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Poll

POLL: TATTOOS IN METAL — COOL OR LAME?

 Friday, July 23rd, 2010 at 12:00pm by

As you all know, metalheads are a tattooed bunch. Especially since the year 2000, it seems like becoming heavily tattooed has become the norm rather than the exception. So when I saw this Sailor Jerry contest looking for aspiring female models who are tattooed, I got to thinking — has it really gotten to the point where so many folks are tattooed that it’s totally feasible to run a big contest like this? And then I got to thinking… are tattoos even considered cool anymore? If so many people have them, are they really the badge of originality they purport to be? Lord knows, all those C-tier metalcore and deathcore bands with tattoos from head to toe are gonna hella regret that shit years down the road when they’re all faded and their skin is all saggy and nasty.

So, what do you think? Are tattoos cool or are they lame?

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  • Pat

    The nation’s blood supply mourns…

    • Cath

      Where have you been? As long as you were tattooed/pierced in a licensed/health code compliant shop, you can still give blood. I’ve done so several times since getting my first tattoo.

  • soy el niño más bonito

    who cares? if you want a tattoo, get one, if you don’t, don’t.

    • Yixin

      1

    • tattoosucks

      - 1

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ian-Pravata/622147016 Ian Pravata

    The great thing about tattoos is that unlike corduroy bellbottoms, or fanny packs, or Crocs, or MC Hammer pants, or even body piercings, you can’t just stop wearing your tattoos. So people who have ‘em will continue to “wear” them, and in the past 10 years everybody got one. They kind of can’t ever go out of style.

    • Vlygar

      Well, actually, tattoos aren’t as permanent as they used to be. I know atleast two people who have had tattoos removed. Being a sober 18 year old does not guarantee that your tattoo will be a good design.

      • Glorious Johnson

        lol yea just ask the kid in my town who used to be a straight edge asshole and got 3 huge x’s tattooed on his leg and now hes an pot smoking beer drinking asshole

        • no-ghost

          I also have many friends who have x’s and shit tattooed on them who drink and do drugs like the rest of us. But its all in how you take it, he uses it as a reminder of his youth and what got him through that time period. I would personally in fact take an old x tattoo over a tribal tattoo.

  • DemonicLemming

    Most don’t mean shit because people get them to look like everyone else. I don’t think a lot of the teenagers getting full sleeves realise that the ink is still going to be there when they’re 75, it’s going to look like absolute shit, and unless they plan on wearing long-sleeve shirts for the rest of their lives, they’re fucked.

    Oh, and if you get “Cunt Puncher” tattooed across your throat in high school, don’t expect a whole lot of places to hire you in the real world. True story.

    • cougar party

      I’ve heard that people with “Cunt Puncher” tattooed across their neck have been disproportionately affected by the recession.

    • Axem

      Yes at 75 my tattoos are gona look like shit … just like the rest of my body! So I really dont give a shit…

      • no-ghost

        agreed, my responses to those kinds of comments (which are rare these days with everyone having at least a tattoo) are usually in the lines of that.By the time my skin is that saggy where my tattoos would be affected by it, ill be like 79 years old, thats if I make it that far,

  • nick

    When I was in highschool 1993-1997 only a handful of people had tats and they usually only had 1 or 2. Back than tats were mostly for bikers or gang members with a few random people having a couple here and there. Now every 18 year old kid is covered in tats, I mean its okay if they are done well, but 90 percent of them are lame and I am sure will be regretted when they get older. You are not making much of a statement of individuality when you have starts tatted on your or you have a tribal or something gay. Plus people change alot from that age of 18 on. and alot of these kids getting tats when they are younger are going to regret them when they get older.

    • nick

      *stars

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew-Sterner/1335958279 Andrew Sterner

        Also, it’s always good to look up any meanings behind what the tattoos may mean in other cultures. Star tattoos on the shoulders are a VERY good way to ensure your band will never have any shows in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

        Having that said, tattoos can be trendy like everything else(tribal bands, stars, et al), but they aren’t in themselves trendy. If someone’s expressing their individuality and getting something that represents who they are as a person, that’s as far from lame as it gets.

        It just depends. Trendy tattoos are never cool, but tattoos themselves are always cool IMO.

