Science Fiction Isn’t So Fictional Anymore…

Sometimes I think science fiction has already caught up with us. That everything we once thought was purely the product of someone’s literary genius is no longer as utopian as we used to believe. The future has caught up with us, and it seems that with each passing day, it leaves us behind, casting human dignity aside.
Perhaps for younger people, the present and all its technological advances (AI included) come as no surprise. They’ve basically grown up with a phone in their hand. For those of us with gray hair, at some point all this technological progress overwhelms us a bit. Some may become numb or robotic, but the reality is that the future is here—no more, no less.
We’ve seen how, supposedly, humanity has reached such a degree of technological evolution that it makes our daily lives easier, allows for instant communication from anywhere on the planet, and gives us everything we want in a matter of seconds. It’s truly crazy when you think about it. But has humanity really evolved? Are we sure?
And this isn’t an anti-everything stance, nor is it the typical “the past was better” speech; rather, it’s a good time to reflect. Something that’s been lost lately—and that all this technology has been eating away at—is thought and reasoning, the tools that define us as human beings.
It sounds paradoxical, but a good example helps us realize it. Before smartphones existed, we were able to remember at least 10 phone numbers of different personal contacts. Today we don’t even remember our own phone number because of smartphone address books that let us save people—not just numbers. Are we losing the ability to think, to solve problems, to memorize?
And speaking of thinking, there’s that very current mindset, that state of constant paranoia, and the mix includes flat-earthers, genocide deniers, extreme right-wingers turned quasi-Nazis, defenders of irrelevant causes, anti-vaxxers, anti-rights activists, anti-everything types, and so on. Everyone follows the herd without thinking, and without reasoning. The thing is, we let some influencer or some social media clown do it for us. Unbelievable.
In fact, sometimes I think it’s curious that people talk about vaccines but not about the trendy drugs used to numb the mind, the soul, and the spirit. It’s no coincidence. These days, it’s normal that for any kind of anxiety, depression, etc., the solution is some kind of pill. When there are no answers, drugs to calm various anxieties and try to fix life are the driving force for many, and little by little, they eat away at your mind—and life itself. Sad but true!
In other words, it’s not just technology that’s eating away at our brains. It’s also the promotion of drugs to soothe various problems, creating dependency, and ultimately solving nothing. Our lives slip away on trivialities; we entertain ourselves with nonsense, and our minds and souls are numbed. Meanwhile, it’s impossible not to recall the words of Christ, which, yes, are in the Bible: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”; no other religion or belief system achieves that. Only believing in Christ. As simple as that, even if it sounds like a paradox.
And if we have lost the ability to think, I believe we have also lost our creative ability. Let’s pause for a moment to think about why we shouldn’t apply this question to the current state of the metal scene? Hand on heart, how many of the new bands have something to say or offer something new, musically and lyrically speaking? The vast majority stick to what they know or understand, what might generate some media buzz, and that results in 200 bands that all sound more or less the same. Are we losing our creative capacity?
And that’s when the thorny issue of AI in music comes up—which, unfortunately, is a tool that many rely on, use, and abuse to record vocals, various instruments, and even to compose and mix audio!!! And sometimes it’s very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to studio-recorded material. We’re committed to real music, created and performed by human beings, but we have to admit that it’s hard to tell when AI is involved in the creation and recording process.
The field of music distribution is also complicated. Physical albums hardly sell anymore. That’s the sad reality. Only a few of us (like us) are dedicated to seeking out, acquiring, and promoting recorded music in physical format, keeping an old legacy alive, but the reality is that the algorithm wins by a landslide, and today the focus seems to be on digital releases since nobody buys or supports physical releases (which do have their costs, it must be said). People prefer to open their favorite streaming platform and listen to individual songs, in a sort of slapdash compilation with crappy sound quality. It seems nobody is interested in listening to a complete work on a full album—and, by the way, supporting the artist or band. Then some people go on and on about supporting Metal. Same old story.
And I’m not going to weigh in on other media outlets, but we chose the harder path: spreading Metal through a digital medium, like many others, but by writing, thinking, and trying to do something different. We’re not about copy-pasting or showing off. Nor do we ridicule ourselves on social media; we only use it to promote this webzine, news, reviews, and the various articles we publish. We’re driven by the old spirit of the underground, where things were figured out on the fly, and even with little money and resources, the scene was promoted with a lot of effort and passion. Some people will read us; others will just glance at a headline and keep scrolling—we don’t care. We love to write, and there’s always someone, like us, who loves to read, learn about the scene, discover new projects and bands, and above all, think.
Technology is welcome, but may it never, ever overtake us. Let’s never stop being human, even if we fail time and time again. Thinking and acting differently makes us distinctly more human.
June is coming, another month, and as always, we have several albums to review and publish, various articles, and everything else you know you can find on our website/zine. Always raising the Metal flag high, and supporting the scene!!!
Thanks to everyone who follows and supports us; we’ll catch up next month. Long live Heavy Metal and the true warriors of Metal!!!!!