Metal is one of the original ‘Turn that goddamn music down!‘ genres. Between its abrasive tones and its fans’ inclination toward blasting it at obnoxious values during off-peak hours, heavy metal has long been the source of noise complaints from average people just trying to sleep or read their kids a story. But these peace-disrupting riffs usually come from enclosed basements or shitbox Pontiacs — how would average folks react to metal riffs being blasted in public? One YouTuber has decided to find out, playing metalcore riffs in the middle of public squares and tourist avenues.
As you’ll see in the video below, guitarist Ruslan Malyshev takes to the streets armed with a guitar, a lack of fucks given, and the riffs of San Diego metalcore crew As I Lay Dying. Ruslan then chugs out the guitar psrts in public squares while his cameraman films the reactions of onlookers and passerby. Nothing he plays is THAT obnoxious, unless of course you’re a metalcore hater.
Overall, the people around Ruslan seem to dig his output — there are a number of young dudes shouting shit at the camera and smirking old people who enjoy tapping their canes and dancing around to the chainsaw licks. That said, there are also plenty of scowling everyday people and kids who look on with a pained expression of, ‘Why, Ruslan? Why are you doing this?’ Maybe they know about Tim Lambesis!
Check out As I Lay Dying’s “Through Struggle” and “Confined” being blasted in public below:
This, of course, is just one of Ruslan’s ‘Metal In Public’ series — the guitarist also forces innocent bystanders to withstand riffs by Killswitch Engage, Slipknot, and Asking Alexandria. Go ahead and follow his channel, and if you see him in public, maybe toss him a buck or two, or at the very least smile for the camera.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
