Mining Metal is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence contributing writers Langdon Hickman and Colin Dempsey. The focus is on noteworthy new music emerging from the non-mainstream metal scene, highlighting releases from small and independent labels — or even releases from unsigned acts.
Do you remember being 16 and getting into metal for the first time? Do you recall when metal was brand new to you and your body was a pimply stew of hormones? How many of your early metal experiences were tied to live shows? Look back on the first time you saw a mosh pit, the first time you were more interested in the opening band than the headliner, or the first time a musician signed an object of yours. Through aged eyes, these experiences are mundane. You now see the musicians for the people they are and how their shifts at the merch tables are as much labors of love as they are financially necessary. Sometimes, they’re not cool and mysterious, like how you envisioned them to be when you were younger. They’re just shy.
Metal is as much an old man’s game as it is a world of hungry young dogs. Through age comes wisdom and some of metal’s best acts are their most enduring. This year alone, Judas Priest, Darkthrone, Ihsahn, and Rotting Christ have all released quality albums. They may not be essential but they reward fans who have stuck with them. Their continued activity shows young fans that there is a future in metal. Their investment in this stock will not be in vain. At a certain time, the artists we hold in such high regard were also teenagers who wanted to be as edgy and heavy as possible.
This all circles around to the importance of all-ages shows because they are the truest way to experience metal. They are places where weird teens can meet other weird teens and bond over battle vests that only see the light of day for these shows. They can witness someone stage dive twice and dive bomb the ground both times. Folks are young, their bodies will heal, but those initial steps into a new place will crystallize. They will foster a devotion for what will come. Besides, their friends are likely gatekeeping them if they’re worthwhile friends. They don’t need to hear how bad Sleep Token are; their mates have already roasted them for listening to them.
But there will be no gatekeeping here, only the eight best underground metal albums of the past month.
– Colin Dempsey