    • dan

      yea i agree man. i was working construction last summer and there was dude on the job in his mid-40′s and he had just gotten out of jail and I mean he was a bad dude. he just looked like a bad dude. and he has one or two tattoos that by now had completley faded. they were typical big tittied mermain and shit like that. and than i started thinking that there was a time when having a tattoo was like a legit warning sign. it basically meant “im a bad dude and dont fuck with me” but now every dork i know has at least 1 tattoo. for christ sake my friend is a high school guidance counselor and he has a sleeve down his wrist, pretty weak man

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Farhaad-Esfandiary/501309890 Farhaad Esfandiary

    I like good tattoos. Doesn’t matter if they’re in metal or not.

  • SouthFL Infidel

    I think tattoos are cool, but if you were to ask me “hey, did you notice that bass player’s tattoo?” I would say no…every metal artist/fan has them so I don’t notice them really.

    On an unrelated note, the guy who is doing some cover-up work for me also did matching portrait-sleeves for Tom Araya and his wife, so that gets me like what, +.05 metal-cool-points? I’ll take ‘em when I can get ‘em!

  • SouthFL Infidel

    What is the most un-metal tattoo on a metal-artist? That would be an interesting topic. I know Brann Dailor has a John Travolta/Saturday Night Fever tattoo on his leg…that’s gotta be right up there.

    • Vlygar

      Angel wings on the back shoulder blades.

    • Axem

      The most un-metal tattoo must be something along the lines of spider webs on elbows, sleeves full of fucking japanese fish and pretty much any generic-kinda-cliché tattoo out there…

      If your going to have a tattoo done, get something original that represents your personnality.

      John Travolta on your leg .. its pretty fucking metal to me..

  • Raoul Dukenstein

    Nick- Werd. Tattoos are a wonderful way to showcase great art, and sometimes, a great body. The sad thing is when these fucking lamecores want the look and the assumed prestige instead of the statement and intent behind great art. We can tell by your angel wings on your tits, your stars on your neck, and your shitty dragons and skulls.

    • no-ghost

      what do you do if you have had all those types of designs prior to them being cliche’ and popular? I know its a smart ass remark on my behalf, just asking what about those people who have been getting tattooed prior to the tattoo “boom”. besides dragons those have always been white trash. ha

  • Dysenteric

    All tattoos eventually embarrass their owners (and if they don’t, they should). Especially tribal tattoos. Seems an odd way to express your “individuality”.

    One can only wonder what Mitch Lucker and other deathcore frontmen will think of their marked skin in twenty years’ time.

    • El Peras

      nah…I don’t think that’s true, some people got tattos with a real story behind it, mine is not the best in the world, but I got to design it and it really makes people ask me about its meaning, tribals are trendy, same as (I think) skulls, dices, spiderwebs and a long etc…

    • cougar party

      I don’t think all tattoos embarrass their owners (coming from a guy with no tattoos), i know a lot of people with some pretty cool shit tattooed.

      However, tribal tattoos are hilariously retarded because they mean nothing and the only reason you see them everywhere is because it was a huge fad in the early 2000s; now they are just stupid.

    • cougar party

      Also, Japanese words are really stupid. Unless of course you are Japanese. However, I only see them on stupid white chicks.

      • Genial Gentile

        LOL @ kanji characters on white chicks who think they say “peace” and “harmony” and it really says “cum dumpster.”

    • Vinsanity

      if they actually mean something there is nothing wrong with it. i got a celtic cross that looks like an x on my shoulder thats pretty fuckin intricate, mostly b/c i would like to add symbols/deities/gods from all or many religions, just to represent the beliefs of man. i dont conform to any, but understand the similarities and the end goals are all the same. also, im a fallen catholic (if you would call it that) with some irish so there’s that connection. i def got the tat long after i had lost all faith in some special paradoxical infinite personified being.

  • deeds

    i think they’re alright, only as long as they are done tastefully. sometimes they can go waaaaaaaaaaay overboard.

  • orbital

    Tribal tattoos, Chinese characters and tattoo television shows are not cool.

    In the words of my tattoo artist: Good tattoos ain’t cheap, and cheap tattoos ain’t good.

    • the hate machine

      I disagree. I think overall most tattoo artists price themselves to the point where greed has set in. Just like most of this country’s businesses feeling the need to have 400-500% profit margins has killed off the economy. I put out reasonable priced work and dont try to make a house payment off of every tattoo i do. Some of these artists charge thousands an hour for their work. It costs next to nothing in materials to tattoo. there is no need for greed.

