individuals... A rare breed

Over the last few years, I've met a lot of people. I talk to them, I tattoo them, and I observe them. It's a lot more interaction than I would like, but unfortunately, it's part of the job.

Sadly, people are by and large uninteresting to me.  I find them to be diluted, delusional, and needy. Their overall mindset is disturbing to me. It's a pattern that has gotten worse over time. Maybe it's just a pattern that has never changed.

Individuality... while it is something that everyone agrees we should have and be able to express, it is also the hardest thing for the majority of the planet to achieve. I believe there are two important factors at play which severely limit our ability to be individuals. The "system",  and mass marketing.

The "system", which despite what they want you to believe, doesn't want you to be an individual. This "system" can't work with individuals, it requires followers. You've been trained your entire life, to follow. Stand in line, raise your hand to speak etc.  If you don't follow, there are consequences. It's much like training a dog... if you shit on the carpet, you're getting thrown in the kennel.

Companies aim million dollar add campaigns at us from the time we're toddlers until the time we die. They've mass produced their product and mass marketed that product so well that everyone has to have one. If you don't have one, you're not one of the "cool kids". You want to be just like everyone else, right? All of the other kids on your street have that toy. You want that toy too, right? All of the other kids at school have a pair of those shoes, you want those shoes too, right? You just want to fit in. It's important to fit in. Your parents don't want you to be the odd one out. They want you to fit in too, they want a "normal" child.  So they make sure you have the same toys and clothes as everyone else. You, all the other children at school and your parents have now fallen victim to mass marketing. 

This continues through junior high, high school and into adulthood. You've had a fear of being "abnormal" programmed into your brain. You're afraid to be different for fear of no one liking you. So you continue to stand in line, just like everyone else. Peas in a pod.

Individuality is important. Be yourself. I think people can't find themselves because of what they think they should be, and what they are expected to be. If you're a good person with something to offer, people will accept you no matter how weird you are.

Be an individual.

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Who the fuck listens to this noise?

Have you ever heard someone say "I don't know how you can listen to this! It just sounds like a bunch of noise!"? I've been hearing it my whole life! Admittedly, I have been known to listen to things that I understand can be hard for those whom are not accustomed to, nor understand Metal, to accept. My favorites range from Power Metal to Death and Black Metal and everything in between, so I would be a fool to believe that most people would appreciate Deicide or even Immortal.

The majority of people I meet that claim to like Metal, are really just fans of "Radio Friendly Metal". We all know guys like this. Guys that think the Black Album was Metallica's first and greatest album. The guys that wear their Disturbed shirts and bondage pants. While I have nothing against "Radio Friendly Metal" (I happen to enjoy some of it), I doubt that these guys have the ability to listen to Heavier Metal and appreciate and enjoy it, but I guess it's better to have Radio Friendly Metal Heads than no Metal Heads at all!

I believe that Mainstream Music is palatable for the most part, to people who don't know who they are, what they like, and that conform daily to the standards of this extremely  musically sterile world!   I guess there is nothing wrong with that,  if you're that guy, but I encourage you to think outside the box for once in your life, and find something with some meaning, some value that makes you happy and makes you your own person! Don't be that guy!

I wasn't born with the need or ability to conform. I would probably be a lot better off if I had been. My brain doesn't work that way. I want to hear something brutal, something fast and heavy! I am not content to just listen to what they want me to hear on the radio! I want to hear all the Metal that is out there! While I lack the ability to conform, I do have the conviction to be my own person, I have a commitment to Metal that will never end! Take your Pop, your Hip Hop, and shove it up your ass!

Metal, and why we love it!

Metal is a genre that if one chooses, can be divided into many sub-genres and fusions. From Classic Metal to Power Metal to Metalcore, to everything in-between, everything before and everything after. It can be heard in countries all over the world. The core elements of Metal consisting of blues and the trippy psychedelic rock of the mid and late sixties have remained fairly intact except for some minor tweaking here and there from early Heavy Metal bands such as Zeppelin and Sabbath to some of today's bands like Suicide Silence, Arch Enemy and Trivium to name a few.

Crushing rhythms, fast leads, pounding drums and hard vocals have become the hallmark of Metal. It can be discordant, melodic or have odd time signatures. It's powerful, brutal, and beautiful all at the same time. It's hard to imagine a life without the sound of palm muted down-picked guitars, blast beats and some guttural vocals!

Metal is a force that motivates us, it drives us to be better, stronger and more "Metal" than the rest of the world. Metal shows us that others feel the same way we do and that they've gone through the same things. Life isn't always a pop song. Or if it is and you need to get away from it really fast, put some metal on the iPod. Whether its Speed, Thrash, Hardcore or Death Metal, Its all The greatest sound ever created!