The Funderground irks longtime fans

rttp_fundergroundA tension has been simmering under the surface in metal for the better part of a decade now and shows no signs of calming down. It concerns the division of metal into old and new.

Up through the late 1990s, metal was fairly consistent: it was music based on riff Jenga and distrust of society’s pleasant illusions. It was not protest music, but it was outsider music.

Then came an influx of people who were “alternative,” meaning that they wanted to escape the mainstream, but still wanted what it offered, which was essentially protest music.

In our society, popular music tends to take only a few forms. One is the standard song of individual gratification, usually love or longing. Another is protest at how people are treated.

Hardcore music was a breath of fresh air. While it was opposed to society, it did not protest how people were treated. It protested an insane existence. There was no bad guy, only a dying society.

Metal picked up on this vibe and mixed in the metaphorical and otherworldly approach of early Black Sabbath lyrics. The result was something truly outside of any perspective that was mainstream or alternative.

Now the alternative types have recaptured metal, using their superior numbers to reduce it to something palatable for mainstream and/or alternative consumption.

A counter-revolution against this tendency burst onto the underground recently when pro-OldSchool trolls took over longstanding New England metal blog “Return to the Pit”:

A place where metal is happy and not disgusting. A place where somebody would rather message you on Facebook or text you when you’re nowhere near them in the show.
A place where one man’s smile is another man’s laughter.
A place where the boisterous voices of jokes and YouTube discussion outweigh any serious topic.
A place where it’s okay to have star tattoos covering your flabby forearm.
A place where MetalArchives reviews are that of a fact.
A place where moshing and dancing lost their edge.
A place where everybody knows your name and is friends with you on Facebook.
A place where threads are made about you on a dying board that is absolutely horrible now thanks to the FUNDERGROUND.

While we can’t lend our stamp of approval to the trolling which has essentially devastated this forum, we can point out that there’s some truth in these allegations.

Since 2000, metal has increased in popularity by a vast degree. There are more fans, and more bands, than there ever have been before.

However, these aren’t the same type of bands. They sound more like late hardcore bands, who specialized in putting unrelated riffs together to achieve a “carnival music” or “variety show” effect.

Modern metal seems to have lost sight of who it is, and instead borrows its personality from crowd-pleasers like *core, indie, emo, lite jazz and rock.

The term “Funderground” refers to people who are using the underground as a way to socialize, instead of a way to make music that expresses their viewpoint on the world.

When you think about it, metal has always been anti-social and distrustful of social impulses. We can now see why: when socialization comes out, good music goes away, and with it, the best of metal fans also disappear.

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16 thoughts on “The Funderground irks longtime fans”

  1. Alex Mooney says:

    Quick somebody post this on Facebook so I can “like” it.

  2. Funderground HR Department says:

    We are currently accepting applications for all positions in the Funderground.

    Please send an email detailing why you want to be a part of the Funderground as three references.

    We look forward to hearing from you and having a really great time discussing Metal Archives reviews with you!

    1. From the looks of that picture, you need to start hiring personal trainers and groomers.

  3. CHUGGO says:

    deez fundagroun fagz r da next victumz of a chuggo choke!!!!!

  4. MA! COME QUICK! MY FLABBY FOREARM MADE IT TO DEATHMETAL.ORG!

  5. Warmth exploding outwards,
    Waves of heat, energy…
    A dense, supermassive star
    Collapsing inwardly.
    At the heart of the matter,
    A soul: kind, unwitnessed,
    Radiation, penetration,
    Through all, a supernova,
    Lighting the heavens
    With beauty celestial.
    I move in closer,
    And feel the fire in my chest,
    On my face –
    Gusts of flames and colour,
    Orange, pink, purple,
    Yellow, and blue,
    Wash over me,
    Coming as they do
    From your centre.

  6. A lot of words just to say that hipsters killed metal just like they killed punk and electro.

    1. Steve08 says:

      Well, not quite. The mostly deeply insidious aspect of this recent subversion of Metal values is caused by people who aren’t hipsters in actuality, but rather, ordinary people who begin listening to entry-level bands at a young age and never attempting to rationalize or comprehend why they like that noise, which leads to a snowball effect resulting in one’s personal status as “METALHEAD!!!… but not really” later in life.

      1. That’s a fair point. But because they emphasize surface over essence, they become hipsters. Metal used to be a group of people who were powerful and had intent to do great things. Now it’s people just clocking in, making the same crappy music and trying to profit off each other while they work food service and menial office jobs.

  7. As the eldest member of the Funderground, I would like to extend an olive branch to those who wish to crush our good time. You claim that metal is about expression of oneself, yet you lack the understanding that another may not be as glum and morose as you are and then proceed to attack them. Come to our side and together we can smash the walls that hold the negative connotations of metal and build a new, metal underground built on freedom of expression, fun, bowls of razorblades and fireballs and finally cat memes.

    It will take some time, I know, but the Matrix wasn’t built in a day..

    P.S. BSV if you want that bass I’ll meet you wherever and buy you lunch.

    1. Did you type this on an iPhone?

  8. Uncle Spencey in His Mom's Basement says:

    Funderground only comes from the big city… You can’t be funderground from the country…

  9. Sean says:

    This is comedy gold, yo.

  10. OP is Raynard Wily says:

    Kudos to the author for cropping Scott Wily out of the picture.

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