How come Beavis & Butthead didn't like DeathMetal?

[erisi236]

I dunno, it always come off as strange to me for some reason. Whenever a band like Death or Morbid Angel or Napalm Death would come on they would either rag on it, or just out right ignore it and talk about whatever.

Oddly enough these bands still got pretty huge exposure on B&B, and the songs they played on the shows are quite well known and beloved by fans of the bands.

Still, it always came off as odd to me in a way, although I guess when you wear an AC/DC shirt you probably don't regularly listen to Morbid Angel.

[Yami Daimao]

I think their taste in music falls in between classic hard rock and thrash metal, hence their respective t-shirts (Butthead's AC/DC shirt to Beavis' Metallica shirt).

[Jiren]

They hated King Diamond too.



I'm into rock but I too loathe Death Metal

[Ducky Momo]

May 3, 2010 13:43:20 GMT -5 Jiren said:

They hated King Diamond too.



I'm into rock but I too loathe Death Metal

I'm probably the biggest King Diamond mark here, but that was pretty funny.

[erisi236]

May 3, 2010 13:43:01 GMT -5 Yami Daimao said:

I think their taste in music falls in between classic hard rock and thrash metal, hence their respective t-shirts (Butthead's AC/DC shirt to Beavis' Metallica shirt).

They certainly like thrash which is why I kind of wonder, cuz most of the well known deathmetal of the day wasn't too far removed from thrash, the same drop D tuning but with slightly more gravely lyrics.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

B&B seemed to consistently enjoy hip-hop (given their love for Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and the Beastie Boys) and thrash metal the most.

I'm torn whether or not I'd like to see them come back. On one hand I'd love for them to rip into Nickelback, but sadly, I know they would go after 30 Seconds To Mars, who I love.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

probably because they were supposed to parody the average moron 90's teenager, at least in Mike Judge's eyes. Death Metal wasn't exactly popular to that demo, so it would've made his parody inaccurate. then again I'm probably being too intellectual about a show that was largely dick and fart jokes.

god bless it.

[wildojinx]

It was weird that they liked primus and candlebox but not cannibal corpse or napalm death. Then again, they dissed ween in one video (push the little daisies) and then later they said "ween kicks ass" (spirit of 76) so their opinions werent exactly consistent.

[elmstreetkid]

May 3, 2010 16:33:06 GMT -5 Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! said:

probably because they were supposed to parody the average moron 90's teenager, at least in Mike Judge's eyes. Death Metal wasn't exactly popular to that demo, so it would've made his parody inaccurate. then again I'm probably being too intellectual about a show that was largely dick and fart jokes.

god bless it.

Not that Beavis and Butt-Head weren't supposed to be a parody of a certain type of dumb teenager (although I'd argue they're parodying stupidity itself, and pop culture obsession), but this argument's kind of a stretch. That type of dumb teenager LOVES death metal, as far as I've seen my entire life. Maybe it was different in the 90s, but I doubt it. I don't know, metal's weird that way - it seems to attract dumb guys, and usually smart, nerdy guys. Not unlike Patrick Stewart's argument about B&B, that very smart and very dumb people can laugh about it for very different reasons.

So I'm guessing the writers just hated death metal.

[forgottensinpwf]

The video games had them like GWAR.

[Ultimo Chocula]

May 3, 2010 17:32:55 GMT -5 elmstreetkid said:

May 3, 2010 16:33:06 GMT -5 Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! said:

probably because they were supposed to parody the average moron 90's teenager, at least in Mike Judge's eyes. Death Metal wasn't exactly popular to that demo, so it would've made his parody inaccurate. then again I'm probably being too intellectual about a show that was largely dick and fart jokes.

god bless it.

Not that Beavis and Butt-Head weren't supposed to be a parody of a certain type of dumb teenager (although I'd argue they're parodying stupidity itself, and pop culture obsession), but this argument's kind of a stretch. That type of dumb teenager LOVES death metal, as far as I've seen my entire life. Maybe it was different in the 90s, but I doubt it. I don't know, metal's weird that way - it seems to attract dumb guys, and usually smart, nerdy guys. Not unlike Patrick Stewart's argument about B&B, that very smart and very dumb people can laugh about it for very different reasons.

So I'm guessing the writers just hated death metal.

In the 90's, death metal was not cool. They were considered dinosaurs from the 80's that would not die. At the time you had to be into grunge, wear the flannel, and pretend to care about social and political issues that you had no idea about but talked anyway. Death metal was seen as just what you said-dumb guys. You had to have a little bit of grey matter in those days (or at least the illusion of grey matter). It wasn't until nu metal that we saw the error or our ways.

