I like metal for the texture and thickness (yes, mild synaesthesia's a wonderful thing...) Too much other music is simply too thin or bland, and hence I prefer the business of metal - also applies for some folk music.

I first got into metal when Terasbetoni did Eurovision when I was 15 (yes, I admit my metal epiphany was that awful display of cheesy pop...), and listened to them religiously for a time, branching out into "battle" metal and folk metal, anything I could find with heroic lyrics and fuelling my obsession with the Germanic and Celtic warrior cultures. Because of this, I completely bypassed the "Big 4" and other gateway bands (for want of a better expression) that people seem to consider to be essential listening.

Mood-wise, I can be quite angry, though normally am a introverted, quiet, nerdy guy, so I see the agression of metal as an outlet for my stresses and anger, while the sense of standing one's ground and standing up for what you believe in is one that appeals to me greatly for some reason. It's escapism. Most peopel are surprised by my tastes - apparently I'm taken for an indie-rock kid...:S

And I thought I was the only one to ask myself that. Thank you.

I'm still trying to figure this one out. The misanthropy and dark atmosphere is what really resonates with me. I listen to Black Metal and Ambient Black Metal, so plenty of that can be found there.
I have always been a "morbid" person and have sympathized with villains in movies and books, especially where the hero of the story is a popular person who is well liked. I can draw melodramatic parallels to my own life that way, at least in the way I see it.
I have had a preoccupation with mortality for as long as I can remember. It comes to me as no surprise that I eventually ended up where I am today, and I am glad such music exists that I can relate to.
I've never understood popular music, even when people explain it to me. It seems as if the people who like it don't even understand it themselves. It then occurred to me that popular music was made by fools for fools, at least the majority of it, and I knew that I was not a fool. I distanced myself for a long time before I began listening to metal.
When that happened, it was the shitty adolescent kind of metal, and I am now too ashamed to recall those days properly. When I was mature enough to understand myself and get a handle on the world around me, I began listening to Black Metal.
I try not to judge music by ascetics. Meaning the "costumes" the musicians wear and the album art and song titles. It is all too easy to get caught up in that. Anyways, that sort of music, that is all looks, never seems to last long with me.
Overall, it is the philosophy of the music that causes me to like it. The sound is the means to the end, if that makes any sense. The sound carries the lyrics in an appropriate way. If I like one, I must like the other, and vice versa. The musicians must also be intelligent, not "HAIL SATAN! ROCK'N'ROLL!" because that is what drove me away from popular music, is blatant and empty declarations of ignorance.

I can't really sum it all up. It has to be like me, inside of my head. I should share common ground with the musicians in terms of thought and preferences. Ideas also work. The sound is not as important as the overall message.

That is all.

I've got a lot of anger and all, but I didn't start listening to metal because of anger or whatever. I just really like the sound of distorted electric guitar!

So I started with pop, heard heavy guitar for the first time in Guns N' Roses (yeah not metal I know) and from then on I've been going louder and faster with the guitar sound and therefore my metal. I listen to other such loud stuff too. I love industrial (like KMFDM etc.). Nowhere near as loud as heavy metal but still very aggressive sounding.

I dunno. Aggressive, fast, melancholic, sad, evil etc. sounding music just tends to get stuck in my head. Does that mean I'm often sad or enraged? I have been diagnosed with depression and I can get irritated quite easily, but I've never really made that connection to any kind of music. Maybe there is some sort of subconscious connection to music there but I've never actively tried to 'relate' to any of the music I listen to.

I've been thinking about this alot recently and I think I know why!

as a kid I had a pretty wild imagination and I liked to hear stories about supernatural stuff! I always wondered what kind of wonders are there in the world that you don't get to see everyday...
I used to think about strange creatures that no one ever sees, that hide somewhere in the places where no man ever goes!
I always wanted to see something like that! I liked the scary stuff, too!
I tought scary=cool

well, as I got older, I realized that there are no supernatural things in the world to see, but I still found it interesting, so I really enjoyed wathing horror movies alot! this kinda envolved into liking horror movies without anything supernatural in it (slasher thingies), but also mythology stuff, and medieval stuff, etc...

well, when I first heard some underground metal, that was it for me!
being agressive, scary and just different, I was really drawn to it! later, the lyrical subjets just sealed the deal for me and now, tho there are a few songs in other genres I like, metal is the only thing I really listen to!
and may it live forever!

I'm not usually an angry or aggressive person, but I still like angry and aggressive music. I really can't say why that is. Mostly I listen to metal because of the power and energy in the music. It's not often that I listen because I'm pissed off or whatever, but if I am I'll listen to 80's thrash.

Hah, cool name, Mad Thrasher...my band has an unyet unreleased song that's been kicking around for years called that.

Ah. I just came up with it off the top of my head. I haven't heard your song.

listening to metal is like feeling a surge of an unearthly force enter your body and it just fills you with a sort of life force that burns whatever angers and toils you have had happen in the past, no matter how big or small. its like a fuel for your anger, but at the same time, it burns it out faster than it would if you just let it sit, much like pressing the gas pedal on a car in park or neutral until the fuel runs out. its like a drug, it feels fucking good and it gives me another reason to let my fuckin heart keep beating.

I'm actually the type of person who can stay cool when someone is pissing me off, but afterwards my anger kicks in and THEN i want to do something. its not fear that i'm like that, but i just like to be cool with people so i try not to show anger in front of them. i guess thats why i'm fueled by metal

This is exactly one of the reasons I got into metal. I didn't realize at the time that I also have mild synesthesia but that same type of thickness and rough but varied texture is exactly what I liked about metal. Before I'd ever listened to real metal, I hated stuff like nu-metal because most of it sounded either too lumpy or too flat to me.

As for how my music preference relates to my outlook in life, metal isn't the genre I'd point to as closely paralleling my outlook--punk is a far closer match in this regard. But it does parallel what I guess you could call my inlook. Metal started off as a largely private affair for me partially because it reflects and complements my more solitary introverted interests: my taste in books or movies, my interests in the theatrical and the morbid, etc. And yeah, metal is an extremely nerdy genre of music and it definitely demands a very 'alternative' and underground-oriented attitude toward entertainment of its listeners.

There were times last year, when I went through some rough spots, when I considered the possibility that I did, in fact, only like metal because it was a vehicle for aggression. I was listening to angry stuff at that time, and I was angry a lot, and I began to question whether it was the music that was doing it to me. I eventually determined that it was not. I have since controlled my anger and am now enjoying a mostly calmer existence...

I have to relate to what was said above about sound quality. The thicker, more full-sounding tones of metal were what got to me initially, on a subconscious level. On a more overt level, it was always the fantastical, theatrical element. Metal was fucking primal, man. I could get into its huge, bellowing theatrics any time and it spoke to my emotions as truly as anything ever has. I enjoyed how big and larger than life everything sounded. I could never relate to any other music as much as I related to metal when I first started getting into it.

It's also about the DIY ethos. I like some poppy commercial metal as much as anyone else, but really the heart and soul of the genre to me are the bands who forge their own paths through the wild. The bands who make raw, untamed music that just breathes PASSION for the genre in spades. It just makes me feel really honored to be listening to it - well, if it's good at least. I like the fact that it's driving against the tide of commercialism. The rebellious quality and general frivolous discard of the usual mainstream values is appealing to me.

I've still got anger inside; we all do sometimes. But it doesn't control me. Metal speaks to the part of my personality that is defiant, tastefully theatrical and wild. It's the genre of music closest to me and I think it will remain that way for a great long time.

When I was a kid, I always thought there was more to music than people were allowing themselves to know.

When I was younger, I only listened to radio music; whatever music my parents had on in the vehicle (oldies); and '90s dance music that my female cousin listened to. However much I enjoyed all of that music, when I started getting into alternative rock at about age 9, my musical ideology sort of collapsed and expanded. Bands like Green Day, Blur, Fuel, Eve 6, The Offspring, Our Lady Peace, and Creed became the music with which I began to realize I most related.

