For those who are not that well-acquainted with metal bands, the title alludes to a song from American band Chelsea Grin, "Hostage." The creators of the FB page borrowed the first line of the song, which goes: "I see my demons staring at me now."
I'll admit, Pandas, I'm no expert on being a metalhead, goth, or even an emo kid. The closest I got to belonging to a subculture was listening to Papa Roach and wearing knock-off Chuck Taylors in eighth grade. So, to know more about the "scary" subcultures, I reached out to an expert on the heavy metal culture, Keith Kahn-Harris.
There's still a stereotype that persists to some degree that metalheads, goths, punks, and other similar alternative subcultures are all angry, scary individuals. They're either always serious or only like humor that's related to grim and sinister things.
But sociologist, music critic, and writer Keith Kahn-Harris says it's quite the opposite. As an academic who's spent his career exploring music scenes and heavy metal music, he's aware of the stereotypes people often put on certain subcultures. "Metal is often understood by its detractors to be humourless," he points out.
"In reality, while excessive seriousness isn't unknown, one of metal's best-kept secrets is that humour is an important part of metal culture," he tells Bored Panda. "It kind of counter-balances the darkness of metal and helps metal scenes maintain equilibrium. Even when metal artists and fans might seem to be po-faced, they are often highly aware of the ludicrous aspects of metal aesthetics and embrace them nonetheless."
Kahn-Harris tells us that humor has a very special function in the metal community — just as in any other, in fact. "Humour is usually a key part of maintaining communities and scenes," he says. "It helps to bond people together, particularly when 'outsiders' don't see the 'joke.' As I say, humour is one of metal's best-kept secrets, and sharing in the secret can be a powerful thing."
Also, who says metal music can't be funny? I have to tell y'all, I ended up falling into quite a rabbit hole when Kahn-Harris mentioned pirate metal. Bands like Alestorm and Rumahoy prove that metal bands don't take themselves too seriously but are still professionals at their craft. I can almost see the crew of the Black Pearl headbanging to "Give all your beer and your rum to me."
Other metal genres, even if not so overtly humorous, can be funny too. Kahn-Harris gives us one particular example. "Power metal, while it might seem overly serious, is often highly knowing in its use of the ridiculous." There are even some insider discussions, with some claiming that "All power metal is dumb" and purists claiming that it can be still well-crafted and doesn't need to veer into stupidity.
