Did Grunge really “kill” Metal?

A lot has been said over the past 2 decades (is it really that long???) about how alternative rock/grunge killed metal in the early 90’s. I really don’t think it did. By the end of the 80’s metal had lost its direction and had become a watered-down, embarrassing shadow of what it had been at the beginning of the decade...at least in the mainstream sense. Of course death metal had risen to prominence, and black metal had just begun to raise its corpse-painted head, but as far as “people” were concerned, metal was a spent force and consisted of bands such as Poison and their ilk. Something needed to happen, and just as Punk had kicked the overblown, pompous hard-rock of the 70’s to the kerb and spat in its face, grunge essentially did the same to the floundering metal scene at the beginning of the 90’s. But rather than kill metal, all grunge really did was to drive metal back underground to lick its wounds and to start the process of coming back stronger. The underground is where metal  thrives and like a wounded animal, when it is cornered, it is more vicious.

Besides, many of the bands that made the biggest impact on the heavy music scene in my youth were metal bands...Acts such as  Pantera, Carcass, Sepultura, Machine Head (along with the likes of Paradise Lost, Fear Factory, etc) and of course the old guard of Iron Maiden and Metallica where the heroes of the early-mid 90’s. Add to that, the sudden explosive (literally) rise of black metal in Scandinavia and the rising Swedish death metal scenes (Gothenburg and Stockholm had 2 equally important, but also different styles) and the newly emerging so-called nu-metal sound. Therefore, I would argue that all grunge did was kill off the dead weight and to put an end to the awful glam-metal scene of the 80’s. Of course, there some great bands within said scene, but like all other popular musical movements, it was full to the point of bursting with chancers, fakes and posers. The music industry had got its claws well and truly in, and was demanding MTV airplay, stadium tours and stellar record sales.

Many bands that were considered to be past their prime and finished, went on to release some of the strongest albums of their respective careers after grunge, and many are continuing to this day. Compare that to the all but forgotten bands from the grunge era. Those that are still a going concern are, for the most part, nothing more than classic rock bands (Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains)...the fresh sound of the early 90’s now over-played and overdone by wave after wave of post grunge rubbish such as Nickelback, (later), Staind, etc. In the end, it is metal which had the last laugh, as it is now, even after 40 years, stronger than ever and the rise seems to be showing no signs of slowing.

So, did grunge kill metal? Of course not. Metal was just resting and regaining its strength. Grunge won the battle, but metal won the war in convincing style.

This is by no means, an exhaustive account of the enormity and impact of the many different scenes and sub-genres of the 1990’s, but rather the random thoughts going through my mind as I type, so please forgive the disjointed and possibly rambling text above. I am, however, currently working on an in depth piece on the changing face of metal/hard rock over the past 40 years, and will be posting that as soon as it’s done.