Eventually, the natural progression into heavier music led me into metal. Yeah, I was a depressed kid; but that's not why I was into metal. I was first depressed because I thought too much and philosophized about way too many things kids should not even think about. In these thoughts, I realized that there's much more to life than we allow ourselves to know. I then began to translate these thoughts into the musical spectrum, where metal is not so scrutinized to adhere to popular standards, and thus could achieve much more creativity than limited pop/radio music.

Thus, my childhood perception--that there was always more to life than we could ever know--led me into the world of metal. Metal truly allows for creativity on so many levels.

Synaesthesia's an good point. It basically just goes back to how awesome distorted guitars sound, for me. When I was a kid I always wanted to hear loud, overdriven guitars - when my mother was playing the radio in the kitchen I'd get frustrated because I couldn't hear what I guess is "my sound" I guess it's just something very primal.

Reading through this, I can relate to a lot of it. I guess we're all so very, very unique...

Synaesthesia..... is that like seeing patterns or colors or something while listening to certain instruments or tones?

Kind of, it's a bit different for all of us, but for me it's like, heavy riffing is like a rough, black scratchy pattern while, depending on the note I can get light lines from violins/flutes/solos. Percussion too, and thumps/knocks/crashes/bumpy trains etc are visible inside my head, if that makes sense...

It really depends on the individual though, and often album art corrupts it for me since its more of a texture thing.

sounds like quite a gift. i been trying to get in touch with that side of me to see if i can put on paper exactly what lines and colors i see when hearing certain music.... i can visualize the music like you can, only maybe not as vivid, but when i try to freeze it in my head and think of a way to put in on paper it just comes out as wavelengths off of pro tools or any other recording software soundwave pattern.

shit, now i'm off topic

i've noticed that all metal fans, core or "real" metal, have anger built up in them. core fans typically let their lives revolve around what has made them so angry. bad mother/father, sexual harassment, addiction, neglect, social problems, etc. the songs they write are based around world problems such as this because that is what they focus on.

underground metal fans on the other hand, have probably dealt with such problems, but they do not like to mingle with them once they are passed. they dont talk about it, think about it, or do anything with it besides put it away and move on. but what makes them angry is the fact that its built up subconsciously in the mind and spurs anger whether or not the person wants to dwell on it or not. simply put, the anger for underground fans is in the subconscious, while the anger for core fans is in the conscious.

maybe i'm thinking too hard...

I guess there's something, somewhere deep down in the depths of my subconscious that's angry and aggressive and that attracts me to angry and violent entertainment(action movies, pro wrestling, MMA, metal, etc.), and it's true that metal does serve partially as an outlet for my agression.

That said, even though yes, I've gone through some bad stuff, I'm not really an overly angry person at all. I'm a fairly rational person, actually. So, why listen to metal? Other than the aforementioned thing about there probably being something deep down inside me that attracts me to angry and violent media, I also like metal because of how awesome it makes me feel. Seriously. When I listen to an awesome metal song, I feel like I can take on the world.

I also do listen to other kinds of music, such as rock and even some techno(although, most of the techno I listen to either comes from a video game or is a remix of a video game song, again going back to the intensity factor, because video music usually needs to be really intense), but overall, most other music either bores or annoys me.

I guess it's also worth mentioning that I'm not into the image side of heavy metal. I don't have the "metal" look, and I'm perfectly fine with that. To spare you guys from reading a wall of text, I'll just say that I'm perfectly happy leading my own lifestyle without having to choose a pre-defined one.

I wish i had synesthesia. =(

well, i first got into metal when i couldn't keep up with all the arabian pop singers and their albums. i first listened to avenged sevenfold (not metal, i know), and the first thing that attracted me to it was the energy of it, the lyrics, everything.

2 months later and a FaceBook argument, i finally got into real metal. I formatted my PC and filled it with bands like Necrophagist, Dream Theater, Opeth, Slayer, Megadeth, and the like.

