The Pride and Shame of "Being Metal"
By Daniel Dystyler
"A lot has happened since Rob Halford proudly said, 'We are Metal.'".
Heavy Metal wasn't a popular term when people started using it in the late 60s and early 70s. Although big bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin created the sound that became identified as Metal, they didn't see themselves as Heavy Metal; it was still an external concept. They saw themselves as Hard Rock bands, and I think what's important is that when Judas Priest started gaining popularity in the late 70s and early 80s, they were the first band, and Rob Halford was the first musician, to stand up and say, "We are Metal ." This gave a turning point to this type of music, because it went from something people avoided and were even ashamed of, to something that is an identity and a badge of honor. And if Metal, as we always discuss, is a lifestyle and a culture, then that was the moment it all began, when Halford stood up and said, "We are Metal .
The sentence above is not mine.
The above quote is from the famous anthropologist and filmmaker, Sam Dunn, author of “Metal: A Headbanger's Journey”, “Iron Maiden: Flight 666”, “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”, “Global Metal”, and the brilliant mini-series “Metal Evolution”.
But if the phrase isn't mine, at least the question remains:
Sam Dunn said this phrase in an interview with Wikimetal , when I quoted the end of episode 3 of "Metal Evolution" about Rob Halford's passage and the importance of people being proud to "Be Metal" .
And since that landmark and symbolic moment when Rob Halford proudly embraced "Being Metal," all bands have had, in the words of Sam Dunn, "an identity and a badge of honor .
Right?
Wrong.
Unfortunately, reality shows that it's not quite like that…
In the more than 6 years since we founded Wikimetal, we've had some experiences that were as surprising as they were disappointing, and I think it's worth sharing them here. At least two of them.
The first one was with one of the greatest vocalists in history, Ian Gillan.
Nando interviewed him for the first time in the first year of Wikimetal, in November 2011, and the legendary Deep Purple vocalist was incredibly kind . We were truly amazed by that episode no. 50, a symbolic number (50 episodes!) with one of the biggest names in music who was extremely generous and kind to us.
Three years later, in November 2014, the honor of interviewing him became mine, and as soon as we started the interview, I asked our guest for the same thing we've asked all our interviewees in these almost 300 specials we've done: a recording of an ID saying, "Hi, this is Ian Gillan from Deep Purple, and you're listening to Wikimetal .
Nothing out of the ordinary, right? This is actually common and standard practice in practically any interview, and all artists are very accommodating and really used to recording this type of jingle. That's why it was so surprising to hear the legendary Ian Gillan's response:
"No. I'm not going to record it because I don't want our name associated with anything metal."
For me, it was a real shock. To hear that from the lead singer of Deep Purple, one of the founding bands of Heavy Metal.
I even argued that "Wikimetal" is the name of our program, but he still refused to record it.
The good part of this story:
I started the interview by asking the first question, and before he could answer, he changed his mind and decided to record his ID. That's something, at least.
The second story I'd like to tell:
System Of A Down concert at Arena Anhembi in São Paulo in September 2015, with Deftones opening:
We make extensive use of Wikimetal's platforms for promotion, and on the day of the event, I was tasked with photographing the show to create our traditional image gallery and publish it on our website.
My accreditation had already been approved when, the day before the show, the production staff called me, apologizing profusely and embarrassed, and said:
“Daniel, we’re going to have to revoke your accreditation as a photographer. You can still go as a reporter, but not to take photos.”
“Oh, that’s fine, no problem!” I replied, knowing that this is relatively common. Many bands don’t allow or completely limit the number of photographers, leaving only one or two, sometimes just one as the official photographer (as happened in the cases of Queen, Guns N’ Roses, and other shows). I asked:
"They're not going to let anyone take pictures?"
"Go away... They just don't want to leave Heavy Metal portals"
Ah… Okay… I understand…. Thank you Serj and thank you Daron… It's good to know.
As you can see, a lot has happened since Rob Halford looked into that camera in the late 70s and, for the first time, proudly said, "We are Metal." Most followed that example, being proud of who we are, having an identity, a badge of honor.
But some don't.
Some have a problem with the term. Metal. Heavy Metal.
I recently read an interview with Korn's vocalist, Jonathan Davis, who said:
"I've always had a problem with the term 'Metal'. We were never that."
His explanation is actually coherent and makes sense:
“I really appreciate and love the Metal community. But as for being a Metal band, for me a Metal band is Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. That's a Metal band. I don't think Korn does that. I know what we do is different, but I love the scene and there are very passionate people in it.”
Yes, I understand what he means.
He's sticking to the technicalities of the term "Heavy Metal" as a musical style. In that sense, Korn isn't really a Judas Priest or a Maiden. Just like Metallica, AC/DC, Slayer, Scorpions, and many others aren't either.
But to finish this text, borrowing again the genius of Sam Dunn's opening phrase, when he says that "Metal is a lifestyle and a culture ," it's not just a type of music, so yes, we are all Metal, and it's very disappointing to see bands fundamental to the movement, like Deep Purple or System, trying to shy away from that.
Here at Wikimetal, we are Metal. And very proud of it.
Thank you, Rob Halford.