Metal: A Positive Release

When you read the title, “God is Dead?” what do you think the song is about? When Ozzy Osborne was asked what the story was behind his song “God Is Dead?”, he did not say the song is about a dead god. “I was in a doctor’s waiting room and [I saw] a magazine which said, ‘God Is Dead’”, begins Ozzy, “and I thought, ‘F—ing hell, they flew planes into the World Trade Center and they’re always blowing themselves up in market places, killing innocent people in the name of their god.’ If you listen to the twist at the end of the song, it says, ‘I don’t believe that God is dead.’”¹ The song is not about killing god or there not being a god, it is about searching for the fact if God is still there or not considering all of the trouble that is going on in the world. To be understood, metal must be read into.

The 2013 song by Black Sabbath “God is Dead?”¹ can be seen as an offensive phrase to many people but if you listen to the song and understand it’s context, you realize the song is not about God being dead. The song searches for an answer to a question that many people ask themselves daily. Metal is a genre of music that is about exploring your inner self. It is about learning about yourself, your surroundings, your spirituality and your life. Many people mistakenly take a line out of a song and claim it is anti-religious or promoting violence and suicide. 

What is Metal anyway?

Metal is a genre of music that emerged in the 1970’s and has rapidly progressed into what it is today. Thrashing electric guitars, rhythmic, complex bass, heart pounding drums and outrageous vocals comprise the typical metal band. Metal has been known to be related to classical music for its intricacy and required attentive listening. The metal fans like to call themselves headbangers or metalheads. They can be anyone from a CEO at a major corporation, to a 17 year old high school student. Kirk Hammet from Metallica explains the range of metal lovers. “It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, rich or poor. You can be from any walk of life, come from any sort of culture and relate to it.”² Whoever they are, and whatever they do, they are a family. Metalheads band together, clinging onto the basic fundamentals of life and perspective happiness. In today’s society, people shy away from Metal with misunderstandings about the music. People believe that metal endorses violence, suicide and Satanism. Contrary to these common mislabels, metal can be very helpful to people.  Through meaningful lyrics, humbling facts and inspirational band members, heavy metal can be an extremely positive influence on people’s lives. While metal has grown into an extremely large and diverse genre, there are an abundance of bands that have motivated and helped people overcome their personal battles.

Metal is a popular genre among people who face problems in their lives (as well as those who don't). Depression and suicidal thoughts are not uncommon in people in general. Metal embraces these thoughts and acknowledges their existence. Unlike popular music, metal allows its’ audience to know that they are not alone in their dark world. Within the lyrics from the song “You Are Never Alone”, Hatebreed (left) addresses these feelings:  “This is for the kids who have nowhere to turn, who have nothing to live for, you think you haven't the will to persist, you have to search within yourself”³. The last line in this excerpt is concrete advice: Find your strength. More examples of metal relating to these feelings can be seen in Korn’s “Die Another Day”: “Sometimes we take it all, nothing stands in our way, we have to fight and crawl, to die another day”.⁴ Korn is telling their audience they are not meant to die today (by their own hand). They have to fight and take baby steps to get out of their rut.

"But it is negative and violent!?"


Even some of the songs that you may hear of with violent themes are not always dangerous. Alex Webster from the band Cannibal Corpse sheds light on the importance of emotional release through music.  In this short interview, he highlights the reasons why expressing violence through music is beneficial. “…turning something negative into something positive by making it into music instead of going out and doing something violent…Instead of letting the negativity devour you, it is better to get it out through art and music and other things like that.⁶” According to Webster, metal can help people release the anger that is built up inside them. You don’t always think positively, do you? Instead of actually being violent or malicious, people can express themselves through music. They can thrash, headbang, and scream all of that built up pressure out through the music. 

Metal often focuses on the negative things in life. But as Tom Araya from Slayer states in his interview from 1989¹³, if there is evil, there is good. Different personality types focus on different things. Not everyone is capable of thinking in rainbows and butterflies. Those who cannot, turn to metal and the darker aspects of life. There is a simple metaphor that explains this concept of metal: Seeing the light within the darkness.

Our good friends from Metallica...

Metallica is notorious for songs that address depression, anxiety and metal health. Their song “The Unnamed Feeling”: "I can not sleep in this down filled world, I've found safety in this loneliness, but I can not stand it anymore...I just wanna get the f--- away from Me. I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate. I hate it all. Why? Why? Why me?".⁷ This song takes a different approach to self-help. While James Hetfeild is screaming this into his microphone, someone sits by their stereo, ready to hurt themselves when they realize they are not the only one that feels this way. Someone in that band has felt the same way they do. They share the unnamed feeling that they cannot seem to name, understand or dismiss. With some support from Metallica, they face the world and carry on until the unnamed feeling disappears. Would you rather have them hurt themselves in their solitude, or listen to metal regain hope?

Metal has continuously addressed larger social issues. Like Ozzy said in his interview, his “God is Dead?” song was inspired by many terrorist attacks. Metallica also creates songs about problems that are not day to day. In the song “One”¹¹, Metallica retells the story of Johnny Got His Gun¹⁰ (left, from the film rendition of the book) from Johnny’s perspective. This book is a chilling story about a British World War One soldier who got a disfiguring and dehumanizing injury from a landmine. If the song does not make you thankful for your lifestyle, the book certainly will.  By addressing larger social problems, metal makes yours look less significant.        