I love metal for its intensity, its lyrics, the complexity of it, the energy it gives me day after day after day.... when I explain metal to my friends, I tell them that it's "beautiful chaos", "rational insanity", because, well, at first you might think it's just random guitars and drums, but when you listen closely, you realize that it's exactly what I described.

it gets even better when you headbang with your metalhead friends =)

Metal is like a drug to me. With atmospheric/ambient or symphonic black metal, I can get so immersed in the music that I temporarily exist only in the notes. It's like a journey through a land otherwise inaccessible. Like say for example I'm listening to Limbonic Art (one of the better bands for this kind of thing), after about ten minutes I can completely forget my surroundings and exist in the world of music. Its like transcendental meditation or something. Other metal I just listen to because its interesting and sounds good, or portrays an emotion that I enjoy. I have a lot of built-up resentment from childhood and metal is a great outlet for all that.

Another reason I enjoy metal so much is its depth. Most other music created nowadays is so trite and meaningless. Its capitalism put to notes. It prostitutes art for money, but real metal never does that. The metal I enjoy is created for no reason but self-satisfaction on the part of the artist and/or the hope that it will portray an idea or emotion in a sublime way; in essence, its true art.

To me, metal has a lot of meaning beyond the music.

That said, I don't really portray this outwardly. I'm not a closet metalhead, but I don't really talk to any of my friends about it (they're into rap and such), and I certainly don't dress or act the part. I let others know that I'm into metal, but as far as what metal really means to me, I refrain from divulging. Only the few people who know me very, very well have any idea that metal is more than a mere interest/pastime to me. I certainly wouldn't say that metal is my life, but I would say that it is and has been an integral part of who I am.

Because the metal is not "party and dance" like the "popular" music. From the elementary school I have never been interested in that. In the high school, ALL my classmates hear reggaeton (a Latinoamerican style of "music"). They spoke all the time about party and dance, nothing interesting or productive.

I've know Metal through a best friend. At first, the fake metal. The early true metal bands that I've know was: Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian and Megadeth.

5 years have passed since then.

Now my favorite bands are:

Rhapsody of fire, Manowar, King Diamond, Skiltron, Kreator, Sodom, Eliminator, Necrophagist, Bathory, Venom, Burzum, Amon Amarth, Nokturnal Mortum, Cannibal Corpse, Metallica, Overkill, Alestorm, Judas Priest, Helloween, Hammer Fall, Stormwarrior, Primal Fear, and others.

I really don't know why I'm drawn to all this dark, hateful music. Sometimes it worries me. To me it's almost like "the more fucked up and twisted the better".

It just seems natural. I guess it's also like, I'm tired of all this happy bullshit music that I'm forced to listen to, so to even it out I go to the extreme. If I hear kesha one more time....

You can't force synesthesia, it just happens. A lot of people who have it, especially those of us who have it in very mild forms, don't even realize that it's an abnormal way of perceiving the music. Synesthesia can arise from any crossing of the senses but one of the most common types is to associate certain sounds with colors. For me, it's sound → touch. Since I can remember, certain sounds have evoked different sensations inside and on the surface of my body. Some music feels like it's roughly brushing against my face and other feels like prickling in the depths of the muscles of my arms. It's generally not overwhelming to me and it doesn't interrupt my daily life--perhaps it even enhances my enjoyment of the sound--but as a result of this in some way I can touch music.

The closest approximation to synesthesia that someone without it (or someone without a certain type of synesthesia) can experience is tripping on hallucinogens. I don't have sound → sight synesthesia but I've 'seen' music whilst on mushrooms. Maybe you can try something like that.

Every time I speak or hear someone else speak, I naturally visualize the words scrolling by like I'm reading what they say in real-time. Same thing happens when I listen to music. I always "see" the musicians playing their instruments in a pretty realistic manner. Does that qualify as synesthesia? I'd be shocked to realize this is rare. Pretty cool.

Been listening to metal for around 14 years now and I still find it hard to explain when someone might ask.

For me its just what gives that warm feeling inside.

I like my music with full sound. Cant really stand the usual popular things you hear that sound so empty or hollow, audibly speaking.
I like the medieval romanticism with the themes and imagery- chains and leather, long hair, swords, skeletons and shit like that.
I'm usually attracted to things that aren't the norm, i'm fascinated by subcultures outside the pop culture bubble that most people live in. Even if it may not appeal to my tastes i still find it curious and interesting.
Metal just has this awesomness that i think is unmatched.