      • Dirtman73

        It’s especially bad when you live in a hipster/college town like I do. Even the shittiest tattoo artists here overcharge for the most basic one- or two-color designs, and they get away with it because every idiot here wants to look like a rock star. $80 for a small b&w palm tat? I don’t fucking think so.

      • orbital

        Thousands an hour? Srsly? My guy charges $150/hr and tattoos out of a well respected shop here.

  • Ed Barranger

    i love tattoos. i have one and plan on getting (just a few) more. as long as they hold some sort of meaning or represent something you really love. i have a BTBAM tat on my ribs because they’ve been my favorite band for about 6 years now and i know i’m never going to stop listening to them.

    • deanerhead

      What if you go deaf?

    • Satanicbrutality

      What if BTBAM starts playing polka?

      • no-ghost

        what if btbam aren’t a good band

    • PaulterA

      I’ll never get a band name tat. You never know if they’ll puss out and you have to leave them behind. (COUGH!metallicaCOUGH!)

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew-Sterner/1335958279 Andrew Sterner

        Eh, A friend of mine has Dime tattooed on his inner bicep. There’s ALWAYS exceptions to the rule.

  • Cryzthormagnusian

    I think in general I dislike tattoos simply because most people put no thought into what they are getting and how they are placing it. There are way to many nautical stars out there.

  • nick

    What is the obsession with having a tattoo mean something? I’m all for tattoo’s that just plain look cool but ascribing some meaning to them is just bizarre. Do you really need to be reminded of a special person or event or whatever kind of non-sense is already bouncing around in your head when you look down at your arm or chest?

    “Like, the heart represents my kid and the arrow through it is the day his father won custody”. fuck that shit.

    • cougar party

      Yeah, i think whole “they all have special meaning” things is a bit silly. Sure, they might mean something, but let’s be honest, you got them because you thought it looked cool.

    • Brendan

      Ha, yes. I agree, nothing makes me more uncomfortable than people describing the significance behind their tattoos – that trend, I believe, sprung out of those corny white-trash tattoo shows on TV. I have tattoos that mark places in my life ; however, I wouldn’t ever share the gory details with a stranger on the street – as far as the public is concerned, my tattoos are there for the sake of them being there.

      Also, to whomever believes tattooed people will be ashamed of their artwork in the future – I think you’re wrong. After a certain period of time and after collecting dozens of tattoos, you get so used to them being on your body, you don’t think twice about it – almost like you’ve always looked that way.

      • Glorious Johnson

        this, all tattoos end up having some kind of meaning tho even if it just reminds you of the place you were at in life when you got it

    • Axem

      Getting a tattoo done .. any tattoo really, can have a meaning. My brother got a tat done after getting divorced and the tattoo dosnt show him and his ex-wife with a broken heart …

    • Monkey Knife Fight

      I’m kind of with you part way on that. For people who think a while before getting them, they will invariably mean something. But I fucking hate having to explain the meaning to anyone else. I’ve got a couple of abstract designs done on me and they can whatever anyone wants them to mean. I couldn’t give a fuck about anyone else’s meaning.

  • Matt S

    I worked at a tattoo shop for a couple years when I was going to college. Most of mine were free, or very close to it. Didn’t have a reason not to get more than a few scabs while I was there.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Robson/1375985482 Ben Robson

    i’d get a tattoo if there were any physical image i couldn’t imagine looking completely ridiculous on me at age sixty.

    • Brendan

      We are all going to look ridiculous in our sixties. I never understood why people are so concerned with being old and tattooed. You’re going to be ugly when you’re old, you might as well be ugly and decorated.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Robby-Steuer/518113596 Robby Steuer

        lol they just repeat things people told them.

  • Ted

    Neck Tattoo = awful

  • Girth Brooks

    I dig the art, but every douche has them so I don’t really care. Mike Tyson has a bitchin’ face tat though. And he’s not crazy. At all. For most people that means McD’s will be their lifelong employer.

  • Agony

    Do you realize that when you become so anti-scene, that you have, in fact joined another group instead? Think for yourfuckingselves. Don’t like tattoos because lots of people have them now and it’s become socially acceptable? Then you’re a twat. Most people may be idiots, but that doesn’t mean that everyone that gets tattoos is an idiot or that there’s no significance to them about their ink. I’m not telling you to do it–if it’s not for you, then it’s not for you. But some of you seem like you’re trying to be cool by going against the grain. Whatever. I don’t give a shit what anybody but me thinks about my ink. And by the way, tattooing is a really old artform. Historically, there’s usually been meaning behind getting inked. If you still think it’s stupid, that’s fine, but once you start making general insults about people that do it thoughtfully, I reserve the right to call you a dickhole.