[wildojinx]

May 3, 2010 17:36:22 GMT -5 @forgottensinpwf said:

The video games had them like GWAR.

TYhey liked GWAR on the show as well.

[diegorivera]

Their opinions could change if, for whatever reason, they thought the song rocked, even if they didn't like the band. Beavis seemed to like a bit of Bon Jovi at times while Butt-Head just thought they sucked. Also, Beavis was more open minded, though a bit more stupid. Overall, they both actually had fairly broad tastes in music, though it could be separated into, "it rocks," and "it sucks."

...Man, whoever thought we'd analyze Beavis and Butt-Head like this?

[erisi236]

Another weird thing I notice is that the alternative version of Beavis' shirt says "Death Rock" which is kind of strange.

Off hand it's funny that in the history of DeathMetal the early guys that did it didn't really think that were doing anything other then Thrash or regular Metal, it's just because the vocalists had more gravely voices and the tunes were a bit more eclectic with all the tempo and time signature changes, it became something new.

Music is strange like that.

[Ghostorm]

If i remember correctly they loved Entombed's Wolverine Blues video, although it was more Death N Roll but it was heavy nonetheless.

[nickcave]

lol They didn't love Wolverine Blues, they both tried to go to the bathroom when it was on.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

May 3, 2010 17:39:10 GMT -5 Ultimo Chocula said:

In the 90's, death metal was not cool. They were considered dinosaurs from the 80's that would not die. At the time you had to be into grunge, wear the flannel, and pretend to care about social and political issues that you had no idea about but talked anyway. Death metal was seen as just what you said-dumb guys. You had to have a little bit of grey matter in those days (or at least the illusion of grey matter). It wasn't until nu metal that we saw the error or our ways.

What??
by the time Beavis and Butt-Head had become popular Death Metal was at apex of its popularity, Hell there was alot of talk inside the industy that Death Metal (I'm not kidding) might be the next big thing in music.
Though I do have a feeling you might be thinking of Hair Metal which had long aready became a dinosaur genre before grunge was popular.

[sunwukong]

May 3, 2010 20:26:13 GMT -5 Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster said:

May 3, 2010 17:39:10 GMT -5 Ultimo Chocula said:

In the 90's, death metal was not cool. They were considered dinosaurs from the 80's that would not die. At the time you had to be into grunge, wear the flannel, and pretend to care about social and political issues that you had no idea about but talked anyway. Death metal was seen as just what you said-dumb guys. You had to have a little bit of grey matter in those days (or at least the illusion of grey matter). It wasn't until nu metal that we saw the error or our ways.

What??
by the time Beavis and Butt-Head had become popular Death Metal was at apex of its popularity, Hell there was alot of talk inside the industy that Death Metal (I'm not kidding) might be the next big thing in music.
Though I do have a feeling you might be thinking of Hair Metal which had long aready became a dinosaur genre before grunge was popular.

Death Metal's commercial peak was arguably between 91 and 93, but it was never massive in terms of the mainstream. Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and a few other bands had some limited mainstream success, but it was relatively minor compared to the top acts of the day.

Beavis and Butthead started in 93, which was at the tail end of that mini-boom.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

May 3, 2010 20:36:55 GMT -5 @sunwukong said:

May 3, 2010 20:26:13 GMT -5 Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster said:

What??
by the time Beavis and Butt-Head had become popular Death Metal was at apex of its popularity, Hell there was alot of talk inside the industy that Death Metal (I'm not kidding) might be the next big thing in music.
Though I do have a feeling you might be thinking of Hair Metal which had long aready became a dinosaur genre before grunge was popular.

Death Metal's commercial peak was arguably between 91 and 93, but it was never massive in terms of the mainstream. Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and a few other bands had some limited mainstream success, but it was relatively minor compared to the top acts of the day.

Beavis and Butthead started in 93, which was at the tail end of that mini-boom.

Personly I aruge the peak was between 91 to the beginning of 95 but you are definitely right about the genre only having a limited impact at best. Though now still can't help but laugh at how people at Sony.Warners etc honestly thought that Death Metal was going to be the next big thing in music during the 90s.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Also to answer the OP’s question Beavis & Butthead’s dislike of Death Metal is really not that surprising at all, when you consider that a lot of people who fit into the image of the stereotypical metalhead (at the time) couldn’t (and still can't) stand death metal.