How to listen to metal

01:20:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYbWTdtcu2E

Resumen

TLDRO vídeo ofrece unha análise detallada de "Fall From Grace" de Morbid Angel, ilustrando como o tema exemplifica a pesadez no death metal a través de técnicas que inclúen xogos de tempo e ton. Discute a evolución do metal desde o movemento británico ata o death metal, destacando o papel de Morbid Angel como innovador clave. Ademais, explora a influencia da cultura hipster na música metal, sinalando como a ironía e a falta de autenticidade modificaron a percepción do xénero. O relator tamén reflexiona sobre as prácticas modernas de consumo musical, argumentando que a casualización do fandom e a procura de auto-expresión individual contribúen á desconexión co legado tradicional do metal. O vídeo conclúe cunha visión sobre o futuro do metal, suxerindo que a ruptura entre os estilos tradicionais e modernos pode traer innovacións beneficiosas.

Para llevar

  • 🎸 A pesadez no metal combina ton de guitarra, reverberación e distorsión.
  • 🤘 Morbid Angel influíu significativamente no desenvolvemento do death metal.
  • 🎵 A música metal evoluciona continuamente coas influencias culturais.
  • 🎭 A ironía hipster desafía a autenticidade da música metal.
  • 💡 A casualización do fandom pode diminuír a conexión coa música.
  • 📚 Unha rica historia de innovación musical existe dentro do metal.
  • 🎧 A música ofrece múltiples interpretacións segundo o contexto persoal.
  • 🛠️ A auto-expresión individualizada redefine prácticas musicais tradicionais.
  • 🔀 Innovacións xénericas emerxen da ruptura entre metal tradicional e moderno.
  • 🔊 Outros xéneros como o ambient atraen a certos fans do metal.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    O vídeo discute como a banda Morbid Angel, coa súa canción "Fall From Grace", desafía as expectativas do xénero do death metal co seu xogo de tempos e a introdución de tensión musical. A análise céntrase en como elementos como o riff inicial e a batería crean anticipación e sorpresa nun xénero que habitualmente prioriza a velocidade e agresividade.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    O segundo segmento destaca como Morbid Angel utiliza repeticións medidas e a colocación inesperada de acentos pola batería para crear caos dentro de estruturas previsibles. A voz clara de David Vincent permite que as letras se escoiten claramente, interactuando dinámicamente coas guitarras e reformulando motivos de temas anteriores.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    No terceiro segmento, a conversación pasou a discutir como a guitarra líder trae melodía e dirección á canción, con riffs repetidos que evocan sensacións de conflito e desesperación. A música é analizada non só pola súa tonalidade sino tamén pola sensación que evoca no oínte.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    A continuación, o texto reflexiona sobre a tendencia da música metal a experimentar e incluír influencias culturais, mencionando como as letras poden xogar un papel secundario na transmisión da esencia da canción. Este enfoque ábrese a múltiples interpretacións, subliñando a complexidade musical da obra.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    O seguinte segmento amplía a análise para falar sobre a evolución do metal como xénero, mencionando a influencia de subculturas como os hipsters e como a atención en novas audiencias e cambios culturais afectan á esencia e percepción do metal.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Logo, o artigo discute a influencia da cultura hipster no metal e como a ironía que caracteriza este grupo conseguiu alterar a percepción cultural do metal, retando o seu ethos tradicional e levando á evolución do xénero.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Explórase como a evolución da tecnoloxía de música dixital e a presenza dunha subcultura en constante expansión, cos cambios socioculturais influíndo na forma en que a xente consume música metal, demandando máis diversidade e personalización.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    A discusión céntrase entón na intersección de economía de mercado e fandom de metal, analizando como o consumismo influíu nas identidades musicais e como as plataformas de streaming redefiniron as sensacións e conexións coa música co tempo.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    O segmento posterior aborda a casualización do fandom de metal, onde a música é tratada máis como produtos de consumo que como arte, mencionando tanto a simplificación inherente ás etiquetas de xénero como o predominio da estética sobre o contido.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    As análises sobre a crítica e a interpretación na música de metal subliñan a importancia da autenticidade e o coñecemento profundo, en contraste coa superficialidade das críticas modernas que tenden a simplificar e banalizar a complexidade do xénero.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:55:00

    O artigo segue delineando como certas innovacións musicais son mal interpretadas como revolucionarias cando a miúdo non aportan avances fundamentais dentro do xénero do metal, máis ben reciclando elementos xa existentes.

  • 00:55:00 - 01:00:00

    Comentários recentes sobre o death metal enfróntanse á minimización do xénero polo mainstream, onde estilos asociados con death metal son reclasificados de maneira errónea por intereses comerciais e xornalísticos.

  • 01:00:00 - 01:05:00

    A discusión prosigue coa crítica ao tratamento simplista do xénero do black metal, abordando erros comúns e malentendidos, destacando a variedade e riqueza histórica ignorada por visións redutivas.

  • 01:05:00 - 01:10:00

    O enfoque subseguinte na autenticidade e na comprensión contorna a crítica destaca a complexidade da música underground e como a ampla diversidade de escenas e estilos é asiduamente pasada por alto.

  • 01:10:00 - 01:15:00

    Logo, a narrativa cuestiona a imposición de identidades no metal, reflectindo sobre como os xuízos personalistas dentro do xénero conducen a unha dicotomía entre tradición e progresión.

  • 01:15:00 - 01:20:18

    Finalmente, o vídeo conclúe que, a pesar dos conflitos e tensiones internas, as variacións e a diversidade no metal deben ser celebradas, predicindo que o xénero medrará se abre a novas interpretacións e creatividade, potenciando un espazo para a autenticidade e diversidad máis aló do social media.

Ver más

Mapa mental

Mind Map

Preguntas frecuentes

  • Que canción de Morbid Angel se discute no vídeo?

    A canción discutida no vídeo é "Fall From Grace".

  • Cales son os elementos principais que definen a pesadez no metal segundo o relator?

    A pesadez no metal ven dada por unha combinación de ton de guitarra, reverberación, distorsión e xogos tonais que xeran ambigüidade e falta de resolución.

  • Como afecta a cultura hipster ao metal, segundo o vídeo?

    A cultura hipster afecta ao metal introducindo unha falta de autenticidade e ironía, o que desafía a paixón xenuína e vulnerábel dos fanáticos do metal.

  • Que tenors históricos se mencionan respecto ao desenvolvemento do metal?

    Menciónase o desenvolvemento do metal desde o new wave británico de heavy metal ata o thrash e black metal, e como estes estilos variaron en intensidade e melodía.

  • Cales son as críticas do relator ao consumo moderno de música?

    O relator crítica a 'casualización' do fandom, onde a música convértese en productos listos para o consumo rápido, diminuíndo a intimidade e a familiaridade coas obras.

  • Que outros xéneros fora do metal menciona o relator que atraen a fans do metal?

    Os fans do metal tamén se senten atraídos por xéneros que pivotan en torno ao espazo, minimalismo e estasis como o ambient, neoclásico e electrónica minimalista.

  • Cal é a opinión do relator sobre a auto-expresión no metal?

    O relator argumenta que o metal hoxe en día céntrase demasiado na auto-expresión individual en vez de contribuír a un pool colectivo de recursos compositivos como fixo no pasado.

  • Que opina o relator da rotura entre metal tradicional e novo?

    Considera que a rotura entre metal tradicional e novo pode ser beneficiosa, permitindo que emerxan novas formas ao separar estilos e ideais.

