IMHO this is about metal heads knowing that each of them is a bit silly, different and strange in their own way. But still able to hang out and have fun doing that. Also I would say that metalheads are generally less aggressive that other people. It may be connected that you are able to just channel that aggression in headbanging during concert :) If we are talking about concerts: knowing the fact that you are not exactly 100% normal and still be able to sign the lyrics with hundreds of other people, this feeling of unity, awareness that you are not alone, it is great. Especially in the current world when useless internet points, in a manner of likes, are to many humans source of feeling about themself. We are after all social creatures. Being accepted is very important to us.

If you want some more humorous metal, check out the band “NanoWar of Steel”. It’s great.

All their songs are humorous, but for example they have a song with Joachim from Sabaton called Pasadena 1994. It fits the “war metal” style of Sabaton, but instead the song is about football. (https://open.spotify.com/track/65i7HQAWy3ZlSTEyWWFoPN?si=kUm...)

Metal is just a giant community of really nice people pretending to be mean. Bikers are mostly the same as well. By contrast I've found hipsters to mostly be quite mean people pretending to be cordial.

This all somehow reminds me of a roommate I had in college. There were 4 of us and he was a physics major who was incredibly distant, straight laced, and stand-offish to the point of feeling like he was somewhat sociopathic. He always had an mp3 player and headphones on, whose contents we could only speculate about. One day he was gone and left it on his bed, so of course we had to have a listen - mostly tongue in cheek joking about it undoubtedly being some sort of screeching death metal type stuff. Somehow it was rather even more terrifying when it turned out to be endless 50s era happy-go-lucky tunes.

First he went to Rome to see the pope, now SpongeBob. I’m beginning to like him.

Exactly. you can't shout to your teachers and parents 'Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me' but you can in the concert. :)

The problem with catharsis, though, is it can often be mistaken for praxis.

Heavy metal, RATM and the like are just more means of capitalist consumption. They might make you feel like a rebel, but you aren't actually rebelling against anything. In some ways I think the commodification of counterculture has resulted in the neutering of activism in the West, people want to listen to the media and spread the memes but no one but the Nazi scum ever wants to follow through in any way that matters.

IDK, maybe I'm just cynical but once you hear this stuff being played in establishment spaces you start to view it all as a sick joke.

I had the absolute privilege of seeing them live during that era.

I think you've nailed it and it's kind of depressing in a way since there were a lot of things kids were part of just a few decades ago. The local football group, the bunch that gathered together to watch a TV show at one guys house that would air at 7:30 pm on a weekend, the circle of cousins kids would hang out with during a stretch of holidays, the circle of people who they'd meet regularly during a congregational prayers, etc. etc.

These things are as missing as they're necessary in kids' lives and (non-mainstream?) music gives people some semblance of community that has a stabilizing effect.

The Discord "communities" don't have the same effect unless the group actually meets in person regularly.

There are also some medieval reenactment groups who do some real battles (with rules of course) and that is totally about fighting with each other. Something like a fight club but set in medieval context.

I dunno. There is always this one, little overweight, sweaty guy without a shirt. Makes it a little bit sexual, doesn’t it?

When I was in school, before the turn of the century, we were reading Johnny Got His Gun in English class and discovered that Metallica's One is about a very similar situation (though not apparently originally inspired by Johnny Got His Gun), so we got to play it in class and do a report on the two. Received some minor kudos from the class and a reasonable grade from the teacher.

It got slightly awkward as I believe that was just before the Columbine shooting, and after that metal had a more negative reputation for a while.

I'd imagine it could backfire as anything school or parents recommend is automatically less cool

Because it's not regular class. It's an extra-curricular club. If you joined the heavy metal club, you might have had similar activities.

I knew someone from the local goth scene where I used to live, who was a German teacher. Part of the assigned homework was to listen to Rammstein ;-)

> And where’s Sitting Bull

Gentle correction: you meant Crowfoot, or maybe John Two Guns White Calf? Because Sitting Bull, was a Lakota chief.

Talking about why one feels a particular way requires trust in the interlocutor, so I'm not surprised outsiders don't hear anyone taking about it. As for insiders, is it a given they aren't?

OK lets play some UNO card:

Why no one talks about the pop "music" sounding like a human tragedy? Listening to that whining all day everyday is sickening. And yet (presumably) majority of people do that. Why no one talks about what is wrong with them?

plenty of talking about that. Not all that much doing.