The most extreme black metal

Chapters one and two of Extreme Metal introduce the fundamentals of extreme metal. This term can be interchanged with black metal, death metal, or thrash metal. This type of music uses the "tritone," or the devils music. For hundreds of years, the catholic church banned the use of the tritone in any type of music. This is reason why we feel like this sound is so dark, because they were deemed inappropriate for so long. One of the things that I found so interesting was the fact that the majority of extreme metal's audience is predominately white, suburban youth. I think that this makes perfect sense. At this age, teens are trying to find an identity. They are confused going through adolescence and trying to figure out who they are. On top of this, they are living in a dull, boring place. They aren't living in the hustling city, they are just living in the mundane suburbs. Because of this, they develop some anger and rage which comes out in their music and style of music they listen to.

Another topic presented in the readings was the idea of transgression and globalization. I think these two topics go hand in hand. Metal is a very transgressive musical style to begin with. "Transgression, like extremity, implies a sense of testing and crossing boundaries and limits" (Harris 29). Metal has always tried to cross boundaries and limits starting with the early stage metal bands. Starting with Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple, bands tried to take the heavy sound one step further. After progressing this heavy sound for decades, extreme metal was finally born. That is the nature of the music. Once a band cannot make a new sound, they usually just die out.

Another thing I thought was so interesting was the relationship between the "musical side" and the "commercial side." "The scene has a 'musical side' and a 'commercial side' but the relationship between the two is confused" (Harris 14). I think that the the commercial side can overstep the boundary of the musical side. A lot of times when bands get signed to a major label, they loose sight of their musical focus and they start making music just to make money. This happens more often an not and usually bands start making terrible music because of it. I am not sure if this happens very much with extreme metal because many of these bands have not had major commercial success. But I would assume that many dark metal bands sounds have changed due to different record labels.

Thrash

The article “Thrashing All Around” by Glen Pillsbury talks about the origins of thrash metal, specifically the start of Metallica.  Pillsbury argues that the start of thrash metal came in 1983 with the release of Metallica’s first album, Kill ‘Em All.  The sound on this album had never been heard before.  This is clear with the vocals of lead singer James Hetfield.  “Hetfield’s short opening shriek that coincides with the introduction of the bull band texture is also crucial for making the fast tempo sound aggressive: his short, high-pitched, distorted vocalization coming across as a blast of transgressive energy” (Pillsbury).  This in-your-face attitude was soon to be one of the main characteristics of thrash metal. 

After Metallica’s success on Kill ‘Em All, they decided to sign a deal with a major record company.  This decision was not based on the music, rather it was a purely business decision.  They were going to be able to get more money, publicity, and better recordings than before when they were on an independent label.  However, they were not selling out like many thought as Elektra did not force Metallica to change its habits and let them do as they pleased and as a result, their sound did not change.  Most of the time when a band signs to a major record label, their sound becomes much more produced and the band loses their identity.  It seemed like the best option for Metallica to sign with Elektra, and it is something that I would have done as well.

With the success of Metallica, other bands started to change their sound in order to keep up.  Bands such as Slayer and Dark Angel were left in the dust and had to change their sound in order to be successful.  “The energy was there, the talent really wasn’t for all the bands involved; like Slayer was a crazy cover band called Dragon Slayer, and Dark Angel was really bad at the time too.  All of a sudden something got cohesive.  Metallica got good and everybody said, ‘look we gotta step our act up’” (Get Thrashed).  So because of Metallica, thrash metal would not be where it was today.

One thing that was common throughout all of metal was that it was purely about the music.  Most of the bands enjoyed underground success, but there was no money involved.  It wasn’t about making millions; it was just about the metal sound.  Because of this, the sound progressed and new sounds were created.  I think that this has slowly been taken away from metal in recent years.  One of the things that helped Metallica gain such success is the fact that kids were making copies of their tapes and giving it to their friends.  This is exactly what was happening with the rise of the Internet and illegal downloading.  Kids were downloading tracks for free and Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, lost sight of this and filed lawsuits against violators.  In my opinion his is rich enough, and needs to start making better music. 

The Underground

Chapter four of Waksman's book deals with metal, punk, and the crossover between the two. One band in particular, Motörhead, blends these two styles and creates their own genre. Their sound is unique in that it uses very fast blues riffs. You can definitely hear the heavy blues influence in their music. It was said in the documentary watched in class that all lead singer Lemmy wanted to create was a British version of MC5. Their sound is very similar, but they put their own twist to it. Lemmy's raspy voice sounds like he has been smoking cigarettes since birth, and that helps give them their own sound. Where Motörhead crosses over with punk is their song lengths and sped-up riffs. But I think that they are extremely different. They are different in that Motörhead is heavier, has more musical structure, and has shredding guitar solos. I think that they do have some similarities but I think after Motörhead is where the line between punk and metal is drawn.

Motörhead is just one of the bands from the new wave of British heavy metal. Some of the other bands that came out of this new phase were Iron Maiden and Def Leopard. Some of the other bands around at the time were lumped into this category even though their music was not metal at all. I thought it was so interesting that there was a metal disco in England where metal heads could gather and headband to new cutting edge music. The Kingsbury Bandwagon debuted all of the new music and was a key part in popularity of british new wave heavy metal. It was so interesting that the staff of the Kingsbury would put together a chart of the top demo tapes.

