The American Metal Question

[rubyeye]

I just had to share this with you (for those who are interested in some enlightened reading). This is an editorial written by Jay of Metalreviews.com.

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I want to preface this with a slight disclaimer. Though I will mention aspects of American and world culture and politics, please keep this a forum for the discussion of METAL. I know the temptation to express political views is hard to resist but there are proper mediums for those discussions.

I love my country. I love living in New York City. I would never trade that for anything. Yet, as we know, metal in the US is in a sorry, sorry state. There are several reasons for this, due to politics, culture, economics and plain out hypocrisy. I hope I don’t offend anyone with the following essay but these are my opinions and thoughts on the current state of metal in the United States of America.

The landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996 made profound and drastic changes in the way the media companies in the US could operate. This legislation eliminated virtually all ownership laws that were first established to maintain diversity and dissenting opinions in the American media. More recently, the FCC deregulated media companies even more allowing the same company to own multiple television stations, radio stations and newspaper publishers in the same market. In addition, unlike most other countries in the world, the US does not have state centralized television and radio networks like the BBC. Therefore, since most radio and television stations are corporate owned, the choice is severely limited. In order to pay executives ridiculous salaries, the music that is played must be commercially viable. So if nu metal sells, they release more of it. I hate when people say to me “This album sucks!” So WHY did you buy it? You are only supporting it and ensuring that more will be released. Radio is not a form of entertainment anymore; it merely functions as another avenue for advertisement. Most “metal” stations like Krock in New York play what is trendy in music (Eminem) in addition to nu vomit. But there’s more in the corporate web. Due to the prevailing ideology of synergy or conglomeration, most companies that own radio and television networks also own record labels. AOLTimeWarner owns the Warner/Elektra/Atlantic family of labels. Is there any coincidence artists on these labels are "artists of the month" on AOL and have their music featured in Warner Bros. movies? Consider Infinity Broadcasting which owns thousands of radio stations nationwide including the aforementioned Krock. It is part of the Viacom/CBS family which owns Paramount Pictures, UPN, BET, CMT, Blockbuster Video, VH1 and MTV.

MTV has an interesting history. When it first began (before corporate infection), MTV played a little bit of everything. There was metal on MTV. Hate it or love it, Headbanger’s Ball actually got airplay for Exodus, Napalm Death and many other bands that would never be shown today. Post-corporate MTV plays what is commercially viable as to sell records. It has become the corporate ad channel when not playing episodes of Sorority Life. The new (or should I say nu) Headbanger’s Ball is pretty sorry as well. MTV thinks so highly of metal that they put the new Headbanger’s Ball on MTV2, so only those people with more expensive premium cable or satellite packages can watch it. Iann Robinson is the only person left on MTV who still has street credibility with metal fans. He is tirelessly asking to get real metal back on the channel. Much respect and praise is due to him. MuchMusic, which is the Canadian version of MTV has a channel called Fuse (formerly MuchMusicUSA) that does play real metal on the Uranium show. Recently I saw an interview with Opeth on it and wondered how hard getting one hour a week of that style music on MTV would really be. The young generation in this country blindly accepts everything that MTV spoon-feeds them. It's sad really as I watch a generation, MY generation, be chewed up, classified, focus-grouped, marketed, spit out, shrink-wrapped and sold with a Bonus DVD for only $9.99 +tax, shipping and handling. This is the destructive power of the mind rot known as Music Television. Isn't that an anachronism in itself? The comedian Lewis Black put it this way "Music is a wonderful thing. It goes in your ear and a vision appears. MTV is a video and it goes in your eye. Eye. Ear. There's a big fucking difference!" As Mark Briody of Jag Panzer once said of Europe in comparison to the US, "It's so different over there. It's like MTV has no control over anyone's mind."

