Heavy Metal Music Growing Everywhere

Metal guitarist and Wilmington resident Chris Elliot of the band Omeni.

COLUMBUS — When iconic heavy metal singer Rob Halford of Judas Priest took the stage last Monday night and performed with new wave Japanese heavy metal band Babymetal, many fans in the tradition-soaked genre were surprised.
 But Bowling Green State University anthropologist and pop culture professor Dr. Jeremy Wallach said the collaboration didn’t surprise him at all.
Heavy metal music isn’t just growing in popularity in the U.S., it is growing in worldwide appeal, he says. And with that international growth comes a shift in what defines heavy metal music.
The historic pairing of “old and new” music didn’t surprise Xenia native Chris Elliot of Wilmington or music blogger Jonathan Williams of Washington Court House, either.