The Great Debate

What exactly IS this thing called heavy metal? I'm not answering it in detail here, but that doesn't stop me from ranting about it.

Incidentally, I'm the kinda guy who loves dumb heavy metal and dumb humor, so being a native Dane, I've always been into Red Warszawa. And I love Manowar because I basically love heavy metal.

However, I can clearly see why some people might have a hard time taking Manowar seriously. – Say, for example, people who take everything literally. (And who maybe just aren't that into heavy metal).

As a band, Manowar famously and proudly flaunt an OTT, larger-than-life attitude. But the same thing can be said for comedic metal bands who never had any intention of being considered a serious band with a serious agenda. Steel Panther, for example, come to mind.

And furthermore, from a certain perspective, a lot of death and black metal is just as glaringly ludicrous for the uninitiated. If Manowar is a silly band, then seen from a highly similar perspective, bands like Slayer, Immortal, and Cannibal Corpse are damn well also silly bands.

But ideally, if you truly love metal, you'd be able (and willing!) to take all of them seriously. The question is whether you can – and should – judge a band based on the music in and by itself, or by the band's underlying purpose and motivation.

Another question is whether we should consider other factors than the music when assessing a band. – And, if yes, to what extent. Those factors include things like lyrics, but also the band's personality; their visual appearance, etc. There are potentially several factors to consider, so the questions become all the more difficult to answer.

Adding to this is the fact that metalheads are different people coming from different backgrounds, countries, social classes, and generations. Therefore, we have different preconditions for assessing music. And, not to mention, we have different tastes in music – even though we're all officially metalheads.

I don't know two metalheads with similar tastes. Even the couple of metal brothers of mine whose tastes are the closest to mine, are diverging in some highly specific cases. (Hell, one poor friend of mine doesn't like Iron Maiden!)
In fact, I've met some single individuals who were supposedly metalheads, but with whom I didn't share the affection for ONE band from our supposedly mutual genre of preference.

Heavy metal is a lot of things. But the fact that we perceive it differently doesn't make it any less heavy metal.

Of course personally, I like to think that I'm judging both OTT bands like Manowar, along with the Steel Panthers and Red Warszawas of the world on the correct premises. I'm able to hear how Steel Panther actually rocks, but also that their very intention is all fun and games.

And I'm laughing with them, just like I'm laughing with Manowar. Because I'm also perfectly able of hearing how incredibly cheesy Manowar's attitude and lyrics are, and how enormously simple their music sometimes is. But to reiterate: I love Manowar because I love heavy metal. And it's for that very reason that I'm able to hear how comedic metal bands also do, in fact, rock.

The best and most concise definition of heavy metal I ever heard was from Malcolm Dome. "High-energy rock'n'roll", he called it.

Of course, heavy metal is a lot of things. But the fact that we perceive it differently doesn't make it any less heavy metal.

To be continued...