iMETAL

You know how I know things aren’t all terrible in the metal world right now? The people who run iTunes think there’s enough money to be made that they’ve now created an entire metal section.

Our friend Jen Guyre wrote a piece about the latest addition to iTunes for Noisecreep last week, but I only just it saw myself for the first time this morning. And while, yes, iTunes is kinda lame, it’s really not that bad.

The emphasis, it should go without saying, is on larger releases – new albums from Slayer and Baroness, oldies from Maiden and the umpteenth reissue of Anthrax’s Among the Living, as though that makes up for yet another year without a new studio recording from the band – but I also saw a Fenriz Red Planet/Nattefrost split, a free video download from Halestorm (who I don’t like but I know a lot of you do), and a “classic metal albums for $7.99” deal, which offered everything from recent releases by 3 Inches of Blood and Kreator to classic albums by Sepultura and Gorgoroth. In other words: they’re not dicking around, and unless you’re talking about making fundamental changes to iTunes overrall, I’m not sure how you would much improve this new feature.

Like it or not, iTunes is where a shit ton of people legally purchase their music these days, and I’m inclined to believe that includes at least some tech-saavy kids who a) aren’t downloading everything illegally for whatever reason but b) really don’t care about physical product, which they view as an antiquated technology. Something like an iTunes metal section could ultimately help spread metal to future generations.

Click here to launch the page and do some explorin’. Then weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR