Not Metal Infographic – a.k.a. The Never-Were
Top 13 bands that are sometimes called metal that are not – 01.2022
The audacity to call these rock or pop bands metal often does not come from the acts themselves. While they are undoubtedly happy to cash the cheques stemming from sales to anyone believing them to be metal, they know better than making the claim and only maintain a visage or façade of such. Certainly, there are posers everywhere, who pick up the tag solely to attach themselves to metal, albeit without the talent or power to actually be so.
The off-putting and mistaken claim more often stems either from mainstream media, the Newsweeks, Guardians, Toronto Stars of the world on the rare occasion they decide to cover the genre, or the fifth column element, think Kerrang, Classic Rock, Rock Hard, Louder and multiple corporate and advertising-oriented websites staffed by assorted wimps, wusses, wanna-bes and dimwits gawking at metal, knowing it is entirely too hard and fast for them and thus mislabelling something they can hang their hats on instead. The former are often uninformed. The latter typically have corporate envy and are sadly hip to what the chic FAD they helped create out there is. These fakers are constantly bandwagon jumping with their misinformed features and hanger-on scribbles. Think words like ‘synth!’ or ‘folk metal’ or ‘proggy’ or our favourite ‘power metal,’ which stands in for poppy metal-free pomp rock at these outlets.
It is important to recognize that just because an act, or its management, incorporates the word ‘metal’ into a band’s monicker, like Babymetal or Eagles Of Death Metal, it does not automatically follow that the act is metal or even metal-related either. It does not imply that metal and Babymetal are related just because spinach and baby spinach are. A grapefruit is a fruit of its own and not a grape. Fox News is not reporting on foxes and, incidentally not even news, and neither People’s Republic Of China nor the Republic Of Egypt are actually republics.
‘Metal’ is more than a word. It is a way, it is a style and it has requisites. To attach oneself to the style, in order to gain the glory and prestige, without having the talent or the power disqualifies the band from the venerable genre and from the company of clued society.
Here are bands, among others, that are not metal:
1. Rammstein
2. Ensiferum
3. Korpiklaani
4. Ghost
5. Slipknot/Mushroomhead/Limp Bizkit/Korn/Disturbed/Linkin Park/Rage Against The Machine/Machine Head/System Of A Down (interchangeable mallcore bands)
6. Babymetal
7. Band-Maid
8. Bullet For My Valentine
9. Jethro Tull
10. Tool
11. Eagles Of Death Metal
12. Him
13. Nightwish