    • Brendan

      Haha, yes. I think its cool that tattoos are becoming more widely accepted by society. I also think the degree to which that is true is blown way out of proportion. I live in a big city, lots of people here are pretty covered up; however, when I leave the big city I still get a lot of funny looks.

      Also, “Tattoos are lame because everyone has them” is just as silly as “Tattoos are cool because no one has them.” Get over it, do what you want!

      • Monkey Knife Fight

        Tattoos are lame because everyone has them” is just as silly as “Tattoos are cool because no one has them.” Get over it, do what you want!

        True words. Tick to both of you.

        • krunkulor5000

          lame, their not exciting anymore lol the thrills gone

  • Gecko

    I figure to each their own on this one. I have a few tattoos, and just put down a deposit for my next one. Yes, they have meaning, and I’m very careful about what I have put on my body, but at the same time I don’t go around telling people what they’re all about (except for when my girlfriend asked, so I told her). The art looks nice, it matters to me, and that’s pretty much it. But I definitely think that too many guys and girls have gone way overboard and done it just for the sake of it without a lot of thought, and it makes the whole thing look cheap.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Sean-Heron/9391234 Ryan Sean Heron

    I don’t get tattoos because of what other people might think. I don’t get them because I think they’re gonna make me look cool. I get tattoos because I like tattoos and I want to put art on my body. It’s not about anybody else’s perception of me. It’s for me and me alone. I could give a flying fuck if anybody else thinks its “cool” or not.

  • loganarchy

    You know, several years ago, in my Revolver-reading days, I thought that EVERY metal musician had tattoos. If you wanted to be in that scene you had to have a tattoo.

    Now I have come to realize that only nu metal, metalcore, and deathcore musicians have tattoos. Sure, there’s exceptions (Slayer and Mastodon), but for the most part, tattoos are fucking lame. Tattoos are for poseurs.

    • msv81

      “Now I have come to realize that only nu metal, metalcore, and deathcore musicians have tattoos”

      Wow, if ever there was an over-generalization of something.

      I’m sure you’re abolutely right, though. No way any jazz musician or classical pianist or rapper has tattoos. Or for that matter, it must be true that no power metal, black metal, hair metal, or grunge musicians have tattoos, either.

      You, sir, are an idiot. And I’ve found that the people who generally coin others as “posers” are in fact projecting their own insecurities onto others. Did mommy and daddy forbid you from getting that tattoo you wanted when you were 15, thus making you a bitter little fruitcake?

      • loganarchy

        well yeah it was a bit of a generalization. I meant that most metal musicians who have tattoos are of those genres I mentioned.

        I don’t why I’m replying to you, though…

  • Satanicbrutality

    Tattos put the DO in douche….

  • the hate machine

    As a Tattoo Artist for the past 21 years i can tell you that personally so many people have sleeves that it has become boring now to have heavy coverage. Why fill your body up all at once? In the 90′s it was tribal and every douche on the planet had them. Then Barbed wire was the douchey thing to get. Now its nautical stars everywhere. there is no individuality if everyone in a demographic has them.Just means you all look like you bought the same douchey shirt from kmart. Even if it is quality ink. I tattoo and i dont even personally want a sleeve anymore its not anything to set you apart. Same goes with piercings except sleeves and large work is a fad that will stay with you forever. You can have them removed but it costs waaaaay more than it did to get the tattoo and takes several sessions to finish it. Supposedly there is new ink on the market that only lasts a few years and is absorbed by the skin. I personally havent seen it. PS the black light ink will straight up give you cancer and should be avoided.

    • Monkey Knife Fight

      Fuck yes. I like sleeves. I like sleeves a lot, but it spins me out seeing ‘kids’ with full sleeves. TAKE YOUR FUCKING TIME CHILDREN! Your skin will still be there in five years/ten years/twenty fucking years.

      I don’t think getting tattoos is something one necessarily regrets, but getting full sleeves at age 19 is something you’ll likely regret. Not cause you have tattoos but because it means you won’t be able to get any new work at age 35.

