Oh yes, you can find peace in heavy metal

When you think of the fast-paced, gut-wrenching chugs of the heavy metal guitar, the last thing that comes to mind is peace and tranquility.

Think about it putting into perspective a heavy metal show. Metallica live in front of a sold-out audience playing to Creeping Death. Everyone is body surfing to get to the front so at least they can get to see James and Kirk live and in colour. The mosh pit is rocking, with people throwing hands and feet in every direction.

The music is playing so loud, you can barely hear yourself think. It doesn’t paint a picture of relaxation or tranquility, does it? This is not helped by the use of heavy metal music during any violent or otherwise grotesque scene in movies. Video games often have the heaviest of songs blasting on  the stereo right when the fighting is most intense. It’s become an easy scapegoat for  bad behaviour.

ARTISTIC

Have you ever thought, though, about the positive influence of heavy metal music? No? Well there are a lot of benefits to listening to this genre of music. For starters, heavy metal is very artistic.

I can only think of one other genre of music with more talented instrumentalists, if at all, and that would be jazz. The guitar players and drummers in heavy metal play at blinding speeds.

On top of having blistering finger-to-hand coordination, they can maintain enough hand strength to go through an hour or two of playing music when on stage.

If you have ever played a full song on an instrument, you understand what physical energy it must take to play for that long.

The kind of artistic element required to master and time each pick of the string, each strike of the tom drum and each pluck of the bass is something to marvel at.

Metal music is liberating. People experience a mixture of emotions in one song. They  feel hurt, happy and hopeful, release their aggression and end up with an entirely different set of feelings when it’s all over.

THERAPEUTIC RELEASE

The vast majority of metal songs inculcate variety to their play. There are parts of massive intensity where it’s blast beats and fast riffs, then comes the surprising twist somewhere in there of an acoustic finish. It has a concealed but very therapeutic release.

 Metal has long been considered a rebellious and malevolent form of music, and with good reason. There’s the horns symbol that its fans are fond of pulling at concerts when the band is playing. Then there are the black metal bands  that sing about hell.

Those don’t help our cause at all. Let’s not forget the outrageous forms of dress that metal artistes and their fans wear. Nevertheless, there is a lot of positive heavy metal music out there that fans can enjoy.

There is something like Christian rock and metal and bands such as POD, Skillet, For Today and Impending Doom have spearheaded the positive influence in this otherwise materialistic genre.

Listening to loud and aggressive music does not make you rebellious; if anything, it calms you down.

Think of Impending Doom’s More Than Conquerors. Presumably, the same is based on Romans 8:37. That song boasts one of the most enjoyable breakdowns in all of death metal.

Not too shabby for a death metal band, huh?