Pesonally I didn't see with my own eyes such bad fanbases dedicated to the metal bands. Th only exception maybe is Tool, it was mentioned here that their fans can really be annoying. Especially speaking about the waiting of their new album... Sometimes it seems that they're obsessed with all that stuff and I don't understand this.
But the worst fanbase I know consists of the teenage fans of My Chemical Romance. Yeah they're very popular and commercially succesfull but I've never seen such inadequate behaviour from the fans of other music bands

I've never personally met any here in Quebec. Maybe were just lucky!

The only two Juggalos I have met were very quiet, polite and funny people, who usually came from pretty fucked up backgrounds. I guess I'm lucky.

If you want to be really annoyed, check out a Suicide Silence show. I saw them open for Cannibal Corpse. Their audience were girls with pink streaks going through their hair, and boys dressed like hipsters. Annoying as fuck. I will give them credit for being young and being into a heavier band. Hopefully it will lead them down the path of some real metal.

I can agree on what you said about Slipknot's fan base. I'm a big fan of Slipknot, but the fan base for the most part is a bunch of douche bags. Slipknot isn't the only band out there, and it certainly isn't the heaviest. Some of their fans need to grow up.

Limp Bizkit fanbase is the worst.

They still have a fanbase?

They're still active? They had a fanbase?

Seriously though, their fans are just literally knuckledragging LCD thugs.

I've never encountered annoying fans of those genres in real life. I don't understand this whole stereotype that black metal fans are internet basement loser bronies (maybe in other countries?) because almost every bm fan I've met in real life was able to have an intelligent conversation about different genres and subjects outside music like film and history. Pretty much all punks/hardcore guys I've met are cool guys as well, even if we don't agree on music we can still respect each others interests and get along.

Why would you expect to meet basement black metal fans in real life? Do you break and enter houses looking for people to discuss Moonblood with?

There's a new sig right there.

What I mean by that though is that there seems to be this negative stereotype that black metal fans are elitist douchebags or something, when all the people I meet or am friends with are just normal metalheads who like all kinds of stuff. So those elitist kvlt kiddies must either never leave the basement at all to go to concerts or music stores, or are more of a phenomenon in other countries, like the European version of Juggalo's.

No one said that black metal fans are all like that, or even that a majority of them are like that. But these individuals who only live for black metal and hate everything that "desecrates" it. And these kinds people exist more so in specific genres communities. Noticeably in the black metal community.

I don't think that people who make this observation don't like black metal themselves. I personally love black metal.

Nothing's worse than Manowar fans. Especially Manowar fans who take them seriously. Nothing to add.

Gotta add "Freiwild" and "Böhze Onkelz"-Fans. Both bands are German rock bands with rather simple music and have been somewhat close to the nazi/right-wing scene. While both bands have pleaded they don't approve of this, the fans are pretty much exclusively nationalistic/patriotic, not all that intelligent and very conservative. These are the people who are getting aggressive at concerts and festivals really quickly and never cease to spread their "traditions" as loud as possible.

I don't know a single person among my friends who doesn't despise the bands and fans alike, and everyone I met who listened to these bands turned out to be shady at best.

Haha, I always thought the basement dwelling black metallers were an American thing. In Sweden I'd say listening to black metal is (atleast somewhat) socially accepted so it's not just an exclusive thing for cellar Gollums.

I always was under the impression that in Sweden black metallers live out in the forest or roam the streets in gangs or something. As for the basement gollums we may never know, since they won't come out to do an interview with Sam Dunn or release their music to the public.

Is their entire audience all big buff guys? Mortician fans are like that for some reason. All big buff dudes, with ugly mustaches.

But the guys from Manowar take themselves seriously. I think that's the main issue...

Quite the same here with Manowar fans, in addition most of them are uber-macho nationalist tough guys who really take seriously all the stuff about "killing enemies"...

That's a whole separate issue, but a grave one indeed...

Do Manowar really take themselves seriously though? Or do they act serious, and convincingly act serious, all as part of the show? I've come to appreciate them better as pantomime. I appreciate them more because they take their making of pantomime so seriously with great results (as distinct from taking the actual pantomime seriously). The layers of cheese that they've got going can't be a product of seriousness.

If there are people out there really taking it seriously beyond the show, then I'd be pretty surprised.

