Would metal do good if it ever became mainstream? To be honest this is a pretty tough question. On one hand I don’t want metal to become mainstream watered down crap but on the other, I’d like to see these artists get the recognition that they deserve as well as reaping at least some monetary benefits from their work. I won’t get too into this subject since I have done it in another editorial, but I really do think a lot of good melodic bands have potential to be appreciated by more than the say one hundred people in the US that listen to em. Several times I have been playing music loud and have had people go, “Hey whats that? That was pretty cool,” so I know that it can be liked by others outside the metal circle. I wouldn’t mind to have metal be a little bit more accessible to the fan that has the unfortunate circumstance of living in the US cos that way I could actually get cds when THEY COME OUT!!! I have a good source that I get my stuff from online at very good prices and he is a pretty quick guy but still, I’d like to be able to go “Hey, I’ll go pick up that Celesty cd that’s been sitting up at the store for awhile. I would’ve got it a long time ago but man, there was just so much more metal there that at the time I really couldn’t afford it,” instead of having to pay upwards of thirty bucks for an import because the US has no distro deals hardly and it’s a pain in the ass to get things sometimes. Also, I wouldn’t mind it if maybe the US had some decent sales over here so we could entice some good European bands to actually bring the goods over here. (Speaking of sales, how come if a label wants to break a band and their roster over here why do they usually give the US the worst packaging? Take a look at Iced Earth, Euro = 3 cd live album US = 2cd. Euro = 2 cd “best of”, US = 1cd. It doesn’t make sense. Sales would also increase if the label decided to give the bands a simultaneous European and US release date, I mean look at Century Child. It came out over a year ago in Europe and isn’t coming out till September over here due to a very delayed distribution deal. Something tells me sales will be pretty abysmal cos almost every single Nightwish fan here got their cd about a year ago when it originally came out. You know what’s funny? The thought of new bands such as Gun Barrel or Heavenly going ,”Hey guys, lets schedule the US on our next tour.” I mean really, unless the band is a very well known and established act that comes to a one-off festival its almost hopeless to see some of your favorite bands here in the US. Speaking of festivals I gotta point out that the annual Prog Power festival in Atlanta is the best hands down. Just look at their rosters, and I must also say it is the best run event I have ever been to. Professionally speaking you couldn't ask for a better organized festival. If you like good Power or Progressive metal and live in the US it is a disservice to you and your music to not attend this whenever possible. Other than festivals or a living in a big city on the short twelve date tour that Helloween is doing it is almost impossible to catch a kick ass metal band over here. So in this sense wouldn’t having metal go mainstream, just a little, be a good thing?

If you have read this far I bet some readers are howling, “What the hell is with Ben? Does he really want our beloved music tainted by the mediocrity of mainstream consumption?” And to these people I have to say… I can clearly see your point. When something becomes big and popular it becomes copied at a ludicrous level. Anyone remember Tuff? Oh god. I mean really, I as much as you get pretty disgusted when I see some kid in an In Flames shirt going, “Man, this band is like heavy and shit, and they have like really heavy vocals and shit, and like its like music to break stuff too man it reminds me of like other heavy shit like CC” (that’s Cannibal Corpse in mallcore-speak). Hahha, uh no. Not cool at all. Also, when something becomes popular the product saturates the market by greedy labels and the result is a less creative and original product and becomes something that’s processed in a music factory for immediate consumption, ready to give you your fifteen minutes of pleasure, and to make them the money. Take a look at Tobias Sammet. He’s doing the music that he does because it is in his blood and he loves it. One listen to the 1995 version of Savage Poetry proves the point that Edguy is not some trend jumping product. Really, if Savage Poetry had been released to the public at the time of its inception then we would be praising Edguy as the supreme commanders of Power Metal. The very Maidenish and Helloweenesque influences were all over Savage Poetry along with Tobias’ magic touch and voice. Anyways, the point is that when you know that you won’t be rolling around naked in a huge pile of hundred dollar bills because of your music, you create music that comes from the heart and from the soul. It has always been my goal as a musician to be respected rather than be the next Metallica. I’m sure there are many bands out there that still have dayjobs that make them hate their normal life but when they put their hands on the mic, or pick up the guitar and let loose with a satisfying crunchy chord progression, then life is great and wonderful again. You know that pretty much 90% of these guys are in the (metal) business cos they love what they do and just enjoy playing the music that makes their world turn. A hundred bucks says Linkin Park could give a shit about their millions of teeny bopper fans but when I met Tobias Sammet and Kai Hansen, they treated me and everyone else like they were the most grateful people in the world to have us as fans. So you see, I do see where you are coming from when you say that metal should remain underground for all eternity.

This was just a case in point, to see both sides of the ever present question, “Should metal become mainstream?” Both sides have strong points with which I agree on many things. In some places metal is as mainstream as it gets, in Finland a band like Nightwish goes number one! Can you even remotely imagine that here in the US? It seems that you can’t be popular in the US unless you “got your groove on” or if you rap and have mallcore written all over you. Evanescence is the closest thing to a band like Lacuna Coil that got pretty big over here yet they had to do the whole rapping and mallcored out guitar tones and image schtick to appeal to the masses. If a band like Sonata Arctica starts to rap then all is lost. So should metal become mainstream? I think its all up to us and our buying habits that will determine this, maybe one day it will, maybe it won’t. In a perfect world metal could become more accessible for the real fan without compromising its integrity to the legions of radio listeners. But as Jaded Heart points out, "This ain't a perfect world."