'Satan's Serenade'

Heavy Metal. To many people the words bring to mind a set of hairy, burly men thrashing guitars, screaming profanities and worshipping Satan.

For as long as Metal music has existed it has been wrought with controversy and ridicule. Parents and church groups were losing sleep at night knowing that children were listening to such ‘vile blasphemy’. They were shocked at this new wave of music that they labelled ‘evil’ and put up an effort to stop it from growing and infecting the minds of youth. One writer wrote “Heavy Metal is unsophisticated music for unsophisticated people” He went as far to say it was: “Sick, repulsive, horrible and dangerous” With all this hate and disgust over Metal let’s take a look at why it sparks such a negative response towards mainstream society by exploring its origins, its themes and why some people can become so attached to it.

While Heavy Metal’s origins trace back to the birthplace of all rock: Southern American Blues, its true development took place in the 1960s when bands began experimenting with covers of classic blues songs, often by speeding up the tempos. Eventually a characterization of loud, distorted guitars was produced. With loud guitars, louder drums and vocals were required creating a much louder sound and more dramatic performances. A fusion of Blues Rock and Psychedelic Rock became the basis of what was to become Heavy Metal. The term Heavy Metal does not have a clear origin. It was used musically in the lyrics in the 1968 song ‘Born To Be Wild’ by early Metal band Steppenwolf. The lyrics write: “I like smoke and lightning, Heavy metal thunder, racin' with the wind, and the feelin' that I'm under” One of the pioneers of Metal, Alice Cooper stated in an interview that the term Heavy Metal was first used officially by Rolling Stone Magazine when describing his music. Cooper is quoted saying “Actually the first time Heavy Metal was ever used was used about Alice Cooper in Rolling Stone Magazine. They were doing an interview with us… and it said “’Heavy Metal’” in quotes”

The 1980s saw Metal reach a huge audience. Its popularity had increased dramatically and in countries such as America it had developed a strong cult following. It was common to see kids growing their hair, brandishing the devils horns and playing air guitar. Metal music constantly pushes at the boundaries of what is considered socially acceptable and by doing so has always attracted an air of negativity. The lyrics used in Metal music have a tendency to explore dark themes that people prefer to avoid or pretend don’t exist. One of the first Metal bands, Black Sabbath originated from the gritty lower class streets of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Inspired by horror films and taking influences from their bleak hometown set a dark, doomed theme in Black Sabbath’s music. These kind of origins are similar for many other Metal bands. Slipknot, one of the most famous and controversial Heavy Metal bands today take a lot of their themes from their childhoods growing up in Des Moines, a town in the American state of Iowa. Slipknot’s lead vocalist, Corey Taylor stated “It (their music style) comes from growing up in a place like Des Moines… It’s a place where churches outnumber everything, it’s a place where you grow up in a cemetery because it’s the only place that really has anything to do”. Poor, bleak and neglected homes and darkly atmospheric hometowns would have bread bored, angry and aimless teenagers who would eventually use music to express these feelings.

One could argue that Metal is born from the suffering of lower class people, the same birth as blues music which all rock is derived from. Metal prides itself on being anti-mainstream. It completely rejects popular culture and has forms its own minority based on different values. Metal sub-culture can be characterised by a strong dislike and distancing from popular music (radio hits), artists must be devoted to their genre and to their fans, an expression of opposition to authority and expression of alienation from society is also considered important. “It’s outsider music and its outsider subjects and as a kid I was an outsider and I think that that’s where the work begins” Said famous Metal musician Rob Zombie.

Music has always faced controversy. When an artist experiments with new techniques they are almost always met with criticism. Famous nineteenth century composer, Richard Wagner experimented frequently with increased bass in his composures, often using an octobass, a much larger version of a double bass which required two men to play. He created much heavier, darker sounding music than what was common at the time and as a result was met with heavy criticism. During the middle ages the musical note known as the tritone was believed to be the devil’s note. Along with other religious superstition at the time, it was said that the note could be used to summon the devil and therefore was associated with evil. Black Sabbath’s self-titled title song frequently uses the tritone, exploiting superstition and fear to give their music a darker sound.

In the world of Metal there is an ongoing battle for each band to be more evil and extreme than the band before them. Some people may become genuinely frightened and concerned when they see a promotional poster of a Metal band with particularly dark features. They don’t seem to realise that these images are purposed to do just that. The band members they see, with their deep set frowns or bared teeth are not representatives from the satanic church out to convert their children, they are a team of dedicated artists promoting their work to an audience who hunger for darker and more intense music. Fearing images of people dressed in ghoulish costumes and pulling faces is ridiculous, a person may as well fear children on Halloween.

