I don’t personally write many editorials on here since I’m sure not many of you want to hear my rantings and droning stories but since it is winter right now and one of best seasons for metal, this is the perfect time to talk about…well…metal. Many albums are coming out this month to close out 2014 but do we actually think about what genres and bands fit our cold and cozy moods? Is your soul freezing and frostbitten like Norwegian black metal? Are you cozy and relaxed like melodic death metal? Or are you more down and feeling blue like shoegaze (more like blackgaze actually)? Music affects our moods but do your moods and the outdoors affect your music?
So for the metal fan who has had a long day in the snow and has that anger and aggression that old man winter has brought, then you’re probably feeling like black metal is good right about now. Bands like Mayhem and Darkthrone write about the frost bitten north and can warm you up while making you feel a bit aggressive. Winter can be merciless and what’s better than some lo-fi, heavily distorted guitars and shrieking vocals to invoke the depths of hell to keep you warm?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZHUIHq-ax0
Now for the fan of winter who wants to feel proud and ready for that long walk through the snow, time to set your sights on Valhalla and get those folk metal tunes ready. Listening to some bands like Moonsorrow and Turisas will make you thirst some ale and ready to grab your sword and fight through the winter. With songs about their cold lands, wolves in the woods and drinking, what else would you want to listen to in this cheery cold weather??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb1w8ln2yJk
If you want to stay indoors and keep yourself cozy, serve up some hot cocoa and melodic death metal. Nothing is better than drifting off to sleep by the fire while playing some Immortal Souls or Wintersun in the background. This genre is perfect for some relaxing and staying warm inside while others are freezing their asses off. So get your hot cocoa (or some whiskey), start your fire and put on some melo-death and feel at ease.
If you’re feeling a bit down and depressed with the cold weather and winter rains, then curl up with some blackgaze. This music is sombre like the rains coming down and depressing like the grey skies above. Bands like Deafheaven, Alcest, and Lantlôs are perfect for this cloudy season. With the mixture of black metal’s anger and ferocity mixed with the sombre tones of post-rock and shoegaze, what better music goes with depressing weather? Time to grab that blanket and look out into the rain while enjoying the ethereal sounds of blackgaze.
Now hopefully this can either serve as a guide or maybe connect you with how you feel and what music is good to listen to or you could just read this and think, “What the hell did I just read?” No matter how you may feel with this cold and bleak season, metal will always serve a purpose.
