Well, I pretty much said it all in this article's title...now for me to expand it into a paragraph or two. Usually by this time of year I've already compiled a short list of current songs I like for the ongoing year. In late July of 2018 the list has but one song, and it is really from last year: Arcade Fire's Creature Comfort. I keep tuning in to my local alternative rock station, 100.5 WHHZ "The Buzz", but other than some retro hits I'm picking up on nothing that I like...has the genre changed or have I? I still have WUFT/Classical on 102.7 as the default local station on my car radio, and I often listen on my smartphone to WQXR, the famous classical music station out of New York. But there's a genre that I had hitherto avoided but now enjoy hearing from time to time: heavy metal...
I would probably listen to heavy metal music...the more intense the better...for longer periods were it not for the dismal lyrical themes that accompany the genre and its performers. I don't see why so much of it is involved with death and spiritual darkness, yet that seems to be the mindset embedded within so many of its artists...or at least that's how they like to portray themselves. Too bad: although instrumentally I think that some of it bears well artistically, even to the level of classical music, I can't take the negativity of the words being screamed out...and it gets so dogmatic and predictable to the point where each song seems to be a parody of the genre. I think heavy metal needs to break free of its stereotypical lyrical chains and speak to a broader listening audience...I think it would boom in popularity were this to happen. I hear there are Christian heavy metal bands...well, maybe that's a good area for me to explore. Also, if I could just dispense with lyrics and singers and just listen to the music...are there any purely instrumental heavy metal acts out there?
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