Its history and how it has affected people and cultures
Have you ever heard of a genre of music so extreme it has been blamed for everything from the burning of churches to the murder of fellow band members? Well that music is commonly known as Death Metal. Because of the extreme measures set by the bands most of the bands are banned from not only touring in some countries but also from their records being sold for being deemed to extreme for the general public. With music about death, Destruction and overthrowing popular religions, it’s not surprising that it is sometimes considered one of the most gruesome, heaviest and most explicit genres of metal.
The music usually contains dark and violent lyrics dealing with death, murder, and satanic rights. Some of the more Scandinavian death metal is influenced by also Viking’s and Norse Pagan mythology. The lyrics also tend to tell a story in one way or another. Its lyrics represent a more nihilistic theme than other branches of heavy metal such as Black or Grind-core metal. Praising death and the over throwing of Christian religion, the lyrics have been known to be very influential to some fans of the more extreme Death Metal bands.
It is a very fast paced music used with heavy blast beats and fast rhythmic guitar chords. The vocalist style is usually a low gurgle also sometimes called ‘death grunt’ or high pitched screams and growling. It is distorted by using throat and guts. It also sometimes contains keyboards to add a more classical sound to it which enhances the story telling of the lyrics. It is also very demanding style to play for the artists due to constant chord changing and its fast paced style. Not to mention the toll it takes on your throat and gut while creating the vocal styles.
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... to play that music, and so, in the late eighties and early nineties, the Death Metal scene was counting so much bands that is ... Of A New Machine and Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, with their mix of Death Metal and Hardcore started a new way ... and a touch of tribalism, Carcass from England, an unique band whose lyrics were written by the drummer, student in a Medical ...
It is commonly said that Death Metal originated in Scandinavia mainly Norway and Sweden. This is certainly supported by the two countries common knowledge of the genre. Also Norway and Sweden being the two countries associated with some of the most extreme acts perused in metal. Not to mention how rural some of the areas are and how dominated those rural areas are by Christianity. A religion which the genre stands firmly against going as far as killing priests and burning down churches that stood for centuries.
Most Death metal bands have an image dealing closely with what their lyrics are. Usually wearing black leather pants with studded shin guards and boots along with a common Pentagram or band t-shirt. They also commonly wear studded forearm leather sleeves that cover the top of their hand to their elbow or mid forearm. They usually have long black or brown hair and some have blonde hair which is usually natural more often then not. They also, like most metal bands have many tattoos.
During concerts, most bands do extreme things such as live animal sacrifices. They also use blood as an aspect in their concerts. With the more extreme bands they will sometimes do satanic rituals. Most often during their concerts they wear something called corpse paint which is commonly black and white face pant with a white base and designs around the eyes and other places on the face. The most common band that uses something similar to corpse paint is Kiss. Though kiss’ paint is more articulate, it is still the same general idea.
There are many different subgenres of death metal the two main ones being Melodic Death Metal and Technical Death Metal. Melodic Death Metal is thought to have generated in Gothenburg, which leads to its nickname Gothenburg Metal. It mixed British Metal and The Scandinavian Death Metal. It unlike common Death Metal has a more Melodic sound with common and lengthy guitar solos. Technical Death Metal is a very rare genre and few bands try to create this style. It is influenced by music genres such has Jazz, and European Classical. It started in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It is also, but not commonly associated with Mathcore which is a style of highly technical Metalcore.
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There are many regional scenes of the music where it is common to find someone who listens to it or a good band who plays it. Though the most popular is Scandinavian because it is where it was thought to have originated from and a large range of bands hail from Sweden and Norway it is still popular in other places around the world. Some of the regional scenes include Florida and New York. Florida Death metal has a more rigid sound and is commonly associated with Thrash metal.