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Subtítulos
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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:02
    you know like when it's you get home
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    from work and you've had a really sucky
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    day and you're just like you just want
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    you want to listen to music that kind of
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    goes like
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    [Music]
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    a morbid Angels Fall From Grace opens
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    with a slow ponderous riff lurching
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    between half step of sense and desense
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    immediately invoking Menace weight and
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    threat
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    [Music]
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    this is a perfect example of heaviness
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    in the context of metal
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    the concept is not captured solely in
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    the guitar tone the production Reverb or
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    Distortion but a combination of these
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    things along with tonal play that leaves
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    a lingering sense of ambiguity and lack
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    of resolution both musically and
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    emotionally the track then devolves into
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    what feels like random climbs in Pitch
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    as if the music is reaching Beyond The
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    Depths it initially resided in grasping
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    for light and air
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    [Music]
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    drums tease at release through off kill
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    to Phils hinting at an increase in Tempo
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    but they keep pulling back at the last
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    minute this enhances the tension created
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    by the guitar line as it all but tears
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    itself apart playing with Tempo in this
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    way is particularly noteworthy in the
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    context of when this material was
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    written when four From Grace was
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    released in 1991 death metal was
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    reaching a state of maturity prior to
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    this it had been characterized on the
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    whole by a frantic almost impatient
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    sense of energy communicated almost
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    entirely through the language of riffs
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    this is a process that had been
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    developing for some time 10 years prior
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    to the release of Fall From Grace the
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    new wave of British heavy metal movement
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    had achieved something of a compromise
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    between the simplistic urgency of punk
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    and The Meandering indulgent bombast of
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    heavy rock it streamlined the pomp of
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    70s album Rock whilst elevating the
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    Simplicity of punk away from purely
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    Verse Chorus exchanges via more complex
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    compositions made up of lengthy
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    Arrangements of distinct but related
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    Rifts and whilst frash heightened the
  • 00:02:52
    intensity in this regard it also dragged
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    the music away from traditional melodic
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    forms into atonal or chromatic runs
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    this meant that a lot of metal lacked a
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    Cadence that would make the music feel
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    like it had returned home or resolved
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    itself in some way it goes about saying
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    that alongside increasing speed and
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    Distortion this only enhanced the sense
  • 00:03:13
    of urgency and aggression within metal
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    and by the end of the80s some metal
  • 00:03:18
    albums consisted of nothing but a
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    consciously ordered string of power cord
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    formed riffs with little variation in
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    tambra Dynamics or pitch Melody had
  • 00:03:27
    become an opal extra deployed only to
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    add contrast and drama this new genre
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    was called Death Metal and Morbid Angel
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    were both a key innovator in this form
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    and one of its most Adept practitioners
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    at the time that Fall From Grace was
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    released it would have been standard
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    practice for a death metal band to break
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    into an unconditional burst of speed at
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    this point in the track and this would
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    have been the expectation of fans at the
  • 00:03:50
    time instead we get this teasing
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    conditional tentative play with Tempo
  • 00:03:55
    from the drummer Pete sandal thus
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    challenging the listeners preconceptions
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    of how the genre is supposed to behave
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    whilst building tension until we develop
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    a near incandescent craving for the
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    speed and chaos to finally
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    [Music]
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    begin at about the 45 second Mark we
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    finally get what what we were waiting
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    for a small link section brings the
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    music to what could be considered a
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    place of rest despite the fact that the
  • 00:04:37
    tempo has picked up and the new theme
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    introduced at this point trades in that
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    same Lial Menace that characterized the
  • 00:04:44
    opening riff
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    [Music]
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    [Music]
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    now that the Proto Melodies outlined in
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    the previous passage have been duly
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    jettisoned the low chromatic riff we see
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    here offers a substitute for home base
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    in lie of a perfect Cadence orbit Angel
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    are sometimes criticized for repeating
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    measures in predictable units of four
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    six or eight bars and so on in contrast
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    to more progressively inclined acts who
  • 00:05:24
    were attempting to subvert these Norms
  • 00:05:26
    at the time but I'd argue that you can
  • 00:05:29
    cause a lot of chaos within otherwise
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    predictable measures something that
  • 00:05:33
    sandal enhances by often placing fills
  • 00:05:35
    and Accents in the wrong place for want
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    of a better word on their previous album
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    alas of Madness drums were notable not
  • 00:05:43
    just for their speed and precision but
  • 00:05:45
    their ability to deliver phills a little
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    left of center constantly interrupting
  • 00:05:50
    the flow of the guitars but on the first
  • 00:05:53
    two measures of this new faster Riff on
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    Fall From Grace sandal huls back to a
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    linear
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    uninterrupted blastbeat with Phil's
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    coming at the expected moment again
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    subverting fan expectations here it's as
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    if he's rewarding The Listener for their
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    patience in getting through the jarring
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    opening
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    [Music]
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    [Music]
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    sequence this is something that becomes
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    only more apparent as Phil and guitar
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    accents engage in a malformed call and
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    response with the vocals in what for the
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    sake of argument we'll call the verse at
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    this
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    point burn me burning as I got
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    away speechless in the Holy
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    way the van
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    the I Am Lord I take come
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    [Music]
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    all the
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    [Music]
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    gra F your me up you're makes me David
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    Vincent's vocals were remarkably clear
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    by death metal standards he is an Adept
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    clean singer something that makes the
  • 00:07:32
    lyrics perfectly Audible and affords his
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    vocal expressions and Cadence a more
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    Dynamic interaction with the guitars
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    this is why despite the fact that the
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    accompanying riff is perhaps busier than
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    the main instrumental theme framing
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    these vocal passages his voice still
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    dominates after reiterating the main
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    theme we return to the opening riff
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    delivered at twice the speed and
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    slightly flattened out
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    reasserting motifs in different guises
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    like this is a tried and tested
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    compositional technique borrowed from
  • 00:08:10
    classical it allows The Listener to
  • 00:08:12
    study themes from different angles
  • 00:08:15
    emphasizing the importance of context in
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    understanding the meaning of particular
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    refrains this also binds the subsequent
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    development section to the original
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    intent of the piece as deviations within
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    the track Compound on one another
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    it's at this point that an antagonism
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    unfolds between the peripheral threats
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    hinted at in the intro F and a more
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    immediate violence this is achieved
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    through simple shifts in Tempo and pitch
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    [Music]
  • 00:09:07
    [Music]
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    what
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    my my
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    dead anointing Me
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    Now consume my sore
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    [Music]
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    violence wins for a time as a frantic
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    lead guitar passage breaks out and
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    dictates the direction and flow of tonal
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    [Music]
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    [Music]
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    intent the rhythm guitar attempts to