Yeah I guess that sums it up.

Well, in the beginning, when I was introduced to bands as Gorgoroth, Cannibal Corpse, etc. through the internet, I wanted to know more about how brutal metal bands, band members and metal listeners could actually be in real. I then slowly started to become a regular metal listener myself. I liked the music. The lyrical contents, the atmosphere and the ideologies of the bands are what grasped me at first. But again, in person, I'm a theist myself and I don't even become angry too easily or have to deal with many of the hatreds and angsts in life.

I landed on my arse into metal really; for reasons I cannot remember I started listening to stuff like Arch Enemy and Amon Amarth...didn't have any interest in the 'old-school'/classic/legend status metal bands (still have no interest in them). I prefer 21st century metal anyway.

My roots are in punk, so who fucking knows what I'm doing?!

Am I as evil, hateful and aggressive as metal? I sure hope not. I'm known to be the quietest, politest person you'd ever meet. Punk can be a bit too linear at times - though I do branch out into its sub-genres such as skinhead and oi!, it doesn't always have the variety and richness that metal does. I enjoy how versatile metal can be, combining different elements. There's also something very satisfying in hearing a guy roaring his lungs out in despair, or just the sound of pure anger. I think we all possess an aggressive instinct, and metal meets this demand.

I can't describe in much more detail why I listen to metal.

I've been asking myself this a LOT recently. I befriended someone a few months ago, and we both love metal. Since then we've got along so well and share so much in common, and I'd easily consider him a very good friend of mine. When we both found out we loved extreme metal (although of different sorts, he loves Primordial, I love (pre-2007) Cryptopsy... but this doesn't matter between metalheads ) that was when we both clicked and always hung out, and we agreed and felt the same towards metal. One day we were listening to some Morbid Angel in the living room and our friend comes in, she asks us "What the hell do you find appealing in this music?" His reply was "You don't understand it. You won't know until you become a metalhead". So I asked myself what is it about metal that makes us love it? Why is it unique?

I've been trying to put my finger on it but it's hard. But it's several factors. For me one of the biggest things is the emotions behind it. Out of all the genres I listen to I find this intense emotional connection in the music. The lyrics "reach" me, even if it's about ancient Sumerian gods or stalking a little girl and throwing her out a window (thanks Lord Worm). The music in addition has this angry, annoyed, pissed off, evil and hateful atmosphere that only makes the emotions even more intense, and these emotions I can feel through my own body and mind. I have an album for each type of mood I'm in, and each one of them fits perfectly and makes me feel better (in some abstract way usually). The desolation and misery when listening to Khanate, the anger when listening to Pantera, the cruelty and vileness when listening to Cryptopsy... I can go on and on.

Metal is also very creative, and dare I say it, intelligent. There's not many other genres of music (but there definitely is) that can create music so complex, strange and atmospheric. Not many musicians can create fantastic lyrics (depending on the band of course! I wouldn't say Grinded Nig's lyrics are exactly fantastic or intelligent) and then add this creative, weird music that takes fucking skill to play. Ahhh, I can't even put it into words.

Not to mention metal sounds fucking badass and GOOD. Nothing better to waking up to a cup of tea and some technical death metal.

I won't go on anymore, I feel like I'm ranting at this point, but I hope you guys get what I'm saying.

let me explain it with a story:

I was dragged to a Linkin Park show about a week ago. now, i would NEVER pay money to see them, or see them for free. but, my friend spent 200 dollars on the tickets, so i figured i shouldn't be an asshole and at least humor him.

until that night, i thought the group solidarity and energy you feel at a metal show was universal among all music, but i had never attended anything other than a metal show. i was wrong.

when i found out i'd be going, i figured, "well, i've heard there's some pretty big pits at their shows, they have one or two kinda heavy songs. i can at least laugh at all the twelve year old kids when i knock them down." not so. a mosh pit starts at the show, and next thing i know, security steps in and tells everyone to stop. after that, i knew the night would be shit.