US labels have caught the corporate flu as well. It used to be, as recently as the 80's, that a band would have several albums to prove that they could establish a fan base. This is too costly to waste time with today. Bands today get one shot at an album and if it fails, they get dropped. If their single hits, the company will promote the hell out of it as to sell every last record. Despite a single that may have gone to number one, the label will drop the same artist if the second album flops. Hell, Elektra records would have had no problem dumping Metallica on their asses if St. Anger had bombed. If Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast was recorded today, they would have an impossible time finding a label that would take the risk of putting that type of music into wide distribution. It doesn’t matter if the music is good or bad. It matters if the label thinks they can sell the music. Europe has small labels that care more about getting music and bands out there than turning a profit. All these small labels help keep the bands, the scene and the music alive. Some US labels like The End records, Crash Music and Relapse records are beginning to follow suit, but in the profit uber alles music business, it is hard.

The BBC radio 1 program often played metal and documentaries about metal when I was living in London. Bruce Dickinson even has his own show on BBC radio. Since we do not have an independent major media outlet, metal is forced underground. Usually real metal cannot be found unless one looks to college stations. Yet even these stations may only play one or two hours of metal a week. My friend hosts a show at Hamilton College in upstate New York. He does play real metal but his time slot is Monday nights from 10-midnight. The real bastion of metal radio is 89.5 FM WSOU (a.k.a. Pirate Radio). This station broadcasts out of Seton Hall University in New Jersey. It has been a hard station for over 15 years and has been the first to broadcast bands from Nuclear Assault to Slipknot. The station is gaining a larger and larger audience now that commercial metal stations are in the toilet. The problem is that since it is not a corporate station, the signal strength isn’t far. I live maybe 70km (43 miles) from the station and I can only get good reception on a nice day when I extend my radio’s antenna out the window with aluminum foil. These stations face other challenges thanks to American hypocrisy. Pirate radio was derailed in early 2003, because the music played didn’t reflect the “diversity” of the college. Metal fans were not as angry as you would imagine about losing the station but they were infuriated as WSOU sponsored great concerts. After three months of nearly dead ratings, the university switched back to its all metal format. As you can see from this, there is virtually no way for people to become exposed to real metal in the US. Unless you have a friend into it or unless you download songs of the internet, you are not even going to hear a huge band (Metal community huge. Let’s keep perspective here.) like Iced Earth on any mainstream broadcast media.

I visited Finland last summer (Helsinki only) and I have to say, all the record stores I went to blew away all my favorite metal shops in New York. Each store had at least 45% of their stock as metal CDs. Compare that to the two rows of "Metal" we get in even the biggest stores that specialize in rare music here. I lived in London for 5½ months and the Virgin Megastore on Oxford St. was within walking distance from my flat. I routinely spent hours in the metal section there and if it wasn't for the exorbitant price of CD's in the UK, I would have bought more. This phenomenon wasn’t localized to England or Finland. It was the same in Norway, Germany, Sweden, Italy and every other country I was in. I must have come home with 30+ CDs from the six months I was in Europe.

The availability of albums here is another issue. If you walk into the average music store anywhere in this country, you MIGHT be able to find something by In Flames. I’ve been to stores that claimed to specialize in “underground” music and found one copy of Clayman. Even the largest stores often have a dirth in selection. The Virgin Megastore in lower Manhattan has metal albums mixed in with the regular Rock and Pop albums. So yes, you find albums, but they are few and far in between. For example, the week Blind Guardian was headlining in New York, Virgin had one copy each of A Night at the Opera, Somewhere Far Beyond and Nightfall in Middle-Earth. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but this is unacceptable. In a city of over 8 million people, it is completely asinine that there are only two stores that quasi-specialize in metal. Generation records does have a good selection and decent prices but metal is only 20% of the music they stock so generally you find one to two copies of a given album. They do have a good but overpriced merch section in the basement. For metal shopping on the east coast I recommend Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey. These guys specialize in metal and mean it. Nearly 50% of their stock is metal and the prices are nearly unbeatable. Notice how CD prices have fallen after the Department of Justice uncovered massive collusion and price fixing in the music industry. Well, I guess teenyboppers can pay less for their Linkin Park CDs now. Real metal labels never bought into the bullshit. They have made their products available at the lowest cost for years. Go to The End records or Century Media’s web stores. Unless you are looking at a special edition, most discs are $12 or less. Compare that to $15.99 +tax in a store. I wanted Shadows Fall’s latest album on the release date. I had to pay $18.99 +tax at the Virgin Megastore. This and I’m told that it costs 85¢ to manufacture a CD. Finally, stores want sales as well and won’t sell albums that they believe will not sell well. This is why you have to go to independent specialty shops to find real metal. Sam Goody, FYE and stores of that ilk won’t carry anything that will make some people happy because, god forbid, it will interfere with profits. Outside of large cities, these major chains are the only place many people can buy music. The days of the independent record store are nearly over in small towns in the US.

