For better or worse, TikTok has its hands in everything. Not surprising for an app that has an algorithm custom tailored for all of its users. Never mind how that works, though.

I too frequent the clock app. My For You Page is slap full of heavy metal, stand-up comedy and those weird Ask Reddit posts with someone platforming Minecraft in the background.

The heavy metal part is, naturally, the most accurate thing TikTok gets about me. Within the past year, the app has opened me up to new bands and sound tastes, which is actually pretty awesome. TikTok actually manages to cater to the alternative community the right way, for the most part.

But, for every success the app can claim, it can cause some unfortunate, if unintentional, problems along the way.

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Enter Cruella Morgan, an explosive TikTok star in the alternative scene. She (practically) single-handedly revived a popular song by Pierce The Veil with an original TikTok trend. Check it out here:

That's one of the last times she posted that trend, as she's moved on to other trends, though, she's helped keep her original trend alive by using other songs.

The basic creator's premise of TikTok is to copy trends, so naturally, others jumped on the King For A Day trend behind Cruella. One after the next, pierced, neck-tatted, alternative ladies in all black lip-syncing King For A Day with the flash filter, transitioning between casual looks to makeup and chains.

And to clarify before we get into the meat of this situation, none of this is Cruella's fault, nor anyone that took part in the trend. It's just a weird domino effect.

This trend took over the FYPs for almost anyone in the alternative scene. And even a few that stumbled into a full-on simp-sinkhole.

This trend alone sparked a resurged popularity in the song itself, too. Now, the song was already popular: it was released in 2012, was certified gold in 2014 and platinum in 2020. The song's a banger, and you can check it out below.

 

Still, it's insane for a song to top the Billboard charts a decade after its release.

But TikTok does this sort of thing all of the time, even in metal. Motionless In White just celebrated Another Life hitting gold after three years once the band rocketed in popularity on the app. Bad Omens is another alternative metal band that has seen its first headline tour sell out after Just Pretend trended on the app within the past month, and that song wasn't even a single!

Look at all these great things TikTok does for heavy metal!

Well, that's the thing about trends. They get popular and seep over into scenes that don't understand.

While King For A Day was already a popular song, it overflowed into the playlist of people who are not in the scene.

I'm not trying to be a gatekeeper here, nor is anyone on the app that has seen what the spike in popularity has done. Because the negative effect caught Michigan's own, I Prevail, right in the middle, and that's the only part that isn't fair.

I Prevail is currently in the midst of its first headlining tour. The band kicked things off in August in New Jersey and will finish later this month in Detroit, just around the corner from the band's hometown.

Read More: 8 Kick-Ass Metal Bands from Right Here in Michigan

Joining the band on that tour? Pierce The Veil.

Sure as rain, when Pierce The Veil skyrocketed back into a mainstream view, this would only serve to help I Prevail's ticket sales. And it did.

The problem is, a lot of people bought tickets to these shows to see one band play one song. And then they left.

It's a shame. And this is where the scene aspect of it all comes into play. Metal, goth, emo, punk, whatever: alternative scenes are cut from the same cloth. The little guy matters and music is what brings it all together.

Going to shows is a massive "ritual" of the scene. You stay, and you listen, and you mosh and you pay respect to every band on the flyer, not just the headliner. And certainly not just the opener.

This TikToker nails it:

So, how did I Prevail respond?

How about sharing a video of nearly every girl, goth and guy that did the King For A Day trend doing a similar one for one of their latest songs, Self-Destruction,  on Halloween.

I Prevail, respectfully, haven't complained about the situation. They just keep chugging along on their tour, which will soon end in their hometown. Their latest single Bad Things hit No. 1 on rock radio and the band is using that to maybe swing a gig with the Detroit Lions next Thanksgiving.

Wanna do your part and see Pierce The Veil and I Prevail at The Fillmore in Detroit? Hit the link here to grab your tickets (sold-out show, re-sale tickets only.) Support your local heavy metal band by buying merch at I Prevail's website.

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