I can't even imagine listening to a new Iron Maiden demo tape. It must have been so raw and like nothing else at the time. It is so crazy to think about how different music is today. Back then if you got a demo tape, you had something special. It was a listening experience, where you would get together with your friends and listen to the whole demo in it's entirety. Now most people download singles from iTunes and only listen to one sone and because of that the idea of an album has died. It is sad to think about that, and it makes me with that I were alive when music was different.

Geomusicology and Punk

In the article “Factory Music” author Leigh Michael Harrison presents the idea of geomusicology, or the study of geography and music.  Specifically, he relates the heavy industrial geography of Birmingham, England and their working class background to the heavy-metal music that bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest were making.  “The difficult, sometimes impoverished working-class existence meant working-class children developed aggressive demeanours as a means of surviving the tough physical and social environment of everyday life” (Harrison, 1).  This aggressiveness is clearly sown through their music.  It was said that the term heavy metal was first used to describe Black Sabbath’s music because it sounded like nothing heard before.  In a review of Black Sabbath one reporter wrote: “this isn’t even music, it’s not even heavy rock, it sounds like a lot of heavy metal crashing.”  And that is how the term first started.  This sound can be tied back to the heavy industrial setting in which the members of Black Sabbath grew up. 

I thought it was interesting how the author related heavy metal to the hip-hop scene, giving rise to the “ghettocentricity.”  This link is clearly evident in the songs that these hip-hop groups made.  Groups such as N.W.A. were making songs that reflected the neighborhoods in which they lived.  Examples include “Fuck Tha Police,” and “Straight Outta Compton.”  These songs paint the picture of the injustices in South Central Los Angeles just as Black Sabbath’s song paints the picture of the heavy industry and poor living conditions of Birmingham, England.  See attached YouTube clip of the song “Straight Outta Compton.”

The third chapter of “This Ain’t The Summer of Love” describes the emergence of punk music, most notably with the bands The Runaways and The Dictators.  On one hand, The Runaways were an all girl band from California that sang about their status as young teenage girls.  On the other hand, The Dictators were an all-male band from New York that sang about the youth gone wild.  However, both of these bands represented the start of a new genre of music: punk.  Characteristics of this type of punk included: “young, aggressive, cynical, with music that marked a return to basics and yet pushed those basic elements in extreme directions” (Waksman, 107).  They sang about topics that the youth could easily relate to.  For instance, in the song “Master Race Rock” by The Dictators, they sang about typical teenage life of hamburgers, sports, girls, etc.  It was a way of rebelling against the typical teenage pressures that most people of that generation could easily relate to. 

Arena Rock and Spectacles

The readings from this week dealt with an introduction to arena rock and on stage theatrics pioneered by Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper.  Bands in the 1960s would typically play at outdoor venues, which had no crowd limits.  Sometimes concerts would have up to 180,000 people, as was the case at a Grand Funk Railroad concert in Texas.  But these concerts were soon to die out and pave the way for arena rock.  One of the reasons why there was a shift to concerts inside arenas was purely economical.  “It was much easier to regulate the flow of the crowd into and out of the arena, and thus easier to set a price on the right of access to the concert space” (Waksman 25).  It would definitely be easier to regulate, and would make for a more intimate concert experience.  

Moving concerts into arenas also helped make concerts louder, which is now a trademark of metal concerts.  I think I would rather see a concert in a more intimate setting.  The feeling of the music rattling your insides is something that cannot be imitated and can only be experienced to its fullest in an indoor setting.  However, some of my favorite concerts have taken place in a festival setting.

Another topic presented was how the Beatles stopped playing concerts all together.  I thought that this was very interesting due to the fact that they were the most popular band at the time.  They became so huge and popular that “they did not have to be seen or heard to produce an audience reaction of awesome magnitude” (Waksman 27).  They could literally do whatever they wanted and they would get a massive reaction from the public.  In a statement from John Lennon he talked about why the Beatles didn’t tour: “I reckon we could send out four waxwork dummies of ourselves . . . and that would satisfy the crowds.  Beatles concerts are nothing to do with music, any more.  They’re just bloody tribal rituals” (Waksman 27).  They got to a certain point where it was not authentic anymore, so instead of being phony’s, they just decided to stop.

Waksman also discussed the on-stage theatrics of Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop.  These two artists really were the forefathers of concert theatrics, with Alice Cooper producing a large-scale spectacle and Iggy Pop tailored to a more intimate spectacle.  Alice’s antics were more like a theater show with produced stunts while Iggy had raw, real acts.  In one example, Iggy Pop rolled in broken glass on stage, bleeding all over himself.  This act was completely real and spontaneous.  On the other hand, Cooper performed set-up acts like putting his head into a guillotine.  These concerts would be incredibly entertaining to attend.  The only concert that I have been to that is a spectacle of that scale is The Flaming Lips.  Their shows are completely nuts, with confetti, people in costumes, and sexual references.  Although it is not metal, the Flaming Lips certainly learned from Alice and Iggy.