Heavy Metal: A Controversial Music Genre
Heavy metal is a controversial music genre. It has become a well known and a popular genre. It is hard to segregate into different sub-genres, for the simple fact that not all of the music follows simple forms. Some critics believe the genre is satanic oriented and is not musically talented. The listeners have very different thoughts about the genre and believe it has changed their lives for the better. This genre is a good example of misunderstood and false descriptions.
Heavy metal, "Hard rock", originates from the late 1960's and early 1970's. It gained popularity, mainstream, in the 1980's. The beginning roots of the genre are from within blues influence. Led Zeppelin used blues in one of their songs, "Whole Lotta Love", which has heavy riffs, but using lyrical blues influence. Some of the original band where, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The bands that helped it become the way it is today are Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeath. There are over 30 subgenres and they keep growing. Some of the major subgenres are Nu-metal, Death metal, Thrash metal, Power metal and Metal-core. …show more content…
Lyrically the heavy metal genre was defined as both political and social.
Such references can be found in the song, "War Pigs", by Black Sabbath. The song talks about those who make war without considering the powerless people who are sent to die. It is an anti-war song and has become known as a, "Protest Song." The lyrics, "Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war, why should they go out to fight, they leave that all to the poor", explain that the government doesn't care about the people they sent into the war they created. The lyrics changed over the years and now sound different but, kept the original core meaning. Modern day metal lyrics reference sex, violence and fantasy but, still have political and social
references. Heavy metal is very instrumentally complex and continues to evolve. The normal line up would be heavy and fast electric guitar riffs, deep bass riffs with distortion and many power chords. The drums are fast and usually contain a heavy bass into the mix. Vocals are usually deep and contain many screaming parts but, many bands have light vocals and heavy instrumental sound. Many feel that the heavy metal scene contains people beating on drums and screaming. That is not the case, heavy metal is fast, has complex polyrhythm and some bands even use orchestral music. The most misunderstood thing about heavy metal is that it is seen as devil music. Many people feel that heavy metal has bad lyrics. Critics say that the music portrays anger and aggression. They also say that they use satanic references in their music so; they must be portraying the devil into their music. Therefore this creates a bad image for heavy metal. While some bands use, "Satanic", imagery many don't. The bands that use that method are only using it to reflect a world view, which can be a very harsh place at times. They do not use it to worship Satan which many have perceived. Some have even tried to blame the music for making people do evil and satanic things. One such accusation is the infamous, "Columbine", where heavy metal music was blamed for fueling the two kids in the shooting. Marilyn Manson was the scapegoat for this theory. He thought that was a ridiculous claim and had written a response to his accusers. "It is sad to think that the first few people on earth needed no books, movies, games or music to inspire cold-blooded murder. The day that Cain bashed his brother Abel's brains in, the only motivation he needed was his own human disposition to violence", Marilyn Manson stated. Heavy metal has negative and positive effects on people, but so does everything else in the world. Critics say that the genre is violent and aggressive, but have not taken into account, the actual effects. The music does put out aggression and violence, but the after affects are greatly different. Some people claim to become calm after listening to the music. They say it releases the negative emotions, so it doesn't become bottled up inside. The music is for many a relief from the outside world. It is like a shot, in a sense, to help people cope with the many issues in the world today. It creates a world for the listener and takes them away from the real but, when the music stops, they come back to reality. The music is a calling for some, including myself, and has helped many others. The band KoRn has had a lot of success with Nu-metal. They said many of their fans come to them and say, "If it wasn't for your music I wouldn't be around here to tell about it." The majority of fans feel the same and they have said in many different ways. The heavy metal genre is notorious for having the wrong description. Critics say it is satanic, encourages violence and aggression, and is not musically talented. The satanic imagery does not mean it is satanic music. The music lets the listeners let out their negative emotion without having to be violent or aggressive. The genre is musically complex and contains many different musical instruments. The listeners state that the music is a relief from the stress in their life.
Heavy metal, "Hard rock", originates from the late 1960's and early 1970's. It gained popularity, mainstream, in the 1980's. The beginning roots of the genre are from within blues influence. Led Zeppelin used blues in one of their songs, "Whole Lotta Love", which has heavy riffs, but using lyrical blues influence. Some of the original band where, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The bands that helped it become the way it is today are Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeath. There are over 30 subgenres and they keep growing. Some of the major subgenres are Nu-metal, Death metal, Thrash metal, Power metal and Metal-core. …show more content…
Lyrically the heavy metal genre was defined as both political and social.
Such references can be found in the song, "War Pigs", by Black Sabbath. The song talks about those who make war without considering the powerless people who are sent to die. It is an anti-war song and has become known as a, "Protest Song." The lyrics, "Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war, why should they go out to fight, they leave that all to the poor", explain that the government doesn't care about the people they sent into the war they created. The lyrics changed over the years and now sound different but, kept the original core meaning. Modern day metal lyrics reference sex, violence and fantasy but, still have political and social
references. Heavy metal is very instrumentally complex and continues to evolve. The normal line up would be heavy and fast electric guitar riffs, deep bass riffs with distortion and many power chords. The drums are fast and usually contain a heavy bass into the mix. Vocals are usually deep and contain many screaming parts but, many bands have light vocals and heavy instrumental sound. Many feel that the heavy metal scene contains people beating on drums and screaming. That is not the case, heavy metal is fast, has complex polyrhythm and some bands even use orchestral music. The most misunderstood thing about heavy metal is that it is seen as devil music. Many people feel that heavy metal has bad lyrics. Critics say that the music portrays anger and aggression. They also say that they use satanic references in their music so; they must be portraying the devil into their music. Therefore this creates a bad image for heavy metal. While some bands use, "Satanic", imagery many don't. The bands that use that method are only using it to reflect a world view, which can be a very harsh place at times. They do not use it to worship Satan which many have perceived. Some have even tried to blame the music for making people do evil and satanic things. One such accusation is the infamous, "Columbine", where heavy metal music was blamed for fueling the two kids in the shooting. Marilyn Manson was the scapegoat for this theory. He thought that was a ridiculous claim and had written a response to his accusers. "It is sad to think that the first few people on earth needed no books, movies, games or music to inspire cold-blooded murder. The day that Cain bashed his brother Abel's brains in, the only motivation he needed was his own human disposition to violence", Marilyn Manson stated. Heavy metal has negative and positive effects on people, but so does everything else in the world. Critics say that the genre is violent and aggressive, but have not taken into account, the actual effects. The music does put out aggression and violence, but the after affects are greatly different. Some people claim to become calm after listening to the music. They say it releases the negative emotions, so it doesn't become bottled up inside. The music is for many a relief from the outside world. It is like a shot, in a sense, to help people cope with the many issues in the world today. It creates a world for the listener and takes them away from the real but, when the music stops, they come back to reality. The music is a calling for some, including myself, and has helped many others. The band KoRn has had a lot of success with Nu-metal. They said many of their fans come to them and say, "If it wasn't for your music I wouldn't be around here to tell about it." The majority of fans feel the same and they have said in many different ways. The heavy metal genre is notorious for having the wrong description. Critics say it is satanic, encourages violence and aggression, and is not musically talented. The satanic imagery does not mean it is satanic music. The music lets the listeners let out their negative emotion without having to be violent or aggressive. The genre is musically complex and contains many different musical instruments. The listeners state that the music is a relief from the stress in their life.