there was no excitement, no energy, nothing. i went home, no ringing in my ears, no sore neck, no raspy voice, no pit wounds, no headache, nothing. i realized then, i went for free, and i got fucking ripped off. it reaffirmed my belief that we have something unique with metal.

all of us know that that shit would NEVER happen at a metal concert. it was furious. there were people who paid good money for those floor seats, and all these suckers were standing there watching the band perform, and listening to their music, when really, you can do that for free on youtube. if i got anything out of this experience, it was a window into the world of mainstream music and culture. fake, bland, no soul.


metal is unique that way.

a metal band doesn't tour because they like the money, they tour because they like touring, in fact, many metal bands LOSE money on tour. they don't care

a metal band doesn't meet fans for "good publicity," they meet fans because it's the only place in the world where the musician has so much in common with the fans. there's no fourth wall, no velvet rope.

metal is a rejection of all that is normal, and metal confronts, head on, the subjects and issues that everyone else considers taboo and would not talk about.

metal is an escape from monotonous, mundane lives.

metal is about not giving a shit what people think.



if you think about it, there are billions of metalheads out there. they just haven't been introduced yet.

Because it's awesome.

Most people are afraid of power, metal is not, and if you are willing to use power, you can actually enjoy life, which most people do not.

Fantasy makes a lot more sense to me than reality, and bands like Summoning and Drudkh make me feel right at home. I just don't understand why people my age are so obsessed with mindless sex, drinking, partying, and wearing garish clothing. Metal makes SENSE to me. The people who create metal are actually artists, and they have passions. The amount of people like that sadly seems to be decreasing in favor of reality television, fake tans, synthesized pop music and being unable to see more than two feet in front of you (figuratively speaking).

I want the art I absorb to sweep me away. I want to be utterly engrossed. I want to scrutinize all the fantastic details and soak in the thick atmosphere. This applies to film, music, writing, whatever. I think most people aren't very interested in art to begin with, and so they are satisfied more easily or don't care altogether. But I want to be knocked off my feet. In music, this means you need varied, energetic compositions with all sorts of contrasting, changing elements. Put simply, sometimes you need to go big. And heavy metal isn't afraid to go big. Aside from blues (which is heavy metal's bedrock) and some forms of classical music, other genres simply are. They never go big enough. That contrast, that drama, that roller coaster ride isn't there. When there's music out there that CAN take me on this journey...why bother with the stuff that can't?

I listen to all music for rather escapistic reasons. I like songs that tell a story. They take you away and make you think. It's great when you have just found a new band and you can start digesting the lyrics and the music. In jazz you get to know the musicians through the music. It depends on mood; sometimes metal is more appealing to me than other music, sometimes it isn't. I don't need any directed negativity in my metal for that matter. It works just fine without it.

It's simply the music I am responsive to. As for why I don't know. I guess it's the same way anyone feels about the music they like. The music does something that my brains enjoys. I don't necessarily "relate" to it most of the time, since every band i listen to has widely different view points in both metal and punk. It's just more the way the music is written and styled is more enjoyable than other styles of music I've listened to.

I agree with you. Reggaeton has to be one of the worst music genres in history.

I hate when people think that metal is repetitive and has unintelligible (because of the guturals and that english is not our main language) or bad lyrics, yet they listen to that crap!

Nah, I don't think any real people listen to reggaeton.

Well, after all I read Canada on location.

But I feel your pain, I can barely tolerate the robotic ultraproduced voices of that so-called singers...and then they have the nerve to tell me that power metal it is only random screaming that anyone can do it and growls and shrieks take no skill to perform. the lyrics are even worse, but lets not go there.

I can't really say anything that some above posters have already said, but for me, metal is power. Strenght, raw emotion. No other music can make me feel so proud like power metal, or so strong like black metal, for example. It a major "fuck you, I don't anyone approval", and metal actually made me a happier person, instead of leading me to suicide like some fucktards would claim. It empowers me, it gives me confidence, I can't really describe it.

