Metal Dictionary

666

(n) In the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible, the number demanded to be imprinted on the right hand or forehead of every person by the Satanic Beast which comes from the earth. Those that do not recieve the number are not allowed to buy or trade. Called "The Number of the Beast" or "The Mark of the Beast." Those that refuse the mark are the followers of God.

This number is associated with Satan and/or anti-Christians because of its affliliation with the Beast from the book of Revalations. It is used to show rebellion from Christianity.

It is also a number often used in metal to represent anti-Christian sentiment (as in "Destroyer 666") or as a representation of evil (as in "Episode 666") or a rebellion from mostly Christian society.

 

AC/DC

(n) Falsely assumed to be Anti-Christ Devil's Children, the actual origin of the name has a much more innocent meaning: The Young's sister, Margeret suggested it after she seen it on the back of a vacuum cleaner.

 

Air Drums

(n) Metalheads often play imaginary instruments like the Air Drums.

(v) "Drumming in the air." This is the act of drumming on imaginary drums.

 

Air Guitar

(n) An imaginary guitar that a person pretends to play as if it were an actual guitar.
(v) The act of playing an air guitar, usually in such a way that the person appears to be playing a solo.

 

Air Keyboard

(n) Imaginary instrument

 

Alice Cooper

(n) The name of a hard rock band led by frontman Vincent Damon Furnier, who later changed his name to Alice Cooper. He changed it because he pretended he was a reincarnation of a famous witch by that name. The name Alice Cooper may refer to either the man or the band

 

Alternate Picking

(n) Playing guitar by picking upwards and downwards in order to achieve a greater speed in a much easier way.

 

Amon Amarth

(n) Amon Amarth is taken from the Lord of the Rings, it means Mount Doom.

 

Anathema

(n) Anathema is a curse of seperation from a group of people, in our case metalheads. For example "Anathema on you!" would mean someone is cursing you.

(n) Anathema is a person who is doomed from this curse and is considered
1) an infidel
2) one greatly hated and avoided by public (or metalheads)

 

Axe

(n) A synonym for guitar

derivatives: Axeman
(n) A synonym for guitarist

 

Battery

(n) A synonym for drums

 

Black Sabbath

(n) Supposedly the band spotted a marquee or poster for the film “Black Sabbath?at a cinema near where they rehearsed. They were amused by the fact that people would pay to be scared by a movie. So when they discovered another band was using the name “Earth?the decided to change their name to “Black Sabbath?because it fit with their music.

 

Burzum

(n) Darkness to Christians
(n) Light to Pagan

The term was derived from Lord of the Rings (Burzumishi)

 

Charon

(n) Ferryman who operates the boat that transports the souls of the dead in the river Styx to the underworld (Greek myth). He only accepts to carry the souls of those who received proper burial rites and pay their passage with an obolus (coin). Those who not pay their passage are doomed to wander the banks of the Styx for 100 years.

(n) Also the ferryman who sails over the dead sinful souls across the River Acheron, according to Dante's Inferno.

(n) Also Pluto's moon.

 

Children Of Bodom

(n) A melodic metal band that got there name from a horrible (triple) murder at the lake bodom located in the south of Finland.
The Children of Bodom where the kids that where murdered there in the year 1960. Just recently (2004) the murder was discovered and the murderer was caught (who was a bus driver).

 

Circle Pit

(n) A mosh pit which moves in a circular motion. Usually indicated by the waving of a hand in the air in a circular motion.

 

Collapse

(n) Event in which the mosh pit is tightly packed (esp. after a surge) and several member fall, resulting in the other members of the pit falling over in a domio effect. Often dangerous.

 

Crowd Surf

(n) The action of riding on top of a crowd or mosh pit whilst being carried along by the other audience members, usually ending by reaching the front of the crowd.

 

Cutter

(n) Someone who cuts himself/herself on stage to reach a certain emotional peak.

 

Devil Horns

See Metal Sign

 

Dimmu Borgir

(n) Dimmu Borgir stands for "Foggy Castle" in islandic. It should be pronounced as dim-moo bore-gear. Dimmu Borgir is a mountain in Iceland.