In the past 20 years there have been many people who have contributed to Death Metal and for what it is known for today. The most known is probably Varg Qisling Larssøn Vikernes. He is known for burning churches across Norway in the early 90’s and killing a fellow musician over a recording contract. Most people view him as a hero and others as an animal. He was in a completely solo band called Burzum; He did Vocals, played drums, guitar and bass for the band. Chances are, that if people listen to Death Metal, and dislike Varg, it is because of one of two reasons, they’re either a Mayhem fan, which Varg killed one of their members, or they’re not a true fan. Most view him as one of the most influential people of music scene. He is currently incarcerated for the murder of Euronymous (also known as Øystein Aarseth) of Mayhem in 1993 and the burning of 4 churches in Norway, and also the death of a firefighter who died in one of the fires. In 2003 Varg attempted an escape from his Norwegian prison which proved unsuccessful.
Per Yngve Ohlin was another influential person in Death Metal was but known as Dead to fans and some friends. Dead and Varg were related in one way, Mayhem. Not only had Varg killed Mayhem’s guitar player Euronymus who had played with the band since they got together in 1983, But Varg also played Bass-guitar for the band under the name Count Grishnackh on two of their 1993 releases. Dead was the bands vocalist from 1988-1991. In 1991 Dead committed suicide by slitting his wrists and eventually shooting himself with a shotgun in the head. His Suicide read “Be om tilgivelse alle blod” (Excuse the blood in Norwegian) but had also stated apologizes for using the shotgun in the house, but the knife could not finish the job. He was known for burying his clothes days before a concert so that when there, they smelt of decay.
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Death Metal has been blamed from almost anything imaginable from the murder of Christian priests, and the burning of churches. The most recent incident is when a Death Metal band Dark Funeral played in Chile on October 7th, 2006. It was the bands first visit to the country since the murder of a priest by a self-proclaimed Dark Funeral fanatic in 2004. Many people tried to stop the band from performing by complaining and issuing petitions but the concert happened without incident. The fan slit the throat of Father Faustino Gazziero then rubbed the priests’ blood on his face and stabbed himself numerous times in the neck and chest with the same knife. The Vocalist of Dark Funeral said he was somewhat impressed by what the guy had done because it takes a lot of courage and deserves some credit.
Most of the religions involved with Death Metal are Satanism, Pagan, and Christianity. Satanic and Pagan being the two main religions of choice and Christianity being the anti-religion of choice. The more extreme bands and fans burn down churches and kill Priests like the fan in Chile did. Most feel that Christianity is wrong, so they hang crosses upside down and present the pentagram to show their hatred for the religion. Satanism is a largely accepted religion in the Death Metal scene because it deals with the devil, and worshiping the devil. Pagan also being because it honors a more superior being and deals with witchcraft and spells and mythology.
Many people try to blame the music but in most fans opinions, the music isn’t to blame saying that if someone is going to kill, they are going to kill whether Death Metal is the music they listen to or not. Death Metal is one of the most popular forms of Metal today and some people listen to it as a release of their anger or frustration. Other people also listen to it for spiritual reasons because it has to do a lot with Pagan and/or Satanic practices. Some people even listen to it just because they like Angry, Fast and Loud music. Either way you look at it, most fans love the music and they are loyal to the music scene.
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I personally disagree with the notions that music is intended solely for the purpose of any one agenda. It is a medium for reflection. It is a mirror. A mirror reflects the image of whatever is directed at it; likewise, music reflects the immediate emotion that is conveyed by the musician playing it and translates that into an audible, tangible sound that speaks into the audience. Music alone has ...
Recourses:
Internet Resources:
Burzum & Varg Vikernes Official Site, Burzum.Org, February 7th, 2007
<http://www.burzum.org/>
Dark Funeral Vocalist Interview, Ultimate Guitar.com, February 7th, 2007
<http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/dark_funeral_vocalist_is_somewhat_impressed_by_fans_murder_of_priest.html>
Dead Information Site February 7th, 2007
<http://www.freewebs.com/peryngveohlin/>
Dead, Wikipedia.org, February 7th, 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Yngve_Ohlin>
Death Metal, Wikipedia.org, February 7th, 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_metal>
Mayhem, Wikipedia.org, February 7th, 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_(band)#Band_members>
Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh), Wikipedia.org, February 7thth, 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varg_Vikernes>
Varg Vikernes escape attempt, VG NETT, February 7th, 2007
<http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=82235>
Other information is also known from information that I have learned over the years of being a fan of Metal music.
