Remember last year when Tomb Mold graced the cover of Decibel Magazine for the release of their 10/10 album, The Enduring Spirit, and a bunch of people on the internet got really butt-hurt about the fact that they were pictured wearing shorts? Apparently, there are some more clothes and accessories that are decidedly not metal — and, according to Deicide frontman Glen Benton, the modern metal scene has become a breeding ground for heavy musicians disguised as normies.
In an interview with KNAC's Francisco Zamudio, Benton discussed some of his earliest influences like Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, which led him to start lamenting how people in metal bands are dressing these days.
"Metal was metal back then. Metal right now — you have so many subcategories of metal now, it's ridiculous," the frontman explained. "I understand individualism and that, and we can really use a lot more frontmen like that; like Ozzy [Osbourne] and Ronnie [James Dio] and all them people, Lemmy [Kilmister] and that."
"We don't have that anymore," Benton continued. "All we have is a bunch of wannabe Weezer-looking dudes trying to play metal. Everybody's sporting black-frame glasses and wearing trucker caps."
He went on, "Nobody gives a shit about imagery anymore, looking the part of metal and that. I walk around 24 hours a day looking [like I do]. I can't shake it, man. I'm never gonna fall into that. I've always been that way, too, about the guys on stage, man. You're not gonna come out there wearing a fucking plaid shirt and white tennis shoes. It's not happening."
I mean, in defence of Weezer (words I never thought I would type), Rivers Cuomo has definitely talked about being a metalhead when he was a teenager; they made 2021's Van Weezer, after all. As for looking the part, have you seen the photo on the cover of Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo?