Underlying Tones

Metal is one of the most misunderstood genres of music and that with which the most number of negative stereotypes is associated. It has always been considered one of the worse forms of music because, for most people, it is just an agonizing cacophony of dissonant noises and meaningless screams. Most also believe that metal is the genre that is associated with violence. But in fact, once you read the lyrics to most metal songs, they are more meaningful than most pop songs of today that talk mostly about women, love, or partying. Metal is a very versatile genre where songwriters just go and write whatever they want to write about. Usually, it is the genre that is most open about the beliefs of the musicians and talks the most about the truths about this world without having to sugar-coat them with cheesy, superficial lyrics. It is one of the more cathartic and empowering forms of music that simply allow people to let out how they truly feel about the world and purge out negative thoughts within them.

A good example of this is the 2010 song Another Way to Die by Disturbed, which is a song that talks about the band’s sentiments about global warming. In an interview with The Pulse of Radio, front man David Draiman explains that the song ‘obviously refers to the global catastrophe that we know as global warming, and the effects that it continues to have on our planet; our irresponsibility in doing what we do as species, our constant appetite, and our constant consumption at all costs. No matter what is destroyed, no matter what is laid to waste. And, certainly, what's happening in the Gulf that time (the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) is horrific.’

The music video shows the stark contrast between indulgent consumerism and poverty-stricken scavengers as shown by the comparison between how products we use are being made in factories which cause most of the environmental problems we have today and how the poor rely on our trash just for them to live their difficult lives. It lets us see the apathy of the common people towards the cost of commercialism and poverty, which is pollution that in turn leads to global warming and climate change. All these things are depicted seamlessly in a 4-minute short film that opens our eyes to the state of the world and compels us to do something about it.

It has reached number 1 in the US Billboard Rock Songs charts and the iTunes music store’s rock section, which is a good thing, but have we done anything to make a difference? People have been starting environment campaigns the world over, but then, all these things will not help at all unless we actually do something about the problem, not just spew out some propaganda about taking care of the environment and making people aware about the effects of our apathy. That is only the first step. This song itself is ecological propaganda, which is the band’s way of getting their message across. The song has been released a year ago, but the realities that are attached to it still hold true in the past few decades and even now, perhaps even to span several years more. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have happened over a year ago, but the aftermath of it still remains even in trace amounts. There are still many things we have to do to make this world a better place to live in. Of all the things that we can give as a gift to our children, it is to let them see how beautiful God’s creation truly is. Metal does involve powerful guitar riffs, intense vocals, loud bass lines, and fast drumming that equates to noise for some ears, but the messages that come with most songs are just as powerful as the melodies and rhythms. It also touches on disturbing subject matter at some points, but the example I gave (and several other songs) talks about the consequences of our wrongdoings. There is even a sub-genre of metal called Christian Metal which is a genre that, of course, talks of God’s love for us, just in a more hardcore tune. No matter what your musical preference is, it is just a matter of being a responsible listener. 

Additional trivia: According to Mythbusters, plants do grow well when exposed to classical music, but grow even better when exposed to death metal despite a technical difficulty that occurred with one of the timers that water the plants. There has been some evidence on the other hand, that metal and rock stunt the growth of plants. The Mythbusters results, though, also proved that talking to plants also slightly boosts plant growth. Vibrations, which sounds (including speech and music) basically are, do affect plant growth. Perhaps these results from several experiments on the effects of music on plants through the years are just biases based on the musical preferences of the conductors of the experiment. Plants do not have ears and just feel the vibrations that stimulate their physiological processes. As far as this experiment goes, no definite proof has been established about what genre of music is best and worst for a plant but it is true that a moderate amount of sound stimulated the growth of plant, with evidence of this from the sounds of nature itself.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Way_to_Die_%28Disturbed_song%29