Comprehending MetalI read Pitchfork every day. I know that it says somewhere in the Blogger Terms of Use that I am supposed to hate Pitchfork and resent all of their opinions, but I still take them pretty seriously. Sure, I don't agree with everything they say, but by and large I think they know what they are talking about.
But when they told me that I should listen to a heavy metal album (Mastodon's Blood Mountain), I was skeptical. I consider myself an adventurous listener, and I will give anything a try, but my tastes tend to be a bit on the wussy side (see - every post before this one).
Still, my curiosity was piqued, and I had to at least check it out. And, to a certain degree I can see what the hype is about. Instrumentally, this album does rock, in an intense and singular way. The lightning-fast riffing and eight-limbed drumming are impressive on a surface level, but what really struck me was the sound of the album - the heaviness has a full-blooded depth to it that evokes the album's title (and makes it seem a little less lame).
But my hang up is this - the vocals. Do heavy metal vocals have to sound like that? That gruff, amelodic, pseudo-demonic, testosteronic shouting? My problem is not that they are scary. I like to be scared by music - hell, one of my favorite albums of the year is Scott Walker's The Drift, which creeps me out to no end. My problem with metal vocals is that they aren't scary. They just seem cliche, over-the-top, even silly. They sound like a kid with one of those fake knife-through-the-head headbands on, tube of fake blood in hand, trying to freak you out.
Now, if they seemed to be embracing the over-dramatic silliness of it, I could go with it. I'm all about accepting things on their own terms. But it seems like they are trying to sound artistic and profound. And I'm not buying it.
But maybe I am simply not their target audience. I think my brother Daniel hit the nail on the head with his reaction to the album - if we were still living in a world were people ran around with massive broadswords slaying things, this music would probably sound awesome. Or if I was a kid that played Diablo and Warcraft all the time, maybe I would have some context to put this into.
But as things are, I just can't find any way to connect to it. I'm listening to some Bonnie "Prince" Billy to recover.
Any metalheads that would care to elucidate the vocal issue, please comment.
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4 comments:
People like heavy metal (minus System - who don't take themselves seriously - hopefully) because the scene appeals to them - feeling powerful and testosterone'd will always have appeal to guys who feel weak and emmasculated. It's the same reason why so many people watch professional wrestling.
What bothers me are scenesters who like Heavy Metal. The C-C club has tons of Heavy Metal in their jutebox (including Mastodon). There is no way that crowd feels emasculated - they like it for the irony, it seems. (Although, in fairness, I doubt many people go to the bar to appreciate music :) )
As a person who invests a lot of time into appreciating music, that sort of mentality bothers me. It seems to deligitimate musical expression. Would you say that as well, Ryan?
Billy - I think you have a good point, and that the pro wrestling parallel makes a lot of sense.
However, more than anything, I think that this particular brand of metal is a "nerd" genre. Check out Mastodon drummer Bränn Dailor's description of their song "Siberian Divide" -
“[The character is] caught in a blizzard where [he] becomes frostbitten and frozen and [he’s] starving and starts to hallucinate. [Then] this snow queen appears before him and tells him it’s okay to start eating his own flesh. And then he starts to do that. Then an aurora borealis appears, and he thinks it’s God, and it starts affecting this crystal skull he’s been toting up the mountain, and it starts to warm his body. That, coupled with the knowledge of the aurora borealis being God, gives him the strength to start to carry on again.”
What?! This seems like self-parody. But at the same time, I think that this D&D crap is a bit more endearing than the shot of testosterone view, and also easier to listen to without taking it seriously (because it's not serious, it's total fantasy). Still, it leaves me feeling like I am simply not a member of their target audience. Not that I'm not a nerd. I'm just not that kind of nerd.
In terms of listening to music ironically in general...yeah, it can be kind of a pain in the ass, but I am certainly not above listening to music that I am aware is not exactly "intelligent" or "intellectual." I think the irony excuse is perhaps just a defense mechanism that allows people to enjoy music that they know is not stylish or intellectual.
Sean - I'm a big fan of the latest Boris album and have been intrigued by Sunn 0))) as well. I will have to check out Pelican and the Sword.
"I think the irony excuse is perhaps just a defense mechanism that allows people to enjoy music that they know is not stylish or intellectual."
That's a good point.
My defense mechanism (along with the irony excuse, which I'm sure I've used) is usually to invent (probably undeserved) significance to non-stylish, non-intelectual, and I would add non-technically adept musicians.
Yeah, I think it's hard to separate yourself from your individual emotional experience of an album. Which is what makes critiquing pop music so tricky - it's ultimately just about the communication/relationship between the artist and each individual listener.
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