Us metalheads can be a finicky breed. Be it frothing at the mouth over whether something should really be considered 'metal' or not in comment sections, or having elaborate discussions over the quality of new releases, it's fair to say we're an impassioned bunch: what can we say, we like having opinions!
A good example of this critical zealousness features on a Reddit Hardcore forum, where fans list the bands they avoided listening to purely based off of a dislike for their names. The message board question poses: "What band did you procrastinate listening to because you were turned off by their name? Were you pleasantly surprised when you gave them a chance? Which bands lived up to their (crappy) name?".
At this time of writing, there's been over 400 responses, with many amusing entries of metalheads listing bands with monickers that they initially found off-putting.
We get it though, a band called Diarrhea Planet won't be for everyone, and such a name doesn't really reflect what they sound like, either. As such, one musician in the forum writes: "Not hardcore, but I was in a band in my 20s and we almost turned down opening for Diarrhea Planet because we hated the name so much. Ended up being some of the coolest guys in the world."
Other band names include Every Time I Die, with a fan declaring that they "Thought their name sounded like generic metalcore". Thankfully, after finally listening to them, "they became my favourite band."
There's also Gel, purely because it made someone think of the hair product, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard (presumably because it's quite a silly name), and Misfits, with one user writing: "Not just the name, in the 80s, I thought the whole Misfits aesthetic was silly, and I did not like the kids who wore their stuff. So I was into punk/hardcore for a few years before I even tried listening to them."
Another user listed Party Cannon, which we also totally get. Sounds like the name of a fairy dress shop, plus, their rainbow bubble font logo isn't particularly very Metal™.
"I thought they had a dumb name and a dumb logo" a metalhead writes. "Then I listened to them and realized that I was the dumb one, they rule ass."
The most surprising band on the list however has to be Korn. While the commenter doesn't give an actual reason, we can kind of see why someone might be put off by the name alone, with the moniker essentially being a misspelt vegetable.
Check out the conversation below:
What band did you procrastinate listening to because you were turned off by their name? from r/Hardcore
