Why do people dislike metal?

The other day, on the bus, I heard two people talking about music. For whatever reason, the subject of metal came up in their conversation. (Keep in mind; I’m not a part of this conversation. I’m just listening.) They both quickly agreed that “screamo”¹ is terrible to listen to, and “isn’t even music.” As a musician, this statement hurts me. It hurts somewhere deep inside. Anything can be considered music. Even silence, in its own way, can be musical at times. If you don’t believe me, look up John Cage and his musical philosophies.²

My mission today is to explore the different reasons people give of why they don’t like metal, hopefully dispel some myths, and open some peoples’ minds, eyes, and ears.

I’ll start off by introducing some good American Metalcore, so we all know what I’m talking about. This song (When Darkness Falls, by Killswitch Engage) was the first real metalcore song I ever heard. I looked it up at the request of a friend, and it caught my attention. The style has grown on me ever since that day.




There ya go. Hopefully you listened to it all the way through.

Screamed Vocals
The first response I get whenever I share any bit of metal with any of my friends (with a few notable exceptions) is, “I don’t like all the screaming.”
Why does this seem to be such a big and immediate turn-off for most people?
The vocals of a song are usually the most noticeable part, especially for non-musicians. People without experience playing an instrument may not be able to appreciate complicated instrumental work in any kind of music as fully as someone with more background and experience in that area. On the other hand, everyone has vocal chords. Everyone can appreciate speech and singing on some level.
So, what is it about the screaming that people don’t like? If you ask them, you’ll get an answer, but I don’t think it’s a correct one.
“I can’t understand the words.”
It’s true. Sometimes the lyrics can be a bit tricky to decipher without a written copy, especially if you’re not used to listening closely. However, I don’t think this is the real reason. Take this example:




Unless you speak Italian, which I assume most of you do not, then the lyrical meaning of this song will be completely lost on you. Nevertheless, I am confident that for all of you, even if this is not your music of choice, can agree that this was enjoyable to listen to, even if just for 30 seconds.
So the lyrics aren’t it… what else could it be?

I know if I was to ask my dad (and maybe he’ll read this), he would say, “It doesn’t sound musical.” What he is referring to, I believe, is the lack of melody in the vocal part. Howard (the vocalist for Killswitch Engage) does a great job of mixing high and low screams. Hopefully you noticed that. However, it’s usually not something you end up singing for the rest of the day. To my dad, if you can’t hum along, then it isn’t musical.³ Check this out.





I think we can all agree that this still falls under the category of “music”. Try humming along to it though. You can’t.
Also, I think it’s important to note that metal does have melodic and harmonic content. The truth of the matter is that it’s just not present in the vocal part, which is where people usually look for it. Try looking elsewhere:





You can’t deny that has melodic content. It’s just in the guitar part instead of the vocal part. (This excerpt has no vocal part in it, for the benefit of those who have a hard time hearing the underlying parts when vocals are present.)

Timbre
Timbre (pronounced tam-ber) usually refers to the quality of a musical sound. It’s what makes a D on a piano sound different from a D on a cello, even though it’s the same pitch. Metal bands each have their own timbre, but they’re all related. That’s what makes them into a genre. A screaming vocalist is an extremely distinct element of this that isn’t really found anywhere else. Metal tends to have a harsh timbre compared to other genres of music. Perhaps the answer to “why do people dislike metal?” is that they simply don’t enjoy the timbre, just as some people don’t enjoy clarinets or trumpets.

Lack of Musical Background
As I mentioned earlier, everybody has vocal chords. Everyone can relate to singing. However, very few people can (or want to) relate to screaming. Screaming is something we generally only do when we’re angry or threatened, which hopefully isn’t too often. Plus, it’s screaming the way these guys do is very difficult to do well. If you don’t believe me, try it.
So once the vocalist is screaming, people that don’t normally listen to metal no longer have the element they’re most used to focusing on.
What’s left? If you can’t understand the words, the voice becomes another instrument instead of something “special.” Many people simply haven’t ever tried listening to and appreciating purely instrumental music and so they lose interest.


I’m sure I haven’t completely nailed down the reasons why people don’t like metal. It’s most likely a combination of several factors. I have so much more I would like to say, about the good points of metal, and about why people shouldn’t judge other people based on their musical preferences, no matter what they may be. But for the sake of you, my readers, I’ll leave those subjects alone for now.
Hopefully your viewpoint will be broadened and you will see this music in a new light. Hopefully you will realize that metal is music, and a very valid form of music at that.
Please leave your comments.

-Trevor




Footnotes:
1 Screamo, in reality, is a completely different thing. The wide majority of people don’t know the difference between screamo and metal, so they label anything that includes a screaming vocalist “screamo.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_metal

2 http://leesean.net/2009/04/04/a-brief-overview-of-john-cages-musical-philosophy/

3 Sorry for picking on you, Dad. Please don’t take it personally. It’s just for the sake of relevant example. :)