CONTEST: What Is Metal To You?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 6:40PM ;)
click to enlargeSo what makes a band or song Metal to you? Does it need smoking leads? Does it need distored guitar? Does it need a logo that looks like something your cat just puked up? Do the vocals have to sound like the vocalist for the band once mistook Drano for Throat Coat tea? Or maybe you are one that needs a band that dresses in loin cloth, is holding a sword, and the cd cover could be mistaken for the dvd cover of a movie released by The Asylum?
No, you don't need to write a book. In fact we have had people win our contests with just three words. However, we will pick the people who submit the best post. Can you answer the even famous question of why an element is important to Metal for you?
A few rules:
- Replies on Facebook DO NOT count
- Replies on Twitter DO NOT count
- Replies on any website other than RockMyMonkey.com DO NOT count
- You must reply on this website and on this specific article or it DOES NOT COUNT!
- Only people in the United States and Canada on this one
- You must be registered at RockMyMonkey to win
- If we can't get ahold of you through your registered info we will go to the next person
- You have 24 hours to respond if you win
- Deadline is April 11th
- Contest only counts for shows AFTER April 16th.
- If you register with fake info you will be S.O.L.
- The staff of RockMyMonkey are the final judges and DO NOT have to give you a reason
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
ONE 1st place WINNER: Autographed ACCEPT color poster & guest list accommodations for two people at the ACCEPT show of their choice.
FOUR 2nd place WINNERS: SABATON’s re-released back-catalogue (FOUR discs; images below)
(only tour dates in bold count for the contest)
ACCEPT with SABATON
04/09/11 THE CLUB AT FIRESTONE - ORLANDO, FL
04/10/11 CULTURE ROOM - FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
04/13/11 JAXX - WEST SPRINGFIELD, VA
04/14/11 THE TROCADERO - PHILADELPHIA, PA
04/16/11* BEST BUY THEATER - NEW YORK, NY *** OVERKILL HEADLINING***
04/17/11 CLUB SODA - MONTREAL, QC - CANADA
04/18/11 IMPERIAL DE QUEBEC - QUEBEC CITY, QC - CANADA
04/20/11 MOD CLUB - TORONTO, ON - CANADA
04/21/11 BLONDIE'S - DETROIT, MI
04/22/11 BOTTOM LOUNGE - CHICAGO, IL
04/23/11 MESA RIVERVIEW – PHOENIX, AZ
04/24/11 BLUE BIRD THEATER - DENVER, CO
04/26/11 EL CORAZON - SEATTLE, WA
04/27/11 PETER'S ROOM - PORTLAND, OR
04/28/11 GRAND BALLROOM AT THE REGENCY - SAN FRANCISCO, CA
04/30/11 HOUSE OF BLUES - SAN DIEGO, CA
05/01/11 GALAXY THEATRE - SANTA ANA, CA
05/02/11 VENTURA THEATER - VENTURA, CA
05/04/11 CLUB VEGAS - SALT LAKE CITY, UT
05/06/11 BACKSTAGE LIVE – SAN ANTONIO, TX
05/07/11 SCOUT BAR - HOUSTON, TX
Reader Comments (15)
Metal has to have screaming guitars, pounding bass, and pounding drums, but a totally singable voice. No screaming.
It's mostly popular opinion by the fans, of bands whose sounds & style loosely resemble historically successful bands billed as "Metal" acts. It's all about successfully separating yourself from what was before, while still resembling and paying homage to the predecessors.
Metal is loud heavy music with screaming guitar!
Metal is any music that makes me want to bang my head against the wall 'til it bleads
Metal is about no rules, play what feels right and play it with heart, We don't limit are selfs to a certain way of playing. rather it be a hight technical jazz scale or a simple one string riff. Just play what you feel and make it heavy as hell.
Metal hits the heart and soul in a way to let loose without need too feel part gaga b.s of the world. Put the headphone on,or in the car or at home crank it up and who gives a fuck what anyone thinks.
