A few days ago that thought popped into my head. A lot of metalheads don't start listening to metal from day one. Only the kids with parents or adult figures in their lives that teach them about metal have that. For those who start there journey on their own, I'd say the worst genre for anyone to start off with is Black Metal. Metal is where kids go to hide themselves away from the real world. It's where they can be themselves no matter what that means. And overtime take that self-worth and confidence gained in their own journey and be able to stand on their own 2 feet in the real world. It's a journey that we take to understand ourselves and find out our own real worth. But for most of us "real" metal isn't where we start from. We start with what's on the radio, or what's popular. For me it was Nu-Metal. For a lot of people in the 80s and early 90s it was hair metal. For people earlier than that it was KISS. For maybe some arena rock types like Van Halen. In any case, most people don't go straight into the Slayers or Iron Maidens or Sepulturas.
As most people that know me, I have a large disdain for both Black Metal and Hair Metal. Hair metal is a different story. Black Metal is today's topic. The reason why I think that kids that grow up on Black Metal are at a disadvantage is because it is the one genre of "Metal" music that at it's core is not metal at all. Metal is an expression of freedom; the ability to be who you want to be without impeding on other's freedoms. Metal gives you the courage to stand up and be who you really are in the face of the rest of the world. All genres of metal music gives you that lesson.... EVEN hair metal. Hair metal although idiotic and very very commercial driven, at one time it was also about self expression that you don't have to look ugly and play metal. It was a rebellion against the standard school of metal. Wear high heels, big poofy hair, makeup, etc. It was a rebellion to be who you want to be, a metalhead who was not afraid to look like every other metalhead (jeans, long hair, dirty, etc). Although later on it become so commercial that it lost sight of that idea, but at the core of it; the reason why it started was because it was self-expression. Black Metal has none of that. It is a genre based on who can be more "evil". Who can show up and be the most "hardcore" and the most "satanic". Nevermind that it isn't about the music at all, the major complaint is that it is not metal at all. The idea behind Black Metal is that we should all try to be as "evil" as possible. In other words Black Metal tries to make us all the same. It does not allow for self-expression. It just wants us to go against religion and be "evil". Black Metal doesn't care about your own freedoms or self-expression. It is all about being the same.
Even an idiotic genre like Nu-Metal is still more metal than Black Metal. For all its posturing and bullshit, at the end of the day Nu-Metal still is about being yourself not matter what that means. I grew up on Korn and Limp Bizkit; and you might even add System of a Down and Slipknot in the mix. The most hated band of the genre, Limp Bizkit, what is their mantra? "It's Cool to be a Hater". They're whole idea is that even if the whole world hates Limp Bizkit, "we don't care" we like us for us and we won't change that. This is METAL. We can sit here all day and argue about whether metalcore really is metal, but from an ideological standpoint, real metal is something that promotes individuality and encourages it, regardless of what it sounds like. Why is a song like "The Islander" by Nightwish considered metal? The thing songs like a fusion of pop and folk. But we still consider it metal. Metal is not defined by what it sounds like, there is a reason why there are so many deviations from the genre and there actually is no band that plays Metal. Even the holy and great Black Sabbath is considered Early Metal. There is no pure genre of Metal. There may be glimpses of Heavy Metal, but it would be hard to find a band that isn't classified by a more detailed approach than Heavy Metal.
At the end of the day, kids who grow up on Black Metal are at a disadvantage. Besides the fact that the music is garbage, Black Metal does not promote and encourage individuality. It is a religion on it's own that (like all other religions) tries to choke off individuality and takes away the freedoms of the individual. As a closing example, how many times have Death Metal bands been ridiculed by Black Metal fans because they aren't "evil enough". That my friends is not freedom of speech that is a censorship.
