Metal Heart.
I have studied and appreciated music since I was a kid. I grew up on jazz, classic rock and classical music. I pride myself on my musical collection, which includes such jazz legends as Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey, and such classical immortals as Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saens, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, W.A. Mozart, Edvard Grieg and William Byrd. I’m a total snob about my musical tastes.
That being said… good lord do I absolutely love metal.
I remember when I was a kid, in the midst of studying trumpet concertos and jazz standards, my mother walked into my room with a look of horror upon her face. I was blasting Sepultura. She slapped her forehead and said, “Dizzy Gillespie is rolling in his grave! How can you listen to this crap?”
For me, metal is a primal release. It is angry for me when I cannot afford to be. It lashes out things I do not have the courage to scream at. It speaks to the dark side of me that I have to indulge every so often to keep it well-fed and content. And if you can get your hands on some really smart metal, their music is just as cerebrally stimulating as anything Brahms or Miles Davis composed. It’s just much harder on the ears.
But I am also old-fashioned when it comes to my metal. I can’t get behind most of this weepy, neutered stuff today that you’re supposed to listen to while you’re crying in the rain with your guyliner running down your face. When my metal is sad, it’s because your entire viking clan was wiped out by invaders and now you must swear bloody revenge. Or it’s because mankind did not heed the warning of the ancient prophecy and now Satan walks the burning earth. Aah, yeah, that’s the stuff.
In my musical collection Blind Guardian is seated right next to Brahms, Sepultura chills out next to Sonny Rollins, and maybe Miles Davis will eventually rock out with Mastodon. In the meantime I will blast Dimmu Borgir until my ears bleed when I need to escape into an angry world of misery, Satan and death… because it just helps me feel so relaxed afterwards.
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September 12th, 2007 at 4:03 am
I whole heartedly agree with you here. I actually remember talking with some of my friends exactly about this and I think my phrase was something along the lines of:
“What the heck is it with music these days? Bands seem to be always singing about their girlfriends who dumped them and now they’re left crying in the rain and everything else. Can’t the be more like DragonForce and other bands? I mean if they where to sing about a similar thing, it’d most likely be titled ‘The Heathen Wench’ and all about how they have to find the girl thats wronged, them, drag her back and either kill her for her crimes or force her into marriage.”
It’s so true though, it’s like they all want to sing about love and relationship tragedies, you want a love tragedy? Go listen to Luca Turilli’s ‘Demonheart’. What with the lyrics:
“Tragedy storms her when demons spare her life and I discover, she has a demon heart!”
Just heartbreaking, gets me every time.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:14 am
I know what you mean. I’m a closet metalhead myself and my musical tastes run from Mozart and Puccini to Wes Montgomery, to Slipknot and Slack Sabbath. It’s good to just listen to something angry sometimes and I wholeheartedly enjoy it. And I think I scared the crap out of my mother the first time she heard Slayer blasting from my room and me (the soprano usually singing an aria at the top of her lungs) screaming right along. It’s just fun and it’s a great release.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:16 am
God I love Dragonforce.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I concur. Music has become so panty-waisted lately; the likes of Opeth and Mastodon need to break up all the lily-livered emo bands, with crushing riffs about Moby Dick and the occult. Up with true metal!
September 13th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Yeah I use metal to relax as well sometimes, though i also use Irish Punk music for the same reason as well. Not to say that it’s the same or anything just that angry songs of revolution and resistance can be wierdly calming.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
i agree as well…
…i think there is a big difference between metal and what teenie-boppers think is “hardcore”…yes it might be loud, but really its only semi-rocked up pop music sung by whining teen-age boys wearing more makeup then me…
umm yeah thats my rant XD
September 14th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I grew up listening to classical music a lot, and maybe that’s why it’s still a strong influence in the music I enjoy now. Even my Metal.
This morning on the right into work, Shadows Fall - The War Within, a great way to wake up, get the blood pumping so that I can face the savages at the workplace. The Light that Blinds is a great example of (a song that blends) Classical with Metal.
Likewise my Pandora has treated me to some wonders, Krypteria whom I adore, Ells, Rhapsody of Fire, and some old favorites like Lacuna Coil, and Nightwish.
Something about the thundering roar of the guitars and double-bass pedal slam with the harmonious vocals make me squeal with delight.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:26 am
Agreed entirely. Quite often I’ll like individual songs from other artists and genres (truth be told, “individual songs” comprises most of my collection), but only in classical composers and metal bands do I find that the artist’s -whole style- resonates with me. Rhapsody’s symphonic overtures, Hansi Kürsch’s voice, and Dragonforce’s extremely long musical interludes are all more distinctive to me than most other music I listen to.
So yeah, I hate to continue the stagnant trend of agreement [/sarcasm], but when you mentioned loud, angry-sounding music to be relaxing, you took the words from my mouth. Kamelot’s “Soul Society,” Blind Guardian’s “Another Stranger Me,” Dragonforce’s “My Spirit Will Go On”… some of the most lyrically depressing songs I have… the effect they actually have is always the opposite.
September 28th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I was force-fed a whole load of 80’s glam-pop when I was a kid, so when I first heard Black Sabbath it completely blew my mind. I had “War Pigs” stuck in my head for months until I finally picked up the album. As of now, my metal collection has grown immensely, but while I love the melodic metal such as Dragonforce and Sonata Arctica, I am still addicted to SLAYER. I don’t care how blasphemous their lyrics may seem, there’s no denying that they are seven flavors of awesome. Besides, they’re the only hardcore “Death” metal band whose lyrics can actually be understood. I can’t count how many times where I’ve heard something that might actually rock, only to have the experience marred by some yo-yo growling into a mic, thinking he’s possessed or something.
Well, that’s all from me, kiddies…and remember: God listens to Slayer.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:07 am
\m/
November 17th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
\mm/
Too much metal for one hand.