Not so fast:

I have no arguments whatsoever.

That was beautiful, man.
Poignant and affecting. I teared up a little.

Mind grenade!

HED PE fans, they kind of assimilated a bunch of juggalos and 9/11 conspiracy nuts so you have a mix of the most obnoxious arrogant douchebags ever. Most can usually be heard grunting statements such as "New World Order iz real", "The President wants us dead" and "Anarchist and proud". Never approach said fans as they'll likely call you "a sheep" or a "narc" and casual discussions usually will incite violence.

Metalheads: Just a bunch of insufferable nerds.
Punks: Mentally weak people who have to dress up in costumes for their personalities to shine.

Good point about punks, but completely missed the mark on the analysis of metalheads. We are actually very cool and intelligent. Please be nicer.

^this

The divide between different styles of Death Metal, you know, how everyone that isn't a metalhead just lumps Slam, Deathcore and all that into one catagory, can be frustrating.

A nicer way to look at it is that punks tend to be more community oriented and "all for one one for all". Metal tends to be every man for himself.

I have a few opinions to share along with all the ones I have seen here.

Back from around 06'-09' when I was in highschool the death-core / metal-core kids would always try to start arguments about me liking Death, Pantera, and Slayer (in all honesty I was digging deeper than these bands, but they targeted them specifically & me as a coincidence) to the point where two of them physically threw punches at me. Now it seems like things have calmed down in that genre, but I could never understand why they always singled me out so hard for not listening to as much 'core' as them.

I will say that I have seen a few asshats at DevilDriver & HateBreed concerts as well but as is the case with the other dudes I mentioned from highschool I think these were just a few bad apples at the concert & not entirely inherent among the whole band's fan base.

I grew up with tons of ICP people around me, I only met one that was respectable but he was incredibly intelligent & courteous but he was the only one out of almost a hundred that I have met.

As far as a band/artist that doesn't have a stellar fanbase I would have to pick Rings of Saturn. I'm almost certain tons of people that claim to love them are either listening to a different album, or are just trying to fit in with people? I mean some are docile during conversation, but the majority I have talked to in person & online will just hate you for simply saying that they aren't something you listen to. After that most of them try to force the issue & just insult me.

I will say I love black metal, and have yet to run into many people like that in person. I willl admit I have met a few elitists that were assbags. Online there may be a few 'too trve for school' types but by in large I haven't had that issue. I don't know if it is just a behavior people expect of the genre so they figure it MUST exist for that reason, or maybe from the extreme beginning of the 2nd wave stuff or what. Maybe this is because I like the genre or some factor I haven't accounted for. Can't speak for the diehard crust-punks or NSBM people as I haven't met one yet.

As far as the nicest groups of people in any given metal genre / sub-genre has been (this was surprising to me) the grindcore / porno-grind fanbase, it is really not too big here but the few people that align themselves with the genre are all really nice people & can hold intelligent conversation with me.

However like I say these are all opinions & maybe my location, shows I attend, age, or something is playing a factor in all this. Your mileage may very!

The punk thing is so funny. It's hardcore into its social consciousness and personal expression against the norm but adheres to the strictest rules of behavior - so much worse than metal elitism. They are actively cruel to each other. It's like if a group of people overthrew a government in the 'spirit of revolution' and then just installed a new government that was 1000x worse. I've never really got the balance of expressing yourself vs. fitting into a subculture. There a funny Family Guy joke a decade ago where Peter says to check out his myspace page "Where I list my favorite books and movies and express my individuality through other people's creations". That's kinda how I look at the whole thing.

If anything, only wear a shirt of your band. If no band, wear a shirt featuring a picture of you at work.

The punks I know are really relaxed and don't care about what music I like or don't like. Together with gothics, metalheads and people from the medieval scene they are imho the nicest group/subculture.

I've met a few black metal elitists, but they quickly stopped talking to me, probably because I'm not trve enough.

Another group of metalheads that really annoys me are the "party metalheads". Those who only listen to some of the current generic, popular bands, the melodic stuff, like Nightwish, Sabaton, Hammerfall, etc. They don't actually like 99 % of metal and just like to "party". They are often very egocentric, proud and intolerant.

