Hi, everyone. Tickthony Offtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time to talk about one of my favorite metal bands of all time, Metallica.

If there's one thing about this legendary California thrash metal band, they're going to find a way to get themselves in hot water. Whether it's cutting their hair or Napster, they always seem to be doing something that's pissing people off. And the most recent example of that happened during their current series of shows over in Las Vegas, a residency at the storied Sphere venue where you're kind of like performing in a bubble. The image of that is not lost on me, for sure.

In the midst of one of these visually dense performances, you can even see James Hetfield superimposed on the crosses from the freaking Master of Puppets cover. Despite that very dark and morbid imagery, which is pregnant with meaning, James Hetfield decided to pause things for a bit to very gently remind audiences that there would be nothing happening during the show that would remind them of anything too political or uncomfortable.

And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here like some other entertainers to influence you with their bullshit, okay? We're here to forget about all the outside shit, okay? Metallica's agenda is love, energy, and heavy music, baby!

And of course, this statement has proven to be pretty polarizing, causing many fans to, I think, rightfully, point to their back catalog of very famous, very popular, very influential metal songs where they were writing very clearly about things like war and the military-industrial complex and all sorts of greater terrible pain and suffering in the world.

The more that I sit here and think about this statement from James and what it ultimately means on a deeper level, honestly, I think what James said here represents him and Metallica losing their way on a much deeper level, maybe even metal music, too, as a culture. Because again, not only is it concerning that he would say what he said here, but that there would be a roaring crowd in front of him saying, "Fuck yeah!"

I feel like a lot of fans going back and calling out the hypocrisy of Metallica turning its back on the meaning of many other classic songs has also been met with pushback from supporters saying, "well, the band is just saying they don't want to put politics into their live show and that they think other artists who do that and preach from the stage are bullshit and annoying and this and that." Which, okay, fine, you can have that, but put it to the side.

And also take into account James saying that the whole point of this show and what we're doing here is so that you don't have to think about what's going on out there. Which, to me, at a metal show for one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, is even a more disturbing message to convey for even a band as popular and as widely accessible as Metallica.

The point that I ultimately want to make here is to remind you guys that metal music, for as big and as popular a genre it is right now, you have to consider there was a point in time, not that long ago, where metal music was not only pretty much obscure, even for a band such as Metallica; not only that, but you actually had to go out of your way to find it and listen to it. And culturally, in a lot of ways, it was under fire, especially during the 1980s when it was starting to hit a cultural peak, which coincided with the right-wing conservative satanic panic of the Reagan years. That ultimately peaked with a 1990 court case, in which Judas Priest was being put on the stand.

Now, ultimately, Judas Priest was not found liable in that court case, but they and many other hard rock and metal bands during that time were seen as a force of cultural evil, poisoning and endangering young minds across the country, and Metallica were one of many bands that were seen in that light.

Many metal bands and scenes saw this cultural push against them and the music that they loved, and instead of rounding off their edges and making more approachable music, they decided to stick to their guns and their roots, which lie in this desire, this acceptance that the music they make makes audiences, some audiences, uncomfortable. Yes, it's loud, it's aggressive, it's brooding, it's dark; its lyrics address really grim subject matter. From the Black Sabbath debut to the Iron Maiden debut, much of the material on those albums is not an escape from the ugliness of the outside world, but the outside world; they're a reflection of it. And those loud guitars, pounding drums, and creepy, soaring vocals weren't supposed to be drowning that shit out; they were drawing attention to it.

And on records like Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, you could argue that Metallica was acting very consciously in that tradition. So again, to me, what is so disheartening about Hetfield's rant here isn't just merely the political point of view of it all, but the cowardice that comes with the admission directly to their own audience: we are afraid to make you feel even the least bit uncomfortable. And doing so not by saying anything you disagree with or playing a song you're unfamiliar with or anything like that, but by merely reminding you directly of maybe one or two awful things that are happening outside of the bubble we're in right now.

And I'm sorry, I don't care where you land on the left-right political spectrum, I don't think you could consider yourself like a sick metal badass if, as an audience member, you're completely unwilling to experience even the least bit of discomfort, or as the artist, you're unwilling to explore that feeling even for a little bit. I'm sorry, that doesn't make the weird little pop-punk band writing radio tunes who's actually willing to say Free Palestine; they're not the snowflakes, you are. Because how could you sit here with piercings and chain wallets and spiky hair and unreadable logos and flying V guitars and be like, yeah, we're fuckin' brutal, man! But then, in reaction to a political statement on the stage, be like, oh no, nothing's happening in the world.

I'm sorry, but like, that's wimp shit. And as somebody who has been listening to metal music for decades and decades, I think once the genre or its audience has completely lost the will to explore discomfort or be discomforted in any way, or be willing to make other people feel discomfort through their expression, their artistic expression, then metal has completely lost the fuckin' plot.

Now, look, I know there are a lot of metal fans out there still, and metal artists out there, who still are willing to explore those feelings, and thank God they exist because they're actually keeping the torch lit. But if this averseness to those feelings of discomfort is really what James Hetfield feels in his core right now, Metallica means nothing anymore.

Anthony Fantano, Metallica, forever.