Understanding Heavy Metal Music
I often jokingly refer to "heavy metal" music as "angry white boy" music.
This may sound a bit racist and sexist, but I assure you that it is not meant that way. It is just an observation of mine that most people who listen to heavy metal are primarily young males who are Caucasian. I know of plenty of exceptions to this rule, and I apologize if my joke offends anyone.
However, I want to discuss why there are so many angry music lovers out there. Most of the people that I know that like to listen to heavy metal come from middle class families with very few serious hardships. And those people, who did grow up under considerable hardship, tend to not listen to heavy metal music either. Maybe I am mistaken, but my empirical observations suggest otherwise.
I can only think of two reasons why so many people are so angry. First, their adolescent years were very difficult. I can attest to high school being very stressful, thus I can only assume that some people convert stress into frustration and anger. Yet, people continue listening to heavy metal music even as adults, when the pressures of teenagers are well over. My second idea is that some people are naturally angry, even over minor inconveniences. I am not a psychologist, so I’m not 100% sure why. Yet a lot of people seem angry over trivial issues, when they could easily not be.
Furthermore, I assume that heavy metal music provides an outlet for people to vent out their frustrations in a safe manner. As a result, I have nothing against heavy metal music, but it is a difficult for those of us who do not enjoy heavy metal to truly understand it.
by Phil B.