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In the dead of winter, metal still reigns

 Call it clichéd, but on the most bitterly cold days, I like to listen to power

metal band Iced Earth.   Waiting for a bus or walking to a bodega, the icy sharp tone of Jon Schaffer’s guitar almost complements the wind tearing at my face. The haunting yet grandiose song structures fit the dark, gloomy mood, inescapable in days where all hint of sunlight is gone by mid-afternoon. With Iced Earth in my ears, I am frozen inside and out.

 

If I’m facing more than 10 or 15 minutes outside in particularly nasty elements however, Iced Earth doesn’t cut it. That’s when I need Slipknot in my head. Corey Taylor’s enraged ranting and screaming, especially as heard on the Iowa album, power me through the sheets of freezing rain and single digit temperatures. Even when I can’t feel my fingers, the maniacal panting of “C'mon motherf*cker, everybody has to die ” drives me to trudge on, immune to the cold and pain, warmed by pure hatred of the Slipknot nine. This, surely, is what winter in Iowa is like.

 

The whole equation changes though, during those rare but wondrous late night and weekend snowfalls. The gently falling snow seems to calm this city, as everyone slows down, gets off the roads, stays indoors, and taps into to a child-like entrancement. This is a time for ordering in Chinese food and listening to Pink Floyd, specifically the later, David Gilmour led compositions. Pink Floyd may not be actual heavy metal, but the cold longing of the Division Bell album shares the emotional gravitas and inner torturings of the metal genre. And 1988’s live album Delicate Sound of Thunder features crushing, distorted rhythm guitars on songs such as Comfortably Numb and Time. The visual beauty of gleaming skyscrapers adrift in a world of falling snow can only be matched by the magical textures of Floyd’s heavy psychedelic sound. 

 

Of course, the realities of our lives inevitably intrude into the magic, and sooner or later we are all digging out our cars, chopping at the ice, and trudging through unsightly blackened clumps of plowed snow as we attempt to travel to work or school. When it comes to digging a car out of a snowbank, it’s Slayer time. Blasting God Hates Us All through the car stereo may not actually melt the snow around it any faster, but it does keep the blood pumping through my veins as I hack at the ice and curse the snowplow.  And unlike the tortured, self loathing lyrics of Slipknot, Slayer genuinely loves to be angry – their music seems almost positive about being so negative, giving me the energy to keep on digging.

 

The days are dark and the nights are cold, and this is often the most depressing of times. So if you want to keep your spirits up, remember to stay the hell away from grunge, especially those Unplugged albums, and keep toughing it out.  If you're indoors and staying warm, try some Texas desert metal from Pantera or Drowning Pool to complete the illusion of a warmer, happier place.  Sooner or later, it will be 80 degrees, blue skied May, and the glorious months of outdoor concerts and summer metal will reign once more!