Another reason America is not as entrenched in metal as other parts of the world is due to the puritanical history of our nation. The story that we’re all taught in school is that the pilgrims came to this country in search of religious freedom. If anyone had bothered to do any research they would have learned that they were actually kicked out of England for being religious fanatics. To this day our country is bombarded by forces, driven by divinity, who rail on the evils of metal. This is not a new problem. People in the 50’s thought that Elvis was the Antichrist. From Led Zeppelin to Motley Crue to today, our nation’s religious zealots try to tell people what to listen to. Just the other day some Southern Baptist called Ozzy Osbourne one of Satan’s helpers. To me and you, (I hope) this sounds ludicrous, but millions of people take this nonsense seriously. Some just don’t understand that CD players have off buttons and you can choose not to listen to something. The sad fact is that people are automatons to these so-called men of god and act like good sheeple and do what they are told. While Lacuna Coil would sell just as well, we get Evanescence because they are perceived to be All-American, god-fearing Christians and America just loves Christ. These zealots have never heard the music. They haven’t been to a concert and seen how much of a release metal is. They’ve never tried to understand where we come from. This is why so much metal is anti-religion and about freedom of thought. They need to understand that just because they don’t approve, there is no reason that it should be banned or shunned from others who derive enjoyment from it. Everyone has an opinion. Don’t feel you have to force yours on me because some deity supposedly compelled you to.

This also plays into the American xenophobia, especially post September 11th. From a young age, most Americans are indoctrinated that we are the best people in the world and no other country has it better than us. This is what our culture teaches. Personally, I have seen through this but most people are not wise enough to break this view. Therefore, there is a lot of anti-foreign sentiment and metal gets caught up in this unfounded fear. This is where the American arrogance comes from.

Now about the lack of American bands. Most people don’t realize how big this country is. When traveling in Europe, it was amazing to me that a short five hour train ride often leaves you in another country with a different language and culture. There is such homogeny in terms of our national culture. It’s hard to find different influences when 290 million people have the same experience. This is one reason why German metal is different from Italian metal is different from Finnish metal. American music is also more rooted in blues while European music has its roots in classical and folk music. Classical requires a much higher skill level to play well than blues does. Additionally, blues based music is much more repetitive than classical is.

Europe has always been more receptive to fantastic lyrics and fairy tales. If you ask random redneck Joe what he thinks of Manowar, Bal Sagoth or Helloween, you'll hear that they're "gay." Welcome to the American culture of machismo. Men are taught that they have to be men. They can't be pussies and listen to "gay" music. The social stigma of being labeled as unmanly is a tough one to live with in our nation. This stupidity prevents many people from getting into music they'd otherwise love. This is one of the reasons nu metal appeals to people here. The lyrics deal with being manly, masculine and tough. If they could only see that nu metal is marketed to play into the insecurity of not being man enough. Nu metal is simply packaged revolution; all the rage and angst without the fear that you might actually get hurt. The innocuous nature is so insipid that most people can listen to it without even realizing it. It is a corporate perversion of real metal in it's most marketable incarnation.

