Death metal is a severe offshoot of heavy metal, a reaction to the superficiality of eighties popular culture. In the early nineties, bands that played death metal considered themselves part of an élite vanguard. They tuned their guitars in unconventional ways, and some, influenced by classical musicians, composed songs that required high degrees of discipline and technical virtuosity to play. Onstage, artists often wore sweatpants to demonstrate their athleticism and lack of pretense; the genre’s signature vocal style is a heavy growling chant. (“We like it when it’s simply rotten,” one musician told me.) It is a subculture in love with its offensiveness, and obsessive about guarding its artistic purity.Read the whole article here
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Al Qaeda inspired by generic 90s death metal
Apparently "Azzam the American," one of Al Qaeda's senior operatives and the first American to be charged with treason in 50 years, is a product of the 90s death metal scene. Maybe you have already seen this article, but if not, it's worth reading. Here is my favorite part (emphasis mine):
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my favorite parts of the article:
ReplyDeleteFans who outgrow the music, as most do, often enough become religious.
i cant wait for glen benton to become 'religious'
“Where heavy metal gets a lot of the guys who lift weights and punch out beer cans, death metal is a really interesting combination of people, but it’s a lot of just nerds”
In a review for Xenocide of an album by a band called Autopsy, he wrote disapprovingly about “glitches in the engineering that you will notice if you listen through headphones,” but he celebrated the band’s “guttural growlings, repulsive throughout.”
hehe
"...to demonstrate their athleticism..."
ReplyDeleteHA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!
Best fucking line of comedy I've heard year to date. Fucking impeccable. Absolutely classic!