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The Webernets

BANG YOUR HEAD (SAFELY)

 Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 3:00pm by

31_head_banging_470x352Even though we try to lay him down by the fire and give him all the good lovin’ he needs, Satan Rosenbloom is a metalholic, and consequently sometimes cheats on us with Decibel or his own blog, Ceberal Metalhead. And we’ve come to live with that. As long he gets tested every now and again, we’re good to go.

ANYWAY, his latest post at the aforementioned Cerebral Metalhead is about the dangers of headbanging – more specifically, the ill effects it can take on one’s neck. Mr. Rosenbloom is currently suffering through his own neck issues (which were, alas, not brought about by headbanging or any other kind of awesomeness), which led him to think about Evansuckence’s Terry Ballsucko, who, I was surprised to learn, was partially paralyzed after a headbanging-induced stroke. (Think about that for a second: HEADBANGING TOO MUCH CAN LEAD TO A FUCKING STROKE. And here we always thought that moshing and stage diving and getting stuck watching In This Moment while waiting for the next band at Hot Topic Fest were the most dangerous aspects of the metal lifestyle.) This, in turn, led him to seek out a British Medical Journal piece about the potentially terrible side effects of headbanging, as well as some tips on making headbanging a safer activity.

Go here to read Satan’s entire piece. It’s actually really, really interesting stuff.

Also, if you have your own headbanging-induced neck injuries, share your story below!

-AR

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  • http://www.twitter.com/schenkeltown SchenkelTown

    Is that guy headbanging with a Nightwish shirt on?

    Fail

    • rachel

      I wondered the same thing. Nightwish is good, but not headbanging music.

      • Biff Tannen

        Nightwish is absolutely fucking horrible. babies die eveytime someone listens to that band.

        • ////////////////////////////

          Nightwish is pure br00tal… not.

          • rachel

            Fallout Boy is clearly more br00tal than every other band in the world. Everybody knows that!

  • poopsmcgee

    neck injuries? i thought you were supposed to headbang with your penis…

  • WowWee!

    Does having long fucking hair and a thick neck and some muscle count as personal equipment? Because I can’t think of anything else that would be personal equipment for headbanging but they might mean bring your own heavy music and some booze so that would mean I’m well equiped either way.

  • Patrick

    Fuck George Fischer is going to have a stoke soon

    • d00shc00gr

      Have you ever talked to the guy? I think it already happened and nobody noticed

      • rachel

        He sounds ok when he does voiceovers on Metalocalypse. Or maybe that’s just damn good sound editing.

  • Noel

    jesus, this is like everyone in the NFL getting in a tizzy cuz of spinal injuries. look, your getting ran into by 300 pound men with some padding on and a jersey on your back. if you dont want to risk gettin hurt, get out from in front of the Steelers frontline, flacco!!!!

  • Joshie

    Yeah, my neck kills me the day after anytime I headbang at a concert. I just kinda except it. I even got a neck massager just for it.

    • jaci

      i call that a ‘bangover.’

      • orbital

        x2

  • http://Www.hibernum.net Hibernum

    Jon Schafer from Iced Earth headbanged too hard and had a serious neck injury. He had to get two vertebrate in his neck fused together.

  • rachel

    If anyone has seen Corey Taylor lately, he has a huge-ass neck. I wonder if he could could give us neck-strengthening lessons so we don’t all hurt ourselves. Just a crazy, random, thought.

    • Sqaarg

      I had like the worst back and neck pain the 2-3 days after seeing Dying Fetus, I couln’t even headbang anymore when CC came up =\

      Weak back and neck muscles ftl.

      • Biff Tannen

        Serves you right. Why the hell would you go see dying fetus?

        • rachel

          So let me get this straight: aren’t you the same one who called Opeth boring? And considering you have expressed hating Nightwish and Dying Fetus, what do you listen to? These three bands are pretty diverse, and hating all of them covers alot of genres, unless Attack Attack! is more your stylings, lol.