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    Anchor this sudden outpouring of
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    unprecedented Melody by deploying
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    variations on previous themes only to be
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    farted in this conservativism by
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    Sandoval's drum work which remains an
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    unsettling agent of chaos resetting the
  • 00:10:12
    rhythmic flow with each
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    [Music]
  • 00:10:22
    repetition before compromising with a
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    steady gallop
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    as total disorientation threatens the
  • 00:10:37
    lead guitar gives way to A variation on
  • 00:10:39
    the second riff of the track
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    [Music]
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    this time delivered with a heightened
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    sense of urgency and Randomness evoking
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    conflict anemy and Desperation in the
  • 00:11:06
    effort to ground on let's go back to the
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    original version and compare it to this
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    new
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    [Music]
  • 00:11:19
    variation and the second
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    variation so far we've not discussed the
  • 00:11:30
    lyrics or concept behind this track and
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    that is deliberate despite Metal's
  • 00:11:34
    strict aesthetic and thematic Norms they
  • 00:11:36
    have for me always being secondary to
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    the study of the music itself whilst
  • 00:11:41
    this may put me in the minority I always
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    find lyrics to be useful only in Safar
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    as they give us a broad Rush stroke
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    concept that motivates the music but
  • 00:11:50
    here we should note that as the music
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    lurches between a bastardization of the
  • 00:11:54
    opening theme Vincent delivers a spoken
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    word passage glorifying in the decadent
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    suggest Ed by the tracks
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    title I ride in
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    the and the SS of
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    hell I am
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    the I bend my knee not but for myself
  • 00:12:18
    desire this signposts us to the
  • 00:12:20
    completion of the titular Fall From
  • 00:12:22
    Grace contrasting with the tension and
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    urgency of the initial vocal passages
  • 00:12:27
    which were more process driven and
  • 00:12:29
    intentional compared to this learic
  • 00:12:31
    confidence the obvious thing to do at
  • 00:12:33
    this point would be to release all this
  • 00:12:35
    tension via a perfect Cadence a
  • 00:12:37
    crescendo or another burst of speed
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    maybe but morbid Angels simply allow the
  • 00:12:41
    tension to dissolve away unresolved like
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    toxins uncomfortably leaving a
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    bloodstream
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    [Music]
  • 00:13:00
    this is another example of how metal
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    bands toy with and weaponize ambiguity
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    foregrounding it as an important element
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    of confrontational Arts especially when
  • 00:13:09
    jok deposed with more direct musical
  • 00:13:11
    signifiers for example those
  • 00:13:13
    traditionally understood as evil in the
  • 00:13:15
    western harmonic Cannon finally Morbid
  • 00:13:18
    Angel returned to the opening theme of
  • 00:13:19
    the piece another simple yet effective
  • 00:13:22
    technique common in metal compositions
  • 00:13:27
    [Music]
  • 00:13:38
    [Applause]
  • 00:13:41
    [Music]
  • 00:13:47
    [Applause]
  • 00:13:48
    [Music]
  • 00:13:50
    having come full circle The Listener is
  • 00:13:52
    invited to inspect where they started
  • 00:13:54
    from armed with new knowledge and
  • 00:13:56
    perspectives acquired on the journey
  • 00:13:58
    where once we found Menace maybe
  • 00:14:00
    inevitability a lurking threat now we
  • 00:14:02
    experience an almost drunken sense of
  • 00:14:04
    contentment aided by the pitch bending
  • 00:14:06
    sustained guitar lead now accompanying
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    the opening riff a hazy intoxicated Glee
  • 00:14:12
    arises from material that only a few
  • 00:14:14
    minutes ago presented nothing but dread
  • 00:14:16
    Morbid Angel closed the track by
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    recapitulating the initial blasting riff
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    one last time
  • 00:14:24
    [Music]
  • 00:14:39
    where in its initial context it may have
  • 00:14:41
    offered a sense of resolution it now
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    invokes nothing but chaos as the only
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    logical response to the slow disillusion
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    of selford the completion of our Fall
  • 00:14:50
    From Grace you can listen to the same
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    three metal bands from the 80s and call
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    me poser or you can check out some of my
  • 00:14:57
    recommendations your choice
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    voice no need to FR about it we lose
  • 00:15:08
    your head
  • 00:15:21
    with we are not
  • 00:15:24
    nothing what we feel
  • 00:15:33
    so what the [ __ ] was the point in all
  • 00:15:34
    that I don't rehearse this analysis of
  • 00:15:37
    for From Grace on every listen nor I
  • 00:15:39
    expect to many listeners my
  • 00:15:41
    interpretation is probably far from
  • 00:15:43
    anything Morbid Angel had in mind when
  • 00:15:44
    they composed it it's not the correct
  • 00:15:47
    way to listen to Morbid Angel it's not
  • 00:15:48
    grounded in music theory I don't play
  • 00:15:50
    guitar I've never played in a metal band
  • 00:15:53
    my formal musical education doesn't
  • 00:15:54
    stretch much Beyond GCSE that's roughly
  • 00:15:57
    16 years old for any listeners outside
  • 00:15:59
    the UK I've probably misused a number of
  • 00:16:01
    terms along the way to get my point
  • 00:16:02
    across because that's just what I call
  • 00:16:04
    the different um parts of the song uh
  • 00:16:07
    nor is this the only way to listen to
  • 00:16:08
    morbit angel art particularly the
  • 00:16:10
    experiential and temporal Dimensions
  • 00:16:13
    inherent to music specifically this is a
  • 00:16:15
    matter of interpretation after all and
  • 00:16:17
    even as I was cutting together that
  • 00:16:19
    analysis I I spotted several other
  • 00:16:21
    angles that I could have approached the
  • 00:16:22
    music from there's much more to say on
  • 00:16:24
    this piece after all but this is how I
  • 00:16:26
    tend to approach metal during a f
  • 00:16:28
    focused listening session say and I've
  • 00:16:31
    used Morbid Angel to demonstrate this
  • 00:16:33
    for a number of reasons uh one is that
  • 00:16:35
    they embody that rare intersection of
  • 00:16:37
    widespread popularity and genuine
  • 00:16:39
    quality so chances are you're very
  • 00:16:41
    familiar with this track already their
  • 00:16:43
    music is complex enough to contain the
  • 00:16:45
    potential for any number of competing
  • 00:16:47
    interpretations but blessed are the sick
  • 00:16:49
    in particular is a strikingly clinical
  • 00:16:52
    clear uncluttered album inviting us to
  • 00:16:55
    scrutinize the Contours of every note
  • 00:16:57
    whilst allowing for broader bird's eye
  • 00:17:00
    view if we so choose aided by crisp
  • 00:17:03
    production which some have characterized
  • 00:17:05
    as being a bit too clinical and the E
  • 00:17:07
    flat tuning it is a Wonder of Sonic
  • 00:17:09
    architecture mechanically precise
  • 00:17:11
    perfectly balanced and above these 30
  • 00:17:14
    foundations they have erected an edifice
  • 00:17:16
    of captivating Artistry they quote and
  • 00:17:19
    toy with cultural signifiers familiar to
  • 00:17:22
    Their audience whilst adding to this
  • 00:17:23
    vocabulary and challenging them they
  • 00:17:25
    invoke an evil aesthetic melodrama
  • 00:17:28
    tension theater
  • 00:17:29
    deploying references and subversions
  • 00:17:31
    that develop the art form whilst being
  • 00:17:33
    mindful of its
  • 00:17:37
    past metal is not written in Sonata form
  • 00:17:41
    though structurally it comes in many
  • 00:17:43
    guises or frankly none at all it doesn't
  • 00:17:46
    have to follow these set patterns in
  • 00:17:47
    order to count as metal metal heads are
  • 00:17:50
    it should be noted unsung champions of
  • 00:17:53
    variety as much as anything nor is it
  • 00:17:55
    the case that one needs to be intimate
  • 00:17:57
    with music theory to appreciate music on
  • 00:17:59
    this level as I've already stated
  • 00:18:01
    equally whilst I made references to the
  • 00:18:03
    historical context in my analysis this
  • 00:18:05
    is not required to enjoy metal least of
  • 00:18:07
    all Morbid Angel as with any form of
  • 00:18:10
    Music knowledge can enhance the context
  • 00:18:12
    of one's listening experience and enrich
  • 00:18:14
    it from that angle refining our
  • 00:18:15
    appreciation for how artists work with
  • 00:18:17
    their influences and subvert and toy
  • 00:18:20
    with forms just as it it can diminish
  • 00:18:23
    the initial magical immediacy of
  • 00:18:25
    experiencing an unfamiliar form of music
  • 00:18:27
    for the first time but it is important
  • 00:18:29
    that metal be at least active at the
  • 00:18:32
    compositional level before we can
  • 00:18:33
    discuss what I tend to refer to as Vibes
  • 00:18:36
    which are guitar tone production vocal
  • 00:18:39
    technique texture additional instrument
  • 00:18:41
    additional instrumentation so on all of
  • 00:18:44
    which interact with the composition for
  • 00:18:46
    sure but ultimately to my mind work as
  • 00:18:49
    configurable modules that can be bolted
  • 00:18:52
    onto the core program at leisure
  • 00:18:54
    enhancing but never defining our
  • 00:18:56
    understanding of a piece black metal is
  • 00:18:58
    perhaps most Adept at toying with this
  • 00:19:00
    intersection of texture and composition
  • 00:19:03
    allowing the information to flow both
  • 00:19:05
    ways as guitar tone production inform
  • 00:19:07
    the style and profile of a composition
  • 00:19:09
    as opposed to merely decorating it but
  • 00:19:11
    even here I would argue that the best of
  • 00:19:13
    black metal operates with solid themes
  • 00:19:16
    and structures serving as an anchor it
  • 00:19:18
    is also why myself and a large number of
  • 00:19:20
    metal heads when venturing outside of
  • 00:19:22
    metal are drawn to genres that pivot on
  • 00:19:24
    Space minimalism and stasis such as
  • 00:19:27
    ambient Neo Focus and various forms of
  • 00:19:29
    minimal Electronica which provide a
  • 00:19:32
    reprieve from the rampant activity and
  • 00:19:34
    engagement that metal
  • 00:19:36
    demands so if you've regarded everything
  • 00:19:39
    I've said up to this point with deep
  • 00:19:40
    suspicion that's excellent fantastic
  • 00:19:43
    that's why I invited you here as a fan
  • 00:19:46
    approaching middle age I've seen metal
  • 00:19:48
    go from an obscure dying outlier of Gen
  • 00:19:50
    X culture in the early 2000s to a
  • 00:19:53
    rampantly popular form of contemporary
  • 00:19:55
    music but through intense and careful
  • 00:19:57
    study of a range of new releases in
  • 00:19:59
    recent years I'd argue that the
  • 00:20:01
    mechanisms of change that have
  • 00:20:02
    facilitated this transformation have
  • 00:20:04
    flattened out the complexities of this
  • 00:20:06
    music something that can largely be
  • 00:20:09
    explained by the changing listening
  • 00:20:11
    habits spurred on by an increasingly
  • 00:20:13
    fleeting relationship with new music
  • 00:20:15
    fueled by the need to keep on top of the
  • 00:20:17
    constant churn of content this process
  • 00:20:20
    is so far along and so far developed
  • 00:20:22
    that talking to newans is sometimes like
  • 00:20:24
    speaking in a foreign language and I
  • 00:20:26
    don't mean that
  • 00:20:27
    condescendingly like literally certain
  • 00:20:29
    arms of metal fandom are now so far
  • 00:20:31
    removed from each other that they look
  • 00:20:32
    and behave like entirely distinct
  • 00:20:34
    subcultures so let's expand on how I
  • 00:20:38
    think we got here with a case
  • 00:20:44
    [Music]
  • 00:20:55
    study with nothing to defend uphold or
  • 00:20:58
    or even embrace the idea of hipsterdom
  • 00:21:01
    is left wide open for attack and yet it
  • 00:21:05
    is this ironic lack of authenticity that
  • 00:21:07
    has allowed hipm to grow into a global
  • 00:21:10
    phenomenon that is set to consume the
  • 00:21:12
    very core of Western
  • 00:21:14
    counterculture most critics make a point
  • 00:21:16
    of attacking the hipster's lack of
  • 00:21:18
    individuality but it is this stubborn
  • 00:21:20
    obfuscation that distinguishes them from
  • 00:21:22
    their predecessors while allowing hipst
  • 00:21:25
    them to easily blend in and mutate other
  • 00:21:27
    social movement subcultures and
  • 00:21:31
    Lifestyles metal was a viable living
  • 00:21:33
    organism from roughly 1975 to 1999
  • 00:21:37
    approximately a quarter of a century
  • 00:21:39
    which is a pretty long run by the
  • 00:21:41
    standards of music that arose out of
  • 00:21:43
    post-war counterculture if you want a
  • 00:21:46
    more detailed history of this Evolution
  • 00:21:47
    [ __ ] Google it here I want to zoom in
  • 00:21:49
    on that specific period in the early
  • 00:21:51
    21st century when Metal's evolutionary
  • 00:21:54
    Arc was all but complete which just so
  • 00:21:56
    happened to coincide with when I got
  • 00:21:58
    into this m as a teenager at this time
  • 00:22:01
    metal was garnering greater attention
  • 00:22:03
    from a group of individuals known as
  • 00:22:04
    hipsters although largely anecdotal this
  • 00:22:07
    transformative period goes some way to
  • 00:22:09
    explaining the present moment of
  • 00:22:11
    Disconnect within the scene throughout
  • 00:22:13
    its history one arm of metal or another
  • 00:22:15
    has been engaged in some form of trench
  • 00:22:17
    warfare with perceived threats both
  • 00:22:19
    internal and
  • 00:22:21
    external by this time in the early 2000s
