Week Ten: The Pros & Cons of Metal Re-Enchantment

The definition Kahn-Harris provides for reflexivity (p. 141) is something we see beyond the metal scene and a characteristic of various institutions, even in straight society. That definition states: “The reflexivity of modern social life consists in the fact that social practices are constantly examined and reformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices, thus constitutively altering their character ... We are abroad in a world which is thoroughly constituted through reflexively applied knowledge, but where at the same time we can never be sure that any given element of that knowledge will not be revised” (1990: 28-9). We see this type of behavior in everything from politics to metal, and I think as music, as one example, begins to change that knowledge, various subgenres begin to develop and spread based on those sets of knowledge. You could also say this happens in religion. Therefore, the actions that come result from reflexivity may not necessarily change the knowledge that has been created, but mutate it and create a new form of offspring like a cell dividing into smaller, similar pieces of itself.

With these extreme forms of metal in particular, there must be some forms of anti-reflexivity in order to create a sense of humor and maintaining an existence from the straight society. If metal musicians and fans took themselves too seriously all the time, they would be nothing more than a blacked out, loud, angry version of straight society. By making fun of themselves through music that create parodies of various genres and television shows like Metalocalypse, metal musicians and fans can maintain a sense of value in what they’re doing by making fun of how ridiculous they can sometimes be, just as they are making fun of how ridiculous straight society can sometimes be. Even though it may just be in the nature of metal and going against the grain to do something against what normal behavior tends to follow (reflexivity in this case), anti-reflexivity plays a pivotal role in the lives of metal musicians and fans in order to see how over the top the genre and people are, and laugh at themselves for a little while.

Week Nine: Politics & Identity

Sam Sunn’s documentary on global metal was both entertaining and educational regarding the different themes and beliefs of musicians from different countries and cultures. I think one of the moth commonly disregarded things about metal is the fact that it spreads worldwide and is present in culture far different from our own. While many of the people in Dunn’s film explained metal as a Western form of music, we can see that it has permeated other countries efficiently and has become the identity of countries including Brazil and Norway.

In the case of Norwegian black metal, Dunn emphasized the anti-Christian backgrounds that composes much of extreme metal, according to Kahn-Harris. As we discussed in class, I think the church as a whole is an easy target for various forms of extreme metal to oppose because it has historically been a very demanding and oppressing institution that tells its people what to believe, and in a culture that valorizes individualism, religion becomes virtually invisible. Other scenes, including Swedish extreme metal and black metal in particular shares with other Scandinavian forms of extreme metal a tendency to draw on notions of Viking heritage (p. 106). This restoration to past generations, particularly that of the vikings, is an interesting route when it comes to producing metal music. While these bands emphasize their commitment to their Viking heritage, it’s somewhat unprecedented to our Western eyes to see metal embrace something about oneself rather than abolish everything that has been created before. Another way of looking at this is that these artists are going back to basics and embracing the things their ancestors believed to be important, including becoming the best person you could be individually. This is something that we see, however, throughout foreign cultures and their own metal music. In order to create their own form of metal that deviated from the model of Western music and what we’re used to hearing in the United States, these globally spread music artists incorporate their own personal experiences, histories, and traditions in order to create their own personal musical experience when it comes to metal.

Week Eight: The Heavy Metal Habitus

Kahn-Harris explains Deena Weinstein’s perspective on women in metal by stating, “Deena Weinstein argues that the absence of women within the scene is fundamental to metal, since the music’s aesthetic is founded on notions of ‘power’ and ‘power . . . is culturally coded as a masculine trait’” (p. 73). While this is a good way of examining the power structure of metal, I think it’s possible, too, that women were simply not considered into the metal equation when metal first developed. One of the quotes from the film watched on Wednesday stated, “That’s a way of thinking about gender -- by not thinking about gender.” This quote really stuck with me because I believe this could really be what happened regarding the presence of women in metal as musicians in particular. Since men have historically had more mobility and abilities to create change, metal is a form of creativity that generated among solely men unintentionally. Perhaps women weren’t intentionally excluded from the metal scene, but instead were not considered because there was no voice of the women. Now, as women have emerged in various forms of metal, a feminine presence is clear, at least in the realm of vocalists of metal bands.

