Heavy Metal: The Unsuppressable Voice of Truth =============================================== Copyright 1987 Robert E. Szekely 76276,1026 This article is being written to refute some of what, I feel, are glaring inaccuracies in Al McAnespy's article of July 1985; as well as addressing some of the accusations opponents of Heavy Metal have directed at it. Since Mr. McAnespy's article was written, the bands he named as being the true spirit of Heavy Metal have indeed come of age. What were the struggling, hungry spirits of 1985 have become the lucrative commercial commodites of 1987. However, calling the forefathers of Heavy Metal such as Zeppelin, Sabbath et. al., "charlatans", or in contemporary usage, "poseurs", is analogous in its implication to building a house from the roof down. As Robert Plant was once quoted as saying, "You can't escape your roots." The 'roots' that Led Zeppelin's lead vocalist spoke of are the only indigenous American musical form: The Blues; the Roots of Rock and Roll. Rock and roll was spawned in the Missippi Delta; and among its grandfathers, men such as 'Blind' Lemon Jefferson and Albert King; these Delta Bluesmen and their peers were the humbled descendants of proud African men and women who had been shanghied and enslaved by our forefathers. Their ancestors, pressed into service as slaves. No respect for their dignity or rights as human beings for the most part. So as they worked in the fields, cultivating the cotton crops, they sang of their misery. They sang as a catharsis, to cleanse their souls of 'the blues'; the pain of being persecuted and oppressed. Sad and yet beautiful, they spontaneously broke into song; a music crying out to the heavens. In this music, they found a voice that could cry out pain in song, and so release it. From deep inside their hurt and their inner beings, the black american slaves sang their pentatonic melodies, rich and soulfully expressive of their feelings in their chromatic inflections. Melodies which evolved from the music of the deeply spiritual tribal chants of their homeland; from the African Tribes, to whom religion and their relationship with God was the focus of their lives. A religion to which music was inextricably linked. It imparted to their culture a strong sense of community, order and purpose; as well as giving them strength to go on in times of need. Times such as the black slaves faced almost daily; often whipped and treated virtually like animals, their voices sang out their pain to God, loud and clear, to apply the salve to soothe their aching souls. To imply that Punk and Metal are kindred spirits is in effect saying that Jesus and Lucifer are soul brothers. A tenuous association at best, and highly inaccurate due to its vague generality. True, they do exhibit the same adrenalin- powered fervor in their music but overall, their intents are polarized 180 degrees opposite each other. It is the cursory analyses of Heavy Metal, which result in often unsubstantiated accusations of the music causing social degeneration and ultimately destruction, which I reject. These ill-conceived accusations are a product of an ill-conceived, half-assed mode of thinking which amounts to a doctor performing circumcision on an infant boy with an axe. Too many can see either only black OR white, but no grey. The true spirit of HM, at its best, is the clarion call of victory over seemingly insurmountable odds. If you don't believe that, read some of Black Sabbath's lyrics from their 'Master of Reality' album. True Punk Rock espouses nihilism. 'The System sucks!' says the Punker. So what does he offer as a solution? 'Destroy it!' So then what does the Punker suggest to replace what he wants to destroy? Not a damn thing. We'e known since the 1960's that music can often be a powerful social influence. The fatalistic philosphy of the hardcore Punker is social suicide; they are the Kamikaze revolutionaries whose party line is the annihilation of all order and civilization. Heavy Metal is the princely scion of the most visceral music; the purest contemporary form of blues. It is sincere and in touch with reality and the times. Listen to it, even softly...what do you hear? The soulful cries of blues guitars pumped up louder and faster than Ol' Father Blues; so their cries of "Let My Voice Be Heard!" can pierce the din of strife, deception and corruption which are manyfold more deafening and occuring at much a faster pace than just two generations ago. They simply have to be louder and faster than previous generations in order to be heard above the maddening noise of current society. No, HM is not above reproach. There are those desperate fools who cash in the current commercial marketability of the concepts of degeneration and decay. The pathetic popularity of the themes of Death, Doom, Destruction and Damnation make for a high return on investment at present: a large profit made in a short amount of time, with minimal investments of time, effort and money. And our youth desperately reaches out for a voice to guide them through the confusion; latching on and hanging tightly to the first thing that sounds remotely like a message of guidance. Fearing nothing better can come along, they make the most of trying to form values from the thematic and lyrical bullshit of groups like Mercyful Fate and their ilk; the purveyors of 'Black Metal'. The only sin of the audience of Black Metal is their injudicious choice of filling the brains with dangerous garbage, and modeling a lifestyle of deadly fantasy upon it. But the answer here is not suppression. The more you try to hide or run away from something, the more doggedly it pursues you. The more you try to ignore it, the stronger it grows; until finally, it overwhelms you, completely. Then, it's too late. By the same token, to fall victim to the fallacy of this common sweeping generalization, "All Rock and Roll/Heavy Metal is evil/Devil music.", is as bad as saying that all Jews are cheap, all Germans are Nazis, all Italians are Mafia and all Puerto Ricans are thieves. It is IGNORANT and DANGEROUS to think that way. Because in fact, with those so-called 'views', you ACTUALLY ARE NOT thinking at all: you've heard or repeated the epithet so many times that now you're brainwashed into believing it. But if you honestly sit down and ask yourself why you 'believe' it, or how you arrived at that point of view, you either go blank, or start mechanically spouting some more dogmatic cliches in order 'rationalize' 'your point of view'. WHICH WASN'T YOUR POINT OF VIEW TO BEGIN WITH! And that's the point I argue in favor of True Heavy Metal. Music doesn't damn people; people's actions do. Ignorance and clever deception the semantic sleight-of-hand are the dangerous influences we should all be on the watch for. True Heavy Metal's saving grace is its unrelenting candor; we calls 'em as we sees 'em. So if things really look bad we're gonna tell ya, loud and clear, just how bad they are, so we can make sure that you get the message, so together, we can all do something about making it better. Heavy Metal, in its pure, true form; as it's meant to be, carries a sincere, crystal-clear message to all, singing it voice loud hard and fast, to ring out over all the interference Der ScheissMeisters through in its path to try to prevent truth from being heard and acted upon. In conclusion, it is the promoters of Black Metal and their allies who are the true "poseurs"; they are the danger, or put more succinctly, the idiots. But suppression and eradication is not a solution. Education is. Knowledge is power; and only knowledge of what is and what isn't true can give us the power to fend off the negative influence of Black Metal, Hardcore Punk AND THEIR KIN. X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699 The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674 Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560 "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X