  • 00:22:23
    the protracted Wars with old enemies on
  • 00:22:26
    the Christian right and the forces of
  • 00:22:27
    commercialization ation had all but
  • 00:22:29
    burned themselves out demoralized by the
  • 00:22:31
    ravage of glam metal grunge new metal
  • 00:22:34
    and later emo and metal Core Extreme
  • 00:22:36
    metal had returned to a Lial state of
  • 00:22:38
    hibernation this period was an idea for
  • 00:22:41
    creativity a scene exhausted on
  • 00:22:43
    autopilots its assets stripped and sold
  • 00:22:45
    for parts but nothing gets the juices
  • 00:22:47
    flowing like an existential threat and
  • 00:22:50
    the few remaining devotees of extreme
  • 00:22:51
    metal many terminally online by this
  • 00:22:54
    point found themselves confronted by a
  • 00:22:56
    new and arguably more insipid f
  • 00:22:59
    membership at the deck I hear it's
  • 00:23:02
    nothing I liked it before it was cool
  • 00:23:06
    paradoxically despite no one openly
  • 00:23:08
    embracing the Hipster label the athetic
  • 00:23:10
    and social norms were suddenly
  • 00:23:12
    everywhere from about 2005 visible
  • 00:23:14
    enough for auring in the channel 4
  • 00:23:17
    sitcom naan barley ruthlessly savaging a
  • 00:23:20
    facade invading every area of adolescent
  • 00:23:22
    life although its Origins are much older
  • 00:23:25
    the word hipster quickly became a
  • 00:23:27
    mid-2000 slurf or any cultural
  • 00:23:29
    expression deemed
  • 00:23:31
    disingenuous this loose application made
  • 00:23:33
    the term impenetrably nebulous covering
  • 00:23:36
    everything from the mighty bsh to walls
  • 00:23:38
    in the throne room to specialist coffee
  • 00:23:40
    served against a backdrop of exposed
  • 00:23:42
    brick the appropriation of various
  • 00:23:44
    elements of workingclass dress a passion
  • 00:23:47
    for Gourmet street food a rustic DIY
  • 00:23:50
    aesthetic often deployed to obscure just
  • 00:23:52
    how ruthlessly curated everything was
  • 00:23:54
    artisanal products Indie businesses
  • 00:23:59
    and a complete prohibition on ever
  • 00:24:01
    losing oneself to the moment never
  • 00:24:03
    letting the mask slip in public to
  • 00:24:05
    reveal a genuine and uncontrolled
  • 00:24:06
    emotional response to anything this goes
  • 00:24:09
    some way to defining the look and feel
  • 00:24:12
    of the Hipster but for metal the threet
  • 00:24:14
    stemmed from a very particular
  • 00:24:16
    characteristic of hpom
  • 00:24:18
    irony this word became a Catal phrase to
  • 00:24:21
    describe the ambient pretense and
  • 00:24:24
    affectation oozing from hipster
  • 00:24:26
    environments everything was for show but
  • 00:24:29
    specifically designed to hide that fact
  • 00:24:32
    anyone who has spent time in these
  • 00:24:33
    spaces will no doubt be familiar with
  • 00:24:35
    this strange Aura A vibe we Ambiguously
  • 00:24:38
    refer to as irony but it should be
  • 00:24:40
    admitted that we've made this word do
  • 00:24:41
    some pretty heavy lifting over the years
  • 00:24:43
    but that aside this prevailing attitude
  • 00:24:46
    proved to be uniquely dangerous for
  • 00:24:48
    metal because it clashes with a
  • 00:24:50
    fundamental aspect of metal psychology
  • 00:24:52
    which is namely a a genuine and
  • 00:24:54
    vulnerable passion more broadly as far
  • 00:24:57
    as the standards of contemporary music
  • 00:24:59
    and culture are concerned metal does
  • 00:25:01
    everything wrong it behaves in direct
  • 00:25:03
    contradiction to n in spite of agreed
  • 00:25:06
    definitions of cool style and artistic
  • 00:25:08
    subtlety it requires total
  • 00:25:11
    unselfconscious commitment to the moment
  • 00:25:13
    a heightened sense of melodrama theater
  • 00:25:15
    a reckless surplus of noise imagery
  • 00:25:18
    activity once possessed of this mindset
  • 00:25:21
    metalheads are compelled to radically
  • 00:25:23
    alter their image and start behaving
  • 00:25:25
    like Christian missionaries in their
  • 00:25:26
    desire to spread the good news
  • 00:25:29
    these are things that brought it in
  • 00:25:31
    direct conflict with the Hipster hipster
  • 00:25:34
    didn't dissolve the transparent and
  • 00:25:36
    perhaps naive passion embodied by metal
  • 00:25:38
    heads although there was usually no
  • 00:25:40
    intentionality or malice behind this
  • 00:25:42
    process it was no less damaging where
  • 00:25:45
    previously external adversaries had
  • 00:25:46
    simply appropriated and dumb down metal
  • 00:25:49
    for commercial ends hipon contradicted
  • 00:25:52
    the very attitudes and behaviors of the
  • 00:25:54
    metal head the singular dedication and
  • 00:25:57
    often obnoxious love of metal was
  • 00:25:58
    absorbed into a mist of ironic Shadow
  • 00:26:01
    play running parallel to this process
  • 00:26:03
    was Metal's contradictory self-image it
  • 00:26:06
    demands legitimacy from the institutions
  • 00:26:08
    of culture like validation from musical
  • 00:26:11
    academics your teenage crushed to
  • 00:26:13
    finally wake up and realize how awesome
  • 00:26:15
    your CD collection is the YouTube
  • 00:26:17
    reaction videos
  • 00:26:22
    yeah yet we dread the prospect of ever
  • 00:26:24
    being granted this legitimacy from the
  • 00:26:27
    academy because allow it would allow us
  • 00:26:29
    to leave our little
  • 00:26:34
    B allowing us to leave our little bunker
  • 00:26:37
    would Rob us of a cherished Outsider
  • 00:26:39
    status bordering on
  • 00:26:41
    victimhood the push and pull between a
  • 00:26:44
    sense of superiority among subcultures
  • 00:26:47
    and an entrenched and cherished Siege
  • 00:26:49
    mentality that refuses to accept
  • 00:26:51
    institutional legitimacy hipsterdom cut
  • 00:26:54
    through all these contradictions Like a
  • 00:26:56
    Knife granting the music not only a
  • 00:26:58
    sense of legitimacy in the surrounding
  • 00:27:00
    cultural Zeitgeist but altering the very
  • 00:27:02
    psychology of what a metal head could or
  • 00:27:04
    should look like this is one reason why
  • 00:27:07
    black metal as the branch of the
  • 00:27:08
    community embodying the metal Faith to
  • 00:27:11
    the fullest if you will proved to be the
  • 00:27:12
    weaker Flank In This regard that and the
  • 00:27:15
    fact that black metal is the subre most
  • 00:27:17
    closely aligned to the Avant guard in
  • 00:27:19
    the traditional sense of the word if
  • 00:27:20
    that's a contradiction in terms forly
  • 00:27:23
    the value of metal in so far as it gives
  • 00:27:25
    people permission to be ridiculous was
  • 00:27:27
    under from a detached ironic cultural
  • 00:27:30
    Veil a rigorous recapitulation of cool
  • 00:27:33
    arrived that through a uniquely rigid
  • 00:27:36
    policing of behavior the resulting post
  • 00:27:38
    black metal Avant guard black metal
  • 00:27:41
    hipster black metal and later black gaze
  • 00:27:43
    this threatened to NE to the music of
  • 00:27:45
    all excitement dispossess it of the
  • 00:27:47
    things that made it both silly and
  • 00:27:49
    special replacing it with a cool yet
  • 00:27:51
    decidedly domestic edifice in its place
  • 00:27:55
    this conflict never really reached a
  • 00:27:56
    resolution but as the two 2000s bled
  • 00:27:59
    into the 2010s and the internet was
  • 00:28:00
    dragged out of the Wild West the old
  • 00:28:03
    forums and hideouts were abandoned
  • 00:28:05
    replaced by the Limited basket of social
  • 00:28:07
    media platforms we know and doom scroll
  • 00:28:09
    on today the idea that you even had to
  • 00:28:12
    commit to one subculture lost all
  • 00:28:14
    meaning the ease with which music can be
  • 00:28:17
    produced and consumed has given rise to
  • 00:28:19
    a smoggers board of choice this has all
  • 00:28:21
    but dissolved the once closely guarded
  • 00:28:23
    borders of genre scene and subculture
  • 00:28:26
    replacing it with a daily Choose Your
  • 00:28:27
    Own Adventure from the Limitless
  • 00:28:29
    archives of online content the Hipster
  • 00:28:32
    as a kind of cultural Nomad was a mere
  • 00:28:34
    harbinger of these things to come as we
  • 00:28:37
    all now to some extent are encouraged to
  • 00:28:39
    wander on an Endless Sea of content all
  • 00:28:41
    limitations of geography time and money
  • 00:28:44
    melting away at the first sign of a
  • 00:28:45
    Wi-Fi connection these new cultural
  • 00:28:48
    pastures have allowed an uneasy piece to
  • 00:28:51
    persist the Hipster Siege of the mid
  • 00:28:53
    2000s was ultimately a conflict driven
  • 00:28:55
    by scarcity of cultural resources
  • 00:28:59
    conditions that have since evaporated in
  • 00:29:00
    the face of the vast territories now
  • 00:29:02
    opened up by online spaces there is room
  • 00:29:05
    enough for a whole pleora of different
  • 00:29:07
    and contradictory articulations of metal
  • 00:29:09
    to coexist this
  • 00:29:11
    is God a series of siloed but
  • 00:29:15
    interconnected communities all claiming
  • 00:29:17
    different aspects of the genre as their
  • 00:29:18
    own all in effect using different
  • 00:29:21
    languages to describe the same phenomena
  • 00:29:24
    importantly and predictably there was an
  • 00:29:27
    underlying political thread to all this
  • 00:29:28
    whatever the value of hipster black
  • 00:29:30
    metal from a purely musical perspective
  • 00:29:33
    it's clear that on a broader cultural
  • 00:29:35
    level hipsters were merely the Vanguard
  • 00:29:36
    of a much larger sea change metal was
  • 00:29:39
    opened up to new populations new ideas
  • 00:29:42
    and new identities that followed in
  • 00:29:43
    their weake terms like true and false
  • 00:29:45
    metal often function as a proxy for
  • 00:29:48
    conservative versus Progressive ideas a
  • 00:29:50
    microcosm of a societal wide divide we
  • 00:29:54
    can decry the Hipster Invasion and what
  • 00:29:56
    it did to Black Metal as an art form but
  • 00:29:58
    the Dual benefit of re re re-energizing
  • 00:30:02
    the underground by providing it with a
  • 00:30:04
    common existential threat at one end and
  • 00:30:07
    introducing metal to New Perspectives
  • 00:30:09
    ideas and populations at the other these
  • 00:30:11
    are things that with hindsight should
  • 00:30:13
    give us cause for celebration the
  • 00:30:15
    hipster's detached irony may feel
  • 00:30:17
    decidedly dated at this point or but
  • 00:30:19
    killed off by the unbridled enthusiasm
  • 00:30:22
    and positivity required to grow a brand
  • 00:30:24
    and community on social media but their
  • 00:30:27
    nomadic at ude to genre and culture has
  • 00:30:29
    left a lasting Legacy the result is a
  • 00:30:32
    broader music fandom whose default
  • 00:30:34
    setting is now unabashed enthusiasm
  • 00:30:36
    combined with a watered down often
  • 00:30:39
    binary understanding of Arts culture and
  • 00:30:41
    music history at one end and a
  • 00:30:43
    reenergized underground at the other
  • 00:30:45
    there are some pretty Stern caveats to
  • 00:30:47
    that last point however
  • 00:30:58
    whenever we are training an AI model on
  • 00:31:01
    data which is generated by other AI
  • 00:31:03
    models it is essentially learning from a
  • 00:31:05
    distorted reflection of itself just like
  • 00:31:08
    a game of telephone each iteration of
  • 00:31:11
    the AI generated data becomes more
  • 00:31:13
    corrupted and disconnected from reality
  • 00:31:16
    researchers have found that introducing
  • 00:31:18
    a relatively small amount of AI
  • 00:31:19
    generated content in the training data
  • 00:31:22
    can be poisonous to the model causing
  • 00:31:24
    its outputs to rapidly degrade into
  • 00:31:26
    nonsensical gibberish within a few
  • 00:31:28
    training
  • 00:31:29
    Cycles this is because the errors and
  • 00:31:32
    biases inherent in the synthetic data
  • 00:31:35
    get Amplified as the model learns from
  • 00:31:36
    its own generated
  • 00:31:38
    outputs the Hipster episode is but a
  • 00:31:41
    microcosm of a much wider Trend within
  • 00:31:44
    21st century culture largely defined by
  • 00:31:46
    the rise of the internet it facilitated
  • 00:31:48
    a repaci archist tendency within metal
  • 00:31:51
    fandom in particular allowing newer
  • 00:31:53
    generations to discover and resurrect
  • 00:31:55
    older music that had until recently
  • 00:31:57
    languished in Ultra
  • 00:31:59
    obscurity therefore although metal had
  • 00:32:03
    Al but expired as a creative Force by
  • 00:32:04
    the turn of the century it was not
  • 00:32:06
    permitted to go quietly into the pasti
  • 00:32:09
    good night along with disco or swing by
  • 00:32:11
    the late 2000s metal was not just
  • 00:32:13
    popular again but ushered into the
  • 00:32:15
    clubhouse of legitimacy amongst other
  • 00:32:17
    music genres and garnering greater
  • 00:32:19
    interest from a wider music loving
  • 00:32:21
    public thanks to the ease of
  • 00:32:23
    access this not only rehabilitated once
  • 00:32:26
    obscure genres and artists but it
  • 00:32:27
    allowed Legacy acts to Rise From the
  • 00:32:29
    Ashes reform tour put out comeback
  • 00:32:32
    albums and and flood Festival bills we
  • 00:32:35
    shouldn't mistake all this activity for
  • 00:32:37
    a renewal of creative and artistic
  • 00:32:39
    Innovation however in fact the most
  • 00:32:41
    dramatic changes came at the level of
  • 00:32:42
    Music consumption and distribution
  • 00:32:45
    through MP3 files and later streaming
  • 00:32:48
    alongside the increasing dominance of
  • 00:32:50
    social media as a means of establishing
  • 00:32:52
    a brand promoting and marketing the
  • 00:32:55
    music itself was much the same as it
  • 00:32:57
    ever had been with any new Innovations
  • 00:32:59
    coming from people gluing different
  • 00:33:01
    genres and styles together giving a
  • 00:33:04
    veneer of progress that when studied
  • 00:33:06
    more closely was nowhere near as
  • 00:33:08
    significant or fundamental as the
  • 00:33:09
    developments from heavy metal thrash
  • 00:33:12
    death and black metal in previous
  • 00:33:14
    decades as a result metal looks for all
  • 00:33:17
    the world like a thriving and legitimate
  • 00:33:19
    subculture arguably culture at this
  • 00:33:21
    point but the period which saw the most
  • 00:33:23
    obvious and observable changes between
  • 00:33:25
    75 and 99 were the result of a very
  • 00:33:28
    specific set of historical circumstances
  • 00:33:31
    within very specific locations as well
  • 00:33:33
    things impossible to replicate or
  • 00:33:36
    manufacture the rampant popularity of
  • 00:33:38
    previously obscure artists and genres
  • 00:33:40
    has also distorted our understanding of
  • 00:33:42
    History itself tempting us to impose the
  • 00:33:45
    tastes and habits of today's demographic
  • 00:33:47
    onto the past and younger generation
  • 00:33:49
    seem condemned to Fashion their identity
  • 00:33:53
    and their entire body of work within the
  • 00:33:54
    long shadow of a legacy the meaning of
  • 00:33:57
    which is slowly fading from memory when
  • 00:34:00
    their contributions do reach for
  • 00:34:01
    comparable levels of profundity they are
  • 00:34:04
    lost beneath the sheer quantity of
  • 00:34:05
    content on offer and the absence of
  • 00:34:07
    media establishments with the clout
  • 00:34:09
    required to manufacture a collective
  • 00:34:11
    cultural experience much like England