It really can make a difference: 

In his blog post “Heavy Metal Saved My Life”, Brett Stevens¹² expresses why metal helped him get though the mundane routines of life. “It had several methods that saved me. The first was that it let me escape into a mood that was bigger than my everyday concerns.” Not only does he explain that metal helped him make it through, he goes on to further explain how exactly metal does that. “Perhaps it isn’t as simple as heavy metal validating non-conformity. Perhaps it does that and goes a step further by pointing out that conformity itself, as part of socializing, is what makes our society so unbearable.” Heavy metal embraces the fact that the world and society are cruel places. The music and lyrics come together to express the horrors that people face and in turn, allow one another to know that they are not alone in their rude world. Metalheads stand together.            

          
Metalheads in the Community:

Many band members in the Metal community support and encourage children, Christianity, instrumentation, and self-help. Dave Mustaine from Megadeth is open about his Christian faith, while also being a positive presence in his community. In 2009, Mustaine created a program for children in the community to have the opportunity to receive free instrument lessons.⁸ Mustaine is a great example of an honest metalhead that wants to give back. In an interview, Mustaine expresses, “I have been blessed to be overpaid throughout my career, and I think it’s time for me to give something back”⁸. Lead singer of the Polish band Behemoth, Nergal (right) was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. To be strong and influential, Nergal received quick treatments, bone marrow transplants, and planned a tour the very next year. Touring is exhausting no matter what genre of music you preform, but metal is more than a music concert where he stands there singing. He runs around, headbangs and gets the crowd going. Doing this with leukemia is no easy task. Nergal is not only an inspiration to metalheads, but he is also an inspiration for people with health problems. He received treatment and pushed forward with touring so he would not disappoint his fans.”<sup>9


Good Old Metallica Again:</sup>

Metallica's influence also stretches into this area of being a positive influence. In their interview for their recently released film, Through the Never,² the band members express their feelings towards drugs, politics, society and aging. Lars Ulrich explains “We have never felt like using Metallica as a platform to preach a particular dialog but obviously we always encourage people to do the right thing, whatever that is for them. And certainly we don’t advocate mindless anything. It’s not limited to drugs or violence”² Metallica is definitely not a negative influence on people. Ulrich also says “We certainly are proponents of artistic freedom fiercely, and we never encourage anyone to tone down what their artistic expression would be because of how people would respond to it.^2"

The screaming and thrashing that you may hear on the radio is more than a couple of long haired, tattooed men jumping up and down on stage. It is an artistic expression of feelings that are best released through music. It is a group of people banding together in their times of need. It is about realizing your problems are minimal compared to what they could be. Metal has helped thousands of people understand themselves, the world and others around them. In dark and light times, they tune into metal and tune out the world. As James Hetfield says in the interivew above, “We need to be honest with ourselves, why we are doing this music, and its that we are writing music that we want to listen to. It is simple as that.” Metal is always there for you. It will not stop, delete or vanish. 

Work Cited

    1. Wiederhorn, Jon. "Metal Music Can Be Good For You" Speakeasy. The Wall Street Journal, 26 Jul 2012. Web. 1 March 2014. <http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/07/26/why-aggressive-metal-can-be-healthy-music-therapy/>.

 2. Sam, Asi, dir. METALLICA: We don't preach violence, religion or politics. Dir, BBC. YouTube, 2013. Film, 1 Apr 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riH5DKGgcFQ>.
              
    3. Hatebreed, perf. You Are Never Alone. Universal Records, 2002. Videocassette. 1 Apr 2014. 

4. Korn, perf. Die Another Day. Universal Records, 2013. Videocassette. 1 Apr 2014.
   
    5. Dimmu Borgir, perf. Gateways. Nuclear Blast, 2010. Videocassette. 1 Apr 2014.

    6.Tony Rancich, dir. The Making of the Wretched Spawn. New Mars Media. 2004.Alex Webster, perf. 4 Apr 2014.

   7. Metallica, perf. The Unnamed Feeling. Elektra, 2004. Videocassette. 4 Apr 2014.

   8. Gill, James. " Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine: “I’ve Been A Christian Since ‘Peace Sells But Who’s Buying?’”."Metall Hammer. Team Rock Limited, 14 Dec 2009. Web. 4 Apr 2014. <http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/megadeths-dave-mustaine-ive-been-a-christian-since-peace-sells-but-whos-buying/>.

  9. "BEHEMOTH Bassist Offers Update on Nergal's Leukemia." Metal Injection. N.p., 09 Sep 2010. Web. 4 Apr 2014. <http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/behemoth-bassist-offers-update-nergals-leukemia>.

  10. Trumbo, Dalton. Johnny Got His Gun. United States: J.B. Lippincott, 1939. Print.

  11. Metallica, perf. One. Elektra, 1988. Videocassette. 4 Apr 2014.

  12. Stevens, Brett. "Heavy Metal Saved My Life." Death Metal Underground. N.p., 1 Sep 2013. Web. 4 Apr 2014. <http://www.deathmetal.org/news/heavy-metal-saved-my-life/>.

  13.  Slayer Tom Araya Interview. Youtube. 1989. 4 Apr 2014.