As with much popular music, visuals and images are integral to metal. Album covers and stage shows are almost as important to the presentation of the material as the music itself, although they seldom exceed the actual music in priority. Thus, through heavy metal, many artists collaborate to produce a menu of experiences in each piece—offering a wider range of experiences to the audience. In this respect, heavy metal becomes perhaps more of a diverse art form than any single form dominated by one method of expression. Whereas a painting is experienced visually, a symphony experienced audibly, a heavy metal band's "image" and the common theme that binds all their music is expressed in the artwork on the album, the set of the stage, the tone of the lyrics, and the clothes of the band, in addition to the sound of the music.
Rock historians tend to find that the influence of Western pop music gives heavy metal its escape-from-reality fantasy side, as an escape from reality through outlandish and fantastic lyrics—while African American blues gives heavy metal its naked reality side, focusing on loss, depression and loneliness. Heavy metal has a relationship with spiritual issues in both symbol and music theory, as heavy metal chords and harmonies emphasize the use of open fifths(see: power chord)—drawing ironic parallels to harmony changes in Christian Sacred Harp singing.
If the audio and thematic components of heavy metal are predominantly blues-influenced reality, then the visual component is predominantly pop-influenced fantasy. The themes of darkness, evil, power and apocalypse are fantastic language components for addressing the reality of life's problems. In reaction to the "peace and love" hippie culture of the 1960s, heavy metal developed as a counterculture, where light is supplanted by darkness and the happy ending of pop is replaced by the naked reality that things do not always work out in this world. Whilst fans claim that the medium of darkness is not the message, critics have accused the genre of glorifying the negative aspects of reality.
Metallica's debut album Kill 'em All
Enlarge
Metallica's debut album Kill 'em All
Heavy metal themes are typically more grave than the generally airy pop from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—focusing on war, nuclear annihilation, environmental issues, and political or religious propaganda. Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants",Metallica's "...And Justice for All (album)" (as well as their "Disposable Heroes"), and Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight" are examples of serious contributions to the discussion of the state of affairs. The commentary on reality sometimes tends to become over-simplified because the fantastic poetic vocabulary of metal deals primarily with clear dichotomies of light and dark, hope and despair, or good and evil, which do not leave much room for complex shades of grey. Power metal bands, whose lyrical and musical tones are often bombastic and optimistic, are one exception to the dark stereotype. Many power metal fans and bands, most notably Manowar, believe metal should be inspiring and upbeat music, often resulting in comical bravado or jingoism.
Rock historians tend to find that the influence of Western pop music gives heavy metal its escape-from-reality fantasy side, as an escape from reality through outlandish and fantastic lyrics—while African American blues gives heavy metal its naked reality side, focusing on loss, depression and loneliness. Heavy metal has a relationship with spiritual issues in both symbol and music theory, as heavy metal chords and harmonies emphasize the use of open fifths(see: power chord)—drawing ironic parallels to harmony changes in Christian Sacred Harp singing.
If the audio and thematic components of heavy metal are predominantly blues-influenced reality, then the visual component is predominantly pop-influenced fantasy. The themes of darkness, evil, power and apocalypse are fantastic language components for addressing the reality of life's problems. In reaction to the "peace and love" hippie culture of the 1960s, heavy metal developed as a counterculture, where light is supplanted by darkness and the happy ending of pop is replaced by the naked reality that things do not always work out in this world. Whilst fans claim that the medium of darkness is not the message, critics have accused the genre of glorifying the negative aspects of reality.
Metallica's debut album Kill 'em All
Enlarge
Metallica's debut album Kill 'em All
Heavy metal themes are typically more grave than the generally airy pop from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—focusing on war, nuclear annihilation, environmental issues, and political or religious propaganda. Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", Ozzy Osbourne's "Killer of Giants",Metallica's "...And Justice for All (album)" (as well as their "Disposable Heroes"), and Iron Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight" are examples of serious contributions to the discussion of the state of affairs. The commentary on reality sometimes tends to become over-simplified because the fantastic poetic vocabulary of metal deals primarily with clear dichotomies of light and dark, hope and despair, or good and evil, which do not leave much room for complex shades of grey. Power metal bands, whose lyrical and musical tones are often bombastic and optimistic, are one exception to the dark stereotype. Many power metal fans and bands, most notably Manowar, believe metal should be inspiring and upbeat music, often resulting in comical bravado or jingoism.
posted by Mohd Ismail at 12:04 AM
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