An issue I have as a MetalHead... The ignorance of an unknown element to Metal.
By N.B. Yomi
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
Dallas, Texas
July 30, 2016 2:13am CST
So while typing my previous post about Pop culture being fickle, I found myself listening to a band called "Haste The Day" on my ipod, and the song in question I was listening to was called Substance:( song here: Lyrics here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hastetheday/substance.html), and those of you listening to the youtube link probably noticed something "interesting" about the vocals. But for the record, that's not Death Metal, but "MetalCore." Metalcore combines sung vocal with Death Metal style grunts, as they're usually performed by one vocalist.
Haste The Day by the way is a "Christian Metalcore" group, and yes you read that right. And along with them are Demon Hunter and August Burns Red. Well at least those are the other two that I occasionally listen to anyway... And there are other Christian Metal Bands too like the very first one I ever heard of as a kid: Payable On Death, or "P.O.D." for short, and Pillar. Again at least of the ones I've listened to. :p
And these are some of the bands I listen to along side regular Heavy Metal, Nu Metal, Thrash Metal, and Metalcore bands like GraveDigger, Disturbed, Iron Maiden, KillSwitch Engage, Judas Preist, Arch Enemy, Slipknot, and Metallica. So whenever I hear that tired rhetoric of "Metal Is The Devil's Music," I feel like screaming. Because I know I'm not the only Christian listening to Haste The Day, P.O.D., Pillar, Demon Hunter, and August Burns Red, and yet, here I am encountering this. Admittedly it's not a frequent occurence because I'm a recluse. But I dunno, maybe it's my cross to bear, and given that I'm a geek and gamer dealing with the stigmas that come with those, I'm up to three crosses... How my body hasn't crumbled under all that strain amzes me.
7 people like this
5 responses
@FourWalls (62164)
• United States
31 Jul 16
If it will make you feel any better (or remove one of your crosses, figuratively speaking) regarding the notion that some small-minded individuals think that "heavy metal is the devil's music," that argument has been used by small-minded individuals for centuries. Before heavy metal, it was rock and roll. Before that, it was R&B. Before that, it was fiddling. There's a book about Chubby Wise and Ervin Rouse, who wrote the classic fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special," that says the fiddle was called "the devil's box" going back to Colonial Williamsburg times! So the notion that some preacher is going to line his pockets by calling the genre du jour "the devil's music" is nothing new.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (62164)
• United States
31 Jul 16
@Hanyouyomi -- these are people with way, way too much time on their hands. I'm thoroughly convinced that those people never laughed a day in their lives and want to make sure that nobody else has a happy moment, either.
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
31 Jul 16
@FourWalls Thanks for reminding me about how it was "Rock N' Roll" and R&B being accused of that before Heavy Metal's birth around 1969... And Fiddling? Seriously? What those idiots do listen to "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" five hundred times?
But yeah, I think you might've added more crosses, or at least one since only Rock N' Roll is still considered by some to be Satanic for reasons I don't know. I mean I've listened to Kansas, The Eagles, The Beatles, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Rolling Stones, and I'm at a loss on that one.
But man after learning about Thee fiddle being called "the devil's box" you weren't kidding about the small minded individuals. They'd probably have a fit over country music and bluegrass.
1 person likes this
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
1 Aug 16
@FourWalls That would make sense, since they've been shielded from the world and force fed skewed interpretations of God's word... The combination tends to ruin the mind... There are even people who don't believe in God who shield their kids from the world, and we see the effects of that in the democratic party...
But man... The Fiddle is called "The Devil's Box." So much for assuming these people came from the south and only the south... Although Puritans(who as far as I know started this mess) did have migrants in the New England area. Yep, so much for that ignorant assumption of mine thinking they were Southern born.
1 person likes this
@digiguru (557)
• Bangalore, India
30 Jul 16
I listened to the song you kept as link. Sad part is that in many stances, i felt screeming than that of the metalic tone. i am not a hardcore fan of such songs. but its my feeling. but while hearing to other
song-burning bridge, i didnt feel that much strain in the singer..May be this is a new way..
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
30 Jul 16
@digiguru
It took me a minute, but in thinking it over and remembering the other song I heard "Concerning What Was," from Burning Bridges back in highschool, I see what you mean. The grunted lyrics have less strain. And I'm not sure it's new so much as it might be a trait of being a metalcore vocalist that the songs vary in tone with the metalic grunts.
