Metal fans defend their music to the death

I read Jacquie Charlton's article about death metal ["A death metal in the family," August 6] and frankly, it sickened me.

Saying that death metal is not music, that the bands only sell because they have a cool name and a cool album cover, proves she doesn't know what she's talking about. It doesn't work that way in the metal industry--unlike pop music, where all a "band" needs to get popular is a good agent and a lot of music television and radio exposure. I mean, unlike the Spice Girls, I'm pretty sure we'll never see any Dying Fetus chocolate bars or sticker albums, right?

Some of the bands mentioned in this article are the poorest of them all. The story didn't talk about Obliveon, and they're Quebec's metal kings. The story didn't talk about Impaled Nazarene, the most brutal, satanic, gory music I've ever heard, and its influences are far more dangerous than any of the other bands mentioned. (For instance, in the middle of one Impaled Nazarene song, we hear some kind of demon sodomizing a goat.)

The fact is, these bands have some of the best musicians and songwriters out there. Of course, for some people, all they play is noise, and some bands do (influenced by Cannibal Corpse and such). But some other death metal bands, like In Flames or Dark Tranquility, take their influences mainly from Iron Maiden, making their music much easier to listen to. Overall, the complexity of these songs and the talent of the musicians are all above average.

Unlike pop music, death metal isn't about selling records. It's about making music. Metal record companies like Earache never signed a band because of their cool name, but always because of their music.

I hope the Mirror will think twice from now on about trying to give us metalheads a bad reputation as satanic, sick and destructive people who like to kill babies and use their veins as guitar strings.

-David Dickinson, Editor in chief L'Édition Metallique
http://listen.to/edmetal

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I would like to respond to the comments Cory Chauvin made in last week's death metal article regarding the scene being all about image and not about music anymore. Now he is certainly allowed to have his opinion, but you shouldn't take this guy's word as the end-all and be-all. He is not the only expert.

I've been into death metal for the past 10 years, and for me and everyone I know, it's all about the music. An album that has sucky songs will not sell. Sure, good marketing will get trash sold once, but the fans will not keep buying music from a band that can't write a killer song, no matter how many splattered children they have on the cover.

In fact, the Dying Fetus album in question, in my humble opinion, was a great album, with great musicianship. I'm a guitar player and play drums, and most of my metal friends play instruments as well, so when we talk about an album, we talk about the riffs, the musicianship, the guitar and bass sound, the song writing, maybe even the lyrical content. But we really don't spend much time excited about whatever is on the cover and how close the band is with Satan.

Sure, everyone will debate whether a particular album is good or bad, and not everyone agrees. But while an all-image band will sell maybe their first record, they will not last in the scene if they suck--no matter what kind of image they have. This is the same for all genres of music: how many horrible alternative bands have we seen make their MTV debut and then crash and burn when people realized they were a one-hit wonder?

-Neil Blevins

Reader needs life!

The Mirror is the best thing going in Montreal. I am so addicted, I needed to get on the Internet in Pakistan (where I am currently vacationing) to get my weekly dose online.

I am particularly fond of Sasha, the Rant Line™ and Real Astrology. I usually pick up a copy at the Second Cup on McGill College and read it with my coffee. I will be back in town later on this month and look forward to delving into the Mirror in all its depths.

-Mahim M.