 

Dio sign

See Metal Sign

 

Distortion

(n) Any effect which changes the sound of an instrument from clean and bright to a staticy more messy sound. Notes tend to ring on for longer and feedback more easily. Overdrive and Gain are both types of distortion.

 

Double Bass

(n) The use of two bass drums first pioneered by Louie Bellson and popularized by Ginger Baker and Kieth Moon. Today it is used in forms of metal music, either by adding a second bass drum pedal , operating a second beater on the same drum using an extended mechanism, or more traditionally simply playing a similar second bass drum, placed beside the first and tuned identically.

 

Electric Twanger

(n) A synonym for guitar

 

Gain

(n) Style of overdrive popualized by fender. It became the standard distortion effect for much of the 60's onwards. Worldwide recognition, similar to Overdrive, but is in fact a still a linear amplification. all amps need gain even on their clean settings, too much gain however leeds to the crunchy sounds that metalers love!
Variations of gain incude Fenders "LEAD GAIN" and "CRUNCH GAIN"

Some popular peadals include the Boss distorion series (metalzone, superdrive, OS-2).

 

Grim

(adj) Saying an album is grim implies that it has a dark and/or cold atmosphere.

 

Growl

(n) A gruff or angry utterance (suggestive of the growling of an animal). Widely used in different forms of extreme metal (death, black, thrash).

(v) To utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds.

 

Headbanger

(n) A metal fan who takes pride and joy in moving his head up and down during a metal song (in rhythm with the riffs).

 

Inverted Pentacle/Pentagram

(n) Some religious and spiritual groups have used the inverted pentacle.

 

During the 20th century, Satanists inverted the upright pentacle and adopted it as their own symbol. However, the symbol is most commonly shown with the head of a goat within the pentagram, known as Sign of Baphomet.

 

Iron Maiden

(n) Possibly one of the most famous/influencial heavy metal bands

(n) An ancient instrument for torture. Made from a coffin with spikes on its door, the person is placed inside and the door is shut. Ouch!

 

Jethro Tull

(n) Jethro Tull is an agricultural technique that gives origin to the plough.

 

Kalmah

(n) The name Kalmah is derived from a word in the Karelian dialect, which means "to the death" or "to the grave." The Karelian dielect is a combination of Russian and Finnish.

 

Kvlt

(n) Expression used in the extreme metal music scene in reference to an obscure band or a rare recording.

kvlt is a compliment, the definition is some metal music that is worthy.

(adj) A parody of the word 'cult'. Used to describe some one or something that is acting evil just to be cool

 

Marduk

(n) He is a Sumerian god of thunder and rain.

 

Megadeth

(n) A unit of measure equal to the death of a million people by nuclear explosion.

 

Metal Sign

(n) A hand gesture performed by making a fist, but with the index finger and pinky sticking up to represent the two horns of the traditional devil figure. Introduced to the metal scene by Ronnie James Dio, and said to repel the "evil eye." A way of identifying oneself with other metalheads as well as a means of aknowledging above-average behaviors or actions.

 

Metalhead

See Metaller

 

Metaller

(n) A fan of a genre of music knowns as Metal (and all of its subgenres).

 

Metallibasher

(n) A person belonged to this so-called group of The Bay Area Bangers in 1982/83/84 (they might have existed longer but on that point I'm no-one is sure) and was a HUGE Metallica fan. So NOT someone who hated Metallica. And the Metallibashers sported the slogan "We are the few, the proud, the true Metallibashers all others can die by his hand"

 

Metallica

(n) The name was stolen by Lars Ulrich from Ron Quintana who wanted to call his heavy metal magazine that. But Lars convinced him that Metalica was NOT a good name for a magazine.

 

Metallist

see Metaller

 

Mosh

(v) To push and shove violently during a metal song.

 

Moshpit

(n) The place where moshing takes place, usually right in front of the stage. Moshpits appear mostly on thrash and death metal concerts (can you imagine a moshpit on a Sonata Arctica concert?).

 

N.S.B.M.

(n) Stands for National Socialistic Black Metal.

