There are lots of points here I could debate with you about, but it would be a lot simpler and more helpful to just say that you probably just need to find some new metal to listen to. It's a vast field of art, and if you actually bother to look for things that embody the qualities you admire, you will find them. If you keep retreading the same disappointing territory you'll never arrive anywhere new.
Ha, I am rather surprised that you find much of anything to debate in this piece, as it seems so autobiographical to me. The thing is, though, that I don't really think I need to find new metal very much. It is always wonderful to stumble across something new and meaningful, but the "genre ideals" (very broadly speaking) just don't do it for me, anymore, and I think that actively looking for the Great New Metal in my life is going to be a long, hard slog - almost as bad as trying to get into jazz funk, in that I know the mindblowingly good stuff should be out there, but that I would have to suffer through too much aggravation in order to find it :-) And don't think I am not looking for new music! It is just that metal (very broadly speaking) looks like a big old elephant corpse, which probably has something fascinating germinating inside, but which I would be just as happy to leave alone.
Well, here I am referring mostly to the latter part of your entry. As someone who still finds himself looking for that "elusive metal kick," and who took the time to share some yet cherished favorites (however self-consciously and semi-shamefully), it stands to reason to think you still have some interest in the genre that might find succor from some new experience, some corner of your being that may be going undernourished. I suppose it pains me a bit to hear you essentially write off such an incredible genre, one that you once felt such an intuitive connection with, because of some shattered teenage delusions, some mediocre bands you may have come across, or because your old favorites have staled from overuse. If I remember correctly, in my teenage years I held a fairly similar view to the one you describe here, feeling that I had "moved on" or that metal just "wasn't my thing," but once I became drawn back into its sphere (mostly by idle curiosity rather than intense interest), I realized I'd been singularly mistaken, and I felt
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I might have been a tiny bit blunt in the above comment: Of course I still have a bit of a chink in my armour (my pink, fluffy armor) when it comes to metal, but I guess that I need to own up to my actual feelings, and try to disregard the feelings I wish I had. Listening to the recommendations you (and Ross) have given me, I feel that I have really been exposed to more or less the "best of the best," in terms of what I should respond to, and despite liking Blut Aus Nord well enough, I haven't really found myself wanting to relisten to any of his records or felt particularly interested in what they had to say. I think I can deal with high fantasy in literature and movies better, at the moment. Also, his band name is Blut Aus Nord. That is some stupid shit, when you think about it. Moongazing Hare-stupid. However, it might very well just be a matter of timing! I am keeping BAN around my iTunes for that hallowed day when I feel ready to "get it," and think I can listen without wanting to slap the foam helmet off his head
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Don't worry, I do refuse to sell you on metal any further than I already have. :) I have done my part for the closeted metal fan in you. But I am on the other end of the emergency metal hotline if you ever feel the need to talk about it
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foam helmet? ... where'd you get that idea? No wonder you wouldn't listen to it, if that's what you were imagining. There's nothing to "get" about a foam helmet, unless you're into GWAR
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Yeah! No need to denigrate yourself just to prop up a shaky point. They're just names, dude.
I happen to have a thing for the otherworldly, epic, and larger-than-life, "his will to aspire, to create beyond himself" as Ihsahn wrote. Nothing provides like metal. I relish the grandeur and the whole trample-the-mundane vision. Pummelling, thundering, howling, and roaring, obvious technical proficiency and commitment a personal vision regardless of the unlikely result of success.
I wholeheartedly agree. Seeing the will triumph beyond fear is a beautiful thing, and evocation and illustration do not equal pretense.
Apart from our differing takes on and respect for metal, I'm curious about your thoughts on "artistic authenticity" and how you came to the definition.
What Alex probably missed (since I put it on facebook) was that part about "hollow shouting" and my response: "So what you're saying here is 'Please. People. Don't listen to Mastodon." So I'm curious what your take on hollow shouting is and how (as well as why) that applies to your feelings toward metal in general...
I tend to think that meandering self-indulgent poetry and half-assed guitar playing, while perhaps being a lot more like how the (Bay Area limp penis) artist is in real life, is pretty gawdam pretentious, lame, hollow, and downright pussy. Now, if someone DID sleep in corpse paint (oh noes laundry!), would that make their metal more authentic? Where does an artistic ruse intersect with one's day to day in the acceptable zone of authenticity?
I have a hard time thinking of anything more to say on this interesting subject. When it comes to pretense, it is of course not endemic to any specific genre. I think the very establishment and protectionism that happens within genres (and is sometimes taken to extremes within the metal community) tends to encourage complacency, and I think the counter-reaction to that - genre-blending (which is frequently another form of genre obsession) - easily spills over into pretension
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There are lots of points here I could debate with you about, but it would be a lot simpler and more helpful to just say that you probably just need to find some new metal to listen to. It's a vast field of art, and if you actually bother to look for things that embody the qualities you admire, you will find them. If you keep retreading the same disappointing territory you'll never arrive anywhere new.
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Yeah! No need to denigrate yourself just to prop up a shaky point. They're just names, dude.
I happen to have a thing for the otherworldly, epic, and larger-than-life, "his will to aspire, to create beyond himself" as Ihsahn wrote. Nothing provides like metal. I relish the grandeur and the whole trample-the-mundane vision. Pummelling, thundering, howling, and roaring, obvious technical proficiency and commitment a personal vision regardless of the unlikely result of success.
I wholeheartedly agree. Seeing the will triumph beyond fear is a beautiful thing, and evocation and illustration do not equal pretense.
Reply
What Alex probably missed (since I put it on facebook) was that part about "hollow shouting" and my response: "So what you're saying here is 'Please. People. Don't listen to Mastodon." So I'm curious what your take on hollow shouting is and how (as well as why) that applies to your feelings toward metal in general...
I tend to think that meandering self-indulgent poetry and half-assed guitar playing, while perhaps being a lot more like how the (Bay Area limp penis) artist is in real life, is pretty gawdam pretentious, lame, hollow, and downright pussy. Now, if someone DID sleep in corpse paint (oh noes laundry!), would that make their metal more authentic? Where does an artistic ruse intersect with one's day to day in the acceptable zone of authenticity?
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