Metal is a genre of music that originated from hard rock in the 1960s with bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Blue Cheer. Metal music has evolved a lot from the 60s, and some of the older music is considered rock by today’s standards.
When metal first started, it was mainly in the UK. From there, it spread to the US, across Europe, and around the world. While the UK was the birthplace of metal, Scandinavian countries are known now for their metal music. An example of this is black metal, which is known for quick tempos and shrieking vocals and originated in Norway.
Biology teacher Erin Derenbecher said that she has listened to metal music with another teacher in the past, despite it not being her usual taste in music. “There wasn’t a lot to think about, just like experiencing versus thinking or analyzing or anything else I would typically do with music. So that was a different experience for me,” Derenbecher said.
Nu metal, and nu metal, which mixes different genres such as rap and grunge with metal, was a big part of metal becoming popular now as it is a more modern version of metal music. Bands like Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park, Deftones, and Limp Bizkit were very influential in the nu metal scene.
“When I was first introduced to metal, my dad played a Slipknot song,” sophomore Stone Moses said. “I forgot about him showing me the video and later I thought, ‘what was that band he told me about? Oh, it’s called Slipknot.’”
While metal music isn’t one of the top genres of music, it has had a resurgence since the early 2000s. Both students and teachers at our school like metal music even now.
“My god brother used metal to get through the army and when he got home he introduced me with stories he relates to these songs,” senior Jack Gehl said.
Along with this, some classic metal artists have either started making new music or have become mainstream. One example of this would be Metallica, who had the song ‘Master of Puppets’ featured in an episode of the popular TV series Stranger Things. Soon after, there was an almost 400% increase in streams. The band was then nominated for three Grammy awards in 2024.
“I’ve been to a Slipknot concert, and this Friday I’m going to a Metallica concert,” said Moses. “[the Slipknot concert] was just total madness. Everyone was going crazy, loving the songs. I had a drunk guy fall on me.”
Over the years, there have been many music festivals where metal music is showcased. One of the biggest of these festivals was the reincarnation of the Woodstock Music Festival, which no longer is around due to the fact that it was so hard to control. At one point, around 500,000 people went to the festival.
While Woodstock is not around anymore, there are plenty of music festivals still going on. The biggest one in St. Louis is at Pointfest, which typically takes place in May at the Hollywood Amphitheater.
“I’ve been to a Pointfest actually,” said Moses, “It was a great experience. It was at the Riverport Amphitheatre. They had two stages set up in the same area so that when one band finished and was tearing down, immediately another band started on the other stage.”
2023 has been a good year for metal fans in St. Louis, as bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Metallica, and Kiss have already played this year, while Pierce the Veil is playing at the Factory on Nov. 28.