The most defining characterstic of Heavy Metal is lead guitar. Though it doesn't have to be a blistering, over-the-top dueling axes type of track, the absence of killer axework tends to blur the line between metal and other heavy forms of music such as Hardcore or Industrial Rock. The important overarching theme is a freedom to explore any type of imagery and lyrical content, no matter how unrealistic, brutal, epic or downright gnarley; no other form of musical art offers the kind of egalitarian fun that heavy metal is known for. No, swords, dragons, mythology, warfare or the apocalypse are not necessarily metal in and of themselves but the freedom to write about these things put them on your album cover while being taken seriously is! Call it "grain of salt" or call it the freedom to be slightly "tongue in cheek" but, regardless of your preference for sub-genre, it's this liberty that has given metal a reputation for escapism and continues to help fuel the creativity of the scene today.
Any loud and aggressive music is metal if it kicks ass.
Anybody can be metal too, I don't buy into this genre snobbery. "Jethro Tull isn't metal." "There are no flutes in metal."
Bullshit.
If Ian Anderson jumped down into the mosh pit and beat the fuck out of some guy with his flute, that'd be 100% metal!
Metal is uninhibited, in your face, loud , hard driving release of pure energy from with-in, pounding of bass and drums that shake every organ in your body, guitars screaming just shy of making your ears bleed, vocals and lyrics letting the whole world know what's on your mind. Metal keeps the blood flowing. Metal let's you know you are alive!!!!!
Def Leppard with two-armed Rick Allen: Metal... Def Leppard with one-armed Rick Allen: NOT Metal...
Metal is not a Guitar lick or a drum beat its a feeling. its that deep soul churning mind splitting feeling that drives your soul.
its that feeling that brings out your dark side. if you don't feel that then it either isn't metal or your not a metalhead...
Metal is Balls To The Wall Music!
Thanx!
04/24 Denver, Co. Bluebird Theatre
Metal lifts you to your feet. It makes your heart slam against your chest. It makes you wail on an air guitar. It does all of this because it has grabbed ahold of your soul and it never really lets go.
Metal is not screaming vocals, machine-gun drums, shredding guitars, bad-ass cover art, or any of that in and of itself. These are only the pieces of a much greater entity. The musicians themselves are really only conduits for the true message. It is about being a part of something greater than oneself. Once metal is in your veins, it's there for life. There is no going back.
Metal attracts the rebels, outcasts, and misfits; those who don't quite feel like everyone else. Rather than offering a solution to us, it unites us. We may not all get along, but we are all the same in our collective temple. Metal is something hard-wired into its followers; something that defies rational thought. Metal is the language that resonates at a primal level for its selected pilgrims. People don't seek out metal; the entity summons its worshipers. It is an internal force that is released through only this catalyst. Metal is not just music. Metal is a way of life.
I tried not to write a book but this is what we came up with when trying to answer this question before...
1.) A very powerful screaming vocalist with the ability to reach the high or low octaves at will! (Examples: Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Geoff Tate, etc...)
2.) An absolutely shredding lead guitarist or two that know when to blow up and when to harmonize and or highlight the melody! "The guitar player must have Great Tone!" Coupled with "Major Crunch!" Examples: Wolf Hoffmann, Michael Schenker, Randy Rhodes, Chris Oliva, Adrian Smith, Vivian Campbell, "well on the Dio albums anyway" etc...
3.) A thumping bassist that isn't afraid to solo and preferably doesn't use a pick! Examples: Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, Cliff Burton, Geddy Lee etc...
4.) A hard hitting double bass drummer that loves to change time signatures and play fast driving beats! Yet, One that knows when to stay in the pocket as well. Examples: Scott Travis, Lars Ulrich, Neal Peart, Nico McBrain, Chris Rockinfield, etc...
5.) Everyone in the band must have great stage presence! Granted the quality of the music means more than how f@#kin pretty you are or what length your hair is!
6.) Original songs! No chipeing! "Thou shalt not steal!"
\m/ Rebecca