The Technicality, the more varied lyrics compared to most to most popular music, the feeling that it explores deeper part of Man psyche, and that i like the sound(which in the end is completely subjective).

I think its the same for most anyone whos been listening to metal for an extended period of time. From mine and some of my friends into metal experience I can say when we first started it was mainly a rebellious and venting aggression type thing. As we got older and the rebellion act wore off we simply listened to it for the same thing we listen to all kinds of music.

I listen to music that moves me, be it in any form/genre/style it may come in. It's not just a metal or genre in general but bands and albums more or less, sometimes even only certain songs. For instance Megadeth has never really had any interest to me, yet they are considered one of the big four. However in the same respect I just love the fast aggression and up tempo of and tone of Demolition Hammer's Epidemic of Violence. That album just has an emotion connection with me, no different than when I hear the song In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins. It's just an emotional connection I get with certain albums/songs.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You're basically implying that metal should inherently be something that's negative? And that we should use this negative side of things for something else in life that is positive?

I don't see metal as inherently negative, I've always seen it as a positive, uplifting force that makes me want to be a better person and improve my life.

Music is entertainment at first, and all forms of entertainment are meant to make people happy. Just as people go to see horror movies it's always a fun, positive experience. It's the same with how metal started with black sabbath...it was just to make the entertainment we get from horror movies into entertaining horror music.

When I was growing up, I paid very little attention to lyrics. It would be the melodies of a song I would repeat in my head, not the words. When I first started hearing hard rock like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, etc., I was very attracted to the guitar distortion. Once I started listening to metal--starting with Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest--I was delighted to discover that there was a form of music that focused so heavily (pun intended) on this wonderful distortion. I enjoyed the singing as well--particularly Rob Halford's amazing voice--but I was, more than anything, focused on the riffage.

Metal quickly became my favorite form of music, because I couldn't get enough of it. I soon discovered I liked the fast tempos as well, once Slayer, Overkill, Exodus, Rigor Mortis, Vio-Lence, Kreator, and tons of other thrash/speed bands de-virginized my ears. Other aspects of metal soon found their way into my heart, including the over-the-top fashion, colorful album covers and deemphasis on traditional pop structures. While rock, pop, dance, rap, alternative and other forms of music relied heavily on sing-along choruses and simple, catchy hooks, metal lacked any kind of subtlety and demanded that the listener pay close attention to the guiar work. So it's a real no-brainer; I was young, and wanted fast, loud, distorted rock music, and found my savior in metal.

Skip 12 years to modern times, where, as a 25-year-old, my obsession with metal is perhaps stronger than ever. The more I delved into the music, the more attracted I was to it. Even after hearing examples from nearly every genre and sub-genre, from the obscure to the commercially successful, I continue to be fascinated by it. However, I sometimes worry if metal has had damaging effects on my mentality. There is a lot of anger, hate and disgust inside of me, and sometimes I wonder if metal inflated it, or provided an outlet for it, or both, since only a small minority of metal bands are feel-good and upbeat. Then there's Disgorge's "Forensick," an album whose art features a photo (possibly faked) of a mangled fetus hanging out of a mutilated vagina. It was the first vagina I had seen on the Internet, and may have played a role in my sexual dysfunction. Despite this, I still love metal and continue to indulge in it, even if it's screwing me up.

Nice topic, hehe.. But it´s a really difficult to answer it, because there is a lot of factors. I´m listening to many styles, not only metal ones.. But still are the "metal" genre my favorite, mainly black, industrial and post metal..
And how can I discribe my passion about it? I like everything around it.. not only music, like strings, drums or vocals.. I was shocked at the first time, when I heard some extreme metal, but after a while it began to absorb me into it.. and then I was suprized how is metal genre interesting, complex and have a lot of thing which can offer me and satisfied me at well.
After 13 years of listening to extreme metal music (but still listening to other non-metal genres) I have insight about everything about it, but I still love it. Its a true addiction! No words can discribe feelings which I have during listening to my favorite artists! Its pure love!
We can thank to "deity" for music! It´s the most important thing in our lifes at all!!