In 1985 politicians, Tipper Gore and Susan Baker founded the Parents Music Resource Centre (PMRC) and led the first organised effort to censor Heavy Metal music. They wrongly accused many Heavy Metal artists of promoting violence, suicide, the occult and substance abuse. Music is an art and art is open to interpretation, while many of these dark themes are often present in Metal music, they could easily represent something entirely different. The PMCR sought to find and censor any dangerous or suggesting themes in music but succeeded mainly in misinterpreting metaphors. One publicised example of this was the case against Dee Snider, vocalist of the 1980s Glam Metal band Twisted Sister. Snider was accused of expressing themes of sadomasochism, bondage and rape in the song ‘Under The Blade’ which was written about Twisted Sister’s guitarist, Eddie Ojeda’s throat operation. Snider stated during his hearing that “Songs allow a person to put their own imagination, experiences and dreams into the lyrics, people can interpret it in many ways. Miss Gore was looking for sadomasochism and bondage and she found it, someone looking for surgical references would have found it as well”

He effectively disproved the PMCR’s claims and expressed his anger at the PMCR for disregarding the right to freedom of speech. After the trial many were left wondering if the members of the PMCR are foul minded or simply assume all Metal lyrics have hidden, dark and evil meanings. Religious activists often protested at Heavy Metal concerts and led movements to stamp out Metal which they believed to be a vessel for satanic worship and the occult targeting children. These claims are of course, ridiculous once again and no solid evidence was ever produced. Some Metal bands such as the British band, Venom openly expressed that they believed in Satanism and were Satanists themselves. However I cannot help but notice how very famous these statements made them. Stating that they were Satanists was most likely a publicity stunt and a repetition of the ongoing battle in the world of Metal to be more extreme and evil than the band before you. Of course Venom still caused many parents to lose sleep at night. Accusations that Metal caused listeners to become violent and even commit suicide can also easily be easily disproved. People are attracted to music that suits their personality or their mood. Some people experience more anger than others and so are drawn to Metal music’s aggressive style as an outlet for their emotions, not a fuel for them. A violent person could listen to Celine Dion and still feel like attacking the next person they see.

Metal music is about empowerment, the ability to stand up and shout how you feel and express your views. For this reason it also attracts people who feel downtrodden and broken. It shows them that they shouldn’t be afraid to express themselves and release their emotions and encourages them to be strong. People who are in such a painful state that they are considering suicide often do so because they feel helpless. Musicologist, Robert Walser said “The most powerful predictor of whether someone will commit suicide is the feeling of helplessness, nobody listens to Heavy Metal to feel helpless, they listen to Metal to feel powerful”. Metal bands have a tendency to explore themes on suicide. If a troubled youth hears a Metal song about suicide instead of encouraging them to ‘do it’ as many assume it will, it may serve as a comfort. It shows them that they are not alone and that other people are going through the same things that they are. Many devoted fans of Metal express how they feel that Metal saved their lives by helping them through difficult times.

Some influences of Metal have unfortunately caused crimes and acts of violence. No where is this more prevalent than in Norway. Norway is famous for its Black Metal, an extreme Metal subgenre that often deals with subjects such as Satanism, death and anti-Christian views. Black Metal has developed a strong following which many identify as a cult. Musicians in Black Metal bands often sought to enforce their anti-Christian beliefs by committing acts as extreme as burning down many of Norway’s most historic churches. There have also been murders committed by Black Metal musicians, often the victim has been a fellow musician or even a band mate. One widely publicised incident was the suicide of Per Yngve Ohlin, the vocalist for the Black Metal band Mayhem. When his body was discovered by a fellow band member, before calling the police Ohlin’s band mate took a picture of Ohlin’s corpse which was used by the band as bootleg cover art. Pieces of Ohlin’s skull were also made into necklaces and shared among Mayhem’s remaining members.

Despite the extreme developments of Black Metal, Metal in general remains harmless. To its fans it is more than just music, to many it’s a lifestyle. Metal is not casual music, it deals with serious themes and serious issues that should not be taken lightly. Fans of Metal are often fans for life. “It’s a lifestyle music” Said Rob Zombie “Most people are like “’Yeah I like it for a week but then I lose interest‘” but Metal fans love it forever”. Metal music is a very two-sided subject. It is either hated and feared or loved and obsessed over. For this reason it will forever be an underground genre and culture. Metal is not evil or dangerous, it is an amazing, passionate, huge, diverse sub culture and form of entertainment. It involves an immense amount of skill, it inspires people to begin playing instruments and to form bands, it gives people hope and teaches them to be strong, to not care what other people think and to stand up for what they believe in. It gives its fans a sense of unity against a world that does not understand them. In the future I believe Metal will see more acceptance as society evolves and grows familiar with it but will never become a mainstream culture because there will always be those who do not feel what Metal fans feel.
People will either love Heavy Metal or wont. If Metal doesn’t give you a surge of overwhelming power and make the hair stand up on the back of your neck then you might never feel it. But that’s ok because judging by Metal’s millions of devoted fans, sprawling culture and diversity they are just fine without you.