I now have my copy of Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. It’s a documentary by Sam Dunn, an anthropologist and a metal fan. He traced the origins, the roots and all the things that would answer all the doubts about Metal.
He had interviews with some of the world’s Metal artists. My favorite would be with Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Black Sabbath’s Tommy Iommi, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and Ronnie James Dio(Yeah! He’s the real man behind Rock’s Devil’s Horns \m/). And with an interview with Mayhem, I really find those geeks funny. (Yeah! They’re “Satanists” but I never had the chill when they did all those “Anti-Christ, Fu*k whatever, Anti-Establishment” rants.)
Well, the thing about Metal music is that, it has never exhausted people talking about it. Largely misinterpreted with Satanism, majority of it has nothing to do with all the killings and suicide that society has been trying to associate with. Yeah! There are devils, monsters, pentagrams and the Devil’s horns but that’s the way Metal is. As Kerry King of Slayer had said, He likes to take potshots at religion which is the biggest brainwashing thing.
Taking those words from him, I now understand why they love to negate the “norms”…the norm that has been defined by a setup of a grand conspiracy. I do not have the position to get into the monopoly of the righteous, but I also had my experience of why all the hate that they have for “religion”.
In my case, I used to be the rebel against the “big penguins” who just love to smack rulers at our hands and heads when we do wrong… (I was in kindergarten when I tried to color Mother Mary’s skin with orange since I only have an 8 color crayola set with orange, green and yellow left… we were even forced to sleep one afternoon with a reason that God would be angry if we won’t). I had this hate when I see them in corridors, visualizing myself, firing guns at them. Even the priests at my grade school days who just love to have “business” instead of giving service to the people in their flock. Just like in the Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo”, the irrational things being laid down by the people of the church just to get into their advantage. (I wonder, could Jose Rizal be in a Metal Band if he’s alive today?)
With all of these, I have my share of why I love metal… the lyrics and the energy speaks to me on a personal level. It’s like me shouting at those “enemies” with style. I just love to negate those people who use their position in the society for their advantage… getting all the convenience that they could for themselves.
I’m a practical Catholic and I believe in God. I love Metal music and just like any Metal fan, I don’t really give a damn about people defining me to something they themselves can only comprehend.
