A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

Now Playing: Chronicle of a Frozen Era by Elvenking

So something that comes up sometimes in metal spaces, especially online, is gatekeeping and a certain air of superiority about the kinds of metal one listens to. I’m not immune to this, I’ve been that uptight bitch about the metal I listen to, though I try not to be.

Recognising when it’s happening is pretty easy. Things like “oh you listen to that band? Oh you listen to that kind of metal?” and similar are very classic examples of people having that air of superiority. Avoiding acting like this can be difficult at times, especially if it’s a band or subgenre that you really don’t like for one reason or another, however justified. Avoiding other people who are constantly acting like this is pretty easy, though. Just ignore like half the online metal scene and don’t go on Reddit. I can promise metal Reddit isn’t even worth it most of the time.

Overcoming one’s own sense of superiority over others for music taste can be rough. I’m still working through it myself, especially considering I’ve noticed that I do it way more than I realise. I listen to a lot of power metal, symphonic metal, and melodic folk metal. While these specific subgenres aren’t the worst for superiority in metal and, especially in the case of power metal, get made fun of a lot from people who are primarily in heavier subgenres, they can get pretty bad at times.

The main way I’ve been going about it in relation to my own behaviour has been by looking at why I like the music that I like, and what it is about the specific bands I listen to the most that draws me to their music. From there, I try to look at what pushes me away from other metal bands that are more in the heavier subgenres and why I tend to not like them. (Hint: it’s often because I really like the focus on stories and the actual melodic drive found far more commonly in power metal, symphonic metal, and melodic folk metal, which I’ve found is very hard to find, though not entirely absent, in other subgenres.)

So it’s more of understanding that other people like other things than what you may like. It’s not a perfect science, and I still fall victim to the superiority complex at times, but we can all strive to be better people. Metal as a whole is a very diverse genre and with this many people listening to it, it makes sense that there would be as many subgenres as there are, and that someone enjoying metal, regardless of which subgenre they like most, makes them enough of a metalhead, and they belong with us.

The point of all this is to remind fellow metalheads that we’re here to look out for each other, and that at the end of the day, it’s just music. If you don’t like it but someone else does, then let them enjoy it. Someone else enjoying something doesn’t mean you have to like it too. Just leave others to their music and their good vibes.