The Mercy For Animals Facebook page has posted a video where ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz explains why being vegan is definitely metal.
“So, I’ve been vegan for over 20 years now. I was vegan before I ever started in music,” Alissa says in a clip. “I’ve never eaten meat in my life. I grew up in a completely vegetarian household, so going vegan was just like the logical next step.
“And when I started doing music, there was nothing that I wanted to talk about more than animal rights. And so I was now using this heavy, passionate form of music to sort of convey a message that I wanted to. When I’m screaming in my band, I feel like I’m screaming for the voiceless. And I can’t imagine being that loud if I had nothing to say.
“Being female, being vegan and also being straight edge in the metal world is just a combination of targets on my forehead that make it really easy for me to get singled out or pushed around. But those are just things that are so much a part of who I am that I couldn’t change them even if I wanted to. And I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t change for anyone.
Alissa adds: “In my opinion, metal is all about rebellion — it’s about carving your own path, thinking against what everyone’s trying to make you think. And veganism is the ultimate form of rebellion, because you are literally taking things that people have told you are normal that deep down inside you don’t think are normal that you’ve been conditioned to accept about your day-to-day tasks, like eating or what you wear or what you choose to buy.
“Everyone says that that’s normal, that you need to exploit other living beings for those things, but you don’t. And so taking a stand against that is what veganism is. And that is really metal.”
