If It Scared You, Good: An Ode to Loud Music
By James Burfield, Editor-In-Chief
On the night of November 26, amidst a rainy winter downpour that would have most people seeking shelter in their homes, a crowd that could only be described as ready to explode gathered before an outdoor stage to see hardcore band Knocked Loose perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The previous week had seen musical performances from award-winning artists such as Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton. Stevie Nicks even made an appearance earlier in the month. Knocked Loose can only be described as a most drastic sonic departure from these kinds of artists, veering into the territory of thick, distorted guitar riffs, harsh vocal lines, and lyrics teeming with wrath and confrontation.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live show is no stranger to polarising musical performances, nor are metal bands new to the show as performers. Slipknot performed on the show back in 2009 (and have performed on occasions since) and were followed by German industrial metal group Rammstein in 2011. Yet, there is something decidedly different about Knocked Loose taking to the stage on American national television now in 2024. Billboard have dubbed them ‘the heaviest band to appear on [the show]’, while NME labelled the performance as ‘next-level’.
Formed in 2013 in Oldham County, Kentucky, the four-piece band has seen a stratospheric rise in popularity since the release of their 2024 album You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. A tight, ten-track LP, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To condenses the very best of Knocked Loose – and I daresay the very best of the genre as a whole – into just under 28 minutes. It’s an album that the New York Times music journalist Jon Caramanica marked as ‘car-crash fearsome and […] monastically focused at the same time' when naming it as one of his top albums of 2024. Fronted by Bryan Garris, the band is known for their shrieky vocals and in-your-face sound. They have remained utterly uncompromising in their style throughout their incredible rise in popularity, as displayed in their wild performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
The band took to the stage to perform their single “Suffocate”, alongside former-internet-personality-turned-metal-performer Poppy (who has recently released a new album of her own, entitled Negative Spaces). On stage, none of the performers held back, nor did they make any attempt to appeal to the broad viewership of Kimmel. The three-minute performance gave viewers an unrelenting glimpse into the world of metal; an unfiltered look at Knocked Loose, juggernauts of the modern hardcore scene, at their very best.
Amid ferocious vocals, blazing pyro displays, and many a crowdsurfer (who were joined by some of Jimmy Kimmel’s own producers), Knocked Loose took to national television to do exactly what they pride themselves on the most: being thoroughly and unapologetically themselves. Indeed, in a social media post following the performance, frontman Garris notes their attempt to ‘see how far we could squeeze this band into places where we don’t fit’, and closed out his thankful post by reaffirming the band’s commitment to remaining true to the sound they pursue, declaring ‘PS if it scared you, good’. The band’s uncompromising pursuit of being true pillars of the hardcore scene has yielded undeniable results, garnering them a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance alongside giants of the scene such as Metallica and Judas Priest.
It cannot be denied that the metal scene has seen an incredible rise in popularity and appreciation in recent years. This was evident with French prog metal band Gojira performing at the opening ceremony of the Olympics this summer, performing an earthshaking rendition of “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” featuring Marina Viotti & Victor Le Masne to a TV audience that most outlets place at around thirty million. Gojira join Knocked Loose in receiving a nomination for Best Metal Performance for their part in the opening ceremony in the upcoming Grammy Awards. This season of Grammy nominations also sees female-fronted metal group Spiritbox earning a nomination in the same category.
Spiritbox, fronted by vocal powerhouse Courtney LaPlante, are in the running for “Best Metal Performance” for their song “Cellar Door”. This is the second year in a row they have been up for the award, having lost out to Metallica in 2023. A win for them in this category would mark them as the first female-fronted act to take home the award. LaPlante herself has noted her delight with the rise of women receiving nominations in the metal categories, with three out of the five bands on the bill for the award featuring female vocalists.
The metal scene and all its associated subgenres have seen a meteoric rise in recent times and Knocked Loose’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live stands as potentially the most significant marker of the shift. Though Gojira’s performance during the Olympic opening ceremony was unarguably more significant from a numerical perspective, there is something quite special about a band like Knocked Loose working their way to such an incredible and widespread platform while producing a style of music that cannot particularly be described as ‘broadly appealing’.
I have been following Knocked Loose since they released “Suffocate” as the third single in the run-up to the release of You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. Their raw, frenetic, and explosive presentation enthralled me from the beginning. Upon my first listen, the realisation came over me that this was now ‘my kind of music’ – something I would never have believed had you told me even at beginning of last year, even though I had toyed with bands on the more mainstream side of the scene for some time. My admiration of Knocked Loose firmly solidified my love for the genre as a recent inductee into the world of metal.
It has been a guilty pleasure of mine over the last year to play for my friends (or anyone curious, for that matter) select tracks from my collection of metal music and relishing in the shock that took over their faces when they heard those initial guttural vocals. One of my good friends even admitted to attempting at making a foray into my playlist, but gave up and told me ‘It’s just all pots and pans to me’.
This sentiment, I think, encapsulates the perception of metal from outside the culture. Unlike other genres, it is not one that inherently demands respect regardless of your taste for it. No matter what skill is involved in producing those vocals, drum fills, and guitar riffs, the sonic aesthetics of the genre prevent many from appreciating all that talent present in the scene – to be blunt, there are many who don’t and will never ‘get it’.
I’m not here to convince you that metal is for you. Chances are, it isn’t. And that’s okay. But those who do partake are privy to one of the most unique musical scenes there is. That is, perhaps, where much of the ‘gatekeeping’ stems from – people who have been involved in the scene for some time tend to take quite a lot of pride in the genre’s place as a kind of musical pariah, and seeing certain bands overcome that perception and entering the mainstream instils the fear in some that the sanctity of the genre has been threatened in some sense. Bands who play with the status quo, melding genres and styles, are often railed against ‘not real metal’. The old pillars of the scene – Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc – should of course be lauded and appreciated, but a strict adherence to musical stagnancy is a sure way to kill the genre, not grow it.
For me, metal is an incredible emotional outlet. Hidden behind thick riffs and growling vocals often lies lyrics with intense emotional weight and, dare I say, poetic talent. Intertwined with that raging instrumentation synonymous with the genre, metalheads have an unrivalled avenue to funnel their anxiety, anger, and stress into a listening experience. The world is tumultuous, and oftentimes difficult to navigate, and in the same way many turn to ballads in the wake of a bad break-up, metal provides an avenue to rage against the negative aspects of one’s life.
Metal is far more than just ‘loud music’, though I would be lying if I said I didn’t revel in the aggressive style at times. It is a genre brimming with talent, containing what I view as some of the most creative minds working in music at the moment. The development and diversification of the genre has only led it from strength to strength, with countless people finding a home to call their own within its many subgenres. Metal doesn’t deny your pain or your anger: it accepts it, and hands you the metaphoric baseball bat to let out your frustrations.
2024 has proved that the future of the metal scene is bright, and my only hope for the genre is that bands take a page out of Knocked Loose’s manifesto in staying true to their sound, and as boldly defiant of the naysayers and pearl-clutchers as Bryan Garris was when he declared ‘if it scared you, good’.
