Metal music helps to reflect on American culture

September 11, 2001, was a day of death and destruction with repercussions felt throughout the…

Mark Morton, the guitarist from Lamb of God, rocks out on stage in his camouflage shorts.

September 11, 2001, was a day of death and destruction with repercussions felt throughout the United States and the world as a whole.

It’s been 11 years since the tragedy, and during that time, America has changed. We’ve entered into two wars, our economy’s in the can and citizens can’t make it onto a plane without the TSA first entering their personal space.

But, my fellow Americans, it isn’t too late to fix these problems and make our great country an even greater country. In order to keep us on the patriotic track, we must examine what aspects of American culture are keeping the U.S. from reaching its full potential. And who better to enlighten us than our fellow metalheads?

If there’s anything that metal can teach us about this land that we call home, it’s that nearly every gear of our system is turned by money. From the courts to the business sector to the political system that oversees it all, this country is all too often moved by the almighty tool of exchange known as the dollar.

Want to be a great world leader or an altruistic politician? Lamb of God will teach you that it’s all about having the right supporters. And by “right supporters,” I mean the people with fat wallets and an agenda.

Listen to “As the Palaces Burn,” and you’ll learn that “the fiends have gagged a generation of pacified fools,/ bound by our greed, a nation enslaved as corporate tools.”

If you want to make a change in Washington, you need to have the capital to do so. And if you have the capital to do so, you need to push the pennies into the right pockets.

According to Opensecrets.org, $1.64 billion was spent on lobbying efforts in 2001, and $3.33 billion was spent in 2011. During that same 10 years, the number of lobbyists in the country fluctuated between 11,000 and 14,000.

But if political pull isn’t your shtick, maybe you want to make America better by spreading your message in the American music industry. Five Finger Death Punch, a band out of California, teaches aspiring artists to make friends with a super-big record company with a lot of money and marketing know-how.

The band likes the concept so much that its last release is entitled American Capitalist. The album takes a meta look at the American capitalist system and the ways in which people profit within it.

The members of Five Finger Death Punch don’t seem to take any shame in the concept of capitalism— either — and instead wrote a song directed at all of the anti-establishment hipsters.

The band’s song “The Pride” begins by rattling off American icons such as “Johnny Cash and PBR,/ Jack Daniels, NASCAR,/ Facebook, Myspace,/ iPod, Bill Gates,/ Smith and Wesson, NRA,” all of which represent various components of U.S. culture.

In America, selling a product or idea is all about exposure. And how do you get exposure, you ask? Well, you have to have the money to market.

FFDP defends the practice by claiming that it’s “not selling out, [it’s] buying in.”

And if we Americans are buying into the liquid market of the business sector, why not buy into the court system, too? Listen to Metallica’s 1988 album …And Justice For All, and you’ll be hit with an hour of tracks that revolve around the theme of “truth,” or a lack thereof.

According to the title track of the album, “Lady Justice has been raped,” and the “halls of justice [are] painted green/ [with] money talking.”

So, in the words of Metallica, if you want to win a court case in America today, you need to have a lawyer who knows what to say and when to say it. And for that, you have to pay the price.

The song continues to claim that participants within the system are “seeking no truth,” and instead hold a “winning is all” mindset. With that being said, lead singer James Hetfield “find[s] it so grim/ so true/ so real.”

So real, in fact, that Metallica used the same system it criticized in 1988 to take down Napster, a company that released the band’s music for free without consent or retribution, about 12 years later.

And if we are going to talk about retribution, why not talk about war and peace in the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Ever since the U.S. gained its independence after the Revolutionary War, the country has engaged in its share of military interventions and conflicts. And where there is war, there is money to be made.

According to a 2012 article in The Nation, Washington’s defense budget for 2013 is upwards of $931 billion.

And with the military industrial complex in mind, Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine titled the band’s 1986 album Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying? The album features a track named “Peace Sells”, in which listeners can find further rhetorical questions, such as “Can you put a price on peace?” and “It’s still ‘We the people,’ right?”

But yes, Dave, it is still “We the people.” We Americans still have the privilege to vote — both at the ballots and with our wallets — and we still have the freedom of expression that enables these metallers to speak openly about, and against, this fine country.

And despite all the criticism and condemnation purported by these artists, we can still claim these metalheads as our fellow patriots.

Because a wise man by the name of Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”

American Metal Playlist

The American Dream

“America, F*ck Yeah” from “Team America: World Police”

“American Capitalist” by Five Finger Death Punch

“Amerika” by Rammstein

“American Jesus” by Bad Religion

“I Love America” by Alice Cooper

War and Peace

“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath

“Peace Sells” by Megadeth

“War Ensemble” by Slayer

“Remorse Is For the Dead” by Lamb of God

“War?” by System of a Down