I don't really understand when people wear combat boots and spikey arm bands every day, it looks pretty stupid

What about studded bracelets then?

What about studded bracelets then?

You mean the Hot Topic attire?

Don't even know what Hot Topic is quite frankly.

Hmm... Well, I only go to Repulsive so.
Rockzone sounds kind of familiar, never heard anyone talk about it though.
I know of some place called Blue Fox which sell that kind of stuff though.

So fuck the stereotypes, I dream of a world where metalheads can be looked upon as the normal people we really are.

I think everyone agrees with that, but since metal always has drawn a lot of negative attention, due to the violent, anti-religious, sexual, whatever aspects of it I think the fans will be affected by it too.

My point is that it shouldn't necessarily have to draw this negative attention. You don't see horror movie fans getting that sort of attention (usually).

Since when were vests with patches overdoing it? I'm a proud patched vest owner, and I don't think it's pushing it. It's not like I'm trying to be metal by wearing a damned vest, I just like it.

You don't think vests with so much patches you almost can't see the fabric is overdoing it?

Of course it shouldn't, and I pretty much view extreme metal as the musical equivalent to horror/splatter films, but sadly not many others outside the metal culture does. They just see the gory album covers and hear the violent music and lyrics and then judge us for liking it.

Most people confuse me as a rockstar guy rather than a gothic satanist or whatever.

You don't think vests with so much patches you almost can't see the fabric is overdoing it?

Why does it matter? Is there really enough metal-heads around for it to actually matter if they respect you or not? People who change their appearance to look like a "metal-head" are no more or less metal than anyone else. It just comes down to what they listen to.

But wouldn't one's degree of assimilation into the Metal lifestyle determine one's "metalness"?

You can judge musical preference by what they listen to.

All of this discussion of who is more metal than the next is a direct parallel to who is more holier than thou... Stop the damn nonsense. I mean, this is a lifestyle and should be treated as such, instead of being treated as a high school debate.

Something I often wonder is, where do the metal heads that do not feel the need to go to extreme lengths fall into line? And by extreme lengths, I'm talking about appearance only, and i'm not examining anything to do with the music or one's personal music tastes itself. An example would be, those groups of metal heads who go all out with the whole studded arm gauntlets, patch-littered jackets, etc., and it's quite easy to see the difference between them and the average joe with his american eagle shirt and flip flops. I just want to know, where does the "not so extravagant" metal head fall in line? The one who just tosses on an autopsy or voivod shirt with some jeans and calls it done? I truly believe these types don't get nearly as many props (for whatever reason) as those who go all out. Maybe it's just because of the dumbasses who think the aforementioned are "more metal" from their no holds barred look? And it's this type of metal maniac that gets shit from everyone if you ask me, and that means no respect from the "full blown" metal heads for not being all decked out, and weird looks and whatnot from the mainstream hipsters for not being trendy enough. I don't know, maybe it's a stupid thing to wonder but does anybody else think this way?