Seeing as how it's Halloween, the most evil holiday of the year, I thought I'd briefly give you my opinions on one of my favorite styles of music, Death Metal.
Here is some death metal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ0h9zZyR3c
Now, to any who are predisposed to enjoy heavy music, you might notice that this song shreds face. But to those of you who are not predisposed to like heavy music, this song probably sounds like an abrasive sonic nightmare.
Well, that's what death metal is. It hurts on purpose.
The other thing about death metal is that it often espouses unsettling themes like allegiance to Satan or committing brutal murders. One might well ask how a person who listens to this type of music can possibly reconcile this with their normal, law abiding ways. It could easily be suggested that this type of music might drive people to acts of violence and/or hatred.
The reply is insultingly simple. Has death metal driven people to commit violent crimes? Yes.* So have the Beatles. So has Christianity. So has Communism and Capitalism. So have dogs. People who are prone to or capable of violence and hatred will be driven to it by whatever vehicle they find.
The simple fact is that humans are violent. Humans are probably the most violent and cruel thing we know to exist. And I submit that it is by acknowledging that fact that we make it subservient to our higher reasoning. I believe that fear and censorship merely promote those things which are feared and censored.
Humans are obsessed with conflict, death and violence. It is in our nature as much as love, compassion and creativity are. And for me, death metal is my way of "owning my own shadow" as Jung might say. To not acknowledge the darker side of one's self is to allow it to fester and plot beneath your conscious awareness. We all have darkness in us, and I for one, choose to be fascinated by it as one would by a lion in a cage; dangerous if let loose, but worthy of study when properly contained.
And the other thing is, most of you do it to. Who out there has never watched Friday the 13th and found themselves secretly rooting for Jason the whole time? Who watched Saw, but fast-forwarded through all of Jigsaw's traps? The violence is what you come for. Does being impressed by a particularly gory kill on the part of Freddy Kruger mean you advocate murder?
Of course it doesn't. And neither does listening to Cannibal Corpse songs with titles like "Butchered at Birth". It merely means you, like all humans, whether they admit it or not, are fascinated by the macabre.
When it comes to the issue of religion, the same is true. I am a devout Christian. Devoted enough to carry the monogram of Christ permanently inscribed into my flesh by a needle. Yet I have no qualms with listening to bands like Deicide (whose name literally means "God-killing") or banging my head as the Satanic Pope lead-singer of the band Ghost wails out psalms to the Adversary.
What we experience only changes our attitudes and actions as far as we allow. My faith is more than strong enough to endure lyrics like "Come over to seduce your angels/Been born to rape your mother's holy womb" and much, much worse. I don't have to become the things I experience, and neither does anybody else.
So on I rock, totally aware of and totally enticed by the darkness within all mankind. I rock out to Dying Fetus in my car. I watch the Pinhead rip regretful curiosity-seekers to shreds with hooks and chains. I'm not afraid.
If you want to be afraid of something this Halloween, be afraid of the things you might not know about yourself.
*To all you metalhead fanboys: Yes, I know Burzum and Mayhem were Black Metal bands, which is quite distinct from Death metal, stylistically and culturally. But for the purposes of this article, the distinction needn't be made.
#metal #deathmetal #Halloween #fear #death #violence #music #horror #movies
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