Another aspect of that is the established behavior of loose sex and copious ingestion of drugs and alcohol. This is lent an air of "cool" by being much frowned upon by the establishment, so you can't really not do it, can you?
It seems to me that true rebellion would be to set your mind free, not to do the opposite of what somebody wants, otherwise you're still simply reacting.
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[Note, as TTL points out, Arch Enemy is not what many consider real heavy metal, but one of the many offsprings of it.]
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I'm watching an interesting documentary about heavy metal music, and there is one of the most powerful lead singers I've seen in the genre, and it's a girl! Awesome.
Angela Gossow her name is, and right after you've seen this apocalyptic beast on stage they cut to an interview with this intelligent and pretty woman with a sweet woman's voice, and you can't believe it's the same person. (Interviews.)
Rock on.
-(Lyrics.)
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I'm watching an interesting documentary about heavy metal music, and there is one of the most powerful lead singers I've seen in the genre, and it's a girl! Awesome.
Angela Gossow her name is, and right after you've seen this apocalyptic beast on stage they cut to an interview with this intelligent and pretty woman with a sweet woman's voice, and you can't believe it's the same person. (Interviews.)
Rock on.
-(Lyrics.)
But she has a tattoo, so clearly she is possessed by demons.
ReplyDeleteI hope her stage voice is electronically processed, because otherwise that sweet woman's voice won't last very long.
I don't see that band belonging to the genre of heavy metal. I love heavy metal, but Arch Enemy, in this sample at least, is just simplistic and idiotic rage.
ReplyDeleteHeavy metal is generally considered to have been invented by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, those two being also the most defining examples of the genre. Only a small part of what you write applies to Sabbath and Zep. The intention with heavy metal was not rebel as such, but to create something new musically - a more powerful and dynamical expression. Sadly heavy metal hasn't developed much in the recent decades. Metallica hardly brings to the table anything we haven't already heard or seen.
Your description applies to the punk movement of the 1970s. That genre was based 100% on rebel against the authorities and the establishment. The current death metal style bands, such as Arch Enemy, have the attitude of punk with some playing skills.
Also, carrying "satanistic symbols" does not make them satanistic. What they'd like to imply is satan worshipping, a different concept altogether, but very few bands are truly that.
The bands that are satanic do not necessarily display any symbols to that effect. Think Rolling Stones at their hayday, for example.
Right, this is one of the many off-springs to heavy metal. (Ministry belongs to yet another one, "industrial metal".)
ReplyDeleteI think the development is there, rather than in the basic style.
The musical style may be more basic than the rebellion, at least for the serious bands.
And yet, Black Sabbath guitarist said in the docu that what they liked was the "evil" sound. Seems to me deliberate embrace of "evil" is a rebellion.
There's certainly merit in the idea of reveling in your guilt should you do something society deems unacceptable. However, the embrace of "evil" is not itself rebellion; it is accepting the shadow and, through that, the true self.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that that's what Black Sabbath intended. My point is that living true to one's own convictions is never rebellion, though rebellion is often (perhaps always) an expression of that choice. Whether they use the labels good and evil or something else entirely, those who have clarity are always outcasts in a world where most live their lives in a fog.
Yeah. For a deeper discussion we might need to define our terms. But that might be a huge task in itself.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, I think all rock music is rebellious. Even Elvis rebelled against the establishment, though he did it unintentionally. Something about the music just sorta brings it out.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with a lot of what you're saying. Ironically, being anti-establishment can become an institution in itself sometimes. The whole pretending to worship Satan thing seems silly to me, it's like choosing one form of slavery over another. But to be fair, drugs aren't nearly as "cool" as they were once considered to be.
"and there is one of the most powerful lead singers I've seen in the genre, and it's a girl!"
ReplyDeleteSeriously? No offense, but there's thousands of singers that sound exactly like that. Personally, I'm bored with all the screamy junk. I'm ready for singers to go back to, ya know, singing.
"Metallica hardly brings to the table anything we haven't already heard or seen."
Aside from creating thrash almost singe-handedly? If you're talking about their more popular songs, I can kinda see your point, but I think people tend to forget Metallica's been around for a long time. They weren't always the most famous metal band on the planet.
Just watched this cool vid and AMAZING musicians. Thought I'd post here for you. :-D
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