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So the AV Club decided to get all wise on us about metal:

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If there’s one thing in the world more head-slammingly dull than reading a bunch of online Realness Police argue about what constitutes real hip-hop, it’s reading similar web manifestos by metal’s “trü-kvlt” militia. Did they happen to spot a Mastodon album at Best Buy? Must be “hipster metal.” Did they read an interview with Boris in which Wata expressed enthusiasm for pop music? Must be “hipster metal.” Did they spot a guy enjoying The Sword who had an ironic T-shirt or thick-framed cheaters? Must be “hipster metal.”

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In fact, that’s one of the hallmarks of the “hipster metal” complaint: It’s never about the music.

The irritating myth of "hipster metal," by Leonard Pierce

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And then Examiner's Brett Stevens fires back a salvo in the opposite direction:

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But the truth is that being a hipster isn't how you dress, where you live, or even what brand of beer you drink. It's how you approach the music. It's how you approach life. It's an attitude and philosophy.

These people called metalheads were ostracized, called geeks, belittled and spat upon for insisting metal is important. And what is that idea? Metal is the idea of worshipping power and intensity, not the "safe" and twee personalized Jesus that rock music is.

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Because the people behind them are not thinking of the music as in metal as a genre, but of how they can be ironic and twee and unique, metalheads tend to write them off as "hipster metal."

Hipster Metal: no myth, but not as exciting as it sounds either, by Brett Stevens

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It's about the music: metal is not compatible with twee indie rock pretending to be metal. We're not saying not to listen to it, or to ban it or burn it, just that it's not real metal in the same way Christians or Nazis pretending to be metal so they can preach at us aren't real metal.

Are we all clear on that?

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