  • 00:34:14
    after the fall of Rome bear with me here
  • 00:34:16
    I don't know why I wrote this we live in
  • 00:34:17
    proximity to a sophisticated past we
  • 00:34:20
    seem unable to fully
  • 00:34:22
    grasp the historical evidence is all
  • 00:34:26
    around us but what it means and how it
  • 00:34:28
    was constructed has been lost to time
  • 00:34:31
    and neglect for Dark Age England this
  • 00:34:33
    meant losing Science and Technology the
  • 00:34:36
    written word networks of trade and
  • 00:34:38
    communication with the wider Empire
  • 00:34:40
    systems of government the very stuff of
  • 00:34:42
    civilization the process would have been
  • 00:34:44
    gradual as news from Beyond England
  • 00:34:46
    Shores slowly dissipated and an older
  • 00:34:48
    generation died off until one day the
  • 00:34:50
    memory of Empire became locked in the
  • 00:34:53
    decaying Villas bath houses and forts
  • 00:34:55
    populating the landscape all around them
  • 00:34:57
    alien artifacts mystical Clues left by a
  • 00:35:00
    highly Advanced race from a forgotten
  • 00:35:02
    past and to extend our analogy further
  • 00:35:05
    pre-christian Saxon England practiced a
  • 00:35:08
    highly localized form of paganism while
  • 00:35:10
    some deities spanned regions and
  • 00:35:12
    sometimes Nations rituals and beliefs
  • 00:35:14
    could vary from one Village to the next
  • 00:35:17
    one can walk through the world of modern
  • 00:35:19
    metal past the decaying ruins of once
  • 00:35:22
    great monuments operating under an
  • 00:35:24
    entirely different set of norms to
  • 00:35:26
    another Metal Head by into contradictory
  • 00:35:29
    narratives on what metal is and who the
  • 00:35:31
    current significant artists Publications
  • 00:35:33
    festivals or labels are such as the
  • 00:35:36
    vastness of the digital thiefdom metal
  • 00:35:38
    now
  • 00:35:39
    occupies given that this zombie state
  • 00:35:42
    has lasted for almost 25 years nearly as
  • 00:35:44
    long as Metal's initial Inception it
  • 00:35:46
    seems dubious to chalk this all up to
  • 00:35:49
    Mere
  • 00:35:50
    Nostalgia the past is now the exception
  • 00:35:53
    the current Malay is brought on by an
  • 00:35:55
    unknowable excess of content the rule
  • 00:35:58
    the overwhelming majority of bands
  • 00:35:59
    releases Publications and labels are
  • 00:36:01
    products of this post 2000 zombie era if
  • 00:36:05
    the capture of the present by the past
  • 00:36:06
    goes on for long enough metal becomes a
  • 00:36:09
    culture in suspended animation a
  • 00:36:11
    gradually disintegrating echo of a
  • 00:36:13
    momentary blip this is a distinct and
  • 00:36:16
    decidedly more insipid condition than
  • 00:36:18
    pure Nostalgia metal becomes a set of
  • 00:36:21
    disconnected cultural streams Loosely
  • 00:36:23
    bound together by a half-remembered
  • 00:36:25
    shared ancestry now relegated to brands
  • 00:36:28
    affectations or Vibes the parameters of
  • 00:36:30
    which are defined by a pseudo journalism
  • 00:36:32
    unable or unwilling to interpret the
  • 00:36:35
    symbol of the past into anything more
  • 00:36:37
    substantive than vague aesthetic auras
  • 00:36:39
    within this environment the resulting
  • 00:36:41
    death of imagination leads many to
  • 00:36:43
    conclude that the only way to
  • 00:36:45
    revolutionize metal is to break with it
  • 00:36:47
    entirely hence the endless reams of
  • 00:36:49
    chimerical avant guard metal policing
  • 00:36:51
    the borders of what experimentation can
  • 00:36:53
    look like dictating the parameters of
  • 00:36:56
    true innovation
  • 00:36:58
    I am aware that for many this assessment
  • 00:37:00
    of contemporary metal just doesn't
  • 00:37:01
    resonate they will object that metal is
  • 00:37:04
    living through a never- ending present
  • 00:37:05
    of vibrancy replete with exciting new
  • 00:37:08
    releases interesting
  • 00:37:10
    artists boundless Innovation and
  • 00:37:12
    challenging new music whilst I don't
  • 00:37:15
    believe these arguments come from a
  • 00:37:16
    place of denial or bad faith I do
  • 00:37:19
    believe that the source of this
  • 00:37:20
    disagreement arises from a change in how
  • 00:37:23
    newer fans listen to metal the internet
  • 00:37:25
    after all didn't only revolutionize
  • 00:37:27
    consumption and distribution of Music it
  • 00:37:30
    fundamentally changed the way in which
  • 00:37:31
    metal fandom is expressed the fleeting
  • 00:37:34
    One-Stop shop of a social media scroll
  • 00:37:36
    means people rely on instantly
  • 00:37:38
    recognizable symbols phrases and
  • 00:37:41
    Aesthetics to signal to others their
  • 00:37:43
    cultural allegiances this shifts the
  • 00:37:45
    focus away from what metal can express
  • 00:37:47
    in the abstract and back to an
  • 00:37:48
    individualized form of self-expression
  • 00:37:50
    dictated by the very specific
  • 00:37:52
    motivations and values of the individual
  • 00:37:54
    listener
  • 00:37:57
    [Music]
  • 00:38:11
    it's really an ideal situation for
  • 00:38:12
    capitalists that's why so many
  • 00:38:14
    corporations Banks and neoliberal
  • 00:38:16
    politicians have readily adopted the
  • 00:38:18
    language of identity as well as the
  • 00:38:21
    aesthetic of diversity and Equity they
  • 00:38:24
    have every reason to be happy with this
  • 00:38:25
    cosmological shift since they will still
  • 00:38:28
    get to keep property relations intact as
  • 00:38:30
    long as they offer more expression to
  • 00:38:32
    Identity
  • 00:38:33
    concerns it's important to understand
  • 00:38:36
    the broader context that created the
  • 00:38:37
    conditions for this shift before the rot
  • 00:38:39
    of misanthropy sets in after all the
  • 00:38:42
    slow erosion of the public realm forces
  • 00:38:44
    us to Define our identities by our
  • 00:38:46
    purchasing habits our sense of self
  • 00:38:48
    foregrounds hobbies and culture because
  • 00:38:51
    these are malleable marketing
  • 00:38:53
    demographics fluid and susceptible to
  • 00:38:55
    persuasion compared to identities is
  • 00:38:57
    defined by Place community and class
  • 00:38:59
    Consciousness these latter elements are
  • 00:39:01
    concretely political unlike the identity
  • 00:39:04
    politics of representation that tends to
  • 00:39:07
    permeate cultural zones these are easily
  • 00:39:09
    absorbed into a neoliberal world order
  • 00:39:12
    on paper this is nothing new even for
  • 00:39:14
    extreme metal whatever lofty ideals it
  • 00:39:16
    upholds in the abstract in practice it
  • 00:39:19
    has manifested as a movement primarily
  • 00:39:21
    concerned with identity thus the scum
  • 00:39:24
    jigsaw puzzles the festivals resembling
  • 00:39:26
    theme parks the merch subscription
  • 00:39:29
    services and unboxing videos the holiday
  • 00:39:31
    cruises the musicals the Branded
  • 00:39:33
    homewear all are just extensions of what
  • 00:39:35
    bands like Kiss have been doing for
  • 00:39:37
    decades what's insidiously novel about
  • 00:39:40
    consumerism today though is just how
  • 00:39:42
    configurable it is highly bespoke
  • 00:39:45
    underground forms of branding
  • 00:39:46
    facilitated by sites like Etsy running
  • 00:39:48
    parallel to more traditional top- down
  • 00:39:51
    marketing this allows businesses large
  • 00:39:53
    and small to tailor their advertising to
  • 00:39:56
    very specific populations within metal
  • 00:39:58
    using very bespoke values driven
  • 00:40:00
    language and lifestyle porn as fetics
  • 00:40:03
    itself a symptom of Metal's aging
  • 00:40:04
    population and the greater purchasing
  • 00:40:06
    power that comes with this this means
  • 00:40:09
    that everyone from fans to Indie labels
  • 00:40:11
    to Major magazines play a role in
  • 00:40:14
    opening up new areas of branding
  • 00:40:16
    potential this extends far beyond band
  • 00:40:19
    merch and imagery it reaches into one's
  • 00:40:21
    very cultural philosophy are you true to
  • 00:40:24
    the underground spirit for example are
  • 00:40:26
    you in favor of of professional studio
  • 00:40:28
    mixes and Arena shows or is a DIY
  • 00:40:31
    aesthetic important to you are you in
  • 00:40:33
    favor of the new ideas entering your
  • 00:40:35
    subculture or fiercely opposed to them
  • 00:40:37
    whatever they may be answers to these
  • 00:40:39
    questions have a corresponding product
  • 00:40:41
    or service someone wants to sell you the
  • 00:40:44
    Hipster Petty Bourgeois commitment to
  • 00:40:46
    artisanal produce startup businesses and
  • 00:40:48
    ethical consumption is but one example
  • 00:40:50
    of how buying power has replaced
  • 00:40:52
    Collective political action culturally
  • 00:40:55
    this manifests as the casualization of
  • 00:40:57
    fan
  • 00:40:58
    a fleeting relationship to the music
  • 00:40:59
    itself ostensibly the reason why we're
  • 00:41:01
    all here encouraged not just by the
  • 00:41:03
    sheer volume of content available but
  • 00:41:05
    the demand to display our love of music
  • 00:41:07
    through ever more diverse and novel
  • 00:41:09
    items extending Beyond merchandise into
  • 00:41:12
    home wear beer and wine and even dog
  • 00:41:14
    food this is not simply a case of plying
  • 00:41:16
    a social media feed with relevant ads
  • 00:41:19
    based on a de metal fan likes for
  • 00:41:21
    example it matters what your values as a
  • 00:41:23
    death metal fan are this is one reason
  • 00:41:26
    why genre tags are become so prolific
  • 00:41:28
    they serve a purpose as clunky but
  • 00:41:30
    utilitarian descriptors for sure but
  • 00:41:33
    behind this is the lurking Spectre of a
  • 00:41:35
    value judgment osdm dsbm Tech death
  • 00:41:39
    mellow death death core brutal death
  • 00:41:41
    metal all come with negative or positive
  • 00:41:44
    connotations depending on context and
  • 00:41:46
    personal preference anyone looking to
  • 00:41:48
    enter the market knows this and they
  • 00:41:50
    know how to manipulate these words to
  • 00:41:52
    reach an intended audience we assimilate
  • 00:41:55
    culture through the filter of branding l
  • 00:41:57
    lingo creating genre tags to delineate a
  • 00:41:59
    particular Choose Your Own Adventure
  • 00:42:01
    lifestyle a process we mistake for
  • 00:42:03
    genuine artistic features of the music
  • 00:42:06
    otherwise intelligent commentators begin
  • 00:42:08
    to Parrot this terminology leading to
  • 00:42:10
    this casualization of fandom where where
  • 00:42:12
    everyone is entitled to access their
  • 00:42:14
    brand free of friction musical critique
  • 00:42:16
    is dismissed as elitism one feature of
  • 00:42:19
    this casualization of fandom is the
  • 00:42:21
    foregrounding of Vibes an imprecise set
  • 00:42:24
    of moods signifies in fact similes
  • 00:42:26
    designed to slot into a predetermined
  • 00:42:29
    cultural stream or Market in his 1970s
  • 00:42:32
    Harvard lecture series Leonard Bernstein
  • 00:42:35
    described music as a metaphor a single
  • 00:42:38
    note may have no meaning but place two
  • 00:42:40
    notes together and our brains begin to
  • 00:42:42
    construct a story a notion or an idea
  • 00:42:45
    the process is almost reflective we
  • 00:42:46
    cannot help but do it through intuition
  • 00:42:49
    cultural upbringing context and for
  • 00:42:51
    knowledge we engage in a dialogue with
  • 00:42:53
    the music it communicates to us even if
  • 00:42:55
    the message is ambiguous open-ended my
  • 00:42:58
    interpretation of orber Angel is one of
  • 00:43:00
    many possibilities for example all of
  • 00:43:02
    which stem from their manipulation of
  • 00:43:04
    Riff Melody a tonality rhythm pacing and
  • 00:43:07
    Dynamics which in turn trigger in me a
  • 00:43:09
    response based on my experiences of
  • 00:43:11
    Music the overall Vibe the triggered
  • 00:43:14
    drums the crisp Distortion the slightly
  • 00:43:16
    American accent and the clinical
  • 00:43:18
    production allow us to impose a
  • 00:43:20
    historical geographical and cultural
  • 00:43:23
    location onto the music but they do not
  • 00:43:25
    Define the flow of metaphor and
  • 00:43:27
    interpretations that result from this
  • 00:43:29
    which arise from how these musicians
  • 00:43:31
    communicate with their chosen genre and
  • 00:43:33
    are imposed by The Listener on the music
  • 00:43:35
    almost impulsively we reflexively
  • 00:43:38
    interpret the minor key as sad the major
  • 00:43:40
    key as happy the Tron as Eerie the
  • 00:43:43
    atonal as ambiguous and dissonant as
  • 00:43:45
    alien for example although not always
  • 00:43:48
    intentional fudging
  • 00:43:52
    the although not always intentional
  • 00:43:54
    fudging the boundary between Vibes and
  • 00:43:56
    genre is a common PR tactic pirate metal
  • 00:44:00
    Viking metal folk metal battle metal all
  • 00:44:02
    are prominent examples of what happens
  • 00:44:04
    when we mistake Vibes for genre cloaking
  • 00:44:07
    the lack of substantive development at
  • 00:44:09
    the compositional level and therefore
  • 00:44:10
    the metaphorical level there is real
  • 00:44:13
    money in selling certain groups and
  • 00:44:14
    releases is genuinely novel hence why
  • 00:44:17
    managers of capital such as they are in
  • 00:44:19
    metal are only too happy to join the
  • 00:44:21
    Pyon against elitists and other Vibe
  • 00:44:25
    Skeptics these are antagonists would
  • 00:44:27
    seek to disrupt the free flow of goods
  • 00:44:29
    by shining a light on the mechanics of
  • 00:44:31
    advertising lingo and its tenuous
  • 00:44:32
    connection to the substance of the music
  • 00:44:35
    dismissing such individuals as elitists
  • 00:44:38
    paints their motivations as purely
  • 00:44:40
    status-driven and bitter thus precluding
  • 00:44:42
    the need to meaningfully engage with
  • 00:44:44
    them the Spotify playlist is a key
  • 00:44:46
    villain in this story their model now an
  • 00:44:49
    industry standard for music consumption
  • 00:44:51
    trades on curating moods and feelings as
  • 00:44:54
    paramounts a musical experience this
  • 00:44:56
    diminish es the importance of intimacy
  • 00:44:58
    with music familiarity encouraging
  • 00:45:01
    eclectic fleeting acquaintances with as
  • 00:45:03
    many releases as possible aborted Vibe
  • 00:45:05
    Fabrications like void gaze indicate
  • 00:45:07
    that Spotify is not always successful in
  • 00:45:09
    this regard but the reduction of music
  • 00:45:11
    to a buffet of prepackaged vaguely
  • 00:45:14
    defined mutes to be to be browsed on at
  • 00:45:16
    leisure is something metal has well and
  • 00:45:18
    truly succumbed to in the streaming age
  • 00:45:20
    fundamentally re-engineer Metal's
  • 00:45:21
    relationship to the
  • 00:45:23
    music but the symptoms can be traced
  • 00:45:25
    well beyond streaming and social media
  • 00:45:27
    platforms it is also illustrated by the
  • 00:45:29
    caliber of modern journalism and with
  • 00:45:31
    clever manipulation it can even decide
  • 00:45:33
    who gets the right to speak from a place
  • 00:45:35
    of legitimacy or objectivity brainy
  • 00:45:38
    Publications such as louder and forly
  • 00:45:40
    vice or the quietus Pitchfork and
  • 00:45:43
    invisible oranges a rif with journalists
  • 00:45:45
    posing as dispassionate sociologists
  • 00:45:48
    documenting the flow of culture within a
  • 00:45:50