Despite all of this, the power of metal still proves too alluring. Metal is coming back in the US. Shadows Fall, Nevermore, Iced Earth, Goatwhore, Kamelot, Symphony X, Soil, Trivium, Hate Eternal, Noctuary, Mastodon, Exit to Eternity...I could go on and on. All these bands are finding newer and varied fanbases as people tire of nu metal. Each time I go to a show, I can feel excitement and energy. It’s thrilling to be a part of this burgeoning scene. Nu metal shows have a ho-hum feeling in the air. A feeling of boredom and having seen it all before. When it comes to metal, people pack tiny rat hole clubs and feel like they are part of something special. More and more real metal festivals are springing up left and right here. Things are changing, and while Rhapsody may never have a Top 40 album here, Lacuna Coil and In Flames hopefully will have the chance. America once had a strong metal scene. I know through hard work, we can restore the former glory.

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[Set_Abominae]

I'm trying to find the applaud button on my keyboard.

[rubyeye]

I'm trying to find the applaud button on my keyboard.

That's how I felt when I first read it. The thing I keep thinking of is wanting to make a documentary about the sorry state of Metal in America but with focus on music beyond our shores - the cultural and business difference. ANd you know, after watching Bowling For Columbine and other independent films, I am really tempted to do something like that.

[Flint the Dwarf]

Whee.

Ahh, I think Metallica may be credited for changing the face of metal yet again. St. Anger was such crap that it forced people to look in a different direction for metal, and they found it, oddly enough, in America.

[Kai Stromler]

Overall an excellent perspective; the only part I felt was off was the bit about record accessibility. It's always fun to walk into a Wal-Mart and laugh about the deplorable lack of decent music (though I actually bought Halford's Live Insurrection in one), but if you go to Blockbuster or any other reasonable large CD retailer, you're going to see a non-trivial metal presence. Yeah, it's not a lot, but they're too big to really specialize. This may not apply everywhere; I grew up in New England where there was a strong 'underground'/specialty record chain that the major stores had to compete with, and the region in general has a lot more in common with Europe than the rest of the country.

The big reason that metal is not as strong here as in Europe, though, is population density. North America is too goddamned big. I have a shirt from In Flames' 2000 Nightmare Before Christmas tour, and the back, with burn marks at cities played, is an excellent reinforcement of this. There are maybe five dots west of the Mississippi River. There are about that many north and east of Hoboken, NJ; the vast majority of the shows are in the Boston-Washington corridor. Look at Sigh; on their one chance to play in North America, they did five shows starting at the Jaxx in Virginia and closing out at the Middle East in Boston. It's not an accident; the scene on the northern half of the East Coast is the strongest of any region, even the vaunted Midwest, and is the only area that can honestly compete with any part of Europe.

It's not any great difference in local culture, politics, or musical preference -- most non-mass-market genres are strongest in this area -- just pure people per square mile. That strip that now extends from the Beltway to the northern suburbs of Portland, Maine is the most built-over and heavily populated of its size in the country. Almost all the positive points mentioned in the original article come from this area; Lacuna Coil was given their US break by WAAF-FM, the Boston-area non-ClearChannel commercial that earlier launched respectively Korn and Godsmack (okay, we're sorry about Korn, but atleast give it up for the boys from Methuen). The high population volume in small space artificially creates local cultures parallel to those that have taken hundreds of years to develop in Europe; the difference in sounds between local scenes only from Portland, Maine, to Boston is immediate and perhaps at first glance surprising. The bands are there. The scene to support them is there. The backwards religous climate and corporate-conformist mentalities that would retard them are not.