  • http://lavidastrangiato.blogspot.com/ Jake Strangiato

    You know, I may love metal with all my heart and soul, but it is true that there are a ton of problems that come with it. Neck injuries, pit injuries, potential deafness (the latter of which I’ll most definitely suffer from later on in life)., but the music makes it all worth it.

    • andy morales

      very true brother same goes here

  • Anthony

    Metal: The only genre of music that requires physical injury in order to enjoy it fully.

    I headbang a lot at concerts, although not as much recently due to avoiding the pit/front area of the stage more these days. And yeah, I usually have a sore neck for a day or 2 afterwards. In fact, after Metallica/Lamb of God last month, I couldn’t move my neck much for 3 days. Thank you Lamb of God.

  • Ryd1ZZ

    I went to the hatebreed/Trivium combo show in LA this weekend and my neck is pretty sore.

    The dude from Cannibal Corpse is a headbanging master! At the show he said “All you head spinners out there try to keep up with me, you will FAIL!” It was awesome!

    • ////////////////////////////

      I guess you’re referring to George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, right?

  • http://www.concatenationrecords.com Kodiak

    Headbanging over the years led me to have a “military neck”, which means that there’s no natural curve in the spine in the neck vertebrae and it leads to having less neck support as you get older. I went to the chiropractor and caught it early enough, so no worries at this point.

    However, I’m on a strict diet of Kenny G and Yanni for the next six months. The horrors!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Brendan-Snow/514886363 Brendan Snow

    My neck, along with the rest of my body, hurt like a bitch for probably a week after seeing 3 inches of blood (fucking awesome) back in october. although my headache could probably be blamed on tequila…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Devon-Czekaj/550092101 Devon Czekaj

    My favorite quote: Headbang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult oriented rock

    • d00shc00gr

      I lol’d as well
      What a silly suggestion, how is that supposed to help me?

  • Austin

    I have a headbanging neck injury story. This one time I was playing GTA and had a playlist going. Then Scavenger of Human Sorrow came on. I’d heard the song a bazillion times, but for some reason this time it really got to me and I decided right then and there that it was the best Death Metal Song EVER! So, by the time the chorus kicked in I was trying to headbang every 16th note which is quite simply impossible. Thus, I pulled something pretty bad in my neck and I couldn’t turn my head correctly for like a week. Still the best headbang I’ve ever done though. Felt great for like the first 2 seconds after the tune was done.

    • Matthew Grant Anson

      Great song.

  • joshkid

    I was having a headbanging session in my room one night (it happens pretty often) and I was going nuts like for a half an hour, intensely headbanging to LOG. After that I literally felt like I’m gonna pass out, so I just laid down on my bed for like 20 minutes and didn’t move. I was pretty freaked out man.
    I was at the Gojira show in Brooklyn and in middle of Vacuity it slows down, and then when it kicks in again I started jumping up and down like crazy in front of the pit when someone slammed me in my back right below my neck. I thought my head was rolling off.
    Still alive and bangin’. Metal Rules. \m/

  • Richard

    When i was first getting into death metal in high school, one of the first shows I saw was Kataklysm (one of my gateway bands). They were Opening for Danzig and I was so excited I headbanged to every song as hard and fast as i possibly could. After the show my neck was completely limp and i threw up on the street twice. Driving home I couldn’t keep my head up to see where I was going because my neck was so fucked up, so my awesome friend held it straight while we drove home. The next two weeks I could not turn my head or look up or down because the muscles were so stiff (tendons were probably completely torn). But i recovered and learned my limits of headbanging.

    Everyone should just copy Jens Kidman from Meshuggah. Not only does it look bad ass but it probably a lot safer. I have frequented this technique at shows before moshing and it seems to just rile things up more. hahaha or people think I am an idiot and attack me.

  • d00shc00gr

    With this information, I’m amazed I made it through high school without paralyzing myself. My friends used to have marathon headbanging contests to see who could do the biggest headbanging for the longest time.

