Ever since the inception of hard rock from Black Sabbath in the 1960s to the innovation of progressive metal from Periphery in the early 2010s, the metal community has been subject to constant change and conflict around what the genre truly constitutes. The metal community is notorious for its radicalization of labelling its music and judging artists for how “heavy” their music sounds.
Some may ask what does “heavy” really mean? Heavy metal gets its name from the actual description of its sound, combining slow tempo, low pitched, distorted guitars to create an effect of weight on the listener. This is generally seen as the standard for what metal should sound like for many musicians. Prioritizing creating heavy music has creatively stunted the metal community from making music that pushes the genre’s boundaries.
In an era where even the average person can start making music from home with cheap equipment, a lot of creativity is washed down by what “sells” by industry standards. This often comes down to making very simplified music that lacks a clear melodic structure. While there is nothing wrong with these types of music, seeing people turn to creating this kind of music does feel like a lot of potential is being wasted.
Rather than focusing on songwriting and melodic composition, many artists have started to gravitate towards focusing on production quality instead of creating unique sounding songs. This can range from fine tuning the tone of instruments to trying to automate audio production through the use of digital plug-ins and synthesizers. While the full utilization of audio technology in this era does show innovation in production, it somewhat sacrifices how much time and consideration is put into songwriting. Many artists believe that they can make good songs by prioritizing audio fine-tuning while de-prioritizing what it is that they’re fine tuning.
However, there is potential for music that both utilizes industry preferences and innovation to create music that is truly special. Take for instance progressive metal band Animals as Leaders, a pioneer in combining elements of other genres with metal to create one of the most unique sounds the community has ever had. From elements of jazz fusion to neoclassical, Animals as Leaders consistently produces music that is both heavy and has technical and emotional complexity.
One of the biggest points of controversy within the metal community is the “Progressive” Metal Scene and its validity as a genre of metal. In recent years, the interest of younger audience members has skewed towards combining ideas from traditional metal genres and genres such as neoclassical and math rock, that are both known for their technical complexity that pair well with the darker sounds of metal. Artists such as Periphery, Animals as Leaders and Architects have been at the forefront of this genre, creating music that challenges listeners’ idea of what metal can really be.
Industry standards are bound to plague most genres of music, but what is important is that musicians work past these barriers to create music that creatively represents who they are and the messages they want to convey. Metal does not have to be confined to a box of creating “Heavy” music and hyper fine-tuned production.
