(Credits: Far Out / Billy Corgan)
Thu 1 January 2026 2:00, UK
Heavy metal is an art all in itself, but amid the noise, the throttle, and the thrash, it can sometimes get overlooked. Billy Corgan knows far better than to fall into that trap.
It’s an asset which is even more valuable given that Corgan was at the forefront of pioneering the alternative rock movement, but within this, he had to recognise all the genres and influences which had come before to shape what he would become. Quite obviously, heavy metal was an indisputably massive part of that.
To the snobs of the world, however, it is a very different story. In the broadest possible strokes, they might appreciate a bit of rock music if it stuck within the confines of Elvis Presley or The Beatles. But the screech, scream, and racket that is heavy metal does absolutely nothing for them, apart from making them dial down the volume.
Corgan doesn’t see things in such a black and white manner, though. He knows that beneath the surface lies a whole underworld of emotion in the heavy metal genre, where love, lust, and loss are all laid bare by the band tearing their hearts – and vocal chords – out and leaving it on the stage. There might be the classic rock hedonism to boot, but underneath is real integrity.
That was something he realised at a particularly pivotal, if devastating, juncture of his life, when a track by Metallica spoke to the depths of feeling he was enduring better than any other song could. “‘Fade to Black’ by Metallica came out when my grandmother was dying of cancer. That song saved my life,” Corgan once candidly explained.
It was a moment which made him truly appreciate the power that all music could hold, especially when it doesn’t hold back in expressing what it wants to. “When you’ve had those moments with rock, there’s a loyalty between band and fan. When we started in the ’80s, and started playing metal riffs in our alt-rock songs — I mean, the amount of snobbery that we got because [of it].”
But if there’s anything that demonstrates the mark of metal heads most fiercely, it’s that they keep blazing on without a care in the world as to what anyone else might think. Sure, that attitude can certainly land them in a spot of trouble from time to time, but the brazenness and self-assured stance is something every artist can learn from.
Not being afraid to broach subjects like death, often shooed away or classed as taboo within the shackles of mainstream lanes, is also what stands heavy metal bands in the strongest stead when laying out the roadmap of who they want to be. It’s not like they’re producing lullabies, but as Metallica showed in the case of Corgan, their music still can bring comfort in the most unconventional ways.
Is heavy metal the most profound, insightful, or awe-inspiring genre in the entirety of the music canon? Probably not. But this absolutely does not mean that it can’t cultivate huge waves of feeling and connect to the listener in unparalleled ways. In death, some people prefer a quiet goodbye. Other people like an electric thunderstorm as things finally ‘Fade to Black’.
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