    scene yet in the process they casually
  • 00:45:52
    throw around the language of marketing
  • 00:45:54
    without subjecting it to any scrutiny
  • 00:45:57
    thus the cycle of covert branding is
  • 00:45:59
    perpetuated unanchored eclecticism is
  • 00:46:01
    championed discernment denigrated as
  • 00:46:03
    gatekeeping a whole host of metal meme
  • 00:46:06
    law celebrates the breadth of quirky
  • 00:46:08
    listening consumption habits popular
  • 00:46:10
    voices such as Anthony fantano def find
  • 00:46:13
    themselves as jack of all trades master
  • 00:46:15
    of non critics fantano's unassuming
  • 00:46:17
    reviews on metal albums at least may
  • 00:46:20
    look insightful but are often nothing
  • 00:46:21
    more than sugarcoated Vibe chats rarely
  • 00:46:23
    broaching Beyond The Superficial the
  • 00:46:25
    fixation on Vibe can lead to
  • 00:46:28
    commentators such as Jeff Vagner to make
  • 00:46:30
    silly claims such as the following is it
  • 00:46:32
    Wagner is that who you say it in America
  • 00:46:33
    he makes silly claims such as the
  • 00:46:35
    following where Morbid Angel sometimes
  • 00:46:38
    offered organ Segways and moments of
  • 00:46:40
    Arty diversion as on their heretic album
  • 00:46:43
    they blasted and bludgeoned more than
  • 00:46:46
    they experimented Wagner Vagner is often
  • 00:46:49
    regarded as one of Metal's more cerebral
  • 00:46:51
    journalists but in referring to the
  • 00:46:53
    unfocused and frankly incoherent heretic
  • 00:46:56
    as experimental and the rest of morbid
  • 00:46:58
    Angel's back catalogers blasting and
  • 00:47:00
    bludgeoning he betrays a troubling lack
  • 00:47:03
    of insight into the deaf metal art form
  • 00:47:05
    and morbid Angel's unique contributions
  • 00:47:07
    to It ultimately the Confluence of vibe
  • 00:47:10
    marketing and the casualization of
  • 00:47:12
    fandom engenders the same degree of
  • 00:47:14
    entitlement that one might feel towards
  • 00:47:16
    a consumer product we've been
  • 00:47:18
    conditioned to believe that we have a
  • 00:47:20
    right to purchase free of friction which
  • 00:47:22
    is literally true for consumer goods the
  • 00:47:24
    companies that sell us things they they
  • 00:47:26
    want want our transactions to be as
  • 00:47:28
    smooth and regular as possible but art
  • 00:47:31
    is not a product even if its emergent
  • 00:47:33
    Vibes are hence the generation of terms
  • 00:47:36
    like elitist and gatekeeper and purist
  • 00:47:39
    to cloak a lack of interest in the
  • 00:47:41
    complexity and Nuance of genre mechanics
  • 00:47:44
    we feel entitled to purchase and consume
  • 00:47:46
    a Vibe free of friction free of descent
  • 00:47:49
    free of maybe critical thinking this
  • 00:47:52
    creates a process of atomization Music
  • 00:47:54
    becomes a toy box filled with
  • 00:47:56
    disconnected artifacts for individuals
  • 00:47:58
    to stitch together into whatever
  • 00:48:00
    chimerical form they choose an
  • 00:48:02
    individualist expression of personal
  • 00:48:04
    identity equally this identity that is
  • 00:48:07
    being expressed is more often than not a
  • 00:48:09
    superficial cluster of consumer
  • 00:48:10
    lifestyle modes nurtured by various
  • 00:48:13
    Brands to generate another targetable
  • 00:48:15
    audience to question the artistic Merit
  • 00:48:17
    of this is elitist grandstanding this is
  • 00:48:20
    also the root cause of the intractable
  • 00:48:22
    disagreement over whoever metal is even
  • 00:48:24
    a viable living organism anymore
  • 00:48:27
    where one person sees a regular churn of
  • 00:48:29
    activity and Novelty and new releases in
  • 00:48:31
    life another sees nothing but the
  • 00:48:33
    cultural equivalent of an AI model being
  • 00:48:35
    fed training data generated by other AI
  • 00:48:38
    models leading to outputs that rapidly
  • 00:48:41
    degrade into nonsensical gibberish
  • 00:48:44
    within just a few training Cycles
  • 00:48:51
    [Music]
  • 00:48:56
    seemingly inconsequential freedom of
  • 00:48:59
    creative expression is a red herring a
  • 00:49:01
    beard a ploy a false flag operation
  • 00:49:04
    upholding the inali right for art to be
  • 00:49:07
    anything say anything do anything is a
  • 00:49:09
    Patric designed by the Lords of capital
  • 00:49:11
    with extraordinary Insidious
  • 00:49:13
    implications it has made art instead of
  • 00:49:16
    being the shield weapon and broadside
  • 00:49:18
    pamphlet of the otherwise disenfranchise
  • 00:49:21
    attainable to anyone into a holy bit of
  • 00:49:24
    fluff the well-being of which must be
  • 00:49:26
    protected Ed at all costs by the muscle
  • 00:49:28
    of the militarized state upheld by the
  • 00:49:31
    super privileged championed by the
  • 00:49:33
    cosmetically degenerate what point is
  • 00:49:36
    there in defending this beast and what
  • 00:49:38
    has the beast in such company
  • 00:49:41
    become much of this comes back to our
  • 00:49:43
    motivation for engaging with art and
  • 00:49:46
    creating art is Bal just idle
  • 00:49:48
    self-expression that we've all got a bit
  • 00:49:50
    worked up over or is it something deeper
  • 00:49:53
    contemporary wisdom treats metal in all
  • 00:49:55
    its forms as a toy box giving us license
  • 00:49:58
    to lift its Visual and Sonic signifies
  • 00:50:01
    peac meal as a means of self-expression
  • 00:50:04
    it becomes an affectation A Pose a
  • 00:50:06
    performative gesture toward various
  • 00:50:08
    forms of extremity on the surface it
  • 00:50:11
    seems obvious that metal is about
  • 00:50:13
    self-expression I mean how could it not
  • 00:50:15
    be but if we look at the way metal rents
  • 00:50:18
    out imagery ideas and conceptual
  • 00:50:20
    material from other fields say history
  • 00:50:22
    religion and mythology combines them
  • 00:50:24
    with a a strict focus on musical form
  • 00:50:27
    structure predetermination that begins
  • 00:50:30
    to look like a deeply rigid inflexible
  • 00:50:32
    unwieldy tool for anyone looking to say
  • 00:50:35
    pour their heart out metal provides the
  • 00:50:37
    user with a set of musical and
  • 00:50:39
    conceptual tools they can manipulate and
  • 00:50:42
    add to throughout the process of
  • 00:50:43
    composition an ongoing dialogue with a A
  • 00:50:46
    Wider historical current see Fall From
  • 00:50:49
    Grace for example any novel or
  • 00:50:51
    individual input is then placed within
  • 00:50:54
    the pool of collective resources and
  • 00:50:55
    made available for for the Next
  • 00:50:57
    Generation hence Metal's fixation on who
  • 00:50:59
    influenced who who was the first to
  • 00:51:02
    deploy a particular technique like the
  • 00:51:03
    blast be and whether certain artists
  • 00:51:06
    were as significant as common sense
  • 00:51:08
    wisdom would have us believe or maybe
  • 00:51:10
    other artists that are deeply
  • 00:51:12
    underated this is clearly not the case
  • 00:51:15
    anymore metal as understood by a younger
  • 00:51:18
    generation and in fact an older
  • 00:51:20
    generation that have inculcated the
  • 00:51:22
    ideas of the current moment metal is
  • 00:51:25
    ostensibly about self-expression whether
  • 00:51:27
    this be cultural political social or
  • 00:51:30
    personal but paradoxically it retains
  • 00:51:32
    and even exaggerates its use of extra
  • 00:51:34
    musical signifiers this is especially
  • 00:51:37
    true as metal became an increasingly
  • 00:51:38
    Global presence and all manner of
  • 00:51:41
    regional folk traditions and mythologies
  • 00:51:43
    became wrapped up into versions of
  • 00:51:45
    pre-existing metal genres writing genre
  • 00:51:48
    metal that calls on specific historical
  • 00:51:51
    periods is akin to cornering a certain
  • 00:51:53
    Market plucking a readymade brand off
  • 00:51:55
    the shelf that one else spotted so today
  • 00:51:58
    as a listener I can come across artists
  • 00:52:00
    that sing exclusively about German
  • 00:52:02
    mining accidents Napoleonic France or
  • 00:52:05
    the Eastern Orthodox liturgy but the
  • 00:52:08
    further one goes back in time in metals
  • 00:52:10
    history the less specific Metals
  • 00:52:12
    imagination becomes until we arrive back
  • 00:52:14
    at Black Sabbath and their dead pan
  • 00:52:16
    reference to Satan as a vague antagonist
  • 00:52:19
    the source of conflict discomfort
  • 00:52:21
    contest or paranoia the forms of metal
  • 00:52:23
    that are most explicit in their
  • 00:52:25
    self-expression literally about The
  • 00:52:27
    Human Experience tend to be newer forms
  • 00:52:30
    such as post metal depressive black
  • 00:52:32
    metal and any form of metal that
  • 00:52:33
    self-identifies as being experimental
  • 00:52:36
    Progressive in the Contemporary sense of
  • 00:52:38
    the word or deploying the gay suffix the
  • 00:52:41
    genres that Metals designated gatekeeper
  • 00:52:43
    antagonists tend to dislike in other
  • 00:52:45
    words the gatekeeper would argue that
  • 00:52:47
    the self-expressive element to these
  • 00:52:49
    genres is exactly what makes them not
  • 00:52:51
    metal but in the alternative it is
  • 00:52:53
    precisely because these Styles Define
  • 00:52:55
    themselves in opposition to traditional
  • 00:52:57
    forms of metal that they become a a
  • 00:52:59
    troubling Prospect for the so-called
  • 00:53:01
    traditionalist they refuse to submit to
  • 00:53:03
    the rules of engagement at a cultural
  • 00:53:05
    level by only extracting from the
  • 00:53:07
    collective pool of compositional
  • 00:53:08
    resources in the form of genre Alchemy
  • 00:53:10
    and never contributing to it and at a
  • 00:53:13
    musical level by valuing individual
  • 00:53:15
    expression as Paramount as a result they
  • 00:53:17
    fail to point toward a viable Collective
  • 00:53:19
    next step for metal in a way that
  • 00:53:21
    previous generations did by accident or
  • 00:53:24
    Design This calls to mind nich's Last
  • 00:53:26
    Man Without Direction time or purpose
  • 00:53:30
    too aware of History both the internal
  • 00:53:32
    history of metal and the Deep occurrence
  • 00:53:34
    of global history picking at different
  • 00:53:36
    areas of culture as Idle Curiosities
  • 00:53:39
    with ironic Detachment unable or
  • 00:53:41
    unwilling to say or do anything
  • 00:53:43
    meaningful with them we mistake this
  • 00:53:45
    Cosmopolitan fingering for A celebration
  • 00:53:47
    of self-expression a communal Hub where
  • 00:53:50
    all creativity is valid if it is a true
  • 00:53:53
    reflection of some inner personal need
  • 00:53:55
    and where everyone is engaged in a
  • 00:53:57
    project of mutual support and love at
  • 00:54:00
    the intersection of coping with the
  • 00:54:02
    Relentless competition that is now a
  • 00:54:04
    feature of running a digital platform
  • 00:54:06
    bands but also labels Publications
  • 00:54:08
    promoters artists and so on alongside
  • 00:54:11
    the facade of self-expression this leads
  • 00:54:13
    to a kind of dilettantism an idol
  • 00:54:16
    investigation of History cultural
  • 00:54:18
    theological or mythological material as
  • 00:54:20
    a shortcut to crafting some kind of
  • 00:54:23
    brand or image that could gain currency
  • 00:54:25
    within the widest social media economy
  • 00:54:28
    this is self-expression with a false
  • 00:54:30
    consciousness all is recycled
  • 00:54:34
    [Music]
  • 00:54:42
    data I can feel myself
  • 00:54:47
    [Music]
  • 00:54:50
    r no one would ever confuse us with
  • 00:54:52
    Oasis but we have parts that sound like
  • 00:54:55
    that that's kind of how I feel about the
  • 00:54:57
    black metal thing we definitely have
  • 00:54:59
    Parts influenced by black metal but we
  • 00:55:02
    aren't a black metal band I've tried to
  • 00:55:04
    say that for so long no one wants to
  • 00:55:06
    hear
  • 00:55:08
    it spokespeople within the media and
  • 00:55:11
    influencer classes increasingly feel the
  • 00:55:13
    need to Pander to the sensitivities of a
  • 00:55:15
    self-expressive metal audience elitist
  • 00:55:18
    bashing is a quick way to build a
  • 00:55:20
    platform the artistic values of metal
  • 00:55:22
    are therefore subject to far more
  • 00:55:24
    scrutiny than is normal for a subculture
  • 00:55:27
    this mirrors the way larger Brands
  • 00:55:29
    appeal to woke sensibilities bullying
  • 00:55:32
    the movement against sexual harass
  • 00:55:34
    masculinity is this the best a man can
  • 00:55:40
    get is it not because they believe in
  • 00:55:43
    the values they parrot corporations have
  • 00:55:45
    no values but because they know it will
  • 00:55:47
    enrage hordes of online weirdos whose
  • 00:55:50
    rage will generate reams of free
  • 00:55:52
    advertising for them commentators
  • 00:55:54
    therefore impose obus half shs
  • 00:55:57
    simplicities and other distorted
  • 00:55:59
    histories onto the collective Narrative
  • 00:56:01
    of metal provoking one arm of Metal's
  • 00:56:03
    fan base whilst generating clickbait for
  • 00:56:05
    another a subtler way to do this can be
  • 00:56:08
    found in the many genre primers and
  • 00:56:10
    brief history videos generated by the
  • 00:56:12
    dark satanic content Mills where you'll
  • 00:56:14
    find vague references to the mystical
  • 00:56:16
    purist bogeyman the record was gaining
  • 00:56:18
    so much attention it was even getting
  • 00:56:21
    hate from black metal purists uh who
  • 00:56:23
    favored more of course uh you know the
  • 00:56:25
    old school sh the Scandinavian [ __ ] it's
  • 00:56:27
    a genre that's pretty much defined by
  • 00:56:29
    gatekeeping and Conformity right like if
  • 00:56:31
    you listen to that quote I read from
  • 00:56:33
    uronis a minute ago it's basically him
  • 00:56:35
    like laying out the dress code and
  • 00:56:36
    enforcing it and saying if you don't
  • 00:56:38
    listen to the right bands and wear the
  • 00:56:39
    right clothes you can't sit at our table
  • 00:56:41
    it's rigid Conformity packaged as
  • 00:56:44
    Rebellion this phenomena reached a peak
  • 00:56:47
    in the mid-2010s although I still see it
  • 00:56:49
    regularly crop up online and is
  • 00:56:50
    something that Dale Patterson explores
  • 00:56:52
    at length in his recently published new
  • 00:56:55
    edition of evolution of the cult on a
  • 00:56:57
    history of black metal in a lengthy
  • 00:56:59
    closing chapter on post black metal and
  • 00:57:01
    black gay genres
  • 00:57:03
    which he discusses black gaze and post
  • 00:57:06
    black metal in a lengthy closing chapter
  • 00:57:08
    which are genres which almost by
  • 00:57:10
    definition caught controversy the main
  • 00:57:13
    contention is best summed up by this
  • 00:57:15
    quote the presentation of post black
  • 00:57:18
    metal black gaze Black core as the
  • 00:57:20
    Forefront of artistic Vitality within
  • 00:57:22
    black metal is as embarrassing as it is
  • 00:57:24
    inaccurate and fans of black metal
  • 00:57:27
    influence bands attempt to speak
  • 00:57:28
    definitively on a genre they know very
  • 00:57:30
    little about it doesn't do much to
  • 00:57:32
    endear such bands to the black metal
  • 00:57:35
    Community he points to the fact that
  • 00:57:37
    many post-black metal musicians
  • 00:57:39
    themselves have often stated that they
  • 00:57:40
    are only inspired by black metal but are
  • 00:57:42
    not themselves in any way related to
  • 00:57:44
