WHAT’S THE BIGGEST ISSUE FACING METAL TODAY?
With our 300th issue uniting metal’s biggest names to talk through the issues that matter, we thought we’d reset the balance with you guys. So, we asked…
Mental health. We are losing so many stars due to depression and anxiety, which unfortunately can create a slippery slope towards drinking, drugs or suicide – Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell being two recent, sad cases. The metal community has to do more to provide treatment for those who are always in the limelight. We can not afford to lose another huge talent due to poor treatment of mental health.
ROB YOUNG Not supporting your favourite bands. Nobody buys music anymore – it’s all streamed and that’s why it’s so hard to financially make it in music. We all need to attend shows, buy albums and buy merchandise. It’s not even exciting when a new album comes out anymore because you’ll have it for free the second it releases. Where’s the adrenaline and eagerness gone? We should be standing outside record
stores ready to buy vinyls and CDs! TAYLOR HASH
Younger generations not being exposed to enough different types of music. There are few radio stations that play rock/metal in most areas in comparison to hundreds of radio stations constantly playing mainstream, generic music, and most parents don’t take the time to expose their children to other types of things, so they’re not really being given a chance to make up their own minds.
CAITY JORDAN-CRUZ
The single biggest issue facing metal these days is the metal elitists. People are too worried about what other people’s personal choices are. No one cares about the bigger picture in metal – when bands that they don’t like sell out huge venues they call them trash or ‘not real metal’ when they don’t realise that the more bands get recognition, the more it helps our genre grow! MANNY AREIZAGA
I think the biggest issue facing metal is stereotypes. People who don’t listen to metal generally claim we are satanic, violent and evil. Metalheads usually have a kind heart for everyone, however, as soon as you tell someone you’re into metal they immediately judge us all excessively. They believe what they’re told, not what they know. JAKE PORTAS That we won’t have the headliners of tomorrow if people don’t take the time (when physically and financially possible) to check out bands in their local pubs/venues. Fans of live music are just as important as everything else in the scene!
MICHAEL WORSLEY
Not enough people are prepared to take a risk on new and upcoming young bands. We tend to fall back on bands that will ensure tickets sales and merch sales without endorsing new talent and pushing newer bands up front. We need financial support for newer acts who aren’t going anywhere due to lack of funds and investment. HEATHER GIBB
2017 has no guitar heroes. Although there are many technically skilled players, there are fewer innovative players who come up with new techniques, new ways to combine scales that create a new atmosphere in the music, and so on. ROMMEL ROMERO
Too many subgenres. It’s all metal. overclassifying music takes all of the wonder out of the art aspect of music for me. Who cares if you’re listening to some made-up subgenre that no one has ever even heard of? If you like what you hear, then please leave it at that. It’s just metal
KYLE RIPLEY
The lack of moshpit etiquette and banding together as a group to show unity. When did we lose our camaraderie as fans and start spewing so much hatred towards each other? WENDY BAIN
NEXT MONTH: HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS IN OUR SCENE?
“I think the reason we’re having this conversation is because of the last 10 years of alternative music being saturated with rubbish. There are absolutely future festival headliners out there – look at Bring Me The horizon. Not all of their records have been my thing, but they’re going to headline Download at some point. But I do think we have a problem in 2017 of looking back all the time. everything is nostalgia, and because of that, we’ve struggled to make an identity for this decade.”
WILL GOULD, CREEPER