When bashing Christians wasn't enough or never gained any recognition for its shock value, now targetting a race, ethnic quality, or a country for that matter is the agenda now because it scares people. Thus giving it what it wants, the reason to stay active and not go away. When using the extreme to shock people, it gets media coverage and then a cult founding. Many people can either relate or will turn away NSBM for the sole purpose of the lyrical content, which hasn't or shouldn't have anything to do with Black Metal at all. Black Metal was originally against all religions, then against Christianity. It showed Misanthropy for all races of mankind and then fantasy ideals and constructs that took away the pains of everyday life in the land of the living. NSBM doesnt do this, it instills rage and hate against one said race and it focuses on that, to drive either pain or pride into it and in a sense, become the bigger man. Black Metal was never about pride, it was never about wanting a country that is pure for your children, but this is what NSBM is now giving Black Metal a name for. Even negative media coverage is good, it shows that its something more then just a theme, its a way of life and for the most part, a way to sell records and get recognized.

 

N.W.O.B.H.M.

(n) Acronym for New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
The term was first coined by the music magazine called Sounds in England to refer to bands such as Samson, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Angelwitch, Raven, Venom, Jaguar, Tygers of Pan Tang, Sweet Savage etc.

 

Necro

(adj) Necro implies brutality (post black metal is often called "necro metal" and this is an extremely brutal genre of black metal) in the Black Metal genre.

 

Old Man's Child

(n) A metaphor for satan.

 

Overdrive

(n) Effect in which the signal is doubled up on itself causing distortion. It's a "non-linear" amplification wherein the imput to the amp loses its direct proportional relationship to its output, this causes the lack of sound fidelity. Got popular when fender and marshal used variations on their valve amps. Now can be digitalized, for example, Boss Overdrive pedals.

 

Pedals

(n) Devices used to make effects on guitar, bass, and even keyboard. The effects can be different types of distortions, echos, etc.

 

Poser

(n) A person who habitually pretends to be something he is not [syn: poseur]. Usually opposed to 'true' (metal, metalhead, etc.)
(n) A person who poses for a photograph (especially prominent in the "glam metal" scene of the 1980's).

 

Sell Out

(v) To give into public whim, to do what the popular opinion describes as the best course of action, especially when the person selling out would otherwise disagree. Often done with the intention of collecting more money as a result than what would otherwise be collected.

derivatives: Sellout
(n) One who participates in selling out.

 

Shred

(v) A fast, haphazzard solo played on guitar.

 

Sign of Baphomet

(n) The inverted pentacle with a goat's head is called the sign of Baphomet. The term may have come from two Greek words, baphe and metis, meaning "absorption of knowledge." It has also been called the Black Goat, Devil's Goat, Goat Head, Goat of Mendes, and Judas Goat. Its first appearance appears to have been during the vicious interrogation of members of the Knights Templar by the Christian Inquisition. There was little consensus among

different victims' descriptions of the Baphomet. It can probably be safely assumed that their description of the Baphomet is more a product of the Inquisition's torture methods than of any actual statue that was in use by the Knights.



Metal bands use a pentacle or pentagram as a band symbol. It is often neither an upright nor an inverted symbol. Often, it is aligned to have a top point which is slightly off vertical. Most of these groups simply use the symbolism and stage theatrics to generate notoriety, popularity and record sales. However, a few bands -- particularly in the Black Metal scene -- have been founded by Satanists. Some are: "Morbid Angel" in the U.S., "Emperor" in Norway, "Dark Funeral" in Sweden, and "Rotting Christ."

To satanists, the 5 points represent the 5 rivers of Hades: Acheron (river of woe), Cocytus, Lethe (river of forgetfullness), Phlegethon (river of fire), Styx (where souls of dead are dumped).

 

Slay

(v) Normaly refers to a particular song or band, aludes to the brutality or true-roots heavyness that the subject displays. Often used in the form: "The song slays!"

 

Solo

(n) A solo is a composition or passage for an individual's voice or instrument, with or without accompaniment. In metal, there can be several types of solos: drums, keyboard and guitar solos. Usually, there is a combination of all, but there is one instrument primarily playing a very quick combination of notes. Often, to bring atmosphere to the music, rhythm guitarists, bassits and drummers accompany the solo, but they are not the target of attention.

 

Solospot

(n) What is referred to as a solo outside of a song. Solospots are usually done during concerts and are mostly drums or guitars. When it is done, no one else from the band is playing (sometimes, there is someone helping out) until the solo has ended.