I also think that often time women in bands (of any genre) tend to get the limelight because they stick out like a sore thumb. I think this is in a way a problem when it comes to women being accepted in subcultures, such as metal. In the photos we went through you can see how women deliberately stand out from the rest of the band, which ends up looking like a backing back. Women have long hair, are often wearing a bright color (usually red) and are always in the front of teh band. If, instead, women were equal to any other member of the band and did not stand out so prevalently, women would be considered equal and more equally a part of the band rather than the frontman and spokesperson for the band, which is what usually happens.

I’ve added a few videos of women in metal from my experience.

The first video is of Eyes Set To Kill, a band fronted by a woman and that has another woman in the band. What I find interesting about this band is that they combine both the feminine high vocal range with the deep guttural vocals of the male. Even more, the female vocal that drift over the guitar riffs compose the verses while the male vocals compose the choruses. Also, finally it’s a woman with short hair.

The next video is of Walls of Jericho, which has a female front-person, who imitates the male guttural singing style.

Another example of this style of singing is Otep.

Week Seven: Feasting on Metal

Kahn-Harris mentions what I would refer to as the function of extreme metal as being a safety valve for the audience. He states about Johan, “In claiming that this cathartic process reduced aggression, he refutes those psychologists who argue that violent media ‘prime’ real-life aggression (e.g. Anderson et. al. 2003) and bolsters those who see metal as a way of coping with aggression (e.g. Nahum 2004)” (p. 53). As a journalist, and as any media studies student would know, one of the commonly referred to functions of the media in general is the safety valve function. This allows people to take out aggression or emotions that are not commonly accepted in our society, and essentially keep them from committing crimes. One of the most popularly discussed topics regarding the safety valve function is the existence of violent video games, such as Grand Theft Auto. I find it really interesting that extreme metal is regarded in this same fashion, which makes sense in that metal strays from the hegemony of popular culture and serves to shock those audiences while fulfilling a void for its own audience. This alternative form of music, extreme metal, allows these aggressions and forms of violence to be translated through music. One of the previous arguments we heard in a video explained how extreme metal introduces violence as a means to make its audience feel something under the ideology that we are sheltered from such realities. Extreme metal is then, in a sense, a way of getting back to basics and the presence of death, violence, and killing in our lives.

I think there’s something to be said about the safety valve function of extreme metal as being true and valid, at least for some audience members. I say this because when I am angry I’m not going to listen to calm, peaceful music unless that is the goal to be reached. Instead I would listen to some heavy, such as metal, to fuel or at least equal my emotions. Therefore, I believe people in general seek music that matches their own emotions, even if those emotions are ever-changing. When someone is happy, they listen to up-beat poppy music, and when they’re sad they listen to depressing slow music. Given that extreme metal caters to a certain audience demographic (young men, let’s say) it makes sense that music about violence that sounds violent itself would serve as a safety valve and a release from reality and everyday frustrations. Kahn-Harris goes on to point out, “The experience of the scene does not take place in an isolated, socially abstracted environment but in the ‘everyday life’ of members (Douglas 1971)” (p. 55). This also follows this concept in that scene members use music to react to things happening in their every day lives and their every day lives are a reflection of their music tastes and ideologies.

Kahn-Harris goes on to say, “Since the scene is male-dominated, heterosexual scene members are forced to look outside the scene for a partner, which can be a difficult process” (p. 58). I find this really interesting because it’s something I had not considered. While I know that the scene is generally male-dominated, I’ve found that females make their presence known within the scene, accepted or not. We’ve mentioned how women aren’t exactly welcomed or needed in the scene model, but I’ve noticed a general increase in the female population of the metal scene in recent years. In my own experiences, there used to be very few girls in the scene and the women who existed were generally very masculine in their demeanor. Now, however, more women are accepted and expected to be part of the scene, most likely as a result of this need for heterosexual men within the scene desiring partners.