I stopped reading metal journalism websites years ago because of how cancerous they had become, so I had no idea the following incident occurred until Hipster Black Metal made a video about it. It all began when one of Metallica’s songs appeared in the TV show Stranger Things. Since the last time I seriously watched TV was back in 2013, I know nothing about what happens in the show, so I won’t bother going into detail. All I know is that it’s watched by millions, so the band’s music was exposed to a new generation. Of course, anyone who has been paying attention will tell you that these zoomers as they are called are far more mentally unhinged than generations before them.
Sometime after that episode aired, some obnoxious woman (who shall remain unnamed because I don’t want to give her anymore attention than she has already received) uploaded a video to TikTok claiming that Metallica is problematic. She then showed a picture of James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich doing a Roman salute, a picture of Kerry King in a t-shirt showing the Confederate Flag, and a picture of James Hetfield’s guitar emblazoned with an iron cross, among other things. Soon thereafter, an army of clueless cretins began screeching on social media, demanding that the band be canceled. However, the band is so popular that such outrage has proven to be ineffective.
This story is old news at this point, but I wanted to give a perspective that is rarely seen. I could debunk the claims in the original TikTok video, but that would be a waste of time, not only because it’s already been done, but because I know from experience that these people won’t listen. They are zealots following the creed of a secular religion. They don’t care. If you do something they don’t approve of, then you’re damned forever. Even if the band had a squeaky clean image, even if they recited all the correct magic words and mantras, these people would still find some aspect of them to complain about because complaining is the only thing that gives their lives purpose.
This whole song and dance has become so predictable. Neurotic nutcases dig through a band’s past for evidence of thought crime, then they amplify it through social media to destroy them socially and financially. In the past, I would have defended bands from accusations of fascism, but I eventually learned that these people think everything is fascist, so I stopped caring what they had to say. I encourage the readers of this article to do the same. The next time social justice warriors, wokeists, or whatever they’re called accuse a band of some secular sin, don’t bother arguing with them. Just laugh at them and continue listening to the band regardless.