In the beginning of 2013, I joined Twitter, and in the years and months since, I have gained a wider appreciation and scope of the metal underground as it relates to blogs, journalism, and the heavy metal zeitgeist. I have made countless more friends in the metal community than I ever had before, and I have realized that there are a handful of folks I would like to avoid for perpetuity. Such is the way with communities.
But through it all, three common concepts or ideas tend to remain constant, and only one of them is healthy, or even true:
1. Metal, as with all music and art, is a beautiful thing that should be shared and cherished.
2. Metal journalism is in a horrible state, as reported by a group on Twitter that is 85 percent metal bloggers or journalists.
3. Heavy metal is somehow on its death bed, or at least on its way to hospice.
Now, as for numero uno… on this we can all (hopefully) agree. While arguments about what art is appropriate run rampant, folks tend to agree that good music should be shared. And most of the time, this is just what happens. The majority of people that write about music online do so from an honest perspective. This is the friend from high school that was really excited about that new album from the crew’s favorite band, and wanted to make sure he or she were the first one to gain a copy. Or the friend that organized out-of-town trips to shows, making sure everyone was in the loop so that the party and memories could be maximized.
Most of the online writers are not forming hype pieces that pose as reviews, or claiming to know the future by saying a band is going to vastly change the definition or concept of heavy metal. Most are just fans, plain and simple. But the bickering, it remains. So this brings us to the second point above. Only in comparison to politics have I seen a group so willing to be universal critical of itself as metal journalists. I constantly see tweets or articles or Facebook posts about “the state” of heavy metal journalism, but most of them come across as expressions of frustration — or worse, blatant bitterness — as opposed to actual arguments. And rarely is it constructive.
Well, heavy metal writers, if you do not like the state of heavy metal journalism, it is on you. Do something about it. The strongest words attacking the state of metal journalism are typically made by those involved in heavy metal journalism, and there are some legitimate reasons for frustration to be found. Most notably, there exists a bit of a hive mind problem about which bands to prop up as “the next big thing.” But that’s as much the fault of convenience as anything else. It’s easier — and more ego- and click-feeding — for yet another writer to say that Horrendous is bringing some new era of death metal than the truth that they are quite a good band expressing a great lineage of death metal’s more cerebral side. But this is more to blame on the large portion of the metal writing community that falls prey to the temptations and tendencies of the hype train. If metal writing is bad, metal writers, then it’s your fault, metal writers. Period.
And yes, I have heard all of the “pay me” arguments in the world. And yes, I would so love to live in a world where extreme music is at least slightly lucrative. But we’ve all had a lifetime to understand that 1. The world is not fair, and 2. The world is not fair to art. Not to mention that I’d much rather see the musicians making more actual money long before any writer gets a paycheck. They are the reason we are here. Their art is the important factor in all of this. Compared to them, all of us — the writers — are utterly insignificant.
For all of the angry comments one can find on articles and message boards, the actual readers of heavy metal journalism tend to have a better opinion of the writing than many of the writers themselves. Why? Because the readers remain appreciative of the information, of how writers help them dig into the vast landscapes of music, and because they are still infinitely curious about how music can enhance their lives. They also realize that metal is not dead (point tres). If even one kid is excited about digging into the magic that all areas of metal can provide, metal is not dead.
But the truth is that there is far more than one kid; metal fans are legion. In the 80s, the 90s, the aughties, and today. LEGION. As are the musicians making said music. Is it all golden? Of course not, but it never was. It’s art, and a large percentage of art has always been crap. That’s just how it goes. Is it a tad sad that there is no Anthrax of the 80s or Pantera of the 90s selling out arenas with metal? Sure, but those days are largely over, for better or worse, and the “no arena bands anymore” lamentations eventually come back to popularity and money, which, while desired, is never the ultimate aim of art. If it is, it isn’t art. Also, when extreme art starts making a ton of money, it typically stops being extreme art.
So no, heavy metal is not dead, approaching death, or even in need of a check-up. If anything, the folks making these claims are just lazy, bitter, or both. Too lazy to keep digging into Bandcamp. Too bitter to ask for honest recommendations because they’re afraid to admit that maybe they don’t know it all anymore, or that asking for said recommendations would be admitting that they never knew it all. The truth is that we have never had easier access to a larger volume of great heavy metal of such a wide, amazing variety. This discourages some because they think it means sifting through more to find the true goods. But does it, really? All it takes is earnest (and honest) communication. The old guard reminisces about the good ol’ tape trading days, but you know what that was? Communication, and at a much slower pace than simply reading a blog you trust or checking a forum thread. As it was, so it is: The greats are out there, and they, like the fans, are legion. Demand better, but know that the right search will feed that desire.
If you’re too lazy to do that, it’s on you. If a good band is so so desperate to make their art heard that they’re offering it for free on Bandcamp, and you’re too cheap to toss them five clams, don’t complain about the financial state of metal. And most of all, if you’ve lost your hunger for metal (which is fine, it happens) but are reacting by projecting bitterness onto the music, that is on you. Don’t try to ruin it for the rest of us.
