The fine art of Heavy Metal pt 1

This is is the first of many posts that will be devoted to the fine art of Heavy Metal. Fine art, you ask? I say absolutely. Some of the most advanced musicians in the world, both from a theoretical and a technical perspective, play Heavy Metal. This is a fact. The execution of this musical knowledge might not be to everybodys liking, which is absolutely ok. I mean, I am not a big fan of three-chord pop songs about broken hearts. The big difference is that people tend to look down on Metal. It is not really accepted. If someone doesn't like jazz for instance, this person might still respect the artform. As I personally respect the songwriters of three-chord pop songs. God knows it is not easy to write a hit song. So why is it that people not only dislikes metal, but rather looks down on metal as if it is something that the cat dragged in?

Working with brand management I consider this a true (and very tricky) branding issue. When most  people think about Heavy Metal, they think of long hair, tattoos, beer, and fairly odd people. Take me as an example, people are really surprised when they find out I am passionate about metal. Why? Because I do not fit the stereotype. I have even heard the comment; "He loves heavy metal? But he seems like such a nice guy".

This makes me really upset at times as if there is something wrong with me. As if my mother accidentally dropped me on my head when I was a baby, or that I have a childhood full of sadness, or being bullied or whatever. (Maybe I should ask her if she dropped me...)

At the same time I am not so sure that the current perception that people have of Heavy Metal is a bad thing. I actually believe that the stereotypical metal heads want to have a part of society that is their own, a place where everybody is accepted and money never counts as an entrance ticket to this group. It is not a place for shallow and superficial people, believe me.

So, what I'm thinking is that even though I want to be accepted for loving metal, I am not sure that Heavy Metal as a Brand would benefit by reaching a wider audience as this would probably mean that the very core of this society would move on to something else. They would not accept being mainsteam. This would in turn lead to more commercialization of this artform and I believe it would lose it's edge, and its passion and many of the awesome musicians that since they were 10 spent 5 hours per day practicing their instrument, playing along to The Four Horsemen or Seek & Destroy, thinking about what would have happened if Dave wasn't kicked out of the band. (anybody even remotely into hetal knows exactly what and who I am talking about)

I can agree that Heavy Metal is not accessible for all, and I can understand why people might feel intimidated and a bit scared, therefore downgrading it as a natural defense mechanism. And to be honest, I kind of like it. Why? Simple, it makes me special and unique. I have this connection to something people really do no understand, and that sets me apart. True branding at it's best actually. Let's hope that the brand stays true for a long time.

For you metal lovers, check out this jam session with Divine Heresy. True art by true artists.



There will be plenty of not so heavy thoughts on metal in this blog within the near future. Stay tuned and check back soon.

For all you readers, please use the comment field to list your personal top 5 metal albums of all times.

Speak to you soon!

Patrik