Obviously, though, this doesn't scale to the rest of the country. If you drive a hundred miles in from the coast, anywhere, you are going to find yourself, nine times out of ten, in all but empty space, broken by occasional buildings and the curve of the highway. The distances increase cost of access for kids without cars, which is the age at which they have to get into the scene in order to really stick; I might walk six miles on foot to buy an out-of-print cassette, but not everybody can (or needs to) be that kind of scene soldier. The music that the kids in the center of the country are going to have available to them is commercial stuff; anything that does not demand strong participatory involvement. Music that is made to be consumed. No hardcore, no authentic hip hop, and unfortunately, no metal. This form still demands involvement to some degree, and there are no avenues for involvement for someone without a scene to be involved in.

The Internet both helps and hurts this. On the one hand, the worldwide community is instantly at hand for anyone with a connection, anywhere. On the other, it is *extremely* hard to play, or for that matter, authentically thrash out to, a show via HTTP. Time spent on message boards may be profitably spent, but it's definitely time NOT spent playing in a band or going to shows. If you don't have a scene in your area and you don't at least have a "looking to jam" ad up in whatever music store or community center will allow you to post one, you're slacking off. No matter who you have to play with, play gigs, and blow the opposition out of the water. And don't complain about venues; the East Coast hardcore scenes and veterans' organizations have come to nearly perfect synergy in using VFW posts for concerts. The vets need revenue to keep up over-large, outdated buildings, and the bands need a place to play. There's always a venue available if you're willing to look and work hard enough for a gig.

Records can take you only so far, and mp3s even less far. Cover art and the intricacies and meanings thereof still has major value in our community, and liner notes are a quick-fix induction into that community itself. The radio station I used to program for seemed to have built much of its metal catalog solely on Napalm Death's early-90s thanks lists. The scene only really starts, though, when there are local gigs, local bands playing out, and other scene heads to hang out with. We can jump-start this with other people's music, but in the last analysis the people who save metal in North America are going to be you and me, as soon as we pick up our axes and do something positive.

It's not as bad as it was five years ago, but as the original article says, there's still a bunch of room for improvement. How'bout that there Ozzfest; five straight years of suckage and now they've got Priest, Slayer, and Dimmu Borgir on the main stage. I may actually have to go, and not as a terrorist who's going to throw water bottles at Andrew W.K.

--K

[nailz]

If any of you want to open a strictly metal cd shop/record company, I'm in.

[rubyeye]

If any of you want to open a strictly metal cd shop/record company, I'm in.

Tempting, but serious research needs to be done before engaging such an endeavor. I'd be all for it, but the how and where needs to be addressed. Plus there are already quite a number of "shops" and radio stations online which cater to our specific tastes in metal.

[nailz]

maybe we can talk to century media about opening up a store to sell their stuff, or something. Hey, I have the ideas, it's up to everyone else to make them work.

[rubyeye]

Century Media doesn't have anybody on their label I listen to or like. Except maby Lullacry. NIGHTWISH signed with Nuclear Blast and as far as I have seen, most of their bands are also Death/Black/Heavy or whathaveyou. Not that I have anything against them. Just by association I feel more comfortable actually liking the products a company I would plan to sponser. Insideout is the major promoter of Progressive/Power bands who have recently been added to their roster - Threshold, Symphony X, Vanden Plas, Magnitude 9, OSI, Evergrey, & Ayreon. But most everyone I also like are pretty much spread around. AMF has Masterplan and Jorn, Kamleot signed with SPV, Lost Horizon is with Music for Nations, etc.

Where was I ... so variety would be more practical and maketable.

well, anyway. yeah.

[Kai Stromler]

Or maybe get a vendor concession for con purposes...like that Nightwish video? buy the CD at a buck above wholesale!!...something like that.

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I wrote a big screed following this on the problems with making startup stores and labels work, but the above idea seems the most implementable for various reasons, and the most likely to lead forward from this community. It certainly wouldn't hurt to mention this site, and the fact that 7 of the top 10 and 14 of the top 29 (Evanescense is listed twice) most used musical artists can be loosely classified as metal (8 if we count Limp Bizkit, 9 if Linkin Park is included, but now we're getting onto thin ice). Proof positive: anime fans are a latent market for metal....someone just has to go inside and sell it to them.

--K