The state of metal

Heavy metal is a genre that has always had a split personality. By the middle of the ’80s, metal fans were aligning themselves in camps: if you were into Slayer and Anthrax, you were true; if you were into Poison and Ratt, you were false.

It’s still true that so-called false metal gets radio play, and true metal is forced to build its fan base by word of mouth. Two relatively new subgenres — metalcore and deathcore — provide perfect examples. These genres take the worst elements of melodic metal, death metal and modern hardcore, throw them in a blender and sell out theaters all over the country.

But beneath the surface, metal is thriving as much as it ever has. Atlanta’s Mastodon has spent the last decade becoming the biggest metal band on the planet, and in a rare convergence of popularity matching up with prowess, they deserve it. Their sound is unmistakable, and each album has pushed them higher into the SoundScan stratosphere, with 2009’s “Crack the Skye” selling 41,000 copies in its first week and debuting at 11 on the Billboard 200.

The immense popularity of Mastodon even amidst the success of the aforementioned “core” genres has to be seen as a good sign. Several other bands have straddled the lines of mainstream critical acclaim and true metal fan approval, most notably black metal duo Cobalt and progressive metal quintet Between the Buried and Me.

Perhaps most responsible for the propagation of great metal in the last decade are media outlets and labels. Decibel Magazine and the Invisible Oranges blog give national exposure to bands that might never get the chance to play outside of their hometowns otherwise. Profound Lore Records and Relapse Records have become the kingmakers of metal, signing bands and helping them explode in popularity.

Chris Bruni, the founder of Profound Lore, has taken a special interest in Indianapolis bands: The Gates of Slumber released their “Conqueror” LP on the label before moving to Rise Above Records, and Coffinworm and Apostle of Solitude have both released new full-lengths on the label this year.

These bands, along with Columbus, Ohio, native Struck By Lightning, Chicago trio Lair of the Minotaur and others, have started a metal revolution in the Midwest, and now it’s one of the genre’s geographical strongholds.