I think one that hasn't been mentioned here (or I missed it glancing over the thread) would be Marilyn Manson fans. Regardless of your opinions on him or his band or his work (or his band's work), since they/he started there was a strong "Don't copy anyone, think for yourself, be yourself etc" message but all their hardcore fans seem to be teenage or twenty somethings who try to look exactly like him and get all his artwork and symbols tattooed all over them and seem to obsess over him and refuse to see any music labeled "Marilyn Manson" as being anything but the best thing ever. Given how sarcastic Mr Manson is, I'm surprised he's not yet sung "Be yourself by being me".

But yes, I agree with what's been said about people who love prog or virtuoso musicians exclusively being very arrogant and pretentious particularly if they're musicians and you're a guy learning to play bass practicing Ramones and Misfits lines.

I will agree with another poster that punks are the nicest music fans, that is unmistakable in my opinion, although the expression of individuality by conforming to standards already set is hilarious in my opinion. Completely negates the idea and it essentially is another restrictive social norm. Like it or not the same can be said for metalheads but to a lesser degree.

I think people in their cliques are fake and want to fit into something so they feel less insecure and feel like they belong, a sense of strength through unity despite the obvious truth that we are all the same with varying degrees of intelligence, skill and emotional intelligence and if we all were less exclusive with our tastes and opinions they'd be more freedom and acceptance and progressive feats.

But hey that's probably a bit too deep for an active Internet forum which teeters between legitimate discussionists, and jokesters looking to round off an intellectual discussion focusing on a minute error or delivering a buzzword or netspeak because "funny".

.

Metal is full of fanbases that are generally cool people, no matter if it's of a subgenre I like or not. There are a few I'd consider worst though. Not counting NSBM fans as actual people, I get a severe sense of aggravation from most stereotypical thrashers. The whole sub-subculture just seems beyond retarded. Medieval "metal" and symphonic "metal" tend to attract some vanilla not-dedicated-enough-to-be-truly-goth-but-a-watered-down-version-of-it types, but that's not really part of metal culture either. It's just thrasher stereotypes that tend to be annoying as fuck.

Definitely not a surprise. When you play pseudo tough guy music like these bands, you attract ass holes who hardly made it through high school and who usually wear tank tops and big baseball caps and some cheap cigarettes and crappy beer.



When you mix a genre that mostly attracts shallow douchebags like deathcore with pseudo-intellectual tech-wankery, you end up with a fanbase of pretentious and egocentric douchebags. Not the kind of cocktail I enjoy.



I also do not like the people who are black metal fans and who are so apologetic toward racism, ultra-nationalism and bigotry when it's their favorite bm bands that are concerned, even when they are themselves not specificaly like that or do not share these ideologies.



Of course yes.

There was this bm girl online who kept hitting on me even when I didn't really react to her constant compliments about my look. She eventually un-friended me. I still don't know if it's because I didn't react to her repeated attempt at charming me, or if it was because she eventually found out I wasn't true enough when stalking my Facebook page.



This is very similar to what's going on with Slipknot's fanbase. Slipknot has this "outsider" theme going on throughout their discography, and they've always talked highly of the "metal family" and this whole "accept each other" thingy. But Slipknot fans are insufferable. They are arrogant, loudmouthed and totaly unwelcoming to anyone who isn't as big of a fan of Slipknot as them.

I used to love the band as a teenager and never really noticed this, mostly because I didn't attend any of their shows until last year when they head-lined at the Heavy Montreal festival 2015 edition. But that week-end, the fans really made themselves noticeable by being drunk asshats.

I have no doubt that the band members themselves and a lot of the fans actually are honest about this inclusive behavior, but some of the fans are just... wow...



I have a hard time understanding how you can have this kind of mind-set after you've turned 20 years old. I remember that phase I had in high school when I thought that everything that wasn't technical enough for my taste lacked in value. But that behavior was just a projection of what was going on in my 15 years old metalhead kid. I was trying to figure some kind of criteria for quality and since metal was more technical then pop music, I latched to technicality... Which is something I eventually dropped... not because technicality and virtuosity aren't interesting, of course no. But it's really something when you meet these guitar guys who will always list boring virtuoso guitarists as the most talented musicians of our days.



Punks really are like that? Cause I mean... I see how there is the more typical look for punks, but are punks themselves really that aggressive towards people who consider themselves punks without looking the type? True question here!