I have been chewing over a certain issue for sometime now and I feel the need to vent about it. It has to do with Metal music and its fans. It would be hard to find another genre of music that has fans this passionate about the bands they like and music styles and yet having udder disdain for others in the same genres. Metal is a unique form of music which has sprouted out into many sub genres. My beef with all of this comes from the lack of support for certain sub genres from other sub genres. Example: Black metal supporters hate Death Metal supporters who them selves hate Hardcore supporters etc, etc. None of the Sub genres seem to get along for some strange ass reason? Even though they all came from the same origins? It was once a tight knit community that came together out of mutual respect for each other due to the fact that no one else understood us except us! Somewhere down the road battle lines have been drawn and a full blown civil war has broken out. Has Metal’s diversity caused all this? Too many different styles have bread too many different opinions as to which style is better? Or is it simply “hey you wear corpse paint and I don’t so fuck off”? This is hard to pin point. I have tried for years to figure it out without a definite answer. What the Metal community needs to realize is...we are not strong enough on our own to keep the scene alive and thriving. We really have to, (with out sounding too preachy) come together damn it.
See I play bass for a “Thrash Metal” band. That did not stop me from going to see a really good “Death Metal” show a few months ago. Two really good local bands and the headliner from Montreal. To my shock and dismay I could not believe how bad the turn out was. There might have been 20 people in the whole club. A great line up and only 20 people for fuck-sakes! The following night had a Hip Hop show at the same venue which was sold out. WTF!
So you see,
With all the sub genres of metal and all the great bands that have come from this, we are left with a huge divide in the fan base. One that has all but killed the once thriving scene in this city. Instead of 200 people per local show we have 20. This kind of divide is killing the scene. Local acts are barely making gas money and the clubs can hardly pay their staff. This fact has made it really tough for clubs to book metal shows and rightfully so. No one likes losing money and I get that. Larger acts like Lamb of God had two sold out shows in as many days in Toronto. So there are enough fans in the scene to keep things going but only for huge established bands. I suppose there were a lot of out of towners helping to fill the venue that would not come to see local acts. I get that too. But the local scene is just a huge ass mess at the moment. Me thinks it has to do with the sub genre divide. I could be wrong but doubt it. In any case I say “Metal heads unite or don’t” it’s up to all of us to keep this shit going. Who gives a fuck if you wear make up, have long hair, wear tight jeans, dress in black, sing really high or sound like a dying pig! Who gives a fuck if you play 300 BPM, have 5 min long guitar solos or no solos at all. Who gives a fuck? I know I don’t!
Rant over.
Jeff
Desolate Rage
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