    Black Metal he calls out the Spate of
  • 00:57:46
    Articles appearing in the likes of Vice
  • 00:57:48
    metal sucks and Terrorizer throughout
  • 00:57:50
    the 2010s framing bands like mik mik
  • 00:57:53
    I've never heard this band pronounced
  • 00:57:54
    that loud mik alest or de Heaven as The
  • 00:57:58
    Cutting Edge of the genre and lambasting
  • 00:58:00
    black metal fans as elitist Gatekeepers
  • 00:58:02
    for not accepting them a you we were
  • 00:58:04
    constantly brow beaten with at the time
  • 00:58:06
    I remember being sent the vice article
  • 00:58:09
    by a number of non-metal friends in what
  • 00:58:11
    remains a particularly sour episode in
  • 00:58:13
    inter genre relations and one of the
  • 00:58:15
    formative events that led me to blogging
  • 00:58:16
    in the first place Patterson defends
  • 00:58:19
    black metal fans as uniquely open-minded
  • 00:58:21
    individuals the musicians as fiercely
  • 00:58:24
    experimental both of which should be
  • 00:58:26
    self-evident given the breadth and
  • 00:58:27
    Variety in the genre even by as early as
  • 00:58:30
    1994 he Likens placing post black metal
  • 00:58:33
    at the Forefront of the genre is similar
  • 00:58:35
    to trying to place the Clash at the
  • 00:58:37
    Forefront of Reggae and accusing anyone
  • 00:58:39
    who disagrees of gatekeeping lgy De
  • 00:58:42
    heaven and aless these bands have
  • 00:58:44
    attracted much Aya not simply because of
  • 00:58:46
    their music but because the scene keeps
  • 00:58:48
    getting told that they are the future of
  • 00:58:49
    black metal by a disinterested music
  • 00:58:52
    press and their readership despite the
  • 00:58:54
    fact that all of them have openly
  • 00:58:56
    distance themselves from black metal
  • 00:58:58
    distinguishing themselves accurately as
  • 00:59:00
    black metal influenced something their
  • 00:59:02
    fans should be mindful of next time they
  • 00:59:04
    wish to write off the broad and Novelty
  • 00:59:06
    hungry fan base of black metal as
  • 00:59:08
    notbook purist
  • 00:59:09
    Gatekeepers it has never sat well the a
  • 00:59:12
    genre as explicitly experimental as
  • 00:59:14
    black metal is often accused of rampant
  • 00:59:16
    traditionalism or subject to this
  • 00:59:18
    constant need to somehow save or fix the
  • 00:59:21
    music by individuals largely unaware or
  • 00:59:23
    indifferent to the historical context
  • 00:59:25
    and complexity of its
  • 00:59:27
    Evolution a more detailed but no less
  • 00:59:30
    misguided example of this can be found
  • 00:59:31
    in Bill peele's recent book tonight it's
  • 00:59:34
    a world we bury which goes further than
  • 00:59:36
    most in its attempts to draw parallels
  • 00:59:38
    between leftist Theory and black metal
  • 00:59:40
    the book itself deserves praise for at
  • 00:59:42
    least attempting a non- identitarian
  • 00:59:44
    methodology but falls down when what
  • 00:59:47
    Pele understands to be black metal
  • 00:59:49
    becomes apparent peel discusses
  • 00:59:51
    Distortion in the context of bingel
  • 00:59:53
    Han's concept of psychopolitics
  • 00:59:56
    it is not oppression but permissiveness
  • 00:59:58
    that makes capitalism such a poorest
  • 01:00:00
    opponent by encouraging us to actively
  • 01:00:03
    pursue what we want free from external
  • 01:00:05
    obstacles Spotify streaming model is so
  • 01:00:08
    successful because not only does it give
  • 01:00:10
    us exactly what we want but it actively
  • 01:00:12
    anticipates our desires black metal by
  • 01:00:15
    contrast trades on the rare and uncom
  • 01:00:17
    modifiable traits of distortion both in
  • 01:00:19
    the literal and metaphorical sense it
  • 01:00:21
    puts up barriers makes itself unlikable
  • 01:00:24
    unlistenable difficult having
  • 01:00:26
    established this Peele asserts that
  • 01:00:28
    black Metals Distortion became
  • 01:00:30
    formalized it risked stasis and
  • 01:00:32
    commodification like any other
  • 01:00:34
    genre here in lies the downside to Black
  • 01:00:37
    Metal's oppositional attitude the
  • 01:00:39
    genre's walls of distortion in keeping
  • 01:00:41
    out psycho politics and the encroaching
  • 01:00:43
    forces of commercialization also work to
  • 01:00:46
    keep the genre rooted in
  • 01:00:48
    place Distortion is the rope with which
  • 01:00:51
    the Revolutionary Spirit of black metal
  • 01:00:53
    hanged itself P singles out nagar's joke
  • 01:00:56
    / tribute album black Metalist C to
  • 01:00:58
    chastise the genre for fixating on a
  • 01:01:00
    single tragedian moment in Norway in the
  • 01:01:03
    1990s he argues that the homogeneity
  • 01:01:06
    exemplified by nagaro misunderstood the
  • 01:01:09
    Oslo scene's initial hostility to
  • 01:01:11
    imitation with all Fetters removed
  • 01:01:14
    instrumentally speaking bands were able
  • 01:01:17
    to experiment with different sounds
  • 01:01:19
    whilst maintaining their black metal
  • 01:01:20
    credentials but instead when black metal
  • 01:01:23
    cries out for more albums that sound
  • 01:01:25
    like a funeral Moon an ASE not an album
  • 01:01:27
    mate to distort no longer means to make
  • 01:01:30
    music dirtier but to make music that
  • 01:01:32
    evades and overcomes those strictures
  • 01:01:33
    and
  • 01:01:34
    demands Peele predictably posits ales
  • 01:01:37
    death heaven and liturgy as the true
  • 01:01:39
    inheritors of Uranus's vision for black
  • 01:01:41
    metal because they subverted the mold by
  • 01:01:43
    taking it in unexpected directions and
  • 01:01:46
    of us more distorted this is because
  • 01:01:49
    Distortion for peel is not a guitar
  • 01:01:51
    effect but a nomadic process a way for
  • 01:01:53
    us to make ourselves anema to the
  • 01:01:55
    convenience of consumerism he then
  • 01:01:58
    outlines three contemporary examples of
  • 01:02:00
    subres demonstrating this that
  • 01:02:02
    Distortion doesn't hide behind walls of
  • 01:02:04
    familiarity but is instead nomadic and
  • 01:02:07
    Divergent these examples are raw black
  • 01:02:09
    metal dissonant black metal and hipster
  • 01:02:11
    black metal it is here that Peele
  • 01:02:14
    fashion a rod for black Metal's back by
  • 01:02:16
    reciting a selective and skewed reading
  • 01:02:17
    of its history the Orthodoxy he parrots
  • 01:02:19
    roughly traces black metal from its
  • 01:02:21
    birth in Newcastle to a climax and slow
  • 01:02:23
    death in Norway before it was salvaged
  • 01:02:25
    in the coffee houses of Brooklyn and
  • 01:02:27
    California in the early 2000s this is
  • 01:02:30
    evidenced by him repeating the fallacy
  • 01:02:32
    that the Norwegian scene had no defining
  • 01:02:33
    style and whilst it's certainly true
  • 01:02:35
    that there was great diversion between
  • 01:02:37
    the Norwegian bands the commonalities of
  • 01:02:39
    Trey guitars tremolo strumming blast
  • 01:02:41
    beats and high pitch vocals set them
  • 01:02:43
    apart from the Epic newom flavor of
  • 01:02:46
    Greek black metal for example or the
  • 01:02:48
    dirty occultism of Italy and southern
  • 01:02:50
    Europe the lowii eccentricity of the
  • 01:02:52
    Czech Republic Swedish melodicism the
  • 01:02:54
    black and fres of South America or the
  • 01:02:56
    dark grind core of Finland all scenes
  • 01:02:59
    that emerged in tandem with and some
  • 01:03:01
    prior to Norway but by admitting this
  • 01:03:04
    and simply retracing the common sense
  • 01:03:06
    Norwegian Centric narrative it's easy to
  • 01:03:08
    argue that black metal was regressive
  • 01:03:11
    once this scene burnt itself out Peele
  • 01:03:13
    is hardly unique in this regard a series
  • 01:03:15
    of well documented extracurricular
  • 01:03:17
    activities leads academics and
  • 01:03:19
    journalist to continue evaluating the
  • 01:03:21
    merits of a diverse International
  • 01:03:23
    movement within extreme Metals solely on
  • 01:03:25
    the basis of a small set of Norwegian
  • 01:03:27
    bands in rehashing this narrative it
  • 01:03:29
    allows him to needlessly wag a finger at
  • 01:03:32
    black metal for failing to live up to
  • 01:03:34
    its revolutionary promises to unpack
  • 01:03:36
    this further it's worth examining
  • 01:03:37
    peele's choice to position nagaro of all
  • 01:03:39
    bands as emblematic of the
  • 01:03:41
    traditionalist wing and de Heaven the
  • 01:03:43
    Forward Thinking revolutionary Wing
  • 01:03:46
    nagaro according to Peele refused to
  • 01:03:49
    engage with the genres present as
  • 01:03:51
    evinced by their album black Metalist C
  • 01:03:53
    it's worth noting then that after
  • 01:03:55
    release of this album nuro's output
  • 01:03:57
    includes a black metal reinterpretation
  • 01:03:59
    of R's Four Seasons a blackened
  • 01:04:02
    electronic ambient collaboration with
  • 01:04:04
    nicta's ons spectral visions of mental
  • 01:04:06
    Warfare and a hybrid of flamco black
  • 01:04:09
    metal prag and black and rolled on their
  • 01:04:11
    latest album era of thrity you may not
  • 01:04:14
    like nagar's attempts at experimentation
  • 01:04:16
    but one could hardly accuse them of
  • 01:04:17
    working to keep the genre rooted in
  • 01:04:20
    place death Heaven by contrast plot
  • 01:04:22
    lines of Escape for black metal that
  • 01:04:24
    connect it to something outside itself
  • 01:04:27
    according to Peele they do this by
  • 01:04:29
    introducing it to unexpected genres
  • 01:04:32
    essentially by applying a handful of
  • 01:04:34
    Hallmarks from a specific branch of
  • 01:04:35
    second wave Norwegian black metal to a
  • 01:04:37
    variant of indicum post Rock rooted in
  • 01:04:41
    highly conventional harmonic Traditions
  • 01:04:42
    present in the vast majority of Western
  • 01:04:44
    pop and rock music since the
  • 01:04:46
    1950s Peele is correct to say that this
  • 01:04:48
    is certainly unexpected I certainly did
  • 01:04:51
    not expect that stripping black metal of
  • 01:04:52
    its ambitious compositional architecture
  • 01:04:54
    and assimilating some of its tropes into
  • 01:04:55
    to Western pop rock Orthodoxy would
  • 01:04:57
    attract so many otherwise intelligent
  • 01:04:59
    cheerleaders the common sense narrative
  • 01:05:01
    pared here allows PE to position nagar
  • 01:05:04
    offers misunderstanding black Metal's
  • 01:05:06
    original spirit and de Heaven as an
  • 01:05:08
    example of the desire to construct
  • 01:05:10
    something different to it because this
  • 01:05:12
    view reduces black metal to a simple
  • 01:05:14
    binary of traditionalists and forward
  • 01:05:16
    thinkers all the while the substance of
  • 01:05:19
    these terms goes unexamined because they
  • 01:05:21
    serve a lazy fiction manufactured by
  • 01:05:23
    journalists to generate tribalist brand
  • 01:05:25
    loyalty to take another example from the
  • 01:05:28
    same book he positions raw black metal
  • 01:05:30
    as another potential line of Escape
  • 01:05:32
    failing to account for the fact that raw
  • 01:05:34
    black metal in form if not in the name
  • 01:05:36
    can be traced back to the likes of
  • 01:05:37
    blasphemy and Von and Ilan again an
  • 01:05:40
    experimental trait characterized as
  • 01:05:42
    newer novel in this book was baked
  • 01:05:43
    within black Metal's DNA decades ago
  • 01:05:46
    Peele also misses the point when he
  • 01:05:47
    feels the need to highlight to us that
  • 01:05:49
    the members of De Heaven actually love
  • 01:05:51
    bers and dark frone Defenders of true
  • 01:05:53
    cult black metal are opposed to the new
  • 01:05:55
    developments of the genre and presume
  • 01:05:57
    that fans of these new bands are opposed
  • 01:05:59
    to traditional black metal this frankly
  • 01:06:02
    is just not true traditionalists are
  • 01:06:05
    acutely aware of the interest dehe and
  • 01:06:07
    Nal have in old school black metal not
  • 01:06:10
    least because they openly say so what
  • 01:06:12
    remains in question is precisely what de
  • 01:06:15
    Heaven bring to the table for fans of
  • 01:06:17
    black metal especially considering their
  • 01:06:19
    openly distancing themselves from the
  • 01:06:21
    black metal label
  • 01:06:22
    itself another recent example can be
  • 01:06:25
    found found in t Cole's recent book on
  • 01:06:27
    death metal which makes the predictable
  • 01:06:29
    but lamentable mistake of framing def
  • 01:06:31
    core as the next chapter in De Metal's
  • 01:06:33
    Evolution and it's dismissal by older
  • 01:06:35
    fans as not but
  • 01:06:37
    puritanism Cole is able to frame events
  • 01:06:39
    in this way because they're working
  • 01:06:41
    definition of De metal foregrounds
  • 01:06:43
    vocals texture and lyrical themes
  • 01:06:45
    leading to a misunderstanding of the
  • 01:06:47
    significance or even relevance of death
  • 01:06:49
    core as a descendant of Death Metal the
  • 01:06:53
    bizarre focus on Napalm de carcass and
  • 01:06:56
    one account of extreme noise Terror give
  • 01:06:58
    further Clues as to what Cole thinks
  • 01:07:00
    death metal is the fact that Finn mckeny
  • 01:07:03
    of the punk rock NBA a 40-some baseball
  • 01:07:05
    cap wearing YouTube gatekeeper prod par
  • 01:07:07
    Excellence was interviewed for this
  • 01:07:09
    chapter is kind of telling and is
  • 01:07:10
    perhaps partly responsible for this
  • 01:07:12
    narrative skewing the experience of
  • 01:07:15
    reading an account so alien to the
  • 01:07:16
    history of Death Metal told in
  • 01:07:18
    unassumingly cheerful Pros is
  • 01:07:20
    psychologically abrasive not least
  • 01:07:22
    because the book is also riddled with
  • 01:07:24
    factual errors but it's important not to
  • 01:07:26
    lose sight of the fact that this comes
  • 01:07:28
    about not out of malice but because the
  • 01:07:30
    author approaches the genre from a very
  • 01:07:32
    different place The Wider Zeitgeist has
  • 01:07:35
    been Rewritten thanks to the
  • 01:07:36
    administrations of influential figures
  • 01:07:38
    like Sam Dunn Finn mckeny and metal
  • 01:07:40
    sucks journalists and so on the legacy
  • 01:07:43
    of these individuals has limited musical
  • 01:07:45
    analysis to the level of Vibes this
  • 01:07:48
    allows them to frame the backlash
  • 01:07:50
    against genres like def core as nothing
  • 01:07:52
    but elitist wind baggery in reality the
  • 01:07:54
    association of De core with de metal was
  • 01:07:57
    in part the result of a disinterested
  • 01:07:59
    media PR and the managerial class Within
  • 01:08:01
    the Music Industry drawing false
  • 01:08:04
    equivalencies between genres based on
  • 01:08:06
    superficial traits for marketing
  • 01:08:08
    purposes this Divergence is perhaps best
  • 01:08:11
    Illustrated in the 10 essential tracks
  • 01:08:13
    list that closes off K's book which
  • 01:08:15
    includes only five death metal tracks by
  • 01:08:18
    my count if we charitably includes SL of
  • 01:08:20
    the Soul which is also the only Swedish
  • 01:08:22
    entry mind whilst grind C IR in apal De
  • 01:08:25
    and marus are both included along with
  • 01:08:27
    job for a cowboy this isn't just
  • 01:08:29
    obscurantis moaning on my part here
  • 01:08:31
    let's just be clear about this even the
  • 01:08:33
    likes of Anthony fantano doesn't include
  • 01:08:35
    death core anywhere near his death metal
  • 01:08:36
    starter pack for God's
  • 01:08:39
    [Music]
  • 01:08:45
    [Music]
  • 01:08:51
    sake we must not look at the past with
