Strangly, when my brother first introduced me to metal in my later
years of high school I didn't really like it. The particular album
I remember was Years of Decay by Overkill. During my
freshman year of college
Metallica's Black album was getting a lot of air
play on the radio. After listening to some of this stuff I decided
to buy some older Metallica albums. Thus began my journey to
become a full fledged metal head. By my senior year I had
surpassed even my brother's taste in terms of heaviness and I am
now greatly into bands such as Sepultura, Pantera, Death,
Invocator, Prong, Entombed, and of course Metallica and Megadeth.
After the initial shock of developing such radical musical tastes
was over and I had visited various moshpits hosted by such
bands as Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura, Pantera, White Zombie, and Death,
I began to expand and find some more mellow stuff I liked.
It was about this time I started thinking about music, why
people like it, why they don't like metal (most people that is),
what I like about music, and why I like metal, etc...
Most music has a dominant rhythm instrument or sound that carries the
song along. This may be piano or synthesizers, accoustic guitars,
clean or distorted electric guitars, bass, horns, string instruments
(violins, etc), or even backing vocals. Although I'm not sure quite
how, the dominant instrument has a definite effect on how music is
perceived.
Metal fits into this scheme with heavily distorted guitars for rhythm,
usually a fast tempo and complex rhythm,
and a lot of minor keys, though the note and key choices vary widely.
As I have expanded my musical tastes I have found many other bands
and songs I like, but they usually contain at least one of these
key aspects: rhythmically complex, guitar sounds, based on negative
emotions. Since metal puts all of these together, that is why it
is my main musical interest.
What is metal?
One of the many amazing aspects of music is its ability to convey
emotions. These emotions can even change throughout the course of
one song. Nearly every song classified as metal deals with emotions
such as anger and aggression.
But how are these emotions conveyed? I believe there are three main
aspects: the notes, the sound, and the rhythm.
The selection of notes and key changes also affect the feeling or
mood of music. A simple example of this is using major or minor
keys. Major keys sound happy and minor keys sound sad. Again it
is unclear how these factors have their effect, but they definitely
do. The 12 note scale is a human invention, but the combinations of
notes to create different feelings is a discovery.
The rhythm affects the musical appeal more than the emotional content,
but factors such as the arrangment and timing of notes can have
some effect. The tempo of the song is also important.Why don't "people" like metal?
Aggression is an emotion that people in general don't like to feel.
When a normal person hears metal, their mind rejects the emotional
response and blocks the music from entering the analytical part of
the mind. The net effect here is that to a normal person's brain,
metal just sounds like noise. This effect is increased by the fact
that metal is rhythm oriented and not vocal oriented. Normal people
focus more on vocals, and since the quality of vocalists in metal is not
what normal people expect from music, they are furthur turned off.Why do I like metal?
First of all, like all metal heads, somewhere in the core of my being
is something that likes pure, undirected aggression.
Aggression is closely linked to adrenaline, which makes metal concerts
an amazing experience. Unlike many metal heads, this part of my
being is quite deep inside, and is quite a sharp contrast to my
external personality. Second, I like the sound of the main
instruments used in metal: guitars, bass, and drums, all of which I
happen to play. Metal can be amazingly complex, and when the sounds
and rhythms of these instruments come together in certain ways, the
feeling is awesome. In some ways I feel lucky to like metal and
be able to appreciate all of its qualities. Although my mind can't
comprehend it, true jazz fans probably experience a similar respect
for their music.
Feel free to share your own ideas and thoughts!
