Metal is more than just music, it's a cultural expression

Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) / Max Cavalera (Cavalera Conspiracy) / Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)

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Sammy Sayed (Scarab) / Sahil Makhija (Demonic Resurrection) / Luke Kenny (The Berzerker)

Now whilst many people around the world would prefer to sit back or lay down, turn on their favourite pop music or the radio and listen to whatever is being played, there are some who would rather go to the other end of the music spectrum and indulge in some metal music. Or on the other hand, there are some metal music fans who cannot be bothered to ignore the force-feeding of bands delivered to them by the major media outlets, telling them who they should listen to, rather than thinking for themselves... after all isn't the alternative cultures meant to portray free-thinking? See the irony?


"I'm not the kind of person who tries to be cool or trendy, I'm definitely an individual" Leonardo DiCaprio


It becomes a right pain and annoyance when narrow-minded people perceive metal music as Satanic, ironically they are partially right as there are bands out there who do sing about Satanic-related topics or indeed Satanism itself. However if you properly analyse it, metal music IS the most popular music genre going and why? Simple. It became subject to globalization. Sure, you might argue “oh but popular music is the most international because it is popular” or “Metal music is rubbish and pop music is the best”, whilst these may be subjective opinions, the reality is simpler than the first quotation, that is do you ever hear about Indian pop music on the major UK radio stations? Not really. But in metal music you hear bands from all over, including India.


"It is people who are the objects of globalization and at the same time its subjects. What also follows logically from this is that globalization is not a law of nature, but rather a process set in train by people"

Tarja Halonen


The thing about it is, metal music is a truly respected music genre and is growing all the time, recently I came across scenes in Bhutan and French Polynesia, yes French Polynesia, you know that island archipelago smack-bang in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Yeah that one. I'm pretty sure they might not have heard of Justin Bieber, but nay say do they care (somewhat diverting from the main point here)? The fact is that metal music has managed to adapt itself to incorporate traditional cultural customs and itself in fact has become embodied within cultures worldwide.

Take for example bands like Melechesh from Israel, Myrath from Tunisia and ChthoniC from Taiwan, these are bands who incorporate their native traditional sounds and as a result authenticate their own style of metal. Where Melechesh would sing about the ancient lands of Sumeria and Mesopotamia, Myrath would just add Arabian music as influences whereas ChthoniC use the Ur-hu to introduce the Far Eastern sounds, and this is why metal is more than just music, it's a vehicle used to express the national or trans-national cultures.


"A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people"
Mahatma Gandhi


Why is it then we don't appreciate this style of music as much as we could or in terms of the metal music world, should. Why is that we don't acknowledge these bands from the far flung countries have a greater connection with their culture than their pop music counterparts?

In no means necessary am I trying to force or thrust metal music down people's throats as much to say, this is what you should listen to. We live in a democratic society and thus everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when you see musicians playing metal in the far-from-democratic countries e.g. Libya, Saudi Arabia, etc, and then learn that metalheads out in these Conservative countries get faced with persecution or death for being associated with metal, or “the devil's music” as they so do call it, a sense of respect creeps in for them defying the normalities of their culture in an attempt to speak out about the emotions they feel.

If that is not a form of cultural expression then I do not know what is

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