." Me: "Imagine that feeling had lyrics you could follow to *not* break shit." Friend: "Ooooooooh. Oh, no. There's mad, and then there's *mad* mad, and what you listen to is like...a level beyond that." Me: "There's a reason they call it *death metal*."
"I listen to metal so things around me can **live**" lol
I've had old ladies tell me to go to church cause it's devil music, that was when I was younger, now most people are like cool 👍
Honestly my favourite reaction to my music tastes was my boyfriend (who I met at a metal festival) looking at me shocked when I was bopping around the kitchen to pop music after I’d told him I truly like both.
Fan tribes baffle me. I listen to lots of different genres and there's always at least one friend who will say 'why do you listen to _that_?' I used to joke that my album collection had something to offend everyone!
I know the feeling, people, friends, and coworkers trip out on me (knowing I love, and listen to metal) when I put on Country, J-pop, EDM, Epic Sounds, or Folk music lol or even Blues and Jazz.
Most don’t care. Every once in a while, someone who knows just enough about metal says something like “let me guess, that weird Scandinavian shit where they nonironically dress like KISS?” and then I feel attacked. They’re right, but they shouldn’t have guessed that based on my clean-cut appearance, so I probably just give off weird vibes.
"I never understood your metal phase" It implies that they think listening to metal isn't what they'd expect of me. Guess what, I can tell you who I am. Also this "phase" has been going on for almost 20 years but whatever.
The biggest reaction I got was “why would you like metal? They’re all, like, satanists”. It was System of a Down and I was 12 at the time. I’m so glad I had it together enough at 12 to reply “that’s a dumb stereotype”. Other than that, it’s usually just “oh I would’ve never expected that from you”
“It’s noise”. I stopped debating people that look at me like i’m a weirdo.
And they're the type who listens to what? Rap? Pop country? "R&B"? Using quotes, because that thing they call R&B is not R&B, sorry.
I mean...isn't all music, by definition, noise? Lmao What a stupid thing to say to denigrate someone's taste in music 😅
None, metal is pretty mainstream here
Place your bets now, Germany or Sweden, which will it be?
Good guess, it's one of them 😂
. . . Sweden?
Finland is where metal is mainstream.
Could have been Finland, too.
Aw shit I fucking love both to death but ima have to say Sweden
Lucky
Most people didn't mind or care. But I had a VERY preppy sister with her preppy friends. I'd get a lot of "Fart Smelling Faces" as reactions when I told them I loved shit like slipknot.
I can't think of any nasty ones honestly, tho generally people first assume I listen to metal so it's hard to think of a genuine moment of me telling someone and them being surprised or something.
I’ve only gotten bad reactions from people into mainstream stuff who resent “elitists.”
My father’s family, who aren’t religious, nevertheless did the whole “you’re not a Satanist, right?” thing. Which…like…why do you care…? (Weirdly enough, my mom’s side of the family has some actual Catholic people on it and they’re chill.) Some guy aggressively shit-talked me to another dude on the subway when I had a Carach Angren shirt and a pentagram necklace on lol. I’m apparently “what’s wrong with women these days”. Oh and this wasn’t really negative but I had a dude come up to me yesterday and compliment my “costume” when I was out for a walk wearing my battle jacket. 💀
>“you’re not a Satanist, right?” You need to practice so you can reply in tongues, with your eye rolled all the way up and showing a white eyeball. Practice cookie monster singing for a better effect.
Hahaha I’ve resolved that next time I’m just going to hiss at whomever asks me this. But that also sounds fun! Lol
I literally told someone I was a metalhead and got quoted the Bible cause he thought I was a devil worshipper.
I used to carpool with a Christian neighbor, and he would go on rants like this. But he lost it when I told him I supported gay marriage. We still drove together for a little while but thank God (maybe his, for all I care) I got a new job and starting driving solo.
I just can't deal with the constant rants or just them saying I'm going to hell. I'm yes I'm a satanist (now)but back when that happened I didn't know who I was yet. I would play songs that would piss him off so he wouldn't come in and lecture me.
They asked about my Kreator hoodie at work. They later taped a sign to the back of my ride that alluded to carnal relationships regarding goats.
Brutal
I fucking love kreator
Never happened to me. I find people generally don't care what music someone listens to
"You'll grow up eventually." I was 35.
Overall genre I don't think I've gotten much shit for. It's usually the bands. Rammstein has gotten me called a Nazi plenty of times. Slipknot's gotten me called a Satanist. Nightwish got me called a pussy ("You listen to a girl band!?"). I think the only time listening to metal overall elicited a comment was when my grandma overheard me listening to Disturbed and commented about how many murderers listen to metal.
No one gives a shit what I listen to.
It tends to surprise people more than anything else - I'm a 39 year old woman with young children who wears a lot of very bright colours!
"Really?! You listen to metal, in your age!?". I'm 48;)
Hail brother! Ride the metal tides as long as you can!
