Politics in metal music

The heavy metal stream in music is known for the fact that many of its artists have messages in their creations, many of them are ideologic and politic. In the 60s rock there were a lot of political songs, and almost all its artists belonged to the leftist side of the political map and sang songs about peace, brotherhood and so on. On the other hand, the metal, which was developed from the rock, is much less homogeneous in the aspect of massages. In opposition to other musical styles (like punk, for example), the metal in its definition doesn't represent any specific ideology; but during the years there were established many bands who had a lot to say about all that related to war and peace between people.

Here is a survey of political creations in heavy metal music.

Militarism and Anti-Militarism

The Abused Soldier of Metallica

One of the most dominant bands in the aspect of political creations is thrash metal legend Metallica. Three messages which are being repeated in Metallica songs are: anti-war, anti-cult and anti-drugs.

In 1986 Metallica released of its most appraised albums, "Master of Puppets", which includes the creation "Disposable Heroes". The song is written from the point of view of a soldier who is sent to the battle. It describes the abuse of young soldiers by the governments, the disrespect to human life and the sending of the soldiers to death for political purposes. The fighter in the song is described as small, weak, helpless, valueless, and he understands that he isn't more that a puppet in the government's game. Even so, "Disposable Heroes" is not a leftist song like the hippies' songs in the 60s. The speaker of the song is not dreaming brotherhood and love, not even about peace. He is just protesting against the abuse of soldiers by the government.

Here is a part from the creation:

:"Soldier boy, made of clay":"now an empty shell":"twenty one, only son":"but he served us well":"Bred to kill, not to care":"just do as we say":"finished here, Greeting Death":"he's yours to take away"

Wars in History

abaton and the Conquer of Berlin

The Swedish power/heavy metal band Sabaton increases dealing with World War II. In 2006 Sabaton released the album "Attero Dominatus" ("to destroy the leader" in Latin). The first song in the album is the topic song, which is talking about the conquering of Berlin by Allied forces. The song is written from the point of view of The Red Army fighters, who are standing on the gates of Berlin, enthusiastic about conquering it and revenging the Nazi enemy.

:"We stand at the gates of Berlin":"With two and a half million men":"With six thousand tanks in our ranks":"Use them as battering rams"

:"Artillery leading our way":"A million grenades has been launched":"The Nazis must pay for their crimes":"The wings of the eagle have been broken"

The "eagle" mentioned is the golden eagle which symbolize The Third Reich, and the "breaking of the wings" is the Reich's falling.

Memorialization of the Holocaust

alem and the Burning Town

In 1994 the Israeli doom/death metal band Salem released the album "Kaddish", which is all dedicated to the topic of the holocaust. All the songs in the album are written from the point of view of a man who is experiencing the holocaust and describing the feelings of fear and helplessness. The most famous song from the album is the only which was written in Hebrew, "Ha'ayara Bo'eret" ("the town is burning"). The lyrics of this song were written in 1938 by the jewish poet Mordehay Gvirtig following Fatishik pogrom, and is talking about the burning of a Jewish town. The pictures in the lyrics booklet attached to the album are photos which were taken in ghettos and extermination camps, some of them are horror photos. The photo which is placed in the background of the lyrics of "The Town Is Burning" is the famous photo of the burning houses in Warsaw ghetto. To the song there was added a video clip, which is made up of short films that were filmed in destruction camps. Publication of the song and the clip wakened a scandal in Israel because of the unordinary way the band members chose to memorialize the holocaust, and it even led to a consideration in the Israeli parliament about this topic.