As much as the Internet made Metal available to the fans, As I Lay Dying frontman Tim is quick to point out that the Internet made fans available to the music, as well: “It used to be that people only heard about a handful of bands through the radio and if they didn’t hear about a band through the radio, then they had to take a gamble and go spend $20 on a CD…now people can really find out if the music’s good, and I think that it helps underground bands. When we first started, we definitely didn’t have a huge push, you know…the labels are limited money-wise, so we got that underground, die-hard fan base from the Internet.”

The Internet also did something else, which is perhaps even more vital to Metal’s rebirth: it made it possible for the fans to interact with the bands they enjoyed; it made it possible for musicians and listeners to dialogue:

“When the kids come to the shows, I want them to be able to not be so star-struck to the point that they don’t come up to you,” Evergreen Terrace’s Craig says, “I think that it’s extremely important to keep that contact. Kids can come up to us and hang out if they want to and we encourage it if they want it, because we’re on tour, you know? We want to hang out with people, meet cool people!”

Even Metal scene veterans owe newfound success to the Internet: “There is no way we could still be doing this if we were not up to date with the new media.” James, of Megadeth admits.

The overwhelming fan response to the Metal available online was a wake-up call to the music industry. While the big labels continued to focus on more generic and commercially safe ventures, the upstart outfits were able to specialize in Heavy Metal. Small labels were quick to act, signing artists and producing CDs and putting Metal back into the hands of consumers. The demand for the music was there, and Metal fans, starved for years for easy access to new material were all the more eager to purchase the product, helping the Metal music industry prosper while most of the music industry was suffering because of poor sales.

“The constant release of movies, television shows, and a flood of music that are so blatantly exploitative…have become normal over the years because that’s what sells; that’s what people want to hear and see because it requires almost no thought or intellect.” Bobby of Job For A Cowboy explains. “There is generally much more depth to metal than the generic shit that’s so embraced by the mainstream audiences.”

But in the music industry, success often leads to duplication, and duplication by its very nature stagnates creativity. Will success again spoil Metal music?

Tim, of As I Lay Dying is hopeful: “I think that it’s happening again to some degree already. But, I think all it means is that the older bands have to rise to the challenge and be more obvious and set themselves apart.”

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