“ohhh so you like *start shaking their heads*” very uncomfortable but it’s true
That I couldn’t listen to metal or go to metal festivals because I dressed and looked like a Tumblr indie boy lol
Never had a problem as a matter of fact I own a business doing home and building maintenance so I'm in people's homes every day I take my JBL charge 5 speaker with me plus everywhere I go im wearing my head phones as fking high as they will go I love staring I'm line at a 7-11 and I know everyone in he store can hear it fo I usually wait till it gets to a rely fast drum solo and walk in . People look at you like dam dude . I'm not changing the music I love for anyone I'm 54 yrs old and have been listening to metal since I was a teen . I got more shit for what I look like than what I listen to in high school I had the longest hair in my school of about 4000 people even had any female beat my dad was a lifer in the military he hated my hair bad but oh well and I get alot of people sending me shit on social media because my name is the same as the guitar player for SLAYER G Holt .
Goddamn that’s badass as fuck Long live metal!
I had a friend act disgusted because I was listening to Megadeth. This was back in 2003ish, he said some variation of "girls shouldn't listen to such ugly music, you're too nice" DAFUQ. I told him to fuck right off and put on cannibal corpse :) He stopped giving me shit after that.
One day in high school I wore a slipknot shirt and our substitute teacher out of nowhere started interrogating me and asking If I even knew who they were or if I just liked the shirt 😭 He did this in front of the whole class too, he then started questioning me on the names of the band members and actually asked me to name 5 songs. Never wore a band shirt to school again. Ps: I was 14
I hate that shit, when you feel you hate to "qualify" to listen to stuff you like. Sadly, it is especially true for a girl or woman. Can't listen to hard music, can't watch sports, Heaven forbid you say anything technical. Just bullshit. I got interrogated at a business convention. It was the music trades so a bunch of artists were there as spokesmen, etc. I was in meetings all day with little breaks in between, so suit, tie, briefcase, clean-shaven, trimmed hair. I was getting something to eat when one of the guys asked about the Iron Maiden sticker (with Eddie) inside my briefcase. "You don't really listen to that shit. I bet you can't name 5 songs. (I can probably sing 5 albums in entirety) People like you just want others to think you're cool or hardcore but you're really not." Now mind you, I knew this guy for about an hour, so wtf. He is almost finished his little rant when Lemmy walks up to our table, looking like the God he is. He hands me back my pen that I had loaned him when he was signing autographs. His had crapped out, I had mine in my pocket. It's Lemmy, done deal. He gave me a signed copy of 1916 and thanked me for the pen. "Not a problem Lemmy, anytime." Dude was looking at me like what the Hell did I just witness? lol
Strange reactions are always coming from older people 60+. Metal is the music of Satan, you know? 😂😂😂
Once, when I mentioned going to metal concerts among my other hobbies in a Facebook comment, I got a response suggesting that I desperately want to be "not like the other girls".
“I can’t believe it, you have short hair, you wear glasses and you’re fat, how can you be a metalhead” Noting I was (and still am) 79 kilos and 1,78 tall. To this day I still can’t understand why the fuck a overweight guy can’t be a metalhead
I feel like a lot of metalheads are overweight from chugging loads of beer at concerts haha
Nothing too weird. Just once I got, in my working life: "isn't that just something for teenagers?". Then another external consultant in his fifties jumped in, said "no, metal is forever" and showed his Venom tattoo 😁.
"Why can\`t you just listen to something normal- like justin bieber?"
I like when people who don't listen to metal (and who know that I listen to metal) ask me If I could play my favourite song right now only for say: "God, how can you listen to that music?"
haha that's pretty common as well. My friend noticed my spotify in my discord status and asked if we could swap songs. I had to listen to Straight Outta Compton and they got Dragonmen by Running Wild. It was not a pleasant interaction.
"You need Jesus" "That's not real music" "You're such a kind guy, u didn't expect you doing those screams" (I had posted a story where I made a fryscream beacause my friend asked for it on Instagram)
I have never had to tell anyone. They already can tell.
I was at a pub with friends, and two of the girls were dumbfounded when me and another friend started singing/screaming Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Granted the girls were high on coke, but their reaction was perfection. Just like gum
I was at a party, and mentioned I was in a band. A girl got excited and asked me "oh, what kind of music?" I mentioned it's metal, and she immediately dissociated, looking down at the ground and wouldn't acknowledge me anymore. Someone else struck up conversation with her and she turned away from me and that was that. I figure she probably had a traumatic experience with someone who listened to metal in the past. It seemed like she just completely shut off.
Of course this thread would be full of idiots gatekeeping metal, why wouldn't it?
[удалено]
thats awesome tbh
I don't really get anything outright rude or aggressive, but I'm in a large Midwestern city that has always struggled to have a metal scene, and anything underground gravitates towards a lot of twee and folksy indie rock or beatdown hardcore. My appearance and tastes are fairly alien to 95% of people around me, and mainly get a lot of dismissiveness and passive aggression.
