Comparing Genres: Punk vs Metal (Long Preamble)

Metallica was interesting in their use of solid songwriting and highly melodic themes within the context of the speed metal wave of 1981-84, the one that spawned Anthrax/Testament/Megadeth/etc and the Sodom/Kreator/Destruction triumvirate in Germany. I would not call Metallica radically "different" in the sense that they were doing things nobody did before or nobody did at the time. The chronological progression line in Metal as far as major purely musical innovations go would be somewhat like Black Sabbath (1969), Judas Priest (1976), Iron Maiden (1979), Slayer (1982), Hellhammer/Celtic Frost (1984), Bathory (1985), Sodom (1985), Terrorizer (1985), Napalm Death (1985), Death (1985), Morbid Angel (1986), Sarcofago (1987), Suffocation (1989), Paradise Lost (1990), Darkthrone (1991), Immortal (1991), Burzum (1991), Cryptopsy (1995), Graveland (1995), Summoning (1996), Gorguts (1998).

And Guns 'n Roses a Metal band? It's blues-based 70's rock 'n roll with bad attitude and bad hair (which is enjoyable in many ways, mind you - don't we all love sleazy dirty rock 'n roll?)...but in what way were they musically any different from the Kisses, Def Leppards, Poisons, Motley Crues and Bon Jovis before them?

But the punk connection is obvious. Metal and punk have crossed each others' paths often in history. Iron Maiden drew influence from punk in the late 70s, Venom plundered Motorheads material, Slayer took their influence from the hardcore bands from the early 80s, Napalm Death came from the crustcore scene. Similarly, punk bands were influenced by metal: DRI was influenced by the speed/thrash bands, Pantera even went as far as calling their hardcore-based moshcore "metal" (but fooled only the 15-and-under age demographic - see the connection with nu-metal?), not to mention Sick of it All, and later Metal bands like Entombed went punk, Machine Head plundered the 80s thrash riffs in 1994, bands like Slipknot redid Pantera's trick again, this time adding late 80s Death Metal tempi into their mix of Pantera/Machine Head hardcore-based moshcore.

You said it, sister.

Sadly, no. Somehow everything is really, really stagnated in metal in the last four, five years. Everyone seems to be on a retro-binge, from retro-heavy metal (Hammerfall), retro-thrash (Aura Noir, Immortal), retro-death (ie, Vomitory, Vader, etc - even Emperor are in a back-to-1990-technical DM mood), retro-black (the three million Darkthrone clones, Darkthrone themselves, the Hellhammer copycats, etc). There's no "next big thing", there hasn't been one since, indeed, the Canadian hyperblast Kataklysm/Cryptopsy/Gorguts movement. And that was four, five years ago.

It's one of those "what next?" situations. Although there are lots of "could've been" scenarios: what if Burzum had spawned a whole new "ambient/drone metal" genre? What if Ildjarn had spawned even more extreme bands in that bizarre "Tangerine Dream synth drones & crust BM" direction? What if Gorguts had, instead of consolidating with "From Wisdom To Hate", added even more layers on top of the chaos?

Perhaps the development of Metal is finally "complete" and it will get the status of jazz or folk or rock 'n roll or drum 'n bass, where the major innovations are already behind us and the genre is kept alive merely on behalf of "curators" rather than that it attracts innovators.

Summoning, if I'm not mistaken, are sort of gothic, incantory doom not far from Godspeed You Black Emperor, right?

Well, not exactly. Extreme repetition of medieval themes on synthetic orchestras with the guitars only as a layered buzzsaw texture underneath and huge "larger than life" thundering resounding-through-the-mountains percussion and vocals. Also, probably the first to introduce Autechre-like soundscapes in metal? (the intro of "Dol Guldur" for example). Very inspirational music at least, although their last two albums do add a bit too much saccharine to the mix.

How do they compare with the woozy psychedelic doom of bands like Esoteric and Skepticism? Should these bands be considered as innovators in a separate realm? On a certain level, the only thing that makes these bands "metal" at all is their song titles and their record labels, correct? What's the difference between modern doom metal and dark ambient noise?

Difficult to say, indeed. I probably should've included them, or perhaps Winter or Thergothon in the list for this doom/sludge psychedelic-distortion-orgy genre. What makes them metal? Or rather, what makes them not metal? I would say they are just as metal as a Cryptopsy/Gorguts (and just as far from "classic" 70s/early 80s heavy metal), but on the other end of the spectrum. Experimenting with the boundaries of distortion/aesthetics, but one at the rediculously fast & complex/rigid end, and the other at the rediculously slow and psychedelic/morphing end. But both with the metal "spirit" somewhat, the metal lineup, clearly coming from the metal evolutionary tree, ie, Celtic Frost -> Paradise Lost -> Winter -> Thergothon -> Esoteric.

