THAT ONE METALHEAD THAT'S TOO WOKE...
Metal and politics are entwined historically, yet modern political engagement with the genre has many problems.
NPZ #1 — NOVEMBER 2024 — PAGE 10
There’s a problem within the metal community. Fascism is on the rise, white supremacy is rampant, and sorry to say, there is a little too much acceptance and tolerance in metal for that kind of shit.
Before anyone starts foaming at the mouth just thinking of the word “woke” “cancel culture” “libtard” “snowflake” “DEI” “gay” “commie” whatever, chill buddy. Just, hear me out first.
When I was a teen, I certainly found myself believing “this celeb/musician said/did this problematic thing, they must be a terrible person”. Growing up in the age of the internet, I was drawn to a lot of online communities, and the algorithm feeds off reactions. I’m sure there’s studies somewhere, but this socialization through the internet certainly has had a profound impact on my perspectives. And it takes a lot to unlearn these kinds of habits and perspectives.
Metallica is my favorite band of all time, and James Hetfield used to make the crowd chant “FAG” in a lineup of different swears. Was this homophobic? Yes. Do I think he’s homophobic? No. Do I think it’s cringe? Yes. Is there still a problem with this type of casual use of homophobia in the metal community? Most certainly. But that’ll be for another time. Am I gonna throw away my ever-growing collection of Metallica merch/music because of this? No, of course not, I still love the music. Would I have considered it when if I knew this when I was like 14 and eager to stand against all forms of queerphobia? It’s pretty likely. Would this have cured the world of homophobia? Not even close.
My point is that “cancelling” is a) ineffective, and b) doesn’t do anything to address the root of the problem. But, in our ever-reactionary and online scene, it’s hard to actually make a point when everyone wants to yell at each other and win the debate. The scolding liberal wants to show off their “inclusivity” and rejection of “problematic” behavior, and the ignorant conservative wants to feel empowered by belittling and “triggering” the “weak snowflakes”.
There’s another thought I used to hold, which is very relevant post 2024-election: “How can anyone support Trump, who’s a misogynistic, racist, xenophobic fascist? Anyone who does must be a terrible person.”
Real world example: I met a metal musician, and hoped I had found a new friend. I liked their band’s music and vibe, and had even (mis)interpreted the lyrics of their songs to be about frustration with the system and support for left-leaning beliefs. When I saw they expressed support for Trump, I immediately chose to completely reject and discount them because I couldn’t fathom how anyone could look past Trump’s bigotry without being a bigot themselves, or at least really ignorant and dumb.
Whenever I talked about this with other leftists in the metal/alt scene, I heard similar reactions of shock. The anti-authoritarian roots of subcultures like punk, goth, and metal should be completely in opposition to the Republican party’s values, right? Turns out, especially with metal, it’s a little more complicated than that.
I read a FANTASTIC article that I will have to do a deeper dive on at a later time, written by R.M. Termin titled “Rock Against Anything: How Metal Became So Fucking Reactionary and What to Do About It”. In it, Termin perfectly deconstructs how metal’s golden era was fueled by shock value that would scare the “normies”, who, at the time, were the white-Christian bourgeoisie. As the status quo of American society got more neoliberal, tolerant, secular, and accepting, where does the reactionary and frustrated metalhead go?
Something interesting among the politics of metal is there is more criticism of the two-party system, and a lot of anger about political corruption, but not as much introspection on how to combat the system. Many bands like Slipknot, Havok, Warbringer, etc. have criticized American politics—even Metallica in the And Justice For All… era—and many musicians have been critical of Donald Trump and the rise of reactionary conservatism. While respected bands like Sepultura, System of a Down, and Rage Against the Machine have songs that still remain relevant in their analysis of political corruption, systemic issues, and criticisms of authoritarian right-wing governments, the metal community of the current day perhaps don’t internalize their messages (see: Republicans being shocked RATM was explicitly anti-fascists like Trump, not about rebelling against their parents).
Class-consciousness is another element of music that has been lost in the dominance of neoliberalism and Red Scare propaganda that stamped out leftist movements. As Termin says: “If metal is to rid itself of its fascist disease, it needs to become class-conscious again, both in lyrics and attitude.”
The enemy is not the gays, the transgenders, or the immigrants. Nor is it the people of color now present in your media, workplace, or schools that used to be excluded, sidelined, or completely erased. It’s not the leftists, progressives, or socialists either, who have never had real influential power in American politics. The feminist or the antifa leftist punk that discounts any Republican voter as a bigoted fascist may be a little over-zealous in their expression of frustration, but they aren’t the enemy either.
The root cause of the average American’s problems, like job insecurity, cost of living, poverty, sickness, mental health problems, addiction, etc. are the symptoms of CAPITALISM. This is why culture war has replaced class war, as the real enemy—the capitalist owners, the CEOs, the billionaires, the 1%—can turn us against each other as they rob our pockets blind.
The solution isn’t Donald Trump, a man surrounded by billionaires and corporate interests, as well as religious fundamentalists who seek to enforce fascistic ideologies. But the Democrat party showed that they are a piss-poor and incompetent solution as well, bought and paid for by corporations and out-of-touch elitists. We need to seriously talk about making the politicians work for the PEOPLE, not the corporate benefactors. And that’s through grass-roots campaigns, like with Bernie Sanders, that focus on working-class issues. But how do you get others to understand this?
If I were to go back in time, upon learning that a fellow metalhead was a Trump supporter, I would want to do better about withholding my snap judgement and really understand why they believe the GOP has their self-interests in mind at all. I still have reactionary tendencies, but that is something I think must be self-acknowledged, and fought against if any of us are to really come together. This isn’t to say you have to tolerate anybody uplifting Trump’s fascistic views, but recognize that there are many that have been convinced by Trump’s populist campaign due to their material conditions that have been formed by the capitalist oligopoly we live in.
The greatest defense against fascism is community. Metal is a large subculture with a SENSE of community, but perhaps there needs to be a little more digging deep to try and extract some of the remaining poisons of the reactionary attitudes in the scene. This doesn’t mean avoiding politics at all costs, and turning a blind eye to white-supremacist or fascistic sentiments in the scene, but rather to be even louder and more outspoken against all forms of bigotry and the rising authoritarian forces in the current state of our capitalist society.
I want to explore more anti-fascist, left-leaning bands. The most outspoken that I know of are SEPULTURA (and the Cavalera’s later projects by extension), SYSTEM OF A DOWN, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, and SLIPKNOT (kind of?). HAVOK has some…interesting but certainly blunt political perspectives (love “Hang ‘Em High”, pg. 1; “F.P.C.”…will have more thoughts on that), WARBRINGER similarly being anti-war and the singer, John Kevill being critical of our essentially one-party system (lol he’s all over leftist reddit, love to see it; update, after going down a rabbithole on his account, he’s a self-identified leftist/socialist LMAO slay). All that to say, I know there’s more out there, and I’m sure a plethora of underground bands, so if anybody has recs, let me know!