  • msv81

    Tattoos can swing either way; on the one hand, when done tastefully, a tattoo is a genuine piece of art. On the other hand, if someone gets a tattoo to maintain a certain social status or personal image – i.e. to “fit in” to a group, such as metal heads or punk rockers – while not putting much thought into what they’ve chosen to (semi) permanently brand themselves with, the concept loses all meaning. If a person gets ink in order to “look cool” or whatever, that’s retarded as well.

    I actually just got my first tattoo a few weeks ago, it’s an image full of symbolism that has a lot of personal meaning to me. I had the artwork picked out since I was fifteen years old but waited for a very long time before making the final decision to have it done (I’m currently 28, meaning I pondered it for thirteen years). I wanted to make sure I was absolutely certain before having it done and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. It is a slippery slope, however, as I am already planning to have a second one done in about six months. I have two or three different images to choose from and I have to think about where the next one will go (the first was done in the middle of my upper back, between my shoulder blades, from what my friends who have tat’s told me, I went all out with it considering how big it is – I know a lot of people go with something small to start out with). Ultimately, I don’t want to end up with full sleeves or anything of that nature, but I do plan on getting at least two more in the next several years.

    • boner sniffer

      why are you sharing your plans for a tattoo? im pretty sure no one cares what you do to yourself.

  • Meathead

    Browse some galleries of Maria Brink. Notice the sleeve on the right arm. Then notice it on the left? How many fake tattoos are out there, just as a gimmick to garner interest?

  • http://www.myspace.com/palehorseofhell lord assenfroth

    my wifes tattoo’s are hot and they keep my boner going, and i like my tattoos alot too. but other people with tattoos dont really matter to me. they are a personal thing really, if someone gets them to participate in a fad, they will regret them and look stupid.

    • Dirtman73

      So you’re saying you get a boner when you look at your own tattoos?

  • PaulterA

    A good rule of thumb if you’re not positive about having a certain tat design on you for years is that when you decide on a design (which should take a lot of planning by the way. Pointing at the flash art in a shop and saying “I want that one!” is not enough thinking) you should keep it in your pocket for a few months and take it out at least twice a day and look at it. If you get sick of looking at it at all, then don’t put it on your skin.

  • VyceVictus

    It is a little disheartening when people tell me, “you’re metal, why don’t you have any tatoos or peircings?”, like im supposed to as it gives me my “cred”.
    I do have this giant horizontal scar on my forearm from a drunken kegger years ago though. I did it on purpose, and although I was never in any danger, it was admitedly a very stupid thing to do. I just sorta liken it to how the old sailors of eras past got sloshed during shoreleave (im currently in the service) and end up with some regrettable shitty tatoo on their arms. I kinda dig it though. K-bar scar looks better than a tribal tat to me.

    • Vinsanity

      metal is about not conforming to a template, so anyone who has any preconceived notions as to what a metal head should look like, completely defeats the purpose of being a metal head in the first place. i hate people like that. we call them sheeple.

  • But I thought I could get a tattoo removed, well live with your mistake

    Well, if you can live with the shit forever. Your going to look fucking stupid if you have a band tattoo and you don’t listen to the band anymore.

    It’s like where their T-shirt all the time, only it not clothing.

  • Vinsanity

    oh ya i could see me getting lyrics tattoed. like the faceless’ “there is no truth, only a perspective. we must transcend the illusion. breaking the barricade of infinite cognizance.” i mean something as deep as a more relative/subjective outlook on life tattoed on someone seems fuckin awesome to me.

  • Robotscythe

    If you’re getting tattoos for the right reasons, then it doesn’t matter if people think it’s lame or not.

    My only gripe is it’s become way too trendy of a thing to do. When you have douche’s like John Mayer getting sleeved, something has gone wrong.

  • krunkulor5000

    tats r lame now, i rarely see any goodones worthy to be considered good and orinigal art. Plus i dont even need em to show individuality cause at a metal show i’m the just about the only mothafucka without any. Its not the fear of pain or whateva its “EVERYBODYS GOT ONE” even if the design in mind is orinigal, if cool enough “EVERYBODY WILL GET A BA%%%*** with wires going to B*&&*$$#@!#*, copycat assholes. funny how showing ur individuality mostly consists of getting the pre drawn shit they already have on the walls or “yea like that guys”. whatever, heheh i’ll just put some stock into tat removal and profit on dumbasses who only do shit to “look brutal” i know not all are guilty of this but wayyyyyyyy too many are. Keep it up and make me rich wakofs :)