Headbanging into history

:: Sidebar: New to metal? :: Heavy metal, until recent years, was considered a fossil of music. Its audience was quickly aging and metal faced the possibility of extinction. However, it appears that the Beast of Metal has finally awakened after its long slumber, and it’s back with a vengeance. Heavy metal, the art form that was once reserved for long-haired rebel loners sporting denim jackets and etched bands in their notebooks, is now for everyone, thanks to games such as Guitar Hero. Alex Skolnick from the heavy-metal band Testament says, “the fact that it’s created such an interest in music, including a lot of music that has been considered not cool in the last 15 years … is great.” Bands like Judas Priest, Motorhead, Heaven and Hell and Testament have produced new albums and started world tours after years of rest, allowing young fans to see for themselves the making of a comeback. While metal rises from the ashes, it is still significant to look back at its vibrant history and culture — one that has puzzled some and amazed others. Metal originated in the late ’60s and early ’70s in the United States and Great Britain. It derived its sound from blues-rock and incorporated “the distorted guitar, Chicago blues style and repeating riffs,” Richard Mook, a lecturer at the ASU School of Music, says. “Metal is very guitar-based. It’s in your face and it’s not delicate,” Skolnick says. “It was Black Sabbath and especially Tony Iommi who created a sound that became the main blueprint,” Skolnick says. Iommi created the “sounds of metal” through his guitar playing that almost wasn’t. He lost the tips of two of his fingers in a sheet metal accident as a teenager and almost stopped playing. Iommi would cover his fingers with homemade devices, including thimbles and leather, used lighter strings and always detuned his guitar. All these methods helped ease tension on his fingers and allowed him to create the metal sound. “His finger accident started metal,” Skolnick says. Soon after the release of “Black Sabbath,” other artists followed. Judas Priest came into the picture in 1974, Motorhead added a punk edge with their debut in 1975 and Iron Maiden helped pave the way for the New Wave of British Metal. Metal is not only known for its history of breaking musical barriers but also for breaking cultural barriers and setting trends. The “horns,” now flashed by fans at almost any concert from King Diamond to Garth Brooks, have meetal roots. An infamous sign, the mano cornuta or devil horns came about when Ronnie James Dio joined Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osbourne, the previous frontman, had always flashed the peace sign at concerts. When Dio joined he chose the horns, which was a symbol that his Italian grandmother used and was believed to ward off curses. Clothing is another statement of metal. Early fans were never without a leather jacket, tight pants, or studs. The look was started by Rob Halford of Judas Priest, who would dress in full leather, sometimes even up to his hat. Further perpetuated by songs like “Hell Bent for Leather,” by Judas Priest and “Denim and Leather,” by Saxon, the fashion caught on. The intense fan base of metal has always shared the spotlight with the bands themselves. “The fans of metal have always been marketed and presented through the media as disaffected white youth, but that representation might not hold any water,” Mook says. Metalheads in the ‘90s “were overwhelming white male, in the working or lower class of society, who had an affiliation for metal,” Mook says. Sklonick has watched the metal audience grow and change over the years and says it has matured. “To be metal, you had to fit a stereotype. More and more, there are people who are bashing that stereotype and are still metal,” he says. “I know metal fans who are post-doctoral psychology majors, real estate brokers, television producers, and are from all walks of life. Metal fans are everywhere now.” Jennifer Row, a conservation biology junior, starting listening to metal in the 7th grade. “I tried to get into more popular music but I couldn’t really stand it,” she says. Computer science freshman Greg Nelson says “metal is awesome. I like the guitar solos and riffs.” Only some genres of music have been to know to come back in generational waves and make resurgences. Metal has fortunately been one of them. “[It has] been able to come back as a symbol of a previous era and that is a novel thing,” Mook says. But ultimately, it’s the fans that keep metal alive by attending concerts and festivals, wearing band T-shirts, and living the metal life. — Theresa.Dillon@asu.edu