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- Volume 2, Issue 2, 2016
Metal Music Studies - Volume 2, Issue 2, 2016
Volume 2, Issue 2, 2016
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Table talk with Vordb Na R.iidr
By Edia ConnoleAbstractEmploying the epistemological principle of black metal theory (BMT), this article maps the central phenomenological feature of apophatic mysticism onto the loss sustained in Vordb Na R.iidr’s first non-material edition: Moévöt’s De fenêtre entrouverte (Kaleidarkness, 1992–2015). With recourse to personal commentary, this loss is traced not only through the work, but the spiritual life of Vordb, the founding member of up to nineteen known permutations of Les Légions Noires: from the infamous Vlad Tepes and Bèlkètre split, March to The Black Holocaust (1996), to his figural equation with John the Baptist, an homage to the latter’s ministry in Guido d’Arezzo’s solmization system, and related synaesthetic elements, to reveal an affective identification with divinity through intimate exposure to the utmost negativity.
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Victim of your dreams: A review of negativity and melancology in black metal theory and the arts of Xasthur
More LessAbstractThe inherent criticisms presented by black metal and black metal theory demonstrate that the fallacies of ontology rest upon the illusion of coherent organization. This blackness consumes the human perspective and reveals a nothingness that penetrates all interpretations and purpose. In melancology, this epistemic darkness of black metal is directed upon the false human foundations of identity and orientation, negating the principles from which notions of value and agency originate. Black metal is then a misanthropic art that demonstrates the futility of moral ideologies. The present discussion examines these criticisms and explores the themes of pessimism, melancology, and misanthropy in examples derived from the black metal music of Xasthur.
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‘Satan demands total annihilation’: Heavy metal in the German Democratic Republic
More LessAbstractEast German Heavy Metal fans established themselves as the largest or second largest subculture of the GDR in the 1980s. Yet, only few academic works have explored this group. Using sources from the Stasi Record Agency (BStU), documents from the German Radio Archive (Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Babelsberg) and academic works from ZIJ, GDR’s Central Institute for Youth Research (Zentralinsitut für Jugendforschung), this article describes the practices developed by the East German Heavy Metal fans to cope with their special situation behind the Iron Curtain. The article also explores how the regime tried to deal with these deviant youngsters. Their practices were so closely linked to the party-state that they served no function when the Berlin Wall came down. The subculture therefore shared the same fate as the GDR and quickly vanished in 1989/90.
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From Umm Kulthum to Orphaned Land: The influence of female musicians in constructing Israeli/Palestinian narratives
By Sam GrantAbstractHistorical narratives come not only from real-world events but from psychological processes, with Israeli and Palestinian narratives undergoing constant radical changes along with the physical territory. In the Middle East, femininity and the female form are considered intrinsic to national identity, and female musicians from the region have long addressed the Israeli/Palestinian divide. This article uses original interviews conducted with modern-day Israeli and Palestinian female vocalists to investigate national narratives since the mid-twentieth century and their relationship to the political situation. Analysis of the data gathered demonstrates a shift in attitudes and narrative type from one promoting staunch patriotism and national solidarity in the 1960s to a development towards liberalism and a modern-day mindset of coexistence for both nations in the twenty-first century. These variations indicate changing feelings towards nationalism and humanitarianism, towards creating borders and destroying them, whilst also showing how political revolution will only come through a revolution of the self.
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Lechery, lycanthropy and Little Red Riding Hood in Type O Negative’s ‘Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’
More LessAbstractType O Negative’s ‘Wolf Moon (including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’ seems to be a melodic ode to lascivious werewolves or to sexual intercourse during menstruation, which is transformative, allowing participation to channel animalistic instincts. Subject to more critical examination, ‘Wolf Moon (including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’ can also be presented as a contemporary incarnation of the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ myth. Both contain the same themes: the stigmatization of eroticism, reclamation of agency, along with the nuances of gender identity and representation. Any Women’s Studies programme student is attuned to how storytelling and imagery of those within the story influence gender roles and their perceptions. Real-life themes are undoubtedly found within fairy tales as well, with a special emphasis on how women who do not remain in their proper place are punished because of it. In ‘Wolf Moon (including Zoanthropic Paranoia)’, the woman is rewarded for those experiences, by being permitted to indulge in her darkest desires. Meeting (or meating) a wolf that is hungry for you is nothing to fear in Type O Negative’s version of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Instead, it is the hallmark of a ‘great day’, and is something that should be celebrated. As ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ traverses onward throughout the western society’s cultural consciousness, one can only hope for further metal music acts interpretations of this infamous fairy tale. Representation matters, and the nuances of how the female gender has been portrayed throughout the centuries as reflected in the re-telling of a fairy tale is a subject that warrants a closer look through metal music and gender.
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Musicological analysis of guitar solos from the roots of rock through modern heavy metal
Authors: James E. Slaven and Jody L. KroutAbstractThe general techniques of guitar soloing have changed very little since the beginnings of the rock era in the 1950s, even though the style of playing has seen dramatic changes. Using the methods of analysis from the fields of statistics and musicology, we have looked into how soloing techniques have changed from 1950s’ rock to modern heavy metal. This not only helps in discerning the differences in playing between eras but is an addition to the toolbox of musicology. Pitch distributions were calculated and then analysed using cluster and tree methods. Speed and technique were analysed using the Generalized Estimating Equations. We found no distinct delineation between the decades for pitch distributions. There was an increasing, though non-significant, trend in the use of special techniques, which became significant when comparing the later decades grouped against the earlier decades. Most notably, there was a significant difference in speed between the decades, with an increase in the later decades.
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