  • 01:08:53
    the enormous condescension of POS
  • 01:08:58
    it in this field commentary on
  • 01:09:01
    alternative music essentially expertise
  • 01:09:04
    is a difficult concept to pin down there
  • 01:09:07
    are certain individuals that speak in
  • 01:09:09
    certain capacities with a great deal of
  • 01:09:10
    knowledge whever that be on music theory
  • 01:09:13
    the music tech and the production
  • 01:09:15
    process industry knowledge uh and the
  • 01:09:17
    economy behind it but as we move into
  • 01:09:19
    the wider journalistic field we find
  • 01:09:22
    ourselves playing sociologist Economist
  • 01:09:24
    and storian and sometimes in the same
  • 01:09:26
    breath this leads to all manner of
  • 01:09:29
    hyperbolic language and sweeping
  • 01:09:30
    generalizations that would make an
  • 01:09:32
    academic cringe I'm doing it right now
  • 01:09:34
    metal is full of self-identifying
  • 01:09:36
    experts because much like the broader
  • 01:09:39
    spectrum of geek culture it shares
  • 01:09:41
    demographics with it tends to attract
  • 01:09:43
    people with a profound need to order
  • 01:09:45
    categorize archive and research this is
  • 01:09:48
    why metal populations get so up in arms
  • 01:09:50
    when a high-profile figure or
  • 01:09:52
    publication makes claims or statements
  • 01:09:54
    that are fact dubious or otherwise
  • 01:09:56
    misleading they indulge in casual
  • 01:09:58
    Hyperbole and absolutist language and
  • 01:10:01
    Reckless generalizations I'm doing it
  • 01:10:03
    right now but it's not enough to Simply
  • 01:10:05
    dismiss this as coming from a place of
  • 01:10:07
    ignorance ad homonyms that undermine the
  • 01:10:10
    motivations or character of the speaker
  • 01:10:12
    have a place certainly but they
  • 01:10:13
    shouldn't be the first thing we reach
  • 01:10:14
    for when discussing an opinion we find
  • 01:10:17
    distasteful this is something I often
  • 01:10:19
    encounter on my own writing I don't
  • 01:10:22
    claim to be an expert although I am but
  • 01:10:24
    equally I'm not sure for what an expert
  • 01:10:26
    looks like in that vague intersection of
  • 01:10:28
    review commentary opinion and polemic
  • 01:10:30
    the tagline of my blog is armchair
  • 01:10:32
    rhetoric on Extreme metal and that's not
  • 01:10:34
    just a cute line but a declaration of
  • 01:10:36
    intent almost everything I publish there
  • 01:10:38
    is clearly my own opinion I like to
  • 01:10:40
    think it's a well-informed and fairly
  • 01:10:42
    articulate opinion mostly but it's
  • 01:10:44
    opinion nonetheless I'm not immune from
  • 01:10:46
    making sweeping generalizations as
  • 01:10:48
    provocations it is liable to cause such
  • 01:10:51
    upset in some that they seem incapable
  • 01:10:53
    of engaging with an argument on its own
  • 01:10:55
    terms and must seek to undermine some
  • 01:10:57
    imagined set of credentials they think I
  • 01:10:59
    should have in order to speak on this
  • 01:11:01
    online they question my motivation or
  • 01:11:04
    otherwise assume that the arguments are
  • 01:11:05
    being made in bad faith I'm drawing
  • 01:11:08
    attention all this not to have a bit of
  • 01:11:09
    a moan although I do love it but to
  • 01:11:11
    merely point out that for some people
  • 01:11:13
    reading opinions contrary or challenging
  • 01:11:15
    to their own is a psychologically
  • 01:11:17
    difficult experience one that
  • 01:11:18
    immediately sets into motion a series of
  • 01:11:20
    defensive tactics to jettison the
  • 01:11:23
    Hostile antagonist and carry on
  • 01:11:25
    consuming their beloved favorites free
  • 01:11:27
    of such conflicts or else they'll
  • 01:11:30
    actively Stoke and seek out opinions
  • 01:11:31
    they know to be contrary to their own to
  • 01:11:33
    stir up drama to hate read and hate
  • 01:11:35
    watch a pasttime universal to social
  • 01:11:37
    media spaces for many years now despite
  • 01:11:40
    my disagreements with the characters
  • 01:11:42
    I've discussed so far I genuinely enjoy
  • 01:11:44
    exploring and challenging their ideas in
  • 01:11:46
    good faith and attempting to understand
  • 01:11:48
    why they are so Divergent to my own and
  • 01:11:50
    where they're coming from it's important
  • 01:11:52
    to keep this in mind the alternative is
  • 01:11:54
    to continue to call each of a
  • 01:11:55
    Gatekeepers add infin item so let's
  • 01:11:57
    maybe zoom in on that term gatekeeper
  • 01:11:59
    while we're here if it ever served a
  • 01:12:01
    purpose it certainly or Lo been lost in
  • 01:12:04
    the eepa now a bit like hipster
  • 01:12:05
    everyone's been called a gatekeeper
  • 01:12:07
    everyone's called someone else a
  • 01:12:09
    gatekeeper where once it was a
  • 01:12:11
    disparagement thrown at self-appointed
  • 01:12:13
    policers of culture it has since mutated
  • 01:12:15
    culture itself into an act of vapid
  • 01:12:17
    consumption we have an inali right to
  • 01:12:20
    consume totally free of friction free
  • 01:12:22
    from Gatekeepers eclecticism becomes a
  • 01:12:25
    status symbol because taste is mediated
  • 01:12:27
    through corporate streaming platforms
  • 01:12:29
    culture becomes nothing more than a
  • 01:12:31
    disconnected set of experiences
  • 01:12:32
    suspended in a broom without context or
  • 01:12:35
    meaning this ultimately is why standards
  • 01:12:38
    matter and why there is an urgent need
  • 01:12:39
    to inject austerity into our listening
  • 01:12:41
    habits promoting intimacy and
  • 01:12:44
    familiarity over endless conveyor belts
  • 01:12:45
    of so so new material equally if we find
  • 01:12:48
    ourselves in disagreement with someone
  • 01:12:50
    over a piece of music why not discuss it
  • 01:12:52
    if they are willing and you are willing
  • 01:12:54
    yes music is a very personal experience
  • 01:12:56
    and having someone talk disparagingly
  • 01:12:58
    over something you hold dear can be
  • 01:13:00
    difficult if you really don't want to do
  • 01:13:01
    it then don't engage with the content
  • 01:13:03
    online full stop don't listen to
  • 01:13:05
    Gatekeepers we hear over and over don't
  • 01:13:07
    let them discourage you from enjoying
  • 01:13:09
    things well certainly but surely if you
  • 01:13:11
    really enjoy something then that
  • 01:13:13
    inoculates you from gatekeeping they
  • 01:13:15
    only exist if you listen to them if you
  • 01:13:18
    truly enjoy a thing then surely that
  • 01:13:19
    shouldn't be contingent on the
  • 01:13:21
    unconditional blessing or at the very
  • 01:13:22
    least the Silence of others met like any
  • 01:13:26
    other geeky cultural Arena has become a
  • 01:13:28
    toy we're all fighting over ped this way
  • 01:13:31
    and that by competing in contradictory
  • 01:13:33
    agendas for a long time it has remained
  • 01:13:36
    in a state of Splendid isolation pining
  • 01:13:39
    for attention and legitimacy but subject
  • 01:13:41
    to fear and more often ridicule in a
  • 01:13:44
    post social media age the unthinkable
  • 01:13:46
    has happened its wishes have come true
  • 01:13:49
    increasing numbers of music fans have
  • 01:13:50
    become interested in it and with that
  • 01:13:52
    they have brought their own values
  • 01:13:54
    preconceptions and partial readings of
  • 01:13:55
    its history to the table this makes
  • 01:13:57
    discourse all the more fraught unfocused
  • 01:14:00
    and siloed but ultimately this diversity
  • 01:14:03
    and this variation should be celebrated
  • 01:14:05
    and as I mentioned in my discussion of
  • 01:14:07
    the Hipster it has reenergized the
  • 01:14:09
    underground to some extent and led to
  • 01:14:10
    some very very interesting new releases
  • 01:14:14
    [Music]
  • 01:14:25
    Children of the stones was an English
  • 01:14:27
    folk horror TV series originally airing
  • 01:14:29
    on ITV in
  • 01:14:31
    1977 the plot follows astrophysicist
  • 01:14:34
    Adam bre and his son Matthew they've
  • 01:14:36
    just moved to the Village of Milbury a
  • 01:14:38
    paragon of pastoral England to deep in
  • 01:14:41
    the Sleepy Countryside break has been
  • 01:14:43
    awarded a grant to carry out research on
  • 01:14:45
    the mysterious megalithic Stone Circle
  • 01:14:47
    that surrounds the village as they
  • 01:14:49
    acquaint themselves with the town's folk
  • 01:14:51
    they begin to realize that some of them
  • 01:14:53
    are just not all there
  • 01:14:56
    they appear incapable of aggression the
  • 01:14:59
    children in Matthew's school have
  • 01:15:00
    mastered Advanced calculus the adults
  • 01:15:03
    are oddly vacant expressing only mild
  • 01:15:05
    positivity at every turn they greet each
  • 01:15:08
    other with a salutation happy day happy
  • 01:15:11
    day Mrs Warner happy day Bob The Village
  • 01:15:14
    itself appears entirely incapable of
  • 01:15:16
    even mild conflict tension or anger
  • 01:15:19
    alongside an eerie soundtrack and
  • 01:15:22
    disorientating shots of the stones
  • 01:15:24
    themselves punctuating each episode with
  • 01:15:26
    the English weird
  • 01:15:28
    [Music]
  • 01:15:39
    undercurrent the feeling of isolation
  • 01:15:41
    engendered by this pervasive
  • 01:15:43
    light-hearted cheeriness of everyone
  • 01:15:45
    they come across creates an almost
  • 01:15:47
    rampant Aura of isolation and
  • 01:15:50
    alienation one can engage in
  • 01:15:52
    conversation with the Villagers but the
  • 01:15:53
    feeling that one is not not quite
  • 01:15:55
    understood
  • 01:15:57
    comprehended of a great psychological
  • 01:15:59
    disconnect between our main characters
  • 01:16:01
    and the surrounding extras only
  • 01:16:03
    intensifies as the series progresses one
  • 01:16:06
    shouldn't Rock the Boat ask too many
  • 01:16:08
    questions speak out of turn appear too
  • 01:16:10
    aggressive negative or otherwise
  • 01:16:14
    combative throughout this piece I have
  • 01:16:16
    made frequent references to ideological
  • 01:16:18
    conflicts in metal whilst actively
  • 01:16:19
    stoking them I'd love to say this was a
  • 01:16:22
    deliberate loy on my part a clever
  • 01:16:24
    framing device that I'll now elaborate
  • 01:16:26
    on to tie everything together into a
  • 01:16:27
    neat little bow sadly it's just cuz I
  • 01:16:29
    couldn't resist I can't even pretend to
  • 01:16:31
    step outside of the ideological turmoil
  • 01:16:34
    and anomy of metal without oiling up
  • 01:16:36
    myself this in turn is but a microcosm
  • 01:16:39
    of social media's remit of rewarding
  • 01:16:41
    provocation piffy takedowns flattening
  • 01:16:44
    nuance and encouraging rage bait there's
  • 01:16:46
    no point rehearsing all of this here but
  • 01:16:49
    equally the sway social media holds over
  • 01:16:51
    our daily lives and consumption of Music
  • 01:16:53
    in particular is beginning to Wayne and
  • 01:16:55
    ironically given the common sense idea
  • 01:16:58
    that these apps for all of their flaws
  • 01:17:00
    at least afford US a greater sense of
  • 01:17:03
    connectedness as their influence
  • 01:17:05
    diminishes I predict that it will allow
  • 01:17:06
    us to maybe reappraise competing
  • 01:17:08
    perspectives from a more a more
  • 01:17:10
    considered place and maybe reconnect
  • 01:17:12
    with each other as platform capitalism
  • 01:17:15
    and influencer culture begins to
  • 01:17:17
    dissolve away as social media strategies
  • 01:17:19
    for increasing ad Revenue Drive ever
  • 01:17:21
    more people away from these platforms so
  • 01:17:24
    too will the constant impulse to engage
  • 01:17:26
    with new content maybe attention spans
  • 01:17:29
    will recover enough for us to engage
  • 01:17:30
    with ideas not condensable to a single
  • 01:17:32
    tweet time will tell that's not to say
  • 01:17:36
    that the content I literally new music
  • 01:17:38
    itself will diminish even if their
  • 01:17:40
    returns will but rampant and fleeting
  • 01:17:43
    engagement will certainly dissolve away
  • 01:17:44
    as we grow less satisfied with the lack
  • 01:17:47
    of satisfaction surrounding this mode of
  • 01:17:49
    consumption and the fleeting
  • 01:17:50
    accelerationist philosophy it espouses
  • 01:17:53
    for champions of metal in its many
  • 01:17:55
    current forms let's call them Metals
  • 01:17:57
    happy day fandom happy day Mrs Warner
  • 01:17:59
    happy day Bob Life Will Go On and they
  • 01:18:02
    will remain in place as the spokespeople
  • 01:18:04
    of metal to the outside world an
  • 01:18:06
    increasingly diverse populous uncritical
  • 01:18:08
    or largely superficially critical
  • 01:18:10
    environment populated by people
  • 01:18:12
    ostensibly able and willing to absorb
  • 01:18:14
    all of this recycled content with Glee
  • 01:18:17
    far be it from me or anyone else to take
  • 01:18:19
    this away from them equally to a group
  • 01:18:21
    of metal fans who are becoming
  • 01:18:22
    increasingly disenchanted with its
  • 01:18:24
    Direction let's call them the metal
  • 01:18:26
    heads you hate metal the idea that
  • 01:18:28
    people so diametrically opposed to their
  • 01:18:30
    interpretation and understanding of art
  • 01:18:32
    should speak on or for this music is
  • 01:18:36
    unconscionable music in particular
  • 01:18:38
    provokes these feelings in US precisely
  • 01:18:40
    because it is so immediate abstract
  • 01:18:42
    intangible it is also the art form
  • 01:18:45
    around which informal communities tend
  • 01:18:47
    to spring up particularly for younger
  • 01:18:48
    people and all the tribal loyalties that
  • 01:18:51
    come with this process as the metal
  • 01:18:53
    Community ages we are still fting over
  • 01:18:55
    these same toys why not just split the
  • 01:18:57
    difference and accept that we are no
  • 01:18:59
    longer talking about the same thing even
  • 01:19:01
    if we share an interest in certain
  • 01:19:03
    artists and albums until that point I
  • 01:19:06
    will make one prediction something that
  • 01:19:08
    I've hinted at earlier on in this video
  • 01:19:11
    as social media sites slowly dissolve
  • 01:19:13
    into self-parody AI content and Bot
  • 01:19:16
    generated robber us feedback loops metal
  • 01:19:19
    will genuinely break with itself and
  • 01:19:21
    this will be a good thing I'd argue that
  • 01:19:23
    this process is already well underway
  • 01:19:25
    forget talk of a new genre or the split
  • 01:19:27
    between underground and mainstream metal
  • 01:19:29
    as we had in the early ' 80s for example
  • 01:19:32
    now this will involve an Institutional
  • 01:19:34
    as well as a stylistic shift more
  • 01:19:36
    dramatic than anything we've seen in the
  • 01:19:38
    past some of this will be down to
  • 01:19:40
    geography I.E areas beyond the US
  • 01:19:43
    European sphere of influence showing the
  • 01:19:44
    most creative impetus at present some
  • 01:19:46
    down to pre-existing genre politics
  • 01:19:49
    genre is more resistant to the degrading
  • 01:19:51
    effects of genre blending proving to be
  • 01:19:53
    more persistently creative
  • 01:19:55
    but a lot of it will be down to what
  • 01:19:57
    different groups actually want from this
  • 01:19:58
    music
  • 01:20:02
    [Applause]
  • 01:20:07
    [Music]
Etiquetas
  • Morbid Angel
  • death metal
  • metal evolutivo
  • hipsters e metal
  • consumo musical
  • Fall From Grace
  • auto-expresión
  • subxéneros de metal
  • innovación musical
  • análise musical