I was a metal performer for years. And the diversity of walks of life that show up to shows is awesome. They are there to be entertained and get that energy out. It’s a connection point. Everyone knows what it’s like to feel irrationally angry and need to vent it.
Metalheads know this and relate to each other that way.
But trying to convince me that Rush is metal will get you locked out of the studio you fuckin knob.
Rush? Definitely not
But also if Metallica is still real ‘metal’ these days I’ll be falling asleep at the Drumset or sneaking out of the studio to go play sim city 3000
I think scandanavian people are okay, I guess.
I don’t really make assessments about people based on whatever musical tastes they have.
I don’t really have a perception of people that like to listen to metal, because that’s a huge amount of different people. This definitely did change. I’m not sure, if it was due to my younger age or the strength of genre stereotypes at the end of the 2000s, but at that time I didn’t even realize how much of the music I listened to was metal. I associated metal more with the stereotyped metal heads than the actual music.
Cool, now do country music.
Speaking as one, the majority are decent people but there is a minority who are openly fash and a sadly growing amount who tolerate fash bands cos the riffs are good.
Even though none of motorhead’s members are nazis, I believe the blatant Nazi image to be in terrible taste.
Sure, they may not believe in them, but they are indirectly promoting and normalizing them. It disconnects the symbols from their historical context and association. It taints the image of metal as a whole which saddens me a lot.
To be perfectly clear, I’m OK with Nazi imagery in movies and games but only within the context of the setting.
Fuck Ivan Moody, i loved motograter’s sound but the five finger death punch turn and then subsequent military fallatiating killed him for me
I feel this one hard, I loved his Ghost Machine stuff too. Can’t do FFDP…
A metal head is the kind of guy I want watching my back. They aren’t afraid to get knocked around a little, usually smarter than most, and they have the biggest hearts.
Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s the general vibe I get from the metal heads I’ve met.
I’ve been going to metal and adjacent shows and festivals for decades.
Metal fans are everything and everyone. There exists no stereotype that any one fan could fully fit.
- The lawyer with more money than sense.
- The family of 3 with their toddler wearing ear protection.
- The guy who looks like he just got done mucking a horse stall.
- The boomers who will tell you about the first time they saw Ozzy without it even being brought up.
- The smokers and the tokers.
- The guy who just escaped the office and doesn’t care what people think of his clothes.
- The visitors who are not really into the music but they love an opener or swore they would see the headliner if they ever got the chance.
For the most part, people are accepting of everyone. There are a few people who are less hospitable. Usually kids who have an idea of the culture that is not instep with reality. Typically they learn, one way or another.
As a metal head, it was always fun seeing other bars and clubs in the middle of the night having police and fights outside, while our dainty little metal bar only had that when those people came to our place.
Some people even came for the lack of fights, even if they didn’t like the music. Always a brotherly atmosphere welcoming to all strangers.
I think those people like to have fun and they don’t take themselves too seriously.
I don’t think that my perception of it changed in the last 30 years since I was a teenager.
Can confirm.
What I have noticed for myself and other Metalheads is that the preference regarding the favourite bands and or subgenre might shift, or that the mix/percentage with non-Metal music might change a bit etc. But from my experience, people that have enjoyed Metal as teenagers still like it at older ages.
At Metal festivals and concerts you generally find a wide spectrum of all ages. I’ve seen grannies enjoying the show next to teenagers moshing. I’ve seen whole families, or talked to people that came alone from another continent to attend that festival. I’ve also done that myself once and had no problem finding nice people to hang out with.
@OP, are you asking for a specific reason, or just a general vibe check? Or are you a Metalhead yourself and wanna see what the perspective from other Metalheads in other communities is?
I often ask a question on here to give me something to get my mind off of the pain immediately following my physical therapy routine from a broken neck and back 10 years ago. I’m not much for words ATM. But yes, I’m a metalhead
Fuck, that sounds horrible :(
I wish you a good recovery with as little pain as possible!You have a good strategy. Reading other people’s stories is like reading a book. But instead of fiction, it’s (hopefully true) small glimpses into human lives. I also love that for escaping my own reality for a short while.
There’s the old joke that metalheads are nice people pretending to be mean, while hippies are mean people pretending to be nice.
I don’t know about hippies, but this comic is pretty accurate for Metalheads (except many times we also take stupid grimace fotos xD):
Well the hippies are boomers… soooo…
Based on experience, they tend to be people with a tough exterior but with the kindest hearts.
The nicest people in the world cosplaying as the meanest.
Metalheads I’ve known 20yrs ago vs now? Still generally lovely, kind and welcoming people. They can look fierce but I’d go to them in a crisis.
My perception is that they are people. I know lots of different people that listen to metal and have nothing else in common.