This would also be quite subjective. Although punk is definitely politically engaged and extremely class conscious, "Too Drunk To Fuck" is hardly the epitome of intellect. Metal does tend to be more based on historical themes. Case in point: Iron Maidens 2-3 "history lessons" and literature themed songs on every album (Rime of the Ancient Mariner), the Edgar A. Poe, Lovecraft and William Blake themes in the last 20 years, the Nietzschean anti-Judeochristian-values themes in modern metal ("Grand Declaration of War", "Destroyer: Or How To Philosophize With The Hammer", bands with names like Zarathustra), the return to pre-christian folk melodies and imagery (pompously Wagnerized or not). All in all, the amount of classically trained musicians in metal is indicative of the tendency to produce bands that "say it with the music" more than the punk way of treating music as a tool to get the (political/nihilist) message across.

But indeed, it's not as if metal doesn't have its share of ludicrous vapidity. "Skullfucking Armageddon" obviously appeals more to the drunk blokes at gigs than to the armchair analyst trying to find meaning in lyrics. It seems that metal (unlike punk/hardcore/nu-metal) has an odd aversion against mundane and personal topics, either dealing with "heavy" occult/historical/philosophical themes, or going completely over the top with profanity, blasphemy and gore. Which is what probably saves metal from disappearing into its own pretentious arse a la progrock.

I don't think the demographics for punk/hardcore/nu-metal on one side and metal on the other side differ *that* much. Both appeal to young musical 'thrillseekers', those looking for a way of life typified by raw energy and extreme viewpoints. Scores of punkers like metal and vice versa. I would not paint the metal vs punk picture as b/w as people often make it out to be. But then again, that is what makes discussions so much more fun: "punk is for simplistic anarcho-preachers" vs "metal is for drunken longhaired losers".

These were GROUNDBREAKING POP??????? More evidence that Custos inhabits a parallel universe.

No, this is pretty much how it works for death metal. The vocal conventions of the genre were put in place by Death, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, in the late 80's and haven't changed much since. Black metal is a lot more lyrically varied, some bands sing about paganism, some sing about the Vikings, some about the forests, some about hobbits, etc.

How could anything be better than the Bible? ;-)

The infamous 'Son of Chuck' was captured last night after beating a hippee to death with a Gold Ultradisk version of Kix's Hot Wire; The killer confessed to numerous "Heavy Metal" inspired slayings.

Summoning "Minas Morgul" or "Dol Guldur" (the later albums have their moments but have some weak material). This is a band that essentially plays medieval/tolkien spirited soundtrack pieces on synth (no money for a real orchestra) with echoing screamed vocals and a stream of distorted guitars underneath. On their latest album they've got this huge spectacle piece "Farewell" (for the downloaders, 6:58) where they wheel everything out but the kitchen sink, choirs and all, HUGE thundering production - with the guitars somewhere in the back as a wall of background distortion. Also try the songs "Angbans Schmieden" and "Dagor Bragollach".

Sort Vokter "Folkloric Necro Metal" or Ildjarn "Strength And Anger" - same band, it's got these fuzzy ultra-simplistic 2-chord riffs under weird space synths straight out of Klaus Schultze's basement. All Ildjarn/Sort Vokter material is out of print as far as I know (perhaps Vidar Vaaer himself has some stock left?), but if you download Sort Vokter "Kveldstimer" you'll get an idea. Or this review

Gorguts "Obscura" and Cryptopsy "None So Vile" - these are the pinnacles of the whole chaos/dissonance/complexity race. Both should not be too hard to find...a nice review of "Obscura" here

Esoteric "Metamorphogenesis" - well, just read this review. This might not be easy to find...

Darkthrone "Transilvanian Hunger" - review here and Burzum "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" - review Both are still available, the Darkthrone is recently reissued I believe.

Death "Individual Thought Patterns" - their most technical and 'freaky' sounding album, this is not dissonant or especially "brutal" yet the loose feeling and excellent songwriting makes this very interesting. Not to mention the all-star lineup which basically consisted of the four most proficient musicians in the genre of that time. On a big label, i.e. easy to find.

Graveland "Thousand Swords", "Following The Voice Of Blood" or "Immortal Pride". Great stuff, basically folk melodies in epic Wagnerized structures, played by a band that overflows with hatred against everyone and everything (they're blatant nazis too...). Best of it all is the strange 'looseness' with which everything is played. Tracks to download: "Thurisaz", "Sons Of Fire And Steel", "Thousand Swords".