Comments on: What Is “Real” Metal?

By: Name

Name — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:47:52 +0000

if you have to ask, you don’t deserve no know, metal is metal, you hear it, you know it, you love it, if you try to argue what is and isn’t metal, you’re ruining metal for people, some people like A7X metal.. okk. Some people like JFAC or Cannibal Corpse, and thats ok too, if you still call Metallica metal and not hard rock, thats alright.

By: peter

peter — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:33:38 +0000

metal cannot be classafied
alot of it shouldnt be screaming
but it has to have good guitar riffs
if its all one riff the whole song for most songs (cough-disturbed-cough)
its not metal, its wannabes.
not putting them down. they have some good songs but the “metal” songs of theirs are just hard rock
but originals are SOAD, Trivium, Atreyu, BMFV, a7x
but dont throw crap like all the bands that make hits stations but there are rarites like a7x or soad but its rare and dosnt happen much
and all the songs that made it in the last several years that are “metal” can suck my cock

By: Landon

Landon — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:09:42 +0000

Metal splits into sub-genres. I mean no one would deny that Black Sabbath is metal, and no one would deny that Slayer is metal either. But all they really have in common is distorted guitars and solos. Infact, Disturbed has more in common with Black Sabbath than Slayer does if you really get down to it. So the arguement that bands like Slipknot and Disturbed aren’t metal based on not having common-ground with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest is invalid.
I think for some people, it’s about the attitude. I have no arguement that nu-metal bands were spawned out of twelve-year-old mentality and record company avidity, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the music from time to time. The attitude of rebellion and violence seems to strike the “true” metal fans over whiny songs about how some guy lost his girlfriend. I guess when you think about it, you realize that metal is simply rebellion put to music.
Some metal fans get so caught up in it however, that they start to rebel against all of metal’s children.
You know why some metal fans get tired of the metal label applying to more than just attitude? Because they’re trying too hard.

By: Noneya

Noneya — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:16:50 +0000

So, effectively, we should be more lax on what is required to be metal? Well, a lot of these “nu-metal” (mallcore) bands don’t have leads, and definitely not solos, they shout and whine and they don’t actually have anything other than distorted guitars in common with metal. So, harsher vocals and distorted guitars make a band metal?
Well, actually, that’s impossible. Harsh vocals can’t be what makes something metal because Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath all lacked those things. In fact, other than Maiden, all three bands at one point or another did clean guitar work, be it for a ballad or just to add some tension to a verse. So I guess the kind of stuff that allows bands like Disturbed to be called metal also disallows Judas Priest to be metal.
Anyway, enough being smarmy for me. I will state that without question, hardcore is NOT metal. It is punk. Hardcore and Metal grew up together. They are second cousins. Punk and Hard Rock were their fathers. Punk and Hard Rock were cousins. They both were spawned from Rock. Bands like Disturbed, Slipknot and Staind have the heavy guitars and the distressed vocals, but so did bands like the Sex Pistols, to a lesser extent. The truth is, the only thing mallcore bands pulled out of the Metal scene was the look, which they wussified and applied without understanding.
You know WHY metal fans get tired of the metal label being thrown on these shouty detuned bands? Because it is goddamn annoying having 6 people in a day suggest a band that has no relation to the music you like because they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. It is sickening seeing these talentless hacks like Slipknot in the same section of a music store as Blind Guardian.

By: Landon

Landon — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:33:40 +0000

Metal is simply what you make of it. Whether it be a rebellious attitude, heavy playing, or just down-right fast and fun playing. Everyone has their own line. Everyone has their own standard in which music has the privilege to be called metal. If you disagree with someone’s standard, that’s fine. But don’t be an asshole about it, and try to keep an open mind.
If someone calls Eminem metal, I respectfully disagree, but that is their standard. Don’t bother wasting time fighting about it trying to determine who’s right and who’s wrong; because you can’t.
Personally, I draw the line at bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. They don’t really belong in my metal threshold. And I think bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Slipknot can be considered metal.
As for “selling out”, sure, some people can’t handle change. But you said yourself, metal has been evolving since day one. It’s the same with bands. I think it’s refreshing to hear bands experiment with new sounds and meanings. Whether I like the new sound or not, I respect the bands for trying something new (that is how metal got started after all.) Take bands like Slayer for example. It’s been at least twenty years, and they’ve barely changed at all. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Slayer. But after awhile, I feel like I’m listening to the same song. Whereas bands like Korn have a different sound that THEY pretty much started. Each of their albums have songs that have been so different and daring, that people don’t know what to make of them. And, for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of them (Issues being my favorite.)
So in conclusion, metal is whatever you want it to be. Metal is what it means for you. The standards are pretty similar across the metal-world, but metal-opinions are like DNA; everyone has their own.
I hope this was helpful in some way.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:29:33 +0000

Personally, of the 3 genres you listed, I think that nu-metal and metalcore are metal (unfortunately). Hardcore isn’t. Hardcore is punk, which occasionally overlaps with metal. And some genres of metalcore are actually pretty metal. S.O.D. were undeniably metal, and some metalcore subgenres, like grindcore, are WAY more metal than punk.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:54:21 +0000

Yeah, I know….but seriously,don’t call shit like The Mars Volta and Avenged Sevenfold metal.

By: alex

alex — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:41:22 +0000

You are a breathing paradox dude.
“Just don’t call shit like The Mars Volta and Avenged Sevenfold metal!”

By: Winston

Winston — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:00:22 +0000

Real metal has a certain feel about it; and when you feel it, you know it’s metal.

By: Metal Martyr

Metal Martyr — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:31:29 +0000

Holy crap, it seems like I just wrote this yesterday but it’s been almost a year. I thought it was a pretty good discussion and got some great open ended opinions.

I got picked on in Highschool because I listened to metal too. Small town, small school filled with grunge fucks and dead-heads. I typically got the asshole that knew nothing about metal or what it was really about. It wasn’t until I convinced my parents to let me transfer to a bigger school in a bigger city that I met other like myself and it only got better from there.