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
30 Jul 16
@digiguru I kind've understand that vocal strain actually as I've done it myself. But that was before I learned the rather complicated nature behind such a vocal style to where they can balance sung and grunted lyrics, and the complicated trick to pulling it off. Because the thing is doing such vocals incorrectly can leave you with a raspy voice, as I've learned.
@digiguru (557)
• Bangalore, India
31 Jul 16
@Hanyouyomi
Yomi.. you are absolutely correct.. in my country we have our own traditional singing like"sanskrit". i learned it in my childhood. but due to this strain i couldn't continue
@sabtraversa (12941)
• Italy
30 Jul 16
I appreciated the music/melody of Haste The Day, not much into the vocals but that's just my own taste. So first of all, thanks for sharing it with us.
I'm into Folk and Pagan Metal, so not Christian nor Satanic. 
Metal is just a genre, of course there are subgenres which require specific lyrics: if it sounds like middle ages you can't talk of mobile phones, for example. Metalcore tends to be rich in complaint and melanchony, so it can be of any religion, like many other genres, with or without "heaviness".
But hey, as long as people will spit their ignorance out, there's nothing we can do. Rap is always about crime, pop is always about love and metal is always about the devil.. uhm, right? 
Metal is just a genre, of course there are subgenres which require specific lyrics: if it sounds like middle ages you can't talk of mobile phones, for example. Metalcore tends to be rich in complaint and melanchony, so it can be of any religion, like many other genres, with or without "heaviness".
But hey, as long as people will spit their ignorance out, there's nothing we can do. Rap is always about crime, pop is always about love and metal is always about the devil.. uhm, right? 
@theBlock (2657)
• United States
17 Aug 16
@Hanyouyomi
I know---Metal= devil music---I don't think so. I love listening to Funk and Salsa to dance, Classical music when I read, and Heavy Metal when I work out, baby! I'm not a devil.... Well, maybe sometimes :)
@theBlock (2657)
• United States
18 Aug 16
@Hanyouyomi I like Country, too. But the old Country music
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
19 Aug 16
@theBlock Out of curiosity, what don't you like about Modern Country music?
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
17 Aug 16
@theBlock LOL! xD What's sad is your comment has made me curious about what these zealots must think of funk and salsa. Because I learned from FourWalls that the fiddle was at one point called "The Devil's Box," meaning that the minority of zealots who still believe that must have an aversion to Country Music and Bluegrass.
Also interesting how I'm not the only black dude who works out listening to Metal.... This is what I get for being a recluse! Dx
1 person likes this
@WorkingBuck (53)
• Philippines
3 Oct 16
Aside from POD, I haven't heard August burns red,and Demon hunter. I grew up listening to Slipknot, Metallica, Iron maiden, Disturbed, and some of the local bands in my country. Even my friends who don't listen to the same music genre that I'm listening to are calling me a Satanist, even my own family do call me that. Well at first it hurt me being called like that. But then I figured out that I love that type of music. I'll do what I want. Anyway you might wanna try listening to Greyhoundz and Queso and try Franco too. not too heavy but good type of music.
@Hanyouyomi (2187)
• Dallas, Texas
3 Oct 16
@WorkingBuck I'm not gonna pretend like I don't get where you're coming from, because I'm the same way. I don't like explaining what I know about my interests to people who don't get it. But it adds to my frustration in this case, because it's like:"Oh if y'all only knew." But then again, I don't know what kind of effect knowin about Christian Metal would have on these zealots, as a part of me think their ignorance of it might be for the best. But heck they seem to despise anything they're ignorant of. You know what fiddle is, right?
@WorkingBuck (53)
• Philippines
3 Oct 16
@Hanyouyomi Actually I did try explaining that to my close friends but ended up the same with the others. They really do not understand.
@WorkingBuck (53)
• Philippines
3 Oct 16
@Hanyouyomi Well it's in my genes not to push what I know and like to other people. I don't like explaining myself to people who don't understand me. The act that they do not understand the likes of me just means they don't have an open mind. It's non sense explaining something to closed minded people. At least I have some friends who do understand what my music is. I'll listen to the bands you've listed. Listening to August Burns Red right now.