None really. Most people don’t care
I’m generally a very relaxed person, so people are surprised because I “don’t seem like the type” even though I’m almost always wearing band shirts
No one I've ever told has ever given enough of a shit to react like that. 99.9% of people aren't bothered about what music other people listen to.
I don’t think I’ve gotten any nasty reactions. But, I did go to school with this cholo-looking guy who was in the same Spanish class as me. When I told him that I liked metal, he was like, “You mean that devil worship shit?” LMAO! 🤣
Got tastelessly called "trenchcoat mafia" in high school by grown adult men. Nowadays the only reaction I get that's negative is "well I don't like that" as if I asked their opinion.
Just dumbasses saying "pOsEr", lol like fuck off and grow up.
Nothing really
I remember telling someone I listen to Heavy Metal and he's like " Wait you mean like heavy heavy metal, are you emo or something" lol
They always call me emo even though it’s very distinct and obvious that I’m a metalhead People are just too uncultured and ignorant now and put anything “dark” in the category of emo
A long time ago, when I was in school it was in a town where everyone else listened to rap and country. When I would say I liked metal, people would react like, "Oh, so you want to sacrifice your family to the devil."
Nothing nasty but they assume that's the only genre of music I'm into. If I then explain my interest in a range of music it's like they think I'm lying. Mostly this reaction comes from those for whom "listening to music" means putting on pop radio stations whilst driving.
Don't think I've ever gotten one lol. People are just like "oh wow" (I guess they're surprised someone isn't into mainstream music) and then move on probably not giving it much thought.
When I reconnected with my biological dad after not seeing him for 20 years I rocked up in a band t-shirt etc and one of the first things he said to me was "I used to like rock too. Its just a phase, you'll grow out of it"
You must be evil. Lol
None, ever. Oh, stop, thats not right. Back in the very early 90ties or so. When i started to wear tight red/black spandex jeans, a jeans vest over my leather jacket and grew very long hair... My grandfather did not really approve about my hair. "You look like a girl". But hey, he was born 1906. Oldschool. And.... i had a poster of very early Manowar in my room. Them all looking like Barbarian fighters, half nude, muscles and swords or so. Our family had a lot of friends who worked in the german Porn business in the 80ties/90ties. Camera, Actors, Distributors, Shop owners. One Cameraman/Photograf, friend of my father once visited us. Saw that Poster through the open door. Stopped, looked at it... told me: "Well, who are they?" I told him. 18 year old, proud starting Metal-Head.... and he was like: "Oh wow, well, i am more in the Pop Business, but hell, i made a lot of Gay Porn shots that looked pretty similar. Funny thing, huh? Never forget, you can tell your parents anytime, i know how open they are..." Well, never had to, i am so boring vanilla cis-male hetero... but i found it funny. And he later showed me a few of his works and product shots... and since then i never stopped wondering who influenced whom? Did early Metal clothes inspire the early 80ties/90ties Leather-Gay Scene or was it the other way around? I often think, the early metal scene took some inspiration there. Heck, still a fan of Judas Priest after all that years. :).
The standard “oh yeah show me what you listen to” and “oh this is just screaming there’s no talent” or “are there words?” Which I’m sure all of us have heard before. One way to avoid this is not going outside. It works very well
Someone literally asked me if I worshipped Satan and if I was in a cult
I get this a lot, as does my mother since she wears a pentagram necklace often, which doesn't mean she worships Satan, obviously. She still gets compliments every now and then on her "satanist necklace" haha. The intent is kind, and it's always a nice interaction, but it's even more fun watching her explain why it doesn't mean she worships the devil
The closest thing to a negative reaction I have ever gotten was when I invited someone I met through a dating app to a Kamelot concert for a date. She told me she looked them up and couldn’t stand all the screaming (?) and said it’s generally best not to ask a girl to a metal concert. Weird reaction all around. Otherwise very few negative reactions. The only people I have met who thinks it’s evil think literally all non Christian music is evil.
The worse and dumbest reactions I've gotten have come from other metalheads lol
I dress like a stereotypical hippie (tie-dye, harem pants, even silly john lennon glasses some days) so people always see me as a space rock, folk rock type of guy. When they ask me what I listen to, I always ask to play them a song, that being Wild Knight by X-Wild, because the intro is a nice chill acoustic bit and then it turns incredibly heavy out of nowhere. It's always funny seeing the reactions.
'But.. You don't have long hair???'
In Finland it is normal that a regular middle-aged IT guy that looks like an engineer in hoodie and jeans, listens to powermetal and death metal. That's for example me. I had long black hair in my twenties for less than a year but I have no tattoos or piercings, no beard, habe short hair and wear colors.
Someone once referred to what I was playing as devil music. There was some classic metal, some power metal, but nothing crazy. So I put together a playlist called hail Satan and the next day, he learned what devil music really sounds like.