Do Metalheads Have a Sense Of Humor?
After a long pause, Part 7 of our Beginner’s Guide to Metal
In Part 1 of this series, Anthony Overs started us off with a great overview of heavy metal bands, covering most of the major styles and some of the classic bands.
A Beginner’s Guide to Heavy Metal
Part I — origins, classics and a peak down some branches
In Part 2, I looked at (and partially debunked) some common stereotypes about heavy metal bands and their fans. (For example: they are always angry, they only wear black, and they scream a lot.)
Just What Is Heavy Metal, Anyway?
Here’s another one: Metalheads don’t laugh. (Or if they laugh, they hide in the dungeon to do it.) After all, when your image is all about gloom and doom, you can’t be caught laughing, right? So, is it true that metal bands take themselves too seriously? And what about their fans?
Well, of course, some of them do. Then again, many pop stars and their fans take themselves WAY too seriously, even though most of their music isn’t serious. Try posting anything remotely critical of Swift or Bey— there’s a good chance you’ll be doxxed or get death threats. Not kidding.
Taylor Swift's toxic fans
But with metal, I’ve always thought that there was a heavy dose of irony, barely concealed underneath the bombast,
Deep Purple doing songs about driving fast? Yes, they were seriously shredding, but their songs were even sillier than the old surf-band songs about fast cars — and they knew it! Tell me that Judas Priest, KISS, or Slipknot aren’t secretly having a good chuckle over their exaggerated schtick. And Rammstein? They give over-the-top a whole new meaning.
The old power-metal songs by groups like Iron Maiden are full of lyrics and imagery that could have come right out of Dungeons and Dragons. I mean, how nerdy can one get? Dragonforce went all in on this sort of thing — their name tells you all you need to know. If you watch Herman Li’s YouTube videos, it’s obvious that he doesn't take himself seriously despite being probably the fastest shredder alive.
Heck, he did one video in which he wore SCUBA gear to shred underwater and another in which he dressed up in a maid outfit to audition for Band-Maid:
Some bands take it a step further into outright self-parody. I did not include things like “Spinal Tap” (actors playing musicians and, for the most part, insulting said musicians) or documentaries.
I picked bands that are actually serious musicians, i.e., they know how to write and play. And while they are laughing, they respect the art form. These are roughly in order of WTF-ness.
Nekrogoblikon (U.S.A.): “No One Survives”
Founded in L.A. in 2006, they mostly feature songs about or from the point of view of goblins. How you make the joke last this long is a good question, but they’re still at it. This song is about John Goblikon’s dating woes. John is played by Dave Rispoli, who joined the band in 2012 and always performs in character (the makeup must be a nightmare). Fun fact: His crush is played by Kayden Kross, the adult film director and former porn star (think Stormy Daniels but even more famous).
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Electric Callboy (Germany): “Hypa Hypa”
Founded in Germany in 2010, originally as “Eskimo Callboy.” They changed their name when someone told them that the word “Eskimo,” appropriated by hairy white dudes, was politically insensitive. They cross genres freely — think “Judas Priest meets Wayne’s World.” They keep very busy and have toured with many of the “serious” metal and rock bands, as well as invited to major festivals. Still, I debated whether to include this because once you have seen it, it’s hard to un-see it. Just sayin!
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Nanowar of Steel (Italy): “Valhalleluja”
Really? An Italian metal band featuring a gospel choir, puns in Latin, a Hebrew prayer, and Odin as Santa doing a Christmas song about Ikea furniture? They name-drop various well-known metal bands, as well as Ikea products and the random porn star. They also manage to insult several religions and a few small countries. You have to wonder who’s next.
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Ladybaby (Japan): “Nippon Manju”
Richard Margarey, aka Ladybeard, is from Australia. He is a pro wrestler with a penchant for cross-dressing. He moved to Hong Kong as a martial arts stuntman and worked in several action movies.
He then moved to Japan and was signed to a record label, which formed the act “Ladybaby” around his stage persona. I’ve met him, and he talks like a normal person, which is itself weird.
This song is about the excesses of junk commercialism. Descriptions fail. You just have to see it to understand—or not understand. Watch with a closed caption if you want the English lyrics. They are (somewhat) helpful.
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World Heavy Metal Knitting Championships (Finland, 2019)
Welcome to the first-ever edition of this event. Not daunted by the hiatus caused by the pandemic, they came back and staged it again in 2022. It’s the sort of thing that convinces me the world — or at least Finland — is worth saving.
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Coming up: One of these bands outdoes itself in a shock collaboration.