And people above a certain age! ;-)

Or people below a certain age.

Considering this is an artform that peaked in '83, I'd say you're keeping out people below a certain age.

edit: Really downvotes?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_in_heavy_metal_music

I think that this is definitely contentious given that many of the best bands that formed that year didn't peak until much later. Death's best album, for example, is probably either Leprosy or Human, which are both from several years later.

Also, Stryper were formed that year, which is an automatic black mark for me (no offence to Stryper fans intended, it's definitely a matter of personal taste...). And why is Bon Jovi in a list of heavy metal?

From the list of albums released, I see a lot of cheese and a few classic albums, with some degree of overlap. It's not very impressive to me personally. Electric Wizard and Nile won't even form for another decade, Immolation won't start putting out their most important work until '96, Emperor until '91-ish. Actually, I find 1991 or 1993 way more convincing personally:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_in_heavy_metal_music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_in_heavy_metal_music

I still reject the idea that metal has peaked yet.

Are you maybe a NWOBHM/Speed metal fan? I could definitely agree with that style peaking in the early-mid '80s.

I beg to differ on Death's best album. I would say they realized their true style on Human and peaked with Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic.

The only band I came across in this fun captcha project that dates back that far is Saint Vitus. So in conclusion, there is no way metal peaked in '83. I'd say '94 myself.

I'd say there is no way it peaked in 83 considering how vast it has become since then. 2004 is probably the high point for my personal favorite genre, power metal, for example (big releases from Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot, Angra, and Edguy that year).

Thrash didn't even take off until a couple of years later though :P My personal favorite era was the late 80's/early 90's when the thrash bands started getting heavier and death metal was on the rise.

Whether it peaked in '83 or not, I'd still say that most metalheads are older. That is at least consistent with what I see at all of the shows I go to.

The first thing I learned about metal fans is that, for metal fans, metal is serious business.

I would say 1990. Because Painkiller is the most metal album ever ...