Below you'll find another well worded rant from writer the Baby Killer. It's not about hardcore dancing necessarily, but it's definitely worth a read. Think of this as part two in introducing him as a writer. I insist you read on.
It's cute how people listen to some silly mainstream band like Atreyu, In This Moment, Bring Me the Horizon or something to that effect and think just because they listen to bands that have distorted guitars that they're "brutal" and that they have some semblance of a clue what metal is. Now, I'm not usually an elitist by nature, I'm normally pretty carefree. It's your right as a person to like whatever you want to like, and I try not to deride people for liking something that I don't, but seriously, this shit's gotta fucking stop.
Less than a day after the Mayhem Festival came to town this past summer, I noticed an outpouring of stupid preppy bitches ranting on their Facey-Spaces about "fucking shit up in the pit at a Lamb of God show my friend took me to at the Tweeter Center". Don't kid yourself slut, you were there to see Atreyu or Korn or Rob Zombie. You're just trying to look tough for your friends because, for some inexplicable reason, metal is rising in popularity, and you're subconsciously trying to stick with the "in" crowd. You want a real metal show, with pits that make even me nervous, someone who regularly attends them and has received more than his fair share of lumps in the process? Try moshing for Cannibal Corpse and see if you make it out alive. You want real metal bands, not trendy, flash-in-the-pan bands that are only popular because Hot Topic jerks them off? Try going to some shitty bar in south central Bumblefuck to see the underground bands that bust their asses trying to get their name out, and are willing to play at midnight on a Tuesday to seven other people, because those seven people are the real fans. They're the people that go to shows because they genuinely love the music and want to support the bands in whatever small way they can, not because everyone else is going to be there and there are a couple bands playing that you like because you saw one of their videos on MTV2 or some shit. Try going to shows for bands like Short Bus Pile Up, Gutted Out, Lethean, Cerebral Bore, Jungle Rot or some other band that you've probably never heard of. The tickets are cheaper, the bands are exponentially more talented, and the whole experience is so much more gratifying, because you know that you're contributing to something far more intimate and special.
The underground is where you'll find the true talent, the bands that are doing what they're doing because they truly love to, and are putting their blood and sweat into it because it means that much more to them. In other words, as cliche as it might sound, don't pay attention to the mainstream bands and stick to the underground. Mainstream bands are a given, and more often than not they end up becoming stagnant, boring and watered down, because the labels and industry executives find out what the general public likes and stick to it until the next big trend (aka "cash cow") comes along. The underground, unknown bands will always be the ones who never compromise or falter, and the fans who support those bands and go to the shows at the bars, fire halls, Elks lodges, church basements, etc. will always be the truest of the true. In fact, metal itself should never have been allowed to become mainstream in the first place.
Metal has always been about rebellion, individuality and anti-establishment mentalities, so becoming mainstream contradicts and undermines everything that metal supposedly stands for. It feels great to know that you like something that few others do, but now all of a sudden every fourteen-year-old girl with black hair and boy problems is wearing a Slayer shirt even though they only know "Reign In Blood" because they played through it on Guitar Hero. Sure, "Funeral Thirst" was and still is a great song. Sure, Job For a Cowboy has some pretty cool songs, especially in their more recent albums. Hell, I even like a good breakdown once in a blue moon. However, the point is the popular has now become the norm in metal, and as a result the lesser-known but undeniably more talented bands that I listen to are now frowned upon by the same exact people that claim to love metal. If you love The Black Dahlia Murder and Job For a Cowboy and Whitechapel, what's wrong with Necrophagist, Suffocation or Cannibal Corpse? Those guys are direct influences to the mainstream acts, without them they wouldn't exist. If you're so hard up for deathcore and breakdowns, why not listen to bands that have a great groove but are still brutal as fuck, like Dying Fetus or Abominable Putridity? And if you love those stupid clean auto-tuned choruses so much, why not listen to bands with naturally gifted singers like Dimmu Borgir or System Divide? For Christ's sake, ICS Vortex sang opera before he got into metal, he doesn't need any vocal processors, he's already got a beautiful, powerful voice that sends shivers up my spine.
In closing, what I'm ultimately trying to get across is that if you want to feel special, go out of your way to check out the underdogs. Every single day, I feel empowered, because I listen to music that is there for me no matter what, music that tells me I can be as strong and powerful as I want, as long as I stand my ground and never surrender, and these posers are actively eroding it out from under me. You think you're metal? I'll see you in the pit at the shows for Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch and/or Deicide. Keep an eye out for me, I'll be the one caving your skull in with my boot.
How do you guys feel? Agree with the Baby Killer? Disagree? I know I completely see where he's coming from, but I actually love Lamb of God pits (see http://moshrebellion.blogspot.com/2010/10/sick-breakdowns-to-mosh-to-pt1.html) and am a surprisingly big fan of Rob Zombie. Weigh in below...
I would just like to point out that I didn't mean to diss Lamb of God when I wrote this, I intentionally referenced them to show that the posers talked about moshing for them when in reality we all know they were only there for the silly Hot Topic bands (apologies to MR for dissing a band he likes in the process, but them's the breaks). Lamb of God is definitely an exception to the general rule of mainstream bands being lame
ReplyDeleteI agree for the most part. Dig a little deeper and you'll be surprised how many of these underground bands will wind up being tested and true favorites to you. That's how I became obsessed with Enslaved, Immortal and various other bands that I got into because of someone stating that the more well known band I was into got some of their influence from someone else. Hell, I remember buying New American Gospel not too long after it came out and buying As The Palaces Burn (still my favorite LoG cd) the day it came out. Imagine my surprise when Ashes of the Wake blew up and everyone was into this 'awesome new band.' It's almost like you get sad a little bit. That secret treasure of a band just got a little less cool, and it's not even their fault.
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