I recall a time in Sophomore, no, Junior year in my Physics class. I had my atrocious mobile combination of a cheap Android and some off – brand airpods that came with many, many, issues (and I’m not bashing android – the product I had was old and outdated), but nonetheless I went on my merry way enjoying my music. One day I sat down and the guy next to me, seeing my earbuds, told me that I looked like the kind of person who Old Town Road (by Lil Nas X., for anyone who somehow hasn’t heard of it at this point), as a rap / hip hop song. I smiled politely, tilted my phone screen on Spotify, and showed him this – 
He seemed taken quite aback, and it left him speechless. While I might be able to turn this blog into a psychology / don’t judge a book by it’s cover type deal, I want to say WHY I listen to this music – and why everyone should give it a shot.
Metal, like anything, comes in different flavors and sizes. The spectrum starts around AC/DC ish at rock n roll to (debatably) heavy black metal, something like Rings of Saturn (which I don’t even really listen to). Whatever mood or however heavy you may want your tunes to be, the genre probably has something for you. I’ll pop some recommendations at the end for those of you who might want to take a swing at it.
Music in general, at least for me, can get me in tune with my emotions and feelings. While a hearty riff and some Screamo may not put pep in anyone’s step, I listen to it when I’m driving, bumping around in the halls, or doing work. That way I can get all the negative out when I’m alone, and be a little more positive when I interact with others. An interesting and debatable take, but that’s the way I do it.
I also find a ton of metal and rock to have meaning behind the lyrics. There may be an obvious mood, nut there’s inspiration and a message to be had with almost any song. I was looking at an interview of ….. Travis Scott (took me a sec to remember) and his take on Mo Bamba (another hit rap today, used to be anyways). (Why am I writing this in parentheses? You know this…). He was really just freestyling and listing off bars he came up with on the spot, and there Mo Bamba in there, as he told a friend of his he would use his name in a song. Bam, an instant hit. The Amity Affliction (MY ALL TIME FAVORITE), wrote their most popular song based on a tragic event personal to the band. The lead scream vocalist Joel Birch, had drank too much and became overheated, suffering a seizure. They were on tour headed to Pittsburgh at the time giving it it’s name, and the song is how he felt afterwards. Many different stories from bands on many different levels have given the spirit of meaning to their songs as well.
People who have never listened to metal before, also tend to enjoy some of it. I’ll put a link to a pretty funny reaction video here . (yes, profanity.)
THE SONG THAT MADE ME LOVE AMITY – here. (I am not responsible for your new addiction)
Next time you’re feeling lost, distraught, or hopeless, give Pittsburg a go for a little boost here.
Little pissed? Five Finger Death Punch has a remedy here.
Feeling up and at em’? Keep it going with Avenged Sevenfold here.
Need something a little closer alternative? A Day To Remember has you covered here.
Maybe – a little closer still to alternative? A newcomer to my liked playlist, All Time Low here.
Not rock, but, one of my favorites nonetheless – Hollywood Undead. Well, ok. Nu Metal, Rap/Rock. Here’s a hit.
Spice is the spice of life, go experiment!
Hey Colin! Before even reading your blog, I thought to myself how I listen to so many different types of music (pop, alternative, country, r&b, rap, etc.) but heavy metal music isn’t one of them, so I was interested to read what you had to say about it. In the first paragraph of your post, you talked about how somebody thought you would listen to a certain song based on the way you look—which is so interesting because I have never made an assumption about someone’s music taste just by the way they look or what they are wearing. I think it is so hard to guess what type of music people like! Also, I completely agree with you when you said that music helps you deal with your emotions. Sometimes, I listen to a song and I feel like it describes exactly what I’m going through. I will be sure to listen to your recommendations for metal/rock music as I am always trying to find new songs to add to my music library.
A lot of it is a personal opinion, and I know it’s not for everyone (Ms. Trowbridge would agree). If you listen to more pop/rap, Misery (by The Amity Affliction) is a good album to start on. Not too heavy, but goes plenty hard :).