 

Stage Dive

(n) The act of jumping from stage onto the hands of the crowd

 

Sunday headbanger

See Poser

 

Surge

(n) Motion of the crowd which pushes forwards to the stage in a surging motion, also refered to as a crush.

 

Sweep Picking

(n) A very fast way of soloing by "gliding" with the pick upwards and downwards using all 6 strings on the guitar. It consists of arpeggios which are the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes in a scale. It allows you to play a flurry of notes at a speed that would be very difficult to match using just alternate picking. Used extensively by players such as John Petrucci of Dream Theatre and Yngwie Malmsteen, and also bands such as Cacophony, Children of Bodom, etc.

 

Tab

(n) Abbrieviation for Tablature. The writing of sheet music using numbers and lines. An internet friendly way to read music. Tabs do not include intervals.

 

Tallica

(n) Short for Metallica

 

Templar

(n) (official meaning) A member of an order of knights founded about 1118, also known as Knight Templars.

(n) (metal meaning) A listener to true AND power metal, mostly used to describe HammerFall fans.

 

The Order of the Dragon

(n) Ancient order of Christian Protectors or Crusaders who as well as the Templars defended the Christian faith and all it's secrets against the infidels. Vlad Dracul (commonly known as Count Dracula) belonged to the Order of the Dragon, in fact, his name "DRACUL" translates Dragon or Devil for the Order of the Dragon and for the punishments he inflicted on the islamic soldiers who tried to invade his domains.

Cradle of filth used the name of the Order and it's symbol for their official website, with the only difference that they altered the symbol to match their anti-christian image.

 

Therion

(n) In the religion of Thelema* "The Child of Therion" is considered to be not the possession of one man alone, but of all of us. "The Child of Therion" is a Universal Spirit, the very Soul and Breath of all. In the "Liber Legis" it is written : "Since I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof, do ye also thus. Bind nothing! Let there be no difference made among you between any one thing & any other thing; for thereby there cometh hurt. But whoso availeth in this, let him be the Chief of all".
2. Very well known symphonic band that has had an oroiginal trajectory through the years and has received very good reviews by the crtitics for the album "Theli" considered to be the most epic, symphonic and somber album of the 90s.

 

* The religion of Thelema was founded in 1904 by the English poet and mystic Aleister Crowley

 

Thyrfing

(n) According to norse mythology, it was a royal sword smithen by the dwarfs Durin and Dvalin for king Svaverlame, Odin's grandson. But as the work was done under compulsion, the dwarfs cursed the sword so that it would become the death of Svaverlame, commit three outrages and become a man's bane whenever it was pulled. The man or woman who carried Tyrfing (note that it was originally spelled just like this, without the h) would himself eventually die by it, thus passing the curse on to someone else.

 

Tiamat

(n) Tiamat is the name of a Babylonian goddess of the destruction and chaos.

 

tr00 or true

(adj) A person who is tr00 (true) is not a poser.

 

U.S.B.M

(n) Acronym for United States Black Metal.

 

Upright Pentacle (Pentagram)

(n) Upright pentacles and pentagrams are among the most widely used religious symbols. They have been used in many eras and by many cultures and religions of the world: by ancient Pagans, ancient Israelites, Christians, magicians, Wiccans and others.



The five points symbolized "the five knightly virtues - generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety."

USBM

(n) Stands for United States Black Metal

USBM started roughly with Von, Demoncy, Absu, Xasthur, Krieg, and Judas Iscariot for the most part, there are a ton of other bands... it basically was either that bands sprung up to copy and live with what Bathory, Celtic Frost, and Venom had done and repeat it or to repeat what the Second Generation Norwegian Black Metal bands were doing. Roughly, give or take a year, it all started around the sametime as with Europe, but the US scene was shunned and highly underground and most of it stemmed around as dirty thrash.

 

V-Shaped guitar

(n) A style of the electric guitar in which the body of the guitar is shaped like a V. Variations of the V include:
- Vintage Flying V (Rounded points)
- King V (Sharp points)
- Rhoads V (One leg of the V longer than the other)

 

\m/

See Metal