Introduction to Myself, and Why I Hate Black Metal

Hello there! My name is Brandon, and I'm from a little po-dunk town in North Carolina. Upon looking at me (if I don't have a metal shirt on that is), people tell me that I don't seem like the typical metalhead, but believe me, I am! People don't expect anyone down here to like metal, period, because generally, around here, you hear nothing but country, pop, rap, and bluegrass, all of which I used to be into (and still am into rap and pop sometimes... If there's nothing left to listen to). Metal has gotten me through a lot in my life and this is my little place to share it with all of you... Whoever you may be. You get to see glimpses of my life through music, plenty of album reviews, both old and new, as well as just typical rants and discussions. You'll get anything from straight up, ass-kicking heavy metal, to thrash and her heavier sister, death metal, groove metal, metalcore, nu-metal, even hard rock, glam, and grunge if I'm in the mood.

Now... For my first rant... Which sub-genre of metal is missing from that list? Grindcore? No, I like it to an extent, with Carcass and Napalm Death being my favorites of the genre, and may talk a little about it, but not much, since i do not know much about it. Deathcore? Meh, it's ok. Whitechapel is amazing, along with Suicide Silence, but i never really got into it much. Did you guess black metal? You're right. Unless I change my mind about black metal being the worst form of heavy metal, period (except for Dimmu Borgir), then you will not see any album reviews for black metal, or much positive to say about it at all. Why you ask? I offer my case:

Exhibit A: vocals. Now you may be behind your keyboard going Wow Brandon, really? You don't like black metal vocals, but you like death metal and 'screamo' just fine? Yes, exactly. For 1, when you listen to vocals of what uneducated metallers describe as "screamo" it usually refers to any exteme vocals. Usually, these are from metalcore, black, death, and on occasion thrash metal and groove metal. On all of those types, the vocals almost always fit the music behind it. Intense music = intense vocals. However with black metal, wait, I take that back, the black metal that I have heard (because it may be an aquired taste like death metal), i.e. Mayhem, Burzum, and Immortal, do not, in my honest opinion, have vocals that go with the intense music behind it. So therefore, i don't like it because it never seems to fit music, not because of any screaming.

Exhibit B: The image. Seriously, what the hell are these guys doing? -------------------------->
I mean, I completely understand how the image of heavy metal is, and a lot of bands have a distinctive look. Rob Halford has his leather and the glam bands have their make-up and big hair. Even Slayer, my pick for the heaviest band of all time, used to wear make-up! But those bands either were riding the wave of somthing that was popular at the time (glam bands and Slayer), or invented something "cool" (Halford and his leather outfit). However, this is most certainly not a cool thing to do. I have to say, this is a stupid looking form of Kiss. But just because it's not a "popular" thing to dress up like is not why I don't like the image, it's because to me, it just looks plain stupid.

For my final word on the topic, I have to say, metal is metal, and we all need to stick together. Yes, I hate black metal with a passion, but I simply offered my opinion on the subject is all. If someone out there likes black metal, then that's great! More power to you, and I would certainly love to hear someone make a case for black metal. I see a lot of metal in general (especially on Youtube) get slandered for being "posers" or "not real metal", but the point is that all of us are a family, and need to stand up for each other. So, for people out there who find this and like black metal, make your case, I'd love to hear it!

Thank you, hello again, and goodbye,

-Brandon