An Ode to Metal

Metal is characterized by a strong guitar-drum dominated sound with complex rhythms. There are two key elements that define metal. First is the guitar power that is projected through amplification and distortion, which is used to create a more powerful, 'heavy' sound. The second element is the tritone, a musical dissonant interval consisting of a root note and an augmented fourth/diminished fifth which ostensibly results in a "heavy," or "evil" sound. In medieval composition, its use was regarded as "Diabolus in Musica" (i.e., the devil in music) and forbidden to play. The evocative tritone experienced a resurgence by Romantic composers who wanted to achieve a dark and somber sound. Many do not know that the tritone is definitive to the blues scale, fundamental to its solos and riffs. For a clear example of the tritone in metal, listen to the beginning of Black Sabbath's self-titled song "Black Sabbath".

Mainstream music usually follows a standard format to allow for radio and TV play. Song duration is usually around 4 minutes, songs follow simple verse-chorus-verse structures, and the focus is on melody and hooks. Metal is usually not confined to the limitations imposed by commercialization and thus, much of metal music is progressive and experimental in nature. This allows for different rhythms and tempos, non-traditional song structures, and songs of great length. For example, Reflection by the band TOOL is almost entirely verse, the only changing element is the intensity of the song. Clenching the Fists of Dissent by Machine Head and The Frayed Ends of Sanity by Metallica have over a dozen different sections. Depending on the band, songs can reach an average of 6 minutes in length with a 10+ minute standard for bands such as Opeth and Dream Theater. At one extreme is Meshuggah's 21 minute long opus, I.

In its infancy, metal music drew from many sources, from Jimi Hendrix to Cream to Led Zeppelin. However, many have christened Black Sabbath as the first official metal band. Interestingly, Black Sabbath was once a blues band called "Earth". As the story goes, their transformation came after Ozzy Osbourne (vocalist) and Tony Iommi (guitarist) watched a horror movie at a theater. They were amazed that people pay to get scared. They had their epiphany and decided to write scary music. They achieved a dark sound by experimenting with the tritone, dark lyrics, different rhythms, and down tuning their instruments. In an era of Beatlemania, they released their self-titled debut "Black Sabbath". Their originality and creativity propelled them to fame and metal was born.

Visuals and images are part of metal, most notably images depicting death and anti-religious themes. When bands are asked about the satanic images they use on their album covers, they claim to use them to maintain the band's image. These confrontational aspects of metal have led to friction between fans and mainstream society in many countries. Public perception, especially in conservative societies, sees metal subculture as a promoter of hedonism and anti-religious sentiments. In Jordan, all Metallica albums, past, present and future were banned in 2001. The death metal band Cannibal Corpse, is banned from playing certain songs in many countries due to their violent nature.


Though it's made and listened to primarily by the young, as a genre, metal is far more sophisticated than it's given credit for. If anything, it's one of the only places in rock and roll music where innovation and creativity are flourishing. The musicianship is top-notch, the writing get better all the time, and music is the focus, not production techniques.