This is amazing

Most musics is philosophical in some way.

Some glories the good of a culture, some protests the bad. And some just makes the makers and fans more stupid.

As a composer of both metal and lyrics, I often incorporate philosophical themes and ideas, though not always self-consciously. However, as song lyrics are a form of poetry, and poetry is not the same thing as philosophy, I cannot agree that metal lyrics are a form of philosophy.

By the way, conforming to a prearranged list of topics and instructions from a WikiHow page is not very "metal." Most metalheads I know, including myself, would laugh at such a thing. Compose what you want, conventions be damned.

By the way, conforming to a prearranged list of topics and instructions from a WikiHow page is not very "metal." Most metalheads I know, including myself, would laugh at such a thing. — Thorongil

You know, in a way you're right. I'm not sure that metal focuses only on negative aspects of existence, true. I think that it's just to get the ball rolling as like a beginners guide. They do make the distinction between what society says about such and such a topic and what you believe. Call me a conformist, but I think if you take away the list of topics it does inspire you to think differently.

One of my favorite strands in metal lyrics is the paranoia over immanent nuclear destruction. It's died down in recent years, but it was great.

I personally love the nu metal scene. My first classic metal album was ride the lightning. Do you consider AC/DC to be metal? Cause I know some would debate that.

AC/DC would be classified as “hard rock” and not in any subgenre of metal. Hard rock’s musical influences come from blues, its main musical components include blues and normally have much more coherent singing. There is a grey area with Black Sabbath which could be categorized as either depending on the song.

I think this is a really old thread you have dug up but I quite like it because I have some kind of liking for metal music, although not as much as I used to. I have kept à lot of the albums which I have, but don't listen to them that often because I think that they are probably not too healthy to listen to, personally and for any underlying ideas, such as Nazism, although I try not to interpret music too concretely. I think one of the darkest albums which I came across was Metallica's 'Hardwired to Self Destruct'. I bought it but, somehow, I felt that I should not go into that territory.

However, one album which stands for me is Slipknot's, 'When All Hope is Gone', as well as Korn's 'Issues' I do have some Marilyn Manson, but the one that I think works best is 'Mechanical Animals.' I also really like HIM and the crossover into goth. Also, I like hardcover and emo, especially My Chemical Romance.

I think that many people see metal music as negative, but I feel that it can be a way of transmuting the negative. I used to go to see live metal bands and even a metal music festival. I found the experience, including the moshpit, to be exhilarating, as a philosophy of integrating the negative, rather than projecting it outwards.

Just that one microgenre of black metal "NSBM" has nazi tendencies.

I do agree that emo is the pop end of metal. But, what I think is interesting is that Andrew Lloyd Webber has praised and ranked My Chemical Romance's 'My Black Parade' album. I also see Marilyn Manson as an important postmodern artist, and I think that a lot of the painting and art on his album covers are done by him. I also read his autobiography and it shows the depth of his own reflection.

Hell of an album