Okay. I've mentioned so many times about my fondness to Heavy Metal
music. That same type of music that many people consider as merely noise. But
during those times I haven't got the chance to elaborate it in a form of a
written article. With today's invasion of K-Pop, Modern Pop and Rap, Metal is
currently the fastest growing musical genre in the world. What most people
describe songs with heavy guitar riffs as "Rock", there are many
songs that despite being classified in the umbrella term of "Heavy
Metal", has their own distinct sounds and melodies.
My first exposure of heavier rock songs came in late 2005, when I was
first introduced with Avenged Sevenfold's Blinded
in Chains while playing the 2005 racing game Need For Speed: Most Wanted. That song was included in their album City of Evil, which was released around
the same time as the game. But my first taste of Rock n' Roll came way back
before. I have to say that my mother first got me into Queen, but not their
1976 masterpiece Bohemian Rhapsody,
instead played Mustafa Ibrahim. She
is also responsible for introducing me to Scorpions, a German Heavy Metal Band.
My exploration led me to Linkin Park, by the time when Minutes to Midnight was released. Another band that I was caught by
was American Pop-Punk band My Chemical Romance, at that time releasing their
acclaimed 2006 album The Black Parade.
During High School however, my metal library expanded further with bands like
Metallica (thanks to my father), System of a Down, Megadeth, Dragonforce and
Guns N' Roses. By the time I was in college, I started to look for new music,
and that eventually led me to Epica, a Dutch Symphonic Metal band. I was
unaware at that time of what Symphonic Metal is, but after hearing some songs
from their 2003 release The Phantom Agony
and the 2014 offering The Quantum
Enigma, I finally realized that this is my new favorite sub-genre of Metal.
Not long after that, bands like Nightwish, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Rhapsody
of Fire and Sabaton (the latter two are leaning towards Power Metal) came to my
metalhead life. I continued my exploration in the following years, and by that
time, I was in my last two years in campus. My playlist at that time consisted
of mainly European Metal bands like Germany's Powerwolf, Kreator and Blind
Guardian, Finland's Sonata Arctica, Italy's Lacuna Coil, the Swiss Folk
Metallers Eluveitie and Sweden's Amon Amarth, my first Death Metal band.
Nowadays, I've opened myself for new music, regardless of sub-genres. In fact,
I've been contemplating on listening the new Behemoth album despite the
supposed "Satanic" brand. Before that the only Black Metal bands that
I mostly listen to were Satyricon and Immortal, both are from Norway. Slipknot
and Avantasia are two of my favorite bands today, both releasing their
respective albums this year, with the former released We Are Not Your Kind just a few months ago, and the latter with Moonglow way before.
There are many reasons why I personally love this type of music. Aside
from the complexity of its composition and melodies, the lyrical content is
also varied. According to many sources, Edguy's vocalist Tobias Sammet, who is
also the one responsible for the band Avantasia, wrote the Moonglow album based on his fascination of the moon. Amon Amarth's
entire discography is based on either the Vikings or the Nordic Mythology, with
songs like Twilight of The Thunder God,
Deceiver of The Gods, Raven's Flight and
As Loke Falls, among others. Despite being a Melodic Death Metal Band,
their songs are not about a graphic depiction of death itself. Another band
worth to mention for its creative lyrical content is Tool. This American
Progressive Metal Band is praised for this, aside from their musicianship. They
took pretty much everything as inspirations for their songs, including one
particular mathematical formula known as the Fibonacci sequence. That formula
was used as the base for their 2001 single Lateralus,
from their album of the same name. Speaking of musicianship, many music experts
will tell you that Metal is one of the hardest musical styles to be played
today. Behind the distortions, those fast drumbeats and the loudness, musicians
of this genre are required to have immense talent and stamina, and that can
only be achieved with years of practicing and perfecting their craft. That's
why musicians like Dave Mustaine, Toni Iommi, Kai Hahto, Jari Maenpaa, Maynard
James Keenan, Geddy Lee and many more are respected within the metal comunnity
because of their talent in music. And finally, these bands are staying true to
themselves, putting out original material and constantly evolving their sound.
Only original works of art are accepted within the metal spectrum, and
plagiarism is heavily condemned (look at the Flaw plagiarism case. Their
guitarist, who claimed responsible for such act was subsequently fired).
Metal, like video games and Japanese anime is like my way of relaxing and
disconnect from the real world for a moment. Hell, some of those heavy songs are
actually my lullaby to help me sleep. Some researches claimed that listening to
agressive music like Metal actually helps you with your mental condition, and I
couldn't agree more. If you are angry of something, or having a terrible day,
just crank up that speaker and blast some of the heaviest tunes these bands has
to offer. It might help you to relax for a bit. Overall, unlike many members of
the society who pretty much listens to popular music of today, either from
America, Korea or other regions and genres, Metal is on the rise, and I can't
help but guarantee that this supposed "noisy" music will be rising
even further, with new bands, new talents, fresh tunes and heavier distortions.
For others, this is just merely noise. But for me, this is peace and serenity.
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