  • SourDeez

    I always get the horrendous headbanging hangover after concerts. This consists of an actual hangover from, you know, whiskey and shit coupled with the worst kind of soreness in my neck and shoulders from thrashing around all night. The worst occurence happened after an Obituary show. I couldn’t keep my head up for days, I had to rest it on my hands all the time. My neck just refused to support my head. The best suggestion from this blog is to headbang on every second beat. Especially during really fast songs. Gotta have that upbang as well as the downbang.

  • Bob

    2 things
    1) I actually herniated a disc in my cervical spine headbanging with an assist from smashing my forhead with a mic repeatedly…duh, I wonders why I is a got hurted?
    anyways, it happens, especially if you are an old fuck hopped up on pain meds, you will break your shit.
    2) I actually saw my bass player have an ischemic brain injury after “gettin after it” particularly hard one night, his face was sagging it was fucking absolutely creepy/scary.
    Lucky for him ignorance is bliss, he was totally calm, he thought it ws his collapsed lung giving him trouble, I tried to tell him that it was assuredly not the case, he brushed me off , saying ” what am I gonna do? stop?no fuckin way” ….ok , you’re the consenting adult with a future in diapers.rock on, sir.
    could all of this been avoided? sure .do we know better? some of us.

  • thedynasty

    I just saw the vocalist from Cannibal Corpse headbang at 100 MPH for about a minute straight. He must be in really bad health these days :(

  • aznmetalchick

    My neck never hurt so much as after seeing Meshuggah. However, those guys are really smart — they headbang not with their necks but with their backs. I kinda do the heavy headnod, which gets very painful. I don’t know if “headbanging” with your back is any better than with your neck, but at least you won’t feel like your neck’s gonna snap. Lol.

  • brandonmetal

    a. hah at the nightwish shirt
    b. well, i guess it’s a good thing i rarely get to see bands to headbang to. arsis in january- over a month away. good metal tours are few and far between, generally.

  • attackmole

    I don’t see people headbang that much at shows. It’s kind of sad. Sometimes I feel weird when I’m the only one going for it, but shit, that’s where I naturally feel the beat of shit–in my neck. Bang till it hurts. That usually doesn’t take long if you’re going at it hard. Then keep going. Eventually, the pain goes away. Then you’re good to headbang the rest of the show. Neck is fucked the next day, though. Sometimes for a few days, if the riffs are that headbangable.

  • SolaceInNothing

    I circle headbang a lot when I do shows. I found that its important to use your shoulders and whole upper back when your doing the motion in order to take the stress off of your neck.

  • Io

    “Conclusion: The study helps to explain why metal concert goers often seem dazed, confused, and incoherent”

    And, in another article, about moshing: “During the set by Lamb of God I was amazed to see what seemed to be a fight breaking out in front of the stage. People were pushing, punching, kicking each other with abandon. I made some enquiries among younger members of the audience, and apparently this is referred to as “moshing.” This must surely represent a greater risk of injury than the more traditional headbanging, and I was glad to see it all stopped once Sabbath took the stage.”

    I loled. Also, I may be wrong (I’m not), but isn’t “circle headbanging” called windmilling?

  • http://www.myspace.com/somethinglikesweet CJ

    lol Bang safely. Awesome.

  • ThisIsNecessary

    Around 5 years ago me and a friend had a headbanging contest(Corpsegrinder windmill style of course) to see who could do the most without falling. I won with over a hundred or so. I felt fine the rest of the night. The next morning, I awoke with a horrendous case of vertigo that lasted for several days. Vertigo is not just slight dizziness by the way, its absolutely insane spinning nonstop every time you even slightly move your head. Results include; vomiting, vomiting, dry heaving, and more vomiting. On top of all this, I HAD A FUCKING QUEEN SIZE WATERBED. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

    My equilibrium is permanently fucked. Even to this day 5 years later every time I look up or down for too long, the brain damage caused by headbanging makes me super dizzy, and is even more horrible if I have slept too long with my head in a horizontal orientation.

    Be careful kids, its not just your neck that you can fuck up. One too many windmills and you may find yourself not being able to go up a ladder without falling off.