So, I just woke up and read a couple of news posts on Blabbermouth and then I saw the headline “ATHEIST Frontman: CHUCK SCHULDINER Did Not Create Technical Metal“. Now, that sounds kind of interesting, doesn’t it?
So, I read the article which features an interview with Atheist singer Kelly Shaefer and he talks pretty respectfully about Chuck Shuldiner and Death. He does include the line that Schuldiner didn’t create Technical Metal, sure, but I felt like the headline of the article was pretty misleading. Just read the most important part of the interview yourself:
“Everybody has a branch on the tree, and Chuck was definitely a thicker branch on the tree, a very important part of what we all do. We owe him a great deal of gratitude for being the pioneer that he was. I have a lot of respect for what he’s done and accomplished. But truth and matter of fact is that technical metal was not created by Chuck Schuldiner.“
So to me it seems like Blabbermouth took that last line out of context to create a headline that makes people want to read the article. Don’t get me wrong, we do that as well at times but we usually set it straight when you start reading the article.
The issue I’m having with this headline is not that it’s putting Atheist in a bad light, which it does, or that it’s trying to set up a feud between two legendary bands, which it does as well. My issue is that Blabbermouth turned Metal news into ordinary gossip and that doesn’t sit well with me.
Maybe I’m just trying too hard to be an elitist here, but I still view metal as something that can make people bond, something absolutely positive. I don’t even remember how often I got into a conversation with people because of the band shirts I’ve been wearing. There’s just something about “Hey, that dude wears a shirt of a band I like as well” that makes people bond. It’s not like everyone around you is a metalhead so it’s cool to meet new ones and I kind of think we should stick together and Blabbermouth is doing the exact opposite of that.
Blabbermouth is trying to create a feud not just between Atheist and Death but also between Atheist fans and Death fans. Personally, I view both bands as almost equally important to the scene so this is no Metallica/Megadeth situation, it’s more like a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden situation, albeit in a much smaller way.
What I’m trying to say is that especially metal sites should try to be better than Perez Hilton and not follow his